parting
Xu Hongqi didn't sleep much all night. When the first ray of light shone into the room in the morning, he opened his eyes, then let out a long breath, with white smoke appearing between his breaths. Lying on the bed, he looked around the whole room and couldn't help but sneer at the corner of his mouth. He had become so amorous in less than two years.
Without further thought, he quickly threw back the quilt and stood up to make his bed and pack his things. It took him a while to sort out the numerous items. He figured it was almost time, so he prepared to go find Duan Jiang. However, just before leaving, he turned back and knocked on the wall at the head of the bed before walking away...
Xu Nian didn't sleep well all night. Not only did he feel uneasy, his stomach also ached from time to time like needles. Even in the middle of winter, the quilt was damp. He suffered physically and mentally. It was only this morning that he felt much better and was able to sleep a little more soundly.
Xu's mother got up early and talked to Xu Hongqi. Her eyes turned red as she spoke, and she felt embarrassed and turned her back quickly. Xu Hongqi sighed in his heart and said in a low voice that he would go to find Uncle Duan. When Xu's mother heard his footsteps fade away, she got up with the support of her legs, went to Xu Nian's room with some discomfort, and prepared to wake the girl up.
As a result, seeing Xu Nian sleeping with a pale face, he felt even more worried. He didn't call anyone and left quietly. It was obviously the New Year, but the atmosphere at home was depressed and no one said much.
Xu Nian felt like she was dreaming again. This time the dream returned to the starting point, which was the old house on the island where she had the accident. At that time, the old house was still quite new. She felt like she was floating around everywhere. After turning around several times, she finally saw a figure. The figure had his back to her. He was tall but surprisingly thin. There was an obvious whorl on the back of his short hair. The figure kept moving, squatting and standing up repeatedly, mechanically and neatly.
Xu Nian's damn curiosity was aroused again, and he even tried to find a word, "Hey, what are you doing?"
When her voice came out, the person in front seemed to hear it. He stood up and slowed down a little, but did not look back and continued what he had just done.
Xu Nian said "Hey" and couldn't help rolling her eyes. She puffed up her cheeks and blew her bangs. She wanted to run to the front to see what he was doing, but she couldn't overtake him no matter how hard she tried. She didn't believe it and tried several times. She was exhausted and simply sat down on the ground. She no longer tried to speak, but just stared at the man who was walking back and forth around the room where she had the accident.
She didn't know how long it had been, she felt like she was about to fall asleep, and then she finally saw that person stop. The sun was shining brightly, and that person was leaning against the wall with his eyes fixed on something, loneliness lingering around him.
But this time Xu Nian saw the person's profile. She felt that he looked familiar and unfamiliar. She probably thought that he was too thin. She could only see the prominent jawline and high nose bridge from the side. When she wanted to take a closer look, the light was against her, which made her feel very anxious.
This moment didn't last long, and the man made another move. He reached into his trouser pocket and took out a pack of cigarettes, holding it between his lips. After a pause, he took out a small matchbox from his pocket, paused for a moment, and lit the cigarette without hesitation. For some reason, Xu Nian's heart suddenly beat violently and her stomach shrank. She was wondering why she was so excited when the other person was just about to take a cigarette!
She frowned unconsciously and covered her abdomen, looking at the man unhappily. Just at this look, beads of sweat suddenly fell down. He was not smoking, but lighting a lighter. The moment the spark touched the lighter, the man finally looked at her. Xu Nian was shocked. It was... Xu Hongqi.
"Xu Hongqi"
Xu Nian shouted loudly, and the other person smiled on his skinny face, but his eyes were so familiar, and at that moment they were bright like stars. He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, then waved at him with an iron plate in his hand.
There was a series of loud bangs, and it seemed that blood would spray onto his face. Xu Nian could only shout his name, his voice breaking.
"Xu Hongqi"
"Xu Hongqi"
"Xu Hongqi..."
Xu Nian opened her eyes tremblingly, a warm current flowed through her body, and she swallowed.
The door was pushed open from the outside, and Xu's mother came in with a chill, "Niannian."
Xu Nian called out hoarsely, "Mom."
Xu's mother looked at her daughter and said, "Don't shout Hongqi anymore. He's gone with your aunt."
Xu Nian was stunned for a moment, "Gone?"
"The bus is at 3pm. I just had lunch in advance, otherwise I'm afraid I'll miss it."
She was a little anxious, "Then why didn't you wake me up." Her eyes turned red as she said this, and her tear dimples were as shallow as Xu's mother's.
Xu's mother walked over helplessly and sat beside her daughter's bed. "Hongqi said she was afraid you would be sad, so she didn't let you send it off." She touched the corner of her daughter's eyes. Only now did she realize how good their relationship was.
Xu Nian felt uncomfortable in her heart. She sat up suddenly and felt a warm current flowing out. She opened her mouth, sighed, and said helplessly to Xu's mother, "Mom, I have my period."
After saying this, Xu's mother woke up and pressed her back into the quilt, muttering, "My daughter, you are finally here, and mom is finally relieved." Xu Nian was already fifteen years old, while other people came at twelve or thirteen. Xu's mother had been worried about this and even told her sister-in-law privately that she was worried to death. This year, she planned to secretly plant some red beans in her private plot to nourish her daughter. Now, because there was one less person to leave, she felt a few pounds lighter and quickly went to make brown sugar water for Xu Nian.
In the following days, the atmosphere at home became better and better. Only Xu Nian became much quieter. Under the instructions of Xu's father, no one who knew about the matter told anyone about what Xu Hongqi had done. The younger brothers also knew the seriousness of the matter, and did not dare to tell their wives.
