The Four Parts of Visiting Relatives
Hometown
Once, Hometown was the most beautiful paradise in the hearts of wanderers.
Today, my hometown is still my hometown, but I can no longer find the paradise in my heart.
I often hear from my parents that someone in the village bought a villa in the provincial capital, and the whole family moved away. Whoever and so-and-so got along well in other places and became the boss, also moved the family there. Even the poorest and most honest "Mazizhang" in the village when he was a child, also left his young children and old people behind. The couple worked in other places all year round, and it was rare to come back before the Chinese New Year.
Every time I hear these words, I have an indescribable feeling in my heart.
got out of the car, carried the luggage in his hand, and walked home carelessly. When passing by the entrance of the village, I saw a group of children running and shouting happily in the fields, with innocent smiles blooming on their small faces tanned by the sun. Seeing their happy figures, I quickened my pace to go home.
"Uncle , , why are you back?" While I was in a daze, I saw my neighbor's little daughter, , jumping up and running in front of me, and asked me suspiciously. This girl is about six or seven years old, and I haven't seen her for more than half a year.
Perhaps, in her heart, I should also be the person who never goes home until the New Year.
Hearing her calling me, I quickly put down my luggage, squatted down, and looked at her, she tilted her head and shook her two cute little pigtails, and looked back at me with a smile.
"Niuniu, my uncle is on a business trip, and I happened to be passing by. I'll come back and see. Are your parents at home?" I said.
When I asked about my parents, her face suddenly lost the smile. He hesitated for a long time without speaking, turned his back and started crying.After a while, I wiped away my tears, and let out a long tone of , , and then hesitantly and weepingly said: "I'm a big... My father and my mother have both gone to work in south . "..." After saying that, he lowered his head and never looked at me again.
Every time I come back to visit relatives, I don't want to bring anything to eat. Hearing her cry, I hurriedly stood up, touched the pocket , fortunately, there were still a few candies in the pocket, reached out and patted her shoulder, and handed it over: "Niuniu is the best, come, don't cry Well...then, my parents have gone to work, who are you at home with?"
She turned to look at me, stopped crying, and opened her small hand to take the candy in my hand, With red eyes , he said, "My mother is staying at home, and so is my younger brother. My younger brother caught a cold yesterday, and my mother took him to the doctor for an injection early this morning, and asked me to keep the door at home... ..." After a pause, he looked at the chewing gum in his hand, and then said: "My dad and my mother called and said that they would come back to see me after the Chinese New Year, and bought me a lot of flowery clothes. "
" Then, Niuniu, do you want father mother..." After I finished speaking, I wanted to pull her hand, and suddenly saw that the thumb of her left hand was wrapped in a circle of red and white gauze, I was shocked, and hurriedly asked Said: "Niuniu, why are these fingers wrapped in cloth?"
She glanced at me, broke free from me, lowered her head and put her hands behind her so that I wouldn't see it. She asked in a hurry, so she said in a grieved voice : "Last night... My mother and my brother went to the hospital and came back very late. I saw that it was dark, so I learned what my milk did. I was cooking with a fire, but I accidentally burned my fingers with the firewood, the skin fell off, and there was a lot of blood, but it hurt! My mother said, just put some toothpaste on it..."
I know , Niuniu's grandmother is in her 60s. She takes care of two children and takes care of the crops in the fields.The old man suffers from rheumatism, and when it rains on a cloudy day, his whole body hurts. As the saying goes, the children of the poor are in charge of their homes early, and in the face of the hardships of life, the children of these years have also raised their immature shoulders!
I sighed, holding my luggage in one hand and holding her in the other, and asked her to go back to play with the children with me. Looking at her smiling face with teardrops, my tears could not stop flowing.
Perhaps, in the hearts of children, the once-a-year meeting and the flowery clothes brought back by their parents are their happiest expectations.
However, after seeing the desolation of people going to empty buildings, who knows what the elderly and children who are left at home really need?
is like the days away from home. Every time I hear the childish voice of 's son and 's daughter on the phone, I believe that no matter how much suffering and grievances I suffer outside, it will be worth it.
However, children are always children, who can walk into their world and touch them, the fragility hidden deep inside?
The second day of the wedding
Back home, at dinner, 's father said: "The son of the uncle's family in the west of the village wants to get married the day after tomorrow, you are a cousin, please help me in the past. Your uncle and your aunt are in Shandong. Work, Shuyang (my cousin) is teaching in our primary school, he got married, you caught up, you should go." While eating, he responded casually.
