Chapter 29 Chapter One

Whenever there is a rainbow in the sky, we think of that terrible proverb, "The east rainbow is foggy and the west rainbow is raining, the south rainbow harvests cabbage, and the north rainbow kills quickly." The north rainbow is the rainbow that appears in the northern sky.The year when Beihong appears is destined to be a year of killing people.In the autumn of that year, the North Rainbow appeared in Northeast Gaomi Township.Beihong is closely connected with that year.The Beihong was a symbol of consternation that year.Northeast Gaomi Township in that year was closely connected with the two sons of the second aunt.The history of Northeast Gaomi Township was written in blood by Ergu's two sons.The second aunt's two sons are called Tian and Di.Until now, we still don't know whether the sky is big or the earth is big. It is said that the two of them are arguing endlessly about this.

When Tianhedi entered the village, it was a cloudy afternoon in August. At that time, the people in the village were gathering on the street, looking up to the north, watching the dazzling rainbow. Tian wears a black woven uniform.Wearing a white khaki uniform.There is a large mirror box gun made in Germany pinned to the waist.A Russian-made flower machine gun hangs around his neck.Tian is tall, with blond hair, bright red lips, and big blue eyes, like a few drops of blue ink. He is short in stature, hunchbacked and bowed, with crooked facial features and brown teeth.Pretty and wretched are their different characteristics.Youth is their common feature.

Just when the villagers were worried about the rainbow in the sky, they walked across the bridge, one tall, one short, one handsome and one ugly.The river is east-west and the bridge is north-south.The old tall gatehouse built on the bridge head is the only way to enter the village surrounded by high walls.Heaven and Earth came from the direction of Beihong.People feel that they have come out of Beihong. They approached Grandpa without hesitation.Grandpa is not only the patriarch, but also the village head. Grandpa has a good beard like a chin wire. "The two are..." The grandfather went up to meet him and asked, "Where did you come from?" The sky and the earth looked at each other for a while, as if they were exchanging some information with their eyes.People looked suspiciously at the two contrasting strangers.

Tian took out a yellowed photo from his pocket, handed it to the grandpa, and said, "Do you know her?" Di said firmly, "You must be our grandfather!" The thin and smooth white silk gloves are particularly eye-catching. Grandpa looked at the blurry figure in the photo, hesitated and couldn't speak clearly. Heaven said: "Don't you even recognize your own niece?" He said: "My mother was forced away by you!" The grandfather said in surprise: "You are Er Niu's children?" Heaven said: "It's Erniu's son, my name is Tian." Said: "It's Erniu's son, my name is Di." The grandfather looked at the pistol on Tian's waist and the flower machine gun on Di's neck, and couldn't help but feel fear , squeezed out an affectionate smile from his flesh, and said: "Ah, it turns out that the two eldest grandsons have arrived. Congratulations! Congratulations! Where is your mother?" Heaven and Earth said in unison: "She will arrive soon!"

My father, who is full of knowledge and wisdom, said to us: I was fifteen and a half years old that year, and I was just curious and active.When I heard the news of the arrival of your second aunt's two sons—my two cousins, I was trembling with excitement.Due to reasons that no one can explain clearly, our once prosperous family in Northeast Gaomi Township is going downhill.My sixteen uncles gave birth to forty-eight girls, and there were only four boys of my generation. Except for me, who was pretty smart, the other three, the eighth uncle's son Degao was a yellow-eyed mute, and the second uncle's His son Dezhong is blind from birth, and Uncle Eleven’s son Deqiang is a demented child who has lived for thirteen years without wearing a single piece of clothing—how many times Aunt Eleven put on new clothes for him, he always took them off immediately. Torn to pieces.On the contrary, those forty-eight sisters are as beautiful as flowers, smart and clever.The daughters of the old housekeeper in Northeast Gaomi Township, one counts as one, and all of them are good. This is a famous thing in the three surrounding counties.There are too many girls in our family, peony, peony, rose, rose, rose, orchid, osmanthus, chrysanthemum... almost used up all the flower names, just enough to name my sisters.Our home is half a "Hundred Garden".Therefore, although I am not as precious as Jia Baoyu in this family, I can still be regarded as a "devil king".I have been fooling around with my sisters for more than ten years, even though they are all angels, it is annoying.When I suddenly heard that two cousins ​​were coming, I was trembling with excitement, which is understandable.

