Du Ruo slipped out of bed to look. Jingming had already returned to the room, and the door was closed. I wanted to knock on the door, but I was afraid that he would fall asleep.
It was already dawn, and she was preoccupied with doing housework for a while.
After more than half an hour, Jing Ming opened the door and came out.
Du Ruo's family doesn't have a special breakfast, and the leftovers from last night will be served on the table for breakfast.
When eating, Du Ruo paid attention to Jingming, he was indeed not energetic, not in high spirits, he looked a little tired, and his face was not good-looking. When he didn't speak, Du's mother was even more silent, and the air pressure in the room was low.
He still didn't realize it.
After breakfast, he put down his chopsticks and said he was going to sleep in the cage, and then went back to the room.
Mother Du nervously asked Du Ruo what happened to him.
Du Ruo frowned: "Can you leave him alone?"
Mother Du and grandma went back to the room, quiet as if they didn't exist, for fear of disturbing Jingming's sleep.
After Du Ruo cleaned up the stove, he went out to feed the chickens, tidy up the vegetable garden, and chop up pigweed. When feeding the pigs, she sighed at the fat piglets, and she couldn't kill the pigs for Jingming to eat, and go to the stockade for some mutton later
The house is busy inside and out, the sun has risen to the treetops, and the dark forest turns green at night. Light and shadow shuttle, and birds sing crisply.
Du Ruo looked at the mountain, thought for a while, went back to the house and found a small bamboo basket tied around his waist, and was about to go out with a small sickle.
Passing by the courtyard, Jing Ming opened the door just in time, seeing her like this: "Where are you going?"
"Go pick something up the mountain. Are you going for a walk?"
"good."
The two went out, went around behind the house and walked up the hillside.
Seeing that his complexion was still not good, Du Ruo asked, "Did you just fall asleep?"
He gave a vague "hmm".
She hesitated for a moment, then whispered: "Are you not used to it?"
He froze for a moment and said, "No. Don't think too much about it."
"I'm fine, my mother is very nervous. Seeing that you didn't sleep, she didn't sleep well all night either."
Jing Ming fell silent.
"The conditions are a little bit bitter, so you can make do with it."
Jing Ming still didn't answer, and after a long time, he asked, "Living here since childhood, do you feel bitter?"
Du Ruo was stunned by the question, and scratched his head: "I never thought about this question. I'm used to it." He chuckled and said, "Look more at the treetops, maybe you will meet a little squirrel."
Jing Ming raised his head when he heard the words.
In the mountains in the morning, the air is moist and fresh. The golden sunlight sprinkled down from the tall pine and beech trees, cutting beams of light in the forest, and the fine dust and water vapor floated like a dream.
Under the sun, the green leaves are as green as emeralds, as if they can drip water. The world is extremely quiet, the birds are jumping and chirping among the branches; the little squirrels are wagging their big tails and running around, rustling.
Jing Ming's eyes slowly fell - Du Ruo was one meter away in front, wearing local national costumes, loose white embroidered blouse and cloth pants, revealing slender wrists and ankles.
He walked behind her all the way, I don't know if it was because of the mountains or what, gradually, his tiredness dissipated.
Du Ruo went to a tree and squatted down, and pushed aside the thick dead leaves and pine needles on the ground with his hands, a clump of fat matsutake emerged. She carefully removed it with a small sickle.
Jing Ming squatted aside to watch, wondering: "How do you know there is one down here?"
"I picked them here a few years ago." Du Ruo put the fat matsutake into a small bamboo basket, and covered the hole on the ground with fallen leaves. "Protect its roots, and it will grow again next year."
Jingming took out the matsutake from the basket and looked at it. It was soft and tender, and still very moist. It felt good to the touch, so he pinched it with his nails.
Du Ruo: "Chicken, duck, and fish are no match. But the wild mushrooms in the mountains, you can't find better in other places... Hey, why are you pinching them?!" He snatched them and stuffed them into a small basket for protection.
Jing Ming: "Cut. In the end, I was eaten."
Du Ruobai glanced at him and continued to look for mushrooms. Xu Shi was in a good mood and walked briskly.
Jing Ming glanced at her back, and unconsciously bent the corner of his lower lip.
