Lost people flock to the city, this is the best of times, this is the worst of times. In an ordinary world, people grow up, alienate, and gradually breathe together with reinforced concrete. They are indifferent, but they may not be regarded as bad people. Most people probably live like this.
Mr. Zhou was originally a primary school teacher in a certain village in a certain county. The person who could finish the normal school in those days was a very powerful person in the small village, and people called him Mr. But Mr. Zhou has never been to the capital, Beijing, although he has repeatedly read about Tiananmen Square and the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Mr. Zhou married a virtuous peasant woman. She probably knew a few words, barely read some newspapers, and planted some vegetables in the back garden. She was not too worried about her livelihood. Such a family is very enviable in the village, and Mr. Zhou has several promising children. Mr. Zhou's eldest son, Zhou Xing, went to Beijing to study at a medical university. He graduated from a master's degree and became a doctor in Beijing. In this small county, a master's degree is a talent that only comes out in decades. Not to mention a doctorate, when Zhou Xing was admitted to a university in Beijing, the villagers came to congratulate them, especially the enthusiastic neighbors. The big tail carp is said to mean the carp jumping over the dragon gate. When it comes to Zhou Xing, Mr. Zhou always smiles brightly, although he still says: This baby is too stubborn, he wants to stay in Beijing, and it would be great to return to the county to be a doctor.
The eldest daughter, Zhou Fan, got married early in the morning. Mr. Zhou did not agree with this marriage. As a girl, it would be good to marry a local man. As long as the other party has some fields, the two of them can plant crops in a down-to-earth manner, which is not bad. Being close, you are not afraid of being bullied. But Zhou Fan ran off with a businessman who came to the village. Xu was Zhou Fan who admired the life of his eldest brother in Beijing, and he even ran to Beijing city. This made Mr. Zhou very angry, but he did not expect that within a few years, Zhou Fan and her head were said to have a storefront and opened a beauty salon. Mr. Zhou, who does the beauty salon, is not very clear, but according to the neighbors, it is a very profitable thing. Moreover, Zhou Fan occasionally returned to his hometown once or twice, and dressed more fashionably than other women, so Mr. Zhou thought that it was her life that she could live such a rich life.
It is more unfortunate that the second son died at a young age. The second son was in the army. One year, it rained heavily and flooded, and the second son went there for rescue and disaster relief. The county issued a pennant, and I heard that he was even considered a martyr, but these Mr. Zhou didn't care, he just hoped that he was still alive, but because this son left home to serve as a soldier since he was a child, so sometimes he vaguely has the same It was an illusion that the son was still alive, still in the army, and still on a mission. The second son has been gone for eight years, and the second daughter-in-law, Xiao Ji, has also stayed in Beijing alone for eight years. She has not yet remarried, and works as a staff member in a company. Sometimes Mr. Zhou is a pity for her. She is still so young.
The third son, Zhou Jing, was rebellious since he was a child. Fortunately, he later found a job in the provincial capital. He was dressed in suits and leather shoes, and looked very handsome. The youngest daughter, Zhou Jing, is well-behaved. After a normal education, she returned to the county to become a teacher. She is safe and stable. The welfare of the teachers in the county is also much better than that of the village.
So every neighbor passing by Mr. Zhou's house gives him a thumbs up. Many people say that this is the first place in the scholarly family. Families who can read will bring up children who can read. The children of Mr. Zhou's family are promising. .
Mr. Zhou has never been overjoyed, but when he heard that some child did not go to university, that some child returned home after staying in Beijing for a few years, and that some child could not find a job after finishing university, he felt at home. My children are doing well, a little bit extraordinary.
This year, Mr. Zhou took Mrs. Zhou to Beijing with this joyful mood. First take the train from the county to the provincial capital, and from the provincial capital to Beijing it takes about ten hours to arrive by train. The train is about 300 yuan cheaper than the plane. After thinking about it, Mr. Zhou still did not choose to take the plane that he had never been on in his life. He also heard from Zhou Fan that the bumpy plane might not be good for the elderly.
At this time, the train was much better than before, so Mr. Zhou was still very satisfied. He felt that there was nothing wrong with taking the train. Anyway, he had a lot of time, except that the air conditioner on the train was a bit cold, which made Mrs. Zhou go straight into the bed. Along the way, the train galloped, over fields, over villages, over provincial capitals, and all the way to many high-rise buildings. There are many high-rise buildings, probably Beijing. Beijing is so far, spanning half of China, but it takes more than ten hours by train to arrive.
Beijing is so big, and Mr. Zhou was afraid that he and Mrs. Zhou would get lost, so he held her hand. They walked slowly, and the children came to pick him up, enthusiastic but unfamiliar. It's very big outside. It turns out that the summer in Beijing is so hot, and the tail of the car is steaming hot. Mr. Zhou's first impression of Beijing was that it was hot and stuffy, not as good as the smell of the grass in his hometown.
