My father's hometown has finally arrived. At this time, Jiang Tao's heart fluctuated and he was full of emotion. Although this was his father's hometown, he never visited it once when he was a child. Because at that time, the traffic was inconvenient, and the road was too far.

Every year, my father or several uncles take turns to go back to my hometown to visit my grandmother. Listening to the adults' description, the impression of Huanshan Town is a very distant and poor country. At that time, there was no bus line, and when I went back to my hometown, I needed to ask for favors and ask for a bus. It is not easy to climb mountains and mountains, wade through ditches and rivers.

Once, my uncle went back to his hometown. After returning, he described with palpitations that the jeep was walking on the ice, creaking, making people's scalps tingle, for fear that if they were not careful, they would fall into the ice hole. The ditches and ditches are bumpy, the potholes are full of potholes, and the mountain roads are really rugged and difficult to walk, and they are about to break people upside down. Moreover, I can't make it back that day, at least I have to stay for one night.

In the ravine in winter, the cold is abnormal, and burning the kang does not help, but the kang is warm, and under the root of the gable, there are still frost flowers. In the second half of the night, the kang is also cold, and people often wake up in their sleep.

……

At this moment, Jiang Tao looked at the reckless mountains, and he couldn't tell the direction a little, where was the Mingyuelou Hotel that his aunt said? He was a little at a loss. I had to call my eldest brother's mobile phone. The eldest brother said, "North, you go north." Why don't I go out and pick you up?"

Jiang Tao is embarrassed to let the eldest brother pick it up. "No, no, I can find it. ”

However, the North ...... Where's the north? He turned a little.

A peasant woman in a floral shirt with black trousers pulled up at the hem of her trousers walked by. He stepped forward and asked, "Eldest sister, where is the north?"

The peasant woman pursed her mouth, the folds on her face bloomed, and she kept saying, "Ho, hahaha, these days, everyone really has it, and I can't even find the north." ”

Jiang Tao himself was also sneered. yes, I really can't find the north.

But then, a trace of unhappiness passed through my heart, and I felt that this woman was too unkind, and it was just a matter of satirizing herself, but pointing the Tao to herself?

Looking at the back of the peasant woman, Jiang Tao sighed, alas, it is better to ask for others than for yourself. Since his father's death, he has also been to Huanshan Town a few times. At this moment, calm down and think about the direction in which the sun rises on a sunny day, and your heart suddenly has a spectrum. Really, if you are confused, why are you like a fool, and you can't even tell the difference between east and west, north and south?

At this moment, in the drizzly sky, there was a sudden flash of lightning, a "click", and a thunderclap sounded. This sudden thunder startled Jiang Tao. And what shocked him the most was that the peasant woman who was ridiculing him just now happened to be hit by a thunderbolt. At this moment, her whole body had been smoked black. That floral shirt has long been riddled with holes. And her short hair, which was already messy, stood up straight at the moment, like a bird's nest, fluffy and swollen. All over his body, black and shiny, as if he had just come out of a coal kiln.

The peasant woman was also stunned by the lightning, and kept looking at her whole body, and was stunned for a moment, "Whew-" The ghost cried wolf and cried bitterly, and ran away, disappearing behind a bud of rice like a gust of wind.

Seeing this, Jiang Tao was also extremely surprised, and his heart was suddenly balanced a lot. The heart said, "That's what happens to mocking yourself." Even God can't get used to it, so he came forward to fight for himself.

found the right direction, and before he had gone far, he saw the plaque of the Mingyuelou Hotel, holding the pipa in the rain curtain and half-covering his face.

In front of the door, several relatives have already greeted them. The thin, withered, and wrinkled uncle also appeared. Jiang Tao hurriedly stepped forward, shook hands with his uncle, asked for warmth, and held an umbrella to shield his uncle from the wind and rain. Supporting the uncle with bad legs and feet, he walked back together. In front of all relatives and friends, he seems to be very educated.

The stars entered the hotel like a moon, and everyone greeted Jiang Tao one after another. My aunt said: "Jiang Tao is fat and white, and he is becoming more and more like your father." ”

The second aunt is shy by nature and doesn't like to talk, she grabs the corner of her clothes with her hand and laughs vigorously. Jiang Tao greeted the room full of people one by one, then found a place to sit down, grabbed a handful of black melon seeds from the fruit bowl at random, and swallowed them. After chatting some common words, the scene gradually cooled down. I can't say why, with the death of the older generation one after another, the relationship between cousins and aunts and cousins is no longer as warm as in the past, and every family is busy with its own affairs. The scene of taking care of each other and moving around frequently has become a thing of yesterday. Even when everyone meets, it's just a polite greeting. Because we haven't seen each other for a long time, we don't know each other anymore, and we don't know what to say.

