The Lin's Alleyway

Once, I passed through Yibin, because the transfer plane needs to stay in Yibin for nearly 5 hours, because of unfamiliar with the city, no place to go, a time to feel very bored. Suddenly remembered that there is a long-lost comrade here, when we were in the army, we were bedside buddies. But then retired to their hometowns, each are busy with work and life, have not been in contact. It just so happens that other comrades have left his contact number, so I tried to contact him. When he heard it was me, he was both surprised and happy, complaining that we had failed each other as comrades back then, while he wanted to meet me at the airport.

　　After meeting him, I heard that the wait for the plane was long, so he insisted on showing me Yibin. He drove me out of the airport, introducing me to the city of Yibin along the way. I knew that Yibin had become a famous wine capital because of Wuliangye, but after his introduction, looking at the tall buildings lining the road and the congested traffic and people, I really felt the prosperity of Yibin, which is worthy of its name as a wine capital.

　　We wandered around the city for nearly an hour, and finally he said he was afraid of tiring me out, and that he didn't have enough time to go to the attractions, so he simply took me to his home to nag his two comrades and let me recognize the door, so I could look for him directly when I came to Yibin in the future.

　　I came to the neighborhood where he lives, made tea in his living room and sat down, he eagerly asked me many things about work and life after retirement, and I answered him one by one. When he was in the army, he was a very talkative person, perhaps in the eyes of others a careless thing, in his story can be heard as a story. Now that we've met, I think he's still "in the habit" of talking about everything, just like we did back then. As expected, when talking about him, he let me listen to his story again, just as he did back then.

　　More than ten years ago, I was assigned to Yibin Power Supply Company urban power supply as a marketing meter reader, when the user meter still need to be manually read, so to the grassroots units, the basic work must be done from the meter reader, I also officially became a power meter reader brother. According to the work arrangement, I am responsible for the urban Zhongshan Street near the Zhonggu Lou section of household meter reading. In the beginning, by the previous meter reading this master to take from door to door to recognize the door, read the meter, two months later, also gradually familiar with the section of the meter and the distribution of users, began to read the meter alone.

　　The meter reading is based on the monthly meter reading routine day, that is, the first half of each month, only about six days to be responsible for the section of the user's meter reading, even if the completion of the month's meter reading tasks. Then there are things like receiving and handling customer reports and guiding users to apply for new business expansion and other installation services, checking the safety of the lines and whether there is electricity theft in the jurisdiction from time to time, and in the second half of the year, collecting electricity bills in the management area. At that time, it was still a master meter system, that is, a master meter under a dozen or twenty residents jointly connected to the electricity, we only read and collect the master meter electricity, so the monthly workload is not too big. I am responsible for the total meter is also more than 150, coupled with the household appliances are not as many as now, electricity consumption is not large, supply and use of electricity fault situation is also less. In short, a month of work down, still feel quite easy.

　　But a few months later, the original work of a few degrees of freshness, a fixed monthly meter reading routine day, repeated along almost a fixed route, stop and go, copying a fixed meter, different numbers only, suddenly feel gradually become a little bored, the previous passionate enthusiasm seems to be replaced by a sense of dullness, in a fixed pattern gradually dissipated and gone. But by no means do I no longer like this job, but day after day, it seems to be lacking something, passion is gradually diminished, there is a lonely and boring feeling lingering.

　　Until one day, I met her on my way to read the meters in the narrow Lin's Lane, and my mind, which had been somewhat numb, seemed to have suddenly come to life again.

　　It was a rainy day in April of the second year after work, a normal regular day of meter reading. Every regular day of meter reading, regardless of the weather, is to read the meter in place. I am more than familiar with Lin's Lane, located in Zhongshan Street, next to the Bell and Drum Tower, a pedestrian alley, narrow alleyway paved with green slabs, the whole alley is only a hundred meters, but accommodated a dozen snack stores, three or four hair salons and a few grocery stores. By the degree of wear and tear of the alleyway slabs, it is not difficult to imagine that in previous years was a more lively street alley. There are still old houses and courtyards scattered in between, but they are very dated, giving a quaint, quiet historical impression, compared to the high-rise buildings that began to be rebuilt around it, it is considered one of the better preserved residential alleys in Yibin's old city.

　　Because of the rain, the shopkeepers stayed inside their stores, and the alley appeared to be empty, except for me, who was copying the meter and occasionally poking my head into the store to say hello.

