Chapter Seven: Brothers (Four)

  "Brother, I miss mom." Li Lie said softly, her voice trembling with a hint of tears.

  Li Yang was suddenly shaken, these two brothers had a good time being free for a few days, when all of this suddenly calmed down, a sense of helplessness and sadness spread through their hearts, they were still crazy and playful, but after all, they were just kids, an eleven-year-old and a six-year-old.

  "Is Mommy abandoning us?" Li Lie asked cautiously, starting to fear the heart-wrenching answer at a young age.

  Li Yang opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't say a word. Ah, yes, he couldn't say anything because he didn't know and wasn't sure either. Now Mom was gone, Dad was gone too. Dad being gone might be a good thing, but Mom being gone was like two little wolves in winter without their wolf mom - no matter how strong those two little wolves were, they would still be small wolves, unable to survive the harsh winter and destined to be swallowed up by other beasts.

  When a gust of wind blew over, the oil lamp flickered several times in the wind before going out.

  "Wow, mom......" Li Lie suddenly burst into tears.

  His crying made Li Yang cry too, and the two brothers cried together in the dark, calling out for their mother, but at this moment, they knew that their mother might not come back. Because they had heard that a mother from Democratic Five Teams had thrown her children at home and never came back.

  In a remote and dark mountain village, the crying of two brothers was particularly jarring in the darkness, filled with loneliness and longing, like two abandoned puppies making heart-wrenching sounds. But on that night, their voices were destined to go unheard, and no one knew what had happened. At that moment, Li Lie felt a deep sense of abandonment in his heart. In this corner of the world, all two children needed was not much, just a bed, a home, and a warm embrace.

  "Oh, mom..."

  After hearing Li Lie's crying, Li Yang tried hard not to cry. He sniffled and then managed to calm his voice down before speaking in a very steady tone:

  "Li Lie, don't cry, I'll sing a song for you."

  "Li Lie, don't cry anymore, Mom won't come back, let me sing a song for you."

  "Li Lie, don't cry anymore."

  Li Yang didn't dare say another word, he was afraid that if he continued speaking, he would cry again. He had promised his mother to take good care of his younger brother Li Lie.

  But now he is crying, he is heartbroken.

  "The sun shines in the sky, flowers smile at me, birds say 'early, early, early', why are you carrying a small school bag? I'm going to school on time every day, love labor, love learning, grow up to contribute to the people."

  Although Li Yang's voice was not great, he still sang in a serious tone, but Li Lie was still crying. He remembered that a few days ago, his classmates sang an adapted version of "School Song" and maybe Li Lie would like it.

  "The sun shines in the sky, flowers smile at me, a little bird says: 'Early early early', why are you carrying an explosive package? I'm going to blow up the school, the teacher doesn't know, light the fire and run away, all the teachers will be dead."

  "Hmph." Li Lie burst out laughing after hearing this adapted version of the school song that was not beneficial to one's physical and mental growth.

  Although I no longer cry, a sorrowful breath always lingers in silence.

  "Li Lie, we are men, we can't cry, real men don't cry."

  Li Lie nodded as if he understood, and Li Yang saw that the sleeve of his shirt was torn after re-lighting the lamp. Although the two brothers could do most of the household chores, they still hadn't learned how to wash clothes well, so they had no choice but to wear one piece of clothing for several days. After several days passed, there were a few pieces of dirty clothes in a corner of the house that couldn't get any dirtier. Now Li Lie's current shirt was his last one, and if it got damaged, he would have nothing to wear.

  "I'll come and sew it up for you," said Li Yang, and then he picked up the kerosene lamp to find a needle and thread.

  Later, after we grew up, we came to realize that many things are not that we can't do them, nor that we're not good at doing them, but rather that we haven't been pushed to that point yet. If we never back down, when death is no longer something to be feared, and when pain has become a kind of sweetness, what can't we accomplish?

  For Li Yang, sewing was limited to seeing his mother mend clothes at ordinary times. However, when he actually did it, it was another story. When he first threaded the needle through the hole in the clothes, he suddenly didn't know what to do next. Then, he tried hard to recall how his mother did it and attempted to sew the thread in and out of the hole one stitch at a time. Although his expression was very serious and his movements were careful, perhaps he himself didn't feel that way, but from an adult's perspective, his movements were indeed clumsy, and the sewing line was ugly to the point of being unbearable. It would be better to say that instead of sewing, he clumsily tied the 5-centimeter-long hole together with thread. Then, he carefully tied a knot and bit off the thread end with his teeth.

  Li Yang looked at his own masterpiece, and his expression still seemed very satisfied.

  "From now on I'll be doing needlework!" Li Yang said proudly to his younger brother.

  At that time, Little Li Lie didn't have an aesthetic view yet. He saw that his brother could actually do needlework, which was a remarkable thing.

  When doing needlework, Li Yang slightly shifted his emotions.

  "Brother, I still miss mom," said Li Lie.

  "Don't think about it anymore, just do your homework."

  "I miss mom, I miss mom." Li Lie said with a grievance.

