South of the sea, in the mortal world, Ming Yue City.
Thousands of miles away from Mingyue City, there is a small village called Xiwu Village.
At You hour, smoke curled up over Xiwu Village, and it was dinner time.
At the very back of the village, in the corner near a large banyan forest, there are three thatched houses.
A boy of about seven or eight years old quietly poked his head out of the main room.
He looked at the woman who was busy in the west wing, grabbed the bamboo basket in his hand, sneaked out of the door along the base of the wall, and headed straight for the banyan forest.
After a while, the woman prepared dinner and shouted towards the main room: "Abao, it's time to eat."
Seeing no response, the woman walked towards the main room, still muttering: "Isn't it that you were crying out that you were hungry just now and asked for a steamed bun? How come you are not hungry anymore?"
Seeing that there was no one in the house, the woman sighed: "This child went out to play again. In the past few days, he has complained that he is hungry when he comes back, and he has disappeared when it is time to eat. He is really getting older and more disobedient."
She was chattering, but she still covered the food with a bamboo basket and went to the east wing to weave.
The child named A Bao was walking through the banyan trees with a bamboo basket and familiar paths.
After a while, he arrived in front of a big banyan tree.
The roots of this banyan tree are almost one foot thick, and the trunk is majestic. However, the branches and leaves on it are sparse and not prosperous.
If you look at it from a distance, you will feel that the banyan tree seems to be half dead and half alive, which is quite strange.
Po looked around and found no one, so he stretched out his hand to push the dry bark of the tree.
With a sound of "chila" and the scraping of dead branches, a small hole appeared under the big banyan tree.
Abao quickly got in.
Half of the roots of the big banyan tree have been hollowed out, and in the gap in the six-foot-square trunk, an unconscious woman lies.
This woman was about sixteen or seventeen years old. Her icy muscles and bones could not be concealed even with her eyes closed, and she had an unparalleled beauty.
It's a pity that the person who came here is just an eight-year-old child, and he doesn't know how to show mercy to others.
I saw him holding the woman's hand and shaking it vigorously, pinching her nose, and flicking her forehead. Seeing that she still had no reaction, he muttered: "I've been sleeping for half a month, why?"
Are you still awake?"
He sighed and took out an empty bowl from the bamboo basket. He took out a small kettle and filled it half full.
Then, he took out a rice-white steamed bun from his arms, tore it into pieces the size of rice grains and threw it into the water bowl.
When the bowl of steamed buns turned into a paste, he lifted the woman's head and poured it into her mouth bit by bit.
"My mother said she won't give me steamed buns as snacks anymore. If you don't wake up, you will really starve to death." A Bao threatened.
She barely drank half the bowl of water, and Abao stood up and said to himself: "I'm leaving. I'll see you again tomorrow. You must not die!"
This is what he repeats every day.
He restored the dead wood to its original state and hurried toward home.
His mother must still be waiting for him to eat. If he goes back late, she will be hungry.
After Abao left, the female nun in the tree hole still slept in the darkness, silently.
----------------------------------------
The next day, Abao went to Liu Wang's house early in the morning.
Liu Wang is the only doctor in Xixia Village.
"Abao, don't you need to herd the cows today? Why do you come to see me when you have time?" Liu Wang asked with a smile.
"Uncle Liu, do you have some medicine to wake you up?"
"What's wrong with Abao?" Liu Wang touched his smooth forehead and found that he didn't have a fever.
"Uncle Liu, I'm not sick. It's just that I've been a little drowsy when I was feeding the scalpers recently. I thought it would be nice if there was some medicine to wake me up, so that the rhubarb wouldn't run away without me noticing."
"That's it." Liu Wang felt relieved and continued to fiddle with the herbs on the bamboo curtain, saying: "I'm afraid that spring has started recently, and I'm tired in spring and autumn. You are still young and growing, and you will get sleepy easily if you don't sleep enough. You should go out less and mess around in the future.
Just run and get enough sleep to make up for it, and you'll be fine on your own. Children shouldn't take medicine indiscriminately."
"Oh." Abao was a little disappointed.
"She" had been lying there unable to wake up, so coming to Uncle Liu to get medicine was the best way he could think of. But he was a child, and Uncle Liu didn't take her seriously at all.
Seeing A Bao's disappointed expression, Liu Wang pointed to the mint grass in the corner and coaxed him: "If A Bao feels sleepy, why not pick some mint grass and take it with you. If you feel sleepy, you can smell it to refresh yourself."
"Yeah, thank you, Uncle Liu."
Abao squatted on the ground and carefully folded the mint. He knew this mint. When his mother made water jelly for him, she put some in it. It tasted really cool and refreshing.
Hope it's useful to her.
Over there, Liu Wang saw his cautious appearance and was quite amused.
This child has grown so big in the blink of an eye. Xiuzhen has suffered a lot these years.
He cleared his throat and said casually: "It's easy to get cold this spring. Remember to wear more clothes when you go out, so you don't catch a cold. Not only you, but also your family should be reminded."
Abao curled his lips and said nonchalantly: "Uncle Liu, don't worry. My mother weaves at home all day long and has no time to go out."
"...You kid!"
Abao raised his head, glanced at him, and said, "Uncle Liu, you haven't been to my house for a few days."
"Hi, I've been busy lately."
"No matter how busy you are, you always have time to eat. A few years ago, you always came to my house for dinner, but you didn't say you were busy!"
He also wanted to go, and he also wanted to help these two ladies. But the people in this village were so talkative that it was always inconvenient.
But how can you explain this clearly to a child?
"You and your mother are in good health, so why would it be bad luck for me to go to your house?"
"Uncle Liu, are you afraid that Granny Zhang and Granny Li will say something about you?"
Liu Wang was startled and asked with some embarrassment: "A Bao, did you hear them talking nonsense?"
Abao nodded.
These long-tongued women!
Liu Wang knelt down and looked into Abao's clear eyes: "Abao, you are still young and you don't understand some adult things. In the future, don't listen to their nonsense."
"Uncle Liu, I'm not afraid of them talking nonsense, are you afraid of them talking nonsense?" Abao asked.
Liu Wang laughed: "Of course I'm not afraid. But, I..."
I'm afraid it will affect your mother's innocent reputation.
Abao lowered his head and continued to fold the mint grass.
"I told my mother what Granny Li and the others said that day."
"You kid, why bother telling your mother those nonsense, which will only make her feel uncomfortable!"
Abao shook his head: "My mother is not uncomfortable. She said that she is not afraid of slanted shadows when she is upright. She also said that Uncle Liu has been good to our mother and son over the years, and she has always remembered it in her heart. It's just..."
"Just what?" Liu Wang asked anxiously.
"It's just that we can't delay Uncle Liu from marrying aunt. Uncle Liu, are you getting married?"
Liu Wang shook his head: "Nothing."
The Li family's mother-in-law introduced him to a match some time ago, but he declined. Maybe the Li family's mother-in-law couldn't get the money to thank the matchmaker, so she went around talking about it again.
Abao's eyes lit up: "Uncle Liu, do you want to marry my mother?"
"Cough, cough." Liu Wang choked on his own saliva.
His ears turned red and he asked softly: "A Bao wants me to be your father?"
Mobile phone users please visit Reading for a better reading experience, the bookshelf is synchronized with the computer version.