The old father's 80th birthday banquet was set at the Swan Hotel, except for Qi Tianxiang, this was another family gathering like the New Year. [Ran^Text^Library] []

Doing birthday in the big hotel is a matter of the past few years, it was proposed by the old mother, one is that the family is small and really can't sit down, and the other is that many people know their hometowns are in the hotel, the style is also decent, and the old mother is a good-looking person.

Mother's proposal was recognized and supported by everyone, the conditions of the hotel are good, and it saves time and effort, and no one is short of this money. So it started the rotation from the eldest brother's house, and this year it was the third brother's turn, and the third brother started to work early. This is very handy for him, and he is happy to do such a job.

Active is the characteristic of the third brother, just like the old mother often said, "born in the wax moon, frozen hands and feet", the third brother is the most powerful in the family, but also the most naughty, the hour is either today to hit this, or tomorrow to kick that, often parents with crying children to the door to complain, so the father quarrels, the mother scolds, but the result does not seem to be obvious. Later, after graduating from junior high school at the age of sixteen, he signed up to go to the countryside behind his parents' back, and it was the farthest away from home and the most difficult conditions in the deep mountainous area, and he signed up to be a soldier at the age of eighteen, but he was far away in Weihai, Shandong. Transferred to a small city, entered the factory, but now he has become a laid-off worker, doing something by himself to earn money to support his family, it is not easy, but the third brother is happy every day, and he is a warm-hearted person, whether it is a wedding or funeral, as long as he needs his help, no matter who the family is, he can see him, and only at this time is the happiest and comfortable moment for the third brother.

Yan Li accompanied the old father and mother to wait at home, and Xiao Liang had already gone out to play with his eldest brother, saying that he was going to get the cake, who knew what else was going on.

When it was almost noon, Da Lei and Xiao Liang entered the door, except for the cake in Da Lei's hand, which was the box in Xiao Liang's hand, as soon as he entered the door, he came to his grandfather and said excitedly: "Master, I bought you a mobile phone." As he spoke, he opened the box, took out his mobile phone, handed it to his grandfather, and explained the usage in detail.

"What are you doing buying a mobile phone for you, you don't have so many phones." Grandpa happily took the phone, but said humbly, took it to his wife, and showed it.

"I'll call you when you go back, you can call me if you want me", Xiao Liang insisted and said: "This is a special version of the old man's mobile phone, with a large font and a large ringtone, simple and easy to operate, especially convenient, it will be used soon, and you can also listen to the play." As he spoke, he took the phone from his grandfather's hand and tuned it to the music, and the house immediately remembered the warm and melodious tune of the opera.

Yan Li finally understood the reason why Xiaoliang and Da Lei went out together in the morning, and was immediately surprised, and even tears came out of the corners of her eyes, and a trace of relief was born slowly, her son has grown up!

Xiao Liang's "picking" is famous, and the pocket money he usually gives him is often reluctant to spend, and when he saves enough integers, he will hand it over to Yan Li to save, and the accumulation of sand into mounds is even more untouchable. This time, I took it out to buy a mobile phone for my grandfather, which shows this determination and mentality. Looking at Xiao Liang's patient explanation and her grandfather's cheerful expression, Yan Li really felt happy. Originally, grandparents were close to Xiaoliang, and before they were born, grandma came from their hometown to take care of them, and soon after giving birth to the child, the school was busy, so that the maternity leave was not taken and went to work in advance, and grandma was busy day and night, and then brought back to the town when she was a little older. At first, Yan Li was very uneasy, and didn't even want to take it back to the town, worried that there would be any problems with the child, but Qi Tianxiang's words dispelled her concerns, "There are so many people in the family, and there are grandparents to take care of them, I'm afraid it's better than bringing it ourselves." "Think about it, I don't have any experience, not to mention, even if I don't have so much time, I will not be wronged by the elderly to take care of my children full-time.

It's true, since the grandparents took Xiao Liang back, they didn't do anything, they took care of Xiao Liang wholeheartedly, who picked up the children and cooked, the division of labor between the old couple was clear, and the sisters and sisters-in-law came over to help from time to time, and the little guy was raised white and fat, like a little pig, and also had the nickname of a little pig.

