Goats Don’t Eat Paradise Grass Chapter 1 Summary

Sorry, some words have been deleted due to character limit, but the plot is intact)

Poverty has been shrouding Xiaodou Village like the cold fog in winter.

Xiaodou Village stood listlessly under the sky. A large river flows by it. The water is very clear, but the river always looks lonely all year round. It flows and keeps flowing, as if it was flowing like this thousands of years ago, and it may still flow like this thousands of years later. The life in Xiaodou Village is like this empty water, clean and poor. Whether it is spring or autumn, Xiaodou Village always appears like this under the yellow sky or in the bright sunshine: a few low thatched huts scattered along the river, a few pigs digging in the soil in the vegetable garden by the river, A few sheep were tethered to the trees behind the village, munching on weeds. One or two very thin dogs were walking back and forth in the village. There might be a bald-tailed rooster standing on the haystack, looking towards those who were grazing for food. The dirty hens were showing off their prowess, and a few leaky, half-sinking, half-floating wooden boats were tied to the crooked-neck trees by the river... Xiaodou Village had no glory.

As Ziwei’s father said, the people in Xiaodou Village are quite pitiful.

People in Xiaodou Village are not looked down upon. Five hundred meters from the village, a road was paved and opened to cars. The bus station is all the way there, but there is no stop at Xiaodou Village.

Later, I finally got a chance. The people of Xiaodou Village feel from the world outside Xiaodou Village that they can now do things according to their own ideas. The world allows and even encourages them to do things according to their own ideas. The longer it is suppressed, the greater the desire, and the more ferocious it becomes. Within a few years, some families in Xiaodou Village stood out and became rich. In addition to Kawako, there are several other households. Some people rely on a small wooden boat for transportation. In just three years, it has developed into a small fleet of three large transport ships, each weighing more than 20 tons. Some families managed to escape from poverty by building a brick cellar... One family looked at the other, but they couldn't stand each other, and they compared each other. The lifeless Xiaodou Village became ambitious and full of tension.

Only Akiko’s house is still lifeless. As a result, the family felt a pressure.

Akiko felt ashamed and became estranged from some of her friends who played like each other. He often sat alone on the river embankment, watching a passing boat or watching a few swimming ducks in trance. Sometimes he looked back at the vibrant Xiaodou Village: in the past, Xiaodou Village changed its face day by day. At this time, Akiko's eyes always refused to look at the low and skewed thatched hut of her family.

The relationship between Akiko and her family members has become indifferent.

My father's mood became extremely heavy.

Finally one day, my father called the whole family together and said, "Let's raise a flock of sheep."

Everyone in the family was silent.

My father said: "Outlanders often load sheep in boats to sell in this area. You have all seen it. Those sheep are of different breeds from our sheep. They are goats, a special breed. Goats. I heard that goat skins are sold everywhere in the market today. Goat skins are much more expensive than sheep skins. I have been sitting on the riverside waiting for these boats many times. It costs twenty yuan to raise a sheep from spring to winter, and one sheep can be sold for fifty or sixty yuan. If you raise a hundred sheep, you can make three to four thousand yuan. We have nothing here, but there are some everywhere. Grass. To raise sheep, you only need to spend money on selling some of the things you have at home, but you can still get some money from others, and they will always lend you money.”

< p> After the father's plan and careful calculations were revealed, the whole family was very excited.

That night, my father went out to borrow money from others.

The next day, the whole family started to fence the sheep in a vegetable garden. Driving piles, weaving fences, building sheds... With unlimited hope, the whole family got up early and worked tirelessly in the dark.

After everything was ready, Mingzi and his father stayed by the river every day, waiting for the boats selling goats.

At noon that day, Mingzi finally saw a boat selling goats. , stood on the embankment and shouted to his family: "The boat selling goats is coming."

When the whole family heard the sound, they put down their rice bowls and ran to the river.

A white sail encouraged a large ship to sail towards this side.

This big ship was filled with a cabin full of goats, and their "bleating" calls could be heard from a distance. The voice is so tender that it makes people lovable.

