Su Lian’s life

01

When Su Lian was eighteen years old, her father passed away.

At that time, Su Lian was still at an ignorant age with a big braid and a pair of big black and white eyes. Everything at home was unclear. My father was willing to work hard, and my mother was always diligent and took good care of everything inside and outside.

Sulian is the second eldest child in the family. The eldest sister Honglian is married and pregnant with Liujia. She also has a fourteen-year-old brother and a ten-year-old sister. Su Lian has not received much attention since she was a child, unlike her eldest sister who was favored and valued by her father because she was the first child and has been held in his hands since she was a child; while her younger brother is the only boy in the family and is naturally the treasure in the eyes of his parents; his younger sister Qing Lian, Because he is the youngest, he is always taken more care of by his family.

Only Su Lian always chooses the leftover clothes from her eldest sister, and always gives the delicious food to her younger siblings. No one loves her. But Su Lian didn't care, she had her own little world. Eighteen-year-old Su Lian still looked like a girl who hadn't grown up yet. She ran around the village all alone. When she saw an acquaintance, she didn't call anyone, but just stared blankly. He smiled blankly.

Everyone said that the second son of the Yang family was really honest. She never fought or fought, and she never even lost her temper.

My father's illness lasted for more than half a year, but he still couldn't get over it. My mother was so sad that she fainted directly in front of her father's still cold body and lay in bed for several days before waking up. .

Su Lian suddenly realized that for the first time, she had become the focus of everyone's eyes.

As soon as his father died, the people around the room immediately burst into tears. The village chief, who had been standing by for a long time, immediately went out and set off a firecracker. This was the signal for the village to report the death for many years. There was a sound of firecrackers, just one, lonely, with despair and desolation - the meaning was conveyed simply and directly, someone was gone.

Father's illness has been going on for a while, and villagers have been coming to see him one after another. With such a noise, everyone knew that Lao Yang had not gotten through it after all, and was gone.

Su Lian watched helplessly as her father curled up into a ball and then died. She had two huge tears hanging from her eyes and wanted to cry out. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. She still didn't realize how her father, who had drank half a bowl of rice soup last night, had turned into a human being like this. A corpse that was gradually getting cold.

The unknown aunt standing next to her could not help but sigh when she saw Su Lian was still in a daze, "This girl!" She quickly pulled Su Lian and asked Su Lian to bring her younger siblings to the door. Villagers were already arriving one after another. Su Lian followed her aunt's instructions and knelt down one by one when she saw every villager who came in, waiting for them to sit beside her father's bedside. Only when you have bowed your head to others can you get up.

That whole afternoon, Su Lian kept kneeling, kowtowing, getting up, kneeling, kowtowing, and getting up. Su Lian remained silent and didn't say a word. She didn't cry endlessly or drag people to death. She just kept crying, and big strings of teardrops fell down one by one, as if they were endless.

My father’s body was kept at home for three days. People from the whole village came to see him off, and trumpets and trumpets were played for three days. The baby in the eldest sister’s belly was about to die. She was pregnant and couldn't hold the funeral.

Eighteen-year-old Su Lian, with a big black and thick braid, wearing a wide linen mourning dress, and a white mourning hat about one foot and three feet long on her head, led her younger brothers and sisters in I knelt in front of the coffin for three whole days and nights, and my knees were almost numb. When I was finally helped up, I felt dizzy and couldn't even stand up.

When the father's coffin is to be carried out, it stands to reason that the son must go in front, but the younger brother is still a barely grown child and cannot take on this important task.

After discussion with several elders of the same clan in the village, they directed Aunt Liu to pull Su Lian, pull up one of her big braids, pull out a full three feet of red cloth, and wrap it around Su Lian's hair. Then tie three bamboo chopsticks around the waist and use it as the eldest son to carry the coffin.

The village chief shouted "Get up" loudly. Su Lian used her thin body to support the head of the coffin, even though the elders who were carrying the coffin just asked her to make a show, and there was no need to show much. She had no strength, but the sudden weight of the coffin still made her stagger. If the village chief hadn't helped her, she would have almost knelt down.

How strange it is that my father, the one who is always very fierce, who only likes to chat with his eldest sister, likes to carry his younger brother around, and likes to carry his younger sister around, has almost no relationship with him. The father who was close to him was actually lying quietly in a coffin on his back at this moment.

