Wang Tianxiao opened his eyes and found himself lying in the snow.
Since he moved to the south with his children, he has rarely seen snow, and sometimes he even dreams about snow.
Suddenly seeing the mountain undulating like a silver snake filled me with joy.
But this place...
He sat up abruptly, utterly shocked.
A dilapidated Phoenix brand heavy-duty bicycle lay overturned in the snow beside me, buried for an unknown amount of time, with the snow covering the front wheel.
A military-yellow backpack was hanging on the handlebars, its opening slammed open, revealing half a light yellow cornbread inside, which was also half-buried in snow.
He was wearing a light gray coarse linen Zhongshan suit, a type of fabric that hadn't been seen for years, and his large leather shoes were even more vintage.
Because the pants were too short, the red socks that were showing had several bright yellow words embroidered on them: Happiness Brand.
Wang Tianxiao stared blankly at the word "happiness".
a long time.
He murmured, "I thought the hard times were finally over, but how come I'm back to where I was thirty years ago? Do I have to go through all the suffering again?"
This damn fate, is it playing with me?!
When you're feeling really down, you're running out of resources and want it to pass quickly, but the days drag on and on.
Just when things were finally getting a little better, I hoped time would slow down so I could enjoy some peace and quiet, but soon everything was reshuffled and I had to start all over again.
Could they be any more shameless?
Wang Tianxiao sat in the snow for a full half hour, then smiled wryly as he picked up his bicycle, looked at the small mountain village shrouded in night, and spat.
"Oh shit."
He was an honest man who rarely swore, but now that he's saying it, he finds it quite satisfying.
damn it!!
He howled towards the mountains.
The shouts, mingled with the wind and snow, were swallowed up deep into the mountains.
.
Wang Tianxiao pedaled his bicycle quickly through the snow. The snow was thick and slippery, but he had ridden this bicycle from his teens to his forties and knew its performance like the back of his hand.
The insults have been hurled, and there's no escaping what must be faced.
During the ride, he gradually recalled past events and remembered why he was in the snow on this day.
December 12, 1984.
His wife was harmed by evil people and went into premature labor. Their son, who was supposed to be born next month, will be born early tomorrow morning. He suffered severe bleeding and almost did not survive.
Fortunately, he had gone home to take care of some business at the time; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable. It was because of this incident that he harbored a slight resentment towards his indifferent mother for the rest of his life.
Thinking of his family, Wang Tianxiao rode very fast. At twenty-five, he was in his prime, full of energy, and still healthy.
The bicycle sped through the snow, leaving two black tire tracks.
Around 1 a.m., Wang Tianxiao returned to the village.
Wangjia Village is a small village nestled at the foot of Yangzi Ridge, with a population of about eight or nine thousand. The villagers farm when they are busy and hunt and gather herbs in the mountains when they are not. Their lives were originally quite good.
Wang Tianxiao is a forest ranger in a neighboring county forest farm. Because he couldn't get along with his superiors, he was stationed in another location for a long time.
Although the straight-line distance from home is only a few dozen kilometers, returning home requires navigating around half a mountain, making it nearly 150 kilometers. It's not easy to go home.
In the early morning, Wangjia Village was quiet, with only the occasional bark of a dog.
He was anxious and didn't have time to rest. He rushed to the edge of his family's cave dwelling and looked down. His family's cave dwelling was pitch black.
Pit-dwelling houses are a common type of dwelling in eastern Gansu.
A large pit, several meters deep and roughly ten meters long and wide, was dug into the flat ground. More than a dozen cave dwellings were dug out on the side for people to live in. From above, it looked somewhat like a huge unearthed cemetery.
Because it's located more than ten meters underground, it's warm in winter and cool in summer, effectively avoiding the harsh weather with extreme temperature differences in the northwest. There's a huge seepage pit in the middle of the courtyard; if there's too much rain in the summer, the water will seep into the pit, preventing it from flooding the cave dwellings.
Before the family split up, every family, regardless of how many children they had, lived in the courtyard with a heated floor. Each family had a cave dwelling where everyone, regardless of age or gender, lived.
When a daughter is born, it becomes inconvenient for her to live in the same house as her father, so they will move up to a courtyard house built on flat land, which is commonly known as separating the family.
Once the family separates, the pit-shaped courtyard house basically has nothing to do with the son anymore. In the end, the pit-shaped courtyard house will be left to the youngest son, and the parents will usually live with the youngest son.
It is now 1984. Wang Tianxiao has not yet separated from his family and lives in a pit-house with his four younger brothers and one younger sister.
He works away from home for long periods, leaving only his wife, Li Yali, at home.
Three years ago, I had a daughter named Xiao Wangfang. My daughter is very sensible. Although she is very young, she can already help her mother wash socks and sweep the floor, and do some simple housework.
Thinking of his daughter, Wang Tianxiao felt a pang of anxiety and pounded on the dilapidated door.
"Knock knock knock".
The knocking on the door sounded particularly loud in the quiet night, startling even more dogs, whose barking echoed throughout the small mountain village.
"Who is it?" someone called from inside the courtyard.
"Me!" He recognized the voice as that of his third brother's wife, Yu Xiaofeng, and a flash of anger crossed his eyes as he said irritably.
The room suddenly fell silent. After a short while, someone slowly came to open the door.
It was his fourth brother, Wang Tianyi.
Wang Tianyi worked as a clerk in the village. When his elder brother was not at home, he always liked to act like the head of the household, speaking in an official tone as if the clerk were a very important official.
"Second Brother, why are you back in the middle of the night?" Wang Tianyi looked very surprised.
"Hmm." Wang Tianxiao responded indifferently, carried his bicycle over the threshold, and walked into the yard.
For a moment, he didn't know how to face these brothers whose relationship with him in his past life was so strained that they were practically enemies. Seeing them and hearing their voices made him feel disgusted.
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