  "In the world, only mothers are good. Children with mothers are like treasures, and being in a mother's arms is endless happiness. In the world, only mothers are good. Children without mothers are like weeds, and leaving a mother's arms means searching for happiness in vain."

  "In the world, only mothers are good. Some children are like treasures, thrown into their mother's arms, and happiness is endless. In the world, only mothers are good. Children without mothers are like weeds, leaving their mother's arms, where can they find happiness..."

  Li Lie sang while looking at the lights, this time he didn't cry again. Some people say that when you're heartbroken too many times, it's hard to shed tears anymore after being exhausted from crying.

  "Li Lie, let's go find mom tomorrow," Li Yang said.

  "Hmm." Li Lie nodded firmly with her small head.

  When the two brothers decided to go find their mom the next day, everything seemed much simpler. At least this was the first formal decision they had made in six days. As soon as they made up their minds to go out and find their mom, a glimmer of hope appeared in the hearts of the two little brothers, and this hope made the two children very determined. For them, even if it rained or blew wind tomorrow, they would still set foot on that road.

  Later I realized that if it's love, no matter how difficult or dangerous the road is, I won't be afraid. Even if there are oceans, deserts, snowy lands, and snow-capped mountains that nobody can climb, as long as I see that ray of light, I won't be afraid. Because love is a firm belief.

  For Li Lie and Li Yang, the guiding faith is motherly love.

  The next day, the two brothers got up very early, fed a big basket of pig grass, and gave the water buffalo twice as much fodder as usual. Without eating breakfast, or having any food to eat, the two brothers headed towards the mountain.

  Xiao Lanfang took her two sons back to her hometown three years ago. At that time, Li Lie was only three years old and didn't know the directions of east, south, west, or north. Eight-year-old Li Yang only knew that his mother lived in Pujiagang, a place that required walking many mountain roads.

  If we open the topographic map, find Jianyang County in Sichuan Province on the map, and then find Baitai Township of Bailong Town and Houxiong Township of Gongxing Town in Jianyang County. Except for the highway, if you want to go from Xiaobei Village of Baitai to Pujiahe of Houxiong, you will find that it is all mountains, all mountain roads, many places are not exposed to sunlight throughout the year, or those mountain roads are walked out by wild animals. What's more, it was in the 1990s last century.

  (PS: The place name and geographical context are real, can be found on satellite maps or Chinese maps. When I was a child, I often wandered between those small roads, some places were very steep, some places were even uninhabited, the places with many trees were very gloomy, and there were also many ghostly legends among the people.)

  Although Li Yang wasn't very clear about what to do, fortunately the two brothers had sweet mouths and when they met some old farmers, Li Yang would always call out "Grandpa" or "Grandma" and ask if Pujihe was in that direction.

  At noon, the sun was high in the sky. Li Yang calculated that he had only walked about one-third of the way, but his two brothers were already so hungry that their eyes were dizzy and they couldn't just drink water to solve the problem anymore. Li Yang didn't say he was hungry, knowing that if he said it, he would be even hungrier. But Li Lie was different now, at this moment, his legs were a bit unable to move, and Li Yang had no choice but to pull him along.

  "Brother, there are peaches ahead." Li Lie said weakly.

  Li Yang took a look at the peach orchard and it was clear that the owner had built high fences around the edges to prevent people from stealing peaches.

  Li Yang pulled his brother to a shaded area, the two brothers had not eaten their fill for two days. Li Yang was still okay, but Li Lie was already unable to move. Seeing the red peaches on the peach tree, it seemed as if the air was filled with the fragrance of peaches. Li Yang swallowed his saliva, sometimes thinking of peaches and sometimes thinking of Xiao Lanfang's words: one cannot steal as a human being.

  After thinking for a long time, Li Yang patted Li Lie and said: "I'll go in, you stay outside, I'll throw the peach out, you catch it."

  Some weak Li Lie nodded, hearing that there were peaches to eat, he finally had a bit of spirit.

  Li Yang and Li Lie looked outside for a long time, repeatedly confirming that there was no one inside. Then, Li Yang found a slightly shorter place, removed the thorny cactus, and slowly crawled in from below.

  As he entered the peach orchard, a sweet aroma of ripe peaches filled the air, and Li Yang's heart started racing as if it was going to jump out at any moment. He reached out and grabbed the nearest peach, feeling its soft skin, which indicated that it was almost fully ripe. With his left hand holding the top of the peach and his right hand holding the bottom, he gave a gentle squeeze, and the peach came off the tree. Li Yang tossed the peach outside, where Li Lie caught it and wiped it clean with her sleeve before taking a bite. The sweet aroma filled her nostrils, and the soft flesh with its juice passed through the taste buds on her tongue to her brain, leaving her sighing contentedly as she continued eating voraciously.

  Li Yang threw out the peaches and Li Lie put them on one by one. When Li Yang was picking the seventh peach, a loud shout came from not far away:

  "Who's stealing peaches? Stop right there for your old man!"

  The sound was undoubtedly a thunderclap on a clear day, and the peach in Li Lie's hand outside suddenly fell to the ground.