Wu Aiguo thought of many ways to end his sad life, but the faces of his family members kept reappearing in his mind like a slide show. He hesitated and couldn't make up his mind, thinking that if he died, he would never see his family again. If he lived, maybe he could see his children grow up.
He was tangled and wavering, when suddenly, someone in the community set off a string of firecrackers, which woke him up from his dream. He trembled violently, woke up instantly, and made a decision - to surrender!
When he made this decision, he instantly breathed a sigh of relief, as if he was reborn. He collapsed on the sofa, lit a cigarette, smoked, laughed, laughed, and cried again.
At this time, his cell phone rang.
When he picked it up, he saw that it was his wife who was far away in the provincial capital.
He calmed himself down, put on a forced smile and answered the call.
"Hello, wife?"
His wife said, "Honey, I heard you were in a bad mood, I was worried so I called to ask if anything happened to you?"
After listening to his wife's words, Wu Aiguo felt very uncomfortable, and in the end he made his family worry about him.
His wife continued to persuade him, "Husband, tell me what's wrong. If you can't handle it alone, I can help you... I also know that the children are getting older and there are more and more places to spend money. You are under a lot of pressure and want to give them a good future."
"But Aiguo, if this family doesn't have you, no matter how much money you bring back, we won't be happy. Even if the children go to a good university, their lives will be incomplete without your company... Aiguo, you must always think more open-mindedly. Everyone makes mistakes. I can't live without my husband, and my children can't live without their father... This is what you should consider..."
His wife said a lot.
But there was only one sentence that kept lingering in Wu Aiguo's mind - "A wife can't live without a husband, and children can't live without a father..."
As the cigarette ash slipped from his fingers, Wu Aiguo sighed and replied, "I know. Don't worry. I will go back and spend the New Year with you."
On the other end of the phone, the wife was crying.
The New Year atmosphere is very weak.
It was as dull as an ordinary Saturday or Sunday.
Especially for people like Li Lin who have shallow roots in Shannan County and have no relatives, there is basically no difference in the New Year except that the food is a little more sumptuous than usual.
The government arranged three shifts every day, morning, noon and evening. Li Lin was close to the government, so he couldn't stay idle during the first few days of vacation. He would go to the government yard from time to time, which made the county leaders nervous and forced them to be more active and go to their respective units whenever they had something to do. But most of them did it to show their face in front of Li Lin, and only a few of them really did it for work.
Later, Li Lin also discovered this problem, so he reduced the number of times he went to the county government during the holidays, in order to prevent the employees from being in a panic and constantly sending messages to each other, "County Magistrate Li is here...", "County Magistrate Li is in the office...", which made it impossible for them to relax during the New Year and made them nervous. This was very inhumane, so Li Lin reduced the number of times he went, or concealed his whereabouts and tried his best to avoid those "spies".
I feel that there is no Chinese New Year atmosphere now. Li Lin also summed up in his spare time. There are several main reasons. First, I am old, less playful, and my focus has changed. Second, the government is poor and has no financial resources to organize exciting folk activities. So, except for the people buying vegetables, everyone else on the street is wandering around with a dull look on their faces. Third, gambling is prohibited. Fourth, fireworks are set off in a prescribed place. Fifth, after material abundance, family affection has become indifferent...
Especially after the two years of the special period, when the Chinese New Year comes, relatives will sit together for a meal in advance, or simply make a phone call to inform each other, saying, "Oh, let's not go out this year, take a good rest at home, and we will get together again after the Chinese New Year..."
The promise to reunite after the Chinese New Year always extends to the next Spring Festival...and we may not actually be able to get together.
Students are even more bored at home. Parents sit on the sofa watching TV series, while children hide in their rooms doing their tough winter vacation homework. From time to time, they come out to ask, "Mom, how do I write this question? How do you pronounce this word?" Then the parents say without even turning their heads, "If you don't know how to write it, skip it..." Once they skip it, the homework is left blank until school starts.
When the teacher called the students who had not finished their winter vacation homework to the podium, they were like eggplants hit by frost, unable to raise their heads, and complained to their parents in their hearts, asking why they didn't explain that question to them and why they couldn't finish their homework.
Rural children are fine, they are “free range”, as long as they don’t leave the village, they can go wherever they want to have fun. City children are “housed”, they stay in their three-bedroom apartment all day, and when they see snow, they are very excited, but their parents stop them from going out, saying “what if they get cold? What if they get dirty?”
And what the children were thinking was, "What if the snow stops? What if the snow melts?"
Without rolling in the snow, childhood would be incomplete; without getting clothes dirty, the New Year would be boring.
On the last day of the holiday, Li Lin had a video call with Xu Wen.
In the video, Xu Wen smiled like a bright flower and said, "Xiao Linzi, my dad is thinking about you. He originally prepared two bottles of good wine for you, but you just broke the promise. My dad said that he must find a chance to test your alcohol tolerance after the Chinese New Year."
Li Lin smiled and said, "Wenwen, you must explain to uncle and auntie that I am really busy with work and can't leave. You know, I just got to my new position and I am not familiar with everything... After this period of time, I will apologize to uncle in person and have a drink with him. By the way, have you received the New Year's goods I sent? Do uncle and auntie like them?"
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