One

In the afternoon, it was a bit muggy. Lao Liu, a postman at the Lichuan County Post and Telecommunications Bureau, rode his Feige brand bicycle full of letters, letters, and newspapers, and drove unhurriedly into the campus of the People's Primary School next to Yahou Street, crushing the granite-paved laneway. When he jumped out of the car at the door and walked past the communication room in the shade of the trees, he looked sideways, and the clock hand on the wall of the room pointed to sixteen thirty minutes.

"Today is August 15, 1963. Lao Peng, a school worker who knew his habit, smiled and deliberately added a sentence.

In the face of Lao Peng's kind ridicule, Lao Liu also smiled, and then rang the bell on the faucet in his hand.

Hearing the familiar chime, the teachers who were taking a nap surrounded them. In order to better carry out the work of the new semester, they have been training intensively for a week.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have any letters from you today, just a notice to Principal Cen. Looking at the teachers who flocked to him, Lao Liu said with a smile.

The teachers were a little surprised when they heard the notice. But before they came back to their senses, they heard Lao Liu's loud voice shouting in the direction of the school office: "Principal Cen, buy candy to eat!"

Hearing the greeting, Cen Huanian, the principal of the People's Primary School, who was sorting out the training materials, stopped what he was doing and walked out of the office. Seeing Lao Liu smiling and holding a letter and waving his hand to himself, he couldn't help but move in his heart: Could it be -

Sure enough, when he took the letter from Lao Liu and opened it, he found that it contained indeed the college entrance examination admission notice that the whole family had been looking forward to. Although it was only a thin piece of paper, the words "Fudan University" printed on it unmistakably told him that Cen Shishi, his eldest son, had been admitted to this famous domestic university.

Looking at the long-awaited notice, Cen Huanian had mixed feelings in his heart, and he didn't know what to do for a while.

"The president's boss has been admitted to Fudan University!"

Seeing Cen Huanian looking at the notice excitedly, I don't know who shouted, the teachers came forward immediately, especially the young female teacher, screaming and making trouble. Without saying anything, they snatched the notice from the principal's hand, rushed to circulate it, and expressed their exclamations. You must know that for the residents of this area of Yahou Street, although it is not uncommon to go to university, it is still a great thing to be admitted to a prestigious university, not to mention that the owner of this notice is the eldest son of the president.

"Headmaster, what a great event!"

"Pragmatism has really won you a lot of glory!"

"Thank you, thank you!" In the face of the congratulations of his colleagues, Cen Huanian, who had a clear face and a thin body, said how happy he was, because of excitement and excitement, he was a little at a loss for a while. But at this moment, he felt someone gently poking him in the waist. When I looked back, I found that it was Lao Liu, a simple and shrewd man who was smiling and slapping him.

"Yo-look at me!" Cen Huanian patted his head and took it out of his pocket, but after digging for a while, he couldn't take out anything.

"Don't dig it. Looking at his slightly embarrassed state, a soft female voice came from the side, and immediately, two bills with five dimes were handed to him.

Listening to the voice, Cen Huanian didn't need to look back to know that it was Fan Yun, a sixth-grade Chinese teacher. Even though it was natural for her to do so, he was grateful. It's just that he didn't have time to think about it at the moment, all he could do was to take the money from the white hand, turn around and hand it to Lao Liu.

"Ah, likable is pleased, that's a little bit more. Seeing this, Lao Liu was a little embarrassed. He took only five dimes, turned to the crowd and said, "Come and buy candy with me." ”

Listening to Lao Liu's shouting, several young teachers followed with a grin. In order to be happy for Cen Huanian, Lao Liu kept pressing the bell on the bicycle, and a series of pleasant bells sounded on the way to the commissary at the school gate.

Listening to the bell and looking at the figures of everyone in the distance, especially looking at the admission notice that was easy to return to his hand, Cen Huanian's heart was full of happiness. As for Fan Yun beside him, he is also happy for him. In her memory, there were not many times when the headmaster was so comfortable, but the melancholy look always overflowed in his slender eyes.

"Headmaster, it's time, you should go home early today. Fan Yun said softly.

"Yes, yes. Hearing Lao Peng ring the bell for getting off work, and seeing the teachers coming out of their respective grade offices and walking towards the school gate under the shade of trees, Cen Huanian smiled at Fan Yun like a child. He carefully took the notice, turned and walked towards the office, and as he left, he said to her, "I'll pay you back tomorrow." ”

"Just five dimes, depending on what you say. Fan Yun took the five-corner note that the principal had returned to him, and felt that he was too serious.