In your grandfather's generation, there were seven brothers, known as the "Seven Tigers in charge of the family". Turn over the old accounts of history, shake out their tiger skins for the world to appreciate - it's hard to say what will happen in the future.Like a tree divided into branches, our family.Although I lived alone as a separate family, due to my special status, I received preferential treatment everywhere in the family. Even if my father and my great-grandfather’s biological son fought hand-to-hand ten minutes ago for the edge of the land, ten minutes later I When I arrived at my grandpa's house, my grandma would also take out the crispy thatch roots in her box for me to eat.Eating sweet thatch root is a family tradition, and this tradition is quite a complex issue, and I don't want to talk about it.

When I heard the news of the arrival of the two cousins, it was already time to light the lamps and have dinner.Regardless of my parents' obstruction, I got rid of the entanglement of Sister Dingxiang and Sister Taohua, and ran to the grandfather's house.Our family had split into dozens of independent economic units at that time, but the housing was concentrated on both sides of Qiaotou Hutong due to the constraints of the ancestors’ homesteads. Five of my grandfather’s brothers had died due to fighting and disease, and the living ones It’s the eldest and the youngest—it’s an interesting way of dying—the second aunt is the daughter of the third grandpa, and the third grandpa is dead, so my two cousins ​​naturally stayed at the grandpa’s house.

I was running down the street and heard our family dog ​​barking like crazy.The startling and unsettling northern rainbow was gone, but there was still a great swath of color in the northern sky, as if blood dissolved in water.Some people were walking vaguely on the street. Although their faces could not be seen clearly, the smell of rotten grass emanating from their mouths proved that they were the housekeepers of our Qiaotou Street. Maybe they were Eighth Uncle, maybe they were Uncle Six, of course, could be this or that aunt of mine. At the door of my grandpa's house, I stopped running to let the panting sound subside, then I took out a bunch of dry thatch roots as long as matchsticks from my pocket and stuffed them into my mouth.The dim yellow light emitted by the glass lamp hanging under the eaves of the gatehouse of my grandpa's house shines on my green face and my chewing mouth.That night, the gate of Grandpa’s house was ajar, and the earthen cannon that had been erected on the screen wall for many years was also removed.In order to guard against bandits, the grandfather built his courtyard like a blockhouse. Square shooting holes were dug on the walls of the courtyard, the mountain, the wall of the shadow wall, and even the wall of the latrine.Grandpa and Grandma each have an earthen cannon, and five shotguns of different lengths that charge powder in the front and strike iron sand.Grandpa and Grandma are always ready to start a desperate battle to defend their positions in their home yard.Of course, in my memory, this kind of battle has never happened. The only battle twenty years ago was closely related to my second aunt.That battle, which was a great shame to our whole family when it first broke out, has since become the pride of the whole family.After all, our old housekeeper in Northeast Gaomi Township once produced a female hero who dared to lead the bandits to attack his uncle's family courtyard. Such a woman is not easy to appear in any family.Just when Haojie's second aunt became more and more a legendary figure, and the small battle she organized became a brilliant topic after our tea and dinner, her two weird sons suddenly appeared in front of us, as if they had fallen from the sky, Coming from the northern rainbow as bright as blood, and they announced that their mother would be there soon—our second aunt would be there soon.With the above gossip, my excitement was simply inevitable and necessary.

