Chapter 4 Past - Understand or not

The year To Bach Luc took the middle school entrance exam, the SARS epidemic that shook the world appeared in the whole country, people were shocked, the business of barbecue stalls was gloomy, those who put life first finally died. give up the habit of "people considering food as heaven", they don't eat what they can't eat, even most people who lack knowledge buy large bags of salt to store. In a situation where the whole country is afraid to turn pale every time the SARS epidemic is mentioned, in this suburb, things are not so focused.

People are like that, always thinking accidents are someone else's problem. For example, in this city, in the end, no one was confirmed to have such a disease, while the press reported it every day. Doctors and nurses are considered the most compassionate people, rushing to the front lines, and there is also a nurse's day, but until a few years later, no one still remembers what day nurse's day is. What month?

The person who is loved the most is often the person who has to sacrifice the most.

Originally, the final exam in sixth grade had to be taken at the best elementary school. I heard it was very strict. The first lesson was mental arithmetic. Within ten minutes, the teacher read the question, students had to immediately write the answer down on paper, then After ten minutes, collect that piece of paper. Therefore, To Bach Luc frantically practiced mental arithmetic. She was a bit nervous, afraid that by then she would forget everything and her mind would be empty. The outbreak of SARS caused the originally strict exam to be taken at school. This made To Bach Luc breathe a sigh of relief. She did quite well, but that didn't represent anything.

There is no need to take a secondary school entrance exam, everyone attends secondary school at the school closest to their home.

On the day of registration, she went alone.

Unexpectedly, this school took a random exam, equivalent to a class placement exam. To take the exam, she had to pay ten dong. She stood there stunned, unable to get ten dong. That day was very hot, and when she met her classmate, it was very difficult for her to borrow ten dong to pay. She held that money, her heart aching. She's this old, she's never even used five coins, for her, ten coins is a huge amount of money, it can buy her favorite pair of pure white shoes, and there's still money left over. about three dong.

The weather was very hot, her throat was dry, and she needed to walk more than an hour to get home.

After finishing the exam, when her classmates weren't paying attention, she grabbed water from the faucet outside the bathroom and drank four or five gulps.

During those days, she entered high school life.

Regarding her studies, To Chi Quan and Bach Tu had an unprecedented common understanding, which was that they must provide for her to go to school. Although To Chi Quan still gambled and bet riotously with people, when he ran out of money he would go out to make money, just doing hard work, at that time the worker did not earn as much money as he does now, completely It's all about selling your strength and not having much money. But To Chi Quan will try very hard to make money, give money to Bach Tu to manage, the first thing he chooses to spend is definitely Bach Luc's tuition.

To Bach Luc's feelings for To Chi Quan are always very contradictory. Since she was very young, she saw To Chi Quan brutally beating Bach Tu. The two of them fought quite a bit, and then they would make love for a few days. She thought, when I grow up, I definitely cannot marry a man like that, definitely not.

In her heart, she also thought that To Chi Quan was not worthy of Bach Tu.

Beautiful young woman, it seems, should be surrounded by better life.

However, To Bach Luc is a contradictory person. Even though in her heart she is very dissatisfied with To Chi Quan, every time she hears Bach Tu mention the word "divorce", she will be very scared. She often dreamed in the middle of the night, dreaming that she was an orphan and that neither of them needed her anymore. To Chi Quan hates her, because she always spends large sums of money. Bach Tu also hates her, seeing her as a stepchild. She would cry alone at night, sobbing uncontrollably.

For To Chi Quan and Bach Tu, she had such conflicting and distorted feelings.

She doesn't agree with them, but relies on them.

During the time To Bach Luc was in middle school, there was a rare and precious peace in the house. To Chi Quan has a bit more spirit, doesn't gamble anymore, is much more responsible, goes out to work every day, rarely comes home, no one sees him, and if he wants to argue, there's no one to argue with. Bach Tu loved playing mahjong. He was addicted to the game every day. He called a few people together at a table and played day and night. When he won, he was happy, and when he lost, he scolded him.

That state was much better than before, To Bach Luc was very satisfied.

Although every week when he comes home, Bach Tu will be angry with her when he loses, but if Bach Tu wins, he will happily buy some delicious food for Bach Luc to return home on the weekend.

To Bach Luc quietly boiled the salted duck eggs that her grandmother brought, put them in her bag and brought them to To Chi Quan who was working on the construction site.

