The train sighed heavily like a bull before pulling a plow, shuddered again, and then, with a few long, startling cries, slid leisurely out of the station, spewing white mist and heading south.
The clanging of the wheels against the rails rose rapidly and sharply.
In the stirring rumble, those old dilapidated houses on both sides of the old house dancing generally fast spinning backward.
Copper City disappeared in an instant.
Soon after passing through several deep tunnels one after another, the vast central plains were revealed.
In a short time, it was like going from one world to another. Looking out of the car window, the corn in the wheat fields on the plains has already covered the earth, like a boundless green sea under the dazzling summer sun. Over the distant horizon, the curving South Ridge loomed in the blue haze. The rivers that crisscross the vast plains are like thin silver chains coiled in dark green velvet. The train is running like a horse in the flat field.
The windows on both sides of the trunk, constantly flying out of paper, food bags, empty car bottles and waste beer cans.
Inside the car box, the overhead fan humming for three hundred and sixty degrees of rotation, the cool air evenly sent to each seat. Male and female travelers are naked bare legs, eat, drink, and enjoy looking at the summer lush green fields.
Sun Shaoping sat in the seat next to the window, eyes flashing with novelty and excitement. It was the first time he had been on such a comfortable train - before that he had only sat in the bogie of the coal train from Dayawan to Tongcheng; by comparison, it was not much different from sitting down in the cage of a well.
It was also the first time he had been to the provincial capital.
In that case, his novelty and excitement are easy to understand. If you come from the mountainous countryside, the first train, the first time to the plains, and the first time to go to the big city, you will and at the moment Sun Shao Ping hold the same mood.
Shao Ping is on behalf of the Daya Bay Coal Mine to the Tongtian Mining Bureau to participate in the table tennis tournament, the temporary decision to make such a long trip. He got a second place in the men's singles, and cooperated with another person to get the first place in the men's doubles. His left-handed, horizontal grip on the racket, close to the table fast attack, left a deep impression on all the competitors. It was said that the Dagga Bay Mine had broadcast his achievement - a perhaps unimportant event that made him a "famous person" in their mine. In a place like a coal mine, it's not uncommon for you to show what you're good at. After the ping-pong tournament, there were the usual days off. For a miner, this is also a rare thing: you don't have to go down the shaft to get your salary and bonus.
Sun Shaoping suddenly thought, why don't he use these days of vacation to go to the provincial capital to see Lanxiang? Besides, he himself has never been to this has been in the dream of the big city. In addition, he has recently been in a very depressed mood, and wanted to go far away to disperse. Of course, deep down, he also wanted to see Xiaoxia's face. He hadn't written back to Xiaoxia since he received the letter that caused him so much grief and pain. His personal emotional torment and the death of his master had caused his heart to be on fire for some time, and his days felt like years. In any case, he had to see her - even if it was the last time he would see her. If fate decreed that he must part with her, it would be better to end it all early ...... Now, as he sat at the window of this car, he was in a pleasant mood. The speeding train and the rumbling sound made his heart swell. He thought proudly that it was the coal they had dug out that had been turned into a roaring fire that had sent this behemoth galloping off into the distance. On the chest of his white sweatshirt were the words "Dayawan Coal Mine" in red letters - issued to him by the mine before the ping-pong tournament. At the moment, he was proud to be a coal miner. He even held a sense of superiority to look around the trunk of the passengers, like a tragic poet in his heart to ask them: do you think of this train because of what is rolling forward?
"Look at your ticket!"
He suddenly heard a soprano with a Henan accent shouting from the side. He turned his head and saw a female conductor standing in front of him, apparently addressing him. He hurriedly touched the ticket from his coat pocket and handed it to her.
The female conductor turned the piece of cardboard over and looked at it several times before giving it back to him and leaving without saying a word.
The young plains thought she was checking everyone's tickets, but she was only checking his, and he couldn't help but gulp a mouthful of spit and turn his head toward the window.
