Accidentally Born in the ‘60s:

Osmanthus' mother, Liu Chunhua, used to be the daughter of a wealthy family. She lived a rather prosperous life when she was a teenager. She not only went to a women's school to read characters, but also studied painting and English. It is said that she also used a knife and a fork. Having eaten steak, he is a very foreign character.

Pampered at home until the age of eighteen, Liu Chunhua married the eldest young master of the Wu family, who was similar to his own family, and gave birth to four sons and a daughter, and lived a comfortable life for a few years. When liberation came, people like the Wu family were the first to be criticized/fighted. After the whole family was dragged to the street to parade/show to the public, the family was dismantled and distributed to various places for reform through labor. Young Master Wu's family was sent to Beicha Forest Farm to work as a coolie.

A tattered and crumbling earthen house, a tattered quilt with exposed cotton wool, this is all the belongings of the eldest young master of the Wu family when he first arrived at the forest farm, but it was cold in Beicha for four or five months The boundary of the air is frozen, and it will not take long for the family to freeze to death just by relying on this house and this broken bed.

In the face of such a dilemma, Young Master Wu had no choice but to wipe away tears, but Liu Chunhua was courageous. She risked her death while it was dark . Because this house is on the side of the border, it doesn't look very rich from the outside, and there are no neighbors in the front, back, left, and right sides, so it can be preserved.

Liu Chunhua found a few clean quilts, and then went to the lower room to pull some ragged sheets and sew them on the outside of the quilts. He found a few thick cotton coats that were pressed in the box, and deliberately stamped a few ragged puddings. It took him a few nights to move it to his small dilapidated house. When he came back for the last time, Liu Chunhua glanced at his unfinished hunting map, ordered a brazier and set it on fire. The small box of painting tools was taken away.

Relying on the dozens of kilograms of rice and cotton jackets and quilts brought back from the other courtyard, the Wu family will not freeze to death in this cold winter, and because the winter here is too cold, other people in the forest farm besides going up the mountain to collect firewood It’s easy not to go out for hunting, and some people close by smell the fragrance of the Wu family’s porridge, but they look pitiful, so they turn a blind eye, and no one reports them. Sometimes they even hunted too much prey, and they would throw a rabbit leg or a piece of roe deer meat at their house.

Mrs. Li knew about the situation of the Wu family. When she brought Osmanthus back, it was the second year after the Wu family went to the forest farm for renovation. Mrs. Li saw Liu Chunhua, a weak woman, but pulled up a wood and came to make peace with her. As hard as a man, he felt that the girl in this family could not be wrong.

Once Mrs. Li instructed Osmanthus to invite her mother to paint the kangqin, she went out with a smoking bag to help Wang Sufen rub the sun-dried corn. Mingnan and Mingbei were both shirtless in the backyard. Pour corn into the grinding eyes, one is responsible for the grinding, and when the two are tired, they will change positions.

Osmanthus did not follow Mrs. Li out, but instead found a rag to wipe off the ash on the kangqin and the box. Looking at the brand-new furniture in the room, Osmanthus couldn't help but be in a daze, until the old lady Li called her to cook, and then she came back to her senses.

In the early morning of the next day, Osmanthus returned to her mother's house with some dry food to find her mother to paint the kang qin. Now Liu Chunhua, who is almost fifty, no longer goes up the mountain to pull wood, but does some chores. In the past few days, all kinds of wild vegetables and fruits on the mountain are ripening in large areas. The forest farm is on vacation to allow workers to store grain and pull wood for the winter. Liu Chunhua also got a few days of free time. He came back with a basket of wild vegetables and sat at the door to choose vegetables.

"I didn't come back last month, why did I come back again?" Liu Chunhua looked at her without looking up: "Don't rely on your mother-in-law's family, you won't treat yourself as an outsider, if his family drives you back, we will There is no place for you to live at home.”

Osmanthus bit her lip, went into the room and took a small stool to sit opposite Liu Chunhua, grabbed a handful of wild vegetables from the basket, pinched off the roots, and threw the selected wild vegetables into the pot beside them.

