farewell

At the age of fourteen, after dropping out of school, I took seventh place in the township, and with the hope of my father and brother, I was once again admitted to the junior high school which was more than three hours walk away from home. On the morning of the start of school, my parents got up very early. Although there was nothing to prepare, they had been very busy with it the day before. It seemed that soon after dark, my parents got up. The sound of scooping, cooking and their soft conversations could be heard faintly at night. When I woke up in the middle of the night, the fire outside the window shone on the glass window upstairs. When I was called up, my parents had already prepared all my luggage and stacked them on the table under the eaves. Beside the flickering fire, tableware and prepared meals have already been placed.

After eating the dim sum, my mother cleaned up the dishes, and the yard was lit up. At the urging of my father, I hurriedly checked the prepared luggage: on the tall and square wooden box, the newly woven straw curtains and mats were bundled, and the box was stuffed with starched new flower bedding and a red blanket. , A small bag of rice and two handfuls of noodles were stored in the gap in the corner of the box. A large and small basket is filled with my daily necessities. Two small black pots, a set of bowls and chopsticks, as well as knives and veggies... A canning bottle is filled with bacon fried in sesame oil. A handful of tender fennel exudes a hint of sweetness in the coolness of the morning. Father carried the big wooden box, mother carried the basket, I carried the curtain mat, and the big white dog followed us. Facing the morning sun, we were sweating all the way and hurriedly hurrying along the winding, narrow and quiet mountain road in the distant direction.

Reaching the top of the mountain, it is a rare lawn with bright sunshine and a wide field of vision. The mother said: "Now that the uphill walk is over, let your father take you there. I'll take you here if you have a lot of work to do at home. There is a mountain temple in the mountain pass, don't forget to kowtow!" Wet from sweat, my father let out a loud and long sigh of relief, pulled off the old blue cap he was wearing crookedly on the top of his head, and wiped the sweat from his face... I walked over and knelt in front of the temple. , devoutly finished the first "Leaving Home" head. Underfoot, the grass is green. Above the head, the sky is high and cloudless. In front of you, the rising sun is bright and warm, the breeze blows cool, and the green leaves rustle like a song. Turning back, the thick woods covered the path when we came.

Before we got up, people from the same village also came: father and son, the father was carrying a dark red leather suitcase, the son was carrying a gray canvas bag, bright clothes and a pair of new blue rubber shoes, neatly rolled up Colored nylon stockings were exposed under the raised trousers. When he saw us, his face was full of a spring breeze, he hurriedly greeted us, and then he took brisk strides and disappeared quickly. The father said, "Let's go too. Today is too heavy to send you back. It's not too early." He took off his old shoes and shook the sand in them. I stood up, patted my butt with both hands, patted the dirt-stained on freshly patched knees, and carried the basket my mother had carried on my back. The father put the curtain mat on the wooden box, put the box on his back, took his mother's hand, and stood up with difficulty. Mother stood behind us, watching us all the time. My father and I, I was in front of him and behind, while talking, we walked slowly towards the road ahead.

We arrived that day sweating and it was almost the end. Fortunately, my brother got off the stove and bed ahead of schedule. After making the bed, my brother took us to identify the stove and set up a toilet. My father went outside to pick up some firewood to cook for me, comforted me, and said that if he was not busy, he would come to see me when he went to the market in a few days, and then left.

Since then, journey after journey, year after year, he finally sent me farther and farther, until I could never go home again. The first time I went on a long trip, my father was forty-three and I was fourteen. It was my first time sending my father on a "far journey". My father was fifty-five years old and I was twenty-six years old. After twelve years of vicissitudes, hardships, and hardships, I finally started my new life, but he ended the rest of his life in a hurry. When I finally grew up and was able to endure the ups and downs by myself, he couldn't wait to take a look at his grown son, and left without concern, it has been fourteen years! If it is still alive, it is rare now...