When the pears are green

May 1st, cloudy. (Note: Solar eclipses must occur on the first day of the lunar calendar.)

After two consecutive rains, corn sprouts emerged from the soil.

Zhang stood on the high river bank and looked into the distance. Everywhere he looked was lush greenery.

"Sister-in-law, what are you looking at?" Li Hua, who was cutting grass nearby, asked while wiping the sweat from her forehead.

Zhang turned around and smiled and replied, "I just think the view here is good, and I couldn't help but take a few more glances. Did Xiaohui go to Mingde to learn calligraphy today?"

Li Hua smiled and nodded.

In order to relieve Wu Mingde's study pressure, Wu Wei built a thatched shed in the northwest corner of the village threshing ground and asked Wu Mingde to teach the children and young people in the village to read for free in the shed on the first, fifteenth and last days of each month.

At this time, there were more than twenty people sitting inside and outside the thatched hut, including young men with tied hair and children with pigtails.

Wu Mingde pointed with a branch at the words on the cotton cloth hanging under the eaves of the thatched hut and taught everyone: "After walking two or three miles, there are four or five smoke-filled villages. There are six or seven pavilions and eighty or ninety branches of flowers."

The words on the cotton cloth are very large, ensuring that everyone who comes to study can see them.

Everyone followed Wu Mingde and read carefully, with hope gleaming in everyone's eyes.

Song Yue took Wu Yuanlang to play under a sycamore tree not far away. The two of them played while waiting for Wu Mingde to finish school.

Suddenly, the sky darkened.

Song Yue hurriedly picked up Wu Yuanlang and looked up at the sky. A piece of the northwest corner of the sun hidden in the clouds had disappeared.

Everyone was panicking. Wu Mingde asked them to disperse first, then hurried to Song Yue and her son to comfort them: "Don't be afraid, it's a solar eclipse. Let's go to the straw shed and wait for a while. It will be over soon."

After Wu Mingde finished speaking, he held Wu Yuanlang in one hand and took Song Yue's hand with the other and walked towards the straw hut.

The wind seemed to be getting stronger. In the empty field, a boy of four or five years old stumbled towards Liu Laoer who was tending to corn seedlings.

Liu Laoer dropped his shovel, hugged the panicked boy and asked, "Chunsheng, why are you running so fast?"

"Dad, it's dark." Liu Chunsheng said as he pointed his finger at the sun in the sky, his childish voice full of fear.

Liu Laoer looked up at the sun which had lost a corner of itself, and hurriedly picked up the shovel, picked up Liu Chunsheng, and strode away from the field where no one else was except the father and son.

Liu Chunsheng leaned on Liu Laoer's shoulder and pointed at a grave not far away and asked, "Dad, whose grave is that? I asked mom before, but she wouldn't tell me."

"That belongs to your brother and sister. Don't ask your mother about it anymore, and don't tell anyone else. Do you understand?" Liu Laoer replied with a sigh.

After hearing this, Liu Chunsheng quickly covered his mouth and leaned over to whisper in Liu Laoer's ear: "Dad, am I not the eldest? I only have one sister, where did the brothers and sisters come from?"

Liu Laoer put Liu Chunsheng down, squatted down, stared into Liu Chunsheng's eyes and continued: "Chunsheng, when you grow up, your mother and I will tell you. You must remember my words, you must never tell anyone who is buried in this grave, otherwise the villagers will dig up this grave. You don't want your mother to be sad, do you?"

Liu Chunsheng nodded seriously, then hugged Liu Laoer's neck and said softly: "Dad, I don't want to see Mom cry, but she cries every time it snows."

"Your mother had a miserable life. Your brother and sister died in the snow. If you talk to her more and tease her more in the future, maybe she will stop crying. Come, let's go home. Your mother and your sister are waiting for us at home!" Liu Laoer said as he picked up Liu Chunsheng and quickened his pace.

Liu Chunsheng looked at the lonely grave in the field that was getting farther and farther away, his eyes couldn't help but turn red, and his little hands tightly grasped Liu Laoer's clothes.

The sky was getting darker and darker, and the sun had turned into a crescent shape.

Today happened to be market day, and the market was instantly thrown into chaos. Patrolling constables rang gongs to maintain order, asking those who lived close to home to return home as soon as possible, while those who lived far away had to hide under trees and wait for the eclipse to be over.

Under a tall sycamore tree, a lame middle-aged man leaned against a cart loaded with bamboo baskets and baskets, and gently comforted the trembling, thin child beside him: "Don't be afraid, Yongning, I also saw it once when I was a child. After the heavenly dog ​​eats the sun, it will spit it out again."

The child buried his head in the man's shoulder. The man stretched out his rough right hand and rubbed the child's dry and yellow hair. He was thinking about buying some meat for the children after the rally was over.

A few clouds floated by, completely blocking the sun, and the sky and the earth suddenly became dark.

Jiang Qingye, who was studying far away in Bianzhou, looked at the faint light outside the window, and his mind drifted to Heihe Town with the south wind.

Su Mian reached out for the tinder to light the oil lamp, and continued to tie up the silkworm cocoons with Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou.

