At that time, I was a section chief of the Well Construction Engineering Department under the Mining Bureau. My home lives in Kowloon Gang. Every morning, I have to take the unit's shuttle bus to work at the well construction engineering office located a little north of the intersection of Xiesan Village, Xiejiaji District. There were not many people waiting for the shuttle bus at the northeast gate of Jiulonggang Mine, and Brother Lai Fu was one of them. Brother Lai Fu, two years older than me, is not very handsome, is short, and is still a one-eyed dragon (generally refers to a person with blind eyes). At that time, Brother Laifu was a quality and safety inspector of the construction and installation company under the Construction and Construction Engineering Department. Be able to understand the construction drawings and be familiar with every link in the construction process. It is no exaggeration to say that all unit projects that have been accepted by him are of guaranteed quality. He patrolled every construction site with a tool kit every day. After being in contact with him for a long time, I learned more or less about some rumors about him. Because of her health and appearance, Brother Lai Fu married a girl from a nearby rural area when he was old, and now he has a pair of small children. Because my wife did not have a fixed job, she set up a small stall not far from home to sell some department stores such as needles and threads. One year during the National Day holiday, I passed his wife's stall selling goods on the way home from Dongkui Old Street. I saw Brother Lai Fu alone guarding his wife's stall. I stepped forward to chat with him and found out that his wife was going home to cook. He politely invited me to his house for dinner. Perhaps it was because of curiosity, I readily agreed to his invitation. The stall that my sister-in-law set up is very close to where he lives, and she lives in a small courtyard in Jiulonggang Mining Guesthouse, two houses, one light and one dark. I saw Brother Lai Fu's family for the first time. Although my sister-in-law was not very fashionable, she was very young and looked pretty average. Her two children looked lively and cute. Maybe it was because the family rarely interacted with people. When they saw a customer coming, the family seemed very excited, and my sister-in-law even added two dishes. During the process of cheering and changing cups, I learned through his slightly excited chatter, that there was actually a surprising side in his happy life. Brother Laifu was tired all day long and left the house before dawn and didn't come back until it was dark. My sister-in-law would stir-fry him two hot dishes every night, warm him up with two taels of soju, waiting for his husband to return. "High heart, arrogant, ugly" is Lai Fu's most eye-catching label in the unit. But after returning home, I felt like the emperor. Relying on his ability, the sitting class when drinking is as reserved as a successful person. While slowly siping wine and nagging with his wife and children about what he saw during the day, he carefully arranged what he needed to do at home the next day, and felt like he was controlling everything. Whenever the unit is not at work on Sundays, Brother Lai Fu has to get up very early to Jiulonggang Railway Station , catch the first green train to Bengbu , and prepare the goods for my sister-in-law to sell the next week at the wholesale market on Erma Road, Bengbu. In that era, there was no express delivery service, and all the purchases were carried by Brother Lai Fu alone. That night, the amount of dishes prepared by my sister-in-law for Brother Lai Fu was doubled, with two meat and two vegetables, and the amount of wine should also be doubled, with four taels of soju. What surprised me even more was that from the beginning of this kind of conventional rule, both the person who served and the person who was served did not feel any ambiguity in their hearts. It seems that only in this way can it be natural. After drinking soju at noon that day, Brother Lai Fu, who was already a little drunk, said to me proudly: "The most pleasant thing in the world is to eat the dishes cooked by my wife at home and drink the wine burned by my wife. It makes me feel comfortable with my stomach and heart"! Maybe it was the first time I knew that there was such a bitter and romantic agreement between Brother Lai Fu and his sister-in-law. For the first time, I heard Brother Lai Fu interpret what happiness is like in the simplest language in the world.I drank a little high. On the way home, I repeatedly asked myself, is happiness really like this?
In an era of material scarcity, "eating" seemed to be the unique Chinese element of that period. It is too luxurious and far away to talk about delicacies and delicacies in ordinary people. Due to financial difficulties, the dishes cooked at home still make people feel psychologically beneficial. Brother Lai Fu's words "eat the dishes cooked by my wife, drink the wine burned by my wife, and feel comfortable with my stomach and heart" made me unable to help but look at this sister-in-law who came out of the countryside with admiration. She knew that "If you want to grasp the heart of your man, you must first deal with the man's stomach." This is a very simple truth in the world. Perhaps my sister-in-law's cooking skills are not as good as the chefs in the restaurant, and the dishes she cooks may not be as delicious as they are, but the dishes she cooks with her own hands comfort her husband's not very particular stomach from many aspects. My sister-in-law's intention and persistence also gave Brother Lai Fu a feeling of being valued, and made Brother Lai Fu know that no matter how late he went back, how great difficulties he had experienced outside, and how grievances he had encountered. When I got home, I was still the only supporters that the girls hoped for.
