Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

The leisurely days were like the water in the old well at the town entrance, flowing slowly for several days.

When the sky was just getting light and the bluestone road was still covered with dew, Bai Tang was always awakened by the noise of tofu dumplings.

"Hey, you two, just let me have a good rest. It's a rare opportunity for me to come back, so I must relax!"

The two little guys would either squat in the corner of the yard turning over the locust flowers to dry, the petals in the bamboo basket making a rustling sound;

Or I would hold up the fresh beans I had picked from the vegetable patch and go to his nest and shout

"Look, sugar! Mother-in-law said she would make stewed beans with rice for lunch."

He squinted his eyes and tugged at his ears twice, but his tail seemed to have woken up first and was gently sweeping the ground in the straw nest. He always disliked the noise of these two little guys in the past, but now, listening to their crisp voices, he felt that they were softer than the wind in his dreams.

"Ha ha……"

When the sun climbed to the top of the locust tree, the owner's mother-in-law would move a bamboo stool and sit under the tree to sew.

Sometimes it’s to patch up the torn paw pads with sugar, the stitches are as fine as the veins of a locust leaf;

Sometimes she would sew a new doll for Tofu Tangyuan, and the scraps of cloth would pile up on her knees like a flower.

Bai Tang curled up beside her mother-in-law to bask in the warmth, watching the sunlight filter through the locust leaves and dance on the tips of her mother-in-law's silver hair.

Occasionally, my mother-in-law would stop sewing and touch his head, the warmth of the needle and thread on her fingertips:

"Would you like to go to the east end of the town today? Aunt Li's peach trees are ripe."

He really ran to the east of the town with two cloth bags in his pockets.

Aunt Li was always picking vegetables at the gate of the yard, and she would laugh when she saw him:

"Isn't this sugar? Are you finally willing to come out?"

As he spoke, he stuffed peaches into his pocket. The pink peach flesh was so sweet that it was juicy. He bit it until the corners of his mouth were stained with juice. He murmured, then picked a peach leaf to wipe his mouth and squatted under the peach tree to watch the ants moving the peach pits.

After seeing enough, I walked back and passed by Uncle Wang's sugar painting stall. The old man was painting sugar butterflies for the kid. When he saw him, he raised his voice:

"Is the sugar here? I'll draw you a sugar gong later!"

He didn't refuse and squatted beside the stall waiting, watching the amber syrup flow on the bluestone slabs and the warm sweet fragrance blew towards him on the wind.

"Perhaps this is the free and easy life I envy..."

"Since I came into this world, I haven't felt so relaxed. I've always been moving towards a goal..."

Mo Yun always followed him, not too far or too close, two steps behind him.

Sometimes Bai Tang squatted by the river to watch the fish, and he would lean against the willow stump, holding a willow leaf in his hand;

Sometimes Baitang was dragged by Doufu to play with pebbles, and he would pick up pebbles nearby and bring back the ones that rolled away and put them at his feet.

Once, Bai Tang handed him the sesame candy he had just bought, and saw that there was still some ink on his fingertips - a few days ago, he took out the notebook that Mo Yun had placed on the stone pillar, and it was full of drawings of Yuanchu gongs and a few scribbled claw marks. I guess he drew them casually while watching over him.

He didn't mention the notebook, but just pushed the sesame candy toward Mo Yun's mouth again:

"It's sweet, try it."

Mo Yun lowered his head and took a bite. The sesame seeds stuck to the corner of his mouth, but he rubbed them off with his fingertips.

The light is softest in the evening.

The smoke from the town entrance was like torn cotton wool, filling the town with the aroma of delicious food.

They always walked back at this time, with Doufu Tangyuan running in front, holding wild chrysanthemums just picked from the edge of the field, and the bright yellow flowers were all over his clothes.

Bai Tang walked in the middle, with the sugar gong given by Uncle Wang in his pocket. He licked the sugar juice until his paws were covered with it.

Mo Yun followed behind, holding the cloth bag he had forgotten at Aunt Li's house, and occasionally bending down to pick up the sugar crumbs that fell on the ground for him.

Once I walked to the old locust tree, and the owner's mother-in-law was standing at the gate waiting for me, holding a coarse porcelain bowl in her hand.

"Freshly dried sour plum soup."

The mother-in-law handed the bowl over and saw that there was still sugar on Baitang's claws, so she took a handkerchief and wiped it for him.

"Didn't you go to the river to play in the water today? The water level was high a few days ago and the bank was slippery."

He quickly shook his head and stuffed the sour plum soup into Mo Yun's hand:

"Brother Mo Yun drinks too."

Mo Yun took it, and the two cats drank from the same bowl. The sour and sweet taste flowed down their throats, washing away the dryness brought by the sun.

It is even quieter at night.

The shadow of the locust tree fell on the courtyard wall, like a faint ink painting. Doufu Tangyuan had already fallen asleep with the doll in his arms, breathing softly.

Bai Tang curled up in the straw nest, listening to the chirping of insects outside the yard and the sound of Mo Yun turning pages of a book while sitting on a stone bench.

Sometimes Mo Yun would come over and tuck the thin blanket beside his nest, her fingertips gently touching his fur.

He squinted his eyes, hummed twice, and put his tail on the edge of Mo Yun's shoes - without saying anything, you can tell that this person is afraid that he will fall asleep again.

After five or six days of this, I had accumulated a small handful of peach pits in my pocket, and the sugar painting sticks given by Uncle Wang were neatly arranged on the windowsill. Even the leaves of the locust trees were denser than when I first came back.

Bai Tang squatted in the corner of the yard, turning over the dried locust flowers. Smelling the sweet scent, he suddenly felt his heart filled up, as if wrapped in warm cotton wool.

Mo Yun came over to help him put the locust flowers into the pottery jar, and he looked up and smiled:

"Brother Mo Yun, how about we go to the back mountain tomorrow? I remember there are wild dates there."

"..."

Mo Yun paused her hand holding the pottery jar, and looked down at the light in his eyes, which was brighter than the locust flowers in the jar.

"it is good."

He responded, reaching out to brush away the locust petals stuck on Baitang's ear.

"Let's go to the back mountain tomorrow."

The wind blew in from the open courtyard door, carrying with it the fragrance of the rice fields outside the town.

From a distance came the shouts of Uncle Wang packing up his stall, and the rustling sounds of Tofu Tangyuan stealing rice cakes in the kitchen.

“I really hope this day can always be like this…”

White sugar shook its tail and felt that these leisurely days were as slow as honey flowing slowly in a jar, so sweet that it was hard to bear to pass quickly.

……