Strawberries Across the Sea
Five years ago, Duo Duo went to England alone and by himself. "I won't be able to see the strawberries back home this trip." She said with a smile as we hugged goodbye at the airport. Duo Duo never writes melancholy and loneliness on her pale face, because they have long been carved into her bones.
Dodo's parents were the subject of much media attention, but no one knew they had a child named Ando. When they broke up, they refused to acknowledge their relationship and the forensic evidence of that relationship - Duo. 11 years old, Duo became the richest child, and her parents chose to use money to fill the hole in their relationship.
I met Dodo a long time ago. That day, I watched from my window as the man and woman from the big house next door argued in the yard over their reluctance to hold that slender little girl. And that little girl, coldly turning away, walked alone to the school bus. Two stubborn twisted braids swayed gently in the spring breeze, and that tiny back, in the direction of the sun's ushering in, was wrapped in a layer of frost.
In the early summer of my sophomore year of high school, I found a cunning vendor at the mouth of an alley attempting to sell a girl a pound of strawberries for 200 yuan. I held my cell phone in my hand, threatened to call the police, and helped the girl get her money back. I suddenly recognized her as the little girl from two years ago.
"Are you stupid? What kind of person buys only these strawberries with so much money?" I found her ridiculously childish.
"I-I just wanted to buy some strawberries ......" She hurriedly cradled the bag of strawberries babyishly to her chest, a flicker of unease in her eyes. I couldn't help but laugh, she was just a little kid after all.
"Don't be afraid, I'm not a strawberry thief oh."
"Who are you? I don't know you!" She was like a little hedgehog in full armor.
"Well ...... my name is 'brother', what about you?" The teenager's heart took on a playful tone.
"Brother, I'm Duo - Ando." She suddenly smiled, her eyes narrowing into two furry slits, innocent as a five year old.
Compared to children her age, Duo was more innocent and quieter.
Dodo loved nothing, except strawberries. Duo loves strawberries with a passion. From the beginning of summer until the beginning of fall, Duo Duo's hands can not be separated from the strawberries. All the strawberries, Duo Duo never rush to eat, she always stared at them to see ah see, eyes blinking ah blink, as if the strawberries live in a dancing elves, accompanied by her heart to talk. Duo Duo eat strawberries always a small mouthful of bite, as if the handful of delicious on the fingertips of the only taste can only be tasted carefully in each flavor.
"DuoDuo, why do you like strawberries so much?"
"Strawberries are just the fruit of a weed. This kind of weed lies on the ground in a messy way, no one cares, no one cares, and grows alone and sadly in the corner. It can only quietly blossom, quietly fruit. And so beautiful fruit, but can only hide under the leaves quietly beautiful, quietly rot. From the day Duo was born, mommy didn't want it, and daddy didn't want it, Duo was a child nobody wanted, and even more so, a child nobody loved, and strawberries weren't loved either, so Duo loved strawberries."
I looked at Duo Duo, she looked away, still expressionless, just holding the strawberry in her hand close to her chest. I suddenly felt that time had left something in this tiny body, and taken it away, but left deep traces in her heart, and it was me who hurt.
I found that I loved to keep Duo by my side, loved to look at her innocent and indifferent face, even though, in her eyes, there was no me.
That year, I was 19 years old and Duo was 15.
Duo Duo has grown to be a teenager, but she has only been in elementary school for three days. On the first day of school, she didn't say a word when the new students called the roll; on the second day, she didn't pay attention to her classmates; on the third day, she refused to answer the teacher's questions; and on the fourth day, she was expelled from school. Duo Duo's parents did not go to the school to defend her or fight for anything. The letter of withdrawal was signed in two big, crooked, childish letters at the bottom right-hand corner--An, Duo. Duo never went to school again, although she later hired a tutor, but within three days, she quit of her own accord. "Such a withdrawn child can't learn anything at all." Teachers who had come to An's house had all said the same thing.
These, I was told by the butler, An Fang. He was the only one in the An family who took care of Duo, and he didn't like Duo, but he was the butler of the An family, and had to take care of everything in the An family.
I knew that Duo was very smart and that if she wanted to learn, no matter what, she was sure to learn. Because she paints strawberries so well, she has a unique and wonderful sense of color. She always shaped the most extraordinary strawberries, but painted the background in a thousand different ways as a pair of eyes that shone with a cold, metallic light. I knew that Duo was expressing herself with her paintings, but I couldn't be sure whether it was the strawberries or the eyes that represented her in the paintings.
I love literature, and I always write a few poems about the beauty of nature after a field trip. DuoDuo would always carefully pester me to write a copy of the poem neatly and put it in her binder.
