I lived in a small village on a day not long ago due to work needs. The village is not big, but close to a small hill. The village is right at the foot of the hill. In front of the village is a small river. The river is very long and it seems that there is no end to see. The water in the river is not deep, and there are often some children who will play here after school. Playing here, the adults in the village generally don’t say anything, because this is the only place where children in the village can play. The hill behind the village has long been used by the villagers to plant big orange trees. Generally speaking, the adults in the village do not let their children go to that hill to play. It is their income over the past year, the children’s tuition fees, the feed money of piglets, and the fertilizer money in the fields are all on the hill.

Ordinary adults will not let their children enter the mountains to play, and they have to wait until October to play. At this time, the oranges are ripe and yellow. This time of the year is the happiest time for these children. At this time, they can travel through every inch of land on that hill, go up every orange tree on that hill, and eat any big orange citrus on any tree. At this time, every child will come to this hill, and sometimes stay in this hill all day long, pick a big orange citrus when hungry and eat it, and when thirsty, there is water on the hill, and no one will blame you. Occasionally, one or two people pass by that hill, and people in the village will often pick big orange citrus for the visitors, until the visitors have no place to pretend, the villagers will give up.

The village has a small population, with only about one hundred households in total, and there are about five or six hundred people even with children and elderly people. Most of the people in the village are native farmers. Occasionally, there will be one or two young men from other places and a few girls from other places who have married from other places. But soon they merged into this place, and it is difficult for you to tell that they came from other places.

In addition to managing the hill seriously every day, the rest is to manage the few acres of thin fields in their own country. There are not many fields. Every year they plant a little rice. Because the climate here is suitable for the growth of rice, the people in the village often plant two seasons of rice. Every spring, they will start to be busy with their own country that day. When the first season of rice begins to be harvested, the citrus trees on the mountain also start to bloom, blooming small white flowers. At this time, the whole hill becomes yellow and white. At this time of year, the villagers begin to turn the center of their work.

After that hill, they began to fertilize, weed and insect-removing each citrus tree. Otherwise, the citrus this year would be short of big. After the citrus trees on the mountains began to bear green citrus, the villagers began to shift the focus of their work to the acres of fields in their homes, and they started to plant rice again. When the rice in this season was ripe, it was time for their citrus to ripen on the hill. The people in the village have always maintained this pattern. They never read newspapers or watch TV. They relied on their own experience in their daily life.

The only traffic in the village is that small river. As long as you pass through that small river, you will arrive at the town in front. When it is hot, the villagers always come to the river to play every evening after work. Sometimes on a whim, they take off their clothes, put them in a plastic bag, open their mouths and bite the plastic bag with their mouths, and use their swimming skills to pass. When they get on the shore, they put on the clothes in the bag with their wet bodies, look back at the crowd on the other side of the river, wave their hands, and whistle a few times. Then they enter the town.

Those who have not gone ashore can only watch others get ashore.

The town is not very far from the small village. After passing the small river in front of the village, you can reach it after walking forward for about 700 hundred meters.

When it's hot, the young farmers in the village usually swim along the river. When it's cold, they often ride a young man's ferry across the river. The ferry is not very big, and it can carry two to three people in one trip. I met him on the third day of my arrival. That day I had to go to the post office of the town because of something. Although it was not very cold at that time, I grew up in the north. There are few such clear rivers there, and all the rivers are full of dirty things. Such rivers cannot be allowed to swim alone. Therefore, I can often see some rivers in my hometown.

, but I still can't swim. When I was standing in the marina of the river that day, he rowed the small ferry to me. Because I was in a hurry, I didn't think much about it, and stepped on his small ferry. He seemed to know that I was in a hurry. He felt that his sloppy paddling was very fast that day. In a short while, we arrived at the other side of the river. When we got ashore, he gently leaned the bow of the boat on a small marina on the shore and asked me to get off the boat. Because I was in a hurry, I walked a little anxious. At that time, I didn't expect to give him money. I was thinking about going to the town and looking for the post office.

After leaving the boat, I quickly entered the town. The town was not big, but it was very lively. There were many people coming and going, and it was obvious that the town was in a very good location. Soon after I entered and entered the town, I found the post office in the corner of a street in the town. There were not many people in the post office, and it seemed that no one was coming to deposit and withdraw. Therefore, when I entered and exited, there was only one person in the entire post office watching the newspaper of the day. When I counted the money in my hand and handed over, she slowly pounded on the computer. After a while, I finished what I wanted to do.

