As soon as Dad Song locked the door of the office, he heard a loud ringing of the fixed-line telephone in the room.
He raised his wrist and looked at his watch. It was 4:30 in the afternoon. Today, the newspaper office held a party. By this time, all the colleagues and leaders had passed ahead, so he was late.
Look at a few noisy cubs in the corridor, think about it, if he is in a hurry to work, he will be called "big brother", and he does not worry about a few children outside, so he doesn't come in to pick him up. Telephone.
He was promoted to editor-in-chief, and the newspaper gave him the latest Samsung "Big Brother", which is much smaller than the brick "Big Brother" in previous years.
Immediately following in the footsteps of the children, Song Jianguo did not forget to tell them to run slowly and be careful of the stairs.
As everyone knows, it was such a coincidence that I missed the phone notification from the head teacher, Teacher Feng.
And it was a coincidence that afternoon. Qiao Qin's school had information training, and she was not in the office, nor did she receive a call from Teacher Feng.
In the teacher's office of the primary school attached to the normal school, Teacher Feng shook his head and put down the phone.
Thinking that Aunt Gao was also the director of the neighborhood committee, since she said she was just praising Chu Jin, there shouldn't be anything else.
In addition, Song Qiaoxi's father, as the editor-in-chief, will definitely attend the newspaper's party. It is estimated that a few children will tell the editor-in-chief Song when they meet the adults.
Teacher Feng put down her worries and started to correct the homework.
--
Every year before the year, the newspaper will organize a party, and all employees will participate in it. The venue is in the auditorium between the compound and the compound.
The auditorium was built some years ago, and the main entrance was three heavy sliding doors.
Because it was winter, the sliding door was nailed with heavy windproof curtains, and the children had little strength, and it was not easy to push it open.
Song Jianguo held up the curtains for the children and instructed them to enter quickly.
The "Little Gang of Five" are like five slippery fish, lining up to get in.
Song Qiaoxi was very relaxed, with no heavy schoolbag on her shoulders, and she was extremely flexible in her movements.
As soon as he entered the door, he raised his head and exclaimed, "Wow!"
It was almost dark outside, and the entire auditorium was brightly lit. The top of the auditorium was covered with large red lanterns and various colored flowers.
In front of each row of benches in the auditorium, there is a long small table with various fruits and melons on it.
Golden coin chocolate, football-shaped chocolate, wine chocolate, various flavors of sunflower seeds, watermelon seeds, peanuts, sorghum jelly, prawn crisps, fruit tan skin...
There are also big red apples, oranges, bananas printed with the word "Fu"...
The glutinous dumplings are dazzling, there are so many new things that I have never seen before, I want to try everything I see.
"Xixi, look at the stage, a big white rabbit wow!"
Wang Junyang's shout interrupted her little greedy cat's thoughts, and followed the voice to look on the stage.
There is really a big white rabbit on stage!
It seems that the rabbit is taller than the father, the father is seven or eight meters, and the rabbit looks to be at least two meters.
"Next year is the Year of the Rabbit!"
Ding Yi pushed his glasses and said with a smile.
Ugh
Nuo Tuanzi took a closer look, this rabbit looks like the White Rabbit Man in his dream, wow
During the Lantern Festival the year before last, she left the little white rabbit lantern on Chu Jin's windowsill. In her dream, the little white rabbit turned into a big bunny man, guarding the door of the boiler room for Chu Jin and making him have nightmares. All the monsters and monsters blocked the door.
The big rabbit in the dream is almost exactly the same as the one on the stage!
Just as he was about to look back to find where Chu Jin is, before he turned around, he heard someone whispering in his ear, "This rabbit on the stage looks familiar?"
"Do you think so too?"
Song Qiaoxi heard Chu Jin's voice and leaned back with a sense of security.
The back of his head rested on his chest, looking down at his face, sticking out his tongue, "I also feel familiar, as if..."
