between clouds and mud

Chapter 17
During the summer vacation after the first year of high school, Zhou Song finally got on the train home as he wished.

Because he was in a happy mood, the relationship with Zhang Chengnian was also shortened for a short time, and the two had a rare and warm chat all the way.

In the second half of the journey, in the swaying carriage, most of the pedestrians were exhausted.

Zhou Song took a nap for a while, and when he woke up, looking at the dusk outside the window, his heart began to feel astringent.

Zhang Chengnian also woke up, and he put his coat on her shoulders. He didn't need any words at this time, they were quietly waiting for the train to start heading home.

The setting sun came from the window, and the train drove from the tall buildings in the city to the fields and forests, looking at the green trees and the vast mountains and rivers.

People know, home, not far away.

I got off the train at six o'clock and had to transfer to two buses. The road gradually became familiar, and even the trees looked familiar.

Zhou Song was carrying the suitcase when she left. She thought she would run all the way home, but now she walks slowly every step.

The land under her feet is the land she has measured step by step. The heat wave coming to her face has the smell of rice in her memory, and the feeling of nostalgia is even more frightening.

Arriving at the Dengwick Bridge, the silhouettes of parents are waiting and have merged with the night, the river of hometown is rushing in front of the eyes, and the silent haze is half hidden, it seems that time has never passed at this moment.

"Father, mother." Zhou Song beckoned, and she ran over quickly.

The wrinkles on Father's face deepened, and the corners of Mother's eyes drooped. They smiled as they remembered, and reached out to take their daughter's luggage: "Let's go home."

We thought that when we met again, tears would fill our eyes, we would hug hard, and we would express our longing for each other.

But in the end, he just kept his emotions in his heart and turned them into a simple greeting.

"Brother Cheng is going to eat at home together." The couple turned their heads and shouted: "There is a table of meals prepared at home."

"Next time I go, grandpa is still waiting at home." Zhang Chengnian bid farewell at the intersection. He has been studying abroad alone these years, and he has long been used to the pain of parting.

Zhou Song followed his parents back home, asking her about school and life along the way.

When we got home, a table of small dishes was covered under the mosquito cover, and the familiar taste of the entrance spread to the taste buds.

She doesn't eat much, and she has already been dizzy after running around all day.But under the expectant eyes of his parents, he still ate a bowl full of it.

"I lost weight." Through the light in the main room, the eyes of the lady turned to her.

"Grow taller." Dad finished rolling his cigarette and took a puff: "My Nier is beautiful, and she is fresh and juicy, white and tender."

Zhou Song opened the suitcase, and apart from a few clothes, there was a roll of awards and a report card.This is the only spiritual sustenance that wanderers far away in other hometowns can give to their parents.

Father pointed to the report card and counted them one by one: "My Nier has improved again."

Although Niang couldn't understand, she also leaned over under the lamp, with a very pleased expression on her face.

I took a shower at night and lay down on a small bed with a familiar smell.The fan was whistling, listening to the sound of turning, as if returning to the summer when I was 12 years old.

Zhou Song shook his shoulders, tears finally burst from the corners of his eyes, and instinctively awakened love and awe in his bones.

This is her hometown, her home.

Under her body is the land that nourishes her, and beside her are her parents who nurture her.

Compared with childhood, the village is much more depressed.The cities are being built, but the countryside is decaying.

With the surge of migrant workers, the young people in the village have packed their luggage and walked out of the mountains one after another. The only ones who stick to it are the elderly and children.

In fact, in the 90s, the wave of migrant workers caused a wave across the country, but in this isolated and isolated village, information reception is still underdeveloped.

With the popularization of televisions and mobile phones, we gradually perceive the changes in the outside world.

These young people who have not fully awakened in education and thought followed the tide of the times and took the first step of trying. How will the times forge them?
Zhou Song's familiar friends have poured into all corners of the country, and she also has her own life path.

Watching my parents pick up a hoe and work at sunrise and rest at sunset.She was sitting on the desk in front of the window, preparing for the re-examination of the National English Speech Contest for Middle School Students. She had already passed the preliminary round, and no matter what the final result was, she would give it her all.

So, listening to the sound of reading aloud from the room, Dad started humming his Huagu opera again, and even the days became more hopeful.

Lao Liu, who was sweating in the field, looked at the heavy ears of rice. He straightened up, drank water, glanced at the path, and couldn't help asking: "Xiao Liu?"

