Chapter 6: The Way Home

1．

After leaving the gate of Toyama Middle School, he took a detour in the spring and walked a mountain path that he often walked with his friends when he went to school, and he wanted to re-experience the hardships of studying in his youth. Once again, I stepped on this familiar winding path, which stretched like a long yellow-brown snake through the green fields.

It was nearly noon, the scorching sun was scorching the earth, there was not a cloud in the sky, there was not a trace of wind, the trees and crops on both sides of the path were standing lazily there, the branches and leaves were hanging listlessly, and they were too lazy to move, the path was hot and hot, and there would be bursts of earth mist when you stepped on it...

Walking through the airtight crop fields, the whole body is drenched in spring, and sweat continues to seep out along the sweat pores of the skin. There is also a damp heat in the air, and it is like sitting in a stuffy sauna with a suffocating feeling.

There was a small tree on the side of the road in front of me, and there was a small shade under the tree, and I walked a few steps close to it in the spring. The scorching heat slowly disappeared, and there was a coolness on his body, and Spring casually took off his shirt, revealing the white vest inside, and then sat down leaning against a small tree.

He took out a crumpled cigarette from his satchel, lit it, took a deep breath, and in the spring he comfortably spit out a smoke ring and watched a few grasshoppers bouncing tirelessly in the grass not far away.

When I was in college, when I couldn't get rid of that unbearable loneliness and loneliness, I learned to smoke in the spring.

Just now in the office of the government and the Education Commission, Spring wanted to give those people cigarettes, but when he touched the "platinum deer" in his pocket, he still didn't have the courage to take it out. And this bag of "platinum deer" for one dollar was bought in the spring from the small pocket money given by his parents. In the spring, I am usually reluctant to smoke, and I will only smoke one or two cigarettes every day when I can't control my cravings.

After smoking a cigarette, I rested against the tree in the spring, feeling that I could fall asleep as soon as I closed my eyes.

2．

In spring, there are more than ten miles of mountain roads away from Hushan Town, and the name of the village is Shimengouzi.

There are no buses and no roads in the village. The only road leading to the town is a potholed loess road, three or four meters wide, which is an ordinary rural production road.

When I was in high school and college, every time I left home for school in the spring, my father would take his luggage on his bicycle to the side of the road west of town and wait for a passing bus. And every time I go home from school, I still get off the bus on the side of the road in the west of the town in the spring, and then walk home for more than half an hour.

3．

Climb over the small hill in front of you, and you can see your own village and your home in spring.

Thinking of seeing my parents and brothers after a long absence, being able to eat the fragrant meals cooked by my mother, and being able to sleep comfortably in my own small bed, the steps of spring are much lighter, and the fatigue in my body seems to have disappeared suddenly.

4．

Standing on the hillside to the east of the village, spring overlooks the small mountain village where you grew up.

Shimengouzi Village is not large, there are only 100 households, and the houses of the villagers are arranged on the east bank of the river, which is two or three miles long, and it looks magnificent. The patchwork of cottages, verdant crop fields, rolling hills, and small rivers make up a beautiful picture.

But in the spring, I knew that this beautiful rural scenery was just a gorgeous coat, with undulating tiled houses and thatched houses, and a few sparse homemade TV antennas, revealing the poverty and dilapidation of this small mountain village. The people here still live an almost primitive life of working at sunrise and resting at sunset, raising cattle and ploughing fields, raising pigs for the New Year, and raising chickens for money.

Spring's home is in the southernmost part of Shimengouzi Village, with five main houses, three side houses and a large courtyard.

In the spring, there are rows of poplar trees in front of the house, and in front of the forest are crop fields; to the west of the house is a vegetable garden, and next to the vegetable garden is a bamboo forest, and on the edge of the bamboo forest is the winding river in the west of the village; to the east of the house is a winding village road, and there are several tall old locust trees arranged irregularly beside the road, and a few old cows are tied under the trees.

It was time for lunch, and the village was filled with curling smoke.

Looking at this familiar everything, Spring couldn't help humming the song "Hometown" by Hang Tianqi.

"My hometown is not beautiful, low grass houses, bitter wells, a small river that often runs dry, around the village..."

Although this morning's experience and experience have made Spring doubt this society and his future life path, it still can't stop Spring's love and closeness to the yellow land under his feet.

A slight cool breeze blew on the hillside, and Spring stroked his sweaty hair with his hands.

