Chapter 6 Chapter Six

My uncle came back after going away for more than a month, and brought back a lot of news about his hometown.Zhangzhou has changed; the city walls have been torn down and a gravel road for cars is being paved.There are new Kuomintang flags everywhere, huge portraits of the founding fathers, and female employees of post offices and banks.Women have their hair permed and wear cheongsams.Most girls wear ponytails.There are posters and slogans everywhere: abolish unequal treaties, abolish extraterritoriality, obey the Three Principles of the People, etc.Staff members of the youth party department in tunic suits can also be seen everywhere.

The whole family gathered together to inquire about the news of their hometown.Aunt Xiuying knew that her brother was coming, so she came too, along with Aunt Chen, Zhu Na and Xing Le. Uncle seemed very happy and in good spirits.His eyes were much brighter, and he talked cheerfully about what he had seen.He seems very happy to return home this time. He has not been back for ten years, and he is very satisfied with his achievements over the years.His voice was like a cannonball. I lived in Gulangyu for a week and in Zhangzhou for a week.The hometown gradually developed.There is a treat every night.When the new head heard that I was back, he also treated me to a meal.Our ancestors are all here.I donated 1,000 yuan to our school in Wulisha Village.They said they needed a new building.A few poor relatives live in our house in Zhangzhou.The roof was leaking, so I asked someone to add a second floor to the east wing, paint the house, and replace the broken stones in the yard with new ones.

Have you seen my mother?Xing Le asked. No, she is not well.I couldn't go to Xihe to see her.But your sister Meigong came to Zhangzhou when she heard that I was going back to my hometown.She brings news of your mother.She often coughs at night.They all ask about you, and when you're getting married. they? Yes.Who do you think came with her?I didn't know that your fourth aunt had such a lovely daughter.She is your fourth aunt's daughter, right? Yes.Xing Le's heart beat endlessly.You saw Bai Ying this time. Is Bo Ying the cousin I often hear Xing Le talk about?Juna said quickly.Aunt Xiuying bit her lower lip.

Yes.She asked about your recent situation and wanted to know everything about you.Say you two grew up together.I don't remember seeing her before.Maybe she did, when she was a child.I have been away from home for too long.So she is your cousin. Yes.Her mother was born to the same grandfather as mine. Oh, she called me Second Uncle, and he smiled. I feel honored to have such a niece.She is warm and friendly.His eyes narrowed when he smiled.I know her grandfather is dead and she manages the estate by herself. Aunt Xiuying said: I know her very well.She has been very active since she was twelve or thirteen years old, and she is very good at helping her mother with things.

That's Bai Ying!said uncle.When I was in Zhangzhou, she kept asking me: Uncle, do you want this?Uncle, don't you want that?Everyone will be proud to see the next generation of good children.I said I would bring her.But she said no, she couldn't leave the Grange alone.She wants me to tell you that she wants you to come home to see your mother.Your mother is sick, lonely, and needs someone to take care of her. She sent you something, and Mei Gong entrusted her with a letter. There are several packages of dried lychee and dried longan on the big table.There are also famous fiber flowers and velvet flowers given to aunts, Xiuying and others, which are women's headgears.There is a package marked for Xingle.

Xingle opened.Accidentally found a piece of Fa Kueh, the giver knew Xing Le's favorite food.Surrounded by sweet lychee leaves and a few lychee stones.She was almost childish, as if reminding him of childhood games. Xing Le opens Mei Gong's letter.The letter mentioned a lot of news about my hometown. Another envelope contained Po Young's letters. Xing Le couldn't believe it. No!She can't write!She never wrote to me. I saw her write the address on the envelope with my own eyes. Yes, the handwriting is childish, ugly, ridiculous, pathetic, and touching.Xing Le was dubious, full of sadness and joy.He really wanted to cry.

He avoided other people's eyes and rushed upstairs with the envelope in hand.He collapsed on the bed laughing.I wanted to read the letter, but my eyes were covered with tears.He burst into tears.It doesn't matter if you read the letter or not.He held her handwriting in his hand. After a few minutes, he regained his composure and began to read the letter, when Xiuying appeared at the door. What, Xingle, what's going on? Xing Le was in tears, not shy at all.At this moment, he really looks like a big kid. As I told you, she began self-taught lessons in reading and writing.What does the letter say?

The letter lay across the bed, like a page torn from a notebook, with extremely large fonts. He hasn’t read it yet, so he said: Read it to me. Sooyoung looks at his wet face and picks up the letter.Xing Le sat up, and the two watched together.Handwriting is very difficult.Some characters are beautiful, while others are too close together or too far apart, and a line of characters is crooked.Xiuying couldn't help laughing. The letter reads: Dear Xingle: Your mother is sick.After her sister got married, she was alone.I try my best to take care of her because she is your mother.Wang Zai is very good, very smart, and grows up every day.Please Xingle, your mother wants to see you.Please go home.I want to see you too.

