Text/Pang Wenhui
Rain
A bamboo recliner is placed in the corridor outside the house, above which is a cement partition that extends out of the house. At the moment, rain was rushing down the edge of the cement slab, making a splash on the muddy ground in the yard.
The young Chopin lay on his back in a chair, his hands clasped behind his head, his eyes staring straight at the rain in a fixed position in front of him, and the rain fell one after another, continuously, in the stalemate with the line of sight, gradually connected into a line of water that ran through the sky, filling the whole world.
Summer in the countryside is the stage where the sun and the rainy season take turns, and basically the next day there will be a torrential rain. They always come unexpectedly, in a hurry, recklessly, and incredibly strong. During the rainy season, the heavy rain that fell from the sky shook Chopard's world more than once - the black oppressive sky in the thunderstorm, the boundless rain was as big as a soybean, pouring down angrily from the sky.
They are like a dense army of wildebeest in the animal world, rubbing shoulders through the dry steppes of the African hinterland, wrapped in a vigorous and indomitable power that is above life.
Chopard closed his eyes and reveled, immersed in the cool air until the sound of rain faded and disappeared.
Residual raindrops condensed under the eaves and fell slowly.
Chopard estimated that it would take more than twenty seconds for a grain of water to go from a budding hemisphere to a perfect spherical shape to a drop of water falling with its tail dragged. It wasn't a short time, but to the bored Chopard, it was just a fleeting moment in the idle day, and it passed in the blink of an eye.
(Infographic)
Wandering
I don't know when, Chopard habitually wandered in Teacher A Qing's English class.
Teacher A Qing is a newcomer, good looking, and her lectures are also vivid, and almost no one in the class does not like her. When she lectured, the most attractive thing was her beautiful lips, which were coated with beautiful peach-colored lipstick, and the beads were round and jade, like water droplets in the rainy season. One spoke like two tiny pieces of cherry flesh dancing there, sometimes hugging, sometimes parting, revealing beautiful lotus-like teeth, whiter than the clouds on a sunny day, shining with pure luster.
Chopard looked at it and lost his mind...
"Chopard!"
Well? Chopin didn't know who was calling him, until a small piece of chalk suddenly pierced the illusory world, landed on his desk, and jumped twice.
"It's not good if you don't listen carefully to the lecture." Teacher A Qing's lips moved.
Looking straight ahead, Chopard nodded apologetically.
Teacher A Qing continued to lecture.
She is actually a very gentle and patient person, with a soft gaze for every student.
Still, there are times when she can't stand it—Chopin loses her mind every time she listens to her class. She has reminded her many times directly, and indirectly warned many times, and nothing has changed. In desperation, Teacher A Qing came to see Chopard's parents.
The only person in Chopard's family who had seen the world was Grandpa.
It was an old man with a slender body, his forehead was full of wrinkles, his hair was black and white, somewhat sparse, he was not tall, his figure was dry and thin, but he could see the strength forged by years of work.
Because of the rickety, it always looks humble.
"This... Hello Chopard's parents! ”
Teacher A Qing's opening remarks were a little nervous, she was a city person, and when she was closest to the land, she only took a moving car to pass through the top, and at this moment, facing people who had really dealt with the land all their lives, they suddenly felt as if they didn't know what to say. These were two unrelated parallel worlds, and she didn't know how to communicate with that world, nor how to express themselves kindly and accurately, so she could only be careful.
Orphans
Instead, Chopard's grandfather spoke, he didn't speak Mandarin, and his accent carried a rough smoke voice from the countryside.
"Bangzi is a good boy." That was the first thing he said. The bangzi in his eyes is his grandson, and he is also the grandson of the land, and the roots are as red as the earth, and the nature is certainly good.
"His father is dead, his mother is gone, and he is in trouble with the teacher." This was chopin's grandfather's second sentence, and he didn't say anything else since then, constantly talking about "trouble teacher." In his opinion, Chopard must have done something wrong that led to him being called by the teacher, and he may not even be able to read the book in the future, and the only thing he can do is to open up his old face and ask the teacher for a face, so that Chopard can read the book.
