godfather

Shortly after the Spring Festival, when school started, Meng Xiaobei took four days off from school, carrying his easel and schoolbag, which contained all kinds of brushes and tools for the exam, light and simple.Just like the Juren who went to Beijing to catch the exam in ancient times, he waved his hand to say goodbye to his family members, aunts, aunts, fathers and fellow villagers, and went to Beijing alone.

Meng Xiaojing's exam period is just a few days after Xiaobei's, and he will also come to Beijing Chinese Opera for an interview, which will determine his life's fate.

Grandma Meng cooked a sumptuous pre-examination practice banquet for her precious grandson, including Sixi Big Balls and Carp Jumping over the Dragon Gate.When Meng Xiaobei stepped into grandma's house, he was like a fish in water, elegant and unrestrained, stood up and warmly greeted every neighbor and aunt who came into the house, he was the little landlord of this family.After all, he has lived here for ten years.

The aunt next door said with a smile: "Meng Xiaobei, you are back, your grandma is nagging us all day long, you can't even think about it! ... Your grandma watched you run around the house since you were a child, and raised you up, child He flew away after being raised, and the family suddenly became lonely and deserted, the old man really couldn't stand it."

Meng Xiaobei said emotionally, "I miss grandma too."

The old lady snorted, "Do you think I'm left?"

Meng Xiaobei yelled after the words: "Bobo, silk cake!...Big elbow!...Big dumpling stuffed with chives and clams! Hahahaha!"

Meng Xiaobei smiled roguely, and was very innocent in front of his relatives, just a big kid.

Grandma Meng rubbed Meng Xiaobei's head and said, "Don't be nervous about taking the painting exam, ah! Grandma loves you the most after the exam!"

Meng Xiaobei nodded: "I know."

Grandma Meng asked in a low voice at the dinner table: "Jingjing is also taking the exam?...He is going to the drama school? Is it the one in Beijing?"

When Meng Xiaobei mentioned his younger brother, he also admired this man's heart: "Meng Xiaojing has been playing tricks in our Xi'an Drama Theater for a year. He has stage experience, he has a teacher, and he has prepared for a long time. The lines of his sketches , even I can recite it!"

Grandma Meng lowered her eyes and said nothing: "...Oh."

The old lady whispered in private: "Chinese opera? Can the child of Chinese opera pass the exam?! I don't believe he can really pass the exam."

The aunt persuaded: "You can relax, as long as your Beibei can pass the exam."

The old lady said disapprovingly: "Who are they in the show business circle, who are actors? This way is not good, it's too vain, we are ordinary people, and we don't like those monsters and crooked ways, so I can't see it." If you insist on going this way, you won’t listen to advice!”

That's what Grandma Meng thought, her stele can't be worse than Jingjing.The old lady tends to love the old heart of her eldest grandson, who has been stubborn for so many years, dripping through the rocks.Once a person has partiality, thinking about the attitudes and thoughts of the two grandchildren will become more and more like two different lenses; the benefits for Xiao Bei are infinitely expanded, and no matter how you look at Xiao Jing, you will not be pleasing to the eye.At this time, the old lady didn't know that Meng Xiaojing had made friends with the second-generation rich and powerful girlfriend.

As far as Meng Xiaojing's handsome and outstanding appearance goes back, it is precisely inherited from his grandparents.When the old man of the Meng family was young, he worked in a textile company in Dezhan District, Qingdao. He wore suits and leather shoes to work. He was one of the first batch of employees of "foreign companies" during the Republic of China.When Grandma Meng got married back then, there were wedding photos from a photo studio as proof. She was a beautiful Shandong beauty in [-]. She was beautiful, pungent, ingenious, and an "embroidered girl".

Mrs. Meng is no ordinary housewife.Over the years in Beijing, I have been hand-embroidering foreign trade orders.There are a group of old-style embroiderers in the No. [-] National Cotton Factory. All the embroidered things they embroider are exported and are all handmade. They are very popular among foreign merchants.Meng Xiaobei has been fascinated by this artistic talent since he was a child, and it is also inherited.

