The River Monster and the Taste of Vinegar

"Nian Nian!"

"Xia Xia!"

I was guarding our "holy stone" with Ye Zhixia in the sandpit. When I turned around, I saw my mother and Aunt Zhou coming towards me with panicked looks on their faces.

We looked at each other, patted the sand off our hands and stood up in confusion.

"go home!"

"go home!"

Before I could figure out what was happening, I was dragged back home by the two mothers.

"How are Xingye and Jiang Yuanzhou?"

My dad was actually at home, wearing leather shoes, and looked like he had just arrived home.

"Jiang Yuanzhou was fine. There happened to be an oil drum right where he fell. He held onto the shore nearby and didn't choke on much water. Xingye choked quite badly, and his face turned purple."

"How can you go to the lake to play? It's so dangerous."

I know which lake they are talking about.

There is a big lake next to the playground of Hanshi University. Every time I pass by there, my mother always holds my hand and emphasizes to me that there are monsters in the lake and I should not play there.

"Hingye and Jiang Yuanzhou were captured by the monster in the lake?" I asked with wide eyes.

"The trouble is that the hospital is now full of SARS patients, so we can't go for a checkup. But when I left, Xingye looked fine."

"Luckily, two students passed by and saw it, otherwise who knows what would have happened. It's scary just thinking about it."

Seeing that they were singing the same tune and had no intention of paying any attention to me, I curled my lips and ran to Lu Xingye's house in my slippers.

There were a lot of people gathered in front of Lu Xingye's house. I saw Aunt Chen talking to some uncles and aunts I didn't know, with a very serious expression.

I looked through the doorway and saw nothing.

So he changed direction and went to Jiang Yuanzhou's house.

There were also a lot of people gathered at the door of Jiang Yuanzhou's house. Seeing that no one noticed me, I squeezed in past a few adults.

"Jiang Yuanzhou"

I called softly a few times, but no one responded.

"Nian Nian, why are you here?"

Aunt Su was holding several towels in her hands. Although she smiled when she saw me, her expression seemed very stiff.

I suddenly felt like I had been caught doing something wrong, and I stammered, "My mom said..."

"Yuanzhou is sick, you go home first. He will come back to play with you when he recovers."

Before I could finish my sentence, Aunt Su half-pushed me out the door.

When I turned around, I saw Aunt Su had already gone in.

The uncles and aunts at the door had serious expressions and were chattering about something.

I didn't understand. The afternoon sun was so dazzling that it made me feel uneasy for no reason.

Fortunately, the monster in the lake did not like Jiang Yuanzhou and Lu Xingye's thin bodies and finally let them go.

However, the two fearless little boys began to resist approaching the lake.

I asked Lu Xingye, "What does it feel like to be captured by a monster?"

"What do you mean he was captured by a monster? He almost drowned!"

He shook his head with lingering fear and said, "I don't want to play by the lake anymore."

I laughed at him for being timid and said he was not as brave as girls.

He was not convinced, but he was unwilling to go near the lake again.

————

Later I realized that real monsters don't have scales or claws.

They wear crown-like crowns and bloom with deadly beauty under the microscope.

That night.

The sound of the ambulance echoed throughout the Han Division.

I was woken up in a daze, and strong light came in from outside the window.

I leaned over the window and looked out. There was a lot of noisy footsteps outside. I saw many people wearing masks carrying someone into an ambulance. The rotating lights on the ambulance hurt my eyes.

I stepped back from the window and cautiously opened the door.

The lights in the living room were on, and Aunt Zhou and Aunt Han were both at our house.

"It's the teacher Liu who teaches Chinese at the school behind us. I don't know how he got infected. It hasn't been long now, and he's gone now."

"His children are probably still in elementary school."

"you do not say......"

Sudden silence.

I didn't understand what they were saying, but I could clearly hear the solemnity and regret in their tone, and I subconsciously felt anxious.

"Mom..." I called softly.

My mother, who was sitting with her back to me, only then noticed that I woke up.

"Why are you awake? It's only this late. Go back to sleep a little longer."

I shook my head and suddenly felt sad.

I pulled my mother's sleeve and tears just fell.

My mother seemed panicked. "What's wrong? Are you having a nightmare?"

I just cried hard until I had no strength to cry anymore, and then I fell asleep.

