Rebirth Night Talk

The atmosphere on Sunday morning was not pleasant. Song Loutang, who hadn't rested all night, followed Wang Yibin to find someone to settle accounts.Between the lines of what they said, Zhao Xuejun could tell that there was no such thing as Wang Yibin's discerning eyes for discovering good things, and that thing was at best an interesting story made up by a person who resells antiques.And the introducer of this deal was the fat man who was going to fight with Song Liaowang, no wonder.

An overweight iron lump was mass-produced from a mold, buried in a kang wall and smoked for a year, and after being taken out, it was given a legendary story. Once it was transformed, it was worth tens of thousands of dollars.For people like Wang Yibin who have suddenly become rich, it is better to say that it is a stupid fee to pay for a story that raises their value, rather than collecting objects for hobby.They don't even know what it means to collect cultural products.These people don't even go to a book for a little bit of history for an antique.

This is 1990, and the antique market has begun to recover.In addition to progress, it is inevitable to start to regress. Some old tricks used by those antique dealers before liberation are equally applicable, and even... more useful, from the backward feudal society to modern times.

Song Loutang hurriedly asked the driver to take Zhao Xuejun to a hotel in the provincial capital. He promised that when he came back, he would take Zhao Xuejun to visit all the good shops in the provincial capital, whatever he wanted.After Zhao Xuejun heard the promise of the truckload, he just smiled and didn't take it seriously.According to Song Liaowang's thinking, he felt that at most he could buy Zhao Xuejun a basketball or something to coax him.Zhao Xuejun doesn't like the feeling of being pushed around like a child.

There is a lot of traffic outside the car window and people are crowded.Even if it is Sunday, this unique phenomenon in the early 90s after ten years of reform and opening up affects the streets and alleys of the entire provincial capital.People are always in such a hurry and always seem to be racing against time.People are running hard, but they don't know what they want, what to chase?They seem to be chasing a story, chasing some legends, just like Kuafu, one of the distant ancestors of the Shanxi people.He wanted to see the sun, and he spent his life walking in that direction, never thinking of turning back.Shanxi people have always been like that, simple, honest, and obedient. If you give Shanxi people a goal, just say it casually. It's heartbreaking.

Zhao Xuejun didn't go to the hotel. He is a student now, so if he is absent from class, he will have to ask for leave.So, he just asked the driver to take him to an old alley in the provincial capital.In the past, when the uncle who lived in the provincial capital brought things from the provincial capital to his hometown, except for some rare items that could not be bought in small towns, the uncle’s family liked to bring some vinegar from the old alleys of the provincial capital to his hometown.Zhao Xuejun was very curious about the smell of old vinegar brewed from ancient well water.That kind of vinegar is not sour and fragrant as it is called in writing, but the ancient well water has a sweet taste and so on.He simply likes the thickness of the ancient well and the strong nostalgia unique to Shanxi people.

After getting out of the car, Zhao Xuejun said goodbye to the driver, and called his mother Gao Juzi at the alley, but the mother did not turn on the phone.Her mobile phone has only one function, which is to put it in the middle of the table when doing business, to raise its value.In desperation, Zhao Xuejun took out the few dozen yuan he had, bought a plastic jug with a capacity of ten kilograms, made ten kilograms of vinegar, and carried the pot for seventeen or eight miles before reaching the provincial capital. A small restaurant by the road from the city to Wanlin City.Putting down the heavy vinegar pot, Zhao Xuejun searched twice at the entrance of the small restaurant, and finally found a freight car from the Wanlin City Transportation Company.He waited for a while, and when the driver returned to the car after he was full, Zhao Xuejun hurriedly smiled and greeted him in his local dialect: "Uncle! Are you going back to Wanlin?"

"What's the matter?"

"I'll come back too, have you lost the money?"

"Wan Lin's kind?"

"What about the old locust tree on North Street?"

"let's go!"

Zhao Xuejun got into the car, and the driver gave him an apple.They chatted about the little things in their hometown in their local dialect, and slowly... left this prosperous place.This trip to the provincial capital looked like a joke to Zhao Xuejun, it started with a joke and ended with a joke.From the beginning to the end, he was regarded as a stubborn country boy with only some special hobbies.Wang Yibin did not show more respect to Zhao Xuejun because of his relationship with Beijing.In his opinion, those old guys who are always sour and should have been decayed long ago are not cute.Just like his grandfather, his words are full of nagging, critical and inappropriate.

It was another bumpy road, and it was already midnight on Sunday when Zhao Xuejun returned home. After taking a shower, he slept until half the morning of the next day. At this time, the two classes of the school had ended.

Opening the cover of the desk, Zhao Xuejun took out the textbook for the third class, and he saw another piece of bread with ham, which was placed on the desk just like last week.Suddenly Zhao Xuejun was distressed, to eat or not to eat, that is the question.

