The north wind in winter is particularly biting, and even though all the hands and feet are curled up in the quilt, the whole family sleeps close together, and they still shiver. In the middle of the night, the maple girl kept humming, Su Hua opened her hazy eyes, reached out and touched the maple girl in the dark, and asked in a low voice, "What's the matter, the maple girl, do you want to get up at night?" "Don't stay up at night, big sister, I, I hurt, this hurts", "Where" Su Hua couldn't see the movements of the maple girl, the maple girl hummed and dragged the eldest sister's hand, let her touch her belly, at this time the other 4 people on the kang were woken up, Su Daddy heard the maple girl's hum, immediately sat up and lit the oil lamp, through the faint light, the maple girl was already sweating profusely, and the facial features on the little face were crowded together, thinking badly, wouldn't it be like her mother, hurry up and Su Hua hurriedly put on a cotton jacket for her, wrapped the quilt, and went to Dr. Ding's house. Su's mother was not at ease, and asked Su Qing to follow and see, although the second child was a little scared, but also got dressed, Su Hua comforted her mother anxiously, "It's okay, mother, it's possible to eat bad things, just go and prescribe some medicine, and come back soon", as she spoke, she took Daddy Su's hat on the cabinet and left, but forgot her headscarf.

Dr. Ding is an enthusiastic barefoot doctor, he never dislikes patients who knock on the door in the middle of the night, in his own theory, "who will go out in the middle of the night if it is not a disease that wants to die", took the pulse for a while, and listened to the abdominal sound with a stethoscope, before Dr. Ding spoke, Father Su asked eagerly, "Doctor Ding, what's wrong with my Feng girl, won't it also be her mother's illness!", Dr. Ding didn't answer but wiped her sweat with a towel to help Feng girl, and asked in a good voice, "Tell uncle, what did Feng girl eat today?" Hearing Dr. Ding's question, Daddy Su's heart was a little more relieved, and she also helped to ask her what she had eaten, and for a long time the Feng girl replied in a low voice, "House Sparrow, the second brother beat the house sparrow", Dr. Ding nodded, comforted, "It's okay, Uncle will give you an injection to sleep in a while, and it's okay to pull a bubble, obedient ......", Father Su looked at Dr. Ding suspiciously, and Dr. Ding smiled and patted him on the shoulder, " It's okay, I heard no murmur in the abdomen of the maple girl just now, and the pulse is a little weak, but the child is normal when she is small, most of the time she just ate the wrong thing, and she didn't vomit, it's not very serious, I'll give her an injection first, and she may feel a little diarrhea after the end, just look at her and toss it 2 times, but try not to eat that kind of unclean thing, if you can't say which one is poisonous!", Daddy Su nodded again and again.

Father Su looked at Su Hua, who was dressing the Feng girl, as if he had plucked up courage, and looked at Dr. Ding with a pleading expression, "Dr. Ding, can you come home again tomorrow, her mother's pain is getting worse and worse, and she will die of pain even if she doesn't die of illness like this!" Brother Su, I told you about my sister-in-law's illness, I really can't see this medical skill, if it's in a big city, in the capital, maybe a doctor who asks a university may not be anything, the intestines are smooth, no matter how bad it is, a person can live if a necrotic intestine is cut off, but look at me, I have a needle, a little bit of Chinese medicine prepared by myself, a little medicine from above, nothing, it's really not good......" On the way back, Daddy Su was a little at a loss, by the moon, the snow under his feet was reflected in the light, the road was not difficult to walk, but the two feet just couldn't walk fast, he repeatedly pondered "'capital', 'cut intestines', such a long road I don't know what to sit on, he has never heard of this village and people have walked so far away, it should cost a lot of money, cut the intestines, people don't die, can they still live?", Dr. Ding said that every request is not fantastical for him!

Tossed for half a night, the maple girl was lying wilted in Su's mother's bed, and did not go out to play, she couldn't sleep and kept pulling her mother's hair with her little hand, Su's mother was a little itchy, pretending to be angry and said, "If you don't sleep honestly, the worm in the belly will get up and trouble you again at night", the maple girl immediately retracted her little hand in horror, closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, Su's mother looked at the daughter in her arms, her heart was inexplicably a little sour, and she hugged her tighter, and the maple girl couldn't hear her mother talk about her for a long time, knowing that her mother was deliberately teasing her, and poked out her little brain" Mother, your hair is so fragrant, it's fragrant", Su Mu happily replied, "What is fragrant, it is the smell of alum water" and "it is fragrant"...... Many years later, in the memory of Feng Yatou, she could still vaguely smell an astringent, slightly pungent smell, which was her only memory of Su's mother......

