between clouds and mud

Chapter 8

This summer, Zhang Zhijun followed his father to carry a hoe and go to the field. As a middle school student who barely got his diploma, he has no ability to be able to enter the school to teach. His sister Zhang Fang is more competitive than him in this regard.

Zhang Zhijun has been used to being lazy since he was a child. He found a big shade tree and began to doze off with a lotus leaf on his face.When the sun goes down, I can carry my hoe and go home for dinner.

Still dreaming beautifully, a piece of dogtail grass dangled in the sole of his foot.Unable to bear the itching, Zhang Zhijun sat up on his back, saw the person in front of him clearly, it was more terrifying than seeing a ghost: "Brother Daxiang."

Zhang Jiaxiang smiled and dropped the dog's tail grass in his hand, and did not forget to kick him lightly: "Junzi, get up and work."

Zhang Zhijun was not afraid of anything since he was a child, but he was afraid of Brother Daxiang.It didn't take long for him to get up, and he went down to the ground neatly with a hoe.

It is no exaggeration to say that in autumn, half of the harvest of Zhang Zhijun's family is due to Zhang Jiaxiang, the supervisor.Farming is physical work, but it is hard work. In the first two days, Zhang Zhijun got a lot of blisters on his hands.

So he began to look forward to it, two years should pass soon.He and Xiao Liu have already made an appointment, and they will farm together after graduation. I will wait for you in the field, Xiao Liu.

Thinking of this, Zhang Zhijun felt that he should be a role model no matter what.At that time, just like Brother Daxiang taught himself, standing in front of Xiaoliu with a dignified hoe on his shoulders:

Xiao Liu, you can't wield a hoe well, let's see Brother Junzi teach you.

Xiao Liu, your corn is wilting, so you can't water it in the middle of the day.

Xiao Liu, the grass on your field is taller than the bean sprouts, what, you can't tell the difference between the grass and the bean sprouts?Brother Junzi will teach you.

Zhang Zhijun is still beautiful.

Zhang Jiaxiang woke him up by thumping him, really wanting to know what kind of dung was in his head: "Happy, don't remove the bean sprouts next time."

"Okay." Zhang Zhijun moved quickly, and when he hit Xiaoliu himself, he had to be gentle.

One day, Zhang Zhijun, carrying a hoe, deliberately detoured past the door of Xiaoliu's house, when he heard the English sound of tape rolling in the house.

He fell back and knocked on the window.

Xiao Liu opened the window, and Zhang Chengnian was sitting beside her, helping her with her homework.

Zhang Zhijun put down his hoe, deeply feeling that he had been deceived: "Didn't we make an appointment? Xiao Liu, why don't you keep your promise and study secretly behind my back."

"What did you make an appointment with?" Zhang Chengnian stopped writing in his hand.

Xiao Liu raised his head, facing Jun Zi's questioning, he didn't remember it for a moment.

"We agreed to farm together after graduating from junior high school," Zhang Zhijun emphasized.

Xiao Liu nodded, indicating that it was true.

Looking at the test papers in a sea of ​​red, Zhang Chengnian expressed his approval: "With such grades, it is true that I will come back to farm after graduation."

After hearing Zhang Chengnian's summed up answer, Junzi finally left satisfied.

This summer vacation, Zhang Chengnian was invited by the old sixth uncle to make up for the little six with cultural knowledge. Her English and mathematics are the worst, and English is memorized by rote. Every day, Zhang Chengnian assigns her English reciting tasks. Looking at her father's chicken feathers as arrows, he took the ruler and slammed her palm. This little teacher is still as conscientious as he was when he was a child.

In mathematics, he will explain clearly to her how to solve the problem. In terms of logic, Xiaoliu has a very high comprehension, so after teaching it once, he can basically sort it out.

In the eyes of Zhang Chengnian, the Chinese that he thinks is good is like shit. He said that the amount of extracurricular reading in Primary Six is ​​too little, so he brought a stack of world famous books for her to read the next day. The pages of these books are neat and the paper It has turned yellow, and there are tiny threads of paper on the edge of the page. It is obvious that the owner has often flipped through something that is very cherished.

Zhang Chengnian sat aside and read while Xiaoliu was doing the questions at his desk. His textbook was different from Xiaoliu's. The former was full of notes, while the latter was as clean as new.

Clutching his textbook, Xiao Liu blushed.She took the book a little far away, not wanting to let him see it.

Zhang Chengnian put down the book solemnly, and looked at her for a moment: "Xiao Liu, why are you blushing?"

Being stared at by him like this, Xiao Liu's face became even redder.

Zhang Chengnian raised the corners of his lips, and laughed at her: "Did you suddenly find that your brother Cheng is so pretty and delicious, and you know that I used to be inferior to others."

Xiao Liu nodded sincerely, he was really pretty and delicious.

"Are there many girls in your school who like you?" Xiao Liu put down his book and whispered gossip.

"No." Zhang Chengnian looked composed.

"Liar." Xiao Liu grabbed his braid and said, "There is a letter written by a girl on page No.14 of your physics book."

"It's a love letter!" Xiao Liu obviously peeked at it, and she deliberately added.

Zhang Chengnian opened the physics book, shook it, and a delicate white envelope fell out. He glanced at it and put it in his schoolbag, just in time to teach according to his aptitude: "Xiao Liu, if a boy writes a love letter to you in the future, he must stay away. "

"Why?" Xiao Liu was curious.

"focus on studying."

Zhang Chengnian is firm in his heart, keeps his ears to the outside world, and only reads the books of sages and sages.

The grasshopper outside the window made people feel itchy, Xiao Liu watched a small dragonfly land on the window lattice, she stood up and held it in both hands with a proud expression.

