< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > station in September</h1>
Text/Shan Miao
The train station was a headache for me. But often it is inseparable, night and dawn, dusk and hot sun, can not stop me from coming here again and again.
The station is very dilapidated, of course, not referring to the new high-speed rail station now. I stand in the square in front of the station, and I tend to think about it and forget what I'm doing. Just like that day thirty years ago, in the face of people coming and going, looking up at the broken clock, feeling confused, and suddenly wanting to flee.
I knew I was here to pick someone up, but I didn't know if the decision was right or wrong. The car was late and irritating. The September afternoon sun was still scorching, the narrow road in front of the square was full of taxis, and the buses were moving out like snails, all of which made me sweat extraordinarily. Thirty minutes later, I felt that the time had been extended, and it seemed that a long time had passed, only one minute. I didn't have the confidence to continue standing here, lifted my feet, took a few slow steps, and then picked up speed, passed through the gap in the car, crossed the road straight, and came to the alley opposite.
The alley is opposite a neighborhood, next to the park. Turn right. There are several small hotels on the north side of the road. I walked into one of the waiters napping on the table without even lifting their heads. I went up the one-meter-wide black corridor to the third floor and looked up for Room 315.
However, as soon as my search began, I saw a familiar figure.
"Hey!" I called him.
His room had the door open, diagonally opposite the stairs. He was sitting on a small bench with his back to the door fiddling with his phone. Hearing my cry, I quickly turned back, and the smile immediately overflowed all over my face, even a little illusory. Running business outside for many years, it is estimated that even the smile has become unreal.
"Rare guest, how did you remember coming?" He stood up and leaned in to get me. The cottage is small and has up to two square meters of space except for a single bed and a bedside table.
He seemed a little embarrassed, and while letting me sit on the bed, he explained that the room was cheap and could save a little. Yes, the lowest salesman, just a little subsidy, and he is married, he is about to be a father, his wife is pregnant and no longer works, it is all up to him, there is no way.
He is a native of Shandong, because we have been in contact with my unit business several times, a very cheerful and talkative young man, is the salesman of their unit stationed in Xuanhua. I dodged the irritability of the station and came to the place where he lived unconsciously.
He poured me a glass of boiled water, smiled and squinted, and talked about his future as he spoke.
"I'm leaving, going back to Shandong, and I'm out of the way." I've been running outside for almost a decade, and I haven't dared to have children in four years of marriage. This is not to wait for the expiration of the work here to return to the headquarters, but also to improve a step, before having children. ”
"That—congratulations." I'm happy for him.
His smile was a little embarrassed: "In fact, the pressure to go back is even greater, for so many years, I have been running outside, and I am used to it, but I feel that it is very boring to run like this in my heart." For the sake of your family, settle down! ”
I don't know if he was lost or longing, my mind began to drift again, maybe the sweltering space made me uncomfortable, I didn't know how to pick him up, just like the day after drinking a lot of wine, the next morning just woke up, the mind was unresponsive, it seemed that the language function had also deteriorated.
He shook his head and motioned for me to drink water. I took a sip from my cup, maybe the water was too hot, and a layer of sweat immediately oozed from my body.
"I'll be a dad at the end of the year, huh." He said it as if to himself, and his eyes were full of fatherly love, which was very out of proportion to his age.
"Oh!" I smiled and said, "When the time comes, send a picture of your husband and let us share your happiness together." ”
"I like girls, my daughter-in-law likes boys." He smiled foolishly.
Speaking of children, the heat only faded a little, but I suddenly realized that I seemed to have been here for a long time.
I stood up and looked at my watch in a daze.
"Oh, you said you were here to pick someone up?" Isn't it time? He stood up too.
"When it's time, it's just a few steps, I asked him to wait."
"I'm sorry..." He scratched his head, apologetically.
I sincerely said, "Thank you! Good bye. ”
I walked briskly down the narrow, dark corridor, and could imagine that he was a little confused in the back, and he estimated that it was difficult to guess what I thanked him.
In fact, I don't know why I thanked him, maybe it was a feeling of empowerment in a casual chat with him! Anyway, suddenly I felt much more relaxed, as if the shackles that had been wrapped around me for a long time disappeared in an instant.
Far away, I saw the lonely back of the heels in the square in front of the station, and I hesitated for a moment to dial the familiar and unfamiliar phone.
"Where are you?" His voice was slightly panicked.
"Do you—do you think this is the life you want for the rest of your life?" I asked in a low voice.
"Why are you talking about this?" I like freedom, don't you? ”
"Yes, but what is freedom?"
"No bondage, no bondage, where to go!" Live the life you want. ”
Living the life I wanted, I was on the phone, gagged. In the square, he took his mobile phone and looked around, his eyes full of panic.
I hung up the phone and left. I don't know where he's going? But I know he's always going to have his own destiny, just like my current home.
I looked back again, glanced at the back of the lonely teenager thirty years ago, and then, determined to leave.