Pyracantha

At noon, Zhou Qianling was standing on the grave fixing paper banners when her aunt's eldest daughter ran over and called her to eat.

Zhou Qianling looked and saw several adults sitting around a picnic blanket with five or six dishes placed in the middle. Children were surrounding them, eating and playing with stainless steel bowls.

The chirping of birds and the sound of flowing water in the woods make people feel relaxed and at ease, as if they are in the embrace of nature.

This is probably the meaning of ancestor worship.

Zhou Qianling clapped his hands, stood up and looked around, trying to find the direction of the running water to wash his hands.

But I saw a person squatting by the ditch. He grabbed the water plants by the stream with one hand and cut them with a sickle with the other. After collecting a handful, he threw them into the basket on his back with quick movements.

"Hey? Isn't that Wu Baizi's daughter?" Third Auntie stood up and called out, "Sister, why did you come so far to beg for pig grass?"

Wu Meilai looked up at the sound and first glanced at Zhou Qianling on the grave. Then she smiled at her third aunt and said, "The grass is all dead in winter, so it's not easy to get it."

"That's right. Your damn father doesn't even know how to plant more corn and cabbage, he just drinks." She called out, "Come up quickly, and ask for more after dinner."

"No, I have to finish my begging quickly and go back to cook for my brother." After saying that, she lowered her head and continued to cut grass for the pigs.

Zhou Qianling jumped off the grave and came to the burnt-out stove. He dug out a few potatoes from the firewood pile and put them into a winnowing basket. He also poured a bowl of chili powder and jumped into someone else's field with the winnowing basket.

"Be careful not to step on other people's crops." Seeing her jumping up and down, Third Aunt said with a smile, "I didn't expect Xiaoling and the Wu family girl to get along so well."

Zhou Fang didn't respond. She watched Wu Meilai put down the basket, stood up, and led her daughter across the ditch. Her face was expressionless, and after a while, she lowered her head to eat.

"Why did you come down?"

Zhou Qianling squatted down to wash his hands and said with a smile, "I heard you haven't eaten yet, so I'll get you some potatoes." She wiped the water on her clothes and said naturally, "It just so happens that I haven't eaten yet either, let's eat together."

After saying that, Zhou Qianling found a dry place and sat down.

What she wore today was Lin Yue's usual work clothes. Even after washing, the stains on the fabric still looked dark, so she was not afraid of getting them dirty.

"Eat, aren't you hungry?" Zhou Qianling leaned against the weed-covered slope, stretched out his legs and crossed them, and began to peel potatoes leisurely, not forgetting to call Wu Mei over.

Wu Meilai put the sickle into the basket and sat down beside her. She took a look at her expression and took a potato. She peeled it and apologized softly, "I was not very good at talking the day before yesterday. Please don't mind."

Zhou Qianling was stunned. It took him a while to realize what she was referring to. His happy mood seemed to be covered by a layer of dust.

She raised the corners of her mouth and asked softly, "Is it difficult for you to accept a different view of love from the villagers?"

Zhou Qianling's tone was gentle, but it couldn't hide the disappointment in it.

Wu Meilai hastily denied it: "No, you're right. As long as the law allows it, it's legal and formal, and no one can say anything about it."

"What if the law doesn't allow it?"

Wu Meilai stopped what she was doing and looked puzzled.

"Just asking." Zhou Qianling felt that he was pushing things too far, so he changed the subject and asked, "How old is your brother this year? Do you still need to cook for him?"

Wu Meilai had been thinking about what kind of couples were not covered by the law, but after hearing this, she put the thought behind her. She silently took a bite of the potato and mumbled, "25. My brain isn't working very well."

Seeing that she seemed not to want to talk about her brother, Zhou Qianling did not continue the conversation. He just bent one leg and supported his face with his elbow, watching her press the potato into the bowl, bringing up a thick layer of chili powder, and then bite it off.

"Isn't it spicy?" Zhou Qianling secreted saliva at the root of his tongue, and felt that the tip of his tongue was beginning to burn.

She can't eat spicy food, and Zhou Fang once teased her about it: You are half Qianzhou.

“Not spicy.”

Seeing her eating with gusto, Zhou Qianling's appetite was aroused, and he also dipped a thin layer.

Wu Meilai chewed a little slower and felt a little awkward looking at the same bowl.

I don't know if there's any saliva on it.

Her family wasn't so particular about it, but people in the city would probably mind... She thought the dipping water was just for herself.

Zhou Qianling was silent for a long time. She glanced at her sideways and saw that her face was flushed, her eyes were watery, and her mouth was open, neither chewing nor not chewing.

"Are you too spicy?" Wu Meilai should have been concerned and worried about her, but she wanted to laugh without any empathy.

"Don't swallow it." Wu Mei saw her close her mouth and guessed she wanted to swallow it whole, so she stopped her in time. After saying that, she stood up, picked up a taro leaf from the ditch, and held it to her mouth.