After finishing the work, I thought it was still early, so I simply took a look around the town, bought a few Dickens novels from a few small bookstores, and then looked at the streets of this town. The streets of the town are very narrow, but very clean, and the clean reveals the stability unique to rural people. I like this clean and stable street, which is not as noisy as big cities, nor as dirty as big cities. Osmanthus, some unknown birds fly over your head and then rush into the sky. The fragrance of osmanthus flowers on both sides blows towards your nose from time to time with the breeze. Walking here, you will also feel that it is a good enjoyment.

I came to the marina of the river when it was almost dark. When I came, I never expected that he was still in the marina. I saw his small ferry from afar. He sat there, staring at the water in the marina, and looked at the direction of the town from time to time. When I came out, he saw me at a glance. His face was full of joy. I still remember the happy face. At that time, I didn't expect that I would go back on his ferry, because I didn't think that I couldn't swim, so when he came ashore, I thought he was asking me for money, so without saying a word, I scooped a five-yuan RMB from my pocket and put it in his hand, but he didn't want it, but quickly put it back in my hand. At that time, I thought five yuan was not enough, so I went right from my pocket

I scooped out five yuan again, and there were ten yuan together. I put them all in his hands, but he quickly returned to me. I didn't give it to me at that time, because I personally thought that ten yuan was enough. Although that small ferry was the only means of transportation in the village, I also thought that ten yuan was about the same as one person, so he put the ten yuan I gave him back to my hands. I didn't know why I didn't deal with it for a while, but I just felt that when I came, I didn't say the price. Now I have to give him a price. He seemed to see my problem. After a while, he finally spoke. He said that his boat was shared in their small village and belonged to the collective. The village would give his family an additional salary every month. Therefore, his ferry was not worth it. As long as someone crossed the river, he would ferry.

After he told me a long time, I still put the ten yuan in my hand on his boat, but soon he put it in my hand. The money was in my hand. I didn't know what to do, and stopped at the pier. After a while, I saw that he had no intention of leaving. I remembered that I was going back, but I couldn't swim, so I still had to rely on his little ferry to go back. Although I still had to rely on his little boat to go back, I didn't rush to show it at that time, because I didn't know that there was only this little ferry on the small river in this small village. So I stood on the pier and looked at the opposite side of the river, hoping that a small boat would come out, so I could take their small boat back, but after a long time, there was no small boat opposite the river, and even the shadow of a boat had not appeared.

It was getting darker and darker. People returning to the village swam back from the river one by one. I was still looking at the opposite side of the pier. He and his boat were also at the pier, but I was not able to get on his boat due to my feelings just now. Besides, I don’t like to make people work for nothing. Although the work he does is paid by the government, I still feel embarrassed, especially as a stranger from another place.

The sky is getting darker and darker, and the villages in the distance are shining lights from time to time. The river surface of the small river is foggy at some point. The whole sky seems to be completely dark. My heart is getting more and more anxious. I look at him on the boat below the port from time to time. He seems to be very anxious. From time to time, he looks up at the other end of the river, and occasionally he looks up at me on the port, with a certain anxiety in his eyes. At some point, the wind starts to rise around the river, and when he comes, he is in a hurry.

, and although it was afternoon, there was still sun in the sky, so I didn't feel very cold for a moment. At this moment, I felt the coldness when I stood on the river. He seemed to notice my coldness. He still came to me from the ferry. The clothes were very fit, but the sleeves were very long. It was obvious that the owner of the dress was not him. Because he was not as tall as me, I felt that the sleeves were longer when I wore them, let alone him. So I dare to conclude that this dress was not him.

The wind on the river was getting heavier and heavier, and it seemed that it was going to rain. He stood on the boat and looked at the river, and then looked at me. At this time, I saw a sense of anxiety in his eyes, and my heart was getting more and more anxious. When I saw his eyes again, I decided to get on his boat because there was something like me in his eyes - anxiety.

He quickly rowed the boat to the center of the river. The river water in the center seemed not very deep. Just then, the wind on the river surface was getting stronger and stronger, and he kept blowing towards our ferry. He simply gave up paddling and let the boat be blown by the wind in the middle of the river. At this time, he walked to my side from the bow of the boat, and then sat down. At this time, the wind on the river surface was blowing towards us. The boat quickly drove towards the small village without anyone rowing. Soon he and I arrived at the port of the small village.