Mingzi stepped forward and shouted to the owner of the big ship: "We want to buy sheep."

The white sail fell "clack-clack", and the helmsman turned the rudder, and the big boat The boat came closer to the shore.

The goat was so white that it moved in the cabin like gently rolling snow-white waves.

The father asked the boat owner: "How much does one cost?"

The boat owner replied: "Twenty-two yuan a piece."

The father said; " It’s too expensive. A few days ago, several boats passed by, and they only cost eighteen yuan.”

“How much?” asked the boat owner.

“Eighteen.” One yuan." said the father.

The boat owner said: "This is impossible."

Akiko's family all proved that it was only eighteen yuan a piece. In fact, no one has ever seen a goat boat selling for only eighteen yuan a piece.

The boat owner asked: "Then why don't you buy it?"

My father said: "I didn't have enough money at that time."

"How many do you want to buy?" asked the captain.

The father replied in a very calm tone: "One hundred."

This number made the boat owner shake involuntarily. He thought for a while and said: "If you really saw someone selling them for eighteen yuan each, then I dare to say that his sheep are not as good as our sheep. Look at these sheep in the cabin, look! They are so white. , How handsome, how well-raised!”

This is indeed the most beautiful sheep my father has seen in these days. But he suppressed the joy in his heart and said: "The sheep are all the same."

The boat owner insisted: "The sheep are different. The breeds are different! You can't see it, really can't see it? You can't see it? Can you look after sheep?" "Can you give me a price?" said the father.

The boat owner said; "Pay it back."

"Nineteen yuan each." My father said.

"No, it's twenty yuan a piece, and we won't sell it for even a penny less." The owner of the ship made a gesture as if he was about to sail away.

The family members whispered to their father: "Twenty is twenty. Twenty can buy it."

My father said; "Okay, twenty!"

After counting the sheep and paying the money, a hundred sheep were transferred from the cabin to the river slope.

While pulling the sail, the boat owner told Akiko and his family: "Treat these sheep well. These sheep are born noble."

The whole family nodded and waved to the boat owner. Tell the boat owner with your eyes: "Don't worry."

The sheep were driven from the river slope to the embankment. It was just a little after noon, and the sun was shining brightly on the earth. The flock of sheep glowed silver on the high embankment. The sheep were moving, so the silver light flickered under the sky. The people in Xiaodou Village looked at it first, and then they all ran towards the embankment.

In the end, almost everyone in Xiaodou Village came to the embankment.

Akiko’s family was in high spirits and looked very cheerful. They were either standing among the sheep or standing on the edge of the sheep, gathering the sheep to prevent them from getting separated. They were not in a hurry to drive the sheep back to the sheep pen, they all wanted the sheep to stay on the high embankment under the sunshine for a while longer.

Looking here from the low-lying fields in the distance, the sheep merge with the white clouds in the sky.

This group of sheep plucked the heartstrings of the people in Xiaodou Village, making a lingering sound.

The father said: "Drive the sheep back to the pen."

Akiko ran to the sheep, waved her hands, and drove the sheep away.

The sheep flowed down the embankment. When they appear on the slope with a sizzling sound, it looks like a waterfall hanging down from a distance.

The sheep rushed back to the pen.

The people in Xiaodou Village gathered around the sheep pen for a while and then slowly dispersed.

My father remained silent, lying on the pillar of the sheepfold in a fixed posture, smoking one cigarette after another.

Name, who has been in a state of excitement, is now calmer and begins to observe these little things:

Their fur is white with a slight golden color, and the fur is soft and casual. It was undulating in the breeze; the four legs were slender, like the legs of a shrunken horse, and the hooves were light red or light yellow, and crystal clear; the hair on the forehead swirled slightly, and when you look closely, They thought it was a flower; the tip of their nose was pink, as if walking under the peach tree in March, a peach blossom floated down and landed on the tip of their nose; the whites of their eyes were slightly red, and the eyeballs were black, black It's dark; the rams haven't grown horns yet, and there are only two bones on the top of their heads.