Cousin Bai Ying Aunt Xiuying and Xingle each held a corner of the letter paper. Not bad.Xing Le said. It's really good, Xiuying said: Think about it, she just started what is this? Xing Le didn't notice, a photo fell out of the envelope.It was a picture of her, with a hand on the shoulder of a little boy next to her.Still the same perky smile, front bangs, dark eyes and olive-shaped face.A slender figure was exposed under the printed cotton robe.Bo Ying has always been very thin.Wang Zai's eyes were shining and mischievous. Xing Le said nothing.He had never seen her in modern clothes.Xiuying handed him the package he forgot to bring up, oh, I'm leaving.I'm going to tell everyone that you are crying. She teased him on purpose.

Please, Sangu.don't go.She called me home.Should I go back. Xiuying bowed her head and thought for a while.You haven't seen your mother for almost two years.If you can find the time, you should go back.I guess it's good for you too I don't know I see you've been restless and troubled now I have to go down.won't you come down Yes, wait a minute. After Xiuying left, Xingle looked at the letter and then at the photos.He picked up the unpacked package.The strong fragrance of lychee leaves hit him, reminding him of an unforgettable childhood dream, a world he had lost but could not express, a world left in his heart that he wanted to grasp but could not grasp.He was full of confidence in those dreams, which contained happy smiles, extreme joy, sincere feelings and simple trust, and believed that he could achieve great things.He is innocent, unaware of men's deceit and women's cunning, and he is full of confidence in the dream of clinging to the stars. Although he is as lonely as the stars, he has no fear. Those stars are him and Bai Ying lying together in the stone pit and What I saw on the grass among the peaks of the Nanshan Mountains.Where did those dreams go?Can a person experience the world of adults while retaining the state of mind of childhood?Can't he be like Bai Ying, play while working and work while playing?What if you continue to believe in those dreams?Will he be sad?How sad?

