Met in early autumn of 2001

After Xu Yichen's house had an accident, Xu Zhengqi would often go to his house to check on the situation.Today Xu Yichen unexpectedly came to his house to look for him, and said that he would go to No. [-] Middle School with him.

The two walked on the dirt playground, and Xu Zhengqi was very happy in his heart: "You are finally willing to come out for a walk. If you stay at home, you will get sick. It's better to go out and relax."

Xu Yichen smiled, and looked up at the leftmost classroom on the second floor of the teaching building, where he had sweated for three years.

"How is your father doing now?" Xu Zhengqi couldn't help but asked anyway.

"The ones who owe a lot of money to the neighbors should be paid back first, and the others who owe not so much should be discussed with them first."

Xu Zhengqi nodded: "That's good, that's good."

Xu Yichen looked away and stopped in his tracks.He took a deep breath of Lekou's cold fresh air, smiled at Xu Zhengqi, and said, "I'm not going to college anymore."

He spoke lightly, without the slightest emotion.Xu Zhengqi froze in place after hearing this, what did Yichen say, not going to college anymore?He studies so well, why doesn't he go to university?The last time he went to the Internet cafe, he was very happy and excited and said that he was going to leave here to go to university in the north.

"Why didn't you go up all of a sudden???"

Xu Yichen smiled lightly, and said nonchalantly: "I don't want to go up. Anyway, it doesn't matter if I go up or not. I just make money when I come out. So it's the same if I just make money now."

Xu Zhengqi understood, and suddenly pointed at him and said loudly excitedly: "I know. You are afraid of burdening your parents, right? How much can you afford to go to college? Your grades are so good, you must be admitted to a prestigious university Well, the school will have a bonus at that time, and the county will also give you a bonus. Isn’t the sum of these money enough for you to go to college?!”

"Not enough!" Xu Yichen stopped smiling, raised his head and looked at him firmly, "My younger brother and younger sister need money to go to school! The money owed to others also needs to be paid back! If there is no savings at home, what if someone gets sick? What to do, what if there is a sudden flood and drought and the crops are unsatisfactory? How can we not need money for food, clothing, housing and transportation? How can we rely on my parents to support our big family!"

Xu Zhengqi couldn't answer for a long time after his rhetorical question. After he calmed down, he realized that Xu Yichen's face was pale and his body was shaking.Seeing his best friend like this, he can do nothing but go up to hug him tightly and give him warmth.

"Will you sacrifice too much? This is your dream and the only hope to change your destiny."

A child born in a peasant family has no money, power, or power. If he wants to get ahead, he only needs to study and pass the university entrance exam.

Xu Yichen bit his lip, but did not answer.

When Lou Meili heard the elder son's answer, she felt distressed and grateful in her heart.Xu Yihui and Xu Fang were stunned when they heard what his brother announced.Xu's second child lost his job on the spot. Before he came, he was in a hurry to speak, and was dragged and dragged into the bedroom by Lou Meili.The two husband and wife talked together and fell, and they were very excited.

Xu Yihui vaguely heard the reason from what his parents said, stood up and stared at his brother: "Brother, you didn't go to college because of what mom said?"

Holding the rice bowl, Xu Yichen picked up the rice every now and then without lifting his eyes: "It's not because of what my mother said, but because I feel that reading is boring."

Seeing his brother like this, Xu Yihui immediately became angry, kicked off the table leg and ran out.The clear soup on the table was kicked halfway, Xu Fang was frightened, and looked at Xu Yichen with red eyes: "Brother?"

Xu Yichen shook his head to indicate that she was fine: "Don't worry about him, we will eat ours."

After Lou Meili quarreled and talked again and again, Xu's second child fell silent.In his heart, 1 people don't want his eldest son to give up going to college, but as his wife said, the current situation of the family, Yichen's coming out to earn money to support the family is the best solution.

When Xu Yichen saw his mother come out, he knew that the matter should be settled like this.He didn't talk to his father anymore, he didn't want to hear words like "I'm sorry for you" from his father.

Twenty days later, the results came out, and as Xu Yichen expected, his scores really passed the Q University.Because something happened at home after the college entrance examination, and Xu Yichen asked the teacher in charge to help fill in the application form. Now, as soon as the results came out, the teacher in charge immediately came to visit the home.

Xu's second child and Lou Meili were not at home that day, and the homeroom teacher praised Xu Yichen and talked a lot about going to college.Xu Yichen looked at the head teacher who was so excited, but he didn't say anything in the end.

Boss Xu knew that his eldest nephew had been admitted to a key university and had no money to go, so he sighed that he was helpless.

