Chapter 57 11

That night, Hao Mei drove her daughter on a tricycle on the city streets at a moderate speed.She looked very high-spirited, and Yunyun turned her head left and right to look at the street scene from time to time, as if she was a little tourist.When encountering a red light, Hao Mei turned her head to point out some buildings and neon lights to her daughter, as if she was afraid that her daughter might overlook something. They came to a restaurant, and the mother and daughter sat in a quiet corner by the window.The waiter came over to hand over the menu, and Hao Mei passed the menu to her daughter; Yunyun looked at it for a while, then handed it back to Hao Mei: "Mom, I don't know what the dishes are, so you should order!"

Hao Mei smiled and ordered a few dishes. After the waiter left, Hao Mei signaled to her daughter that she should put the napkin on her lap. Yunyun unfolded the napkin, saw flowers printed on it, folded it again, reluctant to use it, and quietly put it in her pocket. After several dishes were served, Yunyun picked up a bottle of drink and studied it, but couldn't decide how to open it. Hao Mei opened a bottle of beer and showed it to her daughter. Yunyun opened the drink, poured it into a glass, and solemnly raised the glass to Hao Mei: "Mom, I congratulate you on becoming a taxpayer."

Hao Mei smiled and clinked glasses with her daughter lightly, the mother and daughter looked at each other and sipped. Yunyun said, "Mom, I feel really happy right now." Hao Mei looked at her daughter with the loving gaze unique to a mother, took one of her daughter's hands, held it between her own, and kissed her daughter's hand with her cheek. She put various dishes in her daughter's small plate, and told her daughter with gestures, don't talk yet, eat first. Yunyun ate with relish, while Hao Mei drank slowly, still watching her daughter.After Yunyun had finished eating a small bowl of rice, Hao Mei just finished drinking a glass of wine and began to eat.Yunyun looked at her mother with the reverent eyes typical of girls. "Auntie," the waiter passed by their table and was politely stopped by Yunyun, "bring another bottle of beer to my mother."

The waiter smiled, nodded and left. Yunyun asked: "Mom, can you still drink?" Hao Mei also smiled and nodded. The waiter came over, opened wine for Hao Mei, poured it into a glass and said, "Your daughter is so cute!" Hao Mei smiled back at the waiter. When the waiter left, he stroked Yunyun's head. Yunyun asked again: "Mom, do taxpayers earn a lot of money every month?" Hao Mei was taken aback for a moment, then nodded to make her daughter happy. "Then, can my mother and I eat here often in the future?" Hao Mei nodded again. "When I grow up, I want to be a taxpayer!"

Hao Mei smiled appreciatively. "Mom, are you happy today?" Hao Mei nodded. "Then, you won't be angry if Yunyun asks you anything, will you?" Hao Mei hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Then, Yunyun wants to ask now..." Hao Mei hesitated even more, but finally took out a small book and pen from her pocket, opened them and put them on the table. Yunyun took out Wang Xiaosong's photo from her pocket: "Is this uncle the person we met in the hospital?" The expression on Hao Mei's face gradually changed, but she did not show any anger. She was ready to answer all the questions raised by her daughter truthfully, and she nodded solemnly.

"He and you are elementary school classmates?" Hao Mei nodded. "A middle school classmate too?" Hao Mei nodded. "Still a comrade in arms?" Hao Mei nodded. Yunyun stopped asking, and stared at the photo in thought. Hao Mei wrote another line: Don't you trust your mother? Yunyun said in an adult tone, "I don't want to ask any more." Hao Mei wrote to her daughter: Why? Yunyun said, "I understand." Hao Mei wrote to her daughter: What do you understand? Yunyun said, "I understand everything." Yunyun's expression seemed to be at least ten years old.

The mother and daughter looked at each other. Hao Mei's expression showed a lot of surprise and confusion for her daughter; Yunyun's expression showed a lot of understanding and sympathy for her mother. Hao Mei wanted to write something in her notebook again. Unexpectedly, Yunyun said softly: "Mom, put away the little book." Hao Mei seemed to put the little book in her pocket against her will. Yunyun asked, "Mom, can we stay here a little longer?" Hao Mei nodded. Yunyun turned her body sideways, no longer looked at her mother, but looked outside, as if condescendingly admiring the street view.