"What is borrowed is borrowed. Cen Huanian said as he walked into the office. He put the notice in his usual bag, packed up the items on the table, dropped the lock, and walked to his home, not far from the school. Today is one of the few times he has come home on time, and the reason is naturally to tell his wife Zheng Wenshu the good news earlier. Although he was very happy in his heart at this time, when he met familiar passers-by, he still greeted them as usual, trying not to show that he was different from usual. It's just that he didn't expect that when he was still in school, his son Cen Shishi's classmate Wu Zhengsheng had been in his house for a while.

"Uncle Cen is good!"

After coming to Cen's house, Wu Zhengsheng has been talking to Zheng Wenshu. At this moment, I saw Cen Huanian walking into the house with his bag, and stood up respectfully from the stool he was sitting on.

"Good, good. Cen Huanian smiled and nodded, motioning for him to sit down, not so polite.

"Uncle Cen, has the pragmatic notice arrived?" Wu Zhengsheng was still standing, and asked more eagerly.

"Ah, here it is, just received it. Cen Huanian put the bag on the table beside him, took out the notice from it and handed it to the other party. The moment he walked into the house, he saw Wu Zhengsheng's anxious gaze towards him, and knew that the other party was worried about his exam results, but since the pragmatic admission notice came, there was no need to hide it, and he would not tell the truth for fear of irritation.

After receiving the pragmatic notice, Wu Zhengsheng read it several times. Looking at it, a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Looking at Wu Zhengsheng's obviously changing expression, Cen Huanian knew that this young man's mood was very complicated at the moment, and what he had to do now was to comfort him and ask him to wait patiently, because the delivery of the notice was always early and late. But he had just received the notice handed back by Wu Zhengsheng, and before he could speak, he said to the couple of them, "Uncle Cen, Mother Zheng, I'm going back", stood up, and walked hurriedly towards the gate of the courtyard.

"The meal is about to be ready, let's eat before leaving. Seeing this, Zheng Wenshu hurriedly stayed.

"Nope. "I have eaten the Cen family's meal more than once on weekdays, Wu Zhengsheng knows that his pragmatic parents are indeed sincere in keeping guests, but at this moment, he is not in the mood to stay.

"Wait a minute. Seeing this, Cen Huanian shouted.

Wu Zhengsheng stopped when he heard this, and turned back questioningly.

Cen Huanian took out half a pack of biscuits from his bag, walked up to him, and handed it over: "Take it, put a pad on the road." ”

Looking at Cen Huanian's move, Wu Zhengsheng was very moved, but at this moment, he didn't care about what to say, took the biscuits, said "thank you", and took a step, anxiously running towards the Qingxi Commune where his house was located more than ten miles away.

"Hey, it's all caused by the college entrance examination. Looking at Wu Zhengsheng's back in a hurry, Zheng Wenshu sighed softly. Just now she was worried that Wu Zhengsheng would be hungry, but now there are some biscuits on the mat, which will be somewhat better. Coincidentally, the biscuit was still in her husband's bag yesterday, because of the old pantothenic acid water in his stomach recently, he went to the hospital to check and found no problems, the doctor said that then eat two alkaline biscuits during the attack to neutralize it.

Listening to his wife's emotion, Cen Huanian felt the same way. However, in his opinion, for pragmatic and Zhengsheng children, the college entrance examination is not easy, but they cannot afford not to participate, and if they want to participate, they have to endure suffering, and no one can easily be admitted to university.

But Cen Huanian didn't expect that it was not only pragmatic students who were affected by the college entrance examination, but many people who had nothing to do with it. No, as soon as Wu Zhengsheng walked on the front foot, a large group of neighbors came on the back foot. They already knew the good news of the Cen family, and they came to congratulate them. Many of them have children who are studying, such as Yang Yanling's sister-in-law at Xiangkou, Vice Chairman Shang and his wife from the Dayuan County Federation of Industry and Commerce next door, Yang Qionghua, who teaches in the same school as Cen Huanian, and so on. Among the people who congratulated her, the widowed Aunt Chao was the most talkative, and her only daughter Wen Yixiu was admitted to the medical school in Linxin Province two years ago, which made her have a lot of say in the matter of going to school. I don't know why, her uncle and aunt Ma, who lived in the backyard of the Cen family with her, did not appear in the crowd.

