MTL - Attack Stream of Life-Chapter 43

It will be the twelfth lunar month in a few days, and the village is a little more leisurely, so Zhaoming can take this vacation.

He carried a large bamboo basket of more than 100 catties and a letter of introduction from the village in his pocket to go to the more remote farm. This farm is in a mountain col, and it takes a long way to get off by car. There is only one sheep intestine trail. I really don't know how this farm's stuff gets shipped out.

Zhaoming walked for a while and rested for a while, and he arrived at the place at noon. He asked a villager in ragged clothes, and asked about the location of the farm. He took a letter to report. The conditions of the villagers nearby are generally worse than those of the village where he stayed. The village where he stayed had three or five patches on the clothes of the villagers, while the clothes of the villagers here were basically folded with patches. To a slightly larger piece of cloth, one by one was unkempt, like a homeless man who hadn't washed his face in years.

The uncle of the farm gatekeeper is not much better. He is thin and does not understand Mandarin. Fortunately, Zhaoming can speak the local dialect, so it is not impossible to communicate. So it was very smooth to understand Zhaoming's purpose, and led him to find someone.

This uncle may not communicate much with the outside world, nor is he very smooth, or his Zhaoming appearance and attitude are easy to let people down, in short, this uncle heard that he is here to visit a distant relative, this distant relative It was still a delegated person. He didn't show any displeasure or vigilance.

There is a person among them, who can control cattle and has the ability. Their farms are collectively raising cattle and livestock, and having such a number of people has reduced a lot of losses for the collective.

Later, I may realize that my attitude is a little wrong, and the old man hurriedly added a few more words, "They have reformed very well. Oh, really, reflect on yourself every day."

A layer of straw can also keep out the wind and rain. There are two vegetable fields outside the house, and there are still some unharvested mustard greens and cabbage on the ground. Zhaoming gave up half of his heart when he saw this accommodation.

"It's lunch now, they're all inside." The old man was about to leave.

Zhao Ming quickly grabbed him and stuffed something, two eggs and a handful of candy peanuts into his dry, old tree-bark-like hand. Sugar peanuts are not peanuts. They are fried pasta with a layer of sugar on top. They taste crispy. They are children's favorite snacks. Zhaoming bought some more yesterday.

"This, this can't be done, it can't be done."

"Please take care of me, I will settle down in Shangwan Village next door, you can find me if you have anything."

Zhao Ming didn't go in right away, maybe it was because he was close to the nostalgia. I haven't seen each other for seven or eight years. I don't know how they are now.

"Who are you?"

When he was wandering, an old man with a goatee walked out of the middle room, looked at him for a while, and laughed, "Young man is good-looking." Many people praised Zhao Ming is good-looking, but what this old man said was very meaningful, not a superficial compliment of the color.

I heard noises outside, and a few people walked out from inside, some men and women, old and young, dressed very thinly, with their ankles exposed on such a cold day. Two of them were still holding eating bowls. They were very old wooden bowls, or they were cracked. There was no fine food in them, but turbid vegetable soup.

"Mother..." Zhao Ming saw the middle-aged woman in the ill-fitting gray-black single, her eyelids trembled, and tears suddenly fell, scattered like unstringent beads.

Can't do it, and trembling with pain.

"Amin!" Zhaoming's mother was stunned for a moment, she couldn't help wiping her eyes, and stepped forward, "Amin, why are you here?" Once a big star The same beautiful woman is now devastated by life, and her face is full of wind and frost.

"Isn't this going to the countryside? It's nearby." Zhaoming wiped his eyes, but a smile appeared on his face, "Mother, where are your grandma and grandpa?" It wasn't a good life, but at the moment he was hiding all his emotions and didn't want to make it difficult to show them.

"Here, grandma is here." Although he has been here for many years, he still speaks in a strange tone. In fact, when my grandfather was sent down, my grandmother had the opportunity to leave here and go back to her mother country, but she refused to leave, saying that there are her children and her husband here, which is her home, and she had to accompany her grandfather to go down with her.

