Father's Land Mother's River

Chapter 5 Simple Love
Liu Zhixin walked a long, long way alone in the boundless darkness, like getting lost in a dark and tortuous mine, groping forward with one deep foot and one shallow foot, without knowing where to go.

There is no sunlight, no air, no consciousness, no consciousness, like a light feather, floating in the illusory time and space.

It was like having a long dream. When he woke up, he saw the sun rising in front of him—to be exact, his eyelids were pulled open by a nimble and warm hand, and a flashlight was shining on his eyes.

A beam of light illuminates the end of the road, and Liu Zhixin walks out of the darkness.

"He's passed the dangerous period!" The voice was familiar, but it didn't sound so real.

A few drops of cold water dripped on his face.It's raining!He opened his parched and thirsty mouth, and a small stream of cool oasis flowed into the heart that had almost no signs of life.

"Liu Xiucai is destined to die, I knew he would not die."

"Thank God, Liu Xiucai has come back to life! If he dies, who will tell us a joke to fix the bicycle, and when he recovers, let's buy him a drink."

The voice was very noisy, Liu Zhixin couldn't hear who was talking and what was said.Consciousness and perception are slowly awakening as vision and hearing return.The headache was splitting, the heart was beating violently, as if it wanted to jump out of the chest cavity; the limbs were numb, the body was light, and it felt that the soul and the body had been separated, one in the sky and the other in the ground.

He tried to open his eyes to see which world he was in, but the upper and lower eyelids seemed to be glued together, and he couldn't open them no matter what.

"Masters, please go out. Although Liu Zhixin has passed the critical period, her internal organs have been severely damaged, and she needs rest and recuperation. It will take a while to recover slowly. Don't worry, everyone, I will do my best."

The soft voice echoed in my ears again.A hand and a cold object moved around on the body, and the out-of-body soul followed the pressing of the hand, like a playful bird reluctantly returning to its nest.

It's quiet, the empty silence makes people panic when they don't know where to go.A few drops of water dripped on the hot chest, it was cool, and it was raining again?

"With me here, you will recover quickly. Live well, we have seen hope."

This sentence was said close to the ear, Liu Zhixin could clearly hear who it was this time.With her by his side, he felt relieved and fell asleep calmly, sleeping in a vivid dream.

After Liu Zhixin started working, he saved more than three years of money to buy the first Baishan brand weighted bicycle in his life.

In the past three years, every time there was a big shift, he had to walk more than 70 miles to go home to visit his mother and younger brother.I slept at home all night, just to reassure my mother, and I had to rush back to work in the mine early the next morning, wasting time on the road when I was tired and exhausted.

With a bicycle, you can get home in just over two hours.

Bicycles are far more precious than people and gold, it is the most precious item in a family.When it rains or snows, you are reluctant to ride. When you encounter puddles and ditches, the cart will be reversed, and the bicycle will ride on people's shoulders.

There is a popular saying among miners that you can borrow a wife but not a bicycle.

Liu Zhixin rode a brand new bicycle back home, the wind was smooth, her legs were flying up and down extremely easily.For more than three years, he has measured the 70-mile home road with his legs, and he is familiar with every village, hillside, river, and even the old man who herds cattle and sheep.

He has a few fixed places to rest, but today he has passed by in a flash. He has the most modern means of transportation.

Before feeling tired, he had already entered the village by bicycle.Before riding into the yard, he rang the bell on the handlebar, and the jingle bells rang all the way, which was melodious.After riding to the door of the house, I gently hugged the brake pedal and got out of the car. After setting up the car ladder, I yelled "Mom".

The mother calculated the date in advance, knowing that her son would come back today, she had been looking forward to it for a long time.Hearing the car bell and my son's loud call, I wondered in my heart, I used to get home before evening, why did I suddenly go home in the middle of the morning today?Is something wrong?

He went out in a panic and saw that his son was standing beside the bright and bright bicycle, his brows were full of confidence and pride, and his upright face was filled with a heartfelt smile that he had never seen before.

