Oh, Xiangxue
If someone hadn’t invented the train, if someone hadn’t laid the tracks deep into the mountains, you would never have discovered the small village of Taiergou. It and its dozen or so families are wholeheartedly hidden in the deep folds of the mountains. From spring to summer, from autumn to
winter, they silently accept the gentleness and roughness given by the mountains at will.
However, two slender, shiny subway rails extended over. It bravely hovered on the mountainside, and then quietly and tentatively moved forward, twisting and turning, and finally reached the foot of Taiergou, then got into the dark tunnel, rushed towards another mountain beam, and rushed towards the mysterious distance.
Soon, this line was officially put into operation. People crowded at the entrance of the village and saw the long green dragon roaring all the way, carrying the strange and fresh breeze from outside the mountains, wiping the poor backs of Taiergou in a hurry. And passed. It was walking in such a hurry that even the sound of the wheels rolling over the rails seemed to say: non-stop, non-stop! Yes, what reason does it have to stay in Taiergou? Does anyone in Taiergou want to travel far? Does anyone from outside the mountains come to Taiergou to visit relatives and friends? Or is there oil storage and gold mines buried here? Taiergou, no matter from any aspect, does not have the power to hold the train and stay around it.
However, I can’t remember when the train timetable added the “Taiergou” stop. Maybe the passengers on the train had asked if any of them who could keep their word were related to Taiergou; maybe it was the happy male flight attendant who discovered that there were a group of beautiful girls aged 17 or 18 in Taiergou. Whenever the train was speeding, Then, they stood in groups at the entrance of the village, raising their chins and looking up at the train greedily and intently. Someone was pointing towards the carriage, and from time to time one or two screams could be heard as they were beating each other. Maybe it’s nothing, just because Taiergou is too small, so small that it’s so painful that even a giant dragon with steel and iron bones can’t hold its head high or stop in front of it. In short, Taiergou is on the train schedule. At seven o'clock every night, the train bound for Shanxi from the capital will stop here for one minute.
This brief minute disrupted the previous tranquility of Taiergou. In the past, Taiergou people would get into bed right after dinner. They seemed to hear the silent command of the mountain at the same time. As a result, the small stone house in Taiergou suddenly became completely still at the same moment. The silence was so deep and real, as if it was silently telling its piety to the mountains. Nowadays, the girls in Taiergou panic as soon as dinner is served on the table. They take a few bites absentmindedly, put down their bowls, and start dressing up. They washed off the loess and dust of the day, revealed their rough and rosy complexions, combed their hair into a shiny black color, and then competed to wear the best clothes. Some people put on new shoes that they only wore during the Chinese New Year, and some even secretly smeared some lipstick on their faces. Although it was already dark when the train arrived at the station, they still carefully considered their clothes and appearance according to their own ideas. Then, they ran towards the entrance of the village, towards where the train passed. Xiangxue is always the first to go out, and Fengjiao from next door is the second to follow.
At seven o'clock, the train panted and slid towards Taiergou. Then there was a loud clang in the air, and the car body trembled before it stopped. The girls rushed forward with their hearts beating, watching from the window as if they were watching a movie. Only Xiangxue was hiding behind, covering her ears tightly with her hands. When watching the train, she ran at the front, but when the train came, she shrank to the end. She was a little afraid of its huge front end, which was spitting out white mist so majestically, as if it could suck Taiergou into its belly with one breath. Its earth-shaking roar also frightened her. In front of it, she was like a grass without roots.
"Xiangxue, come here, look!" Fengjiao pulled Xiangxue and pointed to a woman's head. She was pointing to the row of gold circles on the woman's head.
"Why can't I see?" Xiangxue squinted her eyes slightly.
"It's the one on the inside, the big round face. Look, there's a watch, it's smaller than a fingernail!" Fengjiao made a new discovery.
