My dad hasn't been looking for a partner since my mother left. When I was a kid, I didn't understand it very well, and I didn't feel anything wrong. Not to mention that it is as advertised in the newspapers, to say how painful it is for children from single-parent families, I don't know about other people's families, at least I have no psychological problems when I grew up in an environment without a mother, at most I am a little more wild and bold. Later, when I grew up, especially in the past year or two, sometimes when I had a drink with my dad at night, I would ask him why he was always single all these years. He beat me on the head with chopsticks and scolded me for being nosy.

In fact, if you think about it carefully, maybe it's because the conditions at home are not good. In the sixties and seventies, especially at that time, the poor families often could not eat, and there was a period of time when the state advocated steelmaking, and every household took out the pots and pans and melted them, saying that it was distributed to each household to improve the country's production capacity. The enthusiasm of the big guys is particularly high, and most of the results are junk steel, and then the big pot of rice is gone, and many people don't even have a pot to cook rice.

During the three years of natural disasters, some families couldn't eat a mouthful of steamed buns for a month. At that time, the workshop where my father worked was also suspended for a long time, and he went to the nearby river every day to fish, and sometimes he could touch a few kings. But later, more people went to touch the fish, and the fish in the river were swept away.

Because the conditions were so difficult, my father never had the energy to find a partner.

In fact, when I saw him bring his female colleagues back, I was not repulsed.

"Hello Auntie. ”

I said with a smile.

Dad didn't expect me to come back, so he smiled a little awkwardly and said, "Aunt Xue lives in the second unit in front of her, so I'm here for dinner today." ”

I nodded, and helped my dad carry the basket inside.

At the dinner table, the atmosphere was a little dull, Aunt Xue didn't look young, but she was very clean, although she didn't wear particularly luxurious clothes, that is, a simple white shirt and a pair of white cloth shoes, but she looked energetic.

"Dad, this time I rushed to a group with the fat man, got some money and came back, and I will honor you. ”

While speaking, I took out an envelope and stuffed it to my father, Aunt Xue next to me was obviously a little surprised, at that time, it was really small to be able to take out a thousand yuan, and my envelope was basically a ticket of ten yuan, so it looked bulging.

"Lao Ba, your son is really capable and can make a lot of money. ”

For the first time, I saw my dad with a proud smile on his face, took a sip of wine and said with a smile: "What a skill, it's just a bastard boy, and he doesn't work well." I'm always running outside, but I have to pay attention to my body. ”

In my opinion, children should not ask their parents to reach out when they grow up, if they can't survive, they should pull down their faces to make money, and they would rather squat on the edge of the road and beg for food than ask their parents for copper plates in their pockets. The fat man and I always see some people who think it's not a shame to ask their parents for money.

I can't pull my face when I beg for food, but I am always proud to ask my parents for money.

"Boy, just in time you're back. I have something I want to tell you. Your Aunt Xue has also been single for many years, and the relationship between the two of us is usually relatively good, the political consciousness is relatively close, and the family composition is similar. We live relatively close, so we want to cook together. You're also older, and Daddy wants to ask if you agree. ”

I was stunned, looked at my father, then at Aunt Xue, and said with a smile: "Okay, I have no opinion, do you want to do it or do it?"

"There's no need to do a lot of work, after a while we're going to burn two tables at home, and invite some friends to eat for a while. You're going to have to come back and help then. ”

"I don't have many relatives and friends, and I don't want to waste money, so I just entertain them at home. No need to spend so much money......"

Aunt Xue looked a little embarrassed, I raised my glass and shouted with a smile: "It's okay, I'll drag the fat man and my other little brother over to help when I turn around, and then let the owner of Jufu Restaurant take some time to come over and help cook the dishes, this is a good thing! Come on, have a drink!"

