It was a pleasant weather that was lukewarm and unheated by the autumn winds, and the fields where the autumn harvest and autumn planting were underway, exuding the aroma of ripe crops and freshly turned soil. Yuan Changlin, www.biquge.info of the pen "Fun", had no intention of appreciating the idyllic scenery of his hometown, got off the bus, and hurried home with his suitcase.

My sister hadn't seen her brother for more than half a year, and as soon as Yuan Changlin entered the yard, she took the things in her brother's hand, pestered him and kept asking this and that. The mother also wanted to take a good look at her son after a long absence, and ask him how he had lived for more than half a year, but after just a few words, she hurriedly went to the kitchen to prepare a meal. At this time, a dry cough came from the hall, which was a signal that the father on the hospital bed heard the noise outside, and was impatient to meet his son earlier.

Yuan Changlin threw away his sister, stepped into the hall, ran to his father's bed, held the old man's hand, and shouted affectionately, "Dad!" ”

The old man's limbs lying on the hospital bed no longer obeyed his brain, and he could only hug his son with eager eyes. The old man had already undergone two surgeries, pushing away the claws of death again and again, and he was finally looking forward to the day when his son would return. Yuan Changlin leaned down in front of his father and spoke to him affectionately, and the old man nodded or shook his head to indicate "yes" and "no".

Neighbors, knowing that Yuan Changlin had returned from Beijing, gathered in the courtyard, waiting to talk to him. Yuan Changlin greeted them warmly, moved benches, handed out cigarettes, and distributed candy to the children.

Lao Geng's grandmother was the neighbor of Yuan Changlin's house, she walked up to Yuan Changlin tremblingly with a cane, and said with her mouth open with missing teeth and leaking air: "Child, I heard that you are now an officer in the army?" ”

Yuan Changlin grabbed Grandma Geng's arm, asked her to sit down on the bench, raised his voice and said loudly into her ear: "Grandma, I am not an officer, I am a non-commissioned officer. ”

Old Grandma Geng said: "Oh, it's not an officer, it's an official, what's the difference between "not an officer" and "being an official"? ”

Yuan Changlin smiled: "Grandma, an officer is an officer, and a non-commissioned officer is not an officer." ”

Old Grandma Geng shook her head puzzled and said, "One will be an official, and another will not be an official, I can't understand!" ”

At night, Yuan Changlin did not listen to his mother's dissuasion and insisted on sleeping in the same bed with his father.

He heard his father's familiar cough again.

Dad suffered from chronic pharyngitis for a long time, always coughing at night, he was used to hearing his father's cough since he was a child, and hearing his father's constant coughing, he felt solid when he slept.

Dad's cough sound, for him, is the most beautiful lullaby in the world.

When he returned home this time, Yuan Changlin did not visit relatives and friends as he did when he came back before, but stayed at home with his father all the time, talking to him in his ear, serving him food and water, and turning over for massage.

Five days later, Yuan Changlin reluctantly said goodbye to his family.

This time, Yuan Changlin chose to take the slow train back to Beijing, although it took more than ten hours to take the slow train than to take the high-speed rail, but it could save more than 200 yuan. He didn't buy a seat at the train station, and as the crowd squeezed into the carriage, he found a proper place in the aisle and stopped.

There were people in front of him and behind him, breathing in the mixed smell that came out of the mouths of men, women, adults and children, waiting for the train to start, hoping for the fresh air to come in.

A whistle sounded, the train was running on the road ahead, and Yuan Changlin was thinking about what was going forward.

Dad will die soon, and the book of his life has reached its final chapter. Mom said a few times that in the past few days when Yuan Changlin was at home, his father's spirit was good, he missed his son's most powerful two days, and after seeing his son, he could actually drink half a bowl of gruel at each meal. For a terminally ill person, sometimes the medicine does not work in him, but family affection can work miracles in him. When he left the house in the morning, he held the old man's hand tightly, and refused to let go for a long time, the old man seemed to be a little lifeless, looking at him hopelessly and helplessly, and two lines of cloudy tears fell on the pillow. Yuan Changlin took a few steps away from his father, and couldn't help but look back when he wanted to look at him again, only to see the wrinkled skin on the old man's face spasming in pain, he stared at his figure closely, leaving only the spark of hope flashing in his gray eyes, pinning his blessings and expectations on his son. Faced with the possible parting of life and death, Yuan Changlin's heart was heartbroken, and his gall and liver were burning. After returning to the army this time, it is impossible for him to receive information from his family about his father's recovery, but he also does not want to receive a phone call from home that can only be more auspicious.

Yuan Changlin still remembers the visit to his home when he was a soldier for three years, when his father's body was still very strong, the old house of the family had a new look, the crops in the field were bumper every year, and the good days seemed to have just begun. On the day he left home and returned to the team, his father pushed his bicycle in front, and his bag was tied to the back hanger, and he and his mother and sister followed behind, leaving his father's obvious footprints on the dirt road that had just fallen in the light rain. Walking behind his father's bicycle, he felt that he had more happiness than those children who sat in Dad's Mercedes and Audi cars, went shopping in supermarkets and went to the park.

The train stopped at a station, and many passengers got off the train on the way, Yuan Changlin looked in front of and behind him, and saw no more old people and children standing, so he sat down in an empty seat next to him.

He picked up his broken thoughts again.

Last year, a CT film at the county hospital was like a dark cloud, obscuring the blue sky above my home.

The day he received a call from his sister, he fell on the bed in the dormitory and cried.

When Yuan Changlin came home this time, in addition to buying a coffin of high-quality wood for his father, the remaining 18,000 yuan was handed over to his mother, which he had accumulated after several years as a soldier. He left money for his mother and instructions for his sister. The younger sister is very sensible, and has repeatedly said that she should listen to her mother and take care of her father, which makes his worried heart feel a little comforted.

Yuan Changlin got off the train, and as soon as he walked out of the station, he heard someone shouting "Squad Leader Yuan," and he saw Xiao Zhao, the driver of the automobile squad of the agricultural and sideline production base of the military organ, waving to him.

"Why is it so early, I said on the phone that I wouldn't let you pick me up!"

"It's Director Li of the base who asked me to pick you up, I drove a back-opening jeep today, tomorrow is Monday, he asked me to pick you up when I go back, and then turn around to the morning market to buy some vegetables, and then divide it in the afternoon, and send it to the agency tomorrow." Xiao Zhao took the bag from Yuan Changlin and said.

Yuan Changlin knew that the agricultural and sideline production base sent vegetables to the leaders of the organs once a week, and the varieties of vegetables planted in the base were not complete, so they had to buy some from the market and put them into cartons printed with the name of the production base and send them to the organs.

The morning glow is red through half the sky, and God has given birth to a bright white day for the earth.

The military jeep drove out of the morning market, carrying Yuan Changlin to the agricultural and sideline production base of the military organs in the suburbs of Beijing. (To be continued.) )