Searching for "Jiang Yuanshi" (Part 4)
Summer passed, and autumn in the south was gone in a flash, and winter came without any warning.
It was cold, and I didn't feel anything when the wind blew on my face at first, but when I came to my senses, my skin was already numb and painful. Little Jiang Yuanshi, wrapped in a big cotton-padded jacket and a plush hat, stood at the entrance of the kindergarten, his face was red from the cold, like an apple covered with frost.
His grandmother didn't come to pick him up today. Little Jiang Yuanshi watched the children around him being picked up one by one, and then threw themselves into their parents' arms and were picked up high. Little Jiang Yuanshi stood quietly, his eyes through the brim of his hat, watching silently as their backs disappeared from his sight.
The kindergarten in the village is not as formal as the ones in the city. Small, medium and large classes are put together because there are not many people. There are not many children of the same age as Jiang Yuanshi. Those younger than him have their own playmates, and those older than him look down on those from the city whose delicate skin and flesh seem to break if touched. Little Jiang Yuanshi, who had just come to the kindergarten, originally had a playmate, but from some point on, the teacher began to take special care of him, fearing that he would get hurt or bullied. It was a good thing in origin, but excessive favoritism and protection led to no one daring to approach him, or being unwilling to approach him.
Originally there was a little fat boy who could chat, but actually their relationship was average. It was only because the little fat boy was more talkative, his home was close, and he was from the town, the only two children who did not belong to the village became friends. Because Jiang Yuanshi looked fair and chubby, the little fat boy named him "Dabai", and he got this name from a cartoon.
When Xiao Jiang was about to get married, he asked his grandmother to let him watch the movie. The Dabai in the movie was white and plump, very cute and reliable, so he accepted the name well.
But their friendship was short-lived. After the summer vacation, Xiaopang followed his parents to go to school in the town. Before leaving, he gave Xiaojiang Yuanshi a small model of Dabai. The model had a small head and a big body, and the only two circles on the face that looked like eyes were faded. It was a world miracle that such a pirated model could be bought in a remote place. Xiaojiang Yuanshi found wood, popsicle sticks and other things by himself, and assembled an airplane according to the textbooks at home as a farewell gift for the other party.
The farewell was very peaceful. After the two children exchanged gifts, they waved goodbye and went home. The next day, Xiao Jiangyuan lay on the window at home and watched the car carrying the luggage. He watched Xiaopang's parents holding Xiaopang's left and right hands and coming out of the house, getting in the car, closing the door, starting the car and leaving.
The shadow of the car disappeared from sight, just like that. At the same time, the only friendship in Jiang Yuanshi's life also came to an end.
Xiao Jiang Yuanshi was the only one left in the kindergarten. Gradually, in the eyes of the teacher, Xiao Jiang Yuanshi became a quiet child who isolated the whole class by himself.
Children in the kindergarten come and go, and are replaced by new ones. In just half a year, there are many new faces in the class besides Jiang Yuanshi.
A new classmate tried to come up and make friends with him. As soon as Jiang Yuanshi raised his hand, the new classmate was pulled away by the children from the older class. They began to tell him about the dangers of getting close to Jiang Yuanshi. He was already accustomed to the puzzled and bewildered looks that finally turned into "So that's how it is".
Xiao Jiangyuan's anticipation of going to kindergarten turned into numbness and even aversion to school, but his grandmother told him to be obedient, and his parents told him to listen to his grandmother and not to make her worry and sad. He endured it for half a year. Kindergarten was really boring, the assignments were boring, and the activities were uninteresting. The happiest thing every day was that after school, his grandmother would always appear at the school gate, and later Xiao Huang was added.
Jiang Yuanshi was the only child who had his grandmother and dog come to pick him up, but today, his grandmother and dog didn't come either. Did something happen? Jiang Yuanshi was a little scared, afraid that something happened at home and that he would be abandoned. He waited for an unknown amount of time, and his fleece gloves were soaked with sweat, making him even colder. He actually knew the way home and could go back alone, but he was afraid that if he left now, he would be separated from his grandmother and the others. What would happen?
But Xiao Jiang Yuanshi waited for a long time, and most of the children in front of the kindergarten had left. The teacher who sent the child home called but no one answered. Finally, there was no choice but to place Xiao Jiang Yuanshi with the security guard.