Xiangxue nodded silently. She finally saw the gold circle on the woman's head and the watch on her wrist that was smaller than a fingernail. But she soon discovered something else, too. "Leather school bag!" She pointed to an ordinary brown artificial leather school bag on the luggage rack. It’s the kind of student backpack that can be seen everywhere even in small cities.
Although the girls were always not interested in what Xiangxue discovered, they still gathered around him.
"Oh, my God! You stepped on my foot!" Fengjiao screamed, complaining about a girl who came up to her. She always likes to be startled.
"What are you chirping? Are you trying to get that pretty boy to answer you?" The girl who was complained did not show weakness.
"I'll tear your mouth off!" Fengjiao cursed, but her eyes couldn't help but look towards the door of the third carriage.
The fair and fair young steward really got off the bus. He is tall, has black hair, and speaks beautiful Beijing dialect. Perhaps because of this, the girls call him "Beijing dialect" in private.
"Beijing Hua" hugged his elbows with both hands and stood not too far away from them and said: "Hey, little girls, don't open the windows, it's dangerous!"
"Hey, we are little. Are you old?" Fengjiao replied boldly. The girls burst into laughter, and one of them pushed Fengjiao forward, causing her to almost hit him. This only made Fengjiao more courageous, "Hey, you guys don't feel dizzy in the car all the time? " she asked again.
"What is that big blade like thing on the roof for?" Another girl asked. She was referring to the fan in the car photo.
"Where is the boiled water?"
"What should I do if I drive to a place with no roads?"
"How many meals do you city people eat a day? "Xiangxue also followed closely behind the girls and asked in a low voice.
"It's really not curable!" "Beijing Dialect" was trapped in the circle of girls, muttering at a loss.
When they were almost driving, they made way for him to go. While looking at his watch, he ran towards the car door. When he ran to the door, he turned to them and said, "Next time, I will tell you next time!" His two long legs nimbly stepped up and got into the car, and then There was a squeaking sound, and the green car door closed heavily in front of the girl's door. The train plunged into darkness, leaving them beside the icy tracks. For a long time, they could still feel its lighter and lighter tremors.
Everything returned to silence, so quiet that it made people melancholy. The girls walked home, arguing over little things on the way:
"Who knows how many gold circles are on the head?"
"Eight. ”
“Nine.”
“No!”
“What do you mean, Fengjiao?”
"She is still thinking about 'Beijing dialect'!"
"Fuck you, whoever said it will think it." Fengjiao said, squeezing Xiangxue's hand. , meaning to ask Xiangxue to help.
Xiangxue said nothing, her face turned red in panic. She was only seventeen and had not yet learned how to help others in such matters.
"How white his face is!" The girl was still teasing Fengjiao.
"Bai? He wasn't covered in that big green room. Ask him to live in our Taiergou for a few days and try." Someone said in the dark.
But no, people in the city rely on covering. If you want to talk about it, ask them to compare with our Xiangxue. We, Xiangxue, are born with good skin, and then we perm our hair into curls like those girls on the train, tsk tsk! 'It's really useless'! Sister Fengjiao, do you think so? "
Fengjiao didn't respond and let go of Xiangxue's hand. It was as if the girls were really belittling her. She felt a little sorry for him. Somehow, she believed that he was Her face was definitely not white, it was natural.
Xiangxue quietly put her hand into Fengjiao's hand. She motioned for Fengjiao to hold her hand, as if asking for Fengjiao's forgiveness, as if it was her. Fengjiao was wronged.
"Fengjiao, are you mute? "It's still the same girl.
"Who is mute! Who is like you, only looking at people's black faces and white faces? If you like it, you can follow them! "Fengjiao's mouth was very harsh.
"We are not worthy! ”
“Are you sure that I don’t have a lover?” "
...
No matter how loud the quarrel was on the road, everyone was still very friendly when they broke up, because an exciting thought arose in their hearts again: tomorrow, the train They will still have a wonderful minute. Compared with it, is a little awkwardness nothing?
