2052, Thirty Years Of Sleep

"Hey, hey, no, no, no, no, no!"

At this time, Old Man Liu was pushing and pulling a lively old hen with the old lady. Although her legs were tied, the old hen still did not give up hope of giving birth. She kept clucking and flapping her wings, raising large feathers and an earthy smell.

There were only two people and one chicken, but the scene was as grand as a world war.

Yan Muyun, whose hometown is in the countryside, is very familiar with this scene. He happily watched the excitement and only had a handful of melon seeds in his hand.

At this moment, a childish voice sounded: "Do you want to eat melon seeds?"

Yan Muyun lowered his head and saw that the thin, dark boy whom Old Man Liu called his strong brother appeared out of nowhere, holding a handful of melon seeds in his hand.

The world war lasted for a full five or six minutes, and finally ended with the old lady running into the back room, taking out a hatchet, and cutting the hen's neck with the knife. Panting heavily, Old Man Liu put his hands on his hips and watched helplessly as the old lady proudly hung the bloody hen on the handlebar of the motorcycle.

"Then I took this chicken back and stewed it for the children at noon." Old man Liu pushed the motorcycle out of the yard, waved goodbye to the old lady who sent it out, then turned around and patted the seat: "Brother Qiang, come up , I’ll take you back to class.”

"Oh." The thin black boy responded, holding the back of the car with both hands and jumping on easily.

"Young man, thank you. It's really been a big help." Old man Liu thanked Yan Muyun, pushed the motorcycle forward two steps, and then stopped again.

He turned his head and said, "Would you like to come to my house and have a meal before leaving?"

"Isn't it troublesome?" Yan Muyun blinked.

"Old lady, I'm going to cook for a dozen children. If you're an extra one, I'll have an extra pair of chopsticks. It won't be a problem." Old Man Liu waved his hand.

Yan Muyun smiled: "Then it's better to be respectful than to obey."

...

The road conditions in the village were not very good. Even if Old Man Liu was driving a motorcycle, he would occasionally have to slow down on bumpy and muddy roads. It was not difficult for Yan Muyun to follow him the whole way.

It didn't take long before we arrived at a small courtyard surrounded by a fence.

The voices of children reading in unison could be heard faintly in the courtyard: "There is bright moonlight in front of the bed, I suspect it is frost on the ground. Look up at the bright moon..."

Brother Qiang jumped off his motorcycle and pushed open the courtyard door. As he walked in, Old Man Liu explained: "My wife used to be a teacher. She followed me to this village. She couldn't take any time off, so she set up a private school in our yard. , all the children in the village come here to study for free.”

"How long have you lived in this village?" Yan Muyun was a little curious.

"It's been almost ten years." Old man Liu parked his motorcycle by the fence, looking at the sky with bright eyes, as if reminiscing about the past: "I was doing business in South Vietnam in the early years, and I met the people in this village. I have been in contact with it for a while. After I made some money and retired, I thought that the environment in this village was pretty good, so I came to live here for a while, but it ended up being that long without me realizing it.”

Yan Muyun followed him to the backyard, where a simple bamboo shed was built. There were long tables and chairs under the shed, and the children sat on it in rows and read poems while holding books. In front of the bamboo shed, a kind-hearted old lady wearing coarse clothes was sitting in front of a simple blackboard, pointing at the verses on it with a small stick and explaining it to the children in a gentle tone.

The old lady has gray hair and wears a pair of rimless glasses. She looks knowledgeable and elegant, and her overall temperament is somewhat similar to Professor Chai.

You know, one of them is a professor at the highest university in China, and the other is an ordinary old man in the village who teaches children to read poetry. To be able to make Yan Muyun think that the two of them are similar shows how extraordinary the latter's temperament and image are.

"I'll stew the chicken. You find a place to sit for a while." Old man Liu waved his hand and walked into the kitchen carrying the hen with its feathers still dripping blood.

Well, Old Man Liu looks like a simple old farmer.

...

When dinner is ready, the children put their books in the drawers and the desk becomes a dining table.

The two dishes, one braised pork minced eggplant and one stir-fried lettuce, are said to be grown by the villagers themselves. They are natural and pollution-free, and taste better than those in the city. There is another example of soup. It was originally winter melon and green onion soup, but now it has become winter melon and green onion old hen soup.

