Laws of Spirit Recycling

Since then, Lin Zonghai has been helping the family with farm work every day. Spring comes to transplant rice seedlings, and it is destined to be a busy season. During the day, he goes to the fields to plow, cut grass, and feed pigs. I can also fall asleep listening to my brother's intermittent reciting.

He had long forgotten about Xiaoliu, until one day he heard that coal was being collected in the east of the neighboring village, and he went there again with his large bamboo basket on his back. He lowered his head like he was dozing off, he didn't bother to explore, and as he got closer and closer to the person, he suddenly saw who it was.

"Xiao Liu." Lin Zonghai called out the other party's name.

The person sitting on the ground raised his head, making Lin Zonghai stunned.I saw that his face was blue and purple, dust covered his face like powder, and there were two tear stains on his cheeks, which were rubbed into a dirty piece of dust.

Lin Zonghai immediately understood what was going on, and said, "Have you been bullied again? Or those Xiaowais?"

Xiao Liu didn't speak, and his indifferent expression showed a bit of stubbornness. He hugged his yellow dog tightly, staring at the ground with red and swollen eyes.Strange to say, Xiao Liu looks stunted, but his dog is strong and strong, and he is held in his arms by his bamboo pole-like arms, which looks discordant and tight.

"How long have you been sitting here? There is a stream in front of you, go and wash your face." Lin Zonghai glanced at the empty bamboo basket beside him, squatted down and said, "I just want to go to Liujia Village to pick up some coal, you and I Let’s go together and cut some grass and go back, I know there is a piece of land there, there is a lot of grass, and you can still collect firewood.”

Hearing this, Xiao Liu shifted his gaze to him, thought for a while, then nodded, got up and picked up the bamboo poles, and followed Lin Zonghai forward.

The creek is wide and flat, dotted with strange-shaped stones in the middle, no matter from which angle you look at it, it is a static picture of green grass and clear water. Only when you squat down and put your hands into the cool water of the stream can you feel its insignificance and continuous flow surge.

After washing his face, Xiao Liu wiped his wet eyes with his sleeves. His body was covered with dust, and after wiping, the stains were printed on his face again.

Lin Zonghai smiled, walked over and stretched out his hand: "Okay, the more you wipe, the dirtier it gets." He wiped it dry with the cloth inside his rolled-up sleeve, "It's all right."

Xiao Liu lowered her eyes and said blankly, "Thank you."

"Thank you, they are all from the same village. Does your face still hurt? Go home and apply a hot towel."

"Ah."

They sat on the grass and watched Rhubarb drinking water by the stream. Lin Zonghai randomly picked up a topic, "How many brothers do you have in your family? Every time I see you, I'm alone."

"Seven, some are planting rice in the field now, and some have gone to the town to sell things."

Lin Zonghai asked curiously: "By the way, why didn't you go to school? This small body is not suitable for working."

Xiao Liu glanced at him with some displeasure, and said, "I work no worse than others, and I raise all the pigs and sheep at home."

"I didn't see it, it's quite capable." Lin Zonghai asked again with a smile: "How old are you?"

"16 years old, long past the school age." Xiao Liu looked forward with a hint of yearning in his eyes.

"You really don't look like 16 years old. I'm only three years older than you, and I haven't gone to school. In order to let my two younger brothers study, I have to help the house more and reduce the burden on my parents."

Xiao Liu turned his head, his eyes that had been wet by the stream were shining, and he whispered, "You are so kind to your brother."

"I'm the eldest brother in the family, so I have to give in to them no matter what. Anyway, I am thick and strong, so I can do all the work. If I change to their thin arms and legs, I'm afraid they won't be able to finish their work until dark." Said. At the end, Lin Zonghai smiled bitterly, and looked at Xiaoliu, "They are not like you, they can still do so much work with a dog every day."

After the dog quenched its thirst, it also lay down on the grass to play with the grasshopper. Xiao Liu stared at it, and his voice was unconsciously soft: "Rhubarb is my good helper. Sometimes when I get tired of carrying things, I tie the bamboo with a rope." Basket, while being bitten by it, I followed slowly behind, it was so good, and helped me drag it home every time."

"You have raised this dog well. If you don't do some work for the owner, you will become a white-eyed wolf."

Xiao Liu lowered her head and grabbed the grass on the ground, saying: "I don't ask it to do much work, I only hope that rhubarb can live longer."

