Southwest, Rongcheng.

The wind is cold, and the snow and ice are fluttering.

It's Chinese New Year's Eve, and the whole city, which has a strong New Year's atmosphere, does not fall asleep with the depth of the night, but seems to be more and more lively.

In the old town, in a barbecue stall called a veteran on Chunyuan Road.

"Lao Zhou, today's New Year also happens to be your birthday, let's go together and have a good drink." A young man in a black down jacket raised a glass full of beer and shouted to Zhou Hai, who was sitting next to him.

Zhou Hai nodded to his good friend Lin Dong, picked up the wine glass, and said, "Drink less, Lin Dong, I'm already very happy that you can come to accompany me." ”

The words fell, and the wine was drunk.

Snowflakes are falling outside, but it's warm inside.

A warm glass of hot beer is mixed with fresh mash and red dates, and the taste is so good that you can't help but indulge in it.

"Eat, this is tender bones, this little wine is nothing, today your birth, eighteen, my two brothers are adults, I am happy, I heard that you are still in school?"

Lin Dong smiled, looked at Zhou Hai with bright eyes, picked up the iron kettle full of boiling beer on the side, and slowly filled the wine glass: "Do you have any plans for the future?" According to me, this book is also in vain, it is better to leave school early, find a good job, and work hard to earn money, I am now following my uncle, and it is also three or four thousand a month. ”

When Zhou Hai heard Lin Dong's words, he ate a skewer of roasted tender bones, his eyes were a little confused and hesitant, and he shook his head: "Plans?" There is still half a semester, and when the college entrance examination is over, it is estimated that I will go to the army, and my old man has always wanted me to be a soldier. ”

"What's the use of being a soldier, go mix for two years and come back with 20,000 or 30,000 yuan, it's better to spend two or three years working hard."

Hearing Zhou Hai's words, Lin Dong ate something, sighed, and said: "In these years, it is difficult to transfer non-commissioned officers to stay in the army, I think it is a waste of youth to not be an officer, and it doesn't work to be a big soldier, didn't you want to be a pilot before?" If you can be this pilot, it's pretty much the same. ”

Pilot. ——

When Zhou Hai heard this word, his heart trembled slightly, and a trace of longing poured out, but it didn't take long for him to fall into silence and stop moving.

"Well, it's all said yes, just think about it."

Zhou Hai looked at the dark night sky outside the barbecue stall and the bustling streets with neon brilliance, and said, "I still want to go to the army to sharpen it." ”

Lin Dong looked at Zhou Hai, who was a little stubborn, and shook his head: "Alas, I don't bother to talk about you, you are just dead-eyed, with sharp horns, if your mother is still an old man and her grades are stable and she is admitted to the military academy, your brother and I will not say a word...... Forget it, I'll wait for you at the construction site in two years, and then we'll go to contract projects, earn a lot of money, and sleep with the most beautiful women. ”

"Okay, wait for me then." Feeling Lin Dong's pride, Zhou Hai shook his head with a smile and raised the wine glass in his hand.

Drink.

Enjoy.

The barbecue stalls are staggered.

Today, the Chinese New Year's Eve.

Today coincides with Zhou Hai's birthday.

There are still four months left before the college entrance examination.

The two did not end the party until late at night on Chinese New Year's Eve, spending twelve o'clock at a veterans' barbecue stand.

This year, fireworks are not allowed, and the smell of the past is much lighter.

Lin Dong left, not letting Zhou Hai send it, mainly because his girlfriend came suddenly, with the smell of alcohol and drunkenness, the whole person walked towards the nearby home step by step.

Zhou Hai, who was drunk, wore a thick down jacket and faltered, and also embarked on the journey home.

The homes of the two are about 500 meters apart, one on the left and one on the right, and the veteran's barbecue stall happens to be in the middle of the two.

"Let's go to the army...... Although, the Army. ”

On the way home, Zhou Hai, who was full of alcohol, did not have the freedom and freedom when he drank before, but was melancholy and lonely, and his face revealed a hint of self-deprecation.

Joining the army is a dream that Zhou Hai imprinted in his heart when he was a child.

It's just that he dreams of becoming a pilot who flies freely in the blue sky, not in the army.

Since childhood, Zhou Hai has been moving forward according to this dream, and if it were not for the blow a year ago, he would at least have a certain chance of becoming a pilot.

Instead of the current situation, there is not even a 1% chance of becoming a pilot.

After thinking about it, Zhou Hai, whose back was upright like a cloud pine, exhaled a breath of turbidity, and continued to walk towards his home not far away.

"Ding......

At this moment, a slight pain suddenly came from the tip of his right foot, and he kicked something, and then a rolling sound of an object came out and entered his ear.

"What's that?"

The pain stimulated the brain, making Zhou Hai suddenly sober up for three minutes, and when he looked down, he saw a purple cylindrical crystal about ten centimeters long that refracted the dim street lamp, slowly rolling.

"Purple craft glass?"

Picking up this cylindrical crystal that refracted light, and looking carefully up and down, Zhou Hai scratched his head, a little confused: "This thing is a little beautiful, go back and study it." ”

Putting this purple cylindrical crystal into his coat pocket, Zhou Hai did not stop, continued to move forward, and walked for more than ten minutes before returning to his dark home.

The home is a bungalow, ordinary, nothing special, typical of the architecture of the eighties of the last century.

Enter the door and turn on the lights.

Bright incandescent lamps are energized, blooming with a light that symbolizes hope, and the entire hall is lit up, and in front of the hall is a picture frame with black and white photographs as the main color.

There is only one person in the photo, a man with a kind face and a smile, Zhou Pingyuan.

After turning on the lights, Zhou Hai picked up the paper money on the sofa on the side, came to the door, took out a lighter, and lit a red incense candle: "Old man, Zhou Pingyuan, this is the money that Zhou Hai burned for you, the second semester of the third year of high school will come soon, and I will be ready to become a soldier after the exam, although I am not a pilot, my mother and grandparents' paper money has long been burned, and my two grandfathers do not have these, don't you say?" ”

The pale yellow paper money burns slowly, releasing light and heat.

The firelight reflected on Zhou Hai's face, and the whole person was a little tearful, thinking of his father's kind face, and the pale face that comforted and encouraged him on the hospital bed before he died, which made him tremble slightly.

Leukaemia.

This medical term means one outcome to anyone – death.

Zhou Pingyuan, who gets up early every day and is greedy for more money, was diagnosed with leukemia a year ago, which made the family of two fathers and sons collapse.

In just one day, Zhou Pingyuan was full of gray hair, and his extremely deteriorating mentality and emotions accelerated the deterioration of his condition.

Eighteen days after his illness, Zhou Pingyuan couldn't hold it anymore, his face was pale, and he showed Zhou Hai one last smile.

At this point, Zhou Hai is the only one left in the whole world.

Eight years after his mother left, Zhou Ping was far away, and such a blow was fatal to Zhou Hai.

With his stable life disrupted, Zhou Hai not only had to study, but also worked hard to earn money and support himself.

People's energy is limited, and Zhou Hai no longer has a peaceful living environment for studying, and the consequence of this is the gradual decline in academic performance.