mailing letter

Chapter 42 Growing Up

The originally empty room looked even colder. There was only a wooden box and a black and white photo on the table. The man in the photo was still young, with a bright smile.

The beams on the roof were wrapped with white silk. Shen Ying sat on a stool beside her and covered her face, lowering her head and sobbing. In fact, Shen Ying was worried a few years ago when the war outside was more chaotic. He slept well, but he didn't feel at ease until the fighting stopped and he received a reply.

But no matter how well prepared he was mentally, the sudden moment still made Shen Ying feel impossible and unacceptable.

Zhong Chengyi didn't know how he came back from school, he just remembered that he ran all the way and kept running, as if he felt that if he ran faster, he might be able to see his father for the last time, but he didn't even see the ashes.

Zhong Chengyi still clearly remembered that his father sent a letter back a few months ago, saying that he could go home to celebrate the New Year when things became more peaceful outside at the end of the year.

The letter about going home for the New Year is still lying quietly on Zhong Chengyi's desk, neatly placed.

Zhong Chengyi just stood in front of the table blankly, and only after seeing the furnishings at home did he realize that his long-awaited father had really left, leaving nothing behind.

Zhong Xiaoshu stood at the door, looking helplessly at the back of his brother in the room. This was the brother Zhong Xiaoshu had never seen before, crying weakly.

Zhong Xiaoshu wanted to move forward, to comfort his brother who was also sad at this time, just like his brother comforted him when he was sad, but was stopped by his mother when he lifted his foot.

Lin Qiuyi pulled Zhong Xiaoshu into his room, Zhong Xiaoshu would look back from time to time along the way, and when he was sitting by the bed, Lin Qiuyi paused and said in a low voice: "Xiaoshu, Brother Ayi's Father...he passed away, let's not bother them, let's sleep with mother tonight."

Zhong Xiaoshu nodded in a daze, feeling sad for some unknown reason, with red eyes, lay on the bed and stretched out his hand to tighten Lin Qiuyi's sleeve, and said softly with a trembling voice: "Mother, can you Don't go, can you stay with Xiaoshu all the time?"

Lin Qiu's eyes were also a little red, turned over and hugged Zhong Xiaoshu in his arms, while patting Zhong Xiaoshu's back and softly comforted him: "Don't worry, Xiaoshu, mother will not leave, mother still has to look at Xiaoshu When you grow up, how can mother be willing to leave?"

Time goes by day by day, day by day, but since that day, Zhong Chengyi has changed, he has become less carefree, and those marbles he used to love to play with were given to Chen Erliang, and he never touched them again. I no longer feel sleepy, as if I grew up overnight.

It was snowing finely and densely outside, covering the old doors and windows with a layer of white. Zhong Xiaoshu was sitting by the stove in the house to keep warm, with a tabby cat lying on his lap, purring.

At this time, the wooden door was pushed open, and the originally warm room was a bit cold by the wind and snow outside. After Zhong Chengyi put down the firewood on his body, he quickly closed the wooden door, turned back and sat by the stove to add firewood inside, facing Zhong Xiaoshu Said: "Uncle Chen said that my aunt and mother were trapped in the town by the snowstorm and couldn't come back. Tonight, I can only eat some sweet potatoes to pad my stomach."

Zhong Xiaoshu hugged the tabby cat and nodded.

He looked at Zhong Chengyi's face illuminated by the flames, his tall nose was flushed red by the wind and snow, and he was only wearing a slightly thicker dress. He was obviously only a young man but he had to take responsibility.

Zhong Xiaoshu remembered Zhong Chengyi's room with broken windows, lowered his head and asked softly, "Brother, can I sleep with you at night?"

It was only then that Zhong Chengyi remembered that he had been sleeping with his mother since his father passed away, so he nodded and agreed, "Okay."

The wind and snow at night made the window "snap" sound, Zhong Xiaoshu rubbed his sleepy eyes, gently lifted the quilt and got out of bed, and closed the dilapidated wooden window.

so cold.

After closing the window, he quickly ran back to the bed, quietly moved to Zhong Chengyi's side, and shivered.

He was about to close his eyes and fall asleep when he heard Zhong Chengyi whispering softly.

Father. .

The voice was weak and trembling.

Zhong Xiaoshu propped himself up on his elbows, saw the slight tears on Zhong Chengyi's face through the faint moonlight, and asked worriedly: "Brother, what's wrong with you?"

Zhong Chengyi frowned subconsciously.

In his dream, he felt that he had fallen into a dark hole, and there was no one around him. He was terrified, and kept calling his father and mother, and then he realized that his father had passed away.

I thought that I would always sit in this dark place, but in the next second, a beam of faint light came in, and I saw myself as a child in that light.

And the man I miss so much.

"Father, look, what a big rice field!" Xiao Zhong Chengyi happily yelled while sitting on the man's neck.

The man supported Zhong Chengyi with his rough hands, and said with a smile: "Yes, when autumn comes and the rice is ripe, we will have money, and we can buy you and your mother some new clothes after winter."

"Great! New clothes to wear!"

. . .