The mother shed tears of joy, trembling and gently stroking the body of the bicycle, as if facing a delicate and noble child.She squatted down again like a child, gently shaking the pedals with her hands, watching the wheels spinning without blinking, and listening to the rustling sound of the chain and wheels turning.

Liu Zhixin squatted down on the other side of the bicycle, looking at her mother face to face.The wrinkles on the mother's face stretched out, her expression relaxed, and her obsessive and curious eyes were like a little girl who had never seen the world, glowing with pure and bright colors.

When my mother was a young girl, she probably saw the pigtails on the back of Mr. Guan's head with this look.

Mr. Guan's little braid is the mother's pinnacle of tranquility, as long as the little braid shakes, no amount of suffering will make my mother flustered.What kind of trust and dependence is that?

Liu Zhixin said: "Mom, with a bicycle, I can go home anytime and anywhere, which is much more convenient."

"Okay, okay!" Mother stood up and said, "Show Mr. Guan this afternoon."

Never forget Mr. Guan, Mr. Guan is the god in the mother's heart?Liu Zhixin half-supported and half-hugged her mother to sit on the back seat of the bicycle, pushing her around in the yard.

My mother was very nervous at first, holding the bicycle seat tightly with her hands, her legs trembling a little, her mouth was open and she was ashamed to shout out.The body was erect and did not dare to shake, appearing very stiff.

Liu Zhixin smiled happily, and kept pressing the car's age with her thumb.The melodious bell made the mother relax physically and mentally, and a relaxed and happy smile appeared on her face.

Liu Zhixin pushed her mother out of the yard, and walked back and forth on the street twice.My mother felt that a woman with small feet could ride a state-of-the-art bicycle at such an advanced age.Worried about crushing the bike, I thought about it several times.

Liu Zhixin asked his mother to sit with peace of mind, he especially liked to see his mother's peaceful and joyful smile.For the first time since his father died, he saw his mother so happy.

The people who finished work went home, Liu Zhitai and Liu Erya circled the bicycle and asked this and that, but they dared not reach out to touch it.

Liu Yunqi, who had just got married, chatted with Liu Zhixin for a few words, and was called home by Liu Zhifu, and had a good meal in front of his daughter-in-law: "Tell me about you, you won't suffer a little bit. If you stay in In the mine, can a boy from an upper-middle peasant ride a bicycle first?"

Liu Yunqi said disdainfully: "Father, a bicycle makes you look like this? Don't just talk about the upper middle peasants, it's an ancestor."

"Fuck!" Liu Zhifu swallowed a mouthful of thick phlegm, and almost spat it on Liu Yunqi's face: "Our ancestor is the eldest, and his ancestor is the third. It's been more than 200 years, and five clothes have already been released. blood relationship."

In the afternoon, Liu Zhixin rode a bicycle to see Mr. Guan.Mr. Guan shook the braids on the back of his head frequently, patted the back seat of the bicycle and said, "Can I ride in your car?"

Liu Zhixin said: "Of course I can, I'll take Mr. out for a walk right now."

Mr. Guan said: "I want to do something at my wife's and sister's house tomorrow. It's too far to walk and I'm tired. Can you take me there?"

Liu Zhixin readily agreed.Mr. Guan asked: "Will you not delay your work?"

Liu Zhixin said: "Sir, it's rare for me to do something, and I'm worried that I won't have the opportunity to repay him. If I return on time in the afternoon, I won't be late for work."

The teacher and the student agreed on a departure time tomorrow.When Liu Zhixin went home and told her mother, her mother instructed: "You must not knock Mr. Guan down."

Liu Zhixin smiled and promised: "Mom, don't worry, I'd rather not have a bicycle than bump and knock your Mr. Guan."

Mother slapped him embarrassingly with a broom bump.

