When Weiran walked out of Pingquan High-speed Railway Station, it was already past two o'clock in the afternoon of the next day.
Although the homes of Chen Qi and Zhao Shengli are both within the scope of Hebei Province, they are separated by a large capital city. In order to get here as soon as possible, he had no choice but to rush back to the capital to return the car to Chen Guangling, and then stayed one night before taking the high-speed train here.
Standing in the square in front of the high-speed rail station, Wei Ran looked around. At the end of his sight were the mountains. A little closer, he could still see the city's buildings. As for the situation in front of me, it was no different from other cities. The black car drivers holding cards to attract customers were more enthusiastic than the others.
Finding a random driver who looked about the same age as himself, Wei Ran took out his cigarette case and handed the driver a cigarette.
"Where are our brothers going?" The young driver took the cigarette and pinned it to his ears, his attitude becoming more and more enthusiastic.
"Can I go to this address?" Wei Ran handed the note with the address to the other party.
The driver took the note and looked at it, "It's not that close to this place. It has to be more than 20 kilometers away."
"It's your car and I don't want to take anyone with me." "How about it?" Wei Ran took out another cigarette and handed it to the other party, then took out the kerosene lighter he got from the desert and lit it for the other party, "Or you can stay for the whole day."
"Let's go, brother, let's get in the car first."
The young driver was afraid that others would steal such a big business, so he enthusiastically helped Wei Ran carry the suitcase full of gifts and headed for the distance. Walk along the roadside.
Seeing this, Wei Ran did not refuse and followed him into a van with peace of mind.
The young driver first put the luggage into the car, then took out a bottle of cold mineral water from the foam box and handed it to Wei Ran. Then he tentatively said, "Brother, if you want to charter a car, How about going to that address, 220?"
"How about renting your car for the whole day?" Wei Ran asked with interest.
"400," the young driver gritted his teeth and said, "As long as we don't go out of Hiraizumi, 400 a day is fine, but it's just the gas money."
"800, you can pay for the gas." Think of a way." Wei Ran got into the car as he spoke, "No problem, just drive"
"No problem, no problem"
The young driver immediately pulled away from the car. He opened the car door of the room and said happily, "For this price, even if you want to go to the capital to see the flag raising, I will take you there."
"No, just don't abandon me in the middle." Wei Ran grinned. reminded.
"Can't that be a human being?"
The young driver started the engine while speaking, and then handed Weiran a business card, "You will need it when you come to Pingquan in the future. Call me for the car. I’ll take advantage of you this time. Next time you use the car, it’ll be 500 a day.”
“Liu Yanghe” Wei Ran looked at the name on the business card and couldn’t help but ask with a smile. said, "This name is interesting."
The young driver said helplessly, "My dad and mom were both very obsessed with Li Guyi, so they gave me this name. "
"That's a pretty good name." Wei Ran didn't joke about the other person's name, but instead talked about this city that he had never been to.
It can be seen that, This black truck driver, who is about the same age as himself, is extremely familiar with his hometown. He kept talking all the way from the birthplace of Khitan to their local special mutton soup and even various local legends.
With such a chatty driver, time passed quickly along the way. The scenery outside the car window changed from the city to the mountains.
Finally, when the van passed through a mountain, it looked very beautiful. After the Niantou Bridge passed through a tunnel that was only a few dozen meters long, a small village surrounded by mountains appeared directly in front.
"Brother, this is the village, what happens next. "Let's go," the driver Liu Yanghe asked, lowering the speed slightly.
"Let's go to the village first"
Wei Ran thought for a while and continued, "When we enter the village later, you can help us ask. Where is an old man named Zhao Shengli. "
"Okay" the driver agreed happily
and increased the speed again.
As we got closer, Weiran gradually noticed, There are many fruit trees planted around the village, and at the end of the village, you can see the signboard of a fruit canning factory.
