This Mitsubishi off-road vehicle is huge and fast, like a cruiser, driving in the sea of wheat waves.It comes from my hometown, and it goes to my hometown.Now it carries me and my student Mandela, and like a shuttle pulling silk threads, it is inserted into the complex and magnificent mountains and rivers like a loom.
I'm going home to visit my mother, that's my reason for coming home.I haven't seen my mother for two years and I would love to see her.There seems to be no one or anything worth missing in this world, except my mother and the mountain spring behind my house.My wife and I are divorced, my beloved female student now hates me, and my chances of applying for an official position are slim.I'm not in the mood to be in a city that makes me sad, and want to get away from it, find a place to hide, and that's the real reason.So I thought of my hometown, the small village surrounded by mountains and rivers, and now it has become my most longed-for paradise.Besides, there is my mother who watches over her son's return every day.
My graduate student Mandela knew that I was going home and clamored to go with me.This black guy from Africa said that he had never been to the countryside of China, so he must go and visit his teacher by the way.I said that my hometown is high in mountains and far away, and my mother is thin and short, and she stutters.Mandela said that I must go, I want to see how a thin, short and stuttering mother gave birth to a genius like you, mentor, in a place far away from the mountain!Did I say I'm a genius?Mandela said that you are not a genius, can I worship you as a teacher?You are a language genius!I looked at the student who complimented me, and my heart was sweet, and I agreed to him.
The car came to pick me up, because I told Li Lun about my plan to go home and asked him if he wanted to go back too.There is a mountain between his home and mine, and his widowed father still lives in that century-old house.His mother died, and my father died.I thought to myself that if Li Lun went back, he would definitely be able to get a car. He is not only the director of the planning department of the Provincial Planning Commission who holds a lot of power, but also the deputy mayor of Ningyang City, the capital that is sure to win.I don't want to take the shuttle bus in disgrace and then switch to a farm vehicle to go home. Anyway, I am an associate professor and a Ph.D. now.
How did Li Lun say he thought of going back at this time?I said go back to see my mother, now the school is still on holiday.Li Lun said that the school is on holiday, and now it is the critical moment for the selection of department officials, how can he go back?I said oh you can't go back.I have no hope, I will go back by myself.
"Until the results come out, it cannot be said that there is no hope." Li Lun said.
"I want to go back." I said.
"Then I'll find you a car," Li Lun said, and he touched my heart. "I'll ask the county to send a car to pick you up."
The car from the county came and met Li Lun first.Li Lun followed the car to the university to pick me up.
Mandela and I got into the car.Li Lun looked at Mandela next to me and asked me who is this master?I say Mandela, my student.Lee on black Americans?Mandela beat me by saying no, I'm African.Li Lun said oh, he can speak Chinese.Mandela said that I came to China to learn Chinese, of course I would.Li Lun nodded and said yes, then turned around and asked the driver to drive.He sat in the passenger seat.
Mandela did not want to let him go.
"The gentleman in front, why does he think I am a black American?" Mandela said, as if asking me, as if asking Li Lun, "Are black Americans superior to African blacks?"
I said, "He didn't mean that."
"Then what does he mean?" Mandela said.
"What I mean is," Li Lun said without turning his head, "if you are a citizen of the United States of America, say hello to Lewinsky for me when you return to China, and say that I want to go where Clinton has been."
Mandela was confused and asked me, "Teacher Zhang, what does he mean by that?"
I said, "Can't you even understand that?"
"I don't understand," Mandela said.
I said, "What he meant was that what Lewinsky most attracted to Clinton was also what attracted him most."
Mandela said: "Then what is the most attractive aspect of Lewinsky to Clinton?"
Li Lun laughed loudly, and said to me in his native dialect: "Federation of Literature and Art, why did you accept such a stupid student?"
I replied in my native dialect: "Don't underestimate him. In fact... you should give him a salute, because... wherever you have been, he has arrived before you."
Li Lun turned around, "What did you say?"
I said, "What else do I need to say?"
Li Lun stared at Mandela and cursed harshly in local dialect.
Mandela asked me: "What did he tell you?"
I said, "He said it was a pleasure meeting you."
"Really?" Mandela was dubious, "You haven't introduced me yet, who is he?"
I said: "My friend, fellow villager, Director Li Lun of the Provincial Planning Commission."
Mandela looked at the back of Li Lun's head friendly.
I said, "Li Lun!"
Li Lun turned his head, stretched out his hand to Mandela, and really said: "Nice to meet you."
Two hands of different colors held together, like two old vines that both wanted to climb up the tree, touching under the tree.No, in fact, they have all climbed up the tree, but they are not entangled, just flung down.The name of the tree is Mi Wei.
After shaking hands with Mandela, Li Lun took out a wad of money from his pocket and handed it to me.
"This is three thousand dollars," Li Lun said, "two thousand for my dad, and one thousand for my aunt."
The aunt mentioned by Li Lun refers to my mother.
I counted out one thousand and returned it to Li Lun, but Li Lun turned it back.
"Auntie don't want it, you can bring it back to me."
I looked at Li Lun and took the money.
