He stumbles into a wonderful moment and meets the spirit of a garlic lotus. His mind was preoccupied with the wonderful moment. It was the end of July and the tops of the trees were dotted with green and yellow leaves. The summer wind is always warm and leaves you covered in itchy film, more like five sultry fingers holding saran wrap provocatively to your cheeks. The horse laughed at the water. God knows what he’s laughing at.
He had an ordinary face and could have been any man in the village. He now held the lobe of one of his ears and rolled up his eyes. Is she at home? Not far ahead is Liu Yanlin’s home. He was there to retrieve something he had lost in his dream: a garlic lotus plant.
Horse water to Liu Yanlin home, said to borrow handle fork. Midsummer season who borrows this kind of furniture that just uses after autumn? He was liu Yanlin white two eyes. But when it was time to leave, the feet couldn’t move. He saw a garlic lotus as beautiful as Liu Yanlin.
Ma Stood on the footpath at the side of Liu Yanlin’s gate. His feet were topped by a pair of low-topped watershoes with red rubber tires. They were topped above the ankle, and the bottoms rolled up to the knees. He was thinking of something, probably something as muddy as mud. Then he simply moved to the front of the wall and bent over to smell the pot of flowers that had been placed on the low wall. He thought, this potted flower may remain some of liu Yanlin’s body smell, unfortunately, he smelled is some of the mud smell.
Ma Chuanshui dreamed of Liu Yanlin last night, in the dream he grabbed her hand, Liu Yanlin wanted to spread but did not succeed. Ma Shuishui later hugged her, but also kissed her, Liu Yanlin half-dodged… Unfortunately, it was a dream.
The rain stopped two days ago. The sun is boiled into floating shreds by the wet steam.
Under the thought of wanting a strain of garlic lotus, the horse tried his best to approach Liu Shuhai. He also handed Liu a handful of fried black beans. Liu Shuhai said, sister, he wants your garlic lotus. Liu Yanlin slanted his eyes to come over. A spatula in her hand, caught up in her bad mood, was thrown violently, and the spatula bounced on the ground and remained motionless.
Ma shuai thought she would scold him a few words to please him, but did not. She just smiled and haughtily went back to the house. After a while, she came out again with a plastic bag in her hand.
Well, don’t you want it? Here you go. Take it.
Ma Qianshui a face of joy, quickly then Liu Yanlin handed him the garlic lotus, carefully put the plastic bag into his arms, he hated to fly home immediately, will be planted into their own good pot.
The streets were still muddy, and for two days the whole village was filled with the smell of putrid steam that had been poured into wine cellars.
The horse carried water to the top of the cabinet in the main room and took out a seven-inch-wide flowerpot. Then he went to the garden and took some warm, black, ripe earth. He had also heard that the nails which the blacksmiths had shovelled out for the horseshoes were retted, and that it was best to make fertilizer for the flowers, to help them root and grow. Fortunately, this year their village is engaged in tourism, but also some mules horse teams do antique shows, blacksmith furnace is naturally followed.
The horse draws water then runs to mules the horse team’s horse field son before, become cocked buttocks to seek, but let him be very disappointed, those horse fingernail can have others also to pick up? How else could there be none? He went again to the flat places in front of the blacksmith’s hearth, and was not very satisfied, though at last he found fragments of hoof mail. He raised his buttocks to and fro, like a loyal old man garbage collector, although not much harvest, but he was a happy face, deliciously happy. He placed the nails in a scrap paper shell and went back to soak them in an old iron pot.
Ma Water while doing these while thinking of Liu Yanlin. He was thinking of Liu Yanlin’s every move: she was holding a small shovel fingers, like a lot of onion; When she bowed her head, her hair looked like a hairy kiwi… Why kiwi fruit? This is what he wants to swallow alive.
Ma Chuanshui feel puzzling, he thought liu Yanlin honey color skin from his side through, the body will fan up a trace of sweet mixed fragrance. This is exactly the same as the garlic lotus.
The garlic lotus in the plastic bag was sprayed with water twice every day. On the fourth day, he loosened the soil for the pot and dug a hole. Then he opened the nutrition bag that was sprayed with water on time every day…
The garlic lotus was so weak that half of its roots had festered, oozing black juice and smelling sour. Liu Yanlin still bears a grudge against him.
