There is a peach tree in front of Song Huaiyin's house, with a thick trunk held by one person. Every year, the branches and leaves grow straight up. Now the trunk alone is two stories high, and the branches and leaves are almost three stories high.
Such a tall peach tree is very rare. In fact, this tree is not old. The seeds were planted after Song Huaiyin was born. It was spring, and the seeds soon broke the soil and sprouted, and then sprouted.
It used to be a small tree, but it has grown so thick in just ten years, it looks like it has more than a hundred years to live, and it looks like it has become a fine tree.
Strange to say, it has been ten years, and this peach tree has not produced fruit once, every year it only blooms but does not bear fruit, and if it is going to be put in someone else's house, it has already been cut down to plant another tree, which does not bear fruit Fortunately, Song Huaiyin's family didn't plant the peach tree for fruit, but to commemorate Song Huaiyin's birth, so they let it grow. Take good care of it every day.
When Song Huaiyin grows up, he will take care of it. After all, this tree is his. Song Huaiyin likes this peach tree very much. When he was a child, he always looked forward to the fruit of the peach tree, but every year his expectations failed. But even so, he would not hate the peach tree because of it, and continued to move it every day in his spare time. Zhang Xiaoyuan sits next to the peach tree, or sits directly on the slightly exposed thick root of the peach tree, and chats together with each other.
Yes, it is true that Song Huaiyin chats with Taoshu, not only Song Huaiyin confides to Taoshu alone, but Taoshu will also respond to him, in Song Huaiyin’s perception, this peach tree Really became fine.
From childhood to adulthood, Song Huaiyin's favorite thing to do is to chat with Taoshu. He has no friends, so he regards Taoshu as a friend. He tells everything to his friends like dumping beans. Taoshu accepts everything about him wholeheartedly, and then comments on him to explain him.
In Song Huaiyin's heart, peach trees are no different from people except that they cannot move. But in fact, it is not entirely true to say that the peach tree cannot move. The peach tree can still move. When it is happy, it will shake its branches and make the leaves rustle, like laughter. When Song Huaiyin hugged it, the peach tree would make its branches move and rustle in response to him.
All along, they have been getting along like this, and gradually, Song Huaiyin felt dissatisfied, and he hoped that one day, Taoshu could hug him like a friend, instead of responding to him with his voice.
Regarding Song Huaiyin talking to Taoshu, the adults only thought that he was talking to himself, and no one contacted him to chat with Taoshu. They laughed at why Song Huaiyin was always talking to a tree, Song Huaiyin said that he was chatting with his friend Peach Tree, and Peach Tree could talk, but adults only thought it was the words of children, Those are indeed children's words, but often children's words are the most true.
They are always like this, Song Huai laughed at himself because the adults didn’t believe him, he explained to them seriously that Peach Tree can really talk, and he asked Peach Tree to say a few words to them, but Peach Tree said, He heard it, but they didn't hear it. He found that only he could hear Taoshu's words.
He no longer emphasizes that peach trees can talk, he no longer pays attention to those adults who tease him, he still talks to peach trees every day, and the children in the village are not close to him, because he always talks to a tree, they think he is A child with a broken mind. The child's world is really pure. For those who don't like him, he directly laughs at him, besieges him, bullies him, neglects him, and more importantly, neglects him. Let all the children isolate him, and let him be alone. .
Song Huaiyin only had Taoshu as a friend. But it doesn't matter, he has enough peach trees.
On his fifteenth birthday, the family bought Song Huaiyin a big cake. They buy him cakes every year, but this year's cake is the biggest. In the evening, the whole family got together and sang birthday songs to him , said congratulations to him, asked him to make a wish, and then cut the big piece of cake, divided it into small pieces, one for each person.
Amidst the laughter, Song Huaiyin glanced at the peach tree quietly staying in the courtyard, picked the biggest piece of cake and hid it, and also hid a candle that had already been lit but hadn't been burned yet.
When the noise was enough, it was dark, and the crowd dispersed, Song Huaiyin's father went out to chat with friends, and her mother was in the living room cleaning up the debris left by the party and cleaning up the cakes that fell on the floor.
