(Image from the Internet)
(Continued above, point to pay attention)
thirteen
In this seemingly calm wait, we have entered a new year.
Finally, I received the acceptance letter, but Xiao Hui fell off the list.
I know in my heart the reason why Xiao Hui fell off the list, he spent too much time on me, washing, cooking, and supplementing nutrition for me. She felt that it was more important for me to take the test than for her to go out.
My heart was like a mess, I don't know if it was happy or sad. I just hugged Xiao Hui, calling her name over and over again, and kissing her face.
Xiao Hui put her arms around my neck and cried bitterly.
In fact, we all know in our hearts what the other party wants to say, but we can't say anything, just silently look at each other and silently cry.
Slowly our mood calmed down. I gently wiped away her tears and said to her, "It doesn't matter, let's take the exam again this year, you will definitely be able to enter the capital." ”
Xiao Hui nodded heavily, "Mm-hmm, I can do it!" I must go to you! ”
We both laughed with tears in our eyes.
The start date of the school is March 1 (the first year of the resumption of the college entrance examination is spring admission), and there is still more than a month to go between now and the start of the school year.
During this time, I went to see Xiao Hui almost every day, and she also stuck to me all the time, and even when I went to the toilet, she had to follow, as if if I didn't pay attention, I would disappear.
Finally I was leaving, and the evening before I was leaving, Xiao Hui came to my cave.
She silently helped me pack my things, and filled the stove with several pieces of firewood, and the small cave rippled with the warmth of spring. Then she picked up the broom again to sweep the floor, and wiped the kang table again and again.
I hugged her from behind and said softly, "Xiao Hui, don't do it, there will be no one here tomorrow." ”
Xiao Hui leaned her head back on my shoulder and smiled, "When you leave, there will also be your shadow and your smell here, and I think you will come here when you come." ”
After cleaning up, Xiao Hui put her food on the table and arrived at two bowls of jujube wine.
We have told all the funny things, happy things, unhappy things and painful things over the years, crying and laughing, like two neurotics.
It was getting dark, the oil lamp was burning out, and the two of us hugged each other tightly.
In the bright moonlight I saw her pure, gelatinous body, and I kissed every inch of her body.
Xiao Hui lay there quietly and said softly, "I'm about to melt." ”
……
The next morning I set off, and Xiao Hui sent me.
When I got to the entrance of the village, I asked her to go back, and she didn't say a word and looked at me silently. I waved at her and walked toward the commune, and she followed me.
When I got to the commune, I asked her to go back, and she still didn't speak, or looked at me silently. I boarded the bus bound for the county seat, and she followed me to the car.
When I got to the county seat, she was still like this, not talking, not going back, just silently following me, and I had to let her board the long-distance bus to the city with me.
After getting off the long-distance train, I took Xiao Hui home, because the train to Beijing departed at night, and there were still six or seven hours before the departure time.
My family already knew that I had been admitted to college, and they had prepared a banquet for me at home.
When I got home, I found my dad's waist bar straight and his speech loud.
At the banquet, my father, who had promised all my life, was actually able to talk.
The father raised his wine glass and said emotionally: "This first glass of wine should be thanked to the party and the good policies, so that people like us have hope and prospects." ”
The father drank the wine out of his glass and had tears in his eyes.
We all stood up and drank the wine out of our glasses.
The father held up the second glass of wine, looked at Xiao Hui and said, "This second glass of wine toasts you and your parents, you are too kind, if you don't take care of me, my son can't go to college, you have done too much for him." He said and drank it all.
Xiao Hui also drank the wine from the cup and said, "Uncle, Xiang Dong also saved my life." ”
My father raised another glass of wine, looked at me and said, "Son, you have fought for your father, and you have fought for our family." Learn well, and fight for the country in the future! ”
I nodded vigorously and drank the wine as well.
The sister pulled Xiao Hui and kept talking, and Xiao Hui listened quietly with a smile on her face.
Mom couldn't speak, just looked at us and smiled, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes from time to time.
Time flies and it's time for me to go.
The whole family dropped me off at the train station. Since only one person is allowed to send me to the station at the station, it can only be Xiao Hui who sends me to the platform, the family is waiting for Xiao Hui outside, and my sister will sleep with Xiao Hui at night.
Standing at the door of the carriage, I took Xiao Hui's hand and said, "Review well this year, I am waiting for you in the capital." ”
Xiao Hui smiled: "No, you can come back in the summer vacation, I am waiting for you at home." ”
"Well, I'll come back in the summer, and then we'll go to Beijing together."
"One word is enough!"
"One word is enough!" I hugged her hard.
The bell rang and the conductor urged him to get on the train.
Xiao Hui took out the box of clam oil that I had given her and held it up in front of my eyes.