Hao Mei drank the remaining wine in the glass thoughtfully, staring blankly at her daughter. Yunyun remained motionless. After Hao Mei finishes her drink, she summons a waiter and pays the bill. Yunyun remained motionless. Hao Mei walked behind her daughter and patted her shoulder lightly. Yunyun slowly turned her head, her face was full of tears... She said softly: "Mom, I don't feel as happy as before..." Hao Mei sadly picked up her daughter and walked downstairs. On the stairs, Yunyun called, "Mom." Hao Mei stopped. Yunyun held Hao Mei's face and said softly, "Mom, there will be a best and best man who will fall in love with you..."

Hao Mei's face couldn't help cuddling with her daughter's face. Hao Mei pedaled into the street where her house lived, and Lao Pan greeted her. Yunyun said, "Mom, stop a minute, it's Uncle Pan." Hao Mei stopped the car. Lao Pan said, "Where did you go?" Yunyun said: "Mom invited me to a high-end restaurant for dinner!" "A luxury hotel?..." "Aha, Yingbin Building!" Lao Pan said: "It's not a high-end restaurant there! When uncle gets his salary this month, I invite you two to have a meal at a really high-end restaurant!"

Yunyun said: "Advanced! It's advanced!" "Okay, okay, if Yunyun says it's high-end, it's high-end!" Lao Pan said to Hao Mei, "I've been waiting here for you two for a long time. What's the matter!" Hao Mei gratefully took out a pack of "35" cigarettes from the small cloth bag hanging on the handlebar and gave it to Lao Pan. Lao Pan said angrily: "What is this for! Neighbors, neighbors, why do you need to buy me such an expensive pack of cigarettes?" Yunyun said: "Uncle, you can accept it! My mother has become a taxpayer, and she can earn a lot of money every month in the future!"

