Chapter 7 nostalgia

One winter evening, at the gate of Li's house in Lane 120, East Nanjing Road, an old woman stopped. She raised her head and squinted her eyes, watching the two vermilion paint peeling off of Li's house, and a little The mildew-stained cypress gate was in awe for a long time.The old woman's back was completely bent, and her thin head was sandwiched between her two slender shoulder blades; the hair on her forehead had almost fallen off, leaving only a clump hanging behind her head. Gray bun.The old woman was wearing a loose long coat made of thick black wool, which dragged and hung down to her knees.Her body was so dry that only a skeleton was left, and the clothes wrapped around her were shaking in the wind.A black cloth bundle hangs on her left hand.

Li's house is the only old house in the whole alley, and there are new-style gray apartment concrete high-rises in the front, rear, left, and right sides, sandwiching Li's one-story wooden bungalow in the middle.The house of Li's house was already very dilapidated, the tiles on the roof were incomplete, the eaves were jagged, and there were pinches of weeds growing from the cracks.On the gate post, of the pair of glass door lamps, the right one was broken, leaving a rusty black iron seat on it.The black bronze doorplate nailed to the top of the gate has been polished for a long time, and the three inscriptions of "Li Mansion" are clearly displayed on it.The old woman stretched out her thin right hand like a bird's claw, and fumbled tremblingly for a moment on the two old cracked doors.She wanted to press the electric bell on the door, but finally retracted hesitantly, raised her head, looked around in awe, then staggered away from the gate of Li's house, and went around to the back door of the house.

"Mrs. Rob—" The old woman stood under the window of the kitchen at the back door of Li's house, and called out tentatively. She heard the sound of someone pouring water in the kitchen.In that dark window, a head poked out suddenly.It was also an old woman, with disheveled white hair still as rich as a net woven of white linen; her face was round and plump, with freckles and wrinkles overlapping, like a sleeve that had been sun-dried. The two bags under the eyes were black and swollen, squeezing the eyes into two thin slits; a pair of fat ears hung down, and a pair of worn red gold earrings hung on the earlobe.

"Second sister, it's me—Sister Shun En." Sister Shun En called with her back bent and her face raised, her voice shrill and trembling. "God!" Mrs. Rob yelled in her throat, her voice was loud and loud.Then there was a sound of footsteps, and Mrs. Shun En saw that Mrs. Robin opened the back door, swayed, and came towards her.Aunt Rob's body was twice as big as Mrs. Shun'en's. She was wearing a rough blue padded jacket, with a big belly on her chest that looked like a dustpan, and an apron tied around her waist, which almost reached her feet.She took a step on her figure-footed feet, and her big belly bumped a few times, and the long apron also fluctuated rhythmically.

"Old girl," Mrs. Rob walked out, grabbed Mrs. Shun'en's thin arm, and led her to the kitchen, "My left eyelid twitched all day, but it should be on you! " Mrs. Rob placed Mrs. Shun En on a low stool in the kitchen, took her burden, and then took a stool and sat opposite her.After the two old ladies sat down, Mrs. Rob sighed towards Mrs. Shun En and said: "Sister, I thought you would never come to see us again." "Second Sister—" Mrs. Shun En hastily shook her bird-claw-like skinny hands to stop Aunt Robinson, and called out sadly, "It's thanks to you, old man, that you can say such things. After leaving the mansion These years, where have I lived a healthy day? I am old, useless, and my body is not up to the mark—”

"But, old sister," Mrs. Rob looked at Mrs. Shun En, "Your spirit seems to be shorter than in previous years. Has your blood pressure been subdued recently?" Mrs. Shun En shook her thin head, smiled wryly and said: "Where can there be such good luck? In the past few years in Tainan, most of them have slept in bed. Dizziness, can't get up. The Qisheng family is also pitiful." "Finally, you are blessed!" Aunt Rob stretched out her fat, thick black hand, and patted Mrs. Shun En's shoulder, "You have a filial son who will end your life for you. Like me, I have no children, and I don't know where I will die in the street in the future." Woolen cloth?"

"Second sister—" Mrs. Shun'en grabbed Rob's fat hand, "You have been in the mansion for decades, and tomorrow you go to heaven, can Miss Chief miss you with a pair of coffins?" Aunt Rob broke free from Mrs. Shun En's hands, looked at her, nodded her head a few times, and took a long while before letting out a long breath. "Old girl, you haven't come up for so long, I can't blame you for not understanding our affairs—" But Mrs. Shun'en stood up tremblingly, and opened her black bundle on the stove, which was full of big snow-white eggs.

"Qisheng's daughter-in-law has raised dozens of Leghorn chickens. I specially picked these double-yolk eggs for Miss Commander and the others to eat. Second sister, go and answer in front of the Commander for me, and tell Mrs. Shun En to give it to the Commander." Greetings, old man." "What a big egg!" Mrs. Rob picked two eggs and shook them twice in her ears, "Just put them on hold. The officer is not feeling well, and he has a stomachache. I just helped him take medicine and fell asleep. Waiting for a while." "I'm still struggling to get up this time. At my age, I can see them once and for all." Sister Shun En sighed.