Oh, a colorful minute, you are full of Taiergou. The girls were full of joy, anger, sorrow and joy!
As time went by, this colorful minute became even more colorful. In this minute, they began to step on the rectangular bag filled with walnuts, eggs and dates. Standing under the car window, they took the time to do business with the passengers in a friendly manner. They stood on tiptoes and stretched out their arms, lifting the whole basket of eggs and red dates up to the window, which was rarely seen in Taiergou. Noodles, matches, hairpins, and soap belong to the girls. Sometimes, some people even risk being scolded when they go home and exchange them for colorful sand towels and nylon socks that can be loosened or tightened.
< p> Fengjiao seemed to be assigned to the "Beijing dialect" on purpose. Every time she went to see him with a basket, she deliberately took her time doing business with him, only stuffing the whole blue eggs into her hands when the car was about to start. Give it to him. If he takes the eggs away first and then pays for them next time, it would be more interesting. If he brings back a bundle of noodles and two sand towels, Fengjiao will definitely take back a pound of noodles. Return it to him. She felt that this was the only way to be worthy of her association with him, and she wanted this kind of association to be different from ordinary business. Sometimes she also thought of the girls' words: "You guarantee that I don't have a crush?" "Actually, it's none of Fengjiao's business whether she has a crush or not, and she has never thought about leaving with him. But if she wants to be nice to him, does she have to be a crush to do so?Xiangxue usually doesn't talk much. , timid, but the most successful among the girls in starting a business.
Passengers love to buy her goods because she looks at you so trustingly, and her crystal-clear eyes tell you that the girl standing under the car window still doesn’t know what it means to be deceived. She didn't know how to negotiate the price yet, so she just said, "You can give it to me." When you look at her face that is as clean as if she was born just a minute ago, and her lips that are as soft as red satin, your heart will rise. Arouse a beautiful feeling. You can't bear to play tricks with such a little girl. In front of her, no matter how careless a person is, he will become generous.
Sometimes she took the opportunity to ask them about outside affairs, asking whether universities in Beijing wanted people from Taiergou, and what "poetry recitation with music" was (that was a book she accidentally read at the same table) seen in books). Once she asked a middle-aged woman wearing glasses about a pencil case that could open and close automatically, and also asked about its price. Unexpectedly, before anyone could reply, the car had already started moving. She chased it for a long distance, and when the autumn wind and the whistling of the wheels sounded in her ears, she stopped and realized how ridiculous her behavior was.
The train disappeared in the blink of an eye. The girls surrounded Xiangxue. When they found out why she was chasing the train, they all felt funny.
"Silly girl!"
"Not worth it!"
They patted her shoulders like elders.
"Just blame me for being too slow to ask." Xiangxue didn't think this was something worth doing, she just blamed herself for not taking the time.
"Ahem, why don't you ask?" Fengjiao said, holding up the basket for Xiangxue.
"Who said our Xiangxue is a student?" Someone also said it on behalf of Xiangxue.
Maybe it’s because Xiangxue is a student, the only one in Taiergou who has been admitted to junior high school.
There is no school in Taiergou. Xiangxue has to go to a commune fifteen miles away to go to school every day. Although it is her nature to be reticent, she always has something to say with the sisters in Taiergou. There are not that many sisters in Commune Middle School. Although there are many female classmates, their words and deeds, a look in their eyes, and a soft smile all seem to make Xiangxue realize that she comes from a small place and a poor place. of. They deliberately asked her over and over again: "How many meals do you eat a day?" She didn't understand their intention, so she answered seriously every time: "Two meals." Then she looked at them friendly and asked: "You guys "What?"
"Three meals!" They answered confidently every time. After that, I felt unspeakable pity and anger at Xiangxue's slowness in this regard.
"Why don't you bring a pencil case to school?" they asked again.
"Isn't that right?" Xiangxue pointed to the corner of the table.
