Mrs. Hope casually changed the subject, “Osmanthus wine needs to be brewed. It can be sold for quite a bit of money. Let’s go pick some more.”
The fragrant osmanthus wine doesn’t require much time to brew. Watching Iris go out with a winnowing basket, Mrs. Hope’s gentle expression suddenly changed. She bent over, and at that moment, pain spread throughout her body, making it difficult for her to breathe.
This illness was becoming more and more painful, and there was no cure. Even if she were to have a kidney transplant, she wouldn’t fully recover. At most, she could endure for a few more years.
Whether she died early or late, she would die. For someone with a terminal illness, living requires more courage than dying. She was only reluctant to leave her daughter, Iris.
Iris quickly returned with a winnowing basket of osmanthus flowers. Mrs. Hope endured the intense pain. At this moment, her body was on the verge of collapse. She could feel her body becoming softer and weaker.
She forced a smile, looking at Iris, “Iris, Mom suddenly wants the hat she saw the day she left the hospital.”
It had been half a month since she was discharged, and she didn’t know if that beautiful hat had been sold.
Iris put down the winnowing basket, “I’ll take you to buy it another day.”
“It might be too late, and it’s still early today. There’s not much food at home, and there’s no wine. Buy some on your way back and check that store. If the hat is still there, buy it for me. If not, then forget it.”
Iris glanced at the sky outside. It would take about three hours to return by car. Her mother was too weak to go that far, especially for the first time she had asked for something.
“Alright, I’ll go buy it now.” Iris changed her clothes, slung a bag over her shoulder, and waved to Mrs. Hope before running to the bus station.
As soon as she left, Mrs. Hope staggered. She propped herself up to continue making osmanthus cakes. One, two, ten, fifty. Without osmanthus or wine, she had also run out of glutinous rice flour. She hadn’t kept count of how many osmanthus cakes she made towards the end, but this table full of osmanthus cakes should be enough for Iris to eat for a year.
She weakly took off her apron and walked unsteadily into the yard.
The sunlight outside was lovely, and it was cool under the osmanthus tree. Not only was she not exposed to the sun, but she could also smell the fragrance of the flowers and hear the birds singing.
Usually, when she had nothing to do, she would lie on the rocking chair under the osmanthus tree. The sunlight was good today, the wind was nice, the flowers were fragrant. Dying on a day like this was already satisfying for her.
She squinted, murmuring unconsciously, “Iris, you were born and raised by me with hope… If there’s another life… be my daughter again…”
Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. She gently closed them, never to open them again.
…
Iris didn’t find the hat at that store. She didn’t want to disappoint her mother, so she searched the entire city center and finally found the same one.
She paid for it, held the shopping bag, and thought, “Mom will be very happy when she wears this hat.”
Iris bought the wine and on her way back, she deliberately went to the market to buy fresh vegetables. Carrying a bag slowly, before she reached the door, she excitedly called out, “Mom, I’m back.”
No one answered her. Iris felt something was off, suddenly feeling a bit scared in the quiet house. A voice in her head told her to stop and not to go in.
She entered the house and saw a table full of osmanthus cakes, especially fragrant. Iris put down the vegetables, took out the hat, and walked through the kitchen to the yard. Under the osmanthus tree, she saw her mother lying on the wicker chair.
Quiet, as if she were asleep. Iris approached and looked at Mrs. Hope’s pale face, “Mom, wake up… I’m back, I bought the hat you like. Put it on, let me see.”
Mrs. Hope remained motionless.
Iris grabbed her mother’s hand. It felt strangely cold. She must not have covered herself with a blanket.
“Mom, wait here. I know you like to sleep in the yard. I’ll go get you a blanket. Don’t catch a cold.”
Iris put the hat in her mother’s arms, got up and quickly brought a blanket from the house. She knelt down to cover Mrs. Hope with the blanket, and also brought a hot water bottle. She knelt down to warm her mother’s hands, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t warm them. She lowered her head, tears falling from her eyes.
“Mom, I saw the osmanthus cakes you made. Weren’t you going to teach me? Why did you make so many when I wasn’t looking? I’m so foolish, I still haven’t learned how to make them. Can you teach me again?”
“I also bought the wine. I’m all grown up now. I can drink the osmanthus wine you brewed.”
“We’ll need to make a lot of osmanthus cakes and osmanthus wine this year. I wonder if the osmanthus from this tree will be enough.”
Iris trembled as she held Mrs. Hope’s hand against her face, tears streaming down her cheeks onto Mrs. Hope’s hand.
“Mom, let me tell you a joke. Will you listen and open your eyes for me? There was a duck playing with a ball by the sea. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew the ball away. It chased after the ball, desperately yelling, ‘Ball, don’t go… Ball, don’t go…’ Mom, did you hear that? The little duck said, ‘Ball, don’t go…'”
Please don’t leave, don’t leave me alone.
“Mom, I haven’t had the chance to be filial to you. I haven’t taken you to see the pink sea. I can’t help but cry at once, crying out in pain.”
Doing wrong will incur a price, but why does this price have to fall on her?
Iris knelt in the yard, guarding her mother’s body, from nightfall until dawn. The autumn day was truly cold, and it made people lose their senses.