Song Huaiyin carried the cake to the courtyard and under the peach tree. He did not avoid his mother. He had done this many times, starting from the first time his family bought him a cake to celebrate his birthday. After his family celebrated, he would celebrate again with Peach Tree, and his mom always knew that.
Putting the well-preserved cake under the tree, plugging in candles, Song Huaiyin found a lighter to light the candles, threw the lighter aside, and looked at the peach tree.
"Happy birthday, Yin. You're a fifteen-year-old boy."
"My birthday is your birthday. Today is our birthday. We are both fifteen years old."
"Well, today is also my birthday."
"Old rules, you sing me happy birthday first, and then I sing happy birthday to you."
Song Huaiyin quietly listened to Taoshu sing a birthday song, and then he sang a song to celebrate their birthdays together. Taoshu’s voice is a low-mellow male voice, which sounds very mature, like an adult, while Song Huaiyin’s voice is very crisp, more like the voice of a young boy who has not grown up. He likes Taoshu’s voice very much. Good to hear.
"Then let's make a wish together."
Song Huaiyin closed her eyes, clasped her hands together in front of her chest, thought about what wish the peach tree would make, then made a serious wish, and opened her eyes.
"Little Taozi, what wish did you make?"
"Isn't it that it won't work if you say it?"
"What others say will not work, but we are different. You tell me, I tell you, making a wish is not spiritual."
"Then what wish did you make?"
"I want you to be by my side forever."
"Your wish is my wish, and I will always be by your side." Peach Tree made a promise.
"Really?"
"real."
"you swear?"
"I swear!"
With Peach Tree's promise, Song Huaiyin felt relieved.
Fifteen-year-old Song Huai has no friends because he is in high school. The school is close to his home. He goes home once a week and talks to Taoshu for a long time every time he comes back.
After a year like this, at the age of sixteen, Song Huaiyin was promoted to the second year of high school, and his mother went to the school to help him complete the transfer procedures. He asked his mother why he wanted to transfer, and his mother said that they were going to move. Just this summer vacation. In fact, they had already prepared to move. After finding a house and taking care of everything, they told their son.
move place? Song Huaiyin never thought of this word, he thought he would stay in this small village for the rest of his life, seeing his parents packing things in a hurry, Song Huaiyin said that he didn't want to move, he didn't want to leave here.
"Why don't you want to leave here? Our family moves there, and grandparents will go there too. You have no friends here, so what are you nostalgic for?"
"I have a friend, Taoshu is my friend, I'm gone, what should he do?"
"Peach tree? The one at the door? If you miss it, you can come back to see it in the future. The house here will not be sold, and the peach tree will not be cut down."
"But I don't want to leave Peach Tree. If I leave, no one will talk to him. I like it here. It doesn't matter if I don't have friends. Peach Tree is enough for me. I want to stay."
Song Huaiyin's mother looked at him as if telling him not to make trouble for no reason, so Song Huaiyin knew that he couldn't hold back his mother, so he had to leave.
"Little Taozi, did you hear? Our family is going to move, and we will be leaving soon."
"I heard it, and I heard you and your mother arguing."
"I don't want to go."
"I know."
"what do you know?"
"I know you don't want to go."
"What about you?"
"Me? I'm here waiting for you to come back."
"And what about when I haven't come back?"
"I'm waiting for you."
"What if I never come back?"
"Then I'll go find you."
"Really?"
"real."
Making the same promise as that night, Song Huaiyin leaned against the tree trunk and wiped away tears.
"You are not allowed to break your promise."
"Will not."
"Is it true that the wish doesn't work when you say it? I made a wish that you would be by my side forever, but now I'm leaving you."
"Spiritual, we are only separated for a short time, and we will always be together in the future."
"I don't understand, why doesn't mother let me stay here?"
"Your mother and the others are leaving, leaving you alone will make them worry. You are their child, it is best to take you with you, and you can make many friends when you go to another place, Are you unhappy? You will have many friends."
"It's enough for me to have you as a friend."
