On the evening of the 29th day of the 12th lunar month, with the eager anticipation of our family, my father finally came back from the county town. When he rode the majestic "Da Jindeer" (a bicycle sign produced in Shandong at that time), he was exposed to the cold wind of Shuoshuo and the heat. As soon as he emerged at the entrance of the village, he was discovered by Ergoudan and others who were playing under the Dawei.

"Look, look, Daping's father is back." Ergoudan hunched over, his cheeks were as cold as a monkey's butt, and screamed excitedly at his companion.

"Uncle II, Uncle II, take us with a 'foreign car'." Ergoudan led the children and followed his father's car butt, and ran all the way.

"Don't chase, don't chase, let your father take you to ride." Dad raised his head proudly and kicked his feet hard, trying to shake Ergoudan and the others away, and turned his face and responded disdainfully.

At that time, in our rural Huaibei, bicycles were still a rare object. Ergoudan was ignored by his father, stopped, raised his face, and sang loudly with his head: "Dad Daping, ride a rickshaw bike, start--"

The children immediately raised their necks and sang in unison to the sky: "Dad Da Ping, rides a rickshaw, looks like a dragon from a distance, but looks like a worm from a close distance!"

I compiled this choreography of cyclists. In order to detract from Wei Yanjing, the principal of our commune junior high school. Wei Yanjing is from Xiaoweizhuang, our neighbor. Because of her eyes very myopia, she wears a pair of white-kron-edged glasses. She is my uncle from Sanhong, my elementary school deskmate. Wei Yanjing graduated from the Canal Normal School in our area and is one of the few local cultural people. Wei Yanjing also has a "foreign car", which is a semi-new "Flying pigeon" (a famous brand produced in Tianjin). In order to prevent the beam of the car from rubbing off the paint, it is covered with scrap films found from the commune film team. Wei Yanjing's big "Flying pigeon" is much better than his father's "Golden Deer". I was a little dissatisfied, so I compiled this choreography, which was spread among the children all at once.

Of course, my father would not know the origin of this derogatory rumor. He still thrust his legs happily, turned around and scolded Ergoudan, who was leading the way, and scolded, "You little bastard, I am your father, your real father, you dare to scold your father!"

Amid the children's cheers, my father proudly stuck out his butt and walked into the village along the steep weir.

Our Xiawuwa Village is not big, with only a hundred families, located at the junction of Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan and Anhui, next to the famous Grand Canal. There is a clear record of the origin of our village. More than 400 years ago, the Yellow River last flooded, destroying the entire Huaibei Plain, sweeping most areas of eastern Henan and southwestern Shandong, and finally diverted into the Bohai Bay. In this unprecedented catastrophe, our ancestors of Wu and our family moved south and came to this canal beach from Yimeng Mountain. When the weather was cold, the water receded, and saw that the wasteland was fertile and dense, they decided to settle down. In order to commemorate this escape from the water from north to south, our ancestors called our village "Xiawuwa".

When my father returned to the village, I had just finished dinner and was leaning against the white courtyard wall of my house. I was bored watching my little sister jumping on rubber bands with a few neighbor girls. When my father came over panting with Ergoudan and a group of children, he pushed the "Big Golden Deer" over, and I was a little confused for a moment. Why didn't my eldest sister come back to report? I arranged for her to wait on the Dayan in the afternoon. This dead girl actually dared to disobey my arrangements and didn't know where to go to play. I was a little angry and gritted my teeth and thought that I would teach her a lesson tonight.

"Dad——" When the little sister saw her father, she shouted happily, dropped the rubber band in her hand and ran over, and hugged her father's arm affectionately.

"Good daughter, give it to--" Dad took out a string of paper-wrapped rock candy balls from the electrician bag on his body and stuffed them into his little sister's hand.

"Eat rock candy balls--" The little sister held up the rock candy balls and ran towards the door of the house, which attracted the sound of rustling saliva from the children around her.

At this time, most of the neighbors had dinner and were gathering together, smoking and picking their teeth while bored. When they saw their father coming back from the city, they walked up and greeted them enthusiastically.

"Second brother, are you back?" The third uncle of the family looked at the New Year's goods he brought with him, and spoke with envy.

"Well, the factory was late for holidays, and I queued up everywhere during the New Year. I bought all the things, and it was time to go." Daddy held the "Big Golden Deer" firmly, took out a box of "Lihua" cigarettes with tin foil with smile, took out one and handed it over.

