Preface to Chapter 48, ‘New Year’s Eve’
Time: February 6, 1997
Winter,
Preface:
【‘The Night of Resurrection’】
February 6th, New Year's Eve.
north.
There is heavy snow falling in the sky, like goose feathers, being carried by the cold wind as sharp as a knife, blowing on people's faces, and being blocked by cotton-padded jackets.
The world is completely white, there is no sound, only the wind whistling in the ears is silent.
The ground is covered with thick white snow, and only three or five people are alone on the road, walking silently in the snowy day, making squeezing sounds when stepping on the snow.
Today is New Year's Eve.
The streets were covered with red couplets, but there was no corresponding atmosphere. Instead, there was an eerie silence, and everyone seemed to have lost their souls.
"Squeak~"
Seventeen-year-old Zhang Hai stopped and exhaled. The warm breath turned into white mist, which was quickly blown away by the wind.
He wrapped himself in a cotton-padded jacket, raised his head, and looked at the sky.
The sky in the north is gray.
The grayer the sky, the richer people are.
The weather has gradually gotten better in the past two years, driving the haze into people's hearts.
The sky is getting clearer and clearer, and people's hearts are getting darker and darker. Zhang Hai no longer knows how many years this has been like this.
He did not speak, lowered his head, pushed the bicycle, and disappeared into the snowy night, turning into an inconspicuous black shadow on the road, slowly walking against the wind.
The warm greetings on the road were no longer the same as in previous years. Most people's faces were numb and their eyes were cloudy.
Zhang Hai was not walking around aimlessly.
He pushed the car and walked slowly somewhere.
He has walked this road.
When he was a child going to school, Zhang Hai sat in the back seat of a car, his father pushing him, leaving crooked wheel marks on the snowy road.
Later, he stopped going to school, and his father still pushed the cart, and the ruts still existed.
But the ruts have a different meaning.
Later, when my father was looking for a job, he was hit and paralyzed in bed. It was he who left this rut mark.
"Squeak~"
Zhang Hai stopped, raised his head, and glanced at this splendid building.
This is a bathing club, where countless men come in and out every day, and the women inside are despised by the people around them.
Zhang Hai didn't go in. He parked his bicycle and squatted in the corner. He stuffed his hands into his sleeves and held them in his arms to resist the cold wind.
His breath merged with the cold wind, taking away the warmth from his face and making his skin extremely cold.
"Squeak~"
The back door opened and a woman about her age came out.
She was silent, lowering her head to fasten her buttons, and happened to see Zhang Hai.
Zhang Hai subconsciously turned his head to look. The two people's eyes merged, but they immediately turned away from each other until the other party disappeared around the corner and left the place.
He knew her since she was a child, but the difference was that she was still making money to go to college, but he didn't go to college.
Zhang Hai recalled the past, and the cold wind blew away his thoughts, carrying them into the distance.
Until
"Squeak~"
The door opened again, and a middle-aged woman walked out. The woman was tying her clothes and walking towards him.
Zhang Hai stood up, lifted the car that was leaning against the wall, and patted the ice shards on the back seat.
The middle-aged woman said nothing and sat silently in the back seat.
Zhang Hai pushed his bicycle and walked on the street.
The snow-covered road left a rutted mark, just like the mark left by going to school a few years ago.
On the way, neither of them spoke.
There were many people on both sides of the road, watching the two of them leave.
Zhang Hai buried his head in his chest, but the road was bumpy and he had to expose it.
After a long while, the bicycle stopped.
A thatched house appeared in front of the two people.
Hanging on the door is a simple piece of red paper found from nowhere, with a few calligraphy written on it.
Opening the door, two people walked in.
There was a middle-aged man lying on the kang in the main room, his back leaning against the two of them, silent.
There was also a child, who had a sickly face and looked pale and weak. He was timid and didn't speak. He sat on the chair obediently and watched TV.
The Spring Festival Gala is on TV. It is one of the most popular programs this year.
There was a burst of sound coming from the TV speaker.
“I made my statement immediately.”
The passionate voice did not bring any warmth to the family. The middle-aged man who had been paralyzed for a long time turned over and looked at the TV. The woman who had just returned home paused and watched silently.
