round spring

In the dream, the door opened and closed, the dog barked, the cat meowed, and there were cotton-like, ocean-wave-like hands on my back.

——An Yuan's Diary

In the evening, Grandma Shen boiled hot water, An Guoqing drank too much, and was already snoring while lying on the kang, An Yuan took a bath in a wooden basin by himself.

Shen Xingchun went out at night, and when he came back, An Yuan had already showered and put on his pajamas, and was wiping incense. He ran to him and looked, "What did Xiao Yuaner wipe? Is it the one from the daytime?" ?”

"No," An Yuan pointed to the big white bottle, and said while wiping his arm, "This one is for the body, and the daytime one is for the face."

"The distinction is really clear," Shen Xingchun smiled, picked up the big bottle and the small jar, put it on his nose and smelled it, he couldn't smell any difference, he just felt it was fragrant, and then lowered his head and sniffed it close to Xiao Yuan'er's neck, "They are all fragrant. Xiaoyuan'er smells the most fragrant. My brother has never wiped these things. Xiaoyuan is really a delicate person."

An Guoqing also said before that Xiao Yuaner is a fastidious person. An Guoqing also told him that he is like his mother, not as rough as him. An Yuan has no impression of his mother. He guessed that his mother must be a very beautiful beauty.

After wiping his arm, he handed one of the bottles to Shen Xingchun, "Do you want to wipe it?"

Shen Xingchun waved his hands, "I don't wipe, I feel sticky and a bit greasy."

An Yuan said: "It's not greasy, just get used to it. After getting used to it, it's uncomfortable not to rub it. I always think it's a problem."

"Xiao Yuan'er..." Shen Xingchun watched from the side, for a rough kid, just looking at it was a kind of enjoyment.

Sleeping at night became a problem for An Yuan, Shen Xingchun's house had two rooms, Grandpa Shen and Grandma Shen shared a room, An Guoqing slept on Shen Xingchun's kang, and they slept in Shen Xingchun's room.

An Yuan used to sleep alone, and he didn't want to sleep with An Guoqing. One of the main reasons was that An Guoqing snored while sleeping, so he has been sleeping alone since he can remember, and it hasn't changed for so many years. When he lived in his cousin's house, he shared a room with his cousin, who didn't sleep honestly, and he didn't like to sleep with his cousin either.

Although the kang in Shen Xingchun's room was large enough to accommodate four or five people, An Yuan finally chose to sleep between An Guoqing and Shen Xingchun.

The kang was very hard, and there was only a thin layer of mattresses under Anyuan. Although it was warm, Anyuan still tossed and turned in the middle of the night, unable to fall asleep.

Originally, Shen Xingchun had already fallen asleep, but he woke up again when he heard the movement beside him, rubbed his eyes, moved to An Yuan's side, and asked, "What's wrong with Xiao Yuan'er? Is it because you are not used to sleeping on the kang?"

"It's a little bit hard." An Yuan said.

Shen Xingchun turned on the light, got up from the bed, and took out two more quilts from the closet, "I'll spread this under you, two more beds will be softer, so you can sleep more comfortably."

An Yuan raised his head and saw Shen Xingchun shirtless, bare legs, wearing only a pair of underwear, hugging the quilt, standing on the edge of the kang with sleepy eyes.

"Brother, why are you sleeping shirtless?" An Yuan asked him in disbelief.

Shen Xingchun grabbed his stomach indifferently, then raised his hand and rubbed his eyes, "I sleep shirtless, the kang is too hot, I've been sleeping like this since I was a child."

After he finished speaking, he put the quilt on the edge of the kang, "Xiao Yuaner, get up, I'll put the quilt under you."

An Yuan was still staring at Shen Xingchun's chest, but after a few more careful glances, he realized that there were many scars on Shen Xingchun's body, the color was not dark anymore, but the skin on the scars was not smooth, so it could still be seen, I don't know if it was how did you make it.

Seeing that he was lost in thought, Shen Xingchun let out a "hey", "Don't be in a daze, I'll make a bed for you."

