Three or Two Things about Rebirth

As the weather gradually warmed up, young people changed into skirts one after another. At noon, those who were not afraid of the cold water had already gone down to the river to swim.

The days are getting longer and the nights are getting shorter.

However, there is still a big temperature difference between day and night. There is often some mist in the early morning. There will always be a layer of water droplets on the bicycles parked in the yard overnight. If someone does not wipe them dry carefully and rides out rashly, he will find a puddle of water on his buttocks when he arrives at the office, as if he had wet his pants.

When she gets up early to go to work, Qiu Luming always wears a jacket over her short-sleeved shirt. When she gets off work at noon, she can no longer wear the jacket, so she leaves the clothes at the company. When the temperature drops in the evening, she can wear them back home.

By July, the weather really started to get hot.

July 7th was the day of the college entrance examination, and Qiu Luming stared at the calendar on the wall in a daze.

For her, this date can also be associated with other things. It was from this day that her life underwent tremendous changes, and the lives of many more people also underwent earth-shaking changes.

Summer vacation in Northeast China starts late and school starts early, so it’s less than 40 days in total.

On a Monday in mid-July, Qiu Luming finally got some time off, and Qin Huifang came to see her early in the morning, saying that she wanted to take her out for a small gathering.

There were four boys waiting outside the house, sitting astride their bicycles, attracting the attention of passers-by. Xia Yanjing, carrying a swill bucket, looked in their direction with an inexplicable smile, which made Qiu Luming suddenly remember that he once wanted to smash the glass of her house.

The six people rode past the Han family on their bikes. Han's mother was walking to work and met them on her way out the door. She looked at them with contempt, snorted from her nose so that only Qiu Luming could hear, then slammed the door as if she was angry with someone and went down the stairs.

When they reached the street, after walking a few steps, they saw Qin Huifang with one leg propped on a large rock on the side of the road, looking straight at them. Mother Han was so frightened that she took a step back and quickly put on a slightly flattering smile.

In summer, the most attractive place is the riverside.

Unlike the frozen rivers in winter, the air by the river is humid in summer, and the temperature is several degrees lower than on the streets. People who have free time are willing to stay by the river. Black heads are faintly visible in the water, floating with the waves. They are all good swimmers drifting down the river.

The six of them were not prepared to swim. They first sat on a bench in the park by the river, and then simply sat on the beach. Qin Huifang had a stern face, and no one spoke. Zheng Wei picked up a flat stone, bent over and threw it towards the river, creating a string of countless water drops.

After the water skipping, he clapped his hands and said with some regret, "Old Xu came back for the exam this time, but he really just took the exam and left after the exam! I asked him to go out for dinner, but he refused. Damn, there is no trace of our past friendship left. Huh? What do you think he is thinking? Will he never come back again?"

"Splash!" Qin Huifang threw a stone bigger than a fist into the river, splashing water all over Zheng Wei's body and face.

He was about to explode in anger, but when he turned around and saw that it was Qin Huifang, he said resignedly, "Ancestor! Use this stone to hit Xu Zhenhua. You are taking your anger out on me!"

What answered him was a bigger splash of water caused by a bigger stone, and he jumped away quickly.

Qiu Luming wore a wide-brimmed sun hat and sat on the rocks on the beach with his legs stretched out. He lowered his head and picked out the stones around him, picking out red agate stones. "I met him once on the street."

"Ah?" Qin Huifang turned her head immediately, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"What's there to say?"

Qin Huifang remained silent again and glared at Qiu Luming angrily.

"Well, it's the day before your exam..."

"You didn't say anything for such a long time!" Lu Jiaming added fuel to the fire.

"Are you going to listen or not? If not, I won't say anything. Hey, can you get on the border defense boat over there, Ma Mingjun? Let's go take a look!"

"Hey, listen, tell me quickly, let me hear what that bastard farted!" Lu Jiaming glanced at Qin Huifang and sighed.

Qiu Luming picked up two stones and held them in his hand. "That noon, I went to Fatty's Seasoning Store after get off work to buy pepper powder for my mother. As soon as I left the store, I ran into Xu Zhenhua. We both got out of the car and greeted him.

I said, hey, Old Xu, you're back. Did you see Huifang and the others? Let's go have a barbecue tonight to welcome you!

He said: I just got off the bus yesterday, so there's no need for a welcome party, as I have an exam for level 4 tomorrow.

As soon as he opened his mouth, I noticed a change in him, not only in his dressing style, but even his tone of voice was different!"

Qiu Luming saw Qin Huifang nodded.

"Huifang, you saw him too, right? Did his accent change? Can a person change so much in half a year? I saw that his flat and rolled tongue sounds changed, and he looked weird. He didn't say Shanghai, but "Shanghai". He said "Shanghai" instead of "Shanghai". He said "Chiwei" instead of "eating". Anyway, his facial expression and body language clearly rejected and rejected Jiayang. As soon as he opened his mouth, he said:

——Oh, Jiayang hasn't changed at all in half a year. The outside looks different every day. The streets of Jiayang are so wide that you can see from one end to the other. You can't even finish a handful of melon seeds before you're back!

— Hey, I think I heard that your elder brother was transferred to the Affiliated Hospital of Harbin College of Traditional Chinese Medicine? That's good. Harbin is better than Jiayang. Although you don't have much education, you can ask your parents to contact relatives in Hebei or Anhui. It's better to move than to die. What good will it do to live in this small place all your life?

——My parents returned to Shanghai as soon as they retired. My brother and I now both have Shanghai hukou! My brother continued to go to school. Shanghai people are civilized, but my brother is like a bandit. He broke someone's head on the third day after returning to Shanghai. When the teacher criticized him, he would beat the teacher! Alas, I can't control him. As for me, I work in a sales company. You know, my monthly salary is more than my parents' combined, more than 500 yuan! Qiu Luming, how much do you earn now?"

Qiu Luming learned this in one breath, exhaled, looked at everyone's expressions, and shrugged his shoulders. "I was too lazy to pay attention to him, so I said, I'm going home to eat. When we were about to get in the car, I turned around and added: Xu Zhenhua, although your household registration has been moved, your birthplace will always be Jiayang. You can change your accent, but you can't change your half Northeastern ancestry! He was so angry that his nose was smoking!"

"Hahaha!" Zheng Wei laughed out loud after hearing that.

"I thought what he said in the reading room that day made sense. I thought he would study hard and get into a decent college. But I didn't expect that he went to a big city and started working to earn money right away. He even asked me with a look of contempt, 'Qiu Luming, how much do you earn a month?'" Qiu Luming said the last sentence in the tone of Xu Zhenhua, shaking his head, which made everyone laugh, except Qin Huifang.

She stood up from the beach and threw a handful of stones in her hand into the river, making a gurgling sound on the water.

A cargo ship passed through the center of the river, its whistle blew. Qiu Luming stood up and stepped back.

After a while, the river waves surged and one huge wave after another rushed towards the shore. Qin Huifang stood on the shore motionless, letting the waves wet her skirt.