There is Room for Rebirth in the 1950’s

Today is a safe "washing three" day. After the family had breakfast, Mother Zhang prepared new combs, new soaps, new towels, umbilical hairpins, soup ladies, new wooden plates, thick cloths, as per the requirements of the midwife as usual. Cakes, tea, copper tea tray, green onions, ginger slices, mugwort leaves, sophora japonicus, baking cages, raw and cooked eggs, sticks, etc.

Dye red cassia yuan, lychee, raw peanuts, chestnuts with red paper.There are some things that she prepared nine before the birth of her grandson, so she is not unfamiliar, and she can handle it if she is skilled.

Early that morning, Grandma Zhou came to Zhang's house alone with two old hens and the little clothes and shoes she made, and exchanged a few words with her old relatives, Mr. Lin, and went to see Zhou Jiao in the Xixiang house.

Lin Lishan and her daughter were tearful when they saw the old lady. The old lady worked hard to raise her dad. Lin Lishan respected her mother-in-law and felt ashamed.

The old lady Zhou smiled and looked at her mother, and touched her little peace: "You can't cry during confinement. Today is a good day for our baby. You have to laugh. Now that you see your mother and daughter together, it's a stone in your heart. Shanshan, I’ve wronged you all these years, and I’ve been tossing about it. I’m sorry for the Zhou family. You’re so good with Jiaojiao, this kid is filial, if it wasn’t for being forced to do nothing, he would not Tearing their face with them. This child has something to hide in his heart like her dad, and never tells outsiders. He has suffered a lot of grievances over the years, and it is the old man who has been confused. Jiaojiao will do something about the Zhou family. Don't worry about it, don't worry about whoever finds you, live your life."

Zhou Jiao took the old lady Zhou to sit down and said, "Milk, I just feel sorry for you. You keep raising me and I haven't been filial to you, so I poke in your heart. If you always have any thoughts, please tell me. , I will definitely do it. And the box you sent over, I also told my mother, always let my mother know that I have a good grandma."

Sitting on the kang, Grandma Zhou was silent for a while, sighed and looked at the mother and daughter, hesitated for a moment, and said: "There is nothing I'm sorry for, grandma, as long as Jiaojiao has a good life. It's okay to tell your mother, this The box is not grandma’s. Grandma meets your grandpa and is already exhausted. Where there are these good things, you see the land deed, and the milk can’t afford to go so far to buy a house for you. This box is originally yours. Before you were young, I didn't show it out for fear of accidents. This is something someone secretly sent to me to give you the name.

Over the years, my heart has fallen apart, and no one dares to say.While your mother and daughter are here, I will tell you that I am afraid that no one will know about this in a few days. Who will give you a house and precious jewelry?

I'm worried, no one dared to speak out.You mother and daughter should treat this as nothing, and hide the box.I don't know what happened, and I didn't find your grandfather.Don't tell anyone about this, you can't say it.When I think of it, my heart hurts. Jiaojiao, your father will never do bad things. He is my son. I know that he is a human being. If you don’t believe me, ask your mother. If your father is bad, your mother will guard. For so many years?"

Lin Lishan held the old lady with tears in her arms, and whispered: "Mom, don't worry, it's all right. Her father is not a bad person, he is a hero of this country. He is out of duty. He will be back soon, even my dad. I don’t know if he and my eldest brother are on a mission. They are coming back now. Mom is really coming back.”

The old lady Zhou covered her eyes with her trembling hands. After a long time, she slowly moved away. A series of tears flowed silently from her sad and joyful face. There was no crying, just let it go. Tears kept running down.

"Okay, okay, okay, my son is back. I have been looking forward to it for so many years, after thinking about it for so many years, and worrying about it for so many years, it will be fine to come back, and it will be fine to come back."

Lin Lishan got up and took a towel to dry the tears on the old lady's face. She knew this feeling. At the time, she knew the news and hid in the room and cried and laughed for a whole day, causing the old man to spend the day with anxiety.

