Dragon fruit in the palm of your hand

At 19:32 on the evening of October 25th, the 41st class group in the wind received a message from the old class leader Dong Yuhong: "Students: An Hongbin has passed away due to illness today, and the students who have condolences have contacted me, thank you." One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and in an instant the group seemed to explode, arousing this group of high school classmates who usually have no one to speak, and also reminded me of the bits and pieces with An Hongbin in the past.

We entered the 41st class of Fenglingdu Middle School (Ruicheng County, Shanxi Province) together in September 1983. The school is located in Zhaocun, which is two or three miles away from Fenglingdu Railway Station, and in addition to the straight-line distance from the town, there is a shallow ditch of 200 or 300 meters that is not too deep and wide. The classrooms are several rows of flat tiled houses located side by side on the south side of the campus, and the dormitories are located on the north side of the campus in a row of flat tiled houses of the same architectural style. There is nothing in the dormitory room except for a concrete countertop that rises more than half a meter high from east to west. One by one, the students' bunks were rolled up on the cement platform (white) or spread out (after 10 p.m.), and each of them was less than a meter wide, and it became the place where dozens of us boys lived for three years.

At that time, although there had been reform and opening up, the students who were not wealthy lived a rather frugal high school life. It is quite satisfying to be able to make two 4 taels of steamed buns and 5 cents of water soup dishes for each meal. Among my classmates, I had a lot of contacts with An Hongbin and Liang Zhenbang, and the three of us often ran together, went to Phoenix Ridge together, went to the ferry together, and went to the Yellow River together to watch the handling process of the ferry shipwreck.

It was a weekend, and the three of us who were bored met to walk through the Phoenix Ridge, and saw that someone took the entire mountain range as a fulcrum, set up a lever on the ridge, and lifted the boat and car in the river, so we ran down curiously and kept staring at the whole operation process. It turned out that the car full of cigarettes got on the ferry (the ferry from Fengling to the other side of the river), and before it had passed 100 meters, the bow owner began to sink, and the boatman rushed back, but it was not too late, and most of the boat fell into the river less than 10 meters offshore, but the higher carriage was still on the water. Forty years ago, decent lifting devices were far less developed than they are today, and through the lever with the hill (ridge) as the fulcrum, I don't know who thought of it, and after a few days of tossing and turning, it finally saved the goods and vehicles of that car. It was an era of a meal, a cow, and a building under the buttocks, and such a rescue was quite necessary and meaningful, and it was deeply impressed by several of our high school students.

The classrooms have been built for many years, and the quality cannot be judged, but the quality of the canopy made of reed mats should not be very good. Once, during a Chinese class, the roof of the classroom suddenly collapsed, and the students rushed out. When the principal heard this, he rushed over and saw that there was no risk of the beams and walls of the house collapsing, so he asked people to clean up the fallen reed mats and continue the class.

The school playground is not large, there is no standard 400-meter track, at most it is horizontal bars, parallel bars, pole climbing, playing basketball or running in a small circle. In the second year of high school or just the third year of high school, a slightly larger playground was laid out in the open space opposite the school, and the first sports day in the wind was held that year, and it was also the first time we practiced javelin and ball throwing in the sports meeting. The students exercised more on a square two- or three-mile long country dirt road outside the school on the North Korean Railway. In addition to mornings, every afternoon after class and dinner, the three of us would run or walk around the rectangular dirt road, which was also the most sports in the three years of high school, and through these three years of sports, my frail body from elementary school and junior high school suddenly became stronger. Whenever we take a break in school or walk on that dirt road, watching the train driven by the thick steam on the railroad from afar, "be precious, never forget" has become another mantra we sing.

After the college entrance examination was completed in July 1986, An Hongbin and Liang Zhenbang and I agreed to take turns to play in the three houses. First went to An Hongbin's soaphorn tree village on the side of the mountain, his house is under the corner of the mountain, in the courtyard of the four directions, there are several caves, he is the eldest in the family, his father is not old, that is, he is in his early forties, chatting about the day, and told me that my grandmother also married to Banshang from their soaphorn tree village, which I really didn't know before. His grandmother is still there, skinny, very lean, and during the few days we were at his house, it was mainly his grandmother cooking, a bowl of knife-cut noodles, even and neat, even without rape, it was delicious and delicious. He also has a sister, who should still be in the fourth grade of primary school or junior high school, and several other children were born to his stepmother.

Living in his cave, even in the summer, he can still feel a little cool. One morning, we climbed the mountain together, and saw a large water spring on the top of the mountain, and I don't know who surrounded it with cement, and the clear water was cool and sweet, and we talked together: "How high is the mountain, how high is the water".

During this period, his father and stepmother told us that An Hongbin got up in the middle of the night a few nights ago and sleepwalked, dancing and shouting in the yard, thinking that he should be worried about the results of the college entrance examination. It's just that the results of the college entrance examination have not yet come out at that time, and although the three of us are playing happily on the surface, everyone should also have deep worries about their future in their hearts.

A few days later, in the morning, we left Saponaria Village, and on the way to Yangjian Village (the village where Liang Zhenbang's family is located), we saw Qi Yunting, who was in the same class in the wind, pushing her bicycle all the way up (we went all the way down), and we should have gone to find Shi Zengming. Qi Yunting and Shi Zengming's love affair is the only pair of our high school classmates that I know of Zhengda Guangming's early love, and it is precisely because of its openness that it has caused a sensation in the entire team and even the whole school. Many students from other classes come to our class window after work to see the two of them whispering together. I don't know what kind of psychology it is, the three of us boys who have just finished the college entrance examination saw the female classmates in the same class passing by outside, and did not greet her, and the three of them said in private: "It should be to find Shi Zengming", and hurried by at a glance.

