sunlight on stone mill
When Qiao Ruyi regained consciousness, he felt as if his head had been pounded with a stone pestle, and it was so heavy that it hurt.
She stood up slowly while holding on to the wall. The yard in front of her was swaying in the sunlight.
This is a small courtyard with green bricks. The moss in the corner shows a moist green color. There are four rooms in the main house. There are a few dead leaves sitting on the tile eaves. When the wind blows gently, they make a rustling sound.
The stone mill squatted quietly in the center of the yard, with a grinding stick stuck in its eye, as if someone had pushed it yesterday.
There was no smoke from the kitchen chimney, there was no sound from the livestock pen, and even the chickens ran away somewhere. The entire village was submerged in the laziness of the afternoon. Only the cicadas on the old locust tree at the entrance of the village were squawking sporadically.
She touched the wound on her head. The blood had dried and formed a hard scab.
Memories came back like a flood. It turned out that there was a girl named Ruyi. She was thirteen years old and as thin as a willow branch. The father went to take the imperial examination and never came back. The mother followed him and left. She and her younger siblings were left to live a life of dependence on others at her grandmother's house.
Yesterday, in order to drink a bowl of egg drop soup, my cousin pushed me to the ground and knocked me on the corner. The blood flowed like this, and kept flowing until my eyes were completely black and nothing could be seen.
Qiao Ruyi sat down next to the stone mill. The stone surface was warm due to the sunlight. It was not as cool as expected. This was the situation.
She looked down at her hands - they were thin, yellow, and there was mud between her nails.
He was wearing an indigo shirt, which had been washed and turned white. The cuffs of the shirt were frayed and had two layers of patches.
The shoes on his feet were also torn, with a hole in the big toe exposed.
"What a miserable child." She murmured.
There were footsteps and voices outside the courtyard.
She recognized that voice - it was Mrs. Zheng, the chubby cousin's mother.
The original owner's body tensed up instinctively, but Qiao Ruyi didn't move, just looked at the courtyard door quietly.
Qiao Jinbao said in a sharp voice like a knife across a porcelain bowl: "Mom, that girl is not dead yet!".
The courtyard door was slowly pushed open, and then Zheng stepped inside. She had a dark face, and the small eyes on it first glanced in the direction of the stone mill.
Qiao Ruyi was sitting. She was stunned for a moment when she saw it. Then she curled her lips and said, "Oh, isn't this a good thing? Why are you pretending to be dead? My son was so scared that he ran to the fields to look for me."
Qiao Ruyi didn't answer, just looked outside the courtyard wall.
A few jujube trees peeked out from the wall. The green jujubes were hidden among the leaves and were not yet ripe.
In the distance, there are the connected fields, in which the corn grows extremely tall, showing a green scene. When the wind blows, the leaves make a rustling sound, which is like the sound produced by the gurgling river water.
Further away, the green mountains are faintly covered with a faint mist.
Coming towards her, Mrs. Zheng walked over, looked at her from top to bottom, and said, "I'm talking to you, can't you hear me?".
Qiao Ruyi then retracted her gaze, raised her face, and looked straight into Zheng's eyes, with no intention of avoiding or flickering.
Those eyes were full of disgust and impatience, but Qiao Ruyi didn't feel afraid. She just felt extremely tired because of this small body.
She whispered: "Uncle mother", her voice was extremely soft, like spider silk floating in the wind, and then said: "When Brother Jinbao pushed me, I almost never woke up again.".
Mrs. Zheng choked and opened her mouth, but no words came out.
"If I really can't wake up," Qiao Ruyi said immediately, "what should Brother Jinbao do if he plays with others in the future?".
These words were said very lightly, but just like the pebble thrown into the ancient well, it made a thumping sound and triggered waves of echoes.
Zheng, whose face turned red and white at times, tugged on Qiao Jinbao's sleeves, cursed and walked into the house, saying: "Don't pay attention to this dead girl. She is no different from her mother, but she specializes in saying words that hurt people's hearts...".
Qiao Ruyi ignored them and sat down against the stone mill again.
Sunlight seeped through the gaps in the leaves of the jujube trees and fell on her body, showing a mottled appearance, as if someone had dropped a handful of broken gold.
She raised her hand to cover her eyes, and looked at the sky through the gaps between her fingers. The sky was very high and very blue, with a few clouds floating slowly, not knowing where they were going.
