Ordinary people's rice bowl

Chapter 3 Different Moods
As the doctor said, my son's illness came and went quickly. After a day and two nights of careful care by Lao Mu, Mu Zhen's illness was basically cured. When she woke up in the morning, she was in a good state of mind. Fearing that his son could not sleep well at night, he sat on the edge of the bed and looked at his son without closing his eyes, for fear of being bitten by mosquitoes or accidentally catching a cold again, but seeing his son's good mental state, Lao Mu's fatigue disappeared. .

The exam ended at 05:30 in the afternoon. Hearing from his son that the exams went well in all subjects and he did well in all subjects, Lao Mu seemed to feel a little relieved. He simply packed up his luggage in the dormitory and took his son to prepare for the exam. On the way home.

When passing by the school gate, a group of people gathered in front of the classroom wall next to the gate. Lao Mu got off his bicycle and stopped beside the crowd. He tiptoed to look at the blackboard on the wall. There is a notice written along the edge, although the number of words is not many, it is the concern of many candidates:
notification
The enrollment results of the junior high school will be released on June 6 under the corridor of the Confucian Temple of the school. Candidates are invited to pay attention at that time.

校办
6/10

"June 6th, it should not be over yet!" Lao Mu muttered to himself while reading the notice.

Mu Zhen, who was sitting on the back seat of the bicycle, understood that the "not finished" that Lao Mu said meant that San Xia had not finished her work. Mu Zhen was at a loss when she thought of this.

When Lao Mu got off the highway and was riding on the north-south country road, Mu Zhen noticed that Father Sun had turned into a big red fireball, slowly falling towards the western horizon. The western half of the sky was red, and the distant The village just caught the falling fireball, reflecting the clear outline of the village, which is clearly identifiable. The rising smoke adds a little movement to the fiery red, like a veil on the pink face, soft and soothing, this is not a fairy tale Wonderland?Mu Zhen was intoxicated. Because the father and father had nothing to say all the way, Mu Zhen, who had been sitting on the back seat of the bicycle for a long time, had her eyes a little dry from time to time. The scene at this time had already driven away the fatigue.

Just stepped into the house, Mu Yan, who was cooking at home, happily greeted the two fathers: "What a coincidence, just now I was thinking about cooking your meals?"

"Where's your mother? Is it still in the field?" Old Mu asked eagerly.

"Well, we have to tie up the land again!" Mu Yan responded.

Old Mu put down the things on the car, then greeted Mu Zhen and said, "You help cook at home, and I can work in the field!" After speaking, he rode away by himself.

Although it was only a day's absence, Mu Yan felt very cordial when her brother came back from the exam: "How did you do?"

"My brother will definitely get a good grade in the exam!" Mu Yan smiled confidently and said to Mu Zhen who was filling firewood under the stove.

"It should be okay, the results will be out in a week!" Mu Zhen replied.

Although Mu Yan, who is only nine years old this year, did not go to school for two years, she is not only a good helper in the family, but also hard-working. She not only helps the family with their daily chores, but also supports Mu Zhen's studies very understandingly, no matter how busy the outside world is. , she never hoped that her brother would help her, but hoped that her brother would study hard and be nominated for the Gold List as soon as possible,
Although the dinner prepared by the brothers and sisters is not delicious, for Xiuhua who has been busy all day, it is sweeter than eating delicacies from mountains and seas.

The next day, the sky was just dawn, and the eastern horizon was not yet red. Xiuhua, who had already cooked, shouted to Lao Mu who was still lying on the bed: "It's time to get up, everyone's wheat has been pulled to the field, let's I also borrow a car to drive home today, otherwise it will affect the rice planting next season!"

"Let's do it too, you go to the second uncle's house to borrow a place to park the car!" Lao Mu said as he put on his clothes and got out of bed.

"Mu Zhen, get up quickly, go to work in the field today! You can't stay at home forever!" Lao Mu shouted to his son who was still asleep.