The red and rusty earth cannon protruding from the center of the big "Fu" character in the center of the screen wall was stuck in the soft mud next to the water tank behind the screen wall, with the root of the gun facing the sky, looking very embarrassed.The bright light from the main room illuminates the hard leaves of the oleander plant next to the water tank that is higher than the eaves, giving off a faint blue luster, and two blue night butterflies are chasing lightly in the canopy of the oleander tree. , They sometimes blend with those leaves, as if thousands of blue leaves are dancing, as if the whole tree is about to stand up; sometimes they protrude from those leaves, the leaves are still, like thousands of blue leaves. The wing feathers are firm, only two pieces of faint blue that are so weak that it hurts people's heart are flying in the tree.The old yellow dog at the grandfather's house was my friend since I was a child, and it barked at me in warning that night, which made me angry.Its barking sounded like the cough of an octogenarian, and it lost its prestige even if it wanted to.

The spacious main room of the grandfather’s house was originally the family’s meeting room, surrounded by more than a dozen chairs, surrounded by a heavy catalpa wood square table, and along the walls on all sides, there are some narrow benches.On the wall in the north is a scroll marked with the names and taboos of the ancestors. Two large blood-red suet candles are lit under the scroll. It seems to be whispering, whispering. In the main room sat my great-grandfather, great-grandmother, seventh-grandfather, and seventh-grandmother. Among the sixteen uncles, only my father and eleventh-uncle were missing. Did any of the aunts come or did they come? Gone and gone.Among my three cousins, only the idiot De Qiang was missing, the dumb De Gao was there, and the blind De Zhong was also there.I broke into the main room and yelled domineeringly: "Where is my cousin?" The serious atmosphere in the main room surprised me.Grandpa, Grandma, Seventh Grandpa, and Seventh Grandma sat on the Taishi chairs in the inner circle, and uncles, uncles, and aunts sat on benches against the wall.The blind man De Zhong was shriveled on the corner of the wall, leaning on a high horse pole with both hands, listening to the movement with his ears up.The dumb Degao stood beside Dezhong, with a round head, turning around like a rattle drum, and his two big eyes shone with a charming golden light.My name is Dejian, I have a clear mind and keen senses.As soon as Dejian entered the main room, he immediately felt the tension in the atmosphere. It seemed that there was a gust of cold air that wrapped the enthusiasm in the room, just like a clam shell wrapped a pearl.The desire to find his cousin suddenly weakened. For the first time, Dejian, who was used to domineering in this family, felt that he had to watch his words and actions carefully.I found my place next to the dumb and blind.The blind man sat in the middle holding the horse pole, the dumb man stood on the left, and I stood on the right.The blind man is like a strategic strategist, and the dumb and I are his left and right guards.I saw those two cousins ​​without anyone's introduction.The two of them sat next to each other on two purple-red chairs, facing the eldest and seventh grandpas.Everyone was watching them, almost all the men of the whole family, watching these two cousins ​​who came suddenly to eat.

