race against time（三）

By the time I realized that I liked Yingzi, my mind was already full of thoughts about her. When I was running on the earth chasing the sun, when I was watching the fights of insects with great interest, when I was catching colorful butterflies flying among the flowers, when I was walking by the clear river where mosquitoes were flying, when I saw large patches of bright flowers in full bloom, I was thinking of her. I think Yingzi deserves all the beauty in this world.

Her shy smile, soft whisper, bright eyes, and black hair all fascinated me. If someone asked me what I liked about her, I could proudly tell that person that I liked everything about Yingzi.

I wandered the earth, looking for the most beautiful flowers of the four seasons for Yingzi. I picked one after another for her, and also wove them into garlands and bracelets, and put them on her head and hands. However, the lifespan of those flowers is so short that they cannot retain eternal beauty. After the flowering period, I looked at Yingzi's black and smooth hair for a long time, and I had the idea of ​​buying her a hairpin.

Every morning at ten o'clock, the village peddler would push his tricycle out to sell goods on time. In the small wooden box on the tricycle, there was a pair of bright red ribbon hairpins. I wanted this pair of hairpins as much as the colorful windmills inserted on the handlebars. Every time I saw it, I couldn't help imagining the beautiful scene of this pair of red hairpins tied on Yingzi's black hair, with the ribbons fluttering in the wind.

Unreal imagination made my reality brighter, and even made me dazzled by beautiful fantasies, lose my mind, and do something very stupid. This incident not only ended my short love with Yingzi, but also made me lose Jia Yiren's trust and become the target of public criticism in Jiajia Village.

Jia Yiren dug drainage ditches in the chemical plant for a month and received his first salary at the end of the month, a total of 42 yuan, much less than others, but he was already very satisfied. At night, the lights were turned on, and the four of us sat around the dining table. Jia Yiren clumsily counted his salary over and over again with his right hand, his face full of energy. He told the crazy woman that after deducting household expenses, as long as she continued to work like this, she would be able to buy the bicycle by the end of the year.

The crazy woman was so excited that her face was flushed. At first, she also wanted to find a job in the chemical plant and save enough money to buy a bicycle as soon as possible, but she was firmly rejected by Jia Yiren and Jia Youfu. The experience of being bullied and being in a disadvantaged position in the village, as well as the experience of the crazy woman when she first came to Jiajia Village, made them dare not take risks. They knew from the bottom of their hearts that the crazy woman should not stay here, so they did not want her to be hurt again. They just wanted to buy the bicycle as soon as possible and send her away quietly.

The crazy woman looked at me, looked at Jia Youfu, and then looked at Jia Yiren, and said to him solemnly: "I will send the money to you when I get home.

"That's not important." Jia Yiren's eyes flashed with loneliness.

Before going to bed, Jia Yiren counted the money again, put it in the iron box, and then put the iron box on top of the wardrobe. I tossed and turned in the snoring of Jia Youfu and couldn't sleep, and I saw him hiding the money. I yawned, and as always, I began to imagine Yingzi wearing a red ribbon head flower and smiling in the sun. I didn't fall asleep until midnight.

When I woke up the next day, I was the only one left in the bed. Jia Youfu went to the fields, and Jia Yiren went to the factory. There was a sound of sweeping the floor in the next room. It was the crazy woman who was sweeping the house. I got up sleepily, looked at the bright sunshine outside, and vaguely heard the bell of the peddler.

Is it past ten o'clock? I was startled by my own laziness.

The crisp bell sound became clearer and clearer, and the cute appearance of Yingzi wearing a red ribbon head flower floated in front of me again. As I ran out the door, I thought of the iron box that Jia Yiren had placed on the closet last night.

I moved a stool in front of the closet, then stepped on it and reached for the iron box. When my fingers touched the cold outer shell of the iron box, I clearly felt an electric current passing from my fingertips into my body, which made me tremble. I took down the iron box, and the moment I opened it, the smell of rust and unknown pungent smells that were sealed in the box came out and filled my nose. When I reached out to take the fifty-cent coin, I didn't feel that I had done anything wrong, because I thought I was also contributing to this family, and I didn't take much greedily.

Worried that the peddler would go far away, I carelessly did not put the iron box back to its original place, nor did I move the stool. I hurriedly held the coin and ran happily outside the house, running to the small wooden box with a glass display window in the tricycle.

I ran out of the door, and the peddler pushed the tricycle and walked towards me in the bright sunshine. The colorful windmill inserted on the handlebars turned leisurely, showing a gorgeous brilliance, and the bells hanging on the small wooden box also made crisp jingling sounds. I called him and walked to the tricycle. When he lifted the linen cloth to show me the small wooden box in the tricycle, I nodded in a mature manner and pretended to pick it up. Finally, I pointed to the red head flower wrapped with a ribbon that I had long admired.

The peddler pushed open the glass window, took out the pair of head flowers, and placed them on my open palm. The hairpin exploded in my palm, emitting a faint scent of osmanthus oil, making me feel reserved as if I were holding a fragile treasure.

"Fifty cents."

I came to my senses after hearing the peddler's call, and handed the coin to him in a panic. I couldn't hold back my excitement for a moment, so I clutched the hairpin tightly and ran to Yingzi's house.

As usual, after confirming that there were no adults at home, I called Yingzi's name affectionately. She was washing rice in the yard. When she looked up and saw me and the red hairpin I was waving, she understood everything at once. Her face flushed, and excitement and joy flowed with her eyes, but her behavior was mature and calm. She washed the rice slowly, turned and went into the house, and wiped the water droplets on her hands onto her clothes when she came out. Then, she walked towards me slowly and reservedly, as if the hairpin in my hand was not worth her fuss.