Akiko prefers their expressions:

Naughty, innocent, delicate yet stubborn, showing surprise at the slightest sign of trouble, docile yet arrogant, quiet yet lively , which makes people lovable but also makes people angry from time to time...

Akiko likes them.

Akiko particularly liked the ram among them. The ram was the largest in the flock. It is instantly recognizable because of its eyes - under each of its eyes, there is a small tuft of black hair of the same size. These two pieces of black make it look even more noble. It always stands in the middle of the flock, with its head held high. Its appearance and demeanor exude a sense of divinity. Akiko soon discovers that it has a special place among the sheep: the sheep always follow it.

Akiko stared at it for a long time and gave it a name in her heart: black dot.

From then on, Akiko was mainly responsible for the grazing of this flock of sheep. Akiko happily played the role of a sheepherder. Akiko loved the sheep so much that she forgot the actual purpose of raising them.

Now, Mingzi’s one hundred sheep have enough grass to eat. Mingzi can choose the best grassland for grazing, and it expands day by day. The white patch turns into a large, bigger patch, just like the white clouds in the sky are blown away. What made Akiko most aware of the growth of the sheep was when they walked through the field ridge in front of the sheep pen towards the grassland. In the past, the one hundred sheep, held end to end, only occupied half of the field ridge, but now they occupied the entire field ridge. Looking from a distance, the entire field ridge is filled with snow or cotton.

The rams have grown horns and will start butting each other with their horns.

The horns with black spots are the longest, golden and transparent.

The sheep gave Akiko more imagination. He often couldn't help but hug the neck of one of them, bury his face in its fur and caress it. He either follows them, leads them, or stands among them, looking at the wandering clouds in the sky with half-drunk eyes. Akiko can't sing, and her voice is changing, so it's difficult to sing. However, now Mingzi often can't help but sing:

In the first month of the first month, red lights are hung at the door of every house.

It’s the dragon lantern and the meeting,

My grandparents are eighty years old.

On the second day of February,

every family went boating to take care of their daughter.

My family brought back a flower lady,

Your family brought back an ugly kid.

…

This voice only has high and low levels, but no twists and turns. It is straight, like a bamboo pole. It is better to call it singing than shouting. Mingzi couldn't hear it herself, she just screamed loudly. The happiness and joy in his heart can only be fully expressed through this cry. He first screamed while lying down, then sat up and screamed, then stood up and screamed, and finally jumped up and screamed. This sound spread across the wilderness without any obstruction. When he sang, the sheep always rested quietly beside him. Occasionally, one of the sheep would bleat in conjunction with it, as if it was a kind of accompaniment, which was very interesting.

In those days, even though Akiko got up early and worked in the dark to raise sheep, and even though she was very tired and thin, her eyes were always bright and full of life.

I don’t know when, many families in Xiaodou Village also started to think about raising sheep. This may be after Akiko’s father couldn’t help but figure out all the things in his mind. After the sheep had filled a field, perhaps even earlier - shortly after the sheep were bought from the ship. All in all, five or six families now really want to raise sheep.

In just one week, six families bought a flock of sheep. There were fifty sheep, some thirty, and even more than the number of sheep in Akiko's family - one hundred and ten.

It is not unloading stones from the ship, but living lives one by one. They want to eat - they want to eat grass!

At first, no one realized that a disaster would occur in the future.

Before long, Akiko’s family and the six families raising sheep began to panic: there was less and less grass!

Hundreds of mouths need to keep gnawing, biting, and chewing. When they are spread out "one", they can roll up the green grass like a carpet. It turned into a piece of dark brown light soil. Hunger begins to attack the sheep, and what used to be a joyful "bleep" turns into a cry of hunger. Some began to hang up their front hooves to pick up elm leaves, and even went against their nature and climbed up the tree to reach them. Some sheep took the risk and walked into the water to nibble on the reeds, wild wild rice and wild arrowheads in the water, regardless of the fast current.

When the people in the village saw this scene, they said: "If we continue, these sheep will eat people!"

