Chapter 11 father and son

In the fourth month of the lunar calendar, the sun at noon was already very strong. My classmates and I squatted around to eat in the shade outside the cafeteria when my father came. He was standing in the sun in the yard, looking around, I saw him, and ran forward quickly.I want to cook for him, but he is determined not to.I led him to the dormitory to rest and drink water, but he didn't go, he asked me to go with him to Shanmen Town. I walked out of the school gate with him and walked on the bluestone-paved streets of Shanmen Town. I found that he was old, about fifty, and his temples were all white. smiling face.I wondered in my mind, what happened?

He ordered a pot of tea, took a sip, put down the teacup, neither looked at me nor spoke until the pot of tea was finished, he stood up and left again.I asked him where he was going, and he said let's go and see! Walking out of the street, under a willow tree by the small river, my father stopped, took the cloth bag from his shoulders, and put it on the ground.I also sat down beside him. "I'm here today, just to ask you a word." Father said. I have nothing to say, looking forward to it. "Are you going to get a divorce?" the father asked directly. "Yeah." I don't think there's any need to hide it, but at the same time, it's strange that the court hasn't reported me yet, so how did my father know?

"Can't you leave?" Father asked calmly. "Dad, listen to me..." I wanted to open my mind to him. "No, you don't have to talk about other gossip," said the father. "I just want you to say 'yes' or 'no'." "No." I had no choice but to say it bluntly. "That's good!" Father reached out his hand and took out a razor from his pocket, and pulled the sharp blade away, "You collect my dead body first, and then go to the divorce, and then go to the red thing!" , and raised the hand holding the handle of the knife.

I was shocked, and grabbed my father's hand holding the knife. I was so frightened that I said quickly, "Dad! I have something to say..." Still keeping his composure, he asked in a cold voice: "There's nothing extra to say! You just say 'leave' or 'don't leave'!" "No...leave..." I had no choice. "If you don't leave, you follow me to the county court." He said. "What?" I asked. "Withdraw your petition!" said the father. "It's fine if I don't get a divorce, and it doesn't matter if I withdraw it or not!" I said, "Or I'll write a letter another day, and the case will be over once the case is dismissed."

"No!" my father said, "I want to watch with my own eyes that you withdraw the certificate and give it to me so that I can keep it. When I die, I can use it as a mask..." Father has already cried "wow".This is the first time in my life I saw my father cry.He cried three times, stopped suddenly, wiped his face and eyes with a handkerchief, picked up his bag from the ground, regained his usual calmness, and said, "Let's go!" He had already strode away. If there was a well nearby, I'd probably jump in!There was a crash in my head, the sound of tense nerves breaking.I thought of Tian Fang, my beloved, I can't jump into a well, and I can't crash to death on the willow tree beside me in a fit of anger, let's talk about the next step when I get down!I bit the bullet and took a lot of effort to take this humiliating step.

"Today may be the last time our father and son meet." The father said, "I am not a baby, I know, if you withdraw the petition today, you will send it again tomorrow. Once I receive a summons from the court at home, it will be my death day. I am an old man who knows a little bit of writing, so I say this to scare you!" My heart sank into the ice cellar. He said that at noon yesterday, when two case investigators from the county court came to investigate at home, he was going crazy.As soon as the two cadres left, he quietly put a razor in his bag, and set out on the road. After walking for half a day and a night, he found the school and had no intention of going back.He said that my divorce case had humiliated all the evil virtues accumulated by the Xu family for several generations, and he would have no face to meet people in Yangxu Village again!

I believe that what my father said is not to scare me. He values ​​face and pays attention to etiquette. The divorce I proposed is like a bolt from the blue to him.I couldn't convince him, and he felt that he couldn't turn me around anymore, so he had to take out the razor. Both my father and I made a mistake. The court welcomes self-dismissal of the case, but does not return the complaint and must file it.Father watched the case being canceled before he smacked his tongue and walked out the door. He couldn't get the paper to cover his face when he wanted to die. Back to school, it's already late.

Tian Fang could tell at a glance that my expression was not good.After dinner, she and I walked along the curved banks of the creek.The setting sun is painted with gold, and the knee-high wheat seedlings and green rice seedlings on the river bank are shining with the golden light of the sunset.The peach trees scattered in the wheat fields, the hairy peaches are like garlic petals, which are very attractive, but there is no poetic feeling in my heart. "Come here, old man, what's the matter?" She was anxious, "Tell me! I can help you with an idea." I can't say it.

