Chapter 4
When Li Sanjiang carried Li Zhuiyuan home, the sky just turned white.
Cui Guiying took the child over, and Li Sanjiang talked to Li Weihan for a while before leaving.
Li Zhuiyuan was placed on the mat, his eyes closed for a while and then opened again.
He couldn't sleep, and as soon as he closed his eyes, he seemed to see the little oriole dancing in the fish pond again.
Cui Guiying and Li Weihan never went into the back room to rest, but sat in the kitchen.
The woman kept rubbing her fingers until they turned red; the man kept smoking hookah, one pot after another.
Looking at the already lit sky, Cui Guiying stood up and said, "I'll make breakfast for you guys first."
Li Weihan blew out a puff of smoke and said: "It's a bit early to smoke."
Cui Guiying had to sit down again and looked at her man: "How long will it take?"
"Waiting for notification."
"Who will notify?"
Li Weihan did not answer, but continued to suck on his cigarette holder.
After sitting for a while, there was a knock on the door:
"Marquis Guiying, Marquis Guiying."
It's the next door neighbor, Zhao Simei.
Li Weihan knocked on the hookah and said: "The notice has arrived."
Cui Guiying stood up, yawned and rubbed her eyes as she opened the door, wondering: "What's the matter, Simeihou?"
Zhao Simei reached out and grabbed Cui Guiying's arm and shook it hard:
"Someone in the Bearded family is dead!"
"What?"
"Two people are dead, Big Beard and his little son. They were just seen floating in the fish pond at home. Everyone went to see it. Come on, let's go and see it together!"
"Let's go!"
Before Cui Guiying went out, she shouted to the back room: "Marquis Ying, the rice is ready, you can make breakfast later."
"I got it, milk."
After getting the response, Cui Guiying went out with Zhao Simei.
Li Weihan waited for a while, touched the opened cigarettes in his pocket, put the hookah on the table, and went out.
Zhao Simei's previous knock on the door had actually woken up the children. Knowing that something terrible had happened, the children also got up and ran out to watch the fun.
No matter how much Yingzi yelled "brush your teeth and wash your face" from behind, you couldn't call him back.
At this time, the fish pond of Big Beard's house was full of people, and villagers on the village road kept coming here, men, women, old and young, dragging their families with them.
There were two corpses floating on the fish pond, and no one was taking care of them, even though there was a small boat parked by the pond.
Although the Bearded family has a bad reputation in the village, the villagers are not so indifferent;
The reason why they didn't help bring the bodies ashore was because the two bodies were like biscuits that had been soaked in a bowl for a long time. They were bloated and had a translucent fleshy color on the outside, like two large humanoid pigs. Skin jelly.
Many people know that a drowned corpse will swell if soaked for a long time, but how could the two people who were still alive during the day yesterday become like fungus soaked in hair overnight?
This was so evil that no one dared to touch the corpse.
The bearded wife knelt down by the pond and cried loudly, but she only knew how to cry, but she didn't know what to do. People around her tried to persuade her, but she ignored them and just kept crying about her misery.
Finally, the boss of the bearded family came back from the town, and he finally had a person in charge.
It's just that the eldest son was so frightened when he saw his father and brother on the pond looking like this that he didn't dare to go out to fish for people, so he had to ask someone to fetch Li Sanjiang.
Li Sanjiang came pushing a cart, which contained his personal affairs.
After arriving at the ground, Li Sanjiang first took a look at the situation on the pond, and then was so frightened that he kept waving his hands and retreating:
"I don't dare to fish for this damn thing. If I fish for it, my life will be ruined. My life will be ruined! Find someone else, find someone else quickly!"
His bluff made the surrounding villagers even more uproar, and they began to whisper among themselves what kind of evil the bearded family had committed and what kind of evil they had attracted.
Soon, some villagers brought up the matter of the little Huang Ying yesterday. After all, the white-collar team almost got into a fight at Big Beard's house. It was difficult to hide any secrets in the village.
Li Weihan also spoke at this moment, telling the people around him about what happened yesterday when he took his grandchildren into the river in a boat. He said that his grandson fell into the water and had nightmares about seeing a woman walking in the water. He was so scared that he couldn't wake up from hysteria. , Zheng Datong came to see it, but it was useless. Fortunately, Liu Xiazi came to deal with it.
Immediately, many people came over to listen to Li Weihan's narration and kept expressing their opinions.
Cui Guiying looked very nervous as she stood next to Li Weihan. On weekdays, if she didn't have to cook and wash clothes, she could sit on the dam with the women in the village and chat about the rights and wrongs of three days and three nights. But today, she was too dull to speak. .
