But the first thing that caught our eye was two ancient trees in front of the house.

The years don't seem to have left any traces on these two ancient trees. Eighteen years ago they were, and they still are. Our school was different, and the whole house collapsed. Wild kudzu vines crawled all over the ground, and there was no shadow of the school, no, not even the shadow of the house.

"Brother, the shadow of the school is gone." Hao Junqi said regretfully.

I sighed, "Yes, although it is the height of summer, it is more desolate than autumn. There was no trace of it. No one knew that there was once a group of innocent children who were studying, writing, and growing up here. ”

"The shadows of those children are gone. I seemed to see us running out of the classroom as soon as we got out of class, circling around these two big trees, and the teacher didn't want us to go into the pavilion, but we still ran in and out. Hao Junqi said what she imagined.

"The most memorable thing is the chalk stealing. Remember, Junki? They usually don't agree to ask their parents for chalk, because they don't even want to waste a chalk head, so how can they give it to us to play? So, one Sunday we discussed coming here to steal chalk. ”

"It's not. Brother, you remember wrong, I remember that it was during the summer vacation. "Hao Junqi corrected my memory.

"Yes, yes, it's summer vacation. Because all the desks and stools in our classroom were moved into the room where my parents worked, and the doors were locked. I said.

"But there is no threshold for that door, and there is a relatively large gap between the door and the ground, so my brother asked me to stand guard outside the door, and you lie on the ground and drill in, right?" Hao Junqi couldn't help but take two steps forward. I followed two steps forward.

Hao Junqi continued: "Just when you were halfway inside, I suddenly found that Teacher Zheng was coming from Yongtai Village. I was terrified. I was stupid not knowing how to hide. ”

"Because you didn't hide, Dad took us for now. was scolded by him. ”

"Well, but Mr. Zheng still opened the door and gave each of us a piece of chalk. I don't know if Mr. Zheng still remembers this. ”

"I don't know."

As we walked through the pavilion, we found that it had been renovated. It used to be possible to see the blue sky overhead when standing in the pavilion, but because it has been renovated, I can no longer find that feeling.

The land next to the pavilion was also renovated by the father-in-law.

Further on, through a rice field, we came to the Dongmen River. A half-new wooden plank bridge is erected over the river. The land on the bank of the river that had been reclaimed for growing vegetables has become barren, and there are clumps of low river willows here and there. I forgot what I called the aquatic plants at the water's edge, and they grow very vigorously. There was no sand on the sandbar, only tender lawns.

"What a good grass," said Hao Junqi, "hey, why don't you see cows?" ”

"It's still morning." I say.

"Ah, yes, I forgot. In the afternoon, the cattle are released to graze. But seeing that the grass is so lush here, there shouldn't be any cows. ”

"I guess it's going to be less. Now some people in the countryside have learned to plough the fields with machines. ”

"Without the cows, I don't know how much fun it will be." Hao Junqi said.

"Do you remember that we learned to ride a bull?"

"Hmm."

"I remember how happy I was when I learned to ride a bull. The cow was tamed and obeyed by us, and when it was told to raise its head, it raised its head and bowed its head, so that it had a sense of accomplishment. ”

"Later we also learned to ride a bull up and down the mountain."

"yes, that's a unique skill."

We came to the head of the plank bridge. It is still a wooden plank bridge made of five or six cedar trees, still one board after another, erected on wooden piers, and still pulled by iron cables. The river still flows slowly at the bottom of the bridge.

How many memories does a single plank bridge carry for us?

I took Hao Junqi's hand and crossed the plank bridge. When I was a child, I could run on the plank bridge, because I hadn't walked it for too long, my heart was still a little empty, and I didn't have the original self-confidence.

Hao Junqi clutched my hand tightly, just like she did when she was a child.

I often wonder if there was a time camera that filmed us crossing the bridge when we were teenagers, and then filmed the scene of me and Hao Junqi crossing the bridge today, eighteen years later, and then edited these two scenes together, what kind of feelings would the protagonist in the picture have after watching it?

Time flies? Life is like a moment? Mixed tastes?

I don't think there's a word to describe it.

Different people feel differently. People in different situations perceive different levels of perception.

After walking the plank bridge and stepping on the lawn on the side of the Dongmen River, we took a long breath.

And the sky seems to be darker.

"Junqi, let's hurry up and move forward, I'm afraid it's going to rain before we go up the mountain." I urged.

"Okay."

Next, we walked along the embankment to the upper reaches of the river, walked the embankment, stepped on the road at the foot of the mountain on the left, turned a few corners, and came to the place where Zhu Jinshan's family cut rice.

At this time, the mountain dock was empty. There was nothing but the howling of the wind.

The clouds were pressed very low, very low.

