Less than three minutes after Shi Donglei got on the bus, the bus to Sanhe County left. More than forty minutes later, he got off the bus at the Xinglong Town stop. His home is in Wujiazi under the jurisdiction of Xinglong Town.
Tun.
There were quite a few jeeps and cars next to the site, all of which were engaged in carrying passengers. As soon as Stone got off the car, he was surrounded by many people, but he did not take a taxi. Instead, he walked towards the town with his suitcase in his backpack.
.
Xinglong Town was originally Xinglong Township, and it just became a town the year before last. Although the name has changed, the depression and rags in this town are not much better than when Shi Donglei came back to celebrate the New Year the year before last. Even, it is not better than when he went there.
Lingcheng is much better, it just has more shops and houses.
The streets were still dilapidated, full of rubbish and bumpy streets. It was still very early, most shops were not open for business, and there were very few pedestrians on the streets.
Normally, you can see a lot of students. But now that it has entered the twelfth lunar month, students have already gone on winter vacation. Xinglong Town, which was not very prosperous in the first place, has become increasingly lonely.
The wheels of the trolley box rubbed and collided with the ground, making constant noises. In this quiet morning, it seemed a bit harsh.
Stoneley quickly pulled the box, fearing to disturb some people he knew well. He didn't like the feeling of others looking at him in a strange way, especially since he was not well-dressed and had no money in his pocket.
A little shy, and even more afraid of meeting familiar people.
Such a state of mind cannot be completely changed even if Shi Donglei is reborn. He is such a person, with a strong self-esteem and a lot of vanity. He is just an ordinary person, except for the fact of being reborn.
outside
The situation is easy to change, but the nature is hard to change. Even if Shi Donglei is reborn a hundred times, he will not become someone else, he will only be himself. The only difference is his life experience and experience.
Perhaps God heard Shi Donglei's thoughts, but he didn't meet anyone he knew until he walked out of Xinglong Town and set foot on the country road outside the town that passed through Taiping Tun and led directly to Wujiazi Tun.
The whole journey from Xinglong Town to Wujiazitun is eight miles away. Taipingtun is right between Xinglong Town and Wujiazitun. Shi Donglei’s family is in Linjia Village in the south of Taipingtun. There are many of his classmates in Taipingtun.
After walking for more than 20 minutes, we arrived at Taiping Village. When we reached the west entrance of the village, we saw a girl wearing simple clothes and torn gloves holding a wicker basket at the gate of the first house on the north side of the road.
To hold firewood.
The girl and Stone Lei came face to face and looked at each other. Both of them were stunned. Stone Lei's heart jumped violently. This pretty and tall girl was his classmate, Cui Anran.
Cui Anran and Shi Donglei were not only classmates and deskmates in the same year, but also classmates in middle school for three years and deskmates for two years. Shitonlei has always liked Cui Anran. When he was in junior high school, he couldn't help but write to her.
He wrote a love letter, but in the end the love letter was burned and thrown into the toilet.
"You——Stoneley?"
"Cui Anran, it's me"
Both of them are a little unnatural, especially Cui Anran, whose beautiful face is very red. It is really difficult for Shi Donglei to see her image like this. She doesn't have such a good psychological quality.
"Stone Lei, don't you work in Beijing?" Cui Anran brushed her hair and asked shyly, lowering her eyes. She quietly pulled her pants hard, which her mother had to wear.
, afraid that she would freeze, and the baggy pants would make her look stupid.
Seeing her awkward look, Shi Donglei quickly regained his composure and calmness. He nodded: "Well, I used to work in Beijing, but now I'm back."
"Come back?" Cui Anran looked at Shi Tonglei with some doubts, not quite understanding what he meant. Shito Lei said with a smile: "I'm not going, I plan to find a job at home in the future. My parents are also the same age.
I am no longer young, and my health is not good. My sister is still young and is going to school. I can take care of them when I come back and not waste my money. It is good. There is no need to run around outside."
Stoneley paused and then said: "Cui Anran, I heard that you were admitted to Tongji University. Congratulations. You will graduate soon, right?"
