Father's Land Mother's River

Chapter 79 Twelve Hours

Back home, Li Hongxia didn't care about making out with her son, let alone changing clothes. She put the fish on a two-wheeled trolley, took a steelyard, glanced at Liu Xiaonan and said, "Are you tired? If you are not tired, help me." Go to line up for water."

Liu Xiaonan said that she wasn't tired, didn't change her clothes, and pulled up the two-wheeled cart with the water tank turned into a gasoline barrel and walked out of the house.Li Hongxia held hands on one side, and the two walked straight to the mining area along a mountain road.

When we arrived at the water pulling point in the mining area, the door of the water room was locked tightly because it was not yet time for the water to come, but there was already a long queue outside the water room.Li Hongxia asked Liu Xiaonan to wait in line with the trolley, and she went to sell fish at the market in the residential area of ​​the mining family.

Liu Xiaonan guarded the trolley, looking around boredly.There was a long queue of trolleys who came to pull water, most of them were old people and women, and there were also a few half-grown children, all from the countryside around the mining area.

Because the mines are pumping water 24 hours a day and the sea water is pouring back, rural wells are either dry or undrinkable.There can only be one water pulling point on the mine, which is exclusively for the rural people around the mine to use water.

According to Li Hongxia, no matter how much water is saved at home, they have to fetch water every three days, day after day, year after year.At that time, my mother gave up the opportunity to reunite with her father when she saw the difficulty of using water. She guarded Liuzi Street and Fuzhou River alone.

After so many years, the living environment has not improved, but has continued to deteriorate.How should this harsh living condition be described in the form of a novel?
When the sky was getting dark, Li Hongxia returned to Liu Xiaonan after selling the fish.She excitedly told Liu Xiaonan that they had sold for more than 40 yuan in total, split half and half, and offered 20 yuan.

Liu Xiaonan waved her hand, eating and living at someone's house, it's just a matter of paying for food.Li Hongxia smiled knowingly and put the money in her pocket.

After filling a water tank with water, Liu Xiaonan pulled a half-ton trolley, and Li Hongxia pushed behind, and the two walked on the mountain road with difficulty.

The moon had already risen, and scattered lights lit up on the surrounding hillsides.Panting and climbing up to the top of the slope, Liu Xiaonan put down the handlebars to catch her breath, and asked Li Hongxia, "Usually you pull water by yourself, how did you get up this uphill?"

Li Hongxia said casually: "I followed my mother to pull water since I was a child, and I got it out of practice."

The environment makes people, and adapting to the environment is the most basic law of survival.Liu Xiaonan asked: "There are lights on the hillside over there, where are they?"

Li Hongxia said, "It's a small private coal mine, and my man died there."

Liu Xiaonan didn't ask any more questions, he was afraid of opening the bloody wound in Li Hongxia's heart.

When Li Hongxia was young, she met a Henan demobilized soldier who was working here. When she was 19 years old, she followed the demobilized soldier to Henan despite the opposition of her family.When I got there, I saw that there were mountains, rivers, and land, but they could only maintain food and clothing, and there was no way to make money.After only living for a year, the young couple returned to the mining area, where the woman chased the sea and the man dug coal.

Not long after their son was born, a landslide occurred in a small coal mine, and the man was buried in the mine, and Li Hongxia became a young widow.Because her two younger brothers were not yet married, she carried her son back to her natal home.

My father had experienced two dangerous situations in the mine and almost lost his life, let alone a small private coal mine without any safety guarantees?Liu Xiaonan avoided the subject of Li Hongxia's man and asked, "Since we know that private small coal mines are dangerous and life is not guaranteed, why do people still engage in such desperate jobs?"

Li Hongxia replied straightforwardly: "Everyone wants to live well, and to live they have to earn money. If they don't have any other great skills, what can they do if they don't work in coal mines? It doesn't mean that people die every day, and it depends on whose fate is greater."

Liu Xiaonan was completely speechless, picked up the cart and continued walking.Downhill roads are also difficult to walk. Only by pushing your legs hard on the ground can you control the inertia of the heavy-duty trolley sliding down.When we got home, it was completely dark.

In the several large water tanks in the yard, there is rainwater collected on rainy days, and the water temperature is slightly hot after a day in the sun.Li Hongxia scooped up two basins of water from the water tank and asked Liu Xiaonan to stand in the yard to wash her body.

Liu Xiaonan felt uncomfortable all over, and wanted to take off her sweaty and alkali-smeared overalls to scrub well, but when she saw Li Hongxia standing beside her, she only took off her upper body clothes, then stopped, and waited dawdly for her to leave.