Lao Pan looked at Yunyun, then at Hao Mei, half-believing: "Have you found a job?" Hao Mei hinted to him not to believe his daughter's words. Lao Pan said: "Since you have already bought it for me, I will not be polite. Yunyun, give it to uncle first. Taxpayers don't care about spending the money to buy cigarettes for others to smoke, don't they, Yunyun?" Yunyun took the cigarette and said, "Of course!" Lao Pan tentatively asked Hao Mei: "Since you two have already eaten, how about I take you to the riverside for a while? Yunyun has never seen our flood control memorial tower, nor the river. Bridge, have you never seen our Songhua River!" Hao Mei seemed jealous and hesitated. Yunyun begged happily: "Go! Go! Mom, I'm going!" Lao Pan also said: "Don't think so complicated, I am different from other men, I never play tricks on women." Hao Mei finally nodded. So Lao Pan pedaled his tricycle, Hao Mei sat in the back seat of the car, hugged her daughter, and went to the road together.Lao Pan was full of energy, pedaling with ease, and they were walking on a quiet road. Old Pan said: "Yunyun, sit down with your mother, uncle is about to kick off!" "Uncle, don't worry, pedal quickly, the sooner the better!" Lao Pan lowered his waist and kicked up the bike quickly. Yunyun shouted: "It's so cool! It's so cool!" A string of laughter was scattered on the road. When they came to the bank of the Songhua River, Lao Pan hugged Yunyun and sat side by side with Hao Mei. Yunyun asked: "Mom, did you often come to the riverside?" Hao Mei nodded. Yunyun asked again: "After returning to the city, this is the first time today, isn't it?" Hao Mei nodded. Yunyun looked at the Flood Control Memorial Tower on the left and the Jiangqiao on the right: "Uncle, will you bring me and my mother here every month from now on?" Lao Pan said: "Why not, don't say every month, even every week, every day! As long as you and your mother are happy, it's okay for me to fulfill this little obligation!" Yunyun said, "Uncle, you are so kind!" She kissed Lao Pan loudly on the cheek. Old Pan said in a bit of embarrassment: "My child, how did you learn this trick?" Yunyun said: "It's still learning? When I'm happy, I want to be loved by everyone I see! Mom, I feel very happy again in my heart now." Hao Mei smiled and stroked her head. Yunyun said: "Mom, let me sit on your lap for a while, I'm afraid my uncle's legs will become numb..." Lao Pan said, "Hey, you know how you feel about your uncle!" Hao Mei hugged Yunyun from Lao Pan's lap, and Lao Pan took out a pack of cigarettes that Hao Mei bought for him, and started smoking. The Songhua River flows slowly in front of their eyes. Lao Pan called "Yunyun" softly and said, "Can I tell you a story?" Yunyun said, "Okay." She turned her body towards him. Lao Pan said: "Actually, it's not a story. It's an experience I had in the Corps..." Only then did Yunyun know that Uncle Pan was also a member of the Corps, and she asked, "Then, are you and my mother comrades in arms?" Lao Pan laughed and said, "How should I put it, you can't be regarded as a comrade-in-arms. Your mother is from the Northeast Corps, and I am from the Inner Mongolia Corps." "Then why do you want to go to the Inner Mongolia Corps?" "It's not that I chose to go there because when I was young, my uncle and aunt's family had no sons, so my parents gave me to them. As a result, I became the son of a Beijinger. Back then, the students in our middle school They all yearned to go to the prairie, and I was influenced by them, so I followed. When I returned to Beijing ten years later, my uncle and aunt passed away, and my cousins ​​were all married. My son, who was supposed to provide for them, was meaningless. As for Harbin, my parents missed me very much, so I went back to Harbin and became the son of Harbin again.” Hao Mei seemed careless, but actually listened attentively. "Don't talk about these, these are boring. Let's talk about what I just wanted to tell you! The Inner Mongolia prairie is really vast and boundless. I keep a group of horses by myself. In summer, I have nowhere to hide. , only sitting in the shadow of the horse. My landlord, Mrs. Eji, has an only daughter named Wuyunqige. She was sixteen years old at the time, three years younger than me. Their mother and daughter depend on each other, just like you and your mother Wuyun Qige was very kind to me. She should get married when she was 18 years old. But every time a matchmaker came to tell her about her husband’s family, she always shook her head and refused. When she was 20 years old, she was not married. Two When she was twelve years old, she was still unmarried. Every time the matchmaker was sent away, the old Eji silently looked at her and sighed. As for her, she quietly slipped out of the tent, let the old dog accompany her, and walked not far or near In those six years, I visited home three times. Every time I visited home, she would ride a horse to see me off, and sent me to Qili..." Hao Mei unconsciously turned her body towards Lao Pan. And Lao Pan looked at the river, took a puff of cigarette from time to time, looked at the sparkling river, and continued: "Until the year I returned to the city, she was still unmarried. But she no longer lives at home. In Qili, she went to Qiwei School. After passing Qili, I got on the train before I had time to say goodbye to her. After the train drove for more than two hours, someone suddenly pointed out the window and shouted—Look! Look! It turned out to be dark clouds Qige was chasing the train on horseback, shouting while chasing. I vaguely heard that she was calling my name. I got up and hid in the toilet, covered my face and cried enough... Later, people on the grassland wrote The letter told me that the horse Wuyun Qige was riding...was exhausted...She was married back then. In the eyes of the men on the grassland, she was already an old girl. She married a man older than her. A teenage man. Sometimes, I really want to go back to the grassland to have a look. But I dare not go back, for fear of seeing Wuyun Qige..." Yunyun asked: "Actually, does she want to marry you?" Lao Pan said: "I don't know. She never told me personally." Yunyun said unhappily: "You lied! Back then you knew it in your heart!" Lao Pan lowered his head. Yunyun got angry: "You are bad! You are bad!" She leaned