The man making sesame seed cakes said: "No, Xi'a'er (meaning: little brother in Wenzhou dialect), hurry up and go home (go home quickly) after eating."
After Liu Fang finished eating, he bowed deeply to the man, turned around and left, walking along the street. It was already dark now. Not to mention small towns in the 1980s, even Yueqing and Wenzhou rarely had street lights. Only scattered lights shone through the shop. Liu Fang limped forward, maybe he was too tired, maybe his feet hurt terribly, and he wanted to find a place to rest. With the bright light, he saw a truck parked on the side of the road. Liu Fang climbed up and saw the tarpaulins piled haphazardly in the carriage. Liu Fang leaned on the tarpaulin. The pain and exhaustion made Liu Fang ignore the heat and mosquitoes. , fell asleep quickly.
Liu Fang, who was sleeping soundly, entered dreamland. In his sleep, Liu Fang was like Lei Zhenzi in "The Romance of the Gods", eating sesame cakes, growing wings, flying high, and saw his master and his wife in the air, as well as the humble His parents looked up at him. Liu Fang wanted to fold his wings and land, but he couldn't. He could only fly higher and higher. Liu Fang shouted anxiously and woke up suddenly. Liu Fang found himself at the rear corner of the car. If it weren't for the side of the car blocking him, he would have been thrown off long ago. The car was still driving on the road, bumping from time to time. The thick canvas pile slowed down the force of the fall. The wind brought by the car weakened the heat, making it a bit comfortable. The moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and the trees on both sides of the road swept back row after row. There was a bump, and Liu Fang's head hit the side of the car suddenly. He grimaced in pain, but he didn't bother to cover his painful head. He immediately grabbed the side of the car with both hands to avoid being hit due to the bumps in the car. .
Amidst the tension and pain, the car slowly slowed down, and some houses with white walls gradually began to appear. Liu Fang knew that he had entered a village at this time. Most of the houses in the villages and towns in the south of the Yangtze River were built with green tiles and white walls near the water. Hence the name "Ink Painting Jiangnan".
Before Liu Fang could think about it, a bump in the speed bump caused Liu Fang, who had relaxed due to the slowdown of the car, to hit the side of the car unexpectedly. This time, his head happened to hit the inner corner, and Liu Fang cried out in pain, "Ouch!" . The driver in the cab at the front of the car seemed to feel something strange. He stopped the car and came up to take a look. After seeing the embarrassed Liu Fang, he asked honestly in a thick Henan dialect, "Who are you? What are you doing?"
"Uncle, I'm not a bad person. I got lost in the typhoon. When I was in Lijiayang, Ruian, I saw your car parked on the side of the road with cardboard boxes and canvas on it, so I wanted to sleep on it. I didn't expect to be here all of a sudden." Liu Fang huddled in the rear corner of the car and timidly answered in Mandarin he learned from the radio. Liu Fang actually felt a little proud after speaking so many words of well-spoken Mandarin in one breath.
"Oh, this is not good. We are almost to Hangzhou now. What are we going to do?" The honest Henan driver rubbed his hands and looked at a loss.
"Do you know how to go home?" the master continued to ask.
"Uncle, I have never traveled far, so I don't know..." Liu Fang, still curled up and lowered his head, his hands started to pull the hem of his vest at some point, rubbing and kneading it.
"Let's do it. You come up front. I'll pick up some goods at the station and drop you off at Wulin Gate. You can take the long-distance bus home." Master Henan made the decision. Liu Fang climbed out of the car consciously, walked to the front, and followed the master into the car.
With the seats, there will be no more bumps. As the car drove by, Hangzhou, the provincial capital, gradually came into view. The low trees on both sides passed by one after another. There were already a few people riding tricycles and cyclists who got up early in the street. Near the urban area, the aroma of oil from breakfast shops becomes more intense. Liu Fang's stomach growled again. The master seemed to feel something, but he didn't say anything, "see through but don't tell." This is the kindness of Henan people.
As the crowd grew, the bus station surrounded by two long rows of dilapidated houses came into view. The rows of cars that had not yet started operating were very spectacular. For "spectacular", 17-year-old Liu Fang from Yueqing Yang This is a small village in the town. When I first arrived in the provincial capital, my first impression was that the first word that popped out was "spectacular".
Stopping in front of a restaurant at the entrance of the station, the Henan chef got off the car and took out a large thermos bottle from between the two seats. Then he walked around the front of the car and went to the restaurant to buy fried dough sticks. After the hungry Liu Fang saw the fried dough sticks, he started to eat the dough sticks again. Swallow.
Liu Fang saw the Henan master handing the thermos bottle to the male stall owner selling fried dough sticks, and then bought the fried dough sticks from the female stall owner. While eating, he waited, and asked the stall owner to get a few more and tie them with a string. After a while, the thermos bottle was After handing it out, the master turned around and walked to the car door where Liu Fang was, opened the door, and said to Liu Fang: "We're here, come on down." Exile obediently turned around and got out of the car, his stomach growling for a while.
When Liu Fang stood still, the master handed over the fried dough sticks in his hand, "Eat it while it's hot, kid." After Liu Fang finished, he didn't bother to untie the rope and immediately started to eat hungrily.
"Wait a minute, no one will rob you," the master said as he took out the neatly folded money from the pocket of his blue denim jacket, took out a worn 10 yuan note, and handed it to Liu Fang , "My child, I can only help you here. I just asked the fried dough stick seller that there are only two buses from here to Wenzhou every day. It is difficult to buy tickets. I don't know if I can buy tickets today. You wait for them to open." Damen, go and try it. You’ll eat the dough sticks in vain, so save some, the car will be on the road all day.”
Liu Fang took the 10-yuan note with his oily hands. He held the fried dough stick in one hand and the money in the other. He bent down deeply and bowed to the Henan master. He stood up and said boldly: "Uncle, my name is Liu Fang. Please leave me your address and name. When I make money, I can repay you."
"Hey, silly boy, you are quite thoughtful. My family is in Kaifeng, Henan. How can you repay me? My uncle doesn't want you to repay me. Go home quickly. It's no use worrying your parents." The master said with a simple smile, then turned around and got in the car. Start and drift away.
Many years later, Yang Liufang, who had achieved some success in Xizhou, tried to find this Henan master, asked the stall owner selling fried dough sticks at the entrance of Wulinmen Station, and asked the station staff, but at that time he was so stupid that he didn’t even have the license plate. I don’t remember it, but in that era when there were very few cars, I didn’t have the awareness to remember the license plate. Despite many efforts, there is still no news. It’s just that Liu Fang requires all drivers hired by the company to be from Henan, as a way of giving back to the selfless help he received when he had nothing. And every time after getting out of the car, Liu Fang would sincerely say to the master: "Thank you, Master Henan."