When the car drove into the village, the driver Liu Yanghe stepped on the brakes and held a cigarette. He met an old man who was playing chess at the door. After some questioning, he immediately got into the car and started to turn around. At the same time, he did not forget to explain, "We drove by. The old man you are looking for is their local branch secretary." Well, my home is opposite the cannery at the entrance of the village, and next to the village committee compound. "
Hearing this, Wei Ran didn't say anything. He happily took out his mobile phone and scanned the QR code to pay the agreed fare first. "You have to wait for me later. Maybe I will have to wait for you tonight." Going back. ”
“Okay, it’s okay to wait until night.” ”
Liu Yanghe shook his phone and said, “I might find a place to have a meal in this village later. I won’t drive away, so just call me when you find me.” ”
The two made an agreement, and the car stopped at the entrance of a small farmyard opposite the cannery.
This farmyard is much larger than Chen Qi’s yard. , the door is also clean, and even through the large open iron door, you can see a leafy hawthorn tree
There is another yard immediately behind this yard. , there were village committee signs hanging on both sides of the open door.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Wei Ran opened the car door and walked to the entrance of the courtyard with his suitcase full of gifts. However, not yet. When he knocked on the big red iron door, he heard a loud and powerful voice criticizing inside, "You're a good-for-nothing, why are your ideological consciousness so low in this age? Why are you still beating your wife?" You can hold up half the sky. Tell me, what else can you hold up apart from talking back?"
"I"
Wei Ran couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. He didn't even need to look. Just from that voice and those words, he knew that the Zhao Shengli he was looking for must be in this courtyard< /p>
Not in a hurry to go in, let alone knock on the door, Wei Ran simply took a few steps back, sat on the suitcase and listened to the excitement with interest.
From the angry scolding, Wei Ran also got a general idea. The general idea was that a man beat his wife because of drinking, and the wife was wronged and went to the old party secretary. The old party secretary called the attacker over again to criticize and persuade him to make peace. In the end, the old party secretary made the domestic violence man write a self-reflection and a letter of guarantee as punishment, which made him want to laugh.
A moment later, a middle-aged man, who looked to be in his forties, walked out of the yard with an aggrieved look on his face. Behind him, there was a middle-aged woman with a slap mark on her face. But looking at her happy face and looking like she was getting her revenge, it was obvious that someone had made the decision for her just now.
Behind the couple, a short, skinny old man, dragging a cane, limped after him and shouted angrily, "Liu Laosan, God!" I finished writing your self-reflection before I was black, it’s 500 words, even if it’s missing a single gesture, I’ll have your wife sign it before sending it over.”
“Why do you have to sign for 500 words?” said the middle-aged man’s face. His expression became more and more aggrieved.
"It's okay if you don't want to write."
The limping old man laughed and said, "After your wife has finished writing, while waiting for dinner, You go to the village committee and use the loudspeaker to chant to everyone."
"I'd better write it myself."
The middle-aged man glanced at his wife and rode on the road with a grimace. He waited for his wife to get up and sit down on the electric tricycle beside him, and then drove into the village in a flash.
“How come I’ve never seen you, this young man?” The old man on crutches looked at Wei Ran, who had a dull expression next to him, “Whose girl are you here to be friends with?”
< p>"Are you Mr. Zhao Shengli?"Wei Ran couldn't help but look at the opponent's left leg, which was obviously missing the sole of his foot. He endured the panic in his heart and stammered, "Your, your Where are your feet?"
"You still know me, young man?"
Zhao Shengli shook his left leg and said with a careless smile, "I These feet are gone a long time ago
Hey, you have such teeth, why are you still crying? Are you scared?"
"No, no," Wei Ran wiped the corners of his eyes casually. "Mr. Zhao, can I go to your house for a drink of water?"
"Well, it's a good time to catch up. I've just made some tea. Come in."
Zhao Shengli said enthusiastically After greeting him, he didn't continue to ask about Wei Ran's origins. Instead, he was concerned about other issues, "Son, are you encountering any difficulties? After dinner, where is your family? Tell grandpa, let me see how you can help. You."
"I haven't encountered any difficulties."
