In that era of "hardship, simplicity and glory", I was never unhappy about wearing my sisters' old clothes. I remember once being praised by my teacher for wearing a pair of pants with patches on my knees, and when I came back, I asked my mother to patch all my pants. But when it comes to the New Year, I still yearn for a new dress. I have imagined countless times that on the morning of the first day of the new year, I woke up with brand new clothes, red and flowers, by my pillow. But...... Finally, one year, my mother and grandfather decided to make me a new padded jacket. Maybe it's because the eldest sister's padded jacket is worn until the second sister is my turn, and it's not so warm. This plan made me excited for several days, from the beginning of the discussion between my mother and my grandfather, to the nod of my grandfather's approval. But there is one requirement: no red color, not too flowery. Why can't it be red? It's a color that every girl likes! But I don't dare to object, for fear that if I object, I won't even have a chance to make a new padded jacket. Looking forward to the stars and the moon, until one day, my mother brought back a cloth with small white flowers on a light blue background, which was very elegant. Grandpa expressed satisfaction, and I, ecstatic. I put the cloth next to my pillow every day to sleep, lest it disappear in a blink of an eye. Later, my mother bought new cotton, and later, my mother sent the cloth and cotton to the neighbor's grandmother's house and asked her to help make it. I went to Grandma Zhang's house almost every day after school to check the progress of the new padded jacket. Today there is an extra sleeve, tomorrow there is an extra collar. I was so anxious that I didn't know how to behave, so I kept helping Grandma Zhang carry water and sweep the floor. Finally, the new padded jacket was ready, and I was reluctant to wear it, for fear of destroying its "newness". I just look forward to the early arrival of the first day of the new year. On the evening of the Chinese New Year's Eve, many children can't wait to put on new clothes to play outside, and I can't bear to wear them. It was my first new padded jacket, so I had to stick to it and wait until the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year. That night, as in previous years, my mother and my grandfather cooked a table of meals, and when my grandfather's friends arrived, they went to work the night shift. I ran out when I was full and played hide and seek with the children in the yard. At that time, hide and seek was to catch the landlord and the landlord's wife, and after the palm of the hand, a little boy in the yard and I became the landlord's wife and landlord. He dragged me and ran, and the other children looked for us in the dark alley. The boy, who was half a head taller than me, took me by the hand and ran to a corner that was hard to spot. The other children ran past us and didn't notice us, so I whispered, "Let's go." "Wait, they'll be back." It was quiet, and he was holding my hand tightly. I began to feel uneasy, even bored, I didn't want to be a "landlord's wife", and I didn't want to be clutched tightly by this "landlord" in such a dark place. God, it started to snow, and snowflakes fell on my face. I suddenly remembered my new padded jacket, was it safe and sound?, and I jerked free of his hand, and disappeared into the darkness in an instant. Back at home, my grandfather's friends were gone. I took the new padded jacket out of the cupboard and solemnly placed it on the pillow, waiting for the New Year to come. When I woke up, the new padded jacket next to the pillow was gone. "Grandpa—" My voice was as shrill as a train passing by. As soon as the words fell, I saw my grandfather walking in with the neckline and cuffs of the new padded jacket, for fear that the freshly baked hot air would run away. I almost bounced out of bed like a spring, and when my arm reached into my hot sleeve, the warmth and fragrance of fresh cotton wrapped me like a cloud, and my heart seemed to fly. The sky blue background and white flowers are like the sky and clouds. Looking out the window again, it was white, and the snow that fell all night last night was to set off my padded jacket? In order to make me feel more like flying in the air and wandering in the clouds? Without waiting for my grandfather's urging, I had finished washing, stuffed a few mouthfuls of food into my mouth, and rushed into the snow impatiently. Usually wear a padded jacket, and you need to put a smock on the outside, because the padded jacket cannot be washed. However, every household has a limited number of cloth tickets, and there is no money or cloth ticket to make a new smock, so how can I be willing to put an old smock on top of the new padded jacket? After several disputes, my tears conquered my mother and grandfather, and I rushed away in the new padded jacket. Maybe I was so happy and wanted everyone to see my new clothes that I didn't want to go home until noon. The midday sun was warm. I squinted my eyes, and through the red light between my eyelashes, I reached out to the sun, and the red light came out through my fingers, as if my hand was transparent. I was enjoying the winter sun as the snow melted. All the children had gone home for lunch, and I was reluctant to stretch my legs to finish the dressed morning. I don't know if it was because my eyes were dazzled by the sun's rays, or because my feet were numb from the cold, my body suddenly lost its balance and fell to the melting snow. The moment I fell to the ground, I instinctively supported the ground with my hands to protect my new padded jacket. And regardless of the pain, he said that it was too late and that it was too fast, and he got up with a bone. Looking down, the upper half of the padded jacket was intact, but the hem of the placket was stained with a large piece of wet mud. "Wow-" louder than a whistle, and I burst into tears. Why? Why is it my new padded jacket? I cried all the way home, and without explaining the reason to my grandfather, I took off my padded jacket and lay on the bed and continued to cry, as if the end of the world had come. Sometimes the meaning of life is big, sometimes it is small, like this moment, I feel that life is meaningless because my padded jacket is dirty. I don't know how long I cried, and I felt bored crying, only then did I realize that the surroundings were very quiet. What about Grandpa? Could it be that he went to someone's house to pay New Year's greetings? Did he leave me sad at home? I wiped my face and opened the bedroom door. In the sun, next to the chimney stove, my grandfather wore reading glasses and held my cotton jacket, roasting on the stove, using a small brush to brush off the mud little by little while baking. Human memory is often made up of pictures. Thirty years after my grandfather left me, the scene by the fire still vividly appears in front of my eyes. Later, I wore that padded jacket for many years, and there was always a mud mark on the hem of the placket that could not be brushed off. For many winters after my grandfather's death, every time I saw that mud print, I would cry.