In fact, they already knew that the small wooden box on the corner of the table was Xiangxue's pencil box, but they still acted like they were surprised. Every time at this time, Xiangxue's deskmate would rattle his large foam pencil case. This was a pencil case that could close automatically. Much later, Xiangxue found out that it could close automatically because there was a medium-sized magnet hidden in the pencil case. As for Xiangxue's small wooden box, although it was specially made by her father, a carpenter, for her to enter middle school, it is still unique in Taiergou. But here, compared with the pencil case at the same table, why does it look so clumsy and outdated? It shrank shyly on the corner of the table amid a clattering sound.
Xiangxue's heart could no longer be calm. She seemed to suddenly understand her classmates' repeated questioning of her and how poor Taiergou was. For the first time, she realized that it was dishonorable because her classmates dared to question her over and over again because of her poverty. She stared at the pencil case at her deskmate, guessing that it came from a distant big city and that its value must be extraordinary. Can it be exchanged for thirty eggs? Or forty or fifty? At this moment, her heart suddenly sank again: Why did she remember this? Mom didn’t save the eggs just to let her make random decisions! But why does that alluring clicking sound keep ringing in my ears?
In late autumn, the mountain wind is getting biter and the sky is getting dark earlier and earlier. But Xiangxue and her sisters waited patiently for the seven o'clock train. They can now wear floral cotton-padded jackets. Fengjiao has a light pink plexiglass hairpin on her head, and some girls even have silk elastic bands wrapped around the ends of their braids. They exchanged eggs and walnuts from the train. They armed themselves like the city girls on the train and lined up neatly beside the railway, as if waiting to welcome distinguished guests from afar, or preparing to be reviewed.
The train stopped and let out a heavy sigh, as if complaining about the cold in Taiergou. Today, it showed a rare indifference to Taiergou: all the car windows were closed tightly, passengers drank tea and read newspapers under the dusk light, and no one glanced outside the window. Those who are familiar with this long-distance running route seem to have forgotten the girl from Taiergou.
As usual, Fengjiao ran to the third car to find her "Beijing dialect". Xiangxue tightened the purple scarf on her head, changed hands and followed the basket in her arms. The car body keeps running. She raised her toes as high as possible, hoping that people in the carriage could see her face. No one found her in the car, but she found something she had longed for on a small table piled with food.
Its appearance made her no longer want to go forward. She put down the basket, her heart beating, and she grasped the window frame tightly with her hands, recognizing that it was really a pencil box, an automatic pencil box with a magnet inside. It was so close to her that she could reach out and touch it.
A middle-aged female flight attendant came over and pulled Xiangxue away. Xiangxue stood astride the basket and continued to observe from a distance. When she concluded that it belonged to the schoolgirl-looking girl sitting by the window, she decisively ran over and knocked on the glass. The female student turned around and saw the basket in Xiangxue's arms. She waved her hand apologetically, without any intention of opening the car window. She somehow ran towards the car door. When she stood still at the door, she said: The hand gripped the armrest. If she was still a little hesitant when running, the warm, train-specific smells coming from the carriage strengthened her confidence. She imitated "Beijing dialect" and jumped onto the pedal lightly. She planned to run into the carriage as quickly as possible and exchange the eggs for the pencil box as quickly as possible. Perhaps she was able to decide to get in the car within seconds precisely because she had so many eggs, forty of them.
Xiangxue finally stood on the train. She held the basket tightly and carefully took the first step towards the carriage. At this time, the car body suddenly trembled, and then the car door was closed. When she realized what was happening before her eyes, the train had slowly bid farewell to Taiergou. Xiangxue threw herself against the car door and saw Fengjiao's face swaying under the car. It seemed that this was not a dream, everything was real. She had indeed left her sisters and stood on this familiar yet unfamiliar train. She slapped the glass and shouted at Fengjiao: "Fengjiao! What should I do? What should I do!"
The train carried Xiangxue mercilessly and flew all the way. Taiergou was destroyed in an instant. Left behind. The next stop is called Xishankou, which is thirty miles away from Taiergou.
