Text/Yu Wan (Material/Qin Dong)
My name is Qin Dong, my hometown is Yueyang, Hunan, in 1988, I dropped out of school to go to the county seat to find my cousin to learn stonemasonry, and I was kicked out of the house not long after I arrived at his house.
Later, I ran to the train station, and my cousin squatted at the gate of the train station for several days and sent me home.
"Uncle, if I come to your house today, won't you kick me out again?"
I put down a large pile of gifts in my hand and said to my cousin.
Every time I go to my cousin's house, I say this.
My cousin would also respond to me with a smile, saying, "After so many years, you kid has always been obsessed, why? Blame me for not being able to drive you away in the first place?"
"Or do you blame me for sending you home?"
"If I had known this, I would have entertained you with good food and drink, and let you learn to be a stonemason with your cousin, so that you would not have to ask me every time you came back."
Although Uncle Cousin said this, the smile on his face kept on.
You can tell it's a joke at first glance.
I said, "How can I be where I am today if you don't drive me away?"
"By the way, Uncle Cousin, I heard Xiaobao say that he almost had money to decorate the house when he got married, and I still have some spare money here, so you can take it and decorate the house at home first, so as not to delay things at that time."
When my cousin heard this, he immediately refused: "How can this be done? You have helped our family too much over the years! How can I ask for your money again?"
"You take the money back, and I'll figure it out by myself when your brother decorates the wedding room."
After hearing this, I shook my head and said solemnly: "Uncle, if you still recognize me as a nephew, you will accept it, I know that you are also thinking about me, but Xiaobao's marriage is important, and we can't let others look down on us, right?"
"If the money can't be used up, I can buy some furniture for Xiaobao directly, which can be regarded as a wedding gift from my cousin."
Xiaobao is my cousin's youngest son, and the difference between him is more than ten years, so it's normal for me, as a cousin, to give him some wedding gifts.
Uncle Cousin looked at the paper bag I handed him, with a complicated expression on his face, he muttered to himself: "Back then, I just thought that you should continue to study, and I didn't help you much, but I didn't expect you to be so worried about it for so many years, and I really don't know how to thank you for making my uncle."
I smiled and said, "Uncle, I'm already very happy that you took this money! If you hadn't driven me away, how could I continue to study?"
"I'm the one who should say thank you."
When Uncle Cousin heard this, he sighed deeply, and after he put down the paper bag, he said: "I have done quite the right thing in my life, maybe this is the only thing, I didn't expect ......."
Looking at my cousin, I was full of emotion, and I also felt a little complicated in my heart.
As soon as my mind turned, I went back to more than thirty years ago.
In 1988, I was a sophomore in high school.
Because of the difficult family conditions, at the beginning of the second year of high school, my family could not even make up my tuition fees, in order to allow me to continue studying, my father found a few notes for me to write the word "study" for our four brothers and sisters to draw lots.
Those who catch the word reading can continue to read, and those who catch blank paper will take the initiative to give up and give up the reading quota to others.
The family conditions are poor, and only resources can be concentrated to meet the needs of one person.
Others have no choice but to give up.
I was lucky enough to catch the word "continue reading".
My younger siblings were very happy to see each other, because among our siblings, I had the best grades.
If I can continue to study, then the probability of being admitted to university is very high.
But I didn't think that way at the time, and after knowing that my younger siblings might drop out of school because of me, I voluntarily gave up the opportunity to continue my studies.
I left a letter to my parents informing me that I was going to learn the stonemason trade from my cousin in the county seat, and left home with a few dollars I had saved up for a long time.
From my hometown town to the county seat, I was rubbing a coal truck, and the driver saw that I was pitiful, he didn't take my money, and pulled me all the way to the outskirts of the county.
My father took me to my cousin's house once, and I still have some impressions in my mind.
Although I didn't know the way, I relied on my cheekiness to ask all the way and search, and finally found out about the stone quarry where my cousin worked the next afternoon.
By the way, I would like to add here that the first night I came to the county seat was spent in a bridge cave in the county seat.
Now that I think about it, I was really young and vigorous at that time, and I was not afraid to spend the night alone outside at such a young age, and I was even a little excited.
To get back to the point, when I found my cousin in the quarry, he took me to the rental house he rented.
In fact, it's not called a rental house, the house he lives in seems to be a relative of his uncle and father-in-law, which is considered a borrowed house.
After my cousin took me to my residence, he asked me why I came here to find him, and did he tell the family that I was here?
I was relatively innocent at the time, and I didn't hide it from him, and directly said that I didn't want to study, and I wanted to come and learn the stonemason trade from him.
As for coming here, I told my cousin that I had only left a letter for my parents, and they didn't know anything else.
When my cousin heard what I said, his face was very ugly.
