Old things in the south

Chapter 17 I'm no longer a child after my father's flowers fall
The newly built auditorium was full of people; our graduates sat in the first eight rows, and I sat in the middle seat in the front row.There is a pink oleander on my lapel, which my mother picked from the yard and pinned it to me when I came.she says:
"Oleander was planted by your father, wearing it is like seeing you on stage!"

Dad fell ill, he was in the hospital and couldn't come.

I went to see my dad yesterday, his throat is swollen and his voice is hoarse.I told my dad that during the graduation ceremony, I will receive the graduation certificates on behalf of all the students and give a speech of thanks.I asked Dad, can I get up and attend my graduation ceremony?Six years ago, when he participated in the farewell party of our school to send off the graduates, he asked me to study hard, and six years later, he also received the graduation certificate and the speech of thanks on behalf of the classmates.Today, "six years later" came, and the teacher really picked me to do it.

With a hoarse voice, Dad took my hand and said with a smile:
"How can I go?"

But I say:

"Father, if you don't go, I'm very scared. If you are under the stage, I won't panic when I speak on stage."

Dad said:
"Yingzi, don't be afraid, no matter what the difficulty is, as long as you bite the bullet and do it, you will get through it."

"Then can't dad get up from the bed and go to our school?"

Dad looked at me, shook his head, and stopped talking.He turned his face to the wall and raised his hand to see the nails on it.Then, he turned his face and told me:
"I have to get up early tomorrow, pack up and go to school, this is your last day in elementary school, don't be late!"

"I know, Dad."

"Without a father, you have to take care of yourself, and take care of your younger brother and younger sister. You are already grown up, aren't you, Yingzi?"

"Yes." Although I agreed, I felt that what my father said made me uncomfortable. Since the time six years ago, have I ever been late again?
When I was in the first grade, I had the problem of staying in bed in the morning.Every morning when I wake up and see the sun shining on the glass windows, I feel a burst of worry: It’s already so late, I have to wait, wash my face, braid my hair, change my uniform, and go to school again. He was punished by standing by the door.The eyes of the classmates will cast towards you one by one.Although I am lazy, I also know how to be shy!So worried and afraid, I ran to school every day with fear.The worst thing is that Dad doesn't allow children to take the bus to school, he doesn't care if you are late or not.

One day, when it was raining heavily, I woke up and knew it was late, because my father was already eating breakfast.I listened, looked at the heavy rain, and felt very worried.Not only would I be late for school, but I would also be dressed up by my mother to wear a fat jacket (it was summer!), dragging my ill-fitting oil shoes, and walking to school holding a big oil paper umbrella!The thought of going to school so uncomfortable gave me the courage to stay in bed and not get up.

Wait a minute, mom is in.Seeing that I hadn't gotten up yet, she was startled and urged me, but I frowned and pleaded to my mother in a low voice:

"Mom, it's late today, so I won't go to school?"

Mom just couldn't do Dad's idea, and when she turned to go out, Dad came in.He was tall and thin, standing in front of the bed, staring at me:
"Why don't you get up, get up! Get up!"

"It's late! Dad!" I said bravely.

"I have to go even late, how can I skip school! Get up!"

One-word orders are the scariest, but what's wrong with me!Actually have the courage not to move the nest.

Dad was so angry that as soon as he dragged me out of bed, my tears flowed.Dad looked left and right, but he picked up the feather duster from the table and turned it upside down. When the rattan whip was swung in the air, it made a squeaking sound, and I was beaten!
Dad beat me from the head of the bed to the corner of the bed, from the bed to the bottom of the bed, and the sound of the rain outside mixed with my cries.I cried, ducked, and finally went to school in the rain.I was a miserable puppy who was carried into a foreign car by Song Ma - the first time I spent five dollars to go to school by car.

I sat in the rickshaw with the awning down, sobbing and crying, and lifted up my trousers to check my scars.The bulging welts were red and hot.I pulled down the bottom of my trousers to cover the scar at the bottom, for fear of being ridiculed by my classmates.

Although I was late, the teacher didn't punish me for standing, which is forgivable on rainy days.

The teacher taught us to be silent before reading.Sit up straight, put your hands behind your back, close your eyes, and think quietly for 5 minutes.The teacher said: Think about it, do you listen to your parents and teachers?Did you do your homework well yesterday?Have you brought all your homework for today?Did you say goodbye to your parents politely in the morning? ... When I heard this, my nose twitched a lot. Fortunately, my eyes were closed and the tears would not flow out.

In the midst of the silence, I was patted on the shoulder and hurriedly opened my eyes. It turned out that the teacher was standing next to my seat.He told me with his eyes that he taught me to look out of the classroom window. I turned my head and saw that it was my father's tall and thin shadow!
My heart that had just calmed down was frightened again!Why did Dad chase after school?Dad nodded and beckoned me out.I looked at the teacher and asked for his approval. The teacher also smiled and nodded, expressing his promise to go out.

I walked out of the classroom and stood in front of Dad.Dad didn't say anything, he opened the bag in his hand, and what he took out was my flower jacket.He handed it to me, watched me put it on, and then took out two copper coins and gave it to me.

