Chapter 11 9.love that begins with the right hand

After Duan Xiaomu entered elementary school, the kindergarten could no longer take her in, and she became a homeless child again.Granny Li took her to her home.Granny Li's house is at the west end of Xigendao Street, a small room in a courtyard house.The house is not sunny, the windows are small, and the whole house is very dark. The cement floor is always wet as if it had been rained, as if it has never been dried.All the furniture in the room is nothing more than a bed, a large wardrobe, and a mahogany Eight Immortals table.However, it was in this room that Duan Xiaomu spent so many years.When she was sitting on the bed, she could see a corner of the sky, and she watched like a frog, dreaming about something happening in a distant place.

But Granny Li said that Duan Xiaomu should not always sit in the room in a daze, this cold room will only bring more chills to her legs.So after returning home from school, Granny Li asked Duan Xiaomu to go outside the gate with crutches to bask in the sun.There are some children playing outside the door.They were playing a game called "catch the wife" - which was pretty much the same game as "hide and seek" that all teenage kids play, except girls hide and boys go after them.The found girls had to become wives for the boys who found them—the boys escorted the "wives" back to their respective "cottages" like trophies.The so-called "cottage" is just a circle of stones piled up, and the largest stone is placed in the center, and some soft grass is laid on it as a "throne".The girls beat their backs and kicked their legs, pretending to be obedient.Whenever they played this game, Duan Xiaomu watched with great interest.She saw that the captured girl pretended to struggle slightly, and then raised her face to the sky with a look of enjoyment, like a docile cat whose chin was gently scratched.Then they let the boys pull back their arms and escort them back to the "cottage".Duan Xiaomu also saw that every girl's face showed a strawberry color in May, and her lips were also shining like cherries in early summer.She likes to look at them, and she also secretly thought that if she can participate in this game, she must play this "daughter-in-law" with all her heart.But she herself knew that a person like her could not be someone's "daughter-in-law".How could she be a "daughter-in-law" to serve a good husband for a girl like her who couldn't even walk?She was just fixed by two hard supports like a missing plaster statue, standing motionless and watching.

Then something happened that melted the plaster statue that could only stand on the sidelines like warm water, and Duan Xiaomu felt that her whole body had turned into a piece of water full of tenderness. It was early summer when she was 10 years old, and Duan Xiaomu still stood outside the gate every evening to watch other children play games.Among the children who often played games together that day, two girls did not come.Without the girl, everyone had no interest in playing. After only two rounds, everyone stopped and sat by the wall to rest.A boy named "Xiaojiezi" suddenly noticed Duan Xiaomu, and Duan Xiaomu was standing under the wall opposite the side street with his crutches.This girl has a very large head, a very thin neck and legs, and her narrow cheeks are purple with injuries, only a pair of extra large eyes are piercing.Xiaojiezi looked at Duan Xiaomu with his head tilted and squinted, and suddenly he laughed.The children next to him were very strange and asked him why he was smiling.Xiaojiezi laughed and said loudly:

"Do you think Duan Xiaomu looks like a pin?" The eyes of the other children all focused on Duan Xiaomu for a moment, and burst into laughter.They all admire Xiaojiezi so much, what a wonderful metaphor, it's very similar. Duan Xiaomu stood there cramped and flustered, her hands were trembling slightly, and her crutches were a little wobbly.She lowered her head deeply. "We'll call her 'Pinhead' from now on." Everyone shouted.This nickname was awarded to Duan Xiaomu, and it has been with her ever since.This nickname will always remind Duan Xiaomu in the future, she seldom wears pants, and always wears long and fluffy skirts, so that she can stay away from the nickname of "pin".

"Hey, Pin, you can play with us." Xiaojiezi suddenly shouted.Others looked at Xiaojiezi in amazement, what happened to him, he wanted to bring a cripple to participate?Seeing everyone's doubts, Xiaojiezi blinked at everyone, pretending to be serious and saying: "You don't like her as a 'daughter-in-law', so you don't have to catch her, and it would be good to let her 'run away'." Xiaojiezi turned to Duan Xiaomu again, and said, "How about it, Pin, do you want to play? We I can give you a little longer to hide." Duan Xiaomu looked at the boy across from him in the light of the setting sun, this boy had a neatly shaved crew cut and eyes full of poison and bad thoughts.His well-developed, restless limbs exude an air of savagery and trouble-making tendencies.But at this moment, his joking expression seemed to Duan Xiaomu to be extremely tolerant towards her.Duan Xiaomu knew that this invitation didn't give her due respect, but she couldn't resist. In the countless evenings of watching this game, a kind of eager desire to be a "daughter-in-law" has flourished like a spring tree and unstoppable grow up.So she's going to be in the game, no matter what, no matter what.So Duan Xiaomu nodded, and she limped over to meet Xiao Jiezi's gaze.

They gave Duan Xiaomu a longer time to hide than the other girls.Duan Xiaomu ran forward with crutches and hid behind a courtyard door.She had no better place to hide, and her long wooden feet prevented her from climbing steps or crawling into low places.She had to hide behind the door.But there was a shallow desire in her heart, she hoped that she could be found by them, so that she could happily become a "little daughter-in-law".However, she was still uneasy, she wondered if they would catch her even if they found her, who would like a "daughter-in-law" with inconvenient legs and feet who couldn't even take care of herself?

