Look at the lively Xiaobai, and then look at the listless Bubble... The little guy stood up, picked up the basin and went into the house to use the electric fan to blow the two little fish.

He clicked the switch and said, "Are you feeling a bit hot? Turn on the fan and it will cool you down. Move around when you feel cooler. Don't make me worry."

Because of Tian Jianzhong's words, the boy suddenly realized that something was wrong with Bubble. It was no longer active and didn't like to move. Its belly was getting bigger and bigger, as if it was pregnant... But these were two male fish...

So is Bubble sick?

Around ten o'clock, the couple returned home, and Qiao An came up to them with a basin of water: "Mom, did Bubble really eat too much?"

Qiao Lu and her husband were walking so fast that they almost knocked over the basin of water. After steadying themselves, they noticed the little red-bellied fish in the basin.

Qiao Lu reached out and poked it. Xiaobai was very active, but Bubble didn't react at all and looked lifeless. He used to like blowing bubbles, but he hasn't done so much in the past few days.

She's not a veterinarian, so of course she can't figure out what's going on with Bubbles.

"Maybe. Look how fat it is."

"Then I'll give it less food in the future."

Qiaoan began to pay close attention to the little goldfish's condition every day, taking care of it as if it were a noble guest.

In the past, he would eat as much as the bubbles in the feed suggested, but now he doesn't eat much and is listless even when the feed is in front of his mouth.

Joan asked his friends, and they said that the little fish must be tired of the food and wanted to eat grass. There was a lot of grass in the river, and it must have missed the food from home.

So I pulled some weeds from under the loquat tree and threw them into an enamel basin.

"Why don't you eat? Is the food not tasty?" But if you don't eat, you will feel hungry, and a hungry stomach will make you uncomfortable.

Qiao An was getting anxious. After thinking for a long time, he fed it some raw rice, but it still didn't eat it. Then he broke off two corn kernels, but it still didn't eat it. Finally, he had no choice but to throw a small piece of cooked pork. The meat was so delicious, it would definitely eat it, right?

But...it still didn't eat. Not only that, its belly started to turn white again.

Qiao Lu didn't know whether to laugh or cry when she saw this. She picked up the debris and changed the water in the basin: "An An, Bubble White can only eat feed, not other things."

Qiao An scratched his ears and cheeks and asked anxiously: "Well, what should we do if it doesn't eat the feed now?"

"It doesn't want to eat? Then it might eat if it's hungry. You fed it too much before and it couldn't eat it all." Qiao Lu didn't care too much. She was busy with work and had no time to pay attention to the little goldfish.

"Okay then, Bubble, you should be hungry for a while. You will eat when you are hungry."

He squatted in front of the little fish absent-mindedly, and sometimes in the middle of eating, he would not forget to take a look into the water to see if the bubbles were moving.

"Mom, is Bubble unhappy?"

"Mom doesn't know either. Let's wait and see. If it's still like this tomorrow, I'll take it to the fishmonger to see if it's sick."

"Oh well."

The next day, after getting up and washing up, Qiao An fed Bubble Xiaobai the first thing he did.

"Mom, Bubble White's food is all gone!"

"The feed is gone again?" Hiss - my dear son is a bit harsh. I remember that the last time we bought the feed it was only a few days ago.

"Um!"

"So fast? Don't feed too much at one time." Qiao Lu used to feed the baby together with him, but later, as she became increasingly busy, she gave up and handed over full responsibility to her son.

"Yes! I only feed Xiaobai now, not Bubble."

"Okay, Mom will go out to buy some groceries and feed on the way."

"Then don't forget it."

"good."

The weather is a bit stuffy today. The midday sun is like melted maltose, baking people into sticky sweat.

Qiao Lu came back from the flower and bird market on her bicycle. When she arrived at the gate of the courtyard, she got off and carried the bicycle over the threshold, then continued to push the bicycle slowly towards the inner courtyard.

"Qiao Lu, where have you two been? Your son is crying in there!" Tian Jianzhong pointed at the Xu family's cottage and said speechlessly.

