paddock

Yuan Ning and Zhang Xiuyan returned home, and Mr. Zhang was at home.Aunt Shen is preparing things for worship.Every year during the Lantern Festival, the whole family will go to the cemetery to pay homage to a friend of Mr. Zhang.

Yuan Ning picked up his mood, followed Zhang Xiuyan with Zhang Xiuming, and wobbled to the cemetery in the car.The cemetery is very quiet at this time of year, except for the staff who patrol the cemetery and clear away the snow that has piled too high.

As soon as she stepped into the cemetery, Yuan Ning felt a quiet and lonely atmosphere blowing against her face with the cold wind of the end of winter.After a while, the weather will get warmer.Yuan Ning held the flowers she had brought, first paid respects to Mr. Zhang's friend with Mr. Zhang, and then went to the grave of his parents and placed the flowers in front of the tombstone.

When his parents were alive, the family conditions were poor, there was no spare money, and no photos were taken, so there were only words on the tombstone, but no photos.Looking at the two cold names on the tombstone, Yuan Ning felt a little pain in his heart.

He is such a greedy bad boy.

He obviously has gained a lot, but he still wants more, wants to never be separated from his elder brother, wants to be with his elder brother forever.

But that's not right.Brother Zhang and Brother Fang suffered so much because it was wrong and not recognized by others.My father and grandfather valued my elder brother so much. In the future, my elder brother will definitely go to a very high place—maybe a higher place than my father and grandfather, and have a future that no one else can match.The eldest brother also said that he will get married, marry a wife and have children, start a family and start a business, and express his ambitions vigorously.

Yuan Ning squatted in front of the grave and whispered, "Dad, Mom, am I very bad..." He sniffed and sucked back his tears.He is already ten years old, he is not young anymore, he can no longer cry so much, and he can no longer rely on his young age to cling to his elder brother and refuse to leave.

He really likes big brother.

He also really likes his sisters and the others.

So he can't be a bad kid.

Yuan Ning wiped away the tears that slipped from the corners of his eyes, and slowly put a smile back on his face. My mother said that if you smile more, you will be lucky.

We all like children who laugh, and we don't like children who cry.

He can't take advantage of his elder brother being nice to him and everyone else being nice to him, and then he can make an inch of it - ungrateful.If he turns into a little white-eyed wolf, his parents will be very angry!

Yuan Ning stood up.He squatted for a while, his legs were numb, and when he turned his head, Zhang Xiuyan came over, looking at him intently, his eyes were full of concern.Yuan Ning ran over: "Brother, is it because father has something to leave?"

Zhang Xiuyan said: "No, my father and the others will come to visit the graves of my grandmother and aunt." Several cemeteries are very close to each other. Since they all came to pay respects, Mr. Zhang will not only pay respects to friends.

Zhang Xiuyan stared at Yuan Ning.

Yuan Ning avoided Zhang Xiuyan's gaze and looked towards Mr. Zhang.It was a bit cloudy, but there was no snow, no rain, and even the wind had died down.Mr. Zhang looked calm, looking at the tombstone in front of him quietly, as if he had fallen into mourning about the past.

Even a man as powerful as his father has many things he can't do.Yuan Ning thought so.

Yuan Ning turned his head and finally dared to meet Zhang Xiuyan's eyes.He looked at the reflection in Zhang Xiuyan's eyes, he was still so young and immature inside, and he would not let anyone guard against him.Yuan Ning said: "Brother, do you know about my father and that uncle? My father looks very sad, and he is sad every year." When sweeping the graves of his grandmother and aunt, Mr. Zhang did the same.

"I don't know very well, I only know part of it." Zhang Xiuyan said, "Father went to the south for training a long time ago. It was near the border and it was quite chaotic. It took a lot of effort for my father to clean it up. This uncle He is from there. He lost his family when he was a child, but he is very promising. He can handle affairs and carry a gun. He is the top leader there and has helped his father a lot. He even came here as a guest with his father——I I saw a picture of him at my grandfather's."

"So that's how it is!" Yuan Ning suddenly realized, "So my father has a very good relationship with him!"

"That's not the case. In fact, they had a lot of conflicts at the beginning," Zhang Xiuyan said. "My father thought he didn't follow the rules and was difficult to control, and he also felt that his father followed the rules and was too rigid. The two of them quarreled almost every meeting. The others couldn't help but stepped forward to persuade them to leave, fearing that he would pull out the gun and kill his father when he was so angry."

Yuan Ning was surprised.He couldn't imagine Mr. Zhang arguing with someone.That's unimaginable!

Zhang Xiuyan saw what Yuan Ning was thinking, and said, "I heard from my grandfather that my father used to be famous for being noisy, and it would be a headache for anyone to put him under." If Mr. Zhang didn't have such a temper, he wouldn't rely on himself. Step by step to a position that can compete with Uncle Zhang's family.Zhang Xiu paused for a moment, "It seems that after that uncle died unexpectedly, my father gradually restrained his temper."

In the past, Mr. Zhang was like an eagle that wanted to spread its wings and soar, with a loud voice and aspirations in the sky. Anyone who saw him would boast a few words of "amazing".But Mr. Zhang today is a dormant beast, with his sharp claws put away, only a pair of eyes still hide the coldness that has not faded away.

He no longer quarreled, and only took every step to conquer the camp, taking all the targets he wanted one by one.

Yuan Ning was enthralled.

