June (1)

This is a true story. You may find that many of the plots can be seen in yourself and around you. Or maybe she in this book is passing you by, and then disappears into the rush of people in the city.

The name of the protagonist in the story is June. The reason why June is called June is that the author named it for her because the author does not like June’s real name. The name June comes from the fact that June was born in the summer of 1987, a leap month in June that year, and June is the morning after she was born in mid-June.

This is the hottest time of the year, summer. Henan Province is a plain area and mainly produces wheat. At this time, the wheat harvest has passed, and the crops that have just been planted in the fields for more than a month are at the time of their growth. The sun is bright, the cicadas are chirping, and it is not yet noon, so the temperature is not the hottest yet.

On this day, shortly after having breakfast, June’s mother started having labor pains in her stomach. June’s father hurriedly went to find the midwife. Unexpectedly, the midwife was called away by another family in the same village. Finally, June The mother gave birth alone at home. Fortunately, June was not the first child, but the third. The couple had some experience. June's father cut off the umbilical cord with scissors and did a simple bandage, and June was born smoothly.

Gender, female. Dark and fat, if the physical characteristics were not confirmed to be a girl, people would think that this is a boy. When a baby is born, the first thing to do is to name it. What name should it be given? There are two conventions for naming children in rural areas. The first is to name children according to their seniority. The seniority of June in the village genealogy is the generation with the word "qi", and the word "qi" means: beginning, starting, or connecting the previous and the next; The second type is based on the names of cousins ??in the same generation.

June has two cousins ??named Dongyun and Yadong. Well, because the parents had various filial piety, they didn't choose the name according to the normal rules. But June's parents have a better relationship with Uncle Liu's family. Uncle Liu's cousin is called Dongyun, which means winter clouds. What could it mean if she follows the name? In addition to the clouds in the sky, there is the sun, so they naturally and effortlessly decided on the name of June - the sun in the sky. Since June is born in summer, they changed winter to east, which is the sun in the east. So June’s real name is Donghui.

Let’s get to know June’s father and mother. June’s father ranks second and is a typical honest person. He is careless, honest, sincere, down-to-earth, doesn't talk much, and has no temper. Well, all the characteristics of an honest person are taken over by June’s father, so you should know what kind of person June’s father is.

June’s father has five sisters, namely, June’s uncle, June’s father, June’s third uncle, June’s aunt and brother-in-law. Uncle June adopted an uncle who has no children and is independent. Menmen has a daughter and a son. Third uncle Liu Yue and Liu Yue's family usually ignore each other, and they are already married and have a daughter under two years old. As for June's aunt and brother-in-law, due to the conflict between their parents, June's parents have no contact with her aunt and brother-in-law. As long as June can remember, her aunt has been married and rarely returns to her parents' home. Even when she does, she only goes to her third uncle's house. Yue has only met her a few times, and she only knows to call her aunt. Jun Jun's uncle works in the city all year round and comes back once a year or so. He has met Jun Jun a few times and knows that he is his uncle, that's all.

June’s mother is the youngest in the family, with four brothers and three sisters. June’s grandmother gave birth to ten children, two of whom died in infancy. In the early days of New China's liberation around the 1960s, due to the country's long-term internal and external war of resistance, lack of food and clothing, and backward medical conditions, many babies died prematurely. June's mother was born in 1965. When June's grandmother gave birth to June's mother, she was already in her forties and ran out of milk. It happened that June's mother's eldest sister gave birth to her eldest daughter at this time and was not yet pregnant. June's mother had grown up eating her eldest sister's milk. Every time, June's mother's eldest sister always fed her sister first and then her daughter. , it is common for my daughter to be hungry when her milk supply is low.

Grandpa June is ten years older than Grandma June. He has a son at the age of fifty-three. It can be said that he is very happy for Mother June. Although she comes from a poor family, she still has food to eat and clothes to wear. Reach out and hold it in the palm of your hand for fear of falling, hold it in your mouth for fear of melting, and dote on it to the extreme. Everyone in the family must give way to Mother June.

