leaving marks

"I'm not the only one in the village who was admitted to a key high school in the county, but I was the first in our village to be admitted to a key university," Bai Chong said with emotion when he said this, it was a memory from a long time ago.He hardly had a chance to talk about these things with others, and except for Song Wenran who was quietly listening to him, no one else seemed to be interested in his experiences.

The two of them walked forward side by side, Song Wenran was half a head shorter than Bai Chong, and his shoulders were slightly narrower.

"Before I went to university, my mother set up a steaming mat at home and invited the whole village to eat. She said that I was her pride, and she wanted everyone in the village to know that her son was admitted to a prestigious university. "

Song Wenran said: "She is an amazing mother."

Bai Chong nodded, "My father left early, and my mother almost brought me up alone. It's a pity that I spent too much time studying. She was too tired when she was young, and she died before I graduated with a doctorate."

Song Wenran hesitated, and said, "I think she must be very happy to see you get a Ph.D."

Bai Chong said: "Maybe it is. It's a pity that everything after that has nothing to do with her."

Song Wenran turned to look at him, "It does matter, you are the continuation of her life, and whether you live well is her biggest concern in this world."

Bai Chong laughed suddenly, he put his hand on Song Wenran's shoulder, exerted a lot of force, and it took a while before he let go.

At this time, they were far away from the three-story building of Bai's house. At the end of the road was a small river about two meters wide, and a simple stone bridge was built on the river to the opposite bank.

Bai Chong walked to the river and stopped, looked at the still clear water, and said, "I used to catch fish in this river when I was young."

Song Wenran bent down to look at the river carefully, "Maybe there are no fish now?"

Bai Chong said: "Yes, but there are no big fish, they are all small fish." After he finished speaking, he looked around and saw a small fishing net lost on the other side of the river, so he went to pick it up and said to Song Wenran, "Catch it." Only the fish will go back for dinner at night."

Song Wenran looked at the dirty and old fishing net in his hand and said, "The bottom is broken."

Bai Chong tied a knot at the hole under the fishing net, and then said with a smile: "When I was a child, I always caught it with my hands. But now it is winter, and there are indeed not as many fish as before." After finishing speaking, he turned towards Walk to a river beach with big rocks in front of you.

Song Wenran followed behind Bai Chong. He saw Bai Chong standing on a big rock and squatting down to observe the river.So he walked over and stood beside him.

Bai Chong didn't look at him, but said to him: "I can cook steamed fish for you tonight."

"You know how to cook?" Song Wenran was really surprised this time.

Bai Chong seemed to dislike the heavy coat on his body, put down the fishing net in his hand, stood up, took off the coat and threw it to Song Wenran, and said, "Of course, I can cook many dishes. If you like, I can cook for you."

Song Wenran hugged his clothes, a little dazed, and said softly, "I'll catch a cold."

"No," Bai Chong rolled up his trousers, "I dare to swim in the river in this weather."

Song Wenran didn't speak.

Bai Chong suddenly turned his head to look at him, "Do you think I'm too old for my health?"

Song Wenran quickly wanted to deny it.

However, before he spoke, the corners of Bai Chong's mouth curled up slightly, and he said, "Don't worry, I'm in good health." When he said this, there was a hint of a smile in his deep voice.

Song Wenran had no choice but to say: "I know."

"How do you know?" Bai Chong asked him.

Song Wenran was taken aback by the question.

However, Bai Chong had already turned his head back and concentrated on looking at the bottom of the river. He suddenly pointed forward, "Look over there."

Song Wenran was distracted, and looked in the direction of his finger, and sure enough, he saw two or three small fish.

In winter, the river flows slowly, and the fish are too lazy to move in the crevices of the stones. These fish are too small, and they will definitely slip through the crevices of the stones if you stretch your hands out, and the fishing nets cannot be stretched into the crevices.

Bai Chong then cleared a small area downstream and surrounded it with stones. He raised his head and said to Song Wenran, "Drive the fish over here."

Song Wenran picked up a dead branch and stuck it into the crevices of the rocks to drive away the small fish.

A few small fish rushed around, only one of them swam towards the shallow water surrounded by Bai Chong, and Bai Chong quickly caught it with a fishing net.

