Old Injury

It is said that in addition to our house on the mountain, there is a small temple whose age has not been tested.

In addition to the temple, there is a small stream nearby. The shallow clear stream probably only covers the insteps of adults, and there are various colored pebbles lying on the bottom. When the weather is good, the surface of the stream is sparkling, cast into the water, and the stones glow like gems.

Last time, Song Mo was praised by the teacher for his observation class work. He was very happy. This time, the teacher asked him to pick up a beautiful stone, and he dragged me to the stream.

Wearing rain boots, he was drowning in the stream, looking down seriously for stones that could be called “beautiful”.

I followed behind him, and when I saw a pebble of good quality, I picked it up and asked him for his opinion: “Momo, how about this one?”

This one in my hand is amber, translucent in the sun, and looks similar to jade, it’s pretty nice.

Song Mo looked back at the stone in my hand and shook his head, obviously dissatisfied.

“Okay.”

I dropped the small stone in my hand, bent down to look at the bottom of the water, and searched again.

After a few minutes, I got nothing on my side, but Song Mo made progress.

He suddenly picked up something from the water, raised it above his head, and waved at me cheerfully: “I found it!”

I stood up and saw a little red flashing across his hand in the sunlight.

Song Mo ran to me against the current and held the crimson pebble in front of me with a “I’m great, please praise me”.

I took the stone from his hand, admired it for a moment, and commented: “It’s really beautiful, wow, this texture, this size, like a blood stone, maybe it’s really a gem.”

Song Mo rolled his eyes, asked me suspiciously: “bloodstone?”

“Go back and I’ll show you the picture.” I returned the red stone to him, “It’s also red, you will definitely like it.”

Song Mo carefully took the stone and put it snugly in the small pocket in the middle of his overall.

I saw that his mission was finally completed, and asked, “Are you going back?”

Song Mo patted his pocket, as if to tell the rock to be obedient. Hearing that, he nodded at me.

He looks so cute like this, I couldn’t help rubbing his head: “Okay, then we’ll go back.”

Song Mo didn’t need me to hold him, he gave full play to the flexibility of a child, and easily returned in two or three steps to the shore. I was slower, one foot deep and one foot shallow, and it took him twice as long to get to the shore.

“Don’t run so fast, I’ll lead you.” Seeing me on the shore, Song Mo jumped and ran forward. I was afraid that he would trip over the roots and vines, so I hurried to catch up. As a result, the rain boots on his feet slipped on the bank of the muddy stream, and he lost his balance and fell to the ground.

An excruciating pain came from my ankle, which made my brain go blank for a while, and in just a few seconds there was nothing but a layer of cold sweat.

“Mom!” Maybe Song Mo saw that I wasn’t following, so he turned to look for me, and his face turned pale when he saw me like this.

He threw himself beside me with a pitiful voice: “What should I do…” Before I even cried, his eyes were already red.

I reluctantly comforted him: “It’s alright, it’s just a sprained foot.”

I took off my rain boots and saw that my ankle was swollen quickly.

If you go like this, you can’t go back, so you can only call for help.

Fortunately, I remembered to bring my mobile phone this time, otherwise I would be in great trouble… When I saw the small word “No Service” in the upper left corner of the mobile phone, the whole person became confused.

I tried to search for the signal again and tried twice to no avail.

Song Mo grabbed my arm with a worried look on his face, looking even more uneasy than me.

There is no signal so I don’t feel relieved, Song Mo a five-year-old child, is walking alone on the mountain road. Do you really want to climb back?

Somewhat desperate, I tried searching again. I don’t know if it’s because God thought it was too much to climb back, and even found a weak signal for me.

I seized the opportunity to call up and dial the first number.

The phone rang twice and picked up, but the signal was not stable.

“Hey, it’s me.” I explained the situation as quickly as possible, “I sprain my foot by the stream, can someone come and pick me up…”

Song Bai Lao seemed to be unable to understand what I said: “What… hello What’s wrong with you?”

I repeated louder, but the other end hung up automatically. I looked at the phone screen again, and sure enough, there was no service again.

I slumped my shoulders, a little discouraged. Song Mo may have sensed my emotions, so he hugged my arm even tighter, and he was sobbing when he spoke.

“Mom, I’m afraid…”

I hurriedly gave him a smile: “Don’t be afraid, come, get out of the way, and I’ll try to see if I can stand up.”

Song Mo let go of me and took two steps to the side, I stood up carefully against the ground, and managed to stabilize my crumbling figure. I felt like it was okay. When I stepped on the ground with my injured foot, it was just an illusion.

I sat back down silently and continued to think of a way out.

“Waiting for Dad?” Song Mo ran back to me again, sticking close to me.

