Chapter 18 Fragrant Hills Summer Records

The family of five finally got into the car and set off—the weather was fine, and the poplars on both sides of the asphalt road were covered with white ash on the lower half of the tree in the bright sunshine, and the top was covered with shiny green oil. Ye, at a glance, this long white fence supports a large green gauze barrier, leading to the horizon.The cool breeze in the morning came in from the car window, making the family's happy mood even more floating! Father sat next to the driver.He is relatively quiet, but he is often smiled by the laughter in the back seat. The elder brother and younger sister are the most mischievous, and they like to talk the most. They have never stopped talking since they got in the car. The elder sister is usually more serious, and she talked a lot this day.Mother listened and talked, looked at the people in front of her and beside her, and felt an indescribable happiness and satisfaction in her heart.

These three children—brother, elder sister, and younger sister—couldn’t be called “children” no matter how you looked at them. They were all in their twenties.They are all working, and the places where they work are not close to each other.In the past four or five years, there has never been a chance for the family to reunite!Even this spring, when they knew that they could think of a way to get together their holidays in the summer, they used a dense communication network to repeatedly negotiate the date and place of their summer vacation together.However, due to the unevenness of the holidays and the "full occupancy" of the summer resort, it was not until all three of them arrived at home that they quickly decided to stay at the Xiangshan Hotel closest to home for a week in Zhongfu—the hottest period.During the preparation period, the three of them were in such a hurry as if they had gone on an expedition to the South Pole for several years. They were barking like chickens and dogs, and it seemed that even the room was spinning.

The mother's loving eyes, looking at the children passing by in front of her eyes, do not believe that they will be as serious as others say in their jobs, and do not believe that they often communicate with themselves in the communication Young people who seriously discuss many important issues.Their conversations and laughs, and even the expressions on their faces, suddenly returned to their childhood nineteen years ago. They "quarreled", laughed at each other, and interfered with each other as before... All of this is related to them and their stature and harmony. The age doesn't match at all.

When I started to pack my bags, my mother said: "The date is very short, and Xiangshan Hotel has everything. Except for a change of clothes, don't bring anything else, especially don't bring a book!" My sister said it because their father and daughter are famous for "books are never separated from people, and people are never separated from books".However, when packing the boxes together, I found that there were a lot of "clothes", such as swimming suits, sunshade hats, hiking shoes... It is said that they are all indispensable. Surprisingly, there are many books!My father said: "You always say that I usually don't read anything except this running script. Now that I've been ordered not to carry this running script, why don't you let me read the few novels you have been introducing to me?" The daughters also confidently took the large and small books that they think must be read during the rest time and are suitable for reading during the rest time. "If you don't hurry up to read the rest time, when will you read it?" Two large suitcases full.Finally, my mother also secretly stuffed in a large pile of envelopes and letter paper.She owed too much credit, maybe she could pay it off while others were out and about.In the end, my mother suddenly remembered that the heavy rain in the summer of dog days is said to fall. From the hotel room to the restaurant, you have to go through a section of mountain road, so rain boots are essential.In a hurry, she collected five pairs of rain boots, and packed them in a big pile into a large net bag.

After it rained, my mother remembered that my father was prone to cold, and the "Lingqiao Jiedu Pill" he often used was indispensable.The younger sister said: "Mom, don't forget to bring your headache pills!" So another box of various medicines was filled. The children said again: "When we come back from climbing or swimming, we must be very hungry. We must bring some candy and biscuits." The mother said anxiously: "Don't these things exist in the canteen of the hotel?" In the end, I packed some "surplus materials" at home into a pocket.Taking advantage of the chaos, the children stuffed two decks of old playing cards into the suitcase.

