The following story spans the Pacific Ocean and the northern and southern hemispheres. It sounds magnificent, but after it was broken, it actually happened mainly in Changsha, Hunan. It is a short story about affection, surprise, regret and waiting. Looking around, it seems to be not a special case, but it is very unique.
The hero of the story is Mr. Zhou from Changsha, Hunan. In early 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic broke out, and his lover had gone abroad to work. The flight was cancelled due to the epidemic, but the reunion plan was suspended. Mr. Zhou began to raise his son almost alone for several years: while singing bad police, he set various rules for his son who was only 2 years old at that time; On the other hand, he sang as a good policeman and tried to let the hooligan enjoy his childhood.
In the video phone that is connected every day, the son says he misses his mother, and the mother says he misses his son on the other end of the phone. Mr. Zhou was coaxed on both sides, and his heart ached. They are all waiting, waiting to see each other without video calling.
This expectation seems to bear fruit soon. The close relationship between Mr. Zhou and his son also quietly changed their relationship: "In the past, my son didn't care much about me, but he was more attached to his mother. It's getting more and more sticky to me now. " Although he calls himself a "hardcore dad", his son can always taste some gentle taste.
"Hard core" dad with baby: "Rules must be established and strictly enforced"
Mr. Zhou said that he was a "hardcore dad".
My son Zhou Xiao is five years old this year. Mr. Zhou thinks that physical exercise is a top priority. 5438+After the winter vacation in mid-February, Zhou Xiao hit 200 times with sandbags at home every day. Basic housework must be done by yourself: washing underwear and socks, wiping the table after meals, throwing garbage, washing clothes by yourself, without the help of adults. Zhou Xiao is familiar with these things.
At the age of two and a half, Zhou Xiao started kindergarten. Among the people coming and going at the entrance of the kindergarten, parents are holding their babies in one hand and carrying schoolbags in the other. Mr. Zhou is partial. Even though Zhou Xiao faltered with a huge schoolbag on his back, Mr. Zhou insisted that his son carry a schoolbag every day. Once in a while, grandma comes to pick me up. Teacher Zhou also specifically told her mother-in-law, "You must never help him carry his schoolbag for any reason."
Old people are always particularly distressed by their grandchildren. In winter morning, grandma will put Zhou Xiao's clothes on his bed in advance to prevent her grandson from catching cold. As soon as Mr. Zhou saw it, he took the clothes off the bed and let his son get out of bed and wear them himself.
"Many parents help their children carry their schoolbags, and all the little things are done for them." Teacher Zhou said: "It may be convenient for us adults, but it will form bad habits for children. Rules must be made and strictly enforced. "
"Making rules" is not easy. Although Zhou Xiao can solve all problems now, the process of "establishing rules" has given Mr. Zhou a big headache. Because he was young, Zhou Xiao ate more than the prescribed amount of snacks that day, because he couldn't resist the temptation. At this time, Mr. Zhou will mercilessly confiscate or even throw away all the snacks. It's no use crying and begging, just remember to obey the rules.
But it is such a "die-hard" father who gets closer to his son every day. "He used to be more attached to his mother, and then I started to take him alone, and gradually it became more and more attached to me." Mr. Zhou said. What he asked of his son was to fear the "rules", not himself.
In the second half of 20 19, Mr. Zhou's lover went abroad to work. The couple agreed that the lover would go first and the father and son would visit abroad the next year. Unexpectedly, in early 2020, the COVID-19 epidemic raided, disrupting the family's plans. Mr. Zhou started a three-year period, almost alone with the baby.
In order to send his son to school on time, he found a job from ten to five.
At the beginning of 2020, news about the "COVID-19 epidemic" began to roll out, which made Mr. Zhou feel very uneasy. Pedestrians on the street rarely wear masks tacitly, and cold medicines, alcohol and other items in pharmacies began to be out of stock. He spent the Spring Festival in this tense atmosphere.
The epidemic situation is still unclear. Wuhan "closed the city", and other cities were silent; A large number of overseas flights were cancelled, and some countries directly or indirectly restricted the entry of China tourists. No one knows how long this situation will last.
Repeated inquiries about the immigration policy and the development of the epidemic made Mr. Zhou physically and mentally exhausted: the plan to take his son abroad to visit his lover was put on hold. After discussing with their lover by video phone, they decided to suspend the meeting plan and let Mr. Zhou raise Zhou Xiao alone first.
There is no way. In Mr. Zhou's own words, it is "my son, how can I escape?"
Before Zhou Xiao was two years old, Mr. Zhou hardly took care of him. Taking care of my son and housework are all done by my wife and mother-in-law Suddenly began to take care of his son, father and son looked at each other, and even some strangers.