After the admission notice was delivered, Xu Yichen locked it in the cabinet without even opening it.When the family saw him like this, no one asked.

Xu Zhengqi didn't do well in the exam, and his grades could only go to a junior college. His parents only had him as a son. They didn't want him to run away, so they only enrolled him in the province.Half a month before the start of school was military training, Xu Zhengqi called Xu Yichen out before leaving.

"I come back once half a semester, you don't have to be afraid that I will forget you!"

Xu Yichen laughed: "Who is afraid that someone will forget me?"

After a few laughs, Xu Zhengqi asked seriously, "What are your plans next? Do you want to work part-time?"

"Well, my mother found a relative and asked me to go to her to help out, the canteen of County No. [-] Middle School, to help sell things."

"It's good to sell things, and it's not very tiring without basking in the sun."

Although Xu Yichen has done a lot of housework and farm work since he was a child, he is still a student after all, and has been studying at home in the classroom.He looks more like his mother, very delicate and clean.Although he is 19 years old, he only weighs about 120 kilograms, and with a weight of [-], he looks thin and weak.If you really want him to do heavy work, he probably won't be able to do it well.After much deliberation, Lou Meili found a relative of her younger sister's family for her son, and told them about it. Unexpectedly, the person was very enthusiastic and agreed to let him go there when the school started.

In the afternoon of the next day, Xu Yichen went to the train station to see Xu Zhengqi off, watching him walk into the carriage waving his hands, all kinds of emotions mixed together in his heart.

……

Xu Yichen refused his father to send him to the county, and packed a few clothes, toothbrush cups, and the collection of essays that he bought as an excuse, and put them in his bag.Put your luggage on your back and get on the bus, stand and think about things for a while, and you will be there in a blink of an eye.

The No. [-] Middle School of Ueda County, the school that had nothing to do with him.

Xu Yichen took a deep breath, climbed up the slope under the scrutiny of the uncle at the door, saw the sign at the corner, and followed the directions all the way to find the canteen.

No. [-] Middle School is twice as big as No. [-] Middle School, and it can accommodate twice as many students as No. [-] Middle School.Shangtian County is located in a hilly area. The No. [-] Middle School happened to be built on the hillside of a mountain, and the canteen was hidden in the innermost part, with the mountain behind.

Xu Yichen walked through the wide football field and climbed up the stone steps, and saw two houses built on this open space, both of which were not very big, with only one floor.On the wall of one of them, there are three large characters of "Small Shop" written in calligraphy.Xu Yichen watched the door open, tightened the backpack in his hand, and walked over.

In the small room, there are two large wooden counters placed horizontally and vertically, with glass on the top and front, so you can see what things look like.There was another room behind another wall, and voices came from inside.

Xu Yichen looked at it and called out, "Is anyone there?"

After a while, two people came out of the back room, a man and a woman, both adults, the man looked younger.The woman put on makeup, and her face looked like a watercolor painting, colorful.As soon as she saw Xu Yichen carrying something on her back, she asked with a playful smile, "Are you Xiaochen?"

Xu Yichen got goose bumps from her shrill voice, nodded and said, "Well, I am, are you Miss Zhong Yan?"

When the woman heard Xu Yichen call her sister, she smiled so much that her teeth bared, she nodded, "That's right, it's me." She pulled the man standing silently behind her again, and said, "This is me." Xia Qiang, like you, is also a part-time worker, let him take you to put things away."

Xia Qiang clicked his tongue. He was talking to Zhong Yan, and he was very unhappy when he was interrupted. He stared at Xu Yichen and said, "Let's go!"

Seeing him like that, Xu Yichen didn't dare to ask him anything, and just followed behind.Xia Qiang took him to another house, pushed open the door forcefully, pointed to the empty bed, and said in a vicious voice, "This is yours!" After pointing, he turned around and left, leaving Xu Yichen behind. That.

Xu Yichen watched him leave, frowned and went into the house to tidy up.After sorting it out, he left the room and went to the commissary.A tricycle was parked at the entrance of the canteen, and there were a lot of things piled up on the car. They were all box by box, and it seemed that the goods had arrived.

That Xia Qiang was moving, when he saw Xu Yichen coming out, he waved his hand: "Standing around and being lazy, come and help!"

Xu Yichen said oh and ran over quickly.These things are not light in weight, and it is a bit difficult for him to move them.After going in and out a few times, he found that he was moving. Xia Qiang was standing on the tricycle holding the box, and when he got close, he would hand it to him, and then continue to stand there waiting for him to come back.

Xu Yichen looked up at Xia Qiang, then looked back at Zhong Yan who was standing at the door watching them, bit his lip, and suppressed what he wanted to say.