Somehow, he suddenly remembered an incident in junior high school. That day there is a work class, to go to the school five miles south of a naked oats weeding. Everyone is serious in weeding, horse water but overlook for a while look around for a while, such as a restless rabbit, appear to be incompatible with everyone. Open field, far mountains indigo, near the shallow green on the slope of a zipper weak naked oats seedling, still have a few small mounds, a few lean old man Yang, the tree is piled up a few pieces of soil ash but hard stone, occasionally I do not know from which jump a rabbit, disappear in an instant.
When the horse’s eyes lit up, he saw a gray lizard. The little guy walks and stops, eyes drop a thief turn, xu is baked by the sun scorched ground too hot, hot it like dance on the cymbal of fire.
The horse ducked behind the class to look at the lizard, and a cat caught it. People were so busy weeding that no one took any notice of his movements. The horse said: You look down on me, I tell you look down. When he turned around in the ground, he quietly stuffed the dizzy lizard into Liu Yanlin’s schoolbag. According to Liu Yanlin and her teacher, when she was preparing to do her homework that day, she found the bloody little lizard. It had died, and her textbooks and exercise books were stained with blood… He was punished for cleaning the classroom for one month and wiping the blackboard for two months.
Think of the horse water are gas, but also how to see others Liu Yanlin!
Ma Chuanshui although is a very unruly person, but also a man without courage, such as he likes Liu Yanlin, but never dare to face Liu Yanlin. He also thought of a lot of ways to get Liu Yanlin privately, and then all fizzled out. These methods are very strange, for example, he thought of raping Liu Yanlin: after graduation, they both “work apart”, Ma Quanshui’s family wanted him to learn some skills, in the future to marry and start a career, is also a way to survive, but he did not listen to the advice, until now, idle, nothing. Liu Yanlin went to school after graduation to the town to do a tailor, her two aunt is a good tailor, early with her mind to learn art, now she went to the town two aunt of a street shop playing a helper to learn tailor has been two years. Liu Yanlin will occasionally go home, although she is a woman, can be bold, dark from the town riding electric motorcycle twenty miles back to the village, to the village completely blind. Horse water bad idea, just want to start at this time, but he went to keep a few times in the dark, near Liu Yanlin riding electric motorcycle from his side came over, he was timid. He also thought of another way, such as marriage: good to learn a popular craft, come back to stick to parents work seriously, earn money, and then marry Liu Yanlin. Isn’t that a fair way to go? But then he denied his idea. He guesses liu Yanlin’s heart is far away from the village? There was the time he stuffed a lizard into a schoolbag. So, all he could do was hide it.
One day, it was still a rainy day. It rained a lot this summer. Ma Xianshui gets up early to do morning exercises. His morning exercises consist of watching garlic and lotus for half an hour. He did it in private. There was no need to elaborate. He was too shy to mention it himself… But his heart but think, this is and Liu Yanlin in good friends, like and his wife live…
The horse came to the street, the rain seems to be bigger than the courtyard, everywhere is a tangle of footprints. These marks in the mud show how eager the owner of each footprint was to get home.
He wanted to go to liu Yanlin’s house. The rain is dense, weaving a net over Liu Yanlin’s door. The door like Liu Yanlin cold face, jilted to him.
He wanted to go to liu Yanlin’s home pass by the village of the small woods. The trees of the grove were all bathing, naked and waving green leaves, as if waving to him: Come on, you too, you are really dirty, take off your clothes to wash in the rain!
Ma Diversion water did not listen to the tree’s bewitch, but stood to the intersection of the long unseen ah, straight to the eyes of the rain completely covered him, who in the heart but come with a smile. As soon as the horse drew water, it rushed forward…
Half a month later, the garlic lotus began to glow, ma shui on the forehead of the hair has fallen off a lot, but he still adhere to the daily morning exercise. Perhaps he thought it was this that made the potted plant flourish?
Ma looked intently at the garlic lotus flower. Sometimes in the evening when the room was a little dark, he would turn on all the lights so that all corners of the room would be filled with tiled light. Under the light, the objects in the room looked like children playing with water in their bare clothes along the reservoir in summer. They not only had bare arms and legs, but also had naked eyes to watch the garlic lotus plant with him.