She digs under this tree, digs under that tree, and soon the small bamboo basket is filled: "This is also matsutake. This is boletus, blue head mushroom, chicken fir, chanterelle..."
Jingming's brain hurts: "I'll go. Mushroom is in a meeting, do you know everyone's name?"
Du Ruo: "Growing up here, how can I not know?"
Jing Ming: "You are a little girl picking mushrooms, you are carrying a small bamboo basket, and you are short of bare feet."
Du Ruo let out a chuckle.
When the basket is full, go down the mountain.
Du Ruo said: "Go back and take another road, show you the terraced fields in the mountains, okay?"
Jing Ming said, "Okay."
Chattering voices came from the mountain path, and a group of children with schoolbags walked by, looking curiously at Jingming, a foreigner.
Du Ruo smiled: "Go to school."
"Yes."
Among them was a little girl with big eyes, dark skin, a little shy, wearing the same small white embroidered blouse and cloth pants as Du Ruo.
Jing Ming took another look at her and asked, "You were like this when you were young?"
Du Ruo: "Almost."
Jing Ming: "What nationality are you?"
Du Ruo: "The Bai people."
Jing Ming: "Patriarch Bai is so black?"
Du Ruo immediately gouged him out: "Poison you with mushrooms!"
He heheed, and asked again: "Why are you carrying a schoolbag and a bamboo basket?"
"Picking pig vegetables on the way to and from school."
After walking out for a while, the field of vision widened. Large and small terraced fields are spread all over the mountains, and the green in the mountains ranges from light to deep, with touches of yellow, orange and red mixed in, gorgeous and colorful. Scattered small lakes are like pieces of broken mirrors.
Farmers are working in the fields wearing bamboo hats. The boys and girls sang folk songs, the melodious voice echoed in the sunny mountain forest.
Du Ruo walked on the field ridge with a small sickle behind his back, humming a song involuntarily while walking,
"The mountains and rivers are beautiful and the sun is high, it's good, the wind is blowing, the little boat is coming, it is shaking all the way, for the sake of the sweetheart, get up early..."
Jing Ming listened to her singing a thin tune, watched her ponytail dangling on the back of her head, and the sun dyed her thin hair golden.
His heart suddenly became quiet, and there was no sound.
But after a while, I heard her sing the second verse: "For that sweetheart, why can't I sleep..."
"..." Jing Ming plucked his eyebrows, and couldn't help complaining, "I'll go, your folk songs are really flirty."
Du Ruo turned around and kicked. He reacted very quickly and took a step back.
She didn't kick, gave him a white look, and continued walking.
After passing a field, the busy woman raised her head and said with a smile, "Chun Ya is back?"
"Well, I came back last night."
Jing Ming looked at the woman, in her thirties, with a baby on her back, and two older ones playing on the ridge of the field.
"How is Auntie?"
"Okay, no big problem."
"How long are you staying this time?"
"One week."
"Go to my house for dinner."
"It's time to go."
Chat for a while and leave.
The woman looked at Jing Ming curiously, turned her head to comfort the crying child on her back, then lowered her head and continued to work.
After walking away, Du Ruo said, "That was my elementary school classmate just now."
Jing Ming didn't believe it: "I think she's over thirty."
"Exaggeration! She's the same age as me. She's very smart, but her family is poor. After elementary school, she doesn't go to school to help the family." She said with emotion, "So I am very grateful to my uncles and aunts, otherwise I would be like them .”
Jing Ming was silent for a moment, and asked, "How do you know that they are not happy?"
Du Ruo was taken aback, then smiled and said, "That's right. But, I'm different from them. I've seen the outside world, and I can't come back. I'm stuck in the same place after seeing better scenery, and I'm bound to lose my mind." Will be willing."
What she said made him feel deeply at this stage, and said: "Yes.... I like this place very much, but it seems that I can't live here for the rest of my life."
She glanced at him and said with a smile: "Your situation is different from mine. You are born to belong to a wider world."
She found a ridge on the terraced fields and sat down anywhere.
He sat down after him, looked at the open world, and said, "It's not easy for you. No wonder my parents always praise you."
"It's okay." She smiled and looked at the boundless terraced fields and mountains, and said, "Look at the mountains and the sky here. When I was very young, they were like this. It hasn't changed now, it seems eternal. In front of nature , human beings are very small, and any pain and bitterness are not worth mentioning."