"Look at what you said, a dog is different from a human. It can live up to ten years. It's useless if you expect it to last longer. Why don't you get closer to your brothers and sisters? When they grow up, some of them will go to town Anjia, you can still count on taking you, the youngest."

Lin Zonghai didn't know the details of Xiaoliu's family, he only vaguely guessed that he was estranged from his brothers and sisters.These words are just to let him understand that the company of relatives lasts longer, and there will always be times when the family has bumps and bumps. Besides, from the two times he has been in contact with, it seems that Xiao Liu's character is not the kind of resignation, and will please his brother. Type, if you can be more well-behaved, maybe the relationship with your family will be more harmonious.

It's a pity that Xiao Liu just shook her head in a daze after hearing what he said.Lin Zonghai waited for a while, and saw that he didn't continue talking, and his face looked gloomy again, so he got up and patted his trouser legs: "Enough rest, we have to continue working, let's go."

Xiao Liu stood up and shouted "Rhubarb!" towards the stream, and Rhubarb immediately ran towards them wagging its fluffy tail. Seeing the scene of its front feet jumping and its body shaking in the air, Lin Zonghai couldn't help laughing. : "What a good guy."

After all, when Rhubarb came to them and rubbed its head, the palm of his hand was accidentally licked by Gouzi's warm and thick tongue a few times, the smile on Lin Zonghai's face deepened, "This Rhubarb doesn't look like the owner at all. , it is much better than you,"

Don't say that Lin Zonghai helped Xiao Liu last time, because the two of them met this time, from the beginning of the chat to the present, he has never seen Xiao Liu smile once, always with a cold face, and his words are also stubborn.

Xiao Liu faced his ridicule with silence, but her steps gradually followed Lin Zonghai's.The two walked through the grass and came to the khaki mud mixed with sand and gravel, leaving behind two pairs of footprints, one big and one small, beside which there were messy dog ​​paw molds several times smaller. As far as the distance, it connects to the fluffy white clouds on the field.

After this intersection, the two gradually became acquainted, and became companions who went to work in neighboring villages together in the afternoon.Lin Zonghai also got to know Xiaoliu better, knowing that he is just a wild cat pretending to be powerful, stubborn on the surface, but in fact he always hopes for the best in his heart, and suffers unhappiness by himself, although he is unhappy most of the time.

It all comes from the boys in the same village who bullied him. They always joked that Xiaoliu had never read a book and didn’t know a single big character. If he had nothing to do, he would write a curse word, fold it into a paper airplane, and throw it into Xiaoliu’s sheep pen when he passed by after school. Although Xiao Liu was illiterate, seeing their laughing and joking expressions, she knew that it was not a good thing, but she could only clean up silently, picking up those scribbled paper airplanes from the nest.

There are also some ignorant gangsters in the village, who focus on Xiaoliu's weak body and no family members, always in a bad mood to find fault, they also have a lot of soft persimmons in their hands, so they can be scolded casually and bullied by them A few times, when I lost interest, I wouldn't look for the same person often, but Xiaoliu's temperament is thinner and tougher than him, and he always resists. Those gangsters see that no one will be reactionary, so they get more and more excited, just thinking about it. tricks to play tricks on him and his dog.

Lin Zonghai met him a few times, and he helped Xiaoliu out of his troubles and drove away those who made him happy, but just staring at the flies was not serious or serious, and it had no effect, and the jokes that should be played continued.It wasn't until one day that Lin Zonghai accidentally saw the scar on Xiaoliu's back, he held the burning long charcoal fiercely, remembered the names of those who bullied him, and went door to door looking for them. , a strong and powerful man came to the door with red charcoal, with a fierce look on his face, he was so scared that his ass would pee, and he didn't care what the other party said, he nodded and agreed.

Since then, no one in the village dared to bully Xiaoliu anymore. They all said that Xiaoliu was being guarded and was not easy to provoke.

Xiao Liu no longer went to the grassland that he often went to mow, not because he wanted to avoid Xiaowai's group of people, but because he used to go to Ling Village with Lin Zonghai to pick up coal balls and mow grass.The two spared no time to rest at noon, each with a big bamboo basket, took the rhubarb, and walked to Lingcun in the spring breeze. After busy harvesting and gathering, they returned the same way.

Usually, when they have spare time, they rest by the stream at the junction of the village.

There are willows lined up on one side of the stream, the branches are slender and flexible, and the leaves are green all over, a little lighter than the green grass on the ground, and heavier than the new moss in the gurgling water.Sitting under the shade of willows, whether you look up or down, you will be surrounded by verdant greenery, which makes you feel refreshed.