People did not eat them, but they began to attack vegetable gardens and crop fields. . They are first beaten by their owners with whips or branches so that they cannot go near the green areas that cannot be bitten. However, hunger finally made them ignore the physical pain, and rushed towards the patches of green desperately, as if a person burning on fire was about to throw himself into the river. The owners rushed in a hurry. But after driving out these few, those others scurried into the green. As a result, the owners of vegetable gardens and crop fields quarreled with the owners of the sheep and cursed these shameless animals. Quarrels happened every day, and there would be a fight every one or two days. Two times the fights were very fierce. A vegetable garden owner and a sheep owner were both injured and were carried to each other's home by their families to demand Heal injuries.

The sheep caused Xiaodou Village to lose its tranquility and peace.

Akiko’s father’s hair turned gray due to worry. Ming Zi'e's mother cried as she looked at the sheep that were getting thinner day by day. Akiko guarded his flock, with tiredness and helplessness in her eyes. He also became thinner day by day, and his eye sockets became larger.

The sheep-raising families began to hate each other. Mingzi hated those six families who raised sheep: It’s not like they couldn’t care less but they also raised sheep. The sheep in our family didn’t have to worry about grass at all. And those six families also hate the Mingzi family for no reason; if your family hadn't started this, we would never have thought of raising sheep in our dreams. The situation is like walking at night. If the first person goes the wrong way, the people following him will blame the first person. There was also friction among the six families. When sheep farmers fight each other, people in the village gather around to watch the fun and laugh.

Akiko and the others had to drive the sheep several miles away to graze. But they soon discovered that there were many families raising sheep a few miles away, and there was very little grassland for them to graze. A few days later, the little grass was gnawed away by sheep. To feed these sheep, one must go further afield. However, they were tired and no longer wanted to find a way out for the sheep. Among the six households, three households sold their goats at a low price, and the other three households resold their goats to the shipowners who sold them at a lower price than when they bought them.

Now, only the name family has sheep again. However, they faced a bare land.

They put the sheep into their own crop fields. It was early summer, and the wheat in the fields was growing well. The ears of wheat were being pulled out into the breeze with great care.

The mother stood on the field ridge and cried.

But the sheep do not eat the crops.

The mother cried and said: "Good boy, eat, eat..." She cut off the wheat with her hands and brought it to the mouths of the sheep.

Mingzi ordered the black dots loudly: "Eat! Eat! You beast, let them eat! If you don't eat, they will starve to death. If you starve to death, what good will it do to us!" He Use branches to drive the sheep.

The day after the sheep finished their crops, the people of Xiaodou Village discovered that Mingzi, his father and the group of sheep suddenly disappeared overnight.

Mingzi and her father were driving a large wooden boat carrying sheep on the river, and they were more than ten miles away from Xiaodou Village.

They want to transport the sheep to a place 40 miles away by waterway. There is a grassy beach there. That year, Akiko and her father saw the grassy beach when they went there to cut reeds.

The father and son traveled day and night. This morning, when the ship passed through the last reed, they saw the grassy beach across a piece of water. At that time, the morning sun was shining brightly on this inaccessible world.

What does this green mean to Akiko and his son?

This green is sacred.

Mingzi and his son couldn't help but park the big boat on the water, stand on the bow and look at the grassy beach in the distance.

The grassy beach under the sun is covered with a thin layer of fog. The fog is like light smoke, and like transparent and soft cotton wool, floating leisurely. The grassy beach becomes lighter as the fog gathers and disperses. The colors are changing: dark green, green, tender green... the grass beach is pure and quiet.

My father looked at the grassy beach and almost knelt down on the bow of the boat - this was life-saving grass.

Mingzi's eyes were filled with tears, and the grassy beach in front of her became hazy green like a lake.

The sheep began to bleat. Under the too lonely sky, this voice seemed a bit desolate and sad.

The father and son struggled to swing the boat toward the grassy beach. Before approaching the grassy beach, Mingzi grabbed the cable, jumped into the shallow water, and quickly pulled the boat towards the grassy beach. After the boat stopped, the father and son immediately carried the sheep one by one to the grassy beach. Because the sheep have been hungry for several days. These poor little things were very well-behaved when being transported between the hands of father and son. They have no energy left for being lively and playful. They were all skinny, and each of them looked like they were recovering from a serious illness. On the contrary, they stood there indifferently, letting their thin bodies tremble slightly in the wind.

