Chapter 114: Mother, You're Okay

"Haizhu, Dongzhu, Fengping, the three of you will also fold a few paper ingots." Grandma Qi put a few pieces of yellow paper on the side of the table and said, "I don't know if your father can find it." ”

Haizhu and Dongzhu put down the work in their hands, washed the fishy smell on their hands, wiped their hands dry, and took a piece of rough and thick yellow paper with a rough texture, and folded the yellow paper into the shape of a silver ingot with the movements of Grandma Qi.

"When the forbidden sea period is over, let's go back to see my third uncle when he makes up the wedding banquet." Haizhu looked up and said, "Maybe my father is already in a hurry, maybe he will sit at the table and watch us give him origami ingots." ”

When she said this, the others also looked up, and there seemed to be someone sitting on the empty chair, and there seemed to be someone standing at the door, and it was possible to fall by the wall, under the eaves, and in the corners of the courtyard. "He" may have been watching Grandma Qi and Second Uncle Qi origami carefully and patiently before, maybe squatting opposite Dongzhu to watch her tidy up the bonito, maybe standing next to Fengping and touching his head.

Feng Ping suddenly sobbed, he looked around with his mouth pursed, and said with a crying voice: "Dad, I have grown taller and fatter, I can burn fires, I can plan plates, I can count, and I can read and endorse." ”

Grandma Qi's eyes were sour, and she clenched her teeth to make herself laugh, and said: "Your father knows, don't cry, your father's selfish ghost is estimated to be wandering around our house every day, he is proud when you cry, and he wants to cry when he goes out to show off his son to other ghosts." ”

Fengping imagined it for a moment, smiled, wiped away his tears and continued to fold the paper ingots.

The people in the courtyard fell silent, and the paper ingots were stacked one by one, slowly piling up a basket.

The night filled the courtyard, Qi Laosan lit the lantern, the wind blowing in from the alley carried the smoke unique to yellow paper, he picked up a big bamboo basket, and took his four nephews and nieces out of the house.

Haizhu pulled the tide flat, a group of five people stepped on the night to the seaside, a mottled black paper ash floated over, the seaside lit up with clusters of firelight, clearly extinguished, like the dead souls dotted on the sea.

Qi Laosan chose an open space, put down the lantern and picked up a sand pit with his bare hands, he picked up a paper ingot and put it in the lantern to ignite it, and when it was ignited, he released it and carried it away by the sea breeze.

One by one, the paper ingots with the light of fire rolled away by the wind, he sat down cross-legged, sat in the sea breeze and said: "Just eat and drink some when you pass by, don't rob my eldest brother, the rest is what we burned to him, it is not easy for him to come all the way." ”

Haizhu picked up a paper ingot and threw it into the sand pit, Dongzhu followed Fengping and picked up the paper ingot and threw it into the fire pit, the flames rose high in the sea breeze, Chaoping squatted too close and was washed back, and he fell a butt pier.

"Uncle, I'm Chaoping, not my second brother." Chaoping held two paper ingots and threw them into the fire, and he muttered, "My second brother is taller than me, but we look alike." ”

Dongzhu bit her lip and silently shed tears, she tried her best to suppress her crying, so that others could not hear that something was wrong, and the snot flowed out of her nose was only wiped away silently by turning around. If her father did find him, she hoped that he would not go to Hongshi Village, and the people who lived there had nothing to do with the people who lived in Qijiawan.

The fire jumped, and there was a cry in the wind, and the old cry must have come from a mother who was crying for her son who had lost his life in the sea.

A basket of paper ingots bottomed out, and the last one was thrown into the bunker, and the flames in the bunker gradually weakened, and slowly only sparks were left hidden under the paper ashes.

"We're back." Qi Laosan stood up, he looked at the sea, the moonlight fell on the sea, and the blue and black sea was dotted with dots of light, as if the sky was turned upside down and the stars fell into the sea.