"But if you need help from your friends in the future, don't you humans, the more friends you have, the better?"
"But I think all I need is you."
The atmosphere suddenly quieted down for a while, Song Huaiyin's stubbornness made Taoshu helplessly hum, and added a sentence "you will understand later", Song Huaiyin didn't want to understand at all.
After a moment of silence, Song Huaiyin said, "They planted you, and you are their child, why didn't they take you away?"
"Look, can they take me away?"
Song Huaiyin looked at the thick trunk of the peach tree, and fell silent again, feeling very depressed.
In the dark night, the peach tree suddenly burst out with green light, and the whole tree was wrapped in the light. The green light was neither very bright nor dazzling.
The peach tree shook its branches, and there was a rustling sound as the leaves rubbed against each other. A speck of bright green floated out from the body of the peach tree, quietly floated in front of Song Huaiyin, and stopped motionlessly.
Song Huaiyin stared at the green bead that was only one-third the size of a small fingernail, "What is this?"
"This is called Taoxin. You put it away, and no matter where you are in the future, I can use it to find you."
"Is this your heart?"
"In your human terms, it counts."
"If you don't have a heart, will you die?"
"Will not."
Song Huai put the ball in his breast pocket because of his preciousness. After thinking about it, he felt unsafe, and secretly decided to find a red string to string it up and wear it around his neck, so that he would never lose it.
"Is this a token of love?" Song Huaiyin asked suddenly, stroking the round bead with his hand.
Taoshu chuckled, "Do you know what token of love means?"
"I know, I read in the book that a token of love is to give an item to someone you like. Don't you like me?"
"I like it, but..."
"That's right, you like me, I like you too, we like each other, should I give you something in return? But I don't have anything precious to give you."
Song Huaiyin frowned, unable to think of what he should give Taoshu.
"It doesn't need to be a precious thing, as long as it is given by Xiao Yin, it is the most precious thing to me."
"Well, then I'll give you a... kiss."
Song Huaiyin stepped forward, closed her eyes reverently, and pressed a kiss on the slightly glowing trunk of the peach tree, the soft warmth burned directly into Taohua's heart.
Two days later, Song Huaiyin left with his family, and Taohua watched him leave silently.
It's okay, one day, I will find you.
Changing the place, I don't know if it's because Song Huai didn't have Taohua to talk to, others wouldn't treat him as a lunatic, and he made a few friends soon after school started.
Every day at the new school, I go to the cafeteria to eat with my new friends laughing and joking, reminding me when I doze off in class, and copying each other when I don’t have time to do my homework.
Gradually, his life suddenly became rich and fulfilling, but Song Huaiyin felt a little empty in his heart. Without Taohua by his side, he couldn't talk to him, couldn't hear his magnetic voice, everything made him uncomfortable. Habit, he misses Taohua very much, no matter how happy he is during the day, at night, he will always enter a state of melancholy.
I miss you so much. Song Huaiyin said it in his heart every night.
After the end of the second year of high school, Song Huaiyin went back to his hometown once, and talked with Taohua all night, but it was only one night, and his mother urged him to go back the next day, so they separated again.
The third year of high school was very busy, and Song Huaiyin felt the pressure of his studies. Even though he didn't have much ambition, seeing the students around him desperately trying to jump higher than the pole of the college entrance examination, he unconsciously began to be like them, busy himself Spinning like a spinning top, he was so busy that he had almost no time to breathe, and finally he seldom thought of Taohua, because he was so tired that he didn't think about anything, he just wanted to sleep first.
Even if he didn't think of Taohua, it didn't mean he was forgotten. Every time he touched Taoxin, Song Huaiyin felt that Taohua was always by his side.
In such a dull and tense atmosphere, one month before the college entrance examination, Song Huaiyin suddenly fell ill.
Acute appendicitis. Passed out in pain at school, was rushed to hospital and his parents were notified in time.
When Song Huai woke up leisurely, the white walls and the iconic blue and white striped quilt first came into view, and he glanced at the blue and white striped hospital gown that he had to wear, so he knew that he was in the hospital. Lying on the hospital bed.
