Chapter 24 Section IX

Luo Yang is recuperating at home.During the day, his aunt taught him to recite, and his grandfather guided him to practice calligraphy.In the evening, his grandfather would tell him the legendary story about the remnants of the ancient Roman expedition to the Hexi Corridor.Grandfather also brought out some classics and read them to him one by one. For example, "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" records: "In the early Han Dynasty, Li (靬) County was established, and the country was named the county." At that time, the young Luo Yang was not interested in this. I don't understand why my grandfather told him these things, or maybe it was my grandfather who was a history teacher remembering his youth?He often fell asleep amidst the legends and textual researches that his grandfather had explained countless times, which had become boring, and responded to his grandfather's helplessness and sighs with a colorful dream.

But Luo Yang's admiration for his grandfather was innate and deeply rooted in his bones.He envied his grandfather's erudition, and he liked the majestic grandeur of his grandfather's writing brush on the rice paper, especially the words "铁骑鲁疴" written by his grandfather. Although he still couldn't fully understand it, he already felt a kind of The tragic pride, or the pride of a man facing the world.Every day, after finishing the copying practice under the guidance of his grandfather, he would imitate his grandfather and write the words "铁骑沉疴". To some relief.His grandfather often said to him: "Calligraphy is connected with Chinese culture and even history. People who practice calligraphy will gradually comprehend history after a long period of time, and can truly learn how to behave and how to do things from that comprehension..."

However, such a peaceful life did not last long before it was broken by an irresistible external force. The summer is gone, and the autumn sun is like a tiger.On a hot afternoon, the sun scorched the earth hotly, and the air was also billowing with heat, as if it was about to burst into flames. Luo Yang copied and traced in the shade of the trees in the yard.The courtyard door was suddenly knocked open, and a group of people wearing red armbands rushed in.The leader is Mai San from the county cultural center.Because he helped the Pingan County Revolutionary Committee successfully drive away the team from Shacheng and other foreign revolutionary organizations, he has now been promoted to the director of the cultural center and one of the main leaders of the Pingan County Revolutionary Committee.Under Mai San's command, someone overturned Luo Yang's writing desk, and used an iron pick to dig out the tall and straight black locust trees and the apricot trees still covered with pale yellow fruits.

Soon, the yard was in a mess. Then they went into the house. Soon, the house was in a mess. The sun was in the west, and Mai San, who was sweating profusely, did not get the expected harvest, and thought of the owner of the yard who had disappointed them.With a hatred of being deceived, they left their tools, twisted up the owners of the yard - grandfather, aunt, father and mother, and walked down the street shouting slogans. During the twisting process, the jade bracelet worn on my aunt's left wrist fell to the ground with a bang, making a dull sound.However, coal ash has been spread in the courtyard for many years, and the ground is not hard. After hitting the ground several times, the jade bracelet rolled and fell in front of the courtyard gate, but it did not break.The agitated revolutionaries didn't notice the jade bracelet. They hurriedly wrestled the owner of the yard to go out, and one of their feet ruthlessly stepped over the jade bracelet.

Luo Yang was terrified at this time, and he stood there blankly.After everything quieted down, he realized that because of the little girl who lost her mother when she was born, it was Mai San who came to denounce him, although they didn't look at Luo Yang directly, and they didn't take him away like they did with their grandfather. Let's go, probably because the time has not come, right?After a long time, Luo Yang woke up from the panic and picked up the jade bracelet, which was still glowing coldly under the golden autumn sun.However, at this moment it has a clear crack.Luo Yang looked around the messy home, hid the jade bracelet in a secret place, and then walked towards the street.

The struggle is in full swing.Most of the residents gathered in the square, including half-year-old students, gray-haired old people, and women with children in their arms.Many people came to watch the excitement, chattering and discussing everything in front of them in a panic.Luo Yang was crowded in the crowd.He stood on tiptoe to avoid the moving heads, and saw a few people on the stage with unkempt hair and wooden plaques on their chests, with ink characters written on them and big red crosses drawn on them.Grandfather and the others were also standing among the row of lost souls. Suddenly, a young man wearing a red armband jumped onto the stage and shouted: "Luo Chongwen, raise your dog's head!"