Wei Ran said this, but his heart became more and more serious.Feeling uncomfortable. He never expected that the scout who once ran over mountains and ridges so hard that he couldn't even catch up with him after vomiting blood would now be "he must be tired"
Zhao Shengli He greeted Wei Ran into the yard and then into the house, took out a clean white porcelain cup, poured a bowl of warm hawthorn leaf tea and said enthusiastically, "Drink some water and take a rest. I'll join you right now." Just like at home, if you are hungry, just tell grandpa that when my old lady comes back, I will cook you something to eat."
Wei Ran opened his mouth, held back what he said and looked around. The room layout is extremely simple, but also extremely clean. The only decoration, apart from a map of China that occupies half of the wall, is a slightly smaller portrait of the chairman, and there are several photo frames hanging on the remaining wall.
In those photo frames, apart from the photos of him with Chen Qi, Squad Leader Lin and others, the most eye-catching thing is a colorful photo of more than a dozen people.
In this group photo, the old Zhao Shengli and a rich old lady are sitting on chairs side by side. There are several middle-aged people and a few young people standing around. Zhao Shengli and the old lady In their arms, each held two babies. On both sides of them, there were several half-grown children.
"Old man, I" Wei Ran paused, "Do you remember Chen Qi? Health worker Chen Qi."
"Danglang"
In the hands of Zhao Shengli The enamel tea jar crashed to the ground, and the warm tea and a few brown hawthorn leaves splashed out, pouring on Wei Ran's shoes and getting Zhao Shengli's empty trousers wet.
"You are Chen Qi's grandson" Zhao Shengli asked in surprise.
"No" Wei Ran bent down and picked up the enamel pole, "I have no blood relationship with him, I"
"Is he okay?" Zhao Shengli asked, seeing Wei Ran Ran fell into silence and couldn't help but ask, "He"
"Mr. Chen is still alive"
Wei Ran came to his senses and quickly explained for fear that the other party would misunderstand, " He has a son named Chen Kaixuan. The old man said that you gave him the name."
"Chen Kaixuan, Chen Kaixuan, haha, I know, I know Chen Kaixuan."
Zhao. Shengli clapped his legs and laughed, "That is indeed the name I gave him. Can Chen Qi still move now?"
"Yes" Wei Ran paused, "He just can't live." So happy."
"Not very happy." Zhao Shengli thought for a while, "His son is not filial."
"Filial, quite filial, considering his family's living conditions. It looks good."
"Sigh"
Zhao Shengli sighed suddenly, and after a moment of silence he said, "Yes, he must be unhappy, my child, you are. How did you find this place?"
"I"
Wei Ran was silent for a moment, "Old man, I majored in history. I accidentally searched for information and found Mr. Chen and you some time ago. After seeing your experience on the battlefield, I wanted to go and see him again.Look at you. There is no other purpose, just to see if you are doing well. "
"Okay, I'm living a good life"
Zhao Shengli patted the leg that was missing the sole of his foot and said with a satisfied look on his face, "What a great life it is now. Those who have enough food and clothing don't have to fight. The village has also built roads. Last autumn, even the poor county was removed. Our village planted many fruit trees and built a cannery a few years ago."
"Master
子"
Wei Ran tried to ask something, but found that he had been preparing all the way and had a lot of things to say, but not a single word came out.
He thought that even if Zhao Shengli was old, , he was still the fast-moving scout, but he didn't expect that one of his legs was missing. He thought that Zhao Shengli would be as depressed as Chen Qi, but he didn't expect that Zhao Shengli would still be so cheerful and positive.
< p>The only thing he expected was probably the sentence "Why are your consciousness so low?"But he didn't know why, but he couldn't laugh at all, let alone feel happy. Feeling more and more uncomfortable.
After being silent for a long time, Wei Ran finally opened the suitcase in a panic and took out the various gifts he had prepared.
" You kid, what are you doing?" Zhao Shengli stopped Wei Ran in confusion.
"Mr. Chen Qi asked me to bring it to you," Wei Ran lied.
Zhao Shengli hesitated for a moment, and finally slowly released his hand.
"Old man, can you tell me the story about you and Chen Qi?" Wei Ran asked tentatively.