Cui Anran nodded: "Well, I'll graduate in the Chinese New Year. Shi Donglei, if it's cold outside, if you don't mind, just go inside and sit down." She subconsciously looked at the three small mud houses in her house, and a flash of light flashed in her eyes.
Melancholy.
Stone Lei keenly caught the change in Cui Anran's expression. He shook his head and said, "No, let's do it next time." Stone Lei had already taken off his backpack, took out a bag of roast duck from it, and said, "Cui Anran
"This is the Quanjude roast duck I brought back from Beijing. I haven't seen you for many years, and I didn't expect to meet you. You can take this back and eat it with your family."
"No, no, I don't want Stone Lei. I don't want it. You should take it back and feed it to your family." Cui Anran rejected the roast duck that Stone Lei handed over. Her face, which had just returned to its normal color, became delicate again.
Desire
Shi Donglei pushed the roast duck into Cui Anran's arms, pulled the box and ran away. As he ran, he said: "Cui Anran, I'm leaving first. I have time to go over and play."
Cui Anran threw away the firewood basket and ran after Shi Tonglei, constantly shouting: "Shi Tonglei, Shi Tonglei, you..." Shi Tonglei ran too fast, and she couldn't catch up at all.
After running a short distance, she stopped, panting heavily, and looked at Stoneley's back, feeling dazed for a while.
Cui Anran still clearly remembers Shi Donglei's appearance when he was in elementary school and middle school, and even more remembers what he looked like when the two met at the market in Xinglong Town five years ago.
The fair and lovely little boy, the delicate and fair quiet boy, the tall and handsome young man. Now, Shi Donglei has become a tall and mature man.
Cui Anran smiled with satisfaction when he thought of the word man. That's right, Stone Lei now has a temperament that he never had before. He looks very manly, not the boy who looked like a young man five years ago.
But then she thought of the word man again, and Cui Anran's fair and beautiful face suddenly turned red. She took a deep look at Shi Donglei who had already walked away, then turned around and walked back with the roast duck in hand.
Cui Anran had just walked to the courtyard door of her home. The courtyard door opened, and her mother walked out of the courtyard. She looked at her with a smile and said, "My dear girl, who is that young man? Did he give this to you?"
Cui Anran knew that her mother had misunderstood again. As she grew older, whenever her mother saw her having contact with the opposite sex, she would immediately think that way. She really wished that she would bring someone back with her immediately.
"Well, it was given to me by my classmate Shi Donglei, Peking duck." Cui Anran handed the roast duck to her mother. None of her family members had ever eaten this kind of thing. She had heard of it many times when she was in school.
Everyone says that Beijing roast duck is delicious, especially Quanjude roast duck.
Cui Anran took a look at the packaging of the roast duck and found that the bag of roast duck was Quanjude roast duck. She also saw the price tag on the roast duck bag and was very surprised. This roast duck turned out to be 138 yuan. No wonder she felt so
It's heavy, probably at least two or three kilograms.
"Shi Donglei? Ah, is he a boy from Shi Jianjun's family in Xitun?" Cui's mother looked at it for a long time, but couldn't understand the words on the packaging bag, so she asked again: "What kind of duck is this? This guy is quite
Shen, it’s at least three or four kilograms, so it’s a lot of money, right?”
"Well, he is Shi Jianjun's son. This is the label of Beijing Quanjude Roast Duck. It costs 138 yuan." Cui Anran pointed to the label on the packaging bag. Cui's mother took a look at it and said in surprise: "Oh my god.
, It’s really expensive. What kind of duck is this? Is it a golden duck?”
Cui Anran was about to explain why this duck was so expensive. Cui's mother suddenly laughed again, looked up at her and said, "Daughter, I seem to be interested in you when I give you such an expensive thing. I heard that the old Lin family
That boy works in Beijing and earns tens of thousands a month. My daughter, you are not young anymore. I think that kid just now is pretty good-looking and earns a lot. I will ask someone to help him later..."
Before Cui's mother could finish her words, Cui Anran stamped her feet and said, "Okay, Mom, why are you here again? Didn't I tell you everything? Now I don't want to think about this problem. If you want me to spend the New Year at home, you
Just stop talking about this, otherwise, I will go back to school tomorrow."
