Chapter 20 Chapter Twenty

one Du Yan suddenly felt that he should sleep in the coffin.The three-inch-thick paulownia coffin board, the two-inch-thick cypress wood head, and a pot-sized inscription carved on the front, for more than a year, this coffin has been in the room exuding the smell of shiny paint and the time when the boards were baked wet. The light red is warm and warm.I spent half my life cooking in the village, and every month I took out a piece or a few pieces of plastic bags from my salary and put them in the seam of the bed and wall. After decades, I bought this coffin. Although it is not the best, it is also seen Who is envious, can't help but say that with this coffin, it's worth living for a lifetime.However, Sima Lan insisted on sending someone to carry the coffin and sell it, saying that the construction site of Lingyin Canal didn't even have the money to buy a stick.

The sun in winter is warm and humid.Du Yan watched a hen planing food under the sunlight in the yard, and heard the slight sound of rain when the sun fell.He looked up to the sky, felt the crack pain in his neck as if someone was pulling his throat, reached into his throat to feel it, and felt the swollen bright lump like an egg stuck in the middle of his throat.I'm going to die, he thought, maybe within a few days.Counting his own life in this way, he got up from the stool, grabbed a handful of sorghum to feed the chickens, and brought a bundle of beans to the sheep in the pen, and then went out to the village street.

The village street is so quiet that one can clearly distinguish which is air, which is flying dust and noise in the daylight.All the men over the age of 16 went to the construction site to repair the canal, and the women stayed at home to tend the fields and take care of the village.The village streets one after another are like belts thrown on the ground and no one picks them up in the silence.He walked from one end of the street to the other, from this alley to that alley. Apart from meeting a dog, he only met a seven-year-old child who could not walk.He said you still can't stand straight?The child stared at him blankly, took a windmill wheel made of white paper in his hand, and said that my wheel turned very well, and he stopped turning it when you came.Du Yan was a little startled, and took a step back, the windmill turned as expected, and when he took a step closer to the baby, the windmill stopped abruptly.Thinking it was blocking the direction of the wind, I circled around three feet away from the child, and the windmill just stopped and stopped, but it was spinning in any place three feet away.

I had no choice but to leave. When I left, I thought, I really should lie in the coffin.Daughter Zhucui is not only married, but her second child, Teng, is about to be born; the eldest child, Du Bo, is not yet married, but she can take over in the commune and become a government correspondent. With a pot of boiling water, at most the children who play in the commune compound are driven out of the compound, and the work is over, free and clean, and interacts with the leaders every day, and receives a salary of seventeen and five yuan a month. This situation can't be compared to a town It is very easy for a daughter-in-law to start a family.There is nothing to worry about, the only worry is that someone from the village will carry the coffin to sell.

Back home, Du Yan went to the toilet, cleaned up the mess in his body, looked at the sky, looked at the ground, glanced at the house and the sheep pen and chicken coop, walked into the upper room, and moved the two stools that supported the coffin bit by bit. Moving on the ground, he moved the coffin from under the gable to the center of the west room.Finally, the lid of the coffin was opened wide, and a few newspapers, a thin mattress, some clothes warm in winter and cold in summer were placed on the bottom of the coffin, a bowl, a pair of chopsticks and a gift from the village head before he retired in the village. His small alarm clock and an old pocket radio given to him by the secretary.The radio was broken, and the secretary said it would ring with one beat, and he tried it, and it sounded with one beat, so he bowed gratefully to the secretary and shook hands.After doing all this, when I was about to lie down in the coffin, I suddenly found that the alarm clock was fine, tick-tock-tock, and went away for spring and autumn, forever, but now it was put into the coffin and it didn't go away anymore, and it was with him. Approaching the child's windmill, the windmill stopped spinning.

Du Yan was a little surprised, and stretched out his hand to take out the small alarm clock from the coffin. As soon as the alarm clock reached the mouth of the coffin, it rang again innocuously. His hands trembled.Mu stared blankly at the alarm clock and walked for a while, then he put the clock into the coffin again.The needle stops as soon as it is inserted, and the needle clicks as soon as it is taken out.After repeating this several times, he put the clock on the table, took out the damaged pocket radio from the head of the coffin, and turned it on, only to find that the radio was flapping outside the coffin, making a creaking sound, like the sound of kraft paper being torn. , it was almost impossible to hear what was playing, but once it was put into the coffin, the radio was as good as new, without needing to beat it, the sound was crisp and clear, well-organized, yin and yang were distinct, and the music sounded like peach red and apricot white. Bise River.