Luo Chongwen is the name of his grandfather. Mai San, the new curator of the cultural center, also jumped onto the stage, pointed at the old lady beside his grandfather and shouted, "Say, what is your relationship with Luo Chongwen?" The old lady remained motionless.Her head was raised all the time, looking so proud and dismissive.Luo Yang knew that she was an aunt. "Sima Xunxin, do you want to persevere to the end?" Mai San threw down another thunderous shout. Luo Yang looked at the white-haired head raised high on the stage in horror.Yes, my aunt has always been used to raising her head, no matter when she is walking or standing.So she doesn't look old like other old ladies, although her hair has been almost completely white in the past two years.They called her Sima Xunxin.Only then did Luo Yang know that his aunt's name was Sima Xunxin.In other words, my aunt's surname is not Luo, and she is not my grandfather's biological sister.What is her relationship with her grandfather?Luo Yang was also deeply confused.

Sima Xunxin raised his head high and stood on the stage, motionless and silent. A young man who looked like a boss probably got impatient waiting, he stepped forward and gave Sima Xunxin a push, and said: "Old witch, wearing red and green at a very young age, and scalding chicken nests, she is not a good thing at first glance. Tell me! What is your relationship with Luo Chongwen?" Mai San leaned forward and whispered something to the boss. The boss turned around and laughed at the people below the stage, and said while laughing: "So she is a little wife!" The laughter spread to the audience as if by magic, and everyone in the audience laughed along with them. Leaning and leaning back, I can't stop thinking about it.The leader suddenly stopped laughing, pointed to a bearded man in front of the audience and said, "Wang San, have you married a wife yet?"

The bearded Wang San lowered his head in embarrassment and said, "No." The boss pointed to another person and said, "Lao Si Li, do you want to have a daughter-in-law?" "I think so. But in the first year of liberation, the government allocated us a house and a job, but we didn't give it to a daughter-in-law." Li Laosi showed a sinister smile on his face. During the question-and-answer process, the people in the audience buzzed and buzzed and didn't know what they were talking about.The scene looked a little chaotic. The boss suddenly turned his face down, pointed at Sima Xunxin and said: "According to Director Mai, this old demon woman was Luo Chongwen's concubine before liberation, and she just came back from abroad two years ago. They don't care about such a serious problem." Confession. Let’s talk about it, are they reactionary or not? Vicious or not? Are we going to watch them change the world and let us go back to the way we were?”

The chief's words were provocative.Those bachelors who were born and raised in the county and had never married a wife because of poverty were provoked. They shouted angrily, and there was a tsunami of mountains and tsunami off the stage, ambiguous. The bearded Wang San suddenly pushed aside the crowd. He strode to the side of the stage, jumped onto the stage in a flash, and shook his fist at Luo Chongwen full of righteous indignation: "You old man, how dare you have two daughters-in-law!" Hearing Luo Chongwen softly "ah", his body shook a few times, and finally fell off the stage, falling heavily.His head was resting on a moderately large pebble.After a while, bright red blood trickled down from his nostrils and the back of his head.

"Chongwen!" Sima Xunxin exclaimed, took advantage of the unexpected and ran off the stage, desperately holding the blood-soaked gray head in his arms. The boss jumped off the stage and walked over, raised his leg and kicked Sima Xunxin: "You old witch, stop putting on airs here! Let go, get out and explain your problem!" Two young men wearing red armbands rushed forward, broke the hands of Sima Xunxin who was holding Luo Chongwen tightly, twisted her arms backwards, and put her on the stage again. Sima Xunxin stood tremblingly on the stage, her scarlet shirt was covered with gobs of blood, glittering in the sun, like dark red flowers in full bloom. The boss walked up to Luo Chongwen, knelt down and pushed him: "Don't pretend to be dead, you!" Luo Chongwen was still lying there motionless. The boss stood up, patted the dirt on the grass-green military trousers and said, "Hey, this old guy really doesn't take a beating, just send him back to grandma's house with just one fist!" Hearing what the boss said, everyone knew that Luo Chongwen was almost dead. Sima Xunxin fainted and collapsed on the stage. There were crowds under the stage: "Hurry up and send him to the hospital to see if he can be saved!" Most of the audience in the audience are county residents, who come to the square to participate in the criticism meeting is just to complete the tasks assigned by the street or to watch the excitement. Once someone is about to die, their natural kindness and timidity will be revealed immediately, and some people rush to Looking for a car on the street, some people quietly left the venue. The boss is very young and has not experienced many bloody scenes. He is afraid that things will become serious, and he feels guilty. He dare not continue the "drama" of criticizing Sima Xunxin, and repeatedly tells his subordinates: "Send it to the hospital! Courtyard! Send that old demon woman together." I don't know when the curator Mai Sanmai left.The dragons were in chaos for a while without a leader, and all the people in the square dispersed.