The boy walking on the path also looked over, his eyebrows and eyes were almost similar to Xiao Liu's, except that his cheeks were fuller and his lips were paler.Hearing Xiao Liu, he slowly walked down the slope and down the field: "Uncle, who are you?"

"Xiao Liu is my older sister." He looked a bit tiger-headed, and his voice was cocked when he spoke.Behind him was a man in a white shirt and black trousers, carrying a small suitcase in his hand.

At noon, Zhou Song was carrying side dishes to deliver meals to his parents. He saw a golden young master popping up out of nowhere. The driver at home stood by and held an umbrella for him.

"How did you come?"

"I cried for several days, and Dad agreed." Zhou Li pointed to his small eyes: "Look, they are all swollen."

The driver saw Zhou Song, nodded and said hello, then explained Zhou Li and left.

Zhou Song also wanted him to take the troublesome child back. Zhou Li had already taken a bite of the sweet sixth uncle, and started cheating on food and drink.

He chewed with relish, and he didn't forget to flatter: "Sister, you can also cook vegetables, which are much more delicious than Aunt Song's."

After eating, Zhou Lao Liu broke off a piece of weed and delicately wove a straw grasshopper, which made the little boy laugh while holding it.

Zhou Lao Liu looked at him with a hoe: "It's really similar to our Xiao Liu when he was a child."

"No, it looks like it was carved out of the same mold." Fu Ying replied, drinking herbal tea.

Zhou Li is already ten years old, and he is used to stretching out his hands to eat and opening his mouth, and he still can't take a bath. Zhou Song can't bear to bother his parents who have been busy in the fields all day.

She filled the footbath she used to bathe in when she was a child, and tested the temperature. Zhou Li was not in good health and could not take cold water.

Zhou Song turned his back and told his younger brother to wash himself.

In the evening, the whole family sat in the yard to enjoy the cool air, each sitting on a duck stool, and the only reclining chair was occupied by Zhou Li sprawling all over.

Next to the reclining chair, Fu Ying gently shook the cattail fan to drive away mosquitoes, humming a nursery rhyme sung in the countryside: "Lead the sheep and sell the sheep. Once you sell the sheep, you will sell them to Houjiatang. Boss, do you want to sell sheep? Sell them in Luoli? Don't let a sheep go?" If you get the horn, don't get the feet of the two sheep, and you can catch the three sheep and the four sheep."

Dad's dry smoke flickered in the night, until he exhaled a puff of smoke: "Why did you and Brother Cheng have an awkward fight?"

Zhou Song pursed his mouth and said sullenly: "He first said I was annoying."

"It hurts in vain, I can see it in my eyes, Xiao Liu has become more and more delicate as he grows up." Dad said slowly: "I watched this child grow up, and he swallowed everything , I have a lot of pressure on my heart."

Zhou Song looked at the things in his father's hand and laughed: "Father, I heard that this is a good thing, let me have a taste too."

Zhou Lao Liu took a look at her: "Have you ever smoked?"

Zhou Song shook his head knowingly.

Zhou Song went back to his room to read at night, and when he was about to rest, there was a light knock on the door.

Zhou Song opened the door, looked at Zhou Li who was rubbing his eyes in a daze, and closed the door mercilessly with a bang.

Zhou Li stood outside the door and continued to knock on the wooden door: "Sister, sister, I want to sleep with you."

"No."

"Sister, there are wolves howling outside, and I'm afraid." As she spoke, she pursed her lips and began to cry.

Zhou Song took a deep breath and opened the door to let the troublemaker come in. She thought that there must be a signal in the town, so she had to make a phone call to send Zhou Li back to save trouble.

At night, the two siblings lie on the same bed, with the fan whistling, and a hundred thousand whys are written in the children's world: "Sister, what happens to a person after death?"

Zhou Song didn't think about it, looking at the dark night sky outside the window, the twinkling stars in the sky: "Stars."

The little boy thought briefly in his mind: "That's pretty good."

After a while he continued to ask: "Sister, where does brother live?"

"It's not far away, it will be there in 10 minutes."

"The last time my mother went to look for him, when she came home, her nose was crooked." Zhou Li began to recall.

"What?" Zhou Song turned his head and looked at his younger brother: "When did it happen?"

"It's been a long time." Zhou Li said slowly, "I even overheard a few words."

Zhou Song sat up and looked at his brother.

"They seem to have had an argument."

"I heard my brother say that he likes Xiao Liu and waits for Xiao Liu to grow up."

