A Chinese herbal medicine called Zhimu

1.

An An and her friends had just sat down at an outdoor barbecue stall when Li Merlin's phone rang.

Ann ignored it and let the song "Ordinary Road" ring over and over again in her purse.

"Who sang this?" So good to listen! After ordering twelve secret grilled shrimp, a friend finally noticed the seemingly endless singing.

An An quietly wiped the glass inside and out with the tissue he had brought.

The young girl sitting next to her touched An An with her elbow and whispered in a somewhat sarcastic tone, "Brother-in-law checked the post again?" ”

It's no secret that it's even become a talking point for friends after dinner.

Every time at this time, the unmarried girls would come together and say, "An An, your Li Merlin really hurts you!" ”

The married boys would drink beer and wink at her and say, "Xiao An, how do I feel different from my family's situation? ”

An An had to smile bitterly.

The situation between her and Lee Merlin has nothing to do with love.

It's all because the two are not suitable at all.

If it weren't for the small cyst in her ovaries, she wouldn't have broken up with Du Hang and wouldn't have married Li Merlin.

Helplessly, she picked up her phone and walked to the distance to answer.

"Where are you?"

Li Merlin asked.

The voice is calm and calm, which is his consistent style.

"Eat with colleagues."

"When will I be home?"

An An suddenly felt uncomfortable, why did he always call her to sweep her interest when she was playing happily?

He really wasn't like that before he got married.

At that time she always made excuses to refuse to date him, and he didn't have any complaints.

She worked overtime to let her go to the overtime, and went to her grandfather's house to accompany her grandfather.

If it's too late to pick her up, call him.

She thought that she had really made a mistake in the course of the policy, and the excuses she had made made Li Merlin mistakenly think that she was an obedient and well-behaved wife and mother.

The risk of blind dates is that many people think that blind dates are going to meet like a well-behaved girl to eat and watch movies, and the success rate of this is particularly high.

But in the end, there will be problems, and after a long life, no one can be an actor all the time.

So after getting married, An An finally let Li Merlin know that she was a person who played with her heart and did not die.

She didn't know if he was using this to isolate her and her friends.

If so, then he's on the verge of success, because her friends are already increasingly reluctant to take her along because of this.

Thinking of this, An An's heart was blocked, "Today is not the ovulation period, right?" ”

Her voice grew louder, causing sideways glances from several passers-by.

There seemed to be a stunned, and then there was no sound.

She thought he would hang up, but he said softly, "Don't drink." ”

An An walked back to his seat, and there were already grilled meat skewers being served.

She didn't seem to see the food on the table and continued to wipe her glass.

Li Merlin is actually quite good, and his appearance, stature, and height are all middle and upper class.

Although he is six years older than himself, he has a good job and his parents are reasonable.

The most important thing is that everything is thoughtful, and even the school district house was bought before getting married.

Ann's mother said, "That's the benefit of being older. ”

An An also knew that she couldn't force Li Merlin to do too much.

He is not Du Hang, they have been together for six years, and she and Li Molin, who were married after six months of blind date, what else could she ask him for?

At the beginning, Du Hang's mother said to her: "I introduced you to an herbal tea, and I heard that the treatment of cysts is the most effective." ”

An An sneered, thinking, if it really works, will she still let her son break up with herself?

She did not expect to encounter such a strange thing in contemporary society, and she was so shocked that she cried for three days.

Swollen eyes in front of the mirror for a long time, finally realized that this look is absolutely not OK.

Two things are imminent: first, apply an ice spoon to the eyes; second, you have to find a man to marry and have children.

An An acted aggressively and soon met Li Merlin.

The doctor who operated on her once told her: "Cysts are not good enough to repeat, you are so young, if you want children, you have to hurry up." ”

She wants children, she likes children, she picks her husband with the eyes of her son, even if there is no common language?

Once you choose the path of blind date, it is like entering a large processing plant.

Single, blind date, living together, this assembly line that has produced thousands of couples, there is no love process at all.

