The little man on the apex

After the cold food, it was Qingming. In the morning, a few drops of rain were hazy, and when Yan Heyi got up, the rain had stopped.

He put the wormwood green balls, cold food porridge and cold food eggs that he made yesterday on the table, and went to wake Yuanxi up.

Yuan Xi put on his clothes and came out, just in time to see Yan Heyi inserting two willow branches on the door.

Seeing that Yan Heyi's right hand was still wrapped in gauze, Yuan Xi hurried over to help, Yan Heyi stretched out his hand to pin the willow branch on the door frame, and said with a smile: "You don't need to do it, I'll do it, the meal is on the table, you can eat it first if you are hungry .”

Yuan Xi shook his head: "I want to wait for my brother."

He followed Yan Heyi, watched him put willow branches on the door frames of his house, and suddenly asked with a silly smile: "Brother, can the willow leaves be eaten?"

Yuan Xi probably followed Yan Heyi to eat too many plants, flowers and fruits, and now he feels like eating even a single weed.

After hearing this, Yan Heyi actually nodded her head: "It's edible. The willow leaves can be used to make tea, and can also be eaten. Tofu mixed with tender willow leaves is the most delicious."

Yuan Xi jumped up and said, "Then I'll pick it now!"

After finishing speaking, he picked up the bamboo basket and ran out, Yan Heyi loudly instructed from behind: "Remember to pick the tenderest willow buds—"

"it is good--"

In less than a cup of tea, Yuan Xi came back with half a basket of willow buds.

Following Yan Heyi's instructions, he cleaned the willow buds several times and soaked them in salt water.

After a while, copy the soaked willow sprouts in boiling water, take them out and soak them in cold water, and rinse them several times to remove the bitterness.

Yan Heyi's hands are not easy to get wet, so Yuanxi has been doing it all the time. The front is going smoothly, but when it comes to dicing the tofu, moths appear again.

I just bought this tofu at Lao Li's house in the village. His family's ancestral tofu cooking skills, the tofu for breakfast is still hot when I buy it.

Originally, a square piece could be cut on the chopping board, but Yuan Xi said that he had seen a chef cut the tofu directly with his palm in his hand, so he insisted on doing the same.

When the knife was cut down, the tip of the knife touched the palm of the hand, Yuan Xi felt its sharpness, and cried out involuntarily.

Yan Heyi stepped forward hurriedly: "Did you get it?"

Yuan Xi blinked: "No bleeding, nothing wrong."

After Yuan Xi swung the knife three more times, Yan Heyi couldn't stand it anymore, took the kitchen knife from Yuan Xi's hand with one hand, and supported Yuan Xi's palm underneath with the other hand.

His knives on the knife are really good, crisp and well-measured.

Yuan Xi didn't dare to move the hand that was being held by him, and finally withdrew his strength, lying softly in Yan Heyi's palm, allowing him to cut the tofu in his palm.

After the tofu is cut, put it into the pot and blanch until cooked, then take it out and drain the water, mix it with willow sprouts, add some minced ginger and garlic, oil chili, mature vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper , A willow leaf mixed with tofu is made.

Strictly speaking, this is also a dish that Yan Heyi and Yuan Xi cooked together. Although it is light and simple, it is extremely delicious.

Yuan Xi obediently ate at the dinner table, and asked in advance: "Why didn't my brother explain the customs of Qingming to me?"

Yan Heyi didn't say anything, because there is one thing in Qingming, which is tomb sweeping.

Yuan Xi lost all his relatives half a month ago, Yan Heyi not only didn't dare to mention a word, he didn't even take Yuan Xi with him up the mountain, lest he would be sad when he saw the tomb of the swordsman Han Peng.

Although Yuan Xi didn't say anything, he was always smiling on weekdays, but Yan Heyi could tell that he was a little bit bitter.

Yan Heyi peeled a cold food egg for Yuanxi, and said slowly: "There are many customs in Qingming, such as planting willows, going out in the green, swinging, etc., and...tomb sweeping."

Yuan Xi bit half of an egg in one bite, hesitatingly said: "Is there a swing in the village? I want to play on the swing."

Yan Heyi shook her head as if relieved: "No, I'll go up the mountain to cut some wood some other day, and I'll set one up for you in the yard, okay?"

Yuan Xi swallowed the egg in his mouth, smiled with crooked eyebrows and said, "Okay! Brother can really do everything!"

He took a few mouthfuls of willow-leaf tofu, and asked casually, "Is my brother going to sweep the grave today, should I follow?"

Yan Heyi felt a sudden pain in his heart, and he said softly, "I'm going to visit my parents' graves, it's a bit far away, so don't go."

Yuan Xi didn't look up: "Okay."

After a while, Yan Heyi cautiously said again: "Your parents..."

Yuan Xi pursed his lips: "When I met bandits, they were gone, and I don't know where the corpse is. There is no grave to sweep."

Yan Heyi took a deep breath, and said what she had thought a long time ago: "How about offering a memorial tablet at home?"

Yuan Xi hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

After eating, Yan Heyi found two wooden plaques, trimmed the edges neatly, and simply made wooden supports.

He showed Yuan Xi the written wooden sign, and said softly: "Today, let's do this first. When we have free time, let's go to the Peace Temple in the town and offer a memorial tablet for them, okay?"

Yuan Xi raised his head and said, "This is already very good, brother."

There happened to be an unoccupied compartment in the east side room, Yan Heyi set up the altar and placed the tablet there.

He lit three incense sticks, handed them to Yuan Xi, and then lit three more sticks for himself.

