Old things in the south

Chapter 16 The Donkey Rolls (2)
"The children are gone, why should I go back? I won't go back, and I won't go back when I die!" Mama Song said fiercely with red eyes, and took the spoon from her mother's hand to feed Yanyan, as if it meant that she was waiting Our family is not leaving.

"Who did you give your girl to? Can you get it back?"

"So cruel!" Song's mother gritted her teeth with hatred, "That year when I took him back, he gave the child to someone before Ganqing left Harde's Gate. I didn't believe him when he said he didn't ask for money!"

"Whoever you give it to, has a name and surname, and there is a place to find it."

"It was said that it was given to a carriage driver. The father and mother are 40 years old and have no children. Who knows the truth!"

"It's good to ask and look for it."

So it turned out that there was such a thing, the little Shuanzi and the girl that Mama Song had been talking to us all the time were gone.Mother Song made so many clothes and shoes for the two of them every year, who did her husband give them to?Whose house has the little baby wrapped in the old cotton quilt gone?I wanted to ask how Xiao Shuanzi died, but seeing Mama Song's red and swollen eyes, I didn't dare to ask.

"I think you'd better go back." Mom tried to persuade her again, but Mom Song shook her head and didn't say anything, despite shedding tears.She fed Yanyan spoonful by spoonful, and Yanyan ate mouthful, but her eyes were fixed on Mama Song.Because Mama Song has never looked like this before.

Song's mother fetched water for the four of us to take a bath as usual, put a thick prickly heat powder on each of our faces and necks, and put my younger brother and Yanyan to bed as usual.It's just that she didn't have the mood to sing her lighter chain song today, and just fanned them to sleep with her fan.Everything was business as usual, except that she hadn't had supper today and had left her husband in the doorway and ignored him.For his part, he was lighting a fire with a flint and steel, and smoking a dry pipe.The little donkey was probably hungry. It was lying on the ground, and suddenly raised its neck and let out a loud cry, how ugly!Huang Banerya went over and opened a bag of hay. When he saw something to eat, he rolled over and stood up. His little hoof trampled down two or three more hosta plants that his father had planted by the flower pond.The donkey ate hay, its nose twitched, and its big yellow teeth were bared.No wonder, who does the nurse's husband look like, it turned out to be him!Why did Mama Song marry Huang Banerya, you stupid ass!
The next morning I got up and looked out the window. The donkey was gone, and there was a pile of dung balls left on the ground, and Song Ma was cleaning it.She looked up and saw me, and beckoned me out.

I ran out, and Mama Song told me:

"Yingzi, don't run around, I will come out with me later, you can read, help me find a place."

"Where are you going?" I wondered.

"Go to the Hadman area and look for—" She cried again, lowered her head, and picked up the donkey dung into the dustpan, and tears fell on it, "Look for the girl."

"Okay." I agreed.

Song's mother and I went out secretly, and my mother coaxed my younger brother and them to play in the room.Not long after leaving the house, Mama Song regretted it:

"You should take your younger brother with you. He will cry when he turns around and sees me. He never left me for a moment!"

It was for this reason that Mama Song stayed at my house year after year. At this time, I dared to ask:
"How did little Shuanzi die? Mother Song."

"Didn't I tell you that there is a river down the back slope of Feng Village?..."

"Yes, you said, be careful when you ask Xiao Shuanzi to herd the cattle, and don't just play with water."

"When he fell into the water and died, he didn't know how to herd cattle. It turned out to be the year your mother gave birth to Yanyan."

"Back then the yellow board—well, what did your husband do?"

"He said he went to the field. It would be strange if he didn't go to the thatched shed on the back slope to play money! Little Shuanzi must have been hungry all day to look for him to eat, and he was thrown out by him. It wasn't on the Thatched shed, you can’t walk into the river on the back slope.”

"Also, why did your husband give away the little girl?"

"Isn't it more relaxing to give it to someone? Anyway, a girl is worthless. If Xiao Shuanzi hadn't died, girl, I don't want it. Now I have to get her back. If you want to spend money, spend it." Song Song Mom said.

We walked from Rongxian Hutong, passed through Bingbuwa, Zhongjie, and Xijiaomin Lane, and exited Dongjiaomin Lane to Hardmen Street.I suddenly remembered another sentence on the road.

"Mother Song, don't you regret losing two children when you come to our house?"

