Chapter 5 Section five

Looking at Zhang Jiyuan's back, Xiumi was thoughtful.Because of the dream in the morning, she felt that there was something more between herself and Zhang Jiyuan, and she felt a little empty in her heart. "What did you and Uncle talk about?" Magpie was tilting his head by the well and asked her, "Why have I been listening for a long time and can't understand a word?" Xiumi laughed and said, "It's all nonsense, what do you want to know about it?" Magpie asked her if she wanted to go to Miss Sun's house to watch the Water and Land Ceremony.Xiumi said: "If you want to go, go quickly. I'll go to Mr. Ding's house."

Mr. Ding is writing on the desk.His hands were still wrapped in gauze, and when he saw Xiumi coming in, Ding Shu said that he would not study today.He is busy writing an epitaph for Miss Sun.Asked why she didn't go to the Water and Land Ceremony, Xiumi said that she didn't want to go.Turning around and about to leave, Mr. Ding stopped her again: "Wait a minute, I have something to ask you later." She had no choice but to stay and sit lazily on a wooden chair under the window to tease the two thrushes in the cage.Mr. Ding kept wiping his face with a towel, and his silk clothes were already soaked with sweat.While writing, I muttered to myself: What a pity, what a pity!Poor, poor!Xiumi knew he was talking about Miss Sun.Due to his grief, Mr. Ding had to stop several times to wipe his tears and blow his nose.She saw her husband wipe his nose on the edge of the table and lick the wool on the nib with his tongue, and she felt sick in her heart.But Mr. wrote one after another, and discarded paper balls were thrown all over the floor.While throwing it away, he scolded himself for being stupid.Finally, when the rice paper was used up, I climbed up the ladder and went to the attic to get it.He completely forgot the existence of Xiumi, immersed in the longing and mourning for the deceased.Seeing that the husband was in a hurry, Xiumi went to help him spread the paper, grind the ink, and took the sour towel on his shoulder to the washbasin for scrubbing.The water in the basin turned black all of a sudden.

Mr. writes good articles, and has always been known for his quickness. Mr. claims to rely on a horse to say a thousand words, which is no problem.Whether it is poems, songs, or stereotypes, it can always be done in one go.If someone came to ask him to write a greeting card, couplets, epitaph of Shou Xu, etc., he would often write the poem while negotiating the price with the person.Mr. Ding also has a habit that has not been changed for many years: as long as the article is finished, one word cannot be changed.It would be foolish to ask him to rewrite it.Once, he wrote a birthday preface to a ninety-year-old man. After the article was finished, the grandson of the man found that his grandfather's name was wrongly spelled, so he had to ask him to write another one. The husband became very angry and shouted: : "Someone Ding made a fuss and never changed it. You just take it and make do with it."

The grandson said: "The name is written wrong, so who is celebrating the birthday?" The husband said: "I don't care about this." The two quarreled in the study.In the end, Mrs. Ding's mother, Xiaofeng, arrived on a flying horse and stood between the two of them to arbitrate and judge. "You don't make sense." The teacher said, pointing at the tip of her grandson's nose.She turned to her husband again and said, "Shu Ze, you are right." "It's over!" she announced to both of them at the same time. The grandson had no choice but to add double the amount of silver taels. To put it bluntly, the husband made an exception and wrote another picture for him, changing the grandfather's name.

What's the matter today sir?Seeing him scratching his ears and cheeks, slapping his forehead violently, and pacing with his hands behind his back, Xiumi thought to herself: If Miss Sun's epitaph is not too difficult to write, it must be that the husband was too stimulated when he saw the corpse last night.In other words, my husband really couldn't understand Miss Sun's sudden death.When the husband paced back and forth in the room, the sad and mournful expression on his face could be seen at a glance. "Thin skin and tender meat, if you say no, it will be gone. Woo hoo, hoo hoo! No way, no way!" Mister murmured from time to time.However, after the husband finished writing this epitaph, he was still quite proud.He asked Xiumi to come and read it, and he was afraid that she might not understand, so he read it for her from beginning to end.The tombstone reads:

The girl Sun, who is taboo Youxue, is from Puji, Meicheng.Father Dingcheng, known in the village as a filial friend.Mother Zhen.When the girl was born, the door was sealed by heavy snow, and the plum blossoms spit out the pistils, so she was named after the snow.Probably combined with the practice of frost, snow, pines and cypresses.There is Xue Xue who is born and proficient, young and cautious, spewing orchid benefits, eyes containing distant mountains, Qingjiao Huizhen's ambition, gentle and gentle etiquette, helping the neighbors, and is praised salty.When he was a little older, he lost his loving mother, his father was quite sick, and his family was poor with little food for overnight.Youxue resolutely offered her pure and pure body, and opened the door to accept guests. Although she was slandered by lotus roots, she was actually a living relative.Elegant poets and poets all benefit from it, and traffickers and pawns all benefit from it.The soldiers were captured by strong men, ravaged and destroyed in every way, and Youxue refused them with the festival of cypress boats, and even died.