I was about to get off the boat, and two figures suddenly appeared on the steps of the pier. Because the pier is not far from the village, and with the lights in the village, I still saw the two shadows on the pier, which were a girl and a big yellow dog. The big yellow dog stood beside the girl, stretching out her long tongue, and constantly gasping. The girl hugged the big yellow dog's body with one hand and supported her chin with the other. When I was far away, I thought the girl's figure was only that high. When I got closer, I found that the girl was squatting on a small tree stump on the stairs of the pier. When our ferry approached, the girl stood in and said in her mouth: "Brother, why are you so late today?

I was so anxious that the fourth uncle of Daogu helped me carry it into the house! After the girl said that, she walked a few more steps forward, and then I could see the girl's face clearly. The girl was about sixteen or seventeen years old and was about 1.6 meters tall. She had a very beautiful melon-shaped face, big eyes, and was wearing a very different T-shirt. It was obvious that the T-shirt had been processed for a while because her sleeves were processed by herself, because there were obvious traces of processing on both sides of the sleeves. The girl had a very beautiful long hair and said it was very beautiful because her hair was very dark and smooth. It could be seen that her smoothness came from her innateness.

As she walked down, the big yellow dog also walked down the steps. He pounced on him affectionately. He seemed to care about her big yellow dog and gently stroked the big yellow dog's head. The big yellow dog seemed to be very useful, rubbing on his body, wanting to get more caress from him. He stroked the yellow dog for a while and put it back to her side, and then slowly packed the small ferry. He packed it up very slowly. After a while, she also wanted to help, but he stopped him. He just asked softly: "Have you fed the piglet?" "I've been fed a long time ago"! It was obvious that the girl was very proud of this. He heard the girl's proud words, he smiled gently. After a while, the small ferry was tied to a big tree on the pier.

I came back with him and didn't pay for it in the afternoon, so I didn't walk away for a while. They seemed to notice my existence while chatting. He spoke enthusiastically, and she looked at me from the side, as if she had never seen me before, which made me embarrassed. After a long time, she asked, "Brother, is he?" He didn't seem to know me, and just told his sister that I was a ferryman on his ferry. She just looked at me gently. Her big eyes were very good, and I trembled all over. I nodded with a smile, and then watched them disappear in front of me. I returned to my own residence long after they left.

I saw them again at noon the next day. I went to the town again because of something important. Naturally, I came to the port of the river again. When I came, I didn't expect that she would be on the boat, and she would give the ferry.

It was around 8 o'clock in the morning when I arrived at the pier. She was already standing at the pier. When I stepped onto the boat, she seemed to remember my appearance and smiled softly at me. At that moment, I suddenly felt that there was nothing more beautiful in this world than this. In the morning, the sunset, the clear river water, the green willows, the dilapidated ferry, and the vibrant little girl, I suddenly felt that this town was so beautiful.

"I'm going to the town again today?" "Yes. I have to go to the town for some things." "Oh, then you can get on the boat! I'll cross you across the river!" "Well, then I'm asking you?" After saying that, I stepped onto her dilapidated boat. "Hey, where are you talking about it, is this my job? Besides, everyone in the village gave us dozens of yuan in salary every month to take care of our brother and sister. I have to be worthy of everyone. Besides, it's not much effort to cross the river alone." After saying that, she saw that I had already stepped on her ferry, and she untied the cable hanging on the shore back and forth, and the boat was right.

She left the shore after a row. Her movements were very skillful. It was obvious that she had been working for a long time, otherwise she would not have such good boating skills because I did not experience much oscillation on the boat. The boat gradually reached the center of the river, and a breeze blew from the upper reaches of the river. She might be tired, or she wanted to let herself rest, so when the wind blows, she just took the boating boat away and looked up to enjoy the autumn wind. At that moment, I found that she was actually very beautiful, a simple and natural beauty, the beauty without too much modification and crafting.

The wind gradually stopped, and she scooped up the pole on the bow of the boat again. Her movements were very soft, and I had never seen such soft body movements. Maybe I was infected by her beauty, but for some reason I suddenly felt a feeling of never being moved before. A feeling of wanting to cry naturally surged out in my heart. I suddenly realized that I was so easily moved. Maybe she hadn't spoken for a long time after I got on the boat, so she spoke with me while the bow of the boat was dry. I suddenly realized that she was actually very careful.

"Aren't you a local? Are you just here?" "Oh, yes, I'm from Northeast China. My hometown is in the rural areas of Northeast China. We are not different from you. There is no such clear river or such a beautiful country town!" "Hey, when you say that, every place has their own good things. Maybe the people here also like the loess high slopes there!" "That's right, I didn't expect you to have such an enlightenment." "Hey, what kind of enlightenment is there, I just know some simple truth."