"I'm sorry—I regret that we should have brought our little Shuan into the city long ago to study and read with you."

"You want to find the girl, go home?"

"En." Song Ma blindly agreed, but she didn't hear me clearly.

We walked to the gate of the Bank of China in Xijiaomin Lane, and Mama Song stopped on the stone steps, and a food seller stopped here as well.He set up a wooden shelf and put a square wooden plate on it, then lifted the cover, and was making a kind of food with yellow flour.

"Mother Song, what is he doing?"

"Ah?" Mama Song was staring at the brick floor in a daze. She looked up and said, "That's called donkey rolling. Steam the yellow rice noodles, wrap them in brown sugar, and roll them in mung bean flour. It's delicious. Do you eat or not?"

The name of the food is "Donkey Daroller", which is very interesting. I have no reason not to eat it!I swallowed and nodded, and Mama Song took out the money and bought me two to eat.She bought a few more and wrapped them carefully in a handkerchief, and I said:

"Did you buy it for a girl?"

After leaving Dongjiaomin Lane, we saw the bustling Hadman Street, but which way to go?We stand at the gate of the American Tongren Hospital.Song's mother's back was drenched with sweat. She lifted the bamboo jacket and shook her shoulders, looking around and around.

"Go over there." She pointed to the opposite side, where there was a row of shops that were not buildings.After passing through a few houses, I saw a carriage house. It was very dark inside, and there were people sitting idle at the door.Mama Song asked the man:
"I'm asking you, there's a big brother driving a carriage, and there's a girl in front of you, isn't it here?" The man looked up and down Mama Song and me strangely:

"Where are you from?"

"An old fellow asked me to bring him a letter."

The man pointed to the small alley next to him and said:
"Where is it at home, the one at the bottom of the alley."

Song Ma was very excited, and thanked the man directly, and then she took my hand and walked into the alley.This is a dead end, and at the end, there is a small black door. Although the door is closed, it opens with a push. There are two or three children playing with dirt in the yard.

"Excuse me, look for someone!" Mother Song shouted.

One of the children shouted several times into the room:
"Grandma, someone is looking for you."

An old lady came out of the room. She was deaf, and she was probably going blind. She didn't see us standing at the door, and she couldn't hear the children talking. She didn't come to the door until they pointed at us.Mama Song yelled loudly:
"How many families live in your yard?"

"Ah, just one family." The old lady covered her ears with her hands before she heard it.

"You have a girl!"

"Yes, you want to find the mother of the child!" She pointed at the three boys.

Song Ma shook her head, knowing that something was wrong, before the old lady finished speaking, she said:

"I got the wrong guy!"

We walked from Harder's Gate to Harder's Gate, and we saw three coach shops in total, and they all shook their heads when they asked.We had no choice but to walk back the same way. Mama Song didn't say a word on the way. It took me a long time to think of something and said to me:

"Yingzi, are you tired from walking? Shall we take the car?"

I shook my head and looked up at Mama Song. She pinched the flesh between her eyebrows with her hands, closed her eyes, and was a little unsteady, as if she was about to faint.She asked me again:
"Are you hungry?" As he spoke, he opened the towel bag and took out a donkey roll that he bought just now. The mung bean powder on it had been soaked by the yellow rice noodles.I read aloud: "The donkey rolls!" I took it and put it in my mouth.

I said to Song Ma:
"I know why the donkey is called rolling. Your donkey rolls on the ground, and there is always such a pile under its butt." I showed one to her, "Like a donkey dung ball?"

I wanted to make Mama Song laugh, but she didn't laugh, she just said:

"Eat it!"

Half a month later, Song's mother said that she had traveled all over Beijing's carriage shops, and there was no sign of a girl.

Under the shade of the trees, I no longer heard the story of Xiao Shuanzi herding cattle on the back slope of Feng Village, I could no longer see the pairs of thick soles in Mama Song's hands, and I no longer asked my father to write a letter from Ping'an.She always turned the silver bracelet in her hand and stared blankly, without saying a word.

Winter is here again, and Huangbanerya is here again.Song's mother left him in the servant's room all day without talking to him.It was a snowy night, and we huddled in front of the window to look at the yard after dinner.Mama Song turned on the electric light in the yard, and the light shone on the white snow, flat and bright.Snow is still falling from the sky, layer by layer.Mama Song fed Yanyan frozen persimmons, and I recited the Chinese lesson called "Snowing":

piece by piece,
Two slices, three slices, four, five slices,
Six pieces, seven pieces, eight or nine pieces,
Flew into the reeds and disappeared.

