When the boat reached the shore, the man jumped out of the boat, tied the boat to the shore, and then carried the little girl off the boat! I jumped off the boat and asked the man, "Where is this?" ”。 While picking up the contents of the boat, the man replied to me, "This is Jiangpuzi!" ”。

The man unbuttoned his shirt with one hand, wiped the beads of sweat from his neck with his palm, and said, "Where do you live?" ”。

I said, "We live in Shanghai, I wonder how far away it is from Shanghai?" ”。

The man smiled slightly, squatted down, picked up a handful of water in the river and said, "It's not far, it's not far, it's not far away, from here to the east, walk a few dozen miles to the east!" ”。 He washed his face in the river, carried the big fish he had caught during the day, and strode up the steps! There are more than 20 steps in this staircase, which stretches all the way into the water! There are a few old ladies washing clothes near the water, and a group of children playing in the water are playing by the river!

It was getting dark soon, and I could only vaguely see the shadows around me, and from time to time there were bursts of laughter and children's shouts from the laundry girls, breaking the silence of the riverside!

"Biaozi, why are you only coming back now? Do you know how many times Apricot Blossom has been looking for you? If you don't come back, she'll stay in your house and won't leave! ”。 In the dark, I don't know which old lady asked the man loudly! The old lady's meaningful words caused everyone to laugh! Someone took advantage of the chaos and shouted: "That's right, go home and have a look!" ”。

Biaozi held the fish in one hand and touched the back of his head with the other, blushed with embarrassment, and said, "Yes...... Aunt Wu! Why are you doing laundry so late? ”。

Aunt Wu shouted as if she was fighting: "Xing, you come back so late, don't you Xing Aunt Wu wash clothes?" ”。

Biao Zi was even more embarrassed, and he said crampedly: "No...... How can it? Aunt Wu, you know I didn't mean that......! ”。

Aunt Wu giggled in the dark: "Biaozi, auntie doesn't care what you mean!" Hurry up and go home to take a look, the apricot blossoms have been waiting for you for an afternoon, don't cool people's hearts! ”。

Biaozi said "hey", turned around and ran up the steps, and when he was halfway through, he stopped again, turned back to me and Hei Ni and shouted, "Ahem, you don't have a place to go at night, just go to my house, Reiko will lead you over!" ”。

I waved at Biaozi and said, "Got it, go back quickly!" ”。

Reiko grinned and squeezed between me and Heini, took our hands, and dragged us up the stairs! Hei Ni and I were pulled by Reiko, and we both laughed! We followed Reiko up the steps and saw thatched houses built along the river! I patted Reiko on the shoulder and said, "Reiko, where is your house?" ”。

Reiko glanced back at me and pointed to her ear! That's when I remembered that Reiko's ears were already deaf, and he couldn't hear what I was saying at all! I felt a tingling in my heart, like a fishbone piercing my chest!

Reiko didn't know my sorrow, she seemed to be used to this silent world, and she jumped in front of me and Heini, waving a willow branch she had just broken off from a tree, and whipping the lush weeds by the roadside!

Hei Ni sighed deeply and whispered to me, "This kid ...... Why can't you hear it? ”。 We silently followed behind Reiko and walked forward with one foot deep and one foot shallow! The thatched huts on the side of the road are flickering with dim lights, and the chimneys of every house are emitting curling smoke! The air was filled with choking smoke and the enticing aroma of vegetables, and my stomach growled, and I patted my belly and remembered that we hadn't eaten all day! I swallowed hungrily, remembering that Hei Ni's father and the toothless old man were still missing, and I couldn't help but be secretly worried, so I poked Hei Ni and whispered, "Hei Ni, did you say that your father and they also went ashore?" ”。

Heini flashed her big eyes and said uncertainly, "Maybe...... Maybe they've swam to shore long ago! ”。 I nodded affirmatively and said, "Yes, they should have gone ashore a long time ago, and now they are already on their way to Shanghai!" ”。

Hei Ni sighed worriedly and said, "I hope so! ”。 Suddenly, Reiko pointed to a small farm yard and whined at us twice! I happily poked Hei Ni and said, "Look, we're here!" ”。

It was twilight, and the courtyard was so dark that I couldn't see anything clearly, except for a dim oil lamp on the stove in the hall! In the shadow of the lamp, two people are busy in front of the stove, and the big iron pot on the stove is "gurgling" and steaming, shrouding the whole hall in a hazy water vapor!

Reiko pushed open the courtyard door, and a big yellow dog wagged its tail and ran over! Reiko touched the head of the big yellow dog and pulled us into the house! The big yellow dog did not bark, but followed us very docilely, and carried us to the door of the house!