"Hey!" Following the reply, Mu Zhen sat up rubbing her eyes and quickly got dressed.

The busy figures in the field have moved to the yard, only the wheat sheaves of Lao Mu's family are still placed in the field, looking from a distance, they look like bundled baby bags.The four members of Lao Mu's family were busy working in the field. The scorching sun and the fact that Lao Mu and his son seldom did this work made them sweat profusely. The heat is burning like fire, the seedlings in the wild fields are half scorched, the heart of the farmer is like soup, and the son and grandson shake the fan. These days, if you hold a clay rice bowl, you are a farmer, and if you hold an iron rice bowl, you are a prince and grandson."

"What's the use of complaining? Why don't you hurry up and get your own crops home?" Xiuhua replied while loading the car. Coarse sheaves.

"Stop whining, I'm here to help!" Xiuying said to Lao Mu.

"Sister, are you done with your family?" Xiuying greeted a middle-aged woman who was walking towards them.

The person who came was Yingzi, Lao Mu's older sister. Yingzi was 1.7 meters tall and used to be a school athlete. Although she was almost middle-aged, she still showed the vigor of the sports field when she walked.

"We just finished the fight yesterday. I came here today to see how busy you are. It was agreed that your brother-in-law would also come, but the neighbor asked him to repair the diesel engine, but he couldn't." Ditch, step up to the wheat cart.

"How did Mu Zhen do in the exam?" Before Lao Mu had time to say hello, Yingzi continued to ask.

"The results will not come out in a few days, and we will know when the time comes." Old Mu replied.

"Auntie." Mu Zhen called out affectionately, without another word.

"Hey, these days, I heard that he and his father are taking the exam, so I'm just busy with you!" Yingzi agreed and said to Xiuhua apologetically.

"That job is more important than our job. It's an iron rice bowl. We can't lose the iron rice bowl and cling to such a clay rice bowl!" Lao Mu said after taking it.

"That's right, it's really not easy for a peasant family to produce a student. Bibi those children in the county town, we have to pay much more than them. At least they don't have to bask in the sun like this! And we Zhen'er still have to eat simple food, Doing such a heavy job! It’s true that people are born different! However, if Zhen’er is successful in the future, you can also give up doing this farm work and live a life like a fairy in the city!” Yingzi sighed, “The farmer It is our hope to have a promising future for our child!"

"Did you do well in the exam?" Yingzi looked at Mu Zhen and asked.

"I don't know!" Mu Zhen responded in a low voice.

"Why don't you know, what are you so unconfident about, what can you do in the future? You are so old, and you are still so cowardly about what, what big things can you do in the future?" Old Mu felt disgusted when he heard his son say such unconfident words.

"Look, why do you say that the child didn't know before he looked at the list?" Yingzi glared at Lao Mu.

Mu Zhen's eyes were moist, and then she choked up a little.

"Cry, cry, you know how to cry, why are you crying?" Old Mu's voice raised an octave.

Seeing that Lao Mu was in a bad mood, Yingzi pulled Mu Zhen, "Don't do it, I will do it for you, go home!" Under Yingzi's persuasion, Mu Zhen walked across the small ditch at the head of the field and walked to the village.

"Treat the child like this, and you will get sick from fright in the future!" Yingzi said to Lao Mu in a lecturing tone.

"Two days ago at the market, I heard from the old Li from the village that Zhen'er had a fever. I wanted to come and see it, but I didn't come because the farm work was tight. I thought the child was not all well, so I sent the child to work in the field like this!"

"Hey, I didn't want him to come at first, but his father insisted on calling him, saying that it was a labor reform, and that he didn't know how hard it was in the fields, but how could he know that studying was sweet?" Xiuhua said while busy loading the car.