"Congratulations, Principal Cen!" The fat Vice Chairman Shang smiled and arched his hands to Cen Huanian.

"Fudan University," Yang Qionghua, who was about to enter the age of no doubt, sighed, "This is not something that ordinary people can get into!"

"Our family Yanling is going to take the exam next year, and I don't know what's going on," Yanling's sister-in-law remembered her sister-in-law when she congratulated, "It would be nice if she was like a pragmatic brother." ”

Although the courtyard where Cen is located is relatively spacious, it is crowded for a while because there are many neighbors who come to congratulate him. Everyone talked a lot, and the scene was very lively. Just chatting around, in addition to thinking that Cen is pragmatic, smart and studious, and Cen Huanian and his wife teach their children well, what they talk about the most is pulse. Everyone agreed that the Yahou Street where everyone lives is indeed the cultural context, otherwise, there would not be so many students here who would be admitted to the university.

"Yes, pulse!" Aunt Chao said mysteriously, "I heard my grandfather say that when he was a child, Mr. Feng Shui said that although the wealth of this place is not prosperous, the culture is very prosperous, and nothing can stop it, unless the world changes greatly." ”

"No wonder one after another, every year there are college students. "Someone suddenly realized.

"But it's not good for bad luck, look, our income is too small. "There are also people who regret it.

"It's not going to be like this. "Someone disagreed.

"How do you know?" the crowd thought it was a bit unreliable. Although several years have passed since the natural disasters of the past three years, and the government's policy of "adjustment, consolidation, enrichment, and improvement" has also achieved considerable results, there are still quite a few unemployed people in Yahou Street. With the exception of a few families, most people have a tight life.

"What can I know? "But he also said that although good days will come eventually, it depends on whether we have the blessings to endure it." ”

Hearing this, everyone looked at each other for a moment and was speechless. He is a blind man with no children and no daughters on Yahou Street, and although he enjoys the "five guarantees", he ignores the warnings of the neighborhood committee, and often quietly tells fortunes and dividles for the neighbors to earn a few pocket money. You say that he is engaged in superstition, but sometimes he is very accurate, and after a long time, the nickname of "half-immortal" is called.

"There will be, bread will be there, milk will be there. After a while, someone borrowed the lines of Guard Captain Vasily from the movie "Lenin in October" to joke about himself.

"Yes, as long as the culture is there, don't worry about the fortune. Someone chimed in, "Those who are admitted to college, aren't the families having a much better life in the future?"

Hearing this, everyone agreed.

As soon as the neighbors entered the courtyard, Cen Huanian got up to greet the guests, and since then he has been standing aside, smiling and listening to their discussions, although he didn't say anything, he still agreed with everyone's statement in his heart. He had read the Lichuan County Chronicles and knew that the place where everyone lived began in the Ming Dynasty, was the back street of the county government, so it was called the back street of the county government; not only that, since that time, the county schools of all dynasties have been located here, that is, the people's primary school where he was the principal, and it is also located on the original site of the county school. That being the case, there is some truth in saying that it has accumulated quite a bit of culture. Not to mention that there have been many big figures in the past, such as Che Wuzi who read at night in the Jin Dynasty, Ni Qunyu, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, Jiang Yixiong, a democratic revolutionary in the late Qing Dynasty, and so on, since the liberation alone, there have been many college students here, such as Hao Zhiguo, the boss of the Hao family book and paper shop who was admitted to the Department of Archaeology of Sun Yat-sen University, Su Hua, the daughter of Director Min of the neighborhood committee who was admitted to the Radio Department of Nanjing Institute of Technology, and so on, Cao Shunfu, who has been playing tofu for half his life and is illiterate in big characters, and the youngest daughter Cao Chunying was also admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology. Of course, what made him feel even more fulfilled was that their primary schools were all studied in the People's Primary School.

"Disperse, disperse," Seeing that everyone was talking for a while, there was still no intention of ending, and the tall and handsome resident group leader Jiang Yizhen shouted: "Principal Cen has had a day's class, and it's time to rest, if you have something to say, let's talk about it tomorrow." ”

"Yes, too. Everyone came back to their senses and found that it was time for dinner, so after congratulating Cen Huanian and Zheng Wenshu and his wife again, they dispersed in twos and threes.

