A gust of wind blew from the river, and the fire grew rapidly, and the forest crackled.

The forest caught fire in an instant.

We went straight back.

"Xiang Wangfu, Xiang Jianjun is still in the forest!" Jiefeixiang's eyes were red.

"What?" I shouted.

"They're still in the woods!"

"Haven't you come out yet? Why hasn't it come out yet? I asked.

"Let's go check it out."

However, the path we came on was covered by fire, and the flames of the heat kept us out. The fire burned all the way through.

"What should I do?" I say.

"I don't know. I wish they were out. Look at so many people on the beach, maybe they've already gone out. Let's continue to put out the fire, anyway, we won't be able to get over it for a while. ”

"Okay."

Let's go back to putting out the fire. The area that had been grilled by the fire was dark, and the temperature was several degrees higher. Our pants and clothes were covered with black lines that had been cut by tree branches.

The villagers of Chengjiazhuang rushed over from the other end. All ages, young and old, came. They brought buckets and water guns. With a ladle or basin in their hands, they scooped water from the ditch and rushed up the forest.

The fire quickly weakened.

Jie Feixiang and I took the buckets and scoops from the hands of the two children, went to the river to fill water and ran to the place where the forest was on fire, again and again.

After countless trips, we stopped, and I felt like I was going to collapse.

Jiefeixiang's face was covered with black toner. Sweat flowed down his forehead, leaving clear marks on his face.

", I'm going to die." Jie Feixiang said.

"Look at your face, it's darker than Bao Gong's face." I gasped. That's really funny.

"You laugh at me, aren't you the same? It's a pity for this outfit. ”

"It's worth it anyway. Fortunately, the fire did not burn, otherwise the whole village would have been destroyed. I said.

"Not really. Even a few houses near the forest will be burned down. Don't you see? Every house has a water gun. ”

Xiang Jianjun ran over from the path.

"What about Xiang Wangfu? Isn't Xiang Wangfu with you? Xiang Jianjun asked.

"What? Isn't he with you? I said.

"Where is he with me?" Xiang Jianjun's eyes widened.

"How so? Didn't he go looking for you in the woods? Didn't you sleep in the woods? Jie Feixiang said.

"Huh? How can it be? I lay in the woods for a while and then left. The fire was so big, why did he go to the woods? ”

"He said you were in the woods, and he went to you. He's afraid you'll be surrounded by fire. ”

"Oops!" Xiang Jianjun rushed into the forest.

We followed and rushed into the woods.

In the woods, the low bushes were all black, and there were only bare poles left. There was smoke everywhere. Some of the places that didn't burn out were still burning, and there was a crackling sound.

Under an old camphor tree, a group of people surrounded. They're noisy.

We ran towards the group.

"Still angry?" Someone asked.

"What's the gas? Died early. Another said.

"Tsk, whose child is it? Let's see whose children it is. A person in front of me said.

"It's not like it's from the village. We haven't seen it. Another man said.

I've heard people talk about that.

My head was buzzing.

I followed Xiang Jianjun and they pushed through the crowd and got in.

And he saw a man lying on the ground, and his whole body was dark. Only a few fragments of the clothes were burned by the fire. His right hand still held the pine branch, but only a short part of the pine branch had been burned.

It's Xiang Wangfu!

"Xiang Wangfu, Xiang Wangfu!" Xiang Jianjun pounced on Xiang Wangfu.

Jie Feixiang and I approached silently.

"Wake up, Xiang Wangfu! Xiang Wangfu!! Xiang Jianjun shook Xiang Wangfu's body desperately.

Xiang Wangfu was no longer conscious.

Someone went to help Xiang Jianjun, and Xiang Jianjun threw that person away. He was hoarse.

I couldn't stop my tears from falling.

"Do you know each other? Is that one of you? An older one asked, Jie Feixiang.

"It's my classmate. It was my classmates who burned to death! How could such an accident happen, my mother. Jie Feixiang choked.

"Which school are you from?"

"Railroad Middle School. He's here with us to fight the fire. I said.

A lot of classmates came around.

Zhu Zhuwu also came. With a solemn expression, he sent someone to drag Xiang Jianjun away, and he squatted down to identify it himself.

When Zhu Zhuwu stood up, I noticed that his face was pale.

"You're a teacher, aren't you? Are you sure he's your student? The older man asked, "We don't recognize any of our children." ”

"He's my student, and he's with those two students to put out the fire." Zhu Zhuwu said. He pointed at the two of us.

"I saw it. The students you teach are very good. I'm the village head, and I'll report to the town government. The village chief said.

"What he had in his hand was something to put out the fire. Isn't it, Zheng Qihang? Zhu Zhuwu said.

"Yes. It's a pine branch. I said.

"How did he put out the fire over here? Aren't you all together? Zhu Zhuwu asked.

A lot of people are looking at me. Some of the villagers sighed. The classmates were wiping tears.

"We started out together." Jie Feixiang said, "After a while, he remembered that Xiang Jianjun was in the forest, so he ran into the forest." ”

"So he's here to save people." The village chief said.

"Yes. He was afraid that Xiang Jianjun would be surrounded by fire. ”

"Which one is Xiang Jianjun?"

"That's it." Zhu Zhuwu pointed at Xiang Jianjun.

"Gee, that's amazing. If he was older, he could be rated a martyr. It's really remarkable. The village chief sighed again and again.

After some conversation with the village chief of Chengjiazhuang, Zhu Zhuwu ordered us to go back to school. We went to the village to borrow firewood and cut a few bamboos to build a simple stretcher, and then carried Xiang Wangfu's body onto the stretcher.

Xiang Jianjun and I returned with Xiang Wangfu's body.