Jiang Tao sat for a while, and when he saw that the guests had not yet arrived, he got up and asked the waiter, "Where is the bathroom?"

The waitress shook her head blankly.

Jiang Tao is strange, although it is said to be in the countryside, but such a big hotel can't even have a bathroom, ......right? This little girl doesn't understand what the bathroom is?

Come on, don't chew the words yourself, and simply ask bluntly: "Where is the toilet?"

This time, the girl understood, and pointed out the window. Only then did Jiang Tao see that there was an open-air dry toilet across the road.

It seems that this girl really doesn't understand what the bathroom is. Jiang Tao was really speechless, how far is it from the city? Why is it so backward? Some remote areas seem to be separated from the level of civilization in the city by a century. It sounds like a joke, but in fact, there really is such a situation, and Jiang Tao can see it today.

The sky was still dripping with light rain. Jiang Tao held an umbrella, crossed the road, and walked into the dry toilet. However, he has never practiced the kung fu of holding an umbrella with one hand and untying his trouser belt with the other. Although the countryside is good, going to the toilet is a headache.

Helplessly, he had to tilt his head, like a telephone receiver, and use the angle between his face and shoulders to fix the umbrella handle, which barely completed the process of unraveling his hands. However, half of the clothes were already soaked by the rain.

As soon as he relaxed, he began to look around, and over the low wall of the dry toilet, he saw a van driving into front of the hotel.

From the car, a group of people came down from the front and back, all of them were descendants of the cousin's family, all of them were high-spirited. Among the relatives, the sons and uncles of several cousins have the highest social status, although they are only a sesame official, but among the relatives, they already stand out from the crowd. But Jiang Tao was not convinced of them, because this had nothing to do with the real power of his cousin during his lifetime.

Jiang Tao looked at the dry toilet for a while, then tidied up his clothes unhurriedly, walked out, greeted him without humility or arrogance, shook hands one by one, and patted his cousin's baby son on the shoulder, praising this little chubby man: "Ho, they are about to grow into young men." ”

The cousin put more enthusiasm on the uncle, and kept praising him: "Hey, it's really more and more energetic." Uncle, do you know who you're celebrating your birthday with?"

These words made the people around them stunned, and even Jiang Tao didn't understand. The heart said, could it be that among the relatives, who else is also celebrating his birthday today? But even if there is, mentioning this matter at this moment seems a bit noisy, right?

And the cousin has always been good at selling off the guanzi, and this is what he wants. When everyone else was confused, he triumphantly uncovered the mystery: "Uncle, you celebrate your birthday with the party." Today is July 1st, the party's birthday. ”

When everyone heard this, they all laughed unnaturally.

Originally, where is this? Can the two birthdays be the same day? Is there a comparison? Just to show off knowledge, so to make a fuss, this is too far-fetched, right? It's really ridiculous and generous.

However, everyone quickly ignored this small detail, and began to give up their seats in front of and back, and brought rich fruits, their faces overflowing with flattery and flattery. His enthusiasm obviously overshadowed Jiang Tao. And Jiang Tao stood quietly in a corner, watching coldly, he was used to this kind of loneliness.

This time, everyone has arrived, and the banquet is open.

In the blink of an eye, the cups and plates were listed, chicken, duck and fish, real materials, steaming, plate by plate, like a marquee. Although there are no delicacies in the countryside, everyone eats a lot. Therefore, the country hotel is characterized by the generous portions of meals. No matter which dish it is, it is full, a plate with a point, affordable, and enough.

At this moment, Jiang Tao couldn't help but look at his watch, and then looked up at the door, looking a little absent-minded.

My cousin and sister are also unwilling to be lonely, and she rushed from the table in the women's seat to the men's table to toast, which was not enough for her to be busy. I saw her holding her wine glass high, with a very exaggerated expression, in a soprano with a round voice, chanting: "I wish my uncle, happiness is like the long flowing water of the East China Sea, and the longevity is better than the old pine of Nanshan." Every year there is today, and every year there is a present day. Come, let's raise a glass together, and wish my uncle health-health-longevity!"

When everyone heard this, they snorted and raised their glasses, and the atmosphere became warm. Looking at the old man again, his face was red with excitement, revealing an innocent smile like a child, and his mouth let out a continuous, short dry laugh, and accidentally, he also splashed saliva on his cheeks.

Jiang Tao smiled secretly in his heart, these two people are really a pair of living treasures, scrambling to be the first to be in the limelight, and they are not willing to be lonely.