Then Zhaoming's mother didn't worry about the old couple and insisted on getting divorced. Sometimes the world will give such a cruel choice, can only choose one. It's not that Zhaoming's mother doesn't love him, but as a daughter, she can't give up her affection for her parents. Either way, the saddest is the one who made the choice.

Zhaoming's grandmother walked over quickly, pulled Zhaoming to look at it carefully, and hugged him fiercely, "Look at my little baby, oh, he has grown into a big boy. Ayu, What are you doing behind you?"

Grandpa came out from behind with red eyes, but he couldn't hold back his tears, "Child, don't come... We will hurt you, let's go, let's go."

Grandma was very happy, but now she realized something, and gently released her hand, "Son, your grandfather is right, you can't come here. It's not good to rely on us. "

"Don't worry, I brought a letter of introduction. The village chief of the village I settled in is a good man. He sympathized with me and wrote me a letter. I came here openly, who can say anything? "Zhaoming stretched out his hand and took his grandma's hand, "Let's go to the house to chat, I've been away all morning and I'm still hungry, do you have the heart to drive me away?"

He said pitifully, his grandmother wiped her tears, "You child..."

"Sister-in-law Tian, ​​the children are here. You haven't seen each other for so many years. Let's talk for a while."

"Yeah, Brother Tian, ​​you are too cautious. It's okay to meet."

The people next to them persuade them.

Grandma gritted her teeth, nodded heavily, and dragged him to the shack where she lived, "Child, grandma has a sweet potato here, take it."

Grandma, grandfather and Zhaoming's mother huddled together in a small house of less than ten square meters. The house had no windows, only a wooden door, and there was no bed inside. The ground was covered with haystacks. There was a hard quilt on it, and it was a bed. There were no proper cabinets or tables, but there were several cracked crock pots with their rations in them. There is also a bench with some tableware and chopsticks on it, and clothes are hung on the wall, so as not to be bitten by insects on the ground.

Grandma pulled him to sit down on a wooden stake, saw him looking at the house, and rubbed her hands a little embarrassedly, "Don't look at this small place, it doesn't leak in winter, these haystacks are bigger than the house The wooden bed is still warm."

Grandpa and Zhaoming's mother also came in, Zhaoming's mother wiped her eyes with her sleeve, and put a piece of roasted sweet potato into Zhaoming's hand, which was still warm.

Zhao Ming didn't say anything, he took the ration given by his grandma in his left hand and his mother in the right, knowing that this was the ration his grandma and mother saved from the gap between their teeth. The small sweet potato is half the size of a fist, and it is shuttle-shaped. It is roasted black and dry on the outside, but when the black skin is peeled off, the inside is golden flesh.

Zhao Ming took a bite, sweet, fragrant, soft, smooth, not many roots, it is really a natural high-quality dessert, and the fillings carefully made by humans are not comparable. It tastes fragrant, and it burns from the mouth to the heart all the way.

"It's really fragrant." Zhao Ming said while eating.

Seeing that he finished eating in a few mouthfuls, Zhaoming ate so fast that he almost choked, his grandmother hurriedly brought a bowl of water from outside, "Drink some water." His grandfather was silent. Silently, he stuffed the hot sweet potato that belonged to him to Zhaoming.

"Eat." No more.

Zhao Ming paused for a while, and almost devoured all the sweet potatoes. He eats sweet potatoes a lot. He used to eat them in Beijing and in the village. If he eats too much of this food, he will get acid reflux when he sees it, but this time is especially different. The scalding feeling was like a fine needle stabbing on the body, and the pain was dense.

I used to be separated by thousands of mountains and rivers, and I just delivered packages, so I didn't feel that deep. When I really met, I realized that I actually missed them all the time. It's just that it's been too long, and after a few years, he's a little scared, and he doesn't dare to really see each other.

Now that we met, Zhaoming suddenly regretted it. He regretted that he had sent too few things and cared too little for the elders. He also regretted that it took more than half a year to come here.

How old are grandma and grandpa, how much time do they have? The hair of the two old men was already half-white, and their faces were ravaged and filled with years and suffering.

And his mother, she is only in her forties, but she already looks like a fifty-year-old woman. Poor physical condition is second, Zhao Ming can't see hope in his mother's eyes, Mu Qi is depressed, like a living puppet.