The grandpa's security room was so warm that Xiao Jiang Yuanshi shivered. The grandpa was kind enough to give him a piece of candy, and took out a new paper cup to pour him some hot water. Xiao Jiang Yuanshi took it obediently and said thank you. The grandpa touched his head, gave him a small stool, and sat on it. He also threw in a square object, which was a game console. I heard that the grandpa found it when he was collecting junk. It was still usable, so he put it in the security room. Every child whose family came late could play with it. Xiao Jiang Yuanshi was lucky enough to be among them.
It's just a very simple Tetris, but this is Xiao Jiangyuan's first time playing it. Her grandmother only accepts educational toys as games. In her eyes, a game console like this is something that affects learning.
When Xiao Jiangyuan first played, he just secretly watched others play. When he was with Xiaopang, he just watched from the sidelines.
Tetris, a small game for killing time. Watching different blocks fall, assemble and disappear, the falling speed is getting faster and faster. At first, Xiao Jiang Yuanshi quickly over the game, but after many attempts, he seems to have found the skills. After getting more and more familiar with it, he can't stop. When he cleared the 66th level and was about to start the next level, his vision suddenly dimmed, as if someone blocked his sight. Xiao Jiang Yuanshi raised his head.
It’s mom and dad.
Their faces were very gloomy. Xiao Jiang was sitting on a stool holding a game console, feeling a little confused. Why did his parents come? It was clearly not the Chinese New Year yet.
The child looked a little confused. The parents whom he hadn't seen for a long time looked similar but also very different from the photos. The father with glasses didn't look as kind as he looked in the photo, and the mother with long hair didn't have a smile on her face.
When they looked at Xiao Jiangyuan coldly, they glanced at the game console in their hands, and their faces became even uglier. They were about to say something when the security guard came back from outside. When he saw them, he asked if they were the child's parents. After confirming, he asked why they came to pick up the child so late.
The parents, who had originally had sullen faces, suddenly changed their attitudes 180 degrees. The father pushed his glasses, raised a smile, and while apologizing, he stated his and his wife's professional identities. Both parents are teachers, one teaches at a university and the other teaches at a high school. Both are busy and cannot take care of the child, so they had to send the child to his grandmother in the countryside. Today, they had some free time and wanted to come back to give the child a surprise, so they did not ask the grandmother to pick him up, but they did not expect that he would be late.
While saying sorry, the father took out a cigarette box from his pocket and handed it to the security guard. The security guard waved his hand and kindly asked them to take the child away. He also reminded them not to keep the child for so long next time. The mother smiled and took Jiang Yuanshi's hand. Little Jiang Yuanshi had already put the game console aside. He was led to stand up. After waving goodbye to the security guard, the father picked up little Jiang Yuanshi and took his mother's hand, and left with the security guard's emotion that the young man had a good affection for young people.
They walked home. Little Jiang Yuanshi was actually a little hurt, but he hadn't been held by his parents for a long time. This time he was held high up like the other children. Just when he opened his mouth and whispered, "Mom and Dad," little Jiang Yuanshi was put down.
The child looked up blankly, as if he didn't understand what he had done wrong. His father, who was originally smiling, suddenly changed and said coldly, "What did you learn in the countryside? Are the games fun? Did you play so hard that your parents didn't even call you?"
Xiao Jiangyuan shook his head helplessly and said, "No."
His mother advised, "After all, this is a rural area. The education is definitely not as good as in the city. If I had known, I would not have left him with me. He is so addicted to games. By the way, where did you get the game console? Did the security guard give it to you?"
Before Xiao Jiangyuan could explain, his mother made a judgment: "This is a place without culture, misleading students, and anyone can be admitted to the kindergarten."
At this time, the father acted as a peacemaker and calmed the mother's emotions.
The two started chatting about rural education and gradually moved the topic to a higher level.
Little Jiang Yuan was very cold when he lost his arms. His gloves fell on the old man. He could only follow his parents with his hands in his pockets. The originally happy journey home became long and confusing.
He misses his grandma and Xiao Huang a little. When can he go home?
The water on the road surface in winter froze into ice, and he fell down accidentally. After all, he was still a child. Seeing his parents not stopping, he couldn't help crying, and his voice gradually became louder. His parents finally stopped and turned to look at the fallen child.
Their expressions were indifferent, their brows were frowned, and they were a little impatient, as if they hated the child's shrill crying, but in the end the two of them sighed and walked towards the child.
When the mother pulled little Jiang Yuan up, she complained, "Didn't he just fall? Why are you crying like this?" As she spoke, she brushed off the dust and mud on little Jiang Yuan's body, took out a tissue to wipe his slightly scratched face, then lifted the child up from his armpits. The child lay on his mother's shoulders, feeling the occasional pats on his back. The father took off his gloves and put them on the child. Although they were a little big, they were very warm.