We all know that grandma is one of the most stingy women in the world. No matter what kind of distinguished guests come to her house, it is difficult to eat a penny of meat from her house, at most two scrambled eggs and a plate of dried shrimps. And tonight, what was placed in front of the two cousins ​​was a braised chicken from Guo Xiaoshou's house, a plate of dried octopus stewed in sauce, a large bowl of scrambled eggs with dried shrimps, a garlic mortar with purple-skinned garlic, and a plate Stack at least 20 white flour single cakes and a handful of scallions.Such a table of food is actually placed on the square table of the grandma's house, which is simply unprecedented for a bastard.The two cousins ​​acted like no one was around, and were wolfing down food with peace of mind.By the way, there is also a bottle of sorghum shochu and two green cups on the table.The blond-haired, blue-eyed cousin holds a chicken head in his left hand, and a pancake with green onions stuck in his right hand.Regardless of eating the cake, he concentrated on nibbling the thin layer of oily skin on the chicken head. His lips were as delicate as red apricots and fresh as cherries because of the chicken oil.The so-called "the face is like powder, the lips are like grease", should be a true portrayal specially prepared for my big cousin (we think he is big).The second cousin eats fiercely, without a trace of the chicness of the big cousin. He stuffed too much food into his mouth, and propped up his cheeks. I can only see the food in balls along his slender waist The neck is chasing down, but he can't see his teeth chewing food. Even though his mouth is filled, he continues to put pieces of chicken, balls of eggs, sections of hairtail, and circles of single cakes. , sections of shallots, and pools of mashed garlic were smashed into the mouth desperately. Gradually, bright sweat covered their foreheads.Gradually, the food in the plate on the table was devoured.They took off their hats, which were as hard as iron sheets, and threw them on the table, and then unbuttoned their clothes, revealing their white foreign cloth shirts, and even the faces of the first cousin with yellow hair and the second cousin with black hair. chest.However, the gun, which is a symbol of death and majesty, is always hung on the waist of the eldest cousin and around the neck of the second cousin.In our herbivorous family in Northeast Gaomi Township, there used to be a few guys who loved guns like life, such as the third grandpa, such as the fifth grandpa, but they didn't love it so much that they couldn't eat a gun.Another explanation is that these two cousins ​​maintain a distrustful attitude towards their grandfathers, grandmothers, uncles, aunts, and cousins ​​present here, and thus maintain a high degree of vigilance.Seeing that the cups and plates were empty, the remains of chicken carcasses and food dregs were scattered on the table.The eldest cousin picked the gap between his teeth with a matchstick, with a calm and calm attitude; the second cousin ignored the shredded chicken and onion skins in his mouth, and took off the long and large Russian gun with a barrel full of cooling holes around his neck. Type submachine gun, put your fingers against the spring on the back of the butt, and let a small iron barrel pop out.Iron drums filled with gun oil. He took out a piece of white cloth from his pocket, unfolded it, bit a corner with his teeth, snapped it, and tore off a piece. Then, dipped in a little clear gun oil, and began to wipe his weapon.This flower machine gun should be said to be 90% new, and the steel part has not faded from the burnt blue, emitting a faint cold light.The paint on the wooden tray is an apricot color, which is warm and lovely.My eighth uncle is an expert at guns. From the expression on his face, it can be seen that the second cousin's gun is a real good thing.From the proficiency and concentration of wiping guns, even I clearly realized that this second cousin is definitely not a good stubble.The second cousin is not a good stubble, and the first cousin is not a fuel-efficient lamp. Although he did not show off the German-made mirror pistol on his waist in public, no one in Northeast Gaomi Township knows the power of this pistol!To play a box gun, you should play with a mirror, to play a hand grenade, you should play with a petal, and to play a horse rifle, you should play with a cover.Mirror box guns, petal grenades, and covered rifles are all top-notch weapons of the same kind, and they are first-class goods that are worthy of pride and pride.The candlelight was a bit dim because the wick was knotted. The grandma stepped forward with a pair of black scissors and cut off the knot. The dazzling brilliance of Chinese treasures.At this time, a golden smile bloomed on the face of the big cousin. This smile is so charming that it almost took away my soul. Breaking the deadlock all depends on the stingy but wise and brave grandma.She held a black lacquered tray and offered two bouquets of first-class burnt lemongrass to my two cousins. The grass-eating family in Northeast Gaomi Township has never picked their teeth. We clean our teeth by chewing thatch.All of our people have white and healthy teeth, which is a great pride of the herbivorous family.Thatch grass has fine fibers, is as sweet as cane, clears the throat and moistens the lungs, and