It seems a little heartless.

After Zhaoming finished eating, he took out the items in the bamboo basket one by one, "It used to be halfway across China, and it was inconvenient to send something, but now it's better, it's just two Village, save a fortune on postage."

Place on the top are the freshly bought padded jackets and sweaters, as well as hats and rubber shoes, local styles, very bloated, the advantage is to keep warm, "all things saved these days, I brought it here at one time. There are still a few things, and I will see if I can buy some cotton back in a few days. The winter in the south is clammy, cold, and biting, and it’s not good to wear thin clothes.”

After that, there are medicines and some daily necessities. The medicines are packed in a tin biscuit box, and the daily necessities are tied with ropes and compacted.

The food is the most, there are some snacks, all kinds of dried fruits, candy peanuts and rice candy, fresh fruits bought in the county. There are also luxury milk powder, donkey skin glue, and half a catty of brown sugar.

Zhaoming's mother was very surprised. Many of these things are hard to find. I don't know how long it took her son to save. She pressed Zhaoming's hand, "Amin, I can't take it." It's not easy for this child to be outside alone, how could they keep dragging him down.

His grandma didn't let him take things out, "Son, child, it's not easy for you to get these things, grandma doesn't ask, but grandma can't take it. You are still young and have a long body. Be nourished. You are a good boy, my baby, and seeing you is our best gift." She turned her back, wiped her eyes, and hugged him again.

"How can you, this is the money I made from writing manuscripts and doing temporary work in the past, and it will be a lot in a few years. After coming here, everyone will take care of me and let me I give lectures to the literacy class in the evening, and I have three work points, and I earn more in a day than the strong laborers of other people, and I also have a lot of food for the New Year."

Zhaoming is a small man, but he has a lot of strength. He took out the things he put back in the basket and said, "I have food and shelter, and the educated youth raised seven or eight chickens. I can eat eggs, and there is a garden in the back. If I can’t eat all the vegetables I grow, I have to exchange it for money. This milk powder is exchanged with a lot of eggs in the market, and so are the brown sugar and donkey skin glue. As for these plasters, yes I saved it slowly, and I have a copy there too. This thing doesn’t look like food, just have a copy on hand.”

"You spent all the money, what will you do in the future?" Zhao Ming's mother was in tears.

"Who said it was all spent? I can make money now, look." Zhaoming took out a stack of money from his inner pocket, there were thirty or forty, "This is only given to me by the village, usually It doesn't take much money, that's enough."

Zhaoming's mother had to say more, Zhaoming's tears fell, "Mother, you should think about me, over there treat me as an outsider, I am your relatives, you If there is an emergency with my grandma and grandpa, then I will be an orphan."

Anyway, he really didn't do it well, so it's not wrong to him.

After Zhaoming finished speaking, his grandmother also cried, avoiding people to cry silently.

His grandfather sighed for a long time, "Take it, the child is full of heart."

The family hugged and cried for a while, Zhaoming's mother and grandma packed up the things, put the food in the clay pot, stored the nutrition and snacks separately, and hidden the daily necessities and medicines in the grass in the stack.

Grandpa and Zhaoming talked for a while about what happened in the past few years. They didn't suffer much in this farm. The leaders here are pragmatic. They have to come to power and be criticized once, but they are fine on weekdays.

It's just that this side is poor, and the food handed out is barely enough to eat, but don't think about other things. Now a group of people are pulling willow branches to brush their teeth and use haystacks as beds. There is a headache and a fever, it is really resigned.

Although there is a doctor in the delegating person, it is a Western doctor with a scalpel.

His grandfather was very emotional, saying that he did not expect that their grandparents would have the opportunity to meet, and he asked Zhaoming to be careful outside, not to mention visiting them, it would be bad for him if they were bad.

His grandfather took some food from the jar and said to Zhaoming, "Your grandma and I are not in good health, and we have relied on them for so many years. Don't blame your grandfather for taking your things as a favor. , there is not much food distributed this year, and everyone has not much food."

"How can it be, it should be." Zhao Ming said hurriedly.

He took Zhaoming to another room, introduced the child, introduced other people to Zhaoming, and then distributed the things to everyone.