Zhang Guan turned on the TV, but he didn't speak, made no sound at all, and just sat on the kang.
Tonight is New Year's Eve.
Got to eat dumplings on New Year’s Eve.
Dumplings must also be filled with meat. So, a bowl of dumplings with added ingredients was brought to the table, filled with fragrant meat fillings. The steaming aroma penetrated his nostrils. The little boy's eyes lit up, his greedy eyes shone, and his mouth overflowed.
"Eat more and be full."
In the evening, the old father changed his past dullness, smiled on his face, dragged his paralyzed body, and gave the meat filling to his young son.
"In the future, you want to."
My mother is no longer as zombie-like as usual.
After eating the dumplings, she seemed to come to life. She pulled Zhang Hai and gave him instructions for a long time and said many things.
Several years of words seemed to be squeezed into this one night.
There were not many dumplings, seventy-three in total.
Zhang Hai didn't take a bite.
Soon, the thoughts in my ears gradually disappeared.
The sounds of struggling became smaller and smaller.
The three of them, father, mother, and younger brother, lost their voices, lying on the table, foaming at the mouth.
The warm house lacked vitality, and the three people lay on the table like statues.
No one spoke, and no one will speak again.
Zhang Hai turned on the TV and silently watched the lively Spring Festival Gala.
The piercing sound of the TV resounded in this silent house and reached his ears.
Watching TV.
Zhang Hai watched the skits on TV. He changed several channels, and then looked at the person with a bright coat, his eyes gradually became silent.
In my heart, a wildfire gradually burned up.
The next day.
Zhang Hai's figure appeared on the street outside.
His figure was hidden in the flying snow, like a clear black spot in an ink painting.
The goose feather snow in the sky covers the surface, which is cold, but turns into water and takes away a lot of heat.
The wind is very cold, but not as cold as the dumplings.
The weather is cold, but it can't cool people's hearts.
This is the Spring Festival of 1997 in the north.
Coldness and depression could not quell his impetuosity, but instead made him more enthusiastic
The fever is getting worse.
In a daze, a ferocious and twisted figure appeared in the firelight, like a devil.
【‘The Night of Resurrection’】
(Case closed)
October 3, 2003.
Xu Hao opened his eyes.
He rubbed his head, smacking his lips, and showing mixed emotions in his eyes.
After returning home from the city bureau last night, he had a dream as usual.
But
Emotions that are suppressed to the extreme are more likely to disrupt other people's thinking and make people go to extremes.
Xu Hao saw two extremes in his dream.
One is Zhang Hai later.
One is Chen Li.
"I didn't expect Chen Li to be sick too."
After a long while, after clarifying the memory in his mind, Xu Hao rubbed his eyebrows slightly, and his eyes were slightly red.
"She's still very sick."
Yes, Chen Li is sick too.
Zhang Hai went to the extreme of madness, and Chen Li went to the other extreme.
"Smiling Depression"
Xu Hao murmured and said a psychological term, this thing is also called sunshine depression.
Literally speaking, the sick person will have a smile on his face and look very sunny. He is brighter and happier than ordinary people. Those who are completely healthy can no longer be healthy.
But he was very sick inside!
"Yes, we should investigate carefully."
"Without a father or a mother, there are two elderly people at home. We were very poor before this wave. It was even said that five or six years ago, a girl could survive and still have money to go to college and pay tuition."
Thinking back to the scene in his dream, Xu Hao couldn't help but shook his head.
The experience of selling herself will haunt Chen Li for the rest of her life.
Zhang Hai would want to step on others, but Chen Li would serve others like a slave.
This is why Xu Hao said two extreme things.
Not surprisingly, even if the two people did not meet, Zhang Hai would still be arrested for the crime in the end.
And Chen Li.
There is a high probability that he will suddenly commit suicide early in the morning when no one around him can tell he is sick.
Xu Hao sighed, suppressed the strong emotions in his mind, and then his own spirit took over.
As soon as I got out of bed, washed up and prepared to write something, I heard a voice next to my ear.
“Tuk tuk tuk~”
(End of chapter)