ferry

"Ah Ran, come with me to my grandma's house next week. The sweet and sour short ribs made by her old man are delicious. Don't you like sweet food? There is a dessert shop on Jiujiang Road. I can't remember the name clearly. I'm sure you'd like the chocolate ice cream. It's just—"

"do not move."

Zhou Si immediately shut his mouth obediently, holding his breath and not daring to move.

Ye Ran suddenly slapped Zhou Si on the forehead, and proudly spread out his hand, showing him the pool of red in his palm.

"It's cool to be cool in the yard at night, but there are many mosquitoes, or the big poisonous mosquitoes. I killed three or four of them." Ye Ran jumped off the bamboo bed, ran into the main room, and scooped up some mosquitoes from the water tank. With a ladle of water, he washed away the blood on his palm, splashed the rest on his face, and wiped it carelessly.

"It feels so good to lie in your yard blowing the night breeze and look at the stars." Zhou Si stretched comfortably.

Ye Ran returned to the bamboo bed, lay down and turned over, facing Zhou Si and asked, "How did you spend your summer vacation in the past?"

"I was sent to a messy place by my dad, such as forests, deserts, deserted islands full of bird feces, etc. I was in the army for a year, so I remembered to train with weights."

Zhou Si thought for a while, and then added: "It's been the last two or three years. When I was younger, I also went to the Olympiad class and was forced by my mother to practice the violin."

"And you, what do you do?"

"Read the novels under the bed of Mom and Dad, go fishing with Xiao Xiangzi to catch lobsters and eels in the river, and sometimes touch some snails and sell them in the town." Ye Ran counted on his fingers, "That's all , seems to be nothing else."

Zhou Si said: "Why don't you take me to go fishing for lobsters tomorrow."

Ye Ran nodded: "Just go to Qingzhou River, the water there is not very urgent, just walk for ten minutes along the field ridge after leaving my house."

The evening breeze kissed the child's forehead lightly, and the two little heads got together, discussing tomorrow's shrimp fishing trip with great interest.

Although there are still a few days away from Xiaoshu, the afternoon sun in the countryside is already a bit vicious.Ye Ran pulled a handful of weeds from the edge of the field, handed some to Zhou Si, and put the rest in his pocket.He twisted one, put the root of the grass in his mouth, chewed it, and said to Zhou Si: "This is milk grass, you have to taste it, it's sweet and sour, it's delicious."

Zhou Si imitated Ye Ran, and sure enough, a sweet and sour liquid spread in his mouth.

"Grandma said that there are water ghosts in the lake in front, and they like to play with children. Some children were swimming in the water, but they were dragged by the water ghosts and drowned alive."

"Even if you play on the shore, you have to be careful. The water ghost will climb up and drag the children into the water to play with it."

"The adults made up these stories to scare you children. There are no water ghosts." Zhou Si chewed the root of the milk grass, shaking his head in disbelief.

Ye Ran said: "My mother said this, which means that children were really drowned in the lake. I am timid and never dare to approach the lake."

"You don't have the spirit of adventure at all, what's the point of living in fear." Zhou Si sneered.

Ye Ran said honestly: "It's good to be alive. In the future, I can let my parents move into a house in the city and have a job in an office building. That's my wish."

"How old are you, how come you look like a grandpa in his seventies and eighties."

Ye Ran lowered his head and looked at his toes: "I don't know, maybe it's because I read too many novels under the bed of my parents, and I always feel that the good things in the world are always exchanged for other things that I cherish. In this case, I will No more."

Hearing Ye Ran's words, Zhou Si felt a little empty for no reason, as if the hydrogen balloon that had risen into the clear sky was roaming the sky, and was suddenly deflated.

The two were taking off their undershirts and were about to go into the river, but they saw an unusual scene by the pond ahead.It turned out to be a young woman in a floral blouse, with disheveled hair, arguing with an old woman in her fifties.The young woman looked about 30 years old, and she was pulling a pair of slippers, but her hair was already gray.Although her complexion was sallow, she could still see some of the beauty she had when she was a girl, but her face was sharp, as if the resentment accumulated for several lifetimes was poured out at the old woman.

