still in the mirror

Brother Qi had a nightmare.

He dreamed of Liu Aimei's huge babu bed. Liu Aimei was sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing dark, colorless clothes, her temples were sunken, her bones were bony, and her face was ashen. Bring the cheongsam here, mom has to change into it and go out."

Seventh Brother was terrified and asked, "What are you doing going out?"

"Your fourth uncle introduced a gentleman to me, and I'm going on a blind date."

Seventh brother was afraid and angry, and shouted: "Uncle Si didn't want me, so he introduced you to someone else! You wear that nice clothes just to find someone, and then send me out! You are too bad! You have always Never loved me, just thinking about how to get rid of me!"

Liu Aimei's face suddenly blurred, as if she had turned into Liu Ziyu, still wearing the bamboo basket gown, he said: "Uncle misses you so much, but you miss your mother! Why don't you dare to come and see you?" Where's your mother? Don't play in the corridor, come up to see your mother," he suddenly lowered his voice, "your mother is going to die..."

Seventh brother woke up suddenly, opened his eyes, and what came into view was a thin egg-colored gauze curtain and a sandalwood bed top.

"What's the matter?" A deep voice came into my ears, "Did you have a nightmare?" A person came over with a medicine bowl, wiped the sweat off Brother Seven's neck with a silk handkerchief, and said, "Let them change a goose dish later." Pear fragrance."

Brother Qi was still awake, and suddenly murmured in a hoarse voice: "I dreamed of my mother..."

The man asked, "Oh? Really?"

Seventh brother heard the sound and looked, this man was wearing a black long gown, he looked cold, he could not tell his age, he might be in his early twenties, he had a female face, a straight nose, his bones were as thin as polished jade, and his hair was parted in four or six parts. A few strands hang down on the forehead, the eyebrows are long and neat, and there are a pair of cold clear water eyes under them, the water shines on the eyelids, and the eyelashes are dyed cold.

Brother Seven frowned and asked, "Where is this? Who are you?"

The man said, "This is the room where I sleep. Didn't your mother teach you to declare your family name before asking someone's name?"

At this moment, Seventh Brother guessed that he was Li Chengwu, and he was ashamed and angry. The child of the dead mother was questioned by his father.Thinking of his uncle and mother, he suddenly felt uncomfortable. He turned his face to the other side, not daring to blink, but tears streaming down his eyes.

Li Chengwu smiled and said: "Oh, what kind of anger are you getting?" He put down the medicine bowl and sat on the edge of the bed, and Seventh Brother smelled the faint fragrance of Leng again.

"What? Difficult? Aren't you very powerful? You are planning to become a fairy by killing all the girls and women, and not taking medicine or eating?" Li Chengwu turned the child's face and wiped his tears with a silk handkerchief, "You How did your mother cultivate you a young master's temper, and you can't say a word, so you can play with your prestige."

The tears couldn't be wiped clean at all, they kept dripping, Brother Qi still bit his lower lip to keep himself from snorting.

Li Chengwu sighed, said "I'm sorry to see you", suddenly picked up the child and put it on the bed, then lay down on the bed himself, held the child's hand, looked at the top of the bed, and asked, "What's your name? This year How old are you? When is your birthday? Did you go to school?"

Brother Seven ignored him, turned his back, and tried to withdraw his hand, but he couldn't.

"Speak, your throat is burned?"

After waiting for a long time, Seventh Brother choked and said, "Why should I tell you?"

"Your mother is dead, and your family doesn't want you. Now you are with me. Why do you say so?" As soon as the words fell, Brother Qi's sobs became louder. He was wrinkled into a ball, his mouth was still biting, he smiled in his heart, stretched out his hand to hold the child, put it in his arms and patted his back, and said with a smile, "Oh, why did you cry like this? I apologize to the young master, I shouldn't tease the child. Young Master, you made Young Master so sad..."

Hearing that Brother Qi was crying even harder, as if he had been wronged by the sky, Li Chengwu continued to coax: "Come on, come and cry in Dad's arms, you have to cry happily!" He hugged the child, Brother Qi Really grabbed the shirt on his chest and burst into tears.

In the dim tent, there was a cold fragrance, like an ice flower, with a faint fragrance. After about 3 minutes, Qi Geer gradually calmed down, sobbing softly, timidly.

Li Chengwu said: "In order to apologize, I will tell you my name. My grandfather is Li Quanan. He named me 'Li Chengwu'. When I was seventeen, I took the word 'Chengyu' and changed it to 'Chengyu' when I was 22." Qiyun', and even renamed this old garden to 'Tuisi Garden', which means to live in seclusion." He seemed to be whispering to himself, and he said to himself, "Okay, young master, what am I doing now? I told you everything, it's your turn."

