I grew up in the countryside and was a naughty kid who ran out of the wilderness. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 After graduating from elementary school, I was admitted to junior high school with a lot of cleverness, but I didn't know how to cherish the precious learning opportunities, and I quarreled with my classmates at school today and talked back to the teacher tomorrow, which made the teachers at school very sad.

My tablemate Ma Changzhi was a member of the study committee in the class, and the teacher arranged for the two of us to sit at the same desk, probably because he thought that I was not very attentive and undisciplined in my studies, so he asked him to help me in a focused way.

Ma Changzhi is less than two years older than my age, he not only gave me a lot of help in my studies, but also cared about me in life, because it was a residential study, we could only go home once a week, his living conditions at that time were slightly better, every Sunday afternoon, when the classmates returned to school from home, he always couldn't forget to bring me a little food, sometimes a handful of raw peanuts, sometimes a piece of roasted white potatoes, to fill the stomach, at that time was the biggest luxury in our lives.

At that time, there were not many children in rural areas who could go to junior high school, and even fewer could go to high school, and when more than 40 students in our class graduated, only about a dozen were admitted to the only high school in the county seat in the county, and Ma Changzhi was one of them.

Before going to report to the county high school, Ma Changzhi walked a few miles to my home and persuaded me not to forget to read and study in the countryside. He also gave me a copy of the "Little Dictionary of Chinese Idioms" and copied a passage from Ostrovsky, the author of "How Steel is Made", on the title page in vigorous font: A man's life should be spent like this, and when he recalls the past, he will not regret that he wasted his time, nor will he be ashamed of his inaction. The small print in the lower right corner reads "Ma Changzhi and Xueyou encourage together".

Due to the boredom of leisure after work, and also due to Ma Changzhi's hard persuasion, I often read the literary books I could find in the countryside in the thatched hut at home, and often read the literary books I could find in the countryside at night under the light of beans, and practiced writing some smooth and praise manuscripts, two of which were even adopted by the county radio station.

Two years later, in the latter part of the Cultural Revolution, I joined the army when Ma Changzhi and his classmates had joined the rebels and were obsessed with factional struggles. When I left home, in addition to the 20 yuan pocket money given by my parents, I only brought the "Little Dictionary of Chinese Idioms" given to me by Ma Changzhi.

After I arrived in the army, my little writing skills really came in handy, and I was the main force in the company to run wall newspapers and publish board newspapers, and I often wrote speech materials for the company commander together with the clerk. Due to the very poor cultural life at that time, in addition to watching a movie every week that even the lines could memorize, the soldiers read newspapers and studied the works of leaders, and the "Chinese Idiom Dictionary" became my favorite book, and I could almost memorize almost all the nearly 3,000 idioms in the book. When I had just completed three years in the army, I was promoted to a cadre, and soon became a propaganda officer in the army. In the following decades of military career, I have always carried that small dictionary with me, often looking at the lines written by Ma Changzhi on the title page, reminiscing about the past, reflecting on myself, and the image of Ma Changzhi will be reflected in my mind from time to time.

One day in March of the year before last, when I went to inspect the work of the grassroots units with the chief, I found that there was a stack of reference books in the study, and there were all kinds of dictionaries, dictionaries, and a collection of famous sayings and warnings. My lover told me that my nephew, who had just graduated from university and was assigned to work in his hometown county, was passing through Beijing on a business trip the day before yesterday, and he knew that I usually liked to read and write, so he bought it for me. Although I already have some books, I am still happy to think that my nephew is so sensible.

A week later, I found out that the little dictionary of Chinese idioms was gone.

"With a new dictionary, what do you need the old one? I sold it as scrap along with old newspapers! ”

After listening to my lover's explanation, my lungs were about to explode, and I lost my temper.

One afternoon, when I got off work, I had just walked to the door of the auditorium in the living quarters, when Director Wang of the Political Department called out to me, saying that an old man who collected waste had just inquired about me and had gone in the direction of my house.

At the door of the dormitory where I lived, I saw the old man who collected waste.

I have seen this old man, who often rides a tricycle in the compound and shouts: "There are scrap to sell!" "Listening to the accent, it seems to be a fellow.

The old man seemed to look younger today than before, with a little less beard on his dark and thin face, and his clothes were neater.

I stepped forward, and was just about to ask him what he was looking for me for, when I suddenly saw the small dictionary that Ma Changzhi gave me in his hand. I couldn't hold back my excitement and said loudly: "It turns out that you sent me a dictionary, thank you, thank you!" How do you know this dictionary is mine? ”

"There's your signature on it." The old man looked at me in a daze and whispered.

