Siheyuan: A Cook in the 60s

"Hey, Banggeng, are you back with your girlfriend?" An old man saw Bai Xiaoxiao following Banggeng and greeted her.

"Yes, Uncle One and Uncle Three, you two are still playing chess? Why don't you go home and prepare something today?"

"Hey, you don't need us." The old man picked up a chess piece cheerfully and pressed it down: "At home, Yi Yi is the one who is tossing around now. Okay, stop talking, and go quickly. Your grandma is getting impatient. These days, she has been thinking about your girlfriend!"

"Okay, uncle, let's go first."

"go Go."

"Nowadays, when this courtyard celebrates the New Year, it is all the young people of this generation who are having fun. In the blink of an eye, the grandchildren have grown up." Yan Bugui said happily.

"Yeah." The old man couldn't help but sigh at the passing of time: "Hey, what did Lao Liu say? Aren't those two from his family here yet?"

"Yes, Liu Guangqi doesn't want to come back, and neither do the other two. But he has somewhere to go this year."

"Oh? Where did he go?"

"You forgot that he has many apprentices in the steel mill. I heard that he sponsored one of his apprentices to go to school, and now he has become the factory director. When he heard about Lao Liu's situation, he took him to celebrate the New Year."

"Wow, in the end, it is the apprentice who is filial." The old man shook his head.

To be honest, the first uncle has some apprentices under his command, but none of them are as dedicated as the second uncle, who even helped his apprentice go to college.

All I can say is that everyone has his own fate.

The lively New Year celebrations always slip away before we can even prepare for them.

The 81 years of life began with the sound of firecrackers.

On campus.

Yi Yi was sitting under a big tree, holding a book and daydreaming.

In the past, the gentle spring breeze made him feel a little irritated, and the laughter of his classmates made him feel even more annoyed.

Looking down at the book, the familiar symbols became very strange.

At this moment, his mind could not accommodate even a single word.

"Yi Yi, Yi Yi." A familiar voice sounded.

As soon as Yi raised his head, he saw that innocent face, Min Qian, the girl he liked.

Min Qian sat next to him, and the two of them just sat there quietly. For some reason, Yi Yi's anxiety and boredom all turned into bitterness.

"Oh." Yi Yi couldn't help but sigh.

"Yi Yi, I just asked the teacher, and he said that you don't plan to continue studying and have given up the opportunity to go out. Can you tell me why?" Min Qian asked softly, "Have you forgotten our former lofty words? Have you forgotten the clenched fists you clenched when you heard how much money the imperialists had cheated us of?"

"Yi Yi, you are not that kind of person. Can you tell me why?"

There is always a gap between ideal and reality.

Yi Yi's goal from the beginning to the end was only one, to provide good care for Yi Zhonghai in his old age, so he studied mechanical work, thinking that after graduation, he could enter the steel mill and become an engineer, which would be both respectable and family-oriented.

Everything was planned quite well.

But after entering school, and really coming into contact with the hardships that the country has gone through for so many years, the fire in his heart was ignited! (After the opening up, my country's industrial facilities were backward, so many facilities needed to be purchased from abroad. Among them, because my country's technology inherited the big brother's set, which was completely inconsistent with European and American standards, there were many things that were unfamiliar to us. Because of this unfamiliarity, every purchase was a pitfall.)

Yi Yi also wants to go abroad to study, learn advanced technology, and come back to serve his motherland.

This is his personal dream.

But there is a conflict between personal dreams and reality.

He didn't know how long he would need to study, and whether he would be able to come back after he left. He couldn't let go of Yi Zhonghai at home. The memory of the aunt holding his hand and asking him to take care of his father before she left was still vivid in his mind. No matter what, he couldn't make up his mind.

"No reason." Yi Yi stood up: "There are so many talented classmates, and one more person like me is not enough. I don't want to do anything else. I just want to be a good engineer. I don't want to go out..."

Yi Yi said something against his will and left Min Qian.

He thought that, with that said, the matter was over.

The regret deep in my heart was also completely buried.

On the way home, perhaps the spring wind was blowing too fast, and a green leaf fell from the sky. He stretched out his hand and caught the leaf, which should have turned yellow before falling. He stared at it, stared at it. After a long time, Yi Yi sighed, took out his favorite book, opened it, went to the page he had just read, and carefully put the green leaf in it.

Then put the books into your schoolbag.

This schoolbag was sewn for him by an old lady. I remember it was many, many years ago, Yi Yi didn’t know how many years it was.

An old lady was sewing a schoolbag under the dim light.

He leaned over and asked curiously, "Mom, why don't you wait until tomorrow to sew it?"

"Because Mom wants to finish sewing as soon as possible."

"But I can't carry such a big bag."

"Silly child, there will be a day when you can recite it well."

There was one thing she didn't say: she didn't want to see the day when he could carry her.

From the third day after that night, he never saw his mother again.

From then on, he depended on his father for everything.

Even if his father didn't say it, he could feel the loneliness clearly. He didn't want to leave, and he couldn't leave.

He patted his schoolbag, took a step forward and walked towards home.

I just got home and opened the door.

He saw his father talking to his teacher, and Min Qian was standing next to them.

The two saw Yi Yi coming back.

The teacher greeted him: "Come back, Yi Yi, about your business."

"Teacher, I don't want to go." Yi Yi interrupted what the teacher wanted to say somewhat rudely.

"What nonsense are you talking about, you little brat!" Yi Zhonghai glared at him, then smiled at the teacher: "Teacher, don't mind. So, you go back first, and I'll talk to him."

"That's fine." The teacher didn't want to keep him for long: "Yi Yi is a good student and a good person. It would be a pity if he doesn't go."

After a few pleasantries, the teacher and Min Qian left.

Before Min Qian left, she winked at him.

He suppressed the strangeness in his heart, poured a glass of water into his enamel cup, and took a sip.

Before he could open his mouth, Yi Zhonghai spoke first; "You have to go."

"dad!"

Yi Zhonghai waved his hand and said, "I am not old enough to be unable to move. You were not born in that chaotic era, so you don't understand the sorrow of that era. Today, the country is getting better. If personal power can promote progress, you should go! Don't worry about me."