After that, Bach Luc rarely cried, not because her heart became harder, but because after seeing it a lot, it gradually became dull.

She went to the construction site and saw To Chi Quan, As soon as I saw it, I burst into tears.

Dad had lost a lot of weight, his hair was messy, his face had turned black from exposure to the sun, he was wearing clothes contaminated with a thick layer of dust, and his pant legs were full of mud. But his father's eyes were dark. For the first time, she discovered that her father was very great, he had strong shoulders to shoulder a small family.

The place where my father lived was very bad, right under the unfinished house, there was a large mat spread out, not even a pillow.

The ground is full of dust, the room has no glass windows, and there are discarded pieces of iron everywhere. If you're not careful, it's easy to get scratched and get hurt.

She put down the duck eggs and told To Chi Quan to take them out and eat them.

The time she stayed was quite long. She washed her father's clothes. The water after washing those clothes was all mud, like clothes worn by a beggar.

After packing everything up, she was about to leave when To Chi Quan tried to slip fifty dong into her.

That was the first time she held so much money, her hands were clenched tightly, drenched in sweat.

She smoothed the fifty dong and stuck it in her book, thinking that when she grows up, she will definitely have to earn a lot of money, take care of her parents, buy a house to take care of them, even if they have a bad temper. It's okay, as long as we don't argue and fight anymore, everyone can live peacefully as a family.

Her heart had such a wish that her family could live happily.

She feels that her father is not bad, a man makes money to take home for the woman to use, and no longer causes trouble outside, what else is there that is not satisfied?

To Bach Luc tries very hard to study, even harder and more diligently. Besides studying, she doesn't have anything else to think about.

That year, To Chi Quan and Bach Tu had another riot, the reason being that To Chi Quan said Bach Tu played mahjong every day, and didn't even know how to cook rice, and told Bach Luc to go home and cook rice. Bach Tu also made a fuss. The two argued endlessly. In the end, Bach Tu became very angry and declared that he could no longer bear this feeling of resentment and wanted to go out and make money.

After Bach Tu left, Bach Luc was arranged to go to his grandparents' house.

My grandmother is a very frugal person. Every year she picks up the shells of a type of insect to sell. She also likes to go to the mountainside to cut grass, dry it, then pick it out to sell. Bach Luc will help his grandparents cook and wash clothes. But Bach Luc will also be hated, his grandmother has a son, also Bach Luc's uncle, who is a promiscuous person, and at the same time is very proud on the outside, often coming home to find his grandparents to ask for help. money, that uncle even had a fight with his grandfather, leaving a hole in the bed where his grandparents slept.

Bach Luc was very afraid of that uncle, but that uncle valued her face very much and treated her very well.

In such circumstances, she matures day by day.

In middle school, you can sit at a table to eat, and at the beginning of the month you have to pay the entire month's meal fee. Bach Luc didn't know if her parents gave her grandparents money or not, but every month they would give her money for living expenses, and they wouldn't blame her for living there and getting them involved.

Grandma gave Bach Luc money for next month's living expenses, an amount of one hundred and fifty dong. That year, the new currency appeared not long ago, causing many jokes. Someone came back from a long trip, took out a bundle of money wrapped in a blanket, and his mother mistook tens of thousands of yuan for money from the underworld and burned it.

Bach Luc was afraid he would lose the money so he put it in the sleeve of his sweater, so it wouldn't fall out.

While bathing, she forgot to take out the money.

She only heard a rustling sound, but didn't know what it was. Waiting until she had to go back to school, she was as anxious as fire. After telling her grandmother clearly, her grandmother gave her one hundred and fifty dong and did not criticize her, but she cried again.

When she returned the next week, her grandmother told her that she had found the one hundred and fifty dong. She laughed very happily.

But she cried again.

Grandma said, that money was taken from the cesspool. Grandmother insisted that the money must have flowed out of the toilet. Grandfather insisted that he must get the money out. Grandfather still didn't want it. Grandmother insisted. Grandfather had no choice but to I had to look for it with my grandmother.

During that week, grandfather and grandmother, two old people, wiped water out of the toilet every day, a little each day, until the water was dry.

Then the grandmother took the ladder out, went down, used her hands to find the excrement residue, searched several times, and finally got the money out.

From beginning to end, her grandmother never doubted whether she had used the money or not.

For my grandmother, it was one hundred and fifty dong, not a small number.

Looking at her grandmother's happy face, she couldn't help but shed tears.

She thought - what should I do to make these people happy?