Riverside People

A river, two people, twenty-seven years. In the winter of 1965, Liushugou, a small town in Northeast China. A child named Chen Xiangdong was born. He didn't know that there was a child named Aqiang in this world, a little older than him, squatting in the snow, waiting for someone to give him a hat. The two met in an elementary school classroom. One talks more, the other talks less; one has a mother, one has no mother; one goes east, one goes west. But somehow it came together. From that day on, they went to school together, went home together, and sat by the river together to watch the ice sheets flowing downstream. The day Aqiang's mother left, Hegang melted. The day Chen Xiangdong's father beat his mother, Aqiang saw an adult cry for the first time. Later, Aqiang's father died, and Aqiang moved into Chen Xiangdong's house. Later, Chen Xiangdong was admitted to the County No. 1 Middle School and went to the county seat. Aqiang stood under the old elm tree and said: I won't send you off. But he gives it away every year. Every year I stand under that tree, waiting for that daily bus, waiting for that person to come back. Chen Xiangdong went to the county town and then to the provincial capital. Write a letter to Aqiang every month. The letter is very short, just a few lines. Aqiang's reply was also short, only a few lines. But they kept writing like that for four years. In four years, Aqiang learned how to repair things, took on an apprentice, and built up Master Liu's shop. Chen Xiangdong finished high school and college, signed an orientation agreement, and decided to return to his hometown to teach. When he came back for the last time, Aqiang stood under the old elm tree and asked: Aren't you leaving? Chen Xiangdong said: I'm not leaving. The river is still flowing. The old elm tree is still sprouting new shoots. Those waiting for you are still there.