Li Hongxia saw it, and said with a smile: "Unexpectedly, college students are still so feudal. I saw that you performed well today, and I wanted to serve you with water and a towel. Don't think I want to see you naked, My son is two years old, do you think I have never seen or experienced anything?"

Li Hongxia laughed enough, put a towel around Liu Xiaonan's neck, turned and entered the room.

Liu Xiaonan just took off her pants to wash her body, and couldn't help laughing.He felt that in front of Li Hongxia, he was not a prospective college student at all, and he hadn't had those few love affairs, but he looked like a young boy who didn't know much about men and women.

In the deep and calm night sky, the bright and clear moonlight sprinkled over the sea like a giant net, with phosphorescence sparkling in the net.The cool sea breeze is blowing, the sound of the waves is low and weeping, and a few fishing fires are swaying in the depths of the sea, like a few fallen stars floating on the sea.

Liu Xiaonan and Li Hongxia sat side by side under the moonlight, each with a harpoon in his hand, a storage battery hanging from his waist, and a lamp cap on his head. They sat on the shore with the lamp turned off and waited for the ebb tide.

This is Liu Xiaonan's third day at Li Hongxia's parents' house.A small north wind started blowing in the morning, and it didn't stop at noon.Li Hongxia said that the tide must be out tonight, so she put away her fishing rods and went home early, let Liu Xiaonan have a good sleep at noon, took him to catch the sea at night, and rewarded him by catching some flying crabs, shrimps and crawlers.

Liu Xiaonan didn't understand why he went to the sea at night.Li Hongxia explained very straightforwardly, the autumn wind blows and the tide only recedes at night, there are so many things in the sea, and the movements are slow and easy to catch.

It seems to come a little early, the tide has just receded not far from the coast.Li Hongxia hugged her knees, looked at the sea, and quietly asked: "Why are you so interested in my affairs?"

Li Hongxia's eyes twinkled with bright starlight, which was the fire of life burning in the dark night.Liu Xiaonan said: "In you, I see the ugly and sinister face of fate, and also see the tenacity and magnificence of life."

Li Hongxia turned her head, her face pale under the silver gray moonlight, she asked: "Do you believe in fate?"

Liu Xiaonan said: "How should I put it? Fate is an illusory thing. When you meet, you have a destiny, and if you leave, you don't have a destiny."

"There is one thing you may not know. I started working to earn money as soon as I graduated from junior high school. I did everything from fishing to the sea. I even went to a small private coal mine to carry large baskets——I told you to see it. The coal can weigh more than 200 catties when packed into large wicker baskets or iron drums. Two people use a pulley to shake it up, and two other people need to lift it up by the well and dump it on the coal pile beside it. It's called carrying the big basket"

Yesterday evening, Liu Xiaonan accompanied Li Hongxia to sell fish without pulling water. On the way back, Li Hongxia took him to visit a small coal mine.

A shaft with a diameter of less than 20 meters and a depth of more than 100 meters. After encountering the coal seam, it is dug down obliquely along the coal seam. The pit log is less than [-] meters long and the diameter is only more than [-] centimeters. It can be seen how narrow the roadway can be and how safe it can be. high.

People are engaged in heavy and dangerous work in such a narrow space. Once a landslide accident occurs, there is no place to run. Just thinking about it is very scary.

The pullers and baskets in the mine are all women. Under the pressure of life, they grit their teeth and engage in heavy physical work that only men should undertake.

"At that time, your father came to my house and often praised me for being diligent and capable. My mother said that I should just be your daughter-in-law. Your father didn't make a clear statement. He only said that you were in high school and wanted to go to college. Naturally, there is no further words. But I have been imagining what you look like, whether you are ugly or handsome, tall and strong or short and thin. Don’t laugh at me, because it is the first time you have betrothed me to a man. Although you have never met, you look In my heart, it's a pity that we missed each other.

"It's best if you don't laugh at me, or I'll let you go around. When I saw you for the first time, I was secretly surprised. I didn't think you were a stranger at all. I know you came here to inquire about my experience. , You live in my parents' house just for this, I just don't tell you. I hate you, why didn't you show up in front of me earlier? Now let's see my joke.

"You don't need to explain, I'm just talking about it. I can't see that you are not a wolf-hearted person? These days, I have been thinking, this is fate, and it is destined that you are just a passerby. Hate you is actually hate For myself, the blisters on my feet are all driven off by myself, so I can't blame others.

