Chapter 4 fourth quarter

After I went to Taizi's house, I suddenly recalled a past event in my childhood. I grew up with my father dead.My mother said that my father died when I was 3 years old.Hearing what she said, it was like a dream with some hazy impressions.I remember that in the dark home, there seemed to be many people walking around in disorder. I was hugged by my mother and walked towards a richly decorated altar, which was probably my father's funeral. My childhood memories are still fragmented. My mother has been living alone since my father died.My father was a low-level official, and my mother used his retirement money to open a dim sum shop, and she collected some needlework nearby.

This memory is fragmented, and there are still impressions of the array of snack boxes and glass jars.Inside, it was filled with many red and blue pastries, as well as various sugar figures and animal biscuits hanging on it... The scene of my mother sewing clothes is also vaguely visible.Sitting on the narrow mat, she kept moving her fingers. After sewing five or six stitches, she stroked the cloth with her left thumb, making a rattling sound.That metallic sound often blows into my eardrums.Mother was very young then. However, I have a past event that I can never forget, which weighs heavily on my heart.It was a small, fat man with big eyes and deep grooves carved on both sides of his nose.

That man always comes to my house to play, and it's not surprising that he comes to play, because he is my father's elder brother. According to my mother's later explanation, my father's elder brother is also my mother's elder brother, and to me he is an uncle.He is also an official, honest and steady.Therefore, when relatives have problems, they all go to the uncle, and if there is a dispute, they go to the uncle's house to ask for a solution. After the death of his younger brother, it was only natural for this uncle to give some care to his sister-in-law, who had worked hard with a young child in her arms.

But I loathe this uncle, because I don't know why I just don't like him. When my uncle came to the shop, it was as if he had opened his own shop, selling snacks to the children in the neighborhood. I was tired of seeing it.I was probably seven or eight years old then. My uncle was very affectionate to me, however.He has three children.The expensive toys that I never bought for my own children were bought for me, and I played with them on the mat.At this time, the uncle pointed to the toy as if boasting, and explained it to his mother who was sitting next to him, and the mother smiled happily.I remembered the scene at that time.

I was bullied by other children outside, and my uncle got really angry and went to the door to reprimand people loudly. I felt so ashamed that I couldn't help it.The agitation of the uncle's scolding can really be described as bristling with anger.When the child who bullied me was separated, I was coaxed and persuaded to take me home.While I was ashamed, I hated my uncle's behavior. Why is uncle so angry with other children because of me?Even though I was young, I always felt that that kind of behavior seemed unnatural; moreover, the coaxing way when I was brought back made people feel that it was superfluous to please.

Uncle likes fishing. It's quite a walk from my house to the beach.He always took me fishing, and that seemed to please me. Only at this time, I would go with my uncle. I seldom saw the sea, so he used this method to lure me. Where is that coast?In short, what caught my eyes was a place like a levee.It is built with stone walls, and below it is a blue sea with white waves.Uncle is not the only one fishing, there are several people fishing with rods.All of them were sitting on the embankment and hanging fishing lines, and some of them went down to the protruding rocks on the top of the embankment, fishing at the risk of danger.

The place where my uncle fished was almost at the top of the embankment.My memory is a little hazy, but now I think about it, either on the storm-battered stone wall at the top of the embankment, or on the rocky rocks that stood there.In short, it is to climb down from a high embankment and fish on a rock or rock reef. My uncle didn't let me go there because it would be dangerous for a child.The fish there love to bite the hook, and my uncle can't take care of me when he catches it.It was dusk, but he was still holding on there.I remember that I was panicked when I saw that the people fishing nearby were all leaving one after another.He also let me hold a small fishing rod.

Fish jumping in the fish cage; sea maggots and small crabs climbing up from the stone wall; seaweed rushing to the bottom of the stone wall; a strong smell of sea water; a ship blowing long smoke on the horizon; sitting silently The uncle who was fishing...all of this remains in my memory like a living picture. Uncle always went to my house like this, and had an affectionate talk with my mother.As soon as my uncle came, my mother started cooking.To this day, I still remember the sound of my mother cutting meat on the cutting board. Aside from fishing, I really hated my uncle, I don't know why I hated him.My uncle is kind; he chases away the children who bully me; he buys me toys; his speech is also simple and easy to understand.Still, why should I loathe him?Uncle stayed at my house until very late.

I lay down and rubbed my eyes, and my mother said that the baby should go to sleep, and patted me to sleep.My mother slept with me until I was a little older. After falling asleep once, I woke up suddenly and found that my mother was not by my side.At this time, I heard the voices of uncle and mother yelling and chatting in a low voice in the next room. How long did this go on?I had no memory then.It probably took a long time, and I was a little anxious. I still remember every time I went fishing with my uncle.This was a long time ago.Uncle was wearing a kimono with an obi around his waist and his sleeves rolled up, standing on the rock.The droplets kept splashing on the rock head, with the blue sea as the background, swaying beside my uncle.

Of the many things I have seen, only this impression vividly floats in my mind.The clogs my uncle took off are also in my memory.No, not only the clogs, but also the thick rope lying on my uncle's feet.The palm rope was tied to the nearby boat, and the boat was moored at my uncle's feet for a long time. Just this little thing.My memory is fragmented and can no longer be connected into a complete scene, and there are many forgotten parts. When this happened, I can't remember.Uncle died, an unexpected death. I saw my mother weeping in one room.She rubbed and threw aside the commissioned clothes, and cried on the mat, her hair and shoulders twitching violently.I stood behind the sliding door and watched.For my uncle's death, I don't understand why my mother was so sad.