Chapter 15 Chapter two

Didn't I tell you that I rushed into that mangrove forest with my son?It's been a misguided journey, and it's painful to think about.There are so many stories about the mangrove forest, attacking each other and contradicting each other, which means nothing has been said.When my grandfather was alive, I don’t know how many times he warned me: Never go into the mangrove forest.Every summer, the woods emit an intoxicating aroma, which is very tempting to me; I am a good grandson of my grandfather, and I have always abided by the ancestral precepts. Grandpa is dead, how long has it been since he died?None of the people present could count.

After the fourth and ninth masters died one after another, grandpa became the head of the clan, so his funeral was very grand.All the men, women and children of the He family came, and some relatives from other places also came.A short, asthmatic man came across the river from Fushui. It was summer, and the river was flooded and the water was fast-moving. It was a half-miracle that he managed to come over. My mother asked me to call this man little old uncle.I have never been to my grandmother's house, and I have doubts about the authenticity of this little old uncle.He was carrying two complete big gourds from last year, and in his hand was holding a bouquet of bright red roses with seven branches. Each flower was as big as the mouth of a sea bowl, with layers of petals, exuding an intoxicating and strange fragrance, which is undoubtedly rare. Seed.Mother took the bouquet and sniffed it under her nose.The little old uncle picked the gourds and hung them on the slanted branches of the chicken feet tree.Mother went into the house to find an old scale with a pole of sixteen taels to a catty, hung the bouquet of flowers on the hook of the scale and weighed it.

The total weight of the seven-branch flower is three catties, and my mother said to me: "Son, do the math, how much does each flower weigh?" I took out a ballpoint pen and an arithmetic exercise notebook from my pocket, trying to make a calculation.I have a good and possibly a bad habit of attaching numbers to images of anything I calculate; I'm not good at abstract calculations.With this habit, if you want to perform even a very simple calculation, you must first compile a word problem.I started to make up problems, and I will tell you one thing before I make up the problems.It's not a problem.is a ballad.Nor is it a ballad.It is a formula.The formula for painting gray New Year pictures:

Buzzing, rushing, planting flowers; carrot tassels and mustard greens.Wield a big pen, sketch with a small pen, and use a broom if you want to be happy. You must think I'm talking nonsense, don't you?We are all very busy, so don't talk too much. This is to describe the speed at which I compose application questions is amazing!How do I make it up?This way: One night, before the moon has risen, the stars have already come out.The mosquitoes were buzzing, and the lights had just been turned on in the room.My grandfather squatted on a bare stone under a lilac tree.My mother and my aunt beat cloth on this stone.Grandpa ate a small silver melon, and then said: "Come here, all of you!" We all went over and stood around him, like stars holding the moon.At this time, the moon rose, and a group of stars surrounded it.Mother asked: "Father, what's the matter with you, old man?" Grandpa didn't answer for a while.He grabbed the lilac tree with both hands and shook it vigorously three times.The black lilac pollen rose up like a cloud of smoke and dust, engulfing us.It was a long time before we struggled out and saw the cool moonlight again.My nostrils were itchy and dizzy; I raised a finger to pick my nostril and sneezed loudly.Everyone sneeze together.Only grandpa doesn't sneeze, and my sneeze is the loudest.Two large purple birds with long ribbon-like tails flew out of the house and circled over the lilac tree, their tails fluttering back and forth.Grandpa let go of the hand shaking the lilac tree, and a sliver of sunset light illuminated his eyes.

Mother said: "Father, there must be something in your heart. 'The eyes are the windows of the soul', and the things in your heart flow out from your eyes! You can't hide it if you want to! As the saying goes, 'Fire can't be hidden in paper. Hold on, the blue sky is three feet above your head'!" The grandfather said sadly: "Children, do you still remember how my grandfather's grandfather sent Pi Tuanzhang to the Red Forest? How many times have I told you!" Remember. Remember. He put Tuanzhang Pi in the bluestone ox trough, washed it with warm water containing sulfur, realgar, and cinnabar, and then carried it to a cowhide mattress to dry.When we saw Captain Pi, he was wearing a yellow woolen military uniform, his horse boots were shiny and shiny, and he was tied with grass and flowers all over his body.With a pair of rusty tweezers, he concentrated on plucking the hair on Pi Tuanzhang's face.Eyebrows, eyelashes, nostril hairs, and mouth hairs are plucked as soon as they are seen, until there is not a single hair left.Later, sixteen kites the size of millstones were tied up, and on an auspicious day when the wind was blowing, they were all flown together.The kites are desperately drilling into the clouds.Each kite drags a long red silk ribbon, on which the word "Revolution" is embroidered with gold thread."Revolution" is flying all over the sky.The string of the kite is connected to Captain Pi's body.Everyone beat drums and shouted, seeing Captain Pi rise up.

