Urban Oddities: Soul Contract

Chapter 4 Hawthorn

"Little Fatty, come down and play!"

On a sunny afternoon, there was a shout outside the window, Xiaopang poked his head out of the window, and his friends were waiting for him outside the yard.

The old man who took care of the flowers and plants in the yard raised his head and said only one sentence, which silenced Xiaopang and his friends.

"Have you finished your homework?"

Xiaopang's grandfather is very strict, and the children in the neighborhood are afraid of him. Xiaopang shrank his neck timidly after being stared at by his grandfather, and watched his friends flee in despair.

The sun shines into the room, Xiaopang does his homework silently, and ignores the fruit brought by his grandpa. The grandpa knows that his precious grandson is losing his temper, so he said: "Tonight is the holiday, there is braised pork, come down early for dinner. "

The dishes were served one after another, but there was no favorite braised pork, Xiaopang thought, is grandpa lying?

"Have you finished your homework?" Grandpa was holding the bowl, but his eyes were fixed on Xiaopang. Grandpa was the head of the family at home. As soon as he spoke, the three aunts, six aunts and other relatives all turned to look at Xiaopang.

Xiaopang said with a guilty conscience: "It's finished."

"Ah, I'm sorry, I've been waiting for a long time." Mom brought out a plate of braised pork, "The stove ran out of fire when the meat was stewed, alas, it's really annoying."

A firecracker exploded, followed by the dazzling light of fireworks. Xiaopang felt happy when he heard the fireworks soaring into the sky amidst the aroma of braised pork.

"Grandpa never lied to you." The old man still stared at his grandson with fiery eyes, and said word by word, "So don't lie, understand?"

After the meal, all the relatives of the family sat in the yard to watch the fireworks. Only Xiaopang looked at the ground with his face flushed. The brilliance faded, the family gradually left, and the surroundings returned to silence. Only grandpa was left sitting on the wicker chair and looking ahead.

Xiaopang secretly followed his grandfather's line of sight, where he saw the silhouette of a big tree.

"Your grandma planted this." Grandpa's voice sounded, "It has grown so big without knowing it for decades."

Unfortunately, the hawthorn tree has not produced fruit.

"Northern trees are never suitable for planting in the south."

"Then why do you need to plant it?" Xiaopang couldn't understand.

At this time, Dad came over and said with a smile: "Your grandfather, but you eloped with your grandma from the north, and brought some souvenirs from the north."

"May you prosper and bless our family." This was the wish made by grandma, and grandpa seemed to recall some sweet memories, showing a hint of a smile.

"Really?" Fatty asked.

"Grandpa never lied to you."

However, before the tree could bear fruit, grandma passed away.

Grandpa looked at the hawthorn tree, wondering if he could taste a hawthorn in his lifetime.

The family members knew about the old man's heart disease, and occasionally bought some hawthorns. The fruits on the market were red and big. When Xiaopang drank hawthorn tea for the first time, his face was so sour that his face wrinkled.

Xiaopang didn't like it, and neither did his family, except that grandpa drank it with gusto.

"Hmph, what do you young people know? Eat healthy food to strengthen the stomach and eliminate food!"

In the summer of the second year, grandpa passed away, and after the funeral, several older sisters married their boyfriends for the sake of joy, and the wedding banquets took place one after another, and Fatty ate badly during that time.

Fried shrimp, fried chicken, braised pork, sweet and sour pork, and oily old turkey soup... Xiaopang lay on the bed with a livid face, and when he thought of those dishes, he felt so sick that he wanted to vomit.

"This child is tired of eating." The old Chinese doctor examined him and prescribed a prescription, "Drink it once a day, and it will be fine for a week."

The black medicine was placed on the table, Xiaopang secretly poured out the medicine while his parents were out.

The stomach was bloated and uncomfortable, tossing and turning, unable to sleep, the food he ate could not be digested, and it was fermented in his stomach, Xiaopang was sweating all over, he touched the switch and turned on the light, thinking about pouring a glass of water for a drink, at this moment , he suddenly felt that something had changed in the room.

He looked around and found several incongruous colors on the table.

It was small and ugly, but he still recognized that this kind of fruit was called Hawthorn.

Don't know if it's sweet or not?

Xiaopang took a bite, and the fresh sourness made his jaw ache. He poured a cup of hot water, threw the small hawthorn into it and soaked it. After a while, the whole cup of water turned bright red, and he drank it. One sip, another sip, a glass of red hawthorn water entered my stomach, sour and appetizing.

