Jean Love

After the Lantern Festival, my sister-in-law took her mother down to Guangzhou, saying that before it was too busy, she would take her out for a walk and take her little niece along.My mother was motion sick and didn't want to come down. My sister-in-law bought her motion sickness pills and glucose water, and said: "My niece is three years old, and I didn't take her out for a walk, and I haven't seen my grandparents. This time I took my mother out. By the way, I will also go to Guangxi to meet my father-in-law and mother-in-law."

My sister-in-law is from Guangxi, under the jurisdiction of Nanning, and also from the countryside.

On the second day after they came down, my brother and I went there and bought durians, apples, and grapes.On Changshou Road, there is a small facade full of jackets, windbreakers, casual clothes and trousers. It mainly deals in trousers. The owner is a friend of my brother. The couple have been doing business in Guangzhou for many years. The elder brother is called brother and brother, and we used to call elder brother and sister-in-law. The two parents-in-law and a little boy who is one or two years older than the little niece are a family of three, and they are very enthusiastic.

The second floor of the store is rented out, and the owner has rented it to his elder brother and sister-in-law. It has been a year or two. My younger brother has been here and lived before, and he knows the way.Turn around a small alley behind the store, a mudstone step with five or six steps, a wooden door of a Xiguan hut, pushed open by a few wooden pillars of even thickness, and an iron door that can be pushed and pulled, each about one meter long The wide wooden stairs, pedaling, pedaling, like drums, and the heels of leather shoes made a burst of sound.

There are two rooms on the left and right when you go up the stairs. The door to the left room is locked, which is where the owner lives.The right room is rented to my brother and sister-in-law. The space is not big, maybe less than [-] square meters. There is a wooden bed with quilts and clothes piled up randomly, an old and dilapidated wooden desk, and the desktop is also messy. There is a long bamboo by the window on the left with various towels and clothes hanging on it. Opposite the window is a majestic high-rise building. Below is a two-lane road with cars coming and going, noisy people and dirty air.

The ground on the second floor is also paved with fir wood, and there is a thumping sound when walking. Seeing us coming, the little niece was so excited that she jumped up on the bed: "Uncle is here, uncle is here!" Throw away the teddy bear in her hand, and leave The mother's arms stretched out her small hands towards her younger brother, and made a gesture of throwing her arms into her arms. The younger brother went over and picked her up, one mouthful to the left, one mouthful to the right, and wrapped his hands around her small waist, making the little girl giggle , my brother laughed haha.

My mother sat on the edge of the bed, next to the desk, resting her cheek on her right hand, looking listless. When she saw us coming in, her eyes lit up, she showed a happy smile, she moved her buttocks, shook her body, and continued to sit there with her hands on the floor. Knees, watching my brother and niece playing and laughing.

The sister-in-law got up from the bed, with a pale face and messy hair, lifted the quilt, and came down to pour tea for us. This small space suddenly became lively, crowded, and more lively.

After taking a short rest, we came down, greeted the shopkeeper, and gave fruit gifts. At this time, my brother also came back, saying that he was transferred to another shift at night, so he could accompany us for a stroll during the day.

Our family walked to Liwan Plaza on foot. My elder brother walked in front, and my younger brother followed closely. My little niece was riding on my younger brother's shoulders, holding his head with both hands, and my younger brother held her little arms with both hands. have a laugh.

I was at the back, watching my sister-in-law and mother holding hands, supporting each other, walking slowly, like two mothers and daughters who have not seen each other for a long time. , the clothes are old, and one can tell at a glance that they are visitors from afar who have come to visit relatives in the city.The sister-in-law is slim, wearing a small white vest, a coat, a pair of blue slacks, and flat shoes. She is about 1.6 meters taller than her mother.The two of them walked all the way, talking in low voices, occasionally whispering to each other.

There are all kinds of jade shops on both sides of Changshou West Road, including bracelets, jade Guanyin, Tathagata Buddha sculptures, agates, pendants, and red Chinese knots.We walk all the way, look all the way, stop and go.

"Buy a bracelet for mother. It's rare to come out. There are so many of them here, and there are so many styles." My brother stopped and waited for me to approach.

"I thought so too." My brother also stopped.

"Then buy it, and ask your mother what color and style she likes." I said.

"Don't buy it, it's so expensive. The ones we cultivate at home are not easy to take care of, and they are easy to break." Mother turned her head.

"Just be careful. It's not that no one wears them in the village, and several people wear them. So who, and who else, don't all wear the same ones to work? I don't see others breaking them so easily." I said. explain.

"That's true, it's just very expensive..." Mom murmured.

"You don't need to pay, the boss is here!" My brother glanced at me, laughed and made a grimace.