Grandma Meng is getting old now, her eyesight is weak, and she can no longer embroider big patterns, so she can only embroider pillowcases and TV sets for the daughters of each family!She is old and sentimental, and she always thinks about her eldest grandson's future, but she has never deeply realized that the person in her family who looks the most like her old couple is the second grandson, Xiao Jing, whom she does not want to see.

This year, the daughter of the eldest aunt's family is facing the third grade of junior high school, and the son of the second aunt's family is going to be promoted to junior high school.

The second aunt said: "If my stinky son is as good at studying as a flower in our family, why should I be so troublesome?"

"Yizhihua" refers to the only girl among the grandchildren of the Meng family, the daughter of the aunt's family. She was a top student since she was a child. She wears 600-degree glasses. She is best at studying and taking exams. From [-] to Beijing No. [-] Middle School!

The aunt said: "Your family Wang Lei is fine too. Boys, you don't have to study too hard. Your grades will be higher or lower. Look at Meng Xiaobei!"

The second aunt curled her lips: "Our family Wang Lei can't draw! What can he do?... Just like his father, he can eat!!!"

The second aunt's family lives at the junction of Chaoyang East City.The couple thought that the school in front of their house in Chaoyang District was weak, and wanted to get their son to go to junior high school in Dongcheng.Going to Dongcheng is a kind of cross-district borrowing. You have to go through the back door, rely on relationships, and pay sponsorship fees.

The second aunt said, "Do you know how much the middle school sponsorship fee is now?... Three hundred!"

"Meng Xiaobei went to school in Beijing a few years ago. I remember that the borrowing fee was only 300 or [-] yuan? It's only been a few years, and it has risen to [-] yuan."

Auntie has a clear mind and a sharp tongue: "Do you think the school will not reform and open up? Each school asks for its own price. It is a key middle school, and it can pay as much as it wants from you. And this year, the prices of things will not go up? In the past, five cents worth of tomatoes Children sell, now, let alone five cents, winter tomatoes are three yuan a catty, eggs have risen from one yuan five to two eight yuan, and winter Chinese cabbage is thirty cents a catty! The prices are soaring, and they are cheap. It’s gone, the common people can’t live a life!”

"Have you stockpiled flour and oil? Let me tell you, they must all be stockpiled!"

"The price of matches will also be adjusted. Let them all go. I just bought [-] boxes of matches yesterday and keep them at home!"

The two sisters talked and had fun. In the past six months, the people in the capital have been fighting hard against rising prices, frantically stocking up on food and clothing.

The school in Dongcheng District has a lot of things and strict management. It is necessary for the parents of the students to issue many certificates. If he is laid off and runs a small business by himself, he will not be able to issue a work certificate!Just because of the child, the second uncle ran to Yuetan Park following the guidance of the small advertisement on the electric pole by the roadside, and wanted to spend ten yuan to buy a fake official seal and stamp it to get a fake certificate.

The stamp market in Yuetan Park was very famous at that time. Stamp collectors and second-hand dealers from all over Beijing set up stalls in various places in the park, and many people spent years waiting for their goods to be shipped.These stamp dealers once fired up the first zodiac monkey stamp in 80 to more than 300 yuan.

A certain place where people gather in the Moon Altar is said to be a stronghold for selling fake seals and issuing fake certificates.

The second uncle was so hot-headed that day that he took the risk. Mao Yao asked a fake seal engraver for the price, handed over the name of the unit, and gave him five yuan.

As a result, that day, several police cars honked their horns and drove into Yuetan Park.The postal ticket sellers and the thieves who issued false certificates dispersed in a rush, fleeing all over the garden, and the place was in a mess!The police shouted with their batons, outflanking and chasing them in all directions!

The second uncle was so frightened that he climbed over the wall and escaped. When he landed, his pants were torn and he even lost a black cloth shoe.

He hid behind a tree and watched as the police arrested five or six hawkers who were suspected of engraving official seals privately, as well as buyers who forged certificates, and took them all away and detained them.

The man turned around, climbed over the wall and went back again. He picked up his loafers, and reluctantly searched for them in the small woods.It's a pity that the five yuan was not recovered, the stolen money was confiscated by the police long ago, and the speculation failed and the five yuan was lost! ...