Jing Ming: "It seems that philosophers are easy to come out of your family."
"..." Du Ruo snorted, "Your family is prone to sarcasm!"
The two sat in the mountains for a long time, chatting with the wind blowing, and walked home watching the scenery all the way.
Du Ruo stewed the lamb chops bought from the stockade, washed and sliced the picked mushrooms, boiled half to make clear soup, and stir-fried the half with ginger, garlic and chili peppers, then picked loofah cucumbers and pea tips from the vegetable garden, fried A few side dishes.
Served on the table, the fragrance is tangy, full of the breath of the mountains. The freshest mountain game is beyond the reach of the city.
Du Ruo asked, "Is it delicious?"
Jingming nodded.
She breathed a sigh of relief: "You finally said it was delicious."
Jingming: "When did I say it's not tasty?"
"I made you a sandwich last time, and you said it was okay." She silently ate the rice.
"Are you still holding grudges?" The corners of his lips curled down.
She raised an eyebrow.
He looked refreshed, and Mother Du breathed a sigh of relief.
Halfway through eating, he found that Du's mother almost only ate vegetables, so he put a bunch of mushrooms and lamb chops into her bowl.
Mother Du was flattered, and murmured: "You eat by yourself—"
Du Ruo: "Eat it as soon as I give it to you, don't grind it."
Mother Du obediently ate her food.
Jing Ming's appetite for this meal was very good, and he ate all the dishes Du Ruo cooked, and finally said: "I still want to eat that fat mushroom tomorrow."
Du Ruo: "..."
In the afternoon, Du Ruo sat in the yard breaking corn cobs, and Jing Ming followed her.
Du Ruo said, "Don't do it, your hands will hurt later."
Jing Ming snorted disdainfully and ignored her.
As a result, after tossing all afternoon, his hands were red, hot and spicy.
Du Ruo smiled and said, "It deserves it."
The day passed leisurely like this.
Du Ruo took the dustpan containing the corn kernels back to the stove house, and came out to clean with the broom, but saw grandma sitting on the small bench in front of the door, Jing Ming squatting in front of her, holding a piece of cloud cake in his hand, peeling off a small piece of cake to grandma. After grandma finished eating slowly with her mouth in her mouth, she peeled off another slice and gave it to her. The stooped and thin old man was chattering, Jingming couldn't understand, but he answered patiently and talked to her.
Du Ruo pursed her lips into a smile, and quietly retreated.
Before going to bed at night, Du Ruo cleaned the house, washed the clothes and hung them on the line. Jing Ming walked over suddenly and asked, "Is there a doctor in the village?"
She stretched the clothes on the clothesline, and said in surprise, "Your hand still hurts?"
He shook his head.
"What's the matter?"
"It's nothing." Jing Ming said, he took a few steps, he was really embarrassed, and then backed away, "I want to prescribe some medicine to help sleep."
Du Ruo was taken aback: "Huh?"
"I was in a hurry when I came here, and I forgot to bring it."
"You mean... sleeping pills?"
"Um."
Du Ruo was stunned for a second or two, and when she came back to her senses, she didn't show any emotion, wiped her hands, and said, "If you have a doctor, I'll get you the medicine."
"I'm with you."
"No need. The road in Tianhei Mountain is not easy to walk. I can go faster by myself."
In the dark night, the village fell on the mountainside like a river of stars. Du Ruo walked down the mountain quickly, with a heart pounding in his chest.
The grandfather at the pharmacy thought she was taking it, and told him: "It's not that you can't sleep, try not to take it."
Du Ruo nodded, took the medicine and quickly returned, and ran to the door of the house, where Jing Ming sat on the stone steps and waited for her.
"What are you running for?"
"Go in and go to bed early." Du Ruo entered the room, took a cup and poured water, and brought it to him.
Jing Ming took the pill and looked at it: "What brand of medicine is this?"
Du Ruo was stopped by the question: "Anyway, it was prescribed by the doctor."
Jingming looked at her: "You won't poison me to death?"
"..." Du Ruo said, "Poison you to death."
He smiled, put the pill in his mouth, and took it with water. She took the cup and was ready to go.
