murmuring

Cary transferred more than 4 yuan, which was the manuscript fee from the publishing house as promised.Cheng Xi clenched the phone tightly and smiled with relief. Halfway through the smile, his eyes suddenly darkened. The person he wanted to share with was no longer there.

After thinking about it again and again, Cheng Xi still told his uncle about it.

Cheng Hai was very surprised at first, and then excited. He read the book happily for a long time, and then he calmed down a little: "This is a good thing!"

Cheng Xi's phoenix eyes slightly opened, surprised that Cheng Hai is like an ordinary father, who is proud and joyful because of his child's achievements, these emotions arise spontaneously, without a trace of insincere.But in an instant, he smiled lightly and lowered his eyes again.

He didn't hear Cheng Xi's answer, so Cheng Hai glanced at him and saw that he lowered his head slightly, thinking that he was embarrassed.Thinking of his calm temperament at such a young age, he is not like ordinary boys who are rash and impulsive, who like to talk nonsense, but wait for the matter to be realized before telling himself, Cheng Hai's eyes are more loving, and his appreciation for his nephew is even higher in his heart.

As his feverish mind gradually calmed down, Cheng Hai still couldn't help but smile: "Uncle will also buy a few sets later, and give them to friends along with New Year's gifts. By the way, colleagues in the office must not miss out."

Cheng Xi looked up in surprise, is it really okay to give this kind of gift?

Cheng Hai laughed and rubbed his nephew's hair: "Don't worry, those who have no children at home will not give them away. Maybe they will come to thank me next year. The books they send are just right and help their children improve their grades. By the way, we won't eat at home tonight." , go to a restaurant to celebrate."

Cheng Xi declined: "Uncle, let's eat at home."

Thinking of his wife's temper, Cheng Hai frowned slightly. He was really happy today. He didn't want to trouble anyone, so he thought of a compromise: "It's fine. Tell uncle what you like to eat, and uncle will show you tomorrow."

Cheng Xi's eyes widened, looking frightened.

Cheng Hai smiled, a little proud: "Don't underestimate Uncle, thinking that Uncle has never been in the kitchen. I learned from your grandma, you can fry and cook, but I have been too busy in recent years, and I haven't done it for a long time. gone."

After a pause, his eyes were full of nostalgia: "Your grandma was well-known in our village as a good cook. No matter which family makes the flowing water banquet, I like to ask her to help."

Cheng Xi was startled, he knew this since he was a child, but what he wanted to know more was: "Did your grandma also teach you the craft?"

"Yeah." Cheng Hai asked with a pleasant smile: "You have been with grandma for so many years, haven't you learned a lot?"

A smile appeared on Cheng Xi's face unconsciously: "I have learned a lot."

Cheng Hai also smiled, and suddenly became interested in talking, and put his arms around his shoulders: "Speaking of which, you have been in Xincheng for so long, and we, uncle and nephew, haven't had a good chat yet, come, sit here with uncle say something."

Cheng Xi sat down as he said, and Cheng Hai looked at him, as if he could see the fat and white baby in the swaddle when he was a child, growing up so big in a blink of an eye, how time flies.

Cheng Hai's eyes were long: "Has anyone ever told you that your name was given by your grandma?"

Cheng Xi nodded: "Grandma said that when she was young, she came from the next village to fetch water from the stream in the village, and she accidentally fell down, so she met grandpa, and the two got married later, and had a future life. everything of."

Hearing what he said, Cheng Hai's expression was delicate, and he laughed heartily, "Did she tell you that? Mother, didn't she tell you? This story has a previous story."

Cheng Xi was a little embarrassed, but also stared at him curiously. Could it be that what he said was wrong?

Cheng Hai recalled, shaking his head: "It seems that you only know one thing but not the other."

He spoke slowly, as if he could see the brave and beautiful young mother with two big braids in front of him, and the decisive and decisive father with a simple and honest smile in his memory.

