Hunter and Hussar

Chapter 38 Cold Wind, Spain and the Mango Tree
The winter wind blows violently on the speeding motorcycle.Fortunately, I am not so afraid of the cold, and I still find it quite exciting.Maybe it's because my body temperature is relatively high naturally. My face and hands are always warm. No wonder I sweat so easily during exercise.Xianxian is completely opposite to me. No matter what season my hands are cold, I always want to wrap myself up tightly every winter, and I habitually hide behind me when I go out.

Being led by the head teacher to "drag racing" is an experience I have never had before.There were no cars along the way. On the empty street, the roar of the engine and the collision of passing the speed bump gave me a sense of excitement, while the flowing wind caressing the facial contours brought me the joy and lightness similar to flying.The pleasure of pouring this airflow into the throat is similar to drinking iced Coke in summer, while letting the air conditioner and fan blow slowly.

"Peve, do you feel the pressure of homework recently?" Maybe I was just enjoying the wind, and I didn't say a word for a long time, and the old class suddenly asked.

"Ah, teacher, you don't have to worry. I will definitely finish my homework when I go back tonight. There's still time." I cleared my throat and answered him seriously.

"Don't be so nervous." I heard his laughter in the wind, "I just want to know if you have enough time for evening self-study."

"I think it's okay?" The head tilted, and the big motorcycle helmet also tilted to the right, which made me feel its existence, "I still write very fast, and I can have an extra 10 minutes a day Come on. Sometimes look at the wrong questions, or just read the book."

"You really like reading, what book are you reading recently?"

""Water Margin", arranged by Mr. Huang, said that it is a must-read list for junior high school students, and it is required for the exam."

"Can you watch it? Boys should be okay?"

"Well, I quite like it, especially the part where Song Jiang invites Dai Zong and Li Kui to dinner. It makes me hungry just watching it."

"Did you eat enough in the cafeteria just now?"

"Of course. Thank you, teacher. It's the first time I've eaten in the staff cafeteria. The food is really good."

"After you graduate from university, if you want to be a teacher, you can consider going back to your alma mater. Not only is the teaching staff canteen good, but it must be very interesting to teach your own juniors on the podium."

I didn't think about what I would do in the future.Being a teacher may be a good choice. I also like to get along with children who are younger than me during winter and summer vacations.But I have a bad temper and a soft personality.Maybe he will bully the students, and be bullied by disobedient students later.But it would be great to be a teacher in No. [-] Middle School. After all, I am a student of No. [-] Middle School. I am the kind of person Ye Ruiyang said, "whose roots are red", "pure blood", and "a middle school DNA".Should I say to the teacher, "Okay, one person per day, one person for life, if I want to be a teacher in the future, I will only be a teacher at my alma mater, you will never see me standing on the podium of Beichuan Middle School , or with the salary from the attached middle school of science and engineering."

I was thinking wildly, as if I was a player desperately trying to show my loyalty to the club's executives and fans, and ended up covering my mouth and laughing in the back seat of the car. I must have looked very stupid. Fortunately, Lao Ban was driving, so it was impossible to look back at me.

"What books do you read outside of class? My child will enter junior high school in a few years, and I would like to ask you seniors to recommend it." Sure enough, he didn't notice my abnormality.

"I've been reading Balzac recently. The main reason is that I can understand what he wrote, and it's also quite profound. My sister always recommends books to me, but I can't read any of the ones she recommends. What about "One Hundred Years of Solitude" , "The Outsider" and "The Plague", I don't quite understand it." [1]
"My sister? Is she a college student?"

"Ah, it's my cousin. She's in class fourteen, the same grade as me."

"That would be amazing, if I had read all of these books. I also have "One Hundred Years of Solitude" at home. I can't break through Chapter 2, and the names are too hard to remember." I grinned, and his back shrugged helplessly. .It turns out that the teacher is no better than me.But our old class teaches mathematics after all.

"My sister is too good. I'm far behind her." It's not too depressing to say this.This is a fact that I have accepted for a long time, and I have never been unhappy because of it.I am convinced of her.

"Actually, you're not bad either. You study hard and play football very well. Teachers and classmates like you very much..." I knew he would say that, and then there were a bunch of words of encouragement.But I never thought of taking my sister as a target to catch up with.

While talking, he suddenly thought of something and almost slapped his forehead: "By the way, I forgot to bring a fruit basket. There is a fruit shop in front of the school. Forget it, let's look for it on the road."

"Teacher, my roommate checked the information yesterday, and said that people with stones cannot eat some fruits. So it's okay if you don't buy it in advance? If you buy the wrong one, you will be in trouble."

"Ah, it's the little guy from the second class, right? Which ones can't be eaten?"

"I forgot." I smiled embarrassingly, if I wasn't a little scared in the car, I probably would have just spread my hands outrightly.

"You kid." He must have laughed too, and said that he will check it with his mobile phone when he arrives in the store.