"Ann, what are you drinking?" A colleague asked her.

"I drink mineral water, not ice." An Ann said.

2.

When Ann returned home, Li Merlin was drawing in the study.

After taking a shower, she went to the kitchen to make herself a cup of Zhimu tea.

This is an old Chinese medicine practitioner who knows her mother well and prescribes home remedies for ovarian maintenance, which she drinks every day.

Li Merlin had asked about her, and she only said that it was ordinary beauty tea.

Ann put the teacup on the bedside table, then leaned back on the bed and turned on the TV.

When they don't turn in their homework, they do their own thing at home and don't interfere with each other.

A documentary about plants was being broadcast on television, and Li Merlin stood in the doorway at some point, wearing the black-rimmed glasses he used to draw paper.

"I'm going to Qianshan on a business trip next week, and there's a project over there that I need to look at."

"Oh, what a place."

An An was seeing God, his two big eyes staring at the TV screen motionless.

Li Merlin explained his itinerary and did not leave immediately, but leaned on the door frame and watched TV.

"But next week my ovulation season is coming."

Ann stared at the screen and said to herself, she thought Li Merlin had gone out.

Unexpectedly, Li Merlin actually answered: "Yes, I know, so I want to ask if you are willing to go with me." ”

An An "fluttered" laughed out loud, just in order to create people, please take a week off to accompany her husband on a business trip?

An An turned his head to look at Li Merlin, and Li Merlin seemed to understand the residual smile at the corner of An An's mouth.

He was a little embarrassed, explaining: "I think we didn't have a honeymoon, and this is just an opportunity." ”

An An carefully examined Li Merlin, not expecting that this serious and even somewhat dull husband would invite him to travel with him.

She asked the company for annual leave, and she took the initiative to go to work the day after she got married.

3.

She and Li Molin sat on the car to Qianshan, probably because there were other people in the car, and Li Molin sat a little far away from her. I chatted with the co-pilot's colleagues without a word, and the conversation was also about engineering.

He seems to only talk about work, even when he was dating her before marriage.

An An smiled helplessly and turned his head to look out the window at the light rain.

"Be careful with your car!" Li Merlin instructed the driver of the car.

"Rest assured, Brother Li, you and your sister-in-law will not be in trouble."

A car of people laughed at this, and An An also laughed, and she felt that anyone could chat more than Li Merlin.

The guesthouse they stayed in was one of the best in Senyama, and the hot springs and mountain mushroom stewed pheasant were a must.

Li Merlin worked during the day, returned to the hotel very late at night, and walked into the bathroom lightly, always with a tired face.

An An really couldn't bear to let Li Merlin suffer anymore, and the efficiency of the two was even lower than when they were at home.

She wanted to go hiking alone, but the light rain was endless, the hot springs were good, and she could eat the mountain mushroom stewed pheasant at noon.

On the last day, Li Merlin returned at four o'clock in the afternoon, with a face that could not hide his excitement even if he was tired.

An An felt strange: "Why did you come back so early, didn't Party B invite you to dinner?" ”

"Don't you want to go climbing?" Li Merlin smiled and asked An Ann.

"But it's too late, and the rain still doesn't stop." An Ann said.

"It doesn't matter, we'll just walk at the foot of the mountain and don't go up."

They opened a transparent umbrella and walked towards the entrance of a thousand mountains.

When I walked to the door, the security guard was closing the door.

An An turned his head to look at Li Molin, who smiled mysteriously, and then leaned close to An An's ear and said, "It doesn't matter, I know that a small door can be entered, and I have acquaintances over there." ”

An An was a little surprised, she didn't expect Li Merlin to have such a side.

At the moment, she had some inexplicable feelings, and secretly lamented that travel was really wonderful.

The mountains were a little cool at night, and Li Merlin wrapped his arms around An An's shoulders.

An An looked up at the side of Li Merlin's face, and the corners of his mouth were still smiling, this was Li Merlin she had never seen before.

An An also did not see the mountain at night.