In my heart, I felt weak and panicked, as if the thief was shouting to catch the thief, and the cat came to cry out for the mouse.
Pan Zi, Lei Zi, Hu Zi and Shi Tou also started talking, saying that they met a female water ghost yesterday and almost dragged their own Xiao Yuan Hou down as a scapegoat. She was here to seek revenge!
For a moment, there seemed to be a large open-air tea party all around. After the little Huangying incident was discussed thoroughly, the villagers who still felt unsatisfied even told the story about the old sesame seeds and rotten millet in the bearded family. Stir it out and continue to stir-fry.
Not long after, the second son of the bearded family rushed home with his wife, two daughters and son-in-law. The two daughters hugged their mother and started crying together, while the two sons and two sons-in-law stood together and discussed the price with Li Sanjiang. .
Li Sanjiang took a handful of Qiao fiercely, and on the pretext that it was so evil to catch two people at once and the corpse was so evil, he directly demanded ten times the price of fishing one person ashore.
After talking about the money, Li Sanjiang set up the offering table, served some wax and burned paper, and muttered "Hello Friends and Invite Companions" for an extra half an hour, attracting the attention of the audience.
Although this performance is indeed not as bright as that of the White House, everyone knows that the White House is just a showman, and this one is the real professional.
During this period, two Santanas drove over, both with police lights hanging on their tops. They were people from the town police station.
Normally, if someone drowns, it's not a big deal. But this time, it was a father and son who drowned at once, and it was at the doorstep of the house, so the nature of the matter was different.
The police came over to take a look at the situation and were stunned for a while. They had never seen soaked corpses before, but they had never seen soaked bodies so delicately.
Seeing this, they had no choice but to wait for the body to be retrieved first. They did not interrupt Li Sanjiang's ceremony, but they also did not go there to get together. Instead, they returned to the car on the roadside and smoked cigarettes and waited slowly.
Finally, Li Sanjiang finished his work. He slaughtered a rooster and sprinkled a bowl of blood. He didn't know whether it was real black dog blood. Then he went down to the pond and took the boat to the central location.
First use the "guiding hook" to hook the body to the side of the boat, then use the "returning basket" to fix the body and pull it onto the boat, then cover the body with the "returning net", and after punting the boat to the edge of the pond, bend down , lowered his head, used a specific technique to put the body on his back, and then landed on the shore.
This is a very important rule in the body-catching industry. The body-catching people have to put their feet on the shore first before releasing the body, because this is the way to "send" or "carry" it home.
In the end, the body can be put down only after the owner's family shouts for permission. This is a return and a return, and the errand has been completed, so that the dead will know that he has really returned home, and will not become a lonely ghost following him.
After two attempts, the bearded father and son finally ended their wandering and were placed on two straw mats.
After everything was over, Li Sanjiang looked at the central area of the fish pond with some lingering fear. He had just fished out the body in a polite manner before, and did not dare to really explore in depth.
God knows if she is still here.
The police came and separated the bodies, but the villagers didn't care and continued to look at them from a distance. From time to time, the frightened screams of children were heard.
After Li Sanjiang paid the money and packed up his belongings, he pushed the cart back with a cigarette in his mouth. All the villagers around him got out of the way, including those who had just fished out the corpses.
The police began a formal investigation, and the temporary office was located at Beard's house. The village party secretary also came to assist, calling people, boiling water and delivering tea.
The bearded wife couldn't explain why. She just woke up without seeing her husband sleeping next to her, or she was the one who spotted the husband and wife floating in the water and yelling when an outsider passed by her fish pond.
The deputy director who led the team asked the village party secretary who in the village had a grudge against the bearded family. The village party secretary dug his ears and replied in a nonchalant manner:
"Hey, that's a lot."
Next, those with grudges lined up to take notes.
Including Li Weihan, who told the story of "Little Oriole", Pan Zi, Lei Zi and others were also called over for questioning.
At first, the police thought they had found another body, and sent police officers to follow Li Weihan to that section of the river to search, but found nothing. In addition, Li Weihan's story was a bit too bizarre, so he could only treat it as an old man from the countryside telling his grandchildren. Blowing superstitious stories.
He didn't know whether to take this report seriously or not. Seeing that everyone didn't believe it, Li Weihan became anxious and kept repeating that what he encountered was true, pestering the police and people around him to believe him. In the end, he was "coaxed" by the village party secretary. of.
The white-collar team who came to cause trouble yesterday was later summoned for investigation, but they went to the next town on business the day before the incident, and the entire team had alibi.
As for the disappearance of Xiao Huangying and the entanglements therein, firstly, the person or the body could not be found, and secondly, the bearded men responsible for it were also dead, so they could only report it missing first.