In the spring, the old saying "frozen people do not freeze the water", the road in the village was covered by snow for a winter and slowly began to become muddy, not to mention walking all the way, the shoes became mud boots, if you don't pay attention to a "dog gnawing the ground", how bright, how beautiful the clothes are in vain, the maple girl is, this spring fell less to say that there must be 4 times, it was a little difficult to walk normally, I was not willing to follow the group of children in the village to run back and forth, and the "new cotton pants" that I just put on in the morning I didn't know what happened to the cotton wool when I hit the ground, and limped towards home like a defeated battle, not caring about the mud on my body, and the pain in my knees, she was regretting "my new cotton pants", seeing the "little mud monkey" that entered the house with a wilting sound, Su Fang was angry and funny, the eldest sister just changed her cotton pants to small and put them on the Feng girl yesterday, not to mention that they would be dirty for a while, and they also broke a hole, and said while cleaning up for her" There are a total of 2 pairs of cotton pants, that one hasn't dried yet, this one is like this again, you just play on the kang naked, don't go anywhere, let the eldest sister clean you up at night!", although the Feng girl knew that she was at a loss, she still defended pitifully: "Ma Xiaoliu pushed me", Su Fang glanced at her, "Are you snatching the cakes in other people's hands again, or what are you doing if they push you", Feng girl lowered her head, not arguing, but thinking in her heart, "Her cakes are so delicious, sweet ......"

The sky is getting longer, after Su Hua finishes dinner, she can also take advantage of the light to do some work in the yard, although it is a little cold hands, but at least you can save a little lamp oil, Su Dad was called by Aunt Wang's family to help, naturally dinner is also at his house, so she made one less cake today, but when eating, Su Mu just drank some wild vegetable soup, and did not eat cakes, so she lay down, she was a little uneasy, and instructed Su Fang to look at the point on the kang, and quickly call her if there was something, she heard all the words of Dr. Ding that night, she didn't understand what Dr. Ding meant, just sure that he couldn't cure his mother's illness…… "Big flower, big flower" A shout flew along the wall, and the frightened hand couldn't help but be pricked by the tip of the needle, just wanted to look up and teach the kid who called her, looked up and saw Wang Zhongliang with white teeth over there, holding two big bowls and smirking at herself, her anger was a little less, "What's the matter, what are you shouting?", "My mother made the meat oil yellow rice for the helper tonight, mixed with sugar, let me serve a bowl of ...... for your house", Su Hua was a little embarrassed "It's really fake, it's not your own, you didn't eat it for me," It's really not, it's my mother who asked me to give it to you, hurry up and pour it out, give me the bowl, I'm still waiting to use it", Su Hua walked forward quickly and turned out the bowl, a greasy aroma immediately filled the whole brain, she went to the bowl rack and took out a big bowl, poured it out, and didn't forget to wash the other bowl and then return it to Wang Zhongliang, Wang Zhongliang looked at the clean big bowl, his heart was indescribably happy, turned around and ran into the house......

Su Hua took out a flat bowl of yellow rice in the two big bowls in a small bowl, and thought in her heart that the rest would be left for her father and Feng Yatou, so that they could eat it tomorrow night...... , This bowl is for the mother, after eating such a fragrant rice, you must be able to get stronger, Su Hua entered the house with the bowl and waved her hand at Su Fang, and she carefully climbed up the kang with the bowl and pushed Su Mu, "Mother, there is yellow rice, you eat some", there was no response, Su Hua pushed "Mother?", still no response, Su Hua was a little flustered, quickly handed the bowl to Su Fang, and moved Su Mu over with both hands and shook "Mother" At this moment, there was a large sweat stain on Su's mother's pillow, and even the cotton jacket on her body was already wet, but there was no response at all, Su Huaxin sighed, probed her nostrils with her fingers, and there was a slight feeling of panting for a long time, but it didn't seem to be, she couldn't take care of wearing shoes, ran to the yard and shouted hoarsely to the east courtyard, "Dad, Dad, come back soon, my mother doesn't seem to be able to do it", Hulala came from the house with 10 people, Su's father didn't care about walking through the door in three steps and two steps, and went directly over the wall, Uncle Wang pointed at Wang Zhongliang, " Zhongliang, run, go and ask Dr. Ding, hurry up and the child, you go and see with me!", and pointed to his 7 children, "You boys stay at home, don't run around."

