blowing clouds

In July [-], Hong Kong was handed over to the motherland, and the whole country celebrated with joy. However, a bigger incident ushered in Chen Xiyang's family. His father Chen Li was released after serving his sentence.

An old radio was leaning against the rusty window sill, and the intermittent hissing sound came from the screen-like amplified speaker, mixed with vague but exciting shouts, which could occasionally be heard clearly Celebration, comeback, etc. Since July [-], almost every channel has been promoting the same thing day and night.

The turtledove on the branch outside the window seemed to be happy about it, jumping back and forth among the branches, and kept making long chirps, but what really woke Chen Xiyang up was the movement of chopping dumpling stuffing outside the house.

He lifted the towel and quilt, and silently got up from the soaked mat. His back was dripping with sweat, and his balled vest was clinging to his body, but the movement of getting up gave him a sense of coolness.

When Yi pulled the plastic slippers and pushed the door out, her mother Lu Yan was pouring a pot of scallions and pork stuffing into the enamel basin. Chen Xiyang noticed that the tablecloth had been replaced with a new style of red check, although it was not bright in the drowsy room. Eye.

"Are you awake?" Lu Yan patted the flour on her hands, took a look at her son, picked up the dough and began to wrap it, "Go and serve the cold dishes."

Chen Xiyang did so silently, walked to the tall chopping board, awkwardly unwrapped the oil-leaking packaging bags, one bag was stewed meat, and the other bag was loose cold dishes, a rough sesame oil smell hit his face Come.

After pouring the food into the plate with the missing edge, Chen Xiyang dragged the little horse and sat at the door, with the back of his head against the hard edge of the table, staring at the branch protruding from the opposite roof in a daze, as if he had nothing to do.

Before a few dumplings were wrapped, Lu Yan sighed and lowered her arms. There was no sunlight around her, and her face looked as if she was sick. She met her son's eyes and said, "Xiyang, I have been visiting you all these years. I didn't take you to the prison several times, you haven't seen your father's face in five years, right?"

"En." Chen Xiyang nodded expressionlessly, then turned his gaze to the branch.

"Do you still remember what your father looked like?" Lu Yan's expression was half a smile, and she gently stretched out her hand to remove the scallion white sticking on the dumpling skin.

"I can remember things at the age of 12, how can I forget." Chen Xiyang said softly.

Lu Yan nodded silently, and hesitated for a moment before speaking again: "You also know that your father's situation is a bit special. It cannot be said that the country has wronged him, but it is obviously not enough to say that he is really a wicked person. It's over... You also passed the entrance examination to the junior college this year, and our family will get better and better in the future."

During the critical period of Chen Xiyang's growth, he lacked the role of his father. From his own perception, it is difficult to tell whether this has a serious impact on him, but he and his father have not seen each other for five years. Constantly breaking has also long since become blurred.His father was coming back, and after the idea took root in his heart, he could feel some expectation from himself, but he could also feel some kind of awkward strangeness and resistance.

It takes time to get used to going from whole to broken and vice versa.

"Your dad is in the car in the morning, why don't you pick him up?" Although it was a questioning tone, the expectation and sincerity in Lu Yan's eyes were not concealed very well.

Chen Xiyang looked over again, her mother's hands were almost colorless, like dry bark, and the flour stained only made the rough lines more clear, and looked like radishes beaten by frost, and In my impression, there is no difference between grandma's hands.In recent years, Lu Yan has worked as an accountant at the grain and oil station, and at the same time started a small business with the neighbors, barely maintaining the family, but the word "hard work" also made her lose all her beauty when she was only 40 years old.

Seeing Chen Xiyang nodding, the joy in Lu Yan's eyes spread into deep wrinkles: "Then you go quickly, lest he get out of the car and find his way."

After his father Chen Li was imprisoned, the dormitory originally arranged by the unit for employees was naturally unavailable. Lu Yan, who was still young at the time, took 12-year-old Chen Xiyang to search for a long time, and finally rented the second floor of this bungalow. The simple two-bedroom and one-living room has become the new home of the mother and son.

When going out, the shirtless landlord was sitting at the door, holding a bowl and eating steamed eggs. Seeing Chen Xiyang who was walking in a hurry, he snorted with a smile on his face: "Going out?"

The news that Chen Li was a reform-through-labour prisoner was spread by word of mouth, and almost everyone in this small town knew about it. Chen Xiyang naturally knew where the disdain and contempt in the other party's tone came from. He had been used to it for so many years, and he simply hummed, Non-stop.

During the summer vacation, the students should have gathered in the game hall or slept in at home, but it happened to be a happy event, and the lively young people celebrated on the street every day. Even though it was still early, you could still see many young faces running around holding the national flag , Some barbecue stalls have even been working all night until now, and the masters can only barely resist sleepiness by smoking one after another.

Chen Xiyang can also feel the excitement and joy of being a Chinese, but these emotions seem to be superficial to him, he will not shout like others, even if this summer vacation is a double happiness.

Suddenly, a familiar shout came from the alley next to it, and even the maliciousness in it was very familiar.