"Caught it?" Song Wenran still held Bai Chong's clothes in his hands, stepped on the stone and ran to his side, and took a closer look.The little fish was jumping vigorously in the fishing net, trying to escape. He felt pitiful looking at it, and said, "Such a small fish can't be steamed, right?"

Bai Chong didn't even bring a plastic bottle with him, and it was impossible for this little fish to take it back. He said, "Yeah, I can only catch it and play with it. Let it live well."

After speaking, he knelt down and put the fishing net into the river, and the little fish quickly swam out by themselves.

Bai Chong said: "When I was a child, I was very happy when I caught a fish, because I could eat fish as an extra meal at night. Now catching fish is just catching fish. It's not as fun as before."

Song Wenran watched him staring at the river with a slightly sad expression.

"So," Bai Chong continued, "people's desires are expanding infinitely, and you will find it more and more difficult to satisfy, and even develop to a level that you can't even imagine."

After saying this, Bai Chong threw away the fishing net and wanted to stand up. A stone under his feet was half submerged in the water, and he stepped on it hard and then slipped into the water. He also slipped and his body fell into the river. past.

Song Wenran reacted quickly, and quickly stretched out his hand to pull Bai Chong towards him, but he was still holding Bai Chong's clothes in one hand, and it was difficult for him to balance his body. Planted in the river.Fortunately, he was strong and strong, and he didn't sit in the river with his buttocks, but stepped in with both feet, and one leg rubbed against a sharp stone slab. With a "stab", he looked down and saw that the trousers were cut.

Bai Chong stretched out his hand to him: "Come on!"

Song Wenran grabbed Bai Chong's hand and stepped on the dry boulder. The river was icy cold, and his shoes, socks and half of his trouser legs were completely soaked, sticking cold and sticky to his skin.

"Fortunately, the clothes didn't get wet," Song Wenran was a little thankful.

Bai Chong squatted in front of him, looked at his cut trousers, and asked, "Aren't you hurt?"

"No," Song Wenran said, "it's just that the trousers were torn." It was a little troublesome, but he thought that it would not be long, so he only brought such a pair of trousers, and there was nothing to change.

Bai Chong stood up, took the coat from Song Wenran, put it on his body, and said while putting on the clothes: "Go back and change the pants and shoes and socks first."

Song Wenran nodded.

Bai Chong looked at him suddenly and asked, "Do you want me to carry you?"

Song Wenran immediately refused when he heard the words, "Where is the need! I'll just walk back by myself." Then, he hurriedly walked forward, leaving Bai Chongdu behind.

When they came, the two of them were walking and chatting, as if they had walked for a long time. When they went back, they quickened their pace, only to find that they were back in the small courtyard of the Bai family in less than 10 minutes.

A small door was opened in the middle of the big iron gate in the yard.

Song Wenran walked in front, and as soon as he entered the door, he saw the big black dog standing up and barking at him.

Bai Chong followed closely behind Song Wen, stepped into the door and shouted: "Dahei, shut up!"

The big black dog shook its tail, closed its mouth, turned around and lay down again.

At this time Song Wenran saw a middle-aged man coming out of the living room. He was tall and well-dressed. Looking carefully, his appearance was five or six points similar to Bai Chong. He looked this way, and when he saw Bai Chong, he immediately He greeted him with a smile all over his face, "Hey, the bugs are back?"

Song Wenran couldn't hold back after all, and turned his head to look at Bai Chong.

Bai Chong smiled at the man, and took his hand, "Little uncle, long time no see."

Bai Chong's second aunt also came out of the living room and looked at her younger brother with an unhappy expression.

Bai Chong said to the second aunt: "Second aunt, Wen Ran accidentally fell into the river, you take him to my place to find a pair of clean pants for him to change into first."

The second aunt waved to Song Wenran when she heard the words, "Come on, we're on the second floor."

Bai Chong stretched out his hand and patted Song Wen on the back, then gently pushed him forward, "Go with Second Aunt."

Song Wenran was pushed forward by him and took two steps forward. Seeing that Bai Chong had invited his uncle inside, he had no choice but to follow his second aunt upstairs first.