Thirty miles away, trains and cars are really nothing. Xishankou was reached while the passengers were chatting. There were many people getting on the bus here, but only one passenger got off, that was Xiangxue. She was missing the basket on her arm, and she stuffed it under the seat of the female student.
In the car, when she blushed and told the female student that she wanted to trade eggs with her for a pencil case, the female student also blushed for some reason. She made sure to give the pencil case to Xiang Xue, and said that she lived in the school cafeteria and couldn't eat the eggs when she took them home. She was afraid that Xiang Xue wouldn't believe it, so she pointed to the school badge on her chest. It really had the words "College of Mining and Metallurgy" on it. But Xiangxue felt that she was coaxing her. Did she have no home except school? Xiangxue was fiddling with the pencil case and thinking of ideas. No matter how poor Taiergou was, she never took other people's things for free. During the few seconds of tremors before the train came to a halt, Xiangxue suddenly stuffed the basket under the female student's seat and left quickly.
On the bus, the passengers had advised her to stay one night at Xishankou before returning to Taiergou. The enthusiastic "Beijing dialect" also told her that his wife had a relative who lived on the station. Xiangxue didn't live there, let alone find any relatives in "Beijing dialect". His words made her feel even more aggrieved. She felt aggrieved for Fengjiao and Taiergou. She just thought wholeheartedly: walk back quickly, go to school confidently tomorrow, open her schoolbag confidently, and put "it" on the table. The people on the car neither understood how the roar of the train once made her feel as overwhelmed as a frightened deer, nor did they understand how capable the girls in the mountains were in the face of the mountains and the night.
The train quickly disappeared from Nishiyamakou Station, leaving her empty again. A gust of cold wind came, sucking her thin body. She wrapped the scarf that had slid to her shoulders tightly around her head, curled up and sat down on the railroad track. Xiangxue has experienced all kinds of fears. When she was a child, she was afraid of hair. If a hair stuck to her body and she couldn't remove it, she would burst into tears. When she grew up, she was afraid of going alone in the yard at night, afraid of caterpillars, and afraid of being caught. Tickling someone (Fengjiao loves to do this with her). Now she was afraid of the unfamiliar West Pass, the dark mountains around her, and the heart-stopping silence. When the wind blew in the nearby woods, she was also afraid of the loud sounds the woods made. Thirty miles, walking all the way back, you should pass through so many forests, large and small!
A full moon rose, illuminating the silent valley, the gray paths, the fallen grass in autumn, the rough tree trunks, the clumps of thorns, strange rocks, and the mountains and fields. The tree's team, and the sparkling little box in Xiangxue's hand.
Only then did she think of lifting it up and looking at it carefully. It thought, why didn't I take it out and take a closer look after taking the train all the way? Now, under the bright moonlight, he saw clearly that it was light green, and there were two white calla lilies on the lid. She opened it carefully, then patted the lid lightly like her deskmate, and with a click, it closed tightly. She opened the lid of the box again, feeling that she should put something in it immediately. She took out a small box containing facial oil from her pocket, put it in, and closed the lid. Only then did she feel that the pencil case really belonged to her, really. She thought about tomorrow again, how she looked forward to them questioning her again and again when she went to school tomorrow!
She stood up, suddenly feeling very satisfied and the wind became much softer. She found that the moon was so bright and clear.
The mountains were shrouded in moonlight, like her mother's solemn and sacred breasts; the walnut leaves dried by the autumn wind rolled up like golden bells. It was the first time she heard them clearly at night, encouraged by the wind. Singing "huo lang lang". She was no longer afraid, and walked forward with long strides on the sleepers. This is what the mountains are like! The moon turns out to be like this! This is what a walnut tree looks like! As Xiangxue walked, it was as if she was recognizing for the first time the valley that raised her up. What about Taiergou? Somehow she quickened her pace. She was anxious to see it, as if she had never seen it before. Taiergou will definitely be "like this": at that time, the girls in Taiergou no longer beg others, nor do they need to answer repeated questioning. The pretty young men on the train will beg to come to your door, and the train will stop longer, maybe three minutes, four minutes, maybe ten minutes, or eight minutes. It will open all the doors and windows to Taiergou. If the situation happens again tonight, everyone will be able to get out of the car calmly.
