That laughter

reminds me of

my flowers

that are blooming quietly for me in my life

I thought I would stay by her side forever

Today we are far away

In the vast sea of ??people

One

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In the small village, the trendy Xiashanhu buildings are lined up. Almost every family has three or four children, who gather together. The lane at the door is a paradise for play.

Almost from the time I was born to the time I graduated from elementary school, my best playmate was my cousin’s child, Haozi. The big family of the previous generation made me and him of the aunt generation become the same age. There is only a few months difference between them, so naturally they are the best playmates when they were young. When he was young, he called me "Guzi" in his hometown dialect, which means little aunt.

My home is very close, but only separated by a row of buildings. It only takes less than three minutes to go around from the side.

A creek, a few pieces of mud dug from the river, a straw rope, or a few broken dishes, a few square grids drawn with stones on the cement floor, a half-collapsed wall ... Holding a wooden stick in hand, you can travel to the end of the world with a sword. Many rough and simple objects and simple games support our entire childhood.

Haozi likes to shout at my door every gray-blue morning, "Auntie, Auntie..." When we stay together with Haozi, the biggest thing we boast about is that we have grown up. You have to personally build a spaceship to carry the other party to space travel; the drama you have watched the most is the ever-popular "Journey to the West"; the children's song you listen to the most is "Three Hundred Tang Poems" recited by a child's voice and played on a DVD; the most played A good trick is to inject the grasshopper with a vaccination needle.

Most of the time before going to school was spent with him. Preschool time is too simple and beautiful. We seem to be surrounded by a transparent medium, spending our time simply and happily.

He was my deskmate in elementary school. When he was occupying a seat on the first day of school, my aunt (his grandma) shouted from the window, "Let their aunt and grandson sit together." So we sat together like this. Boys and girls in elementary school like to divide into camps. Boys are on one side and girls are on the other. They are the "enemies" in the classroom.

When I was in elementary school, I was the monitor of my class. I was very fierce, especially towards boys. When supervising discipline, if I encountered any violation of discipline, I would stare at them in mild cases or hit them in severe cases. I would write down their names. Enter the "Book of Life and Death".

Haozi is different from me. He is very quiet, does not like to communicate with others, and his grades are not good. Perhaps because of seniority and cliques in the class, he rarely talked to me in school and no longer called me aunt. But he would still show up on time at my door after school to play with me. Elementary school was still simple. We repeated the same games day after day, but we never got tired of playing them until we graduated from elementary school.

Destiny is really a strange thing. Childhood friends played with the same things and lived in the same environment. After graduating from elementary school, their lives took a fork in the road and they went their separate ways.

The primary school education in the village is not good, and only a few people can pass the town middle school in a year. I went to the middle school in the town, and my childhood friend went to another middle school a village away. Since then, the trajectory has gradually diverged.

When we were in middle school, we still often encountered each other when we went home on weekends. However, as we entered adolescence, we left those immature games at the door of adolescence, and we no longer care about new things with our children. Explore together with your playmates.

The lives of Haozi and my *** gradually fell apart. Although we meet each other often, we feel separated for many years. We each grow in our own time.

I haven’t heard him call me aunt for many years. At the beginning of last year, I heard my mother say that he was married. I had just entered college, so I was so surprised that I couldn't help but ask him online. He only replied "Yeah" for a long time. After a while, I asked, "How about studying outside?" At that moment, I felt that the word "fate" was so heavy in my heart that I couldn't explain it. My throat seemed to be blocked by something, and I was speechless and didn't know what to say.

When I went home this time, when I went to his house, his child was already walking and babbling and wanted me to hold him. And Haozi was sitting on the sofa. He looked like a child of the same age as me, but he was already a father.

He no longer calls me "aunt" affectionately. His sister-in-law asked him to make tea and greet her.

A pot of water had been boiling for a long time, and when the tea was brewed, one could see his embarrassment. It took a long time before he said, "Come, drink tea."

2

When I was a child, my circle was very small, and the people who came and went were just a few people who thought they would be good friends for life. partner.

Xiao Ni’s origin is a bit different. Her parents are adoptive parents, and she is her aunt’s daughter. Every household has many children, so adoption situations often occur. Whichever family gives birth to several boys but no girls, and whichever family gives birth to girls but no boys, as long as both parents agree, the children can be swapped during infancy.

The adopted child suffered a lot. No matter how you say it, you are still someone else's child, and no matter how good you are, you don't have a biological relative who fell from your own body.

Xiaoni is very good-looking, with straight black hair, big watery eyes, and sharp teeth, so she is extremely popular with the elders, except her adoptive mother.

When I was a child, I spent most of my weekends with her. Ride a bicycle and ride on the country road, with green fields on both sides. Even though they fell, they were still happy. The two silly girls held their stomachs and laughed non-stop next to the overturned bicycle.

We have a separate small treasury, where we save fifty cents and one yuan. That is her "runaway fund." She never cried when her adoptive mother beat her, and she still smiled brightly when she was with me. But every time I could tell she was unhappy. Once I saw that she was being beaten and scolded again, I suddenly vowed to tell her openly, "Nizi, let's build a fund together!" "Fund?" she asked curiously. "Yes! Fund! It's the kind of fund where you can go wherever you want after you save enough money!" She smiled happily, showing two little tiger teeth, which was so cute.

Once when we were drawing together, she told me, "Let's open a boutique together when we grow up. It sells many beautiful gifts, crystal balls, Barbie dolls and many beautiful cloth dolls." “Having all the beautiful dolls that can sing is the dream of almost every little girl. She drew a store on paper, with two people holding hands inside, and happily said to me, this is you, and this is me, our business will be very good, and our fund will be very large by then! .

It’s so strange. In my mind, I looked at the two little people and vaguely asked, “When we grow up, will we still be friends like this?”

She asked confidently, "Yes! Why not?!"

We are still in the same school in junior high school, not in the same class, but our friendship circle is no longer the same. She became more and more good at dressing up, and she became more and more depraved. She made friends who dyed their hair and had many ear piercings, and became one of the most troublesome people for the teacher at that time.

Occasionally I met her on the road, and she still smiled brightly, showing two small tiger teeth. After the greeting, there was a large blank space.

After junior high school, she went to a vocational school and became a kindergarten teacher. When I was a freshman, she heard that I was attending college in Guangzhou, and she warmly invited me, saying that she had not contacted me for several years and that she must meet up with old friends in Guangzhou.

On the day we met, she dressed casually and put on exquisite makeup. She naturally held my arm when she saw me, just as naturally as she held hands when we went to school together many years ago. She told me about the intrigues of her colleagues, the stinginess and cunningness of her boss, and her favorite celebrities and TV series. I don’t understand these things and can only listen and nod when necessary. I'm glad that she didn't mention the embarrassing things we did together in the past. I'm afraid that if she tells me, it will cause a gap in my memory.

I shouldn't have asked her about her dreams. "Can I marry a rich Guangzhou native who loves me?" She answered straightforwardly.

I nodded, extending my polite encouragement and my most sincere blessings. I don't remember how the meal ended.

The last time I saw her was in the circle of friends with ***, she was dressed fashionably and had a bright smile. She was still very good-looking.

I still like the way she smiles with two tiger teeth.

I am very curious whether she still remembers the dream of opening a boutique together.