In Qin Shanhai's childhood memories, in the dim light, her mother Zhou Xiulan seemed to have endless work in her hands, taking care of the children, sewing and mending the soles of shoes or knitting sweaters, complaining and chattering all day long, but the work in her hands never stopped.

His father, Qin De, worked as a primary school teacher in the town, but he was very busy all the time with a meager income, and he usually went home in the second half of the night. He loves cleanliness very much, as soon as he enters the door, he takes off his glasses, pats the blue tunic carefully, and then folds it upright, and then carefully puts it under the pillow, puts a basin of water, takes out a piece of yellowed soap from the bottom of the cabinet, applies it evenly on the towel, and meticulously begins to wash his face. After washing his face, he put on the glasses wrapped around one leg with white tape again, looked in the mirror, came over and leaned down and gently kissed Qin Shanhe's face, if the boss didn't sleep, he would help fold the quilt, and said with a tiger face: "Go to bed quickly, you have to go to school tomorrow." Qin Shanhai sometimes wakes up at night, and can hear his father pulling his beloved erhu in the yard, with a melodious tone, but with inexplicable sadness.

"You must go to school well, no matter how difficult it is, your father will provide for you!" This is the favorite sentence of his father Qin De, and his expression is serious and resolute every time he says it.

Qin Shanhai's academic performance has always been very good, every time he received the report card, it was when his father was the happiest, he took out a handkerchief from under the big box, took out a banknote from the handkerchief, put it in his mother's hand and said: "Go to the town to cut meat and make up for the brains of the eldest son, this is the seedling of the university." "Whenever this happens, my younger brother Qin Shanhe will be like a frog, croaking and jumping behind his mother. My father would also sing two plays: "The party gives me wisdom and courage, and I am only waiting for leisure." In order to suppress the bandits, he first disguised himself as a bandit, and inserted a sharp knife into Weihu Mountain. ”

When Qin Shanhai was twelve years old, his father was transferred to the town to teach. Because the town was seven or eight miles away from Shanghe Village, the town provided him with a half-used permanent bicycle within a few days. My father called it "Big 28", and my mother made two mats out of rags, one wrapped around the front shoulder and the other on the back seat. Then the three children lined up, took turns to sit in a circle in the village, and when it was Qin Shanhe's turn, his father would put him on the front bar, Qin Shanhe was dripping with saliva, and his mouth kept babbling, and his mother stood aside and watched and smiled, holding the soles of her shoes in her hands, wiping the corners of her eyes from time to time.

When Qin Shanhai was sixteen years old, his eldest sister Qin Shanyue graduated from primary school and dropped out of school to work as a farmer. When my father came home from work and saw the bright red regiment card on the table, his tears and snot flowed uncontrollably, and he couldn't stop crying, crying and saying loudly, "Son, we are also the fifth category of red, and you are the successor of the revolution."

Qin Shanhai didn't understand why his father was crying, he looked awkward in his heart, and said in his heart, what are you howling? I joined a group to excite you like this? The teacher said it, men don't flick when they have tears, why doesn't Dad have a little manhood?

That night, my father pulled the erhu in the courtyard again, and sang in a low voice: "Today I drink the celebration wine, my ambition is not rewarded, and I will show my skills in the future, and I will write the spring and autumn with blood." ”

Almost everyone in the village thinks that Qin Shanhai's admission to university is a sure thing, and Shanghe Village must produce a college student, Qin Shanhai is burdened with the hope of the whole village, and he also gives great pressure invisibly.

Qin Shanhai gritted his teeth and studied hard, and his grades in the town high school have always been among the best.

A few days before taking the college entrance examination, Qin Shanhai was sick, he had a high fever that did not go away, and he barely went to the examination room to answer the questions, and after the results came out, he only passed the admission line of the junior college.

Later, when the town was conscripted, Qin Shanhai secretly went to register, and after passing the military inspection, his father sulked for a few days, and finally when he was about to report, he only said one sentence to Qin Shanhai: "You can be a soldier, and you can mix well outside." In the evening, Qin Shanhai heard the melodious erhu sound and his father's subdued singing again.

In Shanghe Village, older children have to do what they can for the family.

Now that Qin Shanhai has been demobilized and returned to his hometown, a man of this age has to bear part of the burden of the family, on the way home, Qin Shanhai has been thinking, what do he have to do first, how much to earn a salary, just returned home and his mother said that there is not much surplus food at home, and there is still a famine outside.

When Qin Shanhai entered the house, he saw his younger brother Qin Shanhe sitting on the threshold playing in the mud, Qin Shanhai pulled up his younger brother: "Xiaohe, get up and eat."

Qin Shanhe is eighteen years old, one meter seventy-five tall, but his expression is like that of a child, his mouth is grunting and making strange sounds, and his saliva is dripping down his chest, Qin Shanhai is not too dirty, he wiped his brother's saliva with his hands, put him on the bench, and said with a tiger face: "If you don't eat, let the police arrest you." ”

Mother Zhou Xiulan chattered: "Xiaohe doesn't want to eat corn tortillas, as long as he eats rice, what can I do every day?"

The eldest sister Qin Shanyue said while padding the bib of the younger brother Qin Shanhe: "Xiaohe is good, drink porridge." ”

Qin Shanhe pushed away the second sister's hand: "...... No, no. ”

Father Qin De ignored these family trivialities, took off his glasses and put them on the table, and while eating tortillas, he said: "Dahai, you have been back for a few days, have you thought about what to do?" I asked my colleague Mr. Xu from the school in the town, he has a relative who runs a clothing store in the town, all of which are Guangzhou goods, and the business is good, if you help in the past, you can also give a lot of money in January, I have been busy recently, and I haven't persuaded you, if you are willing to go, I will take you to find Lao Xu. After all, it's an old comrade, how much to give this face, I ......"