In the end, the drowning incident of father and son was handled as an accidental investigation result. It probably meant that the bearded man and his wife drank wine at night, got into the mood and went drunkenly in the fish pond, and then they both drowned.
The bearded man's family didn't bother to continue the investigation, because after the funeral, the two sons and two daughters started to argue about splitting up the family, and the quarrel was very ugly, which added a lot of talk to the village.
On that day, it was already dusk after finishing the notes. Li Weihan and Cui Guiying took their children home, with the children walking in front and the old couple walking behind.
Cui Guiying patted her chest and asked in fear: "Why did you take the initiative to go up and talk to me, and you were called by the police for questioning? I was scared to death."
Li Weihan casually threw the empty cigarette case in his pocket to the roadside, pursed his lips and said:
"My uncle taught me. You have to say it. You can't hold it back. Zheng Datong and Liu Jinxia also know something about Xiao Yuanhou."
Cui Guiying complained: "Let them know and just keep it a secret."
Li Weihan shook his head: "Even if the adults know the secret, can the children keep it secret?"
"This..."
Li Weihan breathed a sigh of relief,
Said:
"My uncle said that the best way to keep a secret is to tell it in public."
……
Almost everyone in the village went to bearded man's fish pond to watch the fun, but Li Zhuiyuan didn't go. He couldn't sleep while lying on the bed, so he moved a small bench and sat on the dam outside the house, looking at the farmland in the distance.
After a while, her sister Yingzi, who had washed the dishes, also came out. She first moved out a square stool with stationery and books and homework on it, and she sat on the small stool. This was how a simple desk was formed, and the desk lamp was today's A bright sun.
Yingzi's parents didn't pay much attention to her studies, but they never said things like "it's useless for a girl to go to school", "it's better to get married early", or "find connections and join a textile factory to make money".
Just pay the tuition fees before the semester. If you need to pay for materials or other things, don't be shy or feel guilty. Just ask for them normally.
But I'm afraid of comparison in everything. Compared with other girls' families in the village, Yingzi's parents, who are purely carefree, have become a model of attaching importance to their daughter's education.
Yingzi knew that this was due to the influence of his sister-in-law Li Lan.
It was through studying that my sister-in-law changed her destiny in one fell swoop and became the pride of her grandparents. Even her father and uncles couldn't help but puff up their chests and feel proud every time they mentioned my sister-in-law to outsiders.
However, Yingzi's academic performance can only be considered mid-range, even though she does work hard and does not slack off;
Of course, it was impossible for grandparents to deliberately sacrifice their sons to provide for their daughters. In fact, their fathers and uncles really couldn't read in their brains.
This made her wonder, did the old Li family's brains go to my sister-in-law?
At first, this idea was just there and not very strong. It was not until the second day after Xiao Yuanhou was sent here that he sat next to him, slightly cautious. When he faced a mathematical problem and had no clue for a long time, something came to his ears. A whisper came:
"Root root 3."
Later, when Yingzi had questions that he didn't know, he asked Li Zhuiyuan to do them. Yingzi also discovered that Xiao Yuanhou barely needed to think and could tell the answers just by scanning the questions with his eyes.
Perhaps the biggest trouble for him is that he has to write down the problem-solving process, otherwise his stupid sister can't understand it!
You know, she is already in her first year of high school.
Yingzi asked what kind of school he went to in Beijing, and Li Zhuiyuan replied: Junior Class.
Yingzi subconsciously understood "teenagers' class" as elementary school,
I sighed in my heart: As expected of a primary school student in the capital, the syllabus is so advanced.
Li Zhuiyuan was in a daze, occasionally coming back to help his sister write a question, and then continued in a daze.
Feeling the pen cap poking at him, Li Zhuiyuan turned his head to read the question, but saw his sister pointing to the west side of the dam. There was a step there, and at the bottom of the step stood a little girl wearing a floral skirt.
It was Cuicui, Liu Jinxia's granddaughter. She stood there timidly, not daring to come up.
Yingzi frowned at Li Zhuiyuan and signaled to ignore her.
In the past, she would have spoken directly. After all, the children in the village had a consensus that they would not play with her; but yesterday, Liu Jinxia and her daughter came to the house to "see a doctor" for her brother, and she was embarrassed to say it now.
Li Zhuiyuan stood up, took the initiative to walk to the side of the dam, came to Cuicui, and asked with a smile:
"You're here, what's the matter?"
Cuicui looked in other directions, pinched the hem of her skirt with her fingers, and said, "I came to show you."
"Okay." Li Zhuiyuan turned around and waved to Sister Yingzi, "Sister, Cuicui and I are going to play."
Yingzi didn't say anything, sighed, lowered his head and continued to do his homework.