Just have this radio.Du Yan put it under the clothes on the corner of the coffin, and a sweet warmth and comfort rose in his heart. When he was about to lie down in the coffin, he felt that the pillow was low again, so he turned around and scanned the room. Several old books of his son Du Bo, among them was a small red book, he grabbed it and stuffed it under the pillow.Then, he put the lower part of the coffin lid on the coffin, staggered a hole at the top, jumped into one leg first, and then jumped into the other leg. With a shrinking body, he got into the coffin.Lying on his back, he moved the coffin lid inch by inch, until he heard a white bang at the end, and the coffin lid was closed properly.

two In the coffin, except for the light and darkness, like a cloth covering the eyes, the rest is comfortable and comfortable.Du Yan slept sweetly in the coffin, and when he woke up, he heard the winter wind in the village, which was loud and piercing.At the foot of the coffin, a sliver of green wind squeezed in through the cracks in the boards. After blowing for a long time, his feet were cold and numb, as if he had passed through the snow for a period of time.He was woken up by the wind, moved his numb feet, pushed the mattress into the coffin seam, the seam was blocked, and the coffin immediately became warm and humid, with a woody smell like cooked flour and new cotton clothes and cotton mattress The white and soft smell of cotton permeated the coffin.

The throat also seemed to be less sore.He swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and the pain was really light, and it was smooth enough to make a ding-dong sound.I put my hand into my throat and tried to feel it, but the swelling was still there, like a carriage running from the middle of an alley, completely blocking an alley, but all the comings and goings can be drilled under the wall and under the carriage shed go. At this time, he felt warm in his upper body and slightly cold in his lower limbs. He guessed that the end of the coffin was close to the door, and regretted not closing the door when he entered the coffin.As for the upper body, there is a fresh breath of sunlight, as if being warmed in the sun.Turning over in the coffin, shrunk his legs, felt his eyes narrowed by the light, and thought that this scene might be one afternoon after entering the coffin.Only in the afternoon, the setting sun will shine on the window, and will sprinkle on the head of the coffin through the window.He felt lucky that he could still bask in the sun, and tried to shrink his body again so that the sun could shine on his legs and feet through the three-inch coffin board, but at that moment the door rang.The sound of his footsteps, familiar as his own clothes, sounded in the courtyard.The footsteps sounded like small white flowers, from far to near, and when they came to the front, they suddenly stopped.Then came the voice of his son Dubo calling him, Dad, Dad──Where are you?He coughed first, and said that I am here, in the coffin, if you don’t work for the government, what are you doing when you come back?

Du Bo stood at the door, stared at the coffin in the Westinghouse for a while, walked over and lifted the lid, the sunlight hit Du Yan's face, he squinted his eyes, his body trembled like the wind blowing . Son says you are crazy. What are you doing when you come back from work? My son said that a tractor passed by a mountain ridge. I came back to get some clothes and some books. The village was going to organize an exam. He said he passed the exam and he was transferred from a correspondent to a cadre.He also said that I would like to write a letter to the higher-ups to move the village out of the Palou Mountains when I become a cadre.