What happened after that, I don't remember, because it was six years ago.I just remember that from then until today, every morning I was one of the students waiting for the janitor to open the big iron gate.Standing in front of the school gate on a winter morning, wearing gloves with five fingers exposed, holding up a piece of hot roasted sweet potato and eating it.Standing in front of the school gate on a summer morning, holding a hosta flower picked from the flower pond in my hand, I gave it to my dear teacher Han, who taught me to sing and dance.

what!Mornings like this have passed year after year, and today is my last day in this school!
Dangdang, the bell rang, and the graduation ceremony was about to begin.Looking at the sky outside, it was a bit cloudy, and I suddenly thought, will my father suddenly get up from the bed and bring me a flower jacket?I thought again, when will my father's illness be cured?Why are mom's eyes red and swollen this morning?The big pots of pomegranates and oleanders in the yard were not served with sesame seeds this year. He was so anxious that he vomited blood because his uncle was killed by the Japanese.When it comes to May Festival, the pomegranate flowers are not so red and not so big.If autumn comes, will Dad still buy so many chrysanthemums and place them in our yard, under the eaves of the corridor, and on the flower shelf in the living room?

How Dad likes flowers.

Every day when he came back from get off work, we waited for him at the door. He pushed the straw hat behind his head and picked up his younger brother. After passing the tap, he picked up the watering can filled with water, and walked to the backyard singing.The first thing he did when he came home was to water the flowers.At that time, the sun was about to go down, and there was a cool wind blowing in the yard. Dad picked a jasmine and stuck it in the skinny chicken sister's hair.The uncle of the Chen family said to his father: "Old Lin, you like flowers so much, so your wife gave birth to a bunch of daughters!" I have four younger sisters and only two younger brothers.I am only 12 years old. ...

Why do I keep thinking about this?Director Han has already taken the stage, and he said seriously:

"All the students have graduated, and they are about to leave the primary school where they have been for six years to go to middle school. If you are a middle school student, you are no longer a child. When you go back to primary school to see the teacher, I will be happy to see that you have grown taller. ,grown up……"

So I sang Li Song for five years, and now it's my classmates' turn to sing our farewell:

"Outside the long pavilion, by the side of the ancient road, the green grass stretches to the sky... I ask you when to go here, don't linger when you come! At the end of the sky, at the corner of the earth, friends are half scattered, life is rarely a happy gathering, but there are many separations..."

I cried, and our graduates all cried.How much we like to grow taller and become adults, and how afraid we are!When we come back to elementary school, no matter how tall or big we are, teacher!You will always treat me as a child!

To be an adult, people often ask me to be an adult.

Song Ma said when she returned to her hometown:

"Yingzi, you are old, you can't quarrel with your brother! He is still young."

When Aunt Lan followed the four-eyed dog into the carriage, she said:

"Yingzi, you are old enough to make your mother angry!"

The man squatting in the grass said:

"When you graduate from elementary school and grow up, let's go to see the sea."

Although, these people disappeared as I grew up.Is the childhood lost along with me lost together?

Dad doesn't take me as a child anymore, he said:
"Yingzi, go and send the money to Uncle Chen who is studying in Japan."

"dad!--"

"Don't be afraid, Yingzi, you have to learn to do many things so that you can help your mother in the future. You are the biggest."

So he counted the money and told me how to send the money to Zhengjin Bank in Dongjiaomin Lane—go to the innermost cabinet and ask for a payment slip, fill in "Jin Qi Shi Yuan Ye" and write the name of Yokohama, Japan. Give the address to the little Japanese at the counter!
Although I was very scared, I had to bite the bullet and go. ——This is what my father said, no matter what the difficulty is, as long as you bite the bullet and do it, you will get through it.

"Practice, practice, Yingzi." My father told me like this when I was leaving.

Nervously, I clutched a roll of bills and went to the bank.When I came out of the Zhengjin Bank on the highest step, I saw that the flower garden in Dongjiaomin Lane was full of dandelions, and I thought happily: I have come here, go home quickly, tell Dad, and ask him to plant dandelions in the flower pond tomorrow. dandelion.

Go home now!Go home now!Holding the primary school graduation diploma that was just issued - a white paper tube tied with a red ribbon, I urged myself, as if I was afraid of not being able to catch up with something, why?

After entering the house, it was quiet. Four younger sisters and two younger brothers were sitting on a small bench in the yard. They were playing with sand and soil. The oleander next to them dropped several branches at some point. It's because Dad didn't do them this year - pruning, tying and fertilizing.

There were also several small pomegranates under the big pot of the pomegranate tree. I was very angry and asked my sisters:
"Who picked Dad's pomegranate? I'm going to tell Dad!"

The younger sisters opened their eyes wide in surprise. They shook their heads and said, "They fell by themselves."

I picked up the small blue pomegranate.Lao Gao, the cook who was missing a finger, came in from outside and said:
"Miss, don't tell your father anything. Your mother just called from the hospital and told you to go quickly. Your father has already..."

Why didn't he go on?I suddenly became anxious and shouted:
"What did you say? Old Gao."

"Miss, when you arrive at the hospital, try to persuade your mother, you will be counted here! You will be counted!"

The skinny sister was still grabbing Yanyan's gadgets, and the younger brother poured the sand into the glass bottle.Yes, I'm the big one here, I'm the little adult.I said to Old Gao:
"Old Gao, I know what's going on, I'll go to the hospital." I've never been so calm, so quiet.

I put my elementary school diploma in the drawer of my desk, and when I came out, Lao Gao had already hired a car for me to go to the hospital.Walking through the yard, and seeing the oleanders hanging down, I silently recited:

Dad's flowers have fallen, and I am no longer a child.

(End of this chapter)