There are no lights, and today there happens to be no moonlight, the black peaks are wrapped in a black sky, and the air is filled with a fragrance that has never been experienced before, and a strong and unusual smell of plants.

Li Merlin hugged An An tighter, as if afraid that she would disappear.

An An looked up and asked Li Merlin, "Do you smell this?" ”

"What does it taste like?"

"The smell of plants."

"Hmm." He used the flashlight function in his mobile phone to carefully illuminate the road ahead.

"I heard that this smell lasts a long time, and it will become a plant here." An Ann was in a good mood and tried to make this kind of joke with Li Molin, which may not have any response.

"Oops!" An An suddenly stopped and shouted.

"What's wrong?" Li Merlin nervously concentrated the light of the flashlight on An An.

"I can't move, my feet are rooting on the ground, I'm going to become a plant!" An An's expression was exaggerated, and he hoped that Li Molin would be able to play with her.

Unexpectedly, Li Merlin replied solemnly: "You know what? If the conditions are good enough, the plants here will also become people. You should pay attention to the fact that what passes you in the scenic spot may be a plant! ”

Ann laughed, her laughter echoing through the valley.

Today's Li Merlin was so different that it surprised her from the inside out.

She felt as if she had traveled to another time and space parallel to this world.

There was also a Lee Merlin, who was humorous and cheerful and romantic.

"Really? So what characteristics do you say they have? How can I see them coming? An An's eyes lit up, like a meteor that had just landed on the ground.

Li Merlin raised his index finger and "booed", leaned close to An An and whispered, "Well, this is not good, they look no different from real humans." For example, I am actually a plant. ”

"So what are you?" What plant are you? An An also approached Li Merlin's face, eager to kiss him.

Who knew that Li Merlin bent down and casually pulled up a grass and sent it to An An: "This, I am changed by this kind of grass." ”

An An bowed her head, but she couldn't see the way this grass looked, it didn't matter what it looked like, what mattered was that at this moment in this heaven and earth, she only had Li Merlin.

"Can you give it to me?"

Li Merlin handed it to An An and said, "You have to put it away, and if one day I disappear, you will come to me as it is." ”

For some reason, when Li Merlin said this, An An wanted to cry.

She hid in Li Merlin's arms and whispered, "Can I go back?" I was a little scared. ”

4.

End this bizarre trip and get back to life.

And the joy of that night in the mountains, like the water in this plant, is slowly and irretrievably drained.

The grass was raised in a glass vase at the head of an'an's bed, a soft green branch, evenly arranged on both sides with strings of small flowers with purple foreheads.

Before it had completely dried up, Du Hang appeared.

In the evening, her college classmates asked her to go to the Green Bar to reminisce about the past.

This was originally a reserved project for their small group, the old people, but this time I don't know who called Du Hang who was "outside the group".

Everyone was a little embarrassed, and they couldn't drive him away, and they couldn't disperse, after all, they were all classmates.

Everyone greeted each other warmly, and officially cared about each other's recent situation.

And their respective recent situations sound like a long-shelved draft beer, no longer seeing the enthusiasm of the past, and all that remains is dark yellow bitterness.

For example, the greetings of An An and Du Hang.

Du Hang: "It's been good lately, right?" ”

"The staff were very friendly and helpful."

"How's your body?"

"The staff were very friendly and helpful." Du Hang watched Asan swallow the orange juice and did not speak.

"What about you?" An An politely asked rhetorically.

Du Hang took a sip of his beer and showed a bitter expression.

An An remembered the way he used to drink beer as if he were holding back a smile, as if the beer would flow out of the corner of his mouth when he smiled.

What made him look so bitter now?

"That's it, it's still the same." Du Hang said.

"How's your mom doing?"

"I've moved out now." An An could understand a sentence that was not asked.

"Why is she not in good health?"

"She's because I'm at home and I'm not in good health." Du Hang pulled out a bitter smile again.

"By the way, I'm drinking the medicine your mother recommended to me." An An said lightly.

"Ann, I know you still resent me."

