On June 20, 1985, Tang Xiao was born, a soft glutinous rice ball.
Three days ago in the morning, Erhua left home. Before leaving, he asked his mother to take good care of Luo Zhen. She estimated that she would give birth at the end of the month, so he would go to the store for a week and stay at home with her next week.
Erhua fell asleep while rocking in the car.
He was also rocking in his dream, riding on a soft and thick cloud. He leaned out and looked down, and there was a blue sea below.
That was the sea he imagined, because he had never seen the real sea.
"Hello—where am I—is anyone there—"
He shouted down, the sea sparkling so brightly that he squinted his eyes.
Suddenly, he noticed that there seemed to be something under the water. It was a white shadow swimming. He looked down hard and fell from the cloud.
"ah--"
He screamed wildly, kicking and shaking his hands and feet.
"It's okay, it's okay, this must be a dream!"
Suddenly, the white figure broke through the water, and Erhua felt that he had fallen onto a soft cushion of meat. When he looked carefully, he found that it was a huge white fish!
Erhua suddenly woke up from his dream, and then he felt uneasy and a little worried.
I arrived at the store before noon, and just as I was holding my bowl of rice, the young man from the store next door ran over and said:
"Erhua, your family called, it's urgent!"
It turned out that not long after Erhua left, Luo Zhen's water suddenly broke and she was sent to the hospital.
When Erhua rushed back from the city, fortunately Luo Zhen had not given birth yet.
However, he soon lost his joy as the contractions came one after another, becoming more and more frequent and painful, like stone hammers hitting his body, Luo Zhen.
She was tortured to the point where she was neither human nor ghost, her eyes were glazed and she was in unspeakable pain.
After two days and two nights of pain, the child was finally born. Luo Zhen, who had been to the gates of hell and experienced the greatest pain in the world, smiled miserably and named the child: Tang Xiao.
The child weighed six pounds when he was born, had all four limbs intact, and cried loudly.
Luo Zhen was so tired that he fell asleep.
When she woke up, it was already dark. Erhua was lying beside her, and her mother-in-law and father were there too.
Xiao Tangxiao was there too.
A sense of unreality washed over me. This was the child that had been in my belly for over nine months? And now I was going to be a mother?
She stretched out a finger and placed it under her small nose. A warm breath came from it, and her finger trembled slightly.
It's alive!
She laughed out loud, laughing at her own childishness, and the pain was gone.
She shed tears again. The child was healthy, and her own imperfections seemed to be filled.
Qiuhua rushed over from Tahe Town and gave Tang Xiao a silk embroidered bellyband as a gift.
In the evening, Erhua and Qiuhua sat under the boxwood tree outside the hospital, with mosquitoes buzzing around their feet looking for food.
"Qiuhua," he turned to look at his sister, smiling sincerely, "Brother, your life is complete."
Qiuhua was also happy and she laughed, just like when Erhua took her to fish when she was a child. She remembered it very clearly. One time they caught a three-jin crucian carp, and they laughed like that.
"Brother, congratulations! Just like you said, you've become rich and have a child. You are the most promising among us. No, you are the most promising in our village!"
Erhu rubbed his nose, feeling a little embarrassed. Back when he was still called a second-rate guy, he had no shame in talking about these grand ambitions.
Only after venturing out into the world can you understand what humility is.
"Well, you and Dahua have great potential. Now think about it, why did you feel so angry back then?
Dahua is the eldest, handsome and obedient, and Mom likes him. You are the third and a girl, and Dad likes you. I am the second child, the awkward middle child for a thousand years." He smiled, as if lost in memory.
"Do you remember when you were little, my mom made a wild onion pancake, a pancake as big as an iron pan. Since you were young and a girl, she gave you a big piece first, and then divided the rest into two, half for Dahua and half for me.
But I always felt that mine was smaller than Dahua's, so I wanted to exchange it with him. My father scolded me and when I talked back, he beat me with a stick.
That day I curled up in the corner and cried, thinking that I wished my mother hadn't made this wild onion pancake in the afternoon.
Later, I felt more and more that they didn’t care about me, and even Xiaohua, who was born later, was more important than me.
This was a source of worry for me, and it made everything I did feel awkward and unfocused. I always wished I could do something today and get rich tomorrow.”
Erhua spoke slowly and calmly. This was the first time he opened his heart to Qiuhua. After he said the first sentence, the rest came out naturally like flowing water.
"I always think about getting rich. I know in my heart that getting rich is not that easy. But I can't calm down.
I'm a bit of a face-saver, because I want to save face in front of my mom and dad, but because of this problem of mine, I almost lost Luo Zhen."
He said this with a smile, and as he smiled, his eyes began to mist over. Qiuhua patted him, but she was actually also very excited.
"Brother, it's all over."
Erhua nodded: "It's okay, I figured it out a long time ago, otherwise it would be impossible to live a good life with your sister-in-law and carve redwood well.
What is face? Is being a decent person face? Or is becoming rich overnight a pie in the sky face? None of them.
I still care about face now, but I know that I have to earn it with my own ability, and spend time and effort to fight for it with all my heart!
Your sister-in-law, although she has a lame leg, is a woman who is gentle on the outside but strong on the inside, principled and tough. If she were a man, I couldn't compare to her.
Qiuhua, looking back, mom and dad never treated me badly. We had the same food and supplies, but I had a bad temper and was always beaten. I blamed them, even you and Dahua.
Now that I'm someone's father, I want to hold Xiaoxiao at the top of my heart. I finally understand!"
After he finished speaking, he smiled with tears in his eyes. Qiuhua laughed with him, and there were mosquitoes buzzing beside them as accompaniment.
Looking closely at Erhua, he is still not very tall, and he will never be as tall as Dahua. But he is stronger, his face is more mature, and his eyes are more determined.
"Brother, your journey hasn't been easy. I've watched you all along. I've always known you're a good person, and our whole family is a good person. You're just stubborn and eager to prove yourself.
You know what? Now when I talk about you with others, I'm so proud. I have two brothers, one is Director Liang of the forest farm, and the other is Master Liang, the rosewood carver from Tangli Village. I'm so proud!
Erhua was completely amused and gently touched Qiuhua's head.
"Sister, don't worry. No matter how we grow up, I will always protect you. I am your brother, and I will never forget this!"
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