After An Yuan came back to his senses, he felt a little sorry, after all, this was someone else's house, he quickly waved his hands and said, "No brother, I'll just sleep like this."

"I've carried them all out, let's put them on the bunk." Shen Xingchun said.

An Yuan got up from the kang, and Shen Xingchun spread two more quilts on top of his mattress. After he spread the blankets, he pressed them down and felt that they were almost soft. He pulled the light cord and turned off the light, " Lie down, it should be better."

"Thank you, brother." An Yuan said to Shen Xingchun again.

"The child is so polite, sleep well." Shen Xingchun closed his eyes, and pinched An's smooth and tender face again in the dark.

An Yuan didn't hide this time...

The bottom of his body was no longer hard, but soft. An Yuan soon fell asleep, but he had a long, long dream. The dream was hot and cold, and finally he knew that it was dawn, and An Yuan was listening to him. He could hear all the voices of National Day and Grandpa Shen, but he just couldn't open his eyes.

"The child has a fever." Grandpa Shen took a look at the thermometer, "38 degrees eight, I'll get some medicine."

An Guoqing bent down and touched his son's forehead. His heart ached. He felt that the journey was too much for the child. He had been on the road all this time, and he couldn't sleep well or eat well. After a peaceful night, he developed a fever. up.

"The child has never traveled far, and he has been tossing all the way, and he is not used to the climate here." Grandpa Shen said, brought over the antipyretics, and asked An Guoqing to feed him.

Shen Xingchun kept frowning and lying beside An Yuan looking at the child, touching his palm over and over again, An Yuan's palm was always hot.

In the afternoon, An Yuan's fever subsided, and he got up and ate some porridge, but he was obviously lethargic, and lay in An Guoqing's arms with his eyes closed.

An Guoqing hugged Xiaoyuan and sighed, "I'm tired of the child. I'm going to go to Genhe today. I'll go home after collecting this batch of leather and mountain goods. The Chinese New Year will be one month away..."

Grandpa Shen advised him, "National Day, don't worry about these two days, you stay with the child for another two days, and we can talk about it after the child's fever subsides."

An Guoqing frowned, "The time we agreed with him before coming here, if it's late, we probably won't be able to accept this trip."

Grandma Shen looked at An Yuan with half-closed eyelids, her little face was still unnaturally red, she felt sorry for the child, and said to An Guoqing: "National Day, why don't you put the child at home for the next two days, anyway you go to the mountains to collect it, You have to pass by when you come back, and pick up the child when you leave, don't worry, your uncle and I will definitely take the child well."

Grandpa Shen was also answering from the side, "The child has just had a fever, and it is estimated that it will recur at night. Children are prone to relapse of fever, and it is dangerous to go outside when they have a fever at night. The child will suffer. You put the child at home, don't worry."

An Guoqing glanced at An Yuan who was lying on his lap, feeling distressed again, and after thinking for a long time, he said, "Uncle, Auntie, Xiao Yuan will be put at home first, so I will trouble you."

When An Yuan heard that his father was going to put him in Shen Xingchun's house, he pouted and looked dissatisfied, but his throat was sore, and it was uncomfortable to move his lips. In the end, he just opened his mouth, didn't say anything, and moaned a few times in his throat , sounded like the cry of a lamb.

Shen Xingchun had just gone out to feed the dog, and when he entered the room, he heard An Yuan's moaning. He thought he was suffering from a fever again, so he ran over to have a look, raised his hand to try on his forehead, and then "hissed" Air-conditioning, said: "Oh my god, it's so hot, why is it burning again?"

Grandma Shen hurried over and patted Shen Xingchun's hand, and said, "You just came back from outside, your hands are so cold, everyone you touch will burn."

An Yuan felt the coldness on his forehead, and breathed out comfortably, feeling that Shen Xingchun wanted to move his hand away, and grabbed his wrist, not letting him move, wanting to feel the cool air on his fingers for a while longer.

Shen Xingchun looked at An Yuan holding onto his hand and said to An Guoqing, "Uncle An, let me carry Xiao Yuan'er to the kang to sleep, I see he is sleepy, go up and sleep more comfortably."

