Chapter Five: The First Meeting with Mr. Zhou

  "Daddy, I want to read a book."

  I glanced at Dad with a slanted eye and said tentatively.

  What is called a picture book is actually a comic strip, also known as a little people's book. For a period of time, it was the main extracurricular reading material for children. But in 1976, this requirement was undoubtedly a bit excessive. At that time, publications were scarce, and most of them were "Selected Works", small books were "Quotations" (commonly known as the Little Red Book), others, including Marx's "Das Kapital" and Mr. Lu Xun's works, were not often seen.

  Dad was completely unprepared for me to make such a request and was stunned for a moment.

  I didn't give him time to think and immediately continued: "I heard that Mr. Zhou's family has a collection of books, I want to see them!"

  Dad smiled and said gently: "Mr. Zhou's family has books, but they are not for reading, you can't understand them."

  Actually, I didn't expect to find the book I liked at Mr. Zhou's place either, this was just an excuse for my dad to visit this Mr. Zhou who is about to have a change of fortune.

  "No, I just want to look at books, I'm going to go take a look..."

  Helpless, I started using the privilege of a seven-year-old kid - throwing a tantrum! It was just that while throwing a tantrum, my whole body broke out in goosebumps. To avoid missing the opportunity, I had to be cheesy for once.

  In order to increase the effectiveness of my act, I even grabbed Dad's hand and shook it back and forth.

  Sweat!

  It seems I really have a talent for acting!

  Dad had no choice but to surrender: "Fine, fine, go ahead and watch..."

  Because he decided to go see Mr. Zhou, Dad spent a bit more money and asked Xiao Shu to buy two packs of sugar from the cooperative - four tangerine cakes and one catty of biscuits. He also asked his mother-in-law to take out the stored goods at the bottom of the box - pickled rice flour meat, which was packed in another package, plus one catty of noodles, making it a four-color gift for visiting.

  At that time in the countryside, it was already a very valuable gift. It made my second sister roll her eyes at me. You know, these good things, even we ourselves can hardly eat them a few times, and because of my inexplicable sentence "look at the book", they all have to become someone else's things.

  Luckily, my old man is a well-known filial son and has always been very respectful to his parents. My grandfather is quite supportive too.

  "Mr. Zhou is a knowledgeable person, Jin Cai is also an educated man, he should go out and take a walk."

  Jin is Dad's name. Dad graduated from a normal school, and at that time he was considered an intellectual. Grandpa didn't read many books, but he valued educated people.

  Because we were going to watch a movie, my grandmother made dinner early. After eating, my father took my younger brother and the three of us, and we set off towards Matang Bay. My grandparents are old and can't understand Mandarin in movies, but they didn't want to join in on the fun.

  Matang Bay is just a few miles away from Liujiashan, and the family chatted and laughed as they quickly arrived. In rural areas, outdoor movies are usually shown in the playground of the production team's primary school or a larger drying field. At this time, it was still early, and the sun had not yet set. My father instructed my younger brother-in-law to find the team secretary to arrange for someone to hang up the screen and set up the venue. It's not easy for a production team to show movies in turn, and both the secretary and the team leader gave their full support, letting whoever be sent go. My younger brother-in-law, who was only 17 or 18 years old, got this opportunity to show off and was naturally very happy.

  He was unwilling to go see Zhou Zong.

  Second sister and third sister also did not want to go see Mr. Zhou, so they followed their younger uncle to the Zhushu family's home instead.

  Strictly speaking, Mr. Zhou was an outsider. Before liberation, his mother brought him to escape famine in Matang Bay, married a local peasant surnamed Zhou, and he also changed his surname to Zhou and settled in Matang Bay. He was clever and hardworking from a young age, loved reading books, and successfully entered the People's University in the early 1950s, becoming an urban resident. According to older generations, Mr. Zhou was extremely glorious at that time. However, after thirty years of ups and downs, the winds of fortune changed, and unexpectedly, the Great Revolution made Mr. Zhou return to his original form overnight.

  At that time, there was hardly a decent house in the countryside. Mr. Zhou's home was particularly dilapidated, with three earthen-brick rooms that leaked rain and wind everywhere. After Mr. Zhou was assigned to work in the provincial city, he brought his widowed mother to settle in the city and didn't repair the old house in their hometown.

  "Is Mr. Zhou at home?"

  Although the wooden door of Zhou's house was only slightly ajar, Dad still knocked politely on the door.

  "Which one?"

  A tired female voice came from inside the house, presumably Mrs. Zhou.

  "I am Liu Jinchai from Liushan, here to visit Mr. Zhou."

  Dad spoke very politely, even using the word "visit". At that time, rural people rarely spoke so eloquently. However, since we came to visit a big intellectual, we couldn't show that our family was too unrefined.

  With a creak, the wooden door opened and an old woman with white hair appeared in the doorway, beaming with joy.

  "It's actually Teacher Liu, what a rare guest, please come in..."

  Dad seems to be a bit pleased with himself. Dad's greatest asset in his life is his face. Although Mr. Zhou has lost power now, Mrs. Zhou followed her husband and has seen the world, this attitude makes Dad very comfortable.