"Why didn't you attend the first two classes? I thought you were sick." Xu Butang wandered in from outside the classroom and said.

"Look at that?" Xu Butang reached into the hole of the desk naturally, took out the bread and opened the package, finished three bites, and asked after two seconds... "Can you eat it?"

Zhao Xuejun stretched out his arms and hugged Xu Butang's neck gratefully: "I will eat it for you in the future."

"Okay! That's it. My mother asked you to come to my house for dinner these days. Aren't your parents not at home?" Xu Butang conveyed his parents' instructions.

"No, my grandma will come back at night. By the way, you bring a vinegar pot when you go home. I bought Laoxiang vinegar from the provincial capital. You can go home."

"Okay... oh, I saw that the concierge has your letter, it's from your brother, here!" Xu Butang handed Zhao Xuejun a kraft paper envelope stamped with a red triangular stamp of free conscript letters.The letter was thick, a bit like Zhao Xuewen sent back a magazine.

The teacher's unhurried voice sounded in the classroom, and the leaves of the cypress and poplar trees outside the window rustled.Zhao Xuejun lowered his head, opened the envelope and slowly read the letter from his elder brother.

Xuejun my brother:

A hasty farewell a year ago, and a few months have passed in a blink of an eye, deeply suspenseful.Are you alright?The family is all right, please say hello to my parents, grandma and aunt Gaia for me.

Xuejun must be very surprised that my elder brother, who never writes to you alone, suddenly sent such a letter.In fact, I was wondering whether I should write or not.I received those photos you sent, and they are very well taken. It is precisely because the photos that make me cry make me upset and always find someone to discuss life choices.Although my brother is young, I trust you and rely on you.

Xuejun, I remember that year, my mother's Jinxin market had not yet been built, and my mother and I walked around the land of China and gained a lot of knowledge.We went to Wuhan, saw Guishe Mountain, saw Hanzheng Street, and ate Wuchang fish.We went to Shanghai to live on Dalian Road, then went to Nanjing Road, and went to Yuyuan Garden... After walking around, I felt that I was so small and the world was so big.I am always proud of that journey, because no matter how big those cities are, they are still a corner of my motherland, and I am proud of it.

My mother bought a lot of things for me on the road, such as a smaller recorder, a radio, and a lot of good clothes and daily necessities.After we reported to the school, my mother dropped 500 yuan on me and left.

Xuejun, you don’t know, that afternoon, I was standing at the gate of the school, and my mother was walking towards the center of the city. She didn’t dare to look back, she just walked.This is the first time I leave her.I cried, and I know our mother cried too.At that moment, I had such a self-awareness, what does it mean to be ignorant?I've grown up...although I'm unwilling, but I'm still grown up.I stood at the school gate for half an hour, and then I felt an indescribable feeling of homesickness swept over my whole body. I was homesick. When I was away from home for less than a month, I really wanted to rush out of here, return home immediately, and return to my hometown. Shanxi, my hometown, my old house.

I went back to the dormitory and rolled up the quilt and cried once, because this crying caused me to be unsatisfactory in school for a year.The team leader said that my little girl has a temper, but what I call a big brother's temper in my hometown is really nothing outside.What the military academy lacks most is proud and outstanding people.My accent, my personality, my eating habits, the way I do things, these things separate me from my classmates in the dormitory.They call me a countryman and Zhao Laoxier.

When I was young, there was always hardship at home. As the eldest son, I witnessed my mother crying several times, and my heart was already heartbroken.Those sufferings and those crying are all because of money.So even if my mother put down such a large sum of money for me, I still dare not use it.I was wearing long johns mended by Aunt Gaixia, and the red-banner vest my father wore in the army walked through the corridors of the dormitory. Wherever I passed, my classmates in big cities always laughed.Of course, I didn't care about these, and it didn't take long for me to have my own friends, a group of brothers from the poor old areas.

The school life is pleasant, I am growing rapidly here, and slowly finding myself.My teacher is from northern Shaanxi. He likes me very much. He often takes me to his house to eat mutton steamed buns made by my teacher. Every time I go, I pour some vinegar from my hometown and send it. The teacher does not dislike it and always accepts it with a smile. .I told him about our hometown, our song "Fa" by West Wind, and Xiaoshantou Village. He loved to hear this, and every time he listened to it, his eyes were filled with soreness and tears rolled down.

The life of studying medicine is not suitable for me, but I have been working hard and cooperating.Half a semester passed quickly. After the first semester, my grades were not good, and I failed several subjects.When the teacher saw this, he discussed with me that he should not go back during the New Year, and he would give me extra lessons while staying at school. This was the reason why I did not go home in the first semester.