Su Lian was carrying this coffin, and it seemed that this coffin was imprinted on her heart. Su Lian always felt that this coffin would be on her body for the rest of her life.

02

Less than a month after her father’s funeral, Sulian was sent to the team’s canteen by her mother.

It was still a time when people ate in the canteen together. The canteen needed manpower, and Sulian and her younger siblings could not expect their mother to support them alone.

Eighteen-year-old Su Lian has never been in the kitchen and cannot even light a stove.

With the help of Aunt Lin in the cafeteria, Su Lian finally lit the fire before turning her entire face into Bao Gong. On the first day, all the dishes in the cafeteria were burnt black. The cooked rice was also half cooked.

Su Lian stared blankly at the villagers who came to eat after finishing their work, and kept lowering her head to apologize.

Fortunately, everyone was considerate and didn’t say much. Someone took a bite and made a joke: Su Lian, are you trying to poison us?

Su Lian’s big eyes immediately turned red, and tears were hanging down her cheeks.

When the man saw something was wrong, he quickly laughed and finished the food in the bowl in big gulps.

Almost half a month passed before Su Lian finally cooked a meal that was edible.

Seeing everyone no longer frowning but still putting rice in their mouths with a forced smile, Su Lian showed her first smile since her father's death.

The moon was very full that night, and Su Lian was very happy. Even her steps home were brisker than usual.

When I got home, I saw my eldest sister Honglian holding her one-month-old son with a red cloth wrapped around her head, talking to her mother.

Su Lian opened the door and went in. Hong Lian and her mother immediately shut up and looked at Su Lian with their eyes.

Su Lian felt her heart skip a beat, and cautiously greeted: "Sister, you are here."

Hong Lian responded and said tentatively: "Sister, you too "Not too young."

Su Lian's heart skipped a beat again. She knew what the eldest sister was going to say.

Sure enough, when Honglian saw that Sulian didn’t answer, she started to continue talking. Sulian watched her lips open and close because she wanted to comfort her son who occasionally hummed in her arms. I would stop to coax him from time to time, and in this intermittent manner, I finished what needed to be said.

After her father passed away, because her mother had always been honest and her younger brother was still too young to be the head of the family, the eldest sister wanted Su Lian to find a similar young man in the village who was willing to marry into the Yang family. The family supported the family and solved life-long problems for Su Lian. After discussing with her mother, the eldest sister felt that the most suitable person was the second child of the Zhang family. Zhang Lao'er's parents died early, and one of his older brothers also died of illness before he grew up. Now he is the only one left to live in the family. He has no objection to the marriage and no one can control him. The key is that Zhang Laoer's family has many mountains and fields, and he is interested in Su Lian. This is the most suitable for the current family situation.

Honglian said: "Dad left early, and I got married again. The family can only count on you."

Sulian looked at her mother, but her mother just turned her back. He walked away and started to cry.

Su Lian lowered her head and said nothing. For a long time, she muttered: "I don't like him."

Hong Lian sighed: "My sister, there is no one at home. Men can't do it. You and your mother are both honest. Your siblings are still young and they will be bullied in the future. You can't be too selfish and only think about yourself." That night, Su Lian couldn't sleep.

03

Seeing that Su Lian did not object strongly, the eldest sister and mother started busy with the wedding of Su Lian and Zhang Laoer.

One of the three rooms in the house was used as a wedding room for Su Lian and her second son. The original earthen walls were scrawled with a layer of paint, and a carpenter was hired to make new furniture. Pieces of furniture that still smelled of paint were moved into the room, but Su Lian felt confused. The smell of paint was rushing through her nostrils, a little pungent and a little sour.

Su Lian has someone she likes in her heart. It was Xiaomu who came to visit relatives at Aunt Liu's house next door in the first month of last year. Su Lian remembers that the first time she saw Xiao Mu, he smiled so much that his eyes curled up like little moons. He said, "Su Lian, your eyes are so big. Can you be my wife in the future?"

< p> Su Lian's face turned red immediately, and her little heart was beating suddenly. She lowered her head and did not dare to look at Xiao Mu, but she couldn't help but laugh.

