C16 (2/2)

Zi Peng, his uncle, elder brother, elder sister-in-law, and nephew parted ways outside the gate. He then boarded a bicycle and headed in the direction of Yi Mo.

As he walked along the road, he touched the 9.2-pound sweet potato with his hand. He felt extremely happy. It was the first time in his life that he had seen such a large sweet potato …

An hour later, Zi Peng arrived at the bicycle rental shop. He handed the bike back and returned with his ID card. Seeing that it was still early, he went to the center of Inter Mo City and took a look around. The road was wide, and the flower pools on both sides of the road were filled with flowers, flowers, flowers and fragrances; cars were running in a steady stream, leaving clouds of white smoke behind them; people on the sidewalks were all wearing short-sleeved clothes, all different colors, all different kinds of colors; high-rise buildings, shopping malls, families … After about an hour, he checked his watch. It was almost 12 o'clock. Therefore, he sat on the bus of Qing Dao. This time, the journey to Qingdao with the bus would take around two hours.

In the car, Zi Peng thought of his mother. Mother often said: ”The child thousands of miles mother worry, the mother thousands of miles son does not worry.” How could his mother not worry at the moment?

Then, he thought of his wife and daughters at home; of the flourishing ginseng field in the village; and of Lixia, who had talked to him about everything. Lisa was indeed a rare and good woman. She was cultured, cultured, polite, kind-hearted and cheerful. Especially since he had gotten along with her this year, he had had more opportunities to interact with her. The two of them had developed sincere feelings for each other. Especially a few days ago, when he delivered the 'family' to her in September, the words she said to him that made his heart beat faster echoed in his ears from time to time. Therefore, he could not escape her love for him. From the 24th of February to the 25th of June to the 25th when they went to the Guanghua Village to buy a thermometer from the Erdaojiang, to the 25th when they went to the Guanghua Village to invite the ginseng technician, they sat in the same carriage as each other. From the good impression Ria had of Zi Peng to the fact that she liked him, these truths surfaced and changed in Zi Peng's mind. Zi Peng thought: Lisha is sincere to me because she has an unfortunate marriage; because she has an unfortunate family; because she has an unfortunate love. He was very similar to her in these aspects, and these similarities couldn't help but cause him to ponder deeply. As men and women, to be able to meet and get to know each other was not an easy matter either. When he was sleeping last night, he still remembered the road he walked on with Lixia. Although he said it in a dignified manner, his heart felt the same as Lixia. This time, he thought, he would visit her again after he returned. He would comfort her, and not disappoint her and tell her about his thoughts. With this, Lixia's heart was finally assured. It wouldn't be so painful, so sad …

As he thought of this, he looked out the window and saw that the car was moving quickly, the trees on both sides of the road backing away, the tall buildings behind them. Around 2 PM, the bus arrived at Qingdao City Passenger Transport Company.

Zi Peng got out of the car and felt a bit hungry. He went to a restaurant in the Northeast and fried some dried tofu with sharp pepper. Then, he bought two steamed buns and a bowl of millet congee and started to eat in big mouthfuls.

After dinner, he went back to the hotel where he had stayed the night before and pushed open the door to his room. The three of them were playing poker. Seeing this, he hurriedly said:

”Leaders, I'm back. Count me in for poker.” After he finished speaking, he also participated in the poker battle …

The next day, October 7th, Zi Peng's group of four got on the 107 th train heading to generalization in the morning. This train passed by the major stations of Jinan, Texas, Mountain Customs, and Shenyang. There were many people on the train, many people standing in the corridor and at the junction between the carriage and the train. The crisp sound of a announcer reporting the station came from the train. When the train was running, the radio also broadcast the ”Celestial match” segment of the yellow plum opera, as well as other literary programs such as crosstalk and skit, adding a lot of fun to the train.

Zi Peng and the other three were all sitting inside the car. This was the seat number they used to buy tickets, they were sitting opposite of each other. Thus, the four of them began to play poker.

The train drove to Jinan, a large station where the train would stop for a long time. After stopping, the four of them got off the train and went to the platform to take a breath of fresh air. Outside the car, there were ice cream sellers, cigarette sellers, tea eggs sellers, soda sellers, and food sellers. They each bought two ice cream cakes and ate them slowly.

There was a whistle and the train began to move. Just like that, after three days and two nights, they arrived at the generalization Terminal Station at 5 p.m. on October 9. After getting off the car, the four of them shook hands and went home...

When Zi Peng arrived home, it was already past six o'clock. Everyone in the family had finished their dinner. They didn't know that Zi Peng would be back today, so they didn't wait for him.

The mother was very happy to see her son coming back. The whole family was talking and laughing and asking questions.

Since Zi Peng left on September 30th, his mother began to worry about him. Especially at night, his mother couldn't take it easy. Zi Peng had been walking for more than a week and she hadn't had a good night's sleep for more than a week. Today, Zi Peng had returned safely. How could she not be happy?

Zi Peng put down the things in his hands and told his family about the expedition trip. Finally he said:

”Mother, we've arrived at Qingdao. I've returned to our hometown for a visit. Uncle is in good health, brother and sister-in-law are also in good health. Both of our nephews have children, so I stayed the night there.” When I came back, my sister-in-law packed a bag of peanuts and a 9.2-pound sweet potato. ”

With that, he brought the peanut and sweet potato over. His mother had lived her entire life, but she had never seen such a large sweet potato. It looked like a small watermelon. She looked at it and fondled it fondly. And then he asked Zi Peng:

”How is Guan Li now?” Zi Peng said:

”Mom, Guan Li's house is fine now. It's all a new brick house.”

”No matter how good it is, we won't be able to go back.” said the mother with a sigh...