The review was handed in, but the instructor didn't let us read it, and he didn't criticize us much. In the next two days, the radio broadcast several cases of criticism, all of which were playing cards and mobile phones in the dormitory, and there was also "too close communication between men and women". We didn't make the list. It seems that before Ye Ruiyang's mask instructor, he was already covering us.

On the morning of the last day of military training, Zhang Taotao and He Mingming, as the vanguard of our company, led the team to be reviewed. I think it's because one of them has very standard movements, and the other is tall and energetic. Zhang Taotao was very excited when he knew that the instructor asked him to lead the team, and he was afraid that he would not be selected because he had a "criminal record".

I don't have that concern. I'm so obscure, if I hadn't played football for a while, the instructor probably wouldn't have had a good impression of me for a week, let alone know my name.

After all, he has so many people to take with him, it is impossible to remember all of them. According to my cousin who went to college, the university teachers only memorize the names of individual students, and most of them mention them at most during the roll call. There were exceptions, as there was a teacher in his school who taught ancient literature, and in the first class he would identify the whole class and ask them where their names came from. My cousin said that if his teacher saw my name, he would think that my parents were doing well, and guessed that I had a younger brother named Ke Peixian.

The strings were still there.

My cousin said that it is difficult to remember everyone's name, and it is even harder to match the name to a specific person. He said that a man named Zhang Xun seemed to be a general, and when he defended the city, there were tens of thousands of soldiers and residents, and he asked for names as soon as he saw people, and there was no one he did not know after that.

I couldn't have done it, and I couldn't even remember a few of my classmates. My cousin said it was too normal, and middle school was fine, after all, I could see it every day. When they go to college, many people may not be able to speak a word for four years, no different from passers-by.

A cheering wind blew through the big city. The tram drove forward. Zong Zhen suddenly stood up, squeezed into the crowd, and disappeared. Cui Yuan turned his head away and just ignored it. He's gone. For her, he is tantamount to dead. The tram moved forward at full speed, and on the sidewalk at dusk, the seller of stinky dried tofu rested his burden, and a person held the box of King Wen's divine hexagram, shaking it with his eyes closed. A large, blonde woman with a large straw hat on her back and bared her big teeth smiled at an Italian sailor and told a joke. Cuiyuan's eyes saw them, and they lived, only for a moment. The car ran forward, and they died one by one. ”[1]

"Big brother, is this what you said about 'passing by'?" The strings closed his excerpts.

My cousin was pleasantly surprised and said that you had read this novel, and he had only read it when he was in college. Then the two of them talked a little more, and as I listened, my cousin mentioned a poem, a few of which I remember vividly:

"Life is everywhere, it should be like Feihong stepping on the slush. Occasionally, there are fingers and claws on the mud, and Hongfei counts things. ”[2]

I don't think I'll have much chance to meet the instructor in the future. The students who lived with us in the noisy, sweaty, and other strange smells of the dormitory may still see each other often after the start of school, but they will not have any impression of each other. There's not much to be sad about, after all, too many people in their lives are just passers-by. Tears will not be enough if you are sad about the departure of every stranger.

What's more, the most important people to me have already walked by. If I look back and look at him, he will come back to life, even for a moment, then I will be willing to keep looking back, not caring if the road ahead is potholed, whether I will fall or hit something.

Impossible. Looking back, I can only see that he was forever left behind two years ago, like a statue frozen in the past, completely devoid of temperature.

I'm afraid that one day I'll forget what he looks like, and it's easy to imagine what String looks like, I just have to look in the mirror and make the person in the mirror a little stronger and more energetic, and then I can roughly remember what he looks like. But I'm growing up, and every inch of my body is changing, even if it's still subtle. The strings don't grow anymore. When I grew a beard, wrinkles, and gray hair, it was hard for me to imagine him in my own shape. I'll grow up, I'll grow up to be thirteen, fourteen, or maybe not. And he's only that big forever.

"Why are you crying?" Millet shook me as he sat on the suitcase, "Are you reluctant to go?" ”

I nodded, just to save trouble.

Indeed, a few classmates shed tears because they were leaving the barracks. Most of us children have never experienced group life, and it is indeed easy to be reluctant to be separated.

"Hey, you see the instructor is here." He quickly pulled me up, and everyone was greeting him.

"You little ghosts, go back and study hard." It's rare to see a smile on his face.

