The day before leaving, in this way, in the noisy, surprised, angry, helpless, busy past, when most of the other people's homes have turned off the lights to rest, Wu Pingshun courtyard is still bright and transparent. This night, for Xiaojun, is not only infinite expectation, but also endless attachment and reluctance. Seeing his father's tired body and his mother's thin and scarred hands, he really couldn't bear to leave. This night, he desperately peeled the corn husks, but did not feel tired, he will use the most limited time, do the most work, and reduce a little burden on his parents. In the past, although he went to school, he did not miss the farm work every year, for this reason, the teacher gave him grace, so that he was proficient in the four seasons, harvesting and farming, and also felt a qiē familiar with the road, monotonous, this night, he felt a little strange with a qiē, and also felt the infinite strength and learning, he wanted to make up for it, but time did not wait, he tried his best to experience, to practice, to minimize defects and regrets. In this way, in a complicated state of mind, in the vast dark night, he kept the time, the long night, the footsteps of the peasants, and looked forward to the later arrival of the moment when he left the well.

In the middle of the night, lightning began to erupt in the sky, and thunder, wind, and crackling rain could be heard from far and near. Yes, it's raining. This rain can be described as a timely rain for most peasants, which is very conducive to farming, but it undoubtedly creates a little trouble for the army to go on the road.

The village where Xiaojun grew up is called Wujia Village, which is located about six kilometers west of Yuanzhen County, and has more than 400 people, most of whom are surnamed Wu, counting five generations, and 80% of them are a family. There is no asphalt road from the village to the city, the city's dirt road, enter the city on a sunny day, you can ride a bicycle, a rainy day, all rely on walking, if the rain is a little bigger, or even rainy for several days, the road will be stepped into mud by pedestrians, wear long rubber shoes, it is inevitable that there will be no grout in the net shoes.

Seeing that it was raining, Xiaojun and his parents had to pile corn, beans, and grain together and cover them with plastic sheeting, and it was already two o'clock in the morning. At this time, the rain is getting heavier and heavier, and it is no longer possible to travel by bicycle, so I can only rely on walking. To catch the 5 a.m. morning bus, it's almost time to hit the road. Xiaojun and his father had a simple meal, put on long rubber shoes, brought a worn umbrella and cloth shoes, carried more than 20 hard-boiled eggs and eight flower roll steamed buns, accompanied by the raindrops, quietly bid farewell to the village where they had grown for 18 years, and embarked on a new journey of life.

The night was silent, the road was muddy, and the two of them had no flashlights, so they had to rely on their familiarity with the road to move forward little by little, perhaps because they were anxious and afraid of making a mistake, and their pace did not seem slow, and they had passed through the three villages of floodplain, Sunqiao and Qianli. When he walked to Zhao Bridge, suddenly, Xiaojun's feet slipped, he couldn't hold it, he fell to the ground, the eggs and steamed buns on his back rolled around, and he fell under the bridge, but fortunately, his shoes and his father's two clothes did not fall to the ground.

"What, did you fall?" Wu Ping said by the way and pulled Xiaojun with one hand, and Xiaojun got up, "It's okay, it's just that the eggs and steamed buns fell into the river." ”

"If it doesn't work, let's go, look at the watch, what's the time?"

"At 3:50, walk another three miles to Yuanzhen Road in the city, and it's easy to go."

Soon, the two came to Yuanzhen Road. This is a West Ring Road, an old street, which has not been renovated for many years, and under the pressure of people and vehicles, it is already full of devastation and potholes. The streets are lined with shops of all kinds, and there is no hustle and bustle during the day, making it seem particularly quiet. The street lamps flickering and flickering in the rainy night, looking listless, but compared to the dirt road without lights, the two felt much more relaxed. Under a street lamp, Xiaojun saw that he was like a pig rolling in a pen, covered in a layer of mud, and rain dripping down from time to time in his front heart and back. Xiao Jun smiled at his father, "There is no way, I can only change it at the station."

Gradually, the people who rushed to the market and got up early to buy things on the street increased, and the time was still early, and the two came to a fritter stall five hundred meters away from the bus station in Pingdong Center, where the owner was cleaning up the tables, chairs, benches and stabbing coal fires, "Xiaojun, I've gone all the way, eat some fritters, drink a bowl of securities, and I can't eat as soon as I get in the car." ”

"Okay, boss, come with six fritters and two bowls of sesame paste, are there?" Xiaojun said.

"Okay, please take a seat." The shopkeeper looked at the two people in front of him, an old man was rustic, and a young man was covered in mud, and said disdainfully.

The two sat down at a table, and soon the shopkeeper brought the churros to the paste. Xiaojun looked at it, something was wrong, "Boss, why are your fritters and hemp paste cold, why aren't they hot." ”

"I'm sorry, I just stabbed the fire, it's not hot, it's all left over from last night, if you eat it, eat it, if you don't eat it, you will pay for it and leave." The shopkeeper said slowly and methodically as he poked the coal fire.

"Alas, boss, it's not right for you to say this, how do we eat cold things, and if we don't eat them, we have to pay for them and leave, what do you mean." Xiaojun father and son asked.

"If you say this, you will not preach and be meaningless, you can still eat cold food, don't you eat cold rice at home, and you have not heard that anyone will die if you eat cold rice? Besides, even if you don't eat, you want the food, and you don't say that you want it hot or cold, and I bring it to you again, shouldn't you give money? It's raining so heavily, you have sheltered from the rain here for about ten minutes, and you sit on my stool, can you take shelter from the rain and rest your feet, I am a businessman, and I don't sleep all night, isn't it just these two money? After waiting all night and having no business, you are the first to open, eat my fritters and sesame paste, pay ten yuan, and pay five yuan if you don't eat. You can do it, hurry. As he spoke, the shopkeeper stared at the two of them with two eyes.