is rich in resources. Every inch of land in Northeast Gaomi Township can be dug up and a handful of thatch roots can be pulled out.The two bunches of thatch on the grandma's tray are brown in color and fragrant. They were made by grandma herself, and ordinary people are not blessed to enjoy them.The production process of this herb is roughly as follows: first remove the rough bark of the grass in early spring, wash and dry them to make them white as vermicelli, then cut them into inch-long knots with scissors, soak them in salt water, and then soak them in sugar water. Spray white wine after drying, and finally put it on tiles and bake it with slow fire until the color is browned.The process of making thatch in the family is basically the same, but each family’s thatch has its own flavor. Tasting thatch, just like ordinary people tasting tobacco, is a great joy of our ancient family.The men and women in the family agree that the Jiaomao made by the grandma has the best taste and the best fire color. I have eaten a lot of thatched grass from my grandma-this old lady is all stingy, except for letting people eat grass-her thatched grass is fragrant, sweet, slightly sour, and slightly winey, but the taste is nothing, the rare thing is her The heat: burnt but not crisp, the fiber can recover good elasticity and toughness after being soaked in saliva.As for the thatch made by my mother, the population turned into ashes, completely losing the pleasure of chewing. Grandma's dedication of thatch seems to be a courtesy, but it is actually a test.Anyone who is related to the herbivorous family should of course know the importance of eating grass.Therefore, asking you to eat grass becomes a verification of your identity.Finally someone spoke.Finally let me hear my cousin's pleasant foreign accent. "Please eat grass!" The eldest grandma said sinisterly, "Please eat grass, two great grandchildren!" "What? Eating grass?" The second cousin held the flower organ in his hand and said angrily, "Please let us eat grass, are we cows?" The eldest cousin picked up a bunch of grass with two fingers, held it in front of his eyes For a while, put it under the nose and sniff for a while, the appearance and expression, one is like an old Chinese doctor, and the other is like a foreign devil.He finally took out one of the bunches of grass, put it on the tip of his front teeth and bit it, then spat out the little grass dregs. He smiled and asked, "Why do you let us eat grass?" Grandma looked at Grandpa, Grandpa looked at Grandpa Seven, Grandpa Seven looked at Grandma Seven, and then these old people randomly glanced at the younger generations around them, Suspicion appeared on everyone's face, and everyone was thinking: These are the fake nephews of two herbivorous families.As for their real origins, what they came here pretending to be the second aunt's son, we didn't have time to think about it. Grandpa said solemnly: "Didn't your mother tell you?" The two of them looked at each other and shook their heads. "When will she come back?" Grandpa asked.What the uncle was referring to was, of course, our second aunt, the rebellion of this family, but my two cousins ​​didn’t understand—maybe they really didn’t understand, or maybe they pretended not to understand. "Who is she?" The eldest cousin asked with a smile. "Your mother!" the grandpa roared, "What did she send you here for? When will she come back?" A burst of gunfire sounded like popping beans in the main room.The shooter was our second cousin.He sat upright at the table, barely moving his body.There was what could be called a ferocious smile on his face.We first saw a dozen golden and shiny bullet casings flying in the room, and then heard the crisp, sharp, unexpected and deafening gunshots.The time difference between the sound and the image is so small that it is difficult to detect, but I still feel it.The second cousin has played with guns to the point of perfection. He sat holding the gun with a graceful and natural attitude. No one saw how quickly he aimed the gun at the grandfather's head and how quickly he closed it. The gun, with the muzzle tilted upward, was pointed loosely at the roof.The gun is like a nursing baby in his arms, like an integral part of his limbs, an arm, or an eye, or a mouth that opens and closes freely.White gunpowder smoke curled out from the muzzle of his gun, and thin cobwebs curled down, landing on our heads, on the ground covered with blue bricks, and on the gun of the second cousin Walan... He gently wiped off the white spider silk with a gun cleaning cloth, and then gently wiped the oval-shaped muzzle with a light green oil-soaked gun cloth, like a loving mother, to finish eating. Aiko wiped her lips. In the unique bloody smell of the great grandfather who permeated the whole room, poured into our hearts and lungs, and shocked the ancient and eccentric soul of our herbivorous family, we - except the dumb Degaux - all heard the big cousin He said one word at a time: "She—then—then—then—to—" This is undoubtedly a solemn declaration, a stern warning, and a deafening reminder.From the voice of my big cousin, I heard the final verdict on the herbivorous family, the life as warm and sweet as red mud is coming to an end, an era full of excitement and horror, and maximizing the evil fantasy ability of human beings It is about to begin, or rather: it has already begun.