It was very quiet in the ward, and he was the only one in it.
Song Huai leaned to his side with his hands, and when he tried to sit up, he suddenly felt a dull pain in his body. His hands softened, his body tilted, and he fell back on the bed again, his head almost hitting the bulge at the head of the bed.
At this time, he felt a pain in his abdomen, and he could only curl up slightly.
There was a sound at the door, just as the door of the ward was opened from the outside, and a woman with a thermos came in. Song Huaiyin looked up and saw that it was his mother.
Mother Song saw her son woke up at a glance, and she was a little happy at once, but she was sure that he frowned when he was struggling on the bed and wanted to sit up, and quickly put the thermos on the table next to the hospital bed, and walked quickly to stop her son's movements .
"Don't move around, don't move around, you just finished the operation, first lie down and have a good rest."
Song's mother straightened her son's crooked body, touched his face, and found that her hands were sweating, "Why are you sweating so much? Is it because the anesthesia has worn off and now you are in pain?"
Song Huaiyin nodded against his pale face, and Song's mother touched his face and hair on the sideburns in distress, "It hurts for a while and it won't hurt, just bear it and it will pass."
At the end she asked again: "You just finished the operation, you can't eat anything now, but the doctor said you can drink some liquid food, so I went home and made some millet porridge, you should be hungry, drink some porridge to warm your stomach .”
Song Huaiyin watched his mother take out the porridge and asked, "Mom, what's wrong with me?"
He only remembered that he was in school, and suddenly his stomach hurt very much. He thought he was going to have diarrhea, but when he was about to ask the teacher for leave, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his stomach. what disease.
"It's acute appendicitis, but it's all right now. You don't have to worry, and you don't have to worry about studying. Mom has already asked for leave for you. Take care of it in the hospital first, and you will recover almost in four or five days. Then you will be discharged from the hospital, mom. I'll be here with you too."
After drying the porridge to a suitable temperature, Mother Song picked up the bowl and spooned the porridge to feed Song Huaiyin.
Song Huai tilted his head a little uncomfortably, "Mom, just let me go, I just have appendicitis and it's not a hand injury, so I can do it myself."
Mother Song refused, and she didn't put down the bowl, and said, "What's wrong with me feeding you? Are you shy? I used to feed you when I was a child, but you didn't like it when I let you eat by yourself. Now I hate my mother feeding you. La?"
Song Huai was helpless, "No, I didn't dislike my mother..."
"No, just open your mouth, ah~"
Song Huai felt even more helpless when she saw the mother who was coaxing the child to eat, but she couldn't persuade her mother, so she opened her mouth and drank the porridge, and then the second spoon came up.
Song Huaiyin: "..."
After finishing the porridge, Song Huai went to the toilet again before lying on the bed chatting with his mother.
His father happened to be on a business trip to a neighboring country these two days, so he didn't come over, but someone had already informed him about Song Huaiyin, and he was very anxious and couldn't go back. Fortunately, Song Huaiyin had an operation and he was fine. , he was relieved.
Song's mother sent him a message saying that her son was awake, and he held back for a few minutes before sending a video call to his son.
Song Huai opened the screen to pick it up, and his father's face immediately appeared on the phone screen. On the other side, Song's father saw his son's pale face at a glance, and his wife's head was also crowded with his son's, squeezed in the small room. on a small screen.
"Father." Song Huaiyin called out.
"Hey~ son, how do you feel now? Are you still feeling uncomfortable?" Father Song smiled kindly at his son with a serious face, because there were many wrinkles on the smiling face, and he looked more haggard than ever.
"It's much better, I don't feel uncomfortable anymore." Song Huai felt sad when he saw his father's haggard face on the phone. His father must have worked very hard. He was so tired and had to worry about someone his age, which made him feel very sad. uncomfortable.
"Look at your pale face. Is your body still hurting? You just finished the operation. Remember to rest well. Don't think about anything else. Dad will be back in two days. He will bring you delicious food then. Go back." Song's father instructed carefully in the video, and Song Huaiyin also listened carefully, nodding from time to time.
