At about four o'clock in the afternoon on Friday, Xuemei was at work when she suddenly received a call from her father, and she left the coffee shop and came to the square.

"Hello? Father. ”

"Hmmm! You...... You're at work, aren't you? Zhong Li scratched the back of his head and asked softly.

"Yes, in the coffee shop."

"Hmm...... Is it convenient at this time? ”

"Convenient, you say."

"You pick up Xuecheng after work at night, and he's at your mother's." Zhong Li held the phone in his right hand and his right elbow in his left hand.

"He can stay wherever he wants, and he's not a one- or two-year-old doll." Xuemei stiffened her face and spoke loudly and quickly.

Zhong Li let out a sulk and hung up the phone. Xuemei saw that her father was hanging, knowing that he was angry, and the girl was not afraid of anything, so she bit her lip and went to work.

In the evening, Zhong Neng called her granddaughter, and Xuemei bluntly said that she went back to her mother for dinner, and gently rejected her grandfather. Afraid that her grandfather would be sad, her little adult generally comforted her grandfather and told her grandfather not to worry about her. After getting off work at half past eight in the evening, Zhong Xuemei said hello to her aunt and went back to the Fuchun community to accompany her mother and younger brother.

This night, Bao Xiaotang and "Walking in the Rain" chatted until 10 o'clock in the evening, and their topic had risen from the typhoon to the point of personal hobbies. Only then did I know that the man was an IT person, two years younger than himself, because he was single and anxious to talk about marriage, so he kept looking in the group, and when he saw Xiaotang's moving avatar, he decisively added Xiaotang as a friend.

The more he talked about personal issues, the more Xiaotang was half-hidden. Her past was not glorious, she didn't know how much she had to cover up, and suddenly her interest in chatting with that person faded by seven points, so she found a reason to go offline at ten o'clock that night. She was the only one in the empty room, and when she washed her face and brushed her teeth before going to bed, she observed herself in the mirror, although she looked a little old, but after all, she was a little older. The bags under her eyes drooped, the flesh on her cheeks was thick and loose, there was some gray hair on the left side of her head, and most importantly, her eyes—no longer watery, no longer radiant, no longer attractive.

After falling asleep, she tossed and turned, until a thought came to her and she realized that there was a way ahead. At one o'clock in the morning again, Bao Xiaotang sat on the bed holding the computer and chose a more credible microplastic surgery hospital in Shenzhen on the Internet. After choosing a hospital, I filled in my personal information at two o'clock in the morning and selected the items to be adjusted, and then I felt confident and able to sleep.

A thirty-two-year-old single woman, who can't get married for a long time, and no one chases her, no matter how good her face is, her heart is withered. But anything that could make her smile and her heart grow, it seemed that it was worth it at the moment.

When I got up early on Saturday morning, Tsai Tsai went to cram school, and Zhiyuan went out to buy breakfast. Ma Guiying knew that sooner or later she would not be able to keep the old man, so she wanted to use the only weekend time she had to accompany him. Going out, looking at great figures, and taking pictures of the old man were finally on her agenda. Considering the road conditions after the typhoon, the legs and feet of the elderly, the rippling golden sleep, the lunch of the trip, etc., today's itinerary was barely decided at ten o'clock.

After the decision was made, the two of them immediately took action. Zhiyuan went to the community health hospital to borrow a wheelchair, and Gui Ying changed clothes and makeup, packed bags, and prepared drinking water and umbrellas at home. It was close to eleven o'clock, and the four of them went out the door and went straight to the subway station. The old horse who took the subway for the first time was a little excited, although it was not a new thing, but the old man had not sat or touched it in seventy years. When he was about to arrive at the subway station, he saw the subway rumbling overhead, and he thought to himself: Isn't this the same as a train?

Take the escalator all the way, and people don't have to take the conveyor belt to send people up. The old horse didn't dare to move much, he always felt that he was too heavy and would collapse the conveyor belt. At the end of the day, if it weren't for Zhiyuan's reminder, he almost flashed. After arriving at the station, Zhiyuan demonstrated to the old man how to swipe the card to enter the station, and after Zhiyuan carried a wheelchair into the station, the old horse held a card, moved around and couldn't swipe it, although the people in line behind him did not urge, the old horse felt very embarrassed. Suddenly, the floodgates opened, and the old man hurried in on crutches. After the old horse entered, Gui Ying swiped the card and entered the station with Yangyang in her arms.

After entering the station, they walked a little longer, and the four of them packed their bags into the elevator. The elevator - the old horse was also seen for the first time, and after seven or eight people squeezed in, the mirror-like door closed by itself! The old horse saw the magic, suddenly felt his body falling, and knew that he had risen into the air! The old village chief hadn't seen enough - the door opened again, and seven or eight people came out in a puff of smoke. After going out, I saw the shadow of the subway, but I saw two subway doors to door, each with twenty or thirty iron gates - all of them are automatic, and no one needs to worry about it!