In fact, there is nothing fun about playing. Many times I simply don’t want to be at home anymore, so I run to my partner’s house, call my partner out, and then we all wander around aimlessly together.
Cuicui looked at Li Zhuiyuan who accompanied her out, with a smile in her eyes. This was the first time that she followed other children in the village and went to call someone's house.
However, she still didn't dare to walk into other people's houses without authorization. Children at this age may not understand many things, but they are more sensitive. She didn't want to receive the rolling eyes of those adults.
"Brother Yuanhou, my mother said, were you sick yesterday?"
"Yes." Li Zhuiyuan was reminded, and the little yellow warbler appeared in his mind again, and his smile gradually faded away.
"Ah?" Cuicui immediately apologized, "I won't say it anymore. I won't say it anymore. Being sick is really hard."
Li Zhuiyuan touched his pocket and said apologetically: "Well, I forgot to bring you snacks."
In fact, it's not that he forgot. Grandma is not at home, and the cabinet where the snacks are kept is locked and cannot be opened. Sister Yingzi seems to know where the key is hidden, but Li Zhuiyuan knows that if he goes to her to help get it, she will tell him in the house. Speak ill of Cuicui.
"Snacks? I have a lot of them at home. Come and eat them at my house."
"Going to your house?"
"Well, let's go to my house and play."
"Okay."
After being agreed, Cuicui plucked up the courage and took the initiative to hold Li Zhuiyuan's hand, and the two of them walked on the ridge road together.
At this moment, she really hoped that the adults on the roadside residential area could see her and ask herself: "Hey, Xiao Cuihou, who are you playing with?"
I also hope that I can meet people of the same age on the road and let them see that I also have playmates.
It's a pity that most of the people in the village went to Big Beard's fish pond to see the frozen pig skin.
However, she was still very happy, and the corners of her mouth never lowered. If she hadn't been holding hands, she thought she would be spinning in circles with joy.
"Brother Yuanhou, don't you understand what we are saying?"
"I couldn't understand it at all at first, then I could understand it if I spoke slower and shorter. Now I not only understand everything, but I can also speak some of it myself, but it's not standard."
When he was first sent to this home, he really couldn't understand what the elders were saying to him. Only his brothers and sisters who had gone to school could communicate with him in Mandarin.
I remember that every time I called Li Weihan and Cui Guiying "Grandpa and Grandma", they would obviously be a little unhappy, and then they would repeatedly correct themselves and say "Grandpa and Grandma".
There is indeed no local title of "Grandpa and Grandma". In many cases, directions are used to distinguish grandma and grandma. For example, those who live in the south are called "Grandma Nan" and those who live in the north are called "Grandma Bei."
"By the way, brother Yuanhou, have you been to the Forbidden City?"
"Yes, I have been there."
"I want to go in the future too."
"Okay, just call me and I'll take you there."
"Really? Don't lie to me?"
“I’m not going to lie to you, I’m very familiar with the Forbidden City.”
In Li Zhuiyuan’s memory, there was a time when Li Lan was working in the Forbidden City, and he was left to play by himself in the Forbidden City. Sometimes he would sit on the steps of the side door, holding an orange cat in his arms, looking at the entrance from the main entrance. There is an endless stream of tourists coming in, and it lasts all afternoon.
"By the way, Brother Yuanhou, have you ever drank soy juice?"
"Well..."
"Have you ever drank?" Cuicui blinked her big eyes and looked over curiously.
"Drink."
"Does it taste good? What does the bean juice taste like?"
What does it taste like?
Li Zhuiyuan's mind flashed to the scene last week when Cui Guiying was washing the damaged pickled cabbage jar at home.
"Some people like to drink, some don't."
"Really, then I will definitely try it when I go to BJ in the future."
"Yeah."
"Brother Yuanhou, look, that's my home."
Following the direction of Cuicui's finger, Li Zhuiyuan saw the second floor behind a piece of farmland.
"Your family lives in a building."
There are various styles of houses in the village, most of which are brick and tile bungalows. A few families have difficulty in building mud houses. Similarly, a few families with good conditions have taken the lead in building two-story houses.
Walking up to Cuicui's house, in the living room on the first floor, Liu Jinxia was playing bridge with a cigarette in her mouth.
The poker friends are two old ladies and an old man. When they come to play cards with Liu Jinxia, they can have a meal at her house. The food is not bad, including meat and wine, so Liu Jinxia has no shortage of poker friends, and she is willing to spend some money to "buy them." "People keep themselves entertained.
The card table is indeed a magical place. Liu Jinxia obviously suffers from cataracts and has poor eyesight, but it does not affect her speed in playing cards at all.
"Nai, I'll bring brother Yuanhou to play at home."
