In December 1995, Shanghe Village ushered in the first snow after the beginning of winter.

The villagers, who have been busy for a year, ushered in the most leisurely time of the year. At this time in the past, the villagers are watching TV and playing mahjong at home, but today it is different from usual, the village is crowded, everyone is wearing cotton jackets, wrapped cotton pants, and cuffs with both hands, scrambling to go to the village committee.

Shanghe Village, Guhe Town, is located at the foot of Daqing Mountain, by the mountains and rivers, the entrance of the village is a 145 meters wide horizontal river, named Daqing River, the other side of the river is Xiahe Village, the villagers want to go to Xiahe Village or go to the town to catch the market, they have to take the ferry boat of the old hour to the other side, it is precisely because of the blockage of traffic, the poverty and backwardness of Shanghe Village, and at the same time, this landscape has also given birth to the hard-working, kind and simple people of Shanghe Village.

Going out on the boat, it has been like this for generations, and the villagers of Shanghe Village have long been accustomed to it, and this habit will be broken today, because the first bridge in Shanghe Village, the "Qinghe Bridge", was completed today.

The snow gradually stopped, Jiang Gui, the village party secretary, stood at the head of the bridge with a few people, and after a while, he saw a Beijing jeep driving on the official road in the distance, Jiang Gui greeted him, and several town leaders got into the car and walked with Jiang Gui to the temporary open-air ceremony venue at the entrance of the village committee.

At this time, the loudspeaker of the village committee was broadcasting on a loop the good wishes of the party and state leaders to the Chinese people for the new year: "1994 is an unforgettable year of reform, development and stability. 1995 was another year of hope, struggle and victory. In the past year, in the history of the development of China's reform, opening up, and socialist modernization, it is worth writing a big book——"

Suddenly, the voice of the central radio station played on the loudspeaker stopped, and was replaced by the voice of a middle-aged man: "Hey, all the villagers, pay attention, all the villagers, the inauguration ceremony of the bridge is about to begin, and all families will gather at the door of the village committee to participate in the meeting, and broadcast it again, everyone, ......"

This is a once-in-a-century event in Shanghe Village!

The villagers who heard the news put down their work and hurriedly went out of their homes, everyone's faces were filled with excited smiles, and after a while, the door of the village committee was crowded with people, and it was extremely lively.

The village clerks crackled and set off the firecrackers, and a group of children happily jumped around beside them, competing with each other, all wanting to wait for the firecrackers to be finished, and the first to grab the squib that slipped on the ground and went back to play.

Jiang Gui, the village party secretary, sat on the simple rostrum of the venue, holding the microphone and kept saying some words of thanks, and the crowd burst into applause from time to time.

On the side of the newly built bridge, there are two bungalows mixed with blue bricks and loess, which look very old, the front and back of the house are cleaned up very cleanly, and there is an old and a young man who each carries a small horse to sit at the gate of the courtyard to watch the excitement.

The old man's surname was Zhong, he wore an old sheepskin jacket, his hair was gray, his eyebrows and beard were also stained with frost, but his eyes were embarrassed, his skin was dark and shiny, and he held a shiny cigarette pouch and pot in his hand, and squinted from time to time to take a puff.

Lao Zhongtou's life was very unfortunate, when he was young, his daughter-in-law died of illness, his son got married and had children and divorced, and finally went to settle in other places, and the children were also thrown to him, and since then the grandfather and grandson have depended on each other.

Lao Zhong is a professional ferryman in the village, that is, a boatman who transports people and goods across the river, and a boat and a boat are convenient for countless passers-by.

When he was 20 years old, he picked up artemisia on the boat and stayed by the Daqing River, and he worked for more than 50 years.

In the early years, people were poor, and Lao Zhongtou's rations were made up by every household in the village, and later the reform and opening up policy was good, and the town opened a special expenditure and paid Lao Zhong's hair.

When someone from another village came to the ferry, he put two cents on the bow of the boat as an expense, so Lao Zhongtou picked it up, stuffed it into the man's hand, and said angrily: "The government will give me two bags of rice and noodles in January, and give me 200 yuan, enough to eat and spend, who wants this!"

A few years ago, Jiang Gui, the village party secretary, took two bottles of loose wine and went to find him at home, saying: "Old Zhong, you see that you are also old, and you have worked hard for our Shangshu Village for all these years. ”

Lao Zhongtou's face changed, and he said in a loud voice: "Nonsense! Needless to say, I know in my heart, my health is very good, and I will be fine if I work for another ten years!"

Jiang Gui just wanted to sit down when he entered the room, but when he heard the old bell say this, he shook his head, "Alas! As he spoke, he got up and was about to leave.

"Daqu stays!" shouted the old bell.

Jiang Guiyi turned around and put the wine on the ground, "Hey, look at my memory." ”

This Daqu is the loose liquor sold in the town, and there are generally two kinds, 65 degrees of six cents and one catty, and 50 degrees of eight cents and five pounds.

Jiang Gui's wine is eight cents and five, the old clock has a loud voice and a large amount of wine, usually let his grandson go to the town to drink, only six cents and one catty, in the words of the old clock: "Eight cents and five are tasteless, don't drink some flavored wine, are you still called a man?"

The guy sitting next to the old bell is called Qin Shanhai, twenty-three years old, with a shaved head, sitting and looking at the head is not short, the body is very strong, wearing a military cotton coat with a title, his eyes are bright, and the whole person looks heroic.

Qin Shanhai has just been demobilized after five years of being a soldier in the field, and he came to talk to Lao Zhongtou when he was idle at home, he and Zhong Guotao, the grandson of Lao Zhongtou, are friends, the two have played since childhood, Zhong Guotao works in the forest farm in the town and comes back once a week.

