Scythe Leek (short novel)

When Xiuqin woke up, it was already red in the east window.

My parents went down early in the morning, and the yard was quiet, except for a few bees buzzing around the apricot trees that were in full bloom. After a simple breakfast that was hot in the pot, Xiuqin took a small shovel, carried the cage and went out.

At this time, it is early spring in February, and the warblers fly and the grass grows on the small roads of the mountain village, and the peanut trees are mixed, and the spring is full of joy. In the beautiful spring light of birds and flowers, Xiuqin's mood was like a spring rain, and she couldn't stretch out when she was wet.

Jun Qiang chatted with her on his mobile phone for half the night last night. He planned to take advantage of the spring season to choose a day, invite the parents and relatives of both parties to have a meal together, and solemnly set the marriage of the two in accordance with local customs and regulations. After all, the time that two people have been together for a long time is not short, and it is not a way to get along like this without a name and no point. Even if I'm not in a hurry, my parents can't hold their breath.

Xiuqin and Jun Qiang grew up playing in a village since they were children, and the two are of the same age and have similar personalities. From junior high school to high school, the two happened to be classmates with a good relationship. As they grow older, although they do not express their feelings directly to each other, they have already secretly expressed feelings in their hearts, and they have tacit understanding. Although after going to college, Xiuqin went home less and less, but in the four years of college, her heart was always full of the military strong who was her childhood sweetheart and fell in love.

After graduating from university, Xiuqin deliberately chose to return to her hometown to work. Every time she goes back to her hometown, she has to say hello to Junqiang in advance, Junqiang received Xiuqin's "notice", and she will be able to wait under the big willow tree at the entrance of the village to greet her, and then ride the "green horse" electric car, and take her around the river embankment road at the edge of the village like the wind. Xiuqin sat behind Jun Qiang, clutching his clothes tightly, letting the wind sound in her ears and her long hair flying, but there were always endless interesting things to say. It was as if the two of them had been brought back to their unrestrained childhood, and each other's hearts were filled with unparalleled happiness and joy.

In Xiuqin's heart, Junqiang is definitely a good guy who can be entrusted for life, he is diligent and down-to-earth, has a good character, and can think about her everywhere and make her happy. is not like those "little fresh meat" in the city, all of them are coquettish, naïve, and oily. The only regret is that when he was in middle school, Junqiang fell and injured his left leg due to an accident, and he didn't want to be left with sequelae after being healed, and his legs and feet are still a little lame when he walks until now. But this flaw, in Xiuqin's eyes, is simply a "white and slight flaw", and it will not affect her feelings for Junqiang at all. After graduating from high school, Junqiang went to work in a private enterprise in the county. Although the family conditions are very ordinary, in the past few years, Jun Qiang has built several new houses for his family through his hard work, and even bought a car at the end of last year. In his words, the purpose of buying a car is very pure, just to make it convenient when visiting Xiuqin in the city, and no longer have to squeeze the bus as "desperately" as before.

Xiuqin was deeply sorry for the delay in the marriage of the two, and her mother's rejection of Junqiang made her secretly sad. She can't remember how many times she has done her mother's ideological work, but every time she sees her mother's gloomy face, she can't help but feel timid, after all, in this family of three, everything is still up to her mother. She also once thought about breaking through the worldly concepts and shackles, and being with Junqiang without any scruples, and when the raw rice is cooked and cooked, all problems will naturally be solved. However, under the heavy pressure of morality and ethics, and after several psychological struggles, she finally dispelled this idea.

During the Spring Festival this year, Xiuqin also specially brought gifts to visit Junqiang's parents. The old couple has been looking down on Xiuqin since childhood, and they don't have a feeling and liking. They all hope that the matter between the two will be settled in the spring of this year, and strive to complete their marriage in the second half of the year. Xiuqin listened to it in her ears, and she was anxious in her heart. For this matter, she specially applied for a few days of personal leave from the company and returned to her hometown from the city.

Seeing Xiuqin coming with a cage, her parents, who were working in the vegetable field, were still a little surprised. In their opinion, today's young people are "ten fingers do not touch the spring water", they are afraid of hardship and enjoyment, and it is already very rare to be able to take the initiative to go down to the ground.

"Why are you here...... Have you eaten the rice left for you in the pot?" asked Xiuqin.

"Eat. Xiuqin replied as she looked around to see what work she could help with.

