Chapter 10 Chapter 10 The General

The biggest big man the townspeople themselves have ever really seen was a general, and a general out of date. The news was first revealed by the shaving guy in the town street barber shop. "Hey, does anyone know, at the foot of the Diarrhea Mountain, here, it is on the right side of the detention center, and houses are being built again. Which unit's infrastructure is this? Could it be that the detention center is expanding?" In this remote town, any slight change will cause people's great attention.Diarrhea Mountain, which is about two miles away from the center of the town, is actually a large mound full of chaotic rocks.

"Look at you, how silly." With a sneer, the shaved man's bald head appeared, but the rest of the hair was combed slickly. He is the "Bai Xiao" in the town.The so-called "baidxiao" means "the sky knows half, and the earth knows everything".From the barbershop he had his finger on the pulse of the town and its connections with the world beyond.From the upper street to the lower street, the latest topics such as "the shaved man said..." are often circulated.He is by no means limited to processing messages of different weights in one way.When something sensational happened, the news center of the barbershop, which was less than ten square meters, was narrowed, so he would step over the threshold and come to the various stalls at the intersection of the cross street like now.

"You don't know it. It's a house for a general. He's coming here to keep us company." "What? General? The general wants to live among us?" The news really caused quite a stir. In the eyes of small-town people, there is not much difference between a general and a head of state.There seemed to be a whirlwind in the middle of the street, and people were drawn to this great shaved man like leaves. "You don't have to be happy. There is nothing to be happy about." The shaved man cleared his throat, and poured cold water on the heads of the happy people.Here it stimulated their curiosity even more.People craned their necks: "Why?"

"Let me tell you, don't spread it randomly. This matter is controlled internally. He has long been pulled off the horse and is under review. Now, he is here to serve as an exile." "Why go to the army?" "He is a traitor." "Ah!" This was a thunderbolt to the vanity that had just floated up.Everyone felt disappointed and a little discouraged. "However, he came here in the name of taking a rest. General, he is still the same general as before, unchanged." The shaved man's words turned ups and downs.The attention that was about to slacken was immediately concentrated again.And he lowered his voice even more:

"Tell you, when dealing with him, ask him to keep a registration. Oh, don't tell me you don't know, people like him have two more registrations than us. We only have one hometown registration. He also has a party membership and a party membership." Military registration. So, tell me, which one should he keep besides his hometown nationality?" The shaved man stopped talking suddenly and asked a question unexpectedly.The people who held their breaths suddenly looked at each other in blank dismay. "You should keep your party membership. It's glorious to be in the party." The young man of the small town's transportation team threw the cart aside and squeezed into the crowd to break the silence.Many people followed and echoed him.

The shaved man pouted disapprovingly. "According to me," the old tailor said cautiously, "it's still suitable to stay in the military. You have to keep your mouth shut. If you don't have a military membership, why should you get paid for it? How can you keep your mouth shut if you don't have money? He doesn't seem to have any skills. Could it be that he can still do it well?" Do you want to move the field?" "Hey, this is a living man." The shaved man slapped the old tailor on the shoulder, and a ball of white foam flew from his loose yellow teeth to the old tailor's red nose.The old tailor's face was flushed with appreciation. "That's exactly what the above means, leave a military status and let him retire." The shaved man glanced at the young man, and said, "Hey, you know, military-level cadres, two hundred yuan a month." This caused another tut-tsk.The barber suddenly remembered that his business hadn't opened all morning, so he left.

Someone grabbed his clothes corner: "Hey, do you know when he will come?" "Hey, you guys are so stupid." The shaved man was a little impatient, "Don't you want to look at the house? He will come when the house is ready!" So, people reluctantly dispersed.Buzzing, camping, bringing all kinds of speculations, all kinds of foresights, and all kinds of sighs about an outdated general to every corner. two When people saw the general for the first time, they couldn't help feeling numb.Unanimously, they shouted in their hearts: "No wonder, with his appearance, how can he be qualified to be a general!"

