Probably due to the influence of yesterday's cold wind, today at night, the temperature plummeted, much colder than when the sun rose during the day, and the mountain wind also blew hard.

Liu Yuanhe drank the pigtail soup heated by his son, but he was a little absent-minded.

He stood up several times, walked to the gate, looked at the night outside the courtyard, and became worried.

My mother said, "Why are you doing? ”

Liu Yuanhe came back and sat down, and said with a sad face: "It's cold, the wind is strong, if it's colder, it won't be long before the animals in the mountains will be difficult to find food." ”

"Dad, you're so funny. Liu Qingshan heard that his father was worried that the animals in the mountains were not eating, and couldn't help laughing, "You don't worry about whether your wife and your son have anything to eat, you actually worry about the animals in the mountains." ”

"You know what. Liu Yuanhe glared at him, "If it's cold and the animals can't find something to eat, those birds and those vegetarian and omnivorous animals will have to plague our orange grove." ”

"Hey, I'm going to think it's a big deal. Liu Qingshan disagreed, "Scourge is scourge, how much can they eat?" Besides, there are so many people in the village who plant orange trees, and others have planted more than our family, I don't know how many, even if those animals in the mountains really want to harm you, they will not come to harm your orange forest." I guess they just ate all the oranges in your orange grove, and they didn't have enough to stuff your teeth, so don't worry, people don't look down on your oranges. ”

"Look at what you mean, don't you look down on your old man's orange trees?" Liu Yuanhe was a little angry when he heard his son's words.

Yes, he doesn't have the ability to plant large orange groves like the rest of the village, but doesn't he want to?

He thought, he dreamed of owning a big orange grove. But the reality is that when he was young, he had to support his family, and there was no way to focus on the orange trees that would take him three years to bear fruit.

But when his son went to work later, and he could breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly found out that he was actually old!

"I didn't mean that. Liu Qingshan was afraid that his father would think too much, so he explained, "I just want to tell you that our family has me to make money now, even if those oranges are eaten by animals, it doesn't matter, the oranges are not worth a few dollars, if you are distressed, then tomorrow I will dig bamboo shoots and sell all the money for you." It's tomorrow, not later. ”

It's still like a human saying.

Liu Yuanhe calmed down and said, "It's not a matter of money or not. The problem is that the orange grove has become a joke in the village after a year's worth of hard work, and it will be completely spoiled by the animals in the mountains. ”

My mother nodded in agreement with Liu Yuanhe's statement: "Yes, this orange is no longer valuable, and the seeds have been planted, so you can't just give up." Qingshan, why don't you dig bamboo shoots tomorrow, you can help your dad pick the oranges first. ”

"Mom, are you mistaken, I can sell bamboo shoots for more than 2,000 yuan a day. Of course Liu Qingshan refused.

It's not that he doesn't know how to count.

"Mom, look, the current price of oranges is only three yuan a catty, even if I pick 100 catties a day to sell, all of them are sold, and it will only cost 300 yuan. Moreover, the town is full of fruits, and it may not be able to sell a hundred catties of oranges a day. But if I dig bamboo shoots for a day and sell them for another day, more than 2,000 yuan will be in hand, even if it is calculated according to labor, then I will have 1,000 yuan a day's labor. ”

The son's words made the mother powerless to refute.

Although she doesn't know how to count, her son can figure it out, and she can understand it.

That 300 yuan a day was really not comparable to a job of 1,000 yuan a day.

But Liu Yuanhe didn't care about this, he said with a calm face: "What if there is more money and less money? The bamboo shoot is buried in the ground, if you don't dig it, can it still run away? But if the oranges in our orange grove are not picked, when the weather is cold, it will be ruined." ”

Seeing that his father still refused to give up, Liu Qingshan had no choice but to say: "Anyway, I'm not going, I'm going to go by yourself, I'm going to dig bamboo shoots." ”

Hearing this, Liu Yuanhe could only sigh secretly.

The son was older, his wings were stiff, and the old man didn't listen to him. Liu Yuanhe seemed to be unable to do anything but sigh.

He knew that if he forced his son to pick oranges that were worthless to him, the father and son would definitely quarrel.

If the two of them quarrel, his wife will definitely stand on his son's side.

In the end, he still had to bow to his wife. In this way, this fight will be in vain.

But when he was lying in bed at night, listening to the mountain breeze blowing outside the window, why couldn't Liu Yuanhe sleep?

Could it be that the fruits of his hard work for a year can only be wasted like this?

Yes, his oranges are not as valuable as the bamboo shoots of the rabbit cub, but in his heart, his old orange trees are no worse than this son.

I think that when my son was in middle school, he didn't have enough food and clothing in school, and he was so hungry that his face was yellow and thin, and he relied on those few orange trees to ensure nutrition.

I remember when my son was in the first year of junior high school, the school teacher asked the children to take the household registration book to school. The family was far away, and the son couldn't come back, so he asked the people in the village to bring a message and let him send him to school.

The day after I got the news, it was drizzling early in the morning. Originally, he planned to send his son a household registration book directly, but then he thought that the rabbit cub would definitely be reluctant to spend money to eat at school, so he went into the mountains early in the morning to pick a bag of oranges in the drizzle.

Then he rode the family's motorcycle and pulled the oranges to the town to sell.

The wind was as cold as a knife that day, and he sold it for a whole morning and an afternoon before he sold more than 30 catties of oranges.

At that time, oranges were not worth much, and they were only more than a pound a piece, and they were sold for more than 30 catties, only a little more than 50 yuan.

But at that time, fifty yuan was also a huge amount of money for this family.

He was standing outside the school gate, counting the odd bills, and he was very happy.

When he saw his skinny son, he took the household registration book to his son, and stuffed his son with a thick pile of change by the way: "Qingshan, you are still in good health, don't be reluctant to spend money, you take this money, and add an egg or some meat to yourself every dinner in the future, do you know?"

He can still clearly remember the appearance of his son when he got the wad of change, his big watery eyes were full of tears, and his hands were tightly holding the wad of money, unable to say a word.

He knows that his son has suffered a lot because he was born in this family, so he has always wanted his son to live a good life.

But the strength doesn't allow it.

Therefore, he can only rely on those few orange trees, pick oranges every winter and sell them for money, and then give the money to his son to add some vegetables.

For him, the orange is more than just an orange. It was a thought, a hope.

The orange trees that had helped him take care of his son were like his old buddies, like his brothers.

Now more than ten years have passed, the orange tree is old, and he is also old.

The son grew up, but he became less obedient.

Liu Yuanhe felt a little uncomfortable when he thought of this.