all the way

At eleven o'clock the next day, Liu Xia was already standing in his dormitory, looking at the word 'Liu Xia' pasted on the railing of the bed under the bed in the southwest corner, he seemed relieved.

The vastness and beauty of the school and the smooth registration process were beyond Liu Xia's expectations. The senior students enthusiastically took them through all the procedures. The whole process took less than an hour, which was much easier than enrolling in Rongze High School. They were all soaked.

Liu Xia thought, it's only five or six hundred kilometers south of the original city, why is it so hot and uncomfortable?

When the sharp-tongued senior led them to dormitory 219, Liu Xia hadn't fully recovered from the shock.

He knows that the state provides food and housing for college, but food stamps of more than 30 catties a month and 30 yuan for vegetable tickets are too much. Who can spend so much money for food a month!

"It's just four of your dormitories. There are names on the cuang, so you can enclose it according to the name. The cabinets over there are also accessed by one person. You came early, so you can choose one to live first..."

The senior finally finished speaking, and Liu Xia made up his mind from this moment that he must speak Mandarin well, but his cheeks were sore just listening to the senior speak.

There were four bunk beds in a dormitory, and only seven names were posted. Liu Xia thought that the other one might not be glued properly, so he searched around but couldn't find it.

The upper bunk is Zhang Fusheng; the upper bunk is Yun Jian, and the lower bunk is Mao Jianyong;

The upper bunk at the foot is empty, and the lower bunk is Sha Yonghe;

Opposite Sha Yonghe, the upper bunk is Zhan Wei, and the lower bunk is Heideqing.

Liu Chuan found an old towel on the empty bunk: "Yaoer, cat, let's go to the bathroom, you two wash your face first, and I will wipe your bed."

The toilet and water room are incomparable in Rongze High School. The white ceramic tiles are pasted more than one meter high, and the urinal will automatically flush after 2 minutes; Porcelain.

They had just made the bed when several people entered the room at once.

Liu Xia looked at the bed they were concerned about.

The tall, strong boy who looks older than Yanagawa should be Zhang Fusheng, and the red-cheeked baby face is Sha Yonghe.

The middle-aged man who was with Zhang Fusheng asked Liu Chuan, "Did you clean my bed?"

Liu Chuan smiled: "I have nothing to do, so I just wiped it off."

The man's heavy accent made Liu Xia feel very friendly: "This is my cousin Zhang Fusheng. I'm from Donghai. Where are you from?"

"From the Central Plains," Liu Chuan said with a hearty smile, and said to Zhang Fusheng in fluent Mandarin, "From now on, you and my brother will be classmates and share the same shop. He is young, please take care of him in the future!"

Zhang Fusheng looked at Liu Xia and nodded, his cousin said: "Don't worry, he looks small at first glance, I Fusheng is sensible, can do everything, and has a good temper, and they will definitely get along well in the future."

Sha Yonghe and his family expressed their gratitude with a smile. They talked while making the bed, but Liu Xia and the others didn't understand a word.

The cat has had enough sleep on the train at night and is now in high spirits.

Liu Xia felt that he had finally suffered such a serious crime and followed him here, and he couldn't just stay in the dormitory, so he suggested going to the street to have a look.

Liu Chuan had this plan in mind, but he didn't bring it up because he was afraid that Liu Xia and Mao'er wouldn't be able to stand the hot and humid weather in Jiangcheng.

As soon as Liu Xia came out of the dormitory gate, he regretted it. Today is a cloudy day, not even a sun, but people dare not move, sweating all over.

Liu Chuan served in the army for seven years. The location of the army is a subtropical jungle climate. He is also a scout, and his training is difficult. The small sweltering heat in Jiangcheng is not a problem for him at all. He first bought a bottle of iced soda for Liu Xia and Maoer to drink. , then put the cat on his shoulders, and strode out.

When the three of them came back from the shopping mall, Zhang Fusheng and Sha Yonghe were not there, and Liu Chuan put all the daily necessities he bought in place.

Liu Xia was panting on the bed like a corpse, Mao'er was sitting next to him happily drinking his fifth bottle of iced soda today, sweat dripping from his little face.

Liu Xia asked him weakly: "Cat, is it hot?"

"Not hot." Mao'er replied bluntly.

Liu Chuan smiled: "It's been 16 years, and this is the first time I've seen your virtue."

Liu Xia said with a crying voice: "Brother, I'm dying of heat. Our house is also hot now, but it's different from here. Why do you feel uncomfortable all over and can't breathe?"