I said, "Isn't that long gone, so why are you still keeping it?" ”
Xiao Hui didn't say a word, and with a strong break, she divided the empty box into two shells, she shoved one of them into my palm, stared into my eyes and said, "When we meet again, we will put them together." ”
I nodded heavily, "Good, good! ”
The conductor urged me again, and I had to get on the train.
Xiao Hui hugged me, kissed me hard, and then stepped back.
I got into the car and looked at Xiao Hui at the window of the carriage.
The train started slowly, and Xiao Hui raised the scallop shell in his hand and kept waving it, as if to say: "Wait for you to come back, put them together!" ”
I also waved another shell in my hand and said silently, "Definitely, it will be together!" ”
Xiao Hui's figure became smaller and farther away, and suddenly she crouched on the ground and cried loudly.
Entering the campus, for me, everything is so fresh, so full of life.
The students in our class have candidates from the older third class, and there are also fresh graduates who have been referred to in advance, so the age difference is very large, the oldest is thirty-one years old, the youngest is sixteen years old, just like two generations.
Regardless of age, everyone is eager to absorb knowledge, just like the desert that has been dry for a long time meets Ganlin. We feel that this decade has delayed too much.
I began to write to Xiao Hui: "Hui, the campus of the university is full of knowledge and enterprising, I will cherish every moment and every second here, and every moment and every second will also have your shadow... Hui, I miss you! ”
Xiao Hui replied: "Xiao Dong, we must cherish this opportunity to learn, knowledge will change our destiny... East, I miss you too! ”
I wrote a second letter to Xiao Hui: "Hui, this is the first time I have seen such a large staircase classroom, a teacher wants to teach hundreds of classmates, it is silent. I remembered the meeting in our team, the captain had to shout in his voice, haha... Hui, I miss you again. ”
Xiao Hui replied: "When you are in class, don't think about me, don't be distracted, don't look at female classmates... Remember? ”
I wrote a letter to Xiao Hui: "Today I went to Xinhua Bookstore and bought you a set of review materials, which have been sent. Work harder and review well... Hui, I want to kiss you. ”
Xiao Hui replied: "Kiss the shell, the shell in your hand is me, and the shell in my hand is you... I'm kissing it too. ”
The ninth letter I wrote to Xiao Hui: "Hui, do you remember Zhao Yali?" She came to see me today. She said she was going to bless us both, and she said that when she was on vacation, she would go to the village to see you..."
Xiao Hui replied: "Don't come to see me, I will go to the capital with you to see her in September..."
My sixteenth letter: "Hui, I miss you..."
Xiao Hui wrote back: "Xiao Dong, I want you to hold me..."
My eighteenth letter: "Hui, it's not far from the college entrance examination time, step up... Hui, I love you! ”
Xiao Hui wrote back: "Xiao Dong, I think I am getting closer and closer to you... East, I love you too! ”
I wrote to Xiao Hui's nineteenth letter: "Hui, tomorrow is going to be the college entrance examination, calmly fight, bold play, I believe you will be able to succeed... Rest early, I love you, baby! ”
Xiao Hui replied: "Rest assured, I also believe in myself, I think I will be able to succeed... Because I am your baby! ”
I wrote the twenty-first letter to Xiao Hui: "Hui, how do you feel after the exam?" I'm about to take a vacation, I'm going back to you, I can't wait... Kiss my baby! ”
I didn't hear back from Xiao Hui because I was already on the road back to my hometown.
On the train, I felt that the night was so long, and my mind kept presenting the scene when I met XiaoHui, warm, romantic, wild, reserved, maybe mixed. No matter what the situation, I will definitely hug her and kiss her!
The next morning, the train arrived in the city where my family lived, and I left my luggage at home and went to the production team lightly to find Xiao Hui, holding the half scallop shell in my palm.
After arriving at the production team, I ran directly to Xiao Hui's house.
The courtyard door was hidden, I pushed the door in, standing in the courtyard, I suppressed the excitement and gently shouted: "Xiao Hui, Xiao Hui!" I am back! ”
No response, no one at home.
I went to the barn again to see if Old Man Pei was there.
Walking into the livestock shed, I didn't see Pei Laohan, only Haowa.
When Haowa saw me come in, she sat down on the horse stool and covered her face and cried.
I was startled and asked, "What's going on?" What are you crying? What about Uncle Pei? ”
Haowa stood up and ran outside the courtyard, saying as she ran, "You... Let's go to the Commune Health Center! ”
"Health center?" I would like to ask further questions, but Haowa has already run away.
I think Pei Laohan should have had an accident. I pulled out my leg and ran to the commune, running more than twenty miles in one breath, and an hour later I arrived at the commune health center.
I found Pei Laohan's ward, and at the door of the ward stood the captain and the branch secretary. When they saw me, the captain actually hugged me, and tears slid down the vicissitudes of the old face: "Dongwa, why did you come back?" Why don't you come back sooner!" ”
Surprised, I asked, "What's wrong?" What's wrong? What happened to my uncle Pei? ”
"It's not your uncle Pei, it's..., you go in and have a look."