Cui's mother quickly waved her hand: "Okay, okay, why don't I stop talking? Hey, you kid is just disobedient."
Cui Anran picked up the basket, went to the firewood pile and picked up the peanut stalks with two teeth. Cui's mother looked at her precious daughter, sighed, turned around and entered the yard with the roast duck.
Cui Anran was talking about firewood and sighed. She actually understood that her mother and father were worried about her life-long events, and she understood their mood. However, she really didn't have the time to think about this now. What she thought about most now was
After graduating next year, she will find a good job to reduce the burden on her family as soon as possible and pay off the debt she owed from studying over the years.
Cui Anran frowned when she thought about her partner. In fact, based on her external conditions, there are many people pursuing her from high school to college. Many people have very good conditions, but she feels that she still has
When I didn't think about these things, I never paid attention to those people.
It was for this reason that Cui Anran rejected Stone Lei at the beginning. In fact, she did not dislike Stone Lei. On the contrary, she had always had a good impression of him.
Cui Anran's face turned red again, ripples appeared in Qiu Shui's bright eyes, and she gradually became misty.
While Cui Anran was in a daze facing the stack of firewood, Shi Donglei had already walked up to a high mound. He had already seen Wujiazitun, which he had not returned to for two years.
Shi Donglei took a deep breath of the fresh and cold air in the countryside, straightened his back, quickened his pace and ran towards the village.
More than ten minutes later, when the golden morning sun illuminated the earth, Shi Donglei had already arrived at the gate of his courtyard. His younger sister Shi Yu happened to come out with a handful of ash to pour the ashes onto him. He was immediately stunned and returned.
I thought it was because I was blinded.
"Brother, it's really you, brother." Shi Donglei stretched out his hand to touch the top of her head, and the little girl screamed as if she had woken up from a dream, threw away the handful of ashes, and didn't care that the ashes from the stove were scattered all over the road, and hugged her
He touched Shi Donglei's waist and started to cry.
Shi Donglei patted his sister's back gently, feeling a sore feeling in his nose. This little sister was only twelve this year, a whole round younger than him. Although, he was an adopted son picked up by his parents, and Shi Yu was their parents' biological child.
Daughter, they have no blood relationship, but the relationship between brother and sister is better than that of most biological brothers and sisters.
In his previous life, what worried Shi Donglei the most before committing suicide was his sister Shi Yu and his elderly adoptive parents. Now that he has seen his little sister again, he can say that he has mixed feelings in his heart, and he can't even explain what they are.
Taste.
The brother and sister hugged each other at the entrance of the courtyard for a while, and then entered the courtyard together. Shi Yu was very happy, holding Shi Donglei's hand and chattering non-stop, talking about things at home.
When Shi Donglei and Shi Yu walked into the earthen house together, Zhang Xiufang, who was setting fire to cook, was stunned. Her expression was exactly the same as when Shi Yu saw Shi Donglei at the entrance of the hospital just now. She was indeed her mother.
Women, they have a tacit understanding.
"Mom, I'm back," Stoneley said with a smile, his voice trembling a little.
"Mom, it's really my brother, he's back." Shi Yu shouted loudly, and ran over to pull her mother up. Zhang Xiufang's legs were numb from squatting for too long. If Shi Yu hadn't held her up, she would have sat down.
On the ground.
"Xiao Lei, son, why are you back? Didn't you say you were celebrating the New Year there?" Zhang Xiufang took Shi Donglei's hand and asked in a trembling voice. Her eyes were already full of tears, and her lips were
She couldn't stop shivering. She hadn't seen her precious son in two years. If she saw a tall young man walking on the street, she would think it was Stone Lei. She was going crazy thinking about her son.
The son she had longed for so much was finally back. Zhang Xiufang's excitement could not be described in words. But she was a little worried: Didn't her son say he was very busy with work this year and wouldn't come back? Why did he suddenly come back? Is something wrong?
What's going on?
Shi Donglei wiped the tears from his mother's face with the palm of his hand and said with a smile: "Mom, don't worry, I'm fine. I have quit my job in Beijing. If I don't go there in the future, I will find one in Songjiang."
Work to do.”