Liu Chuan went out with a towel and washbasin, and came back soon, and wiped Liu Xia's face and neck twice with cool water: "There are ponds and small rivers everywhere here, and the Yangtze River runs through the city center, and the water vapor Big, high temperature, the water in the body cannot escape, so you feel uncomfortable;

Although the temperature in our house is high, the air is dry, and the moisture in the body can escape quickly, so I don’t feel so uncomfortable. I have no choice but to bear it and get used to it after a while. "

Liu Chuan took out the mosquito net he just bought, knelt on the bed and began to tidy up: "By the way, Yao'er, since you are in college, let's learn to speak Mandarin. Look at your dormitory. There are three people who just came here, and one of them speaks. If I don’t understand, I guess it would be difficult for him to listen to us, since everyone speaks Mandarin, which is convenient for communication.”

"Well, I'll start talking tomorrow."

"What are you doing tomorrow, tell me now!"

"Well... that... that... no, brother, I can't tell you, it feels awkward, I'll talk to them later when I talk to them, I don't know each other, so I need to open my mouth."

Liu Chuan quickly fastened the mosquito net, smiled and picked up the towel on Liu Xia's face: "Hehe, it's all like this. I used to do the same when I was a soldier. I used to speak Mandarin with other people. When I saw fellow villagers, I couldn't speak it. , you lie down for a while, I'll wash the cat and let the baby cool down."

There were a total of three days of registration time, and they arrived on the first day. The admission procedures and daily necessities were completed, and there was nothing else to do. Both Liu Xia and Mao'er were too hot to eat, so they just lay down in the dormitory.

After five o'clock, Liu Chuan felt that it was not so hot, so he took the two of them to eat Jiangcheng's famous hot dry noodles at a small shop outside, and went straight to the Yangtze River Bridge after they came out.

Liu Xia and Liu Chuan held Mao'er's hand and walked on the bridge in the afterglow of the summer sunset.

The beautiful bridge in the picture page of the diary is a bit gray and pale in reality; the river under the bridge is not blue and clear and the blue sky complement each other, but yellowish and turbid, but the bridge and the rolling river are combined, which is majestic and shocking enough.

The cars coming and going around brought up gusts of hot wind and dust, which made the three people drenched in sweat not only hot, but also sticky all over. They had already walked back and forth on it twice, but the cat was still in high spirits. .

He looked at the passing boats on the river with black smoke, and his dark eyes exuded strong curiosity: "Uncle, Uncle, do they want us to sit on that boat?"

Liu Chuan said: "There is a special boat for people to go back and forth below. If you want to see it, let's go and take it now."

The cat immediately jumped up: "I'll see, I want to take a boat."

Liu Xia said worriedly, "You're just a little bit more motion sick, but people say that you get more sick when you're on a boat."

Liu Chuan said: "It's okay. This kind of ferry is very stable and the time is short. It only takes ten minutes to cross the river back and forth."

When they walked down the bridge, people taking pictures at the bridge head enthusiastically solicited business.

Liu Xia was a little moved by the photos that people hung up as samples. He wanted to take a picture of the cat in the place that he had been thinking about for so many days.

The three of them took a group photo first, and Liu Xia held Mao'er's hand to take another photo. Finally, when he asked Mao'er to take a picture alone, Mao'er refused: "I don't want to see a photo taken alone. I will take a photo."

So Liu Xia took another photo with the cat in his arms.

The ferry completely subverted Liu Xia's perception of ships.

He watched the people pushing their carts on their shoulders rushing onto the huge, dilapidated and dirty iron boat. He did not imagine the poetic feeling of standing on the side of the boat, the breeze blowing his clothes, and the people on the boat singing in the wind. Is it like catching a big market during the Chinese New Year?

But the cat was very excited. He grabbed the railing of the boat and watched the river flowing so close to his feet. Although it was not as beautiful as the painting, it was wide and long, magnificent, and the gusts of river wind brought a trace of water. Rarely cool.

Mao'er was embarrassed to cheer, and only kept looking at Jiang Shui and then at Liu Xia with bright eyes to express his happiness.

In this way, they crossed the river five times until the cat got off the boat voluntarily.

Seeing Mao'er so happy, Liu Xia suddenly felt that the scenery in front of him was actually quite beautiful. Even though he was suffering from the heat, for Mao'er's happiness at this moment, he felt it was worth it.

It was dark when they got back to school.