"Du Hang, you are less self-indulgent." An An let out this harsh word.

Du Hang looked at An An, then turned his head and continued drinking.

It was as if she had just said to him, "I bought a new bag today."

An An looked at Du Hang as if he had gone back in time, she smoked and drank and played mahjong, and he was used to her.

An An wondered what would happen if she and Li Molin had said this during a fight.

An An smiled at the thought of it, and she reacted that this kind of thing would not happen because they never quarreled.

An An suddenly felt that without quarrelling, more tired.

At night, Ann lay in bed and waited for Li Merlin to come into the house to sleep, and they never slept together except for handing in their homework.

Li Merlin's schedule is very regular, he goes to bed on time at eleven thirty, gets up on time at seven in the morning, and does not need an alarm clock and human help.

A man, living a regular life, and without any vices, in this current society, is really a little scary.

An An narrowed his eyes as if scientists were outside the glass to observe the newly captured alien creatures.

"Why don't you sleep yet?" Li Merlin turned around with some surprise and looked into her searchlight-like eyes.

"Li Merlin, I can't sleep and want to talk to you."

"It's too late, go to bed." Li Merlin said with sleepiness.

"But I want to talk to you right now."

"Well, you say." Li Merlin whispered with his eyes closed.

"Did you say we'd have kids?" Ann asked.

"Yes." Li Merlin's voice was more blurry than just now.

"How do you know?" An An turned his head and stared at Li Merlin.

Li Merlin did not answer, he breathed evenly and seemed to have fallen asleep.

An An turned and pressed the phone, which showed that the time was eleven thirty.

What a punctuality, Ann thought.

When he saw Du Hang again, An An clenched his handbag.

I thought that if I just picked him up and beat him, would the foundation I bought at noon today be broken.

Think about it or forget it, that box of foundation is more than four hundred, it is not worth it.

An An said, "What are you doing here?" ”

"Pick you up from work."

"I don't need you now, I have a husband."

"Is your husband here?"

"You're provocative aren't you?" Believe it or not I asked my husband to come over and beat you up! ”

Du Hang laughed and said, "An An, I know you too well, you won't, and your husband won't." ”

An An looked at Du Hang and couldn't understand why Du Hang always had the ability to get her on fire.

She used to yell at him hysterically, but she was so angry that as long as she was done, she would be comfortable.

Now, she could only say to him lightly: "Du Hang, your uncle." ”

However, after forty minutes of scolding "your uncle", An An still sat at a dinner table with Du Hang.

The dish was served very quickly, and it was all in a moment.

An An squinted his eyes and said lightly:

"My taste has changed."

Du Hang took a sip of wine and said, "An An, don't do this, I have no other meaning, I just hope you can forgive me." ”

"Don't waste your time here with me, we've both been over, and it's not interesting to forgive." If you have this spare money, invite the unmarried girl to dinner. ”

Du Hang sighed, lowered his head and lit a cigarette, and while spitting out the first puff of smoke, a bitter smile came out of the corner of his mouth, as if he were talking to himself:

"Ann, you haven't changed at all."

He was right.

The next thing is strange, An An starts lying to Li Merlin again, for Du Hang.

They often meet, eat, chat, watch movies, drink ice sodas, or participate in strange city events, but without any physical contact.

An An found that her relationship with Du Hang made her feel very happy.

It was as if she had returned to the days when she was twenty, when they had just met in the school club.

An An sometimes advised Du Hang: "Didn't introduce you to the object?" Hurry up and find a good girl to settle down. ”

Du Hang said, "There is no one who can play together." ”

An An said: "Living a life is not a play, why don't you understand?" ”

Du Hang just looked at her, then smiled and said nothing.

An An knew what Du Hang was trying to say.

She also lowered her head and said to Du Hang, "If I'm pregnant, we won't see each other again." ”

"Okay." Du Hang answered.

5.

With such a belief, when handing in homework this month, An An showed quite proactive.

The two of them also got a style that they had never experienced before.

