After his mother's affairs were over, Zhou Hao was not in a hurry to go back. He went to the cemetery to visit his father.
On a sunny day, the inside will not look gloomy because of the burial of the dead. Under the tombstones are the souls that the living can never touch.
Zhou Hao brought some wine and hugged a bouquet of flowers. He didn't sleep well these days, and his complexion was very bad.
He walked forward with heavy steps, reached the top and turned a corner, and the third tombstone belonged to his father. For a long time, no one worshiped, and there was no sacrifice in front of the cement tombstone, and it was lonely.
In front of the stele is a neat Wei stele font, the father's name, the date of birth and death, and the name of the person who erected the stele. Behind the monument are seven big characters full of tears - "My dearest father".
The good relationship between father and son is blocked under this cold tombstone.
Zhou Hao originally controlled his emotions well, but when he saw the following words, he collapsed instantly. His sadness, which had nowhere to hide, was clearly illuminated by the bright sunlight.
With red eyes, he sat down in front of the stele.
"Dad, I'll come and see you." Zhou Hao gently leaned the flower on the tombstone, "She left a few days ago and went to your side. If you meet her underground, you two have a good chat .She is old and has changed a lot. I'm afraid you won't recognize her. Dad, I haven't come back to see you for so many years. Don't be as knowledgeable as me. I have a harder life than anyone else, and you know it. You are not old. Give me a dream, let me think about it, don't keep making trouble with your mother."
Speaking of this, Zhou Hao was completely choked up, his lips trembling and whimpering lowly, he wiped his face with the back of his hand, it was wet, and then spilled the wine in front of his father's monument. There was a big gulp left in the bottle, and Gulu drank it all at once.
Spicy, choking throat.
"Dad, you stay well down there. Anyway, in a few decades, I will go down to accompany you. The time is very fast, just in the blink of an eye. You see, it has been almost twenty years since you left .dad… "
Zhou Hao's filthy voice became vague, "Ask for me...Ask Mom for why she treats me like this? Dad, sometimes, sometimes I'm sad too..."
Only in front of his dead relatives can Zhou Hao dare to reveal his true self.
After crying, he hugged his father's tombstone directly and fell asleep under the scorching sun. These days are too tiring.
When I woke up, it was already two o'clock in the afternoon. He got up in a daze, said his last farewell to his father, and left the cemetery.
Then, Zhou Hao took the bus to his grandparents' house in the countryside.
The last time I saw the two old people was when I was a freshman in high school, and it was almost ten years ago. After getting off the bus at the terminal, Zhou Hao stood in front of the simple village entrance, not knowing which direction to go.
The way before has all changed. He could tell the difference between east, west and north, but he didn't know where his grandparents' house was. He chose the widest concrete road, walked forward, passed the grocery store, and there were a lot of people around the door, speaking the local dialect.
Zhou Hao walked over, and those people also looked at the outsiders in the village with sizing eyes.
"Excuse me, where is Zhou Hougui's family going?" He also used dialect.
The people in the village were very enthusiastic. A middle-aged woman stood up from a small bench, pointed to the east, and said while gesturing, "That's right there, cross the bridge in front, turn right, the second house that is."
People happily asked him, "What do you want to do with Zhou Hougui?"
Zhou Hao didn't answer, just smiled, "Thank you." Then he followed the prompt, crossed the bridge, and turned right...
A vehement voice sounded from behind, "When we get to his house, let Hou Gui come to the village tomorrow to receive this month's subsistence allowance!"
The house is still the same as it was ten years ago, a three-room bungalow with a yard in front, but years of wind, frost, rain and snow have made the walls mottled and molted. The door was open, and he walked in with his luggage.
In the main room, his grandma was sitting on the rattan chair, squinting her eyes, trying to thread the needle, but she couldn't get it through. She passed the thread through her mouth and crushed it again, but it still didn't go in.
"These eyes are useless..."
On the other end, his grandfather squinted his eyes and looked at his wife, without saying a word, he lowered his head again.
Zhou Hao watched them look at their dying years again and again.
"Grandpa, grandma." Zhou Hao stood at the door of the main room and called in.
Grandma put down the old clothes in her hand, raised her head, her cloudy old eyes were filled with moisture immediately, "Ok, ok, ok, my grandson."
…
At noon, grandma slaughtered one of the three laying hens in the family, went to the field to pick some eggplants, and cut a handful of leeks. She was old and stooped, and she couldn't hide her happiness. She said to everyone, " My eldest grandson is back, my eldest grandson is back."
Someone replied to her, "Is it Haohao who is back?" She immediately replied, "No, it is my grandson Haohao."
Grandma is old, and it's all in the past.
When eating, she just stared at Zhou Hao, and while watching, kept adding vegetables to his bowl, always talking about the embarrassing things about him when he was a child, what and so on lifted up the little skirts of other girls, It was playing with cannons again that scared the kid to tears.