"I also heard about this from people in the village when I was a child. My mother had taken a fancy to my dad a long time ago. He is a well-known handsome young man in the village, and he is also honest and capable. Your grandma secretly agreed with her, but at that time, no Pay attention to free love, marriage is decided by parents, young men and women can only avoid it when they see it, and they can't say a few words."

He speaks leisurely, as if people have returned to the era of barren life but simple and pure black and white.

Talking about the common relatives, Cheng Xi's indifference faded away, and he listened intently, silently urging Cheng Hai to continue.

"She thought about it and asked for a long time before she found out that my dad often went to fetch water from the stream. She also had an idea that day, and she fell down on purpose and wet her clothes. People in that era were innocent, and a hug was also the result of skin care. Dear, of course it's a matter of course, we got married under the witness of the elders."

Cheng Xikong opened his mouth, full of admiration. He knew that grandma was different from ordinary women, and he thought it was tempered temperament, but he didn't expect it to be due to nature, otherwise, how could he not be married yet, just like that... thinking ahead...

Cheng Hai knew what he was thinking just by looking at his expression, and rubbed his head: "Your grandma's glorious deeds are more than just one..."

More than that, there are countless amazing things in my mother's life.In Cheng Hai's life, although he has seen countless people and things, the person he admires the most is still his mother.

My father was the first self-employed household in the village. As soon as the idea of ​​opening a consignment store was proposed, the whole family opposed it. Only my mother held my father's hand and stood firmly by his side.

All the opposition and pressure were not worth the support of the people next to him, and the consignment store was still opened.

It's a pity that the sky doesn't follow people's wishes, Cheng Hai hides the sadness in his eyes, and after going through all kinds of hardships, his own small business just got on the right track when his father passed away due to illness.

The two sons are still studying, but the family has suddenly lost the pillar of support. More importantly, the sky is falling in the mother's heart. Cheng Hai has no way of knowing how sad and desperate.He was only in the third year of junior high school at that time, and he was still a young boy. He could help with the housework, but he couldn't be the master.The eldest brother is weak-tempered, has no assertiveness, and is even more unreliable.

What the mother relied on to survive and raise the two brothers, maybe no one knows except herself.But no matter how difficult the life was, the mother stayed with them and never thought of remarrying.

Even if the clothes are mended, they are still clean, and even if the meals are simple, they are delicious.

There are many experiences and long memories.Cheng Hai said in a few words, in an understatement.

Cheng Xi listened intently, reluctant to interrupt him, and finally only heard a soft sentence: "Mother is such a person, she can turn the bitterness of life into sweetness."

The indescribable touch in his heart is not that he has never read various encounters and loves in books before, but no matter how realistic the writing is, it is not as shocking as the experiences of people close to him.

Grandma never mentioned a word, so he had no impression of his grandpa, who had never met before, but he didn't expect grandma to be more brilliant than he knew, and the story with grandpa was so simple and touching.Just how deep is grandma's love, so that she can persist with that love after such a long time.

In fact, Cheng Hai thought more than once that if his father hadn't passed away so early, his mother wouldn't have had to work so hard.However, he couldn't help but be grateful to his father, because his mother's selfless love for them all came from his father.

The creek that established father's fate has always been regarded by mother as a matchmaker. After his father passed away, every time mother passed by the stream, she looked at the gurgling water with extremely gentle eyes.

At that time, there was no running water in the village, and the whole Hulu Village lived by a river.The upper reaches of the river is the matchmaker's creek. The water flows down from the mountain, and the stream is gurgling and crystal clear.

People fetch water from the stream to drink water, and carry water from the river downstream to do laundry, and irrigate the nearby crops with water from the river.

Later, every household had taps, and water was pumped from deep mountains. Streams were no longer important, and people no longer cared for water sources.Someone in the village built a duck farm next to the stream. The once clear stream became turbid. The amount of water was getting less and less day by day. The grass next to it was eaten by ducks and became bald and unsightly.

After my mother saw it for the first time, she burst into tears when she returned home. Since then, she would rather take a detour than pass by there again.In this life, there was only one time for my mother to cry in front of him.Even at her father's funeral, when all thoughts were lost and at a loss, even when she was lying on the deathbed, she was never so sad, as if she had lost the most cherished treasure.