Here is Juna.Juna undoubtedly loved him.But Juna's love is complicated.Involved in major family issues, and Baiying dedicated herself wholeheartedly, regardless of the benefits, only for the joy of love, it is really different. That's his problem.Can he live an adult life but keep his childhood dreams and the world that Bo Ying brought him?The lychee leaves and lychee cores she sends the child to play with now, maybe she chewed them herself and spit them out from her protruding lips, the intention is to let him remember that world, right? So what does Boying want him to do?What will happen?Maybe her delivery of letters and things is just another childhood act wholeheartedly, innocently, impulsively, not on purpose, and doesn't care about the result. Should he go back? He got up hard and went downstairs to eat.Maybe they were waiting for him. Master, dinner is ready!Ah Hua yelled under the stairs. coming. A visitor comes to see you.He went downstairs, Juna said. who? Your friend Han Xing.I said the uncle came back and told her to come in.She refused.I said I would introduce everyone, we were eating, everyone was there.She can't say, next time.Do you want to leave a message?I asked.She also said no. Xingle sat down to eat, enjoying the happy atmosphere, while his uncle talked straight.He said that he was also very happy to find a bride for him in his hometown. Mei Gong also asked.It is very easy to pick a well-educated, polite, and understanding girl from my hometown. She can be your good wife and a good daughter-in-law in this family.We can be selective.Girls must always be happy to marry into our family and live abroad.after all Uncle drank too much wine that day.He said he was going out to see some friends.But he looked very tired, and everyone advised him to go to bed early.Juna walked him upstairs and put him to sleep. Aunt Xiuying was still there, and Juna came down to accompany them again.My aunt went back to her room to rest as usual. Xiuying wears a short-sleeved fine linen dress with simple and elegant lines.Hair pulled back.She doesn't wear jewelry.She dresses just like herself.She was talking to her nephew at a round marble chestnut table at the entrance of the terrace. Can I join?Juna said softly. please.We were talking about things in our hometown, and the little aunt said: I'm leaving soon. Please don't go.As soon as the master's head hit the pillow, he fell asleep. Xiuying smiled.He drank too much.I think he's happy to be home.We're talking about Xing Le's father. Tell me about him. He is much older than me, said the little aunt.We were not born to the same mother.When my grandfather passed away, he took care of me.I was actually raised by him.He only talked about books, poems, and taught me how to draw. Juna has never been to her hometown in Zhangzhou, so she really wants to know all the details. Did Xingle's father pass the imperial examination? No.That's grandpa my father.Xingle's father took the imperial examination, but failed.That means nothing.Many university scholars do not know how to write stereotyped essays.With the official format, it's hard to write really good articles. Can you write stereotyped essays?Juna asked.In the public service examination, candidates must perform according to eight fixed paragraphs; clear question breaking, word meaning, argumentation, examples and so on. No.When I grow up, the imperial examination has been abolished. Xiuying sat for a while, then got up to say goodbye.She said she was going to change her homework and went back. Do you want to go upstairs?Xing Le asked Juna. No!It's still early.It's cool in here.The old man was fast asleep.He won't be looking for me for a while.I'd rather sit here and talk, unless you're sleepy. No!After Xing Le finished speaking, she fell silent. One day you said you would tell me everything about Bo Ying.You rush upstairs with her letter, seeming agitated. Yes.She has learned to write.I was surprised.She sent me a picture to wait.I'll go get it. Don't bother.I will go up with you.I mean, pure friendship. They went upstairs together without closing the door.He found a photo of Bai Ying and the child on the bedside table.Juna took it, walked to the table, turned on the light with a snap, and watched with a smile. I could see that her eyes were alive.Kids are cute, too.eyes like you. real? I can see that there is a focused expression in his eyes, he is worried, and he loves to think, as if he doubts what is going on with life.He tilted his head, leaning on his mother's lap, isn't it cute? What do you think of his mother? Charming and lively, I think.I see her taking care of the kids well and with ease. Easy, exactly.She can do it.She does the housework, cooks, does the laundry, and does everything with ease and with a smile on her face.Don't get me wrong.She was working in the fields, but she was not dressed like this.It can be said that this is her holiday clothes.We used to call her Olive because she was small and had an oval face and was as hard as an olive pit.Born in the mountains.I believe you have never seen a mountain. We also have mountains in Wuxi, on the Great Lakes. I have never seen the mountains over there.But there are real mountains near my house, unlike these small hills in Singapore.Truly awe-inspiring, inspiring and seductive mountains.One peak is connected with another, mysterious, remote and powerful. He suddenly became more interested in talking, as if he was pouring out a secret that had been hidden for a long time, and the listeners were unavoidably confused and surprised.He continued to say: You don't understand.When a man grows up in a high mountain, the mountain changes his point of view, the mountain in his blood overwhelms everything, the mountain stops him to think of the right words, and then he says slowly that the mountain humbles you.Bo Ying and I grew up on those high grounds.That is my mountain, and it is also Boying's mountain.i think they ain't gone i never will As Juna listened, her eyes widened.She can't understand.I only know that he is becoming more and more mysterious, and he is talking about an influence that is difficult for others to feel. You mean, you cherish those alpine memories. Not just cherish.They get into your blood.Once a boy in the mountains, always a boy in the mountains.It can be said that people have a highland outlook on life and a lowland outlook on life.The two never get along. Juna smiled mysteriously.I don't understand your words.Just know you're a weirdo. To be clear.I have a highland outlook on life.Uncle has a lowland outlook on life.Happily, right here on Earth, looking down, not up. Maybe I understand a little bit. To put it another way.If you were born in a high mountain.You measure everything by the mountain.When you see a skyscraper, you compare it in your mind to the mountains you have seen before, and of course the skyscraper looks ridiculous and small.Do you understand what I mean?The same goes for everything in life.People, careers, politics, and money are all the same. Juna shook her head and chuckled a few times.Oh well, everyone adores skyscrapers.They don't compare like you do. She walked slowly around the desk and gazed at the picture of a heron's nest on the wall.Poorly exposed, poorly washed, and starting to yellow.In addition to framing, everything is not clever.On the right is the heron's nest, formed of vertical blocks of granite, about sixty or seventy feet high, with shrubs growing out of cracks.Below is the edge of the slope. A boy and a girl, about twelve or thirteen years old, are sitting there, with their backs to the camera, looking at the distant mountains under the clear sky. This photo must be very important to you. certainly.I like to look at it from time to time; it reminds me of my childhood days.I spent a very happy childhood in the mountains.We often chased and chased under the slope, but we couldn't see it in the photo.A little further to the right was a chasm full of falling rocks and a clear stream, and on the other side was an impenetrable jungle.He pointed to the two sitting figures and said: That's Bai Ying, that's me. Juna could vaguely see the pigtails the girl was combing.You can't forget, can you? No, never forget.Naturally, in childhood, what we ate, the mountains we lived in, the streams where we caught shrimps, lagu, and soaked our feet, you would not think about everything pure and childish.But it's all in your heart.Follow you anytime. Is Boying older or younger than you? We are the same year.My home is at the bottom of the valley.She lived on the high ground in the West Hills, about a mile and a half away.On the days of the village market, she would come down the mountain and bring us some fresh vegetables, bamboo shoots, or cakes made by her mother.Sometimes, especially in the hot summer, we would go up and play in the heron's nest for an afternoon.It was much cooler up there and the scenery was beautiful.Their house is on a hanging rock in Xishan.On the mountain, I often see her standing at the bottom of the clear sky, reflecting a beautiful picture.The girl stood outdoors with the blue sky above her head, her hair fluttering in the wind, she was much more beautiful than indoors. Is this what you call a highland outlook on life? Yes.You stand up straight.No need to bend over, no need to give way.Don't have to prostrate yourself before anyone.This is how your bones stand. I began to understand the occasional distant gaze in your eyes. She said goodbye politely and went back to her room.