Teacher Xiao Zhong's adventures in the countryside

August 1991, Lionhead Town.

After several days of heavy rain, it finally cleared up. The sun seemed to be suffocated, and burst into the earth like venting.

It was the first time for Zhong Yiqiu to come to this town whose name he had never heard of. Wearing a neat long-sleeve shirt and white sneakers, he waited all afternoon at this stinky crossroads, almost drying himself out in the sun.

"Young baby, you've been waiting here for a long time. What about waiting for ghosts? It's not easy to walk in the dark."

Zhong Yiqiu lightly raised his eyelids and looked at the person who was speaking. His eyes were long and narrow, and the ends of his eyes were like the tips of willow leaves in March. When he looked at people, he was sharp even if he was not emotional.

This glance made the talking old man startled.

"You're a young girl, you're pretty good, I'm serious, it's almost dark." The old man said seriously.

"I'll wait for someone to pick it up." Zhong Yiqiu moved a few steps, staring at the two big fish in the basket in front of the old man and said casually.

When he stood here at noon, they were still alive and kicking and splashing the fishy water on his trouser legs, but now they have rolled their eyes and attracted flies to buzz around.

The scorching sun in midsummer only took one hour to dry up his patience, and spent the remaining few hours to dry up his anxiety, and now only sweat is left.

"I heard that you are not from our place, are you from the city?" The old man heard him speak, and the accent was not local, so he stood up and took half a step closer.

"Yes." Zhong Yiqiu replied.

"Where are you going? In this ghost month, I dare not walk alone at night. If you drop by, I'll take you later." The old man raised his foot and knocked his cigarette pot on a pair of clay shoes.

Zhong Yiqiu saw that his cigarette pouch was still emitting sparks, and thought not to set your cloth shoes on fire, so he hesitated and said, "Go to Yuanjiazhuang."

The accents in the city and the countryside below are not very different, and I can basically understand them, but the pronunciation is lighter, especially the names of the villages that the locals often call, which are even more unfamiliar.

Hearing that the old man didn't understand what he was talking about, he reacted for a while before saying loudly: "Oh! Yuanjiazhuang, what did I say!"

"Why are you going to Yuanjiazhuang, do you have relatives there?" the old man asked again.

"Go to the school there to be a teacher." Zhong Yiqiu rolled up his sleeves. Although he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, after so long in the sun, his fair arms were flushed even through the clothes.

"Hey! Hey! Teacher! Let me just say, you are a cultural person at first glance!" The old man became more excited, his brown eyes shone brightly, a big grin appeared on his dark and thin face, two rows of yellow and white The teeth are almost all exposed, which looks a little funny.

Infected by his smile, Zhong Yiqiu also pursed her lips and smiled, wondering when did you say that?

"Wait for Yuan Huhu?" After finishing speaking, he slapped his mouth and said, "It's Yuan Ronghu, Director Yuan!"

"I'm waiting for Director Yuan." Zhong Yiqiu replied.

"Yuan Huhu is this fate, and he does all the errands." The old man curled his lips.

After taking a puff of cigarette, he said, "It rained heavily two days ago, so it rained heavily! It was like water pouring down from the sky. It flooded after two days and two nights, and the bridge at Wang Tuzi was washed away. There is a way to go in the town, and he can't get through, so he must have taken a detour."

Zhong Yiqiu had waited for too long and was uncertain, now she felt relieved after hearing this, and smiled gratefully at him.

The old man saw that he was white and clean, wearing a white shirt and black trousers, and a pair of old but washed white sneakers, unlike the children in the countryside, who would sunbathe with their arms closed in summer.

Standing in the shade of the trees with flowers and smiling like this, the eyes open and close with a shattered light, thinking that this young baby looks really good-looking, but men can't say good-looking, if you don't say good-looking, what is it?

Anyway, it is more like a cultural person.

"The sun is going down, you come with me, you might meet Yuan Huhu on the way." The old man suggested again.