The society began to pay more attention to academic qualifications again.The pressure of entrance exams is recurring year after year, and it is not only the fragile flowers of this generation of the motherland that are oppressed, but also the parents are a group of child slaves who have broken their hearts.Especially the parents of the graduating class, following their children is like being peeled off.

The second aunt happily talked about these trivial matters, and at the end she sighed sincerely: "Our family, Meng Xiaobei, is capable, self-reliant, and able to break through. There is no need for the family to spend money through the back door, and he does not even need his capable godfather to help him obtain a Beijing hukou." He just carried a small bag by himself, came by train, made a phone call, and reported his name, so he dared to come to take the exam with his hands in vain."

"Meng Xiaobei, don't mention anything else, at least this is a hundred times better than our only child!"

In the evening in the capital, when the lights were on, Meng Xiaobei and Shaotang made an appointment to meet at Jianguomen.Beijing was changing so fast, Meng Xiaobei almost lost his way.

Shaotang took Xiao Bei and drove south along the Third Ring Road.The overpass near Jianguomen is complex and the road is spacious and magnificent. A majestic foreign hotel was erected on the ground. It seems to be called "Gloria Hotel". It was a landmark building near Jianguomen at that time.The air defense radar on the roof flashed and flashed, emitting a little red light in the night sky.With the rise of the commercial service industry, employees of state-owned enterprises are no longer popular, and the crisis of the industry is looming.The profession of hotel waiter and public relations lady has become fashionable and popular, and can earn extra money.In the newly built small commodity market nearby, there are old Beijing self-employed and "daoye" who are practicing stalls.

Looking at the night scene on the bridge, Meng Xiaobei stretched out his hand to cover Shaotang's thigh.

His hand was quickly grasped by Shaotang, and the two of them held hands silently, kneading the uneven contours of each other's palm bones, pinching the traces of time.

Also unknowingly, after being separated for two years, both of them have become stronger and matured a lot.When I didn't meet each other, I looked forward to it every day. When I really saw it, I felt like an old man, holding his right hand with his left hand, watching the long river of lights and shadows.

Shaotang drove to a newly built tower-style community in Nancheng.

Meng Xiaobei said: "I seldom come to this land in the south. Are you buying a house here?"

Shaotang said: "The preferential resettlement housing given to military officers by the Logistics Department is very cheap. At that time, there were two places for me to choose, one was at Shijingshan, and the other was here. It was too far away, so I chose here."

Meng Xiaobei: "Because it's close to the Academy of Fine Arts, right? But it's too far away from your army! Besides, our city of Beijing faces wind and water in the north."

Shaotang said bluntly: "The house is prepared to 'house' you, as long as it is convenient for you to come and go. I am alone, so what do I need so many houses for?"

Driving slowly in the river at night, Shaotang's face was framed with a gold border, his nose was straight, and the side profile even showed some kind of gorgeous solemnity.

Shaotang is 32 years old.

Meng Xiaobei suddenly asked: "This is quite close to Dongdan Park!"

"What are you thinking about?" Shaotang's eyes were cool, and the corner of his mouth spit lightly, but the deterrent force was enough: "It's itchy again, let me scratch it for you?"

Meng Xiaobei laughed aloud, saying that I was itchy all over when I saw you.

After a while, Meng Xiaobei said, "If I fail the exam, I will be sorry for your house."

"In order not to let your new house in such a remote location be scrapped, I have to risk my life to pass the exam."

A new-style apartment building in maroon color, fifteen stories high.Their house is on the twelfth floor, overlooking the southeast land.Since the beginning of the 80s, the city has changed rapidly.Beijing began to make great strides in the reconstruction of the old city. A large area of ​​bungalows in Chongwen, Dongcheng was facing demolition, and real estate development companies erected huge real estate billboards on the ruins.Since 88, big cities across the country have experienced violent inflation, and the money in the hands of ordinary people has suddenly become worthless, causing inexplicable social panic.Items like steel coins seem to suddenly lose their value. Bills worth as much as ten yuan are now worth three yuan, one yuan is like two cents, and ten-dollar bills are almost worthless. It's gone!