"If you are free, come to my ancestral grave and pay my respects." Li Lun said.
I said sure.
When the car arrived at the gate of the university, Li Lun asked the driver to stop, saying that he would take a taxi back to the city by himself.He got out of the car, remembered something, walked to the rear window of the car, and said to me, "Oh, I called the county magistrate, and he will welcome you tonight."
"Don't mobilize the crowd?" I said, "Besides, I don't know the county magistrate."
"The director from the provincial capital, a university professor." He looked at Mandela. "Yes, there is also a foreign friend. The county magistrate will come forward. This is a normal reception."
"I'm an associate professor, don't you call me a professor?" I said, "Besides, I'm not the director either."
"Maybe you are the deputy mayor of Ningyang City. It's not sure yet."
"Stop humiliating me, Li Lun."
"Don't worry about it, you are what you say you are," Li Lun said, "you are a professor if you say you are a professor."
"Then you might as well call me a beast."
Li Lun smiled and said, "You are a professor during the day, and a beast at night. In the morning, you are a trapped beast."
Mandela also smiled, as if he understood, and said, "The Chinese language is amazing."
Li Lun said: "It seems that you have not been a student of Professor Zhang in vain, and you have received the true biography."
The Mitsubishi off-road vehicle ran away from the urban area with Li Lun's waving, and it ran towards my hometown.
Along the way, Mandela was full of interest and focused like a driver.He didn't look away from the window for a moment, and he didn't let go of the landscapes and plants that rushed to his eyes, as if he had more affection for these landscapes than me, or as if he yearned for my hometown more than I did.
The car ran for three hours, approaching the county seat of my hometown.The name of my hometown county is Zhu Dan, like a beautiful woman's name, but it is not named after a woman, but because of a mineral called antimony in this area.In the past, this mineral was only used by people to ward off evil spirits. Its color and smell can make poisonous snakes or devils attached to snakes stay away.I was also superstitious when I was a child.But after I grew up, specifically after I was twenty, I stopped being superstitious.I find that others are less superstitious than I am, but they are all intelligent people, mostly from other places, and they are elves among the characters. They took the lead in mining antimony ore, and they were as semi-public or private as the love at that time .At first people didn't pay much attention to these people, thinking they couldn't make it because they were bound to be thwarted.But only a few years later, people discovered that these people had become rich, and those with the highest-built and best-decorated local houses must be people related to mining.These people are really smart and capable, and they make the wider people feel the inequality of wealth or the disparity of interests.As a result, people who were awakened or felt that they were behind went to banks or the homes of relatives and friends, took out loans and borrowed money, and became mine bosses. This is called borrowing chickens to lay eggs.Those who don't know how to borrow chickens to lay eggs also know how to be miners, like those men in my village who are still young and still have strength.But neither the mine owner nor the miner has anything to do with me, because I went to college 20 years ago, and then I went to college again.I teach in the university, like farting in the toilet, living a very elegant and leisurely life, that is to say, my hometown has turned upside down but it has nothing to do with me, because I am an associate professor in the university, like a rooster, can speak well, but can't lay eggs .Later, although I was the director of the department for a few months, it was a dead parrot in a chalk box, not a personal coffin (official). The director of Dongxi University had an auditorium, and the section chief had a playground full of it.
I stared out the window, and the car had already entered the county town in my reverie.The spacious, brand new streets brightened my eyes.The county where I went to high school here has become something I don't recognize.Since I went to college, I have only been to the county seat twice in the past twenty years.The most recent time was six years ago when I went home with my newlywed wife—usually I didn’t go through the county town, but got off the bus halfway and waited for a passing bus to divert.But that trip was different. My wife Cao Ying wanted to visit not only my mother, but also the alma mater that had sent me out, so we took the county seat.After visiting my alma mater Zhu Dan High School and some teachers, we took a walk in the streets of the county town.At that time, the streets were still basically the same. I led my wife to point everywhere, like a local expert, which made my wife say that I dare you to go shopping all these years after studying?I said that's impossible, I have a good memory.Cao Ying said, do you remember which girl you took for shopping?I said that I remembered that I had only taken one woman to visit this street so far.Who is Cao Ying talking about?I say you.Cao Ying said I don't believe it, you are such a romantic person.I said that my romance was only after I was admitted to university, no, it was after I met you, no, it was after I fell in love with you.Cao Ying said you were slippery.If I said I was slippery, would I still be admitted to university?And it's Peking University.That year, only two of Zhu Dan's high school students were admitted to key universities, and they were all from our township.Cao Ying said yes?Who is the other one?I said Li Lun, he was admitted to Fudan University.Cao Ying said where is she now?I said Provincial Planning Commission.Cao Ying said why I don't see you coming and going?I said that I have no habit of dealing with government officials, and he is now the deputy director.Cao Ying immediately scolded me for being noble.That was the first time Cao Ying said I was wrong, and it was on the streets of my hometown county, so I still remember.But now I am no longer noble, and the old streets of Qinghuang have changed beyond recognition, just like my wife has become my ex-wife.