The teacher said that this was a poem written by an emperor who couldn't compose poems, and his courtiers added the last line.But it's easy to read and sounds good.

Mother made Yanyan's red satin padded jacket under the lamp. The cotton was torn into small and thin pieces and spread on top of each other.Mom said:

"Call your master. I asked the master to write the letter secretly. You can go back with him and come back here after giving birth to a son next year. The son will not die, but the wealth will not be scattered. Little Shuanzi and the girl deserve their fate. If you don’t own it, what can you do! You can’t stop having children from now on!”

Song's mother said nothing, and her mother said:

"What do you think?"

Mama Song said:
"Alright, I'll go home and settle the score with him!"

Both father and mother laughed.

"Where are these children?" Song Ma said.

"Are you still afraid that I will treat them badly?" Mom said with a smile.

Mama Song looked at me and said:

"You are old enough to study, don't bully your brother! Don't just sue your father about him, he is young."

My younger brother has already fallen asleep on the chair. He is very naughty now and often climbs on the table to look through my schoolbag.

Song's mother carried her brother to the bed, and she gently took off his shoes for fear of waking him up.She sighed and said, "I won't see me tomorrow morning, so I might make a fuss." She said to her mother, "This kid has a bad temper, so tell the master to beat him if he doesn't move; Yanyan has been coughing for the past two days, so you should take the duck." Stewed pears with rock sugar for her to eat; I took Yingzi’s hair nest home to make, and someone brought it here when someone went to Beijing; Zhuzhu’s socks should be mended. Also,... I think I still... oh!" Song Mama said If you haven't finished talking, don't talk about it.

Mom took out the booklet, asked Dad to read it, and counted a lot of money and gave it to her. She took the money indifferently, without counting, and laughed miserably:
"Let's go!"

"Go to bed early, you have to get up early tomorrow." Mom said.

Song Ma opened the door to look at the sky and said:
"That year, the day I came to Beijing, it was also snowing heavily. In a flash, it has been four years!"

Her red padded jacket had also been torn apart a long time ago, and the old cotton was replaced with a torreria, which was soaked for combing hair; the face and lining were used for the soles of Xiao Shuanzi's shoes.

"Mom, will Mama Song come back?" I lay on the bed and asked my mother.

My mother waved my hand and told me to keep my voice down. She was afraid that I would wake up my brother, so she said to me softly:
"Yingzi, she will go back now, maybe she will come again next year when it snows, with a new doll in her arms."

"At that time, she will still be a nanny for our family? Then you will have a little sister too."

"Children are talking nonsense!" Mom scolded me with a serious face.

"Who will braid my hair tomorrow morning?" My hair is yellow and short, it's hard to comb. Every morning, I always hop around to urge Song Mama, and she will scold me: "I'm used to urging, and I have to get on the sedan chair tomorrow." How embarrassing it is to be so urgent!"

"Get up early tomorrow, and let Song Mama braid your hair before you go." Mom said.

I woke up just after dawn, and heard the rustling sound outside the window. I suddenly remembered something, and quickly got up and ran to the window to look out.When the snow stopped, there was snow hanging on the dry branches, and the little donkey was tied to the tree trunk. As soon as it moved, the snow on the branches would shake off and fall on the donkey's back.

I put on my clothes lightly and went out to find Mama Song in the servant's room. She was startled when she saw me getting up so early.I said:
"Mother Song, braid my hair."

She is very kind today and doesn't nag me anymore.

After the little donkey had finished his breakfast, Huang Banerya led it to the gate. The quilts were laid on the donkey's back one by one, as thick as a sofa chair, and it must be very comfortable to ride on.

Mama Song finished packing. She wrapped a large woolen scarf around her head and wrapped it around her neck twice.She told me:
"I won't wake your mother up, the porridge is stewing on the fire! Yingzi, study hard, you are a big sister, you have to look good." After she finished speaking, she sat cross-legged on the donkey's back, her posture was amazing!
Huang Ban'er patted the donkey's butt with his teeth, and the little donkey walked forward, leaving clear hoofprints on the thick snow.Huang Banerya ran behind the donkey, shouting, "Get, get, get, get."

There was a string of small bells around the donkey's neck, which rang really nicely in the fresh air after the snow.

(End of this chapter)