"I really want to see it in my dream." Chu Jin said.
Hearing that Chu Jin and her tacitly said the same thing, she was so excited that she almost twisted her neck.
"Be careful." Chu Jin helped her.
Xiao Nuo Tuan turned around and raised her little face, looked at Chu Jin's eyes that seemed to be shining with stars, and folded her hands on her chest and whispered, "Me too, we won't have a dream, right?"
"Xixi, do your best, come here quickly!" Dad called them angrily and made a "come" gesture, "One by one, hurry up, sit here!"
"Dad, we want to sit in the first row wow!"
Song Qiaoxi pointed to Wang Junyang's location in the air and shouted at her father.
"You come first!"
Song Jianguo shouted so hard that his throat almost split, he held his forehead with one hand and greeted them with the other to sit in the corners of the fifth or sixth row.
The first row is the position of the leaders. What good things do the little brats think
I still want to sit in the first row, why don't you just sit on the table, why don't you want to go to heaven!
The uncles and aunts around were basically seated, smashing melon seeds, peeling peanuts, drinking hot tea, and watching Song Jianguo catch the five scrambled cubs all over the place as if they were watching a play.
When the cubs were settled, they watched their "Little Five Gang" dangling their calves as if they were nothing, eating snacks and drinking juice with a smile.
Song Jianguo sweated profusely and vowed that next year's party, no, all the parties in the future will be killed without bringing children.
Without Qiao Qin, he couldn't handle these little ancestors at all.
"Okay, the party will start soon. Uncle Song is going to sit in front with a few uncles. You can watch the show carefully. After the end, no one is allowed to run around. Wait until Uncle Wang and I come to pick you up."
After repeatedly reminding him several times, Song Jianguo turned his head three times and walked to the front row.
Shaking his head, he turned back again worriedly, and patted Wang Junyang's little head, looking around, very restless, "Yangyang, your dad is going to sing on stage in a while, honestly wait to see your dad's performance, and there is more to do. At the end, take care of them for your uncle, Xixi, Yiyi, and Miaomiao must be obedient."
After making sure that the children nodded and replied that they understood, Song Jianguo returned to the second row from the stage and took his seat.
Song Qiaoxi stuffed a prawn cake in her mouth, chewed it "quack quack" and looked up at the back of her father's head, sitting in the front row.
Dad sat with a few familiar uncles. Except for his own father, who had thick curly hair, the other uncles were... a little bald.
But Wang Junyang said that bald people look more like newspaper leaders
Sigh.
Alas, I feel that I can't do writing work like my father when I grow up. My father is not yet old, and when he reaches the age of his uncles, he will probably be bald.
Writers are bald lives...
Oh, by the way, Chu Jin can't be allowed to engage in writing work in the future!
He looks so good-looking, is it okay to be bald
At this moment, Chu Jin had no time to care about whether he would be bald in the future. He opened the zipper of his schoolbag and took out the kraft paper envelope that Aunt Gao of the neighborhood committee gave him in the afternoon from the mezzanine.
He frowned slightly and held the kraft paper envelope in his hand.
The lights in the auditorium of the auditorium suddenly dimmed, and with Huo Feng and Tang Can singing "A Good Start", the party officially opened.
A group of logistical aunties came up on the stage, dressed in bright red traditional costumes and holding red handkerchiefs, happily twisting Yangko on the stage.
"Boom, squeak, smack, smack, slam, sing, sing, sing, sing, sing, sing, me, sing. Today is a good start..."
Except for Chu Jin, the eyes of the remaining cubs were all attracted by the lively singing and dancing on the stage.
Inside the kraft paper envelope was a written thank you letter.
On the way back to the classroom from the teacher's office, Chu Jin secretly took it apart and looked at it. Aunt Gao of the neighborhood committee told him not to lose the letter and read it aloud in public when the party took the stage.