After watching the video for a long time, Father Song, who had talked a lot, considered that his son needed to rest, reluctantly said goodbye to his son and daughter-in-law, and then hung up the video.
It was already afternoon when Song Huai woke up, and after chatting with Father Song for a long time, he felt a little sleepy. Mother Song saw that he looked tired, so she let him have a good sleep, and it was almost time for dinner Yes, she went back to cook something to eat, she will be back soon.
Song Huaiyin nodded, lay down obediently, put her hands outside the thin quilt, and closed her eyes.
Mother Song looked at him for a while, then left the ward, and closed the door carefully to make sure no one was disturbing him. Song Huaiyin lives in a three-person ward, but now he is the only one living in it, and the other two beds are empty, so generally no one will go in to disturb him.
Not long after Song's mother left, Song Huaiyin opened his eyes. He really felt quite tired, but he still couldn't fall asleep after closing his eyes, so he simply opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling.
When my mind was very empty, I suddenly thought of Taohua, wondering if he was doing well in his hometown, wondering if he would feel lonely by himself, wondering if it would be uncomfortable not to talk to him, wondering if he wanted to he.
He really misses him, wants to talk to him, talking to Taohua is the most comfortable thing for him, and he also wants to see him.
Taohua is his friend, but he doesn't think he can be with Taohua forever. After all, although Taohua can talk, his body is still a tree, and he can't take him away.
At around five o'clock in the afternoon, Song's mother had already cooked the rice and brought it over. Song Huaiyin still drank porridge, so Song's mother also brought a meal for herself. The hospital is quite close to the school, and it just so happens that today is the holiday at the end of the month, so Song Huaiyin's classmates came to visit Song Huaiyin one after another, brought fruits and bouquets, and went back after talking for a while.
Sitting next to her, Mother Song peeled an apple with a fruit knife and cut it into small pieces, then inserted a toothpick and handed it to Song Huaiyin to eat. Song Huaiyin stopped eating after eating two or three pieces. Green apples or red apples, I always feel a little sour in my stomach after eating, and I feel bloated and uncomfortable.
There was a TV in the ward, mother Song was afraid that he would be bored, turned on the TV and clicked on a variety show. It was a funny show, and the whole ward was filled with laughter. Looking at Song's mother, she was attracted by the show. When encountering a funny plot, the whole person laughed and leaned forward, but Song Huaiyin didn't get the laugh at all. It wasn't that he had a good laugh, but his whole body My mind is not on the TV, and I don’t know what I am thinking while watching TV.
Mother Song laughed for a long time, and finally realized that something was wrong with her son. She thought it was because he didn't like this kind of program, so she changed the channel and found that her son was still not interested, so she simply turned off the TV.
"Son, what's the matter with you? Are you in a bad mood? Are you still bored?" Mother Song asked cautiously.
"It's kind of boring." Song Huaiyin answered honestly, and most of the reason was because of boredom.
"Then do you want to play a game?"
"I don't want to play games."
"Chat with mom?"
"I don't want to talk." It's not that I hate chatting with my mother, it's just that Song Huaiyin doesn't want to talk now.
"Then do you want to sleep?" Song's mother racked her brains to think of something that could arouse her son's interest, but it was useless to talk about it several times in a row. In the end, she could only let her son sleep, but his son slept all afternoon today. , I guess I don't feel sleepy now.
Sure enough, she heard her son say, "I don't want to sleep." However, the reason was not that I couldn't sleep because I slept all afternoon, but Mother Song didn't know.
"Mom, can I be discharged from the hospital in two days?" Song Huaiyin saw her mother's worry and asked proactively.
"Well, it's almost enough, and you can leave the hospital when your body recovers."
Two days, a long time. There will be a lot of review progress in two days. The college entrance examination is coming soon, and he said that he wants to get a good grade in the exam.
"Mom, help me go to school tomorrow and get some books. Old Gan is bored lying down. Why don't you just read a book? You won't waste two days of review time." The previous sentence: "Don't worry, I won't tire myself, and I will rest when I am tired."
