Flower Moon

Chapter 4 Flower Ling
At Maoshi, the east was getting whiter, and the sky was bright.Tao Yue'er followed the strange man through the desolate grass, the shoal and the wild island, and finally came to a dilapidated wooden door.

This is a single wooden door, the door is uneven, the grooves are mottled, and the grooves are full of mud.The walls on both sides of the door are piled up with stones, which are covered with mud, and the soil will rustle when the wind blows.

Tao Yue'er traveled to the suburbs of the city many times, but it was the first time she saw such a dilapidated house. From the outside, it was not as good as the slums in her hometown.

"Where is this?" Tao Yue'er couldn't help asking.

"my home."

"Why did you bring me to your house?" Tao Yue'er was puzzled.

"Don't you want to die?" The man slowly turned his head and asked her indifferently.

It was only then that Tao Yue'er realized that his side face was very pretty.The bridge of the nose is high, the corners of the eyes are narrow and slightly raised, and the corners of the mouth always have a faint and indifferent smile.The lonely and pure temperament is incompatible with the surrounding houses.

It turned out to be a young man with a jade face and a scarf.

It looked like he was only seventeen or eighteen years old, but his calm and calm demeanor was even calmer than that of a 25-year-old himself.

It's true that people are more popular than people.Not only is his voice better than hers, but his face is also more beautiful than hers. His figure, pace, and temperament are all-round crushing.As a woman, she can't compare to a man in everything.What a failure.

When Tao Yueer was frustrated, Hua Ling said again: "Everyone who comes here will not get out alive. Do you really want to come in?"

After the man finished speaking, he opened the door and walked in without waiting for Tao Yueer's answer.She was not given half a minute to stay and wait.

Dust flew from under the door and fell on Tao Yue'er's body. She coughed several times and could barely open her eyes from the choking, but she followed the boy into the yard firmly and resolutely.

She wanted to die a long time ago, if she could die, it would be a merit.

The yard was even more dilapidated than she had imagined.Surrounded by a circle of houses made of mounds of soil, one facing the other, the size is asymmetrical.There is a big tree in the middle of the yard, under the tree is a table that can accommodate more than [-] people, surrounded by more than [-] chairs with missing arms and legs.The young man walked ahead, picked up the chair that had fallen on the ground, and went to the backyard with the firewood in his arms.

It was hard for Tao Yue'er to imagine that a young man dressed in white would live in such a place. She looked around and saw no one else, so she could only follow the young man step by step.

The two came to the firewood room.In the corner of the firewood room lay two large black pots, and on the chopping board beside the pots were large and small colorful cakes, all of which were freshly made dough.

"Can it make a fire?" The boy squatted in front of the stove in the back, and asked Tao Yue'er, pointing to a pot next to it.

"Yes!" Tao Yue'er nodded, squatting on the ground holding the firewood, and skillfully fiddled with a fire stick. After a while, the fire rose, and the water in the pot boiled quickly.

The boy brought several steaming trays and placed various pastries on them.A quarter of an hour later, the fragrance came out, causing Tao Yueer's index finger to twitch.After tossing and tossing all night, she was already so hungry that her chest was pressed against her back. Now that she smelled the aroma, she wished she could eat all the steamer in front of her!
The boy brought a large pot from the side, and scooped up the porridge with mixed vegetables and lean meat from the other pot.In the porridge, there are carrots cut into the shape of plum blossom petals, cucumbers in the shape of five-pointed stars, and very few diamond-shaped ginger slices, mixed with shredded pork and green onions, exuding an indescribable aroma.

Tao Yue'er looked at the boy eagerly, swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva: "Can I..."

"No." The boy interrupted without looking at her.

He was busy working in front of the stove, until Tao Yueer's saliva dripped on his shoes, he frowned contemptuously, took a step to the side, and said lightly: "This is for people to eat, don't waste food .”

Tao Yue'er was in a hurry: "I'm human too!"

"you are not."

The boy shook his head and said, "You are dying."

"..."

Tao Yue'er's throat tightened, and she found that she couldn't refute.Her complexion turned pale, and she danced and danced in thought for a long time, before she said: "Then you will see that I am about to die, and let me be a full-fledged ghost, okay?"

"Do not."

The boy's words were concise and clear, with an unquestionable certainty in his tone.With that said, he took out the cakes in the steamer one by one.