In the letter, I wrote some big words of thanks, and the rest is a long list of thanks, from the staff of the neighborhood committee to the senior leaders of the newspaper, not a single one.
Aunt Gao urged him vigorously not to leave names behind.
He raised his eyes and glanced beside him.
Song Qiaoxi sat on the left, peeling melon seeds like a little squirrel. She especially liked the creamy sunflower seeds, and she enjoyed it every time.
Ding Miao was peeling peanuts, and occasionally stuffed a peanut kernel into the mouth of the glutinous dumpling.
Most of the little boys are not interested in this kind of snacks, feel troublesome, and can't eat anything after peeling them for a long time.
Looking at Wang Junyang and Ding Yi, the two boys each held a big apple and ate it hard.
The eyes of several children were fixed on the performance on the stage. At the moment, two uncles were playing a bamboo board and talking fast books. Their voices were loud and the rhythm was strong, which made them giggle.
The scene was happy and peaceful. Chu tried his best to fit in, but because of the thank you letter, he was a little tangled in his heart.
The long list of names on the thank you letter, many of whom Chu Jin did not know or even heard of.
He knew, met, and helped his uncle, the leader of the newspaper office, and the aunt of the neighborhood committee. It was understandable how to thank him.
What a nine-year-old child can't understand is, why should someone be grateful if they don't know him
Mingming Uncle Song, Aunt Qiao, and the neighbors of the courtyard are the people who take care of him on a daily basis. Why are these people's names not on the list
If you want to thank them, you should thank them even more...
"Chu Jin, look, it's Uncle Wang!" Song Qiaoxi tugged at his sleeve and pointed to the beautiful sister in a red dress on stage, "The sister said that the next show will be Uncle Wang's "All It's the moon's fault."
Wang Junyang "teng" stood up from the chair, pointed to the tall man wearing a trench coat on the stage and said proudly: "That's my dad! It's my dad on the stage! My dad sings Zhang Yu's song, my dad sings. It sounds great!"
"Sit down Wang Junyang, you are blocking the uncles and aunts behind."
Ding Yi grabbed him, and Ding Miao also covered her mouth and smiled.
"Deputy editor Wang is too funny, he didn't block our young man, why don't you go up and sing with your dad?"
"Yeah, Yangyang sings well, right? Come one, come one!"
"Wang Junyang is coming too!"
... ..
The uncles and aunts on the side deliberately teased him, making Wang Junyang, who has always been thick-skinned, a little shy, and sat down and continued to eat apples.
Interrupted by the noise of laughter, Chu Jin adjusted his mood.
Looking up to meet Song Qiaoxi's concerned eyes, she hurriedly smiled at Xiao Nuo Tuan.
Song Qiaoxi's attention was originally on the stage, but when she turned her head, she found that Chu Jin's eyes flashed with a trace of worry.
He stopped nibbling on melon seeds and looked at Chu Jin's profile in the dimly lit auditorium.
His face quickly returned to calm, and a faint smile flashed past, which made her wonder if she had read it wrong just now
No, I saw Chu Jin's expression, and I have never lost sight of it.
Will I be too nervous to take the stage to accept the award, or because there are too many people in the venue, the air is not good, or because I am hungry
You must be hungry, and you haven't seen him eat snacks
"It's all your fault. Falling in love with me easily makes me unwittingly satisfy the vanity of being loved..."
Uncle Wang imitated Zhang Yuyijue, his voice and posture were very similar, and he won thunderous applause from the audience as soon as he opened his mouth.
Xiao Nuo Tuan listened to Uncle Wang's song, shook his head and followed in a soft voice, peeling the shell of the butter melon seeds with his little hands.
Not to mention, these little fleshy hands, writing is like a dog crawling, playing the piano doesn't take much effort, just stick to it with eating, and the little hands become their own talents.
The skin of the melon seeds is peeled very fast, and in one song, I peeled out a small handful of melon seeds.
