godfather

During the summer vacation of the first year of high school, Meng Xiaobei left Beijing to study in Xi'an.He must return to the province where he is registered to take the college entrance examination.

This is how a person lives. The road to the top of the mountain will not be smooth and straight, but will always be tortuous, roundabout, and nine turns.Every gully, every small ditch, every plant and tree on the way is a scenery that cannot be missed.Without these hurdles, Meng Xiaobei's life was too peaceful, as if he was destined to wander on the road all his life.

The family in Xi'an called, put down the phone, and Meng Jianmin's family letter to his son also arrived.

With Meng Jianmin's delicate and entangled mind, he couldn't bear to say some things directly on the phone. The letter roughly wrote: "Xiao Bei, my father has not been able to make a proud contribution to his son's growth and education these years, but unfortunately I have not been able to create a better condition for your two brothers at the most critical moment in their lives, and I have no ability to help you stay in Beijing... If there is no room for change in the examination policy, come back to Xi'an! The school will contact you and prepare for the college entrance examination with peace of mind , this will always be your home after all. Dad is sorry for you..."

Shaotang drove over to see Xiaobei, deliberately parked the jeep in a secluded place some distance from the family building, and called Meng Xiaobei down.

Without waiting to open the door, Erhu jumped out of the passenger window, flew into Meng Xiaobei's arms, rubbed his nose against his chin, and licked his face affectionately.

Erhu is also two years old, and it is the golden age of a military dog ​​with a perfect combination of physical strength and experience. His eyes are black and bright, and the fur on his back shoulders has a few strands of gorgeous luster.

Xiaobei got into the car, Shaotang looked at him with one hand on the steering wheel, then suddenly unbuckled his seat belt and pressed over!

Lovesickness is bitter, and the thought of separation soon after meeting is even more bitter.Shaotang lowered the back of the seat, and threw most of his body on Meng Xiaobei's body, rolling and crushing Xiaobei's lips.Meng Xiaobei's chest and ribs were squeezed and he let out a suffocating panting, his tongue was slobbering, as if only such roughness could make people feel at ease.

Shaotang pressed down on the seat, pinched Xiaobei's chin, and looked at each other: "Big baby, I'm sorry, your father has nothing to do this time, I'm afraid, you can only... It's too hard for you, it's not fair, You have lived in Beijing for ten years, your grandparents are all registered in Beijing, and your father was originally from Beijing, but you just can't get a legitimate exam qualification...I'm sorry for you."

Meng Xiaobei looked up and blew the hair curtain lightly, but his expression was calm and unrestrained: "What are you two doing? We made an appointment? My dad is also like this. Both of you said sorry to me."

"Don't do that, there's nothing to be sorry about."

"I'm fine."

"As far as my grades are concerned, it's the same wherever I take the exam! Shaotang, don't worry, you see, no matter how worried you are, your hair will turn gray!... I don't care about this."

With Meng Xiaobei's personality, he would use all means to fight for something worth making a fuss about.The cruel fact that the qualifications for the college entrance examination can't be changed even if you make troubles, tens of thousands of children all over the country, especially the children of educated youths and third-line workers, have experienced or are currently experiencing the same predicament as him. He is not the only one who has been dialed by fate. A young man who wanders back and forth between cities.Want to take the college entrance examination in another place?This major issue concerning the fate of students across the country could not be resolved in the next 20 years. Meng Xiaobei was born in this era, and he did not suffer more than other children.Since he couldn't change it, he accepted it calmly and looked for other ways out.

That day, Shaotang drove Xiaobei in the car, aimlessly on the streets of Beijing, going round and round, letting the tall buildings on Chang'an Street in the capital pass the corners of their eyes in a hurry, as if they were in love with each other. Years slipped away silently through the fingers again.

Shaotang held Meng Xiaobei's hand tightly with one hand.When driving to a certain place, Shaotang suddenly slid to a stop, remained silent, and then drove the car into an alley, an empty and deserted place.

The two tigers were sitting on the back seat of the car, watching the two lingeringly kissing, their black eyes revealing eager desire.

