Her steps suddenly became light, and she walked into the yard in the moonlight, down a few uneven stone steps, and onto the ridge of the field. Accompanied by the chirping of insects, she stepped on the green grass all the way down. The moonlight fell on her body, casting her shadow on the field. She was wearing sneakers, and she walked so fast and so lightly, but Ai Jingchu still found her before she was halfway there.
"Zeng Li?"
She didn't answer him, but instead said, "Ai Jingchu!" She said these three words at a normal volume, but she didn't expect them to sound so loud and long in such a quiet night. She was startled by her own voice, but after a moment, she felt fresh again, so she raised her voice a little and repeated, "Ai Jingchu."
Noticing her playfulness, he called back, "Zeng Li."
"Ai Jingchu."
"Zeng Li."
"Ai Jingchu."
"Zeng Li."
"Ai Jingchu."
"Zeng Li."
The distance between them gradually narrowed. Finally, she stood on the one-meter-high ridge of the field, and he waited below. In the night, he looked up, his body full of moonlight, his eyebrows and eyes were like a painting.
Zeng Li looked at him and couldn't help but smile. His voice weakened and he called softly, "Ai Jingchu."
He didn't answer her this time, but opened his arms and said, "I'll pick you up."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zeng Li and her heart fell heavily into his arms.
"What are you doing instead of sleeping?" Zeng Li asked.
"Then what are you doing?" he asked her.
"I can't sleep," she replied.
"I can't sleep either." He copied her.
"You're starting to get frivolous," she said.
He laughed.
The temperature dropped a lot at night. Ai Jingchu was afraid that she would catch a cold, so they got back in the car together.
"When we go back this time, let's make an appointment to invite your mother to our house for dinner," he said.
"Home?"
"My home," he replied.
"That's not a good idea." Zeng Li backed down in his heart.
"Why is it bad?"
"You know my mother's temper..."
"How would I know? I just know that the soup she makes is delicious." He didn't dare to say anything bad about his mother-in-law behind her back.
"Is it delicious? I think it's just so-so."
"It tastes good." At this point, he seemed to be savoring the taste, and suddenly added, "It tastes like my mother's."
Suddenly, Zeng Li understood Ai Jingchu's strange behavior at that time, as well as the layers of meaning behind this sentence. She felt a little sad and reached out to hold his hand. She didn't know what to say, so she just held him tightly and quietly.
Ai Jingchu's mother did not die, but she truly abandoned him. He only said that he was a posthumous child and an orphan without a father or a mother. He sympathized with Ma Xiaobing, a lonely child, not without his own reasons.
"I want to hear about your childhood." Zeng Li said.
"When I was a child, I always thought that if I did everything the best and the most outstanding, she might regret it and come to take me away. But no, never, no news. I didn't dare to ask others where she was or where she went. Later, I went to Philadelphia to study for her, and I couldn't wait to find her. At that time, she had married someone, had children, and opened a small jewelry store. I entered her store and found that she didn't recognize me. She hardly looked at me. I looked so much like her, but she didn't recognize me."
Hearing what he said, she suddenly understood the feeling of trying hard to prove herself to someone, but in the end she found out that she was so insignificant, as if she had never appeared in her life. Was it frustration? Despair? Or hatred
He said: "This is the first time I have said these words to anyone. I dare not mention it to my family, for fear of hurting their feelings. I have nothing to say to other colleagues and friends."
"Then you must tell me everything from now on, don't keep it in your heart." Zeng Li stared at him.
"Um."
"OK?"
"good."
After a while, he recalled: "I went there again. She asked me if I wanted to pick a gift. I said I wanted to buy a piece of jewelry for a very important woman in my life. Then she chose a ring for me. After paying, I left the box on the counter and didn't take it away. She thought I forgot to bring it, so she chased me to the street and returned the thing to me."
"What happened next?" Zeng Li asked.
“I never went there again,” he said.
After that, he picked up the lighter, took a cigarette out of the box, opened the car door, got out of the car alone, and walked to the side to light up. Zeng Li saw that he was in a bad mood, so he also took a cigarette from the cigarette box, got out of the car and walked closer to him.
He had just lit up the cigarette when Zeng Li came over and whispered, "I want a lighter, too."
Seeing this, Ai Jingchu was a little annoyed, "I told you not to smoke."
"Then you are not allowed to smoke either." She argued.
"I am a man."
"Men and women are equal," she retorted.
"Can this be equal?" The patriarchal ideology began to be fully exposed.
"Why not?" She snatched the lighter and lit it for herself.
She had never been so bold in her life to show her bad habits. But when she really lit the cigarette, under Ai Jingchu's gaze, she couldn't continue.
Ai Jingchu didn't say anything else, nor did he stop her.