My father looked at me, lit a cigarette, took a sip, and said, "Get up early, get up early, drive your car over, and go with him to Chenzhai (the next village) to pick up your new daughter-in-law."
After listening to him, I put down the bowl and glanced at mother , my mother nodded.
I know that it is rare to come back from a long distance and come back from other places. When I meet my brother for a wedding, it is natural to help out after running. Even if my father doesn't arrange it, I'm still going.
Nowadays, most of the childhood friends in the village have married and established their own businesses, and are busy with their careers and money in other places all year round. The past and present were different from the past. In previous years, a large group of people would volunteer to help anyone who got married. Now, the lively village has already become a veritable "barren village". It is really not easy to find someone to help.
On the morning of Shuyang's wedding, at four o'clock before dawn, I was woken up by a phone call.
So, I got up in a daze, finished washing up, drove, posted happy words, picked up the bride, went to the hotel to entertain guests, all kinds of tossing like a train...
was busy all day, tired Gotta get down soon. At four or five o'clock in the afternoon, I was able to take a few bites of rice.
Father, mother, wife, and children all came. The family chatted in the private room of the hotel. While
was talking, uncle , aunt , Shuyang and his daughter-in-law came in from outside. I saw at a glance that my uncle was limping when he walked. Seeing this, I hurriedly stood up. When I was busy greeting guests in the morning, I didn't have time to pay attention to my uncle's legs.
I helped him to the seat inside, waited for him to sit down, and hurriedly asked: "Uncle, why are your legs like this?"
Uncle smiled and handed his father a cigarette, Glancing at me, he said: " is all right ...no problem, I will dismantle the steel plate in a few days, and it will be fine after dismantling it. I accidentally touched it at work..."
I saw a self-deprecating smile on his wrinkled face.
hurriedly stood up, moved the chair behind him, squatted down, and said, "Let me take a look."After speaking, I went to lift the trousers of his left leg. Uncle touched my head and smiled bitterly: "It's really okay, you bear child is so disobedient, hurry up and sit there to eat! "
I ignored what he said, reached out and took off his shoes, and rolled up the trousers. The moment
picked up his trousers, I saw his legs at a glance, and couldn't help but scream "Ah" A sound. What fell into my eyes was the blood-stained gauze, which was wrapped along the soles of the feet to the calf.
At this time, I heard the aunt on the side say with a sobbing voice: "In the early days, the efficiency of the factory was not good. Well, the workers are on vacation. Your uncle and I and some fellow villagers wanted to make more money, so we went to work on the construction site next to the factory. When your uncle was working overtime at night, he fell off the scaffolding on the second floor. A pile of tools, his leg was pierced by the adze point, and he fainted. Sent to the hospital, the doctor checked and said that it was a comminuted fracture of the calf bone. Even if he recovered well, he was afraid that he would not be able to walk like a normal person. Yangyang got married, and Xiaobei’s (book Yang’s daughter-in-law) family had chosen a date. No, she hurried back before she was discharged from the hospital...”
After a pause, my aunt continued: “I can get it back. Even if one life is blessed by the ancestors..." Before my aunt could finish speaking, my uncle waved his hand and interrupted her: "Bah, bah, bah! The girls are always babbling, isn't that good? Don't look at what day it is today, and say unlucky words! "After speaking, I picked up the wine glass in front of me, poured a full glass of white wine, raised the wine glass and said to my father and my mother: "Brother, sister-in-law , Xiaoyue (my aunt) and I are not at home, we are at home. Everything troubles you. Come! Today is the day of our children's great joy, and I am also considered a complete meritorious deed and completed the task. This glass of wine, I toast brother and sister-in-law, I finish drinking, you can drink it or not."
finished speaking, raised his neck, grunted, and drank a big glass of white wine.
just reacted at this time, blushing, and murmured: "Brothers don't dare to say that, we are all one family. Man, how can you speak two languages? Taking this opportunity today, the elder brother has to tell you a few words. From now on, if you work outside, it doesn’t matter if you earn money or not. Your health should be the first priority. Neither do we! right? "After speaking, I lifted the wine glass and tilted my neck, and drank it. In my memory, my father couldn't drink, nor could I drink alcohol. After drinking a little cup of wine, my face turned red and my neck was thick, and my skin was prone to alcohol allergy. . But today, on this occasion, my father is still holding a glass of wine. I know my father, I know that he saw his brother was working hard for a living and almost lost his life, and he was sad in his heart.