It's been a long time since I've been to this vegetable field at the foot of the mountain, and Xiuqin still misses it very much. It's a topic and capital that's enough for her to show off in front of her colleagues in the city. There are lively spinach, watery lettuce, and green leeks planted by my parents...... Rows of furrows are lush and green. Xiuqin casually took two pictures and posted them in WeChat's circle of friends, and she could get countless likes.

At this time, in the field, the air is filled with the faint fragrance of mountain flowers and wild grasses, and when you look around, the mountains in the distance are dyed goose yellow at the beginning, and the vegetable fields in the near distance are full of green, which is pleasing to the eye. Xiuqin happily watched everything, and unconsciously became a little intoxicated.

The father stopped the pickaxe in his hand, pointed to a bunch of leeks at Xiuqin's feet, and said, "You can shovel the weeds in there." ”

Xiuqin knew that this was an "idle job" sent to her by her father at will, and when she came to the vegetable field, she could only do some such simple and labor-saving "idle work". She crouched down, picked up a small shovel, and carefully searched for a few scattered weeds between the rows of leeks.

Jun Qiang also came to the vegetable field on an electric car, which Xiuqin did not expect. Xiuqin thought about it, maybe he heard yesterday that he said that he would come to the vegetable field to help his parents work. Seeing Jun Qiang arrive in the field, Xiuqin's heart suddenly became a little nervous, but it was also accompanied by a bit of unexpected joy. Jun Qiang parked the car on the ground, walked over to greet Xiuqin's parents with a smile, and handed Xiuqin's father a cigarette. Xiuqin's father took the cigarette and asked with a smile, "Why are you idle today?" Jun Qiang scratched his hair a little shyly and said, "Oh, it's okay today, I'll come to see if there is any work in the field that can help." Xiuqin's father pointed to his feet and said, "There is no work in the field, so I will level and plane this mousse, and you can go about it." ”

Xiuqin's mother glanced up at Jun Qiang, didn't say anything, and buried herself in work again.

Xiuqin asked Jun Qiang why he didn't go to work today? Jun Qiang said: "There is nothing to do in the department today, so I will take a leave of absence, and I still have a few days of annual leave!"

Staying with Xiuqin's family at the same time, Junqiang felt a little restrained and uncomfortable. He couldn't stand, he didn't squat, and he didn't know what to do to help, so it seemed a little redundant. Xiuqin, who has always been chattering in front of Jun Qiang, also became silent at this moment, she looked at her parents' faces from time to time, and she didn't know what to say to Jun Qiang in front of them, after all, the opportunity for several people to get together like this is almost impossible on weekdays. In order to avoid the embarrassing atmosphere from lasting, Xiuqin gave Jun Qiang a look of disgust and motioned for him to leave first. Jun Qiang understood what Xiuqin meant, so he had to excuse himself that he still had something to do, said hello to Xiuqin's parents, and rode away.

The climate in February is cold in spring, warm and cold. A cold wind of human muscles and bones suddenly blew quickly from the mountains, and the three of them couldn't help but shiver. Xiuqin only felt a sour feeling in her nasal cavity, and sneezed several times in a row. She stood up in a hurry, wrapped her coat, and thought to herself: It's spring, why is it still so cold? It seems that there are some things in the world that are not what the mind thinks: everything is logical and natural, and there are many times unforeseen and difficult to grasp. Thinking of this, Xiuqin sighed involuntarily.

When she leaned down again, her vision blurred inexplicably. She saw in a trance that countless weeds had emerged from the leek field under her feet in the blink of an eye, which made her suddenly burst into a wave of disgusting anger. When she lifted the shovel, there was a frenzy of eradication, and she wanted to remove all these weeds, large and small, before she stopped.

"Xiuqin, what are you doing? Why did you rip all the leeks!" the father hurriedly shouted after seeing Xiuqin's abnormal behavior.

Xiuqin heard her father's shout, and the shovel in her hand stopped. She grabbed a handful of freshly chopped leeks, raised them in her hand, and said, "This is grass, where are leeks?"

"It's not a leek, it's just a few days since you've been in the field, and you can't even recognize a leek!" the father glared at Xiuqin.

Xiuqin squatted on the ground, stunned and looked at the handful of "weeds" that she had cut off, and was at a loss for a while. Obviously it's a weed, how can it be said to be a leek? She only felt that her cheeks were slightly hot, her head was dizzy, and her whole body was very uncomfortable.

Xiuqin's mother heard Xiuqin's father's shouting, put down what she was doing, and came back to life. She seemed to have sensed that something was wrong with Xiuqin, bent down to help Xiuqin up, looked at it carefully, and said, "Xiuqin, are you uncomfortable?" ”

After her mother asked, Xiuqin couldn't help but have a sore nose, and said with a crying voice: "Mom, I'm fine, I just feel a little dizzy......"