The change of Mr. Zhou's life began with the change of his career. He stopped a company he had been running, because he was worried about the big and small affairs of the company, which prevented him from picking up Zhou Xiao from the kindergarten on time.
Need a job that doesn't work overtime and has more freedom of work and rest. The child's condition is uncertain: I don't know when I will suddenly catch a cold and have a fever, I don't know when I need my parents to go to kindergarten, and there are some unknown "conditions in 1978". In order to cope with these uncertainties, in 2020, Mr. Zhou joined a real estate company and participated in the auction business. The stable schedule of "ten to five" seems to have set a fixed pattern for him and Zhou Xiao's life-starting to take care of his son's diet and daily life alone.
About two years old, that's when Zhou Xiao began to speak. When talking to Mr. Zhou, he always asks, "Where's mom?"
Zhou Xiao is really too young He hardly knows where his mother is and what she is doing, but he instinctively wants to find someone who will get along with him before he is two years old. However, Mr. Zhou always answered his son honestly and solemnly: My mother is working in other places, and I can't see her for the time being because of the epidemic. He doesn't think it's necessary to hide it, and honesty is very important at this time.
Mr. Zhou keeps in touch with his lover in the southern hemisphere by video phone every day. Sometimes, the lover on the other end of the phone will cry because he misses his family and is emotional, and the son around him will hang down his eyes and his eyes will be red because he misses his mother. Mr. Zhou himself felt bad, so he had to be coaxed on both sides.
For the "hardcore" education, Mr. Zhou's lover expressed his support in a video call. However, in addition to what Mr. Zhou called "hard core", he also gave Zhou Xiao more soft things. In the daily life of the father and son, we can find many clues: this may explain why Zhou Xiao is more and more attached to him.
Outside the "hard core", the relationship between father and son is heating up rapidly; Years of waiting are finally coming to an end.
People often have a stereotype that fathers are always careless in all aspects and are not as emotional as mothers. Mr. Zhou's getting along with Zhou Xiao may break this rumor.
On rest days, Mr. Zhou often takes his son out to play. Almost all the places around Yuelu Mountain and Meixi Lake suitable for walking babies have been there: Mr. Zhou wants his son to see more natural scenery. As for the popular "chicken baby" wave, he completely ignored it and didn't feel any pressure. "That kind of thing, I won't let him learn. No need. "
The son is still too young, and happy education should be the mainstream. Teacher Zhou showed his son the picture book, and he slowly learned to recognize and spell 26 English letters. People and cars are separated in the community. Mr Zhou sometimes asks Zhou Xiao to go downstairs to play by himself, and then asks him to go home at dinner.
In this way, Zhou Xiao has grown from a 2-year-old ignorant child to a lively, curious little boy who loves quiet reading.
In the summer of 20021,Mr. Zhou took Xiao Xiao and Mr. Zhou's friends and his daughter, and a group of four people traveled to Guilin, Guangxi by car. The elegant and beautiful scenery broadened Zhou Xiao's understanding of the world, and this trip left him with very good memories.
However, after returning to Changsha, Zhangjiajie began to spread the COVID-19 epidemic-their self-driving route passed through Zhangjiajie. Looking back now, Mr. Zhou is a little scared: "At that time, the management was strict. What if it's quarantined? What should I do if I still have him? "
The implication is, what if I can't take care of my son? This is the worry that he has been thinking about.
Recently, the "Ten Articles of New China" was promulgated, and it seems that it is possible to return to the life before the blockade. The life of the father and son has entered a new track, and the happiness brought by the policy shift to their small family is also obvious: Mr. Zhou's lover can finally buy a plane ticket to return home and reunite with his family.
"By 2023, all routes will basically return to normal. Maybe at that time, there is no need to grab tickets, and it is easy to buy tickets. " Mr. Zhou is optimistic.
He didn't expect at first that he would have such close contact with his son in this way. In the past few years when his lover is not around, he has become more familiar with the identity of "father" and learned to wait quietly in the daily necessities. Waiting for the son to appear at the school gate when the kindergarten is over, waiting for the overseas phone call from his lover; Waiting for my son to grow up healthy, strong and smart, waiting for my lover to buy a plane ticket and return to China for reunion.
Mr Zhou's waiting for his lover, like Zhou Xiao's waiting for his mother, is coming to an end. After the bell rings in 2023, the hearts of father and son may be more anxious. Maybe one day soon, they will appear in the arrival hall of the airport, waiting for the familiar figure to become clear step by step.
Xiaoxiang morning herald reporter Ren pictures provided by respondents.