Erhu stretched out his long tongue and licked Meng Xiaobei's forehead, as if he also realized the heartache and pain of parting from each other.Meng Xiaobei was still dealing with the two tigers with one hand, "Go! Go! Don't lick the insults!..."

Meng Xiaobei pointed at the two tigers and said, "This is shameless! Shaotang, your dog also likes male animals."

Shaotang lay on the back seat of the car, let Meng Xiaobei sit on his lap, and said, "The two tigers are really not gay, they are too keen on courting bitches."

"I haven't told you yet, Chun Nier is pregnant."

Meng Xiaobei sneered and said, "The two tigers have made a fool of themselves?!"

Shaotang patted his thigh, helplessly: "After I showered some dogs, I left for 5 minutes. I really didn't keep an eye on them for 5 minutes!"

"When I turned back to see, the two tigers had already ridden on Chun Ni'er's back crotch, shaking profusely, and screaming. I beat the two dogs with a stick, and it was too late. Before I make a move, shoot in seconds."

Meng Xiaobei laughed loudly: "Hahahaha, the two tigers are mighty! One hit wins!"

Inky swirls appeared in Shaotang's eyes, he looked at him, and said for a while, "Xiaobei, if you are a mother, if you can conceive, I will give you a cannon on the spot, and you will never be able to run away... "

When two men are together, no one can get pregnant, there is no marriage, no social constraints, and there is only a promise of "I love you" in love. In the eyes of different people, it may be more important than Mount Tai, or it may be lighter than a feather.

Meng Xiaobei would never know that his little father was running around the gates of various yamen in the capital for him at that time, how much he hoped to help him stay.Shaotang could squat in the car for two hours, knocking off a lot of cigarette ash, just to stop an acquaintance at the gate of the Municipal Education Bureau.Director Hu in the bureau, with his sparse hair on his head, wears a suit on his elbows, and hides a tie, gold pen, gift box and high-grade tea under it.Hu Ju smiled and stepped into the corridor, seeing the people blocking the door of the office at a glance, he was helpless: "Hey Shaotang, it's you again, I'm really afraid of you!..."

In the office, Director Hu shook his head privately: "Shaotang, let me tell you the truth, there is such a thick pile of notes backlogged here!"

"Your father also called me to help you with this matter, but I really can't do anything, it's not easy..."

"If you want to take the college entrance examination in another place, how can it be so easy? If it is so easy, the remote areas of the country will come to Beijing to take the test, how can the advantages of Beijing candidates be guaranteed!"

Shaotang looked at the other side with deep eyebrows: "How much investment has been made in Shaanxi universities after the reform and opening up, and how much in Beijing? But it's not fair to think that the admission score from Shaanxi to a first-class school in Beijing is at least a few points higher than that of Beijing candidates."

Director Hu touched the tea leaves on his lower lip, vomited into the teacup, and spread his hands, "Unfair? Everyone knows that the distribution of educational resources in our country is unfair. What can I do personally? Your family has two fields, one is Fertile black soil, the other is saline-alkali flats. Now you want to invest in arable land and want to create a world-class fertile land with a yield of [-] jin per mu. Should you invest in that good land or the saline-alkali flats? Of course Well, the more maintenance and investment it has, the better it will be. The saline-alkali flat will eventually turn into a large desert in Ningxia, Inner Mongolia. But this is the necessary policy inclination for resource input for the efficiency of our country’s reform and opening up for so many years! We want to build two world-class universities and ten first-class institutions of higher learning in Asia, and the advantages in resource allocation must be concentrated in the hands of a few people who formulate policies. What we want is to achieve political achievements within ten years! How can we explain if there are no achievements? I sit In this position, I see it more clearly than anyone else."

Shaotang's heart was cold, and he asked coldly: "What about the children living on the salt-alkali flats in the northwest? Can you help them show the way?"

Director Hu sighed, and his heart became even colder: "Thousands of troops cross the single-plank bridge, and the top students are all tested by themselves."

"If you have the ability, you will earn your life, if you have no ability, you will accept your fate."

……

Shaotang's uncle, He Cheng, later looked at the files Shaotang handed him on the table, and said with a smile, "Xiaotang, you haven't come to my place for 800 years to show your face. When you came suddenly, I thought it was a big deal." ——I thought your kid was going to get married and sent me a wedding invitation."