"What? An An is crying? Why?" Qiao Lu slowed down her pace, and before she could ask, she had just stopped the car and bumped into a little kid who was crying his heart out.

Qiao Lu lowered her head and came face to face with a little flower-faced creature.

"What's wrong with you? Your eyes are red. Are you imitating a rabbit?" I thought to myself, could it be that you've thought about it after not seeing it for a while? That's not right. Qiao An is no longer that sensitive.

The boy had no reaction to his mother's joke. He was so sad that he couldn't speak for a long time. His pale lips were trembling without any color.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Qiao Lu held her son's little hand, which was cold and chilly.

The young guy was soaked all over without a single dry spot on his skin. His short jacket was sticking to his flesh, and it was unclear whether it was wet by sweat or something else.

Looking at his face again, his eyes were swollen like walnuts and his mouth was tightly pursed. When he saw Qiao Lu, he suddenly bit his lower lip, as if he wanted to cry but couldn't.

What is happening?

I quickly threw the feed aside, squatted down and touched his face, which was very hot.

Qiao Lu softened her voice: "What's wrong, An An, who bullied you?"

Their An An is well-behaved and sensible, who would bully him? Qiao Lu was so anxious that she was sweating profusely.

"Mom, I, I..." He was so sad that he talked for a long time but the words were stuck in his throat and he couldn't utter them out.

He hiccuped and tears started streaming down his face.

"My bubble...is dead...is dead...Mom, Xiaobai has no friends anymore, it's dead...Mom, Mom - Mom -"

After saying this, he burst into tears and was extremely sad.

"What!" Qiao Lu was shocked and stood up.

"How could this happen? Where is it now? Take mom to see it."

The young man pointed at the bedroom tremblingly, and was so sad that he walked crookedly.

Qiao Lu quickly picked up her son and ran into the house.

On the dining table in the main room, in a small enamel basin, little white bubbles were spinning around and around. The bubbles were floating on the water silently with their white bellies turned up, and no matter how you poked them, they didn't move at all.

It's really dead...

"Ah, this..." Qiao Lu was a little confused: "What's going on? It's all right... How could this happen?"

He anxiously asked Qiaoan, "Where's Dad? Wasn't he cooking in the kitchen when Mom left?"

Qiao An choked up and rubbed his eyes. "Dad, Dad went to the toilet and asked An An to wait for him. Then, I picked up Bubble, but Bubble didn't move. Yesterday, it was wagging its tail, but today it didn't even wag its tail. Brother Tian said that Bubble is dead, wuwuwuwu - Bubble is dead -"

The mother and daughter waited for five minutes, and Xu Haizhou finally came back from the public toilet. Qiao Lu eagerly pulled him into the house.

"Our son is crying his ass off, Bubbles is dead!"

My son is crying his ass off, Bubble is dead, who is dead?

Xu Haizhou was stunned for two seconds, then he came to his senses and hurried forward to check the situation.

I held Bubble in my palm and looked at it again and again. It was not sleeping nor pretending to be dead. It was really dead, without a doubt.

"Paopao's belly got bigger some time ago. Is this the reason?" Xu Haizhou analyzed calmly.

"Getting bigger? That means it's overeating. I didn't feed it too much later."

"Poppao didn't eat. It has been hungry for many days. It won't eat. It's hungry..." Thinking of something, the little guy cried even more sadly: "Poppao died of hunger! Poppao died of hunger, wuwuwu——"

The old mother was heartbroken when she heard her son crying like that.

"Don't cry, don't cry. Mommy will take you to the flower and bird market. Let's ask the experienced uncles there, okay?"

The family of three went to the flower and bird market, found the boss who sold fish last time, and hurriedly handed Bubble to him.

The boss fiddled with it a few times and figured out the cause of death after just a few glances.

"Your fish is dead. It ate too much and got enteritis. It died of illness."

These words were equivalent to completely putting a death shroud on Bubble. Qiao An burst into tears, gasping for breath, to the point where he couldn't stop crying with his hands.