They ate dinner in the school cafeteria. Yanagawa wanted to see the school's facilities and the price of the cafeteria.

He felt that it was very good. A rib was [-] cents, and the meat dishes were basically the same price; the vegetarian dishes were all [-] cents.

Liu Chuan had an idea in mind, from now on, it would be enough to send Liu Xia ten yuan a month, and let's talk about special things.

Liu Xia's idea is: eat vegetables worth ten yuan a month at most, and sell the rest as cash, and send ten yuan home every month, and save the rest to buy clothes and milk powder for the cat, and save more for the family Buy something practical.

After dinner, the three of them were so fussed by mosquitoes that they couldn't help it.

There are small mosquitoes everywhere. Cats may not be as sensitive and accurate as adults because they are small. They don’t know when mosquitoes bite, and several bumps appear on their heads in a short while.

Liu Xia was also bitten on the neck several times, he could bear it, but seeing such a small head of the cat bitten like that, he felt very distressed.

They gave up their plan to go shopping, and Liu Xia bought a ten-cent popsicle for Mao'er. Seeing the cat happily eating it made him feel better.

The three sat and talked for about ten minutes while hiding under the mosquito net. Zhang Fusheng and Sha Yonghe came back. They said that they were notified that they could go to the auditorium to watch movies.

Neither Liu Xia nor Mao'er had seen the movie, so they immediately became excited when they heard the news.

Seeing how excited the two of them were, Liu Chuan accompanied them out without saying a word.

The campus is very large, and the towering ancient trees and old buildings all reveal a heavy sense of history, but it does not make people feel decayed and dull. The youthful figures that shuttle around make the campus look full of vitality.

When they came in, the movie had just started, Liu Xia saw the words "Roman Holiday", and for more than an hour, he was attracted by the scenery and characters that were completely different from what he had known.

Mao'er also has a strong interest in the people on the screen, but Mao'er's focus is: "Uncle, why is that woman's hair all white? She is not old yet?"

"Uncle, why is the house up there so big?"

"Uncle, why is that man's clothes so long without buttons? Isn't he cold in his clothes?"

……

Liu Xia answered the cat one by one softly: "They are foreigners. Their skin is pure white and their hair is yellow. They have been like that since they were young, so they are not old."

"They are in Europe. Rome is a city in Italy, and Italy is a foreign country. People there like to build houses with stones, and they also like to build houses very high, because they are taller."

"The clothes he wears are called suits. They are different from our clothes here. They are all unbuttoned at the top."

……

Back in the dormitory, the few people who watched the movie were very excited and sat chatting under the mosquito net.

Zhang Fusheng spoke similarly to Liu Xia and the others.

Sha Yonghe, who originally couldn't understand a word, talked to them basically normally, and could fully understand Liu Chuan's Mandarin, which made Liu Xia and the others feel a little strange, but they were not familiar with each other, so they didn't ask much, they only knew that he was Ningxia is still a minority, the Hui nationality.

At some point in the conversation, the cat fell asleep first, and the three of them slept together on the same bed for the whole night.

When they got up in the morning, the three of them went to have breakfast together. Liu Chuan said that he would go to the train station to buy a ticket for the return trip, and then he would take the cat to see the Crane Tower and several other famous scenic spots in Jiangcheng.

Although Liu Xia was dying of heat, he wanted to spend more time with Liu Chuan, so in the end the three of them went to the train station together.

It took Yanagawa more than an hour to buy the ticket, and the cat ate six popsicles during this time.

Liu Chuan came over and showed the ticket to Liu Xia, Liu Xia looked at it for a moment: it was the ticket for tomorrow noon after [-] o'clock, but it was from Jiangcheng to Chuncheng.

Yanagawa said: "My two best comrades-in-arms are studying at the Spring City Army Academy, and they keep sending letters asking me to come over, and I can't spare the time.

When I came out this time, our leader told me to give me a few more days off. I happened to go to get together with them, and the cat likes to take the train so much, so it happened to accompany me.

It's much farther from Jiangcheng to Chuncheng than from Yuancheng to Jiangcheng. It's too boring to take the train alone. Cat, do you want to take the train with your third uncle? "

Mao'er's dark eyes looked at Liu Chuan and then at Liu Xia: "Uncle, are you going?"

Liu Xia said to him: "My uncle is going to start school, and the cat has to go back with my third uncle. First I will go to Spring City with my third uncle. I can take the train for a whole day, and then go home. I can take the train for two days. Beauty, there are so many places to see, Maoer and Uncle Three, will you hit it?"