There used to be a large factory area in Beijing.There is a machine tool factory in Jianguomen, No. [-] machine tool factory in Anzhenli, Meng Jianmin supported the third-line pre-work practice in Beijing Dongfanghong Automobile Factory, Balizhuang has the No. [-] Cotton Textile Factory No. [-] and No. [-] Factory, Panjiayuan has the Beijing Gear Factory, Shijingshan It is the factory dormitory area of ​​tens of thousands of people in Shougang.Many large state-owned factories began to experience the throes of reform. Workers were unwilling to produce, and people were restless.The crisis of economic turmoil and corruption continued into the following year, the last quiet years before the storm erupted.

The second uncle works as a self-employed transporter, the third uncle may be laid off soon, and the younger uncle is well-off as a driver.

The military invested and controlled, and the general staff built a luxurious mansion in the northeast corner of the city, and established a military import and export trading company.He Cheng wanted to install trustworthy personnel into the company, and had been looking for his nephew for a long time. He only waited for Shaotang to nod and be transferred to a certain department of the General Staff to do business.Everyone's life is constantly moving forward.

The city cracked down hard this year, and the police stormed Nanchizi Bathhouse and Dongdan Park and detained many people.

Dongdan Park has been depressed for several years, and local comrades have nowhere to go, so they began to expand their territory to hidden areas outside the city.It is said that the "Happy Forest" and "Office" in Dongdan Park were later occupied by a large number of little monsters who came to Beijing from other places and spoke a variety of accents.

Meng Xiaobei finally came back.

The whole city seemed to be covered with a layer of gray smog. The future of Meng Xiaobei and the city in the next year was uncertain.

……

As soon as Meng Xiaobei stepped into Shaotang's house, he was a little surprised: "Hey...you haven't decorated it yet?"

Shaotang hurriedly said: "I'm sorry, I put it on halfway, and then I told them to stop! You live in these few days, and it's too late to finish it. When you come over for summer vacation, it will be completely renovated."

Meng Xiaobei was quite unhappy, feeling frustrated with his self-esteem: "Didn't I be spoiled by your golden house?"

Shaotang replied to him: "It's all sold to me, and you still plan to get a Joe?"

Meng Xiaobei calculated that the 500 yuan in his passbook was not enough to buy a balcony in Beijing.

The house has two bedrooms and one living room, and the kitchen is quite big.The kitchen and living room are separated by a whole glass window.

In the living room, the master bedroom and the guest bedroom hadn't bought any furniture yet, so Shaotang bought a large double bed!

When Meng Xiaobei entered the room, he was overjoyed: "Godfather, you are real, to be honest, you just make a bed when there is nothing in the room!...Are you going to fuck me, or Are you going to lie down and beg me to do you?!"

Shaotang was also happy, with a handsome smile, and said cheerfully: "No one will do it! The day before you came, I went to three furniture stores to pick out a bed, and then I paid for it and asked the clerk to bring it over with a cart. Just to let you have a bed to sleep in! Afraid it will affect your exam!"

Meng Xiaobei: "Hehe..."

In the living room, Shaotang nailed a bed board with a few long strips of wood, and spread a mattress on it. He was going to sleep here at night.

Meng Xiaobei took a look: "What are you doing?"

"You want to separate from me?"

Shaotang walked through the living room with a cigarette in his mouth, his shoulder muscles glowing brightly under the lamp, and his deep voice seemed to suppress a wave of evil fire: "What's the matter, I'm afraid it will affect you, you sleep with yours, prepare for the exam, and the rest Let's talk after the exam."

Shaotang lay down on the wooden bed, Meng Xiaobei lifted the quilt and rode on it!

Meng Xiaobei tore off Shaotang's vest to play tricks, and the two rolled into a ball.Shaotang's light green shorts were stripped off, and then Meng Xiaobei's long johns were also stripped off, revealing half of his buttocks...

There was a burst of laughter in the living room, the flying pillows hit the chandelier on the ceiling, and the violently shaking lights cast happy and messy light and shadows on the wall.The two hugged and howled, laughed, seemed to tear their throats apart on purpose, panting violently, forgetting everything, doing whatever they wanted, in their own house.The house is empty, and the echoes grow louder and more seductive...

