As the doctor said, his son's illness came and went quickly, after Lao Mu's careful care for a day and two nights, Mu Zhen's illness was basically cured, when he got up in the morning, his mental state was very good, but Lao Mu looked a little haggard, he was afraid that his son would not sleep well last night, he didn't close his eyes all night, sat on the edge of the bed and looked at his son, for fear of being bitten by mosquitoes, or accidentally catching a cold again, but looking at his son's good mental state, Lao Mu's fatigue also disappeared.

It was half past five in the afternoon after the exam, and I heard my son say that the exams were very smooth, and all subjects were doing well, Lao Mu's heart seemed to be a little settled, and he simply packed his luggage in the dormitory, and took his son to prepare for the journey home.

When walking through the school gate, a group of people gathered in front of the classroom wall next to the gate, Lao Mu got off his bicycle and stopped next to the crowd, he stood on tiptoe and looked at the blackboard on the wall, on the blackboard there was a notice written on the middle and lower edge, although the number of words is not much, but it is the attention of many candidates:

notice

The results of the junior high school enrollment will be released on June 17 under the school's Confucian Temple Corridor, please pay attention to it at that time.

School-run

June 10th

"June 17th, it shouldn't be done yet!" Lao Mu muttered to himself as he read the notice.

Mu Zhen, who was sitting on the back seat of the bicycle, understood that what Lao Mu said about "not finished" meant that Sanxia was not busy, and Mu Zhen was at a loss when she thought of this.

Lao Mu got off the highway and rode on the north-south country road, Mu Zhen noticed that the sun had turned into a big red fireball, slowly falling towards the western horizon, half of the sky in the west was red, and the distant village just caught this falling fireball, reflecting a clear outline of the village, clearly recognizable, and the rising smoke added a little dynamism to this fiery red, like a veil on the pink face, soft and soothing, isn't this a fairy tale fairyland? Mu Zhen was intoxicated, because the two of them had nothing to say all the way, Mu Zhen's eyes, who had been sitting on the back seat of the bicycle for a long time, were a little astringent from time to time, and the scene at this time had already driven the fatigue away without a trace.

Mu Yan, who had just stepped into the house and was cooking at home, happily greeted the two of them: "What a coincidence, I was thinking about whether to cook your meal just now?"

"Is your mother still in the field?" asked Lao Mu eagerly.

"Well, I have to tie up the land again!" Mu Yan responded.

Lao Mu put down the things in the car, and then beckoned Mu Zhen and said, "You help cook at home, I'll work in the field!" After speaking, he rode away.

Although she hadn't seen her for a day, Mu Yan felt very cordial about her brother's return from the exam: "How did you do in the exam?"

"Brother will definitely get a good score in the exam!" Mu Yan said with a little confident smile to Mu Zhen, who was filling the stove with firewood.

"It should be okay, the results will be out in a week!" replied Mu Zhen.

Although Mu Yan, who is only nine years old this year, has not been in school for two years, she is not only a good helper at home, but also hard-working, not only helping the family every day, but also supporting Mu Zhen's study very sensibly, no matter how busy she is outside, she never wants her brother to help her, but hopes that her brother will study hard and be nominated for the gold list as soon as possible.

Although the dinner cooked by the brother and sister did not have any good taste, it was sweeter than eating delicacies from the mountains and seas for Xiuhua, who had been busy all day.

The next day, the sky was just bright, the eastern horizon had not yet reddened, Xiuhua, who had already cooked the meal, shouted to Lao Mu who was still lying on the bed: "It's time to get up, everyone's wheat has been pulled to the field, we will also borrow a car to pull home today, otherwise it will affect the next season's rice planting!"

"Let's pull too, you go to the second uncle's house to borrow a place to line up for a car!" said Lao Mu as he put on his clothes and got out of bed.

"Mu Zhen, hurry up, go to work in the field today! I can't stay at home all the time!" Old Mu shouted to his son, who was still asleep.

"Hey!" As she responded, Mu Zhen rubbed her eyes and sat up and quickly got dressed.

The busy figures in the field have been transferred to the yard, and only the wheat bundles of the old Mu family are still in the field, looking like bundled baby bags from a distance. Lao Mu's family of four was busy working in the field, the exposure of the scorching sun and the fact that Lao Mu and his son rarely did this work, they were so tired that they were sweating profusely, and from time to time they provoked Lao Mu's rough temper and whining, "The scorching sun is like a fire, the seedlings in the fields are half scorched, the farmer's heart is like soup boiling, and the prince and grandson shake the fan." In these years, holding a clay rice bowl is a farmer, and holding an iron rice bowl is the son and grandson. ”

"What's the use of complaining? Why don't you hurry up and get your own crops home?" Xiu Hua replied while loading the car, and Mu Zhen was silent, obviously struggling to hold the wheat bundle thicker than his waist in front of the car.

"Don't complain, I'm here to help!" Xiuying said to Lao Mu.

"Sister, are you done with your family?" Xiuying greeted a middle-aged woman who was walking towards them.

