There was a rustling sound coming from under the old wooden bed, and from time to time there was a harsh "creaking" sound.
Ms. Wang lowered her body and rolled up the tattered cloth sleeves on her arms, which further showed the rickets of her figure.
"Go! Go!" She held a sparse broom in her hand and patted several mice under the bed.
"squeak!"
After finally driving the mouse out of the house, Wang breathed a sigh of relief and put down the broom, but suddenly she smelled a burnt smell in her nose.
She frowned slightly, her already wrinkled face became even more wrinkled, and said anxiously: "I just focused on them and forgot about the meal!"
Immediately, he walked into the house in three steps and lifted the lid of the iron pot without caring about the burning of his hands.
In the small corner of the wooden house, only a few bottles of salt and pickles were placed in an orderly manner. There was a low stove next to it, and bursts of burning smell came from the iron pot on it.
Mrs. Wang hurriedly put a rag on her hand and took the iron pot off the stove. Only then did she have time to blow on her red fingers a few times.
She poured the rice into a large bowl, and when she saw that only a small part of the bottom of the pot was burnt, her brows relaxed slightly.
"Mom, I'm back," a boy about eight or nine years old walked into the wooden house with a happy face, holding a small piece of raw meat tied with a rope, "Today I went hunting with Uncle Zhang and helped them
I fought hard and finally got a small piece of deer meat!"
Mrs. Wang looked at the boy lovingly, put a large bowl of rice in her hands on the wooden table, and said with a smile: "We went hunting, are you tired? Are you injured? Although you, Uncle Zhang, and the others are taking care of you,
You must also be careful and drink this bowl of rice. Now is the time for you to grow, so eat more."
The boy's sharp eyes saw Wang's red fingers at a glance. He became a little anxious and said, "Mom, what's wrong with your hands?"
Mrs. Wang shook her head and said, "It's just a bit of a burn. It's okay. You should eat quickly. Only if you eat more food will you grow stronger."
The big bowl was almost full of clear soup, with only six or seven vegetable leaves floating on top. The vegetable leaves were luxuriously mixed with two pieces of fat and thin meat. When the boy smelled the aroma of the meat, his mouth almost watered down.
When he picked up the big bowl and was about to eat, the boy seemed to have thought of something. He blinked and said, "Mom, please eat these two pieces of meat. I won't eat them."
Wang scraped the bottom of the pot and poured it into her own bowl. She shook her head and said with a smile: "Mother has eaten just now. She has eaten several pieces of meat. The rest is a bit mushy, so I'll make do with it."
If you eat more, it would be a waste if you throw it away."
The boy glanced at Mrs. Wang, lowered his head, picked up the bowl, and started eating in silence.
Mrs. Wang was a miserable orphan. After she gave birth to a boy named Xiaofu, her husband died in the mountains while hunting.
In this small village at the edge of the Qingluan Mountains, without men, there is no source of food. After all, this small area is barren and barren, and nothing can be grown. The only source of food for the whole village is a hill next to the village.
Just an ordinary beast in there.
Strange to say, the Qingluan Mountains are surrounded by mountains. This small mountain peak on the edge has been eaten by the village for so many years. The number of wild beasts has never decreased, but has increased in number.
People thought it was protected by the mountain god, but this small mountain peak is also a nameless mountain. Therefore, every household in the village has a statue of the mountain god, calling it the nameless mountain god, which is extremely respected and pious.
By washing clothes for other people and working as a servant for a slightly wealthier family, Wang managed to keep Xiaofu until he was nine years old. Although he himself was not yet forty years old, due to the ravages of these years, he already looked like a child.
Like an old woman.
Xiaofu is also a sensible child. He has helped his hard-working mother with housework since he was a child. When he got a little older, he clamored to follow the village's team of hunters into the mountains to hunt.
Wang had no choice but to ask Brother Zhang next door to take him. Xiaofu was very up to date and very discerning. Every time he went out, he was the most diligent one. Everyone in the village was full of praise for him.
Therefore, although Xiaofu is only nine years old, he can bring home one or two pieces of animal meat from time to time to improve the food.
He finished the meal, but there was a slightly larger piece of meat left at the bottom of the bowl, and he shouted: "Mom, I'm full."
Wang looked at the piece of meat at the bottom of the bowl, shook her head slightly, and said with a smile: "Okay."
Silently cleaning up the dishes and placing the remaining piece of meat in the dilapidated cupboard.
"It's time to worship the mountain gods."
After finishing cleaning up, Mrs. Wang took Xiaofu, knelt down in front of the Wumingshan statue, and kowtowed several times respectfully.
