The train rumbled past, and the scenery on both sides of the road moved backward like lightning. Moscow, Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, New York, Baghdad. Countless scenes appeared, floated, disappeared, and blurred. Then, the train entered a long mountain tunnel. There seemed to be a glimmer of light in front of them. That was the end, but no matter how the train moved forward, it was always out of reach. After the train had been traveling in the tunnel for a long time, a voice rang out. It was weak at first, but it gradually grew stronger and carried countless echoes.
My name is Lin Mo, my name is Lin Mo…
Bang! There was the sound of a foreign object colliding. The person on the bed shook her head. Bang bang bang, the sounds became louder. Then, there was the sound of keys unlocking, the sound of doors being pushed open, and the sound of footsteps. The person on the bed shook her head vigorously. There seemed to be a dazzling white light in front of her. Out of the tunnel? Why was the sky so bright, as if there were nine suns?
A hand was placed on her forehead as Li Rongrong muttered to herself," You don't have a fever?”。The next moment, she curled her fingers and used her knuckles to flick her son's forehead. She said loudly,"Wake up, the sun has already set.”
Jiang Zhihan opened his eyes and looked at the woman standing by the bed in a daze. He muttered," My name is…"
Li Rongrong didn't hear him clearly and leaned closer." What are you talking about?"”
"My name is…"
Li Rongrong sighed and said," I slept until I became a fool." Your name is Jiang Zhihan, your mother is Li Rongrong, and your father is Jiang Yongwen. Is there a problem?"
Jiang Zhihan whispered,"Not Jiang Zhihan."”
Li Rongrong was furious and could not help but slap his forehead again." It's useless to act dumb." If your name isn't Jiang Zhihan, I'm still your mother.”When he reached the door, he turned around and instructed,"Also, from tomorrow onwards, you have to wake up when I wake up." On the first day of summer break, I let you sleep in, but you slept the whole day and didn't recognize your mother when you woke up.”As she spoke, she walked out of Jiang Zhihan's room and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. She opened the fridge and started to nag again," You didn't even eat lunch when it was already prepared. This isn't the way to save food, damn child."”
The silly Jiang Zhihan was still lying on the bed with a confused expression. What was his name again? What was it called again? Not Jiang Zhihan, not Li Rongrong, what was her name again?
During dinner, Jiang Zhihan still looked confused. He seemed to have had a very long dream, a dream that lasted for eight or ten years, but he had forgotten the contents. He seemed to have caught something, but he couldn't say it. The last time was in the tunnel. He remembered it very clearly, but what was the name? He racked his brains but could not remember. He could even remember the texture of the voice. It was soft at first, then a little sad. What was my name again?
At the same time, it seemed that his normal memories were somewhat shattered. It wasn't lost, it was just broken. Sometimes, it seemed to be looking at him from outside.
"Mom, I had such a long dream. It was like there was no end to it. It felt like years, but she couldn't remember anything now.”
Li Rongrong rolled her eyes at her son." You've slept more than an hour. I'm afraid you've slept for 16 or 17 hours." How can the dream not be long?"
"Mom, it's not like that. I feel like I've been to many places and seen many things I've never seen before. Yes, it felt like Granny Liu had entered the Grand View Garden.”Jiang Zhihan said.
After a while, Jiang Zhihan said emotionally,""Mom, our house looks so old.”
"What's wrong? A son doesn't think his mother is ugly, and a dog doesn't think his family is poor. If you feel that the house is old, study hard. In the future, when you earn a lot of money, help me install a new house.”Li Rongrong educated her son.
"Mom, you look so young."
Li Rongrong couldn't help but touch her son's forehead.""You don't have a fever. Have you gone crazy?”
"Mom, you look really young.”Jiang Zhihan said seriously.
"Son, you look really strange.”Li Rongrong couldn't help but laugh.
