In 1991, it snowed all night on the 26th of December.
Tangjiawan is a small village with less than 100 households on the hillside.
In the dilapidated farmyard at the west end of the village, the soil on the outer layer of the low wall has fallen off, the rusty iron fence door is leaning on the inner side of the wall, and three adobe houses are standing in the yard trembling. Although layers of waste newspapers are pasted inside the windows, the cold wind can't be stopped from flowing into the gap.
More than three o'clock in the morning, a dark figure emerged from the fighting room, carrying a bottle of white wine in his arms, and came to the chicken house at home.
Seeing nobody around, Black Shadow took out a handful of corn kernels from his pocket and put them into the chicken bowl. He took out some white wine from his arms and poured it out. He muttered, "Wine is green grain, and the more he drinks, the younger he is."
Then he opened the chicken coop and put the chicken food bowl in. As soon as he put the chicken food bowl in his hand, his hand was pecked.
After closing the chicken cage, Heiying entered the main room again, took out three frozen hard corn flour cakes from the cabinet in the main room, and put them into a pocket.
Still, he groped in the hall, knocked down a stick and made a crisp sound.
Dongwu old man: "Who?"
"I, Haozi, I urinate."
"Every day I do nothing, and lazy donkeys grind shit and urinate a lot." The old man in the room swore.
Tang Hao, the black shadow, breathed out with a guilty conscience, picked up the stick on the ground, and hooked down the basket hanging on the beam in the moonlight.
In northern rural areas, in winter, it is a natural refrigerator, and even the urine can be frozen into ice. Every family in rural areas is accustomed to hanging meat and other food on the beams of the main room, which can prevent both rats and cats.
It can't prevent people.
Tang Hao gently put down the basket, opened the basket and wrapped it with food cloth. Inside, he put a fist sized pork and some fish.
Tang Hao picked up the big pick, took two silver carp weighing more than one jin with a grass carp weighing three or four jin, hung the basket up quietly, and carried three fish out of the door to check the chicken.
The chickens in the chicken coop ate the corn kernels mixed with white wine and fell asleep. Tang Hao put his head into the chicken coop. Several chickens touched each other, pulled out two red crowned roosters, tasted their appearance in the moonlight, and finally stuffed them into the cloth bag that had been prepared for a long time. When he left, he did not forget to take away the two warm eggs that had just been laid.
Before his family woke up, Tang Hao carried two cloth bags and jumped out of the house.
Go straight out of the village along the village road.
In the twinkling of an eye, it was dawn. As the only daughter-in-law in the family, Tang Hao's sister-in-law got up early to live and cook. She saw that the footprints on the snow in the yard were not right. One was facing the chicken house, the other was facing the gate of the yard, and there was no regret. There was a wine bottle on the stove.
The sister-in-law wondered, when she came to the chicken coop, the door of the cage was open, and there was a strong smell of wine in it. Several old hens were lying in the cage as dead.
"Ouch, who was killed by the sky? The New Year's Eve is not clean." The landmark rural women of this era, no matter how big or small, howl first.
Don't mention your own men and parents in law. When hearing the news, several families in the neighborhood came to see the excitement.
The villagers looked in through the low courtyard wall, when Tang Hao's elder brother and parents had arrived in the courtyard.
"I just got up, thinking about going out to pick up firewood, I saw this string of footprints. I quickly looked at the chicken house, and two big roosters were missing. What a god killed dog did this, and we will not be allowed to pass this year." The sister-in-law howled.
Outside the courtyard wall, we saw that the busy villagers were not dressed neatly, and their hands were in their sleeves, talking about everything.
"It's needless to ask. I'm sure your little one did it. Look at the footprints. If there are any, which thief can climb the roof and walk the wall?"
"Look where your boy has gone. It must be him. He hasn't run away."
"If you look again, you will find that there is nothing but two chickens missing. This boy has never thought right before."
The words outside the courtyard were careless, and the courtyard listened intently. Tang Hao's sister-in-law ran into the West House with small steps. She rummaged through the boxes and cabinets and found a red cloth bag. The money in the red cloth bag was still there. Then she came to the main room and took down some fish hanging on the beam to prepare for the Spring Festival and take back her mother's family.
Another wail: "Oh, my God, how can I live? How can I live? How can I live? The little fish in the house have been stolen by the little boy? God, you should have a long eye. What do I do to your old Tang family? What about my conscience? Why doesn't he have a conscience?"
……
The family was very busy. Tang Hao, who was walking on the path at the foot of the mountain, sneezed inexplicably. He slipped out of sight and fell on his butt.
I don't know what God thinks. He joined the rebirth army. It doesn't matter if his family is poor. The key is the character of this product. Everyone yells at me, but I don't believe him if I tell you the truth. Any shit can be put on his head, otherwise I won't do this sneaking thing.
At noon, my sister-in-law stopped cooking, howled and tired, and the people watching the activity dispersed.
The sister-in-law sat cross legged on the kang head of the west house, stared at the elder brother, and whispered, "This house will be defeated by your younger brother sooner or later. You always protect him. Did he read your order? What's the condition of the house? I've taken all the things for the New Year. I've had enough of it, and this house must get points."
"Separation, where do you want Haozi to live?"
"Well, I don't care. You haven't seen this one today. He stole half of the food for a big family during the Spring Festival. The family will either share it or I will go back to my parents' home. I have no father in my belly."
"Then wait for the spring to warm up. It's freezing cold. Where do you want him to go?"
"As you said, I will tell my parents about the separation after spring."
"Tell me, don't be angry with our son."
……
Tang Hao came to the county seat and stood at the door of the food market. He was dressed in patched black cloth. He didn't know how long he had washed it. It was all black and shiny. One of the ears of an old hat on his head was tilted and the other was hanging. His hands reached into each other's sleeves and stepped on a pair of heavy cotton shoes. The cold was forcing him to put his hands into the cuffs like everyone else, Two cloth bags were hung on his body one in front of the other.
At the end of the year, there were still many people preparing for New Year's goods. The people who came out of the food market were corresponding to the lyrics of the song: a chicken in the left hand, a duck in the right hand, and a fat baby on his body.
Humming a tune, Tang Hao walked close to the food market and walked around for a while. He asked and looked, but he didn't buy it. The seller looked at his dress, regardless of him. He asked and returned, regardless of whether he saw it or not.
Standing in front of the chicken stall, a group of people surrounded the stall.
"Brother, how do you sell chicken?" Tang Hao asked.
"It's two dollars and two cents." The stall owner didn't know who asked, so he replied when he heard a voice.
Tang Hao sees that the stall owner ignores him and leaves the vegetable market.
Sure enough, the price in the county is higher than that in the countryside. If a chicken breaks the sky in the countryside, it will cost only two yuan, and we have to catch up with the good time.
At this point, the chicken in Tang Hao's bag has woken up. Tang Hao comes to the door of a community a little far from the food market and releases the chicken. Two chicken feet are tied with ropes, and corn grains are scattered on the ground. The chicken is pecking at the corn grains. The other bag opens its mouth, revealing three fish inside.
