Text/Huang Xuemei In the past half month or so, whenever a friend asks me what I have been busy with recently? When I have time to chat, I almost always answer the same question: I’m writing an article. For those of you who know me well, I am busy with business again. For me at t

text/Huang Xuemei

In the past half month or so, whenever a friend asks me what I am busy with recently? When I have time to chat, I almost always answer the same question: I’m writing an article. For those of you who know me well, I am busy with business again. For me at this stage, I think writing is almost my life. However, in fact, most of the time recently, I am not writing, but thinking and brewing. When cleaning at home, when I intentionally go shopping for groceries in the evening, when I wash the clothes cleanly with my hands and take them to the backyard to hang on a rope to dry... Yes, I admit it, I am. Thinking is brewing. I know that the article I want to write is about my dear mother, who has passed away for 18 months. I only miss her but will never see her again.

In the past, when we were making newspapers and writing news articles, we not only paid attention to quality, but also speed. Often I publish it the same day I write it. And mother, these two words are too sacred in my heart. I don't dare to write easily, I can't write casually, and I can't write randomly. I'm afraid that I won't write well, and I'm even more afraid of blaspheming the beautiful relationship between my mother and me. Mr. Yang Jiang wrote in his 100th birthday speech: After a person undergoes different levels of exercise, he will obtain different levels of cultivation and different levels of benefits. Just like spices, the more you pound them, the finer they are ground, the stronger the fragrance becomes. I just clumsily believed it. If I have more time to prepare my writing, I should be able to write better more or less relatively.

01

mother was born in April 1941 and died in February 2021 at the age of 79. My mother only attended the fourth grade of elementary school. But her academic performance is always first in the class. My mother said that this may be related to how old she was when she entered school. My mother said that she went to school in the year of liberation and was already 9 years old. Although my mother only has a fourth-grade education, in my heart, my mother has a mind that simply surpasses that of a university professor.

I remember one time, several people in our family were chatting together and mentioned that a teacher from a certain university had a guest at home and he quarreled with his wife and overturned the table of food. My mother summed it up in one word: That’s called being literate but not knowledgeable. I didn't think much about it at the time, I just thought my mother spoke very civilly. Thinking about it many years later, my mother's expression was quite accurate: being literate probably means having an academic degree, but without social knowledge, one should be patient and give in when guests come to the house.

Another time, when I was eating at home, I accidentally dropped a bowl. The bowl was of high quality and had clear patterns. It was suitable for microwave ovens. I remember that the price was a bit more expensive at the time. I was a little surprised. At this time, I saw my mother put one hand on her chest, stretched out the other hand in a gesture similar to an invitation, and asked me with a smile, "Look, who hit the bowl?" It felt like I finally had the time to be disciplined. Me, I answered reluctantly, who knew that my mother would change her style again, "Does the original meaning of "bowl" mean "finished"? You said, if the bowls are not bowled, then the bowl seller will still be there. Aren’t you starving to death?”

What remains fresh in my memory is: When Xiaji Town was renamed Xiagui Town , I took a ride home from my work unit. I told my mother privately that it was great to take the ride from work. There were a few people on the bus chatting and laughing, no one was smoking, and the bus was not in a hurry. My mother said that it was called joy accompanying me. Later I asked her how she came up with this word, and she said that when she was watching TV, there was the name of a column.

our Weibei Grape Industrial Park is almost the business card of Weinan Grape Industrial Base. Famous people from far and near come to visit. In late autumn, almost all the leaves have fallen. Taking advantage of the vacation, I took my mother on a motorcycle and slowly drove to our Weibei tourist destination. When I first entered the door, the clean road led into the distance, and the arched decoration above illuminated the scenery of the fields. My mother couldn't help but describe it: broad and beautiful. I smiled secretly in my heart. When I rode to the artificial grape trellis in the middle, my mother added three more words, "What a scenery." At that moment, I suddenly realized: these seven words are how my mother appropriately describes the Weibei Grape Industrial Park.It turns out that my mother usually increases her knowledge in books, newspapers and on TV.

