Chapter 46 On difficult days (7)

When I put the small iron box on the desk of our class teacher and explained the situation awkwardly, Teacher Li blinked his eyes in confusion behind the bottle-like myopia, and he didn't respond for a long time.He stared at me for a while, then opened the tin box again, counted the money and food stamps, and pointed the pair of "bottle bottoms" at my face again: "You picked up so much money and food stamps, hand them back ?” He looked at my tattered clothes from top to bottom, and seemed to be dissatisfied with what he just said, and quickly said, “Oh, Jianqiang, you are such a good boy! You are happy! It is not easy for you to do this in such a difficult life!" His two thin hands came to rest on my shoulders, looked at me very kindly for a moment, and then turned away. Turning around, he hurriedly rummaged through a drawer on the side table.

After a while, he handed me a handful of meal tickets, and said bluntly: "You can eat it! This is left over from the time when the students and teachers were branching out, and I didn't bother to change it. You are welcome , take it and eat it! I know your life is very difficult. Yes, our whole country is facing difficulties. I see many students in school are starving. It is very sad. However, I believe that our party will definitely lead We got through this difficult time, because our spirit and the overall social atmosphere are good, and we will definitely be able to overcome this serious difficulty. Jianqiang, I can see this concretely from your behavior just now... this Order a meal ticket, and you can eat it..." I shrank my hands, took a step back, and hurriedly said, "No! Teacher Li, I have a meal ticket! I have something to do, so I'm leaving!" I was afraid that Teacher Li would force me to I accepted his meal ticket and hastily exited his room sideways.Now it was approaching dusk, and the grove outside under the campus wall had become a blur.There is no sound in the campus.Because it was Saturday, and the mid-term exam had just finished, the lights in the rows of classrooms were almost unlit—the day students went home, and most of the boarding students went outside to kill time.

I was walking on the big playground, feeling very peaceful.I was in a hurry and didn't know where I was going, so I couldn't help standing under a blackboard.I suddenly remembered my "winter cottage" again! Yes, go there!Then there were my potatoes and corn!I almost laughed out loud in the dark: well, I can eat those things in peace now.At this moment, I was already a little numb from hunger, and besides feeling dizzy, the cramping in my stomach had become a vague feeling, not as sharp as before. In the gradually darkening sky, I groped up the hillside behind the middle school.With an uncontrollable enthusiasm, I walked to the entrance of the brick kiln.But I was stunned all of a sudden: I saw a fire had been lit inside, and I also saw a person sitting beside the fire!

Who is this?Without thinking about anything, I bravely poked my head into the hole.I saw: This is a middle-aged woman with gray hair, she is staring at me with a pair of panic eyes.She was holding a six or seven-year-old girl in her arms—the child was already fast asleep.It seems that this is a mother and son, both dressed in rags, very miserable. I couldn't help but feel sour, they are begging. The woman continued to look at me in horror, and at the same time said with a foreign accent: "I'm not a bad person! I didn't do bad things! Listen to me! My baby's father died the year before last, and my mother, mother and son had no food or drink. , came out to beg for food, walked across the state and counties, and ran straight to the place where there was a train. I met a fellow villager in our place just before the sound, and said that our government sent another batch of relief food, ah, look at our Communist Party How wonderful! I thought, I can’t run around begging for food anymore! Although the baby’s father is dead, he was a party member when he was alive! He was also a team leader and a branch committee member! I think I’m a beggar Shame on our government and the Communist Party! Now I heard that the relief food has come down again, so I’ll go back! Besides, the mother soil is hot, so even if you die, you will die in the field of your hometown! Come here tonight, there is no I came to this place blindly, and I can always keep out the cold... Are you from the Public Security Bureau? I am not a bad person, and I have never done anything bad..."

My eyes, which had already shed a lot of tears, burst into tears again.I hurried in and said to her, "Auntie, don't be afraid, I'm a student!" I then asked her: "Have your mother and son eaten?" "No...it doesn't matter, my lord, baby..." She lowered her head abruptly, and immediately burst into tears.I silently walked to the base of the back wall, dug out the potatoes and corn cobs hidden in the soil, brought them to the fire, and said to the crying woman: "You should burn these things while there is a fire." Bar!" She raised her head, looked at the potatoes and corn cobs on the ground, and then at me, her two bloodless lips trembled, "Wow", she cried, while crying, she patted the baby in her arms and said : "My baby has met a good man! Darling, wake up quickly! I give you a big kowtow for doing so well!"

I was anxious and sad, almost crying and said: "Good aunt, don't be like this soon, I am so young, how can I grow up like a doll? I am still a doll!..." I bid farewell to the mother and son, stumbled down the hillside, and returned to the school playground.The sky is already full of stars.It was such a quiet night, even the noise of the water in the river can be heard in the distance.From somewhere came the sound of an unskillfully played violin. Although it was out of tune, the soft vibrato made one's heart tremble.After a day of tossing, I finally haven't eaten a bite of rice.But I was very excited, as if I had already had a good meal somewhere...

On Monday, Mr. Li, our class teacher, held a class meeting as usual. At the meeting, he was very emotional and praised my "communist spirit that never loses money".But I feel very uncomfortable.I don't want people to think of me as a hero.Because fundamentally speaking, what I would most like to live is a life of normal people: everyone is tolerant, honest, non-discriminatory, and non-envious of each other.Even if someone has done a great deed, don't make a fuss about it; on the contrary, if someone encounters any misfortune, don't give sincere love and support.When I was in junior high school and after I came here, I read many novels and biographies of famous historical figures. Those outstanding people, don’t they all have such spirit and quality?We are just ordinary people, and we should demand ourselves in this way... Dear scribe, please stop talking—you are originally a quiet person!

Needless to say, after this incident, my image has changed in the eyes of my classmates; generally speaking, they no longer look at me with mocking eyes.I think of my situation since I entered the school, and now I feel very spiritually comforted.But Zhou Wenming and a few people still don't take me seriously.Except that they don’t underestimate me when announcing the test results, they usually show me a proud look; they raise their wrists in front of me and look at their watches like showing off; .There were even rumors that I handed over the money to the public to get praise from teachers and schools.I still try to avoid people like Zhou Wenming, as well as Wu Yaling and David Zheng.I avoid people like Zhou Wenming to avoid contempt and humiliation; and I hide from Yaling and David because I feel that I am too shabby to associate with them.I haven't been to my "winter cottage" since the day I picked up the money.It's not just that there is nothing to eat in that dear broken brick kiln; it's that the scene of meeting the unfortunate mother and child that night left me too stimulated, and I was afraid that I would be reminded of those scenes when I got there. uncomfortable thing.

But every night after dinner, I don't want to stay in our dormitory at all.Because the classmates didn't talk to me, what's more, I was so hungry that I didn't want to talk to everyone.If I was lying alone on the broken wool felt, not only would I be uncomfortable, but others would also be uncomfortable.I was very distressed and didn't know where to go.Let's go for a walk in the field outside, the weather is really too cold, and my little clothes and thin clothes can't hold on at all. After much deliberation, I think I have no choice but to spend time in that broken brick kiln that is now empty.

After dinner one afternoon, as in the past, I dragged my limp legs and climbed up the hillside behind the middle school listlessly, walking towards my "winter cottage".