life struggle

The day before his departure, he passed away amidst noise, surprise, anger, helplessness, and busyness. When most other people's homes had turned off their lights for rest, the lights in Wu Pingshun's courtyard were still brightly lit. 【 】This night, for Xiaojun, is not only infinite expectation, but also endless nostalgia and reluctance.Seeing his father's exhausted body and his mother's emaciated and scarred hands, he really couldn't bear to leave.That night, he worked desperately to peel the corn husks, but he didn't feel tired. He would use the most limited time to do the most work, so as to reduce the burden on his parents.In the past, although he went to school, he did not miss the farm work every year. For this reason, the teacher gave him permission to make him proficient in the four seasons, harvesting and farming, and he also felt that everything was familiar and monotonous. A little strange, but also feel the infinite power and knowledge in it, he wants to make up, but time is not waiting for me, he tries his best to experience, to practice, to minimize defects and regrets.In this way, in the complicated mood, in the vast night, he held back the time, the long night, and the footsteps of the peasants, looking forward to the later arrival of the moment when he left his hometown and left the well.

In the middle of the night, lightning gradually appeared in the sky, and the sound of thunder, wind and crackling rain was gradually heard from far and near.Yes, it's raining.For most farmers, this rain was a timely rain, which was very good for farming, but it undoubtedly caused a little trouble for Xiaojun's journey.

The village where Xiaojun grew up is called Wujia Village. It is located about six kilometers west of Yuanzhen County. It has a population of more than 80.00 people.There is no asphalt road from the village to the urban area. The whole city has dirt roads. When entering the city on a sunny day, you can ride a bicycle. When it rains, you can rely on walking. If it rains heavily, or it rains continuously for several days, the road will be turned into mud by pedestrians. , Wearing long rubber shoes, it is inevitable that the inside of the shoe will not be grouted.

Seeing that it was raining, Xiaojun and his parents had no choice but to pile up corn, beans, and grains and cover them with plastic sheets. It was already two o'clock in the morning.At this time, the rain was getting heavier and heavier, and it was no longer possible to travel by bicycle, so I could only rely on walking.To catch the early bus at five o'clock in the morning, it was almost time to hit the road.Xiaojun and his father had a simple meal, put on long rubber shoes, worn-out umbrellas and cloth shoes, and carried more than 20 hard-boiled eggs and eight Hanamaki steamed buns on their backs. With the rhythm of the raindrops, they quietly bid farewell to the growth 18 years in the village, embark on a new journey of life.

The night is silent and the road is muddy. Xiaojun and his wife did not have a flashlight, so they had to rely on their familiarity with the road to move forward little by little. Perhaps it was because of their eagerness and fear of delays. The pace does not appear to be slow, and has passed through the three villages of Mantan, Sunqiao and Qianli smoothly.When walking to Zhaoqiao, Xiaojun suddenly slipped and couldn't control himself, and fell to the ground. The eggs and steamed buns on his back rolled around and fell to the bridge. Fortunately, the shoes and his father's two clothes Did not fall.

"What, did you fall?" Wu Pingshun said and pulled Xiaojun with one hand, and Xiaojun got up, "It's okay, it's just that the eggs and steamed buns fell into the river."

"If it doesn't work, let's go, look at the watch, what time is it?"

"At [-]:[-], walk another three miles and you will reach Yuanzhen Road in the city. It's easy to go."

Soon, the two came to Yuanzhen Road.This is a west ring city road, an old street, which has not been renovated for many years. Under the pressure of people coming and going, it is already full of scars and potholes.On both sides of the street are high and low, scattered with various shops, without the hustle and bustle of the day, it looks extraordinarily quiet.The street lights that were far apart flickered in the rainy night, looking listless, but compared to the black dirt road without lights, the two felt much more relaxed.Under a street lamp, Xiaojun saw that he was like a pig rolling in a pen, covered in mud all over his body, with rain dripping from his front and back from time to time.Xiaojun smiled at his father, "I have no choice but to change at the station."

Gradually, more people went to the market and got up early to buy things on the street. Seeing that it was still early, the two came to a fried dough stick stand 500 meters away from the bus station in Pingdong Central. Stirring the coal fire to start a fire, "Xiaojun, we've been walking all the way, eat some fried dough sticks, and drink a bowl of mochi, as soon as you get in the car, you won't be able to eat it."

"Okay, boss, here are six fried dough sticks and two bowls of sesame paste, do you have any?" Xiaojun said.

"Okay, please sit down." The shop owner looked at the two people in front of him, an old man was rustic, and a young man was covered in mud, and said disdainfully.

The two sat down at a table, and soon the store owner brought out the fried dough sticks.Xiaojun saw that something was wrong, "Boss, your fried dough sticks and sesame paste are cold, why not hot."

"I'm sorry, I just turned on the fire. Is it hot? It's all leftovers from last night. If you want to eat, you can eat it. If you don't eat it, you can pay and leave." The shop owner said slowly while stirring the coal fire.

"Hey, Boss, you're wrong to say that. No matter how we eat cold food, we have to pay to leave if we don't eat it. What do you mean by that?" Xiaojun and his son asked.

"It's not preaching or meaningless for you to say that. You can still eat cold rice. Don't you eat cold rice at home, and you haven't heard that anyone will die if you eat cold rice. Besides, even if you don't eat it, the rice is What you asked for, and you didn’t say you wanted hot or cold ones, I brought them to you again, shouldn’t you pay? It’s raining so hard, you stayed here for ten minutes to avoid the rain, and then sat on my stool again, Can you take shelter from the rain and rest your feet for nothing? I’m in business and I don’t sleep all night. Isn’t that what I paid for? I waited for a night without business, and you were the first to open your business. If you don’t want to eat, pay five yuan. You can figure it out, hurry up.” The shop owner stared at the two of them while talking.