Gui Ying pulled Yangyang to urge the old horse to enter the subway, but the old horse was afraid that the door would suddenly close and clamp him, and the old man stood outside the door and didn't dare to enter! When a beeping sound sounded, the old horse was stunned, and he thought it was the alarm of smoking on the high-speed rail, so he was so frightened that he only stood at the door frowning and embarrassed. Gui Ying saw that the door was about to close, so he grabbed the old horse's arm and pulled the old man in, and in less than three seconds after coming in, the door closed automatically! The old horse's face stiffened, and he prayed silently in his heart.

The old man was undecided, and the young man who gave up his seat got up first and greeted the old horse. The old peasant nodded and smiled frequently in a cold sweat, and then sat down in the empty seat that was as clean as glass. After sitting down, he hurriedly took out a towel from his coat pocket to wipe his sweat, wiped his forehead and neck, and wiped his neck and palms. The thick and big cap on the top of his head was already wet, and he didn't take it off or wear it, and the old man held the brim of the hat from time to time to let the wet white hair inside breathe! Gui Ying had already seen it all, and her heart hurt and laughed.

Zhiyuan was holding the folding wheelchair, Gui Ying was pulling Yangyang, Yangyang was holding her mother's leg, and Lao Ma was sitting in the crowd. Looking left and right, this carriage is much more spacious than the green train, and it looks more generous than the high-speed rail, and a large number of people standing, leaning, and sitting, not two hundred, but more than one hundred, just like the movie in the village twenty years ago! The old horse sat in the crowd and didn't dare to move, and just sat comfortably, a voice came from beside him: "Big!" Arrive in a minute, ready to go! ”

The old horse looked at Gui Ying, put away the sweat towel, and held the crutches to get up.

"Dad, don't get up yet! Wait for the car to stop and get up! I'll remind you later! Zhiyuan instructed the old horse in the crowd.

The old horse nodded in frustration.

The car stopped, and it flashed suddenly, the old man's heart palpitated, but fortunately Zhiyuan reminded him, or his foot couldn't use his strength - he was either fell down or his right foot was swollen and painful after being flashed by the car! The subway stopped less steadily than the green train, and the old horse complained in his heart. Zhiyuan carried a wheelchair on his left shoulder and walked out of the subway with the old horse in his right hand, and Gui Ying hugged Yangyang and flowed out along the people. Immediately followed by the elevator and escalator, the sweat that the old horse had just dried in the cold air conditioner of the subway instantly came out again.

In his life, the old horse has ridden a horse-drawn carriage, a high-speed train, a mule and a donkey, driven a trolley, a handcart, a motorcycle, a four-wheeled vehicle, a tricycle, and a car. There must be too many people, Lao Ma comforted himself, but he didn't want to admit that he was old.

On this day, Zhong Neng got up early, and at nine o'clock, he saw that Hyosung had not come to the shop for a long time, and knew that she would not come today. The two of them are always like this, they make trouble and separate, there is nothing to reconcile or not, and Hyosung has to come over for the sake of business and life. The most serious time Hyosung didn't enter the shop for seven days, and Zhong Neng said that he would let his son pick up his daughter-in-law and say something nice, but Zhong Li couldn't listen. This is good, after the quarrel, Hyosung only went back to live in the Buchun community intermittently, and since that time, Hyosung has been living in the Buchun community for more than two years after beating Hyosung down and kicking him in the corner three times!

The son is irritable, the daughter-in-law is indifferent, how do you live these days? If the divorce can make Hyosung better, Zhong Neng, as a father-in-law, is also happy, and he doesn't want his daughter to suffer at home! However, after so long, Hyosung has never mentioned divorce. Since the parties do not divorce, then his child's grandfather can only persuade and not persuade to separate. Zhong Neng put down the rag in his hand, asked the daughter-in-law of the Zhang family on the other side to look at the store for him, and the old man took off his vest and put on a short shirt and went out.

He first went to the nearby Walmart and bought a lot of snacks there - fried broad beans, roasted broad beans, purple potato chips, spicy potato chips, sesame biscuits, peanut biscuits...... That's Xuecheng's favorite food. After arriving at the shelf where toys were sold, the old man carefully selected a set of chess and a set of Rubik's cubes. Zhong Neng went to the shelves specializing in children's clothes again, and picked out two T-shirts printed with robots and little lions for Xuecheng. After scanning the code, the staff at the counter said "three hundred and twenty-six", Zhong Neng was shocked, and he gritted his teeth and paid for his grandson.

It's sad to say that in the past five or six years, every time he has bought toys and snacks for his grandson, all after the child was beaten.