"Grandma Liu." Li Zhuiyuan called out.
"Well, let's play." Liu Jinxia responded, then focused on the cards in her hand, "Touch!"
Just now, the card players were talking about what was happening at Big Beard's house. Liu Jinxia responded casually while blowing out smoke rings. When she heard her granddaughter coming in with Li Zhuiyuan, she couldn't help but be slightly startled. His eyes narrowed through the smoke.
This little girl was possessed yesterday, and this morning the bearded man and his wife were left floating in the fish pond.
If there wasn't some putty here, Liu Jinxia wouldn't believe it even if I beat her to death.
However, she didn't say anything to stop her granddaughter from playing with Li Zhuiyuan. The jokes were all damn bad luck, no matter what, who would dislike the other.
Cuicui led Li Zhuiyuan through the hall to the back room. Inside, Li Juxiang was sitting on the bench choosing vegetables. She was surprised when she saw her daughter bringing someone back. When she saw it was Li Zhuiyuan, her face stopped. A smile can't help but appear.
This reminds me of the scene when Li Lan played with him when he was a child.
Li Juxiang stood up immediately and wiped her hands on her apron: "Sit down, Marquis Xiaoyuan."
Immediately, she immediately went into the house and brought out a lot of food to entertain her. Liu Jinxia's family was really in good condition, and Cuicui was the only child in the family, so she had the snack treatment that other children in the village envied.
Li Juxiang also opened two bottles of citric soda and gave one to each of Li Zhuiyuan and Cuicui.
This sparkling drink, which looks like a beer bottle, is cheap and very popular. Children don't bother to pour it into a bowl, but just drink it directly from the bottle, imitating the boldness of adults when drinking.
"Xiao Yuanhou, how is your mother?"
"Okay, Auntie."
"I heard that your mother passed away..." Li Juxiang suddenly realized that it was inappropriate to ask a child, and immediately changed her words, "Your mother and I often played together when we were young. We have a very good relationship."
"Ang, mother told you, Xianghou, Aunt Xianghou."
Generally, adding "Hou" at the end is only used between elders and juniors, not juniors.
But of course Li Juxiang would not be angry because of this. Instead, she was very happy. She could imagine Li Lan talking about herself to her son and using the title "Xianghou", which proved that she had not forgotten herself. "Your mother was very smart at that time and had good academic performance. Unlike me, she gets a headache when she reads books." Li Juxiang trimmed her earlobe hair and asked, "When will your mother come home to see you?"
"My mother is busy at work. She said she would pick me up when she is done."
Cuicui said: "Mom, I will take brother Yuanhou upstairs to play."
"Well, go ahead and say hello to Marquis Xiao Yuan."
Cuicui pulled Li Zhuiyuan up and when she walked to the stairs, she skillfully took off her shoes and changed into a pair of slippers. Li Zhuiyuan also took off his shoes.
"No, brother Yuanhou, don't take off your clothes. Come up directly."
Li Zhuiyuan took off his shoes and planned to walk up barefoot, but Cuicui had to hand him her mother's slippers to put on.
Wearing big slippers, Li Zhuiyuan followed Cuicui to the second floor and came to her room, where there was a black and white TV set.
Liu Jinxia's family bought a TV a long time ago, but kept it quiet. People in the village were indifferent to her family, and she was too lazy to invite people to watch TV at home.
Cuicui turned on the vertical electric fan, but the fan blades did not move: "Hey, is there a power outage?"
Li Zhuiyuan: "The plug is not inserted."
"Hey, yes." Cuicui bent down, picked up the plug, and inserted it into the wall socket:
"Buzz...buzz...buzz...buzz buzz——"
The thick fan blades slowly turned, emitting a sound that could blow away the midsummer.
"Brother Yuanhou, do you watch TV?"
"Anything is fine."
Cuicui turned on the TV, then twisted the wheel. After one turn, only these few channels, half of which were still covered in snowflakes.
"Brother Jing, are you okay?"
"Rong'er, I'm fine."
"Hmph, Ouyang Feng, you..."
Every winter and summer vacation, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" is regularly shown on TV.
The two sat by the bed and watched TV for a while. Li Zhuiyuan suddenly felt sleepy.
He hasn't rested since last night. He was overly nervous before, but now his emotions have subsided and he feels tired quickly.
Cuicui mistakenly thought that Li Zhuiyuan didn't want to watch TV, so she got out of bed and began to introduce the dolls, toys and picture books in her room to Li Zhuiyuan.
Although he was very sleepy, Li Zhuiyuan still looked at her and tried his best to respond to every introduction she made.
The little girl was immersed in her own happiness of sharing, but she soon found that she could not hear the response. She turned to look at the bed and found that Li Zhuiyuan had fallen asleep on the bed.