Not long after, Xiao Mu heard footsteps approaching.Then someone leaned heavily on the door. This was a movement she hadn't expected. Her wooden crutch made a creaking sound when it was pressed down like this.A smiling face peeped in from the other side of the door, Xiaojiezi. "Okay, Pin, you are my 'daughter-in-law'." Xiao Jiezi grabbed Duan Xiaomu's crutch with one hand and grabbed her, telling her to follow him. Duan Xiaomu was held tightly by him, so he had no choice but to follow him.She panicked a little. She, at this moment, has really become a little daughter-in-law.But she didn't know what to do.She tried hard to remember, recalling the sweet expressions on the girls' faces that looked up to the sky.She also tried to adjust her stiff body to that extremely gentle posture.

Xiaojiezi dragged her all the way back to his "cottage".Although it was a little difficult for them to go, they were still the first to get back to the same place, the other girls were still hiding, and the boys were still looking for it.Xiaojiezi and Duan Xiaomu stood in the middle of a circle of stones, facing each other.Xiaojiezi looked at Duan Xiaomu with a smile, but didn't speak.Duan Xiaomu thought, does she want to ask what she needs to do, for example, should she hammer his leg?Should she stand behind him and give him a pat on the shoulder?She moved her lips and was about to speak when she suddenly felt a hand reaching into her clothes.In the early summer weather, Duan Xiaomu was wearing a very fat little gown and a half-length skirt that was washed extraordinarily soft.Whenever there is wind, Duan Xiaomu will feel the wind rushing into her little gown, which is very comfortable.However, it was not a gust of wind that rushed into her little gown, but a hand, a boy's hand with a rough texture.The hand covered Duan Xiaomu's abdomen like a thick and textured leaf.Duan Xiaomu was stunned, she didn't dare to look down, but looked at Xiaojiezi full of doubts.Xiao Jiezi didn't try to avoid her gaze, but just looked at her wantonly.Suddenly that hand moved inside Duan Xiaomu's short shirt.As if to comfort a sore stomach, and as if to caress a sad animal, it moved gently, counterclockwise, round and round.Duan Xiaomu held his breath and stood upright, quickly dissipating heat in the air.Her belly was as lifeless as a piece of cold satin hung up to dry.But this hand, it likes the satin, it moves across it slowly, rubbing heat slightly, warming the cold satin.Yes, Duan Xiaomu felt a kind of heat rising from her lower abdomen, sending her whole body into the sky.

Duan Xiaomu has seen this game many times, and she is sure that no boy has ever done this to a girl before, and neither has Xiaojiezi.What this action means, she doesn't fully understand, she just knows that this should be a very intimate action between a boy and a girl. That was Xiaojiezi's right hand.Duan Xiaomu saw clearly that the one that sneaked into Duan Xiaomu's clothes like a gust of wind was Xiaojiezi's right hand. Later, other boys came back with the captured "daughter-in-law".The hand was drawn back as if nothing had happened.Duan Xiaomu was still standing face to face with Xiaojiezi in their "cottage".Everyone laughs that Xiaojiezi married a "crime" as his wife.Xiaojiezi just laughed and ignored them, then he turned to Duan Xiaomu:

"Daughter-in-law of the pin, beat my leg." After saying that, Xiao Jiezi sat down on the rock in the middle, and then he winked at the other boys. Duan Xiaomu made an effort in embarrassment, trying to sit down or squat down.This was impossible, however, unless she dropped her crutches.She hesitated, but finally dropped her crutches and leaned them obliquely on a rock.Then she could only turn around and squat down, jumping and jumping.Her hand rested lightly on Xiaojiezi's lap.Through a pair of single pants, she began to beat his legs.Her eyes fell on Xiaojiezi's right hand on her lap. That hand made her lose her mind, constantly reminding her of what happened just now.She was deep in thought about that hand, but there was a burst of laughter behind her.She turned her head and saw two boys, each picking up a cane and running away.They laughed while running, and imitated Duan Xiaomu's walking posture, limping around on crutches.Xiao Jiezi also laughed, he felt proud that his scheme succeeded so easily.He suddenly jumped up from the big rock, ran out of the "cottage", caught up with other boys, and clamored for them to give him a crutch to play with.

Duan Xiaomu didn't know why she didn't call him, why she didn't beg him to leave her crutch behind.She just watched all this happen quietly, as if this day was no different from the past, she was still standing by the door, watching other people's games.In a blink of an eye, those children were gone without a trace.She was left alone sitting on the cold stone.The night had come, the street lights were on, when Duan Xiaomu stood up staggeringly, she saw her own shadow under the light, that shadow was clinging to the wall, as timid as she was.She looked at her body from the shadow, it really looked like a pin.Xiao Jiezi's words came up again and again.And Xiaojiezi's right hand.The action that she didn't know the reason for, and couldn't understand the consequences of, bothered her everywhere. That night, Duan Xiaomu leaned against the wall and moved back home bit by bit.Clothes fluttered in the cool night wind, and she was lost in the night like a boat with full sails.When she returned to the gate, Granny Li was waiting for her at the gate, holding Duan Xiaomu's crutches in her hand.Granny Li said that the crutches were thrown at the gate of the yard, which frightened her. She thought something happened to Duan Xiaomu.Thank the Lord, you are fine, Granny Li read. Duan Xiaomu didn't feel sorry for this prank, she didn't care about it anymore.That right hand has been lingering in Duan Xiaomu's mind, making her unable to figure it out.Did Xiaojiezi do this because he liked her?In the heart of 10-year-old Duan Xiaomu, she felt that that incident seemed to determine that she could only be Xiaojiezi's daughter-in-law.