After digesting what Zhang Xiuyan said, Yuan Ning whispered, "So isn't father as serious as he is now?"

Zhang Xiuyan was taken aback, and nodded.

"The elder brother is not like his father at all," Yuan Ning concluded, "Elder brother has been very serious since he was a child!"

"..."

"I heard that boys will secretly imitate their father." Yuan Ning said, "So the eldest brother is secretly imitating his father, right?"

"........."

Zhang Xiuyan stopped talking to Yuan Ning.

Yuan Ning knew he was right.The eldest brother used to have nightmares, but the fourth brother got better after he came back.The eldest brother must have pretended to be a little old man at a young age because the fourth brother was lost and his mother was ill.It’s not that the eldest brother doesn’t like being close to others, it’s just that he’s not used to it. After the fourth brother comes back, he can hug and kiss the eldest brother—slowly, everything will be fine. Someone will see through the disguise of the eldest brother and see the softest and gentlest Heart.

At this time, Mr. Zhang and the others came over. Yuan Ning did not hold Zhang Xiuyan's hand, but ran over by himself, and together with Zhang Xiuming, they gave flowers to their grandmother and aunt whom they had never met.

When Yuan Ning and Zhang Xiuming were born, their grandmother and aunt were no longer there, and they all heard about them from their grandfather and mother.However, Yuan Ning had read the foreign books translated by her grandmother and the others, and felt the tenderness and beauty in the lines.

Yuan Ning prayed silently in her heart: "Grandma, aunt, elder brother is very good, father is also very good, please you must bless them to get better and better in the future."

When Zhang's family returned home, everything was calm.Capital University started school, Zhang Xiuyan took the train to the capital, and Mr. Zhang went to work.Yuan Ning followed Aunt Shen to buy the daily necessities for spring, made a list of recipes suitable for the transition of winter and spring, and quietly did all the things that Zhang Xiuyan had done before, before going to school with a small schoolbag.

On the day when the Wuxi pen experience activity started, Yuan Ning was invited to participate.He asked Song Xingchen and Hao Xiaolan to go to the cultural center together, had a lively experience for a day, and harvested a pen he made by himself.The two young men sent by Chaohui Brush Factory are studious and smart, and have basically mastered the method of making Wuxi brushes.

With the help of Vice President Zhang, Mr. Wu applied for a patent for the Wuxi pen, following the procedures of the association, and the speed was very fast, and it was approved as soon as he went to work.Chaohui Pen Factory has already negotiated a contract with Mr. Wu and plans to start production immediately in February.If Wu Xibi can make its mark at the "Mengtian Meeting" in March, there will be no need to worry about sales.

March [-]th is Meng Tian's birthday. It is said that Meng Tian is the person who invented the writing brush, and the brush maker respectfully calls him "the originator".In the past, every March [-]th, the Huguang area would organize a "Mengtian Club", and various famous pen clubs would exhibit at the "Mengtian Club", and there would be various activities.The main purpose of organizing activities now is to build awareness first. Vice President Zhang has already asked several newspapers to report on the exhibition.

This is a link that Yuan Ning did not expect.

The figures of Yuan Ning and Zhang Xiuyan appeared in various reports, and they all said that this was "a cultural imprint recovered by bravery for justice", some of which were written descriptions, and some with pictures. Small activities need to be big, and everyone is willing to spend more pen and ink to write.

A newspaper's photo was taken by reporter Zhao.Reporter Zhao didn't write their manuscript last time, but the photos they took were developed and sent to Yuan Ning a few.Now that he had the opportunity to report, reporter Zhao smiled and provided the photos to his acquaintances.

This is the first time Yuan Ning saw himself in the newspaper.

He and Zhang Xiuyan stood in front of the stall.

He was writing Spring Festival couplets, and Zhang Xiuyan was watching him.

Some people around stretched their heads to look from behind, some leaned sideways and squeezed forward, and some looked at the Spring Festival couplets that Zhang Xiuyan was writing with a smile.I didn't think it was so special at the time, but when I took a photo of it, it felt like it was a long time ago.Yuan Ning reached out and touched Zhang Xiuyan's face on the photo, took out the scissors, cut out the photo and text from the report, and pasted them on a thick clipping book.

Yuan Ning paused, flipped forward, and sat at the desk with some reports about Zhang Xiuyan.Zhang Xiuyan has been outstanding since he was a child, and he has won countless awards in the three years of high school. Some reports have photos, some reports have no photos, and Zhang Xiuyan’s name is not even mentioned—most of them appear in the juvenile Edition, education edition, is to report good news and some interviews.There were a few times when Zhang Xiuyan's essays were so well written that he was sent directly by his teacher to participate in an essay competition, won the prize, and the entire essay was published in the newspaper.

Zhang Xiuyan always said nothing, and Yuan Ning discovered these things only after he followed Mr. Zhang to develop the habit of reading newspapers.So Yuan Ning cut out the report every time and pasted it on the clipping book to announce the good news to others.Over time, I have saved a large book.

Looking at it, Yuan Ning felt sleepy and fell asleep lying on the table.The wind gently blew the newspaper clipping in front of Yuan Ning to the latest page. Zhang Xiuyan in the photo was standing there, as if staring at him who was gradually sleeping through the paper.

The youth's melancholy is hazy, floating in the dark night like a dream.

The author has something to say:

Ning Ning (holding the newspaper clipping): Brother, I am your fanboy!

Big brother: ...

Was speechless.