Mao'er could tell that Liu Xia wouldn't go with them, and immediately felt a little wilted, but still nodded: "Well, uncle, you're still sleeping with me in your arms today."

Liu Xia felt very uncomfortable: "Well, of course, my uncle hugged my cat all black."

The Crane Tower is not a lonely and lonely pavilion in the imagination between the desolate grass and the river passing away. It stands in a prosperous place, and the bustling and noisy is similar to the shopping malls in the original city.

But Mao'er saw the glazed eaves from afar, and recognized at a glance that this is the 'house where the gods live', and couldn't wait to drag Liu Xia to run.

Looking at the tall building with three eaves on the outside and nine skyscrapers on the inside, he didn't let Liu Xia hug him, but let him hold hands all the time, jumping and jumping up to the highest point by himself, just like a little tiger.

It wasn't until Liu Xia stood on the top floor and watched the majestic momentum of the Yangtze River that he finally found the feeling of "Sunset Township Guan Yuan, Yangtze River Flowing into the Sky".

Liu Xia was originally worried that there were no gods who would disappoint the cat.

But the cat didn't bother with that at all, he liked everything here, and every handicraft placed on the glass counter made him very happy, but when the two uncles wanted to buy it for him, he refused to take it.

"I'm just waiting to see, I don't want to." Mao'er said to Liu Xia very seriously.

The scenery seen in every different direction made the cat jump for joy. They took several pictures together, and the cat didn't resist the photo at all.

Liu Xia looked at Mao'er expressing joy so unscrupulously in this strange place, and thought of the possible situation of Mao'er after returning home, he really wanted to let Mao'er stay forever like this.

After coming out of the Crane Tower, I took the cat to play in several places, and didn't come back until it was almost dark.

Mao Jianyong and Hei Deqing have also arrived. Mao Jianyong's height made Liu Xia instantly regain his confidence.

The skinny Mao Jianyong is no more than 1.6 meters five. He is white and clean, and his outfit is particularly good. He brought two large suitcases and bought an electric fan directly from the mall.

Shimao asked that he was a slightly shorter handsome boy with a healthy complexion and spoke awkward Mandarin. He should be the same as Liu Xia, because he was afraid that others would not understand him.

Liu Xia greeted them in Mandarin, blushing a little awkwardly, but the others responded calmly, which gave Liu Xia confidence.

The three washed it, and Liu Chuan opened a watermelon bought on the road, keeping half of it, and asked Zhang Fusheng to share the other half, but they refused, and Liu Chuan didn't insist anymore.

Sitting in the mosquito net, the cat was holding Liu Xia's hand, digging watermelon with a small spoon to eat. The melon was not big, so it was directly divided into two halves, so it was very convenient to dig and eat with a spoon.

Mao'er ate very vigorously. He was still a child after all. He was very sad when he heard that Liu Xia didn't take the train with them, but Liu Xia took him to play happily for a day, and he temporarily forgot about it. up.

But Liu Xia was always feeling uncomfortable. He didn't want Mao'er to be unhappy because he left, and he was afraid that Mao'er would forget about him after he returned.

Half a year!

Sun Chang'e once said that children are very forgetful, no matter how good the relatives are, as long as they are separated for a long time, they will be separated and forget, otherwise distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors.

Liu Xia twisted Mao'er's face and said, "Mao'er, uncle will come home during the Chinese New Year, you won't forget about uncle then!"

Watermelon juice was flowing from Mao'er's chin, and he looked at him strangely: "I miss my uncle every day, how can I forget?"

Liu Xia wiped his chin, and happily kissed him on the cheek: "Well, it's not too bad, don't forget my uncle, if you don't know me when I go home, your ass will be smashed into eight petals."

In the evening, they watched "Wild Goose Expendables" together again.

The cat actually almost understood the plot this time. When Peter, the sergeant major, and the military doctor died, the cat hugged Liu Xia’s arm tightly. It's tears.

Liu Xia was also attracted by the plot, and forgot that it was just a movie, so he didn't know how to comfort Mao'er with words like 'these are all fake', so that Mao'er was still uncomfortable when he returned to the dormitory, so Liu Chuan bought him a The ice-cold soda didn't cheer him up either.

Cat kept hugging Liu Xia while sleeping: "Uncle won't die, uncle, don't die."

Liu Xia kept patting him to comfort him: "It was all a movie just now, it was a lie, in fact, those people are still alive now! Uncle has to stay with my cat for the rest of his life, why would he die!"