The person who came was Yingzi, Lao Mu's sister, Yingzi was 1.7 meters tall, she was an athlete in the school back then, although she was nearly middle-aged, but when she walked, she still showed her vigor on the sports field back then.

"We just finished yesterday, and today we came to see how busy you are, and I thought that your brother-in-law would also come, but the neighbor asked him to repair the diesel engine, but he couldn't come. As he spoke, he crossed the small ditch on the edge of the ground and took a step closer to the wheat cart.

"How did Mu Zhen do in the exam?" Before Lao Mu could say hello, Yingzi then asked.

"The results will be available in a few days, and we will not know until then. Lao Mu replied.

"Auntie. Mu Zhen called out cordially and did not say anything more.

"Alas, these days, I heard that his grandfather is coping with the exam, so he is busy with you!" Yingzi agreed and said to Xiuhua with some apologies.

"That rice bowl is more important than our rice bowl, it's an iron rice bowl, we can't lose the iron rice bowl, hold on to such a muddy rice bowl!" Lao Mu took it and said.

"That's right, it's not easy for the peasant family to produce a student, we have to pay much more than those county children, at least they don't have to bask in the sun like this! And we Zhen'er still have to eat coarse tea and light rice, doing such heavy work! It's really different in life! However, if Zhen'er has a future career, you can also give up doing this farm work and live a life like a city fairy!" Yingzi sighed, "The farmer's child, it is our hope to have a chance!"

"Did you do well in the exam?" asked Yingzi looking at Mu Zhen.

"I don't know!" Mu Zhen replied in a low voice.

"Why don't you know, what is so unconfident in something, what can you do in the future? When you are so old, you are still so cowardly about something, and what big things can you do in the future?" Lao Mu was disgusted when he heard his son say such words without confidence.

"Look, why do you say that, child, you just don't know before you look at the list?" Yingzi glared at Lao Mu.

Mu Zhen's eyes moistened, and then she choked up a little.

"Crying, crying, you know crying, what are you crying about?" Lao Mu's voice raised an octave.

Yingzi saw that Lao Mu was in a bad mood, so she pulled Mu Zhen, "Don't do it, I will do it for you, go home!" Under the persuasion of Yingzi, Mu Zhen walked across the small ditch in the field and walked towards the village.

"Treat the child like this, you will be scared out of your illness in the future!" Yingzi said to Lao Mu in a tone of lesson.

"Two days ago, I heard the old Li Tou of the village say that Zhen'er had a fever, and I wanted to come and see it, but because the farm work was tight, I didn't come, I saw that the children were not all good, and I let the children work in the fields!"

"Hey, I didn't want him to come, but his father had to call him, saying what kind of labor reform, and saying that he didn't know the bitterness of the field, how could he know the sweetness of reading?" said Xiuhuabian while busy loading the car.

"What kind of hardship in the field, when such hardship is also scored, the child's illness is not all cured, just so tired, and then tired and sick, we have to worry about it, not to mention, that is, we are tired, and it is too late to regret it. Yingzi glanced at Lao Mu who lowered his body and lifted the wheat bundle with his mouth and said.

Lao Mu had a gloomy face, did not speak, and was silently busy with the work in his hands, listening to the chatter of their aunt and daughter-in-law.

"I'm also good for him, but I don't know what kind of fire is uncomfortable in my heart, I'm afraid that he won't be able to pass the exam and I don't know what to do! Now seeing his lack of confidence, I want to beat him!" Lao Mu couldn't help but burst out with such a sentence.

"Hey, I can't pass the exam, and there is still a middle school in the commune to attend, so why do I have to go to the county town to study?" Yingzi replied with a sigh.

"That's so, but after all, it's not as good as the teaching in the county, it's the elite of the county, if you get there, you will have a much greater chance of going to school and getting an iron rice bowl!"

"I can't convince you, but I really can't get in, and if you go to a commune middle school, you may not be a talent in the future! Yingzi was a little worried about Lao Mu, afraid that he would decide on a dead reason again, and his spirit would be stimulated and he would be sick again, so he persuaded in a somewhat soothing tone.

After a few days of farming, Lao Mu's bones seemed to be scattered, and before he could take a break, it was the day when Gucheng No. 1 Middle School came out, and Lao Mu didn't care about breakfast, so he rode to the county seat by himself.

Hurry to ride faster, usually two hours of travel only took an hour to get to the school, the school has been waiting in front of the temple corridor has been waiting for a lot of people, I heard the bottom of the people said to wait until ten o'clock to be out of the list.