Zhang Chengnian's ruler knocked her fist open, pinched the little dragonfly that had fallen into the clutches without any trace, gently played with its pair of small wings with his rough fingers, and then carefully put them back on the window lattice, the dragonfly flapped its wings and flew Back to the summer outside the window.

The lotus leaves in the pond are curled up, the lotus pods are straight, and the little dragonflies have fallen.

Zhang Chengnian turned the pages of the book while holding the pen, and the breeze blew his fine hair. The young man who was once keen on grasshoppers was unmoved, and his heart was firm.

Later, there was no more dragonfly that could distract her.

At the hottest time, the work in the field is not so busy.Daxiang and the others came to call a few times to play cards, but Xiaoliu had to review the content of the first grade of junior high school. After playing with Junzi for a year, she missed too many courses.

Brother Da Xiang and the others came to knock on the window again, but Xiao Liu didn't even open the window: "No."

"Don't play cards, let's go to Linxi Mountain." This time it was Zhang Hong and Zhang Fang who came to call.

The window opened, and Xiao Liu stuck out his curious head: "Why are you going to Linxi Mountain?"

"It's such a hot day?" Xiao Liu pointed to the scorching sun in the sky, "You still want to climb the mountain?"

"Go early tomorrow, at three o'clock, can't you get up?" Zhang Fang told her.

Xiao Liu had just finished memorizing an English text and performed well, so he turned his head and looked at Zhang Chengnian expectantly.

"It would be great if you have this enthusiasm for reading." Zhang Chengnian nodded.

"Let's go." Xiao Liu responded, "I'll see you in Niuping tomorrow morning."

It was still dark at three o'clock, and the partners met each other with a flashlight.Ganniuping is located at the foot of Linxi Mountain. It is the best route to start climbing from here.When they were young, they often herded cattle in this area, but they had never been to the top of the mountain, because the adults always frightened the children, saying that there were monsters on the mountain to catch disobedient children.

The hillside of Linxi is relatively gentle and relatively flat overall.The vegetation covering the whole mountain is a large area of ​​meadow. When Xiao Liu's flashlight swept across a pool, he could still see a few black fish swimming in the clear water bottom.

At four o'clock, the sky was getting brighter, and we could vaguely see the winding path. The partners sat on a bare rock to rest. It was the season of Fengshui. gurgling and clanking.

Zhang Chengnian looked at this pool. When he was a child, the boys took a bath together. As soon as they took off their clothes, they would dive into the water like naked loaches.When the thumping is comfortable, untie the ropes of the cows, lead them in and rub them clean.

The water in this pond is less than two meters deep, and cows like to lie in it. If they ride on their backs, children's heads can just come out of the water.If the cow's hooves squat down, the child will hug the cow's neck and sink into the water to hold his breath.Brother Cheng's cow can count the time accurately every time, and when it's almost time, he stands up and lets the little master take a few breaths of fresh air.Sometimes the cow will lazily walk a few steps inside, and the children feel like they are driving a boat to slowly break through the water, or imagining that a knight from the sky is flying through the clouds, and the scenes are still like yesterday.

I never thought that time is like a sword, and time is like a shuttle.A group of people who played together every day when they were young, now that they have grown up, they can only get together once every six months.

Everyone sat on the rocks, ate the flatbread and steamed buns prepared by Hong Nier to replenish their energy, and had fresh melons and fruits when they were thirsty.Xiao Liu carried the cantaloupe planted by his father on his back. Brother Da Xiang was the strongest. When he twisted it, the cantaloupe burst open, and the golden flesh was fragrant and sweet.She was holding a cantaloupe, and before she had eaten two bites, Junzi snatched it away.

The swaying grass under my feet is covered with dew, and the morning breeze blows across my cheeks. The distance has passed more than half, and the sky is turning white like a fish belly.

After a short rest before going up, it is a strange territory that they have never been to.Xiao Liu was the weakest in the group, she followed behind her brothers and sisters like she did when she was a child.

When they arrived at the steep section of the road, everyone led one by one to go up. Daxiang opened the way in front, and Zhang Fang followed behind him. Hey, he could only reluctantly hold her sister's hand, and then hold Hong Ni'er.Then Zhang Chengnian and Xiao Liu followed.

Zhang Chengnian's palms were thicker and rougher than when he was a child, and Xiao Liu felt very at ease being held by him.His strength was very steady, he stretched out his hand to pull her when his figure stood firm on a high place, and Xiao Liu was able to jump up after being gently pushed.Sometimes she took a longer step and got very close to him, and could smell the scent of the acacia tree on his body.

Xiao Liu realized that his heartbeat would speed up when he was close to him.This feeling is very strange, the tightly clenched palms seem to transmit a slight electric current, and there is a numb commotion in my heart.

They held hands many times when they were young, but none of them touched her heart this time.

Touching a layer of calluses on his palm, Xiao Liu couldn't help rubbing her fingers lightly. Her palm was only half the size of his, and he could wrap it with a single squeeze.

He looked down at her, his eyebrows slightly raised.

They were almost reaching the top of the mountain when the first rays of the morning sun peeked out from the horizon.

As the morning sun rises, the charm of the halo flow is different every moment, and the sun's rays dip into the earth little by little. At this moment, the clouds break through and the sun rises, and the sky and the earth flow in and out, which is extremely beautiful.

At this time, the clouds slowly gathered together, like clouds in the sky falling under your feet.Rong Rong drags the clouds up the mountain, and murmurs down the mountain.The high mountains pass through the clouds and into the fog, and the picture scroll of mountains and rivers is magnificent.

At this moment, standing on the top of the mountain, overlooking the insignificance of all beings.

The world is different, between the clouds and mud, the mountains and rivers are so beautiful.

A group of six people stood side by side.They are not tourists here, but a generation who really grew up here.

(End of this chapter)