Chapter 6: My Dad Is Gone
"Dad's magic tricks were so popular that he was taken to a very mysterious place to perform. If I were to see him once, I would have to take a bus for most of the day and walk far, far mountain roads. That day, Ma Fei wrote in his diary.
A brightly colored vintage Skoda red coach driving on a winding mountain road.
Outside the car window, the mountains are constantly receding in early spring. Initially a few hairy hills, the shrubs have begun to sprout, producing yellow flowers the size of rice grains. Slowly, the mountains became taller and higher, the vegetation became thin and dry, and some of the peaks still had winter snow left. There were more and more stones on the side of the road, and the black rocks hung high above the road, as if they were about to fall at any moment.
The mountains that obscured the sky dimmed the light inside the long-distance train, and the already crowded carriages seemed even more crowded. The car was full of villagers returning home. The old cousins put their burdens at their feet, their shoulders crossed their knees, and they hugged the chickens and geese, and the little piglets were stuffed under the seats, and they talked loudly in their native dialect. After a while, someone would push open the glass window and spit out a mouthful of phlegm, and the cold mountain wind swept in at once, slightly diluting the rich smell in the car.
In the last row of the coach sat a thin woman with a boy in her arms. Both were dressed modestly and were clearly not locals. The woman's eyes were hollow, and she sat blankly, preoccupied. The child looked left and right excitedly, writhing in his mother's arms, feeling new to everything.
"Ma Fei, don't move! It's here! β
The two of them stepped out of the car. Not far away, on the mountainside, there is a fortress-like building. The dark gray stone walls are so high that they seem to reach the top of the mountain, and the walls are covered with layers of coiled barbed wire.
Mom took a deep breath, firmly grasped Ma Fei's hand, and walked into the prison gate.
Across the street from the prison registry, stout inmates were leaning on ladders to trim trees. When he saw someone enter, the prisoner glared at him with fierce eyes. Ma Fei was not frightened at all, but glared back, raised his little hand and compared it to a gun: "Bang bang!" β
The mother, who had just finished the registration, had a black face and pulled Ma Fei away.
Mom asked Ma Fei to wait outside the meeting room for a while, she and Dad had something very important to discuss. Ma Fei had no choice but to play hopscotch in the aisle outside the door, constantly pricking up his ears to listen to the movements in the house.
The house was quiet all the time. The husband and wife sat silently across the table. His wife Xinyu's eyes were red, and she had obviously cried. Across the table, Ma Haowen is the same as the image of the bodybuilder and sunshine when he participated in the torch relay a few months ago. He was much darker, much thinner, and his hands were skinny.
These big rough hands are holding a piece of paper that reads: Divorce Settlement.
Ma Haowen lowered his head: "My question." It's my problem. β
"Remember, you ruined our family!"
In Xinyu's trembling voice, Ma Haowen lifted the pen with difficulty and wrote down his name.
The door opened, and Ma Fei jumped in: "Dad, let's go home, I don't want to stay here anymore." The globe is broken, and you have to fix it for me. β
Xinyu said angrily: "Your father can't repair the globe for you, he has to stay here to repair the earth." β
"Dad isn't coming home today. I believe that my son alone can definitely fix the globe. Ma Haowen barely squeezed out a smile.
Ma Fei said grinningly: "I won't." Teacher Wang said that I was missing a string. β
"Teacher Wang is talking nonsense!" Ma Haowen suddenly raised his voice, and the emotions that he had been suppressing exploded.
"Remember: don't believe what others say, you are the smartest child in the world." He raised his right hand and pointed his index finger at his head, "As long as your brain keeps thinking about it, you will never miss a string." Not only can you fix the globe, you can do anything on the planet. β
Xinyu was impatient and said angrily, "Here we go again." What kind of mess is this? Saying that, he dragged Ma Fei over: "Gone, gone......"
Ma Fei twisted around, shook off his mother's hand, and said stubbornly: "I don't!" I'm going to sleep with my dad at night. β
Xinyu pulled down her face and was about to get angry. Ma Haowen hurriedly squatted down and took his son's hand, and said softly, "Is it okay to play a game?" You go with Mom, Dad goes the other way, see who gets home first? Dad has a secret weapon - the fastest spaceship in the universe, faster than the speed of light. β
He pointed his head with his index finger and blinked: "Think about what to do, I'm going to get the spaceship, I'm sure I'll win you......"
Ma Fei grinned, raised his right hand, pointed his head with his index finger, and shouted in a childish voice in a long voice: "I-win-you." While shouting, the people had already run out first.
Looking at his son's rapidly disappearing figure, Ma Hao's bright eyes instantly dimmed, and the spirit of the beating could no longer be supported, and he fell crooked on the chair, his voice full of bitterness: "The most sorry is my son." You can only have to worry about it. β
Xinyu got up, pursed her lips, and smiled: "Don't worry, I won't let him become like you." β
The door of the interview room was facing the playground, and a fat old prison guard was leaning against the door and taking a nap, and when he saw the people inside, he stood up lazily, took off a pair of handcuffs from his waist, and routinely put them on the prisoner.
At this moment, there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps on the playground. Ma Haowen's lowered head was raised suddenlyβand in the flying dust, a short figure rushed over.
"Mommy, don't let Dad overtake ...... Father? β
Ma Fei's excited cry stopped abruptly the moment he saw his father's wrist. He stopped, understood.
Time froze.
Ma Fei suddenly ran again, and he ran all the way towards his father, kicking up more dust. He ran through the gates, over the barbed wire, and over the crowds of prisoners...... Nothing can stop this kid!
He ran all the way to his father, hugged his leg tightly, and never let go.
Father and son hugged each other tightly.
Mom watched, prison guards watched, prisoners watched, sentinels watched in the distance, and surrounded mountains watched...... Everyone watched it all in silence.