  "Please sit down... Ah, Teacher Liu, you're too polite. We're fellow villagers, no need to bring anything when visiting each other's homes. Old servant, old servant, come out quickly, Teacher Liu is here..."

  "What's the big deal?"

  With this dull sound, Mr. Zhou walked out of the inner room slowly and elegantly, wearing a pair of black-framed glasses, with white hair and a messy beard, but his face was full of pride. Of course, it wasn't arrogance, but rather the kind of pride that bookworms have.

  "Mr. Zhou..."

  The old man hastily got up and asked after his health with great respect.

  Deep down, Father also has a proud air of being an educated person, but compared with those who are more knowledgeable than himself, he is extremely respectful.

  "It's Jin Cai, please sit down."

  Mr. Zhou was still lukewarm, but it could be seen that he didn't particularly dislike the two of us as uninvited guests either. He was still an unreformed reactionary academic authority who wouldn't normally have anyone visiting him at home.

  "Mr. Zhou, this is my child, come and call him Uncle Zhou."

  I was very straightforward and loudly called out "Uncle Zhou", and even bowed.

  "Oh, this kid is really well-behaved! What's his name? How old is he this year?"

  Mr. Zhou had not yet spoken, but Mrs. Zhou was already heaping praise on him.

  For some reason, Mr. and Mrs. Zhou had no children for a long time. Old Lady Zhou was particularly fond of little kids.

  I bowed again and replied neatly: "Auntie, I'm Liu Jun, I'm seven years old this year."

  This time, not only did Old Dad laugh with his mouth wide open, but also Aunt Zhou was greatly surprised, and even Mr. Zhou showed a rare smile.

  "Oh, Liu Jun. Alright, come on, tell Uncle, have you gone to school?"

  "In first grade at Liujia Mountain Elementary School."

  "Oh, you're in first grade now. Can you recognize a few characters? Do you know how to count?"

  I smiled slightly and replied calmly: "I've learned new characters and arithmetic."

  "Oh, Uncle wants to test you, huh?"

  Wow!

  What kind of reader is this? Thinking about the 21st century, when a friend's kid comes to visit for the first time, shouldn't you hurry to give them red envelopes? Who is like Mr. Zhou, no candy and no red envelopes, only knowing how to take exams? Depressing!

  "What is one plus three?"

  My goodness! I'm going to pass out, this is really treating village officials as non-officials and treating bean buns as non-ration food. Even if it's a first-grade student taking an exam, please don't treat me like that kind of numb wooden lump.

  Although I was grumbling in my belly, my face remained respectful and I answered honestly: "It's equal to four."

  Then Mr. Zhou asked a few more questions, and I answered them fluently.

  However, Dad seemed somewhat dissatisfied and reminded with a smile: "Mr. Zhou, Xiaojun can do addition and subtraction of integers within 10,000. He can also recite Tang poetry."

  "Oh?"

  Mr. Zhou's interest was piqued and he asked with a smile: "Little Jun, can you recite any Tang poems? Recite one for your uncle to hear."

  What's going on here. My intention was to get Dad and Mr. Zhou closer, but as soon as he came up, he grabbed me and asked non-stop questions. It seems that he is also the kind of bookworm who is not good at interacting with people.

  The sunset and the solitary wild goose fly together, the autumn water shares the same color as the sky.

  I almost recited Wang Bo's "Preface to the Orchid Pavilion" for them. Thinking about it, I restrained myself. If I show off like this, then I'm not a prodigy but a freak! I have to be careful not to get caught and taken to the research institute to be dissected!

  "When the white sun sets behind the mountain, the Yellow River flows into the sea. To see a thousand miles further, ascend another level of the tower."

  Mr. Zhou was okay, but Dad was shocked: "Xiao Jun, when did you learn this poem?"

  Haha, I expected this question. Calmly and unhurriedly, I replied: "Dad, you taught me that. You recited this poem to me before."

  "Have I recited it wrongly...... If I recite it once more, will you remember?"

  Dad's face was uncertain and suspicious.

  I smiled and said, "You've recited it several times already. It's not that hard to remember."

  "Haha, he's got a great memory, Jin Cai is indeed a rare talent!"

  Mr. Zhou couldn't help but praise.

  Dad was stunned for a moment, and then he also laughed. After all, he wouldn't think of "time-travel" because of a Tang poem. Besides, the old man didn't even know what "time-travel" meant.

  "To be honest with Mr. Zhou, today is Xiao Jun's desire to come here and look at books..."

  Fainted!

  Dad, you're really a straightforward person. Who is so blunt? Oh, because my son wants to read books, so I came to visit. If my son didn't want to read books, then there's no need to bother with you, Zhou Ziyu. Isn't this intentionally making things difficult?

  It turns out that Mr. Zhou was also a treasure, and he didn't mind at all, smiling and saying: "Is that so? Then I'm afraid Xiao Jun will be disappointed. There is no serial painting here."

  "I hastily said: 'No flip-through pictures, other books are fine.'"

  This is the truth. If I have to spend several years staring at "character books", it's really hard to bear. It's better to find some books to read in Mr. Zhou's place.

  Mr. Zhou looked at me strangely and stood up.

  "Alright, Xiao Jun, come with me."