"Daddy—" Someone shouted in the distance.

Feng Ping twitched his nose, he pursed his lips and his cheeks were sore, and he opened his mouth to make no sound.

Dongzhu couldn't shout out, and her thoughts were pressed in the bottom of her heart.

"Gone." Haizhu held one in one hand, "Third uncle, you pick up Chaoping." ”

The group went home with the smell of fire paper, walked into the alley, there were three bowls of rice outside the door of every house, and Grandma Qi also steamed the rice, buckled it on a plate and put it outside the door, which was to pay tribute to the dead soul passing by.

As for his own home, there is a steamed chicken, a steamed fish and a bowl of noodles on the table, and Boss Qi likes to eat noodles, not rice and porridge.

"It's time to eat." Grandma Qi served the food.

*

At the other end of the wharf, Qin Jingniang carried a bamboo basket and pulled Pingsheng out of the village, and met a few people who came back with a smell of incense.

"Mother, my father is not happy." Pingsheng carried a small lantern and looked back.

Qin Jingniang pulled him to continue walking, she knew that the man was coming, and she was not afraid to walk at night with his courage, she chose an open place to dig a pit, lit the paper ingot and let Pingsheng kneel.

"You don't know what he looks like, he doesn't know what you look like, your father and son are shallow, but without him there would be no you." Qin Jingniang looked at the jumping flames and said softly, "Every year in the Midyear Festival, you remember to burn paper for him, his name is Qi Xing, you shout, tell the passerby, this is the master." ”

Pingsheng glanced back again, turned his head to look at the firelight and called out softly to Dad, and tears flowed out.

The fire gradually extinguished, Qin Jingniang stood up, she carried a bamboo basket and pulled Pingsheng to follow the footsteps in front of her and walked towards the village.

At night, she closed her eyes and said to the silent man: "If you even forget your father in your life, don't you worry that he will treat you like this in a hundred years?" ”

Yu Laishun was silent, turned over after a while, and said, "When Pingchang grows up, Zhongyuan Festival will let him burn paper alone, or with his sister and brother." ”

Qin Jingniang was silent, and he didn't say anything.

"Okay." She whispered.

……

In the morning, Grandma Qi got up and first collected the fish, chicken and sticky powder in the hall, it was not hot at night, the chicken and fish were not bad, and they could be eaten by steaming in the pot for a while. She opened the door and picked up the three bowls of rice at the base of the wall, poured them into the bucket of swill, washed the dishes, and began to cook.

The mind is exhausted, and when he wakes up, the living will continue to live as before.

The salted bonito was pressed with a bucket overnight, and the excess water was pressed out, Haizhu got up and called Dongzhu and Bei Niang, and the three of them pulled a wooden cart to the beach, she took the bucket of seawater back, and Dongzhu and Bei Niang stayed at the beach to pry the oyster shells.

There are still black marks on the beach by the sea, and the early risers are busy with their lives in good spirits.

As soon as Haizhu arrived home, Qi Laosan took down the bucket, and hurriedly went out to fetch water in the upper reaches of the river with the bucket and a wooden cart.

Haizhu neatly puts the pickled bonito into the seawater to wash off the salt, and hangs it with a rope on the fish's mouth, and the fish tastes the best with the salt in the seawater.

The fish were all dried, and she went non-stop to buy meat on the street and came back, Dongzhu and Bei Niang came back and were also busy with their own things, one washed rice and cooked porridge and marinated sea vegetables, and the other sat in the yard and cut leeks. When Haizhu came back from buying meat, a duet sounded in the courtyard.

"Sister, when I finish selling the cakes, I'll send the nine links to Pingsheng." Dongzhu spoke.

"Okay." Haizhu responded casually.

The meat filling is mixed, Grandma Qi comes out with rice, the steamed chicken has been cut into small pieces, the bones have also been removed, stacked on the rice noodles, and then poured some scallion oil, the taste is just right.