Du Yan suddenly sat up from the coffin, saying that the rice bowl is not secure, so please don't mention this matter. Do you think the villagers will live past forty if they move away?Didn't the ancestors move away and didn't live past forty?Say you think that moving the village is because pigs and dogs move their nests. The world is so densely populated that hundreds of acres of land and a spring can be pissed out for your three-surnamed village to live on?Saying this, he looked at Du Bo's face, saw that the child had calmed down from the cold shock, and said that you just need to take care of yourself, my throat is swollen like a levee, and I can't live for a few days, you Come and have a look. After he finished speaking, he opened his mouth, and his son raised his chin, turned it half a turn, and let him face the sun, and said——he just followed his son’s example and opened his mouth to the window— ─After a while, I felt the sun shining into my throat, as if it was scorched by fire. After looking at it for a long time, like looking at an unearthed porcelain, Du Bo finally lowered his chin. What did he say? The son said it was as swollen as porcelain, dazzlingly bright. He said I don't have a few days to live. My son said that I just happened to be busy these days and had to take an exam. He said that you are busy with your work, and I have made arrangements for the funeral. Your brother-in-law Sima Lan will come back to sell this coffin in a few days. When you leave, nail the lid of the coffin and let him die.Speaking of this, the horn of the tractor suddenly came from the mountain ridge. Du Bo ran to the door and honked a few times along the alley to the mountain ridge, please don’t worry, wait a while, and come back and tell Dad that the tractor is urging me. Even when rushing around looking for clothes and loading the few books on the table, I suddenly found that one was missing. Who took it? What? a book. Du Yan was lying in the coffin, and he took out the little plastic-covered book from under the pillow, and said, is this it?Du Yan went over to pick it up, wiped the cover of the book cautiously, and said that you dare to sleep on anything, and if you put it in the coffin outside, your head will be chopped off.Du Bo looked at the roof and said that it was not the "Huangdi Neijing".No matter what book you say, it can't compare to the "Huangdi Neijing" left by your grandfather.At this point, his son Du Bo stopped holding the book and said, father, if he said this in the town, his life would really be lost. What did Du Yan say? Dubo said, not bad. At this time, the horn of the tractor on the mountain ridge rang out again, and Du Yan told his son that the five-inch nails were in the kiln behind the door, and the hammer was next to the chicken coop in the yard, so he told his son to quickly nail the coffin lid off. Liang Shang takes a ride back to the town, don't let the driver wait anxiously and burn the fire.After Du Bo heard this, he went outside the door to call his master a few more times, and when he came back, he brought a hammer and searched for nails. He saw that the big iron nail was green and long, and said that it would not crack the coffin nails?Du Yan said that paulownia wood needs nails, you just nail it. The son said, don't put anything else in the coffin? Du Yan said, if you put too much, it will be crowded, let's nail it. Son said the feet are not cold? Du Yan said, please put the pair of cotton shoes under my bed in.Put the new cotton shoes that my sister Zhucui made for my father after winter into the coffin, and took off the old boots for his father, and replaced them with new ones. Du Bo said, father, close your eyes, and the dust and wood slag will fall when you nail them. After entering the eyes, he hugged the coffin lid and moved towards the coffin mouth.The coffin lid is a piece of paulownia paulownia, which is not too heavy to hold, just close to the groove with a bang, and the water will not pour in. Du Bo said, Dad, nail it? Du Yan said, nail it. Dubo said, I'm nailed. Du Yan said, you nail it, they are still waiting on the beam. Then he put the pair of blue square iron nails on the coffin lid with clangs and counted them. There were thirteen nails in total, five on each side of the coffin lid, two on the top of the head, and one on the foot and tail.Du Bo first chose the long one, wet in his mouth, just like a dead person before going into the coffin, and murmured, Dad, be careful, build the coffin, hide from the nails, now the nail is on the left, you go to the right with.Just—————— nailed it.Du Bo hammered and hammered, and when he nailed the fourth one, he asked his father through the coffin, saying, do you have anything to explain?Dad said you hurry up to start a family and start a business, he said wait until I become a national cadre.Then he picked up three nails from the left side of the coffin, stuffed them all into his mouth, turned to the right side of the coffin, and smashed them in the same place. When all the thirteen nails were nailed, Du Yan's voice in the coffin had become The sound of the urn was like talking in a urn, and there was a musty smell.He said, son, you put the hammer behind the door, so you won't be able to find it when you don't use it again. Dubo put the hammer behind the door. On the mountain ridge came