July 15 is Halloween, known locally as Yulan Festival. Ran'er bought sacrifices according to the way she looked during the Qingming Festival, and went to her mother's grave to pay respects. Habitually talking to the grave and the mother.。

"Mother, this year's drought has occurred, and our family's two acres of paddy fields have only harvested less than three stones of rice. However, in April, I remembered what my mother had said, and I bought six stones of rice in advance, which was enough to eat with Sister Qinglian for a year. Mother rest assured, we can't be hungry. ”

Qinglian also learned to say to the grave:

"Mother, my sister is good to Qinglian, Qinglian is not only taller now, but also fat. And Qinglian also followed her sister to finish reading the "Three Character Classic" and "Hundred Family Names", and her sister said that she would teach Qinglian to learn "Thousand Character Text" after a while. Qinglian must listen to her sister's words carefully, study hard, grow up as much as possible, and help her sister work. ”

The sisters chattered a lot, and almost talked about the big and small things that have happened since the Qingming Festival.

When I burned the paper money at the end, I found that the paper money ash this time was still the same as last time, and when I looked at it carefully, it seemed to be hovering in the air for a longer time than the last time. I couldn't help but think in my heart, could it be that my mother could really hear the words of the sisters?

When she returned home, Ran'er said to Qinglian:

"Lian'er, it's already autumn. It won't be long before the weather gets cooler, and my sister's cotton clothes are a little too small. My sister wants to change it for my sister, but my sister hasn't done it once, so it will definitely not look good, so don't dislike my sister when she arrives. ”

"No, whatever my sister looks like, Qinglian likes it. Does my sister have cotton clothes? ”

"Yes, my mother made it for my sister."

As he spoke, he also took out a brand-new cotton coat from a wooden box and showed it to Qinglian.

"When my mother was sick, I insisted on doing it. It is estimated that my mother already felt bad at that time, and deliberately made my sister a little bigger, so that my sister could wear it for a few more years. ”

"Mother is so nice."

Ran'er didn't have to work hard to change the cotton clothes for Qinglian. Just take apart the cuffs, unwrap the hem of the padded jacket, attach a piece of cloth from your old clothes, and then add some cotton and sew it up. Qinglian tried it and it fitted.

On the day of the frost on August 25, the weather suddenly turned cold. When the sisters woke up in the morning, they saw that the fallen leaves on the ground and the dead grass on the roof were covered with a thin layer of hoarfrost. Ran Er couldn't help but think of when the mother was there, whenever the frost fell, because the mother's body was weak, she began to light a fire in the house, and the kang was hot, so that the mother could sleep soundly at night. Knowing that Qinglian was from the north and might not be able to endure the dampness and cold of winter here, he said to Qinglian:

"Lian'er, although the winter here is not as cold as in the north, it is so wet and cold, I'm afraid my sister won't be able to stand it. When my mother was there, every year since the frost fell, I had to burn the kang. Let's also go to the back mountain to pick up bamboo leaves, and when it's cold, it's good to burn the kang. ”

"Okay."

From then on, the sisters went to the bamboo grove on the hill behind the house every morning and afternoon to pick up dead branches and leaves, and after taking them home, they piled them under the window in the east room. By the beginning of winter, a high pile had been piled up.

There are a lot of wild chrysanthemums around the bamboo forest in the small mountain, and after the frost falls, the leaves wither and yellow, and fall with the wind. Only those chrysanthemums are very luxuriant. Every time Ran'er and Qinglian went to pick up fallen leaves, they would linger next to the chrysanthemums for a while. Ran Er said to Qinglian:

"When my mother was here, I liked a poem the most, and at this time of year, my mother would come here to see the chrysanthemums, and she always recited four lines of poetry in her mouth. Does Qinglian want to hear it? ”

"I want to hear it."

"The wild chrysanthemums and mosses each cast money, and the golden, brass, and green two contended.

Tiangong pays and poor poets, only buys sorrow and does not buy land. ”

This year's October 1st and Lidong are the same day, so Ran'er and Qinglian also put October 1 and the second anniversary of his mother together. Ran Er bought a little more sacrifices this time, not only pastries, but also bought a pound of pork, cooked it, and fried a bowl of cabbage planted by the two of them in the open space next to the grass pavilion. Pork, cabbage and pastries were placed on the stone table in front of the mother's grave, and two bowls of water were poured as usual.

"Mother, I miss you."

Ran Er only said one sentence, and the tears couldn't stop flowing. Last year, I went to the grave of my mother to sacrifice the sun, and then I was crying in the dark. Qinglian was also wiping her eyes on the side.

"Mother, it's cold, Ran'er and Sister Lian'er picked up a lot of fallen leaves, all of which were piled up under the east window where my mother put firewood in previous years. Mother must be cold down there, right? Ran'er knows that her mother is most afraid of the cold, and if she needs firewood, she will go to the house to get it. Enough for us to burn for a winter. ”

"Yes, mother. Lian'er and her sister go to the back of the house every day to pick up fallen leaves, and my sister said that my mother is most afraid of the cold. ”

"Mother, Lian'er is more than four years old. Ran'er is also nine years and five months old. Lian'er is becoming more and more sensible. Don't worry about us, Ran'er and Lian'er will live well and stay by the mother's grave. ”

The two of them chattered in front of the grave and told their mother about the things in the past few months. Ran Er gradually stopped her tears. When burning paper money, Ran'er and Lian'er were used to the paper ashes that always flew into the air and hovered for a while.

"Sister, look, every time the paper ash hovers in the air for a while, Lian'er guesses, my mother must have heard us."

"Well, that's what my sister thinks too."

It had not rained for almost seven months now, and the creek in front of the door had long since stopped. Ran'er and Qinglian are worried that there will be disasters next year, and they have been saving money for several months. The eggs laid by the four old hens were all praised and sent to the Zhou Ji wine shop. The two of them just fried greens in lard and ate them. Today, in order to commemorate the mother's sacrifice day, I made an exception to buy a pound of pork. After going home, Ran'er cut a small piece and gave it to Qinglian, but Qinglian didn't eat it in her hand, just looked at Ran'er. Ran Er smiled, tapped Qinglian's forehead with her finger, cut off a thin slice, raised her hand at Qinglian, and put it in her mouth to eat. Seeing this, Qinglian smiled and ate the slices of meat in her hand.

Every time she cooked, Ran'er cut six slices of meat and put them in the pot, a pound of pork, and the sisters ate it for almost ten days. Every time, the two of them are reluctant to eat, and always save the meat slices until the end, then put them in their mouths and chew them slowly, lest they accidentally swallow it and not taste the aroma of the meat.

"Lian'er, I'm going to hatch the chicks in the spring next year. The four old hens are almost five years old and laying fewer and fewer eggs. When it's time for the New Year, let's ask someone to kill one. ”

"Sister, Lian'er is reluctant."

"My sister is also reluctant, but if you don't kill and eat, the chickens will always eat food and not lay eggs."

"Why don't we sell it at the market and eat it with pork?"

"It's still Lian'er smart, why didn't my sister think of it?"

Qinglian was embarrassed by Ran'er's praise, and said to Ran'er a little coquettishly:

"Where is Lian'er smart, it's obvious that my sister deliberately wants to praise Lian'er."