Father's Land Mother's River

Chapter 14
In the summer of 1980, Liu Xiaonan, Guan Xiaoyun, and Liu Qishun were about to graduate from junior high school. They were all sixteen years old this year.It also happened in this year that the reform of the education system, the integration of rural high schools, and the optimization of the teaching staff and the source of students.

The current school system consists of two years in junior high school and two years in high school, continuing from the sixth grade of primary school, which are respectively called seventh grade, eighth grade in junior high school, and ninth grade and tenth grade in high school.This means that high school sets a high bar, and only a few people can pass it. Most people go home to farm after only eight years of schooling.

On the last day before the senior high school entrance examination, in the last class, my ears were already calloused by what I had to say. Cheng Yi, the Chinese teacher in charge of the class, was still tirelessly explaining the key points and precautions of the exam.

Liu Xiaonan turned her head out of the window as she listened, her eyes froze, her thoughts flew to the plot of "A Pair of Embroidered Shoes".

For two years in junior high school, he has been the representative of the Chinese class. The compositions he wrote are often analyzed and commented on by Mr. Cheng as model essays in class. His Chinese scores have always been stable, so he is not worried at all.

Teacher Cheng has always emphasized that in order to write a good composition, it is necessary to increase the amount of extracurricular reading.He is confident that no one has read more extracurricular books than him, but it is a pity that the manuscript "A Pair of Embroidered Shoes" was taken away by Gu Yu, and he still wants to read it again.

Gu Yu should be in ninth grade now, will she still read that book?

A piece of chalk accurately hit Liu Xiaonan on the forehead, making him tremble all over, and he stood up suddenly in a panic for no reason.The classmates roared with laughter, and he watched Teacher Cheng sit down slowly as if awakening from a dream.

Teacher Cheng stood on the podium and said calmly: "Why sit down when you stand up? Can you repeat what I just said in the lecture?"

Liu Xiaonan stood up again, blushing.He felt that what Mr. Cheng said was old-fashioned and nothing new, so he didn't listen to a word.He avoided Teacher Cheng's eyes and said, "I, I was distracted, and I don't remember what the teacher said."

In Teacher Cheng's tone, there was almost a kind of pleading: "If you think about it again, I have said it before. This may be the last lesson I will teach you. I hope you can answer my question seriously. problem, do not leave regrets for yourself, nor for me.”

Liu Xiaonan lowered her head and muttered, "I'm sorry, teacher, I didn't listen to a word."

Mr. Cheng stared directly at him, and gradually became strict. He asked Liu Xiaonan: "Well, since you think what I'm talking about is worthless, then tell us all about your ideals. I believe in your ideals." The ideal must be lofty."

The classmates whispered.Liu Xiaonan heard the sarcasm, and his blood rushed to his brain for a moment. He announced loudly: "My ideal is to be a writer."

The students roared with laughter again, leaning forward and back together.Teacher Cheng waved his hands to calm everyone down, and said seriously: "Students, don't laugh, this is indeed a great ideal."

He walked up to Liu Xiaonan and said, "You want to be an engineer of the human soul. Are you ready to put in much more hardship and effort than others? Your ideal cannot be realized overnight. Put it aside for now. Reflect on how you fell from the key class to the normal class, and then back to the key class from the normal class. Please—"

With a wave of his hand, Teacher Cheng invited Liu Xiaonan to the podium without distinguishing, and stood on the side of the blackboard facing all the students.

Liu Xiaonan was so ashamed that she lowered her head blankly.It was the first time he was punished by Teacher Cheng, especially when he was about to graduate, he didn't give him any face at all, why bother?

Teacher Cheng is tall, strong, moody, casually dressed, and does not look like a persuasive Chinese teacher in appearance.In his spare time, he can play basketball and football with male students, and he is famous for corporal punishment in class.

Standing as a penalty is his specialty, and he treats them differently depending on the severity of the plot.If you doze off, you will be punished to stand for a while sober; if you don't listen carefully, you will be invited to the podium to reflect.

Teacher Cheng returned to the desk and sat down, perhaps really angry, and had nothing to say for a while.Liu Xiaonan peeked at Teacher Cheng's majestic and straight back, not understanding why she would suddenly think of Gu Yu when she was approaching her junior high school graduation.

Gu Yu has long since disappeared from Liu Xiaonan's real life.After autumn, every day after returning home from school, Liu Xiaonan and Liu Qishun and Guan Xiaoyun would accompany each other, carrying four-toothed iron rakes and carrying baskets to rummage through sweet potatoes and peanuts.

In the land after collective harvesting, there are still a lot of grains and miscellaneous grains left over. As long as you grasp the timing and be diligent enough, you can always get something to supplement the food shortage at home.

Adults have to go out to work to earn work points, such trivial but indispensable tasks as picking corn and soybeans, turning sweet potatoes and peanuts have become the main daily labor of these half-grown children.In addition to helping the family, it is also their main way of getting snacks.