After rising to a height of 50 meters, it stopped rising and flew forward leisurely, flying over the red forest.At this time, he drew the gun from his waist and interrupted all the kite's connections.The kites fell down.Pi Tuanzhang also fell down, with his head down and his feet soaring into the sky.With the military cap off his head, dripping zero zero spins like a flywheel. The boots are shiny.Flowers and green grass are all drooping.Flowers and green grass all point upwards.Like a big bright meteor.Leader Pi has a big belly, and his belly button is like a deep well.He wiped off Captain Pi with a loofah dipped in warm water, and then put on the yellow woolen military uniform for him.Military uniforms are embellished with shoulder plates inlaid with gold thread, and silk tassels are hung from the shoulder plates.The tassels hang down and stand out among the flowers and green grass.That day, it was a rare blue-eyed flower with pink petals inlaid with dazzling blue borders.This kind of flower is said to be only found in the depths of the red forest.Did he go into the mangrove forest to decorate Captain Pi?

He put bouquets of blue-eyed flowers in the captain's pocket, in the gap between buttons and buttons, in the gap between the collar and neck of the military uniform, in the gap between breeches and riding boots; Soft green grass.The blue eyes drooped, and some fell out, drifting in the air.Captain Pi fell vertically deep into the red forest without making a sound.A flock of golden birds catapulted from the woods, like mud splashed by a heavy object in the mud. Kites are also hanging on the branches.Unknowingly, when the sunset glows like fire, those branches are like corals in the shallow sea, beautiful, hard, and breathing gently.The warm swamp wind blows the kite's streamers: Revolution Revolution Revolution... Revolution blows in the evening wind.He threw the ox knee bone spindle, which was wrapped with string before flying the kite, into the red forest, and smashed it on the branch, making a crackling sound.The mourners all stood there dumbfounded, like dead trees.The white crane flew towards the depths of the sunset, and finally turned into a tiny purple dot, and finally couldn't even see the purple dot.Everyone stretched their necks and looked around, as if they were standing there, until the sunset glow disappeared and a crescent moon hung on the top of the mountain.

Mother pointed to us who were surrounded by the lilac tree and grandpa with her finger wearing a jade ring, and said loudly: "Father, if you have anything to say, just say it. There are no outsiders here. They are all offspring of your old man." .” Grandpa sighed and said, "Keep your eyes open!" We opened our eyes wide, black lilac pollen was flying in front of us, the bird's long tail was stirring in the pollen, and grandpa's eyebrows were covered with pollen. He poked his tightly clenched hands in front of us, and said with a smile, "Guess what I'm holding?" We all shook our heads, expressing that we couldn't guess.

Grandpa said to me: "You guess." I said I couldn't guess it; Grandpa asked me to guess wildly. I said, "You have a gold bar in your hand!" "This big-headed grandson is still smart!" Grandpa praised me, opened his hands, and said, "I have ten gold bars in my hand." He didn't have anything in his hand. Mother smiled and said, "Father, you are teasing us! It's time to eat. Mung bean soup, pancakes, and braised shrimp are all things your old man would like to eat." "Look! Open your eyes and take a good look!" Grandpa ordered us stubbornly.

Grandpa's hands are empty. Mother said: "You don't even have a fart in your hand, where did you get the gold bars!" Grandpa laughed and said, "You really see clearly? I don't have anything in my hand?" We all felt a little strange. "Then, I'm going to die!" Grandpa said calmly, "After I die, you have to try to get me into the Red Forest. The living people must never go in. The method of using a kite to sling the head of the team must never be used again. This mission is up to this person." Datou's grandson will complete it."

