Lost flower season

Author: Lü Zheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: "I wish Mom will always love me, I wish Mom will always love me. This is the only wish of her child, and this is the song I want to sing to you. I can't lose your love. I wish Mom will always love me." The cultural propaganda team of prisoners on stage was performing a report for the Xuanwu leaders who came to visit the inmates. The female prisoner Wu Xiaoyun sang tearfully, deeply moving all the audience. The singing voice swirled in the hall, as if the notes had condensed. When the song ended, there was no applause at all. More than a thousand prisoners in the audience remained silent for a long time. The singing had taken them back to their dreamlike childhood; the singing reminded them of their mother's longing tears and sorrowful face. At this moment, Liu Xiaoguang of the tenth platoon, however, buried his face between his knees, pinching the two solar plexuses hard with his thumb and middle finger of his left hand, while his right hand was stuck in his pocket, tightly clutching a letter he had written to the leader. Everyone needs a home; everyone needs maternal love. But for Liu Xiaoguang, who lost his mother in childhood, the singing only brought back memories of his difficult childhood.
Twenty-four-year-old Liu Xiaoguang was born into a ordinary peasant family in Yanqing County, Beijing. At the age of four, he was adopted by his uncle Liu Guorong's family. Liu Guorong and his wife worked at a steel window factory in Beijing. Although the factory's performance was not very good, their monthly income of 1,600 yuan was enough to make life pleasant for the three of them. Foster mother Wang Yufang was very fond of the lively and lovable Liu Xiaoguang. She often took him out to show off her child to the neighbors, praising how smart, clever, and obedient he was, which helped alleviate her past worries about not being able to have children. The neighbors and colleagues, seeing Xiaoguang's adorable appearance, would often pick him up for a hug and praise him, making Liu Xiaoguang an important part of Liu Guorong and his wife's life, their hope for the future.
But the good times didn't last long. Misfortune struck one evening when Wang Yufang was returning home from work. She had bought two bags of fresh milk for Xiaoguang and placed them in the basket of her bicycle. To get to her child faster, she pedaled hard, constantly thinking about whether he was hungry and how well the nanny was taking care of him. Distracted by thoughts of her child, she failed to notice the road conditions or the traffic light. At the northern end of Yongdingmen Bridge, she ran the red light and turned left, only to be hit by a Santana car coming from north to south. Both she and her bicycle were thrown far away, with red blood mixing with white milk in a tragic scene. By the time the traffic police arrived and the paramedics from the 120 emergency center reached the scene, she had already closed her eyes forever.
Wang Yufang's death brought great changes to the family. Liu Guorong worked alone, earning 700-800 yuan a month, which made it difficult to support a child. As a result, he fired the nanny and locked Xiaoguang in the house during the day while he worked. When he came home in the evening, he cooked and took care of the child. The child's presence gradually made Liu Guorong thinner. The neighbors and neighbors felt very sorry for Liu Guorong and his son, often coming to help take care of the child and providing food and clothing to support the father and son.
A year later, a kind-hearted lady from the neighborhood committee helped Liu Guorong find a partner—a mathematics teacher named Li Guiyun from a nearby primary school, who had been single since her divorce. After a match made by the lady, both sides were quite satisfied. The happiest was Liu Guorong. Xiaoguang was already six years old and about to start school. Finding a primary school teacher as a stepmother would mean someone to take him to and from school, and someone to help with his studies. But what troubled him the most was that Li Guiyun didn't like the child. She believed that Wang Yufang's death was related to the child and that he must be a curse, causing the accident. She would not marry unless the child was sent away.
P3-4