The Four Old Men of Zhangjiapo

The Fourth Old Man is the fourth eldest child in his family. People of our generation don’t know his real name, we only know his surname is Lin.

The rural areas at that time were extremely backward. My three brothers had married wives, and the family was extremely short-changed. When I arrived at the Fourth Old Man's place, I was so poor that I couldn't afford to get married. I was delayed by dragging here and there. He was a bachelor all his life.

At that time, almost every household had several children. The lonely old man took a boy from his brother's house to raise. I just count on this guy to support me in my old age. In the countryside, there is a superstition that ugly names make a living, so the child was named Xiaopo. Just like that, my wife was called away in Zhangjiapo.

The life of father and son was not rich but peaceful. The fourth old man raised the little boy by being both father and mother, and took care of one-third of an acre so that the little boy could go to school. In fact, it is also difficult. After the Yanjiabang School, which was a little closer to home, closed down, the little boy had to go to school in Zhangjiapo. The entire school is a row of classrooms on the fourth floor, and the open space surrounded by red bricks on two sides serves as the playground. When it rains, mud and footprints seem to be imprinted on the open space. The teaching building on one side contains all grades of primary school, junior high school. The pestle looks particularly unsightly in the ravine, but it looks like a slightly better private house. The number of teachers and students in the whole school can be counted. The last time I saw it, the only school building in Zhangjiapo was covered with weeds and had been exposed to wind and sun. The little boy was poor in studies and went to work outside with his fellow villagers after graduating from junior high school.

Without his son, the fourth old man became even more silent. But he takes care of his own fields extremely well, even better than the women in Zhangjiapo. The corn cobs weighing several kilograms each did not break down the fourth old man's back. The fourth old man not only planted tobacco leaves, but also opened a fish pond next to the old house. Among the few fish ponds in Zhangjiapo, the fish in Si Laotou Fish Pond are the fattest. One year during the Spring Festival, Si Laotou caught a big fish in his fish pond. We don’t know the exact weight. We only know that the body of the big fish is bent in the nylon sack and its beautiful tail is exposed. That was the biggest fish I had ever seen when I was a child... It was a surprise to my knowledge of fish throughout my life.

Whenever the fish fry are scattered, the fourth old man works alone in the fish pond. The fish pond with not much water left is covered with the deep and shallow footprints of the fourth old man. Very much like the way home. The four old heads seemed to be waiting for something.

The fourth old man always goes in and out of that old house alone. When the faint smoke rises, the four old men begin to finish their busy day. In the summer, the four old men will sit in the stone dam that is found in almost every house in Zhangjiapo, shaking the palm leaf fan with smooth handle and brown color. Looking at the hillside and fields opposite, where only the chirping of insects is left. So lonely that he had only his brother who was buried next to the house for company. From time to time, the big yellow dog owned by the fourth old man barked. That makes people feel a little popular.

In the bustling New Year, the Fourth Old Man seemed even more lonely. At that time, many people in Zhangjiapo went out to work, but there were also many people who came back every year, but the only one who could not see the Fourth Old Man’s kid was Been back. A person's New Year comes one after another, and finally one year, the little boy comes back.

The wrinkles on the dark face of the fourth old man were like the dry earth finally being moisturized. The old face that usually showed no expression or even depression suddenly had a faint smile. The silent fourth old man, and the room The lifeless house with mud walls finally came to life again. The fourth old man went to every house in Zhangjiapo to collect eggs, saying that they were to replenish the body of the little boy, and even exchanged chickens and ducks with the old Zhang family. The sound of conversations between the two father and son occasionally came from time to time.

Relying on old friends is the most ordinary happiness for Chinese elderly. The little boy has no intention of going out again this time. Lingyan Street is separated from Zhangjiapo by a big mountain, and the road on the mountain has just been newly built with cement road. From time to time on the road, enthusiastic branches come out to look around. Xiao Zaizi used his savings over the years to buy a Dongfeng and made slight modifications. After adding some seats and guardrails, he used it to transport villagers between Lingyan Street and Zhangjiapo. Business is pretty good on market days. When he is busy, the fourth old man will escort the kid's car to drum up business. Just like this, on a rural road that is not spacious, many people know a Dongfeng, an old man and a young man. Xiaozai's actions have indeed benefited many villagers.