　　Just when I copied to a small corner meter, from the east side of the head of the alley came a small heeled footsteps, although the whole alley is the sound of raindrops, but I am sure that the small heeled footsteps very clear, is coming to the alley. I could not help but look towards the entrance of the alley, only to see a girl holding a rare tung oil paper umbrella, slender body accompanied by the sound of small high heels "Atsu, Atsu", is coming. More coincidentally, a small wind through the alley at this time, blowing head-on to the girl, lightly lift her outside beige trench coat, revealing a small red flowers white dress, a few slippery pigtails slightly playful long hair against a fair and innocent face, but did not take into account the small wind ruffle, still pavilion to the wind.

　　The oil paper umbrella, the red flowers and white skirts swinging in the wind, the quiet white, confident and sure face, in this rain fall in the ancient alley, a picture swept through my mind in a flash, so clear and déjà vu, but also vaguely trance. In my still dazed time, the girl has come to my near, is slightly curved with its little finger back outlining the forehead of the pigtails, perhaps aware that someone is paying attention to her, gently glanced to my side, the eyes actually implied a touch of shyness and own full smile, in a moment of looking at each other, the girl figure has drifted from my eyes, hurriedly to the alley.

　　And my consciousness, pouring moment still stuck in the moment just look at each other, and I clearly found, I have never seen in my life, so handsome single-eyed girl's eyes, not the narrow narrow kind, but a large, with fish fluid like soothing clear eyelids, eyes clear and bright, the tips of the eyes slightly curved, look playful and slender. I'm afraid this is the legendary so-called "single phoenix eye" it, as slim as the eye of the Phoenix! I couldn't help but follow her back, in the dense rain, gradually disappearing around another small corner.

　　Isn't this exactly the picture of Dai Wangshu's "Rainy Lane"? Suddenly, I fixed the image floating in my mind: wandering in the long, long and silent rain lane, I hope to meet, a lilac-like, sorrowful girl, / she is lilac-like color, lilac-like fragrance / holding an oil paper umbrella, like me, like me / she silently approached, approached, and cast a general gaze / like a dream drifting past, a lilac, beside me Floating past this woman ......

　　The sight of a world apart made me drunk for a second, almost forgetting where I was and what I was doing. I suddenly wondered where she had gone, so I recklessly rushed into the rain, to the direction of the north alley mouth to chase, after the small corner, as far as the eye can see, the rain and fog of the north alley mouth is still quiet, and no longer the girl's figure. But I am convinced that, with my sixth sense and super hearing at this moment, the girl did not get out of the north alley, should be turned into a courtyard.

　　To the north lane mouth of this section, which has three courtyards, I can not deduce before the time of dazed stagnation, also can not deduce the girl into which courtyard, a sense of confusion, if something is lost, no time to take into account the brim has set rain into a waterfall, began to wander in the north lane mouth courtyard stumbling between. Thoughts lingering, perhaps because of the change of times, the still lilac-like girl, there is no more knotted sorrow, there is no more general vision, but that still long, long and silent rain alley, but really reflects the reality of me, still so melancholy and poignant ......

　　I don't know how long it took, but I couldn't be bothered to continue reading the meter, so I had to drag myself back with a rain-weary, unhappy.

　　The company's main business is to provide a wide range of products and services to the public.

　　Almost two months have passed, not only no chance encounter, even at that time she entered which courtyard have not found a clue, the heart gradually some anxiety up. One day, a few colleagues about to eat skewers in the night market on Little East Street, eating, a flash of light, the north end of Linjia Lane, Aunt Chen is not also selling skewers, her store is the family, astute, cheerful personality, the place and head are more familiar. To be honest, people like us in the power sector, at that time or quite popular, earlier with Aunt Chen on the beck and call, naturally soon more familiar with the. Blame only their own cheeks pu, did not think of this, why not ask her about it, perhaps more hope. After a burst of excitement, and more than ten strings of strings down.

　　A few days later, to the bell and drum building around the collection of electricity bills, after Lin Jiaxiang north lane head, see Aunt Chen is a person in front of the store peeling garlic, ready for the noon business, so I went over, said on the pretext of walking tired, to rest here in Aunt Chen. Aunt Chen greeted me warmly and brought out a chair inside the store for me to sit down and take a rest, saying that I was tired of walking around the streets every day. I sat down politely and moved to her side, pretending to be interested in watching her peel the garlic. She had already peeled half of the garlic in the basin in front of her, so it might have been some time since she peeled it.