Kindergarten and primary school are picked up by grandpa, although it is only a ten-minute walk to school, but grandpa takes care of it every day, and no one can say it. Until middle school went to school in Beijing, it was always the biggest concern of my grandparents. So much so that the grandparents are called "grandpa" or "grandma", and every time he calls, he says the most, body, weather, chatting endlessly, as soon as the holiday is urging, booking tickets back to the town to see grandparents.

This is true for grandparents, and the same is true for grandparents, but a boy has a strange kind of carefulness and meticulousness, and can always show his concern and concern with the smallest behavior in ordinary times. This kind of behavior and mentality is exactly what Qi Tianxiang and Yan Li want, doing ordinary things and downplaying the result or meaning, this is the final attitude towards things correctly. Maybe he didn't realize the filial piety shown by this incident, maybe he just thought that he should do something for his grandfather, or maybe he just thought that he should give something to the old man. The action has no cause, and the result is only the wording of the interpretation of the act, in fact, in many cases, it is the attached so-called meaning, which has nothing to do with the act itself. The ordinary things in life originally did not have great meaning or meaning, but were just expressions of emotions, but the meaning of external visualization was "filial piety".

Yan Li believes that Xiaoliang's behavior itself is influenced by Qi Tianxiang, although it cannot make the child get any benefits because of filial piety, but the subtle edification and exercise can make the child a caring and responsible man, just like Qi Tianxiang.

"Grandpa, grandma, let's get ready to go." Da Lei looked at his watch, reminded the time, and then accentuated his tone: "Today's big day, grandpa has changed into new clothes." ”

"Yes, yes, of course there are new clothes." The old father stood up, walked happily to the back room, and came out neatly dressed after a while, but he was still dressed in a polyester card. I remember Qi Tianxiang said that the deepest impression of my father was this dark blue Lu dry suit.

Speaking of "land dry clothing", this kind of clothing that originated and was popular in the sixties and seventies of the last century, it is impossible for today's young people to remember or recognize, and it is also unimaginable for its popularity and popularity. The so-called "land dry suit", as the name suggests, is the clothing worn by military cadres, compared to the soldier's clothing is two more waist pockets, in fact, the simple understanding is very similar to the "tunic suit", the difference is that the tunic is the outer patch bag, and the inner digging bag is the land dry suit.

Just as at that time, "wearing a white towel is a peasant, wearing a green military hat is a People's Liberation Army, and a towel around the neck is a worker" The class definition and symbol are very different, Lu Ganfu is a symbol of urban people. Although this simple characterization seems ridiculous now, it was the conventional understanding at that time, and of course, the practicality of Lu Ganfu cannot be ignored.

During the New Year's holidays, sons and daughters always do not forget to buy new clothes for their parents, most of the mother's are worn on the body, while the father's is always neatly hung in the wardrobe, what jackets, suits, collared, collarless, elastic, casual, the color is also suitable for the elderly gray, brown, blue, but no matter what style, what color, the end is always on the shelf.

The reason is also simple, and it is inconvenient to wear for work. It's simple and clear, but it's indistinguishable. In fact, this is the case, the father did not know that there was so much work to do, one would repair the lamp, the other would move coal, the flowers had just been watered here, the grandson's bicycle had to be repaired again, he was busy with the renovation of the small shed downstairs, and found a few pieces of wood to make stools, every day from morning to night there was no free time, and there was no old man he could not do, but there was no intention of resting.

"Master, don't you have any other clothes? Today is your 80th birthday. Xiao Liang saw everyone's dissatisfaction, so he spoke decisively, and it was appropriate for him to speak at this time.

Grandpa looked at Xiao Liang's resolute eyes, and then looked at everyone's expressions, silently returned to the back room, changed into a coffee-colored jacket, and immediately looked much more energetic. This kind of dress walked into the banquet hall of the Swan Hotel, and it was also praised by everyone, and my father was even happier.

Surrounded by the whole family, the old father and the old mother sat down in the middle, the eldest brother and sister sat on either side of the two old men, and the others sat casually. Suddenly, a few juniors were huddled together, and here a few elders sat together.

When everyone arrived, the banquet officially began, and as usual, the old father had to say a few words first.