"Aren't you slaughtering people, the total amount of fritters and sesame paste is less than two yuan, you dare to ask for ten yuan, how can there be such a thing in the entire Yuanzhen County, you are too dark." Xiao Jun got up, his eyes widened angrily, and he quarreled with the shopkeeper.

"What's the matter, who slaughtered people, who is too dark, I want so much can you do to me, what are you staring at, and I turned against you, who dares to provoke me Wang San in Pingdong, be careful that I flatten you." As he spoke, he turned the coal fire iron cone wheel in his hand twice.

Wu Pingshun looked left and right, there were few pedestrians, and he didn't feel a little nervous, "Xiaojun, it seems that the two of us have met a black shop, the time is not early, this is the two of us in the dark, more is better than less, this person is not ordinary, safety first, let's not eat this meal, according to what he said, give him five yuan, let's hurry to the station, eat if you can, you can eat something, you can't forget it."

Xiaojun looks left and right, as the saying goes: Singles don't suffer immediate losses, take a step back, open the sea and the sky, and destroy wealth and eliminate disasters. Wu Pingshun trembled and took out five yuan from his jacket pocket and put it on the table, "Serve the army, go."

"Big, it's a fucking wreck, going out and meeting this thing makes people feel angry."

"This is just the beginning, there are many things in the future, it is not easy to go out, if you can endure it, it is normal to suffer a little grievance, there is no smooth sailing everywhere, you have to grasp the road in the future, go well, don't have any mistakes, I hope you can keep it in mind and grasp it well." Wu Ping admonished the army in a serious voice, and the army listened to it in his ears and remembered it in his heart.

Yuanzhen County is a traditional agricultural county in the east of the province, is also an ancient county, has a history of more than 2,000 years, is the birthplace of the eighteen sons of the famous German family, and is also the hometown of the chess master Zhen Zhen of the great Song Dynasty defeated Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, and now, the county still retains the eighteen sons of the Shengxian Terrace, the thatched hermitage of Zhen Yuan, and the Dajing Palace when Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty worships the saint. Over the years, the county has also undergone some big changes, the station is one of the most prosperous places in the county, Yuanzhen a high school, Yuanzhen Hotel, Yuanzhen Power Plant, Yuanzhen County Hospital, Yuanzhen Cinema and other large units in the vicinity of the station, the station in front of Donglai Avenue and the north ring road on the south side of the station is just renovated, wide and straight, is the only landmark north-south avenue in the county. As the window of the county, the station has built a new ticket hall and waiting room, where there are long-distance buses sent to Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Pingyuan, Pingxi and other places day and night. Although there is a long-distance bus to Pingxi every day, in addition to the long time of taking the long-distance bus, there is also a point that the passenger car first goes to Pingdong City, a city in the eastern part of the plain, to take the train, which can save time, and is safe and can enjoy a half-price ticket for one person, Wu Pingshun still decided to take the train to send Xiaojun to Pingxi.

The station in front of the station is brightly lit, backpacks, boxes, goods, gifts, shuttles, among which there are some grandparents, brothers and sisters and children and grandchildren say goodbye to the moving scene. Xiaojun looked at the station from afar, looking for the shuttle bus to be sent, and looking for whether the third brother Xiaosen had arrived.

"Big, the shuttle bus to Pingdong is on the north side of the road in front of the station, let's go to the front of the bus first."

"Hurry up and buy a ticket to get on the bus if you go to Pingdong, and buy a ticket to get on the bus if you go to Pingdong." The conductor shouted loudly over and over again. "Hurry up and buy a ticket to get on the bus when you get to Pingdong, the car is about to leave, hurry up."

The two came to the car, "Comrade, may I ask if this is the car to Pingdong?" Wu Pingshun asked.

"Fellow, yes, yes, you're one or two. It's to send people off and quickly call someone to come and get in the car, and they will leave immediately. Hey, those three, where are they going, if you go to Pingdong, put your luggage on the car, hurry up. The conductor looked at the two of them for a moment, feeling that they were not on the train, and softly answered to solicit the other passengers.

"Great, Xiaojun, how long have you two been there, I thought I was late and couldn't catch the car." Xiao Sen walked over panting with an umbrella in one hand and luggage on his back, and asked eagerly. "Alas, how can you both go to school wearing long rubber shoes, do you bring cloth shoes, if you have, hurry up and change them, it's still effective, your clothes are all muddy, open the bag quickly, find a clean body to change." Xiao Sen looked at the wolf appearance of the two and urged.

"Brother, I have all the shoes I have, and we also have big clothes. The two of us went to the waiting room for a change. ”

After hearing this, Xiaosen turned to the conductor and said, "Comrade, we have two of us going to Pingdong, please wait a while, they will change their shoes." ”

Xiaojun took the duffel bag and ran with his father to the station toilet, and found a stool to sit down. Xiaojun opened the duffel bag, took out a light gray suit with a split back, took off his shirt and pants and changed into them. He took out two pairs of cloth shoes from his small pocket, and the two of them changed them. Put your dirty clothes and rubber shoes in a small pocket, wrap them in a small pocket, and go straight to the bus with your luggage. The car has started, there are still more people in the car, and toilet seats have been added. The conductor took the luggage from Xiaojun's hand and put it directly in the trunk. Wu Pingshun handed over the small pocket of the old clothes to Xiaosen to take away, and the two immediately got into the car, found two toilet seats in the aisle and sat down, the car started slowly and began to set off.