Yuan Xi didn't seem to be very familiar with the rituals of worship, so he bowed three times and offered incense, then knelt down and kowtowed a few times, then folded his hands together, muttering softly, probably talking to his parents.

As usual, Yan Heyi would definitely correct Yuan Xi's mistakes and tell him to hold the incense sticks with both hands at the level of his forehead, and even if he had spare time, he would even say the 24 prayers during the "Great Gift".

This time, Yan Heyi didn't say a word, respectfully respected the incense, knelt upright beside Yuanxi, and silently talked to the two elders on the tablet.

Mrs. Jiang, don't worry, I will take good care of Yuanxi.

He is doing well now. For breakfast, he ate three green dumplings, a big bowl of tofu, and an egg with half a bowl of porridge. I... I saw his belly is round.

I am in a good mood, I like to laugh and make trouble, but I still often have palpitations in my dreams, but it is much better than the nightmares I had when I first came here. In the last ten days, except for March [-]rd, when it was more serious, there were only four other mild sleep talking. It will definitely be better in the future.

By the way, Yuan Xi is 19 years old. I found out yesterday that he seems to have grown taller again, and his sleeves are a bit short. I will take him to the town to make new clothes another day.

-

Yan Heyi closed her eyes and said a lot silently in her heart, although she was a little rambling, she was very pious.

After a long while, Yan Heyi felt that she should have said everything, so she opened her eyes and turned to look at Yuanxi.

Yuan Xi also had his eyes closed, but his body was trembling a little. Looking carefully, there were indeed two lines of tears hanging on his face.

There was a burst of sadness in Yan Heyi's heart, overwhelming.

He opened his mouth very softly: "Should I go out?"

Before Yuan Xi could answer, he said again: "I'll go out."

After finishing speaking, he got up and bowed a few more times, then stepped back out of the room, and gently closed the door for Yuan Xi.

"Squeak-"

The wooden door is very thick and old, so the bearings are rusted, and there will be a lot of noise when closing the door.

The door is closed.

Yuan Xi seemed to be suddenly pulled out of support, and instantly collapsed, laying down on the futon and crying.

"Father, I said that I hated you before. It was a lie. You invited me the most knowledgeable Mr. Ye to come to the school. The pen, ink, paper and inkstone are also the best. Although you are a bit strict, it is all for my own good. I understand, Dad, I'm sorry."

"Aniang, I often dream of you, I miss you so much."

"Don't worry, brother...Mr. Yan is very good to me..."

"..."

I don't know how long it took, Yuan Xi was tired from crying, so he wiped away the tears on his face, and reluctantly left the room with a smile.

As soon as he went out, he saw Yan Heyi standing in the yard, holding in his hand the swallow kite that he bought in the town at that time.

"There is still one thing to do in Qingming, which is to fly a kite. Do you want to go?"

Yuan Xi turned his head slightly to avoid Yan Heyi's eyes, afraid that he would see that he had cried, and then made a surprised expression: "Want to go, where shall we put it?"

Yan Heyi looked at Yuanxi's red and swollen eyes, her heart seemed to be rubbed repeatedly in someone's hand, it was not a good feeling at all, he stepped forward to pull Yuanxi's sleeve, and said in a warm voice: "Go to the slope that day, it's good ?”

"But before you go, you have to wash your face. Look at you, rice particles are stuck to your face."

He raised his hand to wipe away the non-existing rice particles for Yuan Xi, and then dragged him to the well to fetch water to wash his face.

After a few drops of rain in the morning, everything looks extraordinarily clear. With a light sniff, you can smell the bitter fragrance of grass and trees.

Yan Heyi seems to be able to do everything well, even flying a kite. After a few steps, the kite will rise up. The higher it floats, the more realistic the shape of the swallow will be.

After the kite flew steadily, Yan Heyi gave the string to Yuanxi.

Yuan Xi was really happy as he ran around with the kite.

Tired from running and the sun was high, he began to gather the kite strings.

I don't know if it was because of the sudden change of the wind direction, or because Yuan Xi was pulling too fast, the kite was hanging on a nearby tree. Yuan Xi struggled a few times, but failed to pull the kite down, and the string broke.

The kite happened to be hanging on the top of the tree, a height that Yan Heyi couldn't even jump up to. He was trying to find a long branch to pick from, but Yuan Xi rolled up his sleeves, hugged the trunk and climbed up.

Just as Yan Heyi was about to say that it was too dangerous, Yuanxi had already climbed halfway.

His thin body was extremely flexible, and he climbed to the top of the tree in one breath.

"Brother, go on."

Yuan Xi took off the kite and threw it into Yan Heyi's arms.

At this moment, Yuan Xi was in the posture of riding a tiger, he was going up the tree quickly, but he didn't know how to get down, he finally turned around and sat on the branch, he didn't know what to do for a moment.

Yan Heyi thought that he was unwilling to come down, so she raised her head and shouted: "Yuanxi, come down quickly, it's time for us to go home for dinner."

Yuan Xi was embarrassed to say that he didn't dare, so he stretched out his feet to explore the branches below, and bravely climbed down.

Halfway through the climb, Yuan Xi slipped and fell down suddenly.

Seeing this, Yan Heyi hurriedly dropped the kite in her hand, before she had time to think, she opened her arms to catch Yuan Xi.

Yuan Xi didn't fall very high, Yan Heyi was knocked to the ground by him, the two of them hugged each other and rolled on the grass several times before they stopped.

The grass was still soft, and the two simply lay down on their backs.

After a moment of silence, Yuan Xi stared at the floating clouds above his head, and said softly: "Brother, thank you for taking me in."