between clouds and mud

Chapter 28
Zhou Song's heart was beating, and he ran over with his textbook: "Why did you come here suddenly?"

Zhang Chengnian bowed his head, with a smile on his lips: "Not busy, just have time."

The two hadn't had much contact since the last farewell, so she was a little surprised by Zhang Chengnian's sudden appearance.

The two had been in different places for nearly a year, and this was the first time Zhang Chengnian came to her on his own initiative.

"Is there still class in the afternoon?" Zhang Chengnian looked at the book in her arms.

Zhou Song shook his head: "No."

He stretched out his hand to pick up the folded pages of her book, ran his fingers across the small words on the class schedule, and read slowly: "Meteorology and Climatology."

Seeing her slight embarrassment when her lies were exposed, Zhang Chengnian sighed helplessly: "I will accompany you to class."

The two sat in the last row of the lecture theater. Zhang Chengnian was different from the students in the classroom. He was wearing a neat polo shirt, with handsome features and a sharp temperament.

The classmates in the class occasionally looked back and talked secretly.

The professor explained the difference between the monsoon and the land and sea breeze on the podium. Zhou Song held the textbook and whispered, "Did you know that geography is also very romantic."

She handed over the written note—we met in the rain of a southeast monsoon effect.

That year he was ten years old and she was six years old.

From childhood to youth, they walked together all the way, leaving indelible marks in each other's lives.

Zhang Chengnian took the note, cast a puzzled look at her, and reminded her to listen carefully.

He stroked the handwriting lightly with his fingers, and after a moment of thought, put the note into the black wallet.

After dinner, Zhang Chengnian planned to send her back to the dormitory, but Zhou Song followed him to the hotel where he was staying.

Lying on the bed, Zhang Chengnian just hugged her, gently kissed her on the forehead, and then closed his eyes.

In the silence, Zhou Song felt the wetness on the pillow, and occasionally a few tears dripped down his chin and onto her cheeks.

Zhou Song stroked his face: "What's wrong with you?"

Zhang Chengnian's voice was a little low: "Xiao Liu, I'm sorry."

Zhou Song hesitated: "What do you mean?"

There was only the sound of forbearable breathing in my ears, but there was no response.

Zhou Song's heart plummeted, and she probably understood what he meant, thinking: "Which woman is that lipstick?"

"client."

Zhou Song smiled, and she didn't continue to ask: "Zhang Chengnian, you have thought about it, are you breaking up?"

His arms holding her tightened invisibly, and his breathing became heavier.

Until the violent beating of the chest gradually calmed down, he slowly let go of his strength and nodded.

For as long as a century has passed, time stands still.

Zhou Song felt that his heart was light, and a piece was missing.

She said slowly: "Then I respect your choice."

"Brother Cheng." Her voice began to choke.

"I know your pressure, never tell me."

"I also know that you will never do anything sorry to me, but I'm tired too."

"I hope you will be well, take care of yourself, and stop working so hard overtime."

"Every time you look at me, you feel guilty. In fact, following you is not hard at all. I am very happy."

"After that, I won't accompany you on the road."

Zhou Song covered his face and wept uncontrollably.

"Xiao Liu, brother Cheng is useless." His Adam's apple rolled, and his voice was a little dry.

His arms tightly encircled the person in his arms, his heart filled with grief, and the sound of each other's heartbeats joined together.

The one he loves is right in front of him, his only love, the one who wants to hold hands for the rest of his life, the one who wants to have a future.

However, knowing that there is nothing to do, he is content with his life.

At 25, he still has nothing.

Six months after breaking up with Zhang Chengnian, Zhou Song had some nightmares.

At night, she often woke up crying. She touched her palpitations and looked at the familiar dormitory before she slowly calmed down.

In the dream, it was a house that locked her, and she would not open the door no matter how she called.

Her chest was extremely hollow, and she couldn't calm down no matter what.

She went to the supermarket and bought a pack of cigarettes that Zhang Cheng always smoked from memory.

When she smoked for the first time, she choked and coughed. Apart from chest tightness and headache, there was nothing to smoke.

She put the cigarette in a drawer and never smoked it again.

It happened that the teacher led a team to Changbai Mountain to investigate the geology and landforms. Zhou Song signed up, packed his things, and a dozen of them went into the mountain together.

There was no signal in the mountains, so she called her family and friends in advance.

Although Zhou Song is a girl, her physical strength is not bad and she will not fall behind. She holds a compass in her hand and walks in the middle of the team.

In the second half of the mountain road, everyone was exhausted, and she became the leading sheep.

The students all said with admiration——Student Zhou Song is tenacious and hard-working. It would be great if he was a man, and he would be very suitable for outdoor survey work.

Zhou Song smiled: "The same goes for women."

And this sentence will become a prophecy in the near future.

This petite woman, with her luggage on her back, measured every inch of land on Linxi Mountain, surveying landforms, exploring resources, topographical surveying and mapping, and writing papers.

After several years, the inspectors carrying bags on Linxi Mountain have gradually changed from a single figure to a team.

This group of people look up to observe astronomy, and look down to observe geography, so they know the reason of darkness.

Their climbing steps made an initial contribution to the construction of their hometown, and more businessmen and politicians will join them later.

Soon after, Zhang Chengnian joined a foreign company's design unit and devoted himself to work and study without sleep or food.

Sometimes lying on the sofa with painful stomach cramps, I belatedly think back to the year I was with Zhou Song, he seems to have rarely had stomach problems.

Zhang Chengnian looked at the number on the phone screen, a call from his hometown.

He checked the calendar, it was the autumn harvest season at the end of August, when the rice was ripe, the old man started to pick moths again.

Zhang Chengnian was a little helpless, so he pressed the answer button.

"Hello, brother Cheng." The voice of the old sixth uncle was over there.