Jiang Zhihan would be in his second year of high school after the winter and summer holidays. Most people thought that Zhihan was an honest and quiet child. But Li Rongrong really knew her son. Although he didn't like to be in the limelight and wasn't the kind of child with top grades, she always thought that her son was very smart. He was not restrained in front of his family and close friends. His behavior was not only polite but also interesting from time to time.
Li Rongrong was a very ambitious person. When she was studying, she was a top-notch student. It was a pity that the campaign to go to the mountains and countryside had ruined his chance to go to university. She had replaced her father and entered the factory very early on. In the past few decades, he had relied on his own hard work to transfer from the front line operator to the office as a clerk. However, she had no background and no education. She knew that her career was basically over. She was just earning money to support her family. Like many of her peers, she had more or less pinned her hopes on the next generation. Fortunately, she had a free and easy personality and was not a strict mother. Jiang Zhihan's grades were below average in primary school and above average in middle school. However, he was above average in Year One, and he was even in a key middle school. Every time it came to important exams, such as primary school exams for junior high school and junior high school exams for senior high school, Jiang Zhihan would always perform beyond his level. She was still very proud of this. Many of her friends said half-truths and half-lies, saying that her son was smart and didn't study hard, so his grades were getting better and better. The more important the exam, the better he performed. It would definitely not be a problem for him to get into a top university. What others said might not be true, but Li Rongrong took it to heart. She believed it without a doubt.
"Mom, why don't we eat together without waiting for Dad to come back?”Jiang Zhihan asked.
Li Rongrong said," You must have slept too much. Your dad said that he would be working overtime today and would only be back at 8:30. He told us to eat first." I've already saved some food for him."
Jiang Zhihan's father worked in the suburbs far away. Every day, he would spend an hour and a half on the bus. At this time, it was not easy to change jobs in Zhongzhou, a medium-sized city in the mainland. The vast majority of enterprises were state-owned, which meant that they had an iron rice bowl, but it was extremely difficult to change to a different iron rice bowl. Jiang Yongwen had a college degree, and later, he took a correspondence course while working. He was now considered the technical backbone of the factory, but he was introverted and did not like to compete with others, so his chances of promotion were not high. Almost everyone she knew said that Jiang Zhihan looked more like her father, but Li Rongrong didn't think so. Deep down, she felt that Jiang Zhihan was more like her, and she also hoped that her son could be more outgoing and better at socializing like her.
It was only half-past six when they finished eating. The sun set around eight o'clock in the middle of summer. Hence, Jiang Zhihan greeted his mother and said that he wanted to go out for a walk. Li Rongrong said that it was fine. After sleeping at home for the whole day, she should go out and get some fresh air.
In fact, Jiang Zhihan wanted to find a chance to sort out his thoughts, including those fragments of memories. It was not that his memories had disappeared, but it seemed that some of the threads that connected him had been temporarily broken. For example, if her mother didn't mention that her father worked overtime, she wouldn't have thought about it. However, when she mentioned it, Jiang Zhihan immediately had the impression that there was such a thing.
The factory where his mother worked was a large state-owned printing factory. It was established when the country was in the second line of construction and had a history of about 40 years. The factory was only a five-minute walk away from Jiang Zhihan's living quarters. The people living in this living area were basically the factory workers and their families. In this era, commercial housing was still extremely rare in Zhongzhou. Most people lived in the allocated rooms of enterprises or single dormitories.
Jiang Zhihan walked slowly around the residential area and the factory. He looked at the buildings and the surrounding environment curiously as if it was his first time seeing them, or perhaps he needed to relive some old memories. Jiang Zhihan's apartment building had a ten-year history. Due to the lack of maintenance and the serious pollution of this industrial city, the exterior of the building was mottled and had lost its original color. The name of the factory above and in the middle of the main factory door was made of mosaic. Due to pollution and corrosion, one or two pieces had fallen off, giving people a feeling of decay. In this summer in Zhongzhou, air-conditioning was still a rarity. For ordinary workers, there were probably only one or two out of ten. Therefore, in the alley, in the dam, and in the open space in front of the unit building, there were people sitting in the cool air after dinner and people eating outside.
