life struggle

The two walked for nearly an hour under the scorching sun and the dense fog formed by the rising dust. Their mouths were already dry and their eyes were full of stars. When they reached the top of the mountain, their eyes lit up and they saw a village in front of them. It must be Panling Village, so he immediately accelerated his heavy steps and rushed to the village. 【 】

Panling Village is located on an uneven mountaintop, and the surrounding terraced fields are full of white stubble, without a single green leaf.There are forty or fifty households in the village. The road between each household is a newly built concrete road. Although it has twists and turns and goes up and down, it is very smooth and level.This is a village with relatively good economic conditions. Most of the houses are brick flat-roofed houses, which are well-proportioned, with neat courtyard walls and shiny gates, which are completely different from ordinary villages.

Wu Xiaojun said with a smile, "This kind of village is very different from the one I visited yesterday. It is really rare in the local area. There are almost no dilapidated houses. If the children here can receive the help of the Hope Project, I think [-]% of the whole town will be able to live there." **Ten of the children are eligible for assistance."

Bai Lingyan said suspiciously, "Yeah, every household in this village is decent, not ordinary. The strange thing is that there is indeed a child from the village named Zhang Baiyin on the list in our hand. Since he is here, we should check on the spot. Just a little bit."

When they found Zhang Baiyin's house, his parents and younger siblings were having breakfast, so they directly revealed their identities and explained their intentions.

Zhang Baiyin's father was very enthusiastic. He hurriedly pulled over the chair, beckoned the two to sit down, turned on the electric fan and the TV, poured two more glasses of boiling water, and said in a strong local accent, "Two classmates, there are more than 30 people who came here from the town. The distance is really not close, so you must be tired from walking and hungry. You should blow on the fan first to cool off, drink some water, rest your feet, and I will ask Bai Yinniang to make bowls of noodles for you."

Wu Xiaojun got up and said, "Master Zhang, we have already eaten in the town, so we don't need to bother you."

Master Zhang insisted, "It's so hot, it's such a long way to come here, it's impossible not to have a meal, please rest for a while, it will be fine soon."

Going out and relying on fellow villagers, homeless and home everywhere.Along the way, the two of them did feel a little hungry. Seeing that Master Zhang was very hospitable and sincere, they didn't say any more polite words.Compared with the families that have been visited, the conditions of his house are really good. The inside and outside of the house are clean and tidy, all kinds of furniture are complete, and there are many household appliances.On the east wall were pasted more than a dozen certificates of awards that Zhang Baiyin had won over the years. Wu Xiaojun got up and took a closer look, and found that three of them were issued by Sishi Town Middle School, and he suddenly became suspicious.

Wu Xiaojun looked at the certificate, turned around and sat down, picked up the cup and drank water and asked, "Master Zhang, how is your Baiyin doing now?"

Master Zhang said very proudly, "To tell you the truth, Baiyin is a very reassuring child in all aspects. He has just finished the second year of middle school at the town middle school, and he will start the third year of middle school next semester. My child is not the same person as the one you are looking for, and we have never heard of any child in our village who has been rescued by the Hope Project, let alone a second person named Zhang Baiyin."

Wu Xiaojun said hesitantly, "The list given to us by the county and the town does have Zhang Baiyin, and his address is the village, so it should be correct."

Master Zhang said unrelentingly, "The name and address are correct. Our family really didn't know about this kind of thing. How about it? Later, you go to the school and ask what's going on. The school should know. I remind you In a word, this kind of incompatibility between people and things is more common in rural areas, maybe the school reported Baiyin's name to the school, and it was approved, but it's hard to say who took the money."

Wu Xiaojun heard that there was something in Master Zhang's words, so he couldn't ask further questions, and said with a smile, "Master Zhang, it's okay, we'll go to the school in a while and have a brief understanding."

While talking, two full bowls of lo mein were ready and served, and the two felt very embarrassed.

Looking at the enthusiasm of their family, I really saw the hospitality of the villagers and the sincere expression of traditional virtues among the simple and honest rural people. This situation cannot be expressed and described in words, and it can only be deeply buried in my heart. as a permanent memory.