"Today, except for Tianxiang, the whole family is here, and I don't have much to say, that is, I am eighty years old this year. Seventy-three, eighty-four, I should also go through the second one. Although life is better now and the natural life span has been greatly extended, there is still an end to it. No matter who it is, you may not know how you got there, but how you got there is always something to know. Our family's old roots are the 'Guanli' township in the mountains, from my grandfather's generation began to take the pack, that is, the transport of pack goods, walking in the south to Ruchuan, Yuzhou, north to Mengzhou, east to Shangzhou, west to Guyang, between Shaanxi. Decades of earning a fairly solid family business, a row of six-hole caves, and dozens of animals tied to a big rope, what a scene, what a magnificence. It was defeated in just a few decades. Why, the family is not harmonious, the so-called family harmony is the truth. The family is defeated, but it is precisely because of the defeat, 60 years of decentralization, the implementation of the homecoming movement, but also thanks to the family cave living in the adult, and then returned to Shangzhou, what does this mean, if I want to say that no matter when you don't be crushed by a moment of disobedience, these are said to you juniors a little use, a lifetime of long, who knows what will happen, then what to say, then what to say, after the happy life, this is what I want to say. ”

The old father was talking, everyone was listening quietly, no one dared to interrupt the old man's recollection, and he couldn't bear to interrupt him, just at this time Yan Li's phone rang, and when he saw that it was Qi Tianxiang, he hurriedly handed it to the old father.

"Happy birthday, Dad!" Qi Tianxiang respectfully blessed him.

"Happy, happy, this is ready to have a banquet, thinking that you will call, you are busy, you don't have to worry about me and your mother, we are all fine."

Qi Tianxiang hesitated on the phone, his mood suddenly became complicated and contradictory, he wanted to say a lot, but he couldn't say it, so he had to mutter: "Hello to the old lady, hello to my brother, sister-in-law, and sister, I will go back to see you after this busy while." ”

"Okay, don't talk about it, you're busy." The old father turned off the phone, handed it back to Yan Li, looked at the cake that had been placed on the table, and suddenly remembered something, "I will celebrate your mother's birthday next year." ”

"Okay, it should be, it's long overdue for my mother's birthday." The old father's proposal was unanimously approved by the whole family, but the old mother disagreed: "I just want to live alone and cause trouble to the children, I just need to follow your father." ”

The whole family no longer insisted on it, not only did the old mother not want to, but she didn't know what day it would be, and no one knew the old mother's birthday, not only did everyone know, but even she didn't know. It's not carelessness, it's not that she doesn't care, it's that time is too long ago for even her sisters to say the exact date. Grandma died early, and it was impossible to verify it before, but now it is even more difficult to verify. Sometimes the brothers also propose to choose a random day in the year, as long as it is convenient and easy to remember, that is, to show filial piety and fulfill filial piety, the mother refused very simply, mentioned it a few times, rejected it a few times, and the mother has not had a birthday so far. It's also false to say that she doesn't want to live, looking at the liveliness and spirit of the neighbor's old ladies celebrating their birthdays, her eyes are also hot, but she is just afraid of causing trouble to her children, in her words, "I don't care." ”

There are many things that my mother doesn't care about like birthdays, but there is one thing that she cares about and lingers on, and that is her job, her status, even though she has been retired for decades. My mother used to be a family worker in the No. 2 National Cotton Factory in Shangzhou, and when she was transferred to the town with her father, she made it clear that she could become a regular worker. Her mother has no culture, nor does she have such a high consciousness, she can't tell the truth of what to support the construction of a new factory and what to work together to build a national standard model factory, but she is very clear about the difference between family workers and regular workers. But for some reason, the family members who came with me have all turned into regulars, but my mother is still a family worker. Although the reason is not clear, there are several times when the time and money are clear, when the children are young, they have to take care of the children, and they have to take care of the father who is working the front line. The child can get rid of his hands, and the family factory is inseparable again; The conditions were turned into regulars, and my father was studying outside, but the formalities were not completed and dragged down; worked in the textile factory Wuqi Factory for many years, and then transferred to another factory with his father, and still worked in the Wuqi Factory in order to take care of the influence, and the matter of becoming a regular worker was put down again; So that in the end, he retired as a family factory, and his salary was 100 yuan less than that of his sisters, so his mother was always angry, and he complained about his father when he thought of it, of course, he was anxious.