Both of them bit each other once.

After Meng Xiaobei made a fuss, he fell, was kicked off the wooden bed by Shaotang, and went to the bathroom to find toilet paper.

Meng Xiaobei's howl came from the bathroom, "Shaotang, isn't there only one bed in your house?"

"You also got a bath, the one that can take a hot bath, it's the same one in your uncle's toilet."

"Our house even has a water heater!!"

……

In the evening, Shaotang turned an iron pan in the kitchen, frying chili peppers in red oil, making supper, spicy noodle soup.

Separated by a glass window, the flames burning on the stove were reflected on the center of Shaotang's eyebrows, Meng Xiaobei looked through the window silently, but couldn't get enough.Shaotang is the most frequent model in his sketches. He doesn't even need to sketch Shaotang. A corner, the direction in which each piece of hair on the head stretches.

Double bed, water heater... Meng Xiaobei insisted that his younger father did it on purpose, that the old man was bored, and this was just flirting with him!The two rough men with very casual lives live together in a simple and ordinary life, just eating and sleeping.So in Shaotang's house, apart from the pots and pans for cooking and eating, there is a water heater for bathing and a big bed for the couple to do business.

Meng Xiaobei couldn't sleep, so he spread out his palette and oil paint that night, and painted an entire wall painting on the wall next to the big bed in their bedroom.A big river flowing through memory, with lush mountains and forests on both sides, and gurgling springs in the mountains.He also painted a hammock among the dense branches and leaves of a towering tree, the life in a paradise that he longed for in his heart.

Shaotang looked at it and said, baby is talented and successful, and I will build a hammock at our house from now on.

The first night I finished half of the wall painting, and got up from bed the next morning to continue painting.At the end of winter and early spring, the warm sunshine shines into the room along the balcony of the high-rise apartment, spreading the warm breath on the bed.The surroundings are empty and the house is barren. This is the first real "home" for Meng Xiaobei and Shaotang.

They will have many houses in the future, but when they have supported each other in times of adversity and walked along the way, the first home is of great significance in the emotional life of the two.

This was the last day for Meng Xiaobei to relax before the art exam. Shaotang pulled his son wearing a paper hat from the wall, took off the paintbrush, and said, don’t paint, you’re too tired, and you’ll be dazed if you paint again. The day before, I took you out to relax and relax!

The two drove out and were walking on the road when Meng Xiaobei suddenly mentioned inadvertently: "My sister-in-law's house also lives nearby."

Shaotang looked ahead and drove: "...Oh."

Meng Xiaobei: "Don't you know? My little uncle is the driver of their work unit. His family has a big yard in the countryside of Tong County. Now the work unit

I just got assigned to the building, so I live near here. "

Shaotang said lightly: "Your sister-in-law is pretty good?"

Meng Xiaobei sighed: "Hey, don't mention it! Her parents-in-law are all still alive. I heard that the father-in-law is still paralyzed and needs someone to take care of him day and night. Fortunately, he gave birth to a fat son. A mother is more expensive than a child."

Shaotang frowned: "...the husband's family favors sons over daughters?"

Meng Xiaobei: "... I heard from my grandma that my sister-in-law and her husband quarreled all day long. Last time my sister-in-law carried my little cousin and ran back to her natal house, but my grandma sent her back again. My grandma said that the married girl threw it out. Shui, whoever chooses a partner by himself, and you are not allowed to go back to your mother's house to cry when you fight. My grandma is too hard-hearted, and I feel sorry for my sister-in-law."

The two fell into silence and didn't speak for a long time.

Xiaobei's sister-in-law was originally weak, her personality was introverted and soft, and she was indifferent to the world. However, in the torrent of the times, everyone has their own destiny, and it is not enough to rely on sympathy and compassion to help each other to save people from the abyss of water and fire.

That day, Shaotang took Xiaobei into the city, and the two went to the Temple of Earth to visit a temple fair.As the Spring Festival was coming to an end, the two of them each held a big candied haws and walked at the temple fair. They drank a bowl of hot red and green fruit ox bone marrow oil tea on the street, and watched several giants in the square playing flower balls on stilts.