Yan Muyun sat in the room and ate with his two elders. He was too embarrassed to compete with the children for food, so he filled half a bowl of rice with only half a spoonful of both dishes. The soup only had two slices of winter melon without meat, but He also praised it while eating it, which made the two old people happy.

During the conversation, Yan Muyun learned the names of the two old men. Old man Liu's full name was Liu Jingguo, and the old lady's surname was also Liu, and her name was Liu Fangyun. The couple came to South Vietnam more than ten years ago. They said that the national policies at that time were supportive and business was easier to do. And they have indeed saved some money over the years. Even if they return to China and live in a big city for the rest of their lives, they will basically not have to worry about food and clothing.

"Then why don't you go back to China?" Yan Muyun asked.

Old Man Liu scratched his head: "It's not that I can't let go of these children and old neighbors. I'm the only doctor in the village and my wife is the only teacher. If we leave, there's no telling what life in this village will be like. Besides, after so many years I’m used to living here and I’m too lazy to move.”

"Where are your two children? Don't you have any objections?" Yan Muyun asked subconsciously. Anyway, if it were him, he would never let his elderly parents stay in a small village with no guarantee of safety abroad.

I don't know if it was an illusion, but after he asked this question, the air in the room seemed to freeze for a moment.

"Sigh..." Old man Liu put down his bowl and chopsticks and glanced at Yan Muyun helplessly, as if this boy didn't want to pick up any of the pots.

Yan Muyun didn't know what he said wrongly. He sat upright and didn't even dare to chew his food hard.

"How could the children have no objection?"

Mrs. Liu spoke in a gentle tone: "The eldest daughter has been asking us to leave this village every day and go back to China to live our own lives. Because the younger son was worried about us, he quietly came to South Vietnam to work, saying that it was close. It is convenient to take care of us. He graduated from a prestigious university, has excellent moral character and academic performance, and logically has a bright future in the country, but it turns out that because of the two of us..."

Some topics are difficult to end once started.

It seems to be because there are very few outsiders coming to this village, and even if outsiders come, they usually leave after completing their tasks on official business, and very few are willing to interact too much with the villagers. Not to mention that this time, a young man from China took the initiative to come to the house as a guest. Old Mrs. Liu kept talking and didn't even go to the afternoon class, leaving the children to play in the backyard.

On the one hand, Yan Muyun couldn't bear to interrupt the other party, but on the other hand, he found it quite interesting, so he listened to the whole process in silence.

"Xiao Yan, you are a very good young man. You are down-to-earth and stable. You can work in the Special Branch at a young age. You are as good as my son." Mrs. Liu grabbed Yan Muyun's hand and patted him. The back of the hand: "My daughter is very beautiful, how about you..."

"Hi! Hi!" Old Man Liu suddenly shouted twice, interrupting his wife's next words: "Our daughter is almost forty years old, what are you talking about?"

"Ah? Really?" Mrs. Liu tilted her head slightly: "But I remember she was less than twenty..."

At this moment, the children in the backyard suddenly ran into the house.

"Grandma Liu, Grandma Liu, the time is up, we are going home!"

"Grandma Liu, I want some candy!"

"I want it too, I want it too!"

A kind smile appeared on Mrs. Liu's face: "Okay, I'll get it for you."

She turned around and took out a small iron box from the cabinet, poured out a few hard candies and gave them to the children one by one.

Old man Liu took advantage of the time when he was clearing away the dishes and chopsticks to come to Yan Muyun's side and lowered his voice and said, "My old lady looks normal, but sometimes she is not so clear-headed. Please forgive me."

"Oh, okay." Yan Muyun nodded.

"Xiao Yan, come here." Mrs. Liu waved to him at this time.

Yan Muyun walked over, and the old lady stuffed a candy into his hand: "Eat it, it's so sweet."

"Thank you." Yan Muyun put the candy into his mouth, and a cool and sweet taste immediately spread in his mouth. The flavor was very unique and really delicious.

"Xiaoyan, when will you leave?" Old Mrs. Liu asked.

Yan Muyun touched his nose and said, "Let's wait until the hidden dangers around the village are resolved. I'm not sure either."

Old Mrs. Liu smiled and said: "If you can, you can stay for two more days. There will be a sacrificial activity in the village the day after tomorrow. The young people in the city will also come back to the village. It will be very lively."

"Okay, I'll take a look then." Yan Muyun agreed.