For a whole afternoon, Yan Che rolled up his trouser legs with armholes, tied a big linen apron, and cleaned the inside and outside of the house once, clearing out a handful of cobwebs and dumping three buckets of sewage.

When Yan Guoqiang stepped into the clean and tidy courtyard gate with a hoe on his shoulder and a bloody sunset on his back, Yan Che checked the time, and it was already 18:[-].

Yan Che took the hoe from Yan Guoqiang's shoulder and put it into the firewood room. When he came out, Yan Guoqiang was washing his face in a basin of cold water in the yard, and while washing, he looked at the clean yard and laughed "hehe".

"Hey, cooking tonight?" Yan Che asked Yan Guoqiang, meaning: cook rice or eat noodles.

In the countryside, most of the dinners in summer and autumn are porridge and noodles.After a busy day, my mouth is dry and my mouth is dry. It is more honest to eat and drink soup than to cook.

Yan Guoqiang wiped his face vigorously with a towel, and wiped it so hard that his face was flushed. Yan Guoqiang rubbed the towel in the basin, looked up at Yan Che with soft eyes: "There are not many noodles at home, I'll go Wu Zidang bought a few." As he said that, he wrung out the towels in a frenzy, and walked into the house with strides.

"Oh, Wu Zidang? Let me go!" Yan Che took off his apron, and at the same time, Yan Guoqiang who rushed into the room shouted: "Hey, I'll go, I just happened to go to see Teacher Wu."

Yan Guoqiang paused, looked back at Yan Che, seemed to be thinking, and nodded quickly: "Sure, you go! You haven't been back for nine years, so you can go and see your teacher Wu."

"Yeah." Yan Che nodded slightly, brushed the ashes off his body with a sackcloth apron, put it behind the kitchen door, looked at Yan Guoqiang, and said, "Then I'll go."

"Wait." Yan Guoqiang glanced at his clean and tidy son with satisfaction, with a smile in his eyes, and was about to enter the house: "I'll pack a few catties of wheat for you, and bring back some extra handfuls of noodles. By the way, I'll bring you a few catties of rice for Mr. Wu past."

Seeing Yan Guoqiang disappearing at the door, Yan Che shouted, "Hey, you don't need to take the wheat, I still have money with me. Just take a few catties of rice."

Yan Guoqiang didn't respond to Yan Che's words, and the sound of pouring rice could already be heard in the room.

After a while, Yan Guoqiang who came out had two more cloth bags in his hand, one in each hand, and it seemed that at least one bag could hold about ten catties of rice: "You can keep the money in your hand and spend it yourself. There is nothing else at home. , that is, there is a lot of rice.”

Yan Che took a bag, opened the mouth of the bag and looked inside, and when he saw the white rice inside, he only took this bag, frowned, and said: "Hey, I can't unscrew it if it's too much. , take this."

After finishing speaking, without waiting for Yan Guoqiang to answer, he ran out with his shoulders on his shoulders.

"You kid." Yan Guoqiang watched Yan Che's busy jumping and jumping, and laughed and cursed: "Run slowly, the mountain road is not easy to walk."

"Got it, baby, I'll be back after you smoke a bag of cigarettes." Yan Che was talking, and he had already arrived at the corner of Yan Xu's yard.

Wu Zidang.

It is under the hillside opposite Yanjiawan.

Although standing in Yanjiawan, you can't see Wu Zidang's family, in fact, it only takes about 10, [-], [-] minutes to walk there.

Wu Zidang is not like Yanjiawan, there are only seven households in the whole Dangkou, hidden in the green bamboo forest, if you look from a distance, you can't see that there are people living there unless you look carefully.

This Wu Zidang, apart from the owner of Dangtou's small noodle workshop, the other six families are all surnamed Wu.And this time, what Yan Che was going to happened to be a small noodle workshop with dangtou.

The owner of the small noodle workshop, surnamed Wu, used to be Yan Che's primary and junior high school class teacher, named Wu Shaokang.