"How can this work? You are in Beijing..."
Before Zhang Xiufang finished speaking, Shi Donglei shook his head with a smile and said, "Mom, why can't it be done? No matter how good Beijing is, it's not as good as home...Mom, both you and my dad are not in good health now, and Xiaoyu is still
If you have to go to school, I can take care of you when I come back, and I won’t have to miss work to make money, and I can feel more at peace. This is good, it’s much better than in Beijing.”
Zhang Xiufang knew that her son might not look like a big girl, but he always spoke the right words. In her husband's words, he had the energy of an old pig and had the right ideas.
Ever since he was a child, whatever Shi Donglei wanted to do, there was nothing he couldn't do, and no one could stop him. It's not that he was disobedient or disobedient, there was no one as obedient and sensible as him in the ten miles and eight villages.
He is a child, but he is very stubborn, soft on the outside but strong on the inside, and no one can control his thoughts.
Although Zhang Xiufang felt sorry for her son's good job, but since her son had such filial piety and it was done, she stopped talking nonsense, held Shi Donglei's hand, looked at it lovingly, and said softly: "Okay, I'll come back soon."
Okay, don’t worry about your dad and me. Your little sister keeps calling you in her dreams...Son, why did you come back? It’s too early and you didn’t take a taxi?”
"No, I came back by the train after five o'clock. It wasn't cold anyway, so I just walked." Shi Donglei took Zhang Xiufang's fire stick and was about to fill the stove pit with firewood when he grabbed it from Shi Yu.
He went over and pushed him and his mother into the east room.
"Son, I'm back." Shi Jianjun, who was lying on the kang, wanted to sit up, but Shi Tonglei walked over and held him down. He said with a smile: "You're back, Dad. You can lie down and strain your muscles and bones for a hundred days, but
Don't move around, you'll be in trouble if you leave sequelae."
Shi Jianjun stared at Shi Tonglei non-stop, with a long-lost smile on his lips. Shi Tonglei knew that his father was looking at him, but he didn't care. With the help of his mother, he took off the backpack and opened it.
Food and drink were all gifts he brought to his family.
"Mom, this is Quanjude roast duck. I originally brought back two, but I just met a classmate and the roast duck was on top, so I gave it to her... Dad, this is a pastry from Daoxiang Village. It is probably the most delicious pastry in our country.
This is the brand. Little sister, these are your favorite walnuts, chestnuts, and persimmon cakes."
Stoneley took out all the contents of a backpack and distributed them to the family of three. He opened the large trolley suitcase and found that most of it contained gifts for his family.
"Dad, these are the down jackets and pants I bought for you. Mom, these are the down jackets and leather shoes I bought for you. Little sister, these are your down jackets and boots. By the way, I also bought four sets of thermal underwear.
It’s red. This year we are all in the year of our zodiac. We have one set for each family and a red belt..."
After Stoneley had divided most of the boxes of gifts, the remaining half of the box was his luggage. It was just some clothes and books, and the quantity was pitifully small.
Shi Jianjun, his wife, and Shi Yu both noticed this scene, but no one said anything, and their eyes were a little red. They all knew that if it were not for the drag on the family, this son and brother would not have stayed outside for so many years, but they
Only such a small amount of luggage, so shabby.
Shi Donglei quickly closed the suitcase, took off the fake camel hair coat that had become lumpy after wearing it for several years, took the fire stick in Shi Yu's hand, pushed the door open and went to the outhouse to light the fire.
Shi Yu quickly put down his things and ran out, competing with his brother to work. Zhang Xiufang and Shi Jianjun looked at each other, sighed softly, each secretly wiped their eyes, and Shi Jianjun sat hard against the wall.
After getting up, taking the bamboo basket and rolling a cigarette, Zhang Xiufang glared at him, muttered "Smoke as soon as you get up, pipe", and then began to pack up the things on the kang, which were divided into three large piles, and put them into the kang cabinet and the standing cabinet on the ground.
Breakfast was prepared under the busy work of three people and served on the table. Originally, Zhang Xiufang planned to cook a few more dishes for her son, but Shi Donglei refused and only let her bake some spring pancakes and cut some shredded cabbage and green onions.