Cheng Hai's regret that will never be erased in his life is that he has not been able to be filial to his mother all these years, and now the son wants to support him but his mother is not here.

He had mentioned to his mother countless times that he wanted his mother to come and live with him, but her mother never agreed once.Every time this matter was brought up, the mother, whose face was covered with wrinkles and her hands were covered with calluses, always smiled and said, "Have a good time, and have a good time with your wife."

Cheng Hai was puzzled at the time, and was even a little angry at his mother's excuse.Now that I am approaching the age of forty, I can guess one or two from the past few words and realize the deep meaning of my mother.

The mother disdains dealing with the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and never interferes with him and his wife.She probably knew that she was fine by herself, but with Cheng Xi, the wife would not want to see the old and the young being dragged down at home.If it is forced, it will not only disturb her son's life in the end, but also make her grandson suffer, which is something she does not want to see anyway.She has worked hard for their brothers for decades, and when she gets old, she can't let go of her precious grandson to enjoy the blessings alone, so she has to work hard on herself.

Both of them fell into memories, the study room was quiet, the sun came in through the screen window, and the dust was flying in the light, revealing the taste of nostalgia.

When the sky darkened, Cheng Hai was startled, stood up and said, "It's so late, we should go to eat."

Cheng Xi hesitated for a while, but still took out 2 yuan in cash: "Uncle, this is given to you, and it is also my living expenses for the past two years. I know it is not enough, but I still hope you will accept it."

For the rest of the money, he wanted to buy a gift for each of Zhou Mingchen and the others and save it, and then find some part-time jobs during the holidays. The living expenses for the two years of college should be covered.

Cheng Hai's face changed, and he pushed his hand away: "What are you doing? I am your uncle, and I should take care of you and raise you."

Cheng Xi is very calm: "Uncle, giving you money is not to show you off. If you treat me as your own child, you will naturally be filial to you and aunt when you are successful. To be honest, I feel more at ease living in this way, and you don't have to always It was because of my quarrel with my aunt."

Cheng Hai is a big man, and his nose was sour when he said it. Cheng Hai was not at all pleased with his nephew's sensibility and self-esteem. He only felt distressed and sad. He didn't know what to say, so he sighed and rubbed Cheng Xi's head.What Cheng Xi said may not be wrong, with this money, he has more confidence to defend Cheng Xi in front of his wife, but Cheng Xi suffers, at such a young age, he thinks so much about everything.

Cheng Hai compromised, but still pushed the money back: "You take this money first, and you will take it out after dinner. Do you understand?" Without his wife present, it would be useless for him to take the money.

Cheng Xi froze for a moment, then nodded understandingly.

At dinner, when Cheng Xi mentioned the matter of publishing a book, Zhao Yunlan stared at him in shock, but Cheng Yiming and Cheng Yisheng didn't respond, as if he knew it a long time ago, Zhao Yunlan turned around and asked his two sons stammeringly: "You, you two , know about this too?"

Cheng Yisheng turned his head away in disdain and did not answer, Cheng Yiming said flatly: "I have heard of it at school."

Cheng Xi took out the envelope and told Zhao Yunlan that it was living expenses.Zhao Yunlan was even more surprised from ear to ear, Cheng Xi can make money at such a young age?Not to mention, the two sons are precious to them, not to mention worrying about money, and they are not allowed to do anything except study. When she was in college, she had to ask her family for money.

Although the publication of the book changed her view of Cheng Xi slightly, and it wasn't just a drag, but it wasn't as powerful as the envelope she saw in front of her.Cheng Xi keeps quiet on weekdays, but he is not sure that he will be able to achieve great things in the future. Zhao Yunlan hesitates to think, should she be nicer to him?

Cheng Hai said to his wife indifferently: "Take it."

When he said that, Zhao Yunlan hesitated even more, but seeing that her husband looked normal, she finally accepted it.