Parents have their own small thoughts-eccentric love

There is a slang in Cantonese: the head is gold, the tail is silver, and the passer-by is in the middle.

what do you mean?

This sentence generally means that there are many children in the family, and the oldest child is gold, the youngest child is silver, and the child in the middle is a passerby who is not valued.

Cousin is the second child in the family, with an elder sister in front and a younger sister behind. With her parents' partiality in gangs, Cousin really became a "passer-by" among the sisters.

Cousin was born in the 196s. At that time, families with units would allocate houses, so in the same alley, the neighbors across the street were basically workers. Cousin's family and neighbors often come and go, and gradually, everyone remembers Cousin because she is a special "diligent child".

People living in the alley can only rely on a public well for daily water use, which is about 5 meters away from the alley; So every morning, I can always see people queuing for water there, and every household carries buckets and loads.

At this time, my cousins in the crowd are particularly noticeable. Because in all adults, tall, strong or fat, only my cousin is a girl who hasn't graduated from primary school. She is thin and small, hunched slightly, and also carries a burden to carry water.

When drawing water, because my cousin was not strong enough, when the bucket was filled with water in the well, she not only couldn't pull it up, but also the well was covered with slippery stones, and my cousin almost fell into the well several times. So as long as it's her turn to fetch water, the adults around her will help her fill the bucket, and then watch her trudge with a bucket of water on each side and slowly carry it home.

So, at the same time, what are my cousins doing? Their three sisters are about the same age. In that poor family where "population is manpower", of course, they also have to do housework, but under the preference of their parents, they do "easy work" compared with their cousins' "manual work".

My sister is responsible for washing rice and cooking porridge, then folding the clean clothes received by my mother, and then making everyone's beds. My sister is responsible for taking care of her appearance, then preparing my father's hookah properly, and occasionally picking up an egg and cleaning it in the henhouse; After the cousin came back from fetching water, the second task was to cut wood and move honeycomb coal to meet the daily consumption of the family.

I've been busy early in the morning, and finally it's time for breakfast. My cousin is usually the hungriest one, and I have to drink two bowls of thick porridge. At this time, my mother always mumbles a few words discontentedly.

And if there are four eggs on the table, under the distribution of mother, usually my sister gets two eggs, and then my cousin and sister get one each; Under the distribution of dad, usually my sister gets two, and then my cousin and sister get one each.

Confucius had the foresight to say: You don't suffer from widowhood, but you suffer from inequality. The same is true of treating children's emotions.

My cousin said that she didn't care much when she was a child, but she was forced to adapt and get used to it. Otherwise, what can the weak self do? Competing for favor? She has no ability to change her parents' preferences, only herself.

After decades, my aunt's figure is still thin and slightly hunched. She remembers too many unforgettable things, but it is not because she is complaining, but because her memory is branded-the morning when she carried water and the breakfast when she divided eggs in those years, like the past, has already been deeply branded into her flesh and blood.