Looking at the back of her son walking away, the mother opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but closed it again. She staggered to the kitchen and filled the pot with water, which she hadn't used in a long time. As she sat on a small stool to add firewood, her tattered robe was lifted upwards, revealing her legs.

It wasn't a pair of normal human legs, but a piece of wood, carved into the shape of a leg. When the fire was burning, sparks splashed on her, and she quickly got up and knocked those sparks off. Sparks burned clothes, and the smell of burning wood in the air was heavy again.

Liu Haisheng talked a lot to his father in front of his father's grave, from when he kowtowed on the street to ask for help and met Master Liu, to going home to visit his mother, except for the things that Liu Hanshan asked him to do, he said everything he could.

By the time he had finished his last sentence, it was dark. He patted his clothes and got up, and poured the last drop of wine left in the jug in front of his father's tombstone.

Liu Haisheng didn't know that his father had been there all along, and the honest man had been standing behind his son, looking at his child with a look of pity that he had never felt before.

The lantern at the gate of the courtyard was broken, and the wind blew the candles inside flickering and flickering. As soon as Liu Haisheng stepped into the courtyard, he smelled the aroma of hand-rolled noodles. After so many years away from home, the most memorable thing is this mouthpiece. His eyes were a little moist, and he rubbed his face vigorously and sniffed.

"Mother, I'm back!"

The fallen leaves in the yard were swept up by the wind, and some hit him. He rubbed his hands together and went to the kitchen, where the hot floor was placed on the stove, but his mother was nowhere to be seen. Just as he picked up the noodles and was about to go out to look for them, his mother came in through the door.

"Mother, where have you been?"

"My mother almost forgot, my family likes spicy food." Mother handed him a handful of chili peppers.

Aged chili peppers, slightly blackened in color, and crispy dry skin. If this handful of chili peppers was given by someone else, he would not have looked at it, but this handful of chili peppers was given by his mother. Nan Chen does not produce chili peppers, and these things are brought in by foreign merchants. According to the conditions of their family, the mother will not prepare these things every year, but if she has prepared them, it proves that she has been waiting for her son to come back.

Liu Haisheng took the chili pepper, put it in the bowl, and said to his mother with crying eyes: "Mother will eat with me." ”

"Mother has eaten it." Mother stroked her stomach: "Let you go and talk to your father for a few words, it's good for you to come back after talking for so long." My mother is old, and she can't stand the hunger, so she eats first. Hurry up, try the noodles that my mother made for you, and see if it still tastes like when you were a child. ”

Liu Haisheng replied to his mother in a snorting voice, and in three or five strokes, a bowl of noodles was bottomed out. His mother squinted at him, and the dim light fell into her eyes, casting a vague shadow.

Liu Haisheng endured and endured, and finally couldn't help but ask: "Your eyes?" ”

"People are old and half-blind." Mother pointed to the kitchen, "Didn't you eat enough?" There is still in the pot, and my mother will make noodles for you. ”

"Your son has grown up, you sit, and your son will come by himself." Liu Haisheng helped his mother sit down and touched her hand, which made him shiver. He felt guilty and grabbed his mother's hand and covered it.

The mother struggled slightly, raised her face to look at him and smiled: "Mother is fine, mother doesn't feel cold." ”

The mother's face was very pale, her hair was a little messy, and when you got closer, you could see some black spots on her face, and there was a smell on her body that he couldn't tell. After all, it was a man, and after frowning slightly, he went into the kitchen to get noodles.

When he came out again, his mother had already returned to the room, and his mother's tired voice came from the room: "Mi'er, it's too late, my mother is tired and needs to rest." Your room has already been cleaned up for you, if you have anything to say, I'll talk about it later. ”

Liu Haisheng answered, deliberately standing under his mother's window to eat noodles, he wanted his mother to know that this bowl of noodles was very fragrant.

Inside the house, the mother covered her face and felt the horror of peeling off layer by layer of skin.

There was the sound of washing dishes in the kitchen, and my mother looked down at the dough on her hands.

She seemed to say to herself, "Give me some more time, Haisheng has just returned." ”

Behind him, in a dark corner, the husband sighed: "Why bother? You and him are already separated by yin and yang, what is the difference between early and late. ”

"What about you? Why don't you go to reincarnation? ”

"Because of guilt, because I promised to wait for you at the bridge." The husband stretched out a hand: "When the time comes, come with me." ”

"Seven days, I only need seven days."

"Why bother?" The husband stomped his feet angrily: "If you don't go back with me, you won't be able to go back." ”

"If you can't go back, you can't go back, whether it's reincarnation or reincarnation, it's just that you come to this world to suffer another suffering."

The husband knew that his wife was stubborn, and when he saw that he could not persuade her, he silently hid it.

The next day, until noon, Liu Haisheng did not hear any movement in his mother's house, he was a little worried about his mother's body, so he walked to the door and knocked.

Inside, sitting motionless at the table, the man opened her eyes, first moved her stiff neck, and then asked, "What's wrong?" ”

"Mother, are you up?"

"Are you hungry?"

"I'm not hungry, I've cooked, mother, get up and eat a little." Liu Haisheng pushed the door in, saw his mother sitting at the table, and greeted his mother with a smile: "It's dark like this in this room, why don't you light a lamp, mother?" ”

Liu Haisheng groped to light the lamp, but was stopped by his mother.

"My mother's eyes are not good, and I can't see the light. You go out, my mother is not hungry, my mother wants to be alone for a while. ”

"If you don't have good eyes, you have to go and see it!" Liu Haisheng said and went to carry his mother: "Mi'er knows a doctor, I'll take you to have a look." ”

"No!" The mother pushed the bangs with her hand: "I'm old, and my eyes are not good to make it normal." It's not easy for you to make money, and you can't waste your money. ”

"Mother, are you saying this to torture your child?" Liu Haisheng directly carried his mother on his back: "I listened to you when I was young, and now I listen to you." Don't worry, that's a kind female doctor, and she also knows our young master, and she will help you see a doctor. ”

When putting his mother in the carriage, Liu Haisheng looked at his mother's leg and asked, "Your leg?" ”

"It's out of the way, I've lost some weight and it's all bones." The mother hurriedly covered her legs.

Liu Haisheng was puzzled but didn't ask any more, thinking that when he arrived at Baicaotang, he would know at a glance that if his mother was thin and needed some nutrition, no matter what it was, as long as there was something in this world, he would try his best to find it back for his mother.

The carriage swayed towards Baicaotang, and the mother looked at her son's back worriedly, thinking what she would do if she saw the female doctor. Whether to scare her, to threaten her or to plead with her. She just wants to spend a few more days with her son, will she understand her mind as a mother?