Zhou Xiulan interrupted: "Are you busy, you are busy, pretending to go to work every day, and when you come back, you still bring a stack of student homework books. This Xiaohe wants to eat rice every day, and you only receive a basic salary of 180 yuan every month, not to mention rice, and it is difficult to eat tortillas.

Qin De's face turned red, and he said embarrassedly: "This kid just came back, can you save me a little face?"

"Face, how much is a pound of face? The pork has risen to three yuan, how many pounds of pork can be exchanged for a pound of face?" Zhou Xiulan did not give an inch.

"Dad, mother, don't quarrel, Guotao asked someone to find me a lumber mill in the town, I will go to work in the past two days, and when I get my salary to subsidize the family, I will buy rice for Xiaohe to eat!" Qin Shanhai said.

"Is the lumber mill the one where Guo Tao works?" asked Qin De.

Qin Shanhai replied: "Yes, Dad, Guotao drives for the boss of the company, the relationship is good, and we have been young for so many years, Guotao will not lie to me." ”

Qin De nodded, turned around to hide his embarrassment: "Guotao, this kid is still reliable, well, I'm full." The sea and the lumber mill are also completed, so let's do it first. ”

Qin Shanyue knew her father's amount of food, so she gave way: "Dad, let's eat more." ”

"It's full, it's full. Qin De turned around and left.

Zhou Xiulan glared and said: "Leave him alone, the sea, my mother told you, go to work outside and be diligent, do more work, don't let people fall behind......"

Qin Shanhai couldn't help nodding, and after a few simple bites, he got up to take care of his younger brother.

......

Qin Shanhai stayed at home for two days, and then received a message from Zhong Guotao, saying that it was a matter of work, and asked him to go to the town's timber mill early the next morning with relevant documents to find him.

In the army, he developed the habit of getting up early, no matter how cold or hot it is, he must insist on morning exercises, Qin Shanhai has maintained this tradition, this is in time for something in the morning, and there is no need to set an alarm clock, and he will wake up naturally before six o'clock, get up and wash up briefly, run to the town, and more than 20 miles in one go, his whole body is warm, and fine beads of sweat appear on his forehead.

In the past few days of going home, Qin Shanhai has heard from the people in the village many times about the timber mill in the town, and when he saw the place, he realized that the timber mill was fundamentally different from what he imagined, the telescopic gate more than ten meters wide, and the gate was inlaid with four golden characters: revitalize the wood industry.

The guard at the gate was registered, and the security guard at the gate, dressed in uniform, made a call with a serious expression, and only after receiving a reply did he let him go.

In the lounge of the small car class, I met Zhong Guotao, this is the first meeting between Qin Shanhai and him in the past five years, Zhong Guotao is 1.78 meters tall, wearing a black lapel leather jacket, the collar of the white really good shirt is exposed, and the straight gray suit pants are combed with deviations, which looks fashionable and neat.

Qin Shanhai glanced down at the winter camouflage training uniform and standard training shoes on his body, and his expression showed a hint of embarrassment.

"The sea!" Zhong Guotao stretched out his hand.

Qin Shanhai was stunned when he saw Zhong Guotao, because Zhong Guotao had changed a bit from five years ago.

Seeing that his childhood friend still stretched out his hand with a smile, Qin Shanhai subconsciously wanted to salute first and then shake hands, this is the etiquette of the troops, and the next moment he realized that something was wrong, and his hand stopped stiffly in mid-air.

Zhong Guotao saw his embarrassment, stepped forward and hugged him, and said, "Brother, why are you still embarrassed?"

Qin Shanhai grabbed Zhong Guotao's shoulder and looked at it again and again, and said with a smile: "You kid, it's really different!"

"What's different, the sea, what is our relationship, don't be polite to me. I heard that you are back, I have been busy, and I don't have time to go back, don't blame me, I just thought about taking time for our brothers to have a good chat, by the way, I heard my grandfather say, did you go to my house to pay back the money?" Zhong Guotao said angrily.

Hearing these words, Qin Shanhai's previous embarrassment was swept away, knowing that although this buddy was dressed the same as the people in the city, his feelings had not changed at all, he smiled slightly, and replied: "There is borrowing and repaying, it is justified, don't mention it, I don't want you to help me today." ”

Zhong Guotao punched Qin Shanhai in the chest and said with a smile: "It's been a few days since I went home, and I still miss the troops, it's time to change my clothes." ”

"My clothes used to be small, so I had to go to town to buy a cotton coat. Qin Shanhai replied casually.

Zhong Guotao put his arms around Qin Shanhai's neck and said, "Okay, I'll take you to register, let's have a good chat when we're done!"

After speaking, he pulled Qin Shanhai all the way out of the lounge of the car class.

Along the way, Qin Shanhai looked at the huge plant, Zhong Guotao introduced while walking: "Our factory, covering an area of more than 20 acres, is the revitalization of the wood industry under the processing plant, just more than ten large workshops, you see that the scale here is big enough, but this is just a branch of the revitalization of the wood industry, there are forests on the mountain, there are processing plants under the mountain, Yanjing, Shencheng, Yangcheng have sales outlets, there are three transportation fleets alone, and the company can be ranked on the top in our county." ”

"Tao, such a big factory, what are you doing here?" Qin Shanhai asked.

"I am the driver of the branch manager, and there are eight people in our car class, and I am the squad leader!" Zhong Guotao said proudly.

Qin Shanhai asked suspiciously: "I knew about the revitalization factory when I was a child, isn't it state-owned?"