The old woman was not to be outdone, she put her left hand on her hip, and poked the young woman's nose with her right hand, spitting dirty words from her mouth, scolding her, she simply grabbed the young woman's gray hair with her hands, and slapped her mercilessly.Rao the old woman is not weak, after all she has been at a disadvantage compared to the young woman for twenty years. Seeing that the young woman was hurt by the beating, she pushed her with both hands, and the old woman staggered and rolled from the ridge of the field into the pond , The poultry in the pond, which were paddling freely, flapped their wings and ran around in chaos.

The old woman was a landlubber, so she fell into the water and desperately called for help, but during the scorching sun, the farmers went to the fields with hoes to do farm work before dawn, and the rest of the old, weak, sick and disabled were enjoying the shade under the trees in the yard at home. Xin Xin ran out to walk on the ridge under the sun.So the old woman was pouring water in the pond, and her angry cry gradually became weaker.

"Do you know the people nearby? We have to find someone quickly, otherwise this aunt may not last long." Zhou Si said, dragging Ye Ran and going to the ridge to find helpers.

Ye Ran followed Zhou Si and got down the ridge, but he was not in a hurry to go door to door to find familiar adults, he just held Zhou Si backhand and walked towards his home.

"We don't care about other people's business."

"Don't you usually like to meddle in things?"

"The younger one is the daughter-in-law of a mason surnamed Zhang in our village. She is remarried and is not welcomed by her mother-in-law. Once her mother-in-law was drunk and locked her out in the middle of the night, saying yes. Irregularity. Her hometown is Sichuan, and she is unfamiliar with the place and has nowhere to go, so she stood there for the whole night, almost freezing to death."

Ye Ran sighed as he spoke, "There are many other things, I can't tell you all at once. You see, she is about the same age as my grandma. When she first got married, she was tied with a big black and shiny braid. Grandma said that she is the most beautiful bride in the village, but now, after living in the Zhang family for several years, her hair has turned white."

"This mother-in-law is evil, and her daughter-in-law killed her by mistake, and it is also predestined."

Ye Ran turned his head and saw Zhou Si's eyes as if he was sizing up a stranger, and said with a smile: "I think the sun is too poisonous these days, otherwise it would be hard for you to go to the police station? By the way, also report that I will die."

Zhou Si said: "I'm not like you. I'm here as a young boss. I've seen a lot of the abuse of this daughter-in-law, and I feel 12 sympathy for her. I only know that poor people must have something to hate. What she did in the dark , may not be able to see the light. Wipe your tears in all directions and sell yourself miserably, and you will all say that it is her mother-in-law's sin. The big guys only know that the mother-in-law is not easy to get along with, but they don't know what kind of person the daughter-in-law is. "

"It's too late to call someone now." Zhou Si smiled, "I just realized today that you are not actually a saint, and you also have selfish intentions."

Zhou Si stayed in County W for about a week before being taken to his grandmother's house in City S by his mother Wang Nian. It was already the end of the summer vacation when he came back. Silent.

At the beginning of the new semester, it seems that after a long time, Ye Ran saw Zhou Si again. From a distance, he looked like a green bamboo. When he got closer, he found that his head had changed a little, and his T-shirt was covered by the morning light. The cool wind blew against his skin, and he had big broad shoulders, and his waist became more and more thin, just like a boy who is about to stretch his joints.

"Look, it's not very long." Zhou Si reached out his hand to the hair on the top of Ye Ran's head, and then compared it to himself. Seeing that Ye Ran had just reached the bridge of his nose, he couldn't help saying proudly.

Ye Ran already had to raise his head slightly to meet Zhou Si's eyes.He tilted his head and said earnestly: "No hurry, no hurry, grandma said that boys develop slowly, and I am younger than you, so I will grow up sooner or later."

Zhou Si stuffed the boxed pure milk into Ye Ran's arms, and said: "I stayed at your house for a few days during the summer vacation, and I saw you drinking it all day long hahaha. That thing is not nutritious, you have to drink milk, otherwise you will grow old." not tall."