"I said, stop you...you call me. I can't be how old you are, and I have a name, my surname is Jing and Zhixiang. You can call me my name from now on. If you feel awkward, just call me Xiao Jing. Everyone in the village calls me that, so just call me that way! OK?"

"This... isn't that good?" She seemed a little embarrassed to call me Xiao Jing, so she was rowing the boat all the time.

"It's nothing, I'll get used to it slowly, try to scream."

The boat slowly passed through the center of the river. Along the way, I heard the barking of dogs and the sound of whistles from the town, and only the sound of her boat pole paddling. Occasionally, one or two small fish rushed out of the water and broke through the plane of the river. The breeze blew us from the front of the river from time to time, making people feel a hint of coolness. In the breeze, I saw that her back was already wet. At this time, I realized that she was a girl of fifteen or sixteen years old.

At her age, she should have sat in a spacious and bright classroom with her schoolbag in her back and read Mr. Lu Xun's "Society Drama" loudly. Perhaps she was reading Yu Guangzhong's "Homesickness". This should have been her life at this time. But all this ended with her too early. The burden of life had to allow her to integrate into society too early. Fortunately, she was integrated into a warm and loving society. So she can still retain that innocence, simplicity and sincerity.

The boat was getting closer and closer to the town, and her back became wetter. I knew that was the result of her hard work. But I really couldn't bear to look at the sweat on her back. Finally, I asked her to take a break, and I said not to hurry to go to the town, don't be too tired. She seemed very moved by my concern, but this touching was exchanged for her. The smile may be the most beautiful smile in my 22-year-old life, because it contained a sincere and optimistic attitude. At this moment, I suddenly knew why she had such a bright and sincere smile. Because she was as clear and clean as the water in this river.

The wind gradually became stronger, which gave her a lot of resistance because the wind was blowing along the front of her. Fortunately, the wind was gradually changing direction. The town was getting closer and closer, and you could almost see the endless stream of cars and people coming and going on the streets of the town. I finally broke this silence again because I didn't know her story and name.

"It was your brother who sent me across the river that day?" "Hehe... Yes, how about it? He is good at rowing? I was taught by him step by step! I learned for more than three months before he felt at ease to let me ferry the village?" "Well, his boating skills are good, fast and stable, and they are also strong. Why didn't he come today?" "He! He helped me today because a relative of a neighbor built a house today, and he went to help them for a day." "Oh, I can see that your brother hurts you very much, right?" "That's!" She seemed to like someone who could talk about his brother, because I obviously felt her pride for him and the deep feelings of dependence between brother and sister for many years. Maybe this relationship is very deep for them. Maybe I can never truly experience the innocent family affection in her heart in this life.

"Are you two brothers and sisters in your family?" "Maybe I shouldn't ask such a question at this time, because I saw that after a brief pause, her back trembled significantly. I don't know if she was crying because I couldn't see her face. But I still believe she was crying because she was a little girl who longed for family caress.

"There are only my brother and I at home. I have been raised by my brother since I was a child." After saying that, she was silent for a while. She seemed to not want to talk about this past, maybe she wanted to say it but didn't know where to start.

The town gradually emerged in front of us, and I could almost see the names of the shops in the streets of the town. From time to time, waves of hawking and the fragrance of breakfast came from the town, and waves of wet fog slowly spread out on the surface of the river, mixed with the unique fragrance of pieces of meat buns.

She finally spoke, maybe because she thought I was a good person to talk to, or maybe because she saw that I came from a strange countryside, so she felt that it was good to talk to her.

"My father and mother left us when we were very young. My father was a minibus driver, who drove a minibus in the town opposite." After saying that, she freed a hand from the boat pole and pointed to the town opposite us. Then she withdrew her hand again. At this time, I clearly saw the fatigue in her eyes. Because we were inclined, I could vaguely see her face. Although there was fog on the river surface, I still saw the two crystal tears. At that moment, I understood her pain, because this town was a kind of longing for her, because her father stayed in this town. Seeing the town was a kind of longing for her and his brother.

"My father helped a small transportation company in this town when my brother and I were very young. I remember that at that time what my brother and I most look forward to was the evening every day, because it was my father's time to get off work. At this time, he would always take off his clothes outside, then plunge into the river and swim towards our town. After a while, he would suddenly rush out of the river like a superman and hug my brother and me. At that time, we lived a very happy life, so my brother and I would make an appointment to wait for my father on the port of the river every day after school.

