April 1994, Shizui Village, Suide County, Shaanxi Province.

On a spring morning, the warm wind blowing from the southeast dye the thick yellow earth along the Wuding River. People who have nothing to do during the winter months start to be busy for the year.

China, this old and brand-new country, has also come out of the harsh winter.

The spring breeze wakes up the vitality of the yellow earth, and there are always some tenacious lives in the barren land.

"Hanwa, Hanwa......" The rich dialect screamed the sheep grazing on the hillside, and the white wool brought a slight discoloration to the earth and mountain that had not yet put on spring clothes.

A tall, thin figure stood up from the hillside, threw a clod of earth and struck it accurately in front of the scurrying lamb, which jumped back to the army.

"Hanwa, you hurry home, something happened to your milk, and the sheep (I) will rush you back (go back)!"

This tall young man looked only seventeen or eighteen years old, and his height of nearly one meter nine made his body look unusually thin. Ill-fitting pants and clothes, as well as patches on the knees, show the hardships of young people's lives.

Hearing what the visitor said, the tall young man stretched out his long legs and ran in the direction of the visitor like a wild horse......

In Shizui Village, in a dilapidated earthen house, Grandma Liu was lying on the kang, and her dark face was ominous.

"His third father, it is estimated that he is not good, he has not raised a good offspring (son), and he has hurt everyone (hurt) in the past few years." Grandma Liu said in a faint, trembling voice.

"The brute of the E's family was also shot, and over the years, E's reparation for his sins has come to this point, but E's is really a well-behaved baby. When you broke (when you were young), you also ate Ha's milk, and in the end, I just ask you to take care of Ha's (lower) baby, and don't blame it on a doll for the fault of adults! "Poor Grandma Liu seems to have shed all the tears of her life, and in this last time, there are no more tears to shed......

Liu Zhisheng held Grandma Liu's hand, and the thin fingertips were full of calluses.

"Second mother, don't worry, he Liu Zhiqiang's crime can't be blamed on Hanwa, besides, over the years, everyone in the village has watched it, and as long as you have a mouthful of food in the future, you won't be hungry."

The tall young man ran into the room with a sweaty head.

"Milk, what's wrong with you?"

"Gua Wa (the meaning of a silly child), you are leaving, you will listen to your third father in the future, don't cry, don't cry, remember to tell you Ha, male baby, you have to live with a smile, crying is a female baby!"

The tall young man knelt in front of the kang and held his grandmother's hand tightly with one hand, and wiped the seemingly endless tears with the other hand. With his little knowledge, he didn't quite understand the meaning of his grandmother's leaving, but he understood that in the future, there would be no one in this world who really cared about him.

"Milk, don't cry, don't cry in the future......"

The tall stature combined with the slightly childish words looks unusually unusual.

The few words seemed to have exhausted all Grandma Liu's physical strength, and she trembled, raised her thin hand, gently stroked the tall young man's face, and murmured in a voice that was almost inaudible.

"It's so ....... like, it's like red, it's red, you know? It's like ......."

That hand, as if carrying the weight of ten thousand jun, with the last tears of young people, with years of guilt, with the suffering of the old man's life, with reluctance and regret to fall......

Liu Han has a good grandmother, this is the consensus of the villagers of Shizui Village.

Liu Han does not have a good father, which is also the consensus of the villagers of Shizui Village. Liu Han's father is called Liu Zhiqiang, and Liu Zhiqiang is a big scourge, which is the consensus of the name of Shizui Village.

Liu Han was born in April 1976, and his father, Liu Zhiqiang, was shot dead in late 1975 for his crimes. Liu Han's mother disappeared after giving birth to Liu Han, and the villagers of Shizui Village were secretive about it.

Liu Han has been different since he was born, he doesn't cry, he doesn't laugh, and he doesn't even speak when he is 5 years old, the people in the village say that this is a sin, this child is a fool, but Grandma Liu doesn't believe it, Grandma Liu uses her thin body to support this broken family, and uses her life to feed this child who is a fool in everyone's eyes.

Grandma Liu spent eighteen years to atone for the sins of her unsuccessful son Liu Zhiqiang, and she carried the young Liu Han to help the people in the village who had been harmed by Liu Zhiqiang for free after she finished her work in the field every day.

Grandma Liu's sins were atoned for, but her life also came to an end, and she won everyone's respect with her persistence, and the whole village attended her funeral.

Liu Han didn't shed tears at the funeral, he just knelt silently next to the spirit case, quietly looked at the villagers who came up and kowtowed one after another, quietly listened to the comments of everyone in the village on Grandma Liu's life, quietly listened to the curses of his father, and quietly listened to everyone's comments about his foolish behavior......

It is still a dilapidated earthen house, still patched pants and clothes, Liu Han silently packed up the few things in the house, more than a month has passed since his grandmother's funeral, Liu Han's third uncle Liu Zhisheng is ready to follow the township engineering team to work in the provincial capital, and is ready to bring Liu Han with him. Although Liu Han's brain is not very flexible, Liu Han is very good at his work and never cheats and cheats.