Early the next morning, there were a few more small hawthorns on the table. After Xiaopang finished eating, he felt a little hungry.

"Invigorate the stomach and eliminate food, eat more healthy!"

Grandpa really didn't lie to him.

"Mom, yesterday's hawthorn was delicious, do you have any more?"

The mother who was washing the vegetables looked puzzled: "Hawthorn? I haven't bought hawthorn before. Ask your dad?"

Xiaopang went to ask his father again, and his father asked him to ask his cousin, who was sweeping the leaves in the yard, and the small hawthorns were swept to the corner and piled together as garbage.

"Is this tree bearing fruit?" Dad raised his head in surprise, just in time, another hawthorn fell, and Dad picked it up and bit it.

"Bah, it's sour and astringent."

The little hawthorn was thrown to the ground by his father.

"But it's great to be able to bear fruit." The cousin swept the hawthorn into the trash, "It's a pity that the old man left too early, he really should see these fruits."

On the days when the hawthorn tree bears fruit, every few days, there will always be a few small hawthorns on the table. Xiaopang dare not tell his parents, and dare not continue to eat, so he has to secretly throw them away.

The person who delivered the fruit seemed to know Xiaopang's thoughts, so for a long time, hawthorn never appeared on the table again.

One night, Xiaopang had a high fever and was lying on the bed drowsily. He was suddenly awakened by the cold in the middle of the night. With the window open, a young man put his hands on the table and put hawthorns on the table. When he realized that he was found, the man also stunned.

The two stared at each other, and finally, the man smiled embarrassedly: "Eat some hawthorn, appetizer, eat more, and the disease will be cured." He picked up one, "Look, the biggest one."

Xiaopang saw that the man was smiling, and he didn't look like a bad guy, so he took the little hawthorn in a nonchalant manner.

"Little fat, what's your name?"

Xiaopang gnawed on the hawthorn, and answered obediently: "Chen Damin."

Chen Damin woke up.

He was lying on the bed. The little fat man back then was now so skinny that he was not a human being.

When I was a child, I ate too much greasy food and hurt my stomach. When I found out, I had already reached the advanced stage of the disease.

"Dad, are you awake? Come and drink some water." Chen Ge helped the old man to lean on the head of the bed.

"Where's Hawthorn?" Chen Damin looked at the table.

"Dad, you are dreaming again. You are sick and cannot eat hawthorn."

Chen Damin propped himself up, as if he was going to get out of bed.

"dad?"

"I want to go home." The old man always said inexplicable words.

"Dad, this is your home."

"I want to go home." The old man still said the same thing.

Chen Ge sighed and finally nodded.

Of course Chen Ge knew where his father was going.

They lived in the old house for decades, and the 107th house is about to be demolished.

I haven't seen it for half a year. The small yard is lush with flowers and plants, as if someone is taking care of it. It is not barren at all. There are small hawthorns scattered on the road. Chen Ge is worried that his father will fall, so he kicks the small hawthorns on the road together with the weeds to the corner. Chen Xiaosha supports her father. When entering, the grounds are clean and tidy.

As the disease worsened, Chen Damin's eyesight became worse day by day. He couldn't see what was in the yard at all in his blurred vision. Chen Ge quickly walked them into the old house. Dad's room was at the end of the second floor. In a few days This piece of land will be leveled, Chen Ge thought, maybe this is the last time they will return to the old house.

He tidied up the room, swept away the broken wooden strips, and when he opened the window, Chen Ge's eyes widened.

A few small hawthorns are placed on the window sill, the branches are still green, they are freshly picked.

The outstretched hand stopped abruptly.

Wait...how is this possible? !

Someone sneaked into the room while he was not paying attention?

but……

When some unreasonable details were noticed, Chen Ge felt a chill running up his spine.

He can be sure that there is no one in the old house!

Who put the hawthorn on the windowsill?

There were footsteps in the corridor, Chen Xiaosha was walking this way with her father supported, Chen Ge almost didn't even think about it, and raised his hand to sweep those fresh hawthorns out of the window sill.

"Ah... I really miss it..." Standing by the window, Chen Damin showed a rare smile, pointed out the window, and said to Chen Xiaosha, "He was standing outside at that time."

Dad was talking nonsense again, and Chen Xiaosha echoed: "Yes, yes, he even gave you hawthorns." The dream that Dad had nagged so many times, Chen Xiaosha could almost recite it backwards, she looked at her brother, hoping that he would also He echoed a few words to coax his father, but what caught his eyes was his elder brother's livid face.