What made me feel even more novel was the hotel we stayed in. It was so luxurious and elegant that I suspected that I was in a different place, such as the Ronghu Hotel in Guilin, where I had a meeting.Its biggest feature is that the halls are all hidden in the banyan forest, but there is no banyan forest in Zhudan County in my memory, and the location of the hotel was just a big fish pond, and Li Lun and I still stole fish here.But now everything has changed, as if it was created by a ghost, with a flick of a finger, where is there a banyan forest here?And look at the banyan trees that are round and big like tires, all of which are more than a hundred years old.There is no doubt that this is the result of transplantation, these banyan trees come from deep mountains and old forests.Just imagine how much human and financial resources will be used to transplant this piece of banyan forest?This hotel named Silver Tower reminds me of the pyramids in Egypt.
The magistrate of Zhudan County greeted us in the lobby of the Yinta Hotel. I heard the driver say his name was Chang Sheng in the car.Chang Sheng met me under the introduction of the driver.When he shook my hand, he called me a professor, and called me a leader, which embarrassed me.
"Director Li told me all about it on the phone," the county magistrate Changsheng was uncomfortable seeing me, "You will soon be admitted to the vice mayor of Ningyang City. Zhudan County is now under the jurisdiction of Ningyang City. You As soon as he takes office, he will be my leader."
I said: "Don't believe Li Lun's nonsense, I won't pass the exam, but Li Lun is sure to win."
"Both on, all on," Changsheng county magistrate raised his palms up twice, "Director Li and you, both of us are indispensable!"
"Magistrate Chang has seen Zhang Yimou's movie," I said, "but I really won't be admitted to be the deputy mayor. I'm an associate professor."
"Associate professor is also a high-level intellectual, you and Li Chu... No, you and Li Deputy Mayor are the glory of our Zhudan County! Proud!"
I looked at the smooth-talking county magistrate and had nothing to say.
Mandela and I were arranged to live in the presidential suite, one for each of us.Mandela ran to me excitedly and nervously, and said, Teacher Zhang, did they mistake me for President Mandela?Let me enjoy such high treatment?I said your ideal is not to be the president of your country?You are deemed to have achieved it ahead of time.
"Just like you, teacher, were you appointed as the deputy mayor in advance?"
I looked at Mandela, at the staggeringly luxurious room, "How can a deputy mayor be treated the same as the president?"
Mandela said: "Although you are only the deputy mayor, you are the mentor of the president!"
We looked at each other and smiled.
The dinner was also extremely grand. The county magistrate Changsheng not only entertained us with mountain delicacies, but also mobilized beautiful women to accompany us.Delicious and beautiful, let Mandela, who fantasized about being president, think he really became president.He hugged the beautiful woman and drank, sang and danced until he was drunk.
Chang Sheng happily called Li Lun and reported the specifications and status of the reception to Li Lun, which was praised by Li Lun.
"Of course, your friends and classmates, how dare I neglect you," the county magistrate Changsheng told Li Lun on the phone. He looked at me and at Mandela, who was drunk on the sofa, "Professor Zhang is not drunk. My friend is drunk. I know, I don’t give other people’s face, but can I not give you Buddha’s face?”
Only then did I understand that the enthusiasm of Changsheng county magistrate towards me was entirely due to Li Lun's relationship.Li Lun is still the director of the Planning Division of the Provincial Planning Commission, and holds the approval authority for tens of millions of projects. Li Lun's order is like an imperial edict to him.He didn't think that I would be admitted to be a deputy mayor at all, nor did he think highly of me as an associate professor.It wasn't me he was courting, but Li Lun.I was just a way for him to flatter Li Lun, and also a touchstone for Li Lun to show off and prove his power.that is it.
I asked for a phone number from the county magistrate and told Li Lun Director Li.Li Lun recognized my voice and said you scolded me.I changed my words to say Vice Mayor Li.
"Deputy Mayor Zhang." Li Lun replied, "Are you easy to touch?"
"I'm easy to touch, easy to touch," I said, "I thought I was a monkey's ass, but thanks to your luck, I became a horse's ass."
"Comrade Literary Federation, you must be kind," Li Lun quoted from the movie, "Don't be self-righteous and self-admired. The county magistrate Chang Sheng is my good brother. Don't treat his kindness like a donkey's liver and lungs. A good car picks you up and treats you with good wine. You, you still don't accept other people's favors, that's not right."
"Sorry, I was wrong," I said, "I'll change it!"
I returned the mobile phone to the county magistrate, then picked up the wine glass and toasted the county magistrate.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Magistrate Chang!"
Changsheng county magistrate reluctantly revealed a happy expression on his embarrassing face, as if a charcoal fire that had been poured with cold water was struggling to rekindle.He and I drank the wine.
At the end, the county magistrate said: "Tomorrow, I will come over to drink morning tea with you and see you off."
I can't say it, Magistrate!
"Send it to you."
"No! No no!"
Seeing my resolute attitude, the county magistrate said, "Okay then, the car will send you off tomorrow. I'll ask the secretary to say hello to the township." His expression froze, "Which township is your family in?"
"Jingsheng." I said.
"Oh, Jingsheng, I'm from the same village as Director Li." The county magistrate raised his hand, "I'll call the township chief, and I will call him personally, and ask him to accompany you."
