This is a special trip. Two middle-aged men, because of a special opportunity, temporarily put down their wives and children and decided to travel. There is no destination, no return date, except a small amount of luggage, they only have two guitars and a tambourine. This is a solemn farewell to life and a long review of life.
The trip has begun.
In early September, 54-year-old He got a bad news from his friend's phone. The other party has just been diagnosed with tongue cancer and returned to Zhuzhou with luggage hospitalized from Changsha. He didn't go back to his home, but came to He Xiangmin at the first time. The first sentence is: "Brother He, I want to go out for a walk." He Xiangmin didn't ask much, only answered: "Good".
For most middle-aged men who are firmly locked by family and work, it is a particularly extravagant thing to leave home and work for friends for a long trip. But he doesn't think so to Min. "My brother is ill, and I still have things to put down."
During this trip to Changsha, Liang Cheng went to see the ulcer on his tongue, which lasted for half a year. The ulcer first appeared three years ago. It is so small that Cheng Liang thinks it will only be a complication of diabetes for ten years at most, and doesn't care too much. But with the passage of time, the ulcer has not improved, but has expanded a little. Later, the ulcer gave birth to a tumor, which was a little swollen. It grew to the size of a red date six months ago, which almost eroded all his chewing ability.
He went to major hospitals for examination, then he was hospitalized, treated and transferred to another hospital. Finally, before returning to Zhuzhou in early September this year, tongue cancer was diagnosed. The doctor told him that if the operation has a 50% success rate, it is necessary to remove the tongue from the root and remove the lymph.
His neck will be chopped and his tongue will be cut off. He can only eat with his head up. In Liang Cheng's imagination, even if the operation is successful, his life will become "unlike people and ghosts". He can't stand it. When he calls it what it is, he hopes to "spend the rest of his life with dignity and quality."
He Xiangmin asked a friend to collect a second-hand van, all the rear seats were removed, and a simple bed was built with wooden boards, so that Liang Cheng could have a rest during the trip. This car cost 25,000 yuan and was borrowed from another friend. At first, he had no money in Xiang Min's pocket. In order to raise money, they put it off for twenty days. On the day of departure, He took 3,000 yuan and collected more than 2,000 yuan. In addition to the necessary daily necessities, they also brought two folk guitars and a tambourine. A trip with no destination and no return date began like this.
There is no detailed strategy for this trip. Set a general direction, just walk there, meet local residents, spend some money to buy a cigarette, ask if there are any good places nearby, and you can find peace and happiness anytime and anywhere.
They drove to Jintan in dongxing city, Guangxi. He and Xiang Min and Liang Cheng took a leisurely walk by the sea. He had a strong back and was ill, but Liang Cheng, who used to be a soldier, became a thin one. When the sun was about to set, the sky turned golden. Because of his illness, Liang Cheng has to endure great pain every time he speaks. Most of the time, the two walked silently through this landscape together.
In the evening, they had a good time with their local friends. Everyone played the piano and sang. There are abundant camping supplies, tents, hammocks, folding chairs, tea sets and various picnic tools scattered on the beach. They sang "One Road". "I want to ask your footprints, the mountains are silent, through the spring, through the four seasons, through the spring, through myself ..." The voice was very heavy, accompanied by He He, and the friends next to him sang loudly in a rough voice.
Puzhehei, Wenshan, Yunnan, the restaurant coincides with the centenary birthday of a local grandmother, and a room full of people celebrate here. Some people play Qin Yue, some people sing, and then everyone dances in a circle. He, 54, jumped up, and his friends beat the beat. Firecrackers kept coming from outside, full of festive atmosphere.
More often, there are only two people traveling. When passing through Ning County, Anshun Town, Guizhou Province, I almost had an accident. That day, they went to a clothing store to buy two thick clothes and left their bags in the store when they left. That bag contains all the documents and cash of two people. What's the hurry? I went to see the door the next day before the store opened. When I went in, I found the bag hanging on the hanger, motionless. He sent a circle of friends to express his feelings: Fortunately, God bless! The boss is very grateful for his noble character.
friend
After more than 30 days, He Xiangmin couldn't remember how many places they had traveled. They sleep in tents, cars, hotels and homestays; Galloping on the national highway and bumping on the dirt road; Brush your teeth by the roadside and wash your face by the river. Every day's experience will be posted on the short video platform, with the purpose of reporting peace to friends. He said that his circle of friends is now used for work and publicity. More often, friends learned about him and Liang Cheng from the short video platform.
