door to happiness

After a long day and night of trekking, the car finally drove into the mountains.After driving to the end of the concrete road, we arrived at the hillside behind Li Xiangyu's house.Although the road is quite spacious, but seeing that it is a dirt road and it has just rained, the driver is afraid that the road will be slippery and he will not be able to get up, so he refuses to go down again.We had to get out of the car from here.

"Mom, I'll carry you!" Li Xiangyu squatted down.Mom hesitated for a while, but still lay on Xiangyu's back.Time is running out—the time to lie on your son's back like this is running out—the time to enjoy his son's warmth is running out.

She never thought that her life would end in her fifties. If she knew, she would definitely go for a physical examination earlier, so she would not stubbornly say "my body knows it by itself".At this moment, looking at the landscape of her hometown, she must regret that she didn't take care of her body back then, right?

When Liu Lei's mother was suffering from cancer, she just heard that she was going to cut something off that woman, and she shuddered just thinking about it, but God didn't even give her a chance to "cut".Liu Lei's mother's illness put the originally wealthy family in a difficult situation. She knew that the savings that had been accumulated for more than ten years were all wiped out within a few months; With her son entering university, she went to the hospital against her will.However, why didn't the heavens fulfill her?

Does she have a vague feeling that she can't wait for the day when Huanyu gets the university admission letter?

Li Xiangyu walked tremblingly in the mud with his mother on his back, while his father and aunt supported him. If Li Xiangyu made a mistake, he could immediately make up for it.It can be seen that several people are tense.

I saluted heavily with Li Xiangyu and me, carrying my guitar on my back, and followed slowly.

When I got home, my mother seemed to be in a much better mood. On the first day, she ate a bowl of rice and was able to bask in the sun against the wall.

When the neighbors heard that my mother was back, they all came to visit with sugar and eggs, and they couldn't help but say some words of encouragement.When my mother saw the fellow villagers, her mood seemed to be much smoother, and she was able to say a few witty words with the neighbors.

Seeing me, the neighbors always ask a few questions, and my father always responds: "Li Xiangyu's college classmate—my godson. This time I went to Guangzhou for treatment, thanks to my godson and his father." .” Between the words, there was a bit of pride, but also a bit of helplessness.

Whenever this time, my mother always squinted at me and smiled.

Li Huanyu and Tong Tong arrived before us and stayed in the county seat for one night. They rushed back from the county seat after we returned home.

On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, while going to the market, my father, Xiangyu and I went to buy foreskins, and bought seven new clothes for my mother for funeral use.Thinking about what my mother said before, I wanted to grab new money when I was dying, so I discussed with Li Xiangyu and went to the bank, withdrew 2000 yuan from the card, and converted all of it into brand new money, with various currency values.

The 24th of the twelfth lunar month is the new year, and Liang Yan came from the county, and her mother was very happy.He also asked her to comb her hair, tie a braid, and draw new eyebrows.

On the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, snow particles suddenly fell from the sky.For the first time in my life, I saw snow particles. I should have been happy, but because of my mother, I didn't dare to show joy.

Li Xiangyu once said that he would accompany me to see the snow, but that day, he actually forgot about it.But what is even more regrettable is that after a few moments of snow particles falling, it turned into a drizzle.Snow, after all, never fell.

On the 26th of the twelfth lunar month, Li Xiangyu took out [-] from the card and started buying new year's goods.Four thousand oceans, within a day, all disappeared, and only some pork, duck, beef and various fruits were exchanged.The consumption of Chinese New Year is really high. Just those few tubes of firecrackers and a few plates of firecrackers cost seven or eight hundred yuan.Li Xiangyu didn't want to buy it at first, but I wanted to watch the fireworks bloom, so he gritted his teeth and bought it.

The poor people in ancient times always called the Chinese New Year "New Year's Pass". At this moment, I finally understand a little bit.

Mom fell down, and dad never went into the kitchen, so this important task can only be done by Li Xiangyu.It's okay to cook on weekdays, but it's really difficult for him to prepare for the New Year.He can make do with tamales, but he doesn't know anything about braised pork or pickled fish.Fortunately, the neighbors all thought that his family was in trouble, and all the women came to help.So, the fermented bean curd was put into the jar; the tofu was deep-fried and stuffed with chopped peppers; the pork was marinated with salt and then smoked with orange peel and grains of corn...

On the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, it's time to meet up.But Li Xiangyu, who has never kneaded dough before, was worried. I gave him a trick, just buy some steamed buns and dumplings and put them in the refrigerator to freeze, so that he can make do with it when he is thirty.No, because of this, I let the neighbors listen to the joke.The second aunt in the village heard that Li Xiangyu hadn't made the dough yet, so she hurried over to help make the dough.

On the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, Tong Tong's mother came to help Li Xiangyu make orchid roots, pig ears, oily dates and other oil products for the first month of hospitality.

Finally ushered in the New Year's Eve, the family was beaming and ready to celebrate the New Year.But at this time, my mother seemed to be dying, and she was always out of breath.The doctor from the township health center was invited, but he just shook his head and didn't dare to prescribe the medicine. In the end, he had to hang up a bottle of normal saline, and nothing happened.