I took the small dictionary from his hand, took out a 100 yuan bill from my body, handed it to him, and said, "I have treasured this small dictionary for decades, thank you for helping me find it, I hope you can accept this money." ”

The old man rubbed his hands together, still looking at me in a daze, and muttered, "I don't want money!" I don't want money! ”

"You're welcome, this is a little bit of my heart." I put the money on the tricycle and turned around to leave.

"Leather Monkey!" The old man shouted behind me.

It's like a thunderbolt in a clear sky. I suddenly turned around and looked at the old man in front of me in astonishment.

When I was in junior high school, because I was thin and naughty, my classmates gave me a nickname: "Leather Monkey", for more than 30 years, I have never heard anyone call me by this nickname, how can this old man know?

"I'm Ma Changzhi!" The old man saw that I was still there, and said in a trembling voice.

"You, are you Ma Changzhi?" For decades, Ma Changzhi has been fixed in my mind as a vigorous middle school student, how could he be the old man in front of me who is haggard and withered. I felt as if all the blood on my body had congealed and asked him.

The old man nodded affirmatively, and I grabbed his hand and stared at him, trying to find the shadow of Ma Changzhi from that face that had been full of vicissitudes.

On the sofa at my house, Ma Changzhi held the Longjing tea I made for him and looked at me with affection. The gossamer of memory brought him back to that era of calamities------

"When I was a sophomore in high school, I was the president of our class, and among the more than 100 students in the same three classes, my academic performance was among the highest, and my teachers and classmates said that I was the material for going to a prestigious university, and I was full of confidence in the future." During the Cultural Revolution, my classmates and I put our personal future aside and cared about the fate of the country with all our enthusiasm. After more than a year of fighting, killing and killing, the teacher stepped aside, the school was closed, we all became motherless children, I returned to the countryside and was like an ordinary farmer, carrying the sun from the east mountain to the west mountain all day long, living the days of sunrise and day after day. Later, when I went to university, I adopted the method of recommendation, and the limited number of places allocated to us every year were snatched up by the cadres for their children or relatives, and it was not our turn at all. ”

I added some boiling water to his teacup and listened to him continue.

"I have received several letters from you to me after joining the army, and because I was disheartened and discouraged, I was very depressed and had no interest in anything, so I did not reply to you. Over the years, I have been doing nothing, going with the flow, and before I know it, I have become a person in my sixties. Now the peasants are having a very hard time, they can't sell a lot of money to grow grain, and they have a lot of input to buy pesticides, fertilizers, and seeds. I've been collecting waste here with two fellow villagers for more than a year, and the three of us have rented a house next to the garbage dump on the outskirts of the city. When I'm not working, I like to look through books and newspapers in the scrap, and after I stumbled upon this little dictionary, I didn't sleep well for several nights. I know you're in Beijing, and you probably work in one of the compounds of the military units I frequent, but I didn't make up my mind to look for you, I didn't want to disturb your peaceful life, and I didn't want to go with you to look through the yellowed calendars of the past. ”

When Ma Changzhi said this, tears flashed in his eyes, and I took the teacup from his hand, put it on the coffee table, and held his hand tightly. Ma Changzhi breathed a sigh of relief, and then said: "A person's road must be walked by himself, and a person's fate is also arranged by himself. Over the past year, I have been frugal and have saved more than 20,000 yuan. There are several vegetable farmers living next to the garbage dump, and I usually learn some vegetable planting techniques from them, and I plan to grow vegetables in the greenhouse when I return to my hometown. I've already bought my train ticket and I'll be leaving the day after tomorrow, and today is the last time I'll be here to collect scrap. I've been very conflicted in the past few days, and then I feel that I should meet you again, otherwise I will regret it for the rest of my life. ”

"You must have suffered a lot over the years?" Ma Changzhi didn't seem to be ready to tell me much about his past experiences, and I couldn't help but ask him.

Ma Changzhi just nodded affirmatively.

Seeing that it was getting late, Ma Changzhi stood up and was about to leave, I grabbed him tightly, and I must leave him for dinner. Ma Changzhi said: "Because I have to go home these days, I have some chores to deal with, and I don't have time to eat at your house, if you agree, I want to take this little dictionary away, it will serve as a good warning to me in the future." ”

I readily agreed.

I wanted to give Ma Changzhi some money, but he resolutely didn't want it, and the two of us tugged for a while, and he picked up the small dictionary and was about to go out. I had an idea and said to him, "You don't want this money, forget it, I'll wrap the dictionary for you and send you downstairs." ”

I used the newspaper to put the dictionary and the 2,000 yuan wallet that I secretly tucked inside, put it in an envelope, and handed it to Ma Changzhi when I got downstairs.

Looking at Ma Changzhi's distant back, I had mixed feelings, and my heart couldn't calm down for a long time.

Although we are both in our sixties, there is still a long way to go, and I sincerely wish him well!