Outside the car window, the green is flying general rotation. There was a long blast of the whistle up ahead, and a cloud of white mist came up against the trunk of the car, casting a layer of cold water over his face.
Yes, he was just proud of the red words on his chest, but it was these words that illustrated his lowly status. In the eyes of the conductor, not to buy a ticket to mix the car to sit probably can only be coal miners.
Fuck it! He did what a real coal miner would do, and performed a little national skill - spitting a mouthful of phlegm out of the window like a bullet, causing the lady with the red nails on the other side of the window to twist her head in disgust and give him a furious back of the head!
He smiled slightly, creating a Q-like equilibrium in his psyche.
Around two o'clock in the afternoon, the train pulled into the provincial station. Sun Shaoping was pushed out of the ticket gate by the surging crowd.
He stood for a long time in the crowded station square.
Oh my God, this is the big city?
Sun Shaoping in this place, feel like a falling leaf in general small and overwhelmed. He could not imagine how an ordinary person could live in such a world.
With a feeling of being engulfed by a huge wave, he walked out of the crowded station square in a trance, looking for the bus station to the Northern Engineering University - Lanxiang had told him in a letter that, after leaving the train station, he could take the No. 23 bus*** directly to the gate of their school.
He asked the pedestrians for half a day, and finally found the stop sign of the twenty-three bus ****. Luckily, it was the starting stop, and he got on and took a seat. Along the way, he pressed his face against the window glass of the bus, and looked at the scenery of the street in anemic greed. He saw almost nothing concrete, but only felt the colorful like a flood of colors flowing through his eyes.
Nearly forty minutes later, he got out of the car. Immediately he saw the license plate of the Northern Polytechnic University.
His heart was steady.
Shaoping had not written to Lanxiang in advance that he was coming, so his sister was both surprised and excited to see him.
She immediately ran to the school's guest house and booked a bed for him, and then guided him to the student cafeteria for dinner. The two siblings were so happy that they hardly had a chance to say anything.
Lanxiang bought the meal, and they had just sat down at a small table when a boy came over to say hello to his sister.
Lanxiang introduced her classmate, "This is my second brother!"
"My name is Wu Zhongping." The young man shook Shao Ping's hand enthusiastically. "We're in the same class." Lan Xiang added from the side.
"I'll go buy a few more dishes, can you drink?" Wu Zhongping asked him. Shao Ping nodded at him.
In a short while, Wu Zhongping brought a few large plates of food and two bottles of Tsingtao beer, so the three of them sat down to eat.
Shao Ping was greatly surprised that he did not expect his sister has made so much money to be so generous, and even intimate with a male classmate to such a degree!
Is this his sister who is hanging teardrops and carrying a small basket to collect firewood? He didn't even seem to recognize her.
For some reason, he felt a little heat in his eye sockets. He was glad for his sister's growth. She was perhaps the first in the family to truly break away from the yellow soil. This change in his sister was exactly what he had hoped for her long ago. In this moment, all his own misfortunes receded far away. In order to have such a proud sister, he should also live with enthusiasm ...... The next morning, his exuberant sister accompanied him to the street. Before that, she had guided him around their picturesque campus.
Walking on the colorful streets of the big city, Shaoping is not as shrinking as when he first arrived. He is an educated man, and soon realized what the world is all about. The only thing that made him feel awkward was that the pedestrians looked at him and his sister as a couple with that kind of misunderstanding gaze.
Lanxiang graciously and affectionately took his arm, and from time to time pointed out the scene on the street to him. She wore a sky blue skirt and white short-sleeved shirt, slightly permed black hair just over the neck, simple in the overflow of youthful radiance.
Walking to a place called Mule City, Shaoping insisted on taking his sister to see the clothes.
This is an individual selling ready-made clothes in the market, the streets on both sides of the flowery and green set up a glance at the head. Most of the clothes are from the Guangzhou-Shanghai area. There are also some Hong Kong and foreign imposters, the price is a little more expensive, but the style is quite fashionable.
