Miscellaneous Notes on the Journey to the South (16)
Scavengers
Ink
Without asking for his name, he called him brother.
The first time I met him, I pulled a cart of scrap cartons, plastic bottles. Uphill against the wind, strenuous. He was not in a hurry, he looked at the posture of a protracted battle, and little by little he slowly and leisurely pushed forward, and also freed his hand to stuff a big bun in his mouth.
This hilly landform, the ground is not three feet flat, naturally it is more practiced.
Anyway, hang around, help him push.
Uphill, we sat on the grass on the side of the road and rested, chatting.
This piece is quite open, behind the Yangtze River, the peaks on the bank are stacked, and the crooked head can see the steamship.
"Where's the old brother?"
"Henan. What about you? It's not a local either. ”
"Anhui."
"Mr. Guigeng?" He was guessing my age, and he was talking about the crepe, and I couldn't help but look at this scruffy scavenger.
"No expensive, sixty-eight!".
"Haha, it's a little dragon, right?" Coincidence! What a year of man! ”
It's a bit of a fate.
"You look so much younger than I am!"
"Your brother is a member of the Immortal Sect and does not trim the edges."
"Hahahahaha—"
He laughed so cheerfully.
I took out my teacup and made good tea inside. The old brother picked up the plastic bottle and drank it. I really admire people, I don't even dare to drink herbal tea.
"I think you taught, didn't you?"
He smiled: "Sir good eyesight, I used to teach a child for a while, and I didn't even mix with a private one." ”
I felt a wave in my heart, and I felt that I was closer to this old brother.
"Why don't you stay at home?"
"I can't stay still," he laughed, "it's not that there is no food to eat, the two sons are doing well, let's not add to the chaos, come out and idle, and swim around the mountains and rivers." ”
"What about my wife?" Just you? ”
"Gone, gone that year I came out, in the blink of an eye more than four years."
There was an imperceptible trace of sadness on his face, and a wisp of pity in his eyes immediately dissipated again. I couldn't help but sigh, this old brother's cultivation is not simple!
"You're out fishing, why don't you go to the river?" He watched me pulling on the small box, and a long bag, like a fishing rod.
I opened the small box, unzipped the bag again, and said what do you see?
He smiled: "You are a book and a flute, and a flute, but it is not ordinary dashing!" ”
I said I was going all the way with you, and he laughed.
Since then, we have met several times, mostly by saying hello and passing by.
Later, I saw him sitting in the old place, chewing a big bun in his mouth.
He said you know what's the best thing in the world?
"You can't eat the taste of mountains and treasures, pork head meat, marinated beef." I say.
He shook his head and said, "No, it's best to eat a big bun." Saying, he tore off a piece of the big white bun and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing vigorously, "There is nothing under the sky that can be better than a big bun." Regardless of the poor and rich, big bread is the staple food, let your family be rich, the mountains and treasures of the sea eat too much, get sick, big steamed bread, eat every day, raise people. ”
He spoke unhurriedly, and I couldn't help but think deeply about what he said. This old brother does not show the mountains and does not show the water, but he speaks extraordinary! Especially that look, so calm, calm, not alarming, there is probably nothing in this world that can shock him.
I couldn't help but think: If I change to his position, can I be as calm as he is? Can I do it?
I dare not say.
In the practice of life, many people say that the head is the Tao, but what they do is not necessarily the same. Because everyone is a rich book, the book only turns inward, and it is difficult for outsiders to peek into the content. And he himself, he had to be willing to know how to let go of his mind, all in his personal practice. An outsider is an outsider after all.
In life, to put it bluntly, there are only two things that cannot be abandoned, one is to eat a full stomach, the other is the love of men and women, and the others are like ephemeral flowers that come and go.
This old brother is a person like me, and I can't know what kind of ups and downs fate has arranged for him. He was in the countryside and I was in the city, and it was shocking to think that the difference in the dualistic system was shocking, at least the hard work of life was far greater than mine. Just looking at his current cultivation skills, he is actually much higher than me.
"Did the elder brother get the vaccine?" Is there anyone in charge of your situation? "I somehow asked this and blurted out, maybe the environment is the case, this epidemic, so that everyone can not stay out of the matter."
"Fight, go home and fight, look for my son in the village, I can't let my son be embarrassed." After finishing the fight, I also opened the certificate. He took out a piece of paper and shook it to me, and carefully packed it, "The epidemic is a big thing, running around like me, but you can't add to the chaos, when you are old, we can't be a person without morality, and this is also the welfare given by the state." ”
The more I talked about it, the more I felt that this old brother who was scavenging was not simple, and really had the feeling of seeing each other and hating the night.
After chatting for a while, he suddenly said, "Brother, aren't you annoyed when I call you brother?" I felt that we were both tempered, and I was five months older than you, and I climbed high. He said so humbly.
"Wherever, you are the elder brother, we have the opportunity to meet thousands of miles." I say this from the heart.
……
"It's going to rain, so go back, don't let the family worry."
I said where do you live? He said not far, rented a house, just crossed the road.
Looking at his somewhat awkward figure, he pulled the scooter and gradually drifted away, feeling a little lonely in his heart for a while. This old brother is not proud, this is old, his wife is gone, he comes and goes alone, he earns a bite to eat, he can't say that he is not difficult, but he looks at his face without difficulty, not to be angry, and he is indeed a knowledgeable person.
This man was not a high-ranking monk, a dirt-stained scavenger, but he gave me an unforgettable lesson in cultivation.
2021.9.10