"Speaking of instructors, which team are you a fan? We didn't write about the teams you hate, did we? Ye Ruiyang asked.

"Guapi, you wrote five teams, and you don't recognize any four. What do you tell me to do? He suddenly took on an accent and became more cordial.

He told us that he didn't deliberately support any team, as long as he played football, he liked it. He also said that he also liked to play football when he was a child, and once wanted to be an athlete, but his family conditions were not very good, and he later enlisted in the army.

He wants us to cherish our current lives, not to cause trouble, and to do a good job in our bodies. In particular, I was told that my physical fitness was too poor and I couldn't play if I didn't work hard.

"Koko is the goalkeeper." Millet explained it for me.

"Goalkeeper, it's true that the physical strength is not necessarily good, but it can't be too bad, football is a team sport, and it can't be specialized. Practice more sprinting and high jumping, you have to hit and pick up the high ball! He patted me on the head, "Physical fitness is still important, if you practice it, and if you grow taller, you will have more advantages." ”

After saying goodbye, we took the bus back to school, the midday sun against the air conditioning in the car through the glass window. Sitting by the window, I closed the curtain, leaving only a small slit, and what I saw was nothing more than the scattered signboards in the town, this supermarket, that socket, and so-and-so convenience store, the huge white characters propped up on the red or green background, covered with a layer of old dust blown by the wind. The car drove slowly, with some bumps due to the uneven road, which together with the lazy sun made people sleepy. Miller fell asleep leaning on my shoulder, breathing softly, like a small electric fan with no power.

This is the city I live in, Jiang Yuan. It is growing, expanding, some districts being merged, some counties being incorporated. The city's busiest downtown is being transformed around the clock, with countless global brands that I can't name filling the mall. It's brightly lit and the night is bright. There used to be a KFC where my brother and I used to wait for people every time we went out. It was recently discovered that it had been replaced by a mobile phone store, and crowds came and went, and there was no evidence that a place where my brother and I spent a lot of time existed. Since then, I have to stand alone in front of the mall, although no one will come looking for me.

More and more people can say that I am also from Jiangyuan. But do the people who run small shops on the outskirts of the city really enjoy the fruits of urban development? Perhaps for them, it takes much longer to go to the city center than to go to the neighboring city. They have the qualifications of Jiang Yuan people, but the thriving city heart may only be a distant existence for them.

It's incredible that we live in the same city, in the same capacity.

After returning to school, the old class simply gathered everyone, saying that the next two days would be off, and that they would go to the class on time at half past six on Sunday night for evening self-study, and then announced the disbandment. He was also a quick talker, and when I walked to the dormitory, I saw that some of the homeroom teachers were still meticulously explaining the school rules to their classmates.

After returning to the dormitory, everyone was collecting things, and it seemed that they were all going home to eat and drink well, and Mile was no exception.

"Keke, where is your home?" Millet was so quick to tidy things up, and the sheets and quilt cover that had once belonged to me had been rolled over my head.

My home is not far from the school, and it takes thirty or forty minutes to take a bus, and it should be an hour to get there, even if you are stuck in traffic.

"I'm not going home." I lay straight down on the unmade bed.

"Huh? Is there no one in your house? ”

The other roommates were still collecting their things. Zhang Taotao got it right, said hello to us one by one and went out. He didn't bring anything, just a bag, and I saw that he put all the clothes, pants and belts that he had issued for military training.

Almost everyone threw it away.

Seeing that I didn't answer, Millet went about his own business. It wasn't until the other two roommates were gone that he moved over and unzipped my suitcase.

"What are you doing? How do you flip through my stuff? ”

He didn't speak, and pulled out my sheets.

"Get up, I'll lay it for you."

"I can do it myself." I reached out and grabbed it.

"Hey, I'll get it. Will you tell me which way is closest to my house later? You're a local. ”

"Then you just ask me why it's like a deal, and I won't tell you."

In the end, the two of us did it together, and I have to say that he made it very smooth. If I had made it myself, the sheets would have risen and fallen like waves, and the quilt would have felt like a lack of weight.

I decided to put him in the car and go back to the dorm. He said he would come back early to accompany me, but I said no. This is true, I don't want others to sacrifice their time for me, not to mention that it is not easy for him, I can't afford such a sacrifice.

[1] Zhang Ailing, "Blockade".

[2] Su Shi, "Nostalgia for Hezi by Michi".