He gave me a brief meal, and then he counted me down in front of me, saying that I was not a stonemason, and told me to go home quickly, and if I didn't go back, he would take me back directly.
I was a little unconvinced, and wanted my cousin to take me in.
I didn't expect that my cousin would kick me out of the door and bluntly say that I shouldn't come, and he wouldn't teach me to be a stonemason.
I remember that my cousin's attitude was quite bad, and his words were quite harsh, and after I was kicked out by my cousin, I was also holding my breath in my heart.
I originally wanted to leave and go directly to other places to work and find something to do, but I was more timid.
In addition, my cousin's words pierced my heart deeply, and since he thought I couldn't do it, I had to prove it to him.
I'm also a very strong character, and since you don't let me learn stonemasonry from you, then I won't learn.
After being kicked out by my cousin, I didn't go home immediately, but wandered around the county for about half a month.
In the past half a month, I have tasted all the ups and downs, and I have a very sad life, and it was only then that I realized that the outside was not as good as I thought, and I also had some regrets in my heart.
Even if I don't study, I can still help my parents at home! Why do I have to run out? Is it to prove myself?
Or is it to make money to subsidize the family?
Although I felt some remorse in my heart, it was impossible to let me go home.
On the day my cousin kicked me out, he gave me ten dollars for the fare, which was supposed to give me a ride home, but I didn't go back.
I didn't spend much money in the half month I walked around the county, and I earned almost twenty yuan, and there were more than a dozen yuan left in addition to eating and drinking during this time.
Of course, this money came very hard, all for others to sell coolies in exchange, in addition to a few children who were about the same as me to pick up a lot of scrap iron, luck divided a few dollars.
At that time, I realized that I couldn't continue to wander around, I had to find a place to make money, and I heard a friend say that the coastal cities are very developed, and it is very easy to make money.
With what little money I had, I bought a bus ticket to the city for a few dollars, and then I was going to try my luck at the train station to see if I could find a chance to earn some money to buy a train ticket.
However, I didn't expect that as soon as I got the money to buy the train ticket, and as soon as I bought the train ticket and was about to enter the station, I was caught by my cousin who came in a hurry.
My cousin came with me, and my father.
In this way, my desire to work in Shenzhen was shattered.
A month ago, after my cousin kicked me out, he gave me ten yuan to take the car back, he thought I had gone home, but he didn't expect my father to find him half a month later.
The letter I left behind, my parents didn't find out in time.
During that time, they searched for me everywhere, and if it weren't for my cousin's wit, who squatted at the train station for several days, they probably wouldn't have met me at the gate.
When I got home, I was naturally reprimanded.
When my uncle learned that I refused to study because of the tuition fee, he waved his hand and directly covered all the expenses for my study, and if I could be admitted to university, he would also give me some financial assistance.
With my cousin's help, I entered school again.
None of my younger siblings dropped out of school.
Later, I was admitted to university, and my cousin kept his promise to help me.
He always said that I was not a stonemason's material, and that I was indeed a good hand at reading, and that it was a waste to be a stonemason.
After graduating from university, I refused the arrangement of the school's unit and chose to go south alone to continue to explore.
With a university degree and knowledge, I found a good job after I came to Shenzhen, and after earning the first pot of gold in my life, I quit my job to start a business, and then I opened a company in the convenience of the coast.
Although I am not a very successful person now, at least because of my changes, the current conditions of my family are not what they used to be.
My parents are doing well, and my younger siblings have all achieved success with my support, one is currently studying for a doctorate, one is teaching at a university, and the other is starting a farm in his hometown.
If my cousin hadn't kicked me out, I might have become a stonemason, and if he hadn't pulled me back from the train station, I might still be working outside now.
I am deeply aware of the benefits that academic qualifications and knowledge bring to me.
If it weren't for my cousin, I wouldn't have everything I have today, and it's not wrong to say that he is my nobleman.
This time, I went home to visit my cousin during the Qingming holiday, and I also gave him a sum of money, although I said such things every time I went back, but my cousin still didn't care, and he also knew that I was just joking.
That night, my cousin left me for dinner, made a lot of delicious treats for me, and asked me to go back this Mid-Autumn Festival, and my cousin Xiaobao probably got married at that time.
When my cousin gets married, I naturally want to come back.
To be a man, you have to know how to repay your kindness, and they all say that the grace of a drop of water should be repaid like a spring, do you say this is the truth?
One wrong step, one wrong step.
If I hadn't had my cousin to bring me back, I wouldn't have achieved this now, so to speak, my success was given to me by my cousin, and his words back then stung me and woke me up.
It is also a matter of course for me to help him now, this is the basic principle of being a man, and I will be worthy of my heart if I repay my kindness.
……。
Note: Part of the content of this story has been fictionalized, art comes from life and is higher than life, artistic processing has been carried out for the convenience of reading, please read rationally, do not sit down.