Early the next morning, Liu Zhixin rode a bicycle and took Mr. Guan to his wife and sister's house.As soon as he entered the house, he faintly felt that he had slipped into the "trap" set up by Mr. Guan and his mother.

It was an ordinary farmer's family, but the red wooden sign of "Glorious Army" was hung on the lintel, which was eye-catching and dazzling.On the way, Mr. Guan had intentionally or unintentionally introduced the situation of his two aunts, wives and sisters in advance.

The brother-in-law passed away a few years ago, but the wife and sister are a heroic mother.She gave birth to eight children in her life, and Jiang Changling was the only girl.The most proud thing is that the eldest son and the second son joined the army together in [-], and they both made military exploits and were unscathed.Now only Jiang Changling and her two younger brothers are left unmarried.

Liu Zhixin suddenly thought of Jiang Changling, whom she had only met once three years ago: simple and generous, with light freckles on both sides of the bridge of the nose, a little admiration for herself, the ends of her braids were about to be rolled into a twist, a pair of ordinary eyes focused intently looking at himself.

Is it a deep impression, or is my memory too strong?

Mother Jiang was at home alone, she looked very similar to Mrs. Guan, an old lady with a kind face and kind eyes.The body is tough, the waist is straight, and he is kind and soft-spoken.

Mr. Guan unceremoniously sat cross-legged on the kang, and without talking about business, he introduced and praised Liu Zhixin to his wife and sister.

Liu Zhixin felt very embarrassed when he heard it, so he sat for a while and got up to say goodbye, saying that he came to pick up Mr. Guan in the afternoon.

Mother Jiang looked at Liu Zhixin curiously, nodded to Mr. Guan understandingly, patted the edge of the Kang and said to Liu Zhixin: "My family is not big, so I don't need a bite of food for you. Sit at ease, running back and forth is so tiring."

Mr. Guan also echoed: "You have to go back to work in the afternoon, don't be too tired."

Mr. Guan spoke, but Liu Zhixin refused.As soon as I sat down on the edge of the kang, there were noises and exclamations from the yard, and then the sound of pressing the car bell.

Mother Jiang glanced out the window and said, "It's Chang Ling and those two troublemakers who are back." Turning around, she asked Liu Zhixin worriedly, "You won't damage your car, will you?"

Liu Zhixin trembled in his heart, but he said stiffly: "Bicycles are not that delicate."

As soon as the door slammed, Jiang Changling entered the room with a basin of water from the outside, and a startled voice rushed in before her: "Mom, where did you get the bicycle?"

Liu Zhixin hurriedly stood up and said hello: "Work is over?"

Looking at each other, Jiang Changling froze on the spot, kicking in and out of the door, opened her mouth wide but could not make a sound, her dusty face was flushed and pale, surprised and embarrassed.The hands holding the washbasin trembled slightly, and the bean-sized teardrops rolled down the cheeks one by one, dripping into the washbasin with a tinkling sound, crisp and melodious, with ripples in circles.

In the following years, whenever the two of them recalled this scene, Jiang Changling kept insisting that she really didn't want to cry at that time, and she couldn't tell what happened at that time, anyway, the tears slipped down accidentally.

Mr. Guan secured the media, and Liu Zhixin and Jiang Changling got married in 100.Liu Zhixin wrapped a [-] yuan bride price for Jiang Changling with a floral handkerchief.

After the implementation of the land contract system in 200, there was a boom in raising pigs in the countryside. The price of a piglet rose from a dozen or so to hundreds, and the highest price reached more than [-] yuan.Jiang Changling often complained to Liu Zhixin that she was not worth as much as a little piggy.

Liu Zhixin joked deliberately: "Piggy's market fluctuates up and down, this year it is worth 200 yuan, and next year it may not be worth a penny. You will always be worth 100 yuan."

In [-], Jiang Changling gave birth to her first child.Liu Zhixin did not follow the rules left by his ancestors and named his son according to the "Yun" character generation, but chose a very easy-going name: Liu Xiaonan.

(End of this chapter)