Although the cousin is good at being in the limelight, he is not angry with the amount of alcohol, and when a glass of wine falls into his stomach, his face is like a monkey's belly. Jiang Tao picked up the wine bottle and said with a smile: "Do you want to do it again?"

The cousin waved his hand again and again, "Enough is enough, I've drunk a lot." ”

Jiang Tao was intriguing: "Isn't it just a bottle of beer?"

As he spoke, he poured it on him again, and then praised him casually: "Look, your daughter-in-law is about to become an announcer." ”

The cousin smiled, looked around, as if making a summary report, and said in an official tone: "Today, although it is a little rainy, the weather is neither cold nor hot, and it is also a good weather." All of us, happily come to celebrate my uncle's birthday, if this is in the past, it should be called provincial relatives......"

Jiang Tao didn't dare to laugh, and said in his heart, at this level, he dared to scream, and he was not afraid of the wind and his tongue. "Provincial relatives" refers specifically to the woman's return to her parents' home to visit her parents. It's really Zhang Guan Li Dai, which makes people laugh and be generous.

The cousin, still intoxicated with his self-presentation, took out his digital camera and took pictures of the big guys. Not to be outdone, the cousin on the side showed off his digital camera and said, "Come on, I have more pixels, and the effect is better than yours." I came to take pictures of business trips and parties in the unit. I've got the experience of shooting. Let me do it. ”

Between their brother-in-law and brother-in-law, they are still vying for the limelight.

Jiang Tao couldn't help but think of a past incident, when the color screen mobile phone was just popular, his cousin deliberately held the mobile phone high in front of everyone to check the screen. It's as if he's farsighted. In fact, he just wants everyone to know that his phone is a color screen. He has always enjoyed playing this kind of trick of carving insects, which is really innocent.

After the eighteen weapons were displayed, the cousin returned to his seat and asked Jiang Tao, "How did the eldest brother come here?"

"It's a taxi. ”

"Oh. I heard that my eldest brother quit his job?"

In a word, it was as if a scoop of cold water had been poured into boiling oil, and the pot suddenly exploded. There was a buzzing discussion, and everyone turned their eyes to Jiang Tao.

"Why don't you do a good state-owned enterprise?"

"Did you find a better place to make a fortune?"

Someone else muttered, "It's so easy." Didn't you make a mistake and get fired?"

Jiang Tao pretended not to hear these discussions, and said with a faint smile: "Yes, I quit my job." ”

"Why?"

The cousin looked surprised.

"It's not why, it's just that I can't get used to the set in the company, and I feel impersonal, so I left. ”

My cousin couldn't help but interject: "Brother, you are too willful, fortunately, it is also called a state-owned enterprise, everyone can bear it, why can't you bear it?"

Jiang Tao smiled indifferently, "Because I'm different from others, everyone has their own ambitions." ”

The cousin is worthy of being mixed in the officialdom for so many years, and he is relatively sleek, and he seems to be playing a round and saying: "Yes, yes." My eldest brother may be able to forge a new path, and this is called ambition. Big brother, where are you making a fortune now?"

Jiang Tao said with a smile: "There is a hammer in the east and a stick in the west, and there is no accurate score, and it is still in the exploration stage." ”

Just then, the screeching sound of brakes sounded in the yard, and a dark green jeep appeared, it was a Land Rover, which sparkled in the rain curtain and was particularly conspicuous. Jiang Tao perked up, and said in his heart, here, the big drama that really belongs to him has just begun.

The people in the hotel all looked out the window and guessed if such a high-end off-road vehicle was in the wrong place?

A driver got out of the car, holding a very high stack of things, and hurriedly climbed the steps of Mingyue Tower. When he entered the door, he shouted anxiously: "Boss Jiang, Boss Jiang?"

No one reacted. Because no one knew him, let alone who he was shouting. In everyone's astonishment, Jiang Tao got up and beckoned: "Come, bring it, bring it quickly." How did you get there?"

The driver carefully put down his things and said with a smile: "Isn't this raining...... And the wrong way. ”

Jiang Tao stretched out his hand to lift the plastic film and peel off the exquisite outer packaging, revealing a large and colorful cake more than one meter high. In this country hotel, such a high-end cake is outstanding and beautiful. Jiang Tao casually put the distributed crown on the uncle's head and said: "Come, uncle, don't you be afraid of being late for a good meal, uncle's 60th birthday, how can you do it without a birthday cake? ”

As he spoke, he picked up the part with the longevity peach, cut a piece, put it in the tray, and handed it to the uncle.