That was the first time I left my family and stayed alone in a foreign land, guarding the huge student dormitory to celebrate the New Year. The shower-like sound of firecrackers in the center of the city outside the window made me sad. I turned on the radio and all the channels were congratulating the New Year... Later, the captain knocked on the dormitory The teacher and his wife also came. They asked me to go home with them to eat dumplings. I went and ate a whole pot of vinegar from the captain’s house. You don’t know that they were all frightened by me. In fact, vinegar from other places is really tasteless. of.

After the New Year, I received a letter from my mother, and she sent me another 1000 yuan.You don't know how big a stir the mother's 1000 yuan remittance bill caused in the school. The team leader even thought something happened to me?He called me to the office and gave me a hard reprimand, and made the decision for me to mail the money back to our home.Xuejun, you probably don’t know, but in the days that followed, I was confused by my mother’s 1000 yuan remittance slip and didn’t know what to do.When I went out with my classmates, they always asked me to treat them, and I didn't owe them anything, so I refused repeatedly.So, they called me Mr. Zhao again...

I walked through the campus in my own way, and began to be silent. I'm not saying how different I am. After all, I went out to see how small this school is compared to the outside world.After all, our mother has become a trendy figure in this era, and she has earned an asset that cannot be surpassed by the combined assets of all the families in the school.While I am proud of my mother, at the beginning, I also made a mistake of looking down on people.I took out the tape recorder to show off, and I wore the brand-name jacket my mother bought... I went in and out with some classmates from good families, and I tried to find the same topics as them, and gradually my popularity became better. He even became the leader of some associations.You know Xuejun, my brother's calligraphy and ink painting are pretty good.

I walked through my 19 years in a daze, getting more and more confused, not only I was confused, but also my mentor, my captain, these officers who served in the army and earned very little salary, they were also confused, and the outside world became more and more confused. There are more and more million-dollar households, and the stories of the rich have also come to the campus along with the legends.I never dared to tell the school about family affairs, but some students still dare.I remember one day when get out of class was over, one of our classmates took out a pack of cigarettes and handed it to the team leader who was doing well.I will always remember the embarrassment of the team leader putting a pack of cigarettes worth less than [-] cents into his pocket.He was holding the box of cigarettes, his eyes were full of loss at that moment, and I was sore again... We soldiers, we soldiers, what are we stubbornly holding on to!

Three years of college life, this is a very fast time, I changed three times in three years, and during the last change, I decided not to follow anything.Xuejun, you are now a sophomore in high school. I share my experience with you because I am afraid that you will be confused about the way forward due to your delicate thoughts and over-sensitivity.Today, I want to tell you a little story, which is beneficial to my life. I hope you can gain something after I tell it.

Last summer, my instructor took me back to northern Shaanxi.There are many places in northern Shaanxi that are the same as our hometown, there are cave dwellings dug in the mountains, and there are simple folks.My teacher, my wife, and I carried a lot of medicines and walked thirty miles before we came to a poor village like our Xiaoshantou Village.The teacher's parents died a long time ago, but his cave dwelling was well taken care of by the villagers. Soon after returning home, the teacher opened a free clinic at home, and I also helped in the middle.

Xuejun, you don’t know, those simple villagers come from ten miles and eight villages. They see a doctor, and after reading it, they never dare to empty their hands, even if they are a few catties of eggs and a catty of brown sugar.They respectfully called me little doctor, old man, and the big hands of the old lady stroked my hands that had never suffered.I saw grandma again, and those folks on the hill.Only then did I realize how much I love the people on this land.At that moment, I found myself again. I was just an ordinary student in a military medical university. I was destined to be a mentor in my whole life. The only thing I wanted to do was to relieve people’s pain, regardless of my mother. How rich, no matter how powerful my father was, that was just an answer sheet for their own life, not mine.

The day before yesterday, my supervisor discussed with me that the military medical university originally had a five-year system, but he wanted me to go further and go deeper, and wanted to change it to seven years.I didn't say no, I know what that means.I'm not the best, I'm just the hardest working.The teacher saw my heart that wanted to relieve the pain of others and my diligence.Xuejun, I was very confused. My parents raised their children to guard against old age, and my mother hoped that I would go home every day. But now I made such a choice, which means that I can no longer be independent, and will become a burden for my mother for a long time.I know that my mother will be happy and relieved when she hears it, but I can't bear it.What a long seven years it will be, when I finish my studies, I will be 25 years old...

Xuejun, you are going to be admitted to university soon. I don’t know your choice. Today, the land of China is unpredictable and prosperous. School is the first step in our life choice.Today I will share my thoughts with my younger brother, hoping that my younger brother will make a choice, and avoid detours.Regarding my further study in medical school, I look forward to getting my brother's opinion, and I hope my brother will reply as soon as possible.

I wish you a healthy and happy Zhao Xuewen. On May 1990, 5, the bell rang for the end of get out of class. Zhao Xuejun hurriedly wiped away his tears. He looked at the poplar tree outside the window that had not moved for a long time. Also 20 years old.