< p>"The story of Chen Qi and me"Zhao Shengli sat down again, and after a moment of silence he said with a hearty smile, "We don't have any stories to tell. It's just that we have been fighting for several years. Come back when it's done. I have almost forgotten all about what happened on the battlefield. "
"Mr. Chen has been waiting for them to come back."
"Can't come back." Zhao Shengli subconsciously looked at the group photo hanging on the wall, "They all stayed there. , my feet are also left there, and Chen Qi’s soul is probably also left there. "
"Why didn't you go see Chen Qi?" Wei Ran asked hard-heartedly, "He is waiting every day. "
"What's there to see?" Zhao Shengli sighed heavily, "I'm just afraid of this, I'm just afraid that he'll look at my legs and be distracted, so I don't want to see him. "
"He just can't think about it"
Wei Ran put down the tea cup, handed the other person a cigarette, and helped him light it while saying, "When I went to see him, he just couldn't think about it." Sitting at the entrance of the alley. I heard that he sat there every day and waited. "
"Don't blame him" In the swirling smoke, Zhao Shengli looked at the ceiling of Zhihu, but he just said "Don't blame him" over and over again.
"Old Man"
Wei Ran sat up straight and waited for the other party to look over before he said, "Mr. Chen asked me to bring you a message. ”
“What should I bring with me?” Zhao Shengliasked curiously.
Wei Ran looked at the direction of the door, and waited until a tall, silver-haired old lady walked into the main room. Then he deliberately raised his voice and asked seriously, "He Let me ask you, are you still using him to introduce you to a wife?"
"What the hell, old man, who wants to introduce you to a wife?"
Before he finished speaking, the old man who had just entered the house The wife pushed the door open and walked in. She also grabbed the cigarette from Zhao Shengli's mouth and said, "You smoke secretly again. Why are you like a little chicken who doesn't remember to eat but not to fight?"
"Hey, hey, Sun Xiufang, please give me the cigarette. Someone is here." Zhao Shengli looked at the old lady who was at least a head taller than him with some embarrassment.
Hearing this, the old lady noticed Wei Ran who had already hid several steps back. She immediately threw away the cigarette butt in her hand, stamped it out and praised with a smile, "This young man looks so good." "Sit up quickly, old man, who does this child belong to?"
"Chen Qi, Chen Qi, do you remember?" Zhao Shengli stretched out his sweatshirt with a certain fertilizer advertisement printed on it, as if nothing happened. asked as if.
"Chen Qi" the old lady reacted for a while, obviously she didn't match the name with the person.
"Chen Qi, the health worker who worked with me and your fourth uncle, came with me when I first went to your house in 1952. We got married in 1954, and he still Are you going to marry us? What kind of memory do you have?"
"Oh my god"
The old lady with a strong Northeastern accent slapped her thigh hard and asked excitedly , "Child, you are Chen Qi's eldest grandson, right?"
"No"
Zhao Shengli quickly pulled the old lady to sit down, "People I'm just a student. I checked the information and found Chen Qi. I went to see Chen Qi out of kindness and came to see me specially. Don't scare the child with your blathering."
"Grandma, you are here. "Is your fourth uncle Sun Yannian?"
Wei Ran asked tentatively. He still remembered that squad leader Sun had said that he would introduce his niece to Zhao Shengli. Looking at the old couple, Apparently the marriage was consummated.
"Do you still know about my fourth uncle?" the old lady asked in surprise. Even Zhao Shengli looked at Wei Ran in surprise.
"I know" Wei Ran nodded, but still didn't know what to say.
Hearing this, the old lady rummaged through the cabinets and found a handful of dried hawthorns, a handful of walnuts and placed them on the edge of the kang. She also took out a can of Coke from the refrigerator in the main room and handed it to her. Gave it to Wei Ran, and while warmly greeting Wei Ran to eat whatever he wanted, he asked Zhao Shengli next to him, "Old man, tell me who is going to introduce you to a daughter-in-law just now."
"It's Chen Mr. Qi Chen"
Wei Ran explained helpfully, "He asked me to ask Mr. Zhao if he still needs to introduce his wife."
