Enjoy 38 · Serial 丨 "Grandpa, We See You in Heaven" 01

Author: Jiang Wenli

Publisher: Tianjin People's Publishing House

丨 Flower cotton jacket 丨

In that "hard, simple and glorious" era, I was never unhappy because I was wearing my sisters' old clothes.

I remember once being praised by the teacher for wearing a pair of pants with a patch on my knee, and when I came back, I asked my mother to patch all my pants.

But in the New Year, I still long for a new dress.

I have fantasized countless times that on the morning of the first day of the Chinese New Year, I woke up with brand new clothes on my pillow, red and flowery.

But......

Finally, one year, my mother decided to make me a new cotton jacket. Probably because the cotton jacket of the eldest sister is worn until the second sister is my turn, and it is not so warm.

Mom consulted with Grandpa, who nodded in agreement, but had one request: don't be red, don't be too flowery.

Why can't it be red? That's a color that every girl loves! But I did not dare to oppose, for fear that if I objected, I would not even have the opportunity to make a new cotton jacket.

Looking forward to the stars and the moon, until one day, my mother brought back a piece of cloth with small white flowers on a light blue background, very plain. Grandpa expressed satisfaction, and I, ecstatic.

Every day I put the flower cloth on the pillow to sleep, lest it disappear in the blink of an eye. Later, my mother bought back new cotton; later, my mother sent both cloth and cotton to her neighbor Grandma Zhang's house and asked her to help make it.

Almost every day after school, I went to Grandma Zhang's house to "inspect" the progress of the new cotton jacket. One more sleeve today, one more collar tomorrow. 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 cotton jacket was ready, and I was reluctant to wear it, for fear of destroying its "new", only looking forward to the arrival of the New Year's Day early.

Chinese New Year's Eve night, 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 cotton jacket, so I had to hold on until the morning of new Year's Day.

That night, as in previous years, my mother made a table of meals with my grandfather, and when my grandfather's friends arrived, she went to the night shift.

I was full and ran out to play hide-and-seek with the children in the yard.

Children of different generations play games with the marks of different generations. Hide-and-seek at that time was "grabbing landlords". After "the palm of the hand and the back of the hand", a little boy in the courtyard and I became "landlords" and "landlord wives".

He dragged me along and ran, and the other children looked for us in the dark alley.

We ran to a corner that was hard to spot. The other children ran past the front and didn't notice us, and I said quietly:

"Let's go."

"Wait, they'll be back."

It started to snow and snow fell on my face. I suddenly remembered my new cotton jacket, was it safe and sound? Thinking of this, I jerked off his hand and disappeared into the darkness in the blink of an eye.

Back at home, Grandpa's friends had dispersed. I took the new cotton jacket out of the cupboard, solemnly placed it on the pillow, looked at it, and slept peacefully, waiting for the new year to come.

When I woke up, the new cotton jacket next to my pillow was gone.

"Grandpa—"

My sharp voice was as piercing as a train passing by.

As soon as the words stopped, I saw Grandpa walk in with the neckline and cuffs of the new cotton jacket, afraid that the hot air that had just been baked had run away. I almost bounced off the bed like a spring, and as my arm reached into the hot sleeve, the warmth and fragrance of fresh cotton enveloped me like a cloud, and my heart seemed to fly.

The sky blue bottom and the white flowers are like the sky and the clouds. Looking out the window again, it was white, and it snowed all night last night, was it to set off my cotton jacket? To make me feel more like flying in the air and swimming in the clouds?

Without waiting for Grandpa's urging, I had finished washing, stuffed a few bites into my mouth, and couldn't wait to rush into the snow to show my new clothes to the children.

Usually wear a cotton jacket, the outside is necessary to put on a blouse, because the cotton jacket can not be washed. However, every household has limited cloth tickets, and if you make a cotton jacket, you will not have the money and cloth ticket to make a new blouse, so why am I willing to put an old blouse on the outside of the new cotton jacket?

After several arguments, my tears conquered my grandfather, and I rushed away in my new cotton jacket.

Probably too happy, too much to let everyone see my new cotton jacket, to praise my new clothes so good, until noon I didn't want to go home.

The midday sun was warm and melting. I squinted my eyes and looked at the sun through the gap in my eyelashes, and I held out my hand to the sun, and the red light drilled out through my fingers as if my hand were transparent. I enjoyed the winter sunshine and the pleasant mood brought by the new clothes.

The snow gradually melted.

All the children had gone home for lunch, and I reluctantly spread my legs to finish the morning of the dress. I don't know if it was because my eyes were illuminated by the sun or because my feet were frozen and numb, my body suddenly lost its balance and suddenly fell on the melted snow.

The moment I fell to the ground, I instinctively supported the ground with both hands to protect my new cotton jacket.

And despite the pain, he said that it was late and fast, and he got up with a bone.

Looking down, the upper part of the cotton jacket was intact, but the hem of the front placket was stained with a large piece of wet mud.

"Wow—"

Louder than the whistle, I burst into tears.

Why? Why? Is it my new cotton jacket?

I cried all the way back home, and without explaining the reason to my grandfather, I took off my cotton jacket and lay on the bed and cried as if the end of the world had come.

The meaning of life can sometimes be great, sometimes it can be small. At such a moment, a new cotton jacket that is not easy to get, but it is dirty by itself, and I really feel that life is meaningless.

Crying stopped, stopped and cried, and all the grievances seemed to pour out through the cotton jacket.

I don't know how long later, I found that the surrounding area was very quiet, what about Grandpa? Whose house did he go to for a New Year's visit? He left me sad at home?

I wiped my face and opened the bedroom door.

In the sun, by the chimney stove, Grandpa wore reading glasses, held up my cotton jacket, and roasted on the fire, brushing the mud off little by little with a small brush as he baked. Seeing that I came out, Grandpa smiled and lifted the cotton jacket up, the mud had been brushed off, and there was only a little mud mark.

People's memories are often made up of pictures. In the many winters after my grandfather's death, whenever I put on that cotton jacket, my grandfather carefully brushed the mud by the fire clearly appeared in front of my eyes. I have worn that cotton jacket for many years, and on the hem of the front placket, there has always been a mud mark that cannot be brushed off, and whenever I see that mud mark, I will burst into tears.

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