When he first came to Shenzhen more than ten years ago, Zhong Li would give him some of his salary every month, and as a grandfather, he never relented when he bought things for Meimei. Later, the situation got better and better, the son became a big manager with a monthly salary of 10,000 or 20,000 yuan, and his daughter-in-law also earned 10,000 or 20,000 yuan a month from doing business, and at most he saved more than 30,000 yuan in three months. Since Zhong Li lost his job that year, he no longer has stable cash in his pocket, and the person who gave him the money has become his daughter-in-law Bao Xiaoxing.

A few years ago, fortunately, there was business in the shop, and Hyosung gave him a few thousand yuan a month for the family's food expenses and the children's breakfast and pocket money. In the past two years, he has given less and less, and he has given two or three allocations a month, and once he only gave three hundred yuan, Zhong Neng couldn't bear to ask for it. He is also more frugal than before, not buying what he can, buying less if he can, buying less when he can, and buying at a discount when he can. Where does a day in the city not cost money? A child's education is the most important and the most unsavable, and he can save a little for the family in terms of food and clothing.

So when Mei Mei said that she was going to come out to work, he was the most distressed and reluctant, but he couldn't stop her. Zhong Neng knows and can see that the life at home is almost unbearable, and it is even long gone, but the daughter-in-law is struggling.

The old man wiped his sweat, swept a bicycle, carried a large bag of things, and went straight to the Fuchun community. After entering the Fuchun community, he went directly to his house, and when he arrived at the door, the old man knocked on the door, and Bao Xiaoxing, who was sleeping again, didn't hear it at all, but Xuecheng heard it and came to open the door for him.

"Chengcheng! Grandpa has come to see you! Zhong Neng grinned and carried the bag to the living room.

Xuecheng didn't speak, a little shy, and a little overjoyed.

"What do you think this is? Your love of sugar! This one! Grandpa bought you chess - didn't you say that your classmates had chess and it was fun? Grandpa bought it for you too! What do you think this is? Rubik's Cube! That day, you watched other people's children playing this on TV, and you were stunned, didn't you? You're going to be upside down yourself, see if it's fun! Zhong Neng said as he took out all the contents of the bag and put it on the coffee table.

Xuecheng lay on the coffee table and dismantled toys innocently, and Zhong Neng sat on the sofa to dismantle snacks for children. One was playing and eating, and the other was caressing the doll's hair with all kinds of pity.

"Eh! When did you get here? Hearing this, Hyosung changed his clothes and straightened his hair, and came out.

"Just arrived! I'm going to take a look at the baby! Zhong Neng looked up at Hyosung and then down at the child.

Hyosung sat on a chair across from the sofa, rubbing his hands back and forth on his knees, not knowing what to say but staring at the child.

"You...... Is your face better? Zhong Neng asked.

"It's almost there." Hyosung lowered his head.

After a long silence, Hyosung asked, "Who's watching the shop now?" ”

"I'll show her the door!"

"This week is only the weekend, and business is better for these two days......" Hyosung muttered.

"I know, I know! I'll leave after watching the kids! Zhong Neng nodded repeatedly.

"Why don't you accompany him, I'll go to the store." Hyosung is anxious about business, and she is counting on the two months to make up more for her daughter's tuition.

"Why don't you all go! Take the baby away, he always has to go back! Who cooks at night when I'm here? Jong-noh looked at Hyosung, his eyes pleading.

Hyosung rubbed his nose and squinted at the floor tiles before he spoke, "Xuecheng, pack up your things and go with grandpa." ”

"What ......about my toys," Xuecheng asked his mother in a low voice.

"Take one first, keep the snacks, Mom will bring you a little every morning, you can take away your clothes, and take away your summer homework!"

Hyosung finished instructing to go and change his bag and shoes, and Zhong Neng cleaned up Xuecheng on the coffee table. Ten minutes later, the three of them left the house, and Hyosung drove for a while to the shop. When he arrived at the shop, Jong-noon hurried to prepare lunch, and Hyosung wore an apron to work outside.

Zhong Li went to drink again last night and woke up at one o'clock in the afternoon. When he saw his wife returning, his heart sank so much that he had nothing to say. When Hyosung saw that he was up, he was reluctant to speak, and he did not have to speak. This is not the first time for the two of them to have this kind of scene, if not seven or eight years, but also five or six years, they have long been used to it. Hyosung sweats profusely as she does her job, and Jong-ri smokes his cigarette in the smell of alcohol. Xuecheng hid in the house to write his summer vacation homework and play with new toys, and he didn't dare to come down easily if it wasn't for dinner.

Such an atmosphere is actually a daily routine year after year in the Zhong family's cereal store.