towards Lao Pan and beat him with her hands. Hao Mei stood up, hugged her and walked away. Yunyun said: "Uncle is a bad man! I won't talk to you anymore!" Old Pan with his head down. Hao Mei walked around with Yunyun in her arms, and when she returned to the original place, Lao Pan was no longer there, and there were only his clothes and pants on the steps. Hao Mei searched the surface of the river with her eyes, and found Lao Pan swimming upstream in the river. She pointed it out to Yunyun; Lao Pan went ashore wearing only shorts, and walked towards Hao Mei's mother and daughter. Under the moonlight, Lao Pan's body was so strong that Hao Mei couldn't help watching. Lao Pan walked up to Hao Mei and said, "Yunyun, are you still angry with Uncle? That's right, Uncle asked for it. Why are you suddenly telling you this?" Yunyun is still angry and doesn't look at him. Hao Mei didn't know where to look. Lao Pan realized something, grabbed his underwear, and walked elsewhere. On the way home, Lao Pan, who was pedaling, said, "Yunyun, sing a song for uncle!" There was no response behind him. Lao Pan stopped the car, turned around and saw that Yunyun had fallen asleep in Hao Mei's arms. Lao Pan took off his shirt and handed it to Hao Mei, who took it and put it on Yunyun. Lao Pan asked: "The child is asleep, should I ride faster?" Hao Mei shook her head. Lao Pan said, "Then, should we still ride slowly?" Hao Mei nodded. On the quiet road, Lao Pan, with his upper body shirtless, pedaled leisurely. From Hao Mei's point of view, Lao Pan's naked upper body, broad and strong shoulders, Lao Pan is pedaling, while humming a song on the grassland, it is a very old-sounding melancholy Mongolian song. language song... The tricycle entered the yard, and the windows of the neighbors were all dark. Lao Pan hugged Yunyun from Hao Mei’s arms. Hao Mei opened the door. Bright. Lao Pan walked up to her and said, "I'll light the wax after I leave..." The match went out in Hao Mei's hands. Lao Pan held her hand and said, "But, I don't want to... go..." Hao Mei let him hold it at first, and then with all her strength withdrew her hand. She turned away from him, but he grabbed her arm.In the darkness, she stared at him aggressively, and he lost his courage and let go of her arm. Lao Pan said: "It seems that I'd better... go..." - He walked to the door, turned around and asked in a low voice, "Aren't you going to close the door with me?" She hesitated for a moment, and followed him out. In the last door, he stopped again, turned around and said, "It's a pity. Yunyun was very happy at first, but later, I made her not so happy..." Under his gaze, she lowered her head. Lao Pan said, "However, I want to ask, are you... happy to sit by the river tonight?" Hao Mei raised her head gradually and nodded. He suddenly embraced her impulsively, and kissed her lips, she silently refused, he tried to conquer her with the strength of a man, she freed her hand and slapped him. He let her go, lowered his head, leaned his back against the door frame, and remained motionless for a while. She looked at him and began to pity him. He turned around, intending to open the door and leave. She grabbed him again. She gently inserted the door with the other hand and pulled him, stared at him, stepped back, and led him into the room again. He hugged her again, she raised her face, closed her eyes, looking forward to... His lips had just kissed hers when the light suddenly came on.They separated quickly, looking at Yunyun on the bed at the same time. Yunyun was sound asleep on the bed. When their eyes made contact, they all looked so embarrassed, so overwhelmed. She walked to the bed and sat down, but she didn't look at him and lowered her head. Lao Pan said, "Marry me!" She didn't seem to hear, didn't respond. Lao Pan said again: "I am two years older than you. I don't care if you can talk, and I don't care if you don't have a job yet." Hao Mei didn't respond. Lao Pan continued: "Besides, I like Yunyun so much. I think that if I can have a woman like you as my companion for the rest of my life, if I can have such a daughter, I will be blessed enough in this life." Hao Mei raised her head gradually. Old Pan simply said: "My parents have both passed away, my brothers and sisters have also set up their own families, and my brothers and sisters are all married... I am left alone, guarding two empty houses .When I got home from get off work, I was alone, and there was no one to talk to. If we were married, we could open a door here," he gestured on the wall, "or, it would be nice to open a door here. it is good." Hao Mei looked at him and gestured. "That way, we'll live in enough space! You don't have to answer me right away, but I beg you, don't reject me right away, don't shatter my dream right away. You test me for a year, or two, or three year, okay?" His tone was begging. Hao Mei finally nodded. Lao Pan said sincerely: "If, during this period, you meet a man who loves you again, and you think he is better than me, I will never complain. I have broken women's hearts, and I have been hurt by women Sadness is also the retribution it deserves..." Hao Mei couldn't help laughing, she took out the cigarette from the bag and handed it to him. He took the cigarette, because the impulse just now was not satisfied, and he still seemed to want to do something to her. She pointed at Yunyun, pointed at the window, and pointed at her heart. He reluctantly left, as if he had lost something. Hao Mei got up and closed the curtains, Hao Mei undressed Yunyun, and found a small toy, napkin, and some fragments from Yunyun's pocket - it was Wang Xiaosong's photo that Yunyun tore up. She found that there were new and old tooth marks on Yunyun's arm—she was puzzled, and planned to wake her daughter up to ask what happened, but couldn't bear it, so she fell asleep with her arms around her. Hao Mei woke up from her sleep in the middle of the night. She found her daughter huddled with sweat, biting her arm, trying to endure some kind of pain. She hugged her daughter in surprise. Yunyun struggled to say: "Mom...the leg hurts..." After finishing speaking, she wanted to bite her arm again... Hao Mei hugged her daughter's arm and let her bite her arm... After a while, she hurried to Lao Pan's house and knocked on the door of Lao Pan's house anxiously.