Sorbet in 1960 (Xiu Xiangming) 2009-03-30 22:41 In 1960, China and our family were very poor. The 5-cent ice cream I bought that summer is still in my heart because our family was the poorest family in that poor village. Other children eat one or more sorbets every year, but I am 9 years old and have yet to taste sorbets. Whenever I asked my mother for money to buy sorbet, my mother said: "What's so delicious about sorbet? Isn't it just some sugar water that freezes into ice?" When I cried and begged, my mother would lament, with tears in her eyes. Guang said: "Son, you should know how much money your family saves from selling eggs. You, salt, sauce, vinegar, and the tuition fees for your brothers' studies all come from here. I have no choice but to pay for it." The only choice is to jump into the well! "I am hungry for ice cream, but I love my mother more. How can I let my mother jump into the well? She is my most beloved person in this world! From then on, when I saw someone selling ice cream on the street, I would turn around and walk away. When I saw the sweet and proud expressions of the neighbor’s children eating ice cream, I would also turn away and not let them see my greedy saliva and eyes. Tears. The summer of 1960 was extremely hot, and at this time I caught a severe cold. In my mother's words, my forehead felt like a hot iron plate. In those days, villagers would buy medicine when they suffered from headaches, brain fever, and no effect after massaging with both hands. But even after massaging and taking medicine for my cold, my fever still persisted, burning me so hard that I felt like I was about to die. My mother rolled out a bowl of noodles for me. This is a delicacy that can only be eaten on decent festivals. My mother fed the noodles into my mouth, but I spat them out. My mother went to fry two more eggs. This was a good dish that my mother was only willing to fry when serving guests. My mother brought it to me, but I pushed it away: "Take it away quickly, it smells disgusting!" As she said that, I vomited out a little water in my empty stomach. The mother was frightened: "My child, what can I do if I don't eat? If this continues, it will really burn me to death. It scares me to death. My child, just say what you want to eat. No matter how expensive it is, as long as you want to eat it, you can eat it from the sky." I'll try to get some for you." My mouth was dry, and I heard my mother's words in a daze, and said smoothly: "Mom, I want to eat ice cream." After saying that, I immediately regretted it. Opening my eyes and looking at my mother, I thought that my mother was about to say jump into the well again. To my surprise, my mother didn’t say she was going to jump into the well, nor did she lament. Instead, she readily took out the small handkerchief she used to wrap money in the drawer, picked out 5 cents and said, “Okay, kid, I’ll do it right now.” I'll buy it for you at the market." I said, "Mom, there's no need to buy it. Just keep the 5 cents to buy oil and salt." My mother shook her head and said, "Son, don't worry about 5 cents. It's what you want to eat now." Even if I sell all the things in the house, I am willing to give up. You are my mother’s heartthrob, and if someone gives you all the money in the world, I will not be willing to give it up.” Seeing my mother’s determination, I felt sick. I felt a lot better all of a sudden. I jumped off the kang like a firecracker, took the 5 cents from my mother's hand, and ran towards the market... After taking the ice cream from the ice cream seller, my high fever felt like a firecracker. Suddenly he flew away, feeling much lighter all over. Ah, it’s such a wonderful feeling to hold the cool sorbet to you, and eating your taste must be the most enjoyable thing in the world! Of course, I want to eat this ice cream with my mother. My mother loves me, and I should also think about my mother. My mother said that she had never tasted sorbet in her forties. The market was one kilometer away from our home. Halfway through, the sorbet water flowed out from the cracks in the thin paper. I had to lick it into my mouth - the cool, sweet sorbet immediately refreshed me. My whole body was numb, and I sped up and ran towards the village... However, when I ran up the slope to the south of the village, half of the ice cream broke away from the popsicle and fell to the ground. My heart felt as if it had been scratched by a cat's paw. Looking at the half of the ice cream in the mound, I shed a string of tears in distress, and had no choice but to run towards the village holding the remaining half of the ice cream. My mother was waiting for me at the door.

I handed the remaining ice cream to my mother and said, "Mom, try it, the ice cream is so sweet, hurry up!" My mother's eyes shone with warmth and relief, and she said, "My child, you are not here. Did you eat it all?" I said, "No, Mom, I just licked the water and tasted it. I want to go home and eat it with you." My mother was shocked and pity. She shivered and asked me, "What? My child, did you let the sorbet melt on the road?" I put the few sorbets in my hand to my mother's mouth and said, "Mom, eat it quickly, or it will melt completely." My mother licked the sorbet pellets with the tip of her tongue, then stuffed the sorbet pellets into my mouth, held me tightly in her arms and said, "With a sensible child like you, my life is worth living!" It was bitter and bitter. Warm tears flew like streams on the faces of our mother and son. That 5-cent ice cream at noon in the summer of 1960 is forever condensed in my memory... (Excerpted from the 11th issue of "Selected Micro-Novel" in 2004)