Chapter 2 Luo Jiang

The water from Maqiao flows into the Luo River, and the village is a half-day walk from the river.There are small boats for the transition. If the boatman is not there, the person crossing the river can put the boat over by himself.If the boatman is there, it costs five cents per person. The boatman leans the boat to the opposite bank, firmly inserts the bow pole of the boat, and stands on the bank to collect the money one by one.Just order a ticket and dip in your saliva.When he had saved a larger bill, he stuffed an old woolen hat into it and put it on his head securely.The money for crossing the river is the same no matter whether it is winter or summer.In fact, in summer the river is much wider and the water is much more urgent.During the flood season, the long yellow soup covered the sky and covered the earth, dimming all the reflections, pushing piles of filth to the shore, and piles of foam stuck in the shallow bends of the water, accumulating acid Smelly.But at this time, there are more and more people on the shore, wholeheartedly waiting for the dead chickens, dead pigs, broken tables or old wooden basins, as well as scattered rows of bamboo and wood, to be salvaged and taken home. , This is called making a fortune.

Of course, sometimes there may be a woman or baby, soaked into a huge white meat ball, suddenly rolled out of the waves, and cast a blank stare at you, causing people to scream and run away. There are also some brave cubs who found a long penny and poked the white meat balls, thinking it was fun.People on the riverside also fish, dropping nets or hooks.Once, before I reached the river, I suddenly saw a few women walking in front, screaming and running back in a panic, as if something had happened.If you look closely, where they came from, the men, young or old, or whether they were carrying loads or herding cattle, all of a sudden stripped of their trousers, a dozen or so naked buttocks jumped into the river, yelling.I just remembered that there was a muffled sound just now, it was the sound of cannons.That is to say, when a cannon was fired in the river and fish were fried, they ran away after hearing the sound to catch fish.They didn't want to wet their pants, and they didn't think this kind of urgent action would scare anyone.

During the six years in Maqiao, I didn't have much relationship with Luo Jiang, except that I had to make a transition there occasionally when walking to the county town.When it comes to transitions, nickels are often the big deal.The educated youths don't have much money, and once the men get together, they also have the urge to behave like Japanese devils, and they always want to renege on their debts.There is a man named Hei Xianggong, who is very heroic in these matters. After he landed, he acted like an underground worker who sacrificed himself to save others.He fumbled in his left pocket, took out his right pocket, pretended to procrastinate enough, and when he saw us all walking away, he showed a grim face, saying that he had no money, and even if he had money, he would not give it to him, old turtle, what are you going to do?Then run away.He thought he was a basketball player, and the old man on the ferry would never be able to catch up.Unexpectedly, the old man didn't think it was a matter of speed, so he took a long oar, and although he ran slowly and got farther and farther away from us, he never stopped. After chasing for one mile, two miles, three miles, For four miles...until we all staggered and salivated, the little black spots still bit us from a distance.Everyone believed that as long as he didn't kill him, if he didn't get back the money today, even if he chased him to the sky with his long oars, he would definitely not turn back.He is not as smart as us at all, and he doesn't intend to settle accounts at all, and he doesn't think it's a pity for him to leave the boat and a large group of guests waiting to be crossed by the river.

We had nowhere to go, so we had to collect money obediently and be sent forward by Mr. Hei to avoid future troubles.I saw from a distance that the old man actually returned the change to Mr. Hei, opening and closing his mouth, probably cursing, but against the wind, he didn't send it over. I never saw the old man again.When the anti-revolutionary campaign started, one of our pistols became the focus of investigation.The gun was obtained during the "Cultural Revolution" in the city. After the bullets were finished, I was reluctant to throw it away and secretly took it to the countryside.Later, when the rumors became tighter, he was afraid of being accused of concealing weapons, so Mr. Hei threw it into the river during the transition, and they agreed to keep their mouths shut forever.How this came to light is still unclear to me.

I just regret that I was too smart at the time, thinking that throwing it into the river would be clean.We didn't expect that if the gun was not found, it would be impossible to close the case. On the contrary, they suspected that we continued to hide the gun for ulterior motives.After endless interrogations and confessions, it was finally winter, and the water in Luojiang River receded, exposing a large stretch of sandy beach.Using the rake, we dug deep where the gun was thrown, trying to find out our innocence.We dug on the river beach for five full days, digging out a wider and wider area, and almost reclaimed tens of thousands of hectares of fertile land for the People's Commune in the biting cold wind, but we didn't hear the clang of the rake.

A heavy gun cannot be washed away by water.It sinks to the bottom of the water, and it is impossible for anyone to pick it up.The strange thing is, where did it go? I can only suspect that this strange river has malicious intentions and is determined to send us to prison for a reason we don't know. Only at this time do we feel its mystery and take a serious look at it for the first time.It is covered with the first heavy snow in winter, reflecting a dazzling white light, like a flash of lightning that suddenly illuminates the world and freezes it for a long time.There is a line of shallow footprints on the river beach, which makes a few white waterfowls fly up and down uncomfortably. From time to time, they slide into the background of ice and snow, making them unrecognizable, and from time to time they come out from unexpected places. Green narrow water.My eyes began to weep involuntarily in a permanent flash of lightning.

No one transitions.The ferryman was no longer the old man, but a younger middle-aged man, who squatted on the shore with his sleeves wrapped around for a while, and then went back. I turned back sharply, the shore was still empty.