Lao Mu sat under the shade of the tree, facing the more than ten meters long corridor, this corridor is the east wall of the Yamen of the ancient county town, and later became a school here, this Yamen has become a part of the school, when Lao Mu was in high school, the Yamen has been changed into a processing plant by the school, the last time he came to the exam, the "boom" sound has shown that the Yamen still has not changed his use, but today there is no sound, it may be repairing the machine, maybe because it affects the mood of the watcher, and it is not turned on! Lao Mu guessed. Look closely at the corridor, just a corridor close to the east wall of the yamen, the front of the corridor can only be hugged by four two adults, painted red tall wooden pillars on top, the bottom is cushioned with polished smooth cylindrical granite stone, and then up, the front edge of the corridor is carved into all kinds of animal heads, etc., all painted in red, the carving is lifelike, only this carving can imagine the glory of the past, it is really "the old Wang Xie Tang Qianyan, flew into the homes of ordinary people". The roof of the corridor is inclined to be covered with glazed tiles commonly used in ancient buildings, which have fallen into disrepair for a long time and have lost their former luster. Looking down the corridor, it is all made of blue bricks nearly half a meter long and more than ten centimeters thick, and there is a propaganda column with a rectangular sidebar drawn with red paint, and there are still student grade lists posted on the column at some point. It is the advantage of having a corridor in front of this wall to shelter from the rain and a wide area in the back, every National Day, New Year's Day and other festivals, the wall under the gallery will be painted with colorful text patterns, revealing a festive atmosphere. After each centralized examination organized by the school, everyone will always find their scores and rankings in the whole school here. It used to be a paradise for teachers and students to show their talents, and it was also a place for teachers and students to see what they had gained. He had lived here for three years, but he had never looked so closely at the gallery he walked by.

Lao Mu stared at the gallery, as if he was back in high school life, he saw his name appear in the excellent score list from this gallery more than once, and when the festival came, he would also see his brilliant prose and poems presented in the red frame, at that time he was proud of this gallery and looked forward to a better future, but today, he was an indescribable anxiety, "This year's enrollment is a great opportunity for Zhen'er, this time I can't catch it, I have to wait another year not to say, I don't know what the result will be after a year?" At the same time, there is an indescribable irritability, "It's really not good, then it's like I was back then, I will go crazy again! In my inner turmoil, this gallery has become so unfamiliar, for whether my son can be on the list, this is related to my son's future, and it is also related to my son's future job!"

Lao Mu couldn't help but think to himself, "Resigned to fate, think about it, didn't you think about it back then, but it was not as beautiful as the sky, but it was not as good as the sky when you made trouble, and in the end you got nothing, didn't you go home with your face to the loess and your back to the sky?"

Mu Zhen knew that his father went to see the list today, and like his father, his mood was not calm, this mood was not sadness, but fear, this mood was not quiet, only apprehension. He sat quietly in his courtyard alone, his eyes looking in the direction of the county seat.

"Rice bowls, rice bowls, there is food, and it is not okay if you don't die of hunger! Don't the people in the village who are illiterate also have rice bowls? What kind of bowl are mud rice bowls and iron rice bowls? Naturally it is needless to say that I am on the list, and if I am really not on the list, then Lao Tzu will not know what to do with me when he comes back? The road is under his feet, but he did not come out by himself, he was all forced to move forward, when will this kind of passivity be the end?" Mu Zhen didn't understand why his father always taught him a lesson with his job, he only knew that every time he failed in the exam, he would attract his father's uneasy eyes.

"Either you die, or I die!" these words returned to Mu Zhen's mind. "If you really can't pass the exam, your life is not as good as death, and you are clean when you die, and such a boring life is not necessarily a bad thing if it ends like this. ”

"How do you choose to die? Jumping into a pit, you can swim, hang yourself, and you don't know how to do it, the best way is to take medicine and save the most trouble!

In fact, society is colorful, so why not make the child's world colorful? The child's world is pure, but under this strong pressure, what kind of fallacy can be created, the child's thinking is open, but in the world where books are the standard of life, how can the child's mind be open? After all, the world is colorful, society is changing, a person's development is constantly changing, the world brings people's thinking is by no means a few books can be solved, why can't you give the child a sky, let him live in the temptation, let him seek a space suitable for his own development in self-development?

After all, Mu Zhen is a child, his mind is very simple, it is such a child's inner world, in this high-pressure environment, it has become very deformed, what kind of talent can he become in the future?

In Mu Zhen's eyes, the world is just a color, there is nothing to enjoy of yourself, the only thing that can make you happy is to get good grades in the exam, be on the list, and make her father happy, so that she can have her own happiness.

Mu Zhen's heart is very confused, how to face his father who returns from watching the list, and how can he face the pain of falling off the list? No one gave him an answer, the only thing is to wait slowly in torment, in Mu Zhen's opinion, these few hours are so long, and so far away, so long that time has stopped, so far away that he can't see or think of the end and end.

The big yellow dog at home paced to his feet playfully, he subconsciously stroked the head of the big yellow dog, the big yellow dog was very docile and enjoyed the closeness of the little master, "Big yellow, can you understand me?" Mu Zhen lowered his head and said to himself to the big yellow dog.

A magpie flew from the jujube tree in the courtyard at some point, and flew away after a few calls, which attracted Mu Zhen's attention, "The magpie announces good news, it is an auspicious bird, if only I could become an auspicious bird!" Flying not far, an invisible force is pulling him. Is this his own future?" Mu Zhen asked another question that was difficult for her to answer.