I snatched Bubble's body from the boss's hand, held Bubble and rubbed it against my cheek, but no matter how I rubbed it, there was no response.

He kissed it, pecked it, and put his cheek against it, and his tears dripped onto the little fish's belly.

But Bubble was dead forever. He slept so peacefully. He would never wag his tail to respond to him again...

"It's okay. Even if the fish doesn't die now, it will die in six or seven years. Don't cry, kid."

After the boss said this nonchalantly, Qiao An cried even more sadly. Qiao Lu tried to comfort her for a long time, but the child just cried even harder.

"Mummy—Mummy—I don't want it, I don't want it—I don't want to be bubbled to death, Mummy—"

He buried his head in Qiao Lu's arms, as if he wanted to cry out his heart out. His tears gradually wet the cloth on her abdomen. The scalding temperature made the old mother's heart tremble.

Qiao Lu saw it all and felt anxious, heartbroken yet helpless.

"Don't cry, don't cry. Mommy will buy you another little fish, okay? Or two. Then you will have three little goldfish in the future, okay?"

Qiao An shook his head frantically and wailed in pain: "No, no, I want bubbles, my bubbles, they are my friends, Mommy——"

Qiao Lu sighed helplessly and looked at Xu Haizhou.

The couple looked at each other, and Xu Haizhou pointed at the flower and bird market and said, "Let's go in and take a look around."

The child was held in his father's arms as they walked around the flower and bird market. Qiao Lu pointed out the beautiful little fish, little turtles, little birds, and even beautiful marigolds to Qiao An from time to time.

It more or less attracted the child's attention, but she didn't cry as violently as before, she just shed tears silently and sobbed.

"Do you like turtles? How about buying a baby turtle? It won't die no matter how you raise it." This time she asked about the precautions no matter what she said!

"Mom, I don't want it." His voice was hoarse from crying.

"Why not? Bubble is gone, why don't we buy another one to keep you company?"

Qiao An hesitated for a long time, then shook her head, tears streaming down her face again: "Mom, I don't want to keep Paopao and Xiaobai anymore."

Qiao Lu's heart skipped a beat. She raised her hand to wipe his tears: "Why? Don't you like them very much?"

With her eyes bulging with tears, Qiaoan said, "Mom, they will still die..."

"No, now you know how to raise them. We should feed them less in the future. If they feel unwell, bring them to uncle for treatment. They will live a long time."

"But uncle said that goldfish only live for six years, and then they die."

The little one even knew what "life" was. Qiao Lu swore that she had never taught him this word.

Out of respect for life, Qiao An didn't want to watch his beloved Bubble Xiaobai die, so he simply gave up his hobby, preferring to have nothing than to experience the pain again.

Qiao Lu understood her son and gave up the idea of ​​buying the little turtle and fish.

On the way out of the flower and bird market, Qiao Lu hugged her son and comforted him: "It's okay. All life will die. Bubble and Xiaobai will die, Mom will die, and An'an will die too. We should accept it calmly."

Qiao An was immediately frightened, hugged her neck tightly and shouted: "I don't want you to die!"

Children have no concept of death. In their beautiful little world, everyone should live well, especially mom and dad. They can live forever!

Qiao Lu sighed and patted his back soothingly: "It's still early. If nothing goes wrong, Mommy can still accompany you for another 70 or 80 years."

"I don't want that. I want my mom to live forever!"

Qiao Lu couldn't help laughing: "Silly child, no one can live forever."

"Mom, you can." The tone was very serious.

Puff——

"Mom is neither a god nor a monster. I can't do that."

"Yes..." The little guy was terribly stubborn in this idea.

Pushing aside the strands of hair stuck to his forehead, Qiao Lu softly kissed his cheek: "Are you sad because Bubble died, or are you sad because you think your mother is going to die?"

Qiao An looked gloomy, her mouth opening and closing: "I'm sad too, I don't want Bubble to die, and I don't want my mother to die..."

If Bubble died, he would be sad for a long time. If his mother died, he would be sad for the rest of his life.