My father said: "They are too hungry. They don't want to eat grass for a while, but they will be fine after a while."

Akiko wants to drive them deeper into the grassy beach, But the black spot persisted, and the others were forced to take a few steps forward before retreating again.

The father said: "They have lost their energy. Let them rest for a while and let the wind blow them for a while."

The father and son were also very tired. Her father sat down on the grassy beach, and Akiko simply let herself relax and lay down. The big wooden boat parked quietly in the bay, as if it had been abandoned here several years ago.

The sheep stayed at the water's edge and refused to go deeper into the grassy beach. Each one of them looked at peace.

The father and son suddenly felt a sense of desolation and idleness again, so they went to look at the grass carefully...

Only one kind of grass grew on this grassy beach. Akiko has never seen this kind of grass. The locals call it "paradise grass". This name is very noble. It does look a bit noble. The first impression is that it looks very clean, with no trace of color except pure green. Surrounded by water, there is no dust at all, and the entire grass beach looks even fresher and cleaner. The grass blades are long and thin, growing out naturally and making an elegant arc. The leaf tips sway gently in the breeze, like dragonfly wings. There is a thin pale golden stem between the leaves. The green is transparent and flows quietly in the leaves as if alive. They grow one by one without rubbing against each other, and there is always a proper distance, which makes people feel that this grass is also very graceful and educated. Occasionally, a few plants were blown away by the wind and their roots were slightly exposed. That one was neat and white as ivory. Some plants mature a little early and pull out a green stem from the center, with a flower blooming at the top of the stem. The flowers are light blue, a very elegant blue, slightly sad and reserved. The petals are small and not many, unlike some flowers that look showy when they bloom. There is only one flower, and it is several points higher than the grass, so it naturally looks a bit more arrogant. The flowers are fragrant, very fragrant, a fragrance that no one has ever smelled before. This fragrance is mixed with the smell of sunshine, earth and water, and floats in the air.

My father couldn't help but sigh: "There is such grass in the world."

Akiko was watching a bright red dragonfly flying low on the grass blades, and listened to her father's words , couldn't help but reach out and gently brush the grass blades.

The father's expression was peaceful. Because the grassy beach in front of him was almost endless, enough for the sheep to eat.

However, the sheep had rested for a while, and the wind had blown them for a while, but not a single sheep lowered its head to eat grass.

The father and son became slightly nervous.

"Maybe they haven't eaten this kind of grass." Akiko said.

The father pulled out a piece of grass and brought it to a sheep's mouth to tease it. The sheep sniffed, shook its head and walked away.

"Push them toward the middle!" said her father, "let them get used to the smell of grass first."

Mingzi jumped up from the ground and drove the sheep with her father group. It was very difficult to blast, because the eyes were trying their best to resist. After blasting this batch, that batch was returned. The father and son ran back and forth, roaring loudly, and after a while they were panting and sweating profusely. Several times forward and several times back, the situation is like waves washing up on the beach, roaring up, then rushing back, and it is impossible to go forward.

Akiko got a little angry, grabbing the branches and walking towards the black spot. He asked it loudly: "Why? Why don't you want to enter the grassy beach?"

Black Dot raised his head slightly, with an expression of "I don't care about this grass."

"Let's go!" Akiko pointed forward with a branch and ordered Black Dot.

The black spots didn’t move at all.

Akiko whipped the branch down hard.

The black spot shivered for a while due to pain, but still stood there stubbornly.

As a result, Akiko whipped the black spot even more fiercely.

The black spot couldn't bear the pain and fled towards the sheep. The sheep immediately separated and closed up quickly, making it difficult for Akiko to catch the black spot.

Akiko was a little angry and chased the black spot irrationally and without any rules. The more he chased, the more anxious he became, and the more he tried to rescue him, the less he could catch up. He couldn't help but feel cruel in his heart: "If I catch you, I have to beat you to death!" When he finally caught Black Spot, he was really cruel with fists and kicks. Beat it up.