"At that time, I was still young and ignorant. When I was carrying a large basket in a small private coal mine, I met a demobilized soldier from Henan who dug coal. Hearing that his hometown had mountains, rivers and land, I ran away with him.

"You know what happened later, and I don't want to talk about it anymore. If I talk too much, I will have nightmares. It's too difficult for a woman to pull a son. I want to find another man, but someone said behind my back that I have a pair of perverted eyes." , Kefu, who harm others and himself, hides far away.

"Do you think my eyes are color eyes? Do you think I killed my man? Do you think I'm a dishonest woman? What? You say my eyes are two bright lights in the world? Come on Come on, you can really joke, you lift me so high, are you not afraid of falling to my death? However, I love to hear it, and no one has praised me so much.

"I'm not afraid of people talking about me behind my back. I'm only 23 years old. I have hands and feet. I can still raise my son without a man. I no longer look for work in a small private coal mine. I have to live well. I live to raise my son.

"People have to find a way of life for themselves. I can't do anything else but catch the sea. Guarding such a large beach, as long as you are not greedy, lazy, and willing to work hard, it is not too difficult to earn some money. This You also saw it two days ago, we both sold a lot of money just for fishing.

"Aren't you willing to listen to my complaints? I have been speechless for a long time. That's good, you are willing to listen to me and also willing to talk. In the past few years, I have always felt depressed and panicked, and I was about to explode.

"You said that you are a college student and don't want to study hard. What are you running around like a little widow with me? You can write books? Isn't that a writer? Not now, but in the future. Then I have to work hard Tell you, don't let you make me a bad woman.

"Late autumn last year, October 29th, was the unluckiest and luckiest day in my life. There was also a small north wind blowing during the day, and the wind stopped in the evening. There was no cloud in the sky. It was a rare good weather.

"In the evening, I went to catch the sea with two other sister-in-laws in the village. This is the beach in front of us. It's the same as the place where I took you to fish. The more remote the road, the more things there are in the sea.

"After the tide ebbed, we lit our headlamps and went into the sea. The tide receded far that day, and we had a premonition that there would be a good harvest when we stepped into the sea, but we didn't expect it to be far beyond our expectations. We couldn't pick up things on the beach, such as conch, fly Crabs, octopuses, and shrimp crawlers are all there, and they seem to be waiting in line for us to put them in the net bag, and even forked a few rare toothfish.

"The three of us dragged our net bags and ran back and forth on the beach. We felt so happy. After traveling to the sea for so many years, it was the first time we encountered such a rich and spectacular scene. We all felt that we were going to get rich today.

"In the past, when we went to the sea, we pulled whatever we saw. We didn't pick and choose. If there was something in the net pocket, we could sell it for money. It was different that day. We all picked the big ones and the expensive ones and picked them up in the net pocket.

"The three of us gradually separated, and no one cared about the other. We wanted to put all the things on the beach into our net pockets. We only shouted to each other occasionally to vent our excitement, so we wouldn't be far apart. too far.

"At the time, we didn't realize that it was not normal for those seafood to be concentrated on a beach.

"It's like being swallowed by a huge monster without any precautions. Suddenly, the sky is dark and there is no way to escape. You have never experienced it, and you don't know how terrible the fog on the sea is, especially at night. , especially with your head down, your energy is highly concentrated, and you are not given any time to relax.

"When the headlights suddenly dimmed and could only illuminate a distance of one or two meters, my face felt wet, and my heart trembled before I realized that there was fog. At this time, it was too late to find the direction of the coast.

"For example, if you are thrown into a pile of cotton, there are white fluffy cotton on the top, bottom, front, back, left, and right. Can you tell the difference between the east, the south, and the north? You will feel wrong in any direction, not to mention that you are still wading under your feet. Sea water, remind you all the time, if you can't get out of the fog and you can't find the coast, you will be trapped in the sea.

"The three of us yelled at each other at the top of our voices, gathered together following the sound, and discussed ways. With companions around us, we became more courageous. At first, we didn't feel how terrible it was. We even joked with each other, thinking that this big disaster The fog comes and goes quickly, and it will not be too late to go ashore after the fog clears.

"The tide has started to rise, and you can clearly feel the sea water climbing up on your legs, but you don't know the direction of the sea water flow. The sea water is up to your knees, and the fog has not dissipated, and it seems to be getting thicker.

