Mountain boy picks stars

1

Shanwa misses his mother day and night, and as a "left-behind child," he lives a difficult life with his grandparents in a poor mountain village.

Time passed by day by day.

Shanwa also went from first grade at the village primary school to fifth grade at the neighboring village primary school.

The old persimmon tree in the yard bears fruit year after year, its branches laden with red, round, lantern-like persimmons, like stars filling the night sky. But the "Mother Star" that Shanwa longs for day and night is nowhere to be seen.

Shanwa didn't get to see his long-lost mother return. The relentless passage of time only hastened his grandparents' aging, just like the yellowing and hardening leaves of the old persimmon tree in the yard, falling one by one with the autumn wind, their lives drifting away to the end.

After his grandparents passed away, Shanwa was left destitute and homeless in his hometown.

My mother went out to work and never came back.

Apart from that one phone call at the village store, they were completely separated.

Shanwa didn't know when his mother would be able to return.

Shanwa had no choice but to follow his father, who had come to the city to work, to make a living and pursue his studies.

On the day he left the mountain village, Shanwa still carried the floral-patterned coarse cloth schoolbag that his mother had painstakingly sewn for him under the kerosene lamp the night before he left. It was filled with her books and textbooks. On his other shoulder, he carried his small quilt, clothes, and other belongings.

Shanwa's father, Huang Dahe, filled a large woven bag to the brim with the daily necessities he would need for the trip to the city, carrying it by hand as he hurried along. He also carried a heavy quilt on his shoulder.

When the father and son left the mountain village carrying large and small bags of luggage, they stopped at a bend in the hillside on the way down the mountain.

Because that's where Shanwa's grandparents are buried.

The graves of my grandparents are now overgrown with weeds.

A year ago, Shanwa, as a "left-behind child," lived with his grandparents, feeding pigs and chickens together, digging sweet potatoes in the fields together, driving cattle up the mountain to plow the fields together, and going home together for dinner. Now, however, they are worlds apart.

On the eve of his grandparents' passing, less than six months apart, Shanwa sat on the oval brown rock on the hill at the entrance of the village on the banks of the Yellow River, gazing at the stars in the sky, searching for his "mother star" whom he had been longing for day and night. He saw two shooting stars streak across the night sky and disappear.

Shanwa was shocked. He was so worried that his "mother star" had fallen and he would never see his mother again, who had been lost somewhere.

Little did he know that the two stars he saw falling from the sky were his beloved "Grandpa Star" and "Grandma Star".

At this time, they had to leave their hometown and their grandparents' graves to make a living in the city, not knowing when they would be able to return and pay their respects at their grandparents' graves.

Shanwa's father, Huang Dahe, knelt down with a "plop" before his parents' graves, tears streaming down his face, to bid them a final farewell:

"Dad, Mom, it's all my fault for being an unfilial son. I've been working away from home for so many years. I haven't been able to spend a single day with you..."

"Father, Mother, your son Dahe is truly incompetent. I also hoped that once I earned enough money, I could buy a house in the city and bring you here to enjoy your retirement. But I waited and waited, until both of you passed away, and this wish was never fulfilled. I have failed you in your kindness in raising me..."

"Dad, Mom, I'm taking Shanwa with me today. There's no primary school left in our village. If you're gone, there will be no one to cook for Shanwa or take care of him. When Shanwa grows up, let him come back to visit you two on his own..."

Shanwa stood behind his father for a long time, listening to his father's heartfelt words to his grandparents in heaven, and couldn't help but be moved to tears.

Like his father, he knelt down with a "plop" before his grandparents' graves, weeping and wiping away his tears as he bid them farewell.

"Grandpa, Grandma, I'm your most beloved grandson, Shanwa. Now, I'm going to the city to work with my dad and go to school there. When I get to school in the city, I promise I'll listen to my teachers, learn some real skills, and then come back to visit you, Grandpa and Grandma..."

The father and son bid farewell to their relatives at their graves in their hometown, then carried their large and small bags of luggage and walked towards the world outside the mountains.

The mountain road leading out of the mountains winds and twists along the hillside. The father and son, carrying large and small bags of luggage, gradually disappear into the vast mist of the mountains.

2

When Huang Dahe was working on the construction site, he lived in a drafty shed. He ate, slept, and worked with his fellow workers.

After bringing his son Shanwa to the city for a few days at a time, he could no longer live and eat in the workers' shed for an extended period.

In order for his son Shanwa to have a home in the city and be able to go to school, Huang Dahe found the cheapest, most basic rental house nearby and rented it.

The cheapest housing is found in the most affordable urban villages, where sanitation is extremely poor, security is bad, and there have even been murders. But the rent is cheap, making it a place of refuge for countless migrant workers.

Shanwa's father, Huang Dahe, works as a migrant worker, carrying bricks on construction sites during the day, working himself to the bone, all so that his son can go to school in the city and receive a good education.