02

Mom’s thinking is very quick, and she really feels that she is incompetent. One year, my mother cooked for me while I was at work. When I came back to eat, I felt that the food was not delicious, so I kept enduring it. In fact, the food was good, but I was not used to it and didn’t like the taste of the combination. Finally, I couldn’t bear it anymore. Said: "Mom, this meal you made tastes terrible." Unexpectedly, my mother said seriously: "If it tastes bad, you will eat less. If you eat less, you will be healthy. Why don't you shout all day long that you want to eat something?" Do you want to lose weight?" I went back to work with this question, and a colleague said that if it were her mother, she would definitely go to whose house the food tastes good. Another colleague said, his mother promises that it will be good if she can cook it for you... Everyone has different opinions, but none can match my mother's unique response. When

first started working, there were two other girls in my office, but the bathroom was often not cleaned. I went home and kept counting and complaining to my mother. Mom asked, "Is your office as big as our room?" I didn't know what she meant by asking, so I looked at the whole room and thought about the office, and said it was half as big as our house. Mom said, such a small place , If the child doesn’t clean it, you can just clean it. It should be an activity. What a tolerant mother.

I still remember one year, I told my mother that I could cook: celery and meat dumplings. I talked about the cooking process in detail, my mother said, I dare not say it anymore, my mouth watered, I smiled a little, my mother continued, I think you are good at cooking now and can open a restaurant, instantly I was so happy that I felt like I could go to heaven. It was really full of laughter. Who knew that I was not over happy yet, "You are so slow at cooking, you will starve to death when you have a guest." In an instant, my mother's words made me feel like Bounced from the sky to the ground.

03

My mother loves me, the kind of love that I dare not recall and makes me cry when I touch it. I remember one day 6 years ago, my mother and I went to Xinda Plaza for a leisurely stroll. When we came back, we bought two cups of hot milk tea drinks. There were drinks of various flavors and shapes. Just holding them in your hands felt delicious. clatter. I quickly finished my cup and threw the milk tea cup into the roadside trash can. I felt that I could make a small contribution to the city's environmental protection, and I felt quite proud. She only drank half of her mother's milk tea, and then she kept it in her hand on the way back. I kept muttering to myself, not throwing it away even if I didn't want to drink it, and holding it in my hand...but I didn't show it on my expression.

After returning home, I saw my mother taking a disposable paper cup, pouring the "left" half cup of milk tea into it, and handing it to me, "Would you like the taste of my milk tea?" while continuing to purse her lips and smile. He said, "Do you want to be civilized for a day?" Only then did I realize that my mother’s half cup of milk tea was intentionally reserved for me.

Before, my brother had a freezer at home and sold cold drinks. The retail price of cold drinks was usually double the purchase price. I was used to feeling cheap when I wanted to eat and drink. Later, I came to one time When we were in Weinan city, my mother handed me 10 yuan before departure and told me, don’t think it’s expensive when you get to Weinan, just buy what you want.

Once, our work drove by my house, and my mother saw me coming back. She remembered that fruits would definitely be cheaper in rural markets, and my home was close to the market. My mother went out to buy fruits for me without saying a word. She Later, she told me that she had bought a lot of them, but when she came back, I had already left.

Many people in our area grow grapes, and my brother is no exception. When I went back one year, my mother told me that she had left a few bunches of grapes in the field for me, and they were very good in color, black and red. She wanted to go to the field with me to pick grapes, so I carried the cage with her and went to the ground with the special scissors for cutting grapes. At that time, the vineyard had been unloaded, and soon my mother took me to the grape vine. In the blink of an eye, my mother bent down and skillfully passed through the steel strands that tied the grape vines in the ground. , cut the grapes for me.

In February 2021, there were only a few days before the Chinese New Year. After I moved my house, I planned to bring my mother over during the Spring Festival. In the newly renovated house, we started to live a better life. But that night, I inexplicably did I had a dream about an uncle who had passed away. I was called by my name: Xuemei, I immediately said, Uncle, what are you doing at my house? I didn’t even look, but I knew it was you just by the sound of the voice. He said, I'm here to take care of things at home. I said, just take care of yourself. Then after I woke up from the dream, I felt weird and couldn't sleep... I heard an old man say that people who die in dreams speak poorly.

At 5 o'clock in the morning in the twelfth lunar month, it was still dark, so I got up and found something to do. I washed clothes, dried them, and hung them up. Then I fell asleep again from sleepiness, with my phone on silent mode. When I woke up again and saw the calls from my brother and sister one after another on my mobile phone, I knew something was wrong with my mother, so I packed my things and went home. It was that morning that my mother left this incredibly beautiful world. At home, I still have Lantian pecans and Mengcun eggs that I prepared for my mother to take home half a month ago. She once said that pecans are very oily. I also know that she eats one boiled egg every day. Habit...

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