"You should have come to see them--" Robb replied without turning back.She took out a biscuit box from the cupboard, carefully put the eggs into the iron box, then picked up the lye on the stove, bent over and laboriously scrubbed the greasy surface of the counter Come.Mrs. Shun En stood by the sink next to the desk, rubbed the two blackened dishcloths soaked in the sink for Aunt Rob a few times, took them out and wrung them dry.She twisted, her thin arms trembling. "Second sister—" Mrs. Shun En held the two rags tightly in her hands, and called Aunt Rob thoughtfully, "Madam—"

"Huh?" Aunt Rob puffed out her cheeks, panting, and the desk was covered with greasy water. "Ma'am—did she leave any words on her deathbed?" Mrs. Shun En asked in a low voice. Mrs. Rob stopped for a while, picked up her apron and wiped the sweat from her forehead, closed her eyes and thought for a long time before answering: "I seem to have heard the officer say that Madam went to the hospital for an operation and only woke up once. She yelled, 'It's so cold.' Then I had nothing to say." "That's right—" Mrs. Shun En nodded her head frequently, her face suddenly filled with sadness.But Mrs. Rob snatched the two rags from her hand, and wiped off the sewage on the case with a few clatters.

"Second sister, do you still remember that there were many peonies in the garden of our mansion in Qingliangshan, Nanjing?" "Is there anything I can't remember?" Mrs. Rob snorted, and waved the rag in her hand, "Red, purple—the whole garden! In the past, in the spring, our wife didn't put wine in the garden to treat guests, but to enjoy the flowers. Where are the peonies?" "It's been three nights, Second Sister," Mrs. Shun En's trembling voice suddenly became sad, "I dreamed of Madam, she was standing among those peonies, waving to me and shouting: 'Sister Shun En, Shun En' Sister-in-law En, hurry up and get me a cloak, the wind is blowing.' My wife passed away the year before last, and I was so sick that I couldn't even come to deliver her to the old man. I only burned two paper-tied girls for her I have been feeling sorry for using it there. In the past two years, my wife is gone, and in the mansion—" Sister Shun En choked when she said this. Aunt Rob smashed two rags into the sink, put her hands on her hips, her stomach was raised, she sneered, and cut off Mrs. Shun En's words: "Is it in the mansion? Don't you rely on me, an old man, to hold on here? Even before the 'Seventh Day' was finished, Gui Xi and Xiao Wang hooked up and sneaked away. The box of jade was stolen." "It's a crime—" Mrs. Shun En closed her eyes, smacked her shriveled mouth and shook her head. Robbenniang suddenly turned around and grabbed her white hemp-like hair, picked up a gleaming kitchen knife on the desk, slashed fiercely on the chopping board a few times and hummed: "I chop a chopping board in the kitchen every day and curse those two wolf-hearted things: 'Heaven strikes thunder and splits five ghosts into pieces.' I bought Gui Xi for my wife. That dead girl is in this room, Ling Luo Silk and satin, are you wearing too little? Xiao Wang was entrusted to the chief by his old adjutant, Wang Wang. He has been raised for 20 years. He is just a dog. He knows how to bark three times when his master is gone! I want to see Look, what are those two god damn hearts made of?" Mrs. Shun'en kept her eyes closed, murmuring, her thin head dangling back and forth. Aunt Rob put down the kitchen knife, straightened her body, turned her hands back, and gave her waist a few solid thumps. "It doesn't matter if Gui Xi and Xiao Wang slip away, but I, an old woman, will be cheated to death. In this house, inside and out, what kind of sesame and mung bean things are not caught by me? It's clear from the inside, and I don't care about the outside. Just clean up This kitchen almost broke my waist." As she said that, Mrs. Rob beat her waist a few more times. Mrs. Shun En came over and took Mrs. Mrs. Rob's callused and fat hands. "Forget that you cherish them, Second Sister, when the lady gets married in the future, I will pick you up to be the old lady." "My old lady!" Aunt Rob threw away Mrs. Shun En's hand and shouted, "You old man said well, but you can't get that kind of life with me, miss?" The belly is very high. "Let me tell you the truth, old sister. At the beginning of this year, the young lady had sex with a man with a wife, and she got pregnant. She was about to go out after arguing with the officer. The officer beat her to death on the spot, and her face was slapped. The girl was so ruthless that she didn't even shed a tear. She said to the officer, "Father, if you agree, I will go out too. If you don't agree, I will go out too. You just pretend that you never gave birth to my daughter." After finishing speaking, she left without looking back. Last month I saw her carrying a vegetable basket in Dongmen Market, with a big belly and disheveled hair. When she saw me, she lowered her head, her eyelids were red, and called He said to me: "Nurse." A lady from the official family, with that appearance, even my face was shortened." "What a crime—" Mrs. Shun'en cried again in a very sad voice. "Things here are not as good as