Although the townspeople have never seen what the general looks like, no one can fool the townspeople.The general should be the kind with respectable white hair, majestic sword eyebrows, a burly body, and a protruding abdomen... In short, he looks majestic.As for him, he was short and shriveled, with a wrinkled face, a bent body, and a limp leg.He seems to make up for this lack of appearance by taking great care to groom himself--so to speak, it is the only way to keep him firmly military, if you know him in a good-hearted way: when he appears in the street , a military uniform has always been straight, with almost no wrinkles, cap badges and collar patches are bright and dazzling; no matter how hot the weather is, the discipline buttons are never unbuttoned; Always maintain an even rhythm.And these just make people feel that he is an unfortunate person all the time.As a general, he seems unreal, and only makes sense when the leader is ringing.Still, in public and private conversation, townspeople still refer to him as "the general."

The townspeople looked at him with this kind of eyes that were neither in awe nor contempt, but curious and indifferent.And he didn't care about that.Since the second day he came here, he has been walking around the town tirelessly. Leaning on a shiny tea-wood walking stick, he limped and walked with even rhythmic steps from the east end of this street to the west end, and from the south end to the north end of that street.Or, wandering for a long time in the gravel riverbed.He keeps moving like this, some people sarcastically said that this is the inertia formed by him measuring the land of the whole of China with his feet.

Gradually, whether people liked it or not, he began to say all sorts of unkind things about the town where people had lived happily for ages.For example, "Can't you spend some money to pave two cement roads?", "Can't you dig a kiln in the field across the river and send the garbage there for composting?" and so on.And the cadres in the town who were asked politely answered him with the ingenuity and wisdom unique to the townspeople: "Where does the money come from? We are all low wages!" or: "How can there be so many What about free time?" The people who gathered in a circle to listen to these answers laughed smartly.