Shaotang said frankly: "I'm sorry, Uncle, I don't have any wedding invitations."

He Cheng asked: "...still don't have anyone who can make you feel at ease?"

Shaotang replied without hesitation: "Four years from now, I should be able to have it by then."

Shaotang said this because he was thinking that his eldest son was sixteen this year, and four years from now would be the legal marriage age for men.At that time, Meng Xiaobei was old enough to marry him as a "daughter-in-law", so he would confess to the Meng family.

He Cheng said, I really didn't expect, Xiaotang, you have never worked so hard for yourself all these years, but for others?

Shaotang said that Beibei is my son after all.

The scheming Mr. He suddenly darkened that day, poking his finger at Meng Xiaobei's file, he is not your son.

"The simplest thing is, if he is your son, he will be registered directly in Beijing. How could he be in Qishan?"

He Cheng said.

Shaotang: "..."

He Cheng has something in his words: "It's a pity that this kid is not a girl. If he is a big girl, he can get a registered permanent residence as your wife, and he will make money, but he will never be my niece and daughter-in-law in this life. A man, or You have to get married and form a formal family. I will not stop you from loving, whether you love or not is secondary. There is a woman who is waiting for you at home, silently supporting your career, and having a child to continue your blood. You will know for the rest of your life How important that is."

Shaotang asked back: "Love or not is secondary? Find a woman I don't love, get married and have children, but one day I find that I really can't bear to live with a woman who has no feelings, and then I regret it and trap her again." gone?"

He Cheng calmly said: "Do you think that in our generation, every couple happened to be lovers who lived and died together in adversity, and they all had love? When they were young, they might not be able to rely on them for a lifetime of support, but instead It’s not good to be reduced to the next half of the generation, single and lonely, with no children, no daughters, and no family to depend on... In the end, it will be nothing.”

Shaotang fell silent, at that moment he really wanted to pick up the cup of coffee on the table and splash his uncle.

A trace of pity flashed in He Cheng's eyes, but he just didn't help.Shaotang was in too deep, and the authorities were obsessed. As an uncle, he watched with cold eyes, neither tried his best to stop it, nor facilitated it.Separate and chill, your kid has 50 years left in his future life.

……

This summer, the three aunts, grandparents of the Meng family, together with Shaotang, send Meng Xiaobei back to Xi'an by train.

A train ticket only sells two platform tickets. Grandpa said to let your grandma and Shaotang take you in. Your grandma is very reluctant to part with you.

Meng Xiaobei dragged three large suitcases, which contained the brushes, pigments, sketch paper and cooked rice paper that he had bought at Liulichang again. Some brands of oil paints could not even be bought in Xi'an.When I got off the platform, I passed a long flight of stairs, and passengers with large and small bags squeezed past me.Those people boarded the platform first and waited for the train.The eyes of those rushing home to visit their relatives showed their nostalgia, and the civil servants on business trips waved to those seeing them off with smiles on their faces, and walked in a hurry.Grandma Meng Shaotang and her party were the slowest among the passengers on this train, as if they were going backwards in time, as if they could keep Beibei if they slowed down.

Shaotang carried a piece of luggage and handed it to Xiaobei: "There are three pieces in total, take them well, don't miss any of them."

Grandma Meng picked the three things back and forth: "These two are your own, clothes, school supplies, and drawing things, don't drop them, take them well!... That big bag is for your father and the others. Special products, according to what I said, you shouldn’t let the stele carry so many things, the child is so tired from the train ride, let Meng Jianmin come back and get it by himself next time!”

Meng Xiaobei smiled and said, "Grandma...I'm not a child!"

Grandma Meng's eyes were red, and she slapped her eldest grandson's face: "You will always be Grandma's child!"

Shaotang stood a few steps away, watching from a distance the grandparent and grandson said some affectionate farewell words.He didn't touch Xiaobei, and he was reluctant to let go if he touched it.Meng Xiaobei is a big guy, a head taller than his grandma, and he is cuddly and coquettish with his grandma.Grandma Meng instructed in a low voice: "Go back and listen to your father, study hard, and don't worry about anything else. When I come back from the exam, I will find grandma!"