Suddenly I remembered the past. After get off work, I had dinner and socialized with my friends, returned home to take a shower, and then lay down on the bed and scrolled through my phone until I fell asleep.
Those days seemed like a lifetime ago.
But think about it again, if it hadn't been for that earthquake, I might have died.
Thinking about it this way, being able to bask in the sun next to the stone mill, hear the cry of cicadas, and see the clouds drifting in the sky can be considered an unexpected blessing due to luck.
The yard fell silent.
There was a hen clucking from behind the kitchen, probably because she had laid eggs and was asking for credit.
There are several impatiens plants planted in the corner of the wall. They are blooming brightly, red and pink, nodding gently in the wind.
Next to the woodshed, there are piles of freshly chopped firewood. The unique fragrance of pine wood mixes with the unique smell of earth. The smell makes people feel very at ease.
From the fields in the distance, there was the sound of animals shouting. The sound was long and long, as if it was coming from another world.
In the village, there were people calling for their children to return home for dinner. The sound passed through several walls and became blurry, giving off a warm feeling.
Qiao Ruyi stood up, still a little dizzy, but much better than before.
She walked to the water tank, scooped out half a ladle of water, and drank it slowly.
The water is freshly drawn from the well. It is cool and has a hint of sweetness.
She picked up the water and slapped it on her face. The water droplets flowed down her cheeks and dripped on her clothes, leaving a small dark stain.
The door creaked open, and a small figure ran in.
"Sister!" The person who shouted this was my sister Ruxin. She was an eight-year-old girl with a thin body and her head was covered in sweat from running. "I went to the fields to look for you, but I couldn't find you, so I came back to see - what happened to your head?".
When she saw the wound above Qiao Ruyi's head, her eyes instantly turned red. She rushed over and hugged her sister's waist tightly, shouting, "Did Brother Jinbao bully you again?" I went straight to find him to comment on the reason!
Qiao Ruyi felt a warmth in her heart, and stretched out her arms to gently touch her head. Her hair was slender and soft, tied with two small hairpins, and tied with a red hairband. The hairband had faded, but it was still neat and tidy.
"It's nothing, sister, there's nothing wrong with me," she squatted down, at eye level with her sister, "I just bumped into it accidentally, and I'll be fine in two days."
If you don't believe it, stand on tiptoe to see the wound.
Qiao Ruyi let her look at her, looking at the little girl's frowned brows and pursed lips. At this moment, she suddenly had a strange feeling in her heart. This feeling was - this was her sister. From now on, this was her responsibility and her concern.
"Where's brother?" she asked.
"He went to the river to wash clothes," Ru Xin told him with some explanation, "Aunt Zheng asked him to do it, claiming that he would not be given food until the washing process was completed."
Qiao Ruyi straightened up, took her sister's hand and walked outside, saying: "Let's go to the river to have a look.".
After leaving the courtyard gate, a dirt road appeared. Poplars were planted on both sides of the dirt road. The leaves of those poplars were turning in the wind, and the silvery white backs flickered.
Passing by several households, I heard the chatter and laughter coming from the courtyard wall, saw someone shucking corn, and saw someone doing the work of picking up shoe soles. The days just continued at the same pace as one day after another, in a state of neither hurry nor slowness.
Walking towards the entrance of the village, you can see the river in the distance.
The river is not big, the water is clear, and you can see the pebbles at the bottom.
The willow trees by the river hang down their branches and draw thin ripples on the water.
Peasant women were washing clothes by the river, and the mallets they used to pound clothes were swinging up and down. The banging sound blended with the sound of the gurgling water, just like an ancient and melodious song.
Qiao Ruyi suddenly thought that since she is here, she should have a good time.
Although this village is poor, it has sky and land, wind and clouds, rivers and fields.
You can see apricot blossoms in spring, listen to the chirping of cicadas in summer, harvest crops in autumn, and warm up by the fire in winter.
Time passes more slowly, but slowness has its own benefits and advantages. One of the benefits is that you can clearly see the veins of each leaf, and you can also accurately hear the source of each bird's call.
She held her sister's hand and walked to the river.
The sun was just right, shining on the two thin figures, casting long shadows.
The water vapor and the smell of grass are brought by the gentle river breeze. It is soft and cool, just like a mother's touch.
In the valley, a cuckoo's call came from a distance, first one, then two, and then three. The sound continued to spread in the valley, and finally dispersed in the wind, and nothing could be heard.
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