they used to be, old sister," Mrs. Rob shook her white hair, "The chief has also lost his shape in the past two years. Once the lady left, he was so angry that he wanted to become a monk and go to the Keelung Temple to become a monk." His old subordinates came to persuade him every day. One day, I saw that the disturbance was not good, so I walked into the living room, ran to the portrait of my wife first, knelt down and kowtowed three times before standing up to the officer. Said: "Sir, I followed my wife to the mansion of the magistrate, and it has been more than 30 years. We have seen the grandeur of the majesty's family. Now the dead are dead, and the scattered are scattered. Don't say that the old man is sad, we will do it." The servants are also heartbroken. The young lady does not live up to expectations, and the officer wants to become a monk, and we dare not stop him. It's just one thing: I'm already over seventy years old, and halfway through the coffin, the officer left, leaving the young master alone. I can't bear the burden anymore.' After hearing what I said, the officer paused and then fell silent." "Second sister, what are you talking about? Young master—has he returned from a foreign country?" Mrs. Shun En stretched out her thin hands like bird claws, tremblingly grabbed Aunt Rob's arm, and asked in a low voice. Aunt Rob stared at Mrs. Shun En for a while, then nodded and said: "Old girl, I'm sorry that you are really sick and faint." "Second sister—" Mrs. Shun En called out in a low voice.Mrs. Rob didn't answer either. She got rid of Mrs. Shun En's hand, took off the apron on her waist, wiped the oil and sweat off her face for a while, and then walked over to clean the pot of rice on the rice vat. , add water, put it on the briquettes stove, then turned around and said to Mrs. Shun En: "He's your grandma. You finally pulled him up. I'll take you to see him." Mrs. Rob helped Mrs. Shun'en, walked out of the kitchen, and walked into the yard.The small stone path in the yard was covered with moss. Two old women were staggering, supporting each other.The wormwood on both sides of the stone path grew up to the waist and was very fertile. Many cobwebs were formed between the fat stalks, and the webs were full of insect corpses.As she walked, Auntie Luo pushed aside the wormwood that had intruded obliquely on the path with her hands, allowing Mrs. Shun En to pass.When Mrs. Robin led Mrs. Shun En to the end of the stone path, Mrs. Shun En suddenly discovered that there was a fat man sitting on a round stone stool behind the wormwood bushes. over his head and covered him.Above his head, a dense group of gnats was flying in circles.The fat man was wrapped in a bloated gray woolen coat, with only one button left on the coat.His stomach bulged out of his coat like a burlap bag stuffed with sand, and the zipper of his trousers was halfway down, revealing the straps of a pair of underwear inside.He took off his shoes and socks, and a pair of fat, bald feet were neatly joined together, resting on the muddy floor, red from the cold.His head is also very fat, and his short scorched yellow and dry hair has almost fallen off, revealing his tender pink scalp.The two fat cheeks on his face were loose and drooping, pulling his half-open mouth into a curved bow.In the hands of the fat man, he was playing with a handful of flowering weeds, and the white flocs of the weeds sprinkled all over his body.Aunt Rob held Mrs. Shun En's hand and led her all the way to the fat man's eyes.Mrs. Shun'en bowed her waist, facing the fat man, and looked at it for a while. "Master—" Mrs. Shun En called out quietly.The fat man stared at Mrs. Shun'en with empty and absent-minded eyes, with no expression on his face. "Master, I'm Mrs. Shun'en." Mrs. Shun'en took another step closer and whispered in the fat man's ear.The fat man turned his head and stared at Mrs. Shun'en, suddenly he opened his mouth wide and giggled, saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth and dripped onto his skirt.Mrs. Shun'en took out a handkerchief from her armpit, leaned forward, and wiped the corners of the fat man's mouth and the saliva on the skirt of his clothes. While wiping, she suddenly opened her thin arms, and took the fat man's big head, He hugged her tightly. "Young master,—you are still laughing—you are the most pitiful—the madam will die of pain when she sees—" Mrs. Shun'en put her withered thin face against the fat man's bald head, and wept dryly. "The feng shui of their family's ancestral grave is not good." Aunt Rob stood beside her and muttered to herself. "Young Master—Young Master—" Mrs. Shun'en wrapped her arms around the fat man's head, and her thin body swayed back and forth. She kept her eyes tightly closed, her shriveled and slumped mouth trembling, calling out one after another. A gust of winter evening wind passed by, and the overgrown wormwood all over the yard rustled and trembled, blowing up Mrs. Shun En's large black coat and covering the fat man's body.Mrs. Rob was standing in the grass. She folded her hands and hugged her big belly. She squinted her eyes and looked up at the cloudy sky. The cold wind blew her thick white hair flying Zhang up.