"Well, don't worry grandma!" Meng Xiaobei narrowed his eyes and smiled.

Grandma Meng said quietly: "If the family suffers any grievances, if it treats you badly, you can tell grandma!"

Grandma Meng was deaf, and her voice became louder when she couldn't stop it.She spoke "quietly" and could be heard clearly within a radius of ten meters.

Shaotang turned around, ran a few steps in a hurry, went to the food truck on the platform, and bought biscuits and water for Meng Xiaobei, as well as a box of ice cream, stuffed them into his carry-on bag.Shaotang instructed: "Don't sleep to death on the train, and don't lose the money your grandma gave you."

Meng Xiaobei patted his stomach, and said cheerfully, "Money will never be lost. Grandma sewed the inside of my underpants, and I stuffed money in the crotch!"

Shaotang said: "If something happens, call me immediately, I will turn it on 24 hours later."

Meng Xiaobei comforted, "I know... I'm sixteen, almost seventeen, and I'm not six."

Shaotang took a deep look at Meng Xiaobei, not knowing what else to say.

North and North are sixteen.Ten years ago, the sky over Baoji Railway Station was clear, and the teams in green military uniforms were surging on the platform, with five red stars inlaid on their cap badges.Six-year-old Beibei was carrying a satin back with a large flower on his back, making it hard to lift his head under the quilt, wrinkled and narrowed his eyes, and followed him closely like a little follower.

Shaotang shook his head lightly: "Let's drive soon."

"The toilets on the train are small and dirty, so go out and use the toilet."

……

The public toilet on the platform was even more crowded and messy, and passengers on the journey came and went in a hurry.The urinals in the men's toilets were crowded with people, forming a long queue, with the rustling of people's voices and water.The only compartment was vacant, Shaotang grabbed the compartment door and pulled Meng Xiaobei in...

Shaotang put his back heel against the door without a latch, and the strength of a pair of big hands almost broke Meng Xiaobei's ribs. Ten fingers seemed to be inserted into the gap between the ribs and soaked in the blood, and he grabbed Xiaobei's hair fiercely. Knead it hard.Both of them had bright red lips, and there were threads of saliva sticking between their lips when they parted.

Meng Xiaobei was very calm and said, "Godfather, don't worry, I will pass the exam. I won't let you down."

Will he "admit his fate"?Go back to the ravine?

The two whispered to each other, watching each other's mouth shape.Shaotang stared into Xiaobei's eyes: "Don't talk about whether you can pass the exam, if you fail the exam, will you break up with me?"

Meng Xiaobei was delighted when he heard it: "It doesn't matter, no matter what."

Meng Xiaobei said: "It's just two years, it will pass soon."

We were separated for four or five years, and we waited for each other, never wavering.

Shaotang suddenly remembered something, and took out the pager from the small leather case on his trouser waist: "This is for you."

Xiaobei: "What are you doing for me?"

Shaotang: "I'm calling you."

"You called me?!" Meng Xiaobei's brows and eyes were wide open with joy, and he sneered: "Comrade He Shaotang, Captain He, didn't you say that you are very busy every day and never have time to read my messages, let alone call me back? !"

Shaotang said with a straight face, "...I have time."

"I'll buy a new pager tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and I'll call your number."

Meng Xiaobei nodded: "Okay."

……

Ten years in a hurry, suddenly a dream.

This year was actually the summer vacation of 20. The year of [-] was of great significance to Meng Xiaobei, and there were many shining spots imprinted in his memory.This year, the annual output of their famous domestic brand "Peony" in Beijing exceeded [-] sets of color TVs and jumped to the top of the industry's leading market share.His grandma's family finally replaced the small black and white TV and bought the first peony color TV with a ticket.In the era of lack of entertainment, it was also this year that CCTV's two immortal masterpieces "Journey to the West" and "Dream of Red Mansions" were successively broadcast on TV stations, becoming household names, unprecedented and unprecedented.

In [-], the cartoon Transformers entered the Chinese market and quickly became popular among students. The small shop in front of Chaoyang No. [-] Middle School was filled with Autobot toys.This year, Qi Qin, Meng Xiaobei's most admired singer, wrote a song "About Winter" to Wang Zuxian.And in front of audio-visual stores in the streets and alleys of Beijing, the most popular song is the theme song of the TV series "Young Aspirations Don't Say No Sorrow". Skills - Show your skills...

