On the night of the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, Song Jia wanted to call Chen Chuan to greet the New Year, but he picked up the microphone and thought for a long time before he found that he did not have Chen Chuan's family phone number. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

He hung up the microphone unhappily, and the eldest sister Li Junmin came over and asked, "Why is Jiajia unhappy?" ”

"Nope." Song Jia pounced on her sister and coquettish, Li Junmin is twelve years older than Song Jia, and she has loved her little brother since she was a child, at this time her younger brother pounced on her, she quickly caught it, pinched Song Jia's nose and teased him: "Such a big person, you have to be coquettish with your sister." ”

"I'm the youngest." Song Jia was pinched by her sister's nose, and said angrily.

Li Junyuan, the second brother who is seven years older than him, sneered and said: "In another hundred years, you will be the youngest, and you will not be coquettish at that time." ”

"Li Junyuan!" Song Jia kicked over, he and his brothers and sisters have always been neither big nor small, and they made a mess when they were happy.

Li Xia came over and shouted, "Song Jia! Be honest with me! ”

Song Jia made a grimace and slipped a cigarette and hid behind the eldest sister.

Li Junmin smiled and said, "Auntie, it's okay, it's okay." ”

Li Xia also smiled, and saw Song Jia poking her head out from behind Li Junmin to make a grimace, she made a gesture to pass, which frightened Song Jia and retracted again. glaring at her son fiercely, Li Xia said: "You brothers and sisters are used to him, look at him now, he is neither old nor young." ”

Li Junyuan smiled and said, "Anyway, they're all the smallest, aren't they," he squeezed his eyebrows at Song Jia, "Jiajia?" ”

Due to the presence of his mother, Song Jia had no choice but to give a white eye to the second brother fox.

Almost at the same time, in a dilapidated farmhouse in the mountains dozens of kilometers away, Chen Chuan also sat at the old and faded square table, and his father Chen Aiguo carefully helped his wife, who was still demented and ignorant, to sit down next to his son. The man who had worked all year round showed a rare and satisfying smile - the eight dishes on the table were four cold and four hot, the chickens, ducks and fish were all there, and the family was reunited (Chen Chuan carefully wiped the portrait of his sister and placed it on the side of the table), and in the eyes of this grumpy and silent middle-aged man, it was already very good now.

Chen Chuan inserted a pair of red candles on the white radish that served as a base, and then handed the lit incense to his father: "I have prepared the paper money." The young man said calmly, "Do you want to light firecrackers at night?" ”

Chen Aiguo nodded silently, he took three sticks of incense, and walked to the offering table with his son, who was also holding incense, the father and son kowtowed to the incense, Chen Chuan heard his father muttering a prayer that everything would go well in the coming year, and that his family would be healthy, and, "Bless Chen Chuan with good study, good grades, good health, a good school, and a cadre." ”

Chen Chuan knelt behind his father and muttered, "I don't want to be a cadre......"

Chen Aiguo turned his head and glared at him, "I only know how to talk nonsense all day long." The middle-aged man reprimanded, he wanted to say more, but obviously showed a restrained expression - this is the annual Chinese New Year's Eve, as the old saying goes, you can't scold the child on this day, let alone hit the child, otherwise the child will not have good luck throughout the next year.

In the end, he just showed a serious and stereotypical look: "You are still young! Chen Aiguo stood up, and after Chen Chuan, who got up later, stood up, he bent down and slapped the dust on his son's pants with his thick palm, while chanting: "If you are not a cadre, what do you want to be?" It's good to be a cadre! Eat the royal food! The man straightened up and said, "You are not sensible now, you are still young!" ”

He took his son out of the house, and when he passed by his wife's side, he put a piece of burnt white in his wife's bowl, and told her in a rough voice: "Hurry up and eat, the rice is going to be cold!" He stuffed another piece of soft and glutinous burnt white into his son's mouth, and continued to hate iron and steel: "You have to study hard, be down-to-earth, and don't think about it all day long......"

Chen Chuan listened to his father's lecture absentmindedly while chewing, and his mind had already flown to the few remaining winter vacations - his junior high school classmates had made an appointment with him to go to the market, and he also wanted to go to visit relatives again.

Chen Aiguo carefully lit the paper money in the brazier, and it was windy at night, and he had to turn sideways to block the wind in order to make the fire smoothly. Chen Chuan gave his father a hand, and tossed more paper money into the pot that began to start a flame.

Soon, tiny flames were churning up half a man high. Father and son had to stand a little away from the fire. The blazing flames reflected the young and immature and excited faces. A little farther away, his father tore the corners of his mouth open, revealing a very inconspicuous, somewhat stiff smile.

The night is thick, loud and lively music is heard on the TV, the father and son wait for the last trace of fire in the brazier to go out and then return to the dining table, the sick mother has already returned to the dim bedroom and sits in the rattan chair as usual and holds the photo of her daughter, Chen Aiguo entered the house to put on a thick coat for his wife, staring at his wife's dull face, the middle-aged man sighed and muttered: "It's better to be sick." ”

Firecrackers were set off out of nowhere, the sound of crackling in the silence of the night was far away, Chen Chuan was calling his father out to eat, and ****** was playing on TV.