Is Liu Yanlin working in that tailor shop at the moment? Shopping for clothes at one of the department stores in town? Or go out to dinner with some punk who’s chasing her? The horse knows he can’t hit the pole. Sure enough, they’re all in the middle of this prolonged rain right now. Ma Diversion water on his back, he worries for Liu Yanlin thinking about all possible trouble. He even thought in this rain Liu Yanlin will urinate? That will go to her two aunt shop outside a public toilet to find convenience, at the moment the town of those winding alleyways, will there be like his horse water so want to bully Liu Yanlin bad guys? If so, how could she manage a girl’s house? On second thoughts, perhaps the summer store business is weak will give her a holiday at home? In that case, girls should stay at home…
The horse drew water toward the rain arrowheads of the sky to open his eyes hard, a few drops of rain into his eyes, reflex under his eyes closed, head is unwilling to lower.
One night, the horse was a little late to look at the potted plants and fell asleep sitting down. He fell asleep and dreamed that the garlic lotus was dead. Seeing a dead garlic lotus, he would have died. He longed for someone to talk to, but there was no one. The sky is still overcast, that day, the sky is gloomy, even the dream is so. He thought of Liu Shuhai. Ma Manshui didn’t go to Liu Shuhai for a long time, the withered part of the basin of garlic lotus had been blown by the wind, I do not know where to go, every walk from its side, his heart will be hit. The horse suddenly went to the flowerpot to dig fiercely! The sky is gloomy, but why is the soil in the basin so dry? As hard as a sheet of iron. Ma Shuishui to their own doings feel puzzling, perhaps he wants to let this buried his hope of the place to revitalize, even if it is some insignificant grass. Horse water to find water, re-ying good, and then loose the soil, and then brush grass seed everywhere. He scattered the grass seeds in the flowerpot at will. Without fertilizing, they grew a layer of green in a few days. He was delighted, suddenly heard a burst of TuTuTu chug voice. Go to the window, see Liu Yanlin wearing a new dress, is to get married to wear red clothes, sitting on a red green tail of the tractor, hand car bucket, head and chest stand tall. Liu Shuhai, who was driving the tractor, was also wearing a new suit, the grass blue suit, which looked a little weird on him, but he smiled proudly, his eyes wide with laughter. She was married by the son of the chief of the neighboring village. Isn’t it? Yes. A fat old woman with her hands in her pockets passed by the window, talking to another thin old woman who walked the same way. Garlic lotus died, Liu Yanlin got married. The garlic lotus is drowned by love… But, garlic lotus know? It withered like a sick seedling has been dangling in front of the horse water. Liu Yanlin happily left the village, she was satisfied to find their own destination, this and the horse water is willing to accept the fact has nothing to do with you do not accept this is a fact, your horse water now what? Why don’t you go fuck yourself? “Cried a voice, and he thought of death! Perhaps everything had been arranged, and there was now a bottomless well for him, or a cliff… A man has a backbone. What are you hesitating about? It was none other than himself… He turned, clenched his teeth, and plunged into the dark abyss…
The horse stirred and sat up. The dream was so terrible that he even doubted life! Potted in reality is still potted, garlic lotus well alive. Liu Yanlin is also the tailor shop apprentice, is the heavy rain, do not know how many days.
I can’t do that. I have to find a way to keep it.
The horse led water about the house. He circled the lotus repeatedly, as if afraid it would take wings.
There was a quartz clock on one of the walls of the house, and it kept ticking. If only he could stop it from moving, he thought, then time would stand still. That is to say, keep the time, let it stop in this beautiful moment, do not like the dream, to kill him in despair. He took off the quartz clock, found a screwdriver and unscrewed the back cover. He didn’t turn off the battery, because that would stop naturally, but he tied up the three hands as they moved, so that they would lose their ability to carry away time. Does this tie up time? But he failed.
Then he wondered if there might be a storage tank for the beauty of the present lotus in its best form. So he can go to see it anytime and anywhere, look at it can think of Liu Yanlin, thinking of Liu Yanlin can like thinking of his wife, warm heart. People alive have a beautiful shadow in the heart, is not good? Contentment! He saw a small mirror on the wall. Pinned to a corner of the West Room, it was square. Mother used it when she combed her hair. It occurred to him that if only the good time could make it get into the mirror, then everything would be all right. He went to take it down, but then he saw another “he” inside, an ugly face. He failed again.
He went on thinking and thinking. He is a stubborn man who sticks to a matter once it is bitten. But his imagination was so poor that he could not think of a way to let beauty or time stay in his room for days and nights.