In the Su family here, the three sisters and brothers were already crying in fright, only Father Su and Su Hua were wiping their tears while pinching Mother Su's middle point, wiping their sweat, Mother Su's eyes rolled, half-opened, as if she was saying something, but she couldn't hear anything, Aunt Wang brought a bowl of sugar water and asked Father Su to give Mother Su some to drink, but the water flowed out along the corners of her mouth, Aunt Wang also touched the tears in the corners of her eyes, and muttered in her mouth, "Brother and daughter-in-law, are you still worried about anything, you talk to your sister-in-law" , Su's mother struggled hard and still couldn't use her strength, Aunt Wang seemed to understand, and quickly dragged the three children and asked them to go to the kang to see Su's mother, "Are you worried about them", Su's mother seemed to have a little spirit all of a sudden, raised her hand, and just touched the trembling maple girl who was kneeling next to her and crying, and her tears also flowed down the corners of her eyes, she muttered in her throat, "They have become motherless children, what to do, they have become motherless children, what to do" , said that he no longer had the strength to raise his hand by half an inch, "Uncle Wang, what about the doctor, why haven't you come yet" Su Hua couldn't care about his attitude and shouted, Uncle Wang hurriedly went to the outside of the hospital to take a look, and just came out of the house and bumped into Dr. Ding and Wang Zhongliang who were panting.

Dr. Ding asked everyone to put Su's mother flat, listened with a stethoscope, rolled her eyelids again, and said to Su's father in frustration, what else do you have to say, let the children say it quickly, she can hear it...... As if hearing the verdict, Daddy Su immediately sat down on the kang like a deflated ball, and couldn't say a word. Uncle Wang dragged the distracted Daddy Su to the side of the kang, what about the clothes, while there is still breath, put it on, Daddy Su listened, obediently went down to the ground, rummaged through the wooden box on the ground and took out a faded red cotton jacket, and a pair of brand new cotton shoes...... "This dress was worn when she got married, and she said that she would wait for Dahua to marry and let her wear it, why did it fade?" Dahua sobbed in a low voice, took the clothes in Father Su's hand, and wiped her mother's face and hands carefully according to Aunt Wang's words...... Just like that, she and her father put on the clothes for Su's mother, she couldn't tell if her mother was gone, it seemed that she was still breathing, but she didn't move...... A few more neighbors came one after another, and the mother was carried to the mat outside the courtyard, and the maple girl didn't dare to approach, she didn't know what a "dead person" was, but she just felt that the mother who was lying on the ground now was different from the mother who was sleeping on the kang just now, and now this mother was a little scary......

Sleepless all night, Su Hua and Su Qing knelt in the courtyard to help Su's mother keep a watch, Su Fang and Feng Yatou had been taken back to sleep by Aunt Wang, and the relatives in the next village had also heard the news and rushed over, talking about it, one said, "Pull it to the West Meadow and burn it directly", and said in a low voice, "It's better to bury it back to the original ancestral grave with a mat" and some people said, "I think it's better to pull it to the West Meadow and bury it directly, bury it deeply, and save it from being dug up again" , This plan was approved by the people present, after all, at this moment, the living still have to live well, and they can't make trouble for the sake of death, only Daddy Su didn't say a word, he didn't disagree, nor did he agree, he just felt that "people have followed me all my life, and in the end, it's just a mat, I'm sorry for people."

The "funeral" was held the next day, a team of more than 10 people, no paper money, no suona, no coffin, even the cries of several children were scattered by the empty fields to the point that they could not be heard clearly, all the relatives had gone home in half a day, Su Dad returned home with 4 children, the pillow and quilt on the kang were still there, and it was the kind one lying on it. The hard-working woman is no longer there, according to custom, these things used by dead people should be thrown away, and some people say that no one has pulled them, what are they doing with these sad things, but for the dilapidated Su family, these things are precious, how can they be thrown away casually......