Emmett's Epoch of Endeavor Chapter 21

The younger daughter Yu Chan has been following her grandmother Zheng Xuehua. In 1969, my grandmother went to the May 7th Cadre School in Wanqiu, and Cicada followed her. Grandma had to work there and it was difficult to take care of her, so we took her back to our hometown. The whole family of four slept on the same bed. Cicada's sleep state is not honest, and she often kicks me until I scream. She dreams about a new urine pot many times, but always ends up peeing in her dream. 

When the bed got wet, He Jie quickly got up with me and cleaned it up. Cicada is tired from playing during the day and sleeps deeply at night. If I forget to wake her up in the middle of the night to urinate, she will dream about the new urine pot. I remember that after waking her up one night, I was too sleepy and fell asleep before she could climb into bed. I don’t know how long it took, but He Jie kicked me awake and asked, "Is the cicada on your end?" I touched it. Touch, no. Thinking of her getting out of bed to urinate, fearing that she would fall asleep sitting on the urine pot, I called her, and so did He Jie. Finally heard her vague response, under the bed! She slept so soundly among the shavings under the bed!

In the spring of 1971, I compiled a textbook for Cicada. Every day at noon, I go home for dinner. At the dinner table, I use the trivial things that happened in my family that day, choose the ones that are interesting to the children, write a lesson, give it to Cicada, and ask her to read it in the afternoon. After she is familiar with it, I will take care of the copying. Practice calligraphy. I compiled a lesson every day, and over time it became a volume. The first volume is "The Three-Character Book of Cicada". The second volume is "Cicada's Five-Character Book". The two volumes are somewhat diary-like, from which we can get a glimpse of our family life. Excerpts from some texts are as follows:

[February 15th] Sister Cicada, younger brother Kunkun, father and mother, a total of four people. Small family. [February 16th] Hello grandma, I sent you money and candies. They are round and sweet. [February 18] Eat kimchi and save money. It tastes bland, add some salt. A big altar. [February 22] Briquettes have many eyes. Please mom, fry the steamed buns. "More oil!" [February 23] The moon is crescent, and the saw is sawing. Let me ask you: "How long has it been since the circle was full to shine in the world?" [February 25] No one wants rotten writing paper. Open it and see, five pounds of tickets. 

Cicada laughs. [February 27] Swallows are flying, and the grass is green. Kunbu cried when his mother left. I guard the house. [March 5] Cherry blossoms, the trees are all white. The flowers fade and the fruits are red in color. [March 13] Red peach blossoms came to my house. Open on the tree, put in the bottle. Like mom. [March 14] Mom is sick and bleeding a lot. I had no money, so I bought supplements and my feet became swollen. [March 16] I study. Mom grows vegetables. Kun gets a haircut, a toilet seat, and wears it on his head. [April 3] Cicadas look at cherries. Kunkun looked at the batch of loquats. I look at my father's door and my mother every day. [April 5] The weather was good during Qingming Festival, so Kun went to kindergarten.