At night, he would stay in his rented room and, taking advantage of the rare quiet time after his coworkers had rested from a long day's work, read any literary books he could find.

Without a computer, he used the back of his son Shanwa's homework and the pencil stubs his son had left at home to write short articles reflecting the feelings of his generation of migrant workers.

He had tried submitting his work, but it was all ignored. He was an amateur "working-class literature enthusiast".

The rental rooms in urban villages not only lack windows, are dark and damp, but also often leak when it rains.

Whenever it rains, Shanwa's father covers the table with a plastic sheet to prevent the drafts of his writing from getting wet.

Shanwa remembers one time when it was raining heavily and the plastic sheeting tore. His father was carrying draft paper and ran, but he fell and scraped his knee. Even so, he kept muttering, "This article needs to be sent out tomorrow."

My father said he wanted to write a book about migrant workers so that more people would know about their lives. But most of his submissions went unanswered, and when he did receive a reply, it was always that "the content did not meet the requirements."

But Shanwa's father didn't give up. Even after carrying bricks all night, he would still write a couple of pages.

Shanwa asked his father, "Dad, what's the point of you writing all this?"

Dad patted his head: "Shanwa, a person always needs something to look forward to in life. Dad isn't capable enough to let you live in a big house, but Dad wants you to know that even a bricklayer can have his own dreams."

3

Although Shanwa's father himself wasn't highly educated, he deeply understood the crucial importance of education in changing the fate of the next generation. While he lacked abstract concepts like values, worldview, and philosophy of life, he understood them from the perspective of a simple, honest mountain farmer.

It is understood that elementary school students are at the most critical foundational stage of shaping their outlook on life, values, and worldview, especially in the upper grades of elementary school, specifically in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades, when they have just learned to write compositions.

Therefore, no matter what, he wanted his son Shanwa to go to school in the city where he worked.

However, for migrant workers without urban household registration, how difficult it is to attend school in the city!

However, in order to let Shanwa go to school in the city, his father had to swallow his pride and ask his fellow villagers for help. He begged and pleaded with everyone he knew, and finally paid an expensive "borrowing fee" for foreign students to get Shanwa into the fifth grade, class 5-3 of the Yellow River Experimental School.

On the first day of school, Shanwa's father specially wore a new shirt to take Shanwa to the school gate.

Shanwa still carried the floral coarse cloth schoolbag that his mother had sewn all night under the kerosene lamp before she left.

Actually, Dad was thinking of buying Shanwa a new schoolbag, but Shanwa insisted on not using the new schoolbag. He only wanted to use the old schoolbag that his mother had sewn by hand, as if his mother was with him every day, and he felt at ease.

Before leaving, the father repeatedly reminded his son at the school gate: "Shanwa, listen to your teachers at school, study hard, and don't argue with your classmates."

"Okay, I understand!"

Shanwa nodded, but noticed that his father's shirt was covered in dust from working on the construction site, and the cuffs were worn out.

That was Dad's only new shirt, bought during the Chinese New Year. Dad usually wouldn't wear it, but today, as a parent sending his son to his new school, he didn't want to embarrass his child by wearing tattered clothes.

Shanwa also saw through his father's thoughts and understood even more the hardship his father endured every day at the construction site, carrying endless loads to earn money.

He wanted to say something, but he couldn't bring himself to speak. He could only secretly resolve in his heart that as a child from the mountains who came to the city to study, he must study hard and not let his city classmates look down on him, a child from the mountains.

Shanwa's father was in a hurry to get back to the construction site. He said goodbye to his son Shanwa one last time: "Shanwa, I'm leaving. From now on, you'll have to rely on yourself for everything at your new school."

Looking at his father, who was still young but whose face looked much older than his actual age due to the arduous and strenuous work on the construction site, Shanwa said with heartache, "Dad, don't overwork yourself when you work on the construction site in the future."

When Shanwa's father, Huang Dahe, heard his son Shanwa's considerate words, his heart was warmed.

His last words to his son were, "Shanwa, hurry up and go to school, I'm leaving."

As Shanwa walked towards the school gate, he saw that all his classmates were wearing brand-new and fashionable clothes, while he was still dressed like a mountain child. He couldn't help but feel a little inferior.

Finally, she couldn't help but shout at her father, who hadn't turned around yet, "Dad, from now on, teach me Huang Xiaoxing, don't call me Shanwa anymore!"

Huang Dahe's face showed a smile that was both excited and sad. He said, "Great! Our Huang Xiaoxing officially becomes a student of the organization today."

After saying that, he turned and left without looking back.

Huang Xiaoxing, who had already entered the campus, looked at her father's once straight back, now slightly hunched, through the steel gate, and felt an indescribable sadness in her heart.

He felt extremely guilty for the slight vanity of feeling inferior because his father called him by his childhood nickname "Shanwa" when he first entered a school in the city.

As her father walked away with a slight hunch in his back, he also opened a small crack in Huang Xiaoxing's feelings of inferiority.

…………