"Ms. Liu, what fruit do you like to eat?" I have never been a very talkative person, especially when I am with adults.Our class teacher is usually a very serious person, although occasionally there will be a little bit of humor.He is not as approachable as Lao Huang, and I have hardly talked to him before.But today, on the motorcycle rushing to Taotao's house, looking at the flickering street lights in the winter night, listening to the wind and the melody made by the car, I really wanted to talk to him wrapped in thick clothes.

Maybe when we meet again tomorrow, I don't want to talk to him so much.

"Me? Apples and pears. I'm from the north. I grew these two kinds of fruits in my hometown. I used to eat them when I was a child. They are very crisp and juicy. Every time I go to the fruit store, I only buy apples from my hometown. What about you?" ?”

"Well... I don't eat apples and pears very much. I prefer oranges, and mangoes and star fruit are quite good too."

"Do you like orange and yellow?"

"Not entirely, I also like blue and white. But I do like orange or yellow fruits. I feel that they are particularly plump and look appetizing. My younger brother likes orange. I am somewhat influenced by it. I really like oranges. I like carambola because it looks like a five-pointed star after being cut. It is very delicate and beautiful, and it has a lot of juice. It looks full of vitality..."

"You have a younger brother? Is it a cousin?"

"No, dear brother."

"Then you are quite happy. You have older sisters and younger brothers, and you have no shortage of partners. There are still many only children in your generation."

"Yes, there is basically one in my classmate's family."

"It will be different in the future. That's fine, otherwise the words 'uncle' and 'aunt' will be unfamiliar to the next generation. By the way, is your brother in our school?"

"Well...he's not here. He has good grades and plays football very well. He was spotted by foreign teams. Now he is outside, learning while playing football. He can be an athlete if he plays well. I can continue to study."

I was taught from a young age not to lie.But lies come in handy when I don't want to do or say something.A simple lie could have saved me from a whole lot of trouble.Although sometimes a lie is told, more lies are needed to make up for it, which can also make things troublesome.But I often can't see the distant and long-term cost behind the lie, and I just want to quickly avoid things that I don't want to and don't need to mention to others.

After all, I didn't lie all the time, Xianxian is not one of them.He was with my dad's mom and dad, my grandparents, in the place Ibita casually mentioned.

"It's not easy. Being a player is much more difficult than studying, but if you play well, it will be great. Not to mention the high income, Chinese football lacks a player at the level of Yao Ming or Liu Xiang. Maybe your brother can become such a person .Where is he?"

"Hmm...Spain." I just made it up, just happened to think of this country.

"Then you have to learn Spanish? Are your parents willing to go out at such a young age? Do you miss him?"

"Mom and Dad...Of course they are reluctant. Me, I miss him very much."

"Think about it every day?"

"Think about it every day."

"Does he call you often? When I was in college, I called home once a week. Long distance was expensive. Now it's fine, and I can make video calls."

"He might have called my parents or my sister. He never called me."

I once had an expectation that Xianxian would appear in my dreams, that I could talk to him again, or that I would be willing even if he pressed him to the ground and beat me again.Two years passed and I never dreamed about him.

"why?"

"Maybe he hates me."

To say it's disgusting is an understatement.I was going to say he hated me.Even if it's a heart attack, I'm responsible.No, not a heart attack.Mi Le obviously heard from his mother that day that no one in our family has heart disease.I also said to check it out.No, it's been almost two months, and I haven't done anything.

No wonder he doesn't want to see me.

"It's normal for brothers to have some conflicts. But don't be angry all the time. You're not with me in the first place, and you may have to be separated for a longer time in the future. You are an elder brother. If you have anything to do, let him take the initiative. Don't wait until you grow up. , I didn’t have much time, so I realized that I didn’t cherish the time we spent together when we were young.”

My face seemed to twitch, and I twisted my head, trying to control the expression on my face.The wind finally made me feel the chill.I deserve it.It took a while before we got back to talking about fruit.

"Mangoes... because I read a novel and liked it very much. It tells about a little-known poet who took a little boy to play and invited him to eat mangoes. The little boy ate six in a row and was covered in juice. Mom beat me hard." I was particularly impressed by the words "was beaten hard". [2]
"Did the poet teach him to write poetry later?"

"No, the poet took him to lie on the lawn to look at the stars. The police found out and asked what they were doing here. The poet said, I have been thinking about this question for 40 years."

We all laughed.

"What is the ending of the novel?"

"The poet was seriously ill, and the little boy went to see him. The poet first told him that you have the vision of a poet. But then told him that what he told him about writing poems before was all false. The little boy Go home immediately, and never come back to see him again. A year later, the boy returned to find that the house where the poet lived had disappeared, along with the mango trees, as if it had never existed."