Cuicui immediately stopped talking, and after gently leaning over, she carefully helped Li Zhuiyuan push it flat, folded Xia Tian's thin quilt, and covered Li Zhuiyuan's belly.
Then, she pushed the electric fan this way and pressed the small button on the back of the fan. The fan began to shake its head.
After doing this, she moved a chair and sat beside the bed, resting her face on her hands and looking at the sleeping Li Zhuiyuan.
After looking at him for a while, she secretly smiled, her earlobes turned red, and turned her face away. After a while, she couldn't help but continue to look at him.
Time passed by so unconsciously.
"Xiao Cui Hou, Xiao Cui Hou, bring Xiao Yuan Hou down for dinner." Li Juxiang's shout came from downstairs.
Cuicui immediately went downstairs and said to Li Juxiang: "Mom, brother Yuanhou is asleep."
"Then you come down and eat first, and we'll leave some food for him."
"No, I'm not hungry. I want to wait for brother Yuanhou to wake up and eat with him."
Most of the conscious parents in the village will prevent their children from going out to play with friends near the meal, for fear of being invited to the table for dinner, as if they are going out to take advantage.
However, sometimes it is unavoidable, and it will naturally come to the table.
Cuicui had never experienced it before. She was willing to wait for Li Zhuiyuan to wake up and have dinner with him.
Li Juxiang smiled, nodded, and went to the living room to greet her mother and poker friends for lunch.
Cuicui ran back to the second floor, sat back in that position, and continued to look at Li Zhuiyuan:
"Huh?"
Cuicui moved closer with some doubts, because she noticed that brother Yuanhou frowned.
"Are you dreaming?"
……
"Nai, I'll bring brother Yuanhou to play at home."
"Well, let's play. Touch!"
Li Zhuiyuan looked at Cuicui standing in front of him, and then at Liu Jinxia who was playing cards with three card friends in the living room. He knew clearly that he was dreaming.
Because the pictures around me were too far removed from reality. Everything in my field of vision was black and white, and all the people and objects seemed to have been copied with charcoal.
Although it can show corresponding people and objects, it is a bit blurry and distorted, and there is a strange randomness in the rough lines.
Li Zhuiyuan looked down at himself and found that he was still normal. What was abnormal were the other people and objects in the dream.
This reminded him of the copying drawings in his mother's study, with the same charcoal marks on the white background.
He dreamed of the scene when he and Cuicui came to her house to greet Liu Jinxia. Next, Cuicui in front of him held his hand and walked inside.
The little girl's delicate hand was now rough and painful, like sandpaper.
He couldn't help but break away and stopped, but Cuicui continued to walk in alone, but her arm still maintained the posture of holding people.
Behind him, the four Liu Jinxia and others who were playing cards in the living room suddenly became silent.
Li Zhuiyuan looked back and found that all four people were still and motionless.
Even the smoke rings blown out of Liu Jinxia's mouth were fixed there and did not continue to spread.
This stillness also gave Li Zhuiyuan the opportunity to observe. The carbon marks on the three players' bodies were soft and shallow, while the lines on Liu Jinxia's image were thick, deep, and hard.
After standing there for a long time, Li Zhuiyuan was confused. Every time he dreamed, he would wake up immediately after realizing it was a dream, but this time, he was still in a dream.
In the end, Li Zhuiyuan chose to walk inside and saw Li Juxiang sitting there choosing vegetables. The lines on Li Juxiang's body were also very hard, which was very inconsistent with the thin lines around her.
Li Zhuiyuan walked up to Li Juxiang, and the deep carbon marks outlined the details of her expression. She was smiling, with memories in her eyes.
"Aunt Juxiang, Aunt Juxiang?"
Li Zhuiyuan tried shouting a few times and waved his hand in front of her, but Li Juxiang remained motionless and did not blink.
After leaving here, Li Zhuiyuan came to the stairs and was about to walk up. He took off his shoes and walked up barefoot.
When I came to the bedroom, the vertical electric fan stopped spinning and there was only a blurry sketch of Guo Jing and Huang Rong on the TV.
Cuicui was pointing at one of her dolls, with her mouth open as if she was telling a story, but she remained motionless.
The lines on Cuicui's body are clearer and harder than those on her grandmother and mother, almost becoming black hard lines.
It was as if other people and objects were painted, but she was carved.
Li Zhuiyuan looked at the bed. He was not on the bed, it was empty.
It was not only things that were still, but also sounds. Li Zhuiyuan suddenly realized that his ears had not heard any sound for a long time, and the whole world was eerily quiet.
He began to panic because he didn't know how long he would stay in this dream.
