Chapter 19 Furry Sour Apricots

A full ten years have passed, and when Jiang Li thought of the sour apricot she had eaten, sour water would flow out of her mouth. At nineteen o'clock, CCTV's news broadcast program started on time.Jiang Li was sitting on the sofa, with her right leg pressed against her left leg, and her left hand was holding the fine porcelain teacup on the coffee table, watching the familiar male announcer from CCTV begin to introduce the content of tonight's program.Her son was lying on the small table in the cubicle to do his homework, and the sound of dishes and spoons colliding came from the kitchen. It was her husband cleaning up the dishes used for dinner.Readers should not think that the boring jokes about who is afraid of others in the family caused by "strict wife control" are actually caused by hobbies and interests.What Jiang Li must watch every day is the news broadcast, and she simply cannot tolerate those pretentious movies or TV series.Once the news broadcast is over, she returns to her desk in the cubicle to start working, grading students' homework or preparing lessons.Her husband and son, on the contrary, have no interest in international and domestic news and current affairs, and any low-level feature film can patiently watch when the TV lady says "good night" to the audience.

This is the most peaceful half hour of the day.She sat quietly in front of the TV, holding a cup of tea, watching the important events that happened in this world in the past day.School and family, business and private affairs, the joys of the pleasant and the annoyances of trivial matters, are all excluded from the space outside the mind at this moment. The headline news is a summit meeting of the CPPCC.At this meeting, so many old people gathered.These literary and military generals who once shocked the world and influenced the course of Chinese history are all old now.Her father is also old, retired and recuperating at home.He was originally a middle-level leading cadre in the city, and he also had a certain influence on the life and development of this ancient and beautiful city where she lived.Whenever she sees an old man who is aging, she thinks of ripe apricots.Ripe apricots have loose handles, and sooner or later they will fall from the branches of the apricot tree even if there is no natural wind or artificial shaking.Maturity is victory and sorrow.At maturity, the vitality of life is declared to be over.

Another piece of news.Capital Airport, what a beautiful building.China is changing, especially in Beijing.A head of state is about to board a plane for an overseas visit and is shaking hands with the state leaders who are seeing him off.The TV camera followed the chief until he walked through the door of the plane, and then passed very quickly over the entourage who were climbing up the gangway.At this time, she caught sight of a familiar face, smiled confidently and mischievously, and the TV camera cut off. Her heart pounded and she closed her eyes. He was wearing a suit made of coarse plaid, and he seemed to turn his head inadvertently, and smiled so mischievously...

The brilliant sunset painted a layer of brilliant colors on the loess plateau slope, even those ugly cliffs and stone beams that did not grow a blade of grass, at this moment also showed a magnificent momentum.After the educated youth meeting from the commune, she took the bus for three stops, got off at a small station in Hechuan, put the grass-green military satchel on her shoulder, and started climbing.A winding path glistens in the setting sun, winding among the bald beams and thatched grass on the hillside, connecting the villages on the plateau with the world in the river. Climb up the mountain ridge, walk down to the bottom of the ditch, step over the shallow spring at the bottom of the ditch, and then climb up the opposite shady slope, and you can see the village where they went to the countryside to exercise.It's so cool under the ditch!The red light of the setting sun is still shining on the treetops at the top of the slope, and the bottom of the ditch has become a bit dark.In the same ditch, there are only a few sparse elm trees on the south-facing sunny slope, dry and scorched, like half-grown children with anemia.On the shady slope facing north, there is a dense forest.Black locusts are densely packed, poplar tomentosa has thick stems and broad crowns, and Chinese toon trees and tulip trees are mixed among them, competing to be taller, striving to occupy a larger space in the sky and receive sunlight.Smiley grass and thistles, and wormwood, covered the ground.In May, the most charming season in the countryside.She is really surprised that there is such an elegant piece of green land in the dry mountains of the Loess Plateau.

She squatted down, wanting to wash her hands and face in the spring water, and even wanted to take off her long gown and trousers to wash off the sticky sweat that oozes from climbing the slope.She had just picked up the water when a person jumped out from behind the tree, and she was terrified. It turned out to be him, looking up and laughing. She was so frightened that she was sore and limp, and she slumped on the ground, crying.It was practically a joke to make such a joke, and she looked at him angrily, pursing her lips. He probably realized that the joke had gone too far, so he put a smile on his face, walked up to her, bent down, and helped her stand up.