Dad immediately took out the imperial calendar, looked at the time, and said, "Mom, two o'clock in the evening is an auspicious time, you can go! Just be patient and spend this year with your child."

Mom was still conscious, with tears in her eyes, and nodded.

In the afternoon, Liang Yan came over with a fish and a chicken in her hands.I don't know if Li Xiangyu called her to come over, or if she just wanted to give the "annual gift" and she caught up.When her mother saw her, her complexion improved a little, and she struggled hard to sit up, but she couldn't speak at this time.

Everyone seemed to understand what she meant, and helped her sit up.

Mom tried to raise her hand, and tremblingly moved Liang Yan's hand to Li Xiangyu's.Putting your hands together is meaningful.I couldn't bear to watch it, so I retreated outside the house, sobbing.Why am I not a girl?If I were a girl, would I be able to hold Li Xiangyu's hand tightly at this moment?

Li Huanyu came out of the room and handed me a wet wipe: "Cry, cry if you want to cry!"

I didn't cry, and I didn't dare to cry.

Li Huanyu took out my guitar and handed it to me: "I have never listened to you play the guitar seriously, play it for me once. Take it! This is a guitar worth more than 1 yuan. If I accidentally drop it You smashed it, don't blame me!"

Taking over the guitar, facing the cold wind, plucking the strings, I played Xiong Tianping's "Match Paradise".

The sky began to rain, pattering down, falling on my cold heart.

Li Huanyu patted my shoulder lightly and went in.

The family seems to be in chaos, and there is no sense of New Year's Eve at all.

Dad took out the seven sets of clothes he bought and put them on the edge of the bed.

Li Xiangyu turned on the lights in every room, and even the fire in the stove was burning brightly.

Li Huanyu took down the memorial tablet of the ancestor and burned incense to worship.

Li Xiangyu thought of something, and asked me to take out the new money I had exchanged before, and put them in my mother's socks, pockets, and clutched a few in my hands.

Lunch, no one eats—no, no one remembers.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Liang Yan's father called and urged her to go back to celebrate the new year, but she didn't leave.

Mother's consciousness was intermittent, she woke up and fell asleep again and again.

In the evening, everyone finally remembered to eat.After Liang Yan got out of the kitchen, she cooked a table of dishes. First she offered sacrifices to the Kitchen God, then to the ancestors, and then the family randomly picked up a few mouthfuls of rice.

The meal for the ancestor worship was arranged by outsiders. I don't know how the Li family's ancestor Liezong would feel if he had a spirit.

At seven o'clock in the evening, my mother died suddenly, but when my father pinched her, she suddenly woke up again.

When Tong Tong's mother heard the news, her family rushed over.Seeing that everyone hadn't eaten anything, and it was Chinese New Year's Eve, he and Liang Yan worked together to make dumplings.

At that moment, I suddenly remembered the dream that Li Xiangyu often had in Yangcheng: On the night of New Year's Eve, Liu Lei's mother and Li Xiangyu's mother were making dumplings in the kitchen, while Li Xiangyu's grandfather and grandmother were sitting In the living room, snuggling up to each other, watching TV.Thinking of this, I hurried to the living room and turned on the TV.

I glanced at the sofa in the living room and thought to myself: Grandpa, grandma, are you just sitting here?Are you waiting for your daughter-in-law to reunite with you and have a good year?You are probably reluctant to part with such a virtuous daughter-in-law and want to take it away, but why don't you show consideration for your son and two poor grandsons?

At eleven o'clock in the evening, we were going to eat dumplings, but the three fathers and sons of the Li family stayed in the bedroom all the time, never leaving.Here, this is called "keeping the end".

I took a bowl of dumplings and sent them to the bedroom. My mother's eyes suddenly opened, wide open, as if she wanted to eat, and the light dimmed in just a moment.

Fifteen minutes later, my mother suddenly closed her eyes and opened her mouth slightly, only breathing out but not breathing in.After all, she still did not survive the last day of the old calendar year and usher in the first ray of dawn of the new year.

Li Huanyu and Tongtong started to cry, but their father didn't let them cry, saying that their mother hadn't left yet.He stuffed an old imperial calendar under his mother's pillow, asked Li Xiangyu to bring a large charcoal basin, and started burning paper money in front of the bed, calling his mother's name loudly.

Dad asked us to burn paper money all the time, don't stop.Call mom every 10 minutes to tell her not to go.This is probably a rural superstition.Before she was alive, she told her in every possible way, if the time is not good, please remember to call her.Is that what it means?So, can she really protect this family in the underworld?

Dad touches it every 10 minutes to see if there is any body temperature, although his hands and feet are already cold.But the armpits and chest are still warm.Dad added another quilt to keep warm.

"Brother-in-law, why don't you call someone to play the gong first, invite holy water, and wear seven layers of gauze. If your body gets cold, it will be difficult to get dressed." Tong Tong's father asked in a low voice.

"No hurry, I'm still alive, and I haven't left yet." Dad placed two tubes of fireworks in the yard, and sat in the bedroom waiting.

After twelve o'clock, the New Year's bell rang, and firecrackers to welcome the New Year sounded everywhere in this mountain village.