Only in this way, Teacher A Qing could not communicate, and anything she wanted to say was blocked by a "trouble teacher". Later, Teacher A Qing simply did not say anything, after all, through this unsuccessful communication, she knew a news that she had never heard before - Chopard was almost an orphan.
Orphan, what a painful word.
Teacher A Qing did not say anything more, she thanked Grandpa Chopin for coming, and frankly said that Chopard performed well, the school will better cultivate him, so that he will become an excellent person in the future.
In fact, in addition to the problem of wandering in English class, Chopard was almost impeccable in other aspects, and his grades were good, always in the top ten of the class. Even if he often loses his mind, the English taught by Teacher A Qing, he can always get good results.
Lord
There aren't many kids in the summer in the countryside. The young people went out, the young children followed them outside, and they all returned only for the New Year, and what was left were the unambitious middle-aged farmers and the elderly elders who were dying.
The village is often quiet all day, and even the earth dogs can't lift their strength, with their tails between their legs, creeping in the shade corners, and making a quiet sound.
During the day and night, Chopard spent a lot of time watching TV, without a playmate, and tv opened up the outside world for him. There seemed to be many voices saying to him, come on, let's play! So, his hand was stretched out in his eyes, and he was happy to touch those strange worlds, and the whole person was happy without heart or lungs.
Television is a great invention, Chopard thought, but sometimes it's boring, and it's time to get out and about.
During the day in the countryside, the sun is pure and powerful, every tree, every grass, river and crop, are evenly illuminated, and the natural light makes them colorful. In some places, there are still remnants of canola flowers in spring, and the golden flowers stand proudly, like a life that is facing difficulties.
Chopard did not go far, and after going to his house, there was a ruin here, and one day he suddenly wanted to open up a small piece of land slightly larger than the chessboard.
He used an iron spoon as a shovel, first drawing four square edges in the mud, then leveling a square field around the four lines, and then piling up the excess dirt around the edge, slightly bulging, like a field ridge.
Then he found a bent screwdriver as a hoe, and worked on this land like his grandfather cultivated. The hoe was streaked, the soil was fluffy, but Chopard did not sow seeds, but took shortcuts to find many rice-like mini grasses, only as high as toothpicks. He planted them neatly, like seedlings, and finally sprinkled them with water one by one to help them take root.
Chopin used to love to go to his grandfather's rice fields, and the green summer and golden autumn made him envious, and now he had it too.
Zhuang Tang, "Field Boy" (oil painting)
At night, Grandpa moved the bamboo recliner out of the hall and placed it in the courtyard. The rainy sky is clean and bright, scattered with stars, and the night wind tirelessly brings coolness to people. Grandpa lay on the bamboo recliner for a while, then went to pick up the family's work, feed the cattle to chop firewood, repair the farm tools, and the recliner became chopin's exclusive. He lay on his back, his legs stretched as far down as possible, in a very relaxed position, his hands folded behind his head.
Chopin felt inexplicably at peace, as if the king of a kingdom were sitting on his throne.
In this kingdom, he had absolute power: Grandpa would bring him fruit and water, Grandma would sit next to him and gently fan it with a fan to drive away the annoying mosquitoes of summer nights, and he would enjoy the service and respect of his courtiers like a king.
He is also this small farm yard, this village has many places, many borderlands outside the village, those ponds, streams, hillsides and other hidden paradises... The only host.
Under the four legs of his recliner, the land spread thousands of meters, all of which were the territory of his kingdom.
Intrusion
One day in the summer, chopin's kingdom came with several uninvited guests, his neighbors and two brothers. They also brought game consoles from the city, which were connected to the TV so you could play freely.
For the first time, Chopin sensed that his kingdom was being challenged, and even the land under his feet was vaguely out of control, he could not pick up his rice fields as usual, he could not talk to the flowers, insects, birds and people of the kingdom in an imperial tone, all because the kingdom invaded outsiders.
As king, Chopard had to take measures against outsiders.
