Rebirth Aftec Death

Golden dumplings

Li Chishu and I made the bed. He stood across from me, hesitant to speak: "My room..."

"Just one room, we sleep together." I didn't give him room to refuse, "What do you want to eat tonight?"

"Uh...anything is fine."

"Let's eat dumplings."

He was stunned: "...dumplings?"

"Dumplings." I tilted my head at him, "Don't you want to eat?"

"No." He was so anxious that he even waved his hands, "Dumplings...let's eat dumplings."

Li Chishu raised his foot and was about to leave: "I'll go downstairs and help you do it."

I stopped him: "Don't go, you have to burn firewood now, and you'll be fuming."

I saw that he still wanted to fight, so I said: "I can do it faster by myself."

Li Chishu stopped: "...Okay."

"You--" I pointed to the desk under the window sill, "Are you going to read or go downstairs to play?"

Probably because it was the first day of the holiday, Li Chishu relaxed a little and did his homework upstairs for almost an hour. He came downstairs when it was dark. At that time, I had already chopped the meat filling, lit the fire and added firewood to the stove, and was boiling water while making dumplings.

Li Chishu was leaning on the small wooden door of the kitchen and looking out.

"It will be put into the pot soon," I looked up at him, "Are you hungry?"

He still shook his head and asked tentatively: "Can I come in and take a look?"

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Come in, I'm not stopping you."

Li Chishu walked quickly to the chopping board and a table full of stuffing, with unconcealed expectation in his eyes.

I know this is because he has never eaten dumplings.

Maybe he has, but that was before he was seven years old, and he has no memory of it.

Li Chishu had compensated himself for many things in revenge from his life to his death: various coffee machines, dozens of expensive pajamas that he bought but rarely wore, various carpets, many pairs of headphones, cups and table lamps of different brands...but there are some things he never touches, such as dumplings, such as glutinous rice balls.

He once talked to me about this topic while watching a family happily eating dumplings on TV - "When I was a child, I wanted to eat dumplings, but my grandmother wouldn't let me. One year on New Year's Eve, she came back from the nursing home and said she would cook a meal for me. I said I wanted to eat dumplings. She scolded me first and then cried for a long time. She said that my parents were dead, so why eat dumplings. Then the next day, she went back. But the next day..." Li Chishu stopped talking here. The next day was his birthday. On the first day of the new year, the loneliest person was born on the busiest day. I comforted him after hearing that and said I would make dumplings for him the next day, but he said he didn't want to, he really didn't want to eat it. He was afraid that I would be angry, so he smiled and explained to me: "It's just flour and meat balls. You can eat them anyway when you make them separately. When they are put together to become dumplings, the meaning is different. And I really don't need to eat it. Although my grandmother didn't let me eat it when I was a child, I really don't want to eat it now." I wrapped dumplings in silence, and when I raised my eyes, I met Li Chishu's eager eyes. I asked him, "Do you want to make dumplings?"

His eyes sparkled, and he nodded, "But I don't know how."

"If you don't know how, I'll teach you." I took a pair of chopsticks, gave him a few pieces of dough, and taught him to make hand gestures, "Put some stuffing in, not too much, and dip the chopsticks in some water..."

It was dark when the dumplings were cooked, and we set up a small table on the eaves. There was a yellow light bulb with spider silk on the top of the beam. Li Chishu and I each had a small stool, and we ate around a plate of dumplings.

The hot air was rising above our heads, and I turned my upper body away, leaning towards Li Chishu, and asked, "Is it delicious?"

He didn't bother to talk, holding the bowl in both hands, stuffing his mouth with dumplings, and looking at me and nodding.

"Eat slowly, be careful not to burn yourself." I smiled, "It's a pity that I didn't bring any coins."

He asked vaguely: "Coins?"

"There are coins hidden in the dumplings, and whoever bites them will be safe and sound in the coming year."

I suddenly remembered that I still had a gold pendant on my chest, and I stood up.

"Wait for me for two minutes."

The pendant was bought by my family when I was twelve years old, a tiger. I forgot who gave it to me. Later, I took it off and gave it to Li Chishu - but I still have it with me now. I took it off, rubbed it with soap and washed it, ran back to the table and sat down, and handed it to Li Chishu: "Take a bite."

Li Chishu was still chewing the dumplings, looking at the pendant, and then looking back at my face: "Hmm?"

"Take a bite." I said.

"Oh."

He swallowed the food in his mouth with great difficulty, drank a sip of water, opened his mouth slightly, and gently touched the tiger with his teeth.

I put the pendant down on the table: "Others bite coins, you bite gold. Not only next year, but also the year after, the year after, and the year after, everything will be safe and sound."

He stared at the gold for a long time, then smiled and whispered: "Thank you."

——

Jiang Chi found this place, and broke everything that should be broken.

For example, to take a bath, you have to boil hot water.

Fortunately, I had boiled a bucket of water for Li Chishu while I was eating, and when he asked to wash the dishes, I successfully rejected him with the order of taking a bath.

By the time he came downstairs to find some clothes to change, I had almost finished washing the dishes. Seeing him walking to the bathroom without looking back, I called him back: "Wait a minute."

Li Chishu stopped obediently: "What's wrong?"

I took the clothes from his hand and shook them out: "Shorts?"

"Yeah." He looked at my face with a little puzzlement, "My father's... What's wrong?" Li Chishu only brought two sets of clothes to change, which was within my expectations. Almost all of his clothes during his school days came from his late father. In spring, summer, autumn and winter, he could always find a few that didn't fit but could be worn.

"There are a lot of mosquitoes in the mountains at night. You will get bitten if you wear shorts." I turned and went upstairs, "Wait a minute."

--Half of the things in my two large suitcases were prepared for Li Chishu.

A week before coming here, I had asked the aunt who made clothes at home to help me make two sets of pajamas for Li Chishu. After all, I know the size of every part of Li Chishu's body better than he does.

When I went downstairs with the pajamas I made for him, I looked back at his clothes: they were very big, much bigger than his body frame, the typical military green color sold in county and city stalls, made of the most airtight polyester, and cost at most fifteen yuan, not more than twenty.

I thought of Li Chishu, who bought a cabinet full of luxury brands but always loved to wear the first set of pure cotton pajamas he bought when he graduated and curled up in the quilt.

——

October 1st, sunny

On the first day of the holiday, I submitted an application to the teacher to stay in school. There was no one in the school, and there was only one dish at the window on the first floor of the cafeteria.

I did two math papers and an English weekly report.

It will take seven days before I can see Shen Baoshan.

——

October 1st, sunny Today I accompanied Shen Baoshan to the countryside, which turned out to be his hometown. I thought he had never lived in such a place.

Shen Baoshan made dumplings for me, and I ate thirteen of them. I haven't eaten dumplings for many years. It seems that I will have good luck following Shen Baoshan, and I can always eat what I want to eat. He also let me take a bite of his gold pendant, which was a tiger. After that, he said that I would be safe and sound for the next four years.

I wore his pajamas to sleep at night. He said that he wore them when he was a child and they didn’t fit me now, so he brought them to me to try. But they really fit me very well, and they were just right in every place. They were very comfortable to wear.

When I was sleeping, the electric fan on the second floor stopped working. It was very hot. Shen Baoshan looked everywhere and found two plastic fans, but I didn’t have the energy to fan for a long time. I fell asleep in the heat. When I woke up, I saw him fanning me. I didn’t say anything, hoping that he didn’t notice. But I was very grateful to him.

It was the first time I spent the night alone with Shen Baoshan. He is such a good person.