Sitting on the ground, she grabbed his arm and punched his back.She hit it with all her might, and she hit it so hard that her broad back rattled.He didn't dodge it, and he didn't complain of pain. Instead, he laughed and raised his hands and said, "Hit it! Smash it! Use your strength! Let's see how strong you are! It makes me... so comfortable!" She was discouraged, and finally couldn't help laughing, with this clown, you will never be able to hold back your anger!He can annoy people and amuse you.She stopped her hands and vented her anger, only then did she feel a burning pain in her knee.She lowered her head and pulled up her trouser legs, blood was oozing from her knees, just now when he was so frightened that she fell to her knees, the stone scratched her skin.

He was also stunned when he saw blood bleeding from her leg, this joke was too rash and too extreme. "What should I do? If it is infected, it will suppurate." She was a little scared, and sucked in cold air. "I have a way—" He quickly turned around, ran up the slope, grabbed a few young leaves of thistle from the grass, rubbed them into pieces in the palm of his hand, pinched them with three fingers, and pointed towards the wound on her knee Press up and down. She retracted her legs in fright and blocked his hand: "What is that? Dare to smear!" She had been accepted by her mother or doctor to apply purple or red medicine to the wound since she was a child, and she had never seen this kind of grass juice. Anti-inflammatory and healing.

"Thorn thistle, a good disinfectant. The medicine in Chinese medicinal materials is called small thistle. There is also big thistle, which is called horse spur thistle by the villagers." He introduced it to her, saying that it was a serious traditional Chinese medicine. "When I mowed grass and wheat , I accidentally scratched my finger on the blade, and once I applied this green juice, it was anti-inflammatory and sterilized. It’s so good!" "I've never heard of it." She was puzzled. "Everyone in the village knows it, and even the little one knows it."

"I'm a little scared." "Don't be afraid. Paint it and wrap it up!" She stretched out her left leg, arched her injured knee, and looked nervously at his fingers pinching the crushed thistle leaves.He pinched and squeezed hard, and the green leaf juice dripped on the wound. It was cool, and the irritation made the wound even more painful, as if it had been coated with iodine. He knelt in front of her, squeezed the leaf juice vigorously, and gently spread it evenly on the wound, making the green liquid even cover the red skin.Although he tried his best to be cautious, his whole movements and postures were clumsy, cute and ridiculously clumsy.He raised his head and asked seriously, "Does it still hurt?"

She couldn't bear to disappoint him, so she smiled and said, "It really doesn't hurt anymore!" His medical skills have been verified, he smiled triumphantly, and said: "If you can't find thistle for a while, there is a more convenient way, which can also be sterilized." "What else can I do?" She stared at him and asked, looking at his appearance, she found it very interesting, "You can be a surgeon now." "If you can't find a thistle—" he said, "then piss on the cut finger." Immediately, she said "Oh", her cheeks were flushed, she covered her face with her hands, and lowered her head: "I'm not ashamed! You—"

