Cell Phone Boy

Text: Liu Zhihong (Edited and compiled by Wang Mingjian)

The breath of spring is getting stronger and stronger. The air is filled with bursts of floral fragrance. Sweet, fragrant, and slightly salty, if you taste it carefully, you can even feel a little spicy. "Cuckoo, cuckoo", the diligent cuckoo reminds people with its clear voice that spring is coming. In the flower pond in the yard, the leaves of orchids that withered in winter began to turn green, and the roots of roses also quietly poked out their tender bud tips. Bougainvillea, rhododendron, and everything is going smoothly... All the flowers and plants are not to be left behind, and are using their own The way shows the tenacity of life.

01

Come to think of it, due to the epidemic, the village has been closed since the second day of the Lunar New Year, and people have not gone out for almost a month and a half.

In the past month and a half, the mobile phone has become Wei Xiaoguo's most loyal partner. As soon as he opened his eyes in the morning, he started hugging it. While eating, he stuffed rice into his mouth while looking at the screen of his mobile phone. He had to conduct online classes in the morning and afternoon on his mobile phone. After finishing the online class, I started doing my homework. Others would not immediately ask their father, mother, or teacher in the group, but Wei Xiaoguo did not. It's not right to say that. When he was a child, he also asked. He was still in kindergarten at that time, and the kindergarten in the village often assigned homework. A few arithmetic questions and some new words to learn. If Xiaoguo doesn't know how to solve a certain question, or if he can't form a word with a certain word, he just asks his mother. My mother was still at home at that time. Mom will tell him patiently. Sometimes he doesn't worry, and even after telling him once, his mother becomes a little impatient. Sometimes she tilts her thin white neck and yells to Wei Xiaoguo, "Don't worry!" Sometimes I would pat him on the head gently and curse, "Stupid!" In fact, it didn't hurt at all, but Wei Xiaoguo still had to pretend to be in pain. He picked up his tender white face, wheezed, and made an oops sound in a high-pitched voice, like a scorpion sting, so his mother hurriedly used it again. Touching her hand, she said, "Baby, do the questions quickly. Come on, this question is like this..." Mom's tone was like Alpine candy, sweet. Wei Xiaoguo pouted on purpose, but her heart was driven out by the sweetness. A beautiful flower came... He quickly wrote out the arithmetic problem stroke by stroke under the guidance of his mother.

Since there was no sign of her mother in this house, Wei Xiaoguo had no place to ask questions. Dad usually travels far away to work, and only comes back for a few days during the Chinese New Year or wheat harvest or autumn harvest. My father was very busy at that time. During the wheat harvest, my father was busy harvesting wheat and planting corn with my grandma. During the autumn harvest, he was busy harvesting corn and planting wheat. When he was at home after work, he would lie on the sofa and look at his mobile phone. From time to time, laughter came from the mobile phone, and my father's face, which was usually shrouded in clouds, suddenly cleared up and the mist cleared. With the laughter, the dark face became like a crumpled calico. The same, with layers of wrinkles. During the Chinese New Year, Wei Xiaoguo hardly saw her father except for the occasional lunch. At noon, grandma made a meal and called dad, who had not yet gotten up, to eat. Dad quickly got up, washed and ate, with quick movements, swishing, crackling, slurping, slurping... he washed, cleaned up, and finished the meal, just like a soldier. Wei Xiaoguo had just eaten a few mouthfuls and was about to tell her father that I would like to ask you a question after dinner. Before she could say anything, her father had already arrived at the gate. At this time, grandma was still frying the leftovers from yesterday in the kitchen. Rice, when he saw his son walking away, he shouted, "Weidong, the fried rice will be ready soon..." When he found that no one was around, he muttered, "This son of a bitch!" Dad is like this every day. He spends his time after lunch on someone else’s fully automatic mahjong table. There were pops, pops, pops, clatters, and mush in the smoke! What a bargain! Screaming, yelling and other sounds. Dad rarely comes back for dinner.

Wei Xiaoguo's mouth began to salivate before he knew it, and he asked, "How are these meatballs made?" This was sent at night, and it’s now past three in the morning, and no one has answered him. His stomach began to growl, and more and more saliva began to form in his mouth. He went to the class group, the school group, and several various after-school tutoring class groups to check, and he didn't know what was going on. In these groups, without exception, there were pictures of delicious food sent by parents. Liangpi, pig ears, millet rice crispy rice, Shaqima... He couldn't help but follow those footsteps and look at other people's Moments. Parents' Moments posted all kinds of delicacies. Most of them just typed one line: stay at home during the epidemic, respond to the call of the motherland, do not go out, do not cause trouble to the country, and stay at home to contribute to the country. All kinds of delicacies, hands-on, plenty of food and clothing... and so on. He saw his classmates' chubby parents making fried sugar cakes and vegetable corners in the video, and Wang Xiaoluo's parents working together to make Shaqima...