Small town people have mixed feelings about this eccentric general.He was a punished man, but he was well paid; one feared getting too close to him, but felt that he was trying to interfere in people's lives with good intentions.In short, the townspeople have no intention of disarming their minds.It is the nature of small town people to be curious but not credulous. He evidently sensed this quickly enough to stop embarrassing the cautious.However, he couldn't leave this old, noisy, gray town.Therefore, he chose a fixed foothold for himself in the town, which was the old camphor tree that had been struck by thunder opposite the barber shop on Cross Street.He often leaned on a walking stick, stood upright, blinked his slightly dazed eyes, and stood there for several hours without making a sound, neither talking to anyone nor knowing what he was thinking. This demeanor makes people feel funny.Those squatting on the nearby ground and setting up stalls looked up at him from time to time; it took a long time for people passing by on the street to take their eyes off him.And behind the glass of the barber's shop, the barber was discussing with people with great interest. What can compare with such a general standing in the dust and fog? "Like a guard", the shaved man shook his head: "Like a traffic policeman in the city", he still shook his head.After criticizing for a long time with his lips pursed, he said solemnly: "Have you ever been to Hankou? There is a bronze statue at Sanmin Road in Hankou, standing upright and leaning on a walking stick. Like, the same way..." After a long time, the general standing under the old camphor tree seems to have really become a bronze statue at the intersection of Sanmin Road in Hankou, and is no longer eye-catching.People are used to this, just like they are used to a coppersmith, a shoemaker, and a tinsmith in front of every prominent corner of a crossroads.If you don't see him for a few days, people will feel that something is missing. However, he is not a bronze statue after all.He has flesh and blood and thoughts.And one day people finally saw that he still had a lot of anger. That day was a holiday.In front of the butcher's shop at the Town Food Station, which was open just enough to reach within an arm's length, there was a great crowd of people and a loud noise.Some youngsters took pranks as New Year's Eve, slung the vegetable baskets on their backs, and ran amok in the crowd.In those days, people were used to "seeking cure in chaos". The general stood under the old camphor tree and stared at everything, the veins on his forehead twitched, and the hand holding the crutch trembled slightly.Suddenly he limped across the street, behind the seething crowd, raised the tea stick, and tapped a man in military uniform on the back.The sweaty man, shouting loudly, tried to cut his way through the crowd.He is allocated according to the priority of the agency.Now he turned his head abruptly, saw a pair of blood-red eyes, and immediately retreated from the crowd. "Old, old chief, what's the matter? He just joined the army and came here not long ago, so he judged the general's identity based on common sense. "Fix the military discipline before we talk." This little soldier with a childish face looked at the general in bewilderment, quickly put on his regular military cap, buttoned up his discipline buttons, held down his rolled up sleeves, and finally lowered his eyes to look at his toes. "Which unit? For what?" "The cooking class of the garrison." There was a silence. "Stand at attention—" the general suddenly shouted.This completely standardized and stern password sound overwhelmed the chaotic buzzing noise of the entire street.People turned their heads and looked at the two highly concentrated soldiers. "Right-turn! Run-go!" The general stood at attention facing the direction where the soldier was running, his chest heaving violently. There was a sudden silence at the intersection.It seemed that there was a magical restraining force, and the crowd who had been ecstatically crowded, rushing, and clamoring just now lined up in single file. Suddenly, people felt the great prestige of this man who once commanded thousands of troops. three Soon an event of great importance took place in the town.This most explosive incident since the establishment of the new regime in the "Cultural Revolution" was nothing short of a riot.And after this "riot", the townspeople who always put pity on the loser's side suddenly felt that there was a "position" that should be changed. It is inevitable that a person of the general's age and experience will suffer from some serious tumor.In this regard, in addition to the daily care of the old woman who left with him (she was the head nurse of a certain military hospital before this), according to the lenient regulations, he can also go to a military hospital fifty miles away from the town for regular consultations. .If the problem breaks out suddenly and there is no medicine, you can go to the town hospital temporarily for treatment. This happened to him that day.When his sallow face was dripping with cold sweat, and he was about to walk into the consultation room of the town hospital in the arms of the old woman, a country woman suddenly grabbed him and begged: "Old man of the PLA, save my son, my God!" We'll be here before light..." The corridor was dark, and it was hard to see people's faces very clearly.The general reached out to touch the child's forehead, immediately retracted, and shouted: "Quick, quickly bring him in." Then, he himself rushed to the doctor's desk like a gust of wind: "Doctor! Emergency patient!" Behind the desk, the attending doctor is auscultating a distant relative.The relative was happily reporting his daughter's engagement income to her.The female doctor was so fascinated that she didn't move her stethoscope for a long time.Hearing the general's yell, she glanced sideways: "No matter how fast you are, you have to register." She immediately turned her face away. "Registered, she has already registered!" "You have to queue up after registration... Oh, it's worth raising a daughter like this." The female doctor turned her head fiercely: "Xiao Wang, did you call out on the first day?" "Dongdong (001) of course called." A little nurse who was bending over to give an injection replied. "I've shouted, but she's not here, so I have to start from the beginning." "I'm here... The doctor in the brigade said that what surprised me was acute pneumonia, not a pain in the back. Mmmm..." The country woman burst into tears, not knowing whether it was