Xu Nian later heard that Xu Hongqi had been out running around all morning on the day he passed away, probably to deal with the aftermath. He didn't say much and just followed Duan Jiang and his wife in silence. In fact, Xu Nian couldn't explain what her mentality was at the moment. She felt a little bored and listless, but she thought it was a good thing. She always hoped that he would have a bright future.
When Xu Nian's period ended and she had to wash the sheets, she finally found an envelope. She opened it silently. Inside, besides the money, there was a piece of paper, a light yellow draft paper, with a few words on it: "Study hard."
She crumpled the paper into a ball and wanted to throw it away, but in the end she couldn't bear to do so. Looking at the stack of pennies in her hand, she knew that this was his last savings. "What a fool, what a fool." But she also wanted to cry.
Xu Nian was not happy during the Spring Festival of 1976, but there was more than one thing that made her unhappy. The winter vacation was over, and Liu Xi had not come to class for several days in the second semester of the second year of junior high school. She and Liang Ting asked the class teacher several times, but the class teacher just told her to wait a little longer.
After asking without any result, the two of them decided to wait until Sunday to go to Liu Xi's house to look for someone. Wu Xinyu heard about it at some point and joined in, insisting on going together. The two of them thought it would be safer with more boys, so they decided to go together.
Perhaps the three of them had a premonition, so when they saw Liu Xi picking grass for pigs that day, they didn't seem too surprised. They just didn't know how to start the conversation. After all, it was an obvious thing.
Instead, Liu Xi smiled and invited them to her house, and said as soon as she opened her mouth: "Don't think that I won't go to school. I will still go after I earn a cent and get a share of the money." If her eyes hadn't been red as she said that, one would have thought she was so optimistic.
The four of them had no substantive conversation at all. Wu Xinyu took out twenty yuan from his pocket. Liu Xi looked at him fiercely. Xu Nian saw a deep struggle in her eyes. She also took out twenty yuan and stuffed it directly into Liu Xi's hand. Liang Ting was the richest among them, and she also spent money freely.
Wu Xinyu didn't wait for her to waver before saying, "You have to pay it back. It's normal for you to feel pressured. I'm waiting for you to pay it back quickly."
Xu Nian and Liang Ting looked at each other and smiled, "We are not in a hurry." They said in unison.
Liu Xi's eyes finally became firm, and he took the money. "Okay, I will pay you back with interest." After saying that, he bowed, and crystal clear water droplets fell to the ground and immediately disappeared in the mist.
Liu Xi did not return immediately, and did not come back to class until almost March. Fortunately, she had a strong learning ability and was able to keep up. Not only did she get good grades, but their relationship also improved. It seemed that Liu Xi had become more mature.
At first, she was not used to the days without Xu Hongqi. For example, in the past, whenever she wanted to go home during the week, Xu Hongqi would take her home. But this time, he left the bike behind, and now Xu Fengcheng rides it most of the time. However, Brother Xu San was working, so his hours were irregular.
Also, she used to have snacks from time to time, but now they are gone. At first, Xu Nian hadn't adapted to the idea of buying things and spending money. Later, as her wallet became emptier and emptier, she instantly lost the desire and confidence to spend money.
I don't know if it's because this decade is about to end, but in this last year, there are panics everywhere. It's really the darkness before dawn, and it gets darker as it gets to the end. On the contrary, Liang Ting's family is thriving, even a little ostentatious. Xu Nian doesn't dare to say too much, but he gives subtle reminders from time to time.
There was no college entrance examination at that time, and students relied on recommendations to go to university. As a sophomore in high school, Xu Fengkai finally got this opportunity. Their class in Hua County was supposed to have only two years of high school, but later on, for some unknown reason, the system was reformed and restored to three years. After he left, his aunt, who had never contacted the family, suddenly told his uncle ambiguously that Xu Fengkai should go to school for another year before talking about university.
Xu Nian naturally knew why, but she would never say it out loud.
Everyone in the family was discussing the decision on this matter, and she just wanted to ask her aunt how Xu Hongqi was doing over there, but in the end she didn't get anything out of it, as if this person had disappeared.
After this incident, Xu Fengkai did not go to college as recommended, but stayed to continue his senior year of high school. However, his cousin Xu Mai had a good thing. His aunt's classmate who worked as an officer in a textile factory made an exception and allowed Xu Mai to participate in the textile factory worker selection. She was directly hired as a temporary worker in the factory. This made his cousin so happy that she cried and laughed. This job not only gave her the confidence to make decisions about her own life, but also kept her away from all kinds of gossips from her aunts and uncles. His aunt was also very happy. It was like two joys combined into one. She even said it was a pity that her son did not go to college.
With the results of the junior high school entrance examination out, Xu Nian has put a perfect end to his two-year junior high school career. Although he can no longer maintain the top ten in the grade, he can still be in the top thirty. After September, he will be promoted directly to high school.
But recently Xu Nian has been a little worried. Girls are always embarrassed during their growth period. With the arrival of her period, she has grown fast and is considered a big girl. Her family's genes for height are not bad, and she is not lagging behind. Now she is about one meter tall and has a good figure, but she has no channels to buy women's underwear. It seems that this is not important in this era. You can imagine how depressed she is. She doesn't even want to go out in summer.
After high school started, the three of them had different body shapes. Liu Xi was the thinnest, thin in every way, but tall and very pretty. In the end, Liang Ting, the "eldest lady" with the highest material living standard, was the shortest, and her female features were the best developed. She also sneaked up on Xu Nian with a smile every day, saying that her eldest Xu Nian was not small either, and was softer than hers.
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