Wei Xiaoguo couldn't watch anymore. , he felt that if he continued to read, the glutton in his stomach would force his teeth to bite his tongue. He went to the composition group to read everyone's compositions. After reading a few articles, Wei Xiaoguo couldn't stand it anymore. Those essays, without exception, are all about study and life during the days of staying at home during the epidemic. Their colorful life makes Wei Xiaoguo envious, and what makes Wei Xiaoguo even more envious and envious are those parents. They serve as teachers for their children, serve as badminton partners, and play various competitions or games together. Wei Xiaoguo couldn't stand it anymore. Wei Xiaoguo closed her eyes, and the days when she had her parents came before her...

03

At that time, Wei Xiaoguo had just entered kindergarten. I live with my mother in the county town, my father works in other places, and my grandparents farm in my hometown. In addition to picking up and taking care of Wei Xiaoguo every day, my mother also found some odd jobs at home to do.

The kindergarten is not far from home. My mother holds Wei Xiaoguo’s hand and walks through the soft sunshine every day. My mother has snow-white skin, a tall figure, an oval face and a long neck. Before going out, my mother carefully put on light makeup in front of the mirror and wore a fashionable light yellow long windbreaker, tight jeans, and slender high heels. Ta-ta-ta-ta, the heels of the shoes made a string of crisp music on the road. As she walked, Wei Xiaoguo often twisted her little body and tilted her head to look at her mother. The aunts in the kindergarten all said that my mother was young and beautiful. They said that Wei Xiaoguo looked like her mother and was also very beautiful. After saying this, the aunts took Wei Xiaoguo's hand and asked her this and that affectionately, which made Wei Xiaoguo feel happy. There is an indescribable feeling, a little shy, a little happy, and a little proud. On Sunday, my mother would invite friends to take the children out to play. Most of her mother’s friends have cars, so Wei Xiaoguo and her mother don’t have to worry about not having a car to ride in every time. They went boating in the park, went to the Hongqi Canal to see the quiet water and the blooming cosmos, went to the Taihang Grand Canyon to see the waterfalls, went to the Bingbing Back to see the ice in summer, and went to the Peach Blossom Valley to see the peach blossoms blooming all year round. Wei Xiaoguo's favorite thing is to catch fish and shrimp in the slate stream. Although he often can't catch it himself, it doesn't matter, his mother will help him catch it. His mother bought him a small fishing net and taught him step by step how to net small fish and shrimps. When it's time to eat, they find a spacious place to have a picnic. Sometimes they cook noodles, sometimes stir-fry, and more often they have barbecue. The children like Wei Xiaoguo don't like to eat those things. They would rather nibble on some bread, eat a few packets of spicy strips or spicy skewers, or order any snacks. While the adults were eating and drinking, Wei Xiaoguo played various games with his friends. The eagle catches chickens, hides and cats, digs castles on the beach, and even races to pick up smooth river pebbles. No matter what kind of game they play, they will play it enthusiastically, and their giggles will echo crisply in the mountains and river valleys.

Suddenly one day, Wei Xiaoguo woke up and could not find her mother. He called mom, mom, mom, but his mother's cheerful "eh" response was no longer there. There was only my father's dull sigh and his rude order to get up. Wei Xiaoguo cried with her father, her grandma, and her grandpa, asking for her mother.

Dad ignored him at first, then when he asked anxiously, he said he had run away with someone! Grandpa ignored him at first, but when he asked urgently, he said, "Where is your mother? You are a liar. He got the money and ran away!" Grandma held him in her arms and said, "Good boy, your mother is going away for something. From now on, you will live with grandma. Grandma will love my dear grandson." After saying that, she hugged him tightly and pressed her chin against his baby. The tip of his head was itching, but Wei Xiaoguo still refused. He struggled to break away from his grandma's embrace, shouting, "No, no, no, I don't, I want to find my mother, I want to live with my mother!" Grandma couldn't hold him, so she let go, and he stood in the yard crying. Grandma rubbed her red eyes and turned to feed the chickens. When Wei Xiaoguo's voice finally became hoarse from crying, he realized that his mother could not hear his cries, and his tears could not call her back. He raised his sleeves and wiped a pool of snot and tears onto his sleeves, and stopped crying. Since then, he has never asked anyone in the family for his mother.

