The walnut tree on the Baozi Wa -- A letter to the father of a migrant worker

Author: Cheng Bangping

Dear Dad

Hello!

I never wrote a letter to you, not that I don't want to write, but that you are illiterate and unwilling to bother others. Besides, you work outside all the year round and have no fixed residence, so you can't send the letter. I also study abroad all year round. It's also good. Although people are wandering, their roots are still in their hometown. The walnut tree in my hometown will always appear in my mind.

After turning the mountain, the walnut tree on Baoziwa immediately stood in front of me with a stubborn figure. Since I was a child, it has striven for a square inch of its own life with its great and huge body to the blue and boundless sky. Until many years later, when I recalled the scar deeply imprinted on my heart, it turned out that it was like the back of a man who was tottering, careful and humble.

The snow on the wall of the Baozi City is particularly white in winter. You see, when the east wind blows over the wall, a clump of light green grass emerges, fragile and full of hope. They can look to the other side of the mountain all day. When the late sun went down, they lowered their heads and collapsed on the wall. This scene can not help but make people feel sad. The history of Baozi can be traced back to a long time. It comforts these lost souls with its thick and warm hands, which are used to seeing the mottled years. The walnut tree beside him also extended his father's hard hand to comfort the children.

The wind swept the walnut tree and rushed to the foot of Baozi Mountain. It was clear that a dilapidated dilapidated house stood out in my eyes: the velvet green color on the dark green tiles flowed with the years, the soil flakes peeled off the walls were scattered with childhood memories, and the door tied by uneven wooden sticks opened my weakness that was hard to hide. The old house that has gone through the vicissitudes of the city wall of Baoziwa has also gone through the vicissitudes of the walnut tree. Big, you piled it up with your own hands one by one that year, and built it page by page with your big hands as thick and solid as tiles. That year, our family had a new house; That year, your big hands were warm and powerful.

Many years ago, if I didn't tie the boat, I would sail to the southeast coast to pursue my future ideal and life. The coastal area has 365 days, 300 days with light wind and 65 days with strong wind. Following the wind, many times, it will rain, sometimes intermittently, sometimes pouring. Every time it rains, my heart will also play. How can the raindrops along the coast grab my heart as a student from the arid northwest region?

How could I forget. In those hard days, it seems that the house can't live with our family. It's raining outside and pots and pans are jingling inside. It's raining in a shabby place on the roof! There are small raindrops seeping from the invisible gap, slow and intermittent; In some of the larger holes, raindrops are like beads connected with lines, falling in strings; If there is any more, it will be in a straight line. It can only be put in a large basin for a while, because if the basin for holding rain is small, it will be full in a short time. Many nights, our family has been preparing pots and pans in a hurry, so that the continuous rain outside can play a beautiful rain concerto with the tinkling of the room. How many nights have we fallen asleep in this rain concerto.

The next day, we will hear Mom's anxious and gentle complaints: "What kind of house are you building? It's broken like your pants. There are eyes everywhere! Pants, the wind blows through the hole; the house, when it rains, drops from the hole." At this time, you are always hesitant to speak, slowly set up a ladder and climb the roof, The arched body has been bending, and the feet carefully move from one place to another, then slowly lift the wet tile and insert new tiles. The arched figure on the roof that day made it impossible for me to see your face clearly, let alone your thoughts. But I clearly felt that the bow and small back was the roof of our home. On that day, you were my hero. You repaired the leaky house with your smart hands. No, more importantly, you repaired the poor house. On that day, your hands are magical and full of power.

Yes, I can't forget the rainy autumn. You, who don't call at ordinary times, dialed my number with the only phone in the village. I know you are not not calling, you are saving a few dollars. With only a few yuan, you may have to work hard on the construction site for most of the day. That's really hard money! "Baby, our house is leaking again! It's raining heavily and much this time... The courtyard wall has collapsed! Fortunately, the house hasn't collapsed yet!" Your voice over the phone has been intermittent, just like the scene of our house leaking. I don't know what you were thinking. But I know that your trembling hands are not holding the telephone handle, but the distant hope of the whole family. What you know is that I went to a big city, and my life will be better after that; What you don't know is that I learned to smoke that year. Every night, when I light a cigarette, the smoke curls up, and I seem to be a dispensable existence in the smoke. And when the huge desk lamp reflects my back on the wall, the bluff and huge back is so weak and humble. What you don't know is that it rains more and more along the coast. Every time it rains, my heart hurts for no reason; What you don't know is that every time I hear the rain outside the dormitory, I will toss and turn all night. It seems that there is an old man in my heart who has been sighing and groaning all the time

Since then, I have hated the rain and the sound of rain, especially the continuous rain. Then I knew that once, you repaired the courtyard wall the next day and replaced the broken tiles on the roof with new ones. Then you hurried to the construction site in Lanzhou to work. At that time, I was also wandering in the cities along the southeast coast. I can imagine you climbing stairs with your back bent and steel formwork on the construction site, just as I bow my head and beg for a living in this bustling big city. This reminds me of the walnut tree on Baoziwa, which is striving for a square inch of its own living space with its great and huge body to the blue and boundless sky. When I think about the scars in my heart, it suddenly dawned on me that this is the humble figure of us who are busy trying to live in other places!

That year, I had already booked the train ticket home.

When I turned the mountain again, the walnut tree on Baoziwa still stood in front of me with its stubborn figure. The white snow on the wall of Baoziwa City was like a silver haired old man who had grown another year. And the walnut tree, with its old and vigorous posture, tries to extend to the boundless sky, and becomes more determined in the confusion.

As for this, I ask nothing but your safety outside!

Wish you good health!

Your son Bangping

March 18, 2021

(Recommended by: Zhangxian Education Trade Union)