Wang Xiaoer and I are the same age. His home and mine are separated by a clearing, which is less than 100 meter. We have been playing together since childhood.
I admired him most when I was a child, because he was the youngest child in their family. He has a brother and a sister. He plays wildly every day, carefree. And I, I also have a younger brother and a younger sister. I always take my brother with me when I go out to play. I was about 6/7 years old and my brother was two or three years old.
There are no kindergartens in our countryside. Before the first grade of primary school, we were completely free-range. Parents are busy with their work, and children are playing around in the mountains. The year before primary school, Wang Xiaoer and I were no longer interested in playing with mud in the fields in the mountains. What we often go to is to play in the primary school in the village. After the pupils who go to school every day left, we immediately followed them to school. At that time, I went to school not alone, but with my brother on my back. Wang Xiaoer, a boy with no burden, always takes care of me-when I can't keep up with my brother behind my back, he will stop and wait for me.
We went to primary school in the same year, but he and I were not in the same class. He goes to preschool and I go to grade one. I don't know why my "status" with him began to change from the day I walked into the school gate. Maybe it's because I was sensible earlier, and I knew I had to study hard since I was a child.
After school, I have been among the best in my class, but Wang Xiaoer doesn't know that this cleverness is not used in study at all, but in leadership. He is simply the "king of children". He is always surrounded by a group of friends. Every day after school, many children go to his house to play, including my brother. My brother won't listen to me. He will listen to Wang Xiaoer. Every dinner time, my brother always plays at Wang Xiaoer's house. I told him to go home for dinner. My brother won't go home without Wang Xiaoer's consent.
Slowly, for other reasons, I began to have conflicts with Wang Xiaoer. Wang Xiaoer said that since he and I are not on the same side, my brother should not join his team. Under pressure, I had to cancel my opinion of him. I said I don't care who my brother plays with, but I won't go to the mountains to pick peaches with him.
When I was in the third grade, I went to Wang Xiaoer's house to play one day and found that he was exposed to chalk at home, which made me curious. Why did Wang Xiaoer, who has been climbing mountains and fishing in the river, suddenly fall in love with learning? He said that the Chinese teacher in his class wanted his classmates to copy the questions on the blackboard, but no one in the class wrote well. Wang Xiaoer wanted to "gloriously" help the teacher share the task, so he made secret efforts at home. Since then, Wang Xiaoer has stayed in school for a longer time. Since he helped the teacher copy the questions, he not only made a "king of the children" at home, but also improved a lot in his class. Since then, his classmates often come to his house to play. Wang Xiaoer stopped playing games with his friends and began to teach them to write, from chalk to brush.
When I was in the second grade, a new building was built in our house, and I had my own bedroom. I decorated my room like a girl's room on TV. I drew a picture myself and posted it on the bedside. I want to post a sentence on the wall next to my desk. Wang Xiaoer volunteered to help me write it. I remember writing a "famous saying" of my own choosing. "Life is a flower, which always blooms once; Youth is a fire, which must be burned once. " After Wang Xiaoer finished writing, I was very satisfied.
One summer after graduating from high school, Wang Xiaoer came to my house to play. Seeing this word, he said it was naive. Now he can help me write a high-level word. Maybe it's because my "adolescence" has passed, I'm not interested in those famous sayings, and I'm not in the mood to decorate my room. I told Wang Xiaoer that although the word was not particularly good, it had a sense of history, so I kept it.
Later, I went to college, and so did Wang Xiaoer. He talked a lot with me the summer after the college entrance examination. He said he wanted to retake the college entrance examination and get into a good university, but he only got more than 300 points in the college entrance examination. It is unlikely that he will re-enter the college entrance examination and be admitted to a good university. I said that if I take the college entrance examination again, I must be "reborn" as my teacher said. Can you do it? He said with a smile, it's too difficult. Forget it. I think it's too risky to repeat. Probably wasted a year.
Every winter and summer vacation, Wang Xiaoer and I talk about our life and study. What Wang Xiaoer showed me the most was his calligraphy. Wang Xiaoer's calligraphy in college was really professional. In my eyes, the scrolls he wrote exude a strong ink fragrance. I especially yearn for the elegance that can dance and ink, but I can't. In college, Wang Xiaoer was the president of the Calligraphy Association of their school, and brought back two calligraphy works, which were given to him by an old calligraphy teacher in their school.
After graduating from college, Wang Xiaoer went to Shenzhen, and I continued to study as a graduate student. Later, I went to work in other provinces and rarely went home. Up to now, I haven't seen Wang Xiaoer for almost seven years. I only heard that he is married, has two daughters and his wife is from Guangdong. The year before last, I signed up for a calligraphy class online and showed my calligraphy in a circle of friends. Wang Xiaoer commented: When will I go back to my hometown? Let's learn from each other. I said, well, I just don't know when I will go back.
Time flies and we grow up slowly. Fortunately, some memories are always there.