In the summer of 1984, the branches and leaves of the loquat tree formed an umbrella, blocking most of the sun.

The loquat fruit hangs all over the treetops, and it is extraordinarily yellow in the sunset.

It is difficult for time to erase too many traces of trees, but it is often easy to make something become someone's past, just like the hair that turns from black to white, you can't forget its past beauty, but you can only watch it fade into the weather, dazed.

……

After Wang Laohan kicked and kicked a group of children from the reeds by the river to the leafy loquat tree, he buckled a straw hat crookedly and sat down against the roots of the dragon-like tree.

The reed puller in the hand can easily split a whole reed in half, scrape it clean and throw it aside, and use the mill to grind it into slices at night, which can be used to weave reed mats, dry grain, dry dates, hang the roof, and even lay it to sleep......

Wang Laohan did not let these children swim in the river, so these children were very dissatisfied.

So some children took advantage of the old man's inattention and secretly troubled his reeds to vent their anger.

Wang Laohan took his hand to slap the child's head, and did not forget to smile and scold.

After scolding, the old man threw the loquat fruit picked in the bag, stopped his hand, sighed and said earnestly: "Cub, Grandpa Wang knows that it is hot, and he also knows that the water is cool. ”

At this age, the bear children who don't love chickens and dogs are talking about them.

After taking a bite of the loquat fruit, a child stared at the big black and white eyes: "Master, we have good water quality!" ”

"That's also less to go, young, weak yang, things in the water are very treacherous, go less! Let your parents know, you will be beaten when you go home! ”

Hearing what Wang Laohan said, the child shrunk his neck, stopped talking, and held his hands to play with grasshoppers in the grass.

These children know that the adults in other villages are also in charge of playing in the water, but they have never been as harsh as their parents.

They also knew that Father Wang in front of them was extremely effective in talking in the village, even more effective than the village chief.

A child with a flat head said: "Master, my mother said that there were ghosts in this river before, and my mother also said that the grandfather of the debt collector almost died at the beginning, and was saved by a woman from the city, you can tell me......"

Wang Laohan's face suddenly changed, and it became ugly.

Just as he was about to reprimand, another thin child snatched the loquat fruit from the flat-headed child's hand, rode the flat-headed child under him, and said viciously: "Do you say that Xiaoyu is a debt collector?" ”

"He's a debt collector! Debt collector that no one wants! My mom said he was reincarnated as a debt collector in his previous life, and she wouldn't let me play with him......"

"Smack!"

With a loud slap, Wang Laohan trembled, and with a trembling hand, he pulled the flat-headed child up, and said with a blushing face: "Go, you say your words again in front of your mother, and I'll see what she taught the cub." If you don't teach, you can bring a good child to a black heart! ”

The flat-headed boy was stunned by the sudden change, and then burst into tears.

Wang Laohan stood up and just raised his head, but he was suddenly stunned.

Not far from the road, the kid who was covered in pudding and out of place with his surroundings was silently looking at him, he must have heard these words.

But those eyes were very calm, as if the words just now had nothing to do with him, and he couldn't see a trace of emotion mixed in them, which calmly shocked Wang Laohan's heart.

That's not the look a 10-year-old should have.

After two glances, the pudding-covered child probably found it boring, so he bowed his head and walked away without saying a word.

Debt collector, this is what the children in the village call Yuan Yu, as for where those children knew this title, the flat-headed child has already given the answer.

Yuan Yu waved the branches he picked up, walked aimlessly alone, and when he was tired, he sat next to the wild jujube tree, looking at the river in front of him, and looking at the endless rice fields on the other side of the river.

He could sit like this for a day.

When Yuan Yu was born, his grandfather fell seriously ill and died soon after, and later some people died in the village one after another.

For as long as Yuan Yu can remember, his father seems to have been an alcoholic, and it is said that the man who scolded him and his mother when he was drunk was not like this before.

Specifically, Yuan Yu is not clear, and no one can say clearly.

In short, in his memory, in the courtyard with four walls but full of alcohol, there seemed to be only beating and scolding, and crying every day.

Later, the mother left, and no one knew where she went.

So, the one who was beaten was replaced by himself.

At first, Yuan Yu would cry very much. Later, I learned to be silent, and after being silent for a long time, the beatings and pain I suffered turned into numbness and indifference in my eyes.

Stubbornness is Yuan Yu's only resistance.

Even so, two years ago, the man who always asked Yuan Yu loudly in annoyance why he didn't cry is gone.

On a drunken night, the man stumbled and fell into the river, which was the river in front of him.

Later, Yuan Yu was called a debt collector by the people in the village.

It is said that only the life of the debt collector will ruin the family.

But these are not worth thinking about Yuan Yu at this moment.

He remembered everything, but he didn't know anything about the events of the year when he was seven years old, as if someone had erased the memory of the year.

He also heard people talk about it sporadically, when he was seven years old, he seemed to have gone out of the "far door", and was sent back by a Beijinger who was a soldier, and after he came back, the soldier left in a hurry, and he still has not seen that person.

He had no impression of this, so he often thought about it curiously, trying to remember something that had happened when he was seven years old, but in vain.

The yellow sunset gradually turned into a red-dyed sunset.

The wind by the river is not hurried, but it is slightly cold.

Caught off guard, Yuan Yu stretched out a pair of hands in front of him, and there were two bright loquat fruits lying in his palms.

"Xiaoyu, come, eat the fruit!"

The thin boy wiped the sweat on his face with the back of his dirty hand, and sat down next to Yuan Yu.

Yuan Yu smiled, took the two sweaty fruits, and nodded.

No one wants to play with a debt collector, except this skinny boy.

He has a nice name, Hu Shihui, which is rare among their group of children.

His father was stained with the light of reform and opening up, and he poured things outside all the year round, and with some money and knowledge, he was naturally not satisfied with his son's previous rustic name, so Hu Fei changed his name to Hu Shihui.

"Xiaoyu, don't be angry, I won't play with those guys again! If Tie Dan'er dares to say that you are a debt collector, I will beat him! Say once and beat once! You don't know, today Grandpa Wang scolded Tie Dan'er for crying the mother with a sore tongue, it's so relieving, that girl with a poisonous tongue is her, so you are called a debt collector! ”

I'll beat him! In just four words, Yuan Yu's heart was inexplicably warm.

People's stubbornness is pretended to be shown to others, and in the final analysis, they are only ten-year-old children.

Therefore, Yuan Yu grinned and nodded heavily.

Little by little, he tore off the golden skin of the loquat fruit, handed it to the partner next to him who was clenching his fist and making a beating shape, and Yuan Yu ate one.

After eating, Yuan Yu remembered something and said: "You are too thin, you can't beat the iron egg......"

"Who said that, he cried today, and he lost his dead, you never cried, Xiaoyu, if I can't beat him, will you help me?"

"Hmmm! Hit hard! ”

"Haha, I know, let's go, I'm starving, let's go to my house for dinner, I asked my mother to fry the chicken......"

The sunset stretched two thin shadows long on the ground.

This year, Yuan Yu was ten years old and Hu Fei was ten years old, and they were generally ......