I said, "No, I have a younger brother who works in the village, so it's fine to have him with me."
"Really? Who is your brother?"
"Zhang Wenhe." I said.
"Zhang Wenhe?" The county magistrate said while searching in his mind.
"Work as a propaganda committee member in the village."
"Zhang Wenhe, I've made a note," the county magistrate nodded and said, as if I had asked him something, "Got it, don't worry."
"Magistrate Chang, I don't mean anything else," I said, "I don't want to bother the county and the village too much, as long as I have my brother with me."
"I know." The county magistrate patted me on the shoulder, and then shook my hand goodbye.A smile appeared on his blessed and sophisticated face.That smile made me look like a eddy in a deep pool, rippling contemptuously toward me.
I stood on the river bank, pointed to the village at the foot of the mountain on the other side, and said to Mandela, that is my home. Mandela pushed his hand to his forehead, watching like a monkey.He rolled his eyes and asked which one it was? "The innermost one is the tile-roofed house with only the roof exposed." My brother who was standing next to Mandela said. Mandela looked at it for a while, as if he saw it, "Is the teacher there now?" My brother suddenly let out a long cry.The sound like the cry of an ape spread across the river, reached the opposite mountain, and echoed back to us. Mandela looked at my brother, at me, trying to figure out why my brother was calling. "Call the boat," I said. "A bed?" Mandela said. I looked at Mandela, "Is that how you usually call your bed?" Mandela smiled and looked at a ferry boat at the pier across the river. "I understand, it's calling for a boat, not a bed." He actually knew what my brother was calling for, and understood what I said. There is no one on the ferry now. A man walked out of the village, wearing a bamboo hat.He got off the pier on the opposite bank, where the ferryman was. Send our car back around. We walked off the pier, which was only accessible by pedestrians. The pier is steep and narrow, still the same, unchanged from time immemorial.My brother said that you became the deputy mayor, not to mention repairing the pier, even the possibility of building a bridge.I turned around and stared at my younger brother, "Who said I'm going to be the deputy mayor?" "Isn't it published in the newspaper?" the younger brother said, "Both you and Brother Li are on the list. You are number one." "That's just a written test," I said. "You are number one!" "That's just a written test." "What about the interview?" "I don't know," I said, "I failed the test." My younger brother froze, the luggage in his hand fell, rolled twice, and was stopped by my legs. I looked at Luan Shen's younger brother, "I'm not panicking, why are you panicking?" "Everyone in the village thinks you're sure of everything?!" said the younger brother.He came back with me when the car passed the township government. "What about Brother Li? You have no hope of being number one, so isn't he even more hopeless?" "On the contrary," I said. My younger brother looked at me suspiciously, "No way?" I looked at the bare riverbed and the clear river, "Just wait to cross the bridge." I picked up the luggage and handed it back to my brother. "Even if Brother Li became the deputy mayor, he wouldn't build a bridge for his hometown." The younger brother said. By this time we had reached the water's edge.The ferry that picked us up was docking. "Brother Li has been the director of the province for so many years. He has power and money in his hands. The village has made countless reports and sent them to him. He wants to repair this pier," the younger brother continued, "It's only seven to eighty thousand yuan , but until now there is no hair." "It means he's clean," I said. "Fart!" The younger brother sneered, "It's timid and fearful. He has no affection for his hometown. He is wise and protects himself. He is afraid that his superiors will say that he is favoritism, so he is not afraid that his fellow villagers will poke his back!" I looked at my sharp brother and said, "Fortunately, I have no hope of becoming an official, otherwise I would be scolded by the villagers." My younger brother looked at me and said, "Brother, let's get on the boat." He looked lonely, as if he was very disappointed in me.He might not have imagined that his respected and beloved elder brother was such a disappointing person, who could get a doctorate but not an official position at the deputy departmental level.He does not believe that being an official is more difficult than being a doctor or professor.After graduating from high school, my younger brother did not go to university, but easily passed the entrance examination to the village cadres, then the township cadres, and joined the party. It must be easier for him to get promoted than to go to school.He is now the propaganda committee of the Jingsheng Township Party Committee and a deputy department-level cadre. The boatman on the ferry was my cousin's youngest son, I could only tell when he took off his bamboo hat.But I know my uncle's youngest son was admitted to university a few years ago, so why is he now a boatman? "After graduating from university, I didn't find a job, so I went home and stayed," my uncle's youngest son said. "The grass in Dongting is near the Mid-Autumn Festival, and it is not at all beautiful. There are 30,000 hectares of Qiongtian in the jade world, and I have a boat with a leaf," he said. While rowing, I recited the words of Zhang Xiaoxiang, a poet of the Song Dynasty, "The moon is shining brightly, and the bright river is a shadow, both inside and outside are clear. The heart is leisurely, the beauty is hard to tell you. You should read the Linghai years, and the solitary light shines on itself , the liver and lungs are full of ice and snow. Short hair Xiaosao cold sleeves, steady waves and vast expanse. Float the Xijiang River, pour the Big Dipper carefully, and everything is a guest. Catch the boat and scream alone, I don’t know what night it is!" My brother, Mandela, and I looked at each other