Rebirth: Those Years When I Was a Bad Student

Because it takes more than 30 hours to get from Beishui to Jingnan by train, and tickets are tight during the National Day holiday, Cheng Yao originally wanted to buy a sleeper and a hard seat.

It was late when he bought the tickets, so he could only buy a hard seat and an unoccupied seat, but the conductor said he could buy a new berth after getting on the train. As soon as Cheng Yao got on the train, he went to the conductor to ask for a new berth for his grandfather.

But the conductor said that there were no seats available at the nearest stations and that seats that could be purchased would only be available after 8pm.

There was really no other way, Cheng Yao could only make up for this sleeper berth, it was better to have one than nothing. And the journey was so long, and my grandfather's body couldn't stand sitting all the time, so it was good to sleep in a sleeper berth at night.

After buying his ticket in carriage No. 11, Cheng Yao walked through the crowded aisle and returned to carriage No. 7.

This was Cheng Yao's first time taking a train. He followed his grandfather before boarding the train. After finding his seat, he asked the conductor for the carriage where he could buy a ticket. His grandfather was still worried and wanted to follow him.

But looking at the aisle where there was no place to put his feet, grandpa finally gave up the idea of ​​going there after Cheng Yao's persuasion. Cheng Yao repaired the sleeper berth in carriage 13, and he would take grandpa there after eating something in the evening.

Wherever there was a little empty space, there were passengers sitting with stools, and they were obviously experienced. Although it was crowded, the snack carts seemed to pass easily, as if they had some kind of magic, just like the poem that says there must be a way out when there are cars, but there was no light at the end of the tunnel, because it was filled with people.

Seeing Cheng Yao coming over, Grandpa Cheng asked, "Is it fixed?"

Cheng Yao took out the ticket from his pocket: "Well, but there will be no vacant seats until 8 pm. I will take you there then, and you can sleep there."

Grandpa Cheng took the ticket and looked at it: "Didn't I give you a replacement ticket? Why did you change it to a hard sleeper?"

Seeing someone coming, Cheng Yao stood a little further in his seat and said, "Grandpa, I'm fine. If you sit all the way to Jingnan City, your body will not be able to bear it. You can go to bed later at night."

"I'm still young and my body can handle it."

Grandpa Cheng: "Your child, don't say anything, just bear everything by yourself."

Cheng Yao took out a water cup from his bag: "Grandpa, please sit for a while. I'll go get some hot water."

Cheng Yao had not eaten at noon in order to catch the bus. When he came here just now, he saw the water collection point. Now he was going to get some hot water to make some instant noodles for his grandfather.

Looking at the crowded aisle, although he didn't want to move at all, he had no choice.

Cheng Yao did not choose to eat instant noodles, but took out bread to eat. It was because it was not tasty to eat while standing, and he liked bread better than instant noodles.

When it came to the next stop, Grandpa Cheng insisted on getting up and standing, letting Cheng Yao sit for a while.

Cheng Yao insisted on refusing, "Grandpa, please sit down and don't worry about me. If I get tired, I will find a place to sit."

In order to prevent Grandpa Cheng from feeling uneasy, Cheng Yao went to get a glass of water and then stood at the junction of carriages 7 and 6.

The new corn has come in. These days, grandma and grandpa are taking down last year's corn hanging on the wall and threshing it one by one. There are no machines, so they do it all by hand. Zhang Yumian also joins in.

She rubbed two corns together, and corn kernels fell off both of them. Suddenly, it occurred to her that this was friction, and that in physics, forces acted mutually.

To be honest, she would never have thought of these things before. I don’t know why, but they suddenly popped up in her mind today.

"Sister Mianmian, you are here"

Hearing the voice, Zhang Yumian looked up and saw that it was Xiaolin from her uncle's family. This little girl was naturally active and liked to play everywhere. One look at her tanned face showed that she had not gone out to play this summer.

"Xiao Lin, you carry a hoe to the fields every day, and your face is almost as tanned as Bao Gong's," Zhang Yumian continued jokingly while holding the work in his hands.

Xiaolin rushed over, hugged Zhang Yumian's neck, and said with a smile, "If I could have Wang Chao, Ma Han, Zhang Long, and Zhao Hu, I would be willing too."

Xiao Lin is only about eight years old now, but I didn’t expect that she knows so much.

"It seems like you watch a lot of TV," Zhang Yumian said as she pulled the arm wrapped around her neck. It was so thin that she didn't dare to use too much force.

“No, it’s not.”

Xiaolin got up from Zhang Yumian, squatted on the ground and joined the group of people who were manually shelling corn.

Grandma answered from the side: "There are operas in the village. I went to watch them every day with your grandfather and heard them."

Zhang Yumian gave Xiaolin a thumbs up and said, "Great, Xiaolin, you can understand all this."

Xiaolin raised her head and rubbed her nose with her thumb, looking very proud.

Xiaolin suddenly remembered something, looked at Zhang Yumian and said, "Sister, there is a play being performed in the next village these two days, let's go and watch it."

Needless to say, it must be that none of the family members will go, and she is worried about being alone. They want to pull me in, but I am still a little tempted. I haven't seen it since I went to high school in my previous life.

Although it is difficult to understand, the stories sung are generally well-known stories, such as The Injustice of Dou E, Sanniang Teaching Her Son, and Silang Visiting His Mother.

I watched how these operas were performed when I was a child. Later, when I learned more words, I started to read the typed subtitles.

I can just about reconstruct the general outline of the story in my mind.

However, when she was a child, she often went behind the stage to watch the actors put on makeup and change clothes.

Most of them have to perform multiple duties. Every time you poke your head out from the door at the back, you will see people inside busying around, preparing for the next stage after coming off.

But when they put on makeup, they are like different people, completely different from when they are not wearing makeup.

After I got to know more about it, I realized that different makeups represent different roles.

They are acting out other people's stories and shedding their own tears.

When Xiaolin was young, there was shadow play in the village. When night fell, the villagers would sit in front of a white curtain, and the lights would turn on, percussion instruments would start playing, and the play would begin.

In the hands of the veteran artists, each shadow puppet becomes a vivid character, performing their lives on the screen. These long-standing historical stories are passed down from generation to generation through the voices and movements of the veteran artists.

There were puppet shows when I was a kid, but I only saw them when I was very young, and now I only have a faint memory of them.

I don’t know how, but I never saw it again. At the beginning, I didn’t understand the value of art at all. Now, even after ten years, I can’t see it even if I want to.

These are the nation’s most precious cultures. Unfortunately, there were no mobile phones at the time, so the memories of those times could not be preserved. All I regret is that our brain capacity was not enough at the time.

Zhang Yumian immediately planned to go to the next village to watch a play in the evening. The first day of the holiday was also a meaningful day.