nervousness or disappointment. "You should understand, she didn't understand!" the general roared. "Then let her learn to act according to the rules. The state owns the law, and the court has its rules. Otherwise, it's okay?" The female doctor threw the stethoscope on the table and gave the general a gloomy look. "Just follow the rules. Let me ask you, what is this person's number?" The general pointed to the female doctor's distant relative. "Hey, you're here today looking for my old lady's shell. Let me ask you, are you this kid's father or father?" "Shameless!" "What? Am I shameless? You old bastard! What am I shameless? Am I anti-party? Am I a traitor? Huh?" With a sound of "swipe", the general waved his tea-wood walking stick. The woman screams. The consultation room was so quiet that even the sound of a needle dropping could be heard.Except for the relative of the stunned female doctor, no one in the room tried to wrest the cane from the general.The crutch trembled tremblingly and tremblingly in mid-air.One longed for it to come down fast and slam on that freckled snub-nosed bridge. However, the crutches finally did not fall.The general stretched out his other hand and grabbed the other end of the walking stick. Immediately after a sound of "What?", the strong tea stick broke in two. The general turned around with difficulty and asked his old woman, "Is there any medicine at home?" The old woman understood that he was referring to the medicine for the child's illness, so she nodded. The general asked the country woman tremblingly, "You, can you trust us? If you can, come with us." This matter immediately spread throughout the town.The townspeople, who were always afraid of breaking their skulls when leaves fell, unexpectedly had a look of restless warmth and anger on their faces. Yes, although the small town people are ignorant and timid, this also makes them like to make various judgments based on intuition.If a "traitor" takes it as his duty to save people in times of crisis, while a "cadre" puts people to death, shouldn't their positions just be reversed? For several days, the general did not appear under the old camphor tree at the street corner.People began to have an inexplicable anxiety.It was reported that he fell ill.But since the "attempted murder" against the attending doctor, the preferential treatment of taking him to the military hospital in the jeep of the town government was cancelled. A group of hot-blooded men, led by the mang young man from the transport team who once said on the street that "the party is glorious", sneaked into the lonely new house on the Diarrhea Mountain two miles away on a dark night, put the general on a stretcher, and stayed overnight. Carried to the military hospital fifty miles away. Four 1976 was an unbearable year.As soon as it started, it buried the town in gloom, cold and mud.The small town, which was not very prosperous, seemed like a dying person. However, the bad weather did not bring bad news to the townspeople. On this day, the shaved man came to the colorful intersection again, cleared his throat, and put on a posture.There is no doubt that the most extraordinary news is about to be heard.The people at the intersection immediately cheered up. "Tell you, General, he is no longer a traitor. His problem has been clarified!" "Really? Who did you listen to?" "Will my words still be false?" The shaved man gave the questioner a disdainful look.Nothing in his life hated more than doubts about the credibility of his news.However, he went on to explain: "If you don't believe me, ask him." "I said it..." The reckless young man in the transportation team blushed. Unlike a shaved man, he was not used to speaking in front of a large audience. "When I was hospitalized in the military hospital, two people came from the general's original unit. They said that the history of the general before he joined the regular army of the Red Army was checked, and there was no rebellion..." "Hmph, the old revolutionaries have been blamed for so long." The shaved man cut off the conversation, "Did I say it a long time ago, if you look at the general from his feet to the tip of his hair, you can't find a trace of a coward! Really! ..." "Really, it's been a long time for a nobleman..." People seemed to be missing some burden on themselves, excited, but they couldn't help crying and lamenting the grievances the general suffered. "So, this time, isn't the general leaving soon?" This was the cautious voice of the old tailor. What a forethought.This logical question is so caught off guard."Gorden" sounded in everyone's heart, and they all fell into deep thought. "Hey, that's right, the temple in our small town is small, how can we pretend to be such a big Bodhisattva!" The shaved man scratched his thinning hair and sighed.This caused an inexplicable sentimentality among the people. Usually it is like this: when you are about to lose something, you suddenly feel its supreme value. "Look at you guys! I've been hoping for good luck all day long, and now it's all over, and you guys are...really!" The reckless young man of the transportation team blamed angrily. It's true too.The general has his own place for the general.You can't call him our mayor, can you?He's leaving, and that's cause for celebration. So, everyone stretched their necks and looked at the intersection where the general came every day, hoping that he could come down to the old camphor tree at the intersection as before.More than ever one felt the desire to take a closer look at him.If the general didn't blame them for their previous timidity, they still wanted to talk to him. The desire to make out with the general was so strong.Suddenly someone raised the question: The general was just discharged from the hospital yesterday, and he won't be out for a while, why can't we go? Yes, why not?absolutely okay.So people rushed to the Diarrhea Mountain two miles outside the town. The desolate and silent Diarrhea Mountain became lively. This barren slope with only black rocks and messy thorn bushes was originally the most taboo place for the townspeople.There are no trees here for firewood, no grass for grazing cattle, and it has always been a place of burial for the dead throughout the ages.It is said that when it is rainy and dark, you can still hear the mournful chirping of ghosts.Such an unlucky place, even if the townspeople pass by, they would rather take a detour to avoid it. Now, the new house on the hill next to the prison cell has become a holy temple full of cigarettes.People come on pilgrimage. When people crowded up the steps and