The butter melon seeds are particularly fragrant, sweet with a strong milky fragrance.
It's not completely sweet, and it has a slightly salty taste, one after another makes it impossible to stop eating.
Song Qiaoxi knew that Chu Jin didn't like nuts because of the trouble, but if his mother bought hazelnuts, walnuts, etc., he would have eaten some of them.
Mom and Dad said that nuts are very nutritious, they are just when they grow up, they can eat a little more and grow taller.
Thinking of this, Xiao Nuo Tuan held the melon seeds in front of her in the palm of her hand, and rubbed it lightly with her elbow, "Hey, take it with your hand."
Chu Jin pretended to be watching the show and was still thinking about the thank you letter. Hearing Song Qiaoxi calling him, he subconsciously reached out to her in the dark.
The boy's slender hand was grabbed by a soft little hand, his hand was turned over by her, the back of his hand was facing down, and then the palm of his hand was slightly itchy, as if some very light and fine things had fallen.
When I took it back, it turned out to be a small handful of melon seeds with body temperature.
A fluffy little head came over and whispered in Chu Jin's ear, "Eat a little first, pad your belly, and I'll peel it off for you. I see that Aunt Gao of the neighborhood committee has gone to the backstage, and it is estimated that it will be soon. When it's your time, don't be nervous, just come to the stage to accept the award, we are all here to cheer you up."
Xiao Nuo Tuan's whole body exudes the fragrance of milk, the voice in his ear is sweet and soft, and the breath he exhales is also sweet.
After she finished speaking, she playfully threw the two long braids behind her shoulders, lowered her head and continued to concentrate on peeling the melon seeds.
Chu Jin observed for a while and found that Song Qiaoxi was quite principled
Peel one and put it in the palm of your hand first, then put one in your mouth, then peel one and put it in your palm, and then put another in your mouth, and when you have five, six, seven or eight in your hand, put another melon seed kernel. into Ding Miao's mouth.
He looked at the melon seeds in his hand, which were full and distinct.
Chu did his breathing and heartbeat, and inexplicably began to speed up...
Xiao Nuotuan leaned forward and approached Ding Miao, a little distance from him, but he seemed to smell the fragrance of her grandmother in the air again.
He picked up a melon seed kernel and put it to his lips, sip it lightly, the sweet taste, the corners of his mouth couldn't help turning up.
The trace of anxiety in my heart seemed to be relieved.
Just come to the stage to receive a certificate and read a thank you note, what's so scary
I originally had nothing, and the boiler room I live in now is the collective property of the newspaper office. Uncle Song and Aunt Qiao worry about food and clothing expenses, and the kind uncles and aunts in the courtyard are always concerned about me.
The meaning of the director of the neighborhood committee is nothing more than to let him take the stage and make a good appearance, to give the newly appointed leaders a face, and let them know that the work of the neighborhood committee is well done, and this "performance" is completed under the glorious guidance of the leaders.
It doesn't matter, since there is no name of the neighbors of the compound on the list given by the neighborhood committee's aunt Gao, he has the same way to thank them.
"Xiao Chujin, I'm getting ready to go on stage, come here quickly."
There was a figure in the darkness, and the cat walked to the table where several children were sitting.
"Uncle Sun?"
Song Qiaoxi heard the news and found out that it was the uncle she knew. She heard from her father that Uncle Sun was now the secretary of the new leader of the newspaper, President Jiang.
"Hello Uncle Sun."
Chu Jin said hello politely, holding the small handful of sunflower seeds tightly in his hand.
Uncle Sun waved his hand to the children and lowered his voice, "Okay, yo, isn't this the daughter of Editor-in-Chief Song's family, Xixi eat slowly. Come on, Chu Jin, it's up to you when this show is over, go with Uncle Backstage, have you got the speech?"
Song Qiaoxi looked at Chu Jin for a while. He found a clean tissue, put the melon seeds in his hand, and whispered in her ear, "I haven't finished eating, I'll eat when I come back later."