We didn't talk anymore.After driving forward for a while, Lao Ban parked the car on the side of the road, and I got off carefully, and walked into the fruit shop with him.I took out my mobile phone and checked, and we ruled out strawberries, grapes, plums and other fruits.The old class took a plastic bag, he was responsible for packing it, and I was responsible for carrying it, obediently following behind.There were not many people in the fruit shop, and the shop assistants chatted in a dialect that I couldn't understand.The flickering lights made me a little sleepy, maybe it was the wind blowing in the car for too long.

Suddenly remembered something I had thought about before.I am on my way to care for and help Taotao, so is my old class, and every student in the class is—even though they didn't come with me.But while we were doing these things, did we believe that "Taotao needs help", or "We are living better than Taotao, so we should help him"?What is it that urges me to contact Taotao?pity?guilt?Or superior?Does Taotao really feel that she needs to be sympathized with?Do I really want to help him, or do I want to show off or spread my "love"?
In the olden days, I was also a "special care" object (and even now).This feeling is not particularly good, as if my every move is being watched.In the vague memory, it seems that there have been a few times, I have been praised.Those times I was eager to be praised, because I felt that I did a really good job.The praise came as expected, but they didn't seem to think that it was me who did a good job, but that I was "miserable" and that it was "it's a miracle that he could do this under the circumstances".

Why do you think so?
And why do I feel that Taotao is not doing well and needs to be cared for?In addition to economic conditions, where is he worse than me?I can't even cook fried eggs well.I feel sad when I think about some things about him, but what am I sad about?
"Teacher..." Lao Ban is already asking the clerk to fill the fruit basket, and he has just paid for it.I tugged at the hem of his shirt.

"What's wrong?" He turned to me kindly.

"It's just... I'm a little worried." I hung my head, rubbing a shoe back and forth on the ground.

"Are you worried about Taotao's mother? She is much better, so we can go to see them."

"No... just..." I frowned and thought for a while, then said what I thought was the simplest and most straightforward thing, "I'm worried that I'll hurt Taotao's self-esteem."

"How do you say it?" He was a little surprised, but his tone was still very gentle.

"That is, I know that each of us cares about him very much and wants to encourage him to help him. It is true that his family's conditions are not as good as ours. But it does not mean that he is very unhappy. If we think wishfully, Taotao is doing well. No, we have to help him, isn’t it too good? I can’t tell myself... That is, because Taotao didn’t ask us for help. Isn’t it a bit too selfish for us to help him on our own? Older? Ah, sir, I don't mean you. I mean myself. I haven't thought about it."

Don't dare to look him in the eyes.Just keep scraping the fruit shop tiles with my feet tucked into my sneakers.

His big hand hidden in the glove touched my face, the hairy texture.

"I'm not Teacher Huang, so I don't know how to say those words." He took the fruit basket, bent down and said to me.I felt his eyes on mine.

"You are a good boy, and you are willing to think about others. There are indeed many people in society who seem to be helping others, but are actually arrogant. After all, they don't see others as people like themselves. I think you are thinking When it came to this question, I put myself in Taotao's side and thought about him. If I were Taotao, I would be happy to have a friend like you."

"But... what's the use of this? I may have really thought about him, but will I still inevitably hurt him when I do things? What people think and what they do are often different."

"You are right. I really don't know much about big reasons, but I know that if you really care about someone and help him sincerely, others will feel your enthusiasm and sincerity, and You can also realize that helping others is meaningful. So, if you feel that others need help, don’t hesitate to go. Even if there is a misunderstanding, as long as you really give, everyone will understand. Don’t be misunderstood Just hesitate. You know, you do something not for other reasons, but because you think it is worth doing. People who do less and think more will inevitably have concerns. So it is better to do more Do things."

I nodded vigorously.He patted me on the back and handed over a big and plump mango, which almost reached my two palms.I asked him why he didn't put it in the basket.He said, this is a reward for you. I have been running for so long today, and I have been blowing hair all the time.He was also a little bit proud, saying that it was the largest mango in this store, and one mango was worth six.

I put the mango in my backpack and leaned against the two envelopes.Perhaps the letter paper will be stained with the rich aroma of mango.For a moment, I felt that Mr. Liu, who was so familiar to me that I was a bit bored, was a bit like a poet in a novel.Although his movement on the motorcycle is not so light.

[1] "The Stranger" and "The Plague" are both works of the French writer Albert Camus.Albert Camus (Albert Camus, 1913-1960), French writer and philosopher.

[2] This short story is "Blake Wadsworth" by the British-Indian writer Naipaul, found in the collection "Miguel Street".Vi Su Naipaul (VSNaipaul, 1932-2018), an Indian Brahmin family in Trinidad and Tobago, Central America. In 1950, he was awarded a scholarship to study abroad at Oxford University in England. Settled in England in 1955, and began to create literature.His main works include "The Psychic Masseuse", "Revisiting the Caribbean", "African Masks", etc., and has won Booker Prize, Maugham Prize, Nobel Prize in Literature and many other awards. Shidi also called "the three heroes of British literary immigrants".

(End of this chapter)