Seeing everyone's backs in the distance, the old and young members of the Cen family, who were full of joy, walked into their own hall. Long before everyone was enthusiastically discussing, the hostess Zheng Wenshu had already prepared dinner, and seeing this, she quickly set up the tables and chairs, served the meal, and beckoned the family to sit down. In order to celebrate the title of the gold list of her eldest son, she also poured a glass of red wine for her husband.

Cen Huanian silently watched Zheng Wenshu manipulating. Although these are familiar to him, he is still touched in his heart. To be honest, I have such a small salary, I have to provide for the life of a family of six, and three children go to school, which is tight enough, and it is difficult to maintain it if it is not for my wife's virtuous and capable.

"Hua Nian, what are you thinking?" Looking at Cen Hua Nian's thoughtful appearance standing there, Zheng Wenshu was a little puzzled, "Mom and the children are waiting for you." ”

Oh, really, seeing that the second son Xinrui and the full daughter Limin and even the old mother were looking at him, Cen Huanian smiled apologetically and sat down at the dinner table. I don't know from which generation, the Cen family has formed a rule, the male host does not serve the table during the meal, and all family members will not hold the bowl and chopsticks.

Seeing Cen Huanian serving the first dish to Mrs. Cen, the whole family started to move.

"Wen Shu, when will you come back?" Although the Cen family's habit is not to speak during meals, Mrs. Cen is the only exception. Although she took a bite of food, she felt that it was always a pity that people in high school did not know about her good news, so she stopped the chopsticks in her hand.

"It's just these two days. Zheng Wenshu, who was sitting at the bottom, replied respectfully to her mother-in-law.

When Mrs. Cen heard this, she knew that it would be useless to ask again, so she ate again.

Dinner was going on happily. This is of course related to Zheng Wenshu's cooking skills, and more importantly, Cen pragmatic received an admission letter from Fudan University. The only drawback is that as a party concerned, he was invited by his classmates to travel in Linxian at the moment, and he was unable to know the good news in time.

After a while, dinner was over. After washing, the members took care of their own business. Cen Huanian had to practice a few characters as usual, and his second son, Cen Xinrui, had to watch on the side for a while after finishing his homework. The reason why Cen Xinrui did this was not only because his mother had told him more than once that words are people's signboards and must be written well, but also because he also likes calligraphy, and he thought very early on whether he could write well like his father, and was asked to write a couplet, slogan or something.

The sky gradually darkened, the sound of children playing in the alleyway of the community gradually disappeared, and the courtyard reproduced the usual quietness.

Zheng Wenshu cleans the dishes neatly in the stove with a fifteen-watt incandescent light bulb. The admission of her eldest son to Fudan University made her very excited and excited. When he was happy, he unusually hummed the episode of the movie "Honghu Red Guards". At this moment, Aunt Ma, a neighbor who also lived in the front yard, quietly came to her side.

"Congratulations, pragmatic mom!"

"Oh, thank you. Zheng Wenshu turned her head when she heard the voice, but before she could say anything, she realized that something was wrong: with the sound of joy, the other party stuffed an object into her hand.

"You're—" Zheng Wenshu was caught off guard.

"A little heart. Aunt Ma seemed a little embarrassed.

"You can't. Zheng Wenshu found that the other party sent a chic fountain pen and immediately handed it back. Although she couldn't read the foreign text engraved on it, she knew that it would definitely cost a lot.

"What's wrong, aren't we good neighbors?" Aunt Ma was a little disapproving, she pressed Zheng Wenshu's hand back to the fountain pen, "Besides, it's not for you and Principal Cen, it's for pragmatism." ”

"I can't afford to be pragmatic. Zheng Wenshu still felt that it was unacceptable.

"Why can't you afford it? Fudan University, that's a school that ordinary people can't get into!" Aunt Ma has her own reasons, "Besides, this is pulled down by my man who ran away without a shadow, and it's useless to me, isn't it just pragmatic?"

"That's—I'll thank you on my behalf. After several pushes, it seemed that Aunt Ma's kindness was really unbearable, so Zheng Wenshu had no choice but to accept this strong friendship.