"...Okay then." Song's mother felt distressed and relieved when she saw her son was so studious and hardworking. Finally, she could only sigh secretly and agreed.
It was night, Song Huaiyin was lying quietly on the bed, and Song's mother was sleeping next to him.
Song Huai had tossed and turned for a long time before he felt a little drowsy because of sleeping in the bed. He closed his eyes, and suddenly felt the peach heart on his chest warm up. In a daze, he felt something touching his face. woke up.
Song Huaiyin opened his eyes, the ward was very dark, but there was some light reflected from the corridor lights, and the outlines of the things in the room could be seen. The first thing that caught Song Huaiyin's eyes was the outline of an arm, subconsciously moved his gaze up along the arm, and saw a figure, Song Huaiyin froze for a moment, his heart shrank, and he opened his mouth.
"… Well… "
The man tightly covered Song Huaiyin's mouth with his hands, blocked what he wanted to say, and restrained his struggling limbs.
"Don't make noise, it's me." The man lowered his voice and said to Song Huaiyin.
Suddenly a familiar voice rushed into his ears, Song Huai was startled, and stopped struggling. The man saw that he was quiet, so he let go of him and took his hand off.
In the darkness, Song Huai got up and sat down. He opened his eyes wide and tried hard to see the man's face clearly, but he couldn't see clearly. He could only see that his figure was slim and tall, but he knew that this man I haven't seen it, it's just the sound...
"Tao...hua...??" Song Huaiyin whispered in surprise.
"It's me, I'm here." Taohua said warmly.
Song Huaiyin glanced to the side. Mother Song was sleeping soundly, and the movement of the two of them did not wake her up at all. He was relieved, and turned his attention back to Taohua who appeared in human form.
"You... you are not... why are you..." Song Huaiyin still lowered his voice, he wanted to ask Taohua if he was not a tree, how he became a human being now, and why he was here.
Seeing that he was talking hard, Taohua worried that he would wake up his mother from time to time, so with a wave of his hand, he made a sound-proof barrier, and said: "I have cultivated to become an adult, and now I am here to find you."
"Cultivation?" Song Huai felt that the words he heard were mysterious, no, and they were not fantasy. After all, Taohua could talk when he was just a tree. Why was he surprised here when he became a human? Really What a fuss.
"How did you come here?" He changed the question.
"I'm here to look for you. Didn't I agree before that I will come to you someday, and we will be together forever." Taohua took it for granted.
Being together or something... Song Huaiyin felt his face was hot. He obviously thought it was normal when he said it, and he didn't think it was wrong. Why did Taohua always feel very ambiguous when he said it, and people couldn't help but want to think in that direction .
"If you become a human, will there be no peach trees?"
"No, the peach tree is still in place. I made a trick so that ordinary people can't see it." In the eyes of ordinary people, the peach tree will die within ten days.
It was really not a good time to chat at night, Song Huaiyin covered her mouth with her hands, and yawned softly, with tears welling up from the corners of her eyes. At first he was preparing for drowsiness, but now he is really sleepy, but Taohua is still here, so it is hard for him to sleep alone and leave Taohua alone.
Taohua saw that Song Huaiyin was so sleepy that her eyes were half-closed and her voice was a little fuzzy, so she asked Song Huaiyin to sleep first.
"What about you?" Song Huaiyin asked vaguely.
"I don't need to sleep, don't worry." Taohua said.
Song Huaiyin nodded, lay down again and buried herself in the quilt, said good night, closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Taohua looked at Song Huaiyin who showed his sleepy face unsuspectingly, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and said in a low voice: "Good night, sweet dream, my little Yin."
He bowed his head and gently kissed Song Huaiyin on the lips.
Now that I have come to you, I will always be with you in the future, let's talk about the rest tomorrow.
-over
The author has something to say:
It took five days to write this article. I planned to write it more completely, but it will be a lot of words, so I won’t go into details later.
I don't plan to update the short story here, and it may be to fill Yili's hole next, so I don't plan to post it here.