He seemed to realize that she was a girl, a person of the opposite sex who had strict taboos with him.When he was proudly showing off his medical skills to her, he ignored this important taboo.When he was a child, he and his friends mowed grass in the ditch. If anyone accidentally cut his finger, he would immediately pour some urine on it, and the bleeding would stop, and it would not fester in the future, but those were boys. !Now standing before him was a girl, a beautiful girl who had come to the country from the city.He proudly said that he slipped his mouth, and she blushed, embarrassing himself and feeling uncomfortable.He turned around suddenly, laughed like a mockery, and ran towards the opposite hillside. Hearing his laughter and the sound of his footsteps disappearing, she raised her head and saw him running on the opposite hillside, bumping into the branches of the little locust tree and the little aspen tree, and the leaves were rustling.He ran to a grassy field with few trees, jumped up, waved his arms in the air, fell to the ground again, and jumped up again, like a jolly colt.He ran under a big tree, jumped up, grabbed a horizontal branch with both hands, hung it up in the air, swung a few times, jumped onto the grass, and lay down on the ground, the green thatch covered him Half of the body and head and face.She stared blankly, stepped across the ditch, and walked towards him. "Are you crazy?" "I might go crazy." "You're—blind!" she said in the country language she had just learned. "Yes." He agreed calmly. She sits next to him.The soft and fluffy beard grass covered the slope with a thick layer of green felt, and the darkened woods were full of the fragrance of green grass and wild flowers.She saw him lying in the green grass, his eyes closed, his chest heaving and heaving.She wanted to sing, to call out among the trees, to jump up and down like he had just done.She felt that something was suffocating in her chest and needed to be relieved. Calling and jumping might be the best way to relieve it.She finally didn't speak, and she didn't jump up. She just sat motionless on the grass with her hands on her knees. The refreshing mountain wind brushed her cheeks, and the leaves were rustling. "What are you doing here?" she asked casually. He answered unequivocally, "Wait for you." Her heart flickered, she didn't know what to say, and he didn't even make a detour. "I don't see you for a day, and I feel flustered, and I can't control it." He said, "The best way is to try to find you immediately and say a few words, even if you take a look from a long distance." Her face was burning and her mouth was a little dry.She bit her lip, as if her heart was about to pop out of her throat.She was nineteen years old, and it was the first time she heard a man say that he missed her and couldn't do without her. He said it solemnly, sternly, without concealment, without obscurity, and nakedly expressed his admiration for her.She couldn't avoid it, and couldn't hide it, his words blocked all her escape routes. She was powerless to avoid it, and she didn't want to violate her wish and feelings.She wanted to hear him continue to say more confessions, and he had already said what she wanted to say but didn't say.She sat silently. She had the chance to bump into him every day in the alleys of Dongtian Village, on the small roads in the fields of Dongtian Village, by the springs in the ravines of Dongtian Village, and at the youth gatherings of Dongtian Village.In the small Dongtian Village, the streets and alleys are short and shallow, and the world is narrow. You can't see it when you look down.Unknowingly from which day, an insatiable desire to stay with him sprouted in her heart.She felt an inexplicable unease when she didn't see him for a day.What a coincidence, she went to fetch water from the spring, and he also carried a bucket to the ditch. He helped her carry two buckets of water from the pool, said a few words, looked at each other, and smiled. Laughed, then carried water and went home.His mother once told her that her son likes to carry water the most now, and he is much more diligent than before.In the past, it was often the iron ladle that made the bottom of the tank slam, and he didn't bother to fetch a load of water for his mother. She tore his ear and pulled him out of the small desk, and put the water stretcher on his shoulder... She understood , like her, he is always looking for opportunities to get together.However, she and he have never confided a word of their heart to each other, let alone passed notes or letters. It was the most obvious and unmistakable act of boldness that he rushed to wait for her halfway today. It was the most daring move for him to say nakedly what he admired her today. She had a premonition, a looming premonition that she couldn't get rid of: it seemed that something was going to happen today!She was a little scared, but it was an irresistible hope and longing: she seemed to be aware of some kind of danger, but she couldn't refuse the temptation of this danger. He stood up, walked into the ravine, turned around, and waved to her. She also stood up from the grass and walked up the ditch slope. She would be farther and farther away from the village. She was a little hesitant: "Where are you going?" "It's okay to go home, just take a walk and have fun," he said. She went up.He was waiting for her, and they walked one after the other. "This is your hometown, why do you