Liu Chunhua was silent for a moment, then asked her in a hoarse voice: "What's the matter with you when you come back this time? He really doesn't want you anymore?"

"No?" Osmanthus still lowered her head, "I'm getting married and will have a wedding at the end of the year."

Liu Chunhua couldn't help laughing. She looked at Osmanthus, and her tone suddenly became light: "Old Li's family is good, and you are lucky to catch up with such a marriage."

Osmanthus chose the last dish, looked up at Liu Chunhua, and asked in a low voice, "Mom, can you help me paint a kang qin?"

Liu Chunhua's smile froze on her face, with a bit of sarcasm: "I don't know how to draw, I'm just a wood puller." She stood up quickly, and was about to walk into the house with the basin, and the sweet-scented osmanthus rose up. He quickly stopped her: "Mom, this is the biggest happy event in my life."

Liu Chunhua lowered her head and looked at the wild vegetables in the pot, her expression was unclear, Osmanthus couldn't help crying, and said in a choked voice, "Then the painting should be regarded as a dowry given to me by my mother?"

It seems that this sentence touched Liu Chunhua, she raised her head and glanced at Osmanthus, and laughed self-deprecatingly: "When I got married, it was only two hundred silver dollars, a box of gold and silver jewelry as a dowry. This painting is enough to kill."

"Mom..." Osmanthus called in a long voice, with a bit of pleading in her voice.

Liu Chunhua looked at Osmanthus, and finally couldn't bear to reject her again: "Okay, I'll draw for you, who made me feel sorry for you, this is what I owe you."

After pouring a basin of water, Liu Chunhua washed his hands and face clean, and combed his hair neatly and neatly behind his head in a bun. She opened the box, took out a washed white but neat and clean clothes and put it on, and finally took out the small box from the bottom of the box that she had treasured for more than ten years. At that time, Liu Chunhua took it out and rubbed it.

Liu Chunhua found a torn furoshiki, wrapped the box in it, took out a small piece of white paper with charcoal and wrote a note, and then left with her daughter.

Osmanthus has been in Li's house for ten years. This is the first time that her mother's family has come to the door. As soon as Mrs. Li heard the opening of the door, she greeted him and went out. She and Liu Chunhua were polite in the yard. Mingnan and Mingbei came out curiously. Look, even Zhen Zhen stretched her neck and looked out the window.

Wang Sufen smiled and tapped her forehead lightly: "Such a small person can still watch the fun." She picked up Zhen Zhen and went out.

Zhen Zhen also knew the identity of Osmanthus' family from the few words of her family. She looked at Liu Chunhua curiously, and saw that her clothes were clean and her hair was combed meticulously. But she was very energetic with her back straight to that station.

Wang Sufen smiled and asked her to go inside: "My in-laws, you come to sit in the house. It's the first time I've seen you in so many years. The sweet-scented osmanthus looks like you."

Liu Chunhua had a faint smile on his face: "I've always wanted to come and see you, but you also know that my family is not good, and I'm afraid that I will cause trouble for you. Besides, when you bought osmanthus to raise it, it stands to reason. Osmanthus has nothing to do with my family anymore, it's your kindheartedness that allows her to bring things home to see us from time to time, we are already very content, how can we be a family with you with a big face."

Wang Sufen didn't know what to say when she heard this. Mrs. Li took out a cigarette bag from her waist, stuffed some cigarette leaves into it, struck a match, lit it, and took two puffs of cigarettes before slowly saying: "Since We often let Osmanthus go back, so we didn't want her to deny you, don't think about it too much, just go into the house and have a drink and rest."

Liu Chunhua thanked again, and then followed Mrs. Li into the room. Wang Sufen put Zhen Zhen on the kang and let Osmanthus speak with her. She went to the kitchen to boil a pot of water and washed a bowl of sugar. The water came in.

Liu Chunhua is well educated, speaks clearly, and has a very gentle voice. Even when he drinks sugar water, he looks like he is drinking afternoon tea.