During the first few days of the first month, Xiaomu always came to Su Lian to tell jokes, which made Su Lian laugh and laugh. She thought Xiaomu was really interesting. He had been to so many places and met so many people. , there were so many jokes to tell, Xiaomu said: "I am a businessman and I am always outside. Are you willing to come with me in the future?"

Su Lian shouted in her heart: "Yes, I do." But of course she didn't say it out loud, she just giggled. Xiaomu couldn't help but laugh and cry when he saw it, and lightly knocked her on the head: "Stupid girl."

Xiaomu left When she was young, she said to Sulian: "When you are over eighteen, I will come and tell your father to marry you home."

Before Xiaomu came, Sulian was about to get married. Su Lian was panicking. She wanted to ask someone to find Xiaomu, but if she found her, what should she say? She wanted to write a letter to Xiaomu, but what should she write?

As the wedding day drew closer, Su Lian felt as if she was being tied up by something. She wanted to escape, but she didn't know how to escape.

Su Lian’s family grows tea. After picking the tea leaves every year, she has to go up the mountain with a hoe to weed the tea mountains. When her father is around, this kind of thing naturally does not happen to Su Lian.

But in the first year after her father was gone, Su Lian had no choice but to take her younger siblings up the mountain, each carrying a hoe. Su Lian walked in front. After walking for a while, she went back to see her younger siblings. They were taller It's not as tall as a hoe. If the hoe is carried on the shoulder, it will slide down after taking a few steps.

The three of them stayed on the mountain for a whole day, and they only managed to hoe a piece as big as a palm. When they returned, everyone had blood blisters on their palms. Yuhui led his younger siblings across the river, but accidentally touched a blister, which was painful.

Su Lian thought: At least, by marrying Zhang Laoer, her younger brothers and sisters no longer need to go up the mountain to weed the tea leaves.

Sometimes when she meets Zhang Laoer in the village, Su Lian always lowers her head and avoids him.

The second child smiled at her and asked: "Su Lian, have you eaten?"

Su Lian turned around and ran away, and behind her came the booing of young people from the same village. Voice: "Second brother, you are useless. My wife doesn't even care about you."

The second child got angry and said, "I will always make her listen to me."

The laughter of a group of people reached my ears, like the tip of a thin needle, piercing my heart with bursts of pain.

Sulian tried to tell her mother again: "Mom, I don't like Zhang Laoer."

Her mother always started crying at this time, trembling her lips as she said "If I hadn't been miserable and killed you and your father, you wouldn't have suffered this. Why didn't you let me die? I'm so useless..." Su Lian had no choice but to stop talking and hugged her thin mother. In his arms, he patted her back and called out again and again: "Mom...Mom..."

Su Lian still married Zhang Laoer after all.

That day, the whole village was beaming with joy. The elders in the village dressed up Su Lian and kept comforting her: "My second brother is an honest person and will take good care of your family."

Maybe everyone knows that in appearance, the short and dull Zhang Laoer is not a good match for Yang Sulian, who is coveted by the young men in the whole village, right? Su Lian's eyes are so big and her body is so thin and small, she always looks like a little swallow. She runs from the beginning of the village to the end of the village and is happy to see everyone.

Everyone likes her. Aunts and aunts who have sons at home always joke with Su Lian: "Su Lian, will you marry into our family in the future?"

At that time, Su Lian Mother Lian always laughs: "Our girls are spoiled and don't know how to cook!"

The other party also laughs: "If you are willing to marry such a cute big girl, I will laugh. How can I be willing to ask her to cook if she is dead?"

After the matter between Su Lian and Zhang Lao Er was settled, the aunts and aunts could only sigh: " It's a pity that for such a good girl, Zhang Laoer is not as tall as Su Lian, and she looks rude.

My son is infinitely better than him, and I don’t know what Lao Yang’s family thinks. "

Someone quickly replied: "What else can you think about? Their family just needs someone to support the family. If you are willing to let your son go to someone else's house, you can also go and mention it to the eldest sister of the Yang family. ”

Everyone could only sigh and stop talking. Who is willing to let his son go to someone else’s house to marry into another family?

Halfway through the banquet, Su Lian followed Zhang Laoer out. Toast the guests.

I didn’t want to, but I turned around and saw Xiaomu. He was still the tall one with deep eye sockets. He stared blankly at the man wearing a red cotton-padded jacket, standing behind Zhang Laoer. Su Lian was holding a wine glass.