He took a deep breath and carefully knocked on the door of the neighbor's brother' house.
Boom boom. There was no response, but Chopard could clearly hear the voices speaking inside.
Boom boom. "Cloud! dragon! Chopin shouted their names outside the door.
The door finally opened, chopin was pulled in by a strong force, and a figure hurriedly flew back to the TV, grabbed the handle and pressed it. They were playing games, a very fun shooter game that had been very popular in the city for a few years.
Chopin watched them fight quietly, and didn't say a word except to say hello at the beginning. Yun and the dragon were busy breaking through the pass, and Chopin sat on the side watching them break through, watching them grit their teeth, watching them tense and fierce, watching them shout, suddenly a little envious, igniting a trace of longing.
They fought for a long time, and Chopard watched for a long time. They ended the reopening, and Chopard watched them reopen. The desire slowly receded, and in this world, it was as if Chopard had never appeared at all.
Xiao Bang suddenly felt that he had turned into air, he looked carefully, his body was still there, and he was not wearing the emperor's new clothes, how could he be ignored?
He felt deeper loneliness, and some hatred, hating why his parents, who had disappeared, had not left him a brother or sister, even if it was possible to share his kingdom, why not? He was as distracted as he had been in English class, his eyes were empty, the TV screen had become a little mosaic, and it was gradually blurred into a fog, and Chopard could hear their excited laughter, but he couldn't see anything.
He seemed to have entered another lonely country. Thinking of the ancient emperors on TV, the emperor always liked to call himself a widow, a widow, how clever and appropriate the word is, Chopard is the saddest widow in his kingdom.
Station
The rain of the rainy season is never absent. Heavy rain suddenly broke out at noon and swept through the village.
Yun and the dragon stayed in the village for a few days before returning to the city, luckily avoiding the heavy rain. In the city, there are their parents, their houses, and many fun places, and the countryside is only their hometown, a station where they come to play on vacation.
Chopard had nowhere to go, the countryside was someone else's station, but it was his only home.
The torrential rain poured down in pieces in the raging wind, the sky was dark, as if accumulating strength, and suddenly, a huge lightning bolt burst out of a certain piece of the sky, making the sky over the countryside light up to the day, and then the continuous thunder exploded in repression.
Thundered.
paddy field! Chopard was watching TV when he was suddenly awakened by the sound of lightning and thunder.
The rain was densely smashed on the ground, and the ground had become a rolling ocean of water waves, and Xiao Bang grabbed an umbrella and broke open and rushed into the ocean.
In the ocean, Chopard's rice fields naturally have no traces, and the mini rice seedlings have long been washed away by the current.
Chopard looked into the distance where the water flowed past, where several old houses stood, and the white walls and black tiles were shrouded in a mist, like a very artistic ink painting. Chopin watched blankly, inexplicably sentimental.
Dressed in a smock and hat, grandpa carrying a hoe strode out of the rain curtain, arrogant and dry, like a martial arts master who appeared in the finale of TV.
"What to do in the rain, go into the house!" Grandpa took off the hat on his head and put it on Chopard's rain-soaked head. As he spoke, water kept flowing down the top of his head, down the wrinkles into his chin.
The sky is gray, the thick dark clouds seem to store endless rain, and the fierce wind and fallen leaves dance together, bringing up the chaotic horror of the sky, like the scene of monsters on TV, like the scene of the end of the world in the movie.
Is this also the end of his kingdom?
Unique
Many years later, When Chopard left, he got rid of the shackles of the land and began to become the excellent person that Teacher Ah Qing said at that time.
He gradually forgot the kingdom he once had. Maybe it was because of time, maybe it was the worst rain of that rainy season, leaving his kingdom with nothing left, not even the fragments.
Chopard tried to recall that kingdom appeared on time every summer of those years and mysteriously disappeared in every autumn. No one could find it, and no one knew, except Chopard himself.
For he is the eternal, the only, great King of that kingdom!
Source | Yangcheng Evening News Yangcheng Pie
Editor-in-charge | Deng Qiong
Edit | Li Li