I looked at the sky, and the sun was still blazing at two o’clock in the afternoon: “Momo, you said Aut Jiu will send someone to find us when the sun goes down if we didn’t go back right?”

Song Mo thought for a while, then shook his head honestly. Nodding: “I don’t know.”

I sighed, took him into my arms, and let him sit on my uninjured leg.

Suddenly, there were two crisp bird calls not far away, and a bird with an orange chest and back stood on a large rock, staring at us curiously.

“Little bird!” Song Mo forgot his worries and pointed at the bird quite excitedly for me to see.

I was stunned, this bird is so distinctive that it is really easy to recognize: “That is… a shrike.”

There are thousands of birds in the world, and I can count ten fingers that I know, and the brown-backed shrike is one of them.

Once, a very beautiful bird appeared on the rooftop, blue-purple, with a tail longer than its body, which was rarely seen in the city.

I was doing my math homework at the time, and I was attracted by the tweets. When I looked up, I couldn’t look back.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Song Bai Lao’s voice suddenly sounded from behind. I didn’t know when he came behind me, which startled me a lot.

I have forgotten the name of the bird he mentioned at that time, but it seems to be quite confusing.

He seemed to be in a good mood, and told me about the bird’s growth habit and species characteristics.

At the end he smiled and asked me, “Do you know shrike?”

I know, but I don’t know if I should nod.

Before I could answer, he said to himself: “The shrike is ferocious by nature, also known as the butcher bird. It looks like…” He seemed to think that the words were not vivid enough, and he grabbed my draft and wanted to give it to me.

It’s a pity that even the best alphas have shortcomings. No one is perfect. Song Bai Lao’s painting skills are as bad as his temper. From the messy lines, I can at most tell that he is a “creature”.

“…” I pondered, hesitating whether to politely make a stunned expression, or to tell him truthfully that I didn’t understand.

Song Bai Lao probably also felt that he was not good at drawing, so he looked left and right, but tore the page.

“I didn’t bring a cell phone…” He frowned, a little distressed, “Did you bring it?”

According to the school rules, it should be forbidden to carry electronic entertainment products in the school. Song Bai Lao, the king of discipline violations, is not afraid, but he have to abide by it.

“No.” I took the draft back from his hand, “So, you say, I’ll draw.”

“You can still draw?” Song Bai Lao looked surprised.

Although Beta’s physical intelligence quotient is not as good as Alpha’s, we are not fools, so why is it strange that we can draw?

However, I only dare to slander in my heart, and my face is still normal.

“A little bit.”

Under Song Bai Lao’s dictation, the head, wings, and tail gradually took shape, and about fifteen minutes later, a bird I had never seen appeared on the paper.

“It’s a good drawing.” He grabbed the sketchbook and took a closer look. “If the feathers on the back and chest are orange, it’s a brown-backed shrike.” He pointed to the same part of the bird in the painting.

He took the initiative to mention the shrike, which reminded me of Zhu Li’s statement about his bad name.

I’m not gossiping, just curious: “Is your name… from this kind of bird?”

Song Bai Lao held up the sketch, his eyes lingering on the bird drawn in pencil.

“Do you think my name is too ferocious?”

I was in the center of what he was saying, and I coughed awkwardly: “You said it was a butcher bird…”

“Although the shrike is ferocious by nature, it is very caring. My own children. Even if a beast like a poisonous snake wants to hurt the young birds, it will stand in front of them without hesitation and swear to protect them.” At the end, his speech slowed down a little, and his emotions also changed from the beginning. The high turned into a low, “Maybe the person who named me also hopes to protect me like a shrike.”

I didn’t feel anything when I heard his explanation back then, but now that I think about it, the name is too poignant.

Song Mo listened to my words and looked up suspiciously: “…Dad bird?”

Dad, Dad bird? !

Facing his innocent face, I wanted to laugh and not laugh, and it was so hard to hold back.

“No, it’s just a different word with the same pronunciation as Dad’s name.”

Song Mo nodded ignorantly and looked back at the shrike.

The other party also looked at us, pecking two bites of the stream from time to time, and jumping on the rocks, showing a very lively performance.

Song Mo couldn’t help getting up from my arms and approached to observe. I told him to be careful, and sat there with my eyes fixed on him.

He squatted on the bank and watched for a while, maybe he had seen enough, got up and walked towards me.

“…Dad?” Song Mo stopped and called in my direction.

The shrike fluttered with his voice, and I corrected him amusingly: “It’s not your father, it’s a shrike.”

Before he could finish his sentence, the rustling of grass and leaves could be heard behind him.

“Who am I?” The familiar lazy tone, accompanied by the soft sound of the branches breaking, was very close to me.

I turned around in surprise, and saw Song Bai Lao pulling away a branch that was in the way, slowly walking towards me.