Spring Breeze (Novel)

Chapter II

1

Liu Junqiang often met Su Qidong unexpectedly on the way to and from school, and the two gradually became familiar with each other. A few times at noon, Liu Junqiang went to the boiling water room to fetch water, and then went back together. Every time Liu Junqiang had to invite Su Qidong to his place for dinner, every time he was pushed by Su Qidong to resign, he knew that Liu Junqiang and several other students were together, she was embarrassed to go there to eat, it was not convenient, and it was not good for Liu Junqiang.

After the last class on Saturday morning, the two met again, Liu Junqiang still twisted the big belly pot in his hand, walked a little way to change hands, Su Qidong walked side by side at a step away.

"What are you going to do in the afternoon?" Liu Junqiang asked Su Qidong, "I have nothing to do, I plan to sleep well." Su Qidong replied, looked at Liu Junqiang, and then asked: "Are you going home today?" No, just last week. In the afternoon, if there is nothing to do, come to play, I have nothing to do, several other people have to go home, it is very boring to stay alone. Liu Junqiang said. Su Qidong heard that everyone else had to go back, so Liu Junqiang was alone, and he had nothing to do, so he could push it until night and then sleep. "Okay, I'll be here in the afternoon." After saying that, I went into the alley.

After lunch, slept again, woke up at three o'clock, Su Qidong washed his face under the faucet, said hello to his family and went out.

Liu Junqiang lived in the family, Su Qidong once followed his father to visit the door, the adults of the family basically know, one of the sons of the family has a good relationship with his uncle, is a seller of roast chicken powder, often to his uncle's house to drink, he can occasionally meet once or twice, but these years have grown up, no longer follow his father to visit the door, and they have moved away from the center of the city for several years, for the original neighbors, he just met politely to say hello, and did not pay attention to their changes, The homes of those who used to go to him had long since become vague and unfamiliar to him. Just remember their approximate last name and who lives there.

He walked to the last door of this alley, the door was very low but wide, the door leaf was very worn, there was no threshold, this was to facilitate the entry and exit of rack cars and bicycles. The door was hidden, he pushed it open gently, reached in and probed to see if there were any dogs, did not hear the sound of dogs barking, he dared to go in, and there was a small moon door inside, round. There are houses on all sides of the courtyard, a hall house on the west side, a hall room on the east side, a small house in the north and south, a living room that seems to be a kitchen, and some firewood and grass for making fires are piled in front. In the yard were several bicycles and a cart selling rolling dough. He looked at it, and it was not clear which house Liu Junqiang lived in.

"Liu Junqiang ---- Liu Junqiang ----" Su Qidong stood at the entrance of the courtyard and shouted twice into the courtyard, the voice was not too high, he was afraid of waking up the other people in the courtyard. After shouting, he swept around the rooms, listened carefully, and waited for Liu Junqiang's response.

"Su Qidong, over here." Liu Junqiang poked his head out of a small window in the northeast corner, and Su Qidong looked in the direction of the sound, which was a low and small firewood room sandwiched between the east house and the north room, and Liu Junqiang was waving at him there. The door opened and there were some pots and pans and a big belly kettle piled up on the floor. The light in the house was not good, it was dark, and there was a pungent smell of kerosene coming at you. On the bed were four sets of quilts stacked in turn, and on the bed board were five mattresses, ranging in width and height, and the sheets and quilts were covered with a layer of black sweat. Liu Junqiang was sitting on the bed at the window wrapped in a quilt. The whole house is less than eight square meters long and wide, and the height is only two meters and five meters, standing on the bed can definitely bump your head, such a small firewood room is actually inhabited by five people!

Liu Junqiang saw Su Qidong come in, and warmly beckoned him to sit on the bed, and there was no square stool on the narrow ground. Su Qidong sat on the bed, looked up at the roof, on which were placed some wooden sticks of different thicknesses and curved curves, and a thick bar supported all the weight on the roof, as if it could be broken at any time.

Liu Junqiang saw the shock on Su Qidong's face and explained: "Although it is crowded here, it is close to the school, it is convenient to carry water to buy vegetables, and it is also cheap to pay for the house." "Su Qidong looked at the walls around him and used old newspaper paste." Such a small house, five people, crowded to death. Several of us were thin, and sleeping next to each other wasn't very crowded. I've slept eight people in my bed at most! Liu Junqiang said as he slipped down from the bed, he walked over and screwed up a warm pot and poured a cup of boiling water, and put it on the lid of the box in front of the bed, "Drink water." Su Qidong swept around the furnishings in the house and looked at the windows, originally small windows, an on this wall also appeared much larger, the house was also bright.