Seventh brother still didn't speak, and Li Chengwu also didn't speak. The long mirror with bamboo pattern and carved lacquer hanging on the west wall slantedly reflected the bed curtain. When the light touched the mirror lightly, the curtain floated in the mirror.After a while, Brother Qi finally said hoarsely: "I am the seventh in the family, and my name is Liu Qi. She is seven years old this year, and her birthday is July [-]th. She started studying at the age of four and a half."

Li Chengwu said: "Hungry Ghost Festival, it's really a good day, but what's your name? Your mother's name is too casual, let me give you a new one."

Seventh Brother whispered: "No!"

Li Chengwu said: "Youling is two years and three months older than you, as if you are four or five years older than you." He thought for a while, and then said, "Call me Li Congfei, the trees grow thickly, and the birds fly in anger. Seven or eight is better. I used to have a nickname called Xi Feng, which was a cheap name to support, but now no one calls it anymore, seeing how pitifully ill you are, I’ll give it to you.”

Cong Fei, whose name had just been changed, didn't speak, but snuggled into Li Chengwu's arms. He must have been tired from crying, and gradually fell asleep. After a while, Li Chengwu felt a slight itching in his chest. Looking down, Xiao Congfei was sucking/sucking through his clothes. Quickly pulling the child away, a large drop of wetness fell on the clothes, sticking to the breast, and Cong Fei's mouth was still sucking/sucking air.

Li Chengwu thought it was funny, seven-year-olds still breastfeed in their dreams!He didn't remember the age of You Ling's breastfeeding, he watched Cong Fei's mouth opening and closing, curious, he stuck out a finger to Cong Fei's mouth, Cong Fei immediately sucked his finger in his mouth.

"My God!" he thought to himself, "this is only three years old!"

Many years later, whenever Li Congfei wakes up from insomnia and looks back at his homeland across the ocean, he always thinks of this sick morning when Li Chengwu gave him his nickname.In Beiping at that time, the sky at night was always dark purple, with a few clouds, light and clean, and those were the beautiful clouds.However, people fleeing chaos look back at Beiping, separated by railways, wharves, years of wars and changes in the times, every family is a history of blood and tears, everyone has tears of bitterness, so even the cleanest clouds are messed up It has become dreamy and ethereal.

Youling's mother gave it to Li Chengwu at the age of 16, and the third year of the girl held a gold brick. Li Chengwu was not in good health that year, so he used it for joy.

Qingyu was the dowry maid of the aunt at home, and was given to Youling's mother when she was pregnant, when Qingyu was only ten years old.Later, the servants in the family were either married or sent away. People came and went, and Li Chengwu's lovers didn't stay long. Only Qingyu was there. Li Chengwu joked that it might be because Qingyu's name was like a young lady who was in charge of affairs. He always regarded her as the younger sister of the Li family, and did not dare to marry off casually.

Qingyu complained to Li Chengwu that the young master started not to take medicine as soon as his symptoms improved, and only when Youling coaxed him would he take it reluctantly.

Li Chengwu said: "The medicine is taken according to the time of day, six times a day, and one time in the middle of the night, which child can stand it, give him aspirin."

Qingyu hurriedly said, "No way! The young master just has a sore throat and a cough."

Li Chengwu thought of the child's pitiful appearance, and sighed; "Then I'll coax you."

In the past few days, he either played in another room with the students who sang the hall, or stayed in Bada Hutong, and he hadn't returned to his room for a long time.Quietly pushed open the door, Cong Fei was sitting at the table playing with the incense burner, his legs were hanging on the bench, barefoot, toes would touch the ground, saw someone enter the room without knocking, was about to scold, but was lightly When Yu came with Li Chengwu, the child turned his head, slid off the bench, and lay down on the bed.

Li Chengwu walked over, only to see a back and a small back of the head, he asked delicately: "What do you mean?"

Qingyu said: "The young master is complaining about the third master, and he hasn't come to see him for the past few days."

Cong Fei turned around and said, "Who wants him to come!" After speaking, he recited it.

Qingyu said: "Get up quickly, drink the medicine while it's hot."

Cong Fei snorted and said nothing.

Li Chengwu said: "Go and do it, I'll feed him." Qingyu handed over the medicine bowl, but Li Chengwu went to the window, opened the window and poured the medicine down, and said, "I don't know how to eat the bamboo underneath. Don't take this medicine."

Cong Fei sat up and asked, "What are you doing?"

Li Chengwu said: "Don't you want to drink it? I'll pour it out for you." He walked to the bed, sat down on the edge of the bed, took out a square-wrapped handkerchief from his arms, and picked out an aspirin Pass it over.

Cong Fei asked: "What did you use to harm me?"

Li Chengwu ignored it, put the medicine into his hand, got up and poured a glass of water over it, and then said: "This is called aspirin, it's better than drinking bitter water, don't tell your sister Qingyu that I will give it to you. This." Cong Fei didn't move, Li Chengwu said again, "It's not poison, this will heal faster, Qingyu doesn't like Western medicine, and thinks that children can't take Western medicine."