After speaking, Grandpa fell on his back under the lilac tree, and everyone rushed to help him.Grandpa has already died. Mother led us to cry.Everyone howled dryly, but no one shed tears.I have a heavy responsibility on my shoulders, and I don't want to cry. what to do?what to do?Who gave me wisdom and who gave me courage?Grandpa said he would die when he said he would die. On a hot day, the corpse would rot and stink if it was left for a long time. It would be even more serious if it caused an infectious disease.I am distraught.My mother comforted me: "My child, don't worry, think slowly. As the saying goes, 'There must be a way for a car to reach the mountain, and the boat can drive when it encounters the wind'; , plan your heart'; 'There is nothing difficult in the world, as long as you are willing to climb'. Tonight, you are sitting under this lilac tree, thinking of a way to send your grandfather into the mangrove forest. In order to prevent you from not paying attention, I tell people tie you to a tree." My mother said: "A Du, tie your elder brother to a lilac tree!" A Du is my third younger brother, who was bullied by me when he was a child.He picked up a thick rope of nettle grass, unceremoniously cut my arms backwards, and bound me tightly to the tree trunk. Mother ordered a precious red lantern to be lit, and the whole family lined up to set off firecrackers at the edge of the woods and weep.The bright moon is in the sky, everything is silent, mole crickets are chirping, and the fragrance of the mangroves is rippling, mixed with the fragrance of lilac flowers.The river was full of floods, and mothers and the others held red lanterns and shouted in unison to the other side of the river: "The death of the master Laba—the death of the master Laba—the death of the master Laba—" The sound of the water in the river is very loud, and the gray waves are running fast like lively little animals. Mosquitoes with long mouths bite me.I thought hard.Grandpa stood up.With hands behind their backs, he paced up and down in front of me, much like a teacher invigilating an exam.I was also in a hurry, and I came up with a clever plan. I said, "Yes! Grandpa, let's hire a helicopter to lift you in!" Grandpa shook his head and said, "No! No! I'm afraid of the smell of gasoline!" "You're hard to please, Grandpa," I muttered unhappily.Mosquitoes tricked me into tying my hands and feet and sucking my blood in a big way. "Then, is it good to shoot you into the Red Forest with a howitzer?" "Naughty beast!" Grandpa's long beard turned up like a tail, and he scolded me through gritted teeth, "You can figure it out! Treat your grandpa like a meat bomb!" "Let me go!" I said confidently, "Grandson has come up with a perfect plan to keep you comfortable, happy, and satisfied!" Grandpa looked into my eyes, and after a while, he nodded and said appreciatively: "Grandson , you are a genius through and through! Grandpa has no regrets in dying!" Grandpa lay on the ground and died again. I wrenched free from the nettle rope and felt the heat on my arm, the poisonous sting of the nettle digging into my muscles.Mother and the others came back from the embankment.Seeing my happy face, my mother became happy when she knew that I had figured out a solution.Everyone had dinner under the clove tree under the shadow of the lamp.In order to congratulate me for solving the major problem so quickly, my mother fried a plate of mountain scorpions and let me drink. The mountain scorpion was burnt and fragrant, and it was crackling in my mouth.Grandpa smacked his lips in the dark, feeling very hungry when he heard the sound.Mother said: "Dad, don't smack your lips, get up and eat if you want to eat!" Grandpa got up dejectedly, snaked shyly to the table, and said embarrassingly: "I have never smelled such a fragrant thing in my life." My mother was a little upset, and said, "Father, you have no memory! This mountain scorpion, if you eat two hundred catties, it will be a hundred catties. When you were alive, you praised your filial son and grandson, but once you died, you turned your back on it and picked it up. Take a look at your intestines, I'm afraid there is still a nest of scorpions that haven't been digested!" Grandpa's face was dull, he swallowed more than a dozen scorpions, walked into the shadows without saying a word, and died again. An orange pigeon fluttered over our heads.Mother said: "Hebei has a letter." The squint-eyed Jiu Gu raised a hand and let the pigeon land on her palm.She held it up to the light.The pigeon has a round chest, cooing and whispering, and its eyes are like two gold stars. Mother untied the letter from the pigeon's leg, unfolded it, and read it by the light.I just put my head up to see what was written in the letter, but my mother put the letter on the lamp and lit it.The letter paper turned into ashes, and the mother said: "A letter from your grandma's house. Tomorrow, your little uncle will come across the river to mourn the funeral." Grandpa interjected in the middle of the meeting: "What a good relative!" Mother said: "Father, you are not qualified to speak!" Grandpa is silent.Mother fed the pigeons a few mountain scorpions, patted their bulbous breasts, and the pigeons shot into the night sky like arrows. In the bright moonlight, there was a burst of Lulu pigeon whistles. Nothing to say all night.Not much to say.Everyone was sleeping, and my grandfather couldn't stand the loneliness. He knocked on my window every hour, in name to discuss tomorrow's affairs with me, but in fact he was looking for something to say, which made me infinitely annoyed. He developed a bad temper.The grandfather said sadly: "As the saying goes, 'a dead magistrate is worse than a living mouse', it is true. When alive, he is a grandfather, and when he dies, he is a grandson!" Thinking about what Grandpa said, it also makes sense.I secretly made up my mind that if my grandfather came to talk to me again, I would definitely talk to him patiently and never confront him with harsh words.But Grandpa never came again.I was half asleep when I heard him wandering around the yard all night shaking the lilac tree. As soon as it was dawn, the little old uncle came. As mentioned earlier, he suffered from severe bronchitis, asthma, bruised lips, and dull eyes.Two big gourds were placed on his shoulders one behind the other. He relied on the buoyancy of the gourds to swim over. The river was flooded and the eddies were as big as buckets. There were still many vicious old turtles in the water, and he also had serious Hydrophobia, so it was not easy for him to come here.So we regard the little old uncle as our guest of honor.We let him sit on a catalpa tree next to his grandfather's dead body, and gave him an appetizer of anisette to keep the cold away.He was also unceremonious and drank bowl after bowl.His mother praised the seven extra-large roses he had brought.Why is the rose on the other side of the river so big?Why are the roses on the other side of the river so red?Why is it so red?Red like a burning fire.The total weight of the seven-branched flowers is three catties and eight taels, and sixteen taels is one catty. Let me ask: how much does each flower weigh? 3 catties 8 taels = 56 taels 56 (taels) ÷ 7 = 8 (taels) 8 taels = half a catty Answer: The roses brought by the little old uncle from the other side of the river for grandpa’s corpse weighed half a catty on average. I told my mother seriously: "Mother, each flower weighs half a catty!" Mother stuck out her tongue in surprise.