Lanxiang said she has enough summer clothes, Shaoping bought her two pairs of jeans and an elegant spring and fall shirt.
The sister said with a red face, "I haven't worn jeans ...... yet."
"You definitely look good in jeans! However, when you go back to Shuangshui Village during the holidays, don't put these pants back on. The people in the village needless to say, even our family would not like to see it!" Shaoping said to his sister with a smile.
That afternoon, my sister arranged for them to go boating in Liuhua Park in the city center. Before this, her boyfriend Wu Zhongping had already gone to the park to rent a boat in advance. Lanxiang also called Jinxiu and arranged to meet at the boat ticket office on the lake side of the park.
After her sister led him to the park, Wu Zhongping had already rented a boat and bought a bunch of drinks. Not long after, Jin-soo arrives as well.
Shao-Ping was happy that his old classmate Gu Yang-Min and Jin Xiu came together. They shook hands tightly, snatched at each other to ask how they were doing, and were quite emotional, they did not expect to meet again in such a place.
In a short while, the five people swung the boat, sailing to the center of the lake.
Sun Shaoping knew that the other four people he was traveling with at the moment might rarely dabble in this kind of public **** entertainment - they spent most of their time in the library. Today, the reason they had arranged such an event was purely for him. Yes, big city people hosting friends and relatives from smaller places are bound to arrange for him to see the zoo and go boating in the park.
Oh, that was nice too. It was a real eye-opener for him, and especially the ease of being in such beautiful surroundings, and being with people close to him, made it very pleasant.
The sun shone brightly, the lake was blue; the willows on the shore were graceful, and the flowers were splendid; and the cool wind gently caressed one's face like down. Jin Xiu excitedly shouted, "Let's sing a song!"
"New song or old song?" Wu Zhongping said.
"I should say present song or past song." Lan Xiang smiled and corrected her friend.
Good, you're right. I'll sing a song from the past, "Let's Swing the Oars."
"That's just right." Gu Yangmin said.
So, with Jin Xiu's sharp soprano voice taking the lead, the crowd sang along with her -
Let's Swing Both Oars, the boat pushes away the waves, the water reflects the beautiful white tower, surrounded by green trees and red walls.
The small boat gently,
floated in the water,
In front of the cool wind blew ...... joyful songs with the boat in the turquoise lake water. Lanxiang, Jinxiu, Gu Yangmin, Wu Zhongping, are like children intoxicated in the song, face with a big smile.
However, Sun Shaoping's eyes were moist. He saw through the hazy tearful eyes, a piece of the depths of the distant strata. In the darkness, the coal skid is rotating, steel beams and iron pillars are bending and trembling under the pressure of the ground, and the sweaty bare bladders are shaking ...... shaking ...... the small boat moored at the shore dock.
Sun Shaoping woke up from his trance and followed these happy people into the park restaurant. The enthusiastic Wu Zhongping instantly prepared the wine and food.
Sun Shaoping forced himself back to the immediate reality. Yes, the coal mine and here although there is a world of difference, but it is life, life is so, is their own suffering, jealous of other people's happiness? No, he had pondered similar questions more than once when he was soliciting labor in the Yellow Plains. The conclusion should still be: Happiness, or the value of existence, does not lie in the kind of work we do. What happiness is there in life amongst the myriad of difficulties and hardships? He was happy for his sisters and proud of his own life. To be honest, if he now left the coal mine immediately to a comfortable environment to live, he may in turn will not be able to stand ...... the next morning, his sister to go to class. Shaoping said he himself alone to the street again to stroll - he was embarrassed to say to his sister that he wanted to go to find Xiaoxia. The clever Lanxiang, however, guessed what he had in mind. She said to him, "You should go and see Sister Xiaoxia, she came to me last time and gave me a dress and fifty dollars, saying that you had asked her to bring it. In fact, I understand that the money was given to me ...... by her."
Shaoping froze. Xiaoxia in the letter can never mention this matter!
