round spring

Large groups of snowflakes were knocked over by the wind. Brother Chun said that Dad would come back when the snow stopped, but Dad did not come back after the snow stopped.

——An Yuan's Diary

As soon as An Yuan opened his eyes the next morning, he laid down on the kang and looked out the window. The sky outside the window was still blue-gray, and the north wind blew all night without any tendency to stop. It was snowing, and the snowflakes were blown by the wind and fell on the glass. The small sound was mixed with the barking of dogs in the distance, one after another...

Shen Xingchun hadn't woken up yet, lying sprawled beside him, the quilt was crumpled together, bulging up, and pressed under his calf, An Yuan looked at the bulging lump on the side of his ankle. bones.

Everyone got up late in winter, the sound of the wind outside and the barking of dogs did not affect the people who were sleeping soundly on the bed at all, Shen Xingchun had no intention of waking up.

An Yuan heard the sound of pots and spoons colliding in the kitchen outside, he guessed that Grandma Shen should be preparing breakfast, and through the door, a few small cat meows came in.

Shen Xingchun didn't wake up until eight o'clock, took An Yuan up to wash up, An Yuan washed first, and went into the room by himself after washing.

After Shen Xingchun finished washing, he found An Yuan who was sitting in the room: "Where's your milk? I'll go and warm it up for you."

An Yuan took out the milk carton a long time ago and kept it in his pocket, but he was embarrassed to take it to the kitchen, when Shen Xingchun asked him, he took out the milk carton from his pocket and handed it to him, saying: "Thank you brother. "

"How many boxes are there?" Shen Xingchun asked after taking the milk.

An Yuan was still wearing Shen Xingchun's clothes. The clothes that Shen Xingchun helped him wash yesterday were still hanging on the rope beside the fire wall, and they were not completely dry. When he was sitting, the sweater he was wearing now covered his calves, making him look small and thin.

He clasped his hands on his knees and said, "I had a fever yesterday and didn't drink in a daze. Besides this one, there are two more in my bag."

"Okay, I'll cook it for you." Shen Xingchun said before turning around.

An Yuan bent his eyes and pointed at his back and said, "Thank you brother."

After Shen Xingchun went out, the little cat in the outer room pushed open the half-closed door frame with its front paws, stepped across the threshold and entered the house with small steps. An Yuan looked at the little cat, got off the sofa chair, squatted on the ground, and barked He said, "Little Hua..."

Shen Xingchun used to call it Xiaohua, and the dog outside called Rhubarb. It was really simple, and he named it directly according to their characteristics.

Xiaohua tentatively licked Anyuan's finger, and Anyuan touched the back of Xiaohua's neck, which was soft and fluffy and comfortable.

An Yuan drank milk and had breakfast at the end, Grandpa Shen checked him again, and told him to continue taking medicine.

Shen Xingchun had prepared a small dish of candied fruit for him long ago, An Yuan drank the dark bitter medicine, grabbed the candied fruit from the plate and put it into his mouth, the sweet taste slowly washed away the bitterness on the root of his tongue.

Grandpa Shen still went out to see people during the day, and Grandma Shen went to the side room after talking to An Yuan for a while. The Chinese New Year was coming soon, and she had to prepare a lot of things in advance.

Shen Xingchun finished the dog food in the kitchen, and said to An Yuan, "Xiao Yuan'er stay in the house, I'll feed the dog."

An Yuan responded: "Okay brother, you go, I will stay in the room."

After eating, the little cat lay down on the ground next to the stove and squinted his eyes and fell asleep. An Yuan sat in the room for a while, the sky outside the window was always gloomy, and he didn't intend to brighten it at all. He wanted to go out and take a look.

There are two thick army green felt curtains hanging on the door of Grandma Shen’s house. Usually when the door is opened and closed to keep warm and windproof, he gently pushed aside the curtain, opened the door and took a look outside. The sky outside was still gloomy. One piece, An Yuan couldn't tell the difference between black and white.

Just as the door was opened halfway, the whistling north wind rolled up clusters of snowflakes that slanted and fell down, fast and heavy, and poured into the house along the half-open door, and the snowflakes fell on his face. , Confused him all over.

An Yuan couldn't open his eyes in an instant, he quickly closed the door, and retreated into the house, leaving only a small crack in the door.

He didn't know where his father was now, with such heavy snow and it was so cold outside, the road must have been icy, and it was not safe to drive.

