"Hello, may I ask when the earliest bus to Shuipan County, Qianzhou Province will depart" Xia Chen walked to the ticket gate and asked. Shuipan County is located at the junction of Qianzhou Province and West Yunnan Province, more than 300 kilometers away from Kunyang in time, and there are also direct buses to it.

"There is a last train in an hour, 180 yuan, do you need it?" said the conductor.

"Okay, please order one for me"

"Get on the bus at Exit 4 in the West District"

"Thank you"

Xia Chen followed the station sign to find the designated boarding gate, and had already begun to check in and get on the train, there were already passengers on the bus who had already gotten on the train, the young man found his seat and did it, took out a bottle of water and took a sip, and held the backpack on his chest with both hands, leaned on the seat hill and closed his eyes to recuperate, about half an hour later, Xia Chen felt that someone sat down next to him, opened his eyes, and recognized this girl, this is the girl who found a seat for Xia Chen in the Kokang service area.

The girl also recognized the person in front of her, and said in surprise: "It's you, you are also from the water plate."

"Yes," Xia Chen said lightly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, riding in the same car is fate, hello, my name is Meng Jia" The girl happily and actively stretched out her hand to shake hands.

"Hello, Xia Chen". Xia Chen stretched out his hand lightly, maintaining the most basic etiquette of a man.

Meng Jia seemed extremely excited, looking for a topic to enter the chat mode.

"Are you a soldier, when I was at the checkpoint, I saw that the soldier called you a veteran"

"Yes, now discharged. ”

"Brother Bing, it's hard to be a soldier, why did you leave the army."

"When you are a soldier, you are discharged. ”

"Soldiers are very powerful, brother soldier, have you ever fought, where are you a soldier, is it possible for one person to fight many people, and the kind that takes the enemy's head for thousands of miles. Meng Jia asked excitedly.

"Hehe, where is there a war when you are a soldier now, that's only in TV series or novels. Xia Chen said lightly. But I couldn't help but fall into contemplation, saying that the current soldiers are peace soldiers, but in fact, how much peace there is, just the smoke of gunpowder seen by ordinary people, every day, every year, how many brothers die in battle, and many of them have never even found their bones. Defending the homeland and the country, fighting horses, throwing their heads, and spilling blood, maybe more people just take it as a slogan, and maybe more troops just take it as a slogan, but how many people who have not really experienced it really know those hidden battles in the era of peace, all the time.

In the unconscious chat, the sky gradually darkened, many passengers have fallen asleep, Mengjia also leaned on the seat quietly, breathing evenly, with a sweet face, which will always make people want to hug into their arms. Xia Chen looked at the receding mountain peaks outside the window, and the closer he got to home, the more excited he became.

Calculate the time, I haven't been home for eight years, I joined the army at the age of eighteen, and I still have correspondence with my family, telephone, since I later entered the special operations brigade, I have never contacted my family once, and I don't know how my family is, I remember when I first joined the army, my father's health has been bad, and I don't know if it's better now, my mother is a kind woman, I haven't seen my mother and anyone have had an unpleasant relationship since I can remember, whether it is with the left and right or with the ignorant child's mother, I remember that when I was a child, in order to show off, I stole the family's ten yuan to buy a toy pistol, and later was known by my mother, that fat beatingIt was the only time I was beaten by my mother since I was a child, and it was also the only time I saw my mother angry, and I often saw my mother crying quietly for many days, and my mother who didn't know a word said a lot of truths that I still can't forget

"People can be poor for a lifetime, but they can't be spineless people for a lifetime, a little thief needle, grow up and steal stars"

At that time, I was young and ignorant and didn't know, ten yuan could be a week's living expenses for a family of five at that time, whenever I thought of this, I would always feel lucky to be reborn in the arms of this kind mother, and I also secretly sighed that I was ignorant, whenever I thought of my mother's tears, I always felt that I wanted to prick a thorn in my heart.

As the thoughts flew by, the car had stopped, the lights in the car turned on, and the driver shouted: "Shuipan City has arrived, everyone's good luggage has gotten off, hey, wake up from sleep, and arrive at the station." ”

Meng Jia also woke up from her sleep, stretched a beautiful woman's waist, rubbed her bewildered eyes and picked up her luggage, Xia Chen also got up and prepared to get out of the car.

"Brother Bing, where is your home?" Meng Jia turned around and asked Xia Chen behind him as he walked.

"Rural"

"Then how are you going to walk at night?"

"Stay in the city for one night and leave tomorrow morning"

"Oh, goodbye then, Brother Bing," Meng Jia said with a wink of his eyes.

"Goodbye"

Walking out of the station, looking at the traffic and bright lights, this familiar and unfamiliar city, when standing in the homeland again, breathing the clear air of the hometown, every inch of skin feels more intimate. Xia Chen's family is in the countryside, but it is not very far from Shuipan City, about thirty kilometers, if the troops are armed to cross the road in peacetime, this is more than two hours away, no matter how much it is, it is not afraid, but after all, after so many years away from home, it is always time to bring some gifts to the family, parents, sister, and a big brother at home. Besides, I sleep relatively early in the countryside, and going back at night also affects my parents' rest, and I haven't seen him for so many years, and I am not in a hurry for this short night.

Xia Chen plans to find a place for the Lord to settle down tonight, and then buy some gifts for his parents, sister, and eldest brother, and go home early tomorrow morning. Despite having been in the city for eight years, it was generally clear that he turned around and walked in one direction. Find a guest house at the mouth of an alley that looks fairly clean.

Push the door and walk in, "Welcome, sir, is it accommodation, we have three different packages here, is Mr. a person?"

"Yes, the cheapest is how much is it. ”

"Sir, yes, the cheapest we have here is 108 per night, but breakfast is not included, hot water is available 24 hours a day, there is TV air conditioning, standard single room. ”

"Okay, please open one for me, one day. Xia Chen thought that the price was quite appropriate, although he was in the army all the year round, the overall economic trend was quite understandable, and he was not cheated.

"Yes, sir, please show your ID and the deposit of one hundred will be refunded when you check out. The waiter said enthusiastically.

Xia Chen handed over the documents and money and waited for the waiter's work.

"This is your room card and documents, room 3015, I wish you a good dream, sir" After a while, the waiter arrived at Xia Chen's certificate and said, it can be seen that this is a service-oriented enterprise.

After settling his luggage, Xia Chen left the room and walked to the street, found a business mall, bought a set of clothes for his parents, sister, and eldest brother, bought two bottles of Moutai for his father for more than 1,000, bought a massage chair for his mother, bought a laptop for his sister, bought a mobile phone for his eldest brother, and bought a bucket of instant noodles and a few bottles of beer, 7788 spent almost 20,000 yuan, but Xia Chen felt that this was the happiest consumption, as a soldier for these years, the annual allowance was basically not spent, and when he was discharged from the army, he got more than 300,000 yuan, Xia Chen didn't know how much money he had, but it was estimated that there should be about 500,000, but he spent money on his relatives and was happy。 When passing by the jewelry counter, Xia Chen spent more than 10,000 yuan to buy a diamond ring, finished shopping, and returned to the room with a large bag of gifts.

After opening two bottles of beer, picking up one and taking a few sips, Xia Chen opened his backpack, took out the delicate box, and looked at it for a long time before he said slowly: "Meizi, I took you home, didn't you always want me to buy you a ring! It is said that men don't flick when they have tears, but they just haven't reached the sad place.