After handing in her homework, Li Merlin would hug Ann from behind and kiss her hair and shoulders shallowly.

It was as if she were his baby, and he had to be held in his arms to be at ease.

This state of affairs to some extent greatly satisfies An An's innate restlessness.

She seemed to be dancing in nightmares every day, with a dream-like smile on her face.

She indulges herself and waits for a child to end her divided life.

Du Hang offered to go to Benxi Mountain on the weekend, which was where they all wanted to go when they were in college.

Du Hang said: "I just have two tickets for Ben Xi Mountain, just a two-hour drive, and go back on the same day." ”

An An was hesitant, but Du Hang continued, "Didn't you always want to go at that time?" This time I'll take you. ”

She didn't expect him to remember that she wanted to go to Ben Xi Mountain, which was the wish she had told him when they were just in love.

For more than five years, she hadn't been there once.

Thinking of this, she began to think involuntarily about how to lie to Li Merlin.

Recently, she has a lot of experience in this area.

"Do you want to go to training?" Li Merlin put down the book in his hand.

"Yeah, the company sends two people to the training every year, and this time it's my turn."

She rarely had the chance to lie to Li Merlin in person, her fingers constantly touching the phone screen, trying to pretend to be relaxed.

"I'll rest on Saturday, send you over."

"No, the company will have a car, our director will also go, you were not very good in the past." It was a sentence she had made up in advance in case her husband was kind.

"Well," Li Merlin nodded, "you have to be safe and come back early." ”

"Okay."

6.

When An An got up, he was light-handed, afraid of waking Up Li Merlin on the bed.

After she had packed up, she looked back at Li Merlin.

There was still an hour and a half before he should wake up, and she felt his sleeping face so innocent.

She lied to him, and he didn't know anything yet.

They arrived at Benxi Mountain at half past eight, and in the morning there was fog on the mountain, and after the sun came out, the fog was slowly dispersing.

An An and Du Hang walked on the path into the mountain, speechless all the way.

An An looked at the towering mountains and suddenly thought a little about Li Merlin.

Wonder if he would fool himself about his breakfast because she wasn't there.

Halfway down the road, there is a small man-made square where tourists rest, picnic and go to the toilet.

There are no relatively flat sightseeing trails going up, and they are steep stone steps.

Du Hang asked An An if she wanted to continue, and An An said yes, but she had to go to the toilet first, and her stomach hurt a little.

Du Hang said not to go up, an An said it was okay, maybe he ate something cold in the morning.

They go all the way up, and in some places they need to use both hands and feet.

She gasped a little, not daring to look back at the cliff behind her.

Du Hang had been walking behind to protect her.

He knew that Ann could do it, and her courage and perseverance could help her get to the top of the mountain.

As An An walked, she wondered why she wanted to come to this place so much in the first place, and what particularly attracted her here?

Her body was trying her best to climb up, while her head was trying to think back, but unfortunately she couldn't think of anything until she reached the top of the mountain.

There is a small pool of water there, called Mingyue Lake, because in the middle of the night, the moon in the sky will sleep peacefully in this pool.

An An looked at the clarified pool of water and felt very strange, here is so high, there will be lake water.

The breeze blew up An'an's loose broken hair, taking away the fine sweat on her forehead.

She asked Du Hang, "Do you remember why I wanted to come here in the first place?" ”

"You said you wanted to see where the moon slept." Du Hang drank the remaining half bottle of mineral water.

"You say how stupid I am, Ben Xi Shan closed at five o'clock, and no one has seen whether the moon really sleeps here at night."

"Yes, no one has seen it." Du Hang looked at An An and was slightly frightened.

"Let's go." An Ann said.

7.

The road down the mountain is unusually smooth, and it is said that it is easy to go up the mountain and difficult to go down, but An An feels that it is just the opposite.

She took a big stride, without fear or hesitation.

The small purple flowers on both sides of the road also bloomed just right, emitting a familiar fragrance.

Maybe she had thrown something heavy at the top of the mountain, and her body was so brisk that it seemed as if she was going to fly.