"Pragmatic Mom, your blessing is so good!" Seeing Zheng Wenshu accept her congratulatory gift, Aunt Ma was very happy. She looked at Zheng Wenshu, who was middle-aged and slightly wealthy, and said enviously, "Mother-in-law treats you well, men feel sorry for you, children are motivated, and the family is harmonious." ”

"Thank you for lifting up. Hearing Aunt Ma say this, Zheng Wenshu hurriedly expressed her gratitude. To be honest, she was very useful for her congratulations to Aunt Ma: although the words were simple, they got to the point. She felt that it was really worth it to follow Cen Huanian in her life, although her material life was quite poor, she was emotionally rich, and this was something that not everyone could get.

"Pragmatically admitted to Fudan University, President Cen must be very happy. Aunt Ma said.

"That's true," Zheng Wenshu nodded as she looked at her own door leading to the hall, but then said, "It's just that I was worried about it before the notice came." ”

"If you are pragmatic and can read, you don't have to worry. Aunt Ma felt that the Cen family could relax from the beginning in this matter.

That being said, worry is inevitable. Zheng Wenshu said in her heart.

It's time for nightfall. Zheng Wenshu and Aunt Ma were talking here, and in the bedroom over there, Cen Huanian was still concentrating on practicing calligraphy. Although the sound of his wife talking to Aunt Ma in the stove drifted into his ears intermittently, he did not hear what they were saying. Because he was in a happy mood, he wrote the characters that night so easily that he practiced three regular scripts as usual, and wrote two more official scripts. However, after writing and telling Xinrui to go to bed quickly, he felt that he still had something to do.

What's wrong with me? Cen Huanian was a little puzzled: Just because he had received a pragmatic notice? Thinking of this, he couldn't help but take out the pragmatic notice from the bedside table and look at it.

At this moment, Zheng Wenshu, who had cleaned up the kitchen, pushed the door and walked in, watching Cen Huanian carefully holding the admission notice, staring at him motionless, and then joked: "Why, haven't you seen enough?" She knew that her husband felt the same way as herself about her son's admission to Fudan University, and she was both excited and excited. After all, this is the first college student of the Cen family, and it is the greatest wish of the late father-in-law Cen Shilei back then.

"Can you see enough?" Cen Huanian raised his head and replied playfully. But at this moment, a sound of quarrel came from the courtyard next door.

"It seems to be the Shang family. Zheng Wenshu approached the window against the courtyard wall and listened intently for a while.

Cen Huanian also heard it, but he felt that it shouldn't be like this. In Yahou Street, everyone knows that Vice Chairman Shang is a person with quite good cultivation, whether it is to his family or others, he is gentle and frugal, but his wife Aunt Meng has a short temperament and occasionally loses a small temper.

"Could it be for the color screen college entrance examination?" Zheng Wenshu guessed.

To say, Zheng Wenshu really didn't guess wrong. Almost at the same time that Cen Huanian received a pragmatic admission notice, Vice Chairman Shang also received a notice sent to his daughter Shang Caiping in the Federation of Industry and Commerce, but it was not the university that issued the notice, but the regional recruitment office, as for the reason, naturally he was not admitted.

"You are really interesting, my daughter didn't know how worried she didn't get in, but she hurried to the next door to say hello to the Cen family," Seeing that Caiping didn't get in, Aunt Meng said how uncomfortable it was, but she couldn't bear to count her baby daughter, so she sprinkled the unhappiness in her chest on her husband's head: "No wonder everyone says that you are Amitabha." ”

"Then what do you say, I live in the compound next door, and the other neighbors go to congratulate me, can I not go?" Listening to his wife's rebuke, Vice Chairman Shang, who was sitting in the corner of the house, distinguished. He was born with a round head and a fat belly, happy eyebrows and kind eyes, and he really looked a bit like the Buddha Amitayus mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures.

What her husband said was reasonable, Aunt Meng didn't want to say anything more, but she was really panicked in her heart, and after thinking about it a few times, she couldn't help it, and turned her words to her daughter-

"Color screen, didn't you say that you did okay in the exam, why didn't you record a single school in the end, what the hell is going on?"

Listening to her mother's inquiry, Shang Caiping, who was already shrouded in sadness and loss, felt more and more uncomfortable. She wanted to argue, but suddenly she didn't know what to say.