In the eyes of the villagers, Lao Zhong has a loud voice and a bit withdrawn personality. The strange thing is that Qin Shanhai can talk to the old man very well, and he appreciates the old man's straightforward and heroic energy.

Qin Shanhai pointed to the Qinghe Bridge and said, "Grandpa Zhong, this bridge has been built, you can also rest, grow vegetables, take a walk, isn't it good?" Guotao also has a lot of wages in the town......

Lao Zhongtou waved his hand and interrupted: "The sea, I told you a long time ago, just call me Lao Zhong, you went out to be a soldier for a few years, and when you come back, you will make this cultural word, I am not used to Grandpa Zhong's call!" As he spoke, he knocked on the cigarette pouch pot on the leg of the stool, "Guotao rented a house in the town, let me go and live with him, I won't go!"

"Because of what?" Qin Shanhai asked.

"I'm not going anywhere! I'm born here, I've grown up here, and I'll have to be buried here in the future! I'll never do anything but work here for the rest of my life, so what are I going to do? I'll be burdened by Guotao! The village will pay me money every month, and I have good arms and legs, so I can't take it for nothing, I'm at the entrance of the village, watching a crop, and protecting the stability of our village!" Old Zhong's cheeks are old, and every wrinkle is like a knife and an axe.

Qin Shanhai was shocked when he heard this, and he instantly revered the old man in his heart, the old man spoke a little fiercely, but every sentence was very reasonable.

The old man turned his head and asked, "The sea, why did you come back when you went out?"

After Qin Shanhai was demobilized, he was not in a good mood, and Lao Zhongtou's question made Qin Shanhai open the conversation. "If I hadn't gone out, I wouldn't have been distressed, I hadn't seen high-rise buildings, I hadn't seen airplanes and ships, I planted a few acres of land and married a daughter-in-law on the land where I was born and raised, and there was nothing wrong with it for the rest of my life, because our life was originally like this. Qin Shanhai paused for a long time and then said: "Since I was a child, I have envied the soldiers, five years ago, I sat on the only tractor in our village, went to the town to gather in the military recruitment office, at that time I was full of enthusiasm to do a career, I did a good job in the army, overdue service for two years, but the army stipulates that demobilized soldiers return to their hometowns, so I came back, and when I got home, I saw that our village has not changed anything else except this new bridge." Old Zhong, do you know what the big city outside is like?" Qin Shanhai said emotionally.

The old man smoked a cigarette pouch and said: "I don't know, but I know what you think, you are now like a goose that has fallen into a well, dry fluttering and can't make it hard, if I am thirty years younger, I will also go out to break through, when I am young, to be able to eat is the biggest goal, I guard this river to make Artemisia beg for a living, starvation will not die!" But now the development of society is different, our village has capable laborers to go to the town to help, I said this is not for you to help, the ancestors said that Xiu is the Wenqu star down to earth, your knowledge can catch up with Xiucai, since you have this momentum, just according to what you think, I have always been optimistic about you as a child, you must be better than them! In terms of culture, Guotao is not as good as you!"

Qin Shanhai stood up and said, "Old Zhong, thank you, I can only tell you these words." In our village, my family is at the bottom, and I have been thinking about it these days when I come home, my father has cultivated me for all these years, and the country has cultivated me for all these years, I should repay something, but I have no place to do it. ”

Lao Zhong lit Qin Shanhai with a cigarette pouch and said: "I don't know what to do, because I have little knowledge and don't understand things outside, but I tell you that the sea, if you want to achieve big things, you must first do small things!

Qin Shanhai nodded thoughtfully.

"Brother Dahai, Brother Dahai, go home for dinner. A crisp female voice shouted outside the door.

"Your eldest sister called you, go ahead. The old bell waved his hand.

Qin Shanhai got up, took out the money from his pocket, put it on the bench and said: "This is the money that Guo Tao lent to my family when I was in the army, and my father wrote it down in the notebook, a total of two hundred and thirty-six yuan eight, I brought it all, you accept it." ”

The old man got up and glared: "Take it away! This is Guotao's filial piety to your father!"

"You've got to take it. Qin Shanhai insisted.

"Hehe, little cub, let me ask you, are you friends with Guotao?" the old man laughed angrily.

"Of course, I have been a soldier for many years, and Guotao has taken care of my family. ”

"If it's a friend, don't be so clear! How did I get over the famine when I was young? You pull me, I help you, it's not a thing!"

"Take it, friends to friends, you can't be sloppy with money, there will be a long time in the future, old Zhong, I also want to puff up my chest and be a man!" Qin Shanhai insisted on speaking, raised his legs and left.

Lao Zhong didn't chase it, sat on the bench and was silent for a long time, slowly poured out the tobacco from the cigarette pouch, stuffed it into the pot and filled it, looked into the distance and said: "This baby is a good baby!"

Qin Shanhai's home is located on the most mountainous side of Shanghe Village, and five people live in three bungalows.

The eldest Qin Shanhai is twenty-three this year, and has a younger sister and a younger brother, the younger sister is called Qin Shanyue, who is 20 years old this year, and the younger brother is called Qin Shanhe, who is 18 years old this year.

Sea, moon, river. The names of the three brothers and sisters were all taken by their father Qin De, who was the only teacher in the village.

Married early in the countryside, according to convention, the children born at the age of the eldest sister Qin Shanyue should run everywhere. In terms of appearance, it is not bad in Shanghe Village, but he has not married for a long time.

The last thing Qin Shanhai wants to mention in front of people is his younger brother Qin Shanhe, because Xiaohe's intelligence has problems, when he was three years old, a high fever kept his intelligence forever at three years old, and the children in the village called him three fools, Qin Shanhai became an adult, heard this title, and really fought with people a few times, and gradually no one dared to laugh at him in person.