My mother is not educated, but she is a strong person, which is not only reflected in her work and identity, but also in everything. There are many children in the family, five children, a large family, in that era of extremely poor material supply, and when the children are growing up, food and clothing have become a big problem for parents, and because the father is busy in the factory, and is a cadre, he must set an example of taking the factory as his home, in fact, these headaches are all handled by the mother.

The days are hard, and the days are difficult, but no matter how hard it is, it is the mother's belief not to let the children be wronged. No matter how difficult it is to eat, as long as you have time, you have to adjust it to make patterns, and you have to make different styles of coarse tea and light rice. Although it is not always fresh and shiny, the children's clothes must be washed cleanly and patched neatly.

My mother took work very seriously, even though it was a family worker, it was not ambiguous at all, and the family workers at that time were not like later when they had a factory, with a fixed type of work and work, and they only knew what to do and how long they were working when they entered the workshop. Basically, it is the work that regular workers do not want to do, or it is a scattered thing, that is, the miscellaneous work of turning waste into treasure and collecting old and recycling. Labor intensity, labor time is often not fixed, let the inverted bobbin on the bobbin, let the helper help, let the soil and mud pull the soil and mud, often men do the dirty work that is hard to do, but the mother and their family workers do it neatly. They cherish the opportunity to work, and are willing to overcome all difficulties and grit their teeth to persevere, as long as it is work, even if it is to cooperate with the propaganda of the situation, do things that they will not or are unwilling to sing and dance, they will not hesitate to do a good job seriously and satisfactorily.

Rushing between home and factory. As the director of the workshop, the father seems to be always busy, working overtime, needless to say and not need to be informed in advance, after the meal is put on the stove with a bowl buckle, do not work overtime to come back can help a handful, can not help or force, after eating and put down the work at home to go to the factory to do voluntary labor, the mother did not have the slightest complaint. Mother is a strong person, and she doesn't want to be left behind in everything, which makes people look down on her, and this kind of strength has not been reduced by half a point to this day. In the early years, in order to make up for the lack of food, my mother would often go to the field to dig some wild vegetables in the spring, and dig sweet potatoes, corn, and bean pods in the autumn, but now it has become a habitual behavior. As long as the spring flowers bloom, the mother has something to do, digging camellia, picking locust flowers, as well as daylily and noodle vegetables, and then picking up ears of wheat, corn, and pods in turn with the change of seasons, until the winter when there is nothing to kill. The strong mother and her teenage companions are more than dry, she is not happy to pick up less, and she can't take it when she picks up more, but as long as there is a companion or say to go, vigorously and resolutely, no one can stop it, and it is tired but looking at the spirit, but there are uncomfortable places all over the body when you are idle.

Life is gradually getting better, and she is slowly getting old, but fortunately, she is healthy and energetic, and she is still not idle.

"Here's what your dad loved to eat when he was a kid." In between eating and drinking, Da Lei picked up a clove of sweet garlic and put it on Xiaoliang's plate.

"Aunt, you see that my eldest brother is bullying me again." Xiao Liang protested loudly to his aunt dissatisfied, causing everyone to laugh.

"Brother is not wrong, that is your father's favorite food." My aunt looked at the old mother and said, "I don't believe you." ”

"Your aunt is right, I didn't know why your father loved sweet garlic so much at that time, and later I found out that it was anemia." Grandma smiled happily and said, as if she had returned to those years, "In the first few years, I always had to take this little tail with me wherever I went." It's not that he is withdrawn, unwilling to play with children, but very weak physique, but also loves to cry, love to make trouble, the little face is always white and miserable, no blood, and then came to the hospital for examination, it is anemia, scared to death, in the hospital I gave him a blood transfusion, only to ease. I tried my best to supplement his nutrition, as long as I led him out to buy vegetables, buy him a candy bar, buy a small piece of cooked pork liver, or just a head of sugar garlic. I ate it for two cents for a head of sweet garlic, and I ate it like this for several years. Saying that, the old mother's eyes were filled with tears, maybe she thought of the difficulties at that time, or maybe she thought of the helplessness at that time.

