Lu Yongqiang returned from a construction site in Dongshi for the New Year. When he entered the village, he saw white paper pasted on his own front door: his brother and sister-in-law were dead, and all they had left him was a one-year-old baby.
The baby cried, and he cried too. But when daylight came, they still had to live.
In the neighboring village, Shen Maisui was chopping pig feed when she overheard her grandmother haggling: Old Wu had offered three thousand, and she was to be married off on the sixth day of the lunar month. Her parents had gone to work in Shenzhen three years ago and had not been heard from since. Maisui ran to her maternal grandmother's village, but the house was dark. Everyone had gone to a betrothal feast.
In the falling snow, Maisui curled up in a corner by the wall, her consciousness fading.
Yongqiang was carrying his feverish baby to find a doctor when he passed the local earth god shrine and spotted someone curled up in a corner. He checked and found she was still breathing, then took off his padded coat and wrapped it around her.
When Maisui woke, she saw the man frantically caring for the baby and asked, “Does your family need a wife?”
Yongqiang froze. After hearing Maisui's story, he told her about his brother and sister-in-law, and said he would have to go south for work again once spring came.
“I'll go south with you,” Maisui said, looking at him. “I'll look after the child and cook. Marry me, and you won't have to pay a bride price.”
Yongqiang nodded. “All right. Then we're husband and wife.”
The next day, they registered their marriage. When both families came to make trouble, Yongqiang drove them away with a shoulder pole.
On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, a green-skinned train bound for Shenzhen pulled out. Its carriages were packed with people returning home, and only the two of them were headed the other way. An'an slept peacefully in Maisui's arms, while Maisui leaned against Yongqiang's shoulder.
The train rumbled south. Snow turned to rain, and greenery appeared beyond the window.
“It's so beautiful,” Maisui murmured. Yongqiang said, “We'll live there from now on.”
From an eight-square-meter tin shack to the long-established Xiangbei Restaurant, more than a decade passed. Years later, when someone asked Maisui where her home was, she looked at her husband and children and smiled. “Wherever they are, that's home.”
That green-skinned train heading south carried two people with nowhere else to turn toward spring.
A story written in the 1990s. Most people in that era were very simple. The simplicity of an ordinary couple moving from the countryside to the city to take root is very real! It's just that the emotional lines are a bit lacking. Many things are mentioned briefly in the text, but it feels like there is not enough to read. In fact, for this type of book, one million words can be just right. Not too much and not too little! Overall, this book is a good book that basically restores the simplicity of that era! The only drawback is that there are too few words to read.
Recommended by a bookworm of more than ten years! I read more than 3 chapters in one go and couldn't help but comment. This book is very strange. It is the most real life struggle of two people. It does not have those mindless plots, but it will bring upward energy.
This is the first time I have read a book on Tomato for a long time. I gave it full marks very solemnly and sincerely. The characters are very full-bodied and the emotions are real and simple. I have read a lot of interesting articles, and suddenly my eyes filled with tears when I saw such simple words, it is like real life. I feel like it is no longer an ordinary online novel, but a work of documentary literature. I highly recommend this novel. It will really give you a sense of strength after reading it. It is applicable to ordinary people in any situation.
The abuse started, and my parents came to my door asking for money, which made me angry😡 For the sake of my own health, I decided to put down 🤦 Some sisters said it looked like it was written by AI, probably because many paragraphs contain repeated or similar words. There are also some unreasonable things, such as spending one yuan to buy An An a cloth tiger, but An An always only plays with the cloth bag; for example, An An is almost two years old and is not very fluent in talking and walking...
Will the land at home be lost to the village or relatives? Although I am not from the countryside, I often go to the countryside and know something about it. At that time, even if you can't get a little money, you can get some food or something.
It is a very heart-warming novel. The male and female protagonists are kind, simple, positive and love life. Two poor children from the countryside, young and responsible, moved from the north to the cities in the south, and gradually took root in the city bit by bit. It's so good that I didn't want to sleep while watching it at night.
It's a very interesting book. The content is real, vivid and tactile. I have the desire to read the book. I really like it 🥰🥰🥰
In fact, they are two ordinary people who choose to live together because of the pressure of life. It is also a love story of many older generations. Come on, author, I am optimistic about you!
It's pretty cool. I will continue to support it.
I couldn't stop reading this book, but some details were not written well. A Fang originally had a husband and children but later became single. There are also some words that the author likes to repeat: Mom, silent appeared at least 5 times. Overall, it's pretty good. I can read it. The first time I shed tears of sympathy in this book was when An An cried, and Yong Qiang also cried there.