So he went to the mountain. He climbed halfway up the back of Nanshan. In the slit, he found the cave where he had often played as a boy. He felt down to the cave of the most deep place, here is not cold in winter nor hot in summer all year round constant temperature, he imagined, if put the potted flower here, let it stop in the middle of the four seasons, forget the pretty outside, it is best to grow, according to his imagination into Liu Yanlin appearance, no longer have Liu Yanlin so bad temper, Is his ideal love wife and mother type, do his wife, have children, five years, ten years or even fifty years, until the couple……
Ma led the water to think very silly very sincere. He chuckled at the thought of the ideal.
Ma Has always thought that Liu Yanlin has a feeling of contempt for him. He was six years old when he first went to school. He was held by his father that day. His buttons on his chest were unbuttoned and out of place. And they walk before and after liu Yanlin’s mother holding liu Yanlin’s hand, after a while, they are side by side. They did not speak all the time, but he saw liu Yanlin’s eyes. Liu Yanlin small small person, but she really spirit, go up flickering flickering, two small braids a sa sa to shake. It was a sly look out of the corner of his eye. The horse felt that she was contemptuous of herself. I’ve only been in this world a few years, and I don’t owe you anything and I don’t see you very often. Why are you looking at me like that? And why? Ma Diversion water did not make a sound to query her, but also her a reciprocal oblique eyes.
A contemptuous look, once in the heart, inadvertently became a lifelong projection. Horse water often think of this look in the eyes, a think up, he muttered silently: with what? For this memory projection, he later did a lot of bad things. Of course, it was all in the eyes of others, but he himself saw it as proof of his courage to defy such contempt…
The horse laughs, god knows what.
He ten thousand times chanting Liu Yanlin three words, and went back to the house to see the basin of garlic lotus.
Rain to the end of summer, finally less frequent, the streets of the road also gradually began to harden up. The family said, you should go out to find something to do, or else, just like the clothes in the closet are going to mold. You are nearly twenty years old, always cover the home is not a matter, how can you get married, a wife and children? The horse turned a deaf ear to them, but after hearing these words many times, he also felt that the weather was so fine that he could not go out to take a walk in the warm sunshine outside.
He could not help coming to liu Yanlin’s door, far to see Liu Shuhai is moving things to the home, as if it is what heavy objects. So he ran over a few steps, while they did not pay attention to help Liu Shuhai to do it.
That’s very kind of you. Liu Shuhai said. “And they carried things from the car into the house. There is a bed, a sofa, and a writing desk. Ma Manshui also according to liu Shuhai father mean to help them put the car down things neat, but he helped to do things, while looking around, is not looking at Liu Yanlin figure.
It’s not much. It’ll take care of itself. Liu shuhai’s father cut open a watermelon and gave a piece of water to the horse. He took a bite of the watermelon and whispered back, where’s your sister? Liu Shuhai said: when the soldier walked, walked yesterday. I just, uh, pulled her stuff back. Oh? Joined the army?
Horse water from Liu Shuhai home, very disappointed. His feet were soft as rain, spongy. Liu Yanlin went to the army, he did not know.
He came to the old Liu Yanlin from the town back to the village of that intersection, there was a moment when he even regretted that he did not have the courage to do those extraordinary things. Now that she’s gone, it’s too late to do anything about it. He looked up at the sky like that rainy day. The sky is high, it will be so clean that there is not even a cloud, and the whole world will be as quiet as if nothing had happened. No sound, no smell, no color could be sensed by the horse. He looked up at the sun, unnoticed by him, hanging in the blue sky, and the trees around him, much more orderly than when there was wind and rain, bowed their heads and stood in clumps like errant students. Ma felt like a man abandoned by the world. He felt like he was going to abandon himself.
I’ve got bonsai! Suddenly the horse thought of the bowl of garlic lotus, head down, eyes and lively.
In the distance, in the direction of the village school, a group of children in little red hats came out. They came running from dozens of meters away, which was more like his wild childhood. He even found his childhood self in it. But the reality of this he, but here by all the green plants surrounded, slowly, those green from his eyes grow a lot of grass, diffuse melancholy content.
An empty road pointed ahead.
He stood beside the small trees by the side of the road, thinking of his potted plants with boundless thoughts.