Cong Fei actually knew about aspirin. Liu Aimei took aspirin for pain relief when she was sick, and even took morphine. He swallowed aspirin while thinking about his mother taking medicine.

Li Chengwu took out the Fang Xueqing silk handkerchief from his bosom again, and opened it in front of Cong Fei. Inside lay three fried hawthorns with sugar. The bright red fruit was covered with a layer of white sugar frosting. He said, "Hey, this is your reward."

Cong Fei had eaten fruit candies, cakes, and chocolates for a long time, and he had forgotten the taste of hawthorn. He picked one and put it in his mouth. .

Li Chengwu got up and said, "Remember to brush your teeth before going to bed after eating." Seeing that he was about to leave, Cong Fei stopped eating again, holding the hawthorn in his hand, eagerly looking at him.

Li Chengwu smiled and hugged Cong Fei, Cong Fei exclaimed, and the long-lost joy of being embraced rose into the air.Cong Fei used to love to sit on the lap of women at home, but he was considered too heavy and would be kicked out in less than a quarter of an hour. Except for his fourth uncle who was used to him, no one would hug a child who was already eight years old.

Li Chengwu sat at the table with the child in his arms and taught him how to make incense, explaining sentence by sentence that dipterocarp was dissolved in water and pounded into a thick liquid; agarwood and sandalwood were crushed; Flower honey knead them into pellets.Li Chengwu said: "You can't see the sky, put it in a box to dry in the shade, and you can use it in two days." He took out half of the old Shouwen bean-shaped incense box from the drawer, and there were strange-shaped incense pills piled inside.

He picked out a purple-gray one and asked Cong Fei to hold it. Cong Fei smelled it, and it was the fragrance of Li Chengwu's body.

There are a variety of incense mixing tools on the table, Li Chengwu spread fluffy agarwood ash in the stove, made a nest, put the red-hot charcoal in it, and when the ashes were hot, he said: "Come, Feng'er, take the incense pills. on the ashes."

Cong Fei cautiously put his hand into the stove and gently placed the incense pills. After a few seconds, he asked, "Why is there no fragrance?" Li Chengwu said, "Wait a little longer."

The thin vertical trees on the mullioned windows, with their mulberry-colored bamboo shadows, fluttered away, rustling, and there must have been a wind blowing outside.Gradually, the smoke from the incense burner rose up, causing Cong Fei to reach out to rub his eyes as soon as he closed his eyes.

"Hey, don't move." Li Chengwu grabbed his hand, bowed his back, gently opened his eyelids, and blew slowly. After a while, seeing his tears rolling down, he ran across his eyelids and cheeks with a silk handkerchief, and asked, "Is it ok now?"

Cong Fei turned around suddenly, rolled his butt half a circle on Li Chengwu's leg, wrapped his arms around Li Chengwu's neck, and buried his head in the socket of Li Chengwu's neck.

He patted Cong Fei on the back and asked, "What's the matter?"

Cong Fei didn't answer, Li Chengwu didn't speak anymore, the fragrance in the room was wafting, like a young widow, he hunched over with his legs crossed, sitting softly on the stool with the child in his arms, listening to the sound coming from outside the window. The sound of the wind and the singing of birds, and the big and small things that happened in China in the past few years, all passed by his ears.

When Cong Fei woke up, he found that he was still sitting on Li Chengwu's lap, the sky had turned grape gray, and most of the incense in the stove had been burned. "Wake up," Li Chengwu pulled him away, pointing to the drool on his neckline, "Sleep Don't open your mouth, you will grow ugly."

Cong Fei ignored him, and threw himself back on him, trying to sleep again.Li Chengwu picked up the child and said, "Don't fall asleep, little ancestor, my legs are numb, eat dinner and medicine before going to bed, and let Xiao Shuang'er smoke your clothes later." After speaking, he muttered One sentence, "How old are you, and you still sleep so much." He put the child on the bed and was about to put down the curtain, but Cong Fei grabbed the curtain and refused to let it go, looking at him without saying a word.

Li Chengwu said: "You have to say what you want others to know, you are so dumb, who will guess?"

Cong Fei lowered his head, Li Chengwu made a gesture to leave, and suddenly heard the child ask in a low voice: "Are you coming tomorrow?"

Li Chengwu said: "That's not the right question. This is Li's house. The young master has occupied the magpie's nest. Instead, he asked about me. Li should ask the young master when he can go back to his own room." What about it?" Cong Fei said nothing, glared at him, then fell back into the bed.

Li Chengwu said: "Stop talking again, how did you raise your temper? I really don't bother to care about you for acting like this at such a young age!"

The author says:

Goose pear fragrance is the middle fragrance of goose pear tent, it can help sleep, it feels a little sweet.Taking a humble name for a nickname has the meaning of getting rid of disasters, and Xi Feng's Xi means slave.