It wasn't until the taxi arrived at the door that the sporadic "additions" began to stop.When everyone laughed and lifted the "luggage" to the car, the driver was also infected by the carnival atmosphere, and said with a smile, "Are you moving?" The children laughed again. The rapid sound of rustling wheels passed through this wide and neat tree-lined avenue. On the big round platform at the turn of the avenue, stood policemen in snow-white uniforms, which looked particularly bright and handsome in the morning sun.The neat and beautiful buildings on both sides of the suburban avenue, one after another... Some of the children know the names of these buildings, and some don't. All the buildings they know, for example, "Socialism College", "Expert Guest House" ", "Industrial University"... From the appearance to the content, the information they talk about and laugh at is also like a kaleidoscope, changing rapidly. "

My mother quietly looked at the glowing yellow tiles of the Paiyun Temple on Longevity Hill, and the dark green rice fields and lotus ponds that swirled past outside the car window, feeling slightly moved in her heart. "Xiexia" was not a thing for their family more than ten years ago, not only for their family, but also for their relatives and friends. The landscape and towers of "Xiexia" are not prepared for them!It wasn't until the people became the masters, and the mountains, rivers and towers returned to the people's hands, that they could enjoy such happiness... Her thoughts were soon interrupted, the car had driven into the gate of Jingyi Garden at some point, Climb up the dark green winding mountain road and stop at the entrance of Xiangshan Hotel.

How is their "summer break" plan going?Has the family ever had a good reunion and talk?After returning from Xiangshan, everyone talked about it and still haven't come to a consistent conclusion.First, they didn't stay for a full week, they only stayed for five days and came back.The reason is that the children had had enough fun. They climbed "Ghost Seeing Sorrow" on the afternoon of the first day up the mountain, visited Biyun Temple on the second day, and went swimming in Kunming Lake on the third day. The place to play was farther away from home. getting closer.They feel that returning home after playing is closer than returning to Xiangshan, so it is better to return home.At the same time, my father and mother went up the mountain for only five days, but they went down to the city twice to meet friends who came to Beijing from various places for the summer.Second, with regard to reading "idle books", the father picked up a novel and a tube of red pencils when the children went out to play in the mountains and rivers, and was about to concentrate on research and analysis. Knock on the door.

It turned out that Xiangshan Hotel was "full of guests" at this time, they met many friends, usually everyone was busy with their own business, but now they meet each other in their spare time, and they hold on to each other!My father was also afraid that his mother would say that he "kept three sentences in his line of work", so he always stood up quickly and said to his friends, "Let's go for a walk." It meant: "Let's talk outside the jargon", and a few people laughed and left after speaking.At this time, it seemed that mother could sit down and write letters quietly, but no!She also has her peers, her friends, people also come to "stop by", and she also goes out to visit... The reunion of her family is actually only when eating, and eating is often extended with her children's classmates and friends Dinner!Third, there are some things that prove that they really brought too much.For example, medicine, my father has never had a cold, and my mother has never had a headache.

The rain boots with a large net bag have never been used, and those few days are full of hot and sunny days.There is no time to eat snacks and candies. In the cool teahouse of the restaurant, friends often invite them to have snacks and cold drinks, and some friends specially send fruits, melon seeds and various snacks to the children. There are only playing cards, and they have used them twice, but every time The time to play is not long, and I still play with many friends in turn! Say that the plan was not completed, as if everyone mentioned the bustling and hectic five days, and there was indescribable happiness and satisfaction.From the bottom of their hearts, they felt that Xiangshan was their world, the world of their group, and those who came out and went in would meet their own friends, and sometimes they would meet international friends with black or white skin whom they had never met before.No matter in the restaurant, teahouse, hairdresser's room, or movie theater, everyone greets each other very naturally and cordially, and a leisurely, restful, and peaceful atmosphere permeates the hearts of every guest.

My sister especially mentioned one pleasant thing: she said that the Italian movie she watched that night was called "She in the Night". The acting skills were meticulous and the plot was moving. tears!sister said: "After the show, my heart was heavy like a big stone. But I fell asleep soon after returning to the house. I comforted myself and said, what is sad? In our place, there is no such tragedy !" The older sister glanced at her, and said with a smile, "You always only care about yourself." The older brother laughed too, "She will always be a silly girl, and no matter how uncomfortable it is, it will only last five minutes!" Of course there was another "quarrel" underneath, and the father and mother got up and walked away. They smiled quietly at each other. Only they knew what pain was, and they also knew what happiness was. Beijing, August 24, 1962 (This article was originally published in Hong Kong's "Ta Kung Pao" on September 19, 1962)