Chapter 27 child playing with water

Fire in July.On the streets of New York at noon, the sweltering water vapor is increasing, and the pressure is getting lower and lower.The fire hydrant on the side of the road was turned on by someone, and the glistening water column rushed out, breaking through the dense heat wave.This seemed to give the suffocating people a chance for revenge, and a group of children cheered loudly, and enthusiastically "cooled" all the passing vehicles without asking if they would like to; there were several open jeeps Seeing it from afar, I knew I couldn't afford the treatment, so I took a detour.On the other hand, the homeless man dozing across the road responded very positively at this time. While laughing at the fleeing car with the children, he rushed into the waterfall, shouting and jumping; anyway, he only had this ragged clothes in the world, so why not enjoy it? What about free showers?He laughed loudly, probably he hadn't laughed like this for a long time, the laughter was harsh and forced, the children were obviously inspired, their eager and mischievous eyes looked around, and they all stared at me passing by in unison.How dare I be a little negligent?With a sincere face, I said: "Oh, thank you, let him enjoy it for a while, I don't need to!" The children laughed, and I laughed too, but I laughed a little nervously.New York kids, hey, you never know what they're gonna do.

Why didn't I love playing with water when I was a child? At that time, my parents' salary was not high, and I didn't have many toys.When entering a toy store, my mother would always ask me first: "Lanlan is a good boy, let's just look at it and not buy it, okay?" Even though I was only six or seven years old at the time, I looked down on those things that my parents would not buy. What a disgrace to a crying child sitting on the floor in a shop!In order to show the difference from them, I solemnly agreed to my mother, pushed open the heavy door of the toy store, and stopped in front of the glass cabinet taller than me.It was a temple, full of wonder and fantasy.I looked at each toy with reverence, marveled at their delicacy, guessed at their functions, and unconsciously stuck my nose on the glass.At that time, I secretly set my ideal: to be a worker in a toy factory when I grow up.These toys can be touched every day, and better-looking and more fun ones should be designed.After such a spirited meal, I pulled my mother's hand contentedly and said, "Mom, I've finished reading, let's go home." How could I know that my mother looked at her daughter's anxious look, touched herself and didn't care. What will it feel like if you don't have a thick wallet?Once I was very surprised: when my mother saw the neighbor Xiaohong walking out of the store with a large box of toy trains, she suddenly knelt down and said to me: "Lan Lan, Mom bought you a toy today, and you can pick it out, okay? "I was so overjoyed that I panicked—now that I think about it, I was never so embarrassed when I took the college entrance examination and filled out my volunteers.In the end, I didn't choose the toy train - that one was too expensive, it cost fifteen yuan!I chose a rubber pistol, a pistol that sprays water.

On the same day, some friends from the same building ran home, pointed to the water stains on their heads and clothes and told their mothers, "Yang Lan sprayed this with a water gun." Soon, almost every child in the building had such a gun. How many hot noon days, we shot at each other wantonly in the yard: water was sprayed into the neck, eyes, and ears sometimes, and just as we opened our mouths to scream, another thin, cool jet of water was sprayed into our mouths.So he just opened his mouth wide and yelled: "I'm thirsty, but I still want to drink!" The happy, childlike screams overwhelmed the cicadas on the willow trees, and also aroused the anxiety of the children who were locked up by their parents at home for a nap. , like sitting on pins and needles.

At that time, children's games were mostly "playing war" reproduced from movies and comic books, playing guerrillas and Japanese devils.Commonly used lines are: "Comrades, rush! Don't let the devil escape!" "Comrades, I can't do it, you retreat first, I will cover!" I've hit you, you should be dead!" "No, just injured, not dead yet!" "You are playing the bad guy, the bad guy should die before the good guy!" "Who made the rule!" "It's always like that in the movies." "Then why do you keep asking me to play the bad guy? I should be the good guy once!"