The days passed by, the intersections or fates that I and Lai Fu and many of the well construction engineering office workers who had been together day and night have become wisps of smoke with joy and gratitude, floating in the swaying time. But some things cannot float away with the wind because they are too heavy. I have met many people at the Well Construction Engineering Office. In addition to Brother Laifu, there are also the workers and teachers who have helped me on the road of life... They naturally reveal the kind of things that are now called "Fantasy" by people in their respective jobs and attitudes towards life left a deep impression on me... Inadvertently, I have been working in the Well Construction Engineering Office for 28 years. The brilliant Well Construction Engineering Office has given me a lot, and at the same time, I have also shed my own sweat for the glory of this place again.
In the spring of 2002, I left the Well Construction Engineering Department. We devote ourselves to the second round of development of the group company in the new unit. There is no time or energy to take into account these stories of their love. I could only hear the message from Brother Lai Fu indirectly. It was nothing more than that his two children had already gone to school and had excellent grades. Brother Lai Fu's burden was heavier and seemed to be busier than before, but the gentle agreement between the couple has not changed. I still stir-fry two hot dishes every day and drink two taels of old wine. I add the spices on Sundays.
Another twenty years have passed in a flash. This year, I returned to Kowloongang during the Mid-Autumn Festival . After the mine was scrapped, the Kowloongang Town seemed deserted. The grand pattern of the former prosperous coal mines and railways coexisted. Even the old streets of the East and West Mine that people in Jiulonggang went to the morning market every day disappeared. The once glorious Kowloongang has an OUT-like indifference and tranquility. Among the sparse crowd, I saw Brother Laifu again. Brother Laifu was obviously old, his back was hunched, and he looked shorter, but his spirit was still as vigorous as he remembered. The wrinkles left by the years on his face were also flattened by his already fat face. During the greetings, Brother Lai Fu told me about the changes in the past twenty years. His home had already moved from the dilapidated courtyard to the newly built housing of the group company. My children have long been growing up, and they are both excellent. After graduating from a prestigious university, one is in the provincial capital and the other is developing in the city. The decades-long agreement between Brother Lai Fu and his sister-in-law has not changed. Two dishes must be fried every day, and two taels of wine must be drunk. Due to age, the original statement that Sunday would be doubled was voluntarily cancelled. Life at home has improved, and my sister-in-law has stopped setting up street stalls. Brother Laifu once again invited me to his house to take a visit. This time, for many reasons, I no longer have the desire to go to his house to drink again.After saying goodbye to him, looking at his hunched back, listening to his footsteps passing away, the scene of drinking at his house thirty-eight years ago appeared before my eyes again...
We often say the word happiness to our mouths, but most people misunderstand its original intention. Either it is a boastful narrative or a confession that is inconsistent. In fact, the word "happiness" has long been explained in our Chinese dictionary. The original meaning of happiness is very simple, which is four words - satisfactory. Said: It's in line. For example: It is suitable. Totally suited. Because the subject is omitted, the subject is "I" and "I", so the feeling of happiness is whether it suits your own wishes. It is a person's spiritual sense and sensory satisfaction for every small link in life during his long life. If you say it more down-to-earth, in Brother Fu's words: Happiness is nothing more than just a few things. You must work meticulously in the unit and use your own skills and ability to complete the tasks assigned by your leader; you must care for your wife and children at home, and use your not-so-tall body to shelter your wife and children from the wind and rain, and then eat the dishes cooked by your wife with peace of mind and drink the wine burned by your wife. You can sleep until dawn in one sleep.
Brother Laifu, in my eyes: at work, he is a majestic king walking on a construction site, and at home, he is a father who loves his calf and a husband who stands tall and upright.
Looking at Brother Lai Fu's back as he left, I asked myself jokingly, how can I be considered a real man in this world? Brother Lai Fu's example tells me that not everyone in this world has the ability to ride a spear and dominate the world. He eats all the hardships he should endure, enjoys all the blessings he should enjoy, and takes care of all the wells he should take care of. That is a real man.
There are thousands of forms of happiness, without a fixed pattern. But how to taste happiness is much easier. For example, today is autumnal equinox in 2022, and the climate can only be considered to turn from hot to cool from today. The magical nature not only divides day and night and autumn equally today, but also divides yin and yang. At this time, a ray of autumn wind, a cup of light tea, a flower, a phone call, a simple greeting, a deep concern, and even a concerned look are all a kind of calmness, peace and peace in the world, and are all external manifestations of enjoying happiness. Happiness has no distance or standards. It does not depend on people’s living conditions, but on people’s mentality.
Tianshan. 2022. Autumnal Equinox. Written in Huainan.