The more An Yuan thought about it, the more frightened he became. He leaned on the crack of the door and took a look into the distance. On sunny days, he could still see the outline of mountains in the distance, but now even the fence at the front of the yard was a little blurry.

An Yuan stood behind the door and between the curtains, and kept looking outside with his eyes open. After a long time, the cold air made his eye sockets sore. When he blinked, his eyes were sore and weeping non-stop.

An Yuan closed the door, took another step back, completely retreated to stand behind the curtain, raised her arm and wiped her eyes, waiting until the soreness faded away.

When Shen Xingchun opened the door after feeding the dog, he was jumped by An Yuan behind the door curtain and let out an "ouch".

An Yuan kept thinking about her father, but she didn't hear him when the door opened.

Shen Xingchun took a step forward and asked An Yuan: "Xiao Yuaner, why are you standing here? Do you want to go out?"

"I don't want to go out," An Yuan raised his arm and wiped his eyes again, "I just want to see if Dad is back."

Shen Xingchun put down the curtain and thought about the sky outside. Yesterday he estimated that he should come back this afternoon or tomorrow's An Guo Day, but now he said with some uncertainty: "Such heavy snow may delay the journey, maybe I stayed directly in the village, and when Uncle An came to our village to collect leather a few years ago, he also stayed at my house because of the heavy snow."

The sight in the room was not good, and the lights were not turned on. After Shen Xingchun brought An Yuan into the room, he saw that his eyes were red, and there were still tears hanging from the corners of his eyes. He wiped his eyes with his hand and said : "Don't cry, don't cry... Dad will come back after the snow stops."

It snowed heavily for another day and night, and the snow stopped completely at noon the next day. There was a thick layer of snow in the yard. Grandpa Shen and Shen Xingchun swept out a road in the yard, and cleared the snow on the road. Cleaned up a bit.

An Yuan stood at the crack of the door and looked out every day, while Shen Xingchun stood by his side.

An Yuan opened the door and asked Shen Xingchun, "Which direction is Genhe Village?"

Shen Xingchun pointed to him with his finger and said, "On the road where you and Uncle An came together, go west and then go south, it's a long way..."

On the afternoon when the snow stopped, An Yuan didn't wait for his father, and asked Shen Xingchun again: "Brother, the snow stopped, why hasn't Dad come back yet?"

Grandma Shen looked at the child looking forward to her father, feeling distressed all the time, and seeing Grandpa Shen come back from seeing someone, she called him, "Old man, you go to the village committee, use the phone number of the village committee to call Genhe." Call to ask if the National Day has been collected over there. If he goes to collect the skins, everyone in the village should know, and the people in the village committee must also know. When did you go and when did you leave? Go and ask."

Grandpa Shen had just stepped into the house, and when he heard Grandma Shen's words, he turned his head and walked out, saying as he walked, "Look at me, I've forgotten about this in the past few days. There are telephone numbers from various villages over there. I'll make a call and ask..."

As soon as An Yuan heard that he could call to ask about his father's situation, he raised his legs and followed Grandpa Shen and wanted to go out together. Grandma Shen and Shen Xingchun stopped him, and Grandma Shen said, "Xiaoyuan, it's cold outside, go to the village committee I still have to walk a long way, just go with grandpa, and you will know the situation after making the phone call later, don't follow along, you just have a cold, don't freeze anymore..."

Although An Yuan was anxious, he didn't forcefully follow Grandpa Shen out, he knew he couldn't make trouble.

An Yuan and Shen Xingchun were waiting at home when the door was pushed open. An Yuan stretched his neck and looked out. It wasn't Grandpa Shen, but a boy he didn't know. His face was covered so tightly that he couldn't tell What does it look like, but it can be seen from the figure that it is a fat man.

Shen Xingchun recognized the person who came, and asked, "Haozi, what are you doing here?"

Haozi was Shen Xingchun's classmate, he looked at Shen Xingchun, then at An Yuan who was standing next to Shen Xingchun, and asked, "Dachun, are you visiting?"

Shen Xingchun nodded: "Well, what's the matter, are you looking for me?"

Haozi's name is Lin Hao, he walked up to Shen Xingchun, hesitantly said: "I don't know how to do homework in winter vacation, please go and help me."

Shen Xingchun glanced at him and said, "You? Are you doing your homework for winter vacation? Is the sun coming out from the west?"