"Why is this person so bad? "
The old lady clapped her legs and laughed, obviously remembering some interesting past events, but then she asked, "How is he living as a doctor now?"
"I guess he is no longer a doctor, but he has two children, and the children are quite filial. Wei Ran relaxed and explained, "I'm just not happy." "
"He must still be thinking about that broken hilltop," Zhao Shengli said firmly, "That's not his fault at all. "
"Old man" Wei Ran asked tentatively, "What happened on that mountain top?"
"It's a war, what else can happen?"
Zhao Shengli poured himself a cup of tea and said, "Old lady, go get something to eat. This kid must have come all the way here and hasn't eaten yet. "
"I'm going to prepare now." Before Mrs. Sun finished speaking, she left the room in a hurry.
Until she watched the old lady walk into the wing and started cooking, Zhao Shengli then explained, "The battle lasted for more than a week, and there were more than 100 people in the company, but he carried me down the mountain on his back.
At that time, he was carrying me on his back and holding my feet in his hands, and he had to run for a whole day and a night to get me to the hospital. But when he went back, the top of the mountain had been shaved off by American bombs.
After that, he became heartbroken, as if he had lost his soul. He always felt that he had become a deserter and that he was not qualified as a health worker and could not save everyone. But how can you blame him for this?"
Zhao Shengli sighed after saying this, "The war was finally over, and I thought I could go home and live a peaceful life with my wife and children on the bed. As time goes by, he should just look away.
Tell me, isn’t this war picture just a picture of Ansheng’s life in front of his eyes? If the living people can’t think about it, then how uncomfortable it will be for those who didn’t survive.”
Wei Ran also sighed, "It would be great if Mr. Chen could think like you do."
"I couldn't think about it at first. "
Zhao Shengli said sadly, "Then one day, I dreamed of our squad leader, and he told me to live well and see for them how to live in the future and see if they still need to fight.
After that, I looked away. Even if it was for those who could not come back, I had to live well and live happily. "
Speaking of this, Zhao Shengli said with some pride, "Don't look at me missing a foot, but actually it doesn't delay anything. When I was young, I worked as an electrician. I have been a militia company commander for a while. This life is worth it."
"Old man, is that your child in this photo?" Wei Ran stood up and pointed to the colorful picture on the wall.
"No, they are all my children"
Zhao Shengli allowed Wei Ran to lift him up,
pointing with his finger. The photos introduced one by one, "This is the boss, Zhao Kaixuan, who is now opening a restaurant in Chengde. The same name as Chen Qi's son.
This is my second daughter, Lin Li. She married to Fengtian and had a grandson two years ago. ”
"Her surname is Lin" Wei Ran was stunned.
"Class Leader Lin's daughter"
Zhao Shengli explained simply, "Before Class Leader Lin died, his wife was seriously ill. Later I took the girl back. Home."
"Where's this?" Wei Ran asked, pointing to the third middle-aged man in the photo and the only one wearing military uniform.
"This is my youngest son Heping. He was only born in six or seven years."
Zhao Shengli explained with a smile, "He stayed in the army, where is the missile-fighting army? If we had that thing back then, we would be able to pin the American devils to the ground and beat them."
At this point, Zhao Shengli pointed to a young man wearing navy camouflage in the group photo, who took the initiative with a proud look on his face. He introduced, "This is the son of Heping. My youngest grandson Guowei also joined the military a few years ago. As for the Navy, during Navy Day last year, their army invited me to visit their ship.
At that time, he told me that he had also gone to Somalia to fight some pirates. I thought, wasn’t that just bandit suppression? "Wei Ran wiped the corners of his eyes and continued to ask, "Where are these little guys?"
"Those are my great-grandchildren." Zhao Shengli took out reading glasses from his pocket and put them on. On the screen, Wei Ran was introduced to the children and grandchildren in the photo one by one, without treating him as an outsider at all.
As an observer, a smile gradually appeared on Wei Ran's face. He could see that compared to recalling the war more than half a century ago, Zhao Shengli was no longer young. I am even more obsessed with the peace and prosperity of the country and the people who are full of children and grandchildren.
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