There were still four steps to reach the foot of the mountain, and she stopped and said to Du Hang, who was walking in front, "You dodge the point, I want to jump down." ”

Du Hang let go and said, "You be careful. ”

Before the "heart" could finish, An An jumped down.

But she did not stand, and the sudden onslaught of severe abdominal pain caused her to fall to her knees.

She felt fluid flowing out of her body, beads of sweat on her forehead, and blood gurgling beneath her.

Her ears were buzzing, and she couldn't hear what Du Hang was saying.

He must have been calling her name, but she didn't have the strength to answer him.

She lay down slowly, thinking that she might have guessed how the Mingyue Lake at the top of the mountain had formed.

It may have been the illusion of a beautiful fairy in the sky.

If she could also transform into another bay of lake water at this moment, it would be good, just at the foot of the mountain, intertwined with the Mingyue Lake at the top of the mountain, nourishing the purple flowers along the way.

8.

Waking up again, An An saw a concerned Li Merlin.

The smell of hospital disinfectant water is very familiar to her, as if there is a faint floral fragrance, who bought it?

She thought he should have known, she lied to him, but she didn't want to lie anymore.

She asked him weakly, "What's wrong with me?" ”

"You're a ruptured cyst." Li Merlin's voice sounded a little hoarse, and her hand was held by him.

Ann turned her head and faced the white ceiling.

She said, "So, you all know it, and you know about me and Du Hang." Li Merlin, I lied to you, I'm sorry. ”

An An rested for a few seconds, and then continued: "Li Merlin, let's get a divorce, I am not in good health, I will not delay you." ”

She has always insisted on expressing herself calmly, trying to restrain her pain and tears.

Li Merlin had been silent, and An An couldn't help but turn his head to look at Li Merlin, who sat there quietly, looking decadent.

She suddenly felt some pain, she had made him look like this.

How much she missed the way he used to be, so calm, calm and composed.

Why did she just think of it as wooden, dull and indifferent, she was really stupid.

Li Merlin said to her: "Don't talk, the doctor wants you to rest well." ”

"Really, Li Merlin, we don't have to argue, I don't want anything, let's get a divorce."

Li Merlin just squeezed her hand tighter and repeated to her, "Don't talk. ”

9.

Her body healed quickly.

The doctor said, "If you want a child, be careful and careful!" ”

An An just smiled, she thought she should have no luck with the child in her life.

Li Merlin was on a business trip again, and since she had filed for divorce from him, he had tried to avoid her as much as possible.

Only on the day of discharge, Li Merlin appeared.

She told him about it again, and he just put her package in the trunk, the lid blocking his whole body, and she couldn't see his true expression at that moment.

After another five or six days, Ann was at home packing her bags.

The grass that had been brought back from Qianshan was wrapped in plastic paper by An An and placed in her closet.

She saw it as she was packing her clothes.

Ann sat on the bed and carefully opened the plastic paper, afraid of breaking the plant that had dried up completely.

Ann looked at it in a daze, like a mother looking at her infant child wrapped in her own.

Remembering the scene of that night, there was still a warm smile on her lips.

It was her and Lee Merlin's best memories since they got married.

She suddenly wondered what kind of plant it was, and finally, finally, she wanted to figure it out.

She put on a sweater, took a taxi to the city library, and found a book called "Chinese Herbal Medicine Atlas" in the natural science reading room. She rummaged through it carefully, corresponding to the bouquet at hand, and on page one hundred and seventy, she finally found this plant with purple flowers.

The book says that its name is Zhimu, and the root can be medicated.

When Ann called Li Merlin, Li Merlin was on the construction site.

He took off his hard hat, walked a little farther, looked at the building that was being remodeled, and replied word for word: "Yes, I know, that herb is called Zhimu." Ann, I already knew about your illness. ”

On the other end of the phone, his wife, Ann, was silently in tears.

- END -

Author | Sauerkraut fairy

Edit | Mei

Editor-in-Chief | Chel-chi

Producer | Water grid