"Come on, put this on." Lin Zonghai took out something from his bamboo basket, smiled and opened the clean old cloth used to wrap it. It was a pair of new shoes.

"Is this for me?" A hint of surprise flashed in Xiao Liu's eyes, and then he looked at the other party suspiciously. He hesitated and didn't take the pair of shoes.

"Who else can you give it to if it's not for you? Let my elder sister make it. Her craftsmanship is similar to those of the shoe sellers in the town. Try it and see if the size fits you."

Lin Zonghai put the shoes at Xiao Liu's feet, waiting for him to change them with a smile all over his face. Brand new shoes in front of you.

Staring at Xiao Liu's effort of changing shoes, Lin Zonghai also looked at the two pairs of socks on his feet, all of which were sewn with rough patches, and the stitches seemed to be randomly kneaded into a ball of thread, which was asymmetrical.

"No one in your family knows how to sew? These socks are so badly sewn."

Xiao Liu lowered her head and put on the shoes seriously, pretending to be casual and said: "No one sewed it for me, I made it myself."

Lin Zonghai's heart skipped a beat, his throat was sore, he really shouldn't have asked those questions again, since he already knew about Xiao Liu's situation at home.

"Brother Hai, it's just right." Xiao Liu smiled happily, pulled up her trousers, and showed the other party her new shoes.

Lin Zonghai also laughed and said, "I don't know if it's suitable or not right after I put it on. Stand up and take a few steps to see."

Following what he said, Xiao Liu stood up and walked around Lin Zonghai. After sitting down, she restrained her smile and said solemnly: "Brother Hai, thank you, I... I don't know what I can give you."

Lin Zonghai rubbed his head and said: "Look at what you said, what's the point of sending it back and forth? I don't give you things for anything in return."

The breeze blows gently, blowing their broken hair with the smell of earth and grass, and the willow branches are swaying by their sides.

"I know, only you are really good to me."

"I didn't do anything, you just think about that." Lin Zonghai raised his lips, looked at the old shoes next to him, took them, wrapped them in cloth and put them in his bamboo basket, "In the future, your brothers Don’t wear the shoes that have been worn in turn. They are so torn that they are not even the right size. I need a pair of solid shoes for running out of the village and walking back every day. I will ask my elder sister to give them How many pairs do you make?"

Xiao Liu hurriedly said: "No need for Brother Hai, one pair is enough to wear for a long time, wouldn't it be a waste to make a few more pairs and put them there."

"Shoes are no more than food, and it doesn't matter if you put them there. You wrap them in cloth, and when the shoes on your feet don't wear out, they will still be brand new. It's very convenient."

Before Xiaoliu could speak, Lin Zonghai sighed silently, and said, "My eldest sister is going to get married this autumn, and there will be no one to help make shoes in the future, so she said that before that, she will give my younger brother what he needs. Get things ready."

Xiao Liu knew that Lin Zonghai had the best relationship with his only sister, and when he talked about this now, his face was full of melancholy, so he comforted him: "Even if you are married, you will still be your real sister, and I will still see you often in the future."

Lin Zonghai shook his head and said: "She married in the town, so she won't have any chance to meet her in the future... But that's also good, it's better for her to go to the town to live a good life with others than to spend her whole life doing farm work in the village. I should be happy for her .”

"Is the town far from here?" Xiao Liu has been on this land since he was born, and the farthest place he has been to is Lingcun. He has no idea, and the "town" that people say is just a place name without concrete .

"It's far away, you have to take a boat and a car. I have only been there three times, and they were all when I followed them to the town to sell things. There are no thatched houses and no crop fields. It is much cleaner than the countryside, but the roads are narrow. The houses are next to each other, so it’s not as spacious as our village, so you can go wild.”

After speaking, Lin Zonghai patted Rhubarb's round heels. Rhubarb, who was enjoying himself, jumped up and tilted his head to look at the two people behind him.Lin Zonghai whistled, picked up the ring made of willow branches, and threw it obliquely forward, and Rhubarb immediately spread his legs and flew there.

Looking at its vigorous body and fluttering hair, it seems that it can also feel the fun of wanton play, Xiaoliu and Lin Zonghai laughed at the same time.No one can imagine the development and prosperity of cities and towns, but at this moment, they can enjoy the pleasure and leisure of the countryside.