the sound of a tractor's horn urging him to death. Du Bo said, Dad, I'm leaving. Du Yan said, let's go, remember to close the door. Du Bo said, is it all right? Du Yan said, take the exam well and become a state cadre, and you will be able to control the village. Du Bo said it was okay and I left. After this month has passed, I will come back to hold your funeral. Wait, don't worry.So saying, he closed the door. Then, the sound of his footsteps receded from near to far, like the setting sun. three On the construction site of the Lingyin Canal in Sanxing Village, there is a need for tools in all directions, and money is needed to buy them.No one thought that it would be impossible to use a piece of hemp rope without money.The four coffins, two house beams, a set of wedding equipment and some pigs and sheep that the village contributed to the construction costs were revealed in a blink of an eye.Sima Lan led two villagers back to the village to fetch food, so naturally he had to sell the last coffin in the village and go to the town to buy brazing, hammers, shovels, shovels, and hemp rope to transport to the construction site. When they rushed back to the village at dawn, they left the cart at the entrance of the village and collected ten catties of wheat, five catties of corn grains, and twenty catties of sweet potatoes per head.The sun has come out, and the village is covered with shallow warmth. Looking from one end of the alley to the other end, it is like looking at a glass tube. You can see that the wheat seedlings on the beams several miles away are all blown to the east by the wind. The tiny wheat roots flutter like eyebrows outside the soil.Sima Lan asked his daughter-in-law, is your father at home?Daughter-in-law Zhucui said yes, I haven't been back to my mother's house for half a month. They all went to Dujiachao. After being admitted to the hospital, the door was opened, and everyone was stunned.The coffin was placed in the center of the room, and the sunlight shone brightly on the nailed cover beside the coffin lid, illuminating the inscriptions on the coffin stalls in golden light, filling the room brightly.Zhucui's belly was protruding again, she held her belly with her hands, and panicked beside the coffin, Daddy, Daddy yelled, she picked and lifted the seam of the coffin with her hand, tears fell on the coffin lid like a hammer superior. There was a dead silence in the room. When did Sima Lan say he died?The seven-year-old child who could not walk was in his mother's arms, and said that he had just seen Du Yan walking on the street and broke his windmill.After saying this, his mother beat the baby and said, just now, you were still sleeping on the bed just now, the windmill broke down half a month ago, and it still went to the cesspit.The baby cried loudly in his mother's arms, saying that just now, just now, tears flowed down his nose.Sima Lan looked at the baby, and couldn't care less, picked up the nail hammer behind the door, turned it over, and used the side with the fork to pick up the nails on the coffin.Unexpectedly, the nails had already rusted on the coffin, and one of them was finally pulled out, even a lot of sawdust from Paulownia was pulled out.Pull out one, and the coffin will have a seam, and the second and third ones will also be pulled out.Some people supported the stools, others pressed the coffin, each of them held their breath, and hurriedly pulled out the thirteenth nail. Before the villagers were going to lift the coffin lid, Sima Lan put his hand on the coffin lid and said, Open it a little bit first, The cover was staggered a little. Said to carry the coffin to the door of the main house, the villagers carried the coffin to the ground at the door of the main house. Said, Zhucui, hurry up and cook a bowl of noodle soup for your father, and Zhucui went to the kitchen to stir the noodle soup. The sun had already leaked in from the door, and the matting was rectangular, just shining on the coffin lid.The women all searched for door bars and stools to sit down, looked at the coffin and waited for the next thing.Each of the men rolled a cigarette, smoking so much that the room was filled with the choking smell of white smoke.The time ticked, and the small alarm clock on the table, which had been painted out, sounded like a thunderbolt.After a long time, the men all rolled three cigarettes, and Du Yan woke up quietly in the coffin. Du Yan was awakened by the thick white smoke. He first coughed lightly in the coffin.With this cough, everyone's heart thumped, and they looked at each other, their eyes bumping back and forth.The cigarettes in the men's hands froze in their fingers, and the ash rumbled to the ground. There was another cough. Sima Lan went over and slowly removed the coffin lid. Du Yan in the coffin immediately covered his eyes with his hands, as if he found the sun shining on his face after waking up.He said it was stuffy and hot, and it was stuffy and hot in winter.Sima Lan said how is your throat?He said the lump in his throat was like a levee.At this moment, the villagers gathered around, looked at Du Yan in the coffin, and called him uncle and elder brother.He also stared at the villagers in a daze, sat up while leaning on the coffin wall, and stuck his head out of the coffin. Sima Lan said, come out, the coffin is about