"What about the others?" Su Qidong took two sips of the cup. "Go home, the weather is not hot today, you can leave early and arrive early, you can have a good rest in the evening." Liu Junqiang said and took out a box of Hades from his pants pocket, drew two of them from them, and handed one to Su Qidong. "I can't smoke." Su Qidong waved his hand and said, "Smoke, won't you learn to smoke, you can't smoke when you're so old?" "Liu Junqiang handed the cigarette over again, and pushed Su Qidong again, Su Qidong took the cigarette, sandwiched between the index finger and the middle finger, Liu Junqiang found a match to wipe, and rushed to the cigarette in Su Qidong's hand, Su Qidong took a clumsy sip, smoked a little fiercely, the smoke drilled into the throat eye, choked him for half a day, and tears overflowed from his eyes." Slow down, slow down, drink a mouthful of water and press it." Liu Junqiang was amused by Su Qidong's embarrassed look, and held up the cup in one hand and handed it over, and the other hand caressed Su Qidong's back. Su Qidong took the water and took a sip before coughing a little slower, and he quickly wiped the tears from his eyes with his hands for fear of being seen by Liu Junqiang. Liu Junqiang saw that he was no longer coughing, so he lit his own cigarette, took a sip, swallowed it, and then two very light and thin breaths rushed out of his two nostrils.

"Haven't you smoked before?" Liu Junqiang sat next to Su Qidong and asked with a smile. "I used to smoke before, when I was in elementary school, I bought a box of double rabbits for five cents a box with a few classmates outside, hid in their coal house and smoked them behind closed doors, I felt very enjoyable, and then I stole cigarettes from home with my uncle's brother to smoke, but most of them were smoked by my brother, I just tasted one or two bites." 」 Su Qidong said and remembered the smoking before, and he felt very silly and ridiculous. He took another sip or two, and this time he didn't choke. Liu Junqiang watched him spit out two puffs of smoke, shook his head, and said: "You call this brand of cigarettes, it is a waste, and the smoke must be inhaled into the stomach to taste the taste." Saying that he seriously gave Su Qidong two demonstrations, Su Qidong learned from Liu Junqiang to suck the cigarette into his mouth, swallowed it, and then rushed out two thick scattered smokes from his nose, like a pile of half-wet wheat straw stalks lit inside his body. After spitting out the cigarette, he coughed twice, covered his chest with his hand, and said, "Smoking like this is too wasteful, my lungs can't stand it, or let go of the cigarette to be comfortable." He said and put up the running cigarette one by one.

The two men sat on the edge of the bed smoking cigarettes and chatting while drinking water. Seeing that the sun could not hang in the western sky, Su Qidong remembered that it was time to go home. He stood up, dusted the soot that had fallen on the sheet, put the cup in his hand in the place just now, and was preparing to say goodbye to Liu Junqiang, Liu Junqiang handed another cigarette, he did not answer, said: "The time is not early, I have to leave." After saying that, he planned to take a step, but he was pulled by Liu Junqiang, "What is the hurry, the time is still early, you don't rush to go first, wow, I will cook for us to eat later, and then sit down!" He smiled at him, a look of sincerity on his face, and Su Qidong hesitated. He said, "How can this work, I'll still go home and eat." "Liu Junqiang quickly helped him to the edge of the bed and asked him to sit down." What's the hurry, I'll let you taste my craft later, I still have a few eggs here, I'll make you a meal of egg noodles, you go, stay and play alone and don't bother to do it, sit down and eat a meal with me? Liu Junqiang handed him a cigarette and wiped it on the fire to light it for him. Su Qidong took the cigarette from the ground, took a sip, thought about it and said, "Okay." Liu Junqiang saw that he agreed, and he was no longer in a hurry, and sat down next to him again to light a cigarette for himself and smoked it.

After sitting for a while, Liu Junqiang asked Su Qidong to pay attention to the water boiling on the kerosene stove and went out on his own. I came back with some vegetables in my hand. When the water began to bubble, Liu Junqiang turned off the fire, poured some noodles in a basin, sprinkled some salt, washed his hands and began to make noodles. Su Qidong wanted to help him, but he just wouldn't let him, saying that he was very familiar with this set and would make rice later. Sure enough, he kneaded the dough handily, and the noodles in his hand became a soft, hard, and right, round and chubby dough, and he smeared a layer of flax oil on it, and the dough suddenly appeared greasy and yellow. He wrapped it in plastic paper and buttoned it in the washbasin with a bowl. After kneading the noodles, he saw that it was cooking, and Su Qidong wanted to help him wash the dishes, but he blocked him aside. The blue flames began to jump up and down again, and gradually a fragrance seeped out in the strong smell of kerosene. Soon the cheeky egg soup was ready to roll. Liu Junqiang opened the wrapped dough, cut the noodles into strips, and then kneaded them into thin slices with his hands, making the noodles much wider, and then pinched one end in each hand, placed it on the chest and pulled it, and the side immediately became thin and long, and very symmetrical. Su Qidong was stunned and amazed when he saw it, he didn't expect this boy to have this hand. He couldn't bear it any longer, and when he washed his hands, he was going to grab the bread. Liu Junqiang wanted to stop but couldn't stop it, so he had to let him try. Su Qidong took a noodle, learned from Liu Junqiang's appearance to pinch the noodles thinner, and then also pinched the two ends of the noodles and put them on the chest to shake and pull hard, did not expect to use too much force, the noodles were pulled off, and the thin and thin end was thrown over and wrapped around the arms in many circles, sticking into a ball, and the other half of the crack was thrown on the ground, covered with dust. Liu Junqiang laughed as soon as he saw it, laughing so hard that he couldn't even straighten his waist, and Su Qidong also laughed and said embarrassedly, "Look at me, waste your face." "Nothing, learn slowly, when I first started cooking for myself, I might as well cook a meal than you." Liu Junqiang said while giving Su Qidong several demonstrations.

