Chapter 53 Chapter 9: Pharmacy (3)

Sangsang's favorite male teacher is Jiang Lunlun, and her favorite female teacher is Wen Youju. Wen Youju can sing, her voice is soft and distant, with a sense of sadness, but also a backbone and tenacity that makes people's hearts tremble.She is good at playing the huqin.The best song on the piano is the song "Er Quan Ying Yue".On a night in late summer and early autumn, when the crescent moon in the sky bends, she sits on the edge of the lotus pond and sings this song, which makes the country people who don't understand music feel an inexplicable sadness in their hearts.Sangsang's huqin belonged to Wen Youju's church.

In Sangsang's view, the most fascinating thing about Wen Youju is not only that she can sing and play the huqin, but also that she always guards her medicine jar all year round.He likes to watch her boil medicine, watch her drink medicine, and watch her look so weak.No matter where Wen Youju appeared, she always looked like that.She herself seemed to like herself this way-it made her feel very warm and human. Because her room always smelled of bitter medicine all year round, Jiang rounded up a small wooden sign on her door with two characters written on it: Yaoliao. Sangsang didn't understand what "Liao" meant, so Jiang Yilun told him, "Liao is a hut."

Wen Youju smiled, but did not take off the sign.Her hut was originally a place for boiling medicine.She likes to make medicine, and even likes to be sick. "Yaoliao" - the name is quite simple and elegant. When Sangsang entered the room, Wen Youju was brewing medicine. Wen Youju sat on a small stool, met Sangsang, and gave him a small stool, allowing him to face the stove for boiling medicine with her. This is a red clay stove, very small in appearance.At this time, the charcoal is burning very vigorously. From the gap under the medicine pot, you can see the charcoal balls, which are as bright as egg yolks. The furnace wall seems to be burned to the point of melting into golden yellow flowing mud. confused.

The black earthen pot standing on the stove has a rustic shape, but it seems to be very elegant, with a simple body, a very childishly curved spout and a very chic handle.The medicine has been boiled.The lid of the pot is half open, and the steam pushes the lid, making it bounce rhythmically on the spout.The steam rose into the air in plumes and then faded throughout the cabin, filling the cabin with a medicinal fragrance that cleared the mind. In the late autumn night, listening to the autumn wind outside the window blowing the bamboo forest and thatched hut, the little red stove made Sangsang feel very warm.

Wen Youju didn't speak to Sangsang immediately, but just looked at the medicine pot on the red stove and the light blue steam that was curling up.Her expression was like looking at a peaceful landscape. It was the first time for Sangsang to face the red furnace and the medicine pot seriously.He had an inexplicable feeling.He also seemed to like looking at the scenery. After Wen Youju filled the jar with some water, she still sat down.She didn't look at Sangsang, but looked at the red stove and medicine pot and asked him, "Are you afraid?" Sangsang couldn't tell whether he was afraid or not.He even had a little desire to get sick himself.But he did feel that things seemed too serious.He did have a vague sense of loneliness.

Sangsang looked at the seemingly invisible red flames on the furnace mouth, but did not speak. "Come and listen to my story." Wen Youju recalled, "I lost my parents very early. I was brought up by my grandma. I have to remember my grandma forever and live forever. It's not because grandma knows My heat and cold, my hunger and fullness, but because she taught me the calmness and tenacity necessary to live. Grandma is a person of few words. Thinking about it, grandma didn’t leave me too many words. In my memory , the most profound, only two words left by her: Don't be afraid! This is almost all the wealth she left me, but this wealth is extremely precious. I remember when I was seven years old, that winter, I looked at the door I really want to walk across the glacier in front of me. I want to stand on the other side, and then proudly call grandma to come and see me. But when I got to the ice, I dare not go any further, although I know , the ice has been very thick and thick. At this time, I felt grandma standing on the shore behind me. I didn't look back at her, but I could feel grandma's eyes—encouraging me. When I was still hesitating When I was indecisive, I heard her voice: Don't be afraid! Grandma's voice is not loud, but to me, it sounds like rumbling thunder. I walked over, walked over, kept walking... I boarded the opposite bank , Looking back, grandma was standing in the cold wind with a cane. At that time, grandma was already seventy years old. I didn’t call her loudly. Because I cried.  …”

Wen Youju poked the stove a few times with an iron hook, and a small spark flew out of the stove mouth. "When I was twelve years old, I fell ill, a very, very serious illness. The doctor said that I could only live for half a year. That evening, I went to the embankment alone, sat under a tree, and watched the inch by inch. The sun was setting. I didn't cry, but I could feel my hands and feet were cold. Grandma came with a cane. Instead of calling me home, she sat down beside me. It was dark When I fell down, everything around me was gradually swallowed up by the darkness. The wind blew stronger and stronger, and I trembled all over. When I looked up at my grandma, she was also looking at me. In the darkness, I saw her pair of eyes Kind eyes that are always filled with pity. I threw myself into her arms and wept uncontrollably. She didn’t speak, but just stroked my head and shoulders with her hands. The moon came up, a very pale round The grandma said: Don't be afraid! I fell asleep on her lap....In the days that followed, my grandma sold everything she owned and led me around to treat illnesses. Whenever I felt hopeless, my grandma always It's that sentence: Don't be afraid! I will be quiet when I hear these two words. At that time, I feel neither horror nor sadness. I even think that way: I have seen the sun and the moon Yes, I have seen the cornfields and windmills, I have seen so many good people, even if I really leave tomorrow morning, I have no regrets. Like all those girls my age, I feel that Very happy. Grandma boils medicine for me every day. And I have to drink bowl after bowl of bitter medicine every day. I obey my grandma and never miss a sip. After drinking, I smile at grandma

Wen Youju poured the medicine into a large bowl, filled it with water, and boiled it for the second time. After a long pause, Wen Youju said: "When I was seventeen, I was admitted to a normal school.That is, in the autumn of that year, grandma left.Grandma lived to be eighty years old.Grandma lived to be eighty years old because of me.Before grandma left, she grabbed my hand.She was speechless.But I still heard those two words from her weak eyes: don't be afraid!" She didn't look at Sangsang, but put her arm on Sangsang's neck: "Sangsang, don't be afraid..."

Tears immediately welled up in Sangsang's eyes. Wen Youju shook Sangsang lightly and began to sing.No lyrics, just a few abstract interjections: yah... yah, yah... yah, Yay... yo, Yo……, yo yo, yo yo..., yay yay yo... These few interjections form endless sentences, in the slow and long rhythm, soft but heavy, sad but strong, echoing in the warm cabin.Sangsang is like a small boat, drifting in the continuous singing like flowing water. ...