Wu Shaokang was an educated youth who did not return to the city when he went to the mountains and went to the countryside, but stayed at Yanjiawan Village Primary School in Fuyuan Township to teach.When Yan Che entered junior high school, the number of students in the village primary school decreased day by day, and he was finally banned. Wu Shaokang was also transferred to Fuyuan Township Puzhong Primary School, where he continued to be Yan Che's class teacher.

The hillside that separates Yanjiawan and Wuzidang has an inexplicable name. According to legend, the educated youth picked it up as a joke—Beauty Slope.

As for why it was called Beauty Slope, Yan Che didn't know, nor did the villagers of Yanjiawan and Wu Zidang.Yan Che once asked his mother, and his mother smiled and shook her head; later Yan Che also asked Yan Guoqiang, Yan Guoqiang even scratched his head and smiled stupidly "hehe"; The educated youth took it and asked Wu Shaokang for it. Wu Shaokang tilted his head, looked at Yan Che with squinted eyes and mouth, and finally his face twitched so that Yan Che could stand on the slope and know.

Now Yan Che is standing on this "Beauty Slope" again, looking at the surroundings, vaguely understands the origin of the name, and is a little speechless... Dare I know, that so-called "Beauty Slope" is actually such a thing! !

"Beauty Slope" = Nobody Slope.

Standing on the slope, due to the weird geographical environment, you can hardly see the surrounding situation.However, this position can be seen at a glance in Yanjiawan and Wu Zidang.

Of course, what Yan Che understands at this moment is superficial - the origin of this "beauty slope" really has an allusion among the educated youth back then.

Bypassing Beauty Slope, Yan Che saw a cluster of lush bamboo forests in Wu Zidang.

At the front of the bamboo forest is a small courtyard made of bluestone.There is a blue-tiled house with bluestone walls in the courtyard, which is different from the usual rural buildings with a set of two buildings. There is a window next to the gate.

Next to the house, there is a large workshop made of wheat straw sheds, making the sound of rumbling machinery, and you can vaguely see inside the one-meter-high bluestone enclosure wall, the machinery for making dried noodles is running, and the long white noodle strips are being torn. Get old and old.

Hanging white noodles in the yard, like clothes hanging to dry, those should be freshly cut noodles.

All this is still so familiar.

Yan Che weighed the cloth bag on his shoulder, the familiar environment made his memory happy.

I remember the first time I changed faces with Yan Guoqiang, the little Yan Che was very curious about the black-rimmed glasses on Wu Shaokang's nose, and kept staring at Wu Shaokang.After Wu Shaokang found out, he asked Yan Che, "What do you think of me?"

Yan Che grabbed the corner of Yan Guoqiang's clothes, shyly hid behind Yan Guoqiang, revealed half of his face, and asked Wu Shaokang, "Why do you have a black frame on your face?"

Wu Shaokang just laughed at that time, instead of answering Yan Che's question, he asked Yan Che if he could count.

Because of Wu Shaokang's gentle smile, Yan Che became less fearful and more curious. He nodded and counted obediently from one to three hundred. At that time, Yan Che was not even three years old. Neither is very clear.

After listening to Yan Che finish counting three hundred, Wu Shaokang looked at Yan Che in surprise and asked Yan Guoqiang: "Has this child gone to school?"

The honest Yan Guoqiang smiled "hehe", touched his head and said, "No, it's his mother who is teaching."

Wu Shaokang smiled in satisfaction, and touched Yan Che's head with regret: "It's a pity that we don't have a kindergarten here, and there is no precedent for going to school early, otherwise I would take this child to school."

Even so, Wu Shaokang still asked Yan Guoqiang to bring Yan Che over to play when he was out of class.Therefore, Yan Che's enlightenment teaching began in this small noodle workshop. When he was five and a half years old and could enter the first grade of the village primary school, Yan Che had already completed the ordinary third grade courses.

To be honest, Yan Che certainly knows that Wu Shaokang cares about him as a student, which has surpassed the general teacher-student relationship, and has added a layer of complex feelings of being a teacher, a father, and a friend.