I pushed open the door and went inside.
The two beds were lying on Xiao Hui mama and Pei Laohan, both of whom were infusing fluids.
I hurriedly stepped forward and took Old Man Pei's hand: "Uncle, what's wrong with you?" How can this be? ”
The two old men burst into tears, could not cry, and could not speak for half a day.
I asked, "What about Xiao Hui?" Why don't you see her? ”
Old Man Pei hammered his chest, "Ahhh..." crying, turning his head to look at the bedside table, which had a box covered with a black cloth.
I seemed to hear a voice, sweet and moist, it was Xiao Hui's voice, and she was saying, "Dong, you're back?" Our shells can be put together..."
The sound drove me to lift the black cloth and let me see a delicate wooden box, and the shells on the wooden box...
I gasped for breath, my brain went blank, and I fell backwards with an "ah" and fell heavily to the ground.
When I woke up, I was lying in a hospital bed. I jumped out of bed, pounced on the box, and cried like a wolf.
My heart was torn apart piece by piece, and I really couldn't stand it. I shook my hands, squeezed the two shells, and painstakingly put them together and placed them on the box.
Xiao Hui, Xiao Hui, my lover!
When I was a little calmer, the captain told me what had happened.
After the last course of the college entrance examination, Xiao Hui walked out of the examination room happily, and as the letter said, she felt good.
She went home, wrote a letter, put it in the mailbox of the brigade headquarters, and went straight to my cave. She was going to clean the room and wait for me to return.
In July of this year, there was a lot of rain, and it had rained several times in the past few days, and now it is suddenly raining again, and it is getting heavier and heavier.
Unable to go home, she lay on the bed and fell asleep with the half shell in her hand.
Due to the soaking and erosion of the rain for many days, the mountain around the cave has long been loosened and collapsed at night.
It wasn't until the next day that people found this place, xiao Hui from the collapsed ruins, her hand clutching the half scallop shell...
The team rushed Xiao Hui to the commune health center in a car, but Xiao Hui could not return, and the parents who went with her collapsed in the hospital.
When I got back here, it was four days later. Since it was summer, the commune health center did not have refrigeration facilities, so Xiao Hui's body was quickly cremated.
When I arrived, my little hui was already lying in that box.
These days, the team sent people to take turns to take care of us, and a week later, we were discharged from the hospital and returned to Xiao Hui's house.
I held Xiao Hui's ashes and said all the way, every word she heard, and also answered me, we know each other.
Back at home, in front of the captain and secretary, I knelt down in front of Pei Laohan and Aunt Pei and solemnly said, "Uncle, Aunt, from now on I am your son, and I will give you a pension." After saying that, I gave them three prostrations, "From now on, like Xiao Hui, I will call you Father and Mother." father! mother! ”
The old two held me and cried bitterly.
This summer, I have been with the old couple, and at night I have put my arms around Xiao hui and talked for a night.
One day in August, the captain sent an envelope. I took it apart and looked at it, and couldn't help but hold Xiao Hui's ashes and cry and laugh.
"Hui, my baby, you have been admitted, you have been admitted!" We can enter Beijing together and break into the world together! My Hui! ”
When school started, I settled down with the old man and went to Beijing with the shells together!
When I walked into the campus dormitory, there was a letter at the head of my bed, the twenty-first letter that Xiao Hui would give me: "Dong, today I finally finished the exam, I feel good." I feel like I'm one step closer to you. Remember that? We have discussed the problem of the geese coming from south to north, and you said that no matter where you go, you will take me with you and travel the world together. Are you already on your way back? Your little hui, your baby is looking forward to your return as soon as possible, Xiao Hui wants to hug you, wants to kiss you, and wants to... Your baby is waiting for you at home..."
I took this packed shell to the school she was admitted to and walked to every corner of the campus.
Since then, this shell has followed me to the north and south and the world.
Xiao Hui, a kind girl from northern Shaanxi, she is my lifelong lover.
postscript
Forty-six years have passed since I first met Xiaohui, and if Xiaohui is still alive, she should be an old man in her sixties. And the little favor in my heart will always be the age of the flower season, and it will always be a feminine and lovely baby.
Since I graduated from college and joined the work force, I have taken Xiao Hui's parents to Beijing and received them to my side.
My later lover asked, why did she have two in-laws? I smiled and told her Xiao Hui's story.
A few years ago, Xiao Hui's parents died one after another, and I buried their old two in the yellow soil of their hometown, next to Xiao Hui's grave.
Every once in a while, if conditions permitted, I would take my family back to the village where I had joined the queue, to the cave where I had lived, to look at the mountain, to look at the ditch, to see the ditch.
I would sit in front of Xiao Hui's grave for a long time, talk to her, and reminisce about the past time together.
I will still stand in the place where Ah Si was buried for a long time...
(End)
Summer 2021