Xiang Wangfu's body was not burned into anything, so it was not like a person who was burned to death by electric cautery, and his body would shrink exponentially. His figure is still like that.

But Xiang Wangfu's hair was all burned, and his eyebrows were also burned. I suspect that this must have been burned when the flames spread over Xiang Wangfu's body after his death, and his clothes should have been burned in this way.

So I guess Xiang Wangfu was suffocated to death.

Xiang Jianjun took off his coat and put it on Xiang Wangfu's body. Jie Feixiang took off his coat and covered Xiang Wangfu's head.

Along the way, everyone was very dull, no one dared to laugh, and no one was in the mood to laugh. Zhu Zhuwu kept his face tight.

"A lot of things really have to be fatal." I remember Xiang Wangfu and I going to the forest to collect firewood, Xiang Wangfu said this.

At that time, Xiang Wangfu expected that he would be this fate?

What is life? If you can't predict the trajectory of your life, it's fate.

Four hours ago, Xiang Wangfu also sighed about Xiong Yanfei's life, and he also said that he was very open-minded, saying that he was very happy even if he went back to farming and hunting after graduation, but he was now lying on a stretcher and was already unconscious.

Two hours ago, Xiang Wangfu was drinking with the head teacher behind our backs, chatting together, talking about things together, drinking too much and falling asleep on the grass with me, but now he will never sleep forever and again.

An hour ago, Xiang Wangfu and we were fighting the fire together, sweating like rain, just for one wish - to stop the fire from spreading to the village, until he did not hesitate to burrow into the forest where the fire was still rampant in order to wake up Xiang Jianjun, who was still sleeping in the forest.

And so life ended.

A wave of grief welled up in my heart: the world is impermanent.

……

Strange to say, when we carried Xiang Wangfu's body to school that day, the wind kept blowing. Dark clouds drifted from the west to the sky above us, the sun was quickly obscured, and the temperature quickly dropped. Many students had to put on sweaters and coats. Before we could get to school, the rain was falling.

The drizzle kept falling.

It's like winter again.

We parked Xiang Wangfu's body in the corridor on the first floor of the high school teaching building, and then, following Zhu Zhuwu's instructions, Wu Jianhua and I went to Xiang Wangfu's house to report the news. Zhu Zhuwu handles related affairs at the school.

Wu Jianhua and I rode to Xiang Wangfu's house to report the news.

When we returned to school with Xiang Wangfu's mother, most of the students had already gone home, and the principal, the two vice principals, and Zhu Zhuwu were standing under the corridor. There were also two people from the Public Security Bureau. The Education Bureau also came.

Our trouser cuffs and sleeves were soaked in the rain.

Xiang Jianjun and Jie Feixiang stood next to Xiang Wangfu's body.

Xiang Wangfu's mother burst into tears as soon as she entered the school gate. She threw away the umbrella in her hand and trotted towards the high school teaching building, lying on Xiang Wangfu's corpse and crying bitterly.

Crying echoed across the campus.

Later, Xiang Wangfu's brothers and sisters and other relatives also arrived.

Wu Jianhua and Jie Feixiang and I retreated to the side.

The leaders of the Education Bureau and the principal reasoned with Xiang Wangfu's family for a long time, and we vaguely heard about the compensation and the burial. Later, Xiang Wangfu's family agreed to the request made by the bureau and the school.

Xiang Wangfu's family had a peculiar request, that is, to have Xiang Wangfu's body parked at the school and to bury Xiang Wangfu on a nearby mountain. They hope that the school will secure a burial place as soon as possible.

It turned out that there was a custom in Xiang Wangfu's village, that the corpses of underage people who had died outside were not allowed to enter the village, and they could not be operated in a big way, and everything was simple. According to the village, if he dies as a minor, he is a short-lived ghost, and he must be reincarnated as soon as possible, so the simpler the burial, the better, and if he fancies which family, he will go straight to reincarnation.

The headmaster was reluctant and had no choice but to agree.

That night, we waited by Xiang Wangfu's body until two o'clock in the morning, and we dozed off on the desks in the classroom on the first floor. Xiang Wangfu's mother urged us to go to bed many times, but we didn't want to leave, and Wu Jianhua and I just went back to change our clothes and add a coat.

I took advantage of the time to go back to the dormitory and call Xiong Yanfei at the Political and Educational Office.

It rained lightly all night.

The wind blew in through the broken windows, and we shivered from the cold. The temperature changes just too much.

After two o'clock, Wu Jianhua and Jie Feixiang and I went back to the dormitory and slept for two or three hours, while Xiang Jianjun sat until dawn. We can't persuade him.

The next day, at dawn, we woke up. We were woken up by the sound of firecrackers. We thought it was Xiang Wangfu's family who was setting off firecrackers, but when we ran to the place where Xiang Wangfu's body was parked, we realized that the sound of firecrackers was coming from a nearby street. Xiang Wangfu was quiet there.

It's a strange custom. No incense, no firecrackers, and even relatives are not allowed to cry.

I don't know when the rain stopped.

It's wet everywhere. The campus was dead silent, and we could even hear the sound of raindrops dripping from tree trunks to the ground.

Xiang Wangfu was completely covered by a piece of cloth. He was quiet, as if it were a joke. The joke brought tears to my eyes.

The people from the Education Bureau came surprisingly early. It is said that the man who looked very good was the second-in-command of the Education Bureau, and he scolded the headmaster who came late. The headmaster's face turned red and white.

They sent money.

Xiang Wangfu's burial place has also been confirmed.

Xiang Wangfu's two elder brothers carried Xiang Wangfu's body on a simple stretcher we made and walked to the back door of the school. Xiang Wangfu's other brother went to the school to find a few planks to carry on his shoulders. The director of the General Affairs Office brought in a hoe and a shovel.

A few of us followed silently.