The black and white photo of Yan Che and his mother was taken by Wu Shaokang back then.Why are there no father and son Yan Guoqiang, Yan He and Yan Jiang?Just because they were shy and shy away from the camera, which was a rare thing.So much so that now I regret why I didn't take pictures together at that time, and the rare family portrait was missing...

Because this small noodle workshop contained almost all of Yan Che's childhood memories, now Yan Che, who was standing outside the bluestone wall, walked so heavy that it was difficult to get close, so he could only stand outside in a daze.

When Yan Che was standing in a daze outside the courtyard, a loud "roll" came out.

Soon, Yan Che saw an aunt in disheveled clothes running out of the yard in a panic.

This aunt cannot be said to be young, but she has a petite physique, plump curves, and that slapped face, with facial features set off by a wheat-colored complexion... Generally speaking, this aunt is charming and charming. stunner.If she was born in a big city, such a woman would definitely be more glamorous.

Seeing Yan Che standing outside the courtyard, the mother-in-law was taken aback, a trace of panic flashed through her red and swollen eyes.

Yan Che turned his face away in embarrassment, pretending not to see... Glancing at Yan Che, the mother-in-law lowered her eyes, suppressed the emotions in her eyes, turned around, and ran in the direction of Wu Zidang.

For such an unexpected incident, the current Yan Che can certainly guess what happened, but he still can't make up his mind.

"Get out of here if you're here?" The deep voice was still full of anger, yelling at Yan Che.

Yan Che rubbed his nose, carried the cloth bag, and walked in awkwardly.

A middle-aged man with black-rimmed glasses, who is thin but not bony, with grayish hair but combed tightly and orderly, without any trace of slovenliness, is sitting with his back facing the entrance, smoking a cigarette beside the mask.

This man is not as burly and tall as a rural man like Yan Jiang, with a thin body and a lazy smoking posture, but he has an irresistible charm.

Yan Che called softly: "Teacher Wu."

When the middle-aged man heard this, his body froze, his hands froze, he turned around abruptly, and looked at Yan Che in surprise: "Yan Che?"

Yan Che frowned and nodded: "Teacher Wu, it's me, Yan Che."

In fact, the man's appearance has not changed much, but compared with nine years ago, he is a little more vicissitudes, a little paler, a little thinner, the hand holding the cigarette is no longer white and slender as before, and the joints have become big and hard. Even the bottom of the palm has this cocoon... However, it still has his elegance and elegance.

The man was Wu Shaokang.

"When did you come back?" Wu Shaokang picked up the dropped half of the cigarette and put it in the enamel jar on the small table beside him. It was the ashtray of "Teacher Wu" deep in Yan Che's memory.

"The night before yesterday." Yan Che stepped forward, put the cloth bag aside, brewed an enamel jar of strong tea for Wu Shaokang, and handed it to Wu Shaokang.

Looking at Wu Shaokang's hand extended to take it, and his index finger yellowed by cigarettes, he frowned slightly: "Teacher Wu, you are not in good health, please smoke less!"

Wu Shaokang took the enamel jar, took a sip of strong tea, and showed his white teeth: "Hey, my proud disciple started to discipline the teacher as soon as he came back?"

Yan Che rolled his eyes: "You don't cherish your body, why don't you let me tell you?"

Wu Shaokang, who took a sip of strong tea, was in a good mood, and ignored Yan Che's big white eyes. Instead, he looked at the cloth bag beside him and said, "Come to change your face?"

Yan Che shook his head: "I asked me to bring you this year's newly harvested rice."

"Oh, good stuff, your rice has always been the most fragrant. Back then, your mother..." Wu Shaokang realized that he was getting carried away, and immediately shut his mouth. He took a careful look at Yan Che, but found that Yan Che was not as sweet as he was. As angry as before, a little relieved, a little surprised, his mouth opened, but he didn't say a word.

Seeing Wu Shaokang's situation, Yan Che bent his lips: "Mr. Wu, I've grown up. I'm not the stupefied young man who didn't distinguish between black and white, and exploded his hair everywhere."