The rice was good, and there was a half pot of cooking. In order to entertain this classmate, Liu Junqiang dug up two spoons of cheeks brought from home, beat two poached eggs, sprinkled with green onions and coriander, the room was suddenly filled with the aroma of cheeky egg noodles, Liu Junqiang gave Su Qidong a large bowl full of full bowls for him, Su Qidong also wanted to be humble, before he could humble Liu Junqiang had already stuffed the bowl into his arms, Liu Junqiang took a bowl for himself, brought it to the door, sat on the threshold and ate it, while eating, he said: "You must not be polite, just eat, After eating the pot, there is still inside, and then serve it for you. And pointed with chopsticks to signal Su Qidong not to cheat.

The sky has sunk, the lights on the road outside have been turned on, scattering orange-red lights, the streets are running and playing in groups of children, people who have eaten dinner have gathered under the interface street lamp to watch others play chess, or crouch or stand with each other without a word of gossip, there are occasional lovers hugging each other on the road, and the bells of bicycles and the sounds of shouting children are mixed together. There was also a circle of people at the entrance of several small shops, some playing cards and some drinking. In early summer, the county town streets are bustling.

After Liu Junqiang and Su Qidong had eaten, Su Qidong rushed to wash the pot, and Liu Junqiang had no choice but to let people wash him. After the two of them packed up, they sat for a while feeling a little stuffy, so they locked the door and went to the street to hang out. The two people walked side by side, but there was no cigarette in their hands, afraid of meeting classmates or teachers on the road, and Su Qidong was even more afraid of encountering acquaintances or family members.

The county town is not very large, the two roads running east-west and north-south directions run through the city, the streets are lined with dense small shops, there are state-run and individual, there is a bell and drum tower built in ancient times at the intersection of the two main streets, there is a large square around, ventilated on all sides, when the weather is warm, people often sit on the steps under the drum tower to cool off, looking at people and cars coming from south to north, sometimes there are several old men and women sitting together to sing ancient Taoist songs, sometimes there will be a few middle-aged people gathered together to sing songs, It always attracts a large group of people walking to watch and applaud. To the west of Gulou Square, there is also a well-greened cultural square, where there is a masson pine as thick as an arm, a fountain, and a sculpture of a legendary dragon girl shepherding sheep carved from Han white jade. The garden is full of flowers and plants, and the breeze blows everywhere. There were always pairs of lovers hugging each other and whispering on the cement bench under the tree in front of the flowers. Further to the west is the County Film Theater, where pop songs are released from the loudspeakers of the theater at night to solicit people to buy tickets to see movies. Usually, there are any literary and artistic programs, and they are also performed there. In the floodlit court on the north side of the theater, the annual county-wide staff basketball tournament is held here, but it seems cold and deserted on weekdays, and the row of houses below is rented to a private video hall, and the sound of fighting and killing is always heard in the large speaker at the door.

Liu Junqiang and Su Qidong walked all the way along the county gate street to the front of the cultural square, slipped around the cultural square and walked towards the Gulou Square. Liu Junqiang talked nonsense along the way about their country anecdotes, and Su Qidong listened with relish, not "Really? "Oh!" In response to Liu Junqiang. He didn't talk much at first, but now he was attracted by the story told by Liu Junqiang, and he couldn't say anything more. The two men talked all the way, and soon after walking through the two main streets, they turned back the same way. Liu Jun insisted on pulling Su Qidong to sleep with him, Su Qidong did not go, he coughed and never went home at night.

Su Qidong had a very happy afternoon or even a night, he felt that he had finally found a friend in middle school, although Liu Junqiang was a student from the countryside, but after this period of tentative contact, he felt that this person was warm and generous, and reliable enough to be a friend.

It was very late to return home at night, Su Qidong prevaricated his father's inquiry and returned to his house, lying on the kang, he did not feel sleepy at all, turned over twice and climbed up, twisted the lamp, took out the diary from the drawer, and began to write the diary.

To be continued...