"Baby's father, it's so chaotic in the north, and there's been wars for years, so why can't we not go?" Shen Ying wiped away her tears and looked at the man carrying the suitcase in front of her.

The man stretched out his hand and gently wiped away the tears on Shen Ying's face, saying: "Don't worry, my mother, I'll be back after the new year."

After finishing speaking, he squatted down and looked at Xiao Zhong Chengyi who was silently crying beside him and smiled: "You are so old, you still cry."

Xiao Zhong Chengyi sniffled, lowered his head, and said in a muffled voice, "I didn't cry."

The man sighed softly, stretched out his palm and rubbed his son's head, and said, "Ayi, after Father leaves, you must take good care of your mother, as well as your brother and aunt, do you understand?"

Xiao Zhong Chengyi turned his head, hugged Shen Ying's thigh and nodded.

The man smiled, stood up, looked at Shen Ying, his eyes were full of reluctance, but he still had to leave after all.

Xiao Zhong Chengyi looked at the back of the man, gritted his teeth, and cried more and more tears until he could no longer see him, and shouted desperately: "Daddy! We will wait for you to come back!"

I don't know if the man heard it, but Zhong Chengyi kept shouting until Shen Ying stopped him.

A year later, the man wrote a letter, saying that the business is doing well and he can come back after the Chinese New Year.

Zhong Chengyi waited and waited, and in the few days when he received the letter, Zhong Xiaoshu could see Zhong Chengyi's happiness.

But until it snowed in the sky, Dad didn't come back, only a letter was delivered to his hand along with the wind and snow.

The man said in the letter that because of the war in Beiping, he couldn't go back, so he told Shen Ying and Zhong Chengyi not to worry.

Later men went to serve as soldiers.

And that piece of golden rice field is the only thing and thought that the unpretentious man can leave them.

Zhong Xiaoshu heard Zhong Chengyi calling Dad over and over again, feeling extremely uncomfortable, he could only hold Zhong Chengyi and said over and over again: "Brother Ayi, I am here, don't cry."

He had never seen Zhong Chengyi cry, since childhood, Zhong Chengyi would stand in front of Lin Xinshu no matter what happened.

As long as Zhong Xiaoshu likes something, Zhong Chengyi will always try his best to give it to him. Even the fish that Zhong Chengyi finally eats on the dinner table, Zhong Chengyi has always given Zhong Xiaoshu the tenderest and most thornless place to eat.

The brother who treats him the best in the world, the strongest boy in the cold winter night, is secretly crying because of the loss of his dearest person.

So fragile.

So distressing.

The wind and snow stopped early in the morning of the second day. When Zhong Chengyi woke up, his eyes felt a little dry and swollen, and he thought it was because he didn't sleep well last night.

He got up and rubbed his eyes, and was about to cook for Lin Xinshu, only to realize that Lin Xinshu, who was supposed to be sleeping late, was no longer on the bed, and there was only a tabby cat curled up in a ball and still snoring beside the pillow.

When Zhong Chengyi opened the door of the stove, he was choked by a puff of smoke and coughed continuously.

Zhong Xiaoshu heard the voice coming out from behind the stove, his face was gray, but he still had a smile on his face and said: "Brother Ayi, wait a moment, I will cook the porridge right away."

Zhong Chengyi looked at Zhong Xiaoshu's smiling face, felt a little distressed, picked up a wet towel on the side, walked up to Lin Xinshu, and wiped it carefully: "I'll come, just wait for me at the table."

Zhong Xiaoshu looked at Zhong Chengyi's reddish eye sockets, and remembered that distressed face last night, pursed his mouth, lowered his head and said, "No."

Zhong Chengyi was stunned for a moment, and his wiping hand also stopped.

Zhong Xiaoshu felt that Zhong Chengyi stopped, and felt a little sad for some reason.

These sorrows were also mixed with the distress from last night, and his eyes turned red all of a sudden.

Raising his head and looking at Zhong Chengyi, his eyes that were originally full of smiles were moist, and his lips trembled a little: "Brother, I have grown up, and I can do many things. I can also help my aunt with farm work, and I can I can cook for you, I don’t need your protection anymore, I can protect you too.”

"So, brother, can you tell me when you are sad?"

Zhong Chengyi found that the child who was sick and refused to drink medicine, and would cry when he fell had grown up.

The small figure reflected in the eyes can now be relied on.

Zhong Chengyi was a little relieved, but also a little sad. He clearly promised his father to protect his younger brother, but now he let his younger brother comfort me. He sighed softly, wiped away the tears left by Lin Xinshu, and pressed his forehead He said softly, "Okay."

When Shen Ying and Lin Qiu came back, it was already dark, they opened the door lightly, and found that the food was already set on the table, and it was still slightly steaming.

And the window that had always been dilapidated was also repaired, and it no longer made the "creaking" sound.

The bed where the two of them slept in the room also became a bit cramped, and they could only curl up, cuddling each other to keep warm.

That night, Zhong Chengyi had a sweet dream, dreaming of his father, but his face no longer had rough stubble, and his whole face looked very clean. He rubbed Zhong Chengyi's head with his big hands and smiled softly.

"Ayi, you did a good job, Father is very happy."