"Good smoke, good smoke." Uncle San quickly took it over and sniffed under his nose. He couldn't bear to smoke for a while, so he clamped it on his right ear.

"Second brother, I heard from Da Ping that you can get more money every month this year?" Ergoudan's mother, Widow Zhang, had a charming look and reached out to her hand.

"Isn't this normal production now? I have to take back the ten-year delayed time and start to pay attention to the more work you have."

My father popped up another Shanghai-made "Lihua" cigarette. Widow Zhang hurriedly picked it up, but she didn't want to smoke it, but put it in her pocket.

"Mom-Mom-Dad is back-" I shouted loudly into the yard, and my mother ran out to meet her.

"His father, he is back." The mother smiled happily and was afraid of the ashes on her father's body.

"Don't dust it, unload the things on the car first." Dad tied the car and lifted two fat pig heads off the handlebars.

"Oh - why are these two pig heads so big?" My mother's exaggerated expression attracted the envy of the onlookers.

"Daping, don't stand there. Please help me get the pocket behind you." Dad saw me standing aside and waved to me.

I helped my father remove half of the pig from the rear frame and get into the water in full view of everyone. The adults and children around me sighed again.

"Daping's mother, let me tell you good news." Dad exclaimed and deliberately showed off his voice. "Why did I come back late? I beg Secretary Cui to help us get Daping's business done. After the Chinese New Year, he will be able to take over my work and go to the sponge mill to work!"

My father raised his voice to make everyone hear it. Every word of the shout was like a thunderbolt from the sky, and instantly shocked the neighbors and were stunned.

I'm going to take over? Hearing this, there was a flash of calcium carbide in front of me, as if my master suddenly had a hole in his acupoint, and his mind was buzzing and a little stopped spinning.

"His father, is this...is this true?" After a long time, my mother came back to her senses and asked cowardly with some disbelief.

"Really, why isn't it true? I've given all the recruitment schedules, so there's still a fake!" My father's voice continued to float over Xia Wuwa with laughter.

"God is so open-minded-" Mother cried with joy, and everyone was a little crazy, "I, Daping, are going to take over and become a city man, haha..."

The people around were all in a mess, like a wild cat pounding a mouse's nest, with chaotic discussions everywhere.

"Oh, Da Ping, you are so blessed..."

"I think this Daping has been unique since childhood, half a head taller than a person, and he will definitely have a promising future."

"Hurry up and tell your Wu Ya to the Old Wu family. When your daughter enters the door, you and Wu Ya's father will be able to enjoy the happiness, hehe..."

Amid the sighs and compliments, my father's eyes shone, and my mother's face flushed, like a pair of hens who had just held a nest, slamming their wings and giggling uncontrollably. The second concubine who looked down on our family the most, with a flat face that smiled brightly, kept slapping my back spine behind me, making me feel numb and goosebumps all over my body.

Just as the villagers were sending various blessings around their parents, a dull "boom" sound suddenly came from the river beach at the entrance of the village. Then the houses and courtyard walls in the village trembled involuntarily, and a yellow column of smoke rose in the dim sunset in the west.

"Not good-" Ergoudan exclaimed, "The Americans threw away nuclear weapons!"

The adults didn't know what was going on. While looking at each other, they were all stunned when they heard Ergoudan shouting. The smoke pillar on the west side was getting higher and higher, covering it. The setting sun was setting, Ergoudan hurriedly hugged his head with his hands and lying at my feet with a thud. The children were taught by teachers at school, and followed Ergoudan to pounce on the ground, making the adults dumbfounded.

"What's wrong? The United States is really throwing nuclear weapons?"

"Maybe it's not the United States, but the Soviet Union has it!"

Just as everyone was frightened and arguing with each other, the accountant's panic shout came from the entrance of the village, "Come on, the air raid shelter collapsed! The air raid shelter under the weir collapsed!"

The shrill voice of four eyes, accompanied by the cry of a group of children, cut through the vast twilight, and the crowd was in chaos.

"Oh my god--my big girl..." Widow Zhang screamed and rushed out first.

The crowd rushed towards the entrance of the village in a swarm. The "big golden deer" in my father's hand fell to the ground and ran away. My mother looked pale. She was stunned at first, and threw away the fertilizer bag containing the pigs in her hand. She shouted Erping at the top of her lungs, and stumbled after her.
Chapter completed!