"Thank you uncle, no need, I'll wait for Director Yuan, I agreed to wait here."

"Don't be afraid. I'm from Lijiawa. It's not far from Yuanjiazhuang. If you come to the town from our direction, you must pass this road. If you go back, you will definitely meet us." Lu pointed.

"No need... I'll wait for a while." The old man was so enthusiastic, Zhong Yiqiu felt a little embarrassed.

While talking, I heard someone yelling loudly on the road ahead: "Let's go, let's go, let's go, the car doesn't have brakes!"

A man on a bicycle sprints down like a runaway dog.

Zhong Yiqiu saw that the car was coming straight ahead, and it was going downhill again, so she subconsciously dodged to the side.

The rider was a tall and strong man. When the car was still seven or eight meters away, he jumped off and tried to stop the car by leaning back on the handlebars. However, the inertia was too strong, and he still carried the car with him. Running non-stop, the soles of the shoes were grinding.

The old man was talking, and when he came back to his senses, the bicycle had already rushed in front of him.

"Hey! Yuan Laohu, what are you doing, you...you..." While talking, he retreated. He was too anxious to pay attention and tripped over the fish basket next to him. He twisted twice and fell to the ground. on the calf.

Zhong Yiqiu only felt a gust of hot wind with the smell of sweat passing by, and before he could react, he heard the person behind him panting, "I've called for a long time to stop, I didn't hear you!"

Looking back, the man parked his bicycle firmly by the ditch behind him. The front wheels had already been halfway out. He was leaning back, kicking his feet forward, and pulling the bicycle back hard.

Zhong Yiqiu hurried forward to help him pull the back seat, and together they pulled the bicycle back.

"Oh mom, it was almost destroyed!"

Yuan Huo stood still, shook the mud on his feet and said with a smile: "Is it Mr. Zhong? I'm sorry, it rained and flooded the road, otherwise I would have arrived long ago."

"It's okay, I'm Zhong Yiqiu."

"For making you wait so long, I..."

"Yuan Laohu, you don't have eyesight when riding a bicycle, you were knocked down by me!" The old man on the ground just straightened up and shouted with staring eyes.

Zhong Yiqiu saw him sitting with the basket still clasped on his lap, and the two white-eyed fish flew one meter away.

The basket was made of bamboo, the bamboo strips were thick and hard, and the weaving was in a mess, it must have been used for a long time, some of the bamboo strips were sticking out, and it hurt to hit the legs.

He stepped forward to take the basket away, and stretched out his hand to pull the old man, but the old man looked a little embarrassed at the thin and white hands in front of him, and quickly said, "No, no, my hands are dirty." He stood up by himself.

"Li Yamao, I haven't said anything about you yet, you just made a broken basket to block the entrance of the downhill, if you don't hit you, who will you hit?"

"Whoever is blocked, your broken car can't stop!"

"I'm not arguing today, I'm picking up the guests." Director Yuan bumped the bicycle twice to the ground, shaking off the mud on it.

He had a loud voice and was tall and burly. He was wearing gray short sleeves which were old but clean, but the gray trousers were covered with mud spots, and a pair of cloth shoes were so mushy that they couldn't see their original appearance.

Zhong Yiqiu was thinking about how to say hello, Yuan Huo directly picked up his large canvas bag on the stone pier and said, "Mr. Zhong, this is yours. I'll help you carry it. Let's go back quickly. The village has specially prepared a meal to pick you up." .”

Zhong Yiqiu hurried forward and said, "Let me lift it, it's a bit heavy."

"It's okay, it's nothing serious."

As he got closer, his bulk became more apparent. Although Zhong Yiqiu had a slender frame, he was 1.8 meters tall. Standing beside Yuan Huhu, he only reached his shoulders, making him look like a child.

However, he has a big square face, dark skin, big round eyes like a tiger, and a loud voice, which makes people feel a little scared.