Along the way, people greeted him. Li Rongrong was quite popular in the factory. Although she had no power or money, she was a warm-hearted person. Whenever there was a small quarrel or a small problem, she would actively mediate or help. Regardless of whether it worked or not, everyone had to at least owe him a favor. Along the way, Jiang Zhihan was quite popular in the family area. At least Jiang Zhihan was studying in a key high school. His grades were not bad, and he had an honest and down-to-earth image outside. In the eyes of the adults, this was a good child. Along the way, Jiang Zhihan was busy greeting the aunties and occasionally the uncles. In Zhongzhou, elders who were related by blood, such as father's sister, could also be called auntie. As for ordinary elders, such as their parents 'female colleagues, they would usually add their surname in front of their aunt, such as Aunt Gu, Aunt Wang, or something like that. Jiang Zhihan's mind was like a ball of paste. How could he remember their surnames? He could only smile and greet the aunties along the way, which made him seem more cordial. The group of old ladies and aunties behind him were still discussing. Zhihan, this child, was so happy today. His mouth was really sweet.
This was the state-owned factory area that had just begun in the 1990s. It was somewhat friendly and noisy, with many trivial disputes and more rumors.
Leaving the living area behind, Jiang Zhihan walked silently outside the factory's wall. The entire factory was built from the bottom of the mountain to the mountainside, just like the entire city. Outside the wall was a 388-step ladder. Jiang Zhihan climbed up step by step. The entire factory and living area was shrouded in a gray atmosphere, giving him a sense of oppression. Even the trees planted by the roadside were thin and unable to grow tall due to the air quality and lack of maintenance.
Although the dream was already blurry, as he slowly climbed up, Jiang Zhihan felt that his emotions were slowly settling down and forming an order. Moreover, it seemed that some new things and new elements had been injected into his body. It was very faint, but he could feel it. Was it confidence? Ambition? Or something else, he couldn't say clearly.
However, a scene suddenly appeared in his mind. Countless fish were swimming forward by the current, but they did not know where the road was or what was waiting for them in front. However, one of the fish leaped high into the air as if it could see the tributary, the dam, and the danger ahead. Although it was an instant and was quickly forgotten, the fish seemed to have gained confidence. I can be different, I can stand higher and see further, I can control my own fate.
Jiang Zhihan clenched his fists and muttered to himself," I can do it."
"You can what?" A crisp voice rang in his ears.
Jiang Zhihan looked up. Although there was a one-second pause, he still remembered that the girl with slightly dark skin, sparkling eyes, and two beautiful dimples when she smiled was his classmate, Wu Tao.
" It's you, Little Peach." Jiang Zhihan blurted out. The boys in the class gave Wu Tao this nickname because her name had the word 'peach' in it, and she liked to wear red clothes.
Wu Tao vaguely knew her nickname, but no boy had ever called her that in front of her. She blushed and said,"That's what you call me behind my back. It's so boring."”
Jiang Zhihan was stunned. He realized that his reaction was slow today, but he subconsciously added,""I didn't mean any harm. It's because you look really good in red.”
Ten years later, middle school students might be able to say I love you to each other proficiently, but at this time, in the closed medium-sized city of Zhongzhou in the mainland, it took considerable courage to praise a girl's beauty in front of her.
"I didn't know you were so glib.”Wu Tao's face turned even redder. The little girl had never been praised so formally by a man of her age. She was a little flustered and subconsciously replied before running away. However, she was a little happy in her heart. Do I really look good in red?
Jiang Zhihan stood there in a daze for a while before he realized that the first time he had ever been praised by a woman of his age had already been given to Little Peach. This was not his usual style. He smiled. I'm changing, aren't I? I can be better, maybe…。。。。" Maybe I can change all of this." He looked at the gray factory and family area. Perhaps, I can be that fish that flies very high.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。