"Junqi," I paused, "you know, it was here that I met Zhu Jinshan and Uncle Zhu when my parents and I came that year, and we learned all about what happened in the village. ”

"Oh, really?" Hao Junqi seemed a little absent-minded, she looked left and right, "Brother, can't you go further ahead?" ”

It turned out that Hao Junqi had noticed that the path between the two mountains was blocked.

"Yes. You should have seen that the path between the two mountains is sealed with cement grout. Mountains used to be water. You'll see what a big body of water it is. You can't imagine it. I said.

"Has the whole field been flooded?" Hao Junqi asked.

"What about Tian Fu? Some of the low hills were flooded. The entire Dongmen Village was completely submerged in water, and there was no trace of the village. ”

"Ahh

"I'll take you up the mountain right away."

I took Hao Junqi up the mountain.

The mountain is covered with bushes about a meter high. That year, Zhu Jinshan's father took us up the mountain, and the road was almost impossible to find.

Just like the last time I went up the mountain alone, I took Hao Junqi's hand and opened the way by myself.

I haven't been here for a few years, and some of the miscellaneous trees on the mountain have grown very tall. Some masson pines dot the bushes. The branches streaked across our moving legs, a little itchy, a little painful. When I encountered a place with lush bushes, I pressed the branches to the side with my hands, and then blocked behind me with my body, so that Hao Junqi could pass smoothly.

Soon, we went up to the top of the mountain. The cumulonimbus clouds overhead seem to be lower. A body of water appeared before us. The wind is blowing from the water.

"Look."

"Ah, so much water! Such a large area! The shadow of the village is gone. Hao Junqi was full of emotion.

"The whole village is in the water. Hey, what's wrong with you, Junqi? "I noticed Hao Junqi burst into tears.

"Somehow, I suddenly wanted to cry." Hao Junqi said.

"Do you remember Grandpa Hao? Or do you remember your mother? I asked.

"They were all drowning in the water. Brother, grandpa and mom were all drowned. I will never see them again, I can't even see their graves. Hao Junqi was very sad.

"yes. All of them were drowned. But what can be done? Don't be sad, it's been so many years. ”

"I fantasized about seeing my grandfather and mother's graves, and I fantasized about going to their graves and talking to them and telling them where my father was buried, but now it seems that even this wish has not been fulfilled."

I don't know what to say.

"Brother, why do you want to build a reservoir? Why do we have to build a reservoir? Hao Junqi looked at me helplessly.

"I don't know, it's a government decision."

"But if we don't build a reservoir, if we don't relocate, how can we be like this?" Hao Junqi period Ai Ai.

"yes. Because of the construction of this reservoir, we have been affected all our lives. But all this is an established fact. It's useless for us to be upset. I said.

"The reservoir has wiped out everything we have."

"Yes, our childhood, our childhood happiness, and the footprints of our growth are all submerged in this water."

"Everything becomes history."

"You can see what a terrible word history is."

We stood facing the reservoir for a while. It was very windy, but the rain never fell.

Later we walked out along the hill.

We found a disc-shaped stone and sat down on it to rest. We sat shoulder to shoulder. Sit with your back to the wind.

We took something out of the bag and ate it. After walking for such a long time, I was a little tired.

"I don't know what my brother likes to eat, so I chose some according to my taste." Hao Junqi said as she pulled something out.

"Me too."

"What did my brother buy?" Hao Junqi grabbed my bag and looked at it.

"I bought hawthorn chips, biscuits, salted chicken feet, and flavored peanuts." I say.

"It seems that our taste is similar, I also bought hawthorn slices, salted chicken feet, multi-flavored peanuts, but I also bought raisins and salted dried tofu."

"Is it because you have a good heart?"

"We've been separated for so long, are we just without colorful phoenix wings?"

We bitterly ate the bits and pieces we brought, reminisced about our childhood, and unconsciously shifted from sitting shoulder to shoulder to back.

Fragmentary bags were blown away by the wind.

The rain always seems reluctant to fall.

But the rain finally came.

We hurriedly packed our things and headed down the mountain.

We didn't go back the way we came, we moved forward. On the contrary, the road is getting easier and better. After a short walk, we saw a high reservoir dam and a small hydroelectric power station on the edge of the reservoir.

The rain is getting heavier. The wind is also getting stronger. The umbrella we held in our hands was blown aside several times. The rain fell on our faces, bodies.

We ran into the hydroelectric power station.

It turned out to be an abandoned hydroelectric power station!

We stamped our feet and shook off the mud and sand stuck to our shoes. The shoes were almost soaked. We're all getting wet. The wind poured into it.

The rain is getting heavier and the rain line is getting denser. It was as if the sky had broken a hole and splashed water from above.

The water in the reservoir poured down the tank into the hydropower station, making a rumbling sound. The rumble and the sound of the rain falling on the leaves and on the ground were like a chaotic symphony.

The wind howled on the rooftops.