But no one wants to accept these foods, they all say that they have a lot of food, and the children will save money and bring them with you, but don't hurt the children's hearts.

Zhao Ming quickly said that he has a lot of food, and he has the conditions to buy it.

In addition to Zhaoming's grandfather's family, the rest are all men, the old Taoist priest with a goatee, the capitalist who used to run a tavern in the Mediterranean, and a father and son, the father is a Western doctor, There is also a young son, the father and son are both mixed-race, the son is more obviously Western than the father.

This is different from Zhao Ming, there are not many traces of Westerners on his face.

They are all delegates. Although they have different identities, status and knowledge, they seem to get along pretty well. They are called brothers, and they are very affectionate to Zhaoming.

Zhao Ming thought of his mother and grandma and grandfather, the old, the weak, the weak, who wanted to get along well with these people, and a respectful grandfather and uncle called him all the way.

He also said that he settled in a nearby village, and if there is any need, he can be called. Whether it is buying or selling things or sending and receiving letters, as long as there is no taboo, you can ask him to go for a trip. He is more convenient than them when he is outside.

"In a few days, the village organization will go to the county town to buy New Year's goods, and then we will take the ox cart. If you have anything to bring, I will go there by the way." Zhaoming said and laughed, " To tell you the truth, I speak more smoothly than native speakers now, even I have been to the local morning market twice. Bringing things is a matter of reaching out, so don’t be polite to me.”

Other people were still a little hesitant, the old Taoist priest with a goatee smiled and said, "It just so happens that the old Taoist has some money in his hand, and he has no place to spend it for so many years, and it will rot if left alone. , if it is convenient, you can come back with some refined grains." As he said that, he directly stuffed a roll of paper tickets for Zhao Ming with a look of trust.

Such a roll of money, I don't know how long it has been deposited, it is not easy for them to save something, but now it is so easy to put into Zhaoming's hands, Zhaoming's heart is hot, and it feels very special to be trusted , thinking about buying food is not a taboo, and immediately patted his chest to make sure.

"Convenient. The villagers are reluctant to eat refined grains, so they have to exchange them for money in the city. It is easy to buy at this time. Now there is no shortage of grain, and it is generally available."

The old Taoist opened his mouth, and the other people sighed for a while, maybe they really needed something, and they took the money. The father and son took a watch and asked Zhaoming to change some rice noodles and daily necessities. It would be better if there were daily medicines.

Zhao Ming agreed.

The remaining old shopkeeper groped from the house for a long time and found a dark wooden box the size of a glasses case, "I didn't bring anything when I came, this is it." He opened it The box was empty inside. He didn't know which side he had pried, and a mezzanine came out, and a seal of bloodstone was found.

"This is the seal of my winery. Anyway, the winery is gone, and this thing is still there. I don't know how much money can be exchanged for this thing. bring it on."

The old shopkeeper gave the box and seal to Zhaoming, Zhaoming put everything in the bamboo basket, covered it with broken vegetable leaves, and put a pile of dry grass on it.

Zhaoming didn't stay for a long time, because they all had to go to work. Fortunately, the situation of his mother and grandma and grandpa was much better than the worst case expected before, so Zhaoming was not too worried.

The family only met in a hurry for several years, less than an hour before and after, but both sides were satisfied. Zhao Ming carried the diabolo basket on his back, shook his hand vigorously, and left the row of bamboo huts.

This neighborhood may be the most remote place on the farm. You have to bypass a cemetery to get to the breeding area, but it is a very friendly environment for people like them.

No matter what, it’s better than being beaten and spit in the city with a wooden sign every once in a while.

Zhao Ming remembered that his grandfather and the others were arrested at that time because they had some books hidden in the house, including Western books and ancient out-of-print books, which were said to be 'feudal remnants of capitalism'. It was my grandfather's favorite thing, and part of it was my grandmother's dowry.

My grandmother was still a noble daughter there, but most of the dowry was all kinds of books. In the end, these things were gathered together and ripped to shreds and burned.

The hearts of his grandparents and grandfathers are probably as gray as those books.

I wish these days would pass sooner.