In the spring of 1968, it was a day of hunger and cold. I was hungry and kept rummaging through the cabinets. In the closet, I smelled the smell of sweet, fragrant orange cakes. My eyes widened.
Two boxes of oranges lay quietly inside a large pile of clothes, and I knew they were sacred and inviolable. However, I couldn't resist their **, opened a box of orange cakes, took out one and put it in my mouth, thinking "just eat one", but my mouth refused, and ate two in a row.
After eating heartily, my mother came in with my neighbor's sister-in-law. When they pushed the door in, I had an orange cake in my mouth. My mother stared at me, walked over, and immediately slapped me, and I opened my mouth and cried, and half of the orange cake fell out along with the saliva.
After beating me, my mother looked helpless, she handed over two boxes of orange cakes to Sister-in-law Mao, including the box that had been opened by me, and my mother apologized while sending off the guests, while Sister-in-law Mao kept relieving me.
After a while, the mother returned. She hugged me and wept loudly, and kept blaming herself, so that I finally felt pity for my mother. Then my mother picked up the half of the orange cake that had fallen on the ground, washed it, and brought it to me to eat.
In the age of material scarcity, I understood my mother's situation, so much so that many years later, my mother's wail at that time would often faintly come from my dreams, waking me up again and again. So, with a poignant feeling, I touched those memories again, along with years of thinking about my mother's life, and the scattered information from around me, and vaguely came up with some answers.
At that time, it was rare to have a tooth sacrifice. Only on my birthday, my mother would give me a few coins with her body temperature on them to go to the market and enjoy my meals. Therefore, in the period before my birthday, I counted the days day by day a long time in advance, looking forward to my birthday coming soon, so my birthday became the most beautiful expectation of my childhood.
In the spring of 1971, I finally managed to get through to my birthday, and when I got up, I reminded my mother: "Mom, today is my birthday!"."My mother happily gave me a few coins and told me to go to the outlet and buy two orange cakes.
After a while, the orange cake was bought, and the fifth brother and the third sister also came around. My mother gave each of them a small piece and gave me the rest of the orange cakes. The fifth brother swallowed it three times and two times, and came to snatch it from me again. My mother's face was unusually ugly, so she took my hand and walked to the stove house, throwing down a sentence: "In front of me, no one wants to snatch nine full orange cakes!""For some reason, I suddenly lost interest in orange cakes.
In those years, my family was not wealthy, but my mother gave me as much love as she could, in her own way.
In 1984, I was admitted to a university in the provincial capital. The day before departure, at dinner, my mother deliberately prepared a table full of dishes.
She cooked very quickly, the rapeseed oil was boiling hot, the sound of the meat slices entering the pot, the rhythm of the spatula stir-frying, and the smoke rising in the air came ......
I stood by happily and happily watching my mother bend over and get up, fully immersed in the performance.
When the smell of stir-fried food spreads and passers-by say a short "good smell", I suddenly, for the first time, think of the word "happiness" and carefully try to understand its meaning.
Fragrant boiled fish, stir-fried pork ...... with spicy green peppersIn the passage of time, it takes turns to come out of the pot, from the kitchen to the hall. It can be seen that behind the mother's tired figure, there is full of satisfaction and happiness.
During the meal, I smiled and asked her, "Mom!".How can the three of us finish such a table of dishes?”
The mother said loudly: "I am willing to have more left, you have been admitted to the university, you must celebrate!".”
After eating, there were orange cakes on the table as usual, and my mother said it was to help digestion.
I suddenly remembered that spring in 1968. So he jokingly said to his mother: "Mom, do you remember that time, I stole two orange cakes, and you beat me ......."”
The mother's gaze moved back and forth between the cups and plates, but the smile quickly receded like a falling tide: "Alas!."Why don't you remember, Jiuman, you have to be considerate of Mom's situation at that time. Then my mother told me stories I didn't know.
When you were three years old, you had a tumor in your buttocks that quickly developed pus from the wound, and the barefoot doctor said, "You have to control the disease as soon as possible, otherwise you are at risk of becoming disabled!""Your father and I were so anxious that we went around asking for medical advice. Especially when your condition deteriorates to the point of high fever that does not go away, we stay up all night, change towels for you, serve tea and pour water, look at you in pain, we hate ourselves for not being able to suffer this sin for you.
That morning, your father came running back from outside with a happy face, saying that there was a way!There is a Lang Zhong in Sister-in-law's mother's house who has cured this disease. Your father said while arranging for your third brother to pick you up and follow Brother Mao to seek medical treatment.
In the days of waiting for you to come back, your father, who was usually capable and neat, suddenly became a mother-in-law and mother-in-law, and suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and shouted--Jiuman!He usually never bothered to say a word to me, but when he was eating, he would suddenly put down the dishes and chopsticks and suddenly ask me: "Can Jiuman's illness still be saved?""Or pester me to go to Sister-in-law Mao's house to inquire about the situation, whether it is at home or in the field, he will stare at the direction of your return from time to time.
Five days later, you came back and your condition miraculously improved. As soon as I put you down, your third brother told us excitedly: "This time, thanks to the care of Sister-in-law Mao's mother!.""Your father is a hard-hearted man, I have been married to him for more than thirty years, and I have not seen him shed a single tear, and that day, he shed tears, and he cried loudly. After that, he said to us, "You must thank Sister-in-law Mao and her mother!."”
The next year, your father's tuberculosis became more and more serious, and he still talked about owing his sister-in-law a favor to her mother.
Soon after your father left, Mao's mother-in-law also became terminally ill. Taking advantage of the opportunity for your fifth brother to go to the county seat to do errands, I asked him to buy two boxes of orange cakes and give them to Sister-in-law Mao and her mother, which can be regarded as an explanation ...... your dead father
When my mother finished speaking, tears began to fall. After a while, my mother asked me, "Do you remember?"I hurriedly said, "No, it's just that I just remembered it and asked casually." The mother asked, "Then why don't you like orange cakes anymore?"I was silent for a moment before saying, "It's too sweet to eat." "And my mind went back to the spring of 1968, and I knew that the fragrance of orange cakes would forever linger between our mother and ...... son