The biggest wish for someone as old as the fourth old man is to see his little boy get married. The kid also plans to drive a car for a few years and save some money before thinking about getting married. But God is so willful and gave the little boy a big test that cost him everything.

The little boy's dream of getting a wife was ruined on a market day, which also cost the fourth old man a leg and two lives.

That day was also an ordinary market day. Xiao Zaizi’s Dongfeng was driving on the mountain road as usual, but for some reason it overturned. I heard people say that the trees below are not blocking the east wind, but they don’t know how tragic it is behind.

The little kid stayed in the bureau before his injuries healed. Xiao Zai Zi cannot afford to pay the huge compensation costs. Xiao Zai Zi has been in prison for several years. A few years ago, I heard from people in Zhangjiapo that Xiao Zai Zi only returned home once after he was released. Later, he worked outside all the time. The huge amount of compensation required forced him to leave his hometown.

When he went to his grandmother's house these years, the fourth old man used a shiny wooden cane. Looking at the empty knotted trouser leg and the other sound leg, the obvious contrast is clearly painful. Secretly observing the fourth old man's every move from a distance, he was planting crops and raising livestock as skillfully as before. It will be inexplicably bitter for a while. God knows how much he suffered and how much he sweated. The Fourth Old Man rarely leaves Zhangjiapo, not before, and even less so now. When it is time to buy daily necessities, the fourth old man will shout to the men of the old Zhang family who often go out.

The fourth old man had his leg amputated at a high position! He did not give up on the injustice that life had brought to him. If there hadn't been a rollover accident, would the kid have been on the hot bed with his wife and children long ago? And the fourth old man also lived the life of an ordinary old man?

Conclusion

This is a true story that happened in Zhangjiapo. The four old men lived not far from my grandmother’s house. The old Zhang family in the article is my grandmother’s house, and the man in the old Zhang family is my grandfather.

I learned that the fourth old man had lost one of his legs. That summer vacation, the fourth old man was beside his earthen house and asked his grandfather, who was about to go to the market, to bring him a bag of washing powder. I turned around and went back to the house to ask my grandma about the whole story, and then I found out about this story.

The closest contact with Xiaozaizi was the year Xiaozaizi bought Xiaodongfeng. At that time, Xiaozaizi was only in his early 20s. He is quite good at dealing with people and dealing with others. The journey to grandma is a long one, so we almost always choose to go on market days. We met the little boy and read a romance novel about angels and demons in the passenger seat, even though we don’t like this type of dog. Bloody and unrealistic books. But I still finished it within a week. Then the thing was returned to its original owner when the little boy passed by the door of his grandmother's house and was preparing for another market day. I never saw him again. I just heard about what happened to him.

Earlier, the fourth old man had the ability to catch snakes. One year, there was a snake in the earthen wall of my grandma's house. Later, I called the fourth old man, who subdued the snake in a short time.

The Fourth Old Man has always been a tepid and indifferent character. Rarely talks or smiles. In recent years, I have rarely seen him. Every time I go to my grandma's house, I can't help but look towards the small house where the fourth old man lives, which seems to never make any sound.

Don’t know what you are looking at? It’s like seeing an endless mountain in the distance, but stubbornly believing that the sea will appear!

We always complain about this or that, the four old men who were deceived so miserably by life. The fourth old man with a high amputee has the courage to face such a terrible life. Do you, who has all your limbs, have the nerve to complain? Suddenly I thought of Pushkin's If Life Deceived You.

If life deceives you,

Don’t be sad or impatient!

You need to be calm in gloomy days:

Believe it, happy days will come!

My heart is always looking forward to the future;

Now I am always melancholy.

Everything is fleeting, and everything will pass;

And what has passed will become a kind nostalgia.