There is a small river outside Qingyang Town. If you walk along the east side of the river, you will see an orange grove. In autumn, the river breeze carries bursts of orange fragrance straight into the hearts of passers-by. It is neither strong nor light, just right. There is a thatched house with three rooms in the depths of the orange grove, and some land is opened on both sides of the thatched house for vegetable gardens.
The owner of this forest is a very kind girl. In autumn, when passersby were thirsty, they would shout into the forest, and she would go into the forest and personally pick some big, red oranges and give them to them. When others thanked her, she would just nod shyly. If she met someone, When she was about to send something in return, she shook her head like a frightened deer and quickly went back into the forest. Later, people found out that she couldn't speak, so they called her the mute girl.
The mute girl is thirteen years old this year. Although her body is small, she is very strong. She can carry two buckets of water to water her vegetable garden. Every year, all the vegetables harvested are taken to the town and bought, except for the snacks left for my father to go with wine. The vegetables grown by the mute girl's family are very juicy and taste good, and they are very popular among the people in the town. When she met someone familiar who came to buy something, she would add a few more green onions or a handful of green peppers to the dishes she had weighed on a scale.
This autumn, the vegetables in the garden are growing particularly well, and two cabbages can weigh a pound. The night before, the mute girl tied various vegetables with straw ropes and picked a basket of oranges. The next day, in just one morning, the mute girl's apron bag was filled with 10 and 20 cent banknotes.
After having money, the mute girl first went to the grocery store and bought a bag of salt and a bottle of oil. When I came out, I saw a new rouge shop opened in the town. The lady boss, whose face was covered with white powder, was shouting enthusiastically. Seeing that there was more money in her bag than usual, the mute girl followed the lady boss's shouts and entered the store.
The display window is filled with exquisite rouges, some enamel, some white jade... There are also pink lilies engraved on the box. The mute girl was immediately attracted and stared straight at the things in the window. The landlady turned around and saw the mute girl, wearing a bamboo cloth singlet and a thin cotton jacket. She walked into the store and patted the mute girl on the shoulder. The mute girl turned around and gestured happily in front of her. The landlady looked at her with confusion, waved her hand and pointed to the corner of the wall impatiently. The mute girl withdrew her gesticulating hand and walked towards the corner. There was a big bamboo board with rouge on it, but it was in a wooden box and there was no carving. This reminded the mute girl of many years ago, when her mother also had this kind of rouge. Her father gave it to her on her birthday. Her mother was reluctant to use it, but she, being naughty, smeared it all over her face behind her mother's back. As a result, her face turned red so much that her mother couldn't bear to use it. I thought I had a fever, and it was as red as my father's nose and cheeks that were now red due to drunkenness. The mute girl picked up one of the boxes and asked the lady boss the price. The lady boss held out five fingers. The mute girl lowered her head and pinched her apron bag, thinking that she would have to buy wine for her father later, so she reluctantly put the box of rouge back on the bamboo board.
After leaving the rouge shop, the mute girl hurried to the Qingyang Tavern. As soon as the shop owner saw the smiling mute girl, he shouted to the waiter, "Two ounces of wine!" The mute girl carefully took the glass bottle, flattened the wrinkled money in the bag and handed it to the shop owner. The shop owner smiled kindly at her and gave her a bag of mahua when she left.
In the late autumn dusk, a burst of refreshing orange fragrance fell on the mute girl on her way home. It was the same aroma that I smelled on the way home from selling vegetables with my parents. My mother told the mute girl that it was the smell of "ripe oranges." The mute girl recalled the days when her mother was still alive, and the vegetable garden and orange grove at home were taken care of by her mother. After her father brought water, the mute girl helped her mother water the plants one by one. In addition to growing vegetables, my father would also go to the river to catch fish and sell them. My father was like the nemesis of fish swimming in the river. He had quick eyes and quick hands. After a while, the swing net was filled with fish. The mute girl likes to go fishing with her father because she can play in the water with her bare feet. She always walks against the direction of the current to feel the power of the water. Sometimes she can also help her father add a few loaches to his swing net. When the father and daughter returned home with a full load, the mother had already prepared a table of meals. After dinner, my father helped my mother wash the dishes in the kitchen, while the mute girl went into the orange grove and picked three oranges. After careful comparison, she picked the two best ones and left them on the table.
"The oranges are ripe this year." The mute girl thought when she passed the orange grove when she went home, so she carefully selected the three oranges she thought were the best and took them home with other things.
My father sat slumped on the threshold, his nose and cheeks flushed, and he burped from time to time. The mute girl looked at her father, and then at the square-shaped mound on the hilltop not far away. There were also a few small oranges on the orange tree in front of the mound. She walked over to her father, put the wine bottle under the threshold, peeled an orange and handed it to her father. The father was a little confused. He stared at the orange for a while, then raised his stiff hand and put a piece of orange into his mouth.
At night, my father did not make a fuss about looking for a drink and fell asleep peacefully. The mute girl lay on the bed and soon lost consciousness.
My father was walking down the street carrying fresh vegetables and oranges, and saw the rouge shop. The rouge box in the window emitted a dazzling light that inexplicably guided my father to walk in.
"How do you sell this rouge?" the father asked the landlady with his eyes crossed.
"The rouge is exchanged for oranges and glass wine bottles."
"What are you doing? Rouge?!" The father said again and half-bowed, reaching out to get it.
This rouge is a good product. The proprietress stretched out her hand anxiously to stop his father's hand--"The bottle and oranges will be exchanged for it!"
"Why? Can't you buy it with money?" The father looked at the landlady in confusion.
“It’s just the bottle and the orange!” The landlady couldn’t argue.
"Okay!" The father took out the oranges and wine bottles and handed them to the proprietress, while accepting the rouge in the window.
The next day, when the mute girl made breakfast and called her father to get up, his father was nowhere to be seen. The wine bottle under the threshold was also missing, but there were three more ripe oranges on the table.