Later, when it came to his father, grandma immediately choked up, and his grandfather scolded the old woman, telling her not to embarrass herself in front of the child.
With trembling hands, grandma grabbed another piece of meat for the eldest grandson, "Eat, eat, ah." Tears were still in the eyes, and she couldn't do it for a while.
Zhou Hao buried his head in swallowing the food in his mouth, his expression seemed to be covered with tape, blinking, chewing, and swallowing were all the same. He didn't dare to raise his head, didn't dare to make any big facial expressions, for fear that he would lose his composure and cry in front of the old man.
When he cried, the old couple had to cry too. So he can't cry.
Zhou Hao suppressed his emotions and told them that he is currently studying as a graduate student in the capital and his grades are good. Grandma asked, what is a graduate student? It's better than going to college, and you can make a lot of money when you come out.
Grandma smiled. There are only two upper teeth left, and the rest are traces of corrosion from the ruthless years.
The old couple never mentioned Zhou Hao's mother from the beginning to the end, and Zhou Hao didn't tell them that the woman just passed away a few days ago. They keep secrets from each other, and no one will expose the dark side of that layer of human nature.
That woman is not a good mother, and of course, she is even less likely to be a good daughter-in-law or wife. She owed herself too much, and she was also sorry to the old couple in the country.
After his mother took Zhou Hao to remarry, every time his grandparents made a special trip to the city to see their eldest grandson, they were stopped by his mother. Zhou Hao didn't know about this at first, but once the two old people found the house.
On the sofa, his mother crossed her arms around her chest, looking domineering. His grandparents were sitting on the sidelines in a wimpy manner, with stiff movements and ugly faces.
He was only nine years old at the time, I can't remember, but he was too young. He was terrified, and hid behind the door of the room, which was opened a small crack, and he peeked out from the inside.
The woman scolded her grandparents and said, "I didn't even look where it was, so I came home. I'm already married, not your old Zhou's daughter-in-law."
His grandma kept insisting, "We just came to see Haohao, Qiuhua, let us see the child."
"he is not at home."
Zhou Hao didn't dare to go out, he was afraid that his mother would be unhappy and life would be even more difficult in the future. He hid behind the door and looked at his grandparents carefully. After a while, the two old people left.
On the table were the green vegetables and radishes grown by themselves in the countryside that they brought, and a toy gun bought for Haohao, all of which his mother threw into the trash can.
…
Zhou Hao stayed at his grandparents' house. He was like a child returning to the natural countryside. He walked around in the morning while the sun was still warm. There is a small soil slope behind the village, where a mulberry tree is planted. Tired from walking, he went to rest in the woods, ants crawled under his feet, and leaves rustled under his feet.
Everything is very comfortable.
There is also a small vegetable field at home. Occasionally, he will take a hoe to plow the field, or carry a pole on his shoulders, and carry two large buckets back and forth to irrigate.
Passing by various houses, those women would bring out a bowl and watch the fun while eating, "The grandson of Hou Gui's family is here to fetch water again."
People in the village love to join in the fun. Joining in the fun is like watching a play, it is a great thing, and in the days to come, I will take it out to taste it every now and then. If you don't join in, then you will lose the opportunity to talk and lose the opportunity to join the excitement.
After staying here for a month, Zhou Hao felt that he had to go back, he still had an internship.
The day before he left, he took a bus into the city to withdraw money. I still have less than 10,000 yuan in my card, I left a few hundred yuan for myself, and took out the rest.
When he got home, he gave the money to grandma, but grandma refused to accept it. Zhou Hao had no choice but to temporarily collect the money.
In the evening, when he informed the two old people of their plan to leave tomorrow, his grandma's cloudy eyes immediately became wet, and a large number of older people cried like a child.
Zhou Hao comforted him a lot, saying that he would definitely come back at the end of the year for the New Year. That night, his grandma slaughtered another of the only two chickens left in the family, and cooked a bowl of chicken soup for his grandson.
The next day, Zhou Hao put the money under the vegetable cover on the dining table, put his luggage on his back, walked out of the gate, crossed the bridge, and walked to the bus stop at the entrance of the village. His grandparents followed him all the way, their backs hunched over, and the reluctance in their eyes was always hard to hide.
"Haohao, come back at the end of the year, grandma is waiting." His grandma remembered this sentence.
Zhou Hao nodded repeatedly.
The bus came, and Zhou Hao got on it. The driver stepped on the accelerator, and the heavy bus drove further and further. Zhou Hao poked his head out of the window—
The two old men were still standing at the entrance of the village, looking over here from afar.
Gradually, the two figures became smaller and smaller dots, and they could no longer be seen clearly.
"I'm sorry..." Zhou Hao wept silently in his heart and repented silently.
He was originally a free child in the countryside, and he belonged to the boundless countryside. How could such a child treat strangers who have no blood relationship as his family.
He has a family, he has grandparents.