The Ups and Downs of the Commoners 2 Page #25

This book is the second volume of the novel "The Ups and Downs of the Commoners". It will tell you about caused by the disastrous consequences of the "Great Leap Forward" and the People's Commune Movement in China in the middle of the last century to the livelihood of the Commoners, as well as the difficult path of study of the protagonist of this book, Fang Zhengben.

• Novel

								

On the second day of the first lunar month, Wang Qihui left to visit her mother at her mother's house. Fang Zhengben also left for Chengdu on the same day to find his paternal aunt, begging his paternal aunt to sponsor some tuition.
Wang Qihui took less than 1 kilogram of rice and made the arduous trek to her mother's house. When mother and daughter meet, it is almost difficult to know each other. In this year, they have changed so much!
Wang Qihui saw that her mother getting much older than in the first half of the year: her original relatively plump face was now a big pit sunken into both cheeks; Her bright eyes in the past are now also sunk into the depths of their sockets; A lot of gray hair had been added to her head, and it had become noticeably less; Her body was only remained wrinkled skin to wrapped the bones.
It turned out that a few days after Wang Qihui came here last spring to visit his mother and take  the his young son away, the public canteen where his mother was located was not even free of sweet potatoes and wild vegetables. Later, like other canteens, they relied on the state to provide relief grain, and that is 187.5 grams of trade grain per person per day. In the face of difficulties, her mother first sympathized with her bitter daughter-in-law, who died her husband at a young age, but she do the widow and stayed with her, and worked day and night for family affairs; She also thought wholeheartedly about the adopted grandson, who was young and the breadwinner of the family; There is also a great-grandson,  when she was born, her mother passed away, and she is exactly when she grows her body; And what about herself, an old woman, is not useful anyway. Therefore, whenever she was given the a small amount of gruel from the canteen, she always ate only a little, claiming that she had eaten enough, and give the rest to the family around her.
Seeing his mother like this, Wang Qihui was very sad and burst into tears.
When her mother saw her daughter, she became so weak at young age: scrawny instead of her strong body; The sallow face could no longer find its former rosiness; The thinning yellow grass-like hair replaced the strands of black silk of the past. As for the clothes, not to mention, the stomach is still not full, who cares about wearing it! One of her best clothes now is also patched.
Seeing her daughter's current appearance, her mother couldn't help but burst into tears.
Wang Qihui shouted "Ma", and the mother and daughter hugged each other and cried together. After crying, Wang Qihui told her mother: "Mom, I don't have anything to bring you, Zhengben entered junior high school last year, and he distributed food in school, and he brought back a few kilograms of rice during this winter vacation. After hand over the majority to the public canteen, I will bring you less than 1 kilogram and let you also boil two bowls of rice soup to drink! Her mother was very pleased to hear that her grandson had been admitted to junior high school, went to study in the district, ate national grain, and brought back rice during the holidays. Because at this time, it is a very honorable thing that someone in the family can eat the national grain. Especially during the holidays, you can bring back a few kilograms of rice, for hungry people, it is simply more precious than a few kilograms of gold! However, at the same time, she complained: "You have become like this, there is still a child at home, why do you still come to take care of me!" Wang Qihui said, "Mom, where can I say that I am take care of you? Now, I even if want to take care of you, and I also can't take care of it! ”
In the afternoon of the same day, Wang Qihui found a clay pot, grabbed two handfuls of rice, and cooked some porridge for his mother to drink. The next day, she stayed at her mother's house for another day, they all talking about nothing more than what can eat and what cannot eat. On the third day, Wang Qihui was ready to go home, and before leaving, she told her mother: "Mom, you need to take good care of your body, and it is a matter of one day to live one more day. I'll find time to visit you again in the second half of the year." Her mother said with tears in her eyes, "I have lived for over 60 years and have never experienced such a life. In fact, in these days, living an extra day is being tortured for an extra day! What's the use of saying 'take care' of this body?  Besides, even if you want to take care, what do you use to take care of it?  I have already thought about it, my old bone is useless, and it doesn't matter if it dies. Instead, you have to take good care of a few children when you go back, and it depends on whether a few children can pass this level!" Wang Qihui's red and swollen eyes said with tears in her eyes: "Who knows when this kind of day will end!" She walked a few steps, turned her head again, looked at her mother affectionately, and said, "Mom, I'll come to see you next time!" That being said, she was worried about whether she would actually once again see her mother.
When Fang Zhengben arrived at his paternal aunt's house in Chengdu, he didn't need to say anything, and his paternal aunt also knew his intentions. Because Fang Xinmin knew that her young brother's family had no other financial resources, it was indeed not an easy task to provide for a child to go to middle school. Moreover, not long ago, her young brother came to the city and mentioned it in particular. At that time, she had just saved money to pay off money for she borrowed in summer vacation. That money was borrowed by her for Fang Zhengben went to school. When her young brother came to the city, she also spent a few yuan RMB. Now he has to squeeze out a few yuan RMB from his family's living expenses.
The day after Fang Zhengben stayed at his paternal aunt's house, he was idle and uneventful, and suddenly found a book of "Tracks in the Snowy Forest" on the table. This is what his cousin sister put there after see it. He picked it up and turned a few pages, and he was so attracted by the storyline in the book that he couldn't put it down, and he didn't even want to put the book down for Dining. His paternal aunt Fang Xinmin laughed at him and said, "Zhengben, I think you've really become a book fan! Put the book down and read it after eating! ”
Two days passed, and before he finished reading the book, he had to leave Chengdu in a depressed mood. Before leaving, his paternal aunt took out 6 yuan RMB and said: "Paternal aunt only prepared 6 yuan RMB for you, the insufficient part, so you can come up with some solutions on your own!" In addition, when your father came last time, he said that even kerosene could not be bought in the countryside, and I entrusted someone here to buy 0.5 kg, and you brought it back home with you. Fang Zhengben took the money and put it in his pocket, holding a glass bottle full of kerosene in one hand, thanked his paternal aunt, and took his leave.

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