"Sister-in-law, why do you put the largest silkworms together separately?" Su Mian asked in confusion.

Song Li hugged Jiang Yao, who was afraid of the dark, and explained, "It's to sell silkworm eggs. The eggs laid by silkworm moths hatched from adult silkworms have a higher hatching rate and survival rate, so more people will come to buy silkworm eggs."

Su Mian nodded seriously as he listened.

Jiang Huan held the conch and lay on Song Li's back and asked, "Mom, what is the sea?"

Song Li pondered for a moment, thinking about the words to answer: "Huan'er, the sea is very broad, and you can't see the end at a glance. It is much larger than the Mirror Lake we saw in the county before. When you grow up, you can follow your uncle to Laizhou to see the sea."

Jiang Huan frowned and said listlessly: "Mom, when can I grow up?"

"Huan'er, don't be impatient. Let's wait another ten years." Jiang Qingzhou said to Jiang Huan with a smile.

Jiang Huan stamped his feet, got into Jiang Qingzhou's arms and acted like a spoiled child: "Dad, I want to grow up quickly."

"No matter how anxious Huan'er is, you have to live one year at a time." Jiang Qingzhou rubbed Jiang Huan's little head and replied softly.

Song Li turned around and looked at Jiang Huan who was sulking, and laughed softly.

Su Mian also comforted Jiang Huan: "Huan'er, don't worry. I haven't seen the sea either. When we have a chance, let's go see the sea together. Let's see if the sea is really like what Emperor Wu of Wei said: the movement of the sun and the moon seems to come from it."

"The stars are shining brightly, as if they came from the sky." After Song Li finished speaking, she smiled and high-fived Su Mian, who had the same thoughts as her.

The clouds covering the sun were blown away by the wind, and the sun now looked like a crescent moon.

An inland passenger ship arrived at the dock at the west gate of Linhe County, and Song Xing led a tall girl off the ship.

"Yuntao, this is Linhe County. The sun is almost eaten by the heavenly dog, so why don't we stay in the county for a day and go to my house tomorrow, okay?" Song Xing asked softly to Yuntao who was looking around curiously.

Yun Tao smiled and looked at Song Xing and replied, "I'll listen to you. The plain is really flat and the view is much better than the mountain where my home is."

"Do you like it?" Song Xing asked softly.

Yun Tao hooked her fingers around the long hair that fell onto her pink shirt, lowered her head shyly and whispered, "Well, I quite like it."

"Let's go quickly. I'll take you for a walk." Song Xing's ears turned red and he pulled Yun Tao's sleeve.

Yun Tao jumped and followed Song Xing, took out her pass and queued up to enter the city.

"Hey, Jiang Gou Wa, stop looking. Can't you see they are a pair of lovers? Besides, the girl has big eyes, a high nose bridge, and a cherry mouth. It's not something that hard-working people like us can marry. You'd better find a village woman." A carefree middle-aged man patted Jiang Gou Wa's shoulder as he hid behind a tree and said.

Jiang Gou Wa pulled at his patched grey shirt and explained with embarrassment: "I didn't look at the girl, I knew the young man."

"Since we know each other, why are you hiding?" asked the middle-aged man, scratching his hair.

Jiang Gou Wa seemed not to have heard what the middle-aged man said, and muttered to himself: "Alas, if it wasn't for my younger sister, why would I not even dare to use the name Jiang Yang."

The middle-aged man scratched his ears, frowned, looked at Jiang Gou Wa who was worried, and asked, "What did you say?"

"Brother Zhang, I haven't said anything. Let's get to work." Jiang Gou Wa said as he stretched his waist and continued to carry the goods piled on the dock.

In an instant, the sun was completely covered by the moon, and the sky and the earth were once again shrouded in darkness.

Song Xing quickly held Yun Tao's hand and explained nervously: "It's getting dark, I'll hold you."

"Yeah." Yun Tao nodded slightly in the dark, her ears turning red.

The darkness lasted for less than half a quarter of an hour before the sun slowly returned to its former appearance.

Song Li blew out the oil lamp and asked Jiang Qingzhou to deliver some of the silkworm cocoons to Su Mian's home in the afternoon. Su Mian, along with Song Li and Ruyi, raised nearly ten thousand silkworms and bought ten acres of land.

"Dong dong dong" knocked on the door.

Jiang Huan quickly went to open the door and laughed as he looked at Chen Lingyi, Li Xuanhe, and Yang Yanyin who were looking for him to play.

Song Li quickly called a few children over. Jiang Huan looked up and asked Song Li: "Mom, will the sun be eaten again?"

"No, the darkness has passed, and light has once again come to the world. You can go and have fun without worry." Song Li told Jiang Huan softly.

Su Mian used a branch to draw a large nine-square grid on the ground, and several children were jumping and laughing in the grid.

"Hahaha...hahaha..."

The crisp laughter spread throughout the courtyard.

Jiang Yao ran to join the team, and Jiang Qingzhou whispered to the children not to bump into each other.

This is an ordinary day, and it is also a day that will still be remembered many years later.

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