still want to visit this slope?" She asked casually. "Of course, it's too familiar." He said, turned around, stopped, stared at her and said, "I didn't have you at that time, I want to go for a walk with you." The road got steeper and steeper.She has never walked on this pathless hillside before, her feet are slippery, her waist is crooked, her hands are outstretched, and she may slip and fall all the time. He grabbed her hand and held her, and she felt much better walking.What a strong hand that is!When he came to the bottom of a ridge, he jumped on it with a single leap, bent down, stretched out his arms, and almost lifted her up.She got on the Langkan and broke free from the hand he was holding. His four slender fingers were glued together like a row of pens. The hillside became steeper and steeper, the light became darker and darker, the woods became more and more quiet, and the singing of birds became more and more complicated.She followed him, walked up a ridge again, and walked obliquely towards the ditch, a pool of clear water gathered in front of her eyes.She stopped by the pool, bent down, and saw a pinch of fine sand tumbling slightly under the water, there must be a very small spring bubbling water, this is a pool of living water!He also stopped by the pool and bent down. She threw the satchel on the ground, trying to pick up the water to wash her face, but her face couldn't stop being hot!When she reached out to touch the water, she saw her own shadow in the water, so she stopped and stared blankly.She wanted to see what kind of ghost she would look like at this moment, maybe she was so stupid that it was funny?But he couldn't tell whether his face was red or white, only a pair of shining eyes gleamed in the water. "What are you looking at?" "Fish, little fish." "Hey! How can there be any fish!" "If you don't believe me, look—" He moved his feet to stand on her side and bent down.The edge of this small pool is too narrow, and it is simply too crowded for two people to stand.He bent down next to her shoulder, put one hand on her left shoulder, looked at the water pool, and looked for the little fish. "Where's the fish?" "Where." "Why can't I see it?" "Under that weed." "That's not a small fish." "what is that?" "It's a shrimp." "Where did the shrimp come from on the hillside?" "Where did the little fish come from on the hillside?" She knew that no one really cared whether it was a small fish or a small shrimp, and there was nothing in the pool, neither small fish nor shrimp, only her and his faces reflected in the water, she and he were actually looking at each other. Looking into each other's eyes in the water.What she saw was a pair of fiery eyes, a pair of heroic eyes that always seemed to be attacking some target, a pair of naughty eyes that couldn't be said to be good-looking or bad-looking, eyes that would make one's heart skip a beat just by looking at them! Her legs were sore and numb from squatting, and when she crossed from the edge of the pool to the grass, she slumped down, propped her hands on the grass behind her, and straightened her legs. It was so comfortable, and the grass branches tickled her ankles. "Are you hungry?" "Hungry must be hungry, there is nothing to eat here," "I have some snacks in my satchel." He opened her bag, took out the snacks, and untied them on the grass.He took one out, put it in her hand, and said, "It's a sweet pie." Taking another, he stuffed it into his mouth, and said inarticulately, "It's a piece of cheese." "Foreign slave!" She said with a smile, "I insist on calling the dim sum..." "Foreigners like picnics," he said. "We're having a picnic, too. It would be nice to have a couple of sodas." She looked up and saw that the sky was already dark, and a deep twilight shrouded the woods: "It's getting dark, come back!" "Go back!" he said. "How do I get back home?" she said, "It's getting farther and farther." "The earth is round, walk from this side, and then turn back from there." He said, and continued to move forward. "You..." She also raised her feet and walked with him. "Does your leg still hurt?" "It still hurts." "I'll hold you up." "I can go." He took her arm and she didn't refuse.No one knew where he was going, but she was attached to him and walked aimlessly.They came to a big tree, and under the huge canopy was a flat field with no other trees.She raised her head: "What kind of tree is this?" "Almond trees," he said. "That bumpy thing on the tree is an apricot?" "It's Myolie." "The ones we bought in the city were all yellow." "Unripe apricots are green, and when ripe they turn yellow." "Can green apricots be eaten?" "sure!" "Is it tasty?" "very delicious!" Before he finished speaking, he jumped up, grabbed a branch of the tree, rolled his legs, rolled up and stood between the branches, stretched out his hand, and picked a few green apricots. She stretched out her hands to catch it, waiting for him to throw Xing'er down. But he smiled, shaking the green apricot in his hand, and did not let go of his clenched fist for a long time. "Quick! Drop it, I can catch it." "Open your mouth, and I'll throw it into your mouth." "You! What a bad--" "Then...can you call me brother first?" "You...call me sister first!" "Then... you just wait!" He stuffed an apricot into his mouth and started to gnaw it. His voice was so loud, he deliberately teased her and said, "Ah! This apricot is so fragrant!" She was so anxious that she turned around under the