The key to the golden cage
In the autumn of 2004, when the camphor trees began to shed their leaves, we were finally locked in the golden cage called "primary school."
Parents suddenly became extremely busy, and they enthusiastically discussed the pros and cons of various interest classes.
In the courtyard in the evenings, I could always hear the adults whispering words like "extra points for special skills" and "advantages in admission to higher education", as if we had suddenly become pieces of unpolished jade that needed to be carefully carved.
Lu Xingye was the first to be confirmed, and from then on there was a short figure in Aunt Chen's studio.
It’s hard to imagine that his hands, which are always covered in mud, can actually pick up a paintbrush. This makes me very curious.
I went to the painting studio and studied for two days. My hands were covered with paint, and the colors on the palette were like an overturned five-flavor bottle, mixed together, but I couldn't mix the color I wanted.
The brush dances on the canvas, but the trees I paint always seem to be blown crooked by the wind, and the flowers seem to be crying.
When I washed my brush the next day, I found that the red paint had seeped into my palm lines like a winding river. This is probably what adults mean by "lacking artistic talent."
Ye Zhixia was dragged by Aunt Fang to learn ballet. She wore a pink dance costume and white dance shoes, looking like a little princess in a fairy tale.
Watching her spinning and jumping in front of the mirror, I followed her enviously.
But when the teacher pressed my back down, I heard my ligaments groaning under the heavy burden.
My mother carried me home on her back that day, and her tears soaked a large area of her clothes on the back.
I cried and shouted that I didn't want to go again, and my mother was so annoyed by me that she didn't mention it again.
Jiang Yuanzhou chose mental abacus, claiming that once you master it, you can solve math problems like magic. I enthusiastically bought an abacus and clacked around with it for a few days. Within a few days, I had discarded it in a corner, where it gathered dust. And then, that was it.
Only my weekends were free. Every time I saw other children hurrying by carrying various musical instruments and drawing boards, my mother would sigh.
But she has always been a tolerant and generous mother, so she finally let me do what I wanted.
Compared to my mother's laissez-faire style, Aunt Fang is an absolutely strict mother.
Speaking of which, the mother I’m most afraid of is probably Aunt Fang, but I like Ye Zhixia very much.
She has always been the "other people's child" in my mother's eyes.
Every time my mother scolds me, she always says, "Why don't you learn from Xia Xia..."
Yes, yes, Xia Xia is good in everything. The clothes she wears in the morning are always clean when she comes back in the evening. Her room is always tidy and you can find anything you want easily.
But the title of "good girl" also seems to restrict her freedom and happiness.
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One afternoon during summer vacation, the weather was exceptionally hot and humid.
It was so hot that you would sweat just sitting still. We sat on the curb in front of the door, bored, listening to the incessant chirping of cicadas outside.
I kept using my hands as a fan, hoping for a cool breeze.
"My mom just bought me a net bag. Do you want to go catch tadpoles this afternoon?" Lu Xingye deliberately swung the net bag, making it make a whistling sound. I rolled my eyes at him and waved it away.
"Now! Immediately! Right now! It's so hot, of course we have to play in the water!" Lulu's eyes sparkled.
"When are you going?"
"Then I'll go back and get it now." Lu Xingye patted his butt and stood up.
"Hurry up, hurry up!" Thinking about going out to play in the water, today's weather doesn't seem so unbearable.
I turned around and saw Xia Xia standing not far away, looking at us cautiously and hesitantly.
Ye Zhixia has never participated in activities that require dealing with mud and water.
But when I saw her hesitant expression that day, I hesitated for a moment. "Xia Xia, do you want to go together?" I asked tentatively.
I saw her eyes light up instantly, but she quickly shook her head hesitantly, "My mother wouldn't agree..."
The cicadas were still chirping, and I suddenly thought of the story "Cicada on the Eighth Day" from the children's literature that my mother read to me.
At that moment, the girl in front of me with her head lowered made me feel like a cicada that was afraid to run or jump and was full of worries.
Lu Xingye's impatient smacking of lips could be heard from the shadows of the trees.
"Just once, let's go secretly and Aunt Fang won't find out." I leaned close to her ear and suggested in a low voice.
Hot and humid steam was rising from the river.
Ye Zhixia took off her shoes as if she was completing some kind of ritual. She first untied the bow, then pinched the edge of the sock and slowly rolled it down, and finally folded the sock in half three times and stuffed it into the shoe.
When her toes touched the mud, her whole body shook violently.
"Step like this!" I deliberately stomped my feet in front of her, and mud splashed onto her skirt.
Unexpectedly, she suddenly giggled and stepped heavily into the water, imitating me.
"Look, I caught a big tadpole!"
Ye Zhixia excitedly raised the bottle in her hand, and the little life inside was swimming happily.
But this happiness didn't last long, and Aunt Fang's screams came faster than I expected.
"Ye Zhixia, what are you doing? What do you look like?"
Ye Zhixia instantly turned back into the neat porcelain doll she was, but mud and water were still flowing down her calves.
She lowered her head and spoke in a soft voice.
"Mom, I just...just wanted to catch tadpoles."
Her fingers twisted together unconsciously.
"Go home right now!"
Aunt Fang grabbed Xia Xia's hand without question, and the strength she showed reminded me of a vendor in the market carrying live fish and weighing them.
Xia Xia's shoulders trembled slightly. Even after walking a long way away, she could still seem to hear Aunt Fang scolding her.
I took two steps after her and saw the glass bottle she had left lying on the shore.
A tadpole was twisting its body desperately, splashing tiny water drops at the bottom of the dry bottle.
Later, Ye Zhixia stopped playing with us. She squatted by the sand pit, her fingers unconsciously imitating our movements of digging in the sand.
Lulu asked her to build a castle together, but she shook her head and patted the sand off her skirt for an extra long time.
I couldn't help but sigh, fortunately, I am not "someone else's child".
I can run and jump as much as I want.
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