to be sold. You are the only coffin left in the village that has not been sold. Du Yan cast his eyes on Sima Lan's face. Sima Lan said that there was no money on the construction site, and he couldn't even afford a piece of hemp rope.As he spoke, he went to help Du Yan out of the coffin, but when his hands touched Du Yan's body, Du Yan spit out a mouthful of phlegm on Sima Lan's face, as if his throat was unblocked after spitting out the phlegm, and he was completely flat. , the panting sound was thick and powerful, and even the voice of speaking was much higher than before the throat disease. He said, if you sell the coffin, just carry it and sell it. I will die in this coffin, except that you sell me with the coffin.After saying this, he fell into the coffin again like a mountain range, and closed his eyes like a lock. Are you really not coming out?Sima Lan said that a person's death is like a lamp being extinguished, and they don't know anything after death, so what's the use of that coffin?Du Yan didn't open his eyes, he turned his head to his son-in-law Sima Lan in the coffin, saying that life is like a lamp, what do you need a lampshade when the lamp is on?Living has a house, dead has a coffin, the dead without a coffin is like the living without a house.Speaking of which, he beat the wall of the coffin with his hand and yelled at you to go, don't try to pull me out of the coffin, there is no money on the construction site, you go to the township government to get my burial expenses, it may be better than this coffin More money. Sima Lan fell silent. Sima Lan's face glowed. Sima Lanmo said after a while, Dad, how many days can you live?In the coffin, Du Yan heard his son-in-law call him daddy, his eyelids flicked open, and he said that I have already died, half a month after my death.Sima Lan said how much money do you pay per month when you are alive?Du Bo is going to take over, isn't your salary still paid?Du Yan stared at Sima Lan's face and asked: What's the matter? He said, treat you as if you are dead, and in the future, each household in the village of the three surnames will take turns supporting you for a month, and the village will take the monthly salary to repair the canal. Four Taking turns to support Du Yan started from Lanjia Hutong at the east of the village, because the village sent people to the town to collect his monthly salary for him.He bought the supplies on the construction site directly in the town and took them to the construction site. Naturally, the villagers of the three surnames should take turns to support him.Du Yan is no longer the father of Du Bai and Zhu Cui, he has become the father or grandfather of Sanxing Village.Sima Lan told the daughters-in-law of each family that whoever neglected Du Yan, aggravated his throat disease, or died in another family, sold the house of that family to repair the canal. Although Du Yan has cooked for others all his life, he is also a member of the country, but he is still a person who serves others. However, when he was suddenly served by the villagers carefully, he began to feel unwell. The villagers cooked the meals for him and called him When he went home for dinner, he just lay in the coffin and couldn't come out. Someone came and said, Du Bo has eaten, and I made dry noodles for you. He said I was dead, don't call me. Lan put the bowl of lo mein specially made for him on the head of the coffin, and scooped up another bowl of noodle soup before going.Or, take the coffin away with a car, let him eat at home, and then take the coffin back after the meal. After a long time like this, he can't survive the kindness of the villagers. When the beggar comes, he will take it out of the coffin sat up.Later, he walked out of the coffin.The coffin had been put back to its original place, and it was empty except for going to bed at dark and climbing out of the coffin at dawn.After more than a year like this, his throat disease has not only become lighter, but it seems to be getting better day by day.One day, when it was Du's turn to serve, because his surname was of the same family, the villagers were not as considerate as before in eating and dressing. In addition, he looked healthy and had both children, so the villagers often forgot to call him during meals.In the past, he served others, but now a whole village serves him alone. When he is not asked to eat, he throws plates and bowls.His daughter Zhucui came back to see him, and when he opened his mouth wide, he screamed sharply and cracked, arousing the neighbors, and everyone saw that the swelling in his throat completely blocked the throat, and the swelling was like a mountain range.Except for some thin noodles and liquid food, I can't eat anything else.He had already started to be as thin as a bundle of dry wood, and every time he climbed in and out of the coffin, it seemed very difficult. At this moment, the villagers came, and he sat up straight from the coffin, poked his head out, and said with tears in his eyes, that I was afraid that I would die, that I might not survive the summer.After saying such a sentence, tears started to fall, fell on the coffin board, and were absorbed by the coffin board immediately. It's been a miracle for so long.He also said that you were planning to die, you have already died, and you have completely regarded