Mrs. Zhang contracted a fever and has been bedridden for six days.
I never stopped taking the medicine, but my condition got worse and worse without any improvement. Zhuo Lengping stayed by his mother's side all day long except to get medicine from the shop. He never had a good night's sleep, and his face gradually became haggard.
During this period, she begged the store owner several times, but he politely refused without exception. She later realized what was going on and no longer begged the store owner.
By this day, Mrs. Zhang was already dying.
Her eyes were covered with bloodshot eyes, and her eyelids were swollen and red. She looked at her mother's pale face in silence and was speechless for a long time.
"Lengping..." Old lady Zhang stretched her arms flexibly, "Why should I try to be energetic now? I want to eat something."
Seeing that his mother had cheered up, Zhuo Lengping leaned over, forced a smile, and asked, "What do you want to eat?"
Mrs. Zhang thought for a long time. She originally wanted to eat meat. After all, it was something she had never eaten in her life. But she was afraid that her daughter would not have the money to fulfill her wish, which would make her feel guilty, so she said with a smile: "Business as usual , get up and eat some porridge to nourish your body!"
Leng Ping looked into his mother's eyes and suddenly seemed to understand something, feeling pain in his heart as if he was being pricked by a needle.
"What's wrong?" Old lady Zhang asked.
"Oh, it's okay, it's okay..." Zhuo Lengping came back to his senses and smiled at his mother, "I'll go find the owner of the shop to make porridge right now!"
Zhuo Lengping still held on to his strength, held back his tears, opened the door, and turned around to go out.
"Staff, my mother's appetite has improved today and she wants to drink more porridge... Please cook a little longer." Zhuo Lengping took out five or six cents and handed it to the shop owner.
"It seems that the old man's condition is getting better." He weighed the few copper coins. "Isn't it... that he is getting better?"
Zhuo Lengping's body suddenly trembled several times.
"oh……"
The store owner also realized that he had made a mistake, so he quickly said: "I'm going to ask the waiter to make porridge. Just wait for a while! Just wait for a while!" After that, he left the counter and hurried into the back room.
Zhuo Lengping moved with difficulty and walked slowly to the door of the room. Her strong mind suffered repeated setbacks and became fragile. She sat down tiredly, put her face on her knees, and let out a hoarse cry.
She had tried her best to suppress her crying, but the desperate cry in her heart never stopped. She looked at the vast sky. The sun had also lost its warm brilliance. The day exuded the desolation of the night - everything seemed to be surrounded by a thick layer of shadow like a cocoon.
But she still had to cheer up and accompany her mother until the last moment. She understands that what is scary is not the time after death, but the period of struggling on the line of death: it is confused, dark, and has no end.
When the porridge was ready, Zhuo Lengping carefully carried the bowl into the house and placed it in front of his mother.
"My daughter, why are you crying again? Why are you crying! Aren't I...well now?" the mother laughed.
Leng Ping wiped the crying face and gritted his teeth: "Yes! That's right! Mother is fine!"
As she spoke, she picked up the wooden spoon in the bowl, blew three times on the rising white air, and then brought the hot porridge to her mother's mouth.
Old lady Zhang drank it in one gulp without any hesitation.
"Slow down!" Leng Ping smiled from the bottom of his heart.
"It's okay! I'm in good health!" Mother patted Leng Ping's hand.
Leng Ping felt a surge of sadness in his heart, so he didn't dare to speak anymore and carefully fed his mother porridge.
"Daughter, I'm not hungry anymore, I'm not hungry anymore..." Old lady Zhang touched her forehead and her words gradually lost some strength.
Seeing this, Zhuo Lengping put down the bowl in a hurry: "What's wrong with you? I think you're not feeling well, how about..."
"It doesn't matter." Old lady Zhang closed her eyes, the smile on her face remained unchanged: "I just can't open my eyelids a bit, and I don't feel very well. It feels like there's phlegm in my throat. I'll be fine if I sleep for a while. It'll be fine." …”
She lowered her eyelids gently. Although Zhuo Lengping wanted to persuade her to wake up, it was too late. She had already closed her eyes heavily.
Leng Ping was stunned, and the surrounding air seemed to have stagnated at this moment. For a long time, she didn't dare to reach out and test her mother's breath. She could only hear her own heartbeat beating dryly.
But she finally mustered up the courage and touched her mother's nose with her finger.
Only the cold autumn wind blew through my fingers.
She did not show any sadness. She just raised her heavy body and looked out the window. She saw a white dove standing on the eaves. It spread its wings and flew into the misty clouds. It's like a homing pigeon that has taken something with it and never comes back.
Zhuo Lengping's tense spirit relaxed, and at the same time, the only pillar in her heart collapsed. She stood up, walked a few steps, and felt her body became light. Before she could react, she fell heavily to the ground, unconscious.
He didn't know how long he had been lying on the ground before Leng Ping slowly opened his eyes and saw that he was still lying in this broken house with no one around him. She glanced at the sky, but it was only late in the evening. Just slept for a few hours.
She stood up, but her head suddenly buzzed, and she suddenly had a headache. But when she saw her mother's body, she had no choice but to pat her forehead, endure the pain, and walk step by step to her mother's side.
I have to bury my mother first and put her soul to rest. Leng Ping thought in his heart.
She was indeed tired, but her mother's remaining warmth still gave her a sense of spiritual comfort, which was obviously more important.
She carried her mother on her back, took firm steps, opened the door, and walked out of the store.
"Store, I have nine cents left," Zhuo Lengping held his mother in one hand and untied his trousers with the other hand and threw it on the counter. "Can you help me find a car to transport things? I can push it."
When the shop owner saw Mrs. Zhang lying motionless on top of her, her face turned as white as paint, and she looked at her in horror: "Your mother..."
"My mother fell ill and passed away..." Zhuo Lengping said in a low voice, "Please consider the deceased..."
Before he finished speaking, the owner of the store hurriedly waved his hands: "Quickly... get out quickly! It is unlucky for a dead person to be in the store. You... you know? Get out!"
"That……"
"I took the money," the store owner said, taking the money. "I have plenty of carts in the store. Just wait outside and ask the waiter to pick them up for you!"
After that, he didn't dare to stay here for a while, for fear of being contaminated by the dead man's evil spirit. He turned around in a hurry, lifted the curtain, ran into the back room, and ordered a waiter: "Get that girl a wooden pusher." Car, she's going to push someone to death!"
"Which one to take?" asked the boy.
The store owner shook the money bag in his hand and said, "Just give her the unstable one that hasn't been used for a long time... I don't care whether she lives or lives, it has nothing to do with me."
