The long railway line

Introduction: I like to watch the long railway quietly by myself, which seems to be winding to the horizon. Whenever I stare at the train "whoosh" and "click click" far away, my thoughts also seem to follow the train back to the past.

one

When I was less than three years old, my grandmother took me from my hometown to Dingxi to raise me. The road was far away, and I had to go by train. The first time I went, it got dark as I was walking. The light on the train was very dim as if there was a white plate hanging over the head, and there was no light. I was sleepy, and said: "Grandma, I want to spread the nest (quilt) to sleep". Grandma said: "Good boy, where do you come from on the train, sleep in grandma's arms." I put my head into grandma's arms, listening to the sound of the train rumbling, and fell asleep, when I woke up, has been to a strange place, grandma told me, we went to Dingxi. The year was 1979.

Grandpa's father and grandma's mother were still in their hometown, so almost every summer vacation grandpa and grandma took me back to my hometown. At that time, the train is green, and year after year the feeling of the train more and more people, the car was crowded, and people in the car were like sardines can, with stuffy breath. Train tickets are very difficult to buy, or grandpa to line up in a long line, or rely on relationships; The train is not the right seat, after getting on the train to see people are full, grandpa is responsible for the luggage, grandma hand tightly held me, accompanied by a smile one by one asked: "where do you go under ah"? Encountered a few stops to get off, standing next to people, there are no words to talk to people Lao homely, to virtually confirm the seat of the relationship. Sometimes people see me as a child, and can also make a gap for me to sit on the seat, grandma will be very grateful to the people who said thanks.

When there is a seat, grandma will take out the food prepared for us to eat. With nothing more than eggs, steamed bread, and apples, I was greedy for the roast chicken others eat on the train. The smell of roast chicken came straight to my nose and I no longer liked the eggs and steamed bread before me. I must have thought, when I grow up, I can eat roast chicken on trains.

Many times is grandma a person to take me back to my hometown and sometimes wants to back up in a train station called Meng Yuan. Somehow, every time, it's the middle of the night. I am sleepy and can not lift my head to open my eyes, grandma can not read, for fear that I lost, so a hand tightly holds me, the other hand tightly carrying luggage, everyone will ask when the car, ask people what time. The station was very small, there were very few people in it, the light was dim and it was very lonely. Grandma didn't dare take a nap for fear of missing the train.

A young man is holding a shoebox, ask leather shoes cheap want. We said no, the shoe seller said not to buy it doesn't matter, you look first. My uncle touched it with his hand, and the shoe seller insisted on selling us the brown leather shoes in a very insolent manner. It's no use talking to managers who wear red cuffs. The red cuffs say, "This is your business, not the train. I can't do it." Then Grandma and uncle put in a lot of good words to send the guy away.

Later, when the conditions of my home were better, I could sometimes sit in a sleeper when I went back to my hometown. When I was in fifth grade, I liked to sit by the window and watch the scenery. I saw the train shuttling between the mountains, and the aspen trees on both sides of the railway swept back quickly. As the train turned the corner, I could see from the window that the black locomotive was driving the long car with black smoke, and the crops outside the window were one by one. The distant villages were hazy and dotted with stars, and it was very picturesque. At night, the stars outside the window are dotted, I can not tell whether it is the stars in the sky or the distant lights, the breeze blowing, I seem to hear the crickets.

At the end of the middle school examination that summer, my little uncle came to my hometown to pick me up for Dingxi summer vacation. I looked at what I was wearing, thought about my age, touched my messy hair, and thought no wonder this little sister had such a misunderstanding.

two

Fast forward to the late '90s. My family is very happy that I have been admitted to the university and will go to Hangzhou to study. One day a relative came to visit. Speaking of Hangzhou, grandma said, "Is Hangzhou just like the county town?" The relative said: "Ah, Hangzhou is a paradise, better than the county so I don't know where to go." Grandma smiled with satisfaction, I felt like an old man with such a simple way to show off his grandson's achievements.

Everyone who went to university in the 1990s probably had the same experience. Every year, the trains were crowded with students during the winter and summer holidays. The train has been changed to a red one, but I don't see any improvement over the green one. It's impossible to get on the train when it arrives, sometimes the doors don't open. Once when I went to see Zhao Bo in Xuzhou, I had to let Zhao Bo hold my ass and shove me through the window.