yourself as a dead person. Now that you have lived for more than a year and enjoyed the service of the whole village, even the old emperor should be content up.He took the rice bowl from the villagers, checked the quality of the food, and stirred it with chopsticks, saying that the rice would taste better with a cracked egg in it.He also said, you treat me better. The money I have every month is taken to the village. The village builds canals, and the whole village benefits. My money is spent by the whole village. Every family has a share. If I live an extra day, don’t you just spend an extra month? In autumn, when the leaves are falling, the yellow wind howls day and night, making the sky dark.The leaves are floating like snowflakes, and the whole world is full of leaves and firewood.At this time, it was Du Yan's turn to go to his daughter Zhucui's house. During the meal, Zhucui cooked a bowl of longxu fine noodles.The noodles are like hair, and the egg yolk is as red as the sun in the early days.She came to call Dad to eat, but Dad couldn't crawl out of the coffin anymore, so he took the egg noodles back to his mother's house, jumped into the coffin by himself, helped him sit up, and fed him mouthful. Du Yan has not eaten such a smooth meal for a long time. Half a bowl fell into his stomach. He turned his head and said to his daughter, you will go to the town to collect my salary in the future. A month is the money of a sheep, but a sheep Sheep have to be herded for one winter and one summer before they can grow up.You treat me better, if I live an extra month, it means that you feed half a pig, a sheep, and six or seven chickens a year; A few sheep and a donkey.Use this year's money to buy cattle and horses, and if you have good teeth, you can buy one or two. Calculate the details carefully, it is better to feed your father than any other animal. After hearing this, her daughter Zhucui cried, and nodded to her father, saying, father, you can't sleep in the coffin, you have to sleep on the bed if you want to be lucky.Du Yan said that Sima Lan would not sell my coffin again, right?Zhu Cui said that he was just selling, and it would not be too late for him to sleep in the coffin when he returned to the village. That night, Zhucui replaced her father's bed with new grass and a new mattress, and helped her father out of the coffin onto the bed.In spring, summer, autumn and winter, severe cold and intense heat, for a long period of his life, Du Yan slept in the coffin and ate in the coffin. He didn't even leave the coffin when he heard his daughter chatting about giving birth overnight. Only this night he got out of the coffin and slept on the bed.The red-yellow smell of warm grass emanated from the bed, filling the room like smoke and dust, and the bedding was warm and soft, scalding the body.Not long after Du Yan lay down, he stretched out and fell asleep. The next day, when his daughter Zhucui brought some poached eggs to the bed, Du Yan was completely dead, with a lump in his throat and fruit like persimmons growing out of his mouth.Looking at that coffin again, although it was the season of falling leaves overnight, many new buds of tung trees and cypresses grew, tender and green, and the whole world was light yellow and dark green, half fishy and half sweet like March and April. Spring. Fives Not long after Du Yan was buried, his son Du Bo came back from the town and said that he had become a state official, had studied at the county party school for more than a year, and had read the "Huangdi Neijing" through.Opening the door and entering the room, the coffin was no longer there, and the room was covered with cobwebs, only the small alarm clock on the table, no one was winding it all day long, but it was still walking non-stop, not missing a second.Du Bo said, what about the father and the coffin?The younger sister Zhucui who followed behind said that father died and was buried under a sweeping blanket.The coffin was brought to the town and sold for 180 yuan, which was used on the Lingyin Canal. Du Bo stood stiffly. Go to the commune to receive wages after death?Du Bo said that the leaders of a commune always asked me, how is your father's illness?How can he survive like this?Zhucui then said that Sima Lan held a mass meeting on the day of burying her father, saying that whoever spread the news of her father's death would be buried alive, and said that as long as people in the commune thought her father was alive, her salary would be reduced. The clear water flows like a river. Du Bo said, I got the first place in the commune exam and the first place in the county after graduating from the party school. Now that I am a national cadre, I have to tell the township government.However, as soon as he said this, a low and deep voice sounded behind him, yelling, "How dare you, how dare you really treat your father as someone who was dead and buried, I can't control you as a township cadre, but I Dare to break your sister's legs and sew your sister's mouth.Turning around, he saw that it was Sima Lan who was talking. He led a few people back to the village to collect grain, change tools, and stood inside and outside the house. Everyone's face was dusty, and their eyes were as if they had grown out of Du Yan's throat. Red persimmons, full of fruits, are terribly abundant.