Time passes, DuoDuo still "brother", "brother" called me, and I never called her "sister", I vaguely feel that DuoDuo in my heart, more than the sister. I have a vague feeling that Duo Duo in my heart, more than a sister what ......
Reading freshman year, I joined the school literary society, where I met the quiet and lovely Shen Hui. I began to stay in school at lunchtime, took the school bus home for an hour after school, and ran to the literary club on Sundays because Shen Hui was there. Shen Hui was a healthy and happy girl, healthy from the inside out. It was easy to be with her, not having to be careful about accidentally breaking anyone's heart. The number of times I went to An's house decreased significantly. And while I was excited and busy, Dodo and her strawberries often popped into my head unexpectedly, "Did Dodo miss me?" I couldn't even think about it.
The day the news that Shen Hui and I had risen to the level of romance spread in the Literature Club, I drank a lot of wine with my classmates. I thought I should be happy for this day, but I couldn't tell you what exactly I felt in my heart.
That night, Shen Hui sent me to the door of my house, I unconsciously looked up toward the An residence a shadow flashed in the light of the second floor - Duo Duo!
I walked out of the house after Shen Hui left and found Duo Duo waiting for me.
Is that Duo? A head of black long hair to not only go to the direction, only left hastily trimmed ear-short hair, her face is more pale than in the past, the circles under her eyes slightly red, as if she did not have a good night's sleep. The coldness in her eyes receded a little, and she wanted to say something. For a moment, my heart ached. Was I negligent? Since when, Duo Duo is no longer a small child, but has become this beautiful girl in front of me.
"Duo Duo?"
"Brother ...... Duo Duo is leaving."
"Go where?" I don't understand
"......"
"Where to? The library or my brother's orchard? Oh, why do you want strawberries again? Let's go, brother will go pick them for you-" my mind went blank and I turned my back to Duo, but I couldn't move a step.
"Brother, I'm going to England, an art college sent me a notice, I, I can go and learn to paint ...... "Turning around, I didn't look up, Duo's feet scuffed the ground uneasily.
"When do you leave?"
"Soon, nine o'clock in the morning flight."
"That soon?" I looked up into Duo's eyes
"Brother." Duo's eyes rose with sadness, "Brother is happy now that he has company, isn't he? This, this is good ......" Duo tilted his head to the side.
"DuoDuo, you ...... saw that?" I remembered that Shen Hui was the one who drove me home at night.
"DuoDuo, don't go ......" My retention was as light as a dream.
Duo laughed, I'd rather she cried.
"Brother, have you forgotten? Duo is nobody's child. In this world, brother is the best for Duo Duo, but Duo Duo knows that it's because brother pitied me ...... Now, it's time for Duo Duo to go ......" A choking sob, no, it wasn't Duo Duo, it was my ears; the corner of Duo Duo's mouth raised up, while tears welled up in my eyes.
I was the only one who saw Duo off at the airport.
I picked countless strawberries in the orchard, filled a sports backpack, and shoved it into Duo's hand.
"Brother, it's too much, strawberries have a shelf life too, if you can't finish them, they'll rot away." Duo Duo said with a smile.
"Then eat as much as you can!" Having been by Duo's side for more than four years, I knew that Duo wouldn't love me as a 'brother' as much as she loved strawberries, but I knew that she depended on me. This time she left alone, there is no one to rely on ......
I hugged Duo, thinking of the slender heat in my arms fleeting, heart, sour.
"This trip, I will not be able to eat strawberries back home," Duo Duo's voice is soft and faint, like talking to himself.
Duo Duo's back as she walked to the boarding gate was as frosty as it was six years ago when she walked to the school bus. I didn't think Duo would turn around, but she turned, looked at me, and smiled. That smile seemed to be waiting for something. And I just watched her from afar, doing nothing. The moment her figure disappeared, I called out Duo's name in my heart - "Ando"!
That year, I was 21 years old, Duo Duo 17 years old.
Duo Duo left, An Mansion was empty, An Fang went to England with Duo Duo. At night, An Mansion stood still in the darkness like an ancient castle, and the lights on the second floor never came on again.
I withdrew from the Literature Club and from Shen Hui's world. I took care of the orchard, taking extra care of the strawberries. In the days when I neglected to look after the orchard, Duo put up a pink fence for the strawberry patch, all painted with a strawberry.
"Dodo was the child no one wanted, and no one loved strawberries, so Dodo loved strawberries ...... "I've looked carefully at the strawberries on the fence, and none of them are unique. In the doorway of the two fences each painted a strawberry, a blue, an orange; blue written "brother", orange written "duo duo" ......