The diners had already arrived, and Haizhu and Qi Laosan hurriedly ate a few bites of food and went over with the curtain.

After Dongzhu and Fengping finished eating, they pulled the car with Bei Niang to set up a stall, Chaoping also wanted to go, but he was afraid of being beaten by his milk, so he pouted unhappily and sat on a chair and shook his legs.

Grandma Qi and Second Uncle Qi didn't see it, and the two of them were busy rolling out wonton wrappers and wrapping wontons on the other.

It wasn't until three o'clock in the morning, past the point of early meal, that the family was at ease.

Dongzhu came back and took the Nine Rings to take Fengping to Hongshi Village, and Yu Laishun was also at home when the sisters and brothers arrived, he pondered for a moment and found an excuse to go out. Last night was the Midyear Festival, and these children didn't have a father, so they probably missed their mothers.

Dongzhu really came over because she wanted her mother, and she didn't talk much when she came, so she sat in the yard and watched Fengping teach Pingsheng to play nine rings, and watched her mother busy washing clothes and brushing shoes.

"Dongzhu, you eat dates."

"Okay." Dongzhu picked up a jujube and took a bite and chewed it slowly.

sat until noon, and sat until Yu Laishun came back from shopping for vegetables, and she pulled Fengping to leave.

"Eat at home, you two don't go back." Qin Jingniang pulled one with one hand, "What are you polite to come to me?" You go home and have nothing to do. ”

Yu Laishun stood aside and watched, he pushed Pingsheng, Pingsheng went over and hugged Dongzhu's leg to prevent her from leaving, he knew who spoke effectively.

Dongzhu and Fengping had to stay, once they realized the fact that her mother was not just her mother, Dongzhu sat in the yard and watched the two people in the kitchen laugh and scold, and it was not so uncomfortable.

"Second sister, let's sneak away, I want to go back." Feng Ping fidgeted.

Dongzhu shook his head, touched his brother's head, and said, "That's rude, we'll go back after dinner." ”

There was a reason to go to a private school to study, the two had dinner and left smoothly, Qin Jingniang wanted to send Dongzhu and Fengping back, but when she walked to the entrance of the village, Dongzhu asked her to go back and didn't let her send it.

"We've walked this road many times, and it's going to be fine." Dongzhu said, "Mother, go back, we are all older, you see that my sister and my grandmother don't have to worry about it, and the noon people don't go back and don't come to look for it." ”

Qin Jingniang was a little surprised, this girl hadn't talked to her so easily for a long time.

"That's okay, you two can come over if you want to come over in the future, anytime."

Dongzhu nodded, she pulled Fengping and turned to leave, and after walking for a while, she turned around.

Qin Jingniang hadn't left yet, and when she turned her head, she smiled.

"Mother, you're alright." Dongzhu said.

Qin Jingniang's tears fell in the blink of an eye, "Go back, don't think nonsense." With that, she turned around, tears streaming into her mouth, and she wiped them away.

Dongzhu has always been mindful of her mother's remarriage, and now she has accepted it, she should be happy, but she can't relax. Qin Jingniang knew in her heart that Dongzhu had given up and given up her obsession with "home", and the little girl who kept saying "we are a family" was gone.

Half of the black paper ash was scraped to the surface of her feet, Qin Jingniang looked at it in a daze, she said softly: "If you have a spirit, bless the four children well, you are not a good father, and I am not a good mother......

"Second sister, my mother is still standing at the entrance of the village." Feng Ping turned his head, "I saw her crying." ”

Dongzhu didn't look back, she led Fengping to the beach, picked up a large handful of stones from the hem of her clothes, and then sat on the stones and threw them into the sea, the sound of knocking was like a heartbeat.

Fengping also smashed it, and the stones fell into the sea one by one, and the indescribable feeling in his heart also dissipated.

"I'm leaving, I'm going to a private school." After the stone was smashed, Dongzhu got up and pulled Fengping away from the beach.