"That's not money. Anyone's money is hard to come by. Besides, if I buy a bracelet, your father will definitely not be happy when I go back. Just look at it." The mother's tone revealed that she wanted to buy it, but her eyes A little confused, he began to worry that his father would have opinions, because this time, his father was also unhappy, saying that we only had our mother in our hearts, and we took her out for a stroll in the big city, but didn't bring him with us, and he was angry with my mother for this.

"The money we gave him to buy cigarettes and alcohol is already enough to buy several bracelets." The younger brother said.

"It's good that he thinks so!" Mother exclaimed.

"Go ahead, don't worry too much, just buy a bracelet." I said.

"Can you tell the real from the fake? What if you buy a fake? It's a waste of money." Mother raised another worry.

"It's okay. Although I don't know much about this, I do understand a little bit. I heard that to test the authenticity of a jade article, you can pull a piece of hair, wrap it tightly around the jade bracelet, and burn it with fire. If the hair doesn't stop, the jade article will die Really. I can also make a phone call and ask the sister I met here to come over. She used to run a jade shop for many years. She has rich experience and is relatively expert. She is also in Liwan District. She is a local. I asked her to come over to identify and help choose , there should be no problem.” After staying in Guangzhou for so many years, my brother didn’t get much banknotes, but he made a lot of friends, such as walking in the rivers and lakes, old and young, women and children, bosses and civilians, he knows some of them, and there are clothes sellers , There are those who run teahouses, and those who have cashmere, they seem to be very loyal and take care of each other.

We walked, watched, talked and laughed, passed a traffic light, crossed a newly opened road, and came to Liwan Square, a solid and open ground, tall and gorgeous buildings.The sun is shining brightly, the clouds are light and the wind is light, there are big cars and small cars on the road, and a small newsstand on the side of the road is full of colorful magazines, books and newspapers.Opposite the newsstand is the main entrance of Liwan Plaza. It is open and grand, welcoming people of all kinds, and there are many foreign friends, with dark complexion, curly hair, big belly, carrying the baby they bought, walking alone, or In twos and threes, the women wore floral scarves on their heads, with serious expressions, and hurried.

"Let me down, let me down, I want to take the car in the ditch." The little niece twisted her body on her brother's neck, struggled, and yelled.

"What is a car in the ditch?" The younger brother refused, because he hadn't figured out what the little niece meant.

"It's the elevator below." The mother and sister-in-law said in unison, laughing out loud after finishing speaking.

It turned out that they had already been here yesterday, and the little niece called the escalator up and down the basement on the first floor the car in the pit.The ditch is the ditch in front of the door in my hometown. The three-year-old kid described this new thing very concretely, which attracted adults to admire and praise.

The younger brother put her down, and she was like a half-grand goose in an open pen, staggering forward, and the younger brother followed behind, trotting all the way, extending his right hand, just in case she fell down, and could be rescued at any time.It’s just that the little guy didn’t run slowly, and he arrived in front of the elevator in a blink of an eye. Looking at the stairs sliding down like flowing water, he stood there, not daring to take a step, waiting for the adults to stretch out their palms and hold them tightly. One, two, three. Stepped over, staggered, swayed, stood firm, and began to dance happily again.

We wandered around Liwan Square until my elder brother's sister came over, with a short and fat body, a high-pitched voice, confident behavior, grinning, quacking, showing pride.

"Come on, I'll take you over there. There are much more than here, with new styles, a wide range of varieties, and high cost performance." My sister waved to us from a distance, knowing each other and greeting each other, raising her left hand , lift the two round shoulder straps of the shoulder bag on the right shoulder, then comb the eyebrow-level bangs with four fingers to the left, let them blame one side, shake the head, and stretch out the short and strong arms, pointing to the side, as if pointing Jiangshan, domineering exposed.

My brother led the way side by side with her, and we followed all the way to the opposite side of Yuqi Street. We stood in a store and looked up and saw Yulin Commercial Bank. Difficult brothers and sisters, who have not met each other for a long time in the peaceful age, their enthusiasm is undisguised.

"Hey! Why are people in this place so happy?" Mother sighed in a low voice, full of envy.

"It's rich! People sit at home and have money to collect. The annual dividends, pensions, and welfare subsidies add up to thousands of yuan a month. Compared with us, they sit and eat, and they are full. , playing everywhere. Where is it like us, who work hard to plant some farms and still rely on the sky to harvest them, and work hard to get a job but also look at the boss's eyes, you can be tired, and you can't get sick..."

"It's not a trick, is it?" The younger brother poked his head, put his mouth into my ear, and reminded me in a low voice.

"Wait and see, don't misread good people." I lowered my voice.The sister-in-law followed, hugging her niece without making a sound, occasionally playing with her niece, telling the little guy what this is and what that is.

"What price do you plan to buy?" My sister said loudly, looking at my brother, who hesitated for a second, then looked at me.