He thought for a while, and couldn't help but said again: "Play basketball with me in the future. You just stare at the book all day long, or you just do math problems. I see you are almost pronouncing Ye Daiyu. After running 1000 meters, you will be out of breath." Like a pug."

"I don't like the taste of milk."

"Pinch your nose, and take a sip of Chinese medicine."

"I can't play basketball."

"Can you shoot the ball? Then you can play basketball."

Zhou Si had a look of hating iron but not steel: "Ye Ran, Ye Ran, why are you so squeamish, you are more troublesome than my cousins."

Ye Ran slandered, who made you love being an old lady, it's annoying.

In October of the lunar calendar, rice enters the warehouse, and the busy farming has come to an end. The farmers in the village are finally free and start making winter wine.Some people use herbs to make wine, which has names such as Qiulubai, Gubiqing, and Zhuyeqing.Ye Ran's home brewing recipe is the Sanbai wine that Du Jieying's mother used to drink. It is made from three raw materials: white glutinous rice, white flour koji, and white water. It is called "Sanbai" and has an elegant nickname. , called "October White".

This Sunday, Ye Weixin's niece got married, so he took Du Jieying to the banquet, left a few steamed buns, and told Ye Ran to eat the pickles in the kitchen cupboard for lunch and dinner.Ye Ran was doing his weekend homework, but he heard the door being knocked bang, he got off the latch, opened the door and saw that the tall, thin man with a silly grin outside the door was Zhou Si.

"Don't you need to do your homework? Teacher Yang left three papers."

"I finished writing it a long time ago. I feel bored, so I come to play with you. Where are your parents?"

"I went to the wedding. They left me five steamed buns. There is nothing at home to entertain you at noon."

"Let's go to the town to eat, I'll ask Uncle Zhang to pick us up."

"No, Mr. Sun said tomorrow that he will recite "From Baicaoyuan to Sanwei Bookstore", but I haven't recited it yet."

Zhou Si sat on the bench by himself, leaned in front of Ye Ran, and said, "Then I won't go either. Let's eat steamed buns at noon."

He is usually the most picky about food, Ye Ran eats at the same table with him, and while Du Jieying is at the table serving soup, Zhou Si sticks out his tongue from time to time, complaining to Ye Ran that the dishes are too sweet, and piles up the tops of the bowls tightly. The meatballs, pork tongue, and scallops that Du Jieying picked up for him were put into Ye Ran's bowl.

Another time when he went back to town to eat dumplings, Ye Ran poured some aged vinegar into his own bowl, seeing Zhou Si signaled that he wanted vinegar too, so he squeezed a few drops of vinegar into Zhou Si's bowl.But Zhou Si didn't want to eat it, so he had to use a small oil dish to dip it in vinegar and eat it, accusing Ye Ran of pouring vinegar into the dumplings so that the dumplings and vinegar could not match the best taste.He immediately called the boss to come, and asked for another plate of dumplings, saying that the original one was contaminated by the vinegar poured by Ye Ran, and he couldn't stutter.

Steamed buns served with pickles, Zhou Si must have frowned at the first glance.

"My pickles don't taste good... The steamed buns are also made by Grandma herself. This time I put too much alkali, it may be a bit bitter..."

"...Forget it, I'll ask Uncle Zhang to bring some food." Zhou Si took out a gray-black thing, flipped it open and pressed it a few times.

Ye Ran asked curiously: "What is this? It doesn't look like a big brother."

Zhou Si held the thing in front of Ye Ran as if showing off, and said, "Ruoji 9000, just released, Intel chip, full keyboard."

"Here, let me lend you to play with."

Ye Ran imitated what Zhou Si did just now, opened the fuselage, pressed it a few times, to no avail, and didn't dare to press the keyboard indiscriminately, fearing that Zhou Si would break it and couldn't afford to pay, so he withdrew his hand, back and forth Take a closer look at this thing that is really novel to him.

Zhou Si embraced Ye Ran, put his head on his shoulder, wrapped Ye Ran with one paw and held Ruoji's hand, and said, "Let me teach you. This is to enter, this is to exit, for sending text messages, press Pinyin is enough, this is a full keyboard, which is very convenient.”

