In March, the spring rain is falling. On the shore of Xiling Lake, the plum blossoms are gone, the willows are green, and the warblers are dancing, so it is not prosperous.

Ran'er squatted under a willow tree on the shore of Xiling Lake, wearing a coarse blue cloth jacket that her mother had sewn for herself before she died, with a bamboo basket in front of her, in which were eggs she had saved for nearly a month. Ran Er came out of the house early in the morning and walked more than 20 miles of muddy mountain roads, enduring hunger, hoping to sell her eggs earlier. The oil and salt at home have been used up for two days, because it is always raining, and I waited until this morning when it was a little lighter, and then I went out. Perhaps because of the rainy day, there were few pedestrians, and Ran'er squatted here for almost half an hour, and no one cared.

Because the road was very difficult to walk, I sweated a lot. His clothes were wet with rain again, and he was hungry, and although it was March and spring, he still felt a little cold. I couldn't help but clasp my knees with both hands, and my chin rested between my knees, shrinking my thin body into a ball. With his face slightly raised, he used a pair of black and white eyes to observe the pedestrians on the road. I secretly prayed in my heart, hoping that someone would buy the eggs soon.

Through the mist on the lake, I saw the faint pavilions on the other bank. I knew that there were a lot of people there, but Ran Er didn't dare to go there. My mother said that don't go to the places where the rich live, where they are controlled by bad people, and you have to pay money to sell things there.

"Mother."

As soon as she thought of her mother, Ran Er muttered a low voice, and her eyes turned red. Mother is the person who loves herself in the world. It's just that the year before last, my mother had a serious illness, and because I had no money to ask for a doctor, my mother left her forever on the day of the beginning of winter.

"Sister, why are you crying?"

When Ran'er was sad for her mother, a crisp voice came from her ears.

Ran Er looked up, and a little girl of three or four years old stood in front of her at some point. I don't know if it's because of the rain, a white little face looks very pale. The rain-soaked hair sticks to the forehead and drips constantly. Wearing a dirty cotton jacket with broken flowers on a red background, it was also tattered. Ran Er quickly wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and asked with a smile:

"Little sister, why did you come out alone, what about the adults in the family?"

"They're all dead, mother, father, and brother."

"Isn't there anyone else?"

"Well, Daddy said he brought us to Uncle, but we didn't find it. One night, my mother was sleeping under the eaves with my brother in my arms and my father was sleeping under the eaves when I was run over by a carriage pulling wood. ”

"How so?"

"People say the horse is scared."

"What's my little sister's name?"

"My name is Qinglian."

When Qinglian told the story of her father and brother being run over by a carriage, she seemed to be talking about something that had nothing to do with her. Ran Er couldn't help asking:

"How old is Sister Qinglian?"

"Three years old."

"Does Qinglian miss her mother?"

"I don't want to."

Qinglian's answer was something Ran'er didn't expect. So, subconsciously asked:

"Why don't you want to be a mother?"

"Qinglian's mother died a long time ago, and Qinglian has never seen it. This is my brother's mother. ”

"Are eggs sold? How much? ”

Just as she was talking to Qinglian, a middle-aged man came to Ran'er's bamboo basket, picked up an egg casually, put it in his hand and asked.

"Two pennies a piece."

"It's a little more expensive, isn't it all three cents or two?"

"It's always been two pennies a piece."

The middle-aged man hesitated for a moment and looked around, as if to see if there were any eggs for sale. At this time, it was already around noon, and there were even fewer pedestrians on the road, and even fewer people were selling things.

"Okay, I'll do it all."

There were a total of fifty eggs in Ran'er's basket, and the man counted out a hundred copper coins and handed them to Ran'er, picked up the basket and turned around to leave.

"Uncle, the basket is not for sale."

"I bought so many eggs from you, and I didn't bring anything with me, and I didn't take the basket away, how can the little girl let me get the eggs?"

"Uncle, the basket is not for sale."

Ran Er said again very firmly. The basket was left by the mother, and Ran'er said that she would not sell it. Seeing that Ran'er insisted and didn't want to worry about the child, the middle-aged man lifted the hem of his coat, asked Ran'er to help put the eggs in, and left with his hands in front of him.

Ran Er carefully put a hundred yuan in the basket, walked to the lake, pulled two handfuls of grass and covered it, turned to Qinglian and asked:

"Sister Qinglian, is she hungry?"

"I'm hungry, and I didn't have anything to eat yesterday."

Ran Er took Qinglian's little hand and said:

"Let's go to dinner with my sister."

However, when I was a child, I often came here to sell eggs, and although I knew where to sell food, I never bought them. Seeing that Xiao Qinglian was even more pitiful than herself, she pulled away the grass that she had just pulled to cover the bottom of the basket, looked at the hundred yuan, and didn't care about the use that had been planned in her heart, so she pulled Qinglian to a shop that sold steamed buns. For one penny for one vegetarian bun and three pennies for two meat buns, I spent 12 pennies to buy six vegetarian buns and four meat stuffed buns. handed the meat filling to Qinglian, and gave an additional vegetarian filling. The two stood under the eaves next to the shop, eating steamed buns while sheltering from the rain. Ran Er wanted to ask Qinglian what her plans were, but when she thought about a three-year-old child, she definitely couldn't think so much. I have the heart to take her home, but it is already very difficult to support myself, and with a Qinglian, I am afraid that there will be no more days to eat enough. However, if you don't care about her, Ran'er really can't bear it.

"Is Sister Qinglian willing to go with her sister?"

"Are you going to my sister's house?"

"Yes, but my sister's family is very poor."

"Qinglian is willing, Qinglian is not afraid of poverty, Qinglian can starve."

As he spoke, he handed the two uneaten buns in his hand to Ran'er to eat. Looking at Qinglian's pale little face, the calmness when handing the bun to herself, Ran'er's tears quietly fell. Turning his head to look at the street, he took Qinglian's hand, and said as he walked towards the street:

"Sister Qinglian, eat it, my sister still has it. The road is very far, and Qinglian can't go home if she is hungry. ”

The two of them ate steamed buns silently and walked down the street until they walked to the intersection of going home, Qinglian asked Ran'er:

"Is my sister full? This is for my sister to eat, Qinglian can't eat it. ”

Ran'er was sad because of Qinglian's words just now, and she thought about how to feed the two of them in the future. He just lowered his head and pulled Qinglian to walk, and didn't pay attention to whether Qinglian had finished eating the buns. At this time, when he heard Qinglian say this, he turned his head to take a look, and saw that Qinglian was still holding a bun in her little hand, and the tears that had just stopped flowed down again.

"Does Qinglian listen to her sister?"

"Listen, Qinglian will be very well-behaved."

"Then Qinglian will finish the bun in her hand immediately, and we will talk again."

"Hmm."

Qinglian didn't say anything more, lowered her head, and after eating the bun after a while, she raised her hand to Ran'er, indicating that she had finished eating.

"Qinglian is really obedient. From here to my sister's house, it is a long way to go, if Sister Qinglian is tired, I will tell Sister Sù, and my sister will carry Qinglian away. ”

"Qinglian is not tired, she doesn't need her sister's back, Qinglian can walk."

As he spoke, he deliberately quickened his pace.

The rain was still drifting unhurriedly, and the two of them, who had eaten their stomachs, warmed up after walking for a while, and they no longer felt clammy and cold. Gradually, the two thin figures disappeared in the drizzle of the south of the Yangtze River in March.