Liu Han left the only relic left by his grandmother, a silver bracelet wrapped in red cloth and put it close to his body, he remembered that his grandmother said that he would give the bracelet to others when he found his daughter-in-law in the future, why should he find a daughter-in-law Liu Han didn't understand, he only knew that when he married his daughter-in-law, he would wear red clothes and there would be delicious food. Liu Han hid the only sixty-seven yuan in the family in the pocket of the shabby red shirt he was wearing, he didn't understand how useful it was, but he knew that he would have nothing to eat if he didn't have money in the future, because his grandmother, who could cook for him, was no longer there. After looking at this dilapidated but the only safe haven home for Liu Han for a long time, with the crooked bedding and clothes that had been bundled on his back, and the dilapidated wooden door locked, Liu Han left the place where he had lived for eighteen years.

Before leaving, Liu Han came to his grandmother's grave again, he didn't know what to say to his grandmother, he was about to leave the environment he was familiar with, and was about to embark on an unknown journey, Liu Han was scared for a while.

"Milk, I have to follow the third father to work, milk, eh, don't be afraid, you say Hadi, the boy should not be afraid, eh, not afraid. Well, I'm a little reluctant to you. ”

Liu Han silently squatted in front of his grandmother's grave for a long time.

"Milk, forehead ......"

Liu Han followed his third uncle Liu Zhisheng on foot for more than an hour, climbed over two mountains, and caught the shuttle bus to the county seat, where they were going to take the train to the provincial capital, accompanied by two young people from the village.

Liu Han had seen the shuttle, but he had never taken it. He doesn't know what a train is, grandma doesn't know, so he doesn't even know, trains, shuttles that are on fire?

Strange people, unfamiliar roads, and bumpy mountain roads made Liu Han, who had never been in a car, a little motion sickness.

"Third father, it's a little disgust......ing," Liu Han whispered to his third uncle.

"This melon baby, she looks so good (strong) and still gets motion sickness!" Liu Zhisheng said jokingly.

The laughter of everyone made Liu Han blush a little.

"It turns out that this is called motion sickness, not disgusting......"

Suide County, a county seat located on the bank of the Wuding River.

Liu Han, who came to the county for the first time, followed the third uncle closely, and the unfamiliar environment always gave people a sense of psychological depression. followed the third uncle to eat a one-dollar Zhenzi noodles, and Liu Han finally had a clear idea of the sixty-seven yuan in his thread coat, and he could buy dozens of bowls of noodles.

Liu Han finally saw the train, green and long......

Liu Han leaned on his bunk and fell asleep, and in the sound of the train, Liu Han seemed to hear his grandmother's words again.

"Gua baby, the boy is going to live with a smile!"

When the group arrived in Xi'an, it was already the beginning of the lights, and the surging flow of people pushed the four out of the station.

Liu Han's tall stature makes him stand out from the crowd, even in the north, where people are generally tall, a height of more than 1.9 meters is still very rare. His tall stature allowed him to get an unobstructed view of the new city that was about to accept him. The bright lights, bright skirts, colorful signs, and various small merchants who surrounded the four of them made Liu Han feel surprised and panicked, after all, he was just a young man who seemed to others to be a "fool".

Liu Zhisheng had come to Xi'an more than 20 years ago, but at that time he had come with other Red Guards, and he was as old as Liu Han at that time. The strangeness made Liu Zhisheng a little nervous, he observed the crowd around him, and then said to Liu Han and the other two young men: "You wait for a while, and then go and ask Ha Lu first." ”

The other two guys were also a little nervous, because it was the first time they had come to such a big city!

Five minutes later, Liu Zhisheng used his Mandarin mixed with thick dialects to inquire about the bus route to Chang'an Jiaotong University, where a fellow villager contracted an engineering team to start work, and had already said that as long as he went, he would have a job.

Liu Zhisheng took three young men and squeezed into the bus to Chang'an Jiaotong University with tattered and dirty luggage in the eyes of the "citizens".

On the bus, Liu Han's height made him have to lower his head slightly, firstly, for fear of hitting the handrail, and on the other hand, Liu Han wanted to see the "wonderful scenery" outside.

The bus swayed for more than an hour to reach its destination, and after getting off the bus, everyone moved their legs and feet, which were a little stiff from standing for a long time.

"Third Dad, is this the university? It's so big, no wonder it's called a university! Liu Han followed the third uncle around the university campus for half an hour and still couldn't find the construction site.

"Guawa, these drops are all gentlemen, they are all very powerful, you don't look at those girls who wear bells and whistles, that people will be assigned to the drops in the future, and they will be officials as soon as they work, I don't worry, he doesn't understand these yet, you two have to give the forehead a note, don't provoke the girls here, don't think about it no matter how good-looking the long drops are, these are all our mud legs that can't be provoked. You guys, just wait to go to work hard, move bricks well, and when you save money, you will clean up the house when you return to your hometown, and the women from ten miles and eight towns will follow! ”

Liu Zhisheng used his simple experience to tell the three guys what to pay attention to in the future.

"Hanwa, you will work hard when you get to work, don't follow Yidali's mess, the people outside here are very deep-hearted, you may be coaxed one day!" Liu Zhisheng especially admonished Liu Han.

By the time everyone found the construction site, it was already late at night, and the contractor arranged the four of them into a makeshift brick house. The room is a large shop, and it is already full of people.

Liu Han walked on his bed, his ears were snoring one after another, his nose was filled with all kinds of smoke, body odor and foot odor, and all kinds of memories appeared in his mind, including grandma's, what he experienced today, and all kinds of things he understood or didn't understand in the past eighteen years......