June's mother is a strong person. Everyone doesn't want to see me, and I can't embarrass myself. It's not suitable for me. I can't live in two days for three days, and I won't be laughed at by others. After looking around, he finally fell in love with June's father. June's father is eight years older than June's mother. Partly because his family is poor, Dingdang is an honest man and doesn't know how to speak politely when meeting people. Secondly, because during the Cultural Revolution, my family was not in a good position and I was labeled a landlord, so I never found a wife.

In fact, June’s father’s family lives more than 20 miles east of the city, and June’s mother’s family lives more than 30 miles west of the city. The two places are 60 miles apart. How could this happen? What's up? You must know that the roads were not easy to travel in those days. There were dirt roads everywhere and were uneven, and there was no means of transportation. The closest thing is walking. Usually when I go to the market to buy something, I have to rely on my legs to walk a dozen or twenty miles to the town. It's okay on weekdays, but if it rains, there will be mud and puddles everywhere, the roads will be muddy, and feet and legs will be covered in mud. Some people don't want to get their shoes dirty, so they take off their shoes and hold on to their high trouser legs. Walk barefoot.

On weekdays, I do crop work, hauling grain and so on, using a wooden cart. No matter how well-off the family is, they will keep a mule, donkey or oxen, and they will use a flatbed cart to pull heavy objects when they go out to far distances or to the fields. Such a means of transportation is considered a rarity in rural areas, and it is not even common in every household. They all have it. When needed, they have to ask for a favor, and then return the favor if they have something to do the next day. This back and forth makes the relationship between the neighbors particularly good, so there is a saying that "distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors." That's why.

Speaking of which, why did June’s father and mother become a couple? This has something to do with June's grandmother. June's grandmother's natal family is in the backyard of June's mother's house, so June's father comes to visit relatives at his uncle's house. June doesn't know much about Grandma June. Grandma June is no longer around when there is no June. June only heard her mother talk about her when she was a child. Grandma June's family used to be big landowners. After liberation, New China advocated Marxist communist ideology. The government organized the people to overthrow capitalism and overthrow the evil old society. At that time, all landlords or merchants' families were criticized and tied up. Wearing high hats and parading through the streets, the landlords are like rats crossing the street, everyone shouts and beats them.

Grandma June couldn’t bring herself to live with her husband’s family at that time, so she eventually married away to the east of the city. When she married June’s grandfather, she still had a second marriage. In June, my father was visiting his uncle's house during the holidays. It was inconvenient to travel all the way back and forth, so he stayed at his uncle's house for a longer period of time. June's father was an honest man with a decent appearance. He didn't talk much on weekdays and had a good temper. At the age of twenty-five or six, he was still a bachelor and had yet to find a wife. After all these visits, June's mother took a liking to him.

June’s mother’s focus is not on her age. Her father is a full ten years older than her mother. Being older is not a bad thing. When you are older, you can know how to let yourself go. If you know how to care for others, then Even better. Isn't this just the person who was dozing off and found a pillow - a natural thing. At first, both parents refused to agree, but they couldn't help but agreed, so they nodded and got married. At that time, June's mother was seventeen and June's father was twenty-five. When weddings are held, there will inevitably be jokes about drunkenness and making trouble among the newlyweds during wedding banquets. Liu Yue’s mother has a straightforward and bold temperament. She drinks about two kilograms of high-strength liquor on the spot amidst the booing. Liu Yue’s mother often hears this after remembering it. When my mother mentioned this matter to others, she said that she was a hero among women and that men were not as good as her.

The poor and humble couple have always been miserable. Faced with daily necessities, the parents are short-term, so they can’t help but have the whole family argue, quarrel, curse, or even fight. Since then, the family has divided the family property. June’s parents and parents-in-law and uncles If there is a rift, there will be no further relationship. Originally, the whole family lived in the same courtyard, with three main rooms facing south and two side rooms facing west. My parents-in-law and uncle occupied three main rooms, one side room and the courtyard. June's parents were assigned to a side room at the end, so they blocked the west door and opened a new door from the south. Then they filled in some bricks and tiles, and A house was built with mud on the south side, and a small firewood house was built on the opposite side with mud as a wall and wooden sticks and fine firewood as a roof, which was usually used for cooking. After that, the main road faced the sky on both sides.