while listening to my uncle's youngest son, unable to speak. Uncle's youngest son turned his head, looked at me, smiled wryly, and said, "Cousin, now I am the most educated boatman in the history of our village. I don't see the ancients before, and I don't see the newcomers afterward. And weep!" I looked at the water in the middle of the river and said, "I think there must be fish that can compose poetry in this river, because they are in the water and hear you reciting poems every day." "Don't worry, cousin, you are back, I promise to get a fish, and I will worship you as a teacher!" said the uncle's youngest son. At my family dinner in the evening, a big fish appeared, which was brought by my uncle's youngest son.The fish was already dead when it was brought, and there were no wounds on its body. I think it was blown up by explosives and died of fright.Of course it can't be used as a poem, but it brings joy to our family. There were fifteen or sixteen of my family members and relatives sitting at the dinner table.Everyone's face is filled with smiles, like a New Year's Eve. The happiest is my mother.Because of the return of the long-lost eldest son, my lonely mother was overjoyed, talking and laughing happily, as if she had never been a widow or stuttered.Her mouth hadn't closed since the moment I walked in the door, although she almost fainted when she saw Mandela for the first time. As soon as Mandela saw my mother, he flashed out from behind me and bowed to her. "Master, hello!" Mother looked at the black man in front of her, and immediately went limp, thinking she saw a ghost.I stepped forward in time, helped my mother up, and pinched her hard to restore her sanity. I told my mother in my native dialect that the black man in front of me was a student I brought. He is not a ghost, but a foreigner. The skin of foreigners is different from ours, but everything else is the same. "Do they also eat mutton?" said the mother who was stunned for a while. I say eat, eat anything. My mother became excited and told my brother to prepare to slaughter the sheep. My younger brother went to the back mountain to call back my sister-in-law who was herding the sheep, and slaughtered a sheep in the flock.The couple were quick with their hands and feet, and a sumptuous dinner was ready in less than two hours.At this time, my mother also invited all the relatives she could call to the house. At the dinner table, my mother frequently picked up meat for me and Mandela.Plump mutton and fish were placed one by one in the bowl in front of us, as if the seventy catties of sheep and nine catties of fish would not be enough for the whole family, she wanted to ensure that her eldest son and his students had enough to eat. It seems that her eldest son and his students live a life that is not as good as a cow and a horse in the city. Mandela offered several glasses of wine to my mother, and my mother drank it every time, and I couldn't persuade her.Wine glasses in rural areas are different from those in urban restaurants, and are much larger.Every time my mother toasts Mandela with a cup as big as a fist, I feel apprehensive.In my impression, my mother does not drink so much. When I brought her eldest daughter-in-law home for the first time six years ago, she was so ecstatic that she didn't drink so much.But today her drinking capacity is particularly astonishing, as if she was helped by a god. Looking at my happy mother, I didn't dare to tell her about my divorce, nor did I tell my brother.They thought that Cao Ying, who was in England, was still my wife, and they expected her to bear children for our Zhang family and carry on the family line.My younger brother Zhang Wenhe already has two daughters, and it is impossible for him to have another child, unless he dares to take the risk of being fired from public office. But Mandela, who was outspoken, slipped out of his words after drinking. He said, "Middle-aged men have three major joys: promotion, wealth, and divorce from their wives. Your son has two joys." My mother, who understands Mandarin, was suddenly surprised.She put away her happy expression and looked at me cautiously, "Are you an official now?" I said, "No." "Your son is going to be the mayor!" Mandela whispered in my mother's ear, "He passed the exam." "Don't listen to his nonsense," I said to my mother, "I passed the exam, but I failed." Mother ignored me and asked Mandela: "What kind of official is the mayor?" "Sir!" said Mandela. "Grow up than the village?" Mandela raised his fist, "I grew up much more than Xiang." "As big as the magistrate?" said the mother. Mandela shook his head, "Bigger than the county magistrate!" Mother said: "Admitted?" Mandela nodded, "Admitted." Mother also nodded, she believed Mandela's words.Then she looked at me, with a happy expression on her face again, "Oh, the salary has been raised, and I'm an official." Mandela shook his head with a smile.His smile wiped away the joy that had just floated on my mother's face. Mother sullenly stared at me. I said: "I have made a fortune, and I want to be an official, that's right." I remembered the one thousand yuan Li Lun gave my mother, and took it out, "Here, this is a bonus. My examiner got the first place in the exam." Name, for me. Mom, for you." My mother was still sullen, staring at me. Looking into my mother's majestic eyes, I dare not lie to her again. "I divorced Cao Ying." I said. Mother didn't speak, she stood up suddenly, walked to the wall, picked up a whip, came over again, twisted me up, pulled me to my father's portrait, and ordered me to kneel down. I kneel. Mother first whipped me, and then said: "What's wrong with Cao Ying? You want to divorce her? Huh?" "There's nothing wrong with Cao Ying," I said. "That's why you've changed your mind, isn't it?" I said, "I haven't changed my mind." "Also!" My mother whipped me again, "What is an unchanging heart? You have become an official and have power, oh no, before you become an official, you will lose your wife! Did the dog eat you?" "It's not that I lost my wife and didn't want it. It's Cao Ying who didn't want