In the carriage, there were people everywhere, one by one, barely able to move half a step, even people on the luggage rack climbed up to stay. Sometimes you have to be carried around without your feet touching the ground, like on the Beijing subway at rush hour. The subway in Beijing may last just that long, but I'll be on the train for a dozen hours. You can't eat or drink on the train, especially water, because the toilets are either locked or unusable with people standing in them. In the evening more sad urge, especially in the second half of the night, the person is sleepy topsy, lie down also no place to lie down, prone to also no place to lie down, even someone sleeps under the seat. The air is filled with the smell of feet, in the morning up an unkempt, very miserable.

Hangzhou seems to be another world, Jiangnan's prosperity and wealth as if in the air can smell. The neat and clean streets are full of traffic, lined with trees and tall buildings; The West Lake is sparkling, there are many beautiful lotus flowers in the lake, and the willows by the lake are like the long hair of the beauty, swaying in the wind. In the setting sun, the green tiles and white walls, the small bridge running water, and the wave of the lone boat constitute the perfect scenery of Jiangnan, which makes people linger.

The fragrance of osmanthus flowers wafted around the school. I met new classmates, and new teachers heard new ideas and had new ideas. I also read many books in the library that I had no time or opportunity to see before. Our dormitory students also went to see the all-night movie, also went to the night to swim the West Lake, also went to the gemstone to see the meteor shower; Also went to his grandmother's home Haining Chang 'a with Qian Tao to play, and saw how stinky tofu is made.

Whenever I take the train to go back and forth between my hometown and school in winter and summer vacation, I feel that the train connects my hometown on one end and my hope on the other. Four years passed quickly, I graduated, and I came to the beautiful coastal city of Qingdao.

three

Fast forward again to 2014. Imperceptibly, I have lived in Qingdao for more than ten years, and I am familiar with and like everything here. But in 2014, for many complicated reasons, I chose to work in Beijing.

Jiaojia-Jinan Railway was one of the first lines to be built for bullet trains. Later, other lines were built for bullet trains. This section was completed this year. Bullet trains or high-speed trains are a change of heart compared to the old green or red trains. They are clean, bright, less crowded, and faster, and everyone has a seat -- even if many people are looking at their phones with blank faces. I believe that allowing citizens to live with dignity is one of the main signs of social progress.

For more than four years, I have been commuting from Qingdao to Beijing about once every two weeks -- back to Qingdao on Friday night and back to Beijing on Sunday night, which takes more than four hours each way.

When I left Qingdao for Beijing, my son was in the top class, and suddenly, he was already in the fourth grade.

In the spring, the wife helps him with his homework under the lamp, cooks for him, picks him up and drops him off, practices taekwondo with him, and plays the piano with him. I was in Beijing, downstairs ginkgo leaves grow out, poplar catkins also float, a lot of a lot, float everywhere, I had to close the window.

In summer, when my wife and son were walking in Zhongshan Park, they found the blooming cherry blossoms and smelled the fragrance of the cherry blossoms beside the lush and tall trees. On the bathing beach barefoot on the beach, saw the seagulls flying all over the sky, and caught a lovely little crab. I was in Beijing. I had just returned to my dormitory after working overtime in the evening. The weather was very hot. I felt so hot that I had to turn on the air conditioner and close the Windows.

In autumn, when my wife went out to sketch with my son, I stood at the intersection of Badaguan and looked at the rolling road extending into the distance, with yellow trees and yellow walls on both sides, and the ground covered with fallen leaves. The red roof in the golden leaves under the more vicissitudes of life, the wall of the ivy also become red; Bright sunshine through the leaves, leaving dashes of shadows, like a fairy tale beautiful. I was in Beijing. I just came back from dinner with some friends. After drinking a lot of wine, my head became dizzy and I just lay down. I don't know if the window was closed.

In winter, when the wife accompanied their son to a piano competition, to visit a museum, see a movie, prepare Christmas programs and props, to be the host of a show. I was in Beijing, and I felt sore at night. I ran on the treadmill for a while, sweating profusely. I know. The window was closed.

The furthest distance in the world is not between life and death, but between you and your child in a city, while I am in another city.