After that, there should not be much contact between us for many years, until more than 20 years ago, I don't know who established the class 41 class directory in the wind through the alumni group or QQ, and we got in touch again. He wrote me a letter by email and sent me a photo with his lover, who was already the dean of academic affairs or vice president of his alma mater at the height of his spirits, and will be the president in a few years.

More than 10 years ago, my younger brother's daughter was not admitted to high school. One day, my brother and sister-in-law called me and wanted me to talk to An Hongbin. I didn't want to, but I thought it was an opportunity to communicate with my old classmates, so I called him. An Hongbin told me: "We are all our own people, and her girl's grades still don't come, even if she comes, her grades can't keep up, and it's impossible to be admitted to college." Then, he asked me for my brother's phone number, saying that he would call my brother directly, so as not to embarrass my brother, who was thousands of miles away. Half an hour later, my brother called me and said that An Hongbin had called him to see if I could call An Hongbin again. This time, I didn't say yes.

In a few years, when I returned to my hometown in Shanxi, and when I returned to Shenzhen, I passed through Fenglingdu, passed by the newly built Fengzhong, and went to his home. At that time, the sun had set, so he asked me to go for a walk on Fenglingdu Street to see the street scene and talk about the development of the school over the years. For this new school site, in order to improve the quality of education, he really put in a lot of effort. He has also been rated as one of the top ten young teachers in Yuncheng City, an advanced individual in Yuncheng City's "Three Educations", a teaching expert in primary and secondary schools in Shanxi Province, a model teacher in Shanxi Province, and a model worker.

Before the epidemic, when I went home again, my younger brother said that An Hongbin was sick and saw a doctor in Yuncheng Hospital, and the principal of Fengzhong was also changed. asked in the group of classmates, but no one responded, and since then, An Hongbin has never been seen speaking in the group, and it seems that he has never spoken in the group.

Early in the morning of October 26, on the way from Shenzhen to Baise (Leye County) in Guangxi, I saw that the students in the high school group also responded further, what to use to express respect and reluctance to this old classmate? Someone sent an elegy, I think I should send a wreath, a long way? Nothing, checked Gaode (map), the information of various shops in Fenglingdu Town is there, called the proprietress and asked the proprietress to inform An Hongbin that the service is not in Fenglingdu Town, it is in the village of Saponaria Tree Village, which is located dozens of miles (fifty miles) away, but her family can send it directly to the destination, take pictures and feedback and then collect money. The big people in a small place are remembered by everyone around them, and I, a classmate who is outside, is no exception.

During the long journey, there were many memories, many thoughts, and a lot of information. A classmate told me in a private message that An Hongbin, who was born in 1968, collapsed on the spot during a meeting due to overwork, and the examination found that it was a brain stem hemorrhage and became a vegetative person. He never left his lover, took care of him for seven years, and became a role model for the local community. Who wants to be such a role model? Who made him our dearest relative.

Joy is not close, go out at 8 o'clock in the morning, and arrive at 6 o'clock in the evening, colleagues who are a little farther away have to get up at 6 o'clock in the morning, and a one-way down is 12 hours. After a simple meal, Niu Liuxiang, which is affiliated to the Leye Hotel, walked around the north and south of the county, that is, more than an hour of work, Leye Min (National Middle School) Middle School, Leye No. 1 Small, Leye No. 1 Middle School, thinking about the end, I wanted to turn back, and I didn't want to give up, a few steps further, it was the Leye No. 2 Middle School with the CGN logo. It's getting late, and the kids are just out of school, or in the nursery (care center) or going home, just busy. Seeing that there were young children reading and writing straight in the dark, and told them to go to a slightly better lighted place, keep one foot and one fist and one inch to protect their eyes, her mother said: "Thank you, teacher", and the response was not a teacher, but there were children.

Hike to the road in front of the hotel, there are many fruit shops, powder shops, barbecue restaurants, whether the business is good or not, it is not easy to judge, but the price is not low. Moving on, someone sold dragon fruit in the night market, saying that it was the leftover after the orchard purchase, egg-sized red heart fruit, only in the palm of the hand, two yuan a catty, picked up more than a dozen, nearly 2 and a half catties on the scale, the young man said straight to add another five yuan, scan and pay, pick up the goods and leave.

After returning to the hotel, I washed it as soon as possible, peeled it off, and swallowed it in one bite. The taste is beautiful and the color is gorgeous. Thinking of buying some tomorrow and bringing them back, I didn't meet them many times in the next two days, and finally realized what "some things and some people can meet but can't seek".

On October 27th, just out of the hotel, I heard that the 68-year-old died in the early morning, suddenly sad, and then I saw someone in Zhengzhou Corn Building, someone in the Anhui Institute of Culture and History to commemorate the flowers, how can a large flower field, how can it represent a person's dedication, how can it represent the love of a lot of people?

In the past two days, some short-circuited brains are quite sensitive to the number 68, looking at the spark fruit in the palm of their hands, they always can't help but think about those good memories, even if it is just a trace of sweetness, no matter how big or small, it is worth our memories and thoughts.

Written on October 30, 2023