me. She wanted to divorce me." "She wants to divorce you? Why does she want to divorce you? You must have a woman outside, right?" I said no. I got another whip on my body. "Aren't you saying no?" said the mother, "Cao Ying hasn't been by your side for the past few years, you can't stand it any longer, you've lost your mind, and you've lost your mind!" I said I didn't, I was wronged. "Wronged? I won't be wronged if I beat you to death!" Mother continued to beat me with the whip.She whipped and scolded, the more I defended, the harder she beat and scolded, just like beating and scolding your own dog who went to someone else's house to do evil. I remember twenty-three years ago, my mother beat me like this.At that time, I was a sophomore in high school, my father died, I packed my bed and went home, so I stopped going to school.My mother picked up the whip, ordered me to kneel where I am kneeling now, and then beat me.When she hit me, besides cursing, she also cried.The sharp whips and the crying and cursing sounded in our house all night, until the next morning I returned to school with my bedding. When my mother beats and scolds me now, she doesn't cry, maybe because there is no sadness in her heart, only resentment.She resented that her upright son had turned into a heartless and unscrupulous man, because she firmly believed that the son had betrayed his daughter-in-law and would turn bad when he became an official, so she wanted to punish him physically and enforce the family law.Since she was able to use a whip to turn her truant son into a student of a prestigious university more than 20 years ago, she now wants to use a whip to turn her depraved son into a good person. Mandela watched his mentor being beaten up, and then came to block the whip for me, and then took the whip from my mother.He looked at my mother, who was as majestic as a queen mother, and said, Mrs. Tai, enough is enough, if the beating continues, your son will be disabled. My mother looked at me, gritted her teeth, but there were tears in her eyes.She suddenly turned around and ran to the back of the house. Just as she stepped out of the house, the sound of crying was like the rumbling sound of water spraying from a burst embankment.The loud cry rushed to the mountain wall behind the house, and then turned back, passing through the door, like a flood pouring backwards, floating the hearts of all of us in the house.My younger brother and sister-in-law rushed out first to comfort my mother and stop the source of the disaster that turned the originally beautiful reunion dinner into a disaster.Mother is still crying. Then a group of my relatives went out.They are going home. Mother immediately stopped crying. The scattered relatives were invited back by the bereaved mother, and they sat down at the dinner table again, for the rare family reunion, for the biggest official in the family—except for the deputy mayor of Ningyang who I believe in. , to celebrate with ease. The smile on the dinner table is only faked by my mother, I know.She doesn't think it's a good thing for me to be an official, because being an official will make her son bad. At least now the son has abandoned her capable and kind daughter-in-law. caused by the road.No matter how hard she gritted her teeth and didn't cry, she didn't believe that the divorce between my wife and I had nothing to do with being an official, not to mention whether I could be an official is still unknown.
I stood on the river bank, pointed to the village at the foot of the mountain on the other side, and said to Mandela, that is my home. Mandela pushed his hand to his forehead, watching like a monkey.He rolled his eyes and asked which one it was? "The innermost one is the tile-roofed house with only the roof exposed." My brother who was standing next to Mandela said. Mandela looked at it for a while, as if he saw it, "Is the teacher there now?" My brother suddenly let out a long cry.The sound like the cry of an ape spread across the river, reached the opposite mountain, and echoed back to us. Mandela looked at my brother, at me, trying to figure out why my brother was calling. "Call the boat," I said. "A bed?" Mandela said. I looked at Mandela, "Is that how you usually call your bed?" Mandela smiled and looked at a ferry boat at the pier across the river. "I understand, it's calling for a boat, not a bed." He actually knew what my brother was calling for, and understood what I said. There is no one on the ferry now. A man walked out of the village, wearing a bamboo hat.He got off the pier on the opposite bank, where the ferryman was. Send our car back around. We walked off the pier, which was only accessible by pedestrians. The pier is steep and narrow, still the same, unchanged from time immemorial.My brother said that you became the deputy mayor, not to mention repairing the pier, even the possibility of building a bridge.I turned around and stared at my younger brother, "Who said I'm going to be the deputy mayor?" "Isn't it published in the newspaper?" the younger brother said, "Both you and Brother Li are on the list. You are number one." "That's just a written test," I said. "You are number one!" "That's just a written test." "What about the interview?" "I don't know," I said, "I failed the test." My younger brother froze, the luggage in his hand fell, rolled twice, and was stopped by my legs. I looked at Luan Shen's younger brother, "I'm not panicking, why are you panicking?" "Everyone in the village thinks you're sure of everything?!" said the younger brother.He came back with me when the car passed the township government. "What about Brother Li? You have no hope of being number one, so isn't he even more hopeless?" "On the contrary," I said. My younger brother looked at me suspiciously, "No way?" I looked at the bare riverbed and the clear river, "Just wait to cross the bridge." I picked up the luggage and handed it back to my brother. "Even if Brother Li became the deputy mayor, he wouldn't build a bridge for his hometown." The younger brother said. By this time we had reached the water's edge.The ferry that picked us up