Looking at the poor mountain village where he was born and raised, Spring secretly decided that since he had been assigned back to his hometown and had embarked on the road of education, he must devote himself to the education of his hometown.

In the spring, we should change the poor and backward appearance of our hometown through the spread of knowledge, and in the spring, we should let this change start from the education of Toyama.

5．

The way down the mountain was almost a run, and it took less than ten minutes to rush to the village.

As soon as I entered the village, I saw my father squatting under the big locust tree at the entrance of the village and smoking a cigarette in the spring.

"Dad," looking at his father's squatting body on the ground, Spring shouted, but he didn't know what to say, and his throat choked.

My father is only in his forties, just middle-aged, but he has worked day and night for the family's livelihood, and his body is already so thin.

"Are you back, you kid, can't you go slower?" Chun Shuli, the father of the spring, saw his panting son who was running, his eyes were full of love, he knocked the cigarette pouch in his hand, stood up and said with a smile, "I guessed that you would come back in the next few days, and your mother asked me to wait here every day." It's good to come back, let's go, let's go home. ”

Chun Shuli reached out and took the satchel on his son's shoulder, turned around and walked in front.

Spring looked at his father's loving and reproachful eyes, and silently followed behind.

The father and son walked through the village, and occasionally people from the village greeted Chun Shuli.

"Shuli, is my son back from vacation?"

"Lao Chun, did Xiao Tian graduate from college this year?

"It's still blessed, my son is a college student, and he can make money..."

······

In the face of the enthusiastic accosting of the villagers, Chun Shuli responded with a smile, and his weak body straightened up a lot.

Spring followed his father and was busy greeting the villagers.

6．

Spring is one of the few college students in Shimengouzi Village, and it has always been the pride of Chun Shuli.

In the eyes of Chun Shuli, Chun is a sensible, sensible, and studious child, and his academic performance has always been among the best since the first grade of primary school.

In the spring of that year, he insisted on applying for the commission trainee of Dongzhou Normal College, and Chun Shuli also knew that he had wronged the child. But at that time, the family was poor, and all the income depended on the dozen acres of mountainous land, an old cow, and two fat pigs. After settling accounts every autumn, except for the fund-raising funds, retention funds, land contract fees, etc., which are handed over to the government and the village, the family's income is not much left, and it is simply impossible to support two children to go to school at the same time. It costs about 10,000 yuan a year for tuition and living expenses, and the farmer who digs in the pit can't afford it...

Fortunately, in the spring, I was finally admitted to Dongzhou Normal College, which is free of tuition and room and board, which reduced a lot of burden on my family. After entering college in the spring, the life of the family gradually improved, not only paid off all the foreign debts, but also had a slight surplus in hand.

Now that my son has graduated from university, no matter where he is assigned, he is a national cadre. Every time I think of this, Chun Shuli feels beautiful in my heart.

7．

At the door of the house, Spring's mother Zhang Xiuli was choosing vegetables under the shade of a tree, and when she saw Chun Shuli and his son coming back, she hurriedly stood up and said hello.

"Xiaotian, you're back! I'll tell your dad that you'll be back in a few days, and mom can dream of you every night..." , Zhang Xiuli's eyes turned red as she spoke, and she lifted her shirt and wiped the corners of her eyes.

"Mom..." Spring shouted Zhang Xiuli, and her eyes turned red.

"What are you doing? Isn't it a good thing for Xiaotian to go home?" Chun Shuli scolded Zhang Xiuli, and then asked, "Where did Xiaoyu go?"

Xiaoyu is Spring's younger brother, named Chunyu, who is fourteen years old this year and is in his third year of junior high school in the town.

Chunyu had already heard the noise at the gate in the house, and hurriedly ran out of the house.

"Brother, are you back?" Chunyu saw Spring standing at the door of his house, and ran over in surprise and hugged him affectionately.

Spring touched the top of Chunyu's head, smiled, and said, "I'm about to catch up with my brother, and I'm still like a child..."

The spring rain grinned and frolicked around the spring.

"Xiaoyu, go and call your second and fourth uncles to our house for a drink, and say that your brother is home," Chun Shuli hurriedly arranged, "Xiaotianma, you go to the kitchen to clean up the food, I have to drink two glasses today, hehe." ”

Chunyu said yes and turned around and ran, Zhang Xiuli went to the kitchen, and Chun followed her father into the hall.