"What kind of bitterness in the field, this kind of suffering can be counted, the child's illness is not completely cured, just so tired, and then we have to worry about it, even if we are exhausted, it is too late to regret it." Yingzi glanced at it with his mouth. Said with a glance at Lao Mu who lowered his body and lifted the sheaf of wheat.

Old Mu had a gloomy face and did not speak, silently busying himself with the work at hand, listening to their aunt and daughter-in-law chattering.

"I'm also doing it for his own good, but I don't know what's going on in my heart. I'm afraid he won't pass the exam and I don't know what to do! Seeing his lack of confidence now, I want to beat him up!" Old Mu couldn't help it. Such a sentence came out.

"Hey, I can't pass the exam. There are still middle schools in the commune. Why do I have to study in the county?" Yingzi replied with a sigh.

"That's what I said, but after all, it's not as good as the teaching in the county town. That's the county's elite. If you enter there, you will have a much better chance of getting a job!" Old Mu admitted his death.

"I can't convince you, but I really can't pass the exam. If you go to a commune middle school, you won't necessarily fail to become a talent in the future! You have to think about it." Yingzi was a little worried about Lao Mu, afraid that he would find another death reason, and his spirit would be stimulated Getting sick again, he tried to persuade him with a gentle tone.

After a few days of busy farming, Lao Mu's bones seemed to be falling apart. Before he had a rest, it was the day when Gucheng No. [-] Middle School was listed. Lao Mu didn't have time to eat breakfast, so he rode his bicycle to the county seat.

Naturally, I rode faster when I was impatient. The usual two-hour journey took only one hour to arrive at the school. There were already many people waiting in front of the school's Confucian Temple corridor. People who knew the details said that they would not be listed until ten o'clock.

Lao Mu sat under the shade of a tree, facing the ten-meter-long Wenlang. This Wenlang was the east wall of the yamen in the ancient county. Later, this place became a school, and this yamen became a part of the school. When Lao Mu was in high school, he , the yamen has been converted into a processing factory by the school. The "rumbling" sound from the last time I came to take the exam has already shown that this yamen still has not changed its purpose, but there is no sound today. It may be repairing the machine, maybe Because it affects the mood of the viewers, it is not turned on!Old Mu guessed.Looking closely at the Wenlang, it is just a corridor next to the east wall of the yamen. In front of the Wenlang can only be embraced by four or two adults. It is supported by tall wooden pillars painted in bright red, and the ground is covered with a smooth polished blue The cylindrical granite stone, further up, the front of the corridor is carved with various animal heads, etc., all painted in bright red color, the carvings are lifelike, and the glory of the past can be imagined only by this carving. The swallow in front of Wang Xietang flew into the homes of ordinary people."The roof of the corridor is covered with glazed tiles commonly used in ancient buildings, which have been in disrepair for a long time and have lost their former luster.Looking down the corridor, they are all made of thick blue bricks nearly half a meter long and more than ten centimeters thick, with red paint on them to trace the rectangular sidebars of the bulletin boards, and there are still student grade lists posted on the boards at an unknown time.Taking advantage of the corridor in front of this wall for shelter from the rain and the large area behind it, every National Day, New Year’s Day and other festivals, colorful text patterns will be painted on the wall under the corridor, revealing a festive atmosphere.After each centralized examination organized by the school, everyone will always find their scores and rankings in the whole school here.It used to be a paradise for teachers and students to display their talents, and it was also a place where teachers and students saw what they had gained.He has lived here for three years, but he has never appreciated the gallery so carefully.

Lao Mu stared at the gallery, as if he had returned to his high school life back then. He saw his name appearing in the list of excellent grades from this gallery more than once. When the festival came, he would also see his wonderful prose At that time, he was proud of this gallery and looked forward to a bright future, but today, he is in a kind of indescribable anxiety, "This year's enrollment is very important for Zhen'er. , It’s an excellent opportunity, if I can’t grasp it this time, I have to wait another year, and I don’t know what the result will be after a year?” At the same time, he felt unspeakable irritability, “It’s really not possible, it’s just like what I did back then. , Will go crazy again! Amidst the uneasiness in my heart, this gallery has become so unfamiliar, whether my son can be listed, it is related to the future of the son, and it is also related to the future job of the son!"