"Come on, eldest nephew , don't stick there like a wooden stake, sit down quickly, and my grandfather will have a whole cup too! "While speaking, he stretched out a rough hand and touched my head again, and asked me to sit beside him. Pour two full glasses of wine, one for him and one for me. I hurriedly stopped my mind and suppressed the churning in my heart. I was so sad, I stood up, raised my glass, and drank it all at once.
It is rare for the family to get together, so they drank and chatted, until they felt their tongues getting bigger when they drank and talked, and then they separated.
When they walked out of the hotel , looked back at the cousin and the young couple supporting their uncle and aunt, the family stepped on the firecrackers, and slowly disappeared into the night. Very awake.
was lying on the bed, tossing and turning, but couldn't sleep. My head was full of scenes that I couldn't shake, the bloody left leg and the big hand with calluses and scars.When
was "turning the pancakes", he suddenly heard footsteps on the stairs. I hurriedly got up and twisted the door open. My father was smoking a cigarette and standing by the door with his head down.
glanced at him, and I hurriedly said: "Dad, it's so late, you drink so much wine, why don't you hurry to sleep?" Worry!"
I frowned and looked at my father's face, which was wrinkled and flushed with a dark face.
paused for a while, then turned back to open the closet next to him, took a random shirt, and handed it to his father: "Go, go to the roof and sit for a while, get your clothes, don't freeze... "Father said "um", took the clothes and draped them over his shoulders, turned around and walked towards the rooftop . I don't know what happened to
. Whenever I walk behind my father, I always observe his back unknowingly. My father has lost weight, and his back is not as straight as before. The lights on the roof, reflecting my father's white hair, made me feel a heart-wrenching pain. Maybe it's because I drank too much. I, the so-called pure man, can be so vulnerable. Looking at my father's back, and the fireworks that disappear in my father's hands, my eyes are filled with tears. The overflowing tears only flowed down at once.
Father's life has suffered too much for our siblings three. He didn't even have a new dress, he wore mostly the ones I got back from the military. My cousin got married today, and my mother let him wear the plaid shirt I left at home last year. My father often said that it is okay to be embarrassed at home, but not to be embarrassed outside.
Looking through the high and low buildings, looking at the crops hidden in the night, I suddenly remembered my childhood.Whenever there was a fengji (market stall), my father always stepped on the creaking rickshaw, and in the carriage sat me, my brother, my sister, and my mother. The scene of stepping on one foot and bending over is a memory that I will never forget for the rest of my life.
father and six siblings, he is the eldest. Grandpa and grandma died early, leaving nothing to my father. Our family, today, is mostly the result of the hard work of my father and mother. Fortunately, the three of us brothers and sisters are still doing well, and each has his own career. But my father just said worry again, I guessed it, if it is not unexpected, it should be the marriage of my brother worry.
"Is your family leave coming soon? When are you leaving? Are you taking the high-speed train? Have you booked a ticket yet?" Just as I sat down on the stone chair on the rooftop, a series of questions from my father interrupted my thoughts.
I glanced at my father, sat down on the chair next to him, stretched out my hand to wipe my eyes, calmed myself, looked at him with a smile, and said, "Do you want to drive me away so soon?" Father After listening to me, he pretended to be very angry and scolded me: "You arrogant child, your mother and I are old, and we don't see you a few times throughout the year, who will drive you away? No, you Mom kept saying, you're leaving, and you haven't eaten anything delicious. She also said that you like to eat dumplings, and she will make dumplings for you tomorrow..."
After listening to my father, I He raised his head, looked at the sky full of stars, covered his mouth, and was so sad that he was speechless.
Father saw that my expression was different, so he got up and took my hand, and asked eagerly: "What's the matter, son? Thoughts."
I stretched out my sleeves, wiped my tears, and hurriedly said: "No, no, I'm fine, what can I do? I'm drunk, the wind just blew in my eyes, and I feel a little uncomfortable. , it's okay."
Father listened to me saying it was fine, shook his head, took a deep breath, and sat down again.
" You said that even Yang Yang is married and married, so Shu Ting (my younger brother) doesn't care about it Miles? Work work, when is work a head? Your mother and I are both so old, and we are relieved to have completed his task. "As expected, my father finally talked about the topic that made him worry.
