Chapter 1360 Ding Xiang, Marry Me
Late at night, Pang Weinong squatted behind the boiler room washing his polyester shirt.
It was still chilly in Beijing in April, but he seemed not to feel it. His palms were aching from the rubbing of the washboard, but he even wore a white vest. After washing the clothes, he took an iron basin filled with warm water and stood by the sink to wash his hair and take a bath, and he just used a towel to deal with it.
When Li Xiangnan found him, he saw him drinking hot water from an enamel mug, with a piece of soap wrapped in socks by Wang Defa at his feet.
The coat he brought from Yixiang was hung on a long string of wire ropes downstairs in the inpatient department.
"Weinong!" Li Xiangnan shouted, took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to him.
"Brother Nan, my sister-in-law is pregnant, you can't stay in the hospital every day..." Pang Weinong took the cigarette and lit it up. After taking a puff, he apologized, "Sorry, I should have visited the Li family, but now I..."
"It's okay!" Li Xiangnan didn't take it to heart, "Just stay with Ding Xiang!"
There was a sound of footsteps. The two turned their heads and saw that it was Wang Defa who came out from the outpatient department. He glanced at them and turned into the cafeteria.
Pang Weinong suddenly looked up at the sky, his eyes shining frighteningly in the moonlight: "Brother Nan, do you know why Ding Xiang always says that lilac flowers look like stars?"
Without waiting for an answer, he continued: "Because of the severe drought in the summer of 1975, all the rice seedlings in Lijia Village wilted. It was Dingxiang who took us into the mountains to find water. That night, she fell into a ravine with a bunch of wild lilac in her hand. She said that this flower is tough, just like us educated youth. Lilac flowers grow next to springs. In the moonlight at night, they are like stars. You can see a little purple starlight from a very far distance!"
Li Xiangnan's cigarette butt flickered in the darkness, and he suddenly remembered last night.
Pang Weinong begged him to tell him Ding Xiang's condition. After hearing it, he burst into tears, but still insisted on listening to every word of the doctor's advice.
He was so sad last night, but today he felt so heavy that it didn't seem like someone of his age.
It turns out that growing up really does come at a huge price!
But this price is something that ordinary people cannot easily bear.
This introverted boy who used to be handsome, shy and taciturn seemed to have grown up overnight.
Li Xiangnan suddenly remembered a sentence.
People will experience a lot of pain in their lives, but looking back, they are all legends.
Lilac, in the past, present and future, will definitely be an unforgettable experience for Pang Weinong.
"Eat something!"
Wang Defa came over with two lunch boxes, his expression very serious.
"Xiao Li, you should eat too. I asked Guo Fang and she said you haven't eaten since noon! Come on and eat!"
He handed the lunch box to Pang Weinong and extended his hand to Li Xiangnan.
"Thank you!" Pang Weinong didn't recognize him. He had already returned to the city from Lijia Village when the fat man went to Lijia Village to celebrate the New Year that year.
"Xiao Pang, I heard from Jianshe Tuanjie and Ergou talking about you! You are good!" Wang Defa smiled, sat aside, and tried his best to make his expression look relaxed.
"I've been to Lijia Village!"
He turned around and saw Pang Weinong holding a lunch box, looking a little surprised. He added, "The scenery there is beautiful. Even in winter, it has a magical power that makes people nostalgic!"
"Yeah, it's nice there! I love it there!"
Pang Weinong lowered his head to eat, and his eyes seemed to strengthen his belief.
Ten minutes later, he handed the washed lunch box to Wang Defa and prepared to leave.
"Weinong!" Li Xiangnan stood up and called him.
"What's wrong, Nan?"
"Do what you want to do! Live in the present!" Li Xiangnan encouraged.
"..." Pang Weinong looked at him deeply, then took a deep breath, "I understand!"
He turned around and walked back, his steps becoming more firm.
When he tiptoed back to the ward, he found Dingxiang staring at the ceiling in a daze.
The morning light shone through the screen window onto her face, dyeing the medicine in the infusion tube amber.
Before I knew it, it was already daybreak.
\"Brother Wei Nong." She suddenly spoke, her voice as light as a feather.
"Why are you awake? I was going to get some apples to make sweet porridge for you..."
Dingxiang turned her head, smiling lightly and speaking in a light voice.
\"I dreamed that we were watching an open-air movie in Lijia Village. The movie was "Heroic Sons and Daughters". When Wang Cheng shouted "Fire at me", you secretly gave me half a corn cake.\"
“You still remember it!”
Pang Weinong's face flushed with shyness.
He walked over to the bed, sat down, and tucked the quilt in for her.
"Lijia Village is a good place, I miss it very much!"
Ding Xiang: "I think so too, that's where my entire youth is!"
\"When you get better, we'll go back to Lijia Village."\"
Pang Wenong carefully flattened the candy wrapper and put it into the book. The apple blossoms between the pages had dried and turned brown. He showed her the pages of How the Steel Was Tempered, deliberately revealing the candy wrapper.
Dingxiang was originally fantasizing about Lijia Village, her eyes still lost in memories, when she suddenly caught a glimpse of this scene, and remembered what she had asked Li Xiangnan to say, and she lowered her head in embarrassment.
\"My father learned a lot of skills from the government, and he rented ten acres of land in our area and planted an apple orchard. I can eat my own apples in the future... Do you want to go and see it? \"
"It's so far away..."
Ding Xiang's eyelashes trembled, and the ripples on the monitor rose and fell.
She suddenly remembered that on the day she returned to the city in 1977 or 1978, Pang Weinong stuffed a full ten kilograms of national food coupons into her bag, but in his reply she learned that this guy himself had been eating sorghum steamed bread for three months.
This fool always thought that giving her the best could overcome the tricks of fate.
It must have been him who instigated his family to contract the apple orchard so that they could improve their home life and take him in when the conditions were ripe.
He finally couldn't help but invite her now.
but……
How can I have the chance to go to Northern Xinjiang?
When the morning light climbed up the window frame, Dingxiang finally gathered enough strength to raise her hand.
She gently touched Pang Weinong's brow with her fingertips, trying to dispel his sorrow: "Brother Weinong, don't worry. Although I don't have the opportunity to go, I have learned a song from your place. I will sing it for you."
A hoarse singing voice rang out in the ward. It was "The Spring Water at the Frontier is Clear and Pure."
Pang Wenong's shoulders gradually became soaked with dark color, and the two heads gradually came close to each other.
He suddenly remembered the snowy night in 1976 when Dingxiang sang this song and stuffed her frozen hands into the pockets of his cotton-padded jacket.
At this moment, he could only hold the glass bottle tightly, fearing that if he let go, the wild lilac inside would turn into dust.
He looked at the ups and downs on the monitor and suddenly remembered what Dingxiang had written in the letter: "Brother Wei Nong, when I am old, you must plant lilac flowers in our yard."
At this moment, the April wind wrapped in sand passed through the hall, blowing away the last bit of moisture on the glass bottle.
"Lilac, marry me. My yard is already full of lilacs, and they are still lacking a mistress!"