Zhou Si's breath lightly brushed past his ears, Ye Ran listened attentively, and didn't pay much attention to it, but Zhou Si himself stared at Ye Ran's side face while talking, and unconsciously became obsessed.

"Ah--" Ye Ran sneezed suddenly, which made Zhou Si's face flushed.In order to hide his gaffe, he withdrew the phone from Ye Ran's hand, and moved to the other side of the bench unnaturally.

Ye Ran was a little bit unsatisfied, but he didn't say anything, instead he thought about what else he could have at home to entertain Ye Ran.

"There's still some Sanbaijiu at home, would you like some? It's rice wine, not high in alcohol."

Zhou Si clenched his right hand into a fist, pressed it to his mouth, coughed dryly, and said, "I also heard from my father that there is a kind of Sanbaijiu in the south, and it tastes quite good."

Ye Ran nodded proudly: "That's right, the rice used to brew Sanbai can only be brewed well if it's grown in the south of us." He pulled on his slippers and ran into the kitchen in the backyard with a heavy hand. The earthenware pot tremblingly came out and placed on the square table, and brought two porcelain bowls.

"Let me pour it, or I'm afraid this wine will have to feed the soil on your ground."

Ye Ran imitated how adults toasted at the wine table in the past, held up the bowl respectfully with both hands, and said to Zhou Si: "I will do it first, you can do whatever you want." Bored with this big bowl of wine.When the boredom was over, he wiped the wine stains from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, and turned the mouth of the bowl towards Zhou Si, looking extremely heroic.

Zhou Si originally wanted to hold back his laughter, but he couldn't, he slapped the table and burst into tears.

"Drink, drink quickly." Ye Ran shook his head, and instructed Zhou Si to fill himself a bowl of wine.

Zhou Si watched Ye Ran's originally white face turn red, and his cheeks flushed, and he knew that this person was a "one-cup" person who could get himself drunk with rice wine.

"Quickly fill me up—" Ye Ran murmured while lying on the table.

Zhou Si couldn't laugh or cry, she was really drunk and unconscious now.He tasted this "October White", and suddenly felt that it was clear and sweet, with a special taste.He is also a heavy drinker, so he started to drink immediately.After a while, Ye Ran, who was still chattering a few drunken words, also lay there and fell asleep obediently.

Zhou Si picked up the bowl, took a sip, saw Ye Ran falling into a deep sleep, thought it was interesting, and didn't have any entertainment, so he couldn't stop looking at the sleeping Ye Ran.

The faces of oriental people are always too flat and look a bit boring, but Ye Ran's jaw line is very linear, but softer and thinner than that of westerners, like a delicate work of art, forming a wonderful picture with the graceful and slender neck.Zhou Si remembered that she followed her mother to visit friends in the Mediterranean area during the winter vacation last year, and saw a clay pot in a private gallery in Naples.In fact, the clay pot itself did not arouse Zhou Si's special interest, but a beautiful sentence was pasted on the wall next to it:

"Frozen in time on the surface of such avase, the fair youth will never grow old, the music of the pipes and lyres will never cease to sound, and the lovers will never cease to love."

At this time, Zhou Si's gaze slowly slid across the side face of the young man in front of him, as if he had seen a stunning collection in the past, lying on the glass of the showcase, and greedily described it in detail as if he wanted to keep it for himself.The objects carefully illuminated by the exhibition hall seemed to be as soft as mist. When he was young, he thought—even if he grew up a little later, he believed that those objects were just woven by craftsmen with skillful hands. dream.

Oh, Ye Ran hasn't grown into a teenager yet, there are still tiny and cute hairs on his skin, and his whole body exudes a warm and sweet milk fragrance.His soul and skin are so wonderful, it made Zhou Si yearn for the first time, and time and space were frozen at this moment. His good friend, sleeping here lightly, provided him with boundless time to explore every place of this treasure. Breathtakingly exquisite.

Zhou Si's atrium seemed to have an unexperienced emotion growing and spreading.

The author has something to say: It’s so boring to be more literary by yourself, if you pass by, if you don’t think it’s disgusting, just bookmark it and go clubbing.In the next chapter, Xiao Zhou's children's shoes will bid farewell to Yejiacun and enter the city