1
That day was a day with a full moon and no haze, so I was in a bright mood. On a whim, he wanted to go to a restaurant for dinner.
Passing by a private room, I accidentally saw a table of people, laughing and drinking, and the faces could not be more familiar. My heartbeat suddenly accelerated, so I grabbed his arm and walked out. He didn't understand its meaning. I said, don’t ask, we’ll talk about it after we go out.
There were eight people at that table, four couples. In the past, there were ten people and five couples. When these people were young and young, they entered the factory together. They lived in a single dormitory, ate and drank in a cafeteria, and looked at each other. One by one, they found their significant other, and in pairs, they moved from the single dormitory to the family area, going through ups and downs. Along the way, he gradually became a leader in various professions. Then, one family after another, they were transferred from 541, leaving the military industrial unit with 60,000 employees, and returned to Beijing.
Counting on the fingers of one hand, it has been 46 years. 46 years is definitely a shocking number for a person. Recently, I saw a few words from Mo Yan in WeChat Moments. He said: "Being a friend or a lover, it is not easy to be friends for three months. Those who can last for six months are worth cherishing. Those who can stay together for one year are deplorable." It is called a miracle. Those who can survive two years are called close friends. Those who are more than three years old are worthy of memory. Those who are still there after five years should be invited into your life. Those who are still there after ten years are no longer friends, they are already relatives. It’s part of life!” So, what about 46 years? What is 46 years?
In that private room were colleagues and friends who had been with us for 46 years. To paraphrase Mo Yan, they should be very close relatives. Now, they don’t take us to play anymore.
2
When we were in the 541 Military Factory, we had sex with each other, got married and had children. The children are growing up, they are a kindergarten friend and a school classmate. They played together every day, and even went to the wheat field together to chase and play on the wheat straw. Even after dark, they still didn't want to go home. When they were taken home by the adults, they were sweating profusely, with little faces like melons, and their heads and bodies were covered with wheat straw shavings. That year, we took our son back to Beijing to visit relatives, and the children in the same hospital showed off that Beijing had this and that. My son asked unconvinced: Are there wheat straw stacks in Beijing? Suddenly, several children were asked, "You look at me, I look at you," and there was silence. Children who live within the Second Ring Road of Beijing, how do they know what a stack of wheat straw is.
In 1987, we were transferred back to Beijing. My son clamored to go back to the 541 Military Factory every day, to visit relatives, friends, teachers, uncles and aunts there. Between us and our children, in that special and closed environment, the love grows over time and becomes deep.
During the Dragon Boat Festival, he was on a business trip, and my children and I received sweet rice dumplings of different sizes and shapes from various families. They live upstairs next to each other, and they have to instruct the children to send each other delicious food. They share good things and help each other when they have difficulties.
Three
After being transferred back to Beijing one after another, they have kept in touch with each other. Later, everyone got along very well, and all of them got official positions. Only my husband and I were still workers who relied on our skills to make a living. The factory was in a recession, and my son loved computers. At that time, a 386 cost more than 6,000 yuan. It needed to be updated almost every year or even less than a year to improve the configuration. To this end, we spent almost everything. The children and adults often wore old clothes given by relatives and friends, and lived very hard. Every time we meet at gatherings, we sincerely wish you all the best for promotions and salary increases. We have no other abilities. He can repair home appliances, and his son is a computer expert who has won the first prize in the National Youth Computer Olympiad. The father and son are willing to use their skills to provide services to everyone. Someone brought a broken TV set, someone's computer malfunctioned, and he and his wife were invited to his home for repairs. They move around each other like a string of relatives. There is a daughter from two families, affectionately called *** Mom.
Some people say that only when you go abroad can you know how patriotic you are. I would like to add that it was only after living at my son’s house in Sydney for a year that I realized how much I missed Beijing and my relatives and friends. After returning to Beijing, five of us couples were invited by Lao Jiu, who was transferred to Hefei, to have a gathering in his hometown. I am very happy. Once we get together, all my relatives who have been transferred to other cities will meet.
I never expected that we would meet at Beijing Railway Station. We had not seen each other for more than a year. Our aura was not right, and we no longer had the familiarity we had in the past. There were obviously fewer words; his face was obviously cold. I was especially surprised by the contact person H who was in charge of this gathering. We are not only relatives for 46 years, but also have another relationship. His brother-in-law once studied under my father-in-law and learned to draw reed geese. For no reason, why is it so cold? So cold? It's so cold that I can't adapt to it, and it's so cold that I feel overwhelmed. The beautiful girl named *** Mom sent her parents to the station and was also deliberately avoiding us.
I really don’t know what happened to make several relatives unhappy. I only remember the last party. I said that Z has retired and is no longer the general manager, so we can no longer let him treat us. And proposed that from that time on, the AA system should be implemented. At that time, everyone had no objection and immediately followed suit. I appreciate my own advice. Did I do something wrong?
When the face becomes cold, the heart becomes distant.
When your mind is far away, when you do something, it feels lumpy and something is wrong. Regarding this point, I just felt something strange and didn't think much about it. I didn't know where to think. I still trust H.
Before departure, H called Lao Jiu to convey Lao Jiu’s intention, saying that Lao Jiu would pay for the party. We both immediately expressed our deep gratitude to Lao Jiu for his kindness. Lao Jiu must not be responsible for the expenses. You tell me how much we should prepare. H told me: This is basically what everyone means. Let each person get 6,000 yuan. We agreed that. You are the person in charge of this trip. Please remind me of everything and how to do it. He said, no problem, we have been friends for so many years.