"At that time, he stretched out his hand and handed me a hawthorn. Oh, it's so sour." Chen Damin stretched out his hand, took the non-existent thing, chewed it in his mouth, and kept saying, "It's so sour, so sour." acid."

"The room is not clean, let's go out." Chen Ge closed the window, winked at his sister, and helped his father out of the room one by one.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Chen Xiaosha secretly asked her brother.

Chen Ge didn't speak, but pursed his lips tightly, and waited until he got out of the old house and stood in the sunlight before Chen Ge told her what he had just seen.

"At first I thought Dad was dreaming, but depending on the situation... what Dad said should be true..."

"Someone really gave hawthorn?" Chen Xiaosha's eyes widened.

"Papa's room is on the second floor."

"What happened to the second floor?"

"Father said, was that person standing outside the window at that time? Is there a place for him to stand outside the window?" Before he finished speaking, something fell in front of his eyes. When he looked down, it turned out to be a few small hawthorns, as if he had seen something ominous. He stomped the hawthorn hard and kicked it far away.

"There's something wrong with this place, it's really not right!"

"Brother... tell me, that thing... will it be right next to us?" Chen Xiaosha was really scared. When she thought of living in an old house with an invisible thing for so many years, she I felt like all my hairs were standing on end.

"It's a pity I haven't asked his name yet." The old man was still immersed in his memories, and murmured into the air, "What's your name?"

The thin lips of the young man standing next to the old man moved, and a certain syllable was transmitted. Chen Ge and Chen Xiaosha helped the emaciated Chen Damin to pass him by...

I don't know from which day, Chen Damin, who has grown up, can't see him anymore.

Huo Minghai passed Building 107 by bicycle, and the young man was setting up a stall again.

"Hello." Huo Minghai asked from a distance, "Is it still ten yuan a bag?"

The man nodded.

Huo Minghai ignored him, started a day's work, finished his work, and passed by Building 107 on his way back in the evening, but the man was still there.

"The more you sell, the less you sell. You only have a dozen or so in this bag, which is less than half a catty." Huo Minghai couldn't help reminding.

"It's gone, that's all that's left." He pointed to the hawthorn tree. Huo Minghai looked up, and there was no fruit left on the tree.

"Are you short of money?"

The man hummed.

"In a hurry?"

"urgent."

Huo Minghai plucked up his courage and walked over: "Then I want this bag of hawthorns."

The man shook his head: "But if it's sold, I have nothing to send." Seeing Huo Minghai's blank face, he explained that this was the last bag of hawthorns, which was supposed to be sent out, but he had no money and couldn't afford the courier fee. I had to sell it, but after selling it, I had nothing to send.

After thinking over and over again, he reluctantly took out a small hawthorn: "Seeing how caring you are, I'll sell you one."

Huo Minghai: "...how much?"

Man: "Ten dollars."

Huo Minghai: "One?"

Man: "Yeah."

Huo Minghai: "..."

Man: "It's already the best price, no bargaining."

Huo Minghai rubbed his nose and felt that this guy was just a joker, and he was a fighter in the chatterbox who talked to him, so he stopped talking, Huo Minghai rode on the car and drove away...

The package of sumac appeared on the third day.

Huo Minghai's first delivery that day was the package of VIP customer Su Mu. He followed the address and found the hospital.

"Hello, how can I help you?" The little nurse saw a courier and thought it was her cosmetics, but the courier told her to find Building C of the inpatient department and asked her how to get there.

"Please put the package in the reception room, and someone will deliver it." The little nurse explained.

"Chen Damin is a regular customer of mine, and I just want to drop by to visit him."

Lied, Huo Minghai followed the little nurse to building C smoothly, and in the intensive care unit, he finally met Chen Damin.

Chen Xiaosha and Chen Ge sat on the edge of the bed and secretly wiped their tears. When they looked up and saw Huo Minghai who was dressed in black, the siblings immediately jumped up.

"Get out! Who told you to come in?!" Chen Ge could no longer calm down, he had long associated the courier with Hawthorn in his heart, seeing him was like seeing something unlucky, Chen Ge raised his hand aggressively Chase people.

"Chen Damin has a package."

"Get out!" The outstretched hand pushed away, seeing Huo Minghai dodging away, Chen Ge's anger surged, he grabbed Huo Minghai's collar with his big hand and pushed him towards the door.

Huo Minghai's temper also came up, he grabbed Chen Ge with his backhand, and said coldly: "The package is for Chen Damin, not for you!"

"Are you looking for a fight?"

Huo Minghai straightened his back and stared back at Chen Ge's gaze.

