The old engine let out a dull roar, and the crowded bus kicked up a cloud of smoke and drove off into the distance.

Walking out of the makeshift station, Lin Zhihui carried a simple bag, merged into the crowd, and walked towards the market town in front.

The town is expanding, construction is going on everywhere, it looks very messy, there is a smell of dust floating in the air, both familiar and unfamiliar, Lin Zhihui walked slowly along the street, compared to when he left, the town seemed to be a lot more prosperous, there were obviously more shops, and the people around him were dressed more fashionably, almost no longer what he remembered.

It had just rained in the morning, and the road was full of mud, Lin Zhihui followed his memory around an alley and finally saw a familiar building.

It was the only post office in the town, and it was there that he received his university acceptance letter, and he will not forget it, especially less than 500 meters diagonally opposite, which was his former alma mater.

The old school building also looks like it has been renovated, the red brick walls reflect the sunlight, the black gate in memory has been replaced with the electric type that is common in the city, and the word welcome is displayed on the LCD screen.

Seeing the completely unfamiliar school, Lin Zhihui did not go up to remember his youth, but just stood across the road and looked for a while, then turned around and continued to walk forward, passing through the front faculty and staff family area, which was a farmers' market, and he had to take the black car there to reach his destination.

A few children shouted and passed by, Lin Zhihui was attracted by the cheerful laughter, and couldn't help but follow the prestige.

In a vacant field in front of him, a small football game was going on, and there were many people shouting and cheering on the sidelines, and for a moment, Lin Zhihui seemed to see his figure running on the field, and he had also sweated on such a field.

Lin Zhihui was a little stunned for a while, and subconsciously took a few steps forward. Suddenly, I noticed that in the small pavilion next to the clearing, there was a somewhat familiar figure sitting.

It was an old man with gray hair, with a sallow complexion, looking old, and looking visibly sickly.

Lin Zhihui walked over and said hello.

The old man raised his head and stared at him for a long time, showing a look of surprise and joy, and said uncertainly: "You are Lin Zhihui." ”

"Yes, old headmaster, I didn't expect you to remember me. Lin Zhizhi smiled and nodded.

"Oh, you can become a real city person, if you walk down the street and bump into it, I wouldn't even dare to recognize it. The old man looked very happy, and raised his hand to beckon Lin Zhihui to sit down and speak.

After a few words of greeting, the old principal smiled slightly, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I came back for family affairs?" I told Lao Li the phone, you won't complain about me, this old bone, right?" ”

The Lao Li in his mouth is the village chief of Linjia Village, that is, the person who called Lin Zhihui.

"How could it be?" Lin Zhihui shook his head slightly: "I am reasonable for this kind of thing, and I should come back." ”

When he was able to successfully take the college entrance examination, the old principal really helped a lot, even when Lin Zhihui left his hometown to go to college, and thanks to the old principal's help, he would not be black-eyed, otherwise he was a country boy who had never been out of the house, and he left his hometown alone to a strange city, and he couldn't settle down so quickly, and then he was able to work to reduce himself, and wrote a letter to the old principal, telling him his contact information.

"That's good. The old man waved his hand with a sigh, and his expression relaxed: "I know it's not easy to settle outside. In my mind, I hope you'll never be disturbed. But this time it was related to your parents, so when Lao Li came to the door, I didn't keep my mouth shut. ”

Lin Zhihui nodded slightly, did not speak, his parents died early when he was a child, and he has been living with a single uncle. As a result, in the critical year of the college entrance examination, the uncle died unexpectedly, and because of the compensation, he had a lot of trouble with the second uncle and grandmother, which almost affected the college entrance examination. Later, after some twists and turns, he completely broke with his so-called relatives, left the village to go to university, and never returned.

"You look like you're doing well now. The old principal looked at the silent Lin Zhihui, his expression was unconcealed relief, as if he had thought of something, and said with a slightly straight face: "Recently, your village is going to requisition land, and there have been a lot of troubles because of the homestead problem, but I'm afraid that they are in a hurry to find you back, and it is also related to this matter, and you have to have a score in your heart when you go back." ”

Lin Zhihui smiled, and when he promised to come back, he had already thought of all kinds of possible situations, and now he was not the desperate and helpless child he was at the beginning, and he had enough ability to deal with these things.

On the pitch, I don't know which side scored the goal, and there was a burst of enthusiastic cheers in the crowd.

The old headmaster turned his head to look at the children who were jumping and shouting, and with a faint desolation in his happy expression, he suddenly raised his hand to cover his chest, and began to cough violently.

Lin Zhihui immediately stood up, picked up the thermos pot on the table, poured a glass of water, handed it to the old principal, and gently patted his back with one hand to help him calm down.

The old principal was very thin, through the thick shirt, he could feel the jagged and abrupt bones underneath, Lin Zhihui's eyes changed slightly, he didn't need to probe at all, he could also feel that the other party's body was disordered, and his vitality was weak, although he didn't know the specific symptoms, but he could judge that the old principal was afraid that there were not many days to come.

"It's okay, it's okay, it's just a little old, and it's been a little cold lately. Finally stopped coughing, and barely drank a few sips of water, the old principal's face softened slightly, and he waved his hand at Lin Zhizhi, who showed a worried look.

"It turns out that you don't leave your cigarette in your hand, and you can always hear the cough in the school building, like a code. Lin Zhihui quietly withdrew his hand, and said with a smile at his words: "The weather is dry these days, and many people are coughing, you should pay more attention to maintenance at this age." ”

The old principal smiled, obviously not wanting to say more on this topic, Lin Zhihui didn't mention it with interest, and instead talked about some interesting things when he was in school, which made the old principal laugh.

"If you still have something to do, go and don't waste time here with me as an old man. The old principal coughed twice, raised his eyes to look at the sky, and urged Lin Zhihui to get up. There is still a long distance from here to the village where Lin Zhihui's house is located, and if you delay it any longer, you won't be able to go down the mountain before dark.

Lin Zhihui stood up with kindness, poured water for the old principal, added a drop of diluted peach juice to the cup, and said a few words of New Year's greetings, before leaving the house.