"Aren't you slaughtering people? You sticks and sesame paste cost less than two yuan in total. How dare you ask for ten yuan. There is no such thing in Yuanzhen County. You are too dark." Xiaojun got up anxiously His eyes widened and he quarreled with the shop owner.

"What's wrong, who is killing people, who is too dark, I want so much, you can look at me, stare at me, and turn against you, who dares to provoke me Wang San in Pingdong, be careful I will beat you .” As he spoke, he turned the coal fire iron cone in his hand twice.

Wu Pingshun looked around, there were few pedestrians, and he felt a little nervous, "Xiaojun, it seems that the two of us have met a black shop, it's getting late, this one is a black shop for us, one more thing is worse than one less thing, this man It’s not ordinary, safety first, let’s not eat this meal, as he said, give him five yuan, let’s hurry to the station, eat what we can, and forget it if we can’t.”

Xiaojun looked around, as the saying goes: A bachelor does not suffer from immediate losses, but takes a step back to broaden the sea and sky, and save money and eliminate disasters.Tremblingly, Wu Pingshun took out five yuan from his coat pocket and put it on the table, "Serve the army, let's go."

"Big, you're so fucking useless. It's really annoying to meet this thing when you go out."

"This is just the beginning. There will be a lot of useless things in the future. It's not easy to go out. If you can bear it, you can bear it. It's normal to suffer a little bit of grievance. There is no such thing as smooth sailing everywhere. You have to take good care of the future. Let’s go, don’t make any mistakes, I hope you can keep it in mind and hold it well.” Wu Pingshun warned Xiaojun earnestly, Xiaojun listened to it and kept it in his heart.

Yuanzhen County is a large traditional agricultural county on the east side of the province. It is also an ancient county with a history of more than 2000 years. Shi Zhenzhuan's hometown, today, the county still retains the Shengxiantai of eighteen sons, Zhenzhuan's thatched cottage, and the Dajing Palace where Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty worshiped the saint.Over the years, the county has undergone some major changes. The surrounding area of ​​the station is one of the most prosperous places in the county. Large units such as Yuanzhen High School, Yuanzhen Hotel, Yuanzhen Power Plant, Yuanzhen County Hospital, and Yuanzhen Cinema are located at the station. Nearby, Donglai Avenue in front of the station and the North Ring Road on the south side of the station are newly renovated, wide and straight, and are the only iconic north-south avenue in the county.As the window of the whole county, the station has built a new ticket hall and waiting room. There are long-distance buses to Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Pingyuan, Pingxi and other places day and night.Although there is a long-distance bus to Pingxi every day, in addition to the long-distance bus time, there is another point that the passenger car first goes to Pingdong City, the eastern city of the plain, to take the train, which can save time, is safe and can enjoy half-price tickets for one person. However, Wu Pingshun still decided to take the train to send Xiaojun to Pingxi.

In front of the station, the lights are brightly lit, people with backpacks, people carrying boxes, people delivering goods, giving people away, shuttle back and forth, and there are many moving scenes of grandparents, brothers and sisters saying goodbye to their children and grandchildren.Xiaojun looked in front of the station from a distance, one was looking for the bound bus, and the other was looking for the arrival of his third brother Xiaosen.

"Hey, the bus to Pingdong is on the north side of the road in front of the station gate, let's go to the bus first."

"Buy tickets for Pingdong and get on the train, hurry up and buy tickets for Pingdong." The conductor yelled loudly over and over again. "If you are going to Pingdong, hurry up and buy a ticket and get on the train. The train will leave soon, hurry up."

The two came to the car, "Comrade, may I ask if this is the car to Pingdong?" Wu Pingshun asked.

"Fellow townspeople, yes, yes, are you one or two? It's for someone to send someone over and get on the bus. It's about to leave immediately. Hey, where are those three going? Go to Pingdong, put your luggage on the car, hurry up." The conductor looked at the two of them for a while, and felt that they didn't seem to be taking a car, so he responded softly and invited other passengers.

"Big, Xiaojun, how long has it been since you two arrived? I thought you were late and couldn't catch up with the bus." Xiaosen came over panting with luggage in one hand and held an umbrella, and asked eagerly. "Hey, how do you both go to school wearing long rubber shoes? Do you have any cloth shoes? If you have any, change them quickly. And you Sen, your clothes are all muddy. Open the bag quickly and find clean ones to change into." Come on." Seeing the distressed appearance of the two, Xiao Sen urged.

"Brother, I brought all my shoes, and my big clothes. Let's go to the waiting room to change."

After hearing this, Xiaosen turned to the conductor and said, "Comrade, two of us are going to Pingdong, please wait a moment, they change their shoes."

Xiaojun took the luggage bag and ran with his father to the toilet in the station, and sat down on a stool.Xiaojun opened the luggage bag, took out a light gray suit with a back slit, took off his underwear and changed into it.He took out two pairs of cloth shoes from his small pocket and changed them.Pack the dirty clothes and rubber shoes in a small pocket for convenience, and head straight to the bus with the luggage on your back.The car has started, and there are still many people in the car, and toilet seats have been added.The conductor took the luggage from Xiao Jun and put it directly in the trunk.Wu Pingshun handed Xiaosen the small bag where he put his old clothes, and the two got into the car immediately, found two toilet seats in the aisle, and sat down. The car started slowly and started to set off.