was docking. "Brother Li has been the director of the province for so many years. He has power and money in his hands. The village has made countless reports and sent them to him. He wants to repair this pier," the younger brother continued, "It's only seven to eighty thousand yuan , but until now there is no hair." "It means he's clean," I said. "Fart!" The younger brother sneered, "It's timid and fearful. He has no affection for his hometown. He is wise and protects himself. He is afraid that his superiors will say that he is favoritism, so he is not afraid that his fellow villagers will poke his back!" I looked at my sharp brother and said, "Fortunately, I have no hope of becoming an official, otherwise I would be scolded by the villagers." My younger brother looked at me and said, "Brother, let's get on the boat." He looked lonely, as if he was very disappointed in me.He might not have imagined that his respected and beloved elder brother was such a disappointing person, who could get a doctorate but not an official position at the deputy departmental level.He does not believe that being an official is more difficult than being a doctor or professor.After graduating from high school, my younger brother did not go to university, but easily passed the entrance examination to the village cadres, then the township cadres, and joined the party. It must be easier for him to get promoted than to go to school.He is now the propaganda committee of the Jingsheng Township Party Committee and a deputy department-level cadre. The boatman on the ferry was my cousin's youngest son, I could only tell when he took off his bamboo hat.But I know my uncle's youngest son was admitted to university a few years ago, so why is he now a boatman? "After graduating from university, I didn't find a job, so I went home and stayed," my uncle's youngest son said. "The grass in Dongting is near the Mid-Autumn Festival, and it is not at all beautiful. There are 30,000 hectares of Qiongtian in the jade world, and I have a boat with a leaf," he said. While rowing, I recited the words of Zhang Xiaoxiang, a poet of the Song Dynasty, "The moon is shining brightly, and the bright river is a shadow, both inside and outside are clear. The heart is leisurely, the beauty is hard to tell you. You should read the Linghai years, and the solitary light shines on itself , the liver and lungs are full of ice and snow. Short hair Xiaosao cold sleeves, steady waves and vast expanse. Float the Xijiang River, pour the Big Dipper carefully, and everything is a guest. Catch the boat and scream alone, I don’t know what night it is!" My brother, Mandela, and I looked at each other while listening to my uncle's youngest son, unable to speak. Uncle's youngest son turned his head, looked at me, smiled wryly, and said, "Cousin, now I am the most educated boatman in the history of our village. I don't see the ancients before, and I don't see the newcomers afterward. And weep!" I looked at the water in the middle of the river and said, "I think there must be fish that can compose poetry in this river, because they are in the water and hear you reciting poems every day." "Don't worry, cousin, you are back, I promise to get a fish, and I will worship you as a teacher!" said the uncle's youngest son. At my family dinner in the evening, a big fish appeared, which was brought by my uncle's youngest son.The fish was already dead when it was brought, and there were no wounds on its body. I think it was blown up by explosives and died of fright.Of course it can't be used as a poem, but it brings joy to our family. There were fifteen or sixteen of my family members and relatives sitting at the dinner table.Everyone's face is filled with smiles, like a New Year's Eve. The happiest is my mother.Because of the return of the long-lost eldest son, my lonely mother was overjoyed, talking and laughing happily, as if she had never been a widow or stuttered.Her mouth hadn't closed since the moment I walked in the door, although she almost fainted when she saw Mandela for the first time. As soon as Mandela saw my mother, he flashed out from behind me and bowed to her. "Master, hello!" Mother looked at the black man in front of her, and immediately went limp, thinking she saw a ghost.I stepped forward in time, helped my mother up, and pinched her hard to restore her sanity. I told my mother in my native dialect that the black man in front of me was a student I brought. He is not a ghost, but a foreigner. The skin of foreigners is different from ours, but everything else is the same. "Do they also eat mutton?" said the mother who was stunned for a while. I say eat, eat anything. My mother became excited and told my brother to prepare to slaughter the sheep. My younger brother went to the back mountain to call back my sister-in-law who was herding the sheep, and slaughtered a sheep in the flock.The couple were quick with their hands and feet, and a sumptuous dinner was ready in less than two hours.At this time, my mother also invited all the relatives she could call to the house. At the dinner table, my mother frequently picked up meat for me and Mandela.Plump mutton and fish were placed one by one in the bowl in front of us, as if the seventy catties of sheep and nine catties of fish would not be enough for the whole family, she wanted to ensure that her eldest son and his students had enough to eat. It seems that her eldest son and his students live a life that is not as good as a cow and a horse in the city. Mandela offered several glasses of wine to my mother, and my mother drank it every time, and I couldn't persuade her.Wine glasses in rural areas are different from those in urban restaurants, and are much larger.Every time my mother toasts Mandela with a cup as big as a fist, I feel apprehensive.In my impression, my mother does not drink so much. When I brought her eldest daughter-in-law home for the first time six years ago, she was so ecstatic that she didn't drink so much.But today her drinking capacity is particularly astonishing, as if she was helped by a god. Looking at my happy mother, I didn't dare