According to media reports, the story of He taking an old friend with a terminal illness to travel quickly spread on the Internet. Today, their journey lasted more than 30 days. More than1.20 thousand netizens added He Xiangyu's short video account to the watch list and traveled with their friends in their 50 s.
"Sincere friendship is really out of reach for the younger generation now." Some netizens expressed their feelings in the comments.
Hehe knew each other in junior high school. They are classmates. He Xiangmin is naughty. Sometimes, he catches snakes and bees from outside and releases them in class, scaring away the teachers. On the other hand, Liang Cheng is introverted, quiet and honest. At that time, two people with different personalities were just nodding acquaintances, so they could not play together and had little communication.
He Xiang Min doesn't like studying. He hasn't been to school since he graduated from junior high school. After wandering around the society for two years, he entered the factory to replace his father. Liang Cheng joined the army after graduation. He is the bass player in a military band. After leaving the army, I did business for several years, lost money and entered the factory.
They all grew up in Zhuzhou, a dusty old industrial city. During the planned economy period, state-owned enterprises and factories provided guarantees for the lives of most people here, and the units had their own children's schools, hospitals, canteens, bathhouses, dairy farms and cold drinks halls ... forming an independent small society. The relationship between people is also relatively stable, with a background of mutual help. Clothes are hung outside, and someone helps to collect them when it rains.
One day eight years ago, I was wandering on the road and happened to meet He near my home, so I asked him to sit up. He Xiang Min always seems to be surrounded by friends. In his living room, as in the past, many friends chatted and drank tea together. Liang Cheng likes this atmosphere very much. Over time, he became a frequent visitor to He's family. Liang Cheng often plays the guitar at parties. He Xiangmin saw it and thought it was a good instrument. He got one himself and found a tutorial on the Internet. He knows that he is a professional and "knows how to advise", so he is often called "Master Liang".
He Xiangmin may be a person surrounded by friends. But for Liang Cheng, Xiang Min is the closest person in his life.
Liang Cheng has been divorced for more than ten years, and his parents are gone. At that time, he rented a small house and spent a month in 400 yuan. He went to Liang Chengjia to accompany him after his divorce three years ago. Liang Cheng slept in the bedroom, and he set up a tent in the living room. After living for a year and a half, "virtually became a family."
In the era of gradual atomization of human beings, people are more accustomed to closing themselves in their cocoons, unwilling to be disturbed and unwilling to have too close contact with others. The "two-throwing relationship" has become a normal state. Employees will get together quickly because of a project. During this period, they will communicate with each other in an intimate tone and maintain cooperation. Once the task is over, the relationship will quickly cool down and become strange.
Where, the relationship between friends is not staged, let alone materialized. "Be sincere and don't forget this."
He Xiangmin likes riding a bike. Except Northeast China, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, other provinces in China have left his rut. He has changed four motorcycles and traveled 400,000 kilometers. As long as you have time, go. Yukiko Iwai, the car he was playing with, was the youngest in his early twenties and the oldest in his seventies. Everyone is willing to blend in with his circle.
In the past, if Liang Cheng invited him to travel at this time, he would consider the things at hand and the money in his pocket. This time, He Xiangmin did not hesitate, paid a mortgage of 3,000 yuan, leaving only 3,000 yuan, and went straight to the road. Although he has been divorced for three years, He Xiangmin has never disowned his ex-wife's family. He will always help her if there are any problems in her family. Knowing that he was going to accompany him, his ex-wife specifically told him, "You should play well with Brother Liang, and don't worry about things at home."
Before he left, He Xiangmin consulted Liang Cheng. He wants to make this trip short-sighted and frequent, so as to save his friends from asking questions one by one every day.
Liang Cheng replied, "Good".
In addition, he also considered another reason to Min-since he is ill, don't avoid these things, and don't be careful when dealing with friends. It is not good to say some superficial pleasantries.
Rebuild friendly relations
When Xiang Min was a child, his family lived in a bungalow. At the dining point, the children will go door to door with bowls to see whose food is delicious. He Xiangmin's family was the first one to buy a TV set nearby. Friends can come home whenever they want to watch TV. My mother always welcomes these friends. When she is not watching TV, she tells stories to everyone. "Now, you certainly don't know who lives opposite you."
In the 1990s, Zhuzhou, which entered the market economy, suffered a wave of unemployment and relocation, and chimneys that once braved black smoke fell down one after another. In 2004, Qingshuitang Industrial Zone, once a great industrial success in Zhuzhou, moved out as a whole. Young people who have lost their jobs have gone out one after another and become the core source of migrant workers in the Pearl River Delta region.
The generation that went out to work took away the intimate relationship between people.