At this time, his father rushed over and worked with Mingzi to drag Black Dot to the center of the grassy beach. Akiko asked her father to look at the black spots, then ran behind the sheep and drove them away again. Since the black spots had been dragged away, it was much easier to drive away this time. The sheep were finally driven to the center of the grass by Akiko.

Mingzi and her father sat slumped on the grass, and a huge doubt arose in their hearts: "What happened to these sheep? Why did you reject this grassland? What happened to this grassland?"

p>

Mingzi smelled the little blue flowers, the flowers were fragrant.

My father pinched a blade of grass and chewed it in his mouth. The taste was slightly sweet.

The father and son were puzzled and looked blankly at the grassy beach, at the flock of sheep, at the three miles of sowthorn trees on the grassy beach, and at the extremely blue sky above their heads.

The only reason why the father and son still have confidence is that the sheep have never eaten paradise grass. Once they get used to the smell of the grass, they will naturally eat it.

They make themselves believe this as much as possible, and build shacks to reinforce this belief.

The sheep had been gathering under a alder tree all day.

What is incredible is that except for paradise grass, there is no other kind of grass in this grassland. This made Mingzi feel less fond of this kind of grass. Akiko even thought this grass was quite scary: What kind of grass is this?

In addition to the paradise grass, there are only a few cypress trees scattered on the beach, creating a feeling of loneliness and desolation.

After setting up the shack, it was already time for the moon to rise from the water in the east to the tops of the reeds.

Mingzi and her father were sitting in front of the shack, eating dry food, feeling melancholy in their hearts. In this deserted and lonely place, they could only face the silent night sky. They couldn't tell what was going on, and they didn't know what would happen next. They were in a trance, feeling like they were in a dream.

The moon rises higher and higher, lightly sprinkling a layer of silver on the grassy beach. The grassy beach at this time is more charming than during the day. The grass is so green, even under the night sky, it still glows with a hazy green color. This green is suspended low on the ground, as if it can float into the air. When a cool breeze blows over the water, the tips of the grass begin to ripple, undulating gracefully under the moonlight, glowing with green and silver light.

The hungry sheep did not make any commotion or noise because of hunger, but showed a touching tranquility. They lay down beautifully around the alder tree, bathing in the moonlight motionless. On top of the white, there is a slight hint of blue. From a distance, it looks like a pool of water, or like there is still crystal snow on the shady slope that has not yet melted away. The ram's horns shone as if they were made of metal.

Only the black dot stood alone among the sheep.

Akiko and her father still felt uneasy, and this uneasiness became more profound as the night progressed. Father sighed.

Mingzi said: "Go to sleep."

The father took a look at the sheep and walked into the shack.

Akiko walked to the sheep, squatted down, and stroked the sheep that were so hungry that there were only a handful of bones left. Her heart was filled with sadness.

The next morning, when Akiko went to drive up the sheep, she found that three sheep could never be driven back - they had died quietly under the bright moonlight.

Akiko squatted on the ground and cried.

The father lowered his head and lowered his arms.

However, the remaining sheep still did not eat a bite of grass.

Mingzi suddenly jumped up from the ground, crying and beating the sheep randomly with branches: "Aren't you clamoring to eat grass? Then why don't you eat now? Why?!... "

The sheep were running on the grassy beach, their hooves tapping on the grassy beach, making a "plop-plop-plop" sound.

My father whined in a low voice; "You are a beast if you don't eat such good grass!"

Akiko finally threw away the branch and stood weakly.

My father bent down and pulled out a piece of paradise grass and smelled it vigorously under his nose. He knew that sheep are very clean animals and are very particular about their food. If a piece of grass is peed or spit on by a child, it will turn around and walk away. But he couldn't smell any strange smell of paradise grass. He thought: Maybe the human nose can't smell it? He looked at the good grass with disappointment.

The sun was so bright that it made the grassy beach look luxurious.

The sheep were still gathered around the alder tree, their furry backs shining with golden light in the sun. The sunlight makes them become thinner, like newly born foals. They lack the gentleness of sheep, but are more handsome than horses.