Time flies. Every summer I get an email from Duo Duo from England.
"Brother, the strawberries in the garden are ripe, aren't they? I really want to taste it, even if it's just one ......"
The letter came with just this sentence every time, but I couldn't calm down. Every time I read the letter I just dug into the garden to pick strawberries in the strawberry field, often getting my hands hurt by the sharp strawberry leaves. But when I put a carton full of strawberries on the post office counter to list them I would be refused, "I'm sorry, sir, fresh fruit is not allowed to be mailed." In spite of this I went strawberry picking year after year, and year after year I saw the helpless look on the clerk's face as she cried and laughed, but I just couldn't stop myself from being silly, and I wanted so much for Dodo to see these strawberries, the ones that went red for her every year.
I finished my master's degree ahead of schedule, and this is the fifth summer that Duo has been away. I was especially happy this summer because one of my classmates was going to England for further study, and for me it was the perfect opportunity to give Dodo a slight strawberry fix.
In order to give Duo a taste of strawberries from the orchard as early as possible, I purposely picked ripe and crimson fruits first, and once again filled the travel bag. I think the three layers of safety paper should be able to ensure that all the strawberries will reach Duo Duo's hands safely.
DuoDuo should be able to smile ......
The strawberries began their journey across the ocean, and I began the long wait.
The first thing I did every day when I woke up was to open my mailbox and search for Duo's letter, and I always came up empty-handed.
The waiting was both anxiety-inducing and sobering. I finally realized that those strawberries were nothing more than me finding support for my feelings. For five years, I never discounted the idea of seeing Duo Duo, it is not those strawberries that should go to England, it should be me. Anyone has the right to be timid in the face of feelings. What I have been afraid of is not that once I give my feelings, I can't take them back, but that if it's just wishful thinking, my friendship or affection with Duo Duo will rot and steam. That's what I couldn't face. I know I'm wrong, one person's retreat, lonely two people.
I summoned up the courage to write a letter to Duo Duo. I, to wait for Duo's answer.
However, three months passed, my personal mailbox did not have a letter mail ......
"Mr. Chen, the company mailbox is about to clear the old mail, two of which have not seen the mail is for you, please ask you want to keep?"
Probably another sloppy company sent the documents to the clerk's office.
"Please forward the letter to my office mailbox. Thank you, Ms. Secretary." I had to look up from my large pile of business to see this unexpected visitor.
The first letter was from Ann Butler.
Master Minoru: This is Anfang. Today Miss received the strawberries you sent to me, she was very happy, but her emotions were not very stable, crying and laughing. This is the first time I've seen Miss cry. Even when she left Taiwan five years ago to leave you she didn't shed any tears. Miss suffers from congenital heart disease, I believe she did not tell you about it. For so many years, it was you who gave Miss the desire and courage to live, but five years ago, her condition worsened and she had to come to England for medical treatment. Over the past five years, Miss's condition has waxed and waned, with the good times coming mostly in the summer, and she always harped on strawberries, but never mentioned you. But she reads all the emails from you without fail.
Today, Ms. has a very important operation to replace a broken heart valve. This surgery will determine whether Miss will live or die. Due to the incomplete development of Miss's heart, the surgery will be very difficult and there is a high probability that she will not be able to get off the operating table.
Being able to receive your strawberries before the surgery, Miss should be in a very good mood, and I think it will be very favorable to the surgery. I thank you on behalf of the lady.
The second letter came two days later.
Master Xiao Nuo: Please forgive me for sending you a letter so late. Miss's funeral has just ended. Although you sent Miss's favorite strawberries from your hometown, it still didn't save Miss's life. With Miss gone, there is no need for me to stay in the An family. However, Miss wrote a letter to you before her surgery, and she instructed me to make sure I send it to you. Also, when you sent the last letter to Miss, Miss was no longer alive, so she didn't get to see your letter. Here, I'm sending you both of your letters together.
I opened Duo's letter.
Brother: I received the strawberries from you and I cried when I looked at them. Everything has a shelf life, so do strawberries, a few of them rotted because they were ripe. Brother, I don't really want to see the strawberries from my hometown that much, what I want to see, is you. The words I send out every summer are nothing more than an invitation letter, hoping that you can come and take me back, back to you. We're so benign, aren't we?
I cried for a long time, both happy and heartbroken. I knew that this one tear would be my last on earth, for us.
In fact, five years ago, at the airport, I wanted to tell you: brother, I'm not your sister, I'm Ando, the Ando who wanted you to keep me.
For a long time, the silence of the office, there is a low cry ......