"Fengping—"

"Huh?"

"It's okay, I just want to call you." Dongzhu wrapped his arms around his brother's neck, "You carry me away." ”

Chapter 115: Sunset on the Sea

Footsteps sounded at the door, Haizhu looked up in the smoke, and saw that it was Dongzhu and Fengping, she asked casually, "What delicious food did my mother make for you?" ”

"I fried a tender rooster, steamed a fish, a plate of scrambled duck eggs, a plate of fried choy sum." Dongzhu went into the house to drink water, she lifted the lid of the pot, there was nothing left in the pot, and she asked the family what they had done at noon.

"I don't eat well without you two, drink water and go to sleep for a while, and I'll call you when the time comes." Haizhu grabbed the half-wet thatch and covered it on the fire, turned the fish over and continued to bake it with smoke.

Dongzhu and Fengping came to take a look, and the sisters and brothers took off their shoes and stood by the water tank, scooped water and washed their feet, took down the old cloth shoes from the wall and put them on, and opened the door to go into the house to sleep.

The yard was quiet again, the grass smoke with the green and astringent smell slowly rose into the air, the dry fish skin was also stained with the astringency of the smoke and fireworks, the firm fish meat was dried by the warm smoke, and after being half-cooked, Haizhu wiped off the grass ash on the fish skin with a cloth, and hung it on a rope to dry in the sun.

Second Uncle Qi coughed in the house, Haizhu looked up at the sky, and then at the shadows in the courtyard, she shouted: "Dongzhu, Fengping, it's time to get up." ”

After scooping water and washing his hands, he went into the kitchen to pour the bowl of boiling water that was still warm and took it to Second Uncle Qi's house.

After returning from the beach last night, when it was time to sleep, he stood in the yard uncharacteristically and did not enter the house, Grandma Qi shouted several times, and Chaoping said that he wanted to sleep with his father. As soon as he put down his bowl after lunch at noon today, he hid in the house where his father slept.

Haizhu patted him, "It's up, your second sister and your eldest brother are back, and they're going to private school, you go and send them off." "Lest he sleep long in the day, and make a fuss in the night.

Dongzhu heard the sound probe came in, and saw Haizhu pushing the second uncle to sit up, she hurried to help, and the sisters worked together to push the back of the wooden plank up and fasten the buckle.

Second Uncle Qi took the bowl and drank half a bowl of water, and said to Chaoping: "Go and sleep with your grandmother at night, I can't sleep well if you sleep with me." ”

Haizhu pushed him out, the wheelchair was placed in the shade, she continued to smoke the fish, and when Chaoping sent Dongzhu and Fengping out, she said: "Chaoping probably missed his mother last night, did he usually mention my second aunt?" ”

Second Uncle Qi shook his head, "You didn't mention it to me." ”

It happened that Grandma Qi also woke up, she said: "You asked me once, asked him what his mother was like, and he didn't ask me if I prevaricated." He hasn't seen your second aunt since he was born, and he can say that he will leave, and the three of you sisters and brothers don't live with their mothers, and they don't see it, they don't feel sad, they don't envy, and they don't think about it. Let's not mention it, don't mention it, don't want to let him grow up so stupidly. ”

It is said that the child without a mother is pitiful, but Chaoping has not suffered much, let alone been wronged, he is a name for the person "mother", plus his brothers and sisters have no mother, he probably doesn't feel that he lacks anything compared to others. Grandma Qi made the decision and asked the family not to mention Chaoping and his mother, that is, when outsiders asked whether Chaoping and his mother were dead or gone, she also avoided talking about it, and said vaguely.

The alley sounded the sound of crackling footsteps, the footsteps became heavier and heavier, the three people in the yard stopped their voices in unison, and Chaoping's small figure appeared at the door, and he said loudly: "I'm going to Erwang's house to play." ”

"You can't run around." Grandma Qi advised.