The night was dark, and Dad was probably happy in his heart, so after drinking a few more glasses, he muttered, "It's not too early, that kid, send it to Aunt Xue." ”

The way back was not long, I walked in the dim light, and after a long silence, I said: "Aunt Xue, my father is an honest man, and if others treat him well, he will repay him twice." But because he is too honest, he is always bullied, don't look at his usual mouth shouting as if he has a big temper, but it actually hurts people. ”

"Well, Lao Ba has always taken good care of me in the unit. ”

She nodded.

"It's here, go back quickly. ”

Seeing her walk into the doorway, I turned around, lit a cigarette, looked up and saw the sparse starlight, the shadows on the ground, I walked slowly, remembering the bits and pieces of my life with my father all these years.

I remember once I went to the fat man's house to eat, because of the relationship between the old man, the fat man's family could eat white flour steamed buns, and many people envied it at that time. When I came back, I stole a steamed bun from the fat man's house, and when I got home, I smiled and handed the steamed bun to my father, but my father beat me, and my father pulled me to the door to apologize.

I was aggrieved and didn't admit my mistake, but my father said, "I'm not going to starve to death, it's your fault for stealing it if you don't get to that point!"

Later, I thought that if I had been praised by my father that time, maybe Ba Xiaoshan would be a different person today.

I never thought that I would become some earth-shattering person, like Chairman Mao. But be an upright person, at least with a clear conscience.

The cigarette butts shimmered faintly in the darkness, and I was the only one in the lonely alley, as if there was a strange sense of estrangement. A few days ago, I was still fighting with the gods on Taibai Mountain, but today I am walking in the quiet alleys of Shanghai, smoking cigarettes, listening to the good news that my father wants to remarry.

But it was as if I belonged neither to that side nor to this side.

There seem to be two selves in the body, one fighting between ghosts and monsters, and the other living in an ordinary life.

However, I still didn't tell my dad about my physical condition, so as not to make him sad, and a while ago I was still thinking that if I suddenly disappeared one day, my dad would be lonely and lonely in his old age. But now that he has company, he has finally put an end to one of my concerns.

The long street is safe, and everything is closed.

Only at times like this would I feel like I'm just a mortal.

When I got home, I could already hear my father's snoring, so I went into the room, took out the clothes in my bag, and saw the Qiankun box, which had a strange pattern after absorbing the phantom of Woo Bu last time. As if it had been engraved, I reached out and touched it, and the surface was concave and had a distinct tactile feeling.

"What secrets are hidden?"

I frowned and muttered to myself, and looked carefully in the light, as if I saw a circle of strange symbols wrapped around the Qiankun box, very small, and it was better to put it closer to see a little more clearly.

"What's that?"

I got up from the bed and looked at it with a magnifying glass at home, and this row of tiny symbols was actually a sexagenary branch, carved with the naked eye!

"How can there be a sexagenary branch?"

I was curious, but after studying for a long time, I had no clue and had to give up.

I got up early the next morning, my dad had already gone to work, I yawned and walked to the side of the flatbread fritter stall in front of the public house, business was still as good as ever, the boss and his wife were busy, I walked over and said, "Aunt Wang, I want a sweet flatbread and a fritter." ”

"Oh, isn't this a hill? I haven't seen it in a long time. ”

"Well, I've been doing business with friends lately. ”

I said with a smile.

Aunt Wang on the opposite side handed over the cake, and when I reached out to pick it up, I suddenly felt dizzy, and my body hurriedly took a few steps back, feeling stuffy in my chest, churning in my stomach, and nausea in my throat, the surrounding scene was particularly blurry and chaotic, and the dizziness was getting stronger and stronger, and I was unsteady on my feet, and finally fell backwards.

"Hey, hill, hill!"

The sounds around me came into my ears in a chaotic manner, and it was pitch black in front of my eyes, and I finally fell unconscious.

When I woke up again, I was already lying in the emergency room of the hospital, and my father was standing beside me, staring at me with a serious face, and when he saw that I was awake, he said, "You stinky boy, when do you want to hide it from me!"