Liu Xiaonan is keen on these simple labors that are not tiring and fun, but Gu Yu was involved in the past, and he did not have the freedom to act independently.Now there is no one to restrain him, and his parents also encourage him to share the worries of the family, so why not do it?
Even during the winter vacation, he would not be idle, carrying a straw basket as tall as him, with a steel wire rake stuck in it, and accompanied Guan Xiaoyun to the mountains every day to rake grass.The grass distributed by the production team is not enough to burn, so he hugs the grass every day, which can solve the big problem of heating the kang at home.

In order to reward him, Dad made him and Liu Qishun each a throwing cannon out of bullet casings.There is a hole on the side of the bottom of the bullet case, just enough to fit a paper cannon the size of a pill; a small piece of smooth iron rod is placed in the bullet case, the top is sealed, and a red cloth strip is tied.Throw it into the sky or fall down to the ground, and the iron rod will explode the paper cannon through inertia, making a loud noise like firecrackers.

This kind of throwing cannon was a common toy for boys at that time.Later, he and Liu Qishun felt that it was not enough, and learned how to make simple gunpowder guns with some older children.Use paper cannons as a kindling, put the gunpowder in the firecrackers into the bullet casings, seal them with waste paper, grab the trigger, and make a bang, which can scare the house sparrows on the trees away.

No one warned them that improvised powder guns were dangerous.The gunpowder was loaded more and more, and a section of copper pipe was even added to the bullet case to increase the range.

Once, Liu Xiaonan smashed ten paper cannons into pieces and put them into the barrel, and stuffed paper balls inside with a thin iron rod.When the third ball of paper was stuffed, due to excessive force, the paper cannon was detonated directly due to repeated friction and heat.

There was a loud bang, his right arm was numb from the shock, his right hand was black and numb, and a piece of skin was knocked off his palm, dripping with blood.Try to move your fingers, but fortunately, there is no injury.

He was terrified with his battered right hand, and has since thrown away the powder gun.

In the second half of the seventh grade, Liu Xiaonan's academic performance dropped sharply, and she fell into the ordinary class, next to Guan Xiaoyun.

Teacher Cheng paused for a moment, and said slowly: "This class is the last class I give to the students. I will not have the opportunity to be a teacher for you in the future. Let me say something besides the topic. Liu Qing wrote in his "Entrepreneurship" There is a famous saying in "History": Although the road of life is long, there are often only a few steps at the critical point, especially when people are young."

Liu Xiaonan thought, it doesn't take a few steps, one step will determine a person's life.

In the second half of the semester of the seventh grade, there will be a sports meeting on Children's Day as usual.The gongs and drums teams of primary schools in each village opened, with colorful flags fluttering and gongs and drums making noise, and the finale of the middle and long-distance running in middle schools.

In the middle school girls' 800-meter race, a female student in shorts ran ahead, followed by Guan Xiaoyun.Turning the corner, entering the straight and starting to sprint, the female student who was running in front suddenly staggered a few steps and fell down.

Amid the screams, Guan Xiaoyun, who was following behind, stopped and knelt down to protect the female classmate with her body.Followed by several female teachers, they ran into the arena and escorted the female classmate out of the arena.

Liu Xiaonan, who was cheering for Guan Xiaoyun, could see clearly, and many classmates and teachers could also see clearly that the shorts around the waist of the female student suddenly fell off and tripped her.

Afterwards, the teachers of each class repeatedly emphasized that this was an accident, and the students should be sympathetic and think about it in their own shoes.Students must protect the reputation of that female classmate, stop talking about it, and stop hurting the self-esteem of that female classmate.

The female classmate had severe abrasions on her body, and she was never seen at school again, and she was promoted to the eighth grade after the summer vacation, and she was never seen again.Soon, a shocking news spread in the school: the female classmate committed suicide by throwing herself into a well.

Although the teacher often came to her home to enlighten her, and her parents guarded her day and night, she still couldn't bear the shame of dropping her panties in public.Seeing the right time, embarked on a road of no return.

Guan Xiaoyun told Liu Xiaonan that the culprit was the rubber band on the shorts.Not only does it lose its elasticity due to aging, but it is also joined together one by one. When you sprint hard, the rubber band snaps.

A young girl in her prime was ruined on a rubber band that cost a dime a foot.

Guan Xiaoyun vowed that she would never be poor in the future, let alone let her children live in poverty.

Liu Xiaonan asked Guan Xiaoyun: "How old are you, you only think about your children? Don't be ashamed. If this happened to you, what would you do?"

Guan Xiaoyun said: "I'm not that stupid. Didn't I just show my butt in public? It wasn't intentional. It's a big deal that I won't go to school, or transfer to another school. What's the matter? I have to make trouble with myself?"

Many years later, when Liu Xiaonan saw his children grow up day by day, he would still think of that female classmate from time to time.He has no intention of blaming the parents of the female classmate, but he is sure that the reduction of poverty will limit the love of parents for their children.