"Don't talk about things that you don't think you can talk about." She said wisely, "I just advise you, no matter what you think, think about it a little bit, and don't frown. In the new society, how big can you be?" What's up?" She evidently did not appreciate the seriousness of my difficulties.This situation, sooner or later, let her know, no matter how difficult it is, she has to make it clear.I finally told her about my father's visit today. "Ha! You can't hold your head up because of such a small matter?" She curled her lips and smiled, with a look of indifference at the corner of her mouth, and said, "The old feudal parents always use this method! I want to talk to the big Zhang Cun broke off the engagement, my dad picked up the guillotine, cut it on my neck first, and I ran away. He cut himself again, and my mother pulled it away, and he threw it away, and no one cut it! It's all this way ..."

"My father is different from ordinary peasants." I explained my father's temperament and temperament to her, "That's not scary." "Don't be afraid of being serious!" Tian Fang said, "Take your time. Without struggle, there is no freedom. When I came to school, my dad was in the way. He expected that as soon as I went to school, the marriage we had agreed would be over. I I ran to my aunt’s house, asked for a quilt, and came to school. Now that I am in school, the arranged marriage with Dazhang Village has been resolved. If I back down on any point, I will be punished by Dazhang Village. Circled."

"My dad's thinking is very stubborn!" I said, "I have never seen such a stubborn person." "Take your time." Tian Fang said, "No matter how stubborn a person is, after a lot of experience and seeing a lot, he will slowly become enlightened." "I think we'll get married after graduation." I said, "I can't live without you..." "You read an ancient poem to me, which said that as long as two people are in love, it doesn't matter if they are together or not." She stared into my eyes and said, "How about that poem?" "If the relationship lasts for a long time, why bother to go day and night." I said it again, and it seemed that there was a little looseness in my stuffy heart, "I... like a bird in a cage, It’s so easy to fly up to the blue sky, even if you’re killed in the air by lightning, you won’t go back into the cage by yourself!” "Then what are you worried about?" "I'm afraid of leaving you. After graduation..." "Graduated, assigned, all in this county, how difficult is it to meet?" "I want to see you every day and never be apart!" "You're here again...why stay here day and night!" My father wrote three letters in succession, asking me to go home, and asking me to go home at least once a month.I couldn't stand it anymore, I went to my uncle's house and explained the whole story to my uncle. I have made a concession to him. If he pushes me too hard, I may also take up the razor; The letter from him may be my face mask; if he drives me to death, that daughter-in-law will not stay in the gatehouse of Xu's house; if he drives me to death, he may be even more difficult to live in Yangxu Village ! Uncle is a timid person, afraid of killing people, he persuaded me, and immediately went to Yangxu Village to find my parents and pass on my words...It worked, and my father never sent a letter to force me to go home . The stalemate was maintained like this, and no one backed down or attacked.Attacks or concessions by either side could break the deadlock, but neither has indicated such.I believe that I will hold on to the end, and even use my age advantage to wait for the other party - my father.This stalemate remained until the end of my studies at normal school, and even after I had been working for two years. The night before graduation and leaving school, Tian Fang and I were inseparable.We sat under a big willow tree by the small river next to Shanmen Town. We had so much to say, but we didn’t want to say anything at the end. The long-winded instructions seemed unnecessary, and we knew each other completely.All the most eloquent words seemed too imprecise and powerless to express exactly my attachment, which was all dissolved in silent trust.The inquiry of the heart at the time of first love, the passionate words of admiration bursting out like a mountain waterfall, the trembling waves of emotion, all belong to a clear and silent state of life and death. She leans against me, I lean against her, kiss It is deep and strong, but not as crazy and bewildered as the first love, and the communication of the heart is much more accurate than the communication of words. We walked aimlessly on the beach by the river hand in hand; sat down on the grass on the beach, looked up at the stars, listened to the crisp sound of the river at night, and felt the even and charming breath of the earth under the night... …until the morning light illuminated the highest peak among the Qinling Mountains, I gave her a carefully written paper sign, on which was written an old saying she liked: If two feelings last forever , why bother day and night.What she gave me was also that ancient phrase, and it was embroidered with green silk thread on a piece of white cloth.In the middle of the white cloth, the decoration of two overlapping hearts is made of red silk thread. With such a token in my arms, how could my father support me? I didn't expect that the tide of life's rapid development would suddenly wash me out of my wits and completely sink into disaster... My father actually won!