"You are short, who has ever seen a guerrilla shorter than a devil?" "What's wrong with being short, you can't be a good person if you are short!" The quarrel was so angry that it was full of anger.Until the other children interrupted and said: "Stop making noise, there is no water in the gun, let's go fill it." So, ignoring the good guys and the bad guys, and before distinguishing right from wrong, they ran into the building: If you can play with water, don't mind it Are you playing guerrillas or devils? For a while, several "big cases" of bicycle theft occurred in the building, and the children's class consciousness was very high.We decided to watch the bike shed every day at noon during the adults' lunch break.Of course, we have to hide in the dark, like all the guerrillas who ambushe the enemy, when the bad guy appears, we will blow the whistle, and then use the most advanced water spray gun to spray the bad guy's face, keep his eyes open, and wait for mom and dad After they arrived in time to catch the bad guys, they kissed us randomly, praised us as little heroes, and maybe bought us another water spray gun as a reward, then we can use double guns!

In the next few days at noon, we hid behind a small door at the corner of the corridor, holding small water-filled pistols tightly in our hands, sweating profusely, and too nervous to speak.The cicadas on the tree had no competitors, and they sang happily. The singing made people feel itchy, and I really wanted to stick them all down with a bamboo pole.But such thoughts were finally suppressed by the firm belief of being a little hero. On the fourth day, I couldn't bear it any longer. The weather forecast was heavy thunderstorm in the afternoon.At noon, the weather was as muggy as New York today.A few children hid in the most airless place in the whole building, one can imagine the feeling.Bad guy, where are you?Please, come out, please?If you don't come again, we, we're going to—fall asleep.

At this moment, by the side of the carport, under the willow tree, a dark figure walked by. An old man, about seventy years old, with a cane in his hand, looked up at the gloomy sky, looked around, and then went straight to a car parked in the carport. The bicycle next to it is walking.We know him, he is the old man Qiu who lives in the bungalow behind the building, he usually lives alone, and few people pay attention to him.I heard people say that he was a landlord before liberation.He always came out for a walk when people were going to work and the surroundings were quiet. His movements were very slow and his steps were very light.I probably have rheumatism, so I also wear long-sleeved trousers in summer, black ones.We never saw him lose his temper, nor did we see him laugh.Once he wanted to give us fruit candy, we said: "Who eats the landlord's candy!" He smiled, which was uglier than crying.It is said in the movie that landlords have their own accounts.Is old man Qiu's changing tent hidden in that thick crutch?What was he doing in the carport at noon?Could it be... that's right, the landlord is equal to the bad guy, and the one who steals the bicycle is the bad guy!I saw him go to the front of the bicycle and go to move the rear wheel of the bicycle - who is it not?We are thrilled by our own sound judgment.Four days of waiting, four sweltering, game-free noons, for this moment!And, we have guns in our hands!

Wait a minute, the more you have to hold your breath at this moment.The guerrilla leader always stopped the impatient fighter and said, "Wait a little longer." Well, wait a little longer.I saw him lift the rear wheel with one hand, hold the handle with the other, push the car straight into the shed, and then move left and right to make room for that car.How could this be?He should look around and start picking the lock, or push the car to a farther corner!And he turned around again, walked to the other bike, picked up the crutches, lifted the rear wheel...and walked into the carport.At this time, the thunder in the sky rumbled and rolled down, and the dark clouds pressed down thickly, and we were overwhelmed by what happened in front of us.Old man Qiu couldn't see us of course, he looked at the sky from time to time, stepped up his unsteady steps, and almost dragged the last car at the door into the shed by scraping the ground.There are already raindrops crackling down.He looked around, breathed a long sigh of relief, leaned on the crutches and panted for a while, turned around, almost hit the willow tree, gathered himself together, walked around the tree, and walked

The rain came crashing down, and there must be the biggest water spray gun in the sky, knocking and splashing the floating soil on the ground, making the cool air full of earthy smell.But is it also like the children standing by the door, frustrated and embarrassed because they can't find a match for the game?The familiar rules of the game are lost, and the bulging water gun in the hand seems so redundant. An adult ran past and asked if he had seen the bicycle he had left at the door.We said that old man Qiu pushed it into the carport.He was dubious, and took an umbrella to check it out.When he came back, he muttered: "This old man is quite caring."

Twenty years have passed, and my water spray gun has long since disappeared, and the black figure on crutches will never appear again.Whether it is Beijing or New York, summer is still extremely hot, children still love to play with water.