As usual, Xiaofu raised his head after kowtowing and subconsciously glanced at the dark mountain god statue.
The mountain god statue was made by everyone in the village a long time ago. It is carved from ebony and simply painted.
Xiao Fu suddenly felt a tremble in his heart, his scalp was numb, and he had an extremely scary feeling coming over him, but this feeling went away as quickly as it came.
After taking a closer look at the mountain god statue that he worshiped every day, he didn't find anything strange. Xiao Fu couldn't help but feel a little dazed.
"Xiaofu? What's wrong?" Wang's wrinkled face was full of concern.
Xiaofu felt a pain in his heart, his mother was not yet forty years old!
I only eat two meals a day, including vegetables and wild vegetables, and I have to do so much backbreaking work, which makes me age too fast.
When he thought of this, he couldn't help blurting out what was in his mind: "Mom, I want to grow up quickly so that I can hunt by myself, use animal skins to make you good clothes, and let you eat meat every day! I also want to go out of the village and spread the word.
Build a house in the ancient city of Taichu, and take your mother to enjoy the blessings!"
The mountain roads here are extremely difficult and dangerous. For this small and closed village, the magnificent ancient city of Taichu, which is only a few hundred miles away, is as out of reach as a legend.
Touching Xiaofu's head tenderly, Wang just smiled on her face, but murmured in her heart, Xiaofu, when you grow up, your mother will be old.
Late at night, this village is especially quiet.
Occasionally, a few dogs bark, disturbing people's sleep.
When Xiaofu was half asleep and half awake, his eyes were wet, and he felt heartache unknowingly.
He shook his head and sat up, wiped the corners of his eyes, looked around in the moonlight, and said to himself doubtfully: "Where is mother?"
The wooden house is not big, with only a dilapidated wooden bed, which can barely accommodate two people.
The late autumn night was bone-chilling, so Wang always let Xiaofu sleep inside, while she slept outside, so that Xiaofu could stay a little warmer.
Xiaofu looked at the almost soaked pillow and couldn't help but wonder: "Why did I shed so many tears in my dream? Mom, where are you?"
Putting on a shabby cotton coat, opening the wooden door, a cold night wind poured down on my head like ice water.
Xiaofu shivered hard, but did not close the door. Instead, he stuck his head out the door and shouted in a low voice: "Mom?"
Where can my mother go in the middle of the night? Even if she is going to the toilet, she should come back after being there for so long.
Standing blankly at the door, the biting cold wind hit him in waves. Xiaofu shivered, but his heart became even more worried.
The nine-year-old child, because his family was poor, understood many things early.
Suddenly aware of a sense of peeping behind him, Xiaofu turned around suddenly, but what he saw was still the shabby wooden bed with bare walls and the iron pot and cupboard in the corner.
Next to the broken wooden bed was a pair of more than half-sewn cloth shoes. Every stitch and thread was densely packed and extremely tight. They were the winter cloth shoes that Wang had hand-sewed for Xiao Fu using two pieces of thick cloth and shoe soles that she had saved for a long time.
The sense of voyeurism is getting stronger!
Xiaofu's scalp was exploding and he was numb, but he couldn't find the source of the voyeuristic feeling at all!
Scanning the wooden house again, the simple furnishings are still the same as before, except for the mountain god statue...
Wait! The mountain statue!
On that dark face, two red and green painted eyes seemed to come to life, staring at me fiercely with a malicious look in them!
"ah!"
Little Fu Tianling trembled, and he was so frightened that he felt the urge to urinate. He rushed out of the door regardless of the bone-chilling cold in the middle of the night!
For a while, the scene in front of me was still vaguely familiar.
Didn't he already run out of the door and onto the village street? Why did he return to the house again?
After all, Xiaofu was only nine years old. No matter how sensible he was, after this scare, his mind showed signs of collapse.
He stayed in place in a daze, just looking at the ferocious mountain statue with a look of hatred on his face.
Suddenly, the big mouth of the mountain god statue opened in a twist.
Blah blah blah.
He spat out a pile of snow-white bones.
Xiaofu looked at the pile of bones, his eyes still blank, until he saw the gap on one of the hand bones.
My mother's little finger on her left hand is missing a small piece of bone.
It was an old wound left by a small piece of finger that was accidentally broken off when my mother was washing clothes at the village chief's house the year before last.
His eyes gradually became focused, and his heart-wrenching cries echoed through the silent night sky.
"mother!"
After a while, the sound in the wooden house suddenly stopped.
After a while, the sound of chewing gradually came from the wooden house, which was extremely scary.
The strange thing is that the whole village is like a dead village, without any sound.