"What's the matter? I don't study hard in my life. If you really have to work hard, even if you can't compare to Cen Pragmatic, it won't be as good as the current result. Seeing his daughter's frustrated and resistant, Vice Chairman Shang Ren couldn't help but mumble a few words no matter how good his temper was. Usually looking at the color screen to study slack, he wanted to say a few words, but as soon as the words came out, he was blocked back by his wife, and in the end, his daughter was fearless and didn't take his urging seriously.

"Who didn't work hard? I did the exercises every night until eleven or two o'clock, didn't you see it?" Hearing his father say this, Shang Caiping was not convinced, "The reason why I ended up with today's result is not because of my bad background!"

"You can't say that," Listening to her daughter's words, Aunt Meng couldn't agree with her statement this time. Although it is impossible for the husband's family not to have an impact on the future of his children because he has been running cloth for several generations and has abundant family assets, and since he has been classified as a capitalist after liberation, isn't his husband the first public-private joint venture in Lichuan County? Wasn't he arranged by the government to serve as vice chairman of the county federation of industry and commerce? Besides, isn't the composition of Cen Huanian's family in the compound next door also capitalists?

"I know what you're going to say," Shang Caiping snorted, "but who doesn't know that the vice chairman of the Federation of Industry and Commerce is a fictitious position with no power and can't do anything." ”

"That Cen Huanian is just a primary school principal!" Aunt Meng couldn't agree with her daughter's opinion.

"But the school is running well, and many people with heads and faces are begging him for their children to go to school. Shang Caiping felt that her mother really didn't know anything, and she couldn't see it at all.

Aunt Meng couldn't refute her daughter's words, and the room fell silent all of a sudden. Because the lights were not all turned on, the light was dim, and the atmosphere in the room was very oppressive.

"What's the blame, I can only blame myself for my bad background and bad fate!" After a long silence, Shang Caiping, who was sitting on the Taishi's chair, sighed to himself.

"Color screen, you especially complain about your father. Hearing her daughter complaining like this, and looking at her husband sitting on the side, her face was already ugly, Aunt Meng was a little worried.

What's wrong with complaining? Shang Caiping thought, since the words came out, then simply get to the end, "What I said is the truth!"

"You-" Hearing this, Aunt Meng was really anxious, she felt that the words of the color screen were too hurtful. But what she didn't expect was that just as she was thinking about how to stop her daughter, her husband, who was blue-faced, suddenly stood up, slapped herself twice, and then opened the door and staggered out.

Seeing this situation, Shang Caiping and Aunt Meng were shocked, and the room suddenly fell silent. After a while, Shang Caiping finally couldn't help crying. Although she deliberately suppressed herself, in the dead of night, the cry still spread, not only from the bedroom to the hall, from the hall to the courtyard, but also from the courtyard through the leaky window to the courtyard of the Cen family across the wall......

"Hua Nian, you listen, it seems that the color screen is crying. Zheng Wenshu turned around and whispered.

"Did she not pass the exam?" Cen Huanian walked over, listened attentively, and guessed.

"It's—maybe. Jung Wen-sook is not sure. According to her past impression, the color screen is not only beautiful, but also has a very open head, so she will not be without a book.

"It would be a shame if that were the case. Cen Huanian said sympathetically. After being silent for a while, he deliberately changed the topic: "What did you say to Aunt Ma in the kitchen just now?"

She came to congratulate Shipra and gave her a pen. Zheng Wenshu replied, and took out the fountain pen in his pocket and handed it to Cen Huanian.

"This is a fountain pen, a gold pen, Kang Keling's. Cen Huanian took it and looked at it, a little surprised, and then his expression became solemn, "We can't afford such a heavy ceremony." "Aunt Ma, he and Wen Shu don't know much, only that her big name is Ma Xiuyun and she is a housewife. When the liberation was about to be made, her husband Wen Guozheng, a middle-aged man who had been a representative of the Kuomintang "National Congress", took his little wife to Hong Kong, and as the main room, she stayed because their only child was very ill at that time and was hospitalized in the hospital. I thought that the family was only temporarily separated, but I didn't know that I couldn't see each other again. After her husband left, it has always been a mystery what Ma Xiuyun and her children live on. Some people say that she lives on rent, some say that she relies on savings, and some say that her man never stops sending money to her from Hong Kong, but these are not substantiated. As her neighbor, Cen Huanian Zheng Wenshu only knows that she lives in a simple house, especially after her son was sentenced for rape, she is even more silent and rarely interacts with others.

