Suo Jinling

He Xiuzhu was in low spirits this day, exhausted by fanning the fire, sitting on the stool half asleep, sometimes standing up, sometimes leaning under the chair, feeling a little itchy in the throat, always wanting to attract cold wind to blow on himself, After struggling like this for a while, he didn't bother to fan the fire anymore, he brought a wooden bucket to wash it, went out to close the gate, yawned and went back to rest.

Before he could take two steps away, the door knocked twice, the sound was very familiar, He Xiuzhu was refreshed, ran two steps back, and pushed open the wooden door: "Father, why are you back today?"

"It's up to me to ask you that," He Zhongyin said with a smile, "My son took a break so early, but have you finished your homework?"

He Xiuzhu curled his lips and muttered: "There's no homework, it's all trivial things, which can't be compared to daddy's daily affairs."

"The mature vinegar made by someone's home is floating everywhere." He Zhongyin stuck out half of his head and sniffed the tip of his nose back and forth without entering the door. "A sour person's nose is itchy."

"Come in quickly," He Xiuzhu hummed twice, and stepped forward to close the wooden door, "The quilt has been laid, Daddy will rest early."

He Zhongyin was not polite, walked into the bedroom swaggeringly, grabbed a blade of grass to hold it in his mouth, and fell back on the couch.

He Xiuzhu hesitated to speak, he knew that his father always loved cleanliness, and now he didn't even take off his coat, he must have encountered something on his mind.

Although the two are father and son, they have their own concerns on weekdays, and they don't know how to be honest with each other. He Xiuzhu didn't bother his father hastily, but cleaned the front house and the backyard as usual, bustling around, cooking a few bowls of Jing Xin Ning God's medicinal soups were placed on the table one by one.

He Zhongyin's expression was blank, his long legs were dangling on the sides, his hands were behind his head, and he was humming a long tune.

Because he is holding a blade of grass in his mouth, the accent is vague, the words cannot be heard clearly, and the meaning of the song is long and soft, like a wanderer missing his homeland, more like helping a child fall asleep, making people drift like clouds and mist, immersed in dreams.

He Xiuzhu listened quietly, couldn't help but want to turn his head to approach, stopped after thinking about it, walked out quietly, sat on the threshold, rubbed his ears against the wind, and suppressed the itchiness in his throat.

He is not similar to his father in appearance, and he has never heard his father mention his mother. Over the years, he has known that his talents are mediocre. Thanks to his father's support and protection, he can get enough food and clothing.His father cared for him, taught him everything, never said anything bad... just because of this, he always felt that there was a window between him and his father, and his father would tease him, coax him to persuade him, Even if he did something wrong, he never beat him or scolded him, never said anything serious.

Not like a father and son, but like an old friend, and respect each other like a guest, close at hand and far away, daddy has a gentle appearance and treats people politely, only he knows that daddy has many secrets in his heart, which are not known to outsiders.

Perhaps...he is also one of the outsiders.

He Xiuzhu sighed, grabbed dead branches, and poked rice grains on the ground to play with. Many ants in the nearby ant nest were transporting food, and they were scared by him and fled in all directions. Bamboo put down the branches, drooping the corners of its lips, turned around and took out two handfuls of new rice, scattered them in the courtyard.

"Fix bamboo."

When the familiar voice called him, He Xiuzhu hurriedly straightened up and ran all the way to the bedroom: "Father, what do you want me to do?"

"Where is the hairpin box..." He Zhongyin said, "You still remember."

"Remember," He Xiuzhu nodded repeatedly, "Wait, daddy, I'll find it for you."

Everything that He Zhongyin explained, He Xiuzhu kept in mind, and he didn't dare to slack off. This hairpin box was given to him by his father a long time ago, and he told him to keep it safe, and hide it in the most secret place, and never throw it away. He thought that there was some rare treasure inside, and he would need to use it at some point, so at first he put it in a close-fitting package and wrapped it tightly with flannelette. Later, he found that his father seemed to have forgotten this thing, so he took out the hairpin box , hidden in the bottom of the cabinet.

Now that Dad wanted to use it, he swept into the room with a gust of wind, turned the contents of the cabinet upside down, carefully took out the hairpin box, and wiped it clean with a cloth towel.

This hairpin box contains a touch of sandalwood, and a green grass is embroidered with colored threads on it. The leaves of this grass are plump and graceful, not like a dead thing, but like a graceful beauty, dancing in the clouds .

He took the hairpin box back to his bedroom and delivered it to his father. He Zhongyin held the hairpin box tightly, staring at it, and didn't move for a while.

After a while, he pursed his lips lightly, his fingertips trembled slightly, and a breath came out of his throat: "Xiu Zhu, do you know... if this golden hairpin melts, it can ring a few bells."

He Xiuzhu was stunned immediately, he thought what he was keeping was some kind of rare treasure, or a priceless jade hairpin, but unexpectedly... there was an empty box inside.

His mind was empty, and he stayed there for a long while without moving.

He Zhongyin closed the hairpin box, rubbed the green grass with his fingers, and smeared it inch by inch: "Six."

"Shake it up... ding-dong," He Zhongyin folded his fingertips and swayed twice in the air, the corners of his lips curled into a shallow arc, "he giggled, his mouth had no teeth yet, The saliva will flow to the neck, and he will cry when he wipes it off."

He Xiuzhu's viscera were about to melt, he knew that his father was not talking about himself, and these years of being embraced in his infancy... had nothing to do with him.

"Is this... is this Daddy's hairpin?" He Xiuzhu took a long breath, forced himself to hold down his nerves, and said bravely, "If you want to come... if you want to carve it carefully, you must It's very elegant."

"It's not mine, it's my sister's," He Zhong said indifferently, "When I was young, I depended on her for life. When she grew up, she fell in love and met a refugee I had never met before. She was treacherous, but she had a clever mouth, and her sweet words coaxed her into it, and then there were frequent wars, and the refugee insisted on going to battle to kill the enemy, and never came back."

He Zhongyin rubbed his fingers: "After he left, my sister gave birth to a son who doesn't look similar to my sister. I can't remember what he looks like."

"Then, that child..."

"Dead," He Zhongyin breathed out lightly, "falling into the valley...he couldn't survive."

He Xiuzhu stood upright, with mixed feelings in his heart, he stammered for a long time, not knowing what to say: "Daddy, my condolences..."

"Xiuzhu," He Zhongyin looked up at the person, "I picked you up."

He Xiuzhu stood there sluggishly, as if he had been swept by a whip, his back ached, and there was still black ash from the fire in his hand, he lifted it up and wiped his face until it was covered with dirt: "Father, I'll go out and see, there's still a fire outside."

He turned his head to go out, but his shoulders were pressed by someone, and He Zhongyin exerted strength to press the person beside him, staring into He Xiuzhu's eyes: "Daddy was all hopeless back then, like a walking corpse, he was hungry and didn't know how to eat, I don’t know how to add clothes when I’m cold, and I’m so thirsty in winter. I stepped into the river to drink water, and the water covered my mouth and nose. Seeing you who can only crawl in ragged clothes, and there is a strip of cloth beside you begging for good people to raise... I will take you by my side and name you Xiuzhu."

He Xiuzhu closed his eyes and clenched his palms into fists.

He couldn't imagine his father lost his mind and stumbled on the street. As far back as he could remember, his father always had a smile on his face, and he was able to do things with ease. With an unyielding and unyielding pride, never thought that there is such a past.

"Xiuzhu, don't underestimate yourself." He Zhongyin squeezed his fingers and held He Xiuzhu's shoulder tightly, "You are daddy's savior. It wasn't dad who saved you back then, it was you who saved dad."