In [-], Grandma Meng's granddaughter, Xiaobei's Xueba cousin, was sent to the city's key No. [-] Middle School, Meng Jianmin's former alma mater.It was also this year that the last daughter of the Meng family, Xiaobei's sister-in-law, completely left the shelter of her mother's family. Through the introduction of a colleague in the unit, she married a driver in the factory who specially drove for the leader in a flash marriage.

In the same year, Meng Xiaobei, who had grown up, left Beijing, where he had lived under the fence for ten years, and returned to Shaanxi, where he was born.

A sleeper car, an old-fashioned dark green iron-clad carriage, with a long whistle on the front and billowing white smoke.

Meng Xiaobei pulled up the window glass and looked out. The upright figure on the platform was his bondage of ten years.The songs on the Walkman suddenly flowed into the brain through the earphones, Meng Xiaobei stared at the people on the platform, his eyes seemed to be on his little father.

Gently I will leave you.

Please wipe away the tears from the corners of your eyes.

In the long night.

In the days to come.

Don't cry for me darling.

Meng Xiaobei didn't take off his earphones, nor did he shed tears, but held his head firmly.A moment before the train started that day, he sang a song to Shaotang facing the sea of ​​people and countless eyes on the platform.

His voice is a rough and hoarse young male voice, which is exceptionally clear amidst the noisy broadcast and the sound of the train starting siren.There was a slight commotion in the carriage, and everyone around looked over.Outside the window, countless people on the platform fell into a mood of confusion and determination, and stopped to look back.A group of rough men dressed as peasants also kept nodding their heads and beating their feet to the rhythm of the singing. Who can't understand such a song?

Although the road ahead is too sad, please bless me with a smile.

Although against the wind.

Although it is raining.

I am in love with you in the wind and rain.

A girl on the platform who was about to get on the train was touched by Meng Xiaobei's singing, bowed her head and said something to her boyfriend, and shook his hand.The boy looked shy, but finally whispered a few words in his ear, and sweetly picked up his luggage and sent his girlfriend to the car.

Grandma Meng didn't know who Qi Qin belonged to, she could hear tears streaming down her face, and kept wiping them away with her hands.Shaotang stood motionless, like a perfect statue made of a white shirt and green military trousers, the dark spots of his brows and eyes seemed to be deeply entangled with Meng Xiaobei's howling voice, falling into a bottomless depth.

No one in the car could tell who Meng Xiaobei sang this song for, because all the people on the platform who saw him off were immersed in it and waved their hands to see off their relatives with watery eyes.Shaotang was the only one in the crowd, who suddenly turned his head and stared at the distance the car was going to go. The railroad track was submerged in the thick fog and the end of the line of sight, and he didn't look at Xiaobei again.Shaotang's chest trembled and heaved, and the corners of his mouth were determined.

days without you.

I will cherish myself more.

Not in my years.

You have to take care of yourself.

You ask me when I will return to my hometown.

I also asked myself softly.

Not at this time I do not know when.

I think it will be around winter.

The train started, and Meng Xiaobei sat back on his upper berth.There are couples sleeping in the middle and lower berths opposite.

The woman asked, boy, you scared me just now, who did you sing it for?

Meng Xiaobei smiled and said, "Sing it to my wife. Didn't you see my wife standing outside the car window to see me off?"

Girls are also happy, boy, you sing so well, it made me cry!The man said, when I was chasing you, I always sang to your house on the opposite mountain ridge, otherwise how could I chase you home.

Meng Xiaobei was lying on the bed, with a hat covering his face, a bit addicted to cigarettes, so he went to sleep with his earphones plugged in.The CALL machine on his waist actually rang, so he picked it up and took a look.He is so familiar with coding that he can understand it at a glance.

Someone called him and said to him: [Baby, I love you. 】

Meng Xiaobei clutched the pager, his vision slowly blurred, a layer of water mist automatically transformed that line of code into the three real characters.

Earn if you have the ability, and admit it if you have no ability.He will never accept his fate.