Tao Yue'er could only watch those two-color lotus rolls, rose steamed dumplings, purple sweet potato brown sugar cake, and three-color flowering steamed buns being picked out one by one, and the whole plate was colorfully arranged.Then, with the vegetable porridge in one hand and the pastry plate in the other, he walked out without looking back.

"When will you take me to die?" Living was so hard, Tao Yue'er covered her stomach and yelled, her saliva dripped all over her body instantly.

But the young man didn't seem to hear her, and ignored her.He went to the yard, put the porridge bowl and pastry plate in the middle of the table, and then took out a stack of iron rice bowls from the tree hole, and lined them up next to the table, there were about 20 of them.

"Ding Ling——" the young man held a copper bell, and when the bell rang, there were strange noises in the surrounding houses, and gradually there were human voices.Soon, a lot of children rushed out of the room, big and small, about a dozen of them.The older ones are at most ten years old, and the younger ones are no more than five or six years old.They all looked like they were not awake.They were wearing tattered clothes, their bodies were thin, and there were large and small rotten sores on their skin exposed to the air.

"Breakfast after washing up." The boy said lightly, and began to distribute pastries among everyone's bowls.

"Yes—Brother Hua Ling!" The children answered in unison, and then rushed to the backyard in unison.There is a well water there for freshening up.

It turned out that his name was Hua Ling.

He really lives up to his name.

Under the sun, he was alone by the wooden table, looking like an elf among the flowers with the lush greenery and sparse flowers and trees behind him.It's so beautiful that it's not like ordinary people.

And what he was doing was not like what a mortal would do.Tao Yue'er was surprised to find that the children running all over the yard were all infected with the disease and would not live long.At this time, looking at Hua Ling at the table, I understood what he meant by "whoever comes in, can never get out alive"—the epidemic is contagious, and I'm afraid she will be in danger.

But she is not afraid.

What about Hua Ling?Isn't he afraid?Why?
Ten thousand doubts arose in Tao Yue'er's mind, but Hua Ling's attitude towards her was very cold, even if she asked, he probably wouldn't answer.

After washing up, the children sat down on their seats, but not next to each other, but scattered.Tao Yueer noticed that not everyone had food in the bowls on the table, two-thirds of them were empty, and there were no people sitting on the corresponding chairs.

"Brother Hualing, today's breakfast is so rich! Ping..."

Hualing rolled her eyes and said coldly: "Don't talk when you eat, don't talk when you sleep, have you forgotten what I said?"

"Oh..." He stared at the child, immediately shut his mouth tightly, buried his head in the bowl, and drank the porridge intently.

Tao Yue'er felt relieved, and realized that he was not only indifferent to her, but also had the same tone of voice towards the child.I'm afraid he is naturally cold-tempered.Thinking of this, Tao Yue'er felt a little happier.

Hua Ling walked to the only child in the crowd who hadn't eaten and sat down, then picked up the bowl and spoon, and fed the porridge into the child's mouth one bite at a time.The breeze blew, blowing up the child's sleeves, and Tao Yue'er realized that his sleeves were empty - this child, he has no hands.

Hua Ling was patient, and after feeding the whole bowl of porridge, she asked him, "Do you still want to eat?"

The child shook his head: "Thank you Brother Hualing, I'm full."

"Yeah." Hua Ling took out a handkerchief and wiped the child's mouth.His movements are slow and gentle, which is extremely inconsistent with his indifferent face.The sun shone through the shade of the trees, and several light shadows fell on Hua Ling's body, softening his cold and lonely temperament, adding a bit of sacred meaning.

Tao Yue'er had mixed feelings in her heart.Seeing such a jade-faced young man taking care of a group of children suffering from the epidemic carefully, it was a big shock in my heart.

What were you doing when you were 17?
Blind date, blind date, still blind date.Year after year, what seemed like an eternity of waiting, waiting for a man to come down from the sky with a willow branch in his hand and take her out of the slums.Give her a phoenix crown and Xiapei, and she will be safe for the rest of her life.

But she couldn't wait.Just waiting for year after year of disappointment, and year after year of aging...

Compared with Hua Ling, her life is really monotonous and meaningless.

Tao Yue'er wanted to die even more.

(End of this chapter)