"Hey, don't get excited, let go of your hand..." A few nurses wanted to step forward to dissuade them, but seeing Chen Ge's blood-red eyes, they were also afraid.

Chen Xiaosha, who was sitting on the side, came over, stopped her brother with one hand, and reached out to Huo Minghai with the other: "Here, I'll sign for it."

Huo Minghai looked past Chen Xiaosha at the old man lying on the bed.

"Bring it." Chen Xiaosha suppressed her temper and repeated it again.

"The package is for Chen Damin, not for you!"

"You bastard!" Chen Ge was completely annoyed, and when his fist was about to touch Huo Minghai, he was firmly grasped by a hand protruding from the side.

"Sir, please calm down?"

The man who grabbed his fist was also a man in a courier uniform.

The irresistible force blocked the fist, and Chen Ge suddenly had the illusion that his hand was caught by the iron tongs.

"What happened?" The nurses and guards rushed over, Chen Ge glared at the man, and withdrew his hand embarrassingly.

Seeing this, Chen Xiaosha's tone also softened, she teased her brother and told him not to get excited, and explained softly to everyone that there was a misunderstanding, that her father was seriously ill and comatose, and her brother was just in a bad mood. At the end, she said to Huo Minghai: "Please Tell Su Mu, don't send any more hawthorns, we won't eat them..."

There was a sound on the hospital bed, and Chen Xiaosha and Chen Ge turned their heads to look at the same time.

Chen Damin opened his eyes brightly, his throat made a gurgling sound, Chen Xiaosha hurried over to feed his father a spoonful of water, the old man's eyeballs stared at Huo Minghai motionlessly.

To be precise, he was staring at the small package in Huo Minghai's hand.

"dad?"

The old man pointed to the package and motioned for Huo Minghai to come over.

After many twists and turns, Su Mu's package was finally delivered to Chen Damin.

Chen Damin took a pen and signed crookedly on the courier slip.

When he left the ward, Huo Minghai looked back, Chen Damin was holding a small hawthorn, smiling like a child...

The elevator buzzed, and the feeling of sinking made people drowsy. Huo Minghai tilted his head empty-handed and asked, "Is it heavy?"

Du Jiajun with the big bag and the small bag nodded: "Heavy."

Seeing him profusely sweating, Huo Minghai asked meaningfully, "Do you want to help?"

As soon as the voice fell, a lot of things were stuffed into his arms.

"one left."

A small package was added to the large package. Du Jiajun tilted his head to look, and added a smaller package to the small package.

Du Jiajun was very satisfied: "It looks much better this way."

Huo Minghai: "..."

The elevator door opened, Du Jiajun was empty-handed, and reminded: "Hold it well and watch the road."

Huo Minghai, whose sight was blocked by the pile of packages, could only tilt his head, indignantly: "Damn it! Are you embarrassed?"

Du Jiajun pursed his lips and smiled: "Why am I embarrassed?"

Huo Minghai: "How can you be embarrassed?"

Du Jiajun: "Didn't you ask me if I wanted to help? I'm afraid you'll feel sorry for me. Isn't it kind of asking you to help me?"

Huo Minghai: "..."

Du Jiajun: "Going down the stairs, be careful not to fall."

Huo Minghai trembled with every step, and said in a self-defeating way: "So what if I fell, I'm not afraid of falling!"

Du Jiajun: "The package contains ceramic products."

Huo Minghai was at a loss: "Ceramics?"

Du Jiajun explained: "There was a patient who had to look at his collection in the room before he could fall asleep, so his family moved all his collection over. Now that he is discharged from the hospital, the car needs to enlarge the vase, so these small things can only be sent back. Oh, by the way, it is said that a plate inside is worth a BMW."

Glancing at Huo Minghai who was walking cautiously, Du Jiajun silently turned his head away.

Huo Minghai tilted his head and looked at his trembling shoulders, holding his breath and said, "Laugh if you want to, sneaking is like something!"

Du Jiajun laughed out of embarrassment, finally calmed down, and asked kindly: "Would you like to help?"

"want!"

Du Jiajun said confidently, "Are you embarrassed?"

"Why am I embarrassed?"

Du Jiajun shrugged: "But I feel embarrassed, so forget it."

Huo Minghai: "...Damn!"

On the bulletin board, Su Mu's name disappeared.

When Huo Minghai went to Dongcheng District again, the street was in ruins, and the broken walls and rubble buried green leaves. As the houses were emptied, the subway project would officially start.

The old things have become history and only remain in memory.

