Carry a disabled classmate to schoolyears, reunited with his doubts about life
Back then, when I was 51 years old, I look back on the past, and the story of me surnamed Liu and a disabled classmate is still vivid. On September 1, 1979, when I entered the hall of school, I was approached by an eldest lady of the family in the west of the village, who wanted me to carry her son to study on my back.
Time flies, we say goodbye to the old times, but that deep friendship and thirst for knowledge will always remain in our hearts.
Her son, Liu Yongjun, was given an injection at the village clinic when he was a child, and unfortunately hit the sciatic nerve, causing him to become paralyzed. The distance from our village to the school was not far, only more than 100 meters, but I resolutely decided to carry him to school on my back for 8 years.
Although Liu Yongjun is a disabled person, his intelligence is very good, and he ranks first in his grade in every exam. Although he can't walk, he can crawl, and when the weather is nice, he will ask me to put him down and climb on my own for a while.
Despite his good grades, many of his classmates laughed at him. As his friend, I can't stand the insults that others have made for him, so I will stand up for him, just like his brother.
The two of us are inseparable and have become a scenery on campus. Liu Yongjun was very grateful to me, and he said that if he had the opportunity in the future, he would repay me well. Although I didn't expect him to repay me, I did get healthier and stronger by carrying him to school.
Liu Yongjun's diligence and hard work eventually paid off, and he won the third place in the county in the 1987 high school entrance examination and was admitted to a technical secondary school.
And although I stopped in my third year of junior high school, I don't regret it because I helped my best friend, which was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
Thirty years ago, Liu Yongjun went to the city to study at a secondary school, and I sent him off with his father, who bought him a wheelchair at that time. Before parting, we hugged each other tightly, and I blessed him from the bottom of my heart.
We haven't seen each other in the thirty years since. After graduating from junior high school, I worked in several surrounding cities, and later married a wife and had children, and came to Qingdao with my lover, I worked as an assembly worker in an electronics company, and then after hard work, I successively became a team leader, workshop director, and finally became a manufacturing manager in July 2014, and my life gradually improved.
Due to my busy schedule, I rarely go home, and the same goes for Liu Yongjun, who learned about each other from my parents. I heard that after graduating from secondary school, he was assigned to Jinan City, Shandong Province, and worked in the Disabled Persons' Federation, and he did well.
At that time, there was no ** at home, and I had less and less contact with Liu Yongjun, but the memories of that period of student life are still as clear as yesterday. In May 2017, one of my junior high school classmates set up a class WeChat group and pulled me in, and it was then that I had online contact with Liu Yongjun, who had been separated for decades.
We were all very excited and emotional when we communicated in the virtual world. He was very grateful for the help I helped him when he was a student, and he said that if it wasn't for the eight years I carried him, he wouldn't be where he is today.
On October 7, 2018, my second aunt settled in Jinan City, her son got married, and I decided that I must go to the wedding, and I also wanted to see Liu Yongjun, who I missed.
In order to avoid reckless encounters, I specially sent a message to Liu Yongjun first. After attending my cousin's wedding, I followed the location sent by Liu Yongjun and went to his unit.
When we meet again after 30 years, I am both excited and apprehensive, imagining the scene when the two of us meet with mixed feelings, maybe we will call each other's nicknames loudly and unbridledly, or he will give me an affectionate hug, or he will let me carry him around on my back like he did back then.
When I arrived at the door of the communication room, I registered at the doorman's office, and the security guard asked me what my relationship was with Liu Yongjun, and I told him that we were classmates, Fa Xiao, and we were also from the same village.
Your classmates are doing well and are now our head of the house. "He immediately dialed ** and told me my name. The security guard put down the ** and told me to wait for a moment.
Ten minutes later, guided by the security guard, I arrived at Liu Yongjun's office. In the office, there was a lady who was talking to them passionately, and I stood awkwardly on the sidelines.
After Liu Yongjun finished chatting with the lady, he began to greet me, but none of the scenes I had imagined appeared, and his attitude was cold and absent-minded to talk to me.
I asked him if he was busy, and he replied that he wasn't, but kept focused on the computer screen, not knowing if he was chatting with others or working. Looking at him in a suit, I felt strange and alienated, and suddenly realized that the incomparably precious friendship between me and Liu Yongjun had completely disappeared and become a hopeless bubble.
He asked me about my current situation, and I replied that I work in Qingdao, and then he asked me if I would buy a house in Qingdao, and I replied no. Our conversation was filled with the awe and restraint of the subordinates to the superiors.
Lunch was settled in Liu Yongjun's unit cafeteria, although it was called a private room, but the environment seemed cold, just me and him, and a lady, probably an assistant in his office.
During the meal, he was very pretentious, and from time to time he pushed his glasses upwards in a pretended manner, and during the whole meal, he only focused on talking to the woman, and I sat on the sidelines, nervous.
From the time we met to the time we left, he never mentioned the time when I carried him to school. After lunch, Liu Yongjun and I said goodbye. When I arrived at my aunt's house, I received a WeChat message from him, saying that he was sorry for not treating me well.
I immediately replied with eight words – thank you for your hospitality, even though we drifted apart in the trajectory of life. Some people walk and walk away, decades of separation, like an unreachable time, I thought that this meeting, can evoke good memories, but I didn't expect that I felt empty and depressed, his attitude made me suspicious, I had deep doubts about my own life.
Yes, there is a lot of goodness, and it is better to keep it in the bottom of your heart, because nostalgia is often better than seeing each other. Therefore, I secretly promised that in the days to come, I would completely sever any contact with Liu Yongjun.