When I came back, I waited every day, and never fell down. Until one day, my father did not appear in the port of the river, but my brother still waited every day because we believed that my father was just going to go at midnight and he would not want my brother, because my brother and I were obedient children. So my brother believed that my father would come back. So we still went to the port of the river every day, and waited until the surroundings were silent in the darkness, my mother came to pull us home, but we were still reluctant to go home because we always believed that my father would not want my brother and I.

In this way, my brother and I waited on the port of the river for ten days. Ten days later, the villagers began to say that my father would not come back. Because my father had a home outside, he would not ask me and my brother and I to wait for my father every day after school. Finally, in the evening one day, my brother and I saw my father on the port. We were very happy, because our father would not want us. But we suddenly realized that we were wrong. When my father came back that time, he did not plunge into the river as usual, but on the day he came back on a ferry with a beautiful woman, my father did not hug my brother for the first time. But my brother and I were still very happy. Because our father came back. But what my brother and I didn't expect was that my father left quickly and we never came back.

When my father left, it was a dark morning. My brother and I were still dreaming. We didn’t know about my father’s departure. Until the next day, we found that we could no longer find any of my father’s clothes or things at home, and we couldn’t even find the cigarette butts that my father liked to smoke. At that moment, my brother and I paniced because I found that my father really wouldn’t come because there was no unique smell of smoke here. Where did my father go, my brother and I still don’t know. Someone in the village said that he went to Xinjiang. The reason was that the beautiful woman my father brought that day looked like a Xinjiang native. But I was not interested in this.

My mother left me and my brother on a heavy rainy night. As usual, since my father left, my brother and I went home early every day, cooking early, pulling pig grass, feeding chickens early, doing the homework assigned by the teacher early, and then going to bed early. My mother left us that night. It was raining heavily in the town that night. My mother took a whole bottle of sleeping pills that night. Maybe she was too tired, maybe she was looking for her father, but she was in my six-year-old brother.

My brother left us when he was ten years old. From that night, my brother and I became two orphans. I remember that neither my brother nor I knew what to do. Fortunately, the people in the village took good care of us and planted the little field in my family during the busy farming season. Every autumn, my brother and I could still have some food harvests. So my brother and I stayed with me until my brother was thirteen years old. My brother felt that he should come back from school because I was going to school too. I was nine years old that year, and my brother was responsible for taking care of me since then.

My brother rarely asked me to do the work in the fields, and I only did a little work. But my brother was weak and hardworking. Although I was very hardworking, my brother and I always didn’t have much income every year. Some old people in the village couldn’t stand it, so they helped my brother plant the pitiful land in my family. Every autumn, they kindly helped my brother move the crops in the field back little by little. Later, in order to facilitate the town, the village built this small ferry together. And handed the job to me and my brother. Although many people in the village wanted this job, when the village chief said that he gave it to me and my brother, no one said he wanted this job. Since then, my brother and I have their first job.

The small ferry finally arrived at the ferry of the town, and the excitement of the town instantly spread throughout my body. I suddenly realized that I didn’t like this excitement at any time. What I suddenly wanted was the tranquility and sincere warmth in the small village. I haven’t gotten off the boat for a long time. Maybe it was because I took it on the boat for too long, and I suddenly realized that I no longer adapted to the excitement and prosperity brought to me by the town. The moment I turned around, I suddenly wanted to know her name because she made me feel the beauty I had never seen before. So I shouted to the river. The voice echoed on the river for a long time. Finally, I knew her name because a loud voice on the river was echoing, "My name is Luo Zijuan! Remember! See you back."

I left this autumn. When I left, I still rode her small ferry. When I left, I realized that she came back from school two years ago. The reason why she came back was not because of her bad academic performance. On the contrary, her grades were the best in that school. Many people have advised her not to give up her studies for a little blow to life, but she came back resolutely. The reason why she came back so resolutely was because she felt that the burden of life could not be pressed on her brother's shoulders, and she had to bear it even if she had to suppress her. I once asked her if she had regretted returning from school and being a little ferry girl in the small village, but she smiled happily and said no. Because now she and her brother are living a good life.

After leaving, I never went to that small village because of work. But I often think of that warm little village, her cheerful and confident smile, and her spirit of daring to fight for life.

"If one day we are buried in the crowd and live a mediocre life, it is because we don't work hard to live a rich life." I never know who said this sentence, but I always remember this sentence because it often reminds me of her naturally. Maybe she is the person who strives to make herself rich life!

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Chapter completed!