After that day, I never saw the aunt who smiled at me kindly when she met me, never saw the little sister wearing the red scarf so proudly, and never saw Uncle Liu who handed me tomatoes.

I vaguely knew that Uncle Liu might never appear again.

But at that time, I didn’t understand. How could such a nice person, who would smile at you, call you, and give you tomatoes, just disappear like that?

Is this death?

————

"Why didn't Jiang Yuanzhou come?"

The children of Hanshi have a dinner party once a week, and I found that the seat next to me was empty, so I looked up and asked my mother.

My mother was evasive and didn't answer my question.

"Where did Jiang Yuanzhou go?" I asked my father again.

Dad glared at me and said, "Eat your food well."

Seeing that neither adult showed any intention of answering me, I had no choice but to swallow my doubts.

A few days later

"Hasn't it been a long time since we last saw Jiang Yuanzhou?"

We looked at each other, and it was indeed a long time.

"He won't be sick, will he?"

We couldn't sit still any longer, so we immediately ran to Jiang Yuanzhou's house and knocked on the door for a long time, but no one came to open it.

I walked over and knocked on the door. "Jiang Yuanzhou? Are you home? We're going to play eagle catches chicken. Do you want to play?"

After waiting for a long time, the door finally opened a crack.

Aunt Su wore a mask and whispered to us to stop shouting.

"Jiang Yuanzhou is now in quarantine. I'll play with you guys again when he gets better."

After saying that, he closed the door.

"What's wrong with Jiang Yuanzhou?" Ye Zhixia asked me softly, as if she didn't dare to speak loudly.

I shook my head.

"He won't get SARS, right?" Ye Zhixia said in a low voice.

"My mother told me that if I got SARS I would be quarantined."

I returned home with a heavy heart.

"Mom, what will happen if I get SARS?" I went up to my mother who was making the bed.

"Why are you asking this?" She glanced at me and ignored me.

"What will happen?" I continued to ask.

My mother glanced at me angrily and said, "You'll die!"

I took a breath, stopped talking in fear, and lay quietly in my sleep without making any noise.

"Will he die?"

My mother's voice rang in my mind again. So, would Jiang Yuanzhou also disappear suddenly like Uncle Liu, as if he had never come to this world?

I pouted and burst into tears.

die?

Why did he die?

Why do people die?

My mother was disturbed by my crying, "What's wrong?"

I threw myself into my mother's arms, "Mom, will Jiang Yuanzhou die?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Mom patted me gently.

"You said SARS will kill people," I said in a depressed voice.

"SARS? Who told you Jiang Yuanzhou had SARS?"

“…”

"He has chickenpox." Mom patted my head and asked me to lie down.

"Chickenpox?" I stared at my mother in amazement. "What happens if you get chickenpox?"

My mother covered me with the quilt and said, "It's okay. He'll be fine after a few days when the chickenpox is gone and he can play with you guys again."

"Then why not now?" I still don't understand.

"Now? Chickenpox is also contagious. Okay, go to bed!" Mom turned off the lights.

I stared at the ceiling for a long time, but I still couldn't figure out how chickenpox worked. I shook my head and stopped thinking about it.

Anyway...

I closed my eyes with peace of mind, knowing that Jiang Yuanzhou would not die.

After a few days, Jiang Yuanzhou started running and playing with us again, full of energy.

I looked at him and couldn't help but feel lucky.

Fortunately, fortunately we are all still alive and well.

There is a saying that goes, "A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger."

At that time, we were like newborn calves, fearless, but our courage did not increase proportionally with age.

For example, the days when we dared to pinch a snake's neck and ask our mother "What is this?" are gone. Now we can only say weakly, "I caught it when I was a child," and then go on.

Because we know it is a snake and it is poisonous.

I don’t know when it started, but I began to consciously stay away from the lake where it was said that there were monsters. I drank the rice vinegar my mother handed me without complaint.

Rather than the unpalatable taste of rice vinegar, I am more afraid that one day I will open my eyes and not see the sun, that I will never be able to eat the delicious meals made by my mother again, and that I will never have the chance to play and have fun with this group of people again.

More importantly, I am afraid that those who love me will suddenly no longer see me one day, no longer see me smile, no longer see me making noise, and no longer see me looking silly while chewing tomatoes. How sad they will be then.