Facing Bai Chong's second aunt, Song Wenran never knew what to call him properly.If he is called Teacher Bai Chong, then the old lady is two generations older than him. It is obviously wrong to call him the second aunt, but it seems inappropriate to call him the second aunt, or the aunt or mother-in-law.After deliberating for a long time, Song Wenran had no choice but to follow Bai Chong to call his second aunt.

The second aunt took Song Wenran to Bai Chong's room.

This is a very simple room with a bed, wardrobe, desk, and a bookcase.

The second aunt opened the cabinet to find his pants, and said, "You can sit wherever you want."

Song Wenran sat on the chair in front of the desk, took off his soaked shoes and socks, and said, "Second Aunt, do you have any slippers?"

The second aunt said: "Right now, you wear Bai Chong's first, and I'll get you another pair later." After finishing speaking, she left from the closet, took a pair of cotton slippers from the bedside, and put them at Song Wenran's feet .

Song Wenran quickly thanked him, but his feet were freezing cold, so he could only grab two pieces of toilet paper from the desk to wipe off the water, and then put on cotton slippers.

The second aunt found a pair of old cotton trousers for Song Wenran, and said worriedly: "Is it too thin? If you feel cold, I'll find you a pair of his uncle's cotton trousers?"

Song Wenran said: "No need, just wear this, I'm not cold."

The second aunt whispered: "Young people are in good health." Then she walked outside, "You change first, I'll boil some water, and you can soak your feet in hot water later." When she left the room, she closed the door door.

Song Wenran took off his wet trousers and put on Bai Chong's trousers.

The trousers fit him just right, but the trousers were a little too long and had to be rolled up.

After changing his pants, Song Wenran got up and looked around Bai Chong's room. He found that the wall in front of the desk was covered with Bai Chong's past awards. I took it all over.

There are two photo frames on the bedside table. Song Wenran walked over to look carefully, and saw a black and white photo of a young couple holding a baby in their arms. The background should be taken in a photo studio; The other photo was a color photo, and there were only two people on it, a handsome young man in high spirits, and a thin middle-aged woman in a floral skirt standing beside her.

The middle-aged woman is the same as the young woman in the black and white photo, and the high-spirited young man is naturally Bai Chong.

In that year, Bai Chong had just been admitted to university, and his face was somewhat handsome between a teenager and a young man, and compared to now, his expression was much more flamboyant.

The second aunt brought up an empty basin and a pot of hot water, and she stood at the door and knocked.

Song Wenran went to open the door, took all the things in her hands, and put them in front of the chair.

The second aunt said: "The water is too hot, let it dry for a while before soaking, but don't let it dry for too long, the weather is so cold."

Song Wenran watched her pour hot water into the basin, and asked, "Second Aunt, Bai... Is Teacher the only child?"

"Yes," the second aunt saw that the water was almost poured, she put the kettle aside, went to the small bathroom next door to fetch a towel for him to put on the back of the chair, and said, "He's the only one."

Song Wenran said: "He looks like his mother."

The second aunt nodded, "Yes! When I was young, I was more similar. The handsome guy who is famous in the neighborhood, went out to cut some pigweed and followed several girls. He was very popular."

Song Wenran thought of the scene of Bai Chong carrying a basket to cut pigweed, with a group of young girls behind him, and suddenly felt amused.

The second aunt saw him smile, thought he didn't believe it, and said, "Really, don't believe it. At that time, he was going to college, and some people came to our house to tell him a matchmaking match, and they all liked him. "

Song Wenran said: "Now there are many young girls who are willing to marry him."

"It's different now," said the second aunt. "Now he is the dean, and those people think that he is rich. Otherwise, such an old son is already in his teens. Who would want to marry? Unlike at that time, everyone It's because of his character. So Ziqi's mother, with such a good family, must follow him!"

Regarding Bai Chong's deceased wife, Song Wenran hardly heard Bai Chong mention it, but he occasionally heard it from others, and knew that it was a woman from an unusual family background.Perhaps it was because of her that Bai Chong could have a smooth career at a young age.

Seeing Song Wenran in a daze, the second aunt reminded him, "The water is almost gone, soak your feet first, I'll go down and see my bastard brother."

Song Wenran nodded, sat down, took off his shoes, and slowly soaked his frozen feet in hot water.

The second aunt left the room and walked downstairs slowly.