Huo Minghai passed by the ruins of Building 107, heading for the place where he was going to deliver.

Su Mu never sent a package again, instead, someone sent him a letter.

Sender: Mr. Chen.Recipient: Sumu.

No address, no phone number, just these two names on the empty envelope.

Huo Minghai knew in his heart that this was sent by Chen Ge, but...

"Where does Su Mu live?"

After inquiring with colleagues, he asked all the way, and finally, Huo Minghai stopped Du Jiajun who was about to go out in the hall.

"You received Su Mu's package, right? Do you remember his address?"

"remember."

"Where does he live?"

"It's useless to tell you, his house has been demolished."

Hearing the unbelievable information, Huo Minghai's eyes widened.

"Where has he moved?"

"do not know."

"Then...then...how can I find Su Mu?" The letter without the address was tightly clutched in his hand, and suddenly, Huo Minghai heard a familiar voice.

"I'm here."

The young man stood in front of Huo Minghai in a pitch-black uniform.

"I'm Su Mu." The corners of his eyes curved softly, "We meet again."

There is a large garden at the back of the company, full of green trees, singing birds and fragrant flowers. Huo Minghai saw Su Mu walking into the depths of the garden with the letter he just received from the window.

Did he go for a walk in the garden?Huo Minghai didn't think much, packed up the package, and started his day's work.

In the evening, when I clocked in after work, I passed by the window and looked at the garden. The sun was setting, and in the bright yellow light, there was a dark figure. I went over and saw that it was Su Mu. He was sitting under a big tree. With his hands on his knees and his face buried, the letter from Mr. Chen was put aside.

Although it is not good to peek at other people's letters, on the spread letter paper, a few large characters that penetrate the back of the paper jumped into the sight very clearly.

"Hello, Mr. Su Mu, although we don't know who you are, please don't send hawthorn anymore. Dad passed away yesterday, and no one in our family eats hawthorn!"

"Chen Damin died?"

Su Mu nodded.

"Are you his relative?"

Su Mu nodded, shook his head again, and said in a muffled voice, "Friend."

"He received your hawthorn, looking very happy." Huo Minghai sat over, patted him and told him not to be too sad. The little nurse once said that Chen Damin's illness was at an advanced stage, and all medicines had no effect on him. .

"When he was young... he was sick... he couldn't eat, as long as he ate hawthorn, he would get better..." Su Mu sniffed, with small teardrops hanging on his long eyelashes, "and his grandfather also said... hawthorn Appetizer, eat more healthy..."

"So after he moved out, you sent him hawthorns?"

"Yeah." Su Mu buried his face in his knees again, "But he... woo woo woo..."

Huo Minghai felt that something was wrong, and couldn't figure it out all of a sudden, so he had to change the topic: "It's getting dark, let's go back, which apartment do you live in?"

I wanted to send the sad Su Mu back, but Su Mu shook his head and said that he didn't allocate an apartment.

Su Mu’s last package didn’t pay the courier fee, and he owed money. Manager Zhong Kui personally took him back to the company and asked him to work part-time to pay off the debt. The company didn't even give him an apartment.

"Where do you live then?"

"This."

"……What?"

"I don't need to live in an apartment." Su Mu rubbed his eyes, "My range of activities is limited, and I can't go too far."

Huo Minghai looked at Su Mu's leg, wondering if there was something wrong with his leg?His eyes swept over Su Mu, and finally, he fell on the big tree behind him.

It seems...a bit familiar?

The fruitless trees were mixed in the garden, and they were not eye-catching at all. Huo Minghai identified them before he recognized the hawthorn tree in Building 107.

"The soil here is very comfortable, I like it very much."

Looking at the dumbfounded Huo Minghai, Su Mu showed a mischievous smile on his tear-stained face.

Some kind of miracle, produced in the distant past.

In the chaos, it suddenly heard a voice.

"Look, it's sprouting! What a tender leaf!"

"Wow! That's wonderful... Eh? What are you doing, ma'am?"

"You come too, let's make a wish! It must be blessed by gods!"

The young man and woman knelt down and clasped their hands together.

"Trees, trees, may you flourish and bless our family."

"Tsk tsk, what kind of tree is it? It's a hawthorn tree!" The man couldn't help correcting.

"I'm calling its name!" The woman pinched the man.

"Okay, okay, it's called Su Mu, you continue." The man agreed with her with a smile.

"Su Mu, you need to grow up quickly, we are all waiting for you to bear fruit."

Feeling the slightly raised belly, the woman smiled happily.

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