I can't tell what kind of profound impact this incident had on Liu Xiaonan, or maybe it was the regret and reprimand in the eyes that Mr. Cheng looked at him when he was in the ordinary class, which deeply stimulated him.He felt that he had failed Mr. Cheng's expectations, so he felt ashamed and brave, and finally returned to the key class in the second half of the eighth grade.

Teacher Cheng said: "Let me tell a story to my classmates. There was a rural youth who was very lucky to be admitted to a university. What was shown to him was a bright road.

"During the three years when everyone was hungry, he had a lot of food and often couldn't eat enough. He endured for two years, and finally gave up his dream. He traded a cotton coat for a few buns, dropped out of school and took the train back home. hometown.

"The stomach is full, and the dream is discarded. Even if he gritted his teeth and persisted for another year, the situation will fundamentally improve, and he will not lose his future and become a farmer again.

"There is no medicine for regret in the world, and life will not start all over again. Dreams must be realized with a firm will and unremitting efforts. It is a pity that his will is weak and he understands too late."

The classmates sighed and sighed, Liu Xiaonan was thinking: Can I really regard being a writer as a lifelong ideal?
Teacher Cheng turned around and asked Liu Xiaonan, "Do you know who I'm talking about?"

Liu Xiaonan knew that Teacher Cheng was a private teacher who was hired temporarily by the school.He looks like a farmer all day long, but he is a knowledgeable and good teacher when he stands on the podium.He guessed, "Is it the teacher himself?"

"It's me." Teacher Cheng turned to the students and said, "This is an important turning point in my life, and it is also the greatest shame and regret in my life. I am both envious and sad when I am with you every day. I envy you for your kindness. In your youth, I am sad that you do not think about making progress.

"Look at me, I am your best negative example. I just hope that you don't regret it when you reach my age. You are about to graduate, and the teacher has nothing to give you. How much to give you?" a word."

Teacher Cheng stood up and wrote eight big characters on the blackboard: Learning is endless, stick to your dreams!

Liu Xiaonan felt that Teacher Cheng's eight words were written for herself.He no longer feels deeply ashamed because he was punished to stand in the last class near graduation, and he no longer harbors a little resentment towards Teacher Cheng Yi in his heart.

He was sure that because he was punished by Teacher Cheng Yi, he would always remember this lesson and Teacher Cheng's parting words.

As soon as the exam was over, Liu Qishun went directly back to the production team to participate in collective labor; Guan Xiaoyun asked her father Guan Deyu to make a big wooden box, pasted white paper inside and out, lined with a quilt inside, and tied it to the back shelf of the bicycle. Go to Tun Chuan Lane to sell popsicles.

Liu Xiaonan did some odd jobs at home, waiting for the final result.This year, Liu Erya gave birth to a boy, and he had a younger brother, so he had to take care of his two younger sisters, and had to weed and feed the pigs every day.

The family has a pig weighing more than 100 jins. The pig is a good athlete. Whenever it is hungry and has nothing to eat, it will put its two front hooves on the wall of the pigsty, stand up, and jump out with its hind legs. pigsty.

As long as the black pig jumps out of the pigsty, it will enter the forest like a tiger. It will take a lot of effort to find it in the cornfield as high as a person and drive it home.

Liu Xiaonan's first task every day is to ensure that the black pig is full and prevents it from jumping through hoops.Braving the scorching sun and the scorching heat, he drilled into the impenetrable cornfield to pull out hogweed, two baskets a day.

At noon, the pig is also released, let it lie in the pond to cool off, or let it find some wild vegetables to eat by itself.After feeding the pigs, he has time to jump into the river, swim and fish, and read the books Gu Yu left him.

Occasionally there are unexpected gains.One day he picked up a whole bag of chemical fertilizer in the corn field, gritted his teeth and bent over to carry it home, enough for his own plot to fertilize.

The bag of chemical fertilizer was left in the depths of the corn field. He guessed that a careless commune member forgot to take it away after applying the fertilizer, or that someone was too lazy to apply fertilizer and deliberately threw it in the corn field to hide the eyes and ears.

Twenty days after the high school entrance examination, there was no news, so Liu Xiaonan couldn't sit still.He felt that he did well in the exam, but he was not [-]% sure that he would be admitted to high school.

For this exam, the middle schools in the four townships were ranked together. How many high school students will be recruited, and where I can rank in the big list, I am very uncertain.

What should I do if I can't pass the high school entrance examination?Go back to the production team to do farm work like Liu Qishun?Or sell popsicles in wooden boxes like Guan Xiaoyun?These are not what he is willing and good at.

Her heart seemed to be stuffed with a mess of grass, Liu Xiaonan couldn't figure out a clue, couldn't find a clear direction.Parents did not set goals for him, could not respond in a timely manner to the changes of the times, and gave him the necessary life guidance, who can he count on?

He didn't know what to do, what to do.If Gu Yu is here, maybe he can help him guide the way. He can't help but miss the abundant time with Gu Yu.

(End of this chapter)