He opened the bedroom door to the balcony on the second floor of the building, which was covered with red and white tiles.
Looking into the distance, except for some scrawled graffiti near the house that could barely be seen as farmland, most of the area in the field of vision was a bleak blank.
Looking up, there is only a glowing white patch where the sun used to be, much like a piece of eraser that will fall down and wipe away everything here at any time.
"Hey, is this Aunt Liu's house?"
There was a sound coming from the dam below. At this time, it seemed so abrupt, even harsh.
Li Zhuiyuan, who was standing on the second floor, looked down and saw a man who looked about fifty years old. He was also carrying an old lady on his back.
The old lady was very thin, with only a few bones covered by shriveled skin exposed from her sleeves. Her hair was long and messy, hanging down her back.
"Hey, is this Aunt Liu's house?"
The man asked again, anxiously carrying his mother on his back in a circle.
Li Zhuiyuan didn't know whether he should answer.
At this moment,
The old lady who was lying on the man's back suddenly raised her head, and her face was facing Li Zhuiyuan who was standing on the second floor.
It's obviously an image drawn with charcoal, but the old lady's eyes show a kind of delicacy that goes beyond the limits of the painting style.
That is anger, cruelty, and resentment!
The next moment, Li Zhuiyuan found that everything around him began to spin and twist, like a whirlpool appearing out of thin air, tearing up everything around him, including himself.
……
"Brother Yuanhou?"
Li Zhuiyuan opened his eyes and saw Cuicui's concerned face.
"Brother Yuanhou, are you dreaming?"
"Yes." Li Zhuiyuan sat up and responded, "How long have I slept?"
"Soon, two hours, maybe. Brother Yuanhou, let's go down to eat."
"No, I'll go home and eat."
"Oh, you're welcome, brother Yuanhou." Cuicui took Li Zhuiyuan's hand and led him downstairs, "Mom, brother Yuanhou is awake."
At this time, Liu Jinxia and her three poker friends had already had lunch and started the afternoon session.
Li Juxiang smiled and opened the red lid on the kitchen table. Inside was the specially reserved meal: "Xiao Yuanhou, come and eat. I'll heat up the soup for you."
"Auntie, I'm going home to eat."
"Be good, be obedient, and don't be polite to auntie. Auntie has never been polite to your mother before. Besides, Cuicui is waiting for you to wake up and eat together."
"Thank you, Auntie."
"Brother Yuanhou, sit here." Cuicui sat down first, while Li Zhuiyuan went to the other side of the table to help get the dishes and chopsticks.
"Go, go, go, sit down and let Auntie get it."
"Okay, Auntie."
Li Zhuiyuan came back and sat down. Soon, Li Juxiang put the chopsticks and the rice bowl in front of him.
Although the dishes on the table were served in small bowls, the portions were not large, but they were more than enough for the two children. There were two meats and two vegetables, especially the bowl of braised pork with potatoes. There were only two pieces of potatoes garnished, and the rest was all meat. It was obviously selected on purpose.
Li Juxiang brought a bowl of fish soup, dripping with sesame oil and adding some vinegar, which tasted delicious and attractive.
In addition, she also opened a canned fruit mix and poured a bowl in front of each of the two children.
It can be said that in the village, it is really rich.
"Xiao Yuanhou, continue to stay at home to eat tonight, and I will make some delicious food for you." Li Juxiang said with a smile.
Li Zhuiyuan put down his chopsticks and said to Li Juxiang: "It's already a lot, thank you for your hard work, auntie."
"Haha, don't put your chopsticks down, just eat."
Li Juxiang touched Li Zhuiyuan's head, secretly envious of how Li Lan raised his son. Sensible and polite children are easily liked everywhere.
"Xiao Yuanhou, will your mother cook for you at home?"
Li Zhuiyuan shook his head, put his chopsticks on the bowl, and replied: "Mom can't."
"Is your mother busy with work?"
"Well, she's very busy."
"Where are your grandparents' house over there? Don't they cook for you?"
“I don’t go often.”
"Then where do you usually eat?"
"The neighbor's house."
Usually after school, in the school family courtyard, those grandparents who have finished classes or have retired, will take the initiative to take me to their homes for dinner.
"Oh, poor children." Li Juxiang stopped asking and asked the children to eat by themselves. Then she took a thermos to add water to the card table.
Just then, a shout came from outside:
"Hey, is this Aunt Liu's house?"
Hearing this sound, the chopsticks Li Zhuiyuan just picked up fell from his hands and fell to the ground.
"Crack!"
……
In the hall, Liu Jinxia threw her bridge cards on the table and clapped her hands: "It's gone."
The three poker players nodded and stood up to end the game. It was obvious that they were used to this situation.