Su Lian poured wine into her mouth, and the young men in the village who had once coveted Su Lian started to cheer: "Su Lian is so happy to marry Zhang Lao Er. , drinking wine is so refreshing! ”

Su Lian still smiled and said nothing, holding the wine glass and toasting to everyone who came to toast.

She quickly became drunk and fell unconscious. Because of this, When she was awake, she didn't feel Zhang Laoer's rising and falling in her body, and she didn't feel the pain and unwanted affection.

When she woke up in the morning, Su Lian saw nothing under the covers. She turned her head and looked at Zhang Laoer, who was sleeping beside her with his mouth open and snoring. His whole body was sore and numb. The room was quiet, but Su Lian's mind was filled with thoughts, like a dark night. The demon that haunted the place bared its teeth and claws, gnawing at her last bit of sanity bit by bit.

Zhang Laoer stretched out one of his hands and touched Su Lian's fair and smooth skin. Touching her hand randomly, Su Lian felt that her whole body was trembling, with goosebumps rising layer by layer. She gently pushed Zhang Laoer away, and Zhang Laoer muttered, then turned over and continued to sleep.

Su Lian bit her lip and put on her clothes one by one. Before dawn, she walked to the kitchen in the dark, picked up the kitchen knife on the stove, and took it. The bench, which had only been painted last month, was quietly waiting for the family to wake up from their sleep.

Su Lian held the knife to her neck without moving, letting her eldest sister do it. How she cried with her mother in front of her, she just pretended that she couldn't see or hear, whether it was her younger siblings who were encouraged by everyone to try to impress Su Lian with tears, or the villagers who were called to the village by her mother and eldest sister who were confused and anxious. All the elders were blocked by Su Lian: "I would rather die than marry Zhang Laoer. I would rather marry a fool than Zhang Laoer. "

The eldest sister sat down on the ground and cried loudly: "You damn girl, your parents raised you like this, but now that your father is gone, are you not willing to do anything for the family at all? ? What do you call mom and me? "

Su Lian was sitting in the middle of the hall like a stone statue, holding the knife, not shedding tears or talking much. Above her head was a kind black and white photo of her father.< /p>

At night, the gathered villagers gradually dispersed, leaving only one family. Zhang Laoer squatted at the door and smoked silently.

The eldest sister was still at ease. Persuasion: "In order to buy new furniture for your wedding, Zhang Laoer sold his two old houses. Now that you are like this, what will others do?" "

Su Lian just held the knife tightly and did not let go. Her thumb accidentally scratched the blade, and a little blood flowed down. Her mother was sobbing beside her.

In the end, it was the mother who compromised. When she was pregnant with Sulian, her father had always wanted a boy. When Sulian was born, he was already lukewarm. In addition, the child had been stubborn and silent since he was a child, and he didn't like to talk. Hong Lian always makes people happy with her mouth. When Su Lian's father rarely thinks of Su Lian, he always forgets that he has such a second daughter.

Others say: "Old Yang, Your second daughter is getting more and more beautiful. "He would often react slowly for half a beat before responding: "What's the use of being pretty? You're just like a piece of wood. You don't even know whether to agree to it after being asked for a long time. "Everyone thinks that the second girl of the Yang family is honest and doesn't talk much and doesn't have many ideas. However, only her mother knows that Su Lian, this child, just keeps quiet. Once she is sure of something, even a cow can't pull her back. .

The eldest sister secretly advised her mother: "Zhang Lao Er has a field and a mountain farm for four people. From now on, Su Lian will not suffer from following her. Our family's life will be much more relaxed, so you can get used to it." Just hold her and let her make trouble for a few days, can you really take a knife to her neck..."

My mother, who had been gentle and weak all her life, suddenly became firm at that time and choked her eldest sister severely. One sentence: "Su Lian is my girl. If I don't pamper her, who will pamper her? It doesn't matter if she's fine. What if something really happened today? I'm useless. At worst, we will have to endure some hardships in the future." You can't wrong my girl!"

The eldest sister was still worried: "The marriage has been consummated, and now I am arguing about not marrying, who can Su Lian marry in the future?"

The mother looked at Su Lian sitting motionless in the main room and replied loudly: "What will happen in the future, that is her life! If she doesn't want to now, I can't force her!"