Even the new generation of Zhong Xuemei, who has the ability to reflect, is used to it. Except for the fights and quarrels that made her disgusted and angry, similar to the family atmosphere at the moment, Xuemei did feel a little uncomfortable and too quiet, but there was no reason and motivation to change, because she seemed to be used to it—depressed to get used to it.

After Lao Ma got out of the subway station, the first stop to go to the scenic spot was the flower and bird market in the city. When I entered the market, I saw that the whole world was full of flowers—seasonal flowers in bloom, succulents of geometric beauty, bonsai of ancient beauty, colorful stone carvings, flower pots engraved with poems, strange and fragrant orchids, hydroponic flowers for fish farming in water...... The old horse had never seen these strange things, it was really an eye-opener, his eyes widened in shock, and he couldn't move his feet as he walked. Seven or eight small streets are full of flowers, and the flowers are magnificent and the sea of flowers is vast! The other three side streets are filled with pets – exotic birds, beautiful fish, and cute cats and dogs...... After a while, the old horse couldn't walk, so he had to sit in a wheelchair and let Zhiyuan push him away.

At noon, a few people went to the surrounding area to eat a buffet, although it was vegetarian, but it was very well done! After paying the money, you can eat as much as you want - it is the first time that Lao Ma has seen this kind of business. The splendid city is really worthy of its name, and in the scorching heat of August, there are all kinds of vegetarian food in this restaurant: soup made of medicinal herbs, dishes made of flower petals, fruits and vegetables, as well as white artemisia sprouts in early spring, acacia flowers in March, raw peanuts in autumn, and persimmons with frost in winter; There are also precious ginseng soup and Ganoderma lucidum water, corn porridge and purslane eaten by the villagers, pastries from the south, pastries from the north, tofu from China, and cakes from foreign countries...... There is only what you can't think of, and there is no one who can't do it. The old man was not polite, picked up his favorite food and ate five or six plates, until his stomach could no longer hold it.

After resting in the restaurant for half an hour, Yangyang barely took a nap in Gui Ying's arms, and the four people who had eaten and repaired went to play. The next stop is to visit the theme exhibition of "The Tide Rises on the Pearl River" at the Shenzhen Art Museum, and it is best to watch the exhibition in the hot afternoon with air conditioning blowing indoors.

There are Chinese paintings, oil paintings, prints, sculptures, watercolors and ...... in the exhibition hall The painting depicts the first shot of Shekou's opening of the mountain, a group of female workers working overtime on a sewing machine, a banner that reads "Time is money, efficiency is life", a cattle in the Special Economic Zone, and construction workers in Zhujiang New Town and Nansha Port 30 years ago...... The old horse was thrilled to see, it was really a strange era, an era when the streets were full of girder bicycles, and an era when a person with a simple heart dared to carry a snakeskin bag to work in the south.

Zhiyuan was afraid that Lao Ma wouldn't understand, so he kept explaining on the side, Lao Ma felt that the most important thing to listen to the explanation was his grandson who was in his youth, who wanted to make up for the lesson today, it was a pity.

"Great! That's great! Reform and opening up is really remarkable! Out of the exhibition hall, the old horse sat in a wheelchair and sighed again and again.

"You're tired, or I'll push it for a while!" Gui Ying saw that Zhiyuan had been pushing the old horse, wanting Zhiyuan to rest for a while.

"Life is so much better now than it used to be! It's been turned upside down! The leader is amazing! The old horse was still sighing, but no one answered—there was no audience.

"It's okay, you just take a good look at Yangyang."

"It's half past four, and if you want to climb the mountain, you have to work harder!" Gui Ying said to Zhiyuan.

"I know, let's go!"

After speaking, the four of them went to Lotus Mountain. Walking the road to the top of the mountain at less than six o'clock, Gui Ying beckoned the old man to look at the portrait of the great man. The old horse is small at first sight. The old man quickly stood up, took off his hair and saluted, and stood in the distance for a long time. Ten minutes later, when Gui Ying urged, the old horse came back to his senses. Gui Ying arranged to take pictures of the old man, and after the shooting, she took two pictures of her grandson and grandson, and asked someone to take pictures of the four of them. After taking the photo, Zhiyuan hugged Yangyang, and a family of four stood on a high place looking down on the core downtown area of Shenzhen.

At half past seven in the evening, the four of them were still in the hilltop square, and there was originally going to be a light show, and Gui Ying thought that the old man could watch a little more before leaving. The light show has not yet started, but seeing the crowds of people under the mountain, the traffic on the road is stagnant, and there are bustling voices in the dark expanse, and after the light show begins, Lao Ma knows that the hundreds of buildings under the mountain are covered with lights, and even the green belt is also installed with colored lights! For an old farmer who has to feel distressed for a long time after deducting two yuan from the electricity bill, this intelligent, dazzling, and sky-high light exhibition is really beyond imagination.