Jing Ming: "Don't go yet."
"Um?"
"I still can't sleep for a while. Chat with me for a while."
Du Ruo looked out the door, and found that both mother and grandmother were asleep.
She put down the glass, sat cross-legged on the bed, separated from him by the hazy mosquito net: "What are you talking about?"
Jingming lay down and closed his eyes: "Talk about anything, you are only allowed to leave when I fall asleep."
Du Ruo muttered: "I'm not your maid." Then he said, "How long does it take to fall asleep after taking medicine?"
Jing Ming: "It depends on the amount of medicine and your mood. Ten minutes to half an hour." He opened his eyes, "Can't sit still?"
"No." Du Ruo said, scratching her calf, and there were mosquitoes flying around her.
Jing Ming stared at her for a while, then sat up suddenly, picked up the mosquito net and wrapped it around her head, and the mosquito net flew, engulfing her into the net.
Du Ruo's face became hot instantly, and the two sat facing each other, his face was so close, she wanted to get out: "I'll sit outside..."
"Feed the mosquitoes?" He pulled up the mosquito net, lay down again, and closed his eyes, which slightly relieved her feeling of embarrassment.
He lazily said, "I won't eat you again."
She blushed and lowered her head to pick at the bed sheet without making a sound.
In the small space covered by the white mosquito net, she was sitting cross-legged, and he was lying flat.
Night, quiet and quiet. It seems that I can hear the insects in the forest outside the window.
No one spoke in the room for a long time, and he lazily said again: "I saw the stars last night, you said before, like sprinkled with silver powder. That's right."
"How does it compare to New Zealand?"
"Not inferior."
"I don't believe it."
"real."
She smiled slightly.
He whispered again: "I couldn't sleep yesterday, I thought about a lot of problems."
"what is the problem?"
"Leaving at the beginning seemed to be a wrong choice." He said without further words.
I was too proud, too fragile, and refused to face it.
And if I let you stay by my side at the beginning, you were all there, maybe it would not have been delayed for six years.
His chest rose and fell slightly, eyes closed, his hand moved over, and his index finger hooked her little finger.
Her heart beat lightly in the night in the mountains.
She clicked and stroked his index finger gently.
"By the way, why is your mother so afraid of my appearance?"
"She has always been timid and treats your family as a benefactor, so she is restrained and fearful." She said, curling her lips, "You came to my house when you were 14 years old and refused to enter, eat, or even drink water. She was quite afraid of you then."
Jing Ming opened his eyes: "Is there?"
"Yes, I have!"
"Why don't I remember?"
"Who knows about you?" Du Ruo rolled his eyes and said again, "Why haven't you fallen asleep yet?"
"The effect of the medicine is slow." He closed his eyes and complained, "I said there is something wrong with your medicine. Maybe it's for diarrhea."
Du Ruo: "..." I kind of wanted to kick him to death.
She continued to complain: "The reporter who was interviewing at that time asked me to send you flowers, but you gave me a hard look."
Jing Ming: "Impossible."
"It's true!"
Jing Ming thought for a few seconds and said, "It seems possible."
Du Ruo: "..."
He frowned: "Aren't you stupid? What are you doing to send flowers.... Did the flowers be given to me in the end?"
"..." Du Ruo was speechless, "Of course it didn't happen."
"It's more like me."
Du Ruo: "..."
"You didn't talk to me at that time, you only knew how to play with your mobile phone. But... do you remember, you gave me an orange-flavored fruit hard candy. After it slowly melted in your mouth, there was still a filling inside ! I've never had that kind of candy."
For a while, no one responded.
She looked at Jingming intently, his eyes were closed, breathing evenly and slowly. Fell asleep.
His sleeping face has an unseen weakness. Her heart softened inexplicably.
She approached quietly, carefully looking at his full forehead, thick eyebrows, high nose bridge, and thin red lips. The mandible is sharp and angular, with green stubble appearing faintly.
How did the boy back then really turn into a man overnight
She stretched out her left hand, flicked her fingers in front of him, cast a spell, and prayed that he would have no nightmares and sleep peacefully at night.
When it was over, he carefully pulled out his right hand hooked by him, got out of the mosquito net, slipped out of the bed, tiptoely turned off the light, and closed the door.