After Liu Chunhua drank the sugar water and handed the bowl to Osmanthus, he thanked Mrs. Li again and stood up: "Where is the kangqin? I'll go and see what it looks like, so I can figure out what to draw."

Mrs. Li said, "I want you to rest a little longer and see it tomorrow, but you are impatient."

Liu Chunhua shook his head: "I'm used to work, but I'm not used to it after a break. Besides, my eyes are going to get cold today. There must be a lot of things in your family. How can I stay here forever."

When Mrs. Li was buying sweet-scented osmanthus flowers, she had contact with Liu Chunhua once. She knew that this person was somewhat sensitive and inferior because of the dramatic changes in her family background. She didn't continue to persuade, she got off the kang and led Liu Chunhua to the backyard: "The house at the back was arranged for their young couple. Earlier, it was prepared for Dongzi and his fourth uncle. Later, his fourth uncle married from Bingcheng. Daughter-in-law, this house is vacant."

Mrs. Li opened the door, and Liu Chunhua took a look inside. Although the house is a little smaller, the layout is the traditional style of Beicha. As soon as you enter the door, there is the kitchen, and there is a room on the left and right.

Ms. Li pointed to the east room: "Let Dongzi and Osmanthus live in the east room, and the west room is reserved for Mingxi." Liu Chunhua walked in and looked at the layers of paper on the wall. It didn't take long to paste. The box made of red pine is placed on the ground, the style is simple but strong, and the Kangqin is the same, there is no color from top to bottom.

Liu Chunhua looked at the brand-new Kangqin with wood grain, and his face showed a bit of love: "At first glance, it is a good wood. Many people like to use that kind of tedious decoration when they play the cabinet. According to me, it is simple and elegant. It will show the most original beauty of wood.”

Wang Sufen was a little stunned to hear this. The carpenter just picked up the most common style because he was still working in the business and didn't have that much time. How could it be a good thing when he came to Osmanthus' mother's mouth.

Opening the box excitedly, Liu Chunhua checked his paints one by one. Seeing that some of the paints had dried up and some had faded, he couldn't help feeling a little distressed: "It's been stored for too long, I'm afraid it won't work well, but there are many kinds. , the color will not be biased if you adjust it. Auntie, what kind of painting do you think it is painted on? Is it plum orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum or green pine and Aoxue?"

Old Mrs. Li was also taken aback by her question. It took a long time for her to respond, and she quickly said, "It's okay to draw festive ones, either big red peony or lotus flowers, just look at the lively ones." /

Liu Chunhua paused while picking a paintbrush, looked up at the kangqin, and seemed a little regretful: "This wood is heavy in color, and it may not look good with peony."

"It's fine." Mrs. Li smiled: "The young couple will draw this when they get married."

Since the old Li family had an idea, Liu Chunhua didn't talk any more, but she hadn't painted for many years, and she was a little uneasy with the pen at first, so she asked Mrs. Li to get some old newspapers and adjusted the color a little. , painted two familiar touches from old newspapers.

Mrs. Li and Wang Sufen didn't bother her either, they painted with her in the room, and when it got dark, they asked Osmanthus to call her over for dinner, and arranged for her and Osmanthus to sleep in the same room at night.

The two slept together for the first time in more than ten years. They lay side by side and didn't fall asleep. Suddenly Liu Chunhua asked, "I think you're not very happy these two days. Is there something wrong with the marriage?"

Osmanthus was silent for a long time, and then said glumly: "I don't see a trace of joy at Brother Dongzi. I'm afraid he doesn't want to get married."

"Have you asked him?" Liu Chunhua turned to look at her: "What if he really doesn't want to marry you? You just give up?"

Osmanthus stared at the black ceiling without speaking for a long time.

The next morning, Mrs. Li just woke up and called from Donglijian to the kitchen to scoop up water and wash her face. Looking at the neatly dressed sweet-scented osmanthus, she asked casually, "Why did you change your clothes when you went out? Where are you going?"

"Milk, I want to open a letter of introduction to Bingcheng to find Brother Mingdong!"