Su Lian transferred Looking over at her mother, she blinked her eyes, tears fell, and howled like a little animal.

04

Three years later, Sulian was 21 years old and became an old girl in the eyes of others. In the past few years, she seemed to have really changed. She was doing all the work inside and outside the house quickly and smoothly. Her younger siblings had grown up, and the family was finally not living in such embarrassment.

There are naturally some gossips in the village. The young men who used to like to make noises with Su Lian now always avoid her in embarrassment when they see her. Even those who like to joke around The aunts and uncles in the country are always sarcastic when they see Su Lian, not knowing what to say. That Xiaomu back then never appeared in front of him again.

Su Lian no longer cared, she still dragged her long braid, smiled at everyone she saw, and kept busy at the beginning and end of the village with her thin body.

In the twelfth lunar month of that year, Su Lian got married again.

The groom is eight years older than her and has a wealthy family, but he has never been able to marry a wife because he is too honest and almost dementia. Now that he can marry a beautiful bride like Su Lian, his family is very satisfied and expressed generously. , It doesn’t matter that Su Lian has been married before and is not a yellow flower girl. Not only that, but a large amount of gift money was also given.

Su Lian gave all the gift money to her mother, half of which was reserved to supplement the family income in the future, and half of which was given to Zhang Laoer as compensation for regretting the marriage. She did not ask for a penny of dowry from her family, and only brought two quilts and four pairs of cloth shoes made by her mother herself.

The rule in the family is that when getting married, the bride wants her brothers to carry her in the car. At that time, my younger brother had stretched out his body and looked like a big young man.

Su Lian lay on her younger brother's back, looking back at her mother who was leaning against the door and crying and followed behind her, still crying and shouting: "Second sister, second sister, I don't want you to marry me." "Human!" Sister, Su Lian thought, her little brother who always looks like a little carrot has finally grown up and can send her sister off to get married and be on his own.

She laughed and cried again. Cried and laughed again.

Another year passed, Su Lian gave birth to a son.

The whole family of the other party was very happy. They thought that this demented child was about to die, but they didn't expect that not only was his wife beautiful, but he also had a fat and white son.

Although her husband was honest, he treated Su Lian very well. All the household affairs were left to Su Lian. He just worked hard and gave all the wages he earned to Su Lian. lotus.

My husband is an honest man who doesn’t like to argue with others. Sometimes when something happens, it’s usually Su Lian who comes forward, with her hands on her hips, secretly cutting down a fir tree in her house for someone, and stealing some from the field. Several big carrots quarreled loudly with people over such trivial matters. No matter what happened, the husband always stood aside silently, keeping his head buried in silence.

When Su Lian went back, she was full of anger and had nowhere to vent her anger, so she took out her anger on her husband and opened her mouth to curse.

Her husband never said anything back. When she got tired of scolding her, he would silently go to the kitchen and bring out the prepared meals. Su Lian looked at it and couldn't help but laugh or cry.

Sometimes Su Lian felt that she was not worth it. She had worked so hard but ended up marrying a useless husband. If I had known this, why bother? It's better to follow Zhang Laoer and be around for the rest of your life.

But as her children grew older and her family's situation improved, Su Lian felt more secure and stable than ever before.

She thought: Even after suffering so much, they finally got through it.

At that time, I am afraid no one believed that the three Yang siblings would survive.

As the days passed, Su Lian got older. The dull girl at the beginning, after a long period of being a quick and aggressive young woman, finally matured into the person she is now, carrying a small bag and following a group of people every day. Mahjong old lady. She is still as lean and lean, and you can vaguely see the outline of her face when she was a girl. She also started telling jokes when playing cards, making people laugh. Others said: "Su Lian, you are such a living treasure, let's do another one" Four laps?"

Su Lian took out the phone her daughter-in-law had just bought and shook her head: "I have to pick up my grandson from school."

Su Lian held her grandson's little hand and went home. The setting sun illuminated the ground with warm yellow. She suddenly remembered that dusk again, when she led her younger siblings down the mountain step by step. She accidentally fell and the three of them fell. Sitting on the mountainside crying together. No one saw them, no one helped them up. At the foot of the mountain were the smoke rising from every household, rising quietly and dissipating quietly in the sky that was gradually losing its light.

Fortunately, they all survived one by one.