Chu Jin took a tissue and wiped his hands, took out a kraft paper envelope from his pocket and nodded to Uncle Sun, "Take it."
He followed Uncle Sun towards the back of the stage in the dark.
Song Qiaoxi put the remaining melon seeds on the tissue, and excitedly said to her friends, "The next show is Chu Jin, let's cheer for Chu Jin!"
"So soon?" Wang Junyang put the apple core on the table, looking for a tissue to wipe his hands in a panic, "Get me a tissue, I'll wipe my hands, my hands are sticky, don't applaud loud enough!"
Ding Miao handed him a tissue, "Now it's time to use your loud voice."
"Isn't it, Ding Yi, let's shout together, come on, Chu Jin, Chu Jin is the best!"
Taking the tissue and wiping his hands, then wiping his mouth, Wang Junyang poked Ding Yi.
Ding Yi waved a banana in his hand and nodded, "That's a must. Chu Jin is the pride of our 'Little Gang of Five' and is a 'big brother' figure. With him around, Xixi doesn't look like the boss."
Xiao Nuo Tuan shrugged, she didn't care what "boss" she was, it would be better for someone to be her "eldest brother", her eyes were fixed on Chu Jin's back, and she didn't turn her eyes back to the stage until she couldn't see him.
At the end of the singing and dancing performance, the beautiful host sister came on stage and explained the next part clearly in cadence.
Before the host's sister could finish speaking, she could only hear the excited cheers and applause of several children from the fifth and sixth rows in the north area of the stage.
"Chu Jin Chu Jin you are awesome! Chu Jin Chu Jin first place!"
"The 'Little Gang of Five' is the pride of Chu Jin! No... Chu Jin is the pride of the 'Little Gang of Five'!"
Wang Junyang and Ding Yi stood on the chairs, one after another, clapping and shouting.
Come on, their "Little Gang of Five" has become famous in the whole newspaper system in such a form!
The uncles and aunts sitting around laughed together, these two little cubs were too funny, and they applauded and coaxed.
Song Qiaoxi and Ding Miao, the two little girls didn't know why, maybe they were a little "shameful" by the slogan designed by Wang Junyang and Ding Yi.
The little slap became popular, and he was waiting for Chu Jin to appear.
And Song Jianguo, who was sitting in the second row, after listening to the host, frowned and turned to ask Lao Wang, who was sitting in the back row, "Why has no one told me about this, Brother Wang, do you know, when will you give it to me? Chu Jin made a part of the poor students commendation conference?"
"No one told me, I was caught singing on the spot, sigh, isn't that Aunt Gao from the neighborhood committee? And Secretary Sun, who still has a red envelope in her hand," Wang Junyang's father was also confused, patted He patted Song Jianguo on the shoulder and motioned for him to stand in the stands, "Xiao Chujin also went up. Is it because our family Chujin has good academic performance that the newspaper will issue some scholarships? Wasn't that the case when the old president was there?"
"Can that be the same? When did the old boss do this with a lot of fanfare, and when did he not quietly go there, take a few colleagues before Chu Jin's mother, go to the boiler room to see what the child left behind, and then leave. Announcements are not allowed to be sent..." Song Jianguo was a little angry, and his tone was obviously emotional, "What kind of trick is this, why no one will discuss it with me."
He turned around and saw Chu Jin standing between Secretary Sun and Aunt Gao with a serious expression on the stage. The boy held a piece of paper and pursed his lips tightly.
Intuition made Song Jianguo feel that something was wrong, and he suddenly became restless.
Sure enough, what Secretary Sun said next confirmed his guess.
"Today is January 18, 1999, the fifteenth day of the first lunar month three years ago. It was a family reunion day. But on that day, because of a car accident, our newspaper lost an excellent people's livelihood reporter Sun Qiuyu. , is the mother of Chu Jin's child standing beside me..."
