Time
Text/Zhi Nuo

Mother's basket, quietly hanging on the wall.

Baskets are the most practical means of transportation in rural areas. Most of the baskets used to hold plums at home are broken before they are finished. Only the basket that my mother has carried for 10 years is still intact on the wall. Every bamboo stick on it, under the baptism of wind and rain, has become so energetic, consistent with the mother's personality.

Every summer, the plums in the field ripen one after another, which is also the busiest time in my family. All families have to carry baskets to pick plums. Before going out, my mother will carefully check each basket and feel whether the bamboo sticks on each basket are "healthy". If she finds any damage, she will wrap it tightly with a piece of cloth. Sometimes, we even think that mother has regarded the basket as her own child.

When I was a child, my little sister and I liked to play in my mother's basket, which contained dog tail grass, mugwort leaves, bamboo leaves and so on that we liked as children. She put the basket in the shade under the tree, and we played in the basket, while she was trying to pick plums. After picking plums, she went home with plums behind our backs.

When I was a few years old, my little sister and mother and I picked plums together. We always throw leaves and fruits into the basket. A basket may be half plums and half leaves. For this, we were scolded a lot. Every time Niang's basket appears in the field, it is always so eye-catching. It may be because the basket is old, or the plums in the basket are glamorous and attractive.

Mother recited countless plums, but always remembered the number "two thousand pounds". She once jokingly said, "I once carried two thousand miles!" " "At that time, I just laughed and didn't know the meaning of this sentence. I secretly admired my mother's strength.

Mother has planted plums for 10 years. Buyers like to buy plums planted by their mother every year, because the plums she planted are sweet and crisp, clean and fresh. Sometimes, the buyer will jokingly ask her, "Sister, I heard that your family still has two thousand pounds?" "That's a treasure, no matter how much it costs!" Niang answered firmly.

The basket on the wall has been carried by my mother 10 for many years.

It's full of my little sister's childhood, and my mother's whisper still echoes in my ears. Mother has never broken a bamboo stick on the basket from her back to her white hair. The cloth wrapped on the basket is always so clean without any stains.

In the past two years, Niang's basket has been idle on the wall most of the time. Because of her lumbar spine, she seldom takes things. And that basket has become a landscape on the wall.

Now I seldom hear my mother mention her proud "two thousand pounds". Until now, I gradually understand that my little sister and I grew up in my mother's basket.

Brief introduction of the author

Zhi Nuo, his real name is Sun Yao. Member of Dazhou Writers Association and Xuanhan Writers Association. His works are scattered in Huaxi Newspaper, Dazhou New Newspaper, Yuexi Education Weibo, Yuexi Education Sports Edition, Fujiangchao, Ba Literature, New Xuanhan and other newspapers.

Notice of soliciting contributions for the literary column of Time