"Director Yuan, let me carry it, you won't be able to ride a bicycle if you carry it." Zhong Yiqiu stepped forward to take the bag.

Yuan Huhu hesitated for a moment, recalled the situation, and said, "All right, I'll pass it to you when you get in the car."

As he spoke, he lifted his legs up and got on the bike, propping up the bike with both feet on the ground to urge Zhong Yiqiu.

Zhong Yiqiu originally wanted to say that I would sit again if you rode uphill, but after hearing his urging, he quickly jumped into the car, Yuan Huo bent his waist and stomped hard, and rushed uphill with one foot.

The sky had already begun to darken. In the misty orange light, Zhong Yiqiu turned his head and saw the old man picking up fish on the ground. He waved and said, "Uncle Li Yamao, goodbye."

It is more than 20 miles from Yuanjiazhuang to Shitou Town, but the cement road is only two or three miles away, and the rest are dirt roads. When the village goes to the town to go to the market, most of them walk or pull carts or carts. They go out at six or seven in the morning. It can be reached after 9 o'clock, and it can be reached in an hour by bicycle.

In summer in the countryside, dusk is the busiest time. Passing by villages, the roads are full of people in twos and threes, or even groups of people returning home from work.

Director Yuan seemed like a celebrity, and he was not idle all the way.

"Isn't this Director Yuan, Daheitian has another meeting?"

"Director, have you eaten? What did you do?"

"Who did you bring, Director, come to our house for some food?"

……

Whenever someone strikes up a conversation, regardless of whether Zhong Yiqiu is asked or not, Yuan Huhu will show off with a smile: "The new Mr. Zhong from our brigade school is sent by the county, a college student!"

Seeing a child with a black face is even scary, "This is the new teacher Zhong, a college student. There will be a new teacher at the beginning of the semester. Remember to sign up."

A group of frightened children who were driving cattle, pulling sheep, carrying grass, and sniffling noses looked at Zhong Yiqiu curiously and shyly.

Zhong Yiqiu never expected that he hadn't arrived at school, hadn't met a single student, and wasn't ready to use a stern or gentle image to be Teacher Zhong, so he first made acquaintances in ten miles and eight villages.

He resisted the pain in his butt that was about to be split in two, straightened his waist and held on to the back seat, and showed a grinning smile to the villagers and children who cast curious glances at him.

Yuanjiazhuang belongs to the Deying Brigade, and there are 9 villages in the Deying Brigade. The office of the brigade headquarters is connected with the Deying Primary School and the supply and marketing cooperatives, forming the economic and cultural center of the brigade. Because Yuanjiazhuang is the closest, people around go to Deying For the battalion, it was directly said to go to Yuanjiazhuang.

When it was time, Director Yuan rode his bicycle directly into the brigade headquarters.

When entering the yard, the endless cornfield is connected to the horizon, struggling to burn the last glow.

Zhong Yiqiu sat on the back of the bicycle and faced the hot summer wind, walked through two rows of poplar trees in the middle of the yard, and bypassed a large propaganda wall. It was dark and he couldn't see clearly. When he approached, he could only see the big characters of family planning.

When we squeezed through a narrow moon gate and entered the small courtyard behind, it was completely dark.

The car was parked in the yard, Director Yuan quickly took the travel bag from Zhong Yiqiu's hand before the car stopped, and said, "I'll come, I'll come, your bag is really heavy."

"Uncle Yi, is the meal ready? Teacher Zhong has brought it back!" Director Yuan shouted to the tiled house with the lights on in front of him.

"Okay, okay, I'm waiting for you!"

The warm yellow light cast a long and narrow strip of light from inside the door. Following the sound of the answer, a tall middle-aged man walked out with his back to the dim light inside the door, and his shadow swayed in and out. This sharp-edged area of ​​light.

The left foot is quite thick.

Zhong Yiqiu reminded herself not to pay attention to his feet deliberately, and bowed slightly to say hello: "Uncle, hello."