However, before leaving the hall, they walked to the washbasin in the corner to wash their hands.
There are banana leaves soaked in the basin. When washing hands, rub the leaves on your hands, shake them, and finally dry them with a towel on the rack.
The purpose of doing this was to remove bad luck, and it was arranged by Liu Jinxia herself. Not only did she no longer care about the attitude of the villagers towards her family, but she specially set up some rituals to add to her own mystery.
Li Zhuiyuan and Cuicui walked into the hall, and Liu Jinxia was getting up from her chair and asked, "Have you eaten yet?"
"I'm eating, come out and take a look." Cuicui said.
"What's there to see? Forget it, Xiao Cuihou, help grandma collect the cards."
"Okay, tits."
After giving the instructions, Liu Jinxia walked inside. There was a shady room inside, which was her office.
"Slow down, there is a threshold here." Li Juxiang's voice came from outside. She had heard the call before and went out to greet him.
"Okay, it's okay, it's okay."
Li Zhuiyuan looked at the hall door and saw Li Juxiang helping an old man cross the threshold and come in.
The old man leaned forward, hunched over, with his hands behind his waist. He looked like a hunchback.
It's also like...carrying a non-existent person.
"Is this your little one?" the old man asked with a smile as he looked at the two children.
"The girl is from my family, and the boy is from my sister's family. My mother is waiting for you, go in the front door, turn right and go to the end."
"Okay, okay, I'll go right away, but I can't keep Nanny Liu waiting." The old man continued to walk inside.
Li Zhuiyuan, who was standing behind, kept staring at the other person's hunchback.
The old man walked into the inner door of the hall, turned to the right, and was supposed to continue walking in, but suddenly stopped.
Because he is a forward-leaning hunchback, the area above his shoulders has been blocked by the wall, leaving only the hunchback in sight.
Immediately afterwards,
His hands, which were placed at the waist of his back, were raised unconsciously, his left arm was pressed down, his right arm was raised, his butt moved inward, his shoulders turned outward, and the side of his face was already pressed against the wall.
Li Zhuiyuan looked at his empty back. At this moment, he felt as if there was someone there, leaning up on his back and "looking" at him.
Li Juxiang asked: "What's wrong with you?"
The old man's originally rough voice was suddenly mixed with a bit of high-pitched hoarseness, and he said:
"What a bastard..."
Li Zhuiyuan clenched his hands nervously. He suddenly remembered that when his mother led him to browse a wall of murals, he asked his mother why a large area here was empty without any paintings. His mother replied:
Xiaoyuan, this is left blank for you to imagine, so the effect will be better.
I was still a little confused at the time, but now, I seem to understand a little bit.
"Go quickly, my mother is waiting for you inside."
Li Juxiang urged again. She really didn't know why this man stopped here. However, she didn't think there was anything strange about his posture. After all, he was a hunchback. Even if he stood still, it was quite strange.
"Yes." The old man responded, but suddenly squatted down, and at the same time, he fell backward slightly, holding his hands on the ground.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?"
Li Juxiang reached out to help her, but despite her hunchback and thin body, the force coming down was so heavy that she couldn't pull her up at all. Fortunately, the other party maintained her balance with her hands and just leaned back and squatted down. , did not fall down.
Li Zhui saw the situation and staggered back two steps.
This posture is very similar to the action of putting down the person on your back.
The sunlight from outside shines into the hall, and the old-fashioned textured tiles on the floor don't reflect much luster, and at most show some changes in light and shade.
Li Zhuiyuan's eyes moved downwards. At the inner door, there seemed to be two areas about the size of the soles of feet, which became a little darker.
It was very slight, so slight that Li Zhuiyuan felt that he was dazzled and overthinking.
But then, the color of the two new areas darkened and then recovered, but the distance between them and themselves became closer and closer.
Finally, the two darkened pieces of color appeared on the tiles in front of him and did not dissipate.
The cold wind blew over, and Li Zhuiyuan felt that his face, chest, hands and feet began to feel cold. But the problem was that he was facing inside the house. Where did the wind come from in this house?
The back half of the two darkened patches disappeared, the front half became heavier, and the coolness in front of him became more intense.
Li Zhuiyuan swallowed, and his eyes began to flicker and shift. An instinct made him dare not look directly. It seemed that there was an old lady with a shriveled body in front of him, leaning forward. She His face is leaning toward him.
Li Zhuiyuan bit his lip.
Suddenly, he felt the coldness on the left side of his face getting worse, as if a piece of ice had stuck to it, and his scalp began to feel numb as he stroked it.
The old man squatting on the ground turned to look here and continued what he had not finished before:
"This little boy is so cute."
(End of chapter)