But Mao’er couldn’t figure out how those who were obviously dead could still be alive. He felt death for the first time, understood what death meant, and was very frightened, so he was sobbing even in his sleep: “Uncle won’t die.”

Liu Xia hugged him, and from time to time comforted him by rubbing his chin against his small face.

After the cat fell asleep, Liu Chuan put a handkerchief bag in Liu Xia's hand: "I found this when I put your clothes away. It must have been put in by my uncle secretly. It's 50 yuan."

Liu Xia took the handkerchief bag, but did not open it, looking at Liu Chuan.

Liu Chuan said softly: "Boy, you have to keep the money, otherwise my uncle will feel uncomfortable, people's hearts are full of flesh, needless to say my uncle, even the second brother, he also knows how good you are to the cat, But at the beginning, he had unresolved knots in his heart, and he got into a dead end. Now that it's been a long time, even if he feels that he owes Mao'er in his heart, he doesn't know how to get down to this level, and Mao'er has completely separated from him. "

Liu Xia said: "I know my uncle loves the cat too, I will be filial to my uncle in the future, and I will teach the cat to be filial to him when the cat grows up, but the money... Brother, I know, the fourth brother came back that day and said Liu Dongju asked for five times the money to turn over the box. My uncle was afraid that my uncle would ask you and the fifth brother for more money, so he went to sister Yuzhi's house to borrow money before dawn the next day.

Brother, when it was the most difficult time for our family, our uncle was not allowed to borrow money from our two sisters, nor asked our sisters to use the money to contribute to their natal family, for fear that their in-laws would look down on them.

This time my uncle and my uncle can't make it like this, I will have money in the future, so what do I do with my uncle's money?

My uncle is worried these days and doesn't say a word, his hair is almost graying out, you take the money back, there are many things that our family can do, and let our uncle and the others do less trouble. "

Liu Chuan put the money in his hand: "You can take this money. I also prepared 50 yuan for you, so I won't give it to you. I'll go back and find a chance to use it for my uncle, okay? As for the family affairs , with adults like me, you don't need to worry about it now.

Yao'er, you are at the age when you are growing up. Don't think about your living allowance, just eat it up. After you have a job, you will grow up when you earn money. You only have a few years to grow up. If you just want to save money and don't eat some meat, you won't grow taller in the future. "

Liu Xia looked at the small bag in his hand and said, "Third brother, you are already 25."

Liu Chuan rubbed his head: "It's okay baby, it's normal to get married in a big city on 27 or [-], I know it well, you study hard, cat, don't worry, I can't be at home every day, don't say big things, just rely on my uncle and us Mom, big brother, who would treat the child badly?"

Liu Xia looked at Mao'er's peaceful little face after sleeping, and tears suddenly fell down: "I know it all, but I just don't want to part with the baby, I just want him to follow me."

When I woke up the next day, Mao'er realized that he and Liu Chuan were leaving, so she was depressed, and kept being hugged by Liu Xia, looking at Liu Xia's face, and sometimes would suddenly wrap her arms around Liu Xia's neck, and bury her face in the bed. In the hollow of his neck, he remained motionless for a long time.

When Liu Chuan and Mao'er got on the train, Liu Xia desperately opened his eyes wide to keep his tears from streaming down, but he failed.

Mao'er burst into tears, and stretched out his little hand to wipe Liu Xia's tears: "Uncle, don't cry, uncle, let's go home!"

Liu Chuan's eyes were also red, he himself did not shed tears even though he was a soldier, but leaving his younger brother here alone, he felt as if his heart had been ripped out, and Liu Xia, among his young classmates, looked the same. Still a child, in Rongze, beside him, Liu Chuan didn't feel this way, but in this completely strange city, Liu Xia looked so weak and helpless.

Liu Xia told Mao'er to insist on drinking milk every day when he came home, and told him not to be playful on the way to school, not to lean on slopes when walking, and to tell his uncle if anyone bullied him.

The cat cried heart-rendingly.

Liu Chuan said to Mao'er: "Boy, goodbye to my uncle; Yao'er, remember, this is not our home, be patient if you don't like it, and don't fight with others easily."

The cat cried and said, "Uncle, ahhh...I just miss you, Uncle...Third Uncle, don't leave this place alone for Uncle...Uncle, what are you doing here alone? Well, let's go home..."

The last bit of green disappeared from Liu Xia's eyes, and the glamorous Jiangcheng lost its beautiful color in his eyes, looking gray and empty.