A lifetime is so long, so long that you can't see the end. In a lifetime, he will grow to be as tall and strong as his father. It is a really long time.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but hug Qiao Lu tightly and burst into tears.

"Mom, I don't want you to die. Anyway, I don't want you to die."

This time I didn't cry out loud, I just shed tears, dry tears.

Qiao Lu's heart ached, but she suppressed her sadness and said, "Mom is not dead yet. It's still early. Mom can still stay with you for a long, long time."

"Well, what should I do if my mother dies?"

This question made Qiao Lu want to cry.

Yes, if she died, what would happen to An An?

It's fine if I grow up, but if I suddenly die before adulthood... Never mind, I really don't dare to think about that moment...

"No, An An, don't let your imagination run wild. These are all assumptions that don't exist. We should be more optimistic. Life is good now, isn't it?"

"I like it now, but I'm afraid." So he doesn't want his mother to die.

Children will develop the concept of death at around 4 years old, and they need to be given accurate guidance at this time. Otherwise, it is easy for children to fall into wrong cognition, and in serious cases, it may cause negative emotions throughout their lives.

This is not a joke.

Qiao Lu was under tremendous pressure and racked her brains.

"Haizhou, let's not cook today. Let's go to a restaurant."

"good."

After saying this, the little guy didn't react. In the past, he would have jumped up and down excitedly. But today, he was just silent and buried his head in Qiao Lu's arms, wiping away his tears.

The family of three left the flower and bird market and rode their bicycles to the state-owned hotel.

Qiao Lu held her son in one hand and put her other arm around Xu Haizhou's waist, and said slowly: "This is nothing to be afraid of. No one will not die. We must face death squarely."

"No matter how long you dream, you will eventually wake up."

"No matter how cold the winter is, spring will come."

"Mom is gone, but there will always be someone who loves you for me."

“No, no!” The tears that had been swallowed with great difficulty burst out again: “Mom loves me the most, no one loves me more than mom, wuwu——”

"Yes, there will be. Our An'an is so great. Many people will like you." Jolu rubbed her eyes. She never thought that one day she would be moved to tears by her son: "An'an, can mommy tell you a story?"

The boy said nothing and just nodded slightly.

"Once upon a time, there was a cute little duck. One day, it met the Grim Reaper. The little duck knew what the Grim Reaper did and that he would kill it. But the Grim Reaper said, 'I have been following you since you were born.' He said, I want to be your friend, and smiled at the little duck in a friendly way. The little duck was a little scared, but when he saw the Grim Reaper smiling at him, he felt that he was not a bad person, so he chose to be friends with the Grim Reaper.

The next day, the little duck woke up and found that the Grim Reaper had not let it die. Later, they became good friends, chatting, eating, and taking walks together... Gradually, the little duck became a middle-aged duck, and finally an old duck. The Grim Reaper had always been by its side and had always been its good friend. He had never left it.

Later, the little duck died, and the god of death gently smoothed the old duck's feathers, carefully put the old duck friend into the water, and gently pushed it and sent it on its way. "

"Mom, what path did the god of death send the old duck to?" The little guy sniffed and asked in a muffled voice.

Qiao Lu patted him on the back: "The road to death."

Qiao An whimpered uncomfortably, "Why? Aren't they good friends? Why would they let it die?"

Qiao Lu was helpless and explained, "You forgot, the god of death said that he has been following the little duck since it was born. One day, the god of death will send the little duck to death, but in the process, we can be good friends with the god of death until we can no longer live, and then the god of death will send us away."

Qiao An's eyes were still red, with tears welling up in her eyes, but fortunately she managed to control herself and didn't let them fall.

"If I can survive, will the god of death still send me away?"

"No."

"What about Mom?"

"Mom can live on. Death won't send Mom away for no reason."

"So when will we send Mom away?"

"I don't know about that, but before the god of death sends us away, shouldn't we be happy to be friends with him? He won't hurt us for no reason, right?"

"Hmm, that seems to be true." He listened carefully and seemed to be thinking seriously.

