Half a year before I retired, I started thinking about my life after retirement. After many years of living in the city, Zhao Sufeng's children and I have also started their own families. My hometown is a quiet village, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, with fresh and natural air. The day of retirement has finally arrived. Sending off the last batch of students, I had mixed feelings. My colleagues held a simple farewell party for me, and everyone laughed and reminisced about the time at work. At first, retirement was fresh and interesting, but it didn't take long for a sense of emptiness to hit me.
Perhaps this is the so-called 'retirement syndrome'. She said to me with a smile. So, I suggested why not go back to my hometown and live for a while. Anyway, the children have families, and the parents in the countryside are also old and need to be taken care of. Zhao Sufeng thought about it and agreed to go back and live with me for a while. I happily agreed, and began to pack my bags and get ready to go back to the countryside. When our daughter Li Jing learned that we were going back to the countryside, she specially told us to live a low-key life.
You have worked in the city for many years, and the retirement conditions are good, but don't go to the countryside and go around talking about your retirement salary. I thought about it and felt that my daughter's suggestion was very reasonable, so I agreed. Finally, when the weekend came, we filled several large boxes and our daughter drove us back to our hometown. The fields in the countryside are as wide as they can remember, and the simple smiles on the faces of the farmers who pass by still remain. Zhang Jianjun's house is on the edge of the village, small in scale, and the courtyard is overgrown with weeds.
Zhao Sufeng and I finally cleaned the room and could barely live in it. Zhao Sufeng comforted me and said. I also nodded, ready to start living in my hometown. After our daughter Li Jing stayed with us, she repeatedly reminded her that whenever my cousin brought food and gifts, he must leave some money, otherwise he would be unhappy. Living in the countryside, I found that my past habits were somewhat out of step with my current environment. I usually like fishing, so I found a weekend and drove to the reservoir on the edge of the village.
I had to pay 100 yuan to catch fish by the reservoir for a day. When she went home to show Zhao Sufeng, she immediately frowned: "This fish is just over a catty, you said that it costs 20 yuan per catty, it's too cost-effective!" "I also felt a little distressed, and I had to pay a fee for fishing, so I was not interested. Once, the neighbor's Uncle Wang came to the house and said that his family had just slaughtered a pig and invited us to taste fresh pork. I happily agreed, but Zhao Sufeng reminded me that I should bring some gift money to the wedding wine, and I couldn't leave empty-handed.
Zhang Jianjun often brings some vegetables grown by himself to our house. The first few times, I paid as usual, and he accepted it with a smile. Once I forgot to pay, and the next day Zhang Jianjun's face didn't look good, and I realized how important my daughter's advice was. There is an old storyteller in the village, and he is all self-taught, and I have always admired him. One day I invited him to my house for a meal, and gave him an unprecedented 100 yuan, but I didn't expect him to accept it without saying a word, which suddenly made me feel no interest in talking about storytelling.
Zhao Sufeng and I gradually felt that this countryside was different from before. Neighborhoods are no longer so simple and simple, many people have begun to be more generous, and their material life is much richer than in the past. We began to feel a little constrained about country life. A fellow villager often came to his house to talk about his difficult situation, so I thoughtfully gave him some money to help him tide over the difficulties. "It doesn't look like we're comfortable here. Zhao Sufeng whispered to me after the villager left. I started to think about whether I should get out of here.
Although the air in the countryside is fresh and the pace of life is slow, we have been away for too long to keep up with the changes in our hometown, and we feel like outsiders here. Maybe the children have lived in the city for a long time, and it is difficult for us elderly people to stay in the countryside for a long time. I began to think about how to tactfully release the rent with my cousin Zhang Jianjun in advance, and it was time for us to go back to the city to live. After living in the countryside for a while, I met my old classmate Wang Qiang. He used to work as an engineer in the provincial capital, and after retirement, he also returned to live in his hometown. Wang Qiang has a monthly pension of 10,000 yuan, and his life is very nourishing.
But he said that in the village, he was always said to be a door-slammer, which made him very distressed. Later, Zhang Jianjun celebrated his birthday and invited us to his house for a wedding drink. Wang Qiang also came, but the birthday red envelope he gave was only 100 yuan. Only then did I suddenly realize that Wang Qiang was said to be slammed in the village because he was not as generous as us in the city. After Zhang Jianjun's birthday party, Wang Qiang found an opportunity to quietly confide in me. He said that his brother wanted to borrow 20,000 yuan from him to repair the house, but after he refused, he turned his face with him and spread bad words about him everywhere in the village.
After listening to what happened to Wang Qiang, I had mixed feelings in my heart. Wang Qiang has always been generous, but in the new trend in the countryside, his style is still considered stingy. If it weren't for my daughter's reminder, I am afraid that I would have repeated Wang Qiang's mistakes and hit walls everywhere in my rural life. I thank my daughter for her wisdom and keeping us out of a lot of potential trouble. This experience made me realize that the people and things in my hometown are very different from what we remember. Zhao Sufeng and I may also have a hard time adapting to our new life here.
After living in the countryside for a while, I have a deeper understanding of life, family and hometown. I began to understand my daughter's good intentions. She asked us to hide our actual income because she wanted us to have an easy life and not be disturbed by the villagers. My daughter's wisdom saved us a lot of unnecessary troubles. I also saw the changing state of the countryside in the world. The simple interpersonal relationships of the past have been corrupted by interests, and many people have begun to compare their material lives. This made me realize that we should not think in the city and demand that the countryside run in the old and simple way.
At the same time, I cherish my relationship with Zhao Sufeng even more. In this strange environment that does not match our interests, we can rely on each other and become each other's spiritual sustenance. I also began to look at the changes in the villagers with tolerance. They live in different environments and have different needs, and I don't want to force them to live in the past, but understand that everyone is struggling to adapt to change. Although we are away from our hometown, I will remember the little things here. It has made my past and made me realize. In the future, I will live a simple and happy old age with Zhao Sufeng.