At the age of 37, He Xiangmin decided to rediscover the pure friendship between friends decades ago.
The neighborhood relationship in childhood shaped the original definition of He to friends-no conflict of interest, no vigilance, simplicity, sincerity and equal intersection.
Ten years ago, people often went to Hejia for tea and chat without even saying hello. When it's time to eat, whoever wants to stay here will eat. "No one is short of this tea or this meal. They just like my relaxed atmosphere. "
He Xiangmin has a wide range of hobbies. More than ten years ago, he played outdoors and went hiking and camping with his equipment on his back. Others think that he is ill and can't live in a good house at home, so he has to live in a tent outside. Slowly, some people's ideas have changed and they have become curious about this sport. Then they asked him how to play the game and where to buy things. Later, he dabbled in more fields: fishing, riding motorcycles, drinking tea and playing guitar ... each hobby made him meet different friends.
With the continuous expansion of the circle, He Xiangmin's home has become a meeting place designated by his friends. "One or twenty people came inexplicably."
Today, the activity of "visiting" seems to have disappeared in the city. You need to make an appointment one week in advance to have dinner with your good friends. In a high-speed and efficient environment, there is not much loose and aimless social space. But in a house of 65 square meters, it can only accommodate more than 20 people at the same time. He specially made seven keys to his home and distributed them to his friends. "When I'm not at home, they just make some tea themselves, so I don't have to run back to open the door." So he also appeared on local TV programs, and the program group felt that this kind of trust relationship was really rare in this era.
After more than ten years, he was surrounded by friendship. In the days of traveling with him, He's family has been taken care of by friends, feeding fish and watering flowers. The day before he left, a friend went to his house and said, "You go, don't worry about the mortgage, I'll help you pay it back."
Now it sounds like a fantasy. In his eyes, people used to be like this. I don't know when he started, but he found himself increasingly disagreeing with most of his so-called friends. People are always polite on the surface. When they asked for help, they verbally promised well, and then they didn't take it seriously. He can't say anything specific that he hates, but this sense of alienation pervades his whole life. "I don't like this feeling. I have to have my own atmosphere. I am so stubborn. "
Xiang Biao, a professor of social anthropology, once mentioned in Thirteen Invitations: "When we study, we have a kind of self-confidence and can build a love relationship in the neighborhood. With like-minded strangers, whether in a unit or even on a bus, you have the confidence to build. But now we seem to have lost this confidence and no longer feel that we can build a relationship of mutual trust. "
Why the faith of "sincerity" rebuilt the disappearing "neighborhood". "People nowadays are too smart. What they lack is a fool."
He doesn't expect any feedback from his friends, just be himself, so there will be no loss. He said that in this honest circle, if someone plays with his mind, he will get bored.
Because of these friends, he set up a family kitchen for Min Jian. Anyone who wants to eat can order from him. He prepared the ingredients in advance, and the price of each dish was as standard as that of a small restaurant. This is a private kitchen that only cooks for friends. All his friends know that he has no income, and he doesn't always eat and drink for nothing, so they all support him. With this business, he can earn almost five or six thousand yuan a month from Xiang Min.
Knowing that he took Liang Cheng on a trip, his friends began to give him money one after another, hundreds of them. He was never polite, so he kept it. When I went out, I took 3000 yuan, played for more than 30 days, and there was still 15 thousand left.
The prefix of each video essay is "Walking with Brothers: Day XX", and many media also pay attention to their affairs. For more than a month, He Xiangmin has been interviewed and reported by more than 30 media. Some netizens offered them crowdfunding travel funds, and some companies claimed to sponsor an RV. They were all rejected.
At the moment, his old friend Liang Cheng entrusted him with the rest of his life, and he wanted to walk and live slowly with Liang Cheng.
In the morning, misty and sunny, Liang Cheng was still asleep in the hotel bed, looking safe and sound.
In the first week of November, the first snow fell in Beijing. Wearing short sleeves and shorts, he walked on the warm streets of Xishuangbanna. In Xishuangbanna, he finally bought a pulverizer and cooked liquid food for Liang Cheng himself in the hotel. Although old friends can no longer chew food, He Xiangmin knows: "He still knows what is delicious." They decided to settle in this small town with few people, low prices and slow pace for a period of time. Here, they have no fixed time to get up and go to bed. When you want to go out, just stroll around, go to the starlight night market and go to the roadside food stalls. When the resident singers in the bar have a rest, they go up and sing by themselves. One plays the chord, the other plays the main spin, and the eight-year tacit understanding is all integrated into the music.
"As long as he says he wants to go back, I will take him home."
-End-
Author | Luo Zhenyu