Zhang Chengnian responded and sighed, "Uncle Six, I'm here."

"Brother Cheng, come back quickly, your grandpa is dying." The sixth uncle on the phone said anxiously, "I didn't lie this time."

"Uncle Six, don't play this trick." Zhang Chengnian explained a few words and hung up the phone.

After the call ended, his mobile phone continued to ring persistently, one call after another.

Zhang Chengnian looked at the phone, and the lingering ringtones were sharp and piercing, and his complexion became serious.

The old man quarreled with his son, drank a whole bottle of pesticide, and gastric lavage couldn't save him. His internal organs were severely corroded, and he closed his eyes when he saw his grandson with his last breath in the hospital.

Zhou Song followed the teacher to investigate in Changbai Mountain, but there was no signal in the mountain.When she rushed back, the old man had passed the first seven days and was about to be buried.

She choked up and asked, "Why are Grandpa Chengnian and his father arguing so fiercely?"

Zhou Laoliu sighed: "What else, for money."

The most difficult disease to cure in this world is the disease of poverty, because there is no cure for it, and there is nothing that can be done.

Zhang Chengnian, whom he hadn't seen for half a year, became even weaker. He was dressed in sackcloth and mourning, kneeling on the side of the coffin with a numb face.

Zhou Song couldn't bear the grief in his heart, knelt on the futon, kowtowed three times, and knelt beside his grandfather's coffin with him.

After a long time, Zhang Chengnian moved his lips, his voice was dry and hoarse: "Xiao Liu, let's go, it's not appropriate to kneel here."

Zhou Song's tears fell down, and when her mood finally stabilized: "I am the granddaughter-in-law appointed by my grandfather, and my grandfather will feel more at ease when he sees it."

Zhang Chengnian didn't speak any more, Zhou Song looked at his lonely and desolate back, without a tear or a trace of sadness.

I deeply understand the saying that there is nothing more sorrow than death.

Kneeling on the other side of the old man's coffin was Cheng Nian's father. He was haggard and never raised his head.

This man selfishly abandoned his father and son when he was young, and made a huge mistake when he was middle-aged. He will spend every day of the rest of his life in self-torture and repentance.

When the coffin was carried out for the funeral, the suona was beating and beating along the way.

Zhang Chengnian was holding a black and white photo frame in front of him, and the old man in the photo was smiling kindly.

For Zhang Chengnian, his family is nothing more than a cow and an old man, but now they have left him.His home is gone.

I heard that the old man was not very peaceful when he left.

The old man has a hard life, and he has not enjoyed half of the blessings. He has worked hard all his life, and his biggest regret is that he has not been able to see his grandson get married.

As for fate, the hemp rope is only broken at the fine points, and bad luck is only for the poor.

Some people don't believe in impermanence. Birth, old age, sickness and death are impermanence.

Zhang Fang also rushed back from Changsha to express her condolences. She bowed three times in front of the old man's coffin to see him off for the last time.

This place is her hometown, but she hasn't been back for five years. The road is still the same as before, but everything is much more depressed than in memory.

At the funeral, Fang Nier's father and mother didn't recognize their daughter, and quietly discussed with the villagers: "Whose family's daughter is energetic and beautiful, but I have never seen it before."

After the pretty girl left, a villager said uncertainly: "Junzi father and mother, I look a little like your Fangnier."

After hearing this, the husband and wife first waved their hands and said how is this possible, then their expressions became more and more puzzled, and they froze in place blankly.

After attending the old man's funeral, Zhang Fang didn't stay long. She stopped by Wutong Primary School on the way.

The teachers of Wutong Primary School are still the same as before. She carried the snacks she bought in the town and distributed them to the students.

Looking at the dim light in the classroom, the mottled marks on the wall.

The blackboard is still the one she wrote on when she was teaching, a simple painted "blackboard" made of door panels.

At that time, it was normal, but seeing this scene now felt a little sad.

Zhang Fang exchanged greetings with the principal for a while, then left.

She had a lot of feelings in her heart, and she walked in a trance, until at the station in the town, she saw two old friends.

Her father and mother had been waiting at the station for a long time, and when they saw her with tears in their eyes, they rushed up to her, hugged her tightly, and howled bitterly for missing their daughter, blaming her for being cruel.

Complaining that she hasn't been home for many years, without a word of news, she never enters the house.

Zhang Fang's affection for her family is very cold, but no hard-hearted person can be moved after seeing this scene.

In the touching atmosphere of the family embracing each other, she was so sad that she was dragged back home by the wailing parents.

That night, the family happily sat in the room and had a lively meal. When her granddaughter came back, her grandfather and grandmother also expressed their concern.

Parents didn't forget to call Zhang Zhijun who was far away after dinner. Zhang Zhijun on the other side of the phone heard his sister's voice and wept uncontrollably.

The family had a long talk and asked her what she was doing now.

Zhang Fang thought for a while, and said that she was selling yogurt in the county.

I also heard family members say that this year is not good, and Zhang Fang left the money she had with her when she left.

Parents shied away for a while, but finally accepted it, talking about being able to enjoy the blessings of my daughter in the future.

Zhang Fang is no longer an inexperienced little girl. She has been struggling in the workplace for many years, and she has been careful not to reveal her job.

Not long after Zhang Fang left, Wutong Primary School received two new blackboards.

This is not a door panel with ordinary paint, but a real blackboard.

Take chalk to write on it and wipe it, and it won't be white.Although the person who bought it did not leave his name, the principal knew it well. He stood on the podium and said to the students: "We have such a beautiful new blackboard, and we must study hard in the future."

The children under the podium have thin and childlike faces. They babble, shake their heads and follow the teacher to read the text.

In the past, there was also a female teacher with a straight back standing on the podium here.

(End of this chapter)