"Mr. Zhong, hello, the journey has been tiring, let's go inside and have dinner." He turned sideways to let Zhong Yiqiu go ahead.

Zhong Yiqiu also turned slightly sideways, motioning for him to advance.

"Okay, you two cultural people, don't be polite, the meal will be cold, let's go in together." Director Yuan said with a smile.

Zhong Yiqiu didn't sleep all night last night, his mother and sister cried and worried about him, so they helped him pack his luggage for the whole night in every detail.

I ate two boiled eggs in the morning and got in the car. At noon, I went to Lion Head Town and waited for Director Yuan all afternoon. I was already very hungry.

On the way back, I was too nervous to say hello with a smile all the time, and forgot to be hungry. Now when I smell the food, my stomach starts to turn up.

The dinner was very rich. Before coming here, my mother specifically explained that the conditions in the countryside are poor, so don’t be picky about food and make sure you have enough to eat. Now I see a small square table full of meals, and the plates are even stacked on top of each other.

Zhong Yiqiu was surprised and moved, she dropped out of school when she was in her sophomore year and hadn't taught a book for a day, she was really ashamed to receive such hospitality.

Yuan Huo introduced Uncle Yi as the vice principal of Deying Primary School.

Zhong Yiqiu just sat down, when he heard him say that, he immediately wanted to stand up and salute formally, Yuan Huo patted him on the shoulder and pressed him on the stool again, "Oh, don't be too polite, in our poor school, the vice principal is just a janitor Yes, it's not an official."

"Principal Zheng originally said that he would welcome you in the evening. The town called for a meeting temporarily. School is about to start and there are many things to do. Don't be surprised by Mr. Zhong." Uncle Yi explained while pushing open the glass window of the low cabinet to get wine .

"It's okay..." Zhong Yiqiu couldn't help straightening up when she heard him being so polite.

"Can Teacher Zhong drink?" Uncle Yi asked.

"Not very drinkable..."

"That is to be able to drink, there is no such a big guy who can't drink." Yuan Huo grabbed the bottle and poured it for Zhong Yiqiu.

"Last year's sorghum wine has been buried in the ground for a year, but it is not fragrant enough. Teacher Zhong will taste it first." Uncle Yi said.

Zhong Yiqiu's stomach growled from hunger, but she couldn't eat anything while looking at a table of food. The two of them were still so enthusiastic about persuading them to drink, but they were too embarrassed not to drink.

Moreover, the wine smelled really good, and the pure fragrance of the grain made him want to try it.

"I'll pour less for you. You're still a student and you're in good health. Otherwise, you'd be drunk today, haha!" Yuan Huo said with a smile.

Zhong Yiqiu didn't know how he knew about his fracture, and he was taken aback for a moment before realizing that he said it was not the same thing. When he assigned work, he explained to the outside that he had to drop out of school because of a serious illness.

Presumably they also heard what the above said, so they thought that he had been ill and was not in good health.

Thinking of these, I couldn't help but feel a little lost, staring at the mosquitoes scrambling for the first and then swooping under the dim light.

Uncle Yi saw that he bowed his head slightly after hearing Yuan Huhu's words, and he couldn't bear it. Children of this age must want to go to school. They are happy to welcome the new teacher, but the teacher may only want to be a student.

Maybe it was the aroma of sorghum wine, or maybe it was the long-hidden depression and rare freedom that attracted Zhong Yiqiu to take another sip.

Yuan Huhu patted him on the shoulder with his big hand like a cattail leaf fan and said, "Don't look at your girly appearance, she is a material for drinking, her face is neither red nor white, she can compete with Brother Xiao!"

Zhong Yiqiu was a little angry when he got down on the ground, and kept trying to push away the iron palm that Yuan Huhu was pressing on him.

Who are you talking about!Who looks like a girl!

Who is Second Brother Xiao?

As soon as he thought of this, Gudong fell into a dream.