Shredded sauerkraut and the like, and a plate of chili sauce.
The roast duck was drizzled with fried oil by Shi Donglei, making it crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. After it was cut into slices and put on the plate, the room was immediately filled with a strong aroma. The duck slices were put on the table, and the family of four sat down.
Have breakfast.
No one in the family had ever eaten roast duck before. After Shi Dong Lei’s demonstration, Shi Jianjun understood the correct way to eat it. Shi Jianjun ate the spring pancakes that Shi Dong Lei had rolled for him with duck slices, sweet noodle sauce and various side dishes, and nodded vigorously.
: "It's so delicious. No wonder this thing is so expensive, Xiufang, try it quickly."
The four members of the family rolled up the duck spring cakes by themselves and ate them. Zhang Xiufang didn't like sweet noodle sauce, so she used chili sauce instead. The other three people all liked sweet noodle sauce, which was authentic and the meal was full of laughter and enjoyment.
The Lin family had just finished eating, and before they had time to clean up, a dog barked outside the house, and a man opened the door and walked in.
The door to the back room was pushed open, and the four of them saw clearly the faces of the people who came. It turned out to be Li Dawang, Shi Jianjun's eldest brother-in-law, Shi Donglei and Shi Yu's eldest uncle.
"Brother-in-law is here, hurry up and have some more"
"Uncle, this is the Quanjude roast duck I brought back from Beijing. Try it."
Li Xiufang brought bowls and chopsticks to Li Dawang, and Shi Tonglei helped him roll a spring pancake. Li Dawang took off his dog-skin hat, took the spring pancake handed over by Shi Tonglei, swallowed a mouthful of saliva, but did not eat it, but said kindly
Looking at Shi Donglei, he said with a smile: "I saw a person walking in from the east end of the village earlier. He looked just like you. I thought I saw it wrong, but I didn't expect it was really you Xiaolei. Are you back for the New Year?"
"
Shi Donglei placed the tea that Shi Yu had just brewed in front of Li Dawang, and said with a smile: "Well, it's not just about the New Year, but I won't leave after the New Year. Uncle, eat it quickly, it won't taste good when it's cold."
Li Dawang said happily: "Okay, it's better not to leave. No matter how good it is outside, it's not as good as at home." After he finished speaking, he took a bite of the spring pancake. After chewing it for two times, his eyes lit up. He chewed faster and nodded vaguely.
He muttered: "It's delicious, it's delicious."
The remaining plate of duck meat and ten small spring pancakes were wiped out by Li Dawang in no more than fifteen minutes. Not counting this, the old man, who was over fifty years old, also ate two bowls of rice.
Porridge, two steamed buns, a plate of shredded green peppers and potatoes, and more than a kilogram of bulk liquor.
Li Xiufang and her daughter cleared the table, while Li Dawang held a teapot and chatted with Shi Donglei and Shi Jianjun in high spirits with his face flushed.
"Xiao Lei, why didn't you bring your partner back? These people at home are going to get sick if they want to drink your wedding wine!" Li Dawang took a sip of hot tea and said while shaking his feet in patched big-toe shoes.
Shi Donglei sighed in his heart. This was the problem he was most afraid of, and he was most afraid of it this year. He chuckled and said, "I didn't bring it with me. Uncle, has my little brother dipped the candied haws in sugar haws this year?"
"It's been sold for more than a month. By the way, your brother will come back later and ask him to send some over." Li Dawang took the cigarettes handed over by Shi Jianjun, took a look at them, and exclaimed: "King Furong, this cigarette is old
It’s expensive, I heard it costs dozens of yuan per box.”
"My eldest uncle still knows this cigarette, and my dad doesn't even know it. A friend gave it to me. I'm not very good at smoking, so I stopped smoking, so I took it back... Don't give us candied haws, keep it and sell it."
Money, it’s not easy.”
Shi Donglei lit cigarettes for Li Dawang and his father, and also lit one himself. It wasn't that he didn't know how to smoke, but he didn't like smoking very much, but his previous occupation required him to be able to smoke, and sometimes he had to do it reluctantly.
Just smoke one, or even a few, and start smoking again and again.