An Yuan rubbed against his father's lap, wanting to sleep on his father's lap, but also wanted to hold Shen Xingchun's hand, Shen Xingchun didn't see that Xiao Yuan'er wanted to lie on his father's lap to sleep, and put her hand on his forehead One hand stretched under his neck, the other passed under his calf, and hugged him horizontally.

An Yuan felt his head sinking and shaking, knowing that he was hugged by Shen Xingchun, he grabbed his nose a little dissatisfied, and finally chose a comfortable position, leaned into Shen Xingchun's arms, rubbed against his chest, and grabbed his fingers He fell asleep with his eyes closed.

Shen Xingchun carried him to the kang, An Yuan was still holding on to his collar, Shen Xingchun tried to break his fingers, but his fingers held tightly, and he didn't intend to let go at all.

Helpless, Shen Xingchun also took off his shoes and went up, lying sideways beside Xiao Yuan'er.

An Guoqing watched his son fall asleep, and said to Grandpa Shen and Grandma Shen: "Auntie, I'll put Xiaoyuan here first, and I'll go to Genhe and come back after collecting."

Grandma Shen said: "Don't worry, the child will definitely look after you well."

An Guoqing took out the money from his pocket and handed it to Grandma Shen. Grandpa Shen and Grandma Shen didn't want anything, "What are you doing with the money, put it away quickly, just take care of a child, it's not a big deal, you helped us back then. It's us."

"Auntie, it's not the same thing." An Guoqing still stuffed the money into Grandma Shen's arms and asked someone to look after the child, which is what it should be.

Grandma Shen couldn't resist An Guoqing, so she finally accepted it, thinking that she would return it to him when he came back to pick up the child. They would definitely not want the money. Now that she accepted it, An Guoqing felt more at ease, so she didn't give up any more.

When An Guoqing was wearing a hat and gloves and was about to go out, Grandpa Shen suddenly thought of something and stopped him again, "Guoqing, wait a minute, I have something to tell you."

An Guoqing pressed the scarf down, turned around and asked, "Uncle, what's the matter?"

"A few days ago, maybe more than a week ago, a group of people came from the village. They came from other places. I don't know exactly where they came from. We can't understand the accent, but I heard from the old man next door. However, those few people also come to the village to collect furs, they collect all kinds of skins, and the price is a little higher than yours, but in private, they don’t mainly collect animal skins, they use this as a cover, mainly to collect wild furs.”

Wild Pizi is a local slang word, it is the leather of wild protected animals on the mountain. There are many wild animals in the mountains of Daxinganling, pythons, red foxes, moose, brown bears... too many.

An Guoqing asked, "Which direction are they going?"

"I'm not very clear about the specifics. I might have gone into the mountains," said Grandpa Shen. "You should be more careful on the road. They might have something in their hands. Moreover, three days ago, the police came to the village and asked about it door-to-door. , I guess they came to catch them, maybe they have been caught now, in short, you must be careful on the road, and hide when you encounter them. They don't seem to be good. Those who dare to do this are few who are not cruel. .”

An Guoqing nodded, "Thank you uncle for reminding me, I know, I will pay attention, if I touch it, I will call the police, nothing will happen, you don't have to worry."

"Okay, Xiao Yuan'er, you don't have to worry, you can rest assured if you let us go." Grandpa Shen added.

An Guoqing thanked him again, pressed his hat, and looked back through the half-open door before going out. Xiao Yuan'er was still sleeping on the kang, and Shen Xingchun was still lying on his side just now. He let Xiao Yuan'er grab his collar, saw that Xiao Yuan's hair covered his eyes, and stroked his forehead with his hand.

He knew that Xiao Yuan'er would be well taken care of at Shen's house, so he turned his head and went out.

Shen Xingchun heard the sound of the door opening and closing, and heard cats barking and dogs barking in the yard. Knowing that An Guoqing had left, he lowered his head to look at Xiaoyuan. Xiaoyuan should have heard it too. He frowned deeply. A hand patted his back lightly...