Once, grandpa took Wei Xiaoguo to the police station at the entrance of the village to play cards. Several card players and spectators were smoking, and the room was filled with smoke. After just two laps, Wei Xiaoguo dragged his grandfather to leave, shouting "grandpa, grandpa, grandpa, this room is choked to death, let's get out, let's get out." Grandpa said Guoguo, you go out first and let grandpa finish playing the cards. Before Xiaoguo pinched grandpa's sleeves, he shouted reluctantly, "No, no, no, grandpa, come out with me, grandpa, come out with me!" Grandpa laughed and cursed, "What an annoying grandson!" Grandpa Wei, who was standing next to him looking at the cards, said, "Lao Wei, after all you have left behind an annoying grandchild. Our house has been bought in the county, and our car has been driven home. In the end, we still can't keep the little bitch, not only I can't keep the little bitch, I don't even have a grandchild! I'm not as good as you! Wei Xiaoguo looked up at Grandpa Wei. His big eyes were bulging and red, like the ferocious monster Wei Xiaoguo had seen on TV. Wei Xiaoguo was so frightened that Wei Xiaoguo actually cried, and Grandpa quickly dropped his hand. He picked up the cards and hugged him to coax him.

How can Wei Xiaoguo understand the words of adults?

Wei Xiaoguo spent five years trying to understand what the adults said and trying to find clues about her mother. He slowly learned how to put things together like beads on a string of words, and he roughly knew the ins and outs of things from the fragments of words that the adults covered up and hid.

04

Back then, the conditions for my mother to marry my father were to buy a house and a car in the county and a bride price of 200,000 yuan. My father didn’t save much money from working, so my grandparents, who relied on working and farming to make a living, couldn’t get so much money, so they borrowed money everywhere, including from relatives, but the amount was still far short of that amount. I had no choice but to take out a loan. . I finally bought a house in the county town, and collected enough 200,000 yuan as a gift. I only had a car left, but I couldn't raise the money no matter what. Grandma went to the matchmaker to intercede with her mother, hoping to hold the wedding first and then buy a car. Not long after the marriage, my mother became pregnant with Wei Xiaoguo. She needed to supplement her nutrition. Later, she gave birth to Wei Xiaoguo, needed milk powder, and went to kindergarten... There were more and more places to spend money. Every year, debt collectors came to collect money. There was an endless stream. The car my grandpa promised was never fulfilled. My mother felt that my grandfather's family didn't keep their promises, and that my father was incompetent and made little money... So, my mother divorced my father. In fact, Wei Xiaoguo didn't know it was called divorce. He and his grandma went to visit relatives one time and heard her tell her relatives. It's really hard-hearted to say that when other mothers get divorced, they all rush to have children. It's good for her. As soon as the marriage was divorced, she just walked away. There was no news from her. Didn't she miss her son? ? I don’t know if her heart is made of iron or stone? Relatives said that if she had her son in her heart, she would not get divorced. Seeing such people only care about themselves and have no one else in their hearts! From that time, Wei Xiaoguo found out that her mother was divorcing her father.

Wei Xiaoguo usually goes to school in the county town. In the past few years, during holidays, he and his grandparents went back to their hometown in the countryside. Their grandparents went to the fields to do farm work, and Wei Xiaoguo went to the fields to play wildly. The year before last, my grandfather passed away due to illness. Now, he and grandma are the only ones who return to their hometown during the holidays.

Wei Xiaoguo began to miss his mother strongly again. He often video chatted with his classmates on his mobile phone. His father sometimes also video chatted with him when he was working in other places. How much he wanted to video chat with his mother! He wanted to know what his mother looked like now, whether she was still as young and beautiful after five years of absence. However, my mother seemed to have disappeared from this world, and there was no more news about her.

Wei Xiaoguo turned off the light. In the darkness, he held his mobile phone. Suddenly, his mother walked out of the mobile phone. She moaned and smiled, shouting "Guoguo, little Guoguo, mother's good baby, little Guoguo, not yet, little Guoguo" in her mouth, and rushed over happily, with tears of excitement running down her face, cold and cold. , he kissed his mother’s face hard, and her face turned out to be hard and cold. He was about to ask his mother what was going on, but suddenly he woke up. The mother’s face he was kissing turned out to be grandma’s vivo phone. .