In this beautiful sunshine, five more sheep fell down.

"Let's transport the sheep away and leave this grassy beach." Akiko said to her father.

The father shook his head: "It's too late. They will all die on the boat."

Another night. The moonlight is still so good. The sheep are still so peaceful. In the face of death, these sheep showed valuable moderation. They were under the alpinia tree, calmly accepting the fact that they might never see the moon again at any time. They did not close their eyes, but used their remaining lives to watch the night that they would never see again, and listened to the whispers of all things. They seemed to have forgotten their hunger. The sky is so charming, the breeze is so cool, and the sound of the waves in the lake is so beautiful. All of them are quietly listening to the breathing of nature.

"It's different." Akiko still remembers the boat owner's words.

Mingzi woke up late at night. When he walked out of the shack and looked under the alder tree, he found that the sheep were gone, and only the alder tree was still there. He immediately turned back and called his father: "The sheep are gone!"

The father got up immediately.

At this time, they vaguely heard the sound of water. When they turned around to look, they saw countless white dots swimming on the water next to the big wooden boat. They immediately ran over to take a look and saw that the sheep were all in the water. At this moment, they were twenty meters away from the shore. But their heads were all pointed towards the shore: they originally wanted to leave the grassy beach, but after swimming for a while, they probably felt that it was impossible to swim across, so they had to turn around again.

They swam as if there was a strong wind and there were white waves on the water.

Akiko and her father stood silently by the water, waiting for them.

They swim very slowly. A few were far behind. There are a few others, following the direction of the wind and current, drifting to the side. It appears that they ended their lives on the water. They climbed ashore one after another. There are still a few that really have no strength and no longer want to struggle.

Akiko walked into the water, swam to them, and picked them up one by one back to the shore. They were dripping with water and shivering in the night wind. Some couldn't hold up and fell down.

"Drive them under the alder tree." said the father.

When Mingzi went to chase them away, only one-half of them were left, and the remaining half fell dead on the grassy beach one after another before dawn.

My father’s back seemed to be broken all of a sudden, his back was hunched over, and his eyes became a little dull.

That evening, the flock of sheep was baptized by another storm. At that time, thunder was rumbling, rain was pouring, and the wind swept across the reed beach in the distance, bending several linden trees as if a giant hand was holding down their heads. The grass was crushed again and again. The little blue flowers kept swaying and trembling in the wind. The sheep gathered tightly together to resist the attack of the storm.

Through the rain curtain, Mingzi saw several more sheep fall down. The situation was like a lime wall being soaked by rain, and the lime peeled off in large chunks.

Akiko and her father are no longer anxious or sad.

After the rain, the grassy beach is even more green and extremely fresh. The grass blades and blue flowers were covered with crystal drops of water. The air on the grassy beach is moist and fresh. At night, the sky is full of stars and the moon is brighter and purer.

Akiko and her father gave up their efforts and no longer had any hope. They are quietly waiting for the ending.

Two days later, when the sun set at the end of the grassy beach, except for the black spots still standing under the alder tree, the entire flock fell. On the grassy beach is a vast expanse of quiet and sacred white.

When Akiko saw the dead sheep, he once again thought of the boat owner’s words: “There are different species.” None of the dead sheep in this group of sheep looked ugly. They do not conjure up images of dead bodies. They either lie on their sides or bend their front legs, gentle, quiet, and painless, as if they are dreaming.

The afterglow of the sunset sprinkled a layer of rose red on them.

The canopy of the alpin tree expanded lushly, as if to create a canopy for the dead creatures underfoot.

A few small blue flowers bloomed silently beside a few sheep. It makes this death sad and holy.

Infinite silence.

The only voice was that of my father: "Of course, you can't eat things you shouldn't eat, and you won't eat them. These beasts may be reasonable."

The sunset is getting brighter and redder. It rests majestically on the ground.

The black spot under the linden tree stands in the sunset, with its head facing the sunset, like a statue.

Akiko walked carefully through the dead sheep until she reached the black spot. He reached out to touch it. As soon as his hand touched it, it fell over.

Akiko lowered her head...