tree, jumped, and couldn't reach the branch. She picked up a stone and hit him.As soon as he stretched out his hand, he grabbed the stone from the air and laughed happily. "You are bad!" "I'm bad." She picked up another stone from the ground. He smiled and said, "Don't fight, I'll pull you up! You can pick a green apricot off the tree yourself, it's delicious!" She dropped the stone and raised her hands. He grabbed the branch with one hand, and reached down to grab her hand with the other, and she was lifted up. I don't know how strong he is!She was lifted and hung in the air, but she didn't move, and her arm hurt so much.She begged, "Quick! My arm is going to break!" "Call for brother!" he said from the tree. "you--" "Call—call, and I'll pull you hard." "elder brother……" Before she could say a word, her heart suddenly became hot and her eyes were dazzled.She was pulled up the tree by him in a coma, her feet were shaking, she had never climbed a tree before!Her face was unbearably hot, and her feet were unsteady, so she couldn't help but put her arms around his shoulders and hit him with a fist.He also opened one arm, wrapped around her waist, let her hit him, and shouted frantically: "Ah! Even if I fell from the tree and fell to my death, I would not regret it, someone called me brother! Oh! Yo! I'm going crazy..." Sitting on a tree branch, she was so ashamed that she wanted to cry: "You... bullied me!" "I call you..." He smiled, trembling, "Sister..." She threw herself into his arms and rested her head on his chest, unable to speak any more. He slipped an apricot into her hand quietly. In the dim light, she looked at the apricot. There seemed to be a layer of fine down on the green skin.She took a bite, so sour that she couldn't help squinting her eyes, she couldn't close her mouth, and she didn't dare to bite her teeth anymore, but she couldn't bear to spit it out. There was an unattainable temptation in the sour taste. "Ah! It's so sour!" "It's only sour that tastes good." "It's sweet when it's ripe." "It's more delicious when it's ripe than it is when it's green." He said, "When the handle is loose, the ripe apricot will fall to the ground as soon as the wind blows, and it will fall if the wind doesn't blow. Ripeness is both victory and sorrow. " "fallacy!" "truth!" She argued with him.In fact, she admired what he said unintentionally, but deliberately argued with him, trying to draw out his more poetic words. But he has long since ignored whether what he said is a fallacy or the truth.If it is a fallacy, she will not expose and criticize it; if it is truth, it will not be taken seriously by anyone and written into the philosophical dictionary. It has no meaning and is just nonsense.He said to her: "I propose—" She pursed her lips and waited. What would he say? "Look—" He pointed to a bunch of green apricots hanging above his head, and said, "The bottom one, you bite from that side, I'll bite from this side, let's see who has bitten whom!" "So many bad ideas!" She tilted her head. "Interesting! Try it." He encouraged her, "When we were young, we mowed grass on the hillside, and three or four friends competed to bite an apricot, to see who could bite right..." She giggled, stood up at the same time as him, and swallowed the fluffy green apricot with her mouth.Branches dangling, apricots dangling, no one could bite.She laughed happily, and he laughed too. She didn't bite Lu Xing'er, but touched his lips. In an instant, those strong arms wrapped around her shoulders, and she also stretched out her hands...the two fell to the tree.She and he both forgot that they were standing on a tree. They fell, and the two of them fell on the grass and were still hugging each other. Under the leafy apricot tree, on the soft grass, she snuggled up to him, feeling the sour taste of the green apricot on his lips... She recruited and returned to the city.For more than a year, her mother introduced seven or eight partners to her, but she refused to get acquainted with them all.My mother finally found out that she had a boyfriend when she was going to the countryside. After several times of persuasion, but to no avail, my father finally came forward. "We should respect Lily's autonomy," said the father, "but let us know who he is and find out!" The mother squinted at her breathlessly, and finally couldn't hold back: "Say it! Who is he?" "He's a farmer," she said. "You know it, but you still ask!" "What about farmers?" my father asked seriously. "Farmers are the foundation of our country. I have nothing against you marrying a farmer." The corner of the mother's mouth turned towards the father. She froze for a moment, glanced at her father, then lowered her head. It seemed that only her mother voted against it. After all, her father was a leading cadre. "Father has been a farmer since he was a child, a farmer who herded sheep." Dad was quite emotional. "After liberation, I went to the city. When farmers from my hometown in northern Shaanxi came to our house, I was always the guest of honor. How can we forget the elders of the farmers!" This is true. How many times has Jiang Li witnessed the scene of her father drinking and talking with the folks from northern Shaanxi at home! "The question is not whether he is a farmer or not," my father said. "It doesn't matter whether he is a cadre, a soldier, or a doctor. It all depends on how he is. Tell me, what kind of person is that young farmer you like?" She panicked.Yes, she had lived