At the end of August, when farming was busy, the ears of rice in the field began to be harvested. The farmers in the field were sweating profusely, wielding the sickle, and the crops of rice fell down.

Zhou Song passed the ridge of Zhang Chengnian's house with a bamboo basket, and stopped to say hello, "Grandpa, do you drink herbal tea?"

"Grandpa has a lot of tea here, and there is no shortage of tea." Grandpa Chengnian straightened his back, his son and grandson were busy in the field with a sickle, the old man had toiled all his life, and he still couldn't be idle when he was old, so he picked up the sickle and went to work in the field, so His back became more and more bent.

"What do you lack here, Xiao Liu will bring it to you later."

Grandpa Chengnian sat on the ridge of the field, raised his straw hat and smiled: "Grandpa, there is nothing missing, only a granddaughter-in-law is missing."

Zhou Song blushed and nodded: "When Xiao Liu grows up, I will be your grandson-in-law."

Several families next to me heard this, and everyone started laughing with their sickles.

Zhou Lao Liu raised his head in the field: "Big girl, do you know how to be ashamed?"

Zhang Chengnian also straightened up, both of their faces were flushed in the summer sun.

She heard the sound of her heart beating, being moved by the wind along the rice waves.

Grandpa Chengnian was happy from ear to ear all summer, and his face towards his son and daughter-in-law became much better.When I was eating, I kept picking up food for Brother Cheng.

"Grandpa, I can't eat anymore." Zhang Chengnian avoided it with a sea bowl in his hand.

Grandpa Chengnian didn't force it anymore, and put a mouthful of hoof meat into his mouth: "The girl from the old Liu family is full of water, look at me, grandpa, my heart is soft."

Seeing his son's chopsticks trying to reach into the bowl, Grandpa Chengnian opened it: "This meat is really delicious, I'll bring it to our future in-laws later."

High school started earlier than university, and Zhou's driver came to pick him up. The car couldn't enter the small mountain village, so it had to park far away in the town.Zhou Li leaned out the window to look: "Sister, my parents are not here."

The driver in the driver's seat explained: "Mr. and Mrs. are busy with work."

After Zhou Song waved goodbye to the parents behind him, he sat up slowly.

The car drove away little by little, slowly melting into black spots on the horizon.

After returning home, Feng Yi hugged his son and checked it carefully, touching his little head with distress: "Xiao Li is tanned."

Zhou Li took out his gadgets from the box and offered them like treasures: "Bamboo dragonfly, my sixth uncle is amazing, he can do tricks and make grasshoppers."

Even at night, he kept his mouth shut: "It's not as fragrant as my sister's fried dishes."

Hearing this, both Feng Yi and Zhou Huaiming were a little surprised, Feng Yi frowned and asked Zhou Song: "They still let you cook?"

Zhou Huaiming picked up a chopstick and put it into Zhou Song's bowl: "It means that we, Xiao Song, are filial. When will I let Dad have a taste of your cooking?"

Zhou Song seldom communicated with them. After dinner, he told Aunt Song to keep the food for Zhang Fang. When she came back from get off work, she went back to her room.

Before going to bed, Zhou Li knocked on the door again, but Zhou Song ignored him and turned off the light.

During the summer vacation, Jiang Lele took a job offer to find Zhang Fang, a salesperson in a supermarket.

Hearing about the salesperson, Zhang Fang felt that she was not up to the job. She had interviewed a cosmetics teller before, and she said bluntly that the girl was not good looking, and she couldn't speak Mandarin well.

Jiang Lele pointed to the job description above: "Look, he wrote about recruiting girls, not only to sell yogurt, but also to be responsible for the unloading of the warehouse. You are strong and willing to endure hardships, go try it."

Zhang Fang also carefully read the recruitment conditions and accepted the flyer.

I thought about going to the interview during the break, but after the interview, she was quite satisfied with her.

It's just that the salary is very low, Zhang Fang hesitated and told Jiang Lele that he would not go.

After hearing her concerns, Jiang Lele felt that she hadn't thought about it: "I'm sorry."

That day, Jiang Lele went to the supermarket with her mother and saw the introduction of the sign posted, the little girl couldn't help but look more.

Jiang's mother asked her what's so good about it?

Jiang Lele said that Zhou Song has a friend who washes dishes in the restaurant, but this salesman position seems to be very hard.

Jiang's mother explained: This position is still very training. People's food, clothing, housing and transportation are inseparable from sales. Those who can do well in business can do well wherever they go.