"Milk, I'll toast you for my dad." Xiao Liang was moved, poured some red wine from a cup, and respectfully brought it to his grandmother, "You must drink this cup." ”

"Silly boy, who is that! That's my son, isn't it right to be a mother? As he spoke, he took the cup and drank the wine. The practice of the old mother, who never drank alcohol, made everyone applaud. Cheerfulness permeated the room, and happiness overflowed the faces of the old father and mother.

After eating, I don't know who suggested it, take a walk around the scenic area, in fact, the Swan Hotel is built in the scenic area, which is also very easy.

"The high gorge out of the Ping Lake, the prosperous river is clear", was the hope of the Chinese people in the middle of the last century, the first barrage dam on the Yellow River slowed down the turbulent river water, forming a large high gorge Ping Lake, dozens of kilometers of the lake surface rippling blue waves. The roaring river from the mountain valley becomes peaceful here, the sediment of the Yellow River is precipitated here, and the river water is clear and elegant, just like the freshness and tranquility of the source.

In spring and summer, reflecting the green trees by the river, the slow river gently washes the grass on the shore of the ground, the frogs and birds cry in the night are clear and long, and the moonlight sways quietly from time to time, and constantly slowly shakes away, with the ripples gradually swinging, and it is like a landscape painting without ink.

In the deep winter, the yellow barren grass on the bank of the river ushered in a large number of swans, and they from the alpine region did not care about their strangeness. In the river, on the shore of the water, you can see their elegant posture from time to time, white feathers, curved necks, slow sliding, noble and leisurely and lazy, calling relatives and friends The chirp is long and crisp, floating in the lonely winter, like a wordless song, with deep meaning and elegance.

A large river, a flat lake, and a scenic area make up the city's wonderfulness by the river, although with the completion of the downstream water conservancy project, the water conservancy hub of the small city has weakened from water storage and power generation to sand storage and water storage; Although after the dam, there are Qingtong Gorge, Yangguo Gorge, Liujiaxia and Wanjiazhai on the Yellow River; Although the reservoir area impounded water and flooded the Wei River, it flooded the rich Qinchuan land for 800 miles; Although the expansion of the reservoir area flooded the city of Shaanzhou, leaving the city without history, the clear water of the river still ensured the peace of the Yellow River for decades.

The emerging city once had a complete range of industrial categories such as textile printing and dyeing, machinery manufacturing, metallurgy and mining, food and clothing, etc., which were coordinated and orderly. In the past years, the current Yellow River Scenic Area, once the important thoroughfare town at the junction of the three provinces of Shaanzhou City, has a unique geographical advantage and reputation.

A large family of more than a dozen people, walking and walking was divided into several waves, the young people who walked fast ran happily, and the others walked in twos and threes, and in the inadvertent looking back, Yan Li suddenly discovered the subtle movements of the old parents.

The old father's sparse white hair was blowing in the breeze, and he slowly walked beside the short and thin old mother, and there was a car coming behind him, the old father hesitated, took a step, changed to the direction of the car on the left side in front of the old lady, and stretched out his hand to grab the old mother's hand, as if holding and helping. The old mother didn't seem to be used to this way, and gently shook her hand away. The old father looked down at her sideways, and the hand that he threw away grabbed the old lady's hand stubbornly, and held it tightly. The action continued, but the footsteps did not stop for a moment, Yan Li was stunned, but quickly took out her mobile phone to take a picture, this action immediately attracted the attention of the old father, and a trace of amazement instantly crossed her face. Resolutely shook off the old mother's hand, pretended to be relaxed and gently swayed, and walked away.

At that moment, Yan Li was a little obsessed, not only the old couple holding hands, but also how long it had been since she and Qi Tianxiang had been holding hands so intimately. From this, you can also witness the feelings of the old man who are dependent on each other, they have long since lost their chirping and me, and they rarely see sweet words, some just support each other, take care of each other, simple hand-holding compared to the oath of life and death, the hug of death and life, come more clear and simple, like a glass of wine, lasting fragrant.

Yan Li carefully put away her mobile phone, she wanted to show Qi Tianxiang the photos just now, as well as the photos taken at the birthday banquet, and taste this happiness and mellow fragrance together