Lin Hao whirled around Shen Xingchun's side, tugged at his sleeve, "I'm in a hurry, go and help me take a look."

Shen Xingchun glanced at him, knowing that it was a lie that Lin Hao asked him to do his homework, and it was true that he was looking for something, so after a long time, he said "yes", then turned to An Yuan and asked, "Xiao Yuaner, are you going with brother?"

An Yuan shook her head, "I'm waiting for Grandpa Shen at home."

Knowing that he was worried about his father, Shen Xingchun didn't drag him along, followed Lin Hao out the door, brought An Yuan another piece of cake before leaving, and called Grandma Shen to accompany An Yuan.

Grandpa Shen came back very quickly, and Grandma Shen hurriedly asked him what was going on.

Grandpa Shen glanced at Xiao Yuan'er who was standing beside him, and after thinking for a while, he said, "They said they went to collect it, and they arrived in the afternoon three days ago, and then went to other villages, but they don't know which village they went to." village."

After hearing this, An Yuan's eyes turned red, and he denied anxiously: "Impossible, my father said, Genhe is the last place, and he can't go to other places to collect it. These places are all told in advance. People in the village say hello..."

As An Yuan spoke, there was an obvious crying tone in his voice, and Grandpa Shen comforted him and said, "Xiao Yuaner, don't worry, I'll make a few more phone calls and ask the surrounding villages if they can do it."

An Yuan sniffed, trying not to let tears fall, nodded to Grandpa Shen, and cried, "Thank you, Grandpa..."

"Thank you." Grandpa Shen stroked An Yuan's arm, "Grandpa will call again and ask, you and Brother Chun will play first."

Grandpa Shen mentioned Shen Xingchun, but he didn't see Shen Xingchun in the room, so he asked Grandma Shen, "Where's Dachun?"

Grandma Shen said: "I was called away by Haozi just now, saying that I can't do my homework during the winter vacation, so I asked Dachun to show him."

"Call that child back later, the winter vacation is so long, how many days are left?"

Grandpa Shen turned around muttering, and patted the hand of Grandma Shen who was standing aside without a trace. Grandma Shen quickly understood, and went out with Grandpa Shen, turned her head and smiled and said to An Yuan: "Xiaoyuan Wait here for a while, I'll go and ask Dachun to go."

An Yuan stood on the edge of the kang, and said "Hey" obediently, Xiao Hua came in at some point, and rubbed against his feet.

Grandpa Shen took Grandma Shen back to his room, closed the door, pulled Grandma Shen's arm, and said in a low voice: "I called and asked, and I walked from Genhe on the day when it snowed heavily two days ago on the National Day. The people in the village asked him to stay and hide from the snow. On National Day, he said he was anxious to come back to see his son, so he drove away in the heavy snow. He didn’t go to other villages. It’s been three days and he hasn’t seen anyone. I’m worried..."

Grandpa Shen didn't finish the rest of the sentence, but Grandma Shen already guessed it, and she hurriedly said, "Why don't you call a few villages along the way and ask?"

Grandpa Shen put on his hat again, "Okay, I'll call again to ask, if it doesn't work, I'll go to the town police station, you go and call Dachun back, the children have something to say, after Dachun comes back, you Go directly to the village committee and make a phone call. A child in Qianjie received an injection. I guess it's almost time. I should go change his medicine..."

"Okay, I'll call right away."

Shen Xingchun had just arrived at Lin Hao's house, before Lin Hao could say anything, he was called back by his grandma.

On the way, Grandma Shen told him about Grandpa's phone call just now, and Shen Xingchun's heart skipped a beat, "Is Uncle An going to be in trouble?"

Grandma Shen sighed, and said, "I hope nothing will happen. It may be because of the heavy snow. I may be stuck in a village on the road. Grandpa went to the village committee to call again."

After Shen Xingchun entered the yard, he called out An Yuan's name, but no one answered. After he entered the house, he searched, but An Yuan was not in the house. He searched several houses, but there was no sign of An Yuan.

Shen Xingchun and his grandma searched all around the house, but there was no sign of An Yuan. He stood at the door and turned around a few times, and let out a long breath of anxiety, "Grandma, Xiao Yuan'er is gone..."

Grandma Shen thought of something, slapped her thigh, and said: "It's bad, the child didn't hear what my grandpa and I said, so he went out to find his father..."