Jiang Lele nodded with a half-knowledge, and later Jiang's mother specially asked for a recruitment notice.

After listening to Jiang Lele's words, Zhang Fang resigned from the restaurant job under entanglement and went to the supermarket to work as a salesperson.

The person in charge of the yogurt section of the store also explained to her work matters, such as how to sell the yogurt, how to introduce the products, how the products are displayed, and the unloading time of the cold storage.

In the first few days, she couldn't get used to it, her voice was hoarse, and it took more than a week to get used to it slowly.If there is yogurt that is close to expiration, employees can take it home.

Zhang Fang has been selling yogurt for more than a month and tasted it for the first time.The taste is sour and sweet, and the taste is soft and glutinous. After the taste spread on the tip of her tongue, she couldn't help but lick it again.

Zhou Song chatted with Zhang Fang, slightly surprised: "Fang Nier, your Mandarin standard is much better."

Only then did Zhou Song know that Zhang Fang had changed jobs, and it was nearly twelve o’clock every night when she got home from get off work. Zhou Song waited for her while reading a book, and could only sleep peacefully when she heard the sound of the door opening downstairs.

Once, listening to the sound of Xixi, Zhou Song went downstairs and saw Zhang Fang standing in front of the refrigerator picking up things.

"What good food are you stealing behind my back?" Zhou Song also leaned over.

Zhang Fang pushed the yogurt in the refrigerator to an inconspicuous place, and then closed the door: "The yogurt brought back from the supermarket is about to expire, and I am reluctant to throw it away."

Zhou Song was greedy: "Bring me a box."

"These are about to expire, and I'll buy them for you tomorrow."

"I'm going to eat today's."

The two of you said one sentence to another, Zhang Fang was afraid that the noise would disturb others, so she compromised.

The two ran into Zhang Fang's room with yogurt and sat on the edge of the bed. Zhou Song licked the milk cover: "Fangnier, this is better than other yogurt."

The two girls chatted under the covers after drinking yogurt as if they were children.

Zhang Fang patted Zhou Song on the back and put her to sleep.She planned in her heart that she was going to start night school soon, and it would be convenient to buy a bicycle.

When school started, Zhou Song specially invited Jiang Lele to have a meal to express his gratitude. Jiang Lele's 16th birthday was about to come, so she invited Zhou Song and Zhang Fang to her birthday party.

On Zhou Song's birthday, his father and mother will cook a table of good dishes, and the family sits together to eat, and they don't like to be extravagant when they come to Zhou Song's house.She didn't have much experience in this area of ​​communication, so when Zhang Fang had a rare break, the two of them went to the street to choose gifts.

This was the first time for the two to go shopping together. There were so many gifts on display in the shopping mall that they were dazzled for a moment.As a student, it's not appropriate to give something that is too expensive, and I'm afraid Jiang Lele won't like it if it's cheap.

In the end, Zhang Fang chose a crystal hairpin, and Zhou Song chose a pen with a similar price.

She took another look at the colorful paints on the merchandise shelf. The price was not low. Zhang Chengnian seemed to have started to learn watercolor painting this semester. He probably had to starve again to buy this.

Zhang Fang gave Zhou Song all her presents and asked her to pass them on. Zhou Song was surprised: "Aren't you going?"

"I'll go, it's not suitable." Zhang Fang knew very well the gap between them. When she faced Jiang Lele, she felt extremely envious in her heart, and behind the envy was endless inferiority complex.

She once saw the photo Zhou Song sent home, two girls standing arm in arm.

The background is the sea and the sky meet, there are seagulls circling in the sky, the expression on one face is quiet and peaceful, and the smile on the face of a girl is carefree.

Jiang Lele lived so happily and recklessly, and was pampered and raised like a little princess.

In the years when she was a teacher, Zhang Fang saw too many families, most of which were girls who were out of school.

She still has a deep impression on her. There is one of the most mischievous male students in the class named Wu Jiabao. When she went to visit her home, none of Wu Jiabao's three older sisters had ever attended school. Only the only boy was eligible for education.

Zhang Fang couldn't help thinking, how tolerant and open-minded were Jiang Lele's parents?

That's why when Jiang Lele said that her mother thought the job was good, Zhang Fang made up her mind to quit the higher-paying kitchen job. In Zhang Fang's heart, she admired Jiang Lele's parents very much.

Only after seeing a girl like Jiang Lele did Zhang Fang understand.

It turns out that girls are not original sins, but ignorant thoughts and the prejudices of the world.

(End of this chapter)