Xiao Jiangyuan's tears and snot were wiped away, and he was held in his mother's arms. After walking for a while, he was held in his father's arms.
The family walked home like this.
Like a happy family of three.
Mom and Dad still loved him, and Xiao Jiang forgot all his previous sadness and experiences and only remembered the warmth of his parents' arms.
When little Jiang Yuan returned home, he was picked up by his grandmother, who was wearing an apron. The child had fallen asleep with scratches on his face, which made his grandmother feel distressed: "It would have been fine if you two didn't come back, but you came back so late to pick up a child, and your face was even scratched."
"We took him for a walk. Children are playful and accidentally fell." The parents responded to each other. The grandmother looked at them and said nothing. She just took the child back to the house to apply medicine. When the two adults followed, they suddenly discovered the special layout of the house.
"Mom, you got a dog? Aren't you allergic to dog hair? Why keep a dog? It's bad for your health. Did this kid want to get one? How can he be so ignorant?"
"Stop talking about the child. Yuanyuan is very well behaved. I think the puppy was raised for the sake of happiness. You don't need to take care of it. It's not even Chinese New Year yet. What are you doing here?"
The parents looked at each other and said, "We plan to take him to the city. He is old enough to go to primary school. The teaching quality here is not as good as that in the city."
The grandmother changed the child's clothes and tucked him into bed. She came out and said with a stern face, "Why didn't you think of this when you were in kindergarten? Now you think of the teaching quality. I think the teacher will be evaluated for excellence soon. It won't sound good if the teacher's child is a left-behind child."
The old lady was merciless and exposed their purpose in one sentence. The two people did not blush. The mother said: "We know that we owed Yuanyuan these years. We were young and ignorant at the time. Now we miss our child very much and want to make it up to him and give him the best. Mom, you are also a teacher, and you also said that the child is very smart. This country kindergarten is okay, and elementary school is the starting line of life. There are many opportunities in big cities, and the teaching quality is also top-notch. We don't want to bury him. Every time we call this child and ask when we will come to see him, we feel sad and guilty..."
After all, they are still blood relatives. The grandmother had a cold face. After a long stalemate, the grandmother sighed and said, "Forget it. It's the child's fault for always missing mom and dad. You'd better keep your promise. When Yuanyuan wakes up, you can talk to him."
"Okay, Mom, do you want to go with us? And this dog... It's not that we don't want to keep it, but there are a lot of rules in this city. Some dogs are hard to keep, and there have been a lot of people poisoning dogs recently, so..."
"... Got it. I won't go. I'll tell Yuanyuan when the time comes. By the way, have you seen my dog? It's a khaki-colored Chinese rural dog. Why hasn't it come home yet?"
The couple looked at each other and shook their heads, "No."
That night, Xiao Jiangyuanshi developed a high fever due to being frozen for too long and fell into a coma. The village clinic couldn't cure him, so they drove to the town. The town gave him an IV drip, but there was no improvement. If this continued, the child would be burned.
That night, an ambulance followed by a white sedan drove out of the countryside and headed towards the city.
The road was blocked by something before it left the countryside. The driver got out of the car and saw a khaki dog lying in the middle of the road. Its fur was dyed red with blood, the blood under its body had long dried up, and its internal organs were ruptured.
It is obvious that he was hit by a car. There are many animals running around in the countryside, and accidents are likely to happen.
To get the car going, they moved the dogs to fields on either side of the road, then got in their car and left.
The ambulance started, and a white car with high beams on followed behind. Its wheels rolled over the road, leaving long-dried blood under the wheels.
That night, it snowed and the accumulated snow covered the road, burying the puppy. After the snow melted, the road returned to normal, but the dog was nowhere to be seen.
When Xiao Jiangyuanshi woke up again, he was in a hospital bed. There was no grandma or puppy, only his parents.
They explained the whole story to Jiang Yuanshi, telling him how serious their illness was, how anxious they were, and how much effort they had put in.
There is another good news. Xiao Jiangyuan will live in the city and reunite with his parents.
He should be happy, but in such an unfamiliar environment, Xiao Jiang finally asked cautiously: "Will grandma and Xiao Huang come too?"
Seeing his parents shaking their heads, Xiao Jiangyuan didn't cry. He just felt more confused and empty, as if there was a big hole in his heart and wind was blowing in.
It hurts so much.
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