She also calmed down, looking at the flickering flames at her fingertips, and suddenly said, "When I felt sad before, I wanted to find something to distract myself, so I thought that smoking a cigarette or drinking a little wine would make things better when I was in a bad mood."
"Let's quit, together." He took the cigarette from her hand, put it together with his own, and put it out.
"You don't smoke anymore?"
"No more."
"What do you do when you want to smoke? Eat sunflower seeds?"
"When I want to smoke, just kiss me."
"I want to smoke?"
"Then let me kiss you." He answered seriously.
Zeng Li really wanted to roll his eyes at him. This guy was actually quite good at taking advantage of others.
The two stood outside for a while, then got back into the car out of the cold.
"Why didn't you sleep just now?" Zeng Li regained his curiosity.
"Ma Fugui's snoring is too loud." Ai Jingchu said, "I was planning to take a nap in the car."
"Isn't it because there are strange things in the house?" she asked tentatively.
"What strange thing?" he wondered.
"Nothing," she said.
"Remember to make an appointment with your mother." Ai Jingchu returned to the original topic.
"Are you serious?" she asked.
"you are not?"
"That's not what I meant." Zeng Li explained.
He didn't say anything else. Zeng Li thought he was in a bad mood, but after a while, he said, "Because of my parents, I have always been very cautious about relationships." He paused, "After I knew about your relationship with Yu Yi, I backed off, but then I found that I couldn't stop my true heart no matter what, so I chose to obey this feeling. Zeng Li, do you remember that I said I wanted to take your heart?" As he spoke, he pointed to the position of her heart with his fingertips, and then pointed to himself, "That's because my true heart is no longer here. If you can't give me your heart, I will live like a walking corpse."
"I'm not very good at saying nice things, nor do I know how to coax people or give them flowers or gifts. I have never believed in ghosts, gods or Buddhas, but I swear at this moment that I will always treat you well in my life and never let you suffer the slightest injustice."
Ai Jingchu spoke quietly, plainly and calmly, but the emotion behind the words made Zeng Li burst into tears. Her tears fell one by one, and she couldn't help but turn sideways, wrap her arms around his neck, and hug him tightly, "When I fall in love with someone, I will cling to him, I will stick to him, I will want to be with him 24 hours a day, will you find me annoying in the future?"
"I don't mind if you come to the hospital every day to accompany me. Or," he said, "if you take my postgraduate entrance exam, I won't let you graduate until I retire."
"Hate!"
When it was almost dawn, it suddenly started to rain heavily. When they returned to Ma Fugui's yard, they found that everyone except the children had gotten up, fetching water and cooking. They didn't think Zeng Li and Ai Jingchu had stayed in the car for half the night, they just thought that the two got up early, went out for a walk, and came back when they saw it was raining.
After breakfast, the rain got heavier and heavier, and the whole yard was filled with mud and water.
Ai Jingchu and Ma Fugui took Ma Xiaobing back to see Lao Ma and brought him food. Because the road was muddy, Zeng Li was left at home by Ai Jingchu.
It was raining heavily and she couldn't go out to do farm work. Ma Fugui's wife sat under the eaves and helped her mother-in-law weave bamboo baskets. Zeng Li wanted to go back to the room where the old lady lived and take out the underwear she had changed yesterday. But the other three people in the room were there, and she didn't dare to get close to the coffin alone, nor did she dare to confirm whether it was a real coffin.
Seeing Zeng Li fidgeting, Ma Fugui's wife thought she was worried that Ai Jingchu would be gone for a long time, so she consoled her, "It's okay, he won't be gone for long, you can still make it back to the city in time."
Not long after he said this, the production team leader from yesterday came to Ma Fugui's house to deliver a message, saying that the road at the entrance of the village had collapsed due to heavy rain, and they would definitely not be able to get through today.
"Is there no other way?" Zeng Li asked.
"Gone."
Upon hearing these two words, the first thing Zeng Li thought of was not what to do at work tomorrow, but rather - do I have to sleep next to the coffin tonight
When Ma Fugui's wife heard the news, she didn't care. While comforting Zeng Li, she warmly asked them to stay. Then she took off the apron she used to weave the bamboo basket and got up to go back to the house.
Zeng Li keenly caught the direction she was going and asked hurriedly: "Where are you going, sister-in-law?"
"I'm going to get something from his grandmother's room."
"I'm going too." Zeng Li hurriedly followed.
When I pushed open the door to the old lady's room, although it was daytime, they didn't like to turn on the lights, so the lighting was not good and it was still pitch dark. The coffin was still placed prominently beside the bed.
Zeng Li quickly walked around it and went to get his things from under the pillow, but Ma Fugui's wife went straight to the coffin. She pushed it gently, and the coffin lid opened, revealing a large gap. If Ma Fugui's wife hadn't been standing there, Zeng Li would have rushed out.