"So, didn't the God of Death say, 'He has been with everyone since birth, but we never noticed him, and were afraid of him, terrified of him, and unwilling to make friends with him, which led to us living in anxiety all our lives.' Life and death go hand in hand, and death is a part of our lives. We should face it calmly, right, An An?"

There was a teardrop hanging from the tip of his nose, and as he nodded, it fell into the arms of the mother and son.

"Yeah, that's right."

"Are you still sad?" Qiao Lu poked his red little face.

"Sad." But it seemed that I was somewhat comforted.

"Even if Bubble doesn't die now, he will die in the future, but our An'an is still alive. If An'an keeps crying for Bubble and refuses to eat or sleep, how sad will mom and dad be? Bubble doesn't want to see the little master like this, right?"

"Um……"

Seeing that his expression had finally calmed down a little, Qiao Lu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Touching her son's head, she said, "If one day, mommy is gone, even though An'an can no longer see me or hear my voice, you will still feel that mommy is quietly accompanying you and loving you in another room."

Qiao An's eyes widened, and he found it incredible.

"Mom, are you dead or not?"

After he finished speaking, Xu Haizhou in front of him chuckled without giving any face: "An An, your question is..."

A little cute and a little funny.

At some point, the tears on Qiaoan's face gradually receded, and her eyelashes, which were wet by the water drops, stuck together into a few thick eyelashes and blinked.

Qiao Lu smiled and pinched his cheek: "Stinky baby, what I mean is that mommy will change into another form, into something else to be with you."

His little mouth opened into a "0" in surprise, and he nodded vigorously, as if he wanted to remember his mother's words firmly in his heart.

Under Qiao Lurun's gentle guidance, Qiao An finally got rid of the fear and frustration that Bubble's death brought him.

"Mom, if you die, will you become something else to accompany me?"

"Yes, Mommy will become anything to accompany you. Mommy will always be by your side."

“What will become of Mom?”

"What do you want your mother to become?"

"I hope...I hope my mother can become a quilt so that I can sleep next to her every day."

"Okay, then turn into a quilt, not only to accompany An An, but also to keep An An warm, okay?"

"good……"

Qiaoan's crying eyes finally turned into crescents, and the fear of death that he felt was slowly fading away.

The bad news of Bubble's death was gradually forgotten by everyone, and no one took this insignificant little goldfish seriously.

Little did she know that its disappearance had left a deep mark in Qiao An's heart.

…

Under the leadership of Qiao Lu, the family of three worked together to bury Bubble under the loquat tree in the yard.

According to Qiao Lu, I can feel the "soul" of Bubble every day when I sit here. Bubble is not dead, it just changes into another form to stay with us.

Whenever you miss it, just come and sit under the tree, and it will feel our love.

In heaven, Bubble will be very happy and blessed. It says: "Thank you, old friend, thank you for coming to see me."

For fear of causing emotional repercussions, Qiao Lu no longer dared to keep Xiaobai. With Qiao An's consent, Qiao Lu gave Xiaobai to Qiao Yan.

After Xiaobai left, Qiao An started to suffer from insomnia. He sat under the eaves all night long, gazing at the stars, and was reluctant to go back to the house for a long time.

"Mom, can I sit for a while longer? I haven't found Bubble's little star yet."

"But it's late now, and your little pillow misses you. It hasn't seen you all day. The little pillow is a little sad, and wants to ask you if you don't like it anymore. Why don't you go find it?"

Qiao An opened her mouth and said, "Mom, the pillow is not a person. It won't be sad."

Qiao Lu rubbed his head and said, "Son, don't you know that everything has a spirit?"

"What do you mean, Mom?" Success aroused his curiosity.

"That is to say..."

Taking advantage of the child's "animism", which believes that all things have vitality and anthropomorphic characteristics, Qiao Lu explained the small pillow as a kind of "spiritual object" with humorous language. Unexpectedly, her casual nonsense was actually believed by her son, who went back to the room, hugged the small pillow and went to sleep.

Alas, it is better for children to be simple and easier to coax.

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