"Ah, I have a fever, you have this forehead hot!" Xiuqin's mother touched Xiuqin's forehead with her hand, looking nervous.

"It must be that the wind in the field is strong, and it is cold, and you see that it is so thin...... Let's go, stop working, Mom will take you to the medical station in the village to have a look. Xiuqin's mother said, rubbing the dirt on her hands, and supporting Xiuqin to go to the village. Xiuqin's legs stood still as if they had taken root, and tears rolled down her cheeks like beads with broken threads.

"Look at this woman, what's wrong, why are you crying......" Xiuqin's mother looked at Xiuqin with some puzzlement.

"Mom, in my heart, it's so uncomfortable...... Xiuqin suddenly hugged her mother's shoulders and cried bitterly.

This crying seems to release all the resentment and grievances that have accumulated in my heart for a long time. For a while, Xiuqin was already crying that "pear blossoms bring rain, and the flowers are discolored".

Xiuqin's mother was a little panicked, patted Xiuqin's back with her hand again and again, and said distressedly: "What's wrong with this baby today, what's wrong with it? ”

"Mom, I, I still think the army is strong......" Xiuqin cried a lot.

Xiuqin's mother was instantly silent. After a while, she gently attached herself to Xiuqin's ear and said, "Mom actually knows that Junqiang is a good baby, but it's ...... Mom is just your daughter, Mom doesn't want to send you away casually and let others see our jokes. Xiuqin, let's not worry, Mom promises to find you a better one, okay?"

Xiuqin stopped crying, Huo Di raised his head, burst into tears, and frowned. She grabbed her mother's hand and choked up and said: "Mom, you don't know me too well, I don't want to find anything better, I am already very happy and content with Jun Qiang, he is a lame man, your daughter is also willing, and she will never regret it in this life...... My dad had a finger cut off by a chainsaw, didn't you dislike it......"

Xiuqin's mother's face turned white and red, she subconsciously glanced at Xiuqin's father, Xiuqin's father, who was squatting aside and smoking silently, quickly turned his face away, pretending not to see it.

Xiuqin's mother let out a long sigh, she tugged on the sleeve of her dress to wipe the tears on Xiuqin's face, and muttered in her mouth: "It's really a woman's mother, alas, who can understand the hard work of being a mother?"

Xiuqin's eyes instantly turned red again. The mother quickly took her hand and said, "Don't be sad, let's go, let's see a doctor first, and then talk about ...... after the fever has subsided."

Seeing the two of them supporting each other and gradually walking away, Xiuqin's father came back to his senses. He threw away the cigarette butt in his hand, looked at the pickaxe left aside, and picked it up again. At this moment, he leaned his hands on the handlebar, and looked at the distant backs of the two girls for a long time, with a solemn and thoughtful expression. To tell the truth, Xiuqin's crazy and bizarre behavior today really made this rough-branched farmer nervous. As the father of his daughter, his mood at this time is also complicated, and it is difficult to explain. Looking up to see that it was not yet noon, he was going to struggle to do it a little longer.

In the empty and silent field, Xiuqin's father's mobile phone ringtone became louder and louder. He took out his mobile phone, and the words "baby and mother" were clearly displayed on the screen. Pressing the button, Xiuqin's mother's usual tone came from the other end of the phone: "Hey, you have to do it tomorrow? If you don't ask you to come back, you won't know that you're going back?" Xiuqin has a fever of 39 degrees, and she hangs up the needle at the medical station, so you quickly pack up and go back...... Oh, by the way, come back and bring some food, I'll disturb the group tonight, those two babies love to eat, I also told Junqiang ......"

After hanging up the phone, Xiuqin's father stood in place and hesitated for a long time, it was the first time he heard Xiuqin's mother say that she would call Junqiang to her home for dinner. It seems that the old sayings of "lovers eventually become married" are not pretentious, but still make sense. Thinking of this, he smiled innocently. He looked at the vegetable plot he had worked on, and every vegetable was growing happily and full of vitality. In particular, this leek, bathed in the bright spring light, is crisp and raw, green, fresh and tender. Xiuqin's father suddenly remembered: Xiuqin liked to eat leeks when she was a child. Xiuqin likes to eat, presumably Junqiang will not be suspicious. Thinking of this, he picked up the small blade sickle and cut the leeks briskly.

About author:You Liang, formerly known as Li Binxu, a native of Baoji, now works in Xi'an, loves literature and life.