First lived in the house of the eldest son, Zhou Xing, but it was quite far from the Beijing Railway Station. After a long ride on the subway, he rushed out of the subway door with the flow of people. Mr. Zhou grabbed Mrs. Zhou's hand, fearing that she would be squeezed away by the crowd. At a glance, Mrs. Zhou was holding his hand in her right hand and an umbrella in her left hand, smiling happily.
The eldest daughter-in-law is a nurse and a gentle person. Mr. Zhou is very satisfied with smiling at them, helping them carry things and hold umbrellas. They only have one grandson, who is already in middle school, but maybe it's because of the pressure to go to college, so he always frowns. However, such a stubborn look is really like the son of the year.
Mr. Zhou originally thought that even if Zhou Xing's home was not near Tiananmen Square, it was at least in the city, but he didn't expect that he would be out of Beijing with a hula-la. Mr. Zhou wanted to go to Tiananmen Square the next day to see the national flag raised, but Zhou Xing said that it was too far, so he didn't worry about them going by himself, so he should wait until the weekend. Zhou Xing's home is very small, with two bedrooms and one living room, 58 square meters. Zhou Xing said that it is not bad. The downstairs units are all about 35 square meters. However, it was still crowded for five people to live like this. Mr. Zhou and Mrs. Zhou live in a room, and Zhou Xing and his wife live in a room, so the grandson can only sleep on the sofa in the living room. So Mr. Zhou sometimes felt that it was understandable that his grandson didn't pay much attention to him. After all, there is still so much homework to do and so many books to read.
So Mr. Zhou is looking forward to the weekend, he can go to see the flag raising, he can take his grandson with him, talk to him about the history and things in the past, and also enhance the relationship. With great difficulty, in the high temperature of Beijing, the first weekend was ushered in. Mr. Zhou and Mrs. Zhou dressed up and waited for Zhou Xing to take him to the Forbidden City. But at this time, the phone rang. Zhou Xing was working overtime temporarily. Zhou Xing apologized very sincerely. Mr. Zhou also said that it was all right, but he only felt that everything around was buzzing.
It turns out that life in Beijing is so busy.
Mr. Zhou and Mrs. Zhou went to Zhou Fan's house. It was a low loft, almost as low as the houses in the county town. Mr. Zhou thought that the houses in Beijing were all high-rise buildings like the ones he saw when he took the train, but it was not. Zhou Fan was busy in the small store on the first floor every day, and so was Zhou Fan's husband, they couldn't talk to each other. Mr. Zhou was in this attic, looking at the surrounding scenery, but it was blocked by the surrounding buildings. Mrs. Zhou said, "It's very good, and I have seen Beijing City. Mr. Zhou also said that it is very good.
Later, the second daughter-in-law took a leave of absence to take them on a one-day tour of Beijing, followed a break-up group, saw Tiananmen Square early in the morning, then got on the bus and walked around various scenic spots in Beijing. Clearly, already sitting in one place, listening to the people inside selling kitchen knives and bamboo charcoal. However, Mr. Zhou is still very grateful to Xiao Ji. After all, she specially asked for leave to play with them.
They went to Xiao Ji's house, which was even more remote than Zhou Fan and Zhou Xing's. In a dark little new village, they heard that they were still sharing a public toilet. Xiao Ji smiled sweetly, saying that it is cheaper to live alone, it is better than living in the basement, and the neighbors are all very kind people. Xiao Ji said slowly, Mr. Zhou listened quietly, and felt that life in his hometown was no worse than this. It was not as hot here, the air was better than this, and the house could be very big.
They couldn't live in Xiao Ji's house, so they went back to Zhou Fan. Zhou Fan and Zhou Xing signed up for the Beidaihe tour group for them, saying that they should enjoy it. Then Mr. Zhou and Mrs. Zhou got on the bus non-stop and listened to the theme lecture on selling bamboo charcoal for a few days. When I came back, I told my children that it was very good, but that bamboo charcoal was very expensive.
When they came back, Beijing was no longer so hot, and there were many dark clouds.
Mr. Zhou felt that he should go home, and everyone came to say goodbye. At this time, it started to rain.
For several consecutive games, Mr. Zhou sat on the train and was trapped for a long time. The train only traveled a few kilometers in a few hours. The villages along the way seem to have disappeared and everything is in torrent.
Mrs. Zhou was a little frightened and told Mr. Zhou that she seemed to see something bad drifting past. Mr. Zhou comforted her and said, "It's okay, it's okay, do you remember decades ago..."
It seems that the two of them can talk a little better. Mrs. Zhou fell ill on the train because she was frightened. When she got home, she stayed at her son's house in the provincial capital for a few days. She felt better and returned home.
Mr. Zhou's children wanted to rush back to see Mrs. Zhou one last time, but they didn't see it. Because of the heavy rain in Beijing, Mr. Zhou watched the news and hoped that they would come back, and he hoped that they would not come back.
Mr. Zhou looked at the rush of people on the TV and said, "Beijing, what's so good about it?"
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