"If you're not used to it, it'll burn your stomach. I'll take it back to feed the pigs."

I don't know if it's because city dwellers don't litter, but they'd rather eat something spicy than spit it out. In the fields, not to mention eating a single bite, even when planting corn and potatoes, they'd carry pig manure all the way from home.

Wu Meilai folded the leaves and threw them into the basket. She turned around and saw the man sticking out his tongue and breathing out air, fanning the tip of his tongue, looking around for something to relieve the spiciness, and hissing.

Kind of cute.

Wu Mei came to see the source of the ditch.

Not knowing whether drinking spring water for the first time would give her diarrhea, she shook her head and gave up the idea.

Suddenly I caught a glimpse of red.

This area is located halfway up the mountain, with rugged rocks and poor soil. There is little area suitable for growing crops. Apart from that, there are only thorny bushes and rugged stones.

Wu Meilai picked up a sickle, climbed over a one-meter-high, moss-covered rock, cut off the tangled dead branches, and pulled away the thorns, revealing a cluster of pyracantha trees behind. The bright red fruits echoed with the unmelted snow, creating a touch of red on the white snow.

Wu Meilai raised her knife and ruthlessly cut off a section of the tree, then dragged it back to the ditch.

Zhou Qianling gasped repeatedly because of the spiciness and felt dizzy from the oxygen intoxication. He stood up and followed her. He saw her pick up the fruit, climb to the spring to rinse it, and then squat down to hand it to him.

Zhou Qianling was only thinking about how to relieve the spiciness, so he grabbed her wrist, pried open her fingers, eagerly opened his mouth, pressed it against her palm, and nibbled on the tiny fruit inside.

The sudden action made Wu Meilai's heart tremble. Her fingers subconsciously tightened, but when they touched the soft and smooth skin on her face, they immediately flattened.

Her palms were itchy, and she could feel the movement of two lips opening and closing on her palms, and the warmth of a soft tongue licking against her lifeline.

Wu Meilai couldn't help but grab the weeds beside her shoes.

The tingling sensation seemed to spread to her heart, making her afraid to breathe too hard.

Zhou Qianling put the last pyracantha between her lips. The wild fruit tasted better than she had imagined, sour and sweet, but not very juicy, and was a bit sandy and grainy.

Spiciness is a painful sensation, but the peel is soaked in the coolness of ice, snow and spring water, which acts like an ice compress, so the pain is relieved a little.

"Do you want more?" Wu Meilai gently twisted her wrist, broke free from her hand, and put it behind her back.

"It's much better now."

With a sigh of relief, Wu Meilai grabbed the grass and slowly slid down.

"I want to go back."

"Oh... okay then."

She didn't know if it was an illusion, but Wu Meilai seemed to hear some reluctance, which made her feel secretly happy.

--

As the year draws to a close, young people who have gone out to work in the village are returning one after another. The once quiet and lifeless village is gradually coming back to life. At the same time, one fat pig after another is about to die.

Zhou Qianling sat in the bedroom, hearing the loud conversation in the living room.

"Sister Qianling, aunt wants you to come over and talk to her." Zhou Chenghua stepped forward and came from behind to look for her.

"Tell her I'm sleeping."

"Oh, okay."

"Don't say I said that." Zhou Qianling added.

Zhou Chenghua is Lin Yue’s eldest daughter. The second child is Zhou Chengcao. Her siblings are all named according to their generation, and like herself, they are all from the Cheng generation.

The uncle's family that Zhou Chenghua mentioned is from the same village but with a different surname. They are not his family, but because their ancestors were close, they are addressed as uncles.

The aunt-in-law had been extremely enthusiastic towards Zhou Qianling since the day she came. Lin Yue told her that her family had a son who was almost thirty and still single.

Everyone knew what she wanted to do. Zhou Fang mentioned several times that she hoped her daughter would find someone from Yanzhou, and she didn't want her daughter to be too far away from her. However, her aunt did not give up and only came to her house under the pretext of chatting with Lin Yue.

It would be bad to turn people away, so Zhou Qianling just let her talk without saying a word.

But recently Lin Yue's family planned to slaughter the New Year pig and asked someone to help.

Every village usually has a butcher who knows how to butcher pigs. Some are paid, while others simply help out, receiving a piece of pork as a thank you. Besides this butcher, you also need someone to butcher the pigs, pluck the hair, and clean the intestines. Everyone knows who to hire, and usually they only have a few, and my aunt's son is one of them.

Today is the customary day for inviting people to dinner before slaughtering the pig. Zhou Qianling hid in the bedroom to avoid being disturbed.

Zhou Chenghua trotted over and handed Zhou Qianling a sample of a famous brand lipstick.

"Sister Qianling, this is from Brother xx."

Zhou Qianling felt nauseous. "Tell him that this color makes me look darker, and I don't like dark skin."