saw the lean and hunched general, they suddenly stopped in their tracks, and no one dared to be the first to step over the threshold.The sharp-tongued barber seems to have lost his eloquence.Many people stabbed him in the back with their hands, and he shouted in a panic that he couldn't hear clearly: "General!" For a long time, the general's eyes widened in astonishment, and he was speechless.Later, he understood that on his withered and yellow face, two lines of turbid old tears flowed down in a tortuous way along the dense wrinkles. Diarrhea Mountain is two miles away from the small town, and has existed side by side for countless years, but now it is the first time that the people of the small town are patronizing it with joyful eyes. People were first surprised to find that the general had dug many tree holes in the cracks in the rocks on the slope behind the house. "Are you going to plant so many trees? General!" "Yes, I want to cure this dysentery at least before I die. Unfortunately, there is little hope of planting fruit trees on this stone shell, so I have to plant pine trees." "Could it be that the general wanted to live in seclusion here for the rest of his life?" "Recluse?" "That's right, it's like Mr. Tao Gong Yuanming who lived in seclusion at the foot of Mianyang Mountain thirty miles away from here in the Jin Dynasty. He used to be the county magistrate of Pengze, but later he abandoned his official position and returned to the farm without bending his waist for five buckets of rice, just like that. However, you planted pine trees, and he likes willows, so he is called 'Mr. Wuliu'." The shaved man seized the opportunity and showed off a lot. "Oh my, where did you go? He is an ancient celebrity, what am I? Drink, drink..." The general laughed hard and coughed, "In the future, the trees will become forests, and then the trees will become forests. The river at the foot of the mountain is broken through by building a few waterways, and the farmland can be irrigated, and the town will have a mountain with trees, a river with water, and some flowers, grass, birds and animals, and it will become a park. At that time , I will show you the garden gate." Fives The town is full of calculations and discussions about how to send the general off in a dignified way; what to give him and what kind of permanent souvenirs he will leave behind; how to keep in touch with the general in the future, and so on.Several people even quarreled over the order of giving the general a farewell party. But none of them got this honorable opportunity. Diarrhea Mountain was once again surrounded by a deathly silence.Although there are endless crowds of people who come to see the general every day, they no longer have smiles on their faces. After the general fell down, he never got up from the hospital bed.He was lethargic, and his body temperature sometimes rose very high.His lifeless eyes stared fixedly at the ceiling, sometimes roaring and sometimes muttering.Suddenly one day, the general woke up completely.He took turns to inspect the dull and flustered faces, panting and smiling. The general died quietly. Immediately came the message from the top: the general's body should be cremated on the spot; relatives and friends will not be notified; no obituary announcements will be made; no condolences of any kind will be held.However, it is impossible for them to intervene in the matter they are trying to control. The townspeople monopolized the general's funeral with a kind of calm arrogance and calm fanaticism.People immediately elected the team to manage the funeral.The team immediately made a decision: according to the oldest and most important folk customs, send the general back to the west.This resolution was immediately accepted by all. One of the oldest elders in the town donated the only cypress coffin in the whole town; the old tailor rushed to make a full set of shroud clothes and quilts overnight; .Because the shaved man did plastic surgery too slowly, this effort took a long time. The "Eight Immortals" are composed of 16 brave young men in the transportation team.The moment they set up the restaurant, they slaughtered the rooster and sacrificed it.The boy who was rescued from dying by the general was led by his old mother and took up the post of the general's filial son. He dressed in linen and filial piety, and knelt and kowtowed to all those who came to mourn.On the days when the mourning was over, a "forest" suddenly grew up in Diarrhea Mountain, which were filial curtains and wreaths sent by the people of the small town and the surrounding villages in all directions.The huge wreaths of the local garrison, brought by the soldiers whom the general had scolded, were particularly striking. The funeral was on a gloomy morning.Throughout the small town and the surrounding countryside, the sky was low and the clouds were falling, and the mourning was loud and loud.Although according to the general's will, his tomb is located in the Mangy Mountain, but the mighty funeral procession still came to the streets of the town. The "Eight Immortals" carried the general's coffin and passed each house in turn.Every time you pass a house, you stop and wait for the long string of "thousand-character head" firecrackers to finish before moving to another house.This makes the march of the mourning team almost creepy.The two streets with a total length of less than 600 meters have been walked for a whole morning.The coffin finally stopped for a long time under the old camphor tree at the street corner, where the general always stood.People cried out one by one, screaming for heaven and earth. The town cultural station is on the town street, it is an old wooden building.Looking out from the low window on the second floor, you can clearly see the thunder-struck old camphor tree opposite the barber shop at the intersection of the cross street. Military uniforms have always been straight, with almost no wrinkles; cap badges and collar badges are bright and eye-catching; no matter how hot the weather is, they never unbutton the discipline buttons, straighten their waists, lean on crutches, blink their dizzy eyes from time to time, and say no. He stood there loudly for several hours.Xiao Ding also often watched him from the window on the second floor of the cultural station for a long time without saying a word.The man lost his power but not his dignity.Fate abandoned him to this corner that was almost forgotten by the world, but he became a strange light in this old, noisy and gray life.It reminds people of the impermanence and impermanence of fate.