“…… You're a terrible kick. Does it hurt? ”

"You sit here first, and I'll get you some medicine."

When she entered the hall, the woman closed the door of the hall again to block out the cool breeze outside.

led the old man Xu Deen to the dining table in the house and sat down, and then went to the next room.

The old man sat on a stool, unable to put his hoe in his hand, and looked up at the room.

In the hall, a dim lamp was lit on the ceiling, dispelling the darkness in the room and as if to dispel the chill of many nights.

There was a dining table in the hall, a few stools next to the table, and some miscellaneous items in the other place.

After looking at it for a while, the old man lowered his head a little more and was silent.

Not long after, the woman in the house came out again, and took the jar to soak the potion.

“…… Is this foot in the ground? Didn't you say that this place was demolished, why are you still farming here? ”

The woman squatted down in front of the old man, unscrewed the potion jar, and asked with a smile.

To his previous son and daughter-in-law, the old man did not say a word, and now to this woman,

I only felt that this woman was kind and familiar, and she always wanted to pour out all her words, and the hall where the lamp was shining inexplicably reassured him.

“…… I want to grow some vegetables and exchange some pocket money. Right on the river, in the middle of the horns. I pulled out the weeds, turned the ground, and planted some vegetables there. ”

"I go to see it every day, and I hope to exchange it for some pocket money......"

As the old man spoke, some grievances welled up in his heart, and his eyes turned red.

"Then why don't you go home?"

"My home has been demolished and demolished, and I used to live in the house of my son and daughter-in-law."

The old man was silent, and said everything to the woman.

Naturally, the woman crouched down in front of the old man and reached out to take off the shoe on which the old man had taken it.

“…… They don't want me to grow vegetables. But if I don't grow vegetables, I don't have a penny on me. ”

"You are right, the daughter-in-law's son's house is not your own family?"

"You're so old, so old, what do you need money for?"

The woman poured some potion out of her hand and rubbed the swollen part of the old man's ankle.

The old man shrank down at first, and wanted to come by himself, but the woman only smiled at him,

"I'll do it."

The old man paused, but he felt some grievances and sourness in his heart, and these emotions that had accumulated in his heart poured out again.

“…… My son and daughter-in-law's house are not my house. and then the son and daughter-in-law, it is also under the fence. I live in my own house and can do whatever I want. If I have a conflict with them one day and they let me go, where should I go? ”

The old man's eyes turned red again.

"Like today? Your son and daughter-in-law broke their feet because of you, and you ran away after talking about you? ”

The woman drugged the old man's foot and asked again with a smile.

The old man smiled at the woman's face, but he felt even more aggrieved.

"If there is a quarrel at my house, I will ask them to get away for me and go back, but this is someone else's house, and others let me go, and I can still stay in someone's house."

"You, you......"

The woman shook her head and smiled.

"So you're running back from your son's house? So what do you want all that money for? ”

“…… I just want to have some pocket money on me, when my grandson comes back...... I can buy him something to eat, and I can buy snacks for someone else when the kids in the neighbor's house are calling grandpa. I don't want people to think that my grandfather is really useless. ”

"Then tell your son to get you some money. Why do you still run to farm by yourself. ”

The woman still drugged the old man.

The grievances in the old man's heart poured out more, and tears were already in his red eyes.

“…… The money that others give, that is what others are willing to give...... If others are not willing to give it, can I still force it to ask for it? ”

"Then when your son asked you for money when he was a child, he was not embarrassed to ask for money, why are you embarrassed to ask him for money now that you are older?"

The woman poured some more potion, rubbed the swollen place on the old man's ankle, rubbed the old man's somewhat deformed foot back gradually, and raised her head to ask by the way.

The old man was silent when he heard this, but his eyes were red.

"And then he stumbled in the ground? Why are you so careless? ”

"And how do I know?"

The old man was even more aggrieved, this time the tears were really a little unbearable,

“…… I go out into the field every day, weeding, watering, and being careful. If there is a cut on the hand, and the insects crawl over, they cover it with their clothes, for fear that they will see it, and they will come here again to talk about it. ”

"I was careful today, but I still stumbled, but when I got up, I couldn't stand steadily, and I tripped and broke my foot."

“…… yes, you're getting older, too. ”

When the woman had finished giving the old man the medicine, she withdrew her hand and paused.

The old man was silent, and did not say any more, but thanked the woman.

“…… Thank you. ”

"No, no."

The woman just waved her hand, and stood up again, closing the lid of the potion jar.