For a moment, it was impossible to say whether it was happiness or pain that made him feel a sour taste welling up in his heart.
"Here's her address and phone number." His sister said handing him a small piece of paper.
He put the piece of paper into his coat pocket. In fact, Xiaoxia's address and phone number were known to him.
Half an hour before Lanxiang's class, when Shaoping had not yet moved to the street, the siblings could not have dreamed that their brother-in-law, Wang Manyin, had suddenly barged in.
The appearance of this strolling ghost really took them by surprise. All year round, this person's traces of the family who do not know, how did he stroll to here? "Ha ah, I heard that Lanxiang got into college! A happy event! I was too busy to come and take a look!" Wang Manyin was sweating profusely, lifting up the lapel of his shirt and fanning his face. The heart of the almost transparent nylon back was like a child's diaper.
"Have you eaten yet?" Lanxiang asked him. Lanxiang asked him. No matter what, this person crooked good is still considered a brother-in-law, and is the door to see her, can not split his head to scold a pass. "I'm full!" Wang Manyin patted on his stomach, "I just came to see you! Ha ah, you are really not simple! Our honor Well ...... I have to leave right away, and at night I have to take the train to Lanzhou to sell some Bailan melon. I'll come back later ...... I heard you went to Tongcheng coal mine?" Wang Manyin a little timid fire twisted his head and asked Shaoping. It was because Shaoping was here that he was ready to leave immediately. He knew that the two brothers-in-law were not good things, and they both dared to beat him for miles!
Shao Ping did not pay attention to him. Really, if he hadn't been in his sister's dormitory, he would have been rude to this asshole brother-in-law - he had caused his sister and his two nephews so much pain!
This Wang Manyin, however, fished out another piece of the simple calculator used by businessmen from his coat pocket, and said to his sister-in-law, "I'll leave this for you! You can use it! This thing add, subtract, multiply and divide fast and smart ...... you see!" He pointed his finger at the calculator and mumbled, "One plus one, equals ...... Look, it's not, two!" Lanxiang cried and laughed, "You quickly take away, we do not use this!" "Oh ......" Wang Manyin had to put that plaything away, drank a few mouthfuls of the tea Lanxiang made for him, and left unhappily. Lanxiang happened to also have to go to class, so he and this two-streamer brother-in-law together out of the dormitory.
A little while after they left, Shaoping left the school and went to the city to find Tian Xiaoxia.
As he walked from the bustling downtown of Jiefang Avenue to the gate of the provincial newspaper, he wandered hesitantly.
Looking past the newspaper's entrance was a tree-lined boulevard. A small ochre-red building is hidden in the depths of the green. That was where she worked, and he wondered what would await him when he waded into that place.
The sounds of the city around him receded into the distance, like a mosquito buzzing and chanting in his ears. He felt his vision blurring as well, with seemingly unrecognizable objects and mixed colors passing in front of his eyes. He swallowed with difficulty and finally gathered the courage to walk into the newspaper's concierge.
"Looking for someone?" An old man asked.
"Tian Xiaoxia." He said.
"Oh ...... it's the industrial group. Let me give her a call while you check in!"
Before Shaoping could finish registering, the old man put down the microphone and told him, "Tian Xiaoxia is not here!
The old man put down the microphone and said to him, "Tian Xiaoxia is not here!
Sun Shaoping put down his pen and was stunned.
For some reason, he also had a kind of relief in the middle of the shock. He whirled out of the newspaper office door, to the street.
Now, with the loose step of a coal miner, he bought Mingming a toy carbine and a little grass-green army jacket with a lapel pin in a children's clothing store!
Then, he wandered to a grocery store and bought a frying pan. The frying pan in Huiying's house is made of aluminum, and he knows that frying with an iron pan is in line with scientific requirements - this common sense is what he saw in a recent issue of Reader's Digest ...... Sun Shaoping left the provincial capital the next day and took the train back to the Danyawan coal mine.