Backtracking to the Age of Literature and Art

Chapter 35 The Cage
Unlike Fei Qiang, Ruan Xiaohu has read books, and he has also read the second year of high school.

In a poor place like theirs, few people study, and in their village, he has the highest education.

There are three brothers in Ruan Xiaohu's family, he is the second child, the eldest is 30 years old, and the third is 14 years old.

This spring, when he was about to finish his sophomore year of high school, his father said he was going to split up and called him back.

Ruan Xiaohu didn't speak during the whole family split, and his father didn't let him speak, so the matter was settled.

The eldest is married, and he and his daughter-in-law are separated first.

The third child is still young and lives with his father.

Ruan Xiaohu, the second child, was miserable. His father left him an earthen house, and he had a foreign debt of 600 yuan.When the eldest married his daughter-in-law, the family borrowed 2000 yuan, and the debt was divided into three parts. The eldest and second child each paid [-] yuan, and the father and third child paid [-] yuan.

After the division was over, his father said to Ruan Xiaohu, who had not spoken from the beginning to the end: "The second child, it's not that Dad is biased. One of the eldest and the third has only completed elementary school, and the other has completed junior high school. If you go to high school, your family is right. I'm staying with you. I'll go to school tomorrow to go through the withdrawal procedures, and I'll accompany you."

The next day, instead of going through the formalities, Ruan Xiaohu went to find Fei Qiang behind his back, and wanted to follow him to work outside.

Fei Qiang got along well in their village. According to him, he brought people to work outside and made a lot of money.Fei Qiang told Ruan Xiaohu about working before, but Ruan Xiaohu was still thinking about studying and didn't respond.

After the family split, Ruan Xiaohu remembered what Fei Qiang had said before, and went to join him.

Fei Qiang was also very happy to see Ruan Xiaohu coming to defect, and took him out to work within two days.

But Ruan Xiaohu came out and found out that Fei Qiang was not the foreman he said, but a thief outside.

At first Ruan Xiaohu wanted to run, but in the end he didn't make up his mind. It was the first time he left his hometown. The outside world made him unable to see anything clearly. He was afraid that he would not be able to live without Fei Qiang.

He didn't want to go home either, because he couldn't hold his breath.

So, he also became a thief.

In the past few months, Ruan Xiaohu has been running around with Fei Qiang, traveling in various cities by train.

According to what Fei Qiang said, the world started to get tough in the past two years, and the business became more and more difficult.

Ruan Xiaohu once asked Fei Qiang, uncle, will we be caught in the game?
Yes, of course, you haven't been caught yet, you'll get used to it if you've been caught once.When Fei Qiang replied to Ruan Xiaohu, his face was full of indifference, as if being caught in the game was not a big deal.

Later, Ruan Xiaohu never asked this question again.

In the past few months, Ruan Xiaohu has been living in contradictions. On the one hand, he is pulled by his inner morality, and on the other hand, he is squeezed by the dilemma of life. In the end, the latter always prevails.

He likes to read books, but after following Fei Qiang, he never read them again. Sometimes he even wants to go to the bookstore to steal a copy, but he finally controls it.

So, looking at the manuscript in his hand, Ruan Xiaohu didn't have the heart to throw it away.

He didn't know what was written on these papers, but they were full of words, which gave him a sense of intimacy.

After Fei Qiang walked away, Ruan Xiaohu touched the connection of a carriage with few people, crouched on the ground, and opened the manuscript in his hand.

"The words are beautiful."

Ruan Xiaohu wanted to touch the words on the paper with his hands, but he stopped, what if such beautiful words get dirty?
This word is prettier than that of the head teacher, Mr. Wang.

"Juyong Town has a special festival every year before the heavy snowfall. This festival is not fixed. The specific day depends on the mood of the local people..."

After Ruan Xiaohu read the words on the paper, his eyes couldn't move.

This is a story.

In the story, there is a town called Juyong Town. This town has a special festival every year when it is about to snow, which belongs to the local people only.

On this day, people in the town will find an open space, and then in the early morning, each household will put out the ingredients for today’s cooking in their homes. The other party agreed, and they even changed it.

Yanjing TV was very interested in this custom and sent people to the local area to conduct interviews.

The story was fascinating from the beginning, but at this time Ruan Xiaohu thought that the story was just to describe the custom of Juyong Town.

But later he discovered that it was not so simple at all.

When the protagonist of the story, the reporter who was dispatched, found himself living the same day repeatedly, Ruan Xiaohu's eyes widened, the story unfolded in a direction he could not have predicted, and it became more interesting.

Then he saw that the protagonist took advantage of his ability to live a wanton life every day. The protagonist went to steal money and buy a lot of delicious food. If he saw anyone who was upset, he would beat him up. If he wanted to drink, he would drink. If he wanted to eat meat, he would eat meat. Countless exciting things that I usually don't dare to do.

Ruan Xiaohu began to envy the protagonist, he thought, if he was as good as the protagonist, he wouldn't have to worry about what would happen tomorrow every day, he would always start over anyway.

But gradually, the protagonist felt that life became boring and began to lose interest in life.

When he saw this, Ruan Xiaohu pouted and smiled: This protagonist is really in the midst of happiness, but he can still feel bored with such a good chance.

if i...

As soon as Ruan Xiaohu started to think about it, he was stunned. Isn't his own life like this now?Every day is the same, no goals, no pursuits.

Oh, yes, I also have pursuits, I just hope I can steal more money to buy some delicious food today.

Huh, what's the difference?
The cage that trapped him was no different at all from the cage of where.

In the second half of the story, Ruan Xiaohu read it in torment.

When he saw He Fang started to live an active life, won the love of everyone in the village, and gained love, he smiled, but it was bitter.

He Fang has come out of the cage, and what about Ruan Xiaohu?

He reached out and waved in front of him, but there was nothing, but he was sure that there was an invisible cage there.

Ruan Xiaohu suddenly remembered the school, his classmates, and the dreams he once had that seemed unrealistic to others, all of which were getting further and further away from him.

Ruan Xiaohu suddenly cried, but there was no sound, but tears came out of his eyes drop by drop.

He quickly moved the manuscript aside, but it was too late, and a teardrop fell on the last page.

The teardrop slowly fainted on the paper, melted with the ink, and the black words twisted like a human face with a mocking smile.

(End of this chapter)