with him in the same village for three or four years, and she only liked him, and her heart would be in a tizzy if she didn't see him every day, but she never had time to think about his advantages and disadvantages.What kind of person is he?She couldn't explain it either. "What's the status of his family?" Mother was anxious. "Poor peasants," she said. "Is it a party member?" "no." "Then it must be a regiment member?" "Also... no." "Look! You can't even get into a regiment, you must be a backward member." The mother was very proud, "How can you fight with this type of person?" "He has written an application, and the Youth League branch always suspects him." She said, "It is suspected that he wants to communicate with foreign countries." "How can there be such doubts?" asked the father. "He likes to study international relations." She seems to have just found a topic, and she can talk about his unique strengths, "Don't look at him as a rural youth, only in his early twenties, he collects information everywhere, and puts political, historical, geographical And national customs have been studied..." "What is he studying these for?" the father was surprised. "He said that he will serve as a diplomat abroad when the country needs it in the future." She said, "He is secretly learning English from a middle school teacher..." Mother couldn't help laughing, her fat body trembling with laughter, she took out her handkerchief to wipe her tears.She couldn't bear her mother's contemptuous laughter. She looked at her father, who turned his head indifferently. She couldn't see his face clearly, so she hurriedly explained: "He is most interested in Africa. If he can be appointed to a certain country in Africa , he will write a book on Negroes in the future..." "Crazy!" Mother waved her arms, impatient to hear any more, "Definitely a crazy!" "What 'crazy'!" She said to her mother, "I think he..." "At least it can be seen that he is immature." Although the father's tone was not harsh, he was sure, "Lily, don't worry about your mother's words, she is not accurate. What do you think? We don't think he is a farmer, Don’t even try to get high on your future ambassador. I think the key is that he’s immature, he’s in his twenties, he’s a bit dreamy, right? I’d like to see you find someone more stable and mature.” "I'm just talking about his interests and hobbies. I don't expect him to be a diplomat at all." Lily said, "I just want to talk to him as a pure farmer." "You...you are even more immature." Father stood up, shook his head, and walked out the door. Then... She obeyed her father's guidance and got acquainted with a young man introduced by her father's comrade-in-arms. This is the father of her current child. He's a doctor, a real mature guy.He cooks for her, does laundry, and does all the trivial things in the housework, and he never tires of it, and he doesn't need her to ask.He had never argued with her, let alone quarreled.Even if she got angry by accident, he immediately fell silent, and came to greet her after a while.He never gossips, goes out to work, comes in to cook, he never talks about any right and wrong in the hospital, and he never talks about the current situation in Southeast Asia like that immature rural youth, but shuts down about the drought on the African continent.The small family formed by her and him is wealthy and the relationship is peaceful and harmonious, but it is also a bit lonely and even boring.She never had a moment of ecstasy, nor a moment of heart trembling. The crazy pursuit and intoxicated attachment on the almond tree never happened again.In recent years, in such a family environment, she found that she has also changed. She has become neither self-willed nor coquettish, and even speaks softly and slowly... Has she also matured? He said that when the apricots are ripe, the handles will loosen, and they will fall when the wind blows, and they will fall even if the wind does not blow.It's the immature, fluffy sour apricots, the sour taste that makes people dare not close their teeth and can't bear to spit it out!Keep it in your heart and never forget it. Whenever you think about it, acid water will secrete from the corner of your mouth. In the first year after the resumption of the college entrance examination system, he was admitted to the School of International Relations, and now he is indeed working as a secretary in an embassy in a certain country.My mother is regarded as an "absolutely crazy" person, and now she is serving the motherland in an important position.She didn't care about winning or losing any bet with her mother, nor did she feel sorry for losing such a decent husband.What she thinks more about now is the meaning of her father's so-called mysterious maturity. She saw him on TV just now smiling back on the gangway. He smiled conceitedly and mischievously. He still had that fiery aggressive spirit, but he still couldn't see any signs of maturity. He will probably always be an immature person? She has matured, irrevocably matured! The husband came over calmly and sat down.The son also finished his homework and sat down on the small bamboo chair. In the evening there was a TV series "Chen Zhen", and the happiest time for father and son came. She stood up from the sofa, picked up the teacup, and prepared to prepare for the lesson.When she was sitting at the desk, she couldn't concentrate her thoughts. There was always a bunch of fluffy sour apricots in front of her eyes...