After Yan Che's words were finished, Wu Shaokang was still stunned, then nodded, and patted Yan Che's head: "You know everything?"

Hearing this, Yan Che nodded slightly: "Last year... I knew about it."

"Yeah." Wu Shaokang turned sideways and took another sip from the enamel jar: "You...you should apologize to your father."

Yan Che's head was hanging down, unable to see his expression clearly.

Wu Shaokang didn't say anything else. After putting down the enamel jar, he twisted up the cloth bag and put it aside, and continued to check the moisture toughness of the noodles.

"Teacher Wu... I found Teacher Jiang."

As soon as Yan Che's words fell, Wu Shaokang's body trembled, and he supported the machine beside him, and then he stood still, and a barely audible voice came out from Wu Shaokang's mouth dryly: "He...is he okay? "

Yan Che frowned, looking at Wu Shaokang's calm eyes, but there was anger, and distress and unwillingness: "He is very good. He is married and has children, and has a successful career. His son... is a few years older than me. years old!"

In the workshop, apart from the rumbling sound of the diesel engine and the creaking sound of the mechanical conveyor belt, there was silence between teachers and students.

for a long time.

A piece of fresh noodles had been cut into shreds. Wu Shaokang carried the noodles and went to the yard to dry them.

A trace of pity for Wu Shaokang appeared in Yan Che's eyes, his tone softened, and he first admitted his mistake: "I'm sorry, Teacher Wu."

Wu Shaokang waved his hand, Yan Che looked over, it seemed that just for a moment, Wu Shaokang had aged several years again, and the apology slowly faded away in his eyes, and finally turned into mist.

"Teacher Wu, let's find a partner. What kind of life are you living like this?" Yan Che choked up his voice and said with difficulty: "He's not worth it... you wait—"

"Yan Che, there are four handfuls of dried noodles here, your father must still be waiting for you to go back to have a midnight snack!" Wu Shaokang stopped Yan Che's words with a rare voice, and handed over to Yan Che the cloth bag containing four handfuls of dried noodles weighing one catty hand.Then, the tone softened again: "Go ahead, come back when you are free, let me and my father have a drink."

Yan Che raised his head, looked at Wu Shaokang with red eyes, hesitated to speak, and finally took out a stack of pink banknotes from his pocket, dragged the cloth bag, and ran away without looking back.

It is precisely because of this that Yan Che didn't see two lines of clear light slide down behind Wu Shaokang's big black-rimmed glasses at the moment he turned and walked away... Just looking at his back, he disappeared into the beautiful slope. corner.

This child looks more and more like his mother, and I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing!Why!

When Yan Che approached Yanjia Bay, his footsteps slowed down. Seeing that there was no one around, Yan Che wiped the corners of his eyes with his hands, took a few deep breaths, and then hurried to the back of the bay.

Night has come, like a brush in an inkstone wash, and the bad ink has darkened a clear sky.

Black, but not so thorough.

When twisting the cloth bag and turning around the courtyard of Yan Xu's house, Yan Che saw another group of people surrounded in the courtyard.

"San'er, are you back?" Yan Guoqiang was the first to see Yan Che and called out.

Dazed for a moment, Yan Che stepped forward: "Hey, what's the matter? What happened?"

Yan Guoqiang grinned, glanced at the surrounding people and said: "San'er, our old orange tree has finished blooming in the morning, and now it bears a tree of big oranges, which are big and sweet like honey. "

While speaking, Yan Guoqiang handed a big orange orange to Yan Che.

pat-

The cloth bag in Yan Che's hand fell to the ground: "Hey, what did you... say?"

"You child, look at the flour." Yan Guoqiang stretched out his hand to twist the cloth bag on the ground, patted the dirt on the cloth bag, and laughed at Yan Che: "I said, this old orange tree in our house has grown fruit. Here."

While speaking, he stuffed the orange into Yan Che's hand.

Yan Che glanced at a group of adults and children who were eating oranges, smiling toothlessly, staring at the orange in his hand, which was about the size of a small melon.

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