"Look, the son of the prisoner is out!"

"Dumb! Hey, look here dumb!"

Chen Xiyang knows that he is his high school classmate without looking at it. It seems to be an extremely happy thing to poke the pain of others. Many of Chen Xiyang's classmates enjoy it, but for him, "the son of a labor reform prisoner" is not very lethal. Besides, after the college entrance examination, he and these classmates had almost no contact with each other, and Chen Xiyang would not take their ridicule and bad words to heart, and quickened his pace as if he ignored them.

The so-called fire in July does not refer to the temperature like fire, but it is obviously describing the lunar calendar. At this time, the sun in July in the Gregorian calendar is still gradually getting hotter. Chen Xiyang feels that his chest and back are constantly rolling down beads of sweat , He forgot to change his shoes when he went out, and the soles of his feet were also worn out by the slippers, but he still refused to stop for a while, and continued to walk forward without saying a word, but the frequency of lifting his vest to wipe his sweat became more and more frequent.

After crossing the railway that had been abandoned for many years, Chen Xiyang finally arrived at his destination, and there was an old sign not far ahead: Cambridge.

This has nothing to do with Xu Zhimo's most famous poem, it just happens to be called by this name.Prisoners in the suburban prison had to leave by bus after serving their sentences. Among them, those who wanted to go back to the urban area had to get off at Cambridge, so Chen Xiyang made a special trip here to meet his father.

But looking at it from another angle, there is indeed a bit of free poetry here.

Obviously, Kangqiao Station is not crowded with people every day. Most of the time, there are few people here. This is the case at this time. There are no shadows of pedestrians or vehicles in the distance. There is only a popsicle seller under the shade of the old locust tree. In my little stall, leaning against the wooden board of the freezer, there are vague words such as five cents and one dime written on it.

Chen Xiyang, who stopped at this time, was sweating profusely and his mouth was dry, but he was too embarrassed to go to the shade of a tree to enjoy the cool without any money in his pocket, so he could only squat on a rock and close his eyes, believing in the ancient saying of peace of mind Naturally cool.

The air was so dry that there was not even a slight breeze. Chen Xiyang's sweat seemed unstoppable. There was the sound of slow footsteps not far away. As soon as he opened his eyes, he was covered with sweat. The sharp pain made him frown and curl his lips. All I saw was a vague figure coming to the popsicle stand.

Due to the blurred vision, Chen Xiyang didn't know if the other party was staring at him, but he kept facing him to eat popsicles, but he didn't make any sound, maybe he was afraid of provoking him to snatch it away.

It was a thin boy wearing shorts and short sleeves, who seemed to be as old as himself. Chen Xiyang turned his head back by wiping his sweat, and when he cast his gaze again after a while, the other party had already left. The sleepy popsicle stand owner is left.

When everything in the distance began to distort as if it had entered a steamer, there was finally a bit of hot wind in the air, but when the wind passed by Chen Xiyang, he felt as if a fat and greasy hand was placed on it. own shoulders.

Chen Xiyang stood up suddenly and raised his head. With the blackness in front of his eyes, the bright sunshine just now turned into a gloomy scene. The roads, trees, and popsicle stands in front of him all disappeared, leaving only a dark and deep alley in front of him. With his fat body facing away from him, he was gasping for breath, as if he was suppressing his distorted and terrifying laughter, and there seemed to be a vague cry for help.

Chen Xiyang was too familiar with this nightmarish scene. His hair was standing on end all over his body, immersed in the aversion to cold, and he could no longer feel the extreme heat.

At this moment, a piercing whistle almost broke Chen Xiyang's heart, the sun shone on the earth, the darkness in front of him dissipated, and an old passenger car bumped along the uneven road, as if drunk .

The drunk came not far from Chen Xiyang and started to slow down. Accompanied by a long and loud sound of "Zi", it passed out on the ground as if it had vomited, and the car door slammed open as if it was fighting.

There seemed to be no passengers in the car, but the dark green glass seriously obstructed Chen Xiyang's sight. He could only vaguely see half-inch heads passing through the windows. In the end, a middle-aged man who was not tall but straight The man stepped on the rubberized pedal of the bus and walked down.

It was like a passenger car that was stuck in mud screamed and struggled for a long time, then walked away in a twisted manner. After the headache smell of gasoline dissipated, Chen Xiyang remained in the same state as the other party, not moving, but never Don't look away.

After Chen Xiyang's numb brain resumed functioning, his first thought was that he had never forgotten his father's face at all.

Chen Li slowly put down the big luggage in his hand. His hair was tightly attached to his scalp, and the clothes he was wearing were also behind the current style, but because his back was straight, he must have tidied up before he was released from prison. , so he doesn't have Lu Yan's old look on his body.

"..." Chen Xiyang opened his mouth but didn't make any sound. Chen Li looked back and forth at his grown son, his eyes became more and more satisfied and softer. With red eyes, he strode forward before crying Go, hold your son tightly in your arms.

The last time he did this was five years ago, and now he hugs his son's chest.Before going home, Chen Li bought Chen Xiyang the most expensive vanilla-flavored popsicle.