I made an appointment with Yongqing on a very dark night. After the Darkness covered Dingshan outside the small town, its shape like a bell and tripod could not be discerned at all. But that small hill once had our footprints when we were young, and we were both familiar with its location and structure.
The small hill has been transformed into a park and equipped with street lamps. Here became the place where we made the appointment.
In the very dark night, there were no tea houses, nor music to evoke emotions. We couldn't clearly see each other's faces, nor could we tell if there were wrinkles or white hair. Holding hands that were still familiar, then we unanimously chose to stroll towards the darker hilltop. In our memory, there was a wheat field that could be watched over.
We could feel that we had entered the depth of the wheat field, and the earth accumulated a thicker blackness. The blackness was strangely quiet, so quiet that we could hear the chirping of birds. We couldn't see the color of the birds in the dark night. The light in Yongqing's eyes, with the same clear background as before, couldn't be blocked by the darkest night.
Yongqing was a friend I spent every day with over twenty years ago. His bright eyes often accompanied me on walks in the dark night.
That year, I just transferred from the countryside to the city, and Yongqing was my colleague. Because there were very few young male teachers in the school, we became inseparable friends. He was only two years older than me but was a "veteran" in the school, especially in Chinese teaching, with consummate skills. Shortly after arriving at this school, the principal said he was going to observe my class. I had just started teaching at that time and had only taught children in the mountains before. I had no teaching methods at all. Facing the principal's observation, I was nervous and saw nothing but darkness. When he learned about it, he revised my teaching plan and listened to my trial teaching alone. He encouraged me, saying, "When you are in class, just treat the principal sitting in the back row as me, and there's nothing to be afraid of." Sure enough, I became bolder and more at ease during the class, and the class went well and received praise. The method Yongqing taught really enlightened me.
The cultural life in the city was richer than in the countryside. In my spare time, I was once addicted to watching videos, inviting people to drink, and sometimes playing mahjong. One day, just after getting paid, I invited Yongqing to a restaurant. After school, we rode our bicycles out of the school gate. He was in front and I was behind. But he led me to Xinhua Bookstore - a place I hadn't been to for a long time. He bought a copy of "White Deer Plain", and then asked me to buy a copy of "Ruined City". And we agreed that from then on, whenever we got paid, each of us would buy a book and then exchange to read. Reading two books a month became our task. Influenced by him, I also became a person who loves reading. In order to complete the reading task of these two books, I gave up drinking and mahjong. With books accompanying me at night, I didn't feel the darkness.
In 1997, I suffered the double blow of family problems and job transfer. Instantly, it was like stepping into the boundless darkness. I shut myself in a rental house, and the inexplicable melancholy was like a sharp knife, lacerating my body and mind. A knock on the door broke the silent night. Opening the door, Yongqing was standing at the door pushing his bicycle. As he entered, I smelled the aroma of marinated dishes and wine. The two brothers sipped the wine slowly, and the words of persuasion and guidance were uttered gently. A pot of wine warmed the heart, and a long conversation lit a beacon for my life in the dark night. Before leaving, he gave me "The Catcher in the Rye" which he just finished reading.
Later, I transferred from the school and left the original city. The time I spent with Yongqing was less, but our friendship was never lost. Whenever I was alone at night, I would involuntarily think of the time we were together, think of those young days and those bright nights.
Tonight, when we met again, we talked about the memories we shared and about our approaching old age. Unconsciously, we had reached the top of Dingshan in the night. A gust of cool breeze blew, mixed with the fragrance of ripe wheat. We unanimously walked towards that wheat field. We sat by the wheat field. Suddenly, neither of us spoke. The field in the dark night was also silent. We were quiet, listening to the voice of the wheat field, seeing the shadows of the trees swaying, the entire earth and the wheat field, crawling in the night. Suddenly, a small bird flew up from the tree and skimmed over the wheat field in the night.
I thought, weren't Yongqing and I, as well as that flying bird, all the watchers of the wheat field? We are extremely ordinary people, often experiencing pain, sadness and resentment. Although we have constantly questioned, evaded, compromised, adapted and forged ahead, in the end, we have never left the torrent of the times and continue our friendship and life in thinking.
守望麦田的朋友