"I got this potion with wine and some herbs. The children in my house were also very naughty when they were young, and after a while they knocked here and there, and when they were young, they climbed the trees in order to pick the fruits from the trees. ”

The woman said with a smile.

The old man was still silent.

The woman covered the potion jar and put it aside for the time being, and then said to the old man,

"You ran out in a rage, you must have eaten dinner yet. I happen to have dinner in the house here, so let's eat something too, right? ”

When the old man heard this, he held the hoe in his hand and wanted to stand up.

He had already troubled people once, and he didn't want to cause trouble again.

But it is rare to have someone who can speak, in front of this woman, he also seems to be able to say what he wants to say, and he doesn't want to leave the grievances accumulated in his heart.

So there was some hesitation.

“…… No need, no trouble for you? ”

"Trouble me? What's the trouble for me...... Sit, my foot just bent, and this back and forth, and then I stumbled again. ”

The woman smiled and asked the old man to sit down again.

The old man hesitated, but sat down anyway.

"Thank you......"

"You don't have to thank me. I went to wash my hands and brought my food. ”

So saying, the woman went into the kitchen of the back room.

The old man sat at the dining table, and the surroundings were quiet,

I can only vaguely hear the woman in the kitchen in the back room washing the dishes and chopsticks, and the movement of the food,

This kind of quietness makes the old man feel very relieved, just like being in his own old house, his own home.

"It's time to eat, and today I fried two dishes. Cooked some porridge. ”

The porridge was brought to the table in a small pot, and the dishes were also served separately on two plates.

Before the dish was served, the old man smelled the taste,

The fragrance that permeated the old man seemed to awaken the oldest memory in his mind,

“…… It's ...... hype."

"Stir-fry shredded potatoes and add some lard residue to them."

"Green pepper fried plate of bacon......"

Looking at these two dishes, the old man's eyes kept falling on these two dishes,

Looking at these two dishes, the old man's eyes were a little red again.

“…… Why is this bacon so fragrant, how is it made? ”

The old man bowed his head and handed over to the woman, a bowl of porridge that had been served,

As if he didn't want the woman to see that his eyes were red.

"How can I do it, that is, during the New Year, I wiped some salt and dried it and hung it on the beam."

"It's that there was little meat in the past, and after the New Year, when there was a barren moon in February and March, people felt extra fragrant when they ate bacon."

"Now, if you think this bacon smells good, it's because you're still hungry. Eat, I've cooked a lot of rice here today. ”

But the woman smiled and said.

"Hmmm......"

The old man responded, picked up the chopsticks, stretched out his hand to pick up the vegetables,

But the hands holding the chopsticks were a little trembling, and some of them rarely caught the chopsticks and shredded potatoes, and hurriedly stuffed them into their mouths.

And the porridge and then shaved it in the mouth.

"Is it delicious?"

"Delicious, delicious."

The old man responded, chewing on his food, but his eyes were getting redder and redder.

The woman smiled and stood at the table, and moved the two dishes on the table.

It was placed closer to the old man.

"You eat too, you eat too......"

The old man held the bowl and ate these two dishes, his hands trembling.

But he never looked up again, as if he was afraid that the woman would see his red eyes.

The woman also sat down at the table next to her.

“…… Are you feeling better on your feet now? ”

The woman asked again about the old man's broken foot.

"Alright...... Much better......"

The old man held the bowl and kept his head in it.

"Okay...... I'll give you some medicine when I'm done eating. ”

"Hmm...... Hmmm......"

Eating the food in his mouth, the old man responded indiscriminately.

"You...... is so old, don't be like a child, and then go to your son and daughter-in-law to be angry. ”

"What nasty words did you say when you were talking about you today?"

The woman spoke to the old man again.

“…… They let us go and go to live alone. ”

"That's really not what you should say. They told you to move in with you, right? ”

"Now that your house is gone, your home is gone, let you go again, where are you going? Isn't it. ”

The woman's words,

On the contrary, it made the old man feel even more aggrieved, eating the food in the bowl, and his hand holding the chopsticks trembled a little.

A few tears fell from his red eyes and fell into the bowl.

“…… But that's because they're worried about you, and they don't watch you go out into the field and break your foot, and you don't say it until you're in a hurry. ”

“…… It's not the first time...... I managed to grow some vegetables, and they had to go to the field to pull them for me...... That seedling has just lived! ”

The old man spoke to the familiar woman without reservation,

The sorrow in my heart was vented along with these words.

“…… That's not right, it's not easy to grow vegetables in the field, and you don't have to put in a lot of effort. ”

"It's a bit hurtful to pull it out like this."

The woman responded to the old man's words and coaxed the old man like a child.