I sighed and said with a smile, "Dad, Shu Ting is not a child anymore, he has his own ideas. We don't have to worry about it, it's not like buying vegetables in a vegetable market, we always have to find someone who is as filial as Xinxin (my wife) to you and my mother, right? Besides, given the conditions of our family, are you still worried about finding a daughter-in-law? Don't worry about it, both of you have been worrying about it all your life, and it's time to take a good rest. No, the grandchildren and granddaughters will be brought to you. It's busy enough. Don't think too much, it depends on the fate of and ! "
Father looked at my face with bloodshot eyes, and scolded again: "You arrogant child! Fate, fate, when will this fate come? This...this...this thing can the motherfucker not worry about it? Shu Ting that bastard is just like you, stubborn! No rush, no rush, everyone is in their twenties, and a child as old as him will call him daddy! "
went on like this, talking about my younger siblings, about my children, about my family, about the past, and for a whole night. My father and I went downstairs to sleep when it was almost dawn.
just lay down. When I went downstairs, I heard the sound of the kitchen downstairs. In a daze, I heard my mother whispering, "He's old, you can go to bed for a while, I'll be quiet, don't disturb you two, I Wrap the dumplings first, boil the water, and I'll go down when the two of you get up..." I woke up very early on the morning when I left.
finished washing upstairs and came down to the living room to eat, only to find that the family had been sitting at the dining table and waiting.
It is rare for my son and daughter to get up so early. As soon as I sat down, the two children shouted Dad and rushed towards me. I hurriedly stretched out my hands and hugged one in each hand.
"Dad, grandma said, you are going back to Shenzhen today, right?" My daughter leaned in my arms, raised her head, blinked her big eyes, and asked softly.
I bowed my head and kissed her, and said, "Baby, Dad is going back to work, he wants to make money for you and your brother, and buy you delicious and fun things. You can take good care of your brother at home and study hard when you are on vacation. Otherwise, after the holidays, you will forget everything you have learned. If there is anything you don’t understand, just ask your mother, or call your father, okay?”
My daughter gave me a look and nodded.
"Dad...Dad, car...car..." The son is just one and a half years old, and he doesn't speak very well. But I can probably understand what he meant. This kid has liked cars since he was a child. This time, he must be afraid that after I leave, I will forget to bring him an electric car when I come back next time. The words of
's son made everyone laugh into a ball. In an instant, the haze of parting seemed to fade a lot.
When I was about to finish eating, my mother said, "Xinxin's brother just bought a new car, she will come over later, take your luggage off, and we will take you to high-speed rail station together."
I read it Glancing at his wife, his wife nodded and said, "Our mother has to send you off, but I can't stop it. My mother and I are both car sick, so you sit in front and let my brother drive slowly... "
The family had just finished eating, and before the dishes could be cleaned up, my uncle came over with his newly bought "Landrover".
I hurried to get a cigarette, exchanged a few words, and went upstairs to carry my luggage.The
family locked the door and drove in a mighty way to the high-speed rail station.
Not long after the car started, the two children fell asleep, perhaps because they got up too early in the morning and felt sleepy. Afraid of disturbing the child's sleep, everyone didn't say anything along the way.
When I was about to arrive at the station, I looked back and looked at the back row. My father continued to smoke his cigarette, which was never boring, while my mother complained in a low voice.
arrived at the high-speed rail station, and there are still more than 30 minutes before the departure time. My father helped me with my luggage, I was holding my daughter, and my wife was holding my son. When taking me to the ticket gate , both children were woken up by the noise of the station.
I put my daughter down, turned around and wanted to pick up the luggage from my father, but my father blocked it with his hand unconsciously and said, "It's okay, don't worry, I'll send it inside...".
I looked at my father's face, smiled and said, "Dad, your luggage has to go through the security check. If you don't have a ticket, they won't let you in." I. Then, he squatted down and picked up his daughter.
When my mother saw that I was leaving, she stretched out her hand to hold me, and said with red eyes: "Child, you are alone outside, you must take care of your body, you have a bad stomach, don't drink ice water, and call back when you miss your mother. If I'm too tired, we'll quit..."
After listening to my mother, my unsatisfactory tears flowed out again.
When the wife saw this, she quickly grabbed her mother: "Mom, Shito'er (son's baby name) will have a birthday with him one day, and he will be back in three months, don't worry, let's go back... "
I took a pack of tissues out of my pocket, took it apart and handed it to my mother. Then grab your luggage and head to the security checkpoint.
"Dad, you have to come back on my brother's birthday! Don't forget to buy me flowers, don't forget to buy a car for my brother!" After passing through the security check and carrying my luggage, I heard my daughter's voice behind me .
hurriedly looked back, she was holding "Stone", lying on the railing of the security check, waving her small hands, her face full of tears.
......
The Four Parts of "Visit Family": "Hometown", "Wedding", "Night Talk", "Parting"
Total: 6131 words
July 4, 2014 in Shenzhen