After meeting him, I felt that there was a mismatch between H’s words and actions. Not to mention reminding him, he refused to tell the truth when asked. In Hefei, after everyone was told to pay 3,000 yuan, no more money was collected. I asked uneasily: Why haven't you collected the money yet? H answer: Don’t worry, we will notify you when it will be received.
It wasn’t until I left Hefei that day that I couldn’t help but ask a kind-hearted person, why didn’t you accept the payment? She replied: We no longer charge money. Each of us expresses our gratitude to Lao Jiu with red envelopes or gifts.
It turned out that Lao Jiu insisted on his own opinion, persuaded the contact person, and resolutely borne a lot of expenses. As for the two of us, we were preoccupied with waiting for notices to pay every day. We did not express a single penny of gratitude to Lao Jiu for his hospitality and for his mental and financial contributions. Both of them were exposed in the position of stingy and inhumane fools, and they felt as embarrassed as they felt, as upset as they felt, and as guilty as they felt guilty.
After leaving Hefei and arriving in Hangzhou, I had been blindfolded once, as if I had been tapped by an unfriendly aura. I was still confused and didn’t dare to ask more questions. I think this time, H will also be responsible for calculating the accounts and notifying each person how much to pay. I asked several times, when will I be charged? H said that the account has not been reported yet. Although I was dissatisfied with H's cold face, I still believed in H's words. Until we left Hangzhou early and gave H money, he refused to accept it. The reason was that he didn't know how much he would pay since the account hadn't been reported yet.
After returning to Beijing, I continued to ask questions, and H still said that the account had not been reported yet. It wasn't until we insisted on asking H to pay the money that we were told that we didn't want to have anything to do with it.
In fact, H was in Hangzhou and gave a necklace to a colleague in Hangzhou. He did not plan to charge a unified fee. The one-day fee was received by two colleagues in Hangzhou. Others learned from H that they no longer collected money uniformly and secretly gave red envelopes to the children of that family. It was just the two of us who didn't know the truth and kept waiting stupidly. This behavior has undoubtedly become an excellent source of ridicule, criticism, and contempt for everyone.
After returning to Beijing, H contacted the couple in Hangzhou and did not mention anything about our repeated urgings to collect the money. Instead, he told the other party: They did not show any respect for your reception, and said I don’t owe you anything! The couple in Hangzhou, especially the proprietress, immediately sent me a text message as soon as they heard that it was popular: "Listen to H, he said that your family doesn't owe us love. Wrong! Not only do you owe love! You also owe money!" I held up my hand. Cell phone, crying in grievance.
Originally, this was a trap? In other words, is it another hole dug by H for us? The two fools, who had never been in the officialdom, jumped down accurately.
I don’t think about food and drink, and I can’t sleep at night. I must make up for my mistakes as soon as possible. I value dignity very much. As an employee of a bankrupt company, my dignity is no worse than anyone else's. Because he didn't know the truth, what he did was a complete loss of dignity in everyone's eyes. Some people say, let’s let it go in advance. Some people advise, don't worry, there is a long time to come, you will have the opportunity to make up for it. No one was willing to provide me with the detailed addresses of my colleagues in Hefei and Hangzhou, so I had to think of a solution on my own with tears in my eyes. After many twists and turns, the money was finally paid. Before handing over the money, he was scolded as a miser, and after handing over the money, he was scolded as wanting to break up with his friends. I value my friends so much, the friendship between friends so much, and I feel hurt where I deserve goodwill and friendship. My heart trembled.
A 46-year friendship is not something that can be put down simply by letting it go. I can’t. One day, I learned that Z became a grandfather. I was sincerely happy for Z. To express my congratulations and a little thought, I gave the child a thousand-yuan red envelope. During that meeting, I learned that Z didn’t like the AA system. I don’t like it, you said it at the time, it’s not an difficult topic to talk about. When I mentioned that trip together and I explained the misunderstanding to Z, Z said that people are willing to go along with it and listen to the person in charge, H, on matters that have nothing to do with them.
I am speechless. When I was not trusted, when lies were repeated several times, turned into truth, and entrenched in the hearts of several relatives, I could only turn my back and shed tears alone. I know that General Manager Z is a rich man, and a thousand-yuan red envelope is too insignificant for him. But in life, not all are rich, the majority are poor. The amount that the rich take seriously is nearly half of their monthly salary. Z has been away from the factory for so long that he doesn’t know that there are still low-income earners whose factories have closed down. At that moment, I suddenly felt that we are no longer what we used to be. People who have been in the officialdom for a long time and have entered the ranks of the rich can no longer understand me.
Even, I wonder unkindly, whether my relatives who are officials and bosses have stayed in the atmosphere of intrigues and intrigues for too long, and are not used to the quiet life after retirement. Do they feel lonely and boring without someone to fight against? I want to use the two of us to try it out and prove that my skills in fighting with others are still as good as ever.
I hope not.
Four
Since my relatives don’t want to take us to play, or since the person in charge doesn’t want to take us to play, then okay, I will try my best to be invisible in your lives. . If you encounter one, run away quickly. I was in another restaurant, with tears in my eyes, silently wishing my relatives good food, good drinks, and a happy gathering. If one day my relatives’ electrical appliances break down and they still want to repair them, my partner is still willing to provide high-quality free services. Forgive me for being sentimental again. I know that today's rich people throw away and buy new appliances when their appliances break down. They no longer need to repair the appliances.
Deep in my heart, there is too much warmth and too much beauty. Even now, I still can't understand why some people use lies to fool people, make them look embarrassed, laugh at them, and enjoy criticizing and slandering them. Every time I think about it, I shed tears, but every time I wipe away the tears, I will still be happy for the happy events of my relatives and bless my relatives for their happiness as usual.