During the period, Meng Xiaobei called Qi Liang's CALL machine, and left a message saying that after the exam, he would meet up after the test gold list, and catch up with the buddies.

Qi Liang returned to the call: [You are really awesome!miss you! 】

Xiaobei and godfather crossed their arms and snuggled up among the crowd to keep warm.Meng Xiaobei asked: "I'm not in Beijing on the [-]th of this year, have you spent the New Year with my grandparents?"

Shaotang nodded: "Of course, even if you are not in Beijing, your grandparents are still my relatives, can I not accompany you?"

After a while, Shaotang said somewhat unnaturally: "Then on the third day of the new year, I went back to that house."

Meng Xiaobei: "Your uncle's house?"

Shaotang said: "No! My brother-in-law also accompanied my aunt to kowtow to his mother-in-law...my father's house."

Meng Xiaobei shook Shaotang's wrist, gossiping excitedly: "How's it going? Tell me, didn't you quarrel with your father?"

Shaotang frowned, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "I'm already an adult, why am I arguing with his old man? We don't have any conflicts."

"He...has severe diabetes, cervical spondylosis, varicose veins, and one hand is a little numb. I accompanied him to the hospital. The good life of being an official is not good for a few years, and it may be a year later. Completely retired. My dad didn’t get any money to make a fortune. Our family is the poorest and most innocent among the ministries and commissions. I just went to see his illness. When I got older, I started to nostalgia, and shed tears when I saw me .”

Shaotang's expression was calm, as if he was talking to himself: "When I was young, I was also ignorant, and I isolated myself from that family, as if I lost my whole family, all my relatives, and the whole world if I lost my mother. It’s collapsed! Since I was a teenager, I have never had a complete concept of a home in my life. Like you, I have no place to return to outside, drifting, drifting for so many years, and can’t find the root.”

"Looking back now, I was too screwy when I was a teenager. I missed a lot of things when I was young. Now it is too late to regret it, and I will never get it back. My father is almost sixty and has no other children. I want to put If he recognizes him, how many years will we have together?"

Meng Xiaobei said, "Godfather, I understand."

"I'm not as messy as I was when I was a child, I know how to cherish it."

……

Early the next morning, the two woke up at their place of residence as if fighting a war.

It was late in winter when the sky turned gray. Meng Xiaobei bounced off the mattress and reached under the bed to fish for his long johns.

Shaotang squeezed his shoulder from behind, and the captain gave orders: "Don't panic, you stepped on him a little bit yesterday."

Meng Xiaobei rushed into the bathroom wearing long johns: "Shall I take a shower in the morning?"

Shaotang said, "Is there enough time? You wash it, and I'll make you a meal."

Meng Xiaobei: "I can't turn on the water heater, it's cold water!!!"

Shaotang: "I'll prescribe it for you."

Meng Xiaobei was wandering in the living room with a toothbrush in his mouth, stepping on a wooden board, and shouted, "Forget it, don't wash it! It would be better if I smell a little, it will help me maintain my normal painting state!"

Shaotang was serving noodle soup in the kitchen: "Hehe, you're used to it by now."

Meng Xiaobei twitched the corners of his mouth freely: "Our family, Meng Xiaojing, said that my slovenliness is called an artist's temperament."

Shaotang sneered: "I didn't notice the temperament, but I can indeed smell the 'smell' of an artist."

Meng Xiaobei said roughly: "Hey, hey! Do you spoil your daughter-in-law like this!!"

When Shaotang heard the word "daughter-in-law", he immediately felt complacent. He loved hearing this the most, and Xiaobei recognized it himself.Meng Xiaobei rushed into the kitchen and rubbed Shaotang's waist...

Meng Xiaobei was still wearing his old dark blue cotton monkey that day, wearing a baseball cap to cover his eyes, carrying his picture folder on his left shoulder, and a canvas military satchel on his right shoulder. The satchel was full of his dreams.

Meng Xiaobei was in the line for document inspection, turned around, waved to the military jeep parked by the side of the road, smiled calmly and chicly, and said with his eyes: "Big baby, go back quickly."

Shaotang poked his face out of the driver's window, with watery eyes, and gave his lover a thumbs up from afar.

……