"Mom, don't get excited. Now that few people know this news, you have to keep it secret. He should be able to come back years ago. When he comes back, I will go to see you with him.

"Well, mom knows to keep it secret and don’t tell others. Telling others will put him in danger. Shanshan, good boy, you finally end up with it. Good girl, only 18 years old. I haven’t had a good life after marrying. That house is gone. You are still guarding him foolishly. Now it's alright, mom can rest assured, even if you leave now, you can rest assured.” The old lady Zhou hugged Lin Lishan and patted her on the back.

Lin Lishan happily said to Mrs. Zhou: "Mom, don't say frustrating words, you have to live well and watch our Xiao Ping'an grow up to marry a wife and have children. You don't know, the day Jiaojiao was pregnant the day the news reached the capital. In the afternoon, our family received news that they had brought her father and her uncle alive. The whole family said that this child is a lucky star."

Relatives and friends came over one after another.Close relatives gave Zhou Jiao some oil cakes, eggs, brown sugar and other food, as well as Ping An's clothes, shoes, socks and other gifts.

By noon, the weather was warm, and the baptism ceremony began. All family and friends gathered in the hall.Mother Zhang also set up the stove deliberately.

The tool for washing three is a big basin, and the host is the midwife. Today, the midwife is a big gain. For a while, everything on the plate belongs to her.

Pour hot water made from Sophora japonica and Aiye leaves in the basin, and Mr. Lin took the lead to add a small spoonful of water to the basin. After the paper money and bills were placed on the tea tray, Lin Lishan also put silver dollars, copper coins and paper money in, friends and family present. , And then put some paper money, bills, copper coins, peanuts, eggs, dates, gui yuan, chestnuts, etc. into the big pot. This is "adding a pot."

You add clean water, she said "Long flowing water, smart and smart;"

You add some happy fruits such as jujube, gui yuan, chestnut, and she said: "You have a son in the early days, and you will have a good son; Gui yuan, Gui yuan, and three yuan in a row."

The relatives and friends who heard the crowd laughed.

After "adding a pot", the midwife picked up the prepared club and stirred it in the pot, saying: "One stir, two stir and three stir, my brother leads my younger brother. Seventy, eighty, crooked hair, Naughty boy, snoring is coming!"

Only then began to take a bath for Ping An, crying loudly when Ping An was caught in the cold, but Zhang Guoqing who was standing by was worried. Everyone felt that not only did they not violate the taboo, but they thought that Auspiciousness was a "sound basin".

While the midwife was washing, she silently chanted her congratulations. Others didn't hear what was said, so she was worried about those who were difficult to say.

After washing, tie Ping An with a red quilt, and lightly hit Ping An with a green onion three times, saying: "One dozen is smart ("Cong" and "onion" are homophonic)), and two are smart."

Then he asked his father Zhang Guoqing to throw the green onions on the roof.Before Zhang Guoqing left, he hurriedly asked the child to be carried into the house. It was cold.

The baptism ceremony is also over, and then the three sides are washed. The old Zhang's big room, the third room aunt and cousin will come over at dawn to help wake up the dough, and wait for the ceremony to entertain everyone.

By noon, the noodles had been cooked, and a bowl of bone broth was used to make the soup base, with a few slices of pork belly and some scallions on it, which was fragrant.I started to take it to the hall. Fortunately, Zhang Guoqing brought back a lot of meat yesterday. Everyone's mouth was greasy. They all felt that the old Zhang was genuine and sincere, and the bowl of fabric was really real.

The adults stopped watching the children eat a bowl.Zhang's mother was not stingy either, so she let people boil all the noodles that woke up today and eat them all.

The women in the hall were eating and discussing loudly, talking about things in their respective villages, talking about their distant relatives, and talking about their lives.The children were counting the sugar in their pockets, eating noodles fed by the adults with joy. The older children ran out with the candies after eating the noodles.