Biaozi heard the voice, and came out of the house, and said to me and Hei Ni with a smile, "Why are you here now?" Is Reiko messing around halfway again? ”。 Then he invited us into the house and told us that the meal was about to be made! When we went into the house, we saw a slender girl standing in front of the stove, and when she saw us, her face turned red to the base of her ears! With a smile, I deliberately asked Biaozi, "This is ......!" ”。

Biaozi was also a little embarrassed, he bit his lip and introduced, "She...... She's an apricot blossom! Xinghua, they are the two people I saved who fell into the river! ”。 Xinghua glanced at us hurriedly, greeted us like a mosquito and said, "You guys are here, hurry up and enter the house!" ”。

Hei Ni took Xinghua's hand and said, "Yo, this is Sister Xinghua!" You look so good in these clothes, did you embroider these flowers yourself? ”。

Xinghua rubbed her hands in embarrassment, took a step back, lowered her head and whispered, "What is this?" The girls in our village can embroider! ”。 Hei Ni shook Xinghua's hand and said, "Sister Xinghua, can you teach me?" To tell you the truth, I've never seen such a beautiful pattern when I'm so big! ”。

Xinghua gradually regained his self-confidence, he raised his head, and asked Hei Ni, "Sister, what's your name?" ”。

Hei Ni said to Xing Hua with a big grin: "My name is Hei Ni!" ”。

Xinghua pinched Hei Ni's hand and said, "Sister Hei Ni, if you are willing to learn, I will teach you!" ”。

Hei Ni jumped up happily and said anxiously: "Then when will you teach me?" ”。

Xinghua asked Hei Ni to go to the back room to rest for a while, and when everyone finished eating, she would teach Hei Ni again! Hei Ni saw that Xinghua was very busy, so she also rolled up her sleeves and helped Xinghua get busy! I dragged Biaozi to the back room and chatted with him with him!

After chatting with each other, I learned that Reiko's own mother died of tuberculosis when she was a few years old, and their father and daughter have been lonely and dependent on each other! Later, Xinghua saw that their father and daughter were very pitiful, so she kept helping them! With a smile on the corner of my mouth, I silently listened to Biao Zi talk about the sweets and sorrows of life, and I couldn't help but feel a little more sympathy and sigh for this man!

In a short time, Xinghua and Heini were ready to eat! After dinner, Xinghua taught Hei Ni embroidery hand in hand! Biaozi and I were busy until late at night while picking up fishing nets and chatting with each other, and then blew out the lamp and fell asleep!

Early the next morning, Hei Ni and I said goodbye to Biaozi and Reiko, and when we left, I gave Biaozi a pocket watch as a souvenir! When we walked out of Jiangpuzi with the morning light, Xinghua chased out of the village with something in her hand!

Xinghua chased after us, shoved a pair of cloth shoes into Hei Ni's hand, and said, "Hei Ni, these shoes are for you!" ”。 Hei Ni picked up the shoes and found that they were a pair of intricately embroidered red shoes!

Xinghua's face was crimson, and she panted and said to Hei Ni, "Sister doesn't have anything to give you...... I embroidered it for myself, and I wanted to wear it myself when I got married! But people are not as good as heaven, and now it seems that my sister can't wear these shoes! Hei Ni sister, you are better than my sister's life, and you will definitely be able to marry a good family in the future, these shoes are useless to me, so I might as well give them to you now, it can be regarded as a little bit of my heart for my sister! ”。

Hei Ni grabbed Xinghua's hand and said, "Sister Xinghua, don't you like Brother Biaozi?" You used it when you got married, huh? Look how beautiful these shoes are! ”。

Xinghua smiled: "Sister, if your sister asks you to take it, you can take it!" In the future, if I really marry Brother Biao, I will embroider another pair! ”。 Hei Ni reached out and took off a pair of gold earrings from her ears, stuffed them into Xinghua's hand and said, "These earrings are gold...... In the future, if you encounter difficulties, you can directly exchange it for money...... All I have on me are these earrings, you must take them! ”。

Xinghua was embarrassed: "I can't ask for such a valuable thing!" ”。

Hei Ni covered her hand and said, "This pair of earrings is a thought left by my sister to my sister, and if you see this pair of earrings in the future, you will know that you have a sister who has been thinking about you all the time!"

Xinghua burst into tears, and she grabbed Heini's arm and carried us all the way to the hillside outside Puzi! Hei Ni stood on the hillside and said goodbye to the apricot blossoms, the rising sun in the east radiated a dazzling light, and the vast Yangtze River could not be seen at a glance, thousands of sails competed, busy!

We left Jiangpuzi, said goodbye to Biaozi, Xinghua and Reiko, and walked on the road to Shanghai! We walked on the road for more than an hour, and finally caught a carriage to deliver goods to Shanghai, and Hei Ni and I sat in the back of the carriage, drooping our legs, all the way to Shanghai!