After dinner soon, the two bid farewell to Master Zhang's family and came to Panling Primary School. Since it was the summer vacation, the principal was not at school.It was learned from a teacher on duty that Zhang Baiyin's rescue quota had long been transferred to a student named Duan Xiaoming in Duanpo Natural Village, but the specific situation is not clear.

In order to further verify the situation, following the clues and routes guided by the teacher, the two walked for more than an hour, climbed over two hills, and found Duan Xiaoming's house.

Duan Xiaoming's grandfather and grandmother were eating lunch in the house with a bowl, looking at the two strangers with rather astonished and fearful eyes, hesitating and faltering.

Wu Xiaojun said very casually, "Master, we are from Pingxi. May I ask if this is Duan Xiaoming's house? I want to know something about it."

The old man stood up slowly, his ears were a little hard to use, and he asked loudly, "Ask Xiaoming about the situation, what do you know about it?"

Wu Xiaojun also leaned closer to the old man's ear and said loudly, "I heard that Duan Xiaoming's family is very difficult. I mainly want to know about the situation at home and see if I can apply for some assistance from my superiors."

Hearing this, the old man was no longer nervous, hehe said, "That's right, our family is poor, you see that there is nothing, just these few broken houses leak in rainy days. Speaking of which, life is really hard. "The old man said sadly and shed tears.

Wu Xiaojun hurriedly persuaded, "Master, don't get excited, just sit down and talk slowly."

The old man squatted against the wall, choked up and said, "My son leaned on the mine to give people gravel. Although he didn't make much money, he was able to get by. Unexpectedly, two years ago, my daughter-in-law got angry because of a quarrel with others. He drank pesticides, but couldn’t be rescued. Xiaoming is my eldest grandson, and he had to stay at home to take care of his two siblings. Poor baby, he couldn’t even go to school.”

Suddenly, the door slammed, and a black and thin middle-aged man came from outside, and shouted as soon as he entered, "Father, mother, have you eaten yet?"

The old man hurriedly replied, "Zili came back and was eating. Someone from the big city came to know about our situation. What's wrong with your arm? Why is it still wrapped in bandages?"

Duan Zili said with a painful expression, "Father, something happened in the mine this morning. My arm was injured by a stone. I just came back from the health center. The doctor asked me to go to the county to take a radiograph in the afternoon. No bones."

Wu Xiaojun hoped in his heart that this trip was worthwhile. Seeing Duan Zili coming back, he saw a glimmer of hope, so he hurried forward to explain his purpose.

When Duan Zili heard this, he was furious, and said cursingly, "I've never heard of any relief money. I'm sure the gang of Guisun bastard village cadres secretly reported Xiaoming's name to collect money for themselves." it took."

The two of them couldn't find anything real from Duan Xiaoming's family, so they went to the house of the director of the general affairs of the school next door, and the director went to work in the county.The director's daughter-in-law was very cheerful and polite. She didn't know whether it was the custom of the locals or her love for the two outsiders. She hurried to the kitchen and turned on the coal fire that had just been sealed. After a while, she cooked egg tea and served it to the two of them.This is the first time Wu Xiaojun has seen and tasted this kind of tea. It is completely different from what he usually calls it. The eggs are evenly scattered and covered the whole bowl, and the taste is quite good.It was later learned that this is a kind of high courtesy of the locals to rare visitors.

The two tried their best to track it down to this point, but there was still no result, Bai Lingyan sighed regretfully, "It's really a waste of time, I spent a whole morning to get some useful information, it's a waste of time. "

"Things in the local area are full of strange things and the situation is complicated. Some village cadres are bold and reckless. They dare to do anything immoral and unconscionable, and they dare to greedy for any money. As for Zhang Baiyin's matter, there must be tricks in it. It's really hard to figure it out with just the two of us." , and don’t have the time and energy to investigate, no matter how much effort is spent, there may not be actual results.”

"Let's put the matter of Zhang Baiyin aside and deal with it individually. Let's call it a day."