to tell her about my divorce, nor did I tell my brother.They thought that Cao Ying, who was in England, was still my wife, and they expected her to bear children for our Zhang family and carry on the family line.My younger brother Zhang Wenhe already has two daughters, and it is impossible for him to have another child, unless he dares to take the risk of being fired from public office. But Mandela, who was outspoken, slipped out of his words after drinking. He said, "Middle-aged men have three major joys: promotion, wealth, and divorce from their wives. Your son has two joys." My mother, who understands Mandarin, was suddenly surprised.She put away her happy expression and looked at me cautiously, "Are you an official now?" I said, "No." "Your son is going to be the mayor!" Mandela whispered in my mother's ear, "He passed the exam." "Don't listen to his nonsense," I said to my mother, "I passed the exam, but I failed." Mother ignored me and asked Mandela: "What kind of official is the mayor?" "Sir!" said Mandela. "Grow up than the village?" Mandela raised his fist, "I grew up much more than Xiang." "As big as the magistrate?" said the mother. Mandela shook his head, "Bigger than the county magistrate!" Mother said: "Admitted?" Mandela nodded, "Admitted." Mother also nodded, she believed Mandela's words.Then she looked at me, with a happy expression on her face again, "Oh, the salary has been raised, and I'm an official." Mandela shook his head with a smile.His smile wiped away the joy that had just floated on my mother's face. Mother sullenly stared at me. I said: "I have made a fortune, and I want to be an official, that's right." I remembered the one thousand yuan Li Lun gave my mother, and took it out, "Here, this is a bonus. My examiner got the first place in the exam." Name, for me. Mom, for you." My mother was still sullen, staring at me. Looking into my mother's majestic eyes, I dare not lie to her again. "I divorced Cao Ying." I said. Mother didn't speak, she stood up suddenly, walked to the wall, picked up a whip, came over again, twisted me up, pulled me to my father's portrait, and ordered me to kneel down. I kneel. Mother first whipped me, and then said: "What's wrong with Cao Ying? You want to divorce her? Huh?" "There's nothing wrong with Cao Ying," I said. "That's why you've changed your mind, isn't it?" I said, "I haven't changed my mind." "Also!" My mother whipped me again, "What is an unchanging heart? You have become an official and have power, oh no, before you become an official, you will lose your wife! Did the dog eat you?" "It's not that I lost my wife and didn't want it. It's Cao Ying who didn't want me. She wanted to divorce me." "She wants to divorce you? Why does she want to divorce you? You must have a woman outside, right?" I said no. I got another whip on my body. "Aren't you saying no?" said the mother, "Cao Ying hasn't been by your side for the past few years, you can't stand it any longer, you've lost your mind, and you've lost your mind!" I said I didn't, I was wronged. "Wronged? I won't be wronged if I beat you to death!" Mother continued to beat me with the whip.She whipped and scolded, the more I defended, the harder she beat and scolded, just like beating and scolding your own dog who went to someone else's house to do evil. I remember twenty-three years ago, my mother beat me like this.At that time, I was a sophomore in high school, my father died, I packed my bed and went home, so I stopped going to school.My mother picked up the whip, ordered me to kneel where I am kneeling now, and then beat me.When she hit me, besides cursing, she also cried.The sharp whips and the crying and cursing sounded in our house all night, until the next morning I returned to school with my bedding. When my mother beats and scolds me now, she doesn't cry, maybe because there is no sadness in her heart, only resentment.She resented that her upright son had turned into a heartless and unscrupulous man, because she firmly believed that the son had betrayed his daughter-in-law and would turn bad when he became an official, so she wanted to punish him physically and enforce the family law.Since she was able to use a whip to turn her truant son into a student of a prestigious university more than 20 years ago, she now wants to use a whip to turn her depraved son into a good person. Mandela watched his mentor being beaten up, and then came to block the whip for me, and then took the whip from my mother.He looked at my mother, who was as majestic as a queen mother, and said, Mrs. Tai, enough is enough, if the beating continues, your son will be disabled. My mother looked at me, gritted her teeth, but there were tears in her eyes.She suddenly turned around and ran to the back of the house. Just as she stepped out of the house, the sound of crying was like the rumbling sound of water spraying from a burst embankment.The loud cry rushed to the mountain wall behind the house, and then turned back, passing through the door, like a flood pouring backwards, floating the hearts of all of us in the house.My younger brother and sister-in-law rushed out first to comfort my mother and stop the source of the disaster that turned the originally beautiful reunion dinner into a disaster.Mother is still crying. Then a group of my relatives went out.They are going home. Mother immediately stopped crying. The scattered relatives were invited back by the bereaved mother, and they sat down at the dinner table again, for the rare family reunion, for the biggest official in the family—except for the deputy mayor of Ningyang who I believe in. , to celebrate with ease. The smile on the dinner table is only faked by my mother, I know.She doesn't think it's a good thing for me to be an official, because being an official will make her son bad. At least now the son has abandoned her capable and kind daughter-in-law. caused by the road.No matter how hard she gritted her teeth and didn't cry, she didn't believe that the divorce between my wife and I had nothing to do with being an official, not to mention whether I could be an official is still unknown.