The new year is coming.

The time was reversed a few hours, and in the county seat dozens of kilometers away, Song Jia's grandmother's house was also full of jubilant and lively atmosphere.

During dinner, Song Jia looked at the relatives in the house again and again, but still did not see the familiar figure. He took a bite of food and asked his mother sitting beside him a little strangely, "Where is the third brother?" ”

The faces of the adults present were a little unnatural. Song Jia's mother, Li Xia, changed her face, took a piece of fish and put it in her son's bowl, and motioned him not to ask again. Grandfather Li Maoshen slapped the chopsticks on the table, and his face sank: "Eat!" What a point to say so much! ”

Grandpa's black face successfully shocked Song Jia, and he obediently closed his mouth.

The atmosphere at the banquet became strange. The adults tried to laugh, but everyone could feel the embarrassment and stiffness. Song Jia really couldn't stand it, and symbolically ate a few more bites and shouted that he was full, and then stood up and threw a look at the second brother, the eldest sister Li Junmin couldn't withdraw because she was sitting with her eldest brother-in-law, so she had to signal the second brother Li Junyuan with her eyes not to talk nonsense to Song Jia.

"Why isn't the third brother here?" As soon as he went out, Song Jia asked.

Li Junyuan was a little embarrassed. The adults specifically instructed him not to tell Song Jia. But Song Jia's stubborn fighting posture has always given him a headache, and after thinking about it, Li Junyuan said vaguely: "You go and ask your aunt." ”

"My mom promised she wouldn't tell me!" Song Jia said with certainty, and after speaking, he stared at the second brother and asked nervously and suspiciously, "Is there something wrong with the third brother?" ”

"For the New Year, don't talk nonsense about the little baby." Li Junyuan frowned and glanced at Song Jia.

"Tell me then."

"I told you, then you are not allowed to ask the adults again." Li Junyuan raised a white flag and surrendered, but he still had to vaccinate his reckless little brother: "Don't say that I told you about it." ”

"Hurry up." Song Jia hurriedly nodded: "I know, I know." ”

"Your third brother said," Li Junyuan sighed, "I don't want to go home to work, and I plan to start a business in Beijing with a few friends." ”

Song Jia blinked in confusion, "It's good." He couldn't understand the seriousness of this matter at all, but he was very proud of his brother's courage: "The third brother is so powerful!" ”

Li Junyuan smiled bitterly, he looked at Song Jia's puzzled eyes, but he didn't want to say anything. He took out a cigarette and lit it, took a few puffs, and the bitter taste of nicotine quickly spread in his mouth. After thinking about it, Li Junyuan still decided to explain a few words to his little brother: "Uncle is already preparing to introduce him to work." ”

"That's nothing." Song Jia muttered in a low voice, he complained a little bit about the elders: "The third brother just said that he wouldn't go home to work, it's not a big deal...... Why are you so angry at home......"

It's not a big deal.

Li Junyuan took a puff of cigarette and spit out an unformed smoke ring, and he spoke in a deep voice in the smoke: "Uncle will retire in a few years, Junyuan doesn't want to come back, so who will take over his uncle's class?" ”

"But the third brother, he can also do what he wants, right?" Song Jia argued unconvincingly in the second brother's gradually serious expression: "The third brother is also an adult, what he wants to do, what he doesn't want to do, does he have to listen to others." ”

"That's his dad." After saying this, Li Junyuan looked at Song Jia, who was still unconvinced, and smiled dumbly, found a bench on the balcony and sat down, he smiled self-deprecatingly, "Me too, what are you doing with this." ”

This is something that the young Song Jia can't understand at all. At that time, some public institutions never recruited employees, and usually people used to let their children take over their own classes, and these families thoroughly linked the unit to the family through generations, and many people's lives were inextricably linked to the unit: they were born in the affiliated hospital, grew up in the compound, studied in the affiliated school, married neighbors or classmates in the same courtyard, and their children repeated this experience decades later, and those who wanted to change would be considered deviant, or even alienated from family and friends.

But Li Junhan, that is, Song Jia's third brother, was not satisfied with this life. Smooth, boring and boring. Unwilling to be bound by a life that had already become a framework, this young man with excellent grades in Beijing decided to choose a completely different life from his parents, and turned his nose up at his father's cherished abnormal work.

He was determined to carve out a completely different life on his own in a completely unfamiliar place. For this reason, he had a big quarrel with his parents, and he was reluctant to go home even during the Spring Festival.

Song Jia leaned on the side of the second brother, colorful fireworks had exploded in the night sky, and the young man looked at the beautiful scene that illuminated the entire night sky, his eyes were full of confusion.

The new year is just around the corner, and the old times and old times seem to have been left behind. But at least at the time, little was noticed, and in this quiet little county, everything of the old days was stubbornly entrenched, but it was also at the last moment - only a few years later, more and more young people stayed in the big cities, hard but strong to take root in the cities, and parents in the small county towns even learned to use video and voice to keep in touch with their children.

A new era will eventually come.