What happened in Taiergou tonight? By the way, the train took Xiangxue away. Why is she reminiscing now like a joke? Forty eggs are gone, what will my mother say? Doesn’t Dad expect that someone will marry a wife or hire a daughter every day? Only then would he have endless work to do, and with his back as bare as copper, he would be able to knock out those bed cabinets, cupboards, and crates day and night to earn back Xiangxue's tuition. Thinking of this, Xiangxue stood still, the moonlight seemed to dim, and the sleepers under her feet turned into a blur. What do you say when you go back? She looked around at the mountains, which were silent; she looked at the nearby poplar forest, which was ringing loudly, but did not really tell her what she should do. Where did the sound of running water come from? She searched and found a shallow stream a few meters away from the railroad tracks. She walked off the tracks and sat down by the creek. She recalled that when she was a child, she and Fengjiao were washing clothes by the river and met an old man exchanging sesame candies. Fengjiao persuaded Xiangxue to exchange an undershirt for a few pieces of candy, and told her to tell her mother that the piece of clothing was accidentally washed away by the river. Xiangxue really wanted to eat sesame candy, but she didn't change it. She still remembered that the old man had been waiting for her sincerely for a long time. Why does she think of this little thing? Maybe I should lie to my mother now, because sesame candy cannot be compared with the importance of a pencil case. She wants to tell her mother that this is a treasure box. Anyone who uses it will be able to have everything go as they wish. They can go to college, ride the train and travel around. They can have whatever they want, and they will never be questioned again. Eat several meals a day. Mom will believe it, because Xiangxue never lies to others.
The song of the creek rose louder. It ran forward joyfully, hitting the rocks in the water, and splashing a small wave from time to time. Xiangxue was about to leave. She washed her face with water from the stream and smoothed her hair that was messed up by the wind with her hands wet with water. The water was cold, but she felt very energetic. She said goodbye to the creek and returned to the long railway.
What’s in front? It's a tunnel, it's like a black eye in the mountain. Xiangxue stopped again, but she did not go back. She thought of the pencil case in her arms and the envious eyes of her classmates, which seemed to be flickering in the tunnel. She bent down and pulled out a piece of dead grass and inserted the stem into her braid. Her mother told her that this could "ward off evil spirits". Then she ran towards the tunnel. To be precise, rush away.
Xiangxue was getting hotter and hotter as she walked. She took off her scarf and put it around her neck. How far has she traveled? have no idea. Although the "Textile Lady" and "Oil Gourd" in the grass are always chirping to remind her. Where is Taiergou? She looked forward and saw black dots crawling on the rails. As she got closer, she could see clearly that they were people, a crowd of people walking towards her. The first one is Fengjiao, and behind Fengjiao are the sisters in Taiergou.
Xiangxue wanted to run over quickly, but why did her legs become so heavy? She stood on the sleepers and looked back at the straight rails. The rails glowed faintly under the moonlight and calmly recorded Xiangxue's journey. She suddenly felt her heart tightening, and she cried out of nowhere. They were tears of joy and satisfaction. Facing the severe yet gentle mountains, she felt a sense of pride that she had never felt before. She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, took out the straw stick stuck in her braid, then raised her pencil case and ran towards the crowd on the opposite side.
The girls' shouts of joy suddenly erupted in the valley. They called Xiangxue's name, their voices were so unrestrained and enthusiastic; they smiled so unabashedly and without scruples. The ancient mountains were finally moved and trembled. They gave out a bright and deep echo and cheered with them.
Oh, Xiangxue! Xiangxue!