In front of the staff of a newspaper office in an auditorium, Secretary Sun disclosed all the details of how Chu Jin lost his parents when he was young, was abandoned by his uncle when he was young, and how he was abused and abandoned by his uncle.
After talking about the child's tragic experience, he began to talk about the process of Chu Jin's living in the boiler room and the academic achievements of the child in the past few years.
"Our newspaper leaders and the grass-roots cadres of the neighborhood committee, under the leadership of President Jiang, have always been very concerned about the life and study of Chujin children, and attach great importance to creating good learning and living conditions for Chujin children. In order to encourage him to study hard, we provide him every year. A scholarship of 1,000 yuan, as well as various learning and daily necessities, and also negotiated with the primary school attached to the normal school, freeing him from tuition and miscellaneous fees... "
The last paragraph of Secretary Sun's speech was mainly about "singing praises" to the leaders, listing the benefits that the leaders had strived for for Chu.
"...Children Chu Jin has communicated with us privately. He is grateful for the care and concern of the leaders, and the response is very enthusiastic. He hopes that he can personally thank the leaders at the party of the newspaper every year.
We hope that Chu will have a grateful heart, know how to repay those who have helped him, work hard to improve himself, and go a step further in his studies.
Below are the children, please read the letter of thanks for the leaders, and everyone applauds and welcomes! "
In the 1990s, this kind of "recognition meeting" prevailed, and most of the newspaper employees didn't feel anything wrong.
The audience burst into warm applause, and several "bald" leaders sitting in the first row also applauded, smiled and nodded.
Perhaps, in the entire audience, the only person who did not applaud was Song Jianguo.
He folded his arms and frowned as he looked at Chu Jin on the stage, feeling very uncomfortable.
Although the little boy was standing upright, his face was pale, his head drooped slightly, and his bloodless lips seemed to be bitten even tighter by him.
Song Jianguo turned his head to see where his daughter and the others were sitting, Nuo Tuanzi mechanically slapped twice, tilting his head thoughtfully.
Xixi usually has a small face with a smile, but this time she pouted and stared straight at the boy on the stage.
He was so angry that he almost dropped the teacup beside him.
Why didn't anyone notify him in advance of this
What kind of bullshit "recognition meeting"
He and Qiao Qin spent so long carefully protecting the child's self-esteem, for fear that someone would hurt Chu Jin.
This is a good time. I directly slap the new wounds and the old pains on my head, and tell the public about the death of their parents and the unconscionable things done by those bastard relatives. This is not equivalent to opening the wound that Chu Jin has healed. Sprinkle more salt
Fucking hell.
Song Jianguo thought, go back and ask clearly, who took the lead in thinking about this stupid process, these people are full of thoughts about how to flatter the newly appointed president!
Chu Jin walked to the microphone, unfolded the letter, and Secretary Sun helped him lower the microphone.
Thank you letters are not long, they are all "fake and empty" clichés.
The little boy had a low voice, stood upright on the stage, his tone was flat, neither humble nor arrogant.
The eyes of all present were attracted by Chu Jin. This little boy was so good-looking that he could use the word "beautiful" to describe his facial features at a young age, as if he was born to shine.
Standing quietly on the stage, even in ordinary clothes, his temperament can be clearly distinguished from all the children in the courtyard, and he can easily attract everyone's attention.
When reading the person to thank, Chu Jin put down the stationery in his hand.
Song Qiaoxi has been pondering the "official language" that Secretary Sun said just now. Although, many words are exaggerated, but how do you listen to them, why do you feel a little awkward
It's just that Xiao Nuo Tuan can't figure out where the awkward point is...
When he just reacted, Chu Jin had already started to speak.
When her attention returned to Chu Jin, she saw the dazzling boy on the stage put down the letter in his hand and clearly said one, two, three...
A string of familiar names.
The small chest was filled with warmth.