"Then what should I do, I can't help but take it," Zheng Wenshu felt a little embarrassed, "If this is the case, Aunt Ma will be sad and feel that we look down on her." ”

"That's right," Cen Huanian pondered for a while and said, "Let's find a chance to return it in the future." After a pause, he added: "You know, this brand of pen used to cost three Yuan heads." ”

Hearing Cen Huanian say this, Zheng Wenshu knew at this moment that Ma Xiuyun had sent such a generous gift, and she couldn't help but feel uneasy about her rash acceptance. Also, she must pay it back, she agrees with her husband's idea from the bottom of her heart. But at this moment, she saw Cen Huanian talking while reaching for the book on the pillow.

"When is it and still reading?" she was a little unhappy.

"Good, sleep, sleep. "Regarding the opinions from his wife, Cen Huanian rarely does not follow. He solemnly put away the pragmatic notice and began to undress, but as he did so, he still glanced at the "Suiyuan Poems" that he had read yesterday.

Zheng Wenshu closed the door and plugged in, saw that her husband had opened the thin quilt and lay on his back in the bed, so he took off his coat and pants in three or two and lay down beside him.

"Why, can't you sleep?" she found that although her husband was asleep, his eyes were wide open, and he didn't seem to be sleepy.

"You said that if our father is still alive and knows that he has been admitted to Fudan in a pragmatic way, what will he think?" Cen Huanian didn't seem to hear his wife's words, but suddenly opened another conversation.

"Needless to say, I must have been overjoyed. Zheng Wenshu said without thinking.

Listening to Zheng Wenshu's answer, Cen Huanian, who was looking at the top of the tent, held her calloused hand and twisted it, and after a while, Fang said in a deep voice: "It seems that our father's decision back then was still correct." ”

Listening to her husband's sigh, although Zheng Wenshu didn't squeak, she felt the same way. Due to the inspiration and encouragement of He Long, the town guard who founded a night school for the poor in Lichuan, his father-in-law Cen Shilei resolutely abandoned business and founded Limin Primary School. According to his wishes, the eldest son Hua Nian studied in the normal school and inherited his career, became the principal of Limin Primary School, because of the good management of the school, deeply respected by the neighbors, and became a popular party; the second son Yannian studied mechanical and electrical engineering, and now works as an engineer in a power engine factory in the provincial capital. Although the life of the whole family is much poorer than that of business, the spirit is very fulfilling.

"Hey, what do you say about this girl Yanling?" After a moment of silence, Cen Huanian asked again.

What's wrong with my husband today? Zheng Wenshu was a little puzzled. But without waiting for her to answer, Cen Huanian said again: "Yanling is a good girl, smart and diligent, and her future is limitless, but it's a pity that she lost her parents early," paused, and said: "Fortunately, my brother and sister-in-law treat her well and have always supported her to study, otherwise, no matter how smart and diligent she is, it will be in vain!"

Listening to her husband's exclamation, Zheng Wenshu resonated in her heart. She knew that her husband's exclamations were all caused by her son's admission to Fudan University. For this reason, a thought suddenly popped up in her heart: if she didn't get in, she would be like a color screen, and she didn't know what would happen to her husband. It's just that as soon as this idea popped up, she was immediately denied by herself. She felt that her idea was ridiculous: how could he fail the exam if he was pragmatic? He studied so hard and got so good grades!

What his wife was thinking, Cen Huanian didn't seem to have paid attention. After turning his head back and forth like a marquee a few times, he felt a little tired, so he said to Zheng Wenshu: "It's late at night, go to sleep." ”

"Okay. Zheng Wenshu turned around and pulled the pull switch on the side of the tent. With a "snap", the 25-watt electric light went out in an instant, and the room immediately sank into darkness.

The night was deep, and the conversation between the husband and wife had stopped. Gradually, all that permeated the humble room was Cen Huanian's slight snort. When Zheng Wenshu thought that her husband had fallen asleep and wanted to quietly adjust her curled up posture, Cen Huanian suddenly turned to her, reached out to wrap her soft waist, and warmly stayed on her slightly bulging lower abdomen. Although the husband and wife have lost the fiery passion of their youth due to their increasing age, their love for each other is like old wine, and the longer they go, the more mellow they become. Jung Wen-sook naturally enjoyed her husband's caress very much. She habitually leaned her back into her husband's arms, listened to his steady, low snort, and fell asleep unconsciously.