The wind grew warmer, gently brushing against the berries on the mulberry trees, and the bunches of mini grapes turned black one after another.
The mulberry trees here were tall and sturdy, their branches straining upwards, densely packed with mulberry berries. Children nearby would be paralyzed if they looked up. Ripe berries fell, creating tiny drops of black and purple on the ground, dotted all over the mulberry field.
Qiuhua and Zhao Meiying brought Xiaohua to pick mulberry leaves today, as they had agreed long ago.
The three of them carried a large bamboo basket, big enough for Chunhua to fit in. Xiaohua stood in the mulberry field, drool streaming from the corners of his mouth. Qiuhua laughed at him and wiped his mouth with her hand. The little fellow chuckled as a large snot bubble emerged from his nostril, growing and shrinking with his breathing. He felt his nose itchy, and when he wiped it with the back of his hand, it was covered with yellow snot.
"Don't wipe it anymore, sister will help you." Qiuhua lifted the corner of her clothes to help him wipe it clean, and then found a clean stone for him to sit on and watch them pick mulberries.
Zhao Meiying was stronger than Qiuhua. She carried the basket on one shoulder and climbed up the tree, shouting to Xiaohua below:
"I'll pick a basket for you to eat!"
"You can't eat it as a meal. It will give you a stomachache."
Qiuhua also climbed up the tree at this time. She responded with a smile, stretched out her hand, pinched the thin stem at the root of the mulberry fruit with two fingers, and gently applied force. The mulberry fruit fell down, and she carefully put it into her basket.
Xiaohua was waiting eagerly below, but his patience was only for a moment. At this moment, he was attracted by a butterfly, which flapped its wings and flew in front of his eyes. Sometimes it flew east, and Xiaohua followed it to the east, and sometimes it flew west, and Xiaohua followed it to the west. He was so happy!
Unfortunately, the little guy was too slow to catch up with the butterfly, and it flew away in the blink of an eye. Xiaohua stood there blankly, watching the butterfly fly farther and farther away with tears in her eyes.
"Xiaohua, come here quickly!"
Qiuhua called him under the mulberry tree. Xiaohua turned around and saw a basket full of black mulberry seeds. The worthless tears in his eyes immediately disappeared.
He ran to his sister, grabbed a handful of mulberries with his little hands and put them in his mouth to chew, and his hands and the corners of his mouth were stained with purple juice.
This year, with abundant rain, the mulberry leaves grew large and plump. The silkworms were well fed, and the mulberry seeds grew large and sweet. Xiaohua ate handful after handful. The freshly picked mulberries were covered with a thin layer of dust. Farmers' children didn't care about cleanliness, as they said, "If it's not clean, it won't make you sick." Besides, washed mulberries lose their crispness and become soft.
The three of them sat around, Qiuhua picking out the largest, darkest purple mulberries and placing them in Xiaohua's hands. The little fellow stuffed some into his mouth, then stuffed it again, until his little belly was bulging with dark purple mulberries.
"Xiaohua is fine, but you can't eat anymore. Be careful of stomachache at night." Qiuhua took the basket behind her.
"Sister, eat a little more..."
Xiaohua acted coquettishly but Qiuhua remained unmoved.
"Then eat another one, just one!"
"Okay, then I'll take one. Keep your word, or your nose will get longer tomorrow."
Xiaohua was particularly afraid that his nose would grow longer, so his sister said this was the last one, so it was the last one. After eating so many mulberry seeds, his hands were dyed purple, and when he grinned, his purple tongue and lips could be seen.
For dinner in the evening, my mother made stir-fried shredded pork with water chestnuts. She put half of the shredded pork into Xiaohua's bowl, but the little guy had little appetite and the shredded pork didn't taste good at all.
Maybe I ate too many mulberries during the day, so I didn’t have much appetite at night.
"Xiaohua, eat quickly. This is not like you."
Qiuhua urged him, but Xiaohua hung his head, showing no interest in the food in front of him and said, "Sister, I'm not hungry at all. I don't want to. I want to go out and play."
Liang Genfa glared at his youngest son and said, "What are you doing playing so late at night? Be careful or mosquitoes will carry you away!"
Xiaohua was already afraid of his father, and now he was even more frightened and could not move. His lips, still a little purple, were pursed together, and he looked like he was about to burst into tears.
"What are you doing? Your family owes you money every day. Can you please talk to them properly?" Qiu Zhen rolled her eyes at the old man and said to Xiao Hua, "If you can't eat, don't eat. Go play in the yard, but it's dark now. You're not allowed outside."
"Okay!" He happily put down the dishes in his hands and ran into the yard.
After the family finished their meal, Xiaohua came in quietly from outside and lay down on the bed without making a sound. No one noticed his listless look.
Everyone is busy with their own things, so who would notice this little son?
Every farming family has several children, and the parents are busy farming to earn food, so no one cares if any of their children is sick or in pain.
They are like stars in the night. You look up and see them, but you don’t pay much attention to them.
At night, everyone slept soundly.
Qiuhua was dreaming. In her dream, a big yellow dog came running. This dog was very close to her and kept nudging her waist with its big head.
She touched it with her hand, and the furry head felt a little prickly, just like Xiaohua's short flat head.
Looking down carefully, isn’t this Xiaohua?
Qiuhua woke up a little from her daze and felt that there was indeed something bulging around her waist. She reached out to touch it and found it was Xiaohua's flat head.
"Xiaohua, what are you doing? It's not even daybreak yet."
"Sister, my stomach hurts..."
Qiuhua was so sleepy that she couldn't open her eyes and turned over.
"It's okay, it will be fine in a while."
She dozed off and fell asleep again, not knowing how long she had slept. When she opened her eyes again, it was already dawn.
Xiaohua stopped arching at this moment. Qiuhua thought the little guy had fallen asleep, but she heard a whimpering sound.
Something is wrong!
Qiuhua woke up as if from a dream, sat up, and dragged Xiaohua's head to ask, "What's wrong with you? Have you been in pain all night?"
Xiaohua didn't say anything, just cried, no, she was groaning in pain.
The little flat head was sticky and covered with sweat.
"Dad! Mom! Xiaohua is in trouble!"
"Come on! Mom! Mom!"
“Oh no!”
After shouting five or six times, a dark figure came in from the door. Without turning on the light, he said in a complaining tone, "What are you doing? It's not even daybreak yet! What's wrong? It's bad luck!"
When Qiuhua heard her father's voice, her heart sank to the ground.
"Xiaohua had a stomachache all night and now he can't speak!"
"Ah?" Liang Genfa was startled and hurried out to light the kerosene lamp.
The little guy's face was ashen, his lips were pale, and he was soaked as if he had just been in the water.
"Oh no! How many mulberries did you eat yesterday?"
Qiuhua trembled all over when she heard her mother's question and didn't dare to answer.
She thought of Mao Goudan who died in the village last year. He ate two large bowls of mulberry seeds, and roundworms got into his gallbladder. He rolled around in pain on the bed all night and died before dawn.
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