"The three of us started to panic. How could we stand in the sea and wait to die? We tied the net bags together and threw them on the beach, thinking that we could get them back later. Anyway, the seafood inside couldn't escape. The heavy net bag is a It's cumbersome, you can't ask for money or life.

"We became lighter, but we didn't know which direction to run. Everyone felt that he was going in the right direction. Following others was putting our lives in the hands of others, so we had to run desperately in the thick fog. Who Don't blame anyone, it depends on who is lucky, we ran away again.

"After running for a while, I bumped into a fishing net and moved forward along the fishing net. I touched a net rod. I stood there holding the net rod and forced myself to calm down. I can't run around like a headless fly. No, that can only be a dead end.

"At first I felt that this direction was heading towards the coast, and after running for a few steps, I felt that the other direction was heading towards the coast. If I kept running in one direction, I could only be lucky. Maybe I ran to the Dragon Lord on my own initiative facing the sea. to report.

"What? You can run to the coast along the vertical direction of the fishing net? You are such a scholar, whimsical, you can accurately judge the vertical direction in the fog? Besides, the fishing nets in the sea are originally inserted there in a haphazard manner, without fixed anchors. Do you think the direction is horizontal and vertical like a ruler?
"Only you can figure it out by fishing nets. After a while, I will take you into the sea and see those fishing nets with your own eyes, and you will know that what you imagined is completely impossible.

"The tide has submerged to the waist, and I hold on to the net pole tightly. This is the only fixed object in the vast sea, and it is a life-saving straw. With it, I will not be washed away by the sea.

"I climbed the net pole, stepped on the net rope with both feet, and temporarily got rid of the threat of sea water. It took only twelve hours from high tide to low tide. People will come to my rescue.

"There is a commonly used word in war movies called standing by and waiting for help, right? That's what I planned at the time. Do you think I haven't been scared out of my soul? You say I have the courage of a man, you Admire me, worship me?

"You will make people happy, and your partner will definitely be fascinated by you, and will follow you willingly. Well, let's not talk about her, but about me.

"The sea water that rises from the depths of the sea is icy cold, the kind of cold that can penetrate into the bones. The tide kept rising and submerged to my waist. I stood on the net rope, my legs gradually became numb, and my body was shaking. Shivering, the upper and lower rows of teeth beat each other like drums.

"I thought this would not work. Once the whole body is numb and the hands are loosened, they will also be washed away by the sea.

"While my hands were still in control, I untied my trouser belt and tied myself tightly to the net pole. As long as the net pole does not fall, even if I lose consciousness all over, I will not be washed away by the sea.

"The sea water has risen to the position of my neck and stopped rising, leaving me with a head to catch my breath. I was soaked in the sea water, and I had lost consciousness. I couldn't feel the cold. I was trapped alone. In the sea, there is only one thought in my head, I can't die, what will my son do if I die?
"That night, the whole village came out to look for us. They ran along the coast like crazy, shouting our names like crazy. Everyone knew that we were in the sea, but no one dared to go to the sea to look for us. Those boats that have been using for many years The bosses of the boats did not dare, but prepared the boat on the shore and waited for the fog to clear and went to the sea to rescue people.

"At dawn, the fog cleared and the tide receded. A fisherman who went to patrol the sea found me on the net pole and carried me to the shore. I had no consciousness, only breath, lying in the hospital. It took a week to come back to life.

"Those two elder sisters-in-law were not as lucky as I was. They searched for a whole day but they couldn't find any trace. There is a saying by the sea that wherever the sea takes people away, it will send them back. On the third day, the two elder sisters-in-law He was sent back to this beach by the sea water, his body was white and swollen, and his eyes were eaten by fish, leaving only two holes.

"I don't know what happened to both of them after they split up in the ocean."

After Li Hongxia finished talking about her experience of being in distress, the tide also receded, exposing a large stretch of brown beach.The moon rose into the sky, and under the hazy moonlight, ghost crabs with big and small square heads and grimaces came out of their caves, looking for food with their tiny eyes like exclamation marks written upside down, densely packed like soldiers on the beach array.

Li Hongxia said softly: "If you feel scared, we'll go back now. I can't guarantee that there will be thick fog tonight. It's not worthwhile for you, a college student, to take risks with me."

Liu Xiaonan stood up and said, "I want to walk the beach where you were in danger and see the net pole that saved you."

The two turned on the headlights, and two beams of dazzling light struck the beach like sharp swords.Under the beam of light, the ghost-head crabs on the beach scrambled and fled in all directions with their crab legs like dead branches, and got into the cave one after another, giving way to two muddy roads.

(End of this chapter)