Old Mu couldn't help thinking this way, "It's fate. Think about it, I was just as beautiful back then, but it's not as good as God's fortune when I made trouble. In the end, I got nothing. Isn't it the same when I go home with my face turned to the loess and my back to the sky?" He asked himself , I felt a little more relaxed, "Maybe it's true what my wife said, there is no such thing as the wormwood in my ancestral grave, and it is really difficult to think about leaving that familiar land!"

Mu Zhen knew that when her father went to see the list today, just like his father, he was not in a calm mood. This mood was not sorrow, but fear. There was no tranquility in this mood, only apprehension.He sat quietly in his courtyard alone, staring at the direction to the county town in a daze.

"Rice bowl, rice bowl, there is something to eat, it's not enough to starve to death! People in the village who are illiterate, don't they also have rice bowls? Clay rice bowls, iron rice bowls, what kind of bowls? It goes without saying that they are on the list, if they are really on the list Shang Wuming, so I don’t know how to deal with me when I come back? The road is under my feet, but I didn’t walk out by myself. I was forced to move forward. When will this kind of passiveness be the end?” Mu Zhen didn’t understand, father Why does he always use his job to teach himself a lesson? He only knows that every time he fails in an exam, he will attract his father's uneasy eyes.

"Either you die, or I die!" These words came back to Mu Zhen's mind. "If you really can't pass the exam, it's better to die than to die. It's not necessarily a bad thing to end such a boring life like this."

"How should I choose to die? Jumping into a pit, I can swim, hang myself, and I don't know how to do it. The best way is to take medicine, which is the most convenient way! Hey!" The last long sigh said, The extreme helplessness in Mu Zhen's heart also expresses the truest feelings of a child facing his father's hope that his son will become a dragon.

Poor parents all over the world, it is very cruel to face an underage child like this. In fact, society is colorful, why not make the child's world colorful?The child's world is pure, but under such strong pressure, what kind of fallacies can be created? The child's thinking is open, but in a world where books are the standard of life, how can the child's How about an open mind?After all, the world is colorful, society is changing, and a person's development is also constantly changing. The thinking that this world brings to people cannot be solved by a few books. Life, let him seek a space suitable for his own development in self-development?

After all, Mu Zhen is a child. His thoughts are very simple. The inner world of such a child has become deformed in such a high-pressure environment. What kind of talent can he become in the future?
In Mu Zhen's eyes, the world is just one color, and there is no fun of her own. The only thing that can make her happy is to get good grades in the exam, be on the list, and make her father happy, so that she can have her own happiness.

Mu Zhen's heart was in turmoil. How should she face her father who came back from the exam, and how would she face the pain of being out of the exam?No one gave him an answer, the only thing he could do was to wait slowly in torment. In Mu Zhen's view, these few hours were so long and so far away, so long that time had stagnated, so far away that he couldn't see or think of the end with the end.

The big yellow dog at home walked to his feet knowingly, and he stroked the head of the big yellow dog subconsciously. The big yellow dog enjoyed the closeness of the little master very docilely, "Dahuang, can you understand me?" Mu Zhen lowered her head and said Big Yellow Dog said to himself.

A magpie flew over the jujube tree in the yard at some point, and flew away after calling a few times. This call attracted Mu Zhen's attention, "A magpie is an auspicious bird that announces good news. If I can become Just an auspicious bird!" The bird flew away, reminding him of the dream last night, which had appeared more than once in the dream, "I became a person who can fly, I always feel that I have infinite power accumulated in my body, but I can only fly from one roof to another, and I can't fly high or far. An invisible force is pulling me. This is my future Is it?" Mu Zhen asked another question that she couldn't answer.

(End of this chapter)