"And the previous ...... The two of them went out to work, and they didn't come back after noon, so I went to cook the rice, and after cooking, I didn't say anything and ate it myself, so I waited for the two of them to come back and eat......"

"Come back...... Just because I didn't turn off the fire on the stove, I said that I had a meal, but I found that the rice in the rice cooker was not pressed, and it was even more ......"

“…… You also have good intentions, but it is also very dangerous to keep the fire on this stove. ”

“…… They were the two of them who made me move in...... I don't want to go! ”

The old man said something childish.

All women should do it.

In the bowl in front of the old man, a few more tears dripped down.

The old man poured out the words of everyone in his heart,

And he told the woman all these grievances,

After all the talking, I finished this dinner.

Only then did the old man raise his head again, and look at this good-faced woman,

“…… It's all been demolished, and no one lives there. ”

"Why are you still living here?"

The woman had already gotten up and put away the dishes and chopsticks on the table.

"Everyone else is gone, but I haven't left. My son is out there, and I'm here waiting for him to come back, and if I change places before he comes back, he won't find a home. ”

The woman smiled at the old man.

The old man was a little strange, but he didn't ask anything about the woman's familiar face.

“…… If you don't want to go back to your son's house, stay here, right? Stay one night. ”

The woman said to the old man again.

The old man's face showed some hesitation,

He really wanted to stay here, stay here, be close to his home,

Still in this old village,

Staying here, he also felt relaxed.

But I'm also afraid of trouble......

"Don't be afraid to trouble me. There's a room next to it for my children. It's usually empty. ”

"You just have to live there."

"If you're not in a hurry to leave, I'll give me two more doses of medicine to make your broken foot get better faster."

"Thank you......"

"No need to thank me...... I'll wash the dishes and give you the medicine again. ”

The woman put away the dishes and chopsticks,

Soon it came out of the back kitchen again.

picked up the jar of medicinal wine next to it and reopened it.

Naturally, the old man's broken foot was drugged,

The old man sniffed the pungent smell of this medicinal wine, and looked at this good-faced woman,

But it feels more and more familiar and intimate.

“…… You've been living in the village, how can I ...... I should have seen you, right? ”

"I've seen it, I've seen it. It's still common. ”

"It's just that it's not very common in recent years."

The old man asked. The woman answered.

The old man's ankle was smedicated with liquor.

"It shouldn't hurt much this time."

The woman was more concerned about the wounds on the old man's feet.

"Wait until tomorrow morning, I'll apply the medicine to you again, and the swelling will slowly go down."

"Alright...... It's not too early, and you don't wash your feet with medicine. I'll pour you a basin of hot water, and you can wash your face. ”

And the woman was busy again, and poured out a basin of hot water.

Wring out the towel soaked in hot water, and let the old man Xu Deen wipe his face.

Then he led the old man to the door of the bedroom.

“…… I've kept this house in good order. It's all clean, just sleep here at night. ”

The old man entered the bedroom. But he felt that the bedroom was more reassuring and familiar to him.

The shape of the bed, the furnishings, are very familiar.

The old man looked back at the good-faced woman,

The woman smiled at him and told him to rest.

The old man went into the bedroom.

Standing behind the re-closed bedroom door, he stood silent for a while,

I went back to bed.

Lying on the bed, covered with a quilt,

To the roof on top,

I don't know if it's the surrounding environment, or this bed, which makes the old man extremely reassured.

It's like returning to the most familiar place, like returning to your own home.

In this way, relaxed, and the old man, who had been tired for a day, soon fell asleep in this bed.

The old man hadn't slept so peacefully for a long time, nor had he slept so deeply.

After falling asleep,

The old man had a familiar dream again.

He was in front of the door of the old house, but in his dream, he felt that he should stand in front of his father, the original house,

So he searched for the vague memories in his sleep, walked through his old house, and entered the old house where his father and mother had been.

Three houses, two bedrooms, one hall.

Only this time, the room was clearer, but I saw the figure with an apron tied on the table and a blurred face,

The old man's heart welled up with strong sorrow and grievances,

Immediately after, he suddenly woke up from his sleep,

Wake up, he's still in this room,

But the eye sockets were already red, and tears poured out of the eyes,

He didn't care about his broken feet, he didn't care about anything else, and stumbled out of bed.

rise

"Mother...... Mother......"

Such an old man in his seventies cried out aggrievedly,

The voice was hoarse and crying, and all the grievances in my heart poured out,

Too much, too much.

"Huh...... Don't panic, don't panic...... After a while, I fell again. Mother is still there. ”