　　"Aunt Chen, the courtyard at the head of the north lane said that a girl is collecting the electricity bill this month, and it has not been paid to the office, so I came to press it again."

　　In fact, which yard at the head of the north lane does not owe the electricity bill, I was thinking, using this conversation is more strategic.

　　"Oh, which girl is it?" Aunt Chen asked seriously.

　　"I just don't know which family's girl, said it's her turn to collect only this month."

　　I then intentionally described the girl's looks to Aunt Chen, specifically mentioning that it was a girl with good-looking monocular eyes.

　　Aunt Chen stopped her work and seemed to be searching in her mind for someone she knew. After a while, Aunt Chen mumbled while thinking: "In this alley, it seems that there is no such girl."

　　"Yes, I've seen her in the alley for the last two months, but I don't know whose family she belongs to."

　　See Aunt Chen can not be sure of the tone, I can not help but momentarily anxious up, afraid to miss this ray of hope, hurriedly words with a positive tone to provoke her, so shrewd a person, really hard to her.

　　Aunt Chen saw me say for sure, trying to search in the brain again, pondering for more than half a moment, only to say: "There seems to be such a girl as you say, but she does not live here ah."

　　A glimmer of hope seems to have emerged, can not be annihilated. I ruthlessly continue to induce.

　　"Is it possible that she has been working for one of the households in the yard during the past two months?"

　　"It's possible."

　　Saying that, Aunt Chen pointed her finger at a courtyard door in the alley and said, "Well, it's that Lin family courtyard, the innermost Lin family grandmother, she has a granddaughter is very similar to what you said. Last month, I saw her come back, and also came to my store to eat a skewer. This girl is very filial to the grandmother, often come to see the grandmother, it is possible that she collected the electricity bill for the grandmother."

　　Aunt Chen said more and more sure, I listened to more than I want information, heart cola bloomed. The granny in the Lin's yard I also know, and helped her change the light bulb a few times.

　　"So is she there now?"

　　Although my mind is distracted at this time, I asked a slightly urgent, but the good thing is that Aunt Chen did not care at this time, answered.

　　"I haven't seen her for a while."

　　After a pause, Aunt Chen actually as I thought, continued: "When I was small is in this alley growing up, how well behaved a sister, and then moved to her father's unit to live in the building. Lin family granny love old house did not go, they often come back to see granny."

　　This has once again exceeded the information I wanted to get, I secretly praised for Aunt Chen's straightforwardness. The original I really do not care about the electricity bill, the purpose is only to get her information, see Aunt Chen's topic turned to her, heart steal joy, hurriedly follow Aunt Chen's words down to ask: "So what is she doing now?

　　"So what is she doing now?"

　　"Well, who? Oh, the little sister of the Lin family," Aunt Chen was concentrating on peeling the garlic, but for a moment did not respond.

　　"I'm not sure about the details. It seems that I heard that the big in Yibin College to study in the university, graduated is the examination of civil servants or in the examination of teachers, not much impression, anyway, people are still in Yibin."

　　It seems that the amount of information to be obtained from Aunt Chen is so much, because after all, just a young neighbor, and do not live in the alley, know that these are also quite a lot, but also enough to meet my long-cherished wish.

　　At this time, there are more pedestrians passing by in the lane, and it is not good to pursue such topics, sitting idly and continue to watch Aunt Chen peel garlic, a moment, then thanked Aunt Chen, left alone. I also made up my mind, the next step is to use the "work of the convenience", directly with the Lin family grandmother to get close to, there will be more, better harvest it.

　　Later ......

　　When I was listening to my comrades with great interest, a knock on the door suddenly sounded. Then a bright little boy's voice came through the door.

　　"Daddy, I'm home."

　　"My son!" The war veteran turned to me with joy and excitement, and quickly got up to open the door.

　　"Youngest son, back. Hmm? Where is your mother?"

　　"Mom has to do activities for Teachers' Day, and will be back later."

　　The father and son hugged each other warmly into the house, inevitably, and I introduced some pleasantries, war buddies are busy preparing snacks for the son and do homework. The little boy looks clear-eyed, young and fair, and then look closely, a pair of handsome "single phoenix eyes" clear and bright, slightly shy gaze, with its own touch of full smile.

　　The story of my comrade was interrupted until I left Yibin, and I never had time to listen to him again about what happened later. But I think you must be very happy, comrade!