Ma Fugui's wife noticed Zeng Li's abnormality, so she said, "I'll pick some soybeans and cook them for you to eat at noon, so that you don't have to worry about having too many dishes."
“Is this for soybeans?”
"Sister, don't mind it. This is the coffin prepared for his grandmother." Ma Fugui's wife explained.
Only after she told him everything did Zeng Li understand.
It turns out that there is such a custom in the local area that before the elderly die, the coffin and shroud must be prepared. There is no taboo about talking about this matter, nor is there a taboo about keeping them at home. Sometimes they are kept for more than ten or twenty years before being used, and after being looked at for a long time, they become like furniture.
"This cypress wood is insect-proof and moisture-proof, so we can put some things in it," said Ma Fugui's wife.
"Aren't you disgusted by this, Auntie?"
"His grandmother's original words were: This is just like when someone is going on a long journey, they prepare shoes and socks in advance."
At noon, Ai Jingchu and his friends came back. He was soaked, with mud all over his calves. Zeng Li couldn't help laughing at his miserable appearance. Fortunately, he had some clothes in the car, so he quickly took them out and changed into a new set.
Perhaps because of Zeng Li's reaction, Ma Fugui's wife didn't turn the soybeans into a dish after all, but fried peanuts instead. Remembering that Ai Jingchu didn't eat peanuts, Zeng Li put the bowl of peanuts far away from him when he helped serve the dishes.
While the host wasn't paying attention, Ai Jingchu quietly asked Zeng Li: "How do you know I don't eat peanuts?"
She suppressed her laughter and answered seriously, "I am very smart."
Ai Jingchu thought about it for a long time but couldn't remember when he told her.
Later, she asked curiously, "Why don't you eat peanuts?"
He glanced at her and asked, "Can you count on your fingers?"
“…” He really will avenge his grudge.
Just after dinner, Zeng Li found a brush and carefully brushed the mud off his clothes and shoes.
Ai Jingchu was also busy. The news that a famous doctor from a big city had come to Ma Fugui's house spread quickly, and some villagers even brought their children to see Ai Jingchu.
After finishing the work at hand, Zeng Li, who had not slept for half the night yesterday, only began to feel sleepy at this moment.
She stood at the door of the old lady's room, thought for a moment, leaned half of her body in, fumbled on the wall for a long time to find the lamp cord, turned on the light, and hesitantly stepped in.
Zeng Li looked at the coffin and slowly moved forward, one step, two steps, three steps, four steps... until he could not get any closer. Ma Fugui's wife had just opened the coffin lid and forgot to close it. She stood in front of it, not daring to look inside, but even standing there, she seemed to be able to smell the scent of cypress coming through the gap.
This is just the shoes and socks I prepared for myself before going on a long journey.
She was suddenly moved by the simplicity and open-mindedness in these words.
When Ai Jingchu found Zeng Li, she had already fallen asleep alone in the old lady's bed. Zeng Li had not turned off the light, so he saw the coffin as soon as he entered the room and immediately understood why she couldn't sleep yesterday.
However, she was sleeping so soundly at the moment that she did not notice him walking into the room and sitting at the head of the bed.
It was the first time he saw her sleeping, her long hair spread on the pillow, her lips slightly parted, her front teeth with braces sticking out from the gap between her lips. On her chin, where the stitches had been, there was a faint mark.
Ai Jingchu got up and went back to the door, turned off the light, and sat back at the head of the bed.
The rain was still falling, tinkling on the tiles. He stayed with her silently, and after an unknown amount of time, she woke up.
"Why are you here?" she asked, still sleepy.
"I'm afraid you'll be scared."
Hearing his words, Zeng Li looked towards the coffin, and after a moment, he replied, "I'm not afraid."
He smiled and patted her head.
She stretched out her hand, placed it in front of him, frowned and said, "My hand hurts."
Probably because it was raining and the house was close to the mountain, the humidity was high, and the finger with the ganglion cyst was feeling sore and swollen. In the past, she had just gritted her teeth and endured it, but this was the first time she had taken advantage of this to act like a spoiled child in front of others.
Ai Jingchu enjoyed it very much. He took her hand in his own and kneaded it gently.
She felt very comfortable and said, "I want to sleep again."
"Then go to sleep."
"Sing a song for me first." she said softly.
"Here we go again." Ai Jingchu knew that she was bringing up something irrelevant.
"Sing, sing, sing." She became more and more courageous, so she was not afraid of him at all.
He saw her lying on the bed, with her head tilted back, acting coquettishly, and exuding an infinitely attractive spring light. He couldn't help but be moved and leaned over to kiss her. However, when their lips touched, the soft feeling suddenly disappeared.
"What for?" Zeng Li asked.
"Why are you wearing braces for no reason?" The taste is terrible.
"Didn't you make this for me?" she said.
"… "
This is a case of what it means to get what you deserve.