As usual, we went to the river where adults rarely go.

"Here you go." When we walked under the willow tree by the river, I opened my palm to her, and the pair of red hairpins covered my palm tightly. Yingzi was a little taller than me, and I was embarrassed to look into her eyes, so I had to stare at the messy hair she pinned behind her ears.

Yingzi took the light hairpins, tilted her head, and flexibly tied them on her two braids, then shook her head and laughed crisply.

"Do they look good?"

I looked up at her and saw that the hairpins were tightly attached to her hair roots, the bright red ribbons and black hair were entangled together, and fluttered slightly in the bright sunshine. I touched my nose embarrassedly and nodded shyly. I smiled foolishly, feeling that my mood at this moment was sweeter than the ripe purple mulberries on the mulberry tree.

I was so immersed in the sweetness of wishful thinking that I didn't realize that severe punishment was coming.

After Yingzi went home to continue working, I lay alone under the willow tree, slapping the flying mosquitoes, and recalling the sweetness of handing the hair flower to her hand and the beautiful scene of the red ribbon fluttering on her black hair over and over again. When I was so hungry that my eyes were blurry, I got up from the ground, patted my butt, and hopped home.

"I'm starving!" I shouted loudly before I even stepped into the house.

However, what was waiting for me at home was not delicious food, but the furious Jia Yiren, the worried Jia Youfu and the crazy woman.

"Come here." Jia Yiren waved to me with a gloomy face.

I was so scared that my face burned. When I walked towards him, I saw the iron box on the table. Fear and guilt came late.

"Did you take the money from the box?"

I stopped, too scared to move forward.

"Damn it, are you deaf or dumb? I'm asking you a question!" Jia Yiren has always had little patience.

I quickly looked at Jia Youfu and the crazy woman, trying to ask them for help. Jia Youfu turned his eyes away and stopped looking at me. The crazy woman looked at me sadly, turned around and quietly went into the room.

"I took it."

When answering Jia Yiren's question, I was so scared that my voice was shaking, and my stomach was uncomfortable as if there were several frogs dancing in it.

"I only took fifty cents." I tried to impress Jia Yiren with my sincere confession.

"It's not a matter of how much money it is." Jia Yiren repeated this sentence several times.

"Why did you steal the money?"

I bit my lower lip tightly and dodged my eyes, not wanting to involve Yingzi.

"What did you steal the money for?" Jia Yiren asked again.

"To buy food." I answered without any confidence.

"You are still lying?!"

My lie was very clumsy, and Jia Yiren saw through it at a glance. He must think that I am an incurable bad boy who not only steals money but also lies, so he is so angry.

"Get out!"

The furious Jia Yiren pushed me into the yard and ordered me to hold the holly tree in the yard tightly with both hands. He angrily found a stick as thick as my arm from the woodshed, and his horrified expression seemed to be ready to beat me to death. The only mercy he showed was that he just whipped my butt violently.

"What did you do with the money?"

Seeing that I didn't speak for a long time, Jia Yiren swung the stick and whipped my butt hard. The pain made my body tremble, and my heart and butt were burning, but my hands holding the tree trunk obediently did not loosen. I gritted my teeth and resolutely refused to tell myself that I stole money to buy red flowers. The shameless act of stealing money gradually became romantic in my self-persuasion and brainwashing, and even carried some great self-sacrifice.

"Damn it, you are so bad! No wonder your parents don't want you!"

Anger made Jia Yiren lose his mind, forgetting that children also have self-esteem. His words hit the problem that I had buried deep in my heart and never wanted to face. I was hurt and cried loudly, and the clanging sound of the train rang in my ears.

He continued to whip me, wishing to beat the 50-cent coin out of my buttocks.

My crying and Jia Yiren's cursing gradually attracted the attention of the neighbors. Almost everyone on the street came out with their bowls and walked to the yard to watch the excitement. They ate their meals and talked about me in a low voice.

The angry Jia Yiren seemed to have forgotten the principle that family disgrace should not be made public, or he didn't regard me, a child he picked up, as a family member. Therefore, when more and more people were watching, he still didn't stop beating and scolding.

There were several children of the same age in the crowd. They shuttled back and forth between the adults' legs, covering their mouths and laughing at my miserable figure after being beaten. I cried and tried to stare at them. However, the more I stared at them, the happier they were. They even imitated my distorted expression when I cried, and built their happiness on my pain. I couldn't let go of my hands holding the holly tree to beat them, so I could only use the method of mental victory, and in my heart, they also regarded me as a funny clown.

However, when the red headband floated through the crowd and the ribbon fluttered into my sight, the world suddenly became quiet. I looked at Yingzi and almost forgot to breathe.

She looked at me anxiously, and gradually understood the situation amid the adults' chatter and Jia Yiren's painful scolding. She was very smart and knew at once that the red ribbon headband she wore on her head was bought by me with the stolen money. When I looked at her again and the red headband on her head, Yingzi immediately avoided my eyes in panic, walked to the children of the same age in the crowd, and laughed with them to cover up her guilty conscience. Her smile was so stiff and unnatural. Maybe she also understood this, and she turned and left after a while. The pair of bright red ribbon headbands suddenly dimmed in my eyes.

My short love with Yingzi ended hastily when she turned and left. Not long after, Yingzi silently returned the headband to me, and we never spoke again. This short-lived love and this unbearable memory were gradually buried in the wind and rain of time.

Until I left Jiajia Village, I didn't tell anyone in my family that I stole money to buy a flower.