Alas, the only one who dies through hardships through the ages, is the only lady who is sad.People in the wind lament that it is the same situation in different worlds, it is appropriate to publish Xuanshi, or Yang Fanglie. His words say: The country and the establishment, called the outline and the dimension, whoever changes it, the girl Youxue.Odd festival sunnah, different routes lead to the same goal.Facing relatives has the beauty of bamboo poles, and IKEA has the virtue of preparing peaches; empty mountains have few people, and bright bones are speechless; Ming Qian's virtues are in the remote soil, and they will not be manifested for thousands of generations.

"How?" asked the teacher. "Okay." Sumi said. "Where is it good? You should talk to Teacher Wei." "Everything is fine." Xiumi said, "It's just that ordinary people may not understand it." Then the gentleman laughed happily, completely without the grief of crying just now.Xiumi knows and doesn't understand, which is the highest level of writing in Mr.'s mind.My husband has a catchphrase, which is often on the lips: When writing an article, it is to make people understand it.If people who lead cars and sell pulp can read it, what's so rare? !However, in Xiumi's opinion, the epitaph written by Mr. is fairly simple.The husband explained it to her from the beginning to the end, and then asked her which few sentences were written best. Xiumi said: "The following five sentences are wonderful."

The teacher laughed out loud when he heard it, and repeatedly praised her for being smart and savvy. Given time, she will be able to excel in the future.Finally, he touched her head with the injured oily hand. When the husband was feeling proud, unexpectedly, the teacher's wife lifted the door curtain, walked in, sat down angrily at the table, froze there, and did not speak.The husband went over to pull her and asked her to get up and look at this epitaph, whether it was written well or not.The teacher waved her hand and said angrily: "What's the matter? I think you've wasted half a day's thinking. They won't agree."

"Isn't he willing to pay twenty hanging coins?" Ding Shu said. "Twenty hangs for what? I finally asked him to pay ten hangs, but he still refused." "And why?" "That old grandson is the most stingy." Mrs. Ding seemed to be still angry, "He said that my daughter suffered a terrible disaster, and even the funeral, coffin, monks and priests don't know where the money is. How can I have money for these useless activities? She also said that the girl came from a poor family, and she was not yet married, and she had no virtue in her life, so the matter of the epitaph can be avoided. I just ask for a thin coffin and bury it hastily. After all, I still refuse to pay that little money .”

"This son of a bitch keeps her door closed all day long at home raising men and earning dirty money, but I have the heart to clean up for her. This morning, I am dizzy from writing, but he is so ungrateful." The gentleman was also angry and cursed. "There is something even more irritating!" The teacher's wife waved the handkerchief, and then said, "I asked him if he would do it for ten tangs, and the old man said, let alone ten tangs, your family Mr. Ding wrote it and gave it to me for free. I can’t have it either, I have to buy a stone tablet, and I have to find someone to carve it, and I have to spend money.” When Mr. Ding heard this, his face swelled like a ripe eggplant. He grabbed the piece of paper and was about to tear it up. His wife hurriedly stood up to dissuade him: "Don't rush to tear it up, I'll ask someone to talk to him about it." The teacher took the epitaph again, read it from beginning to end, then looked at the husband affectionately, and said slowly: "Old Ding, your writing has improved a lot." At this moment, Xiumi heard the sound of cymbals and suona coming from the back of the village.The teacher's wife said to Mr. Ding: "Miss Sun has a funeral, let's go to watch the fun too?" "I won't go, I'll go with you." Ding Shu sat slumped on the chair, still angry. The teacher's wife asked Xiumi again if she would go.She glanced at her husband and asked: "Sir just said, what do you want to ask me?"Ding Shu waved his hand at her feebly: I'll talk about this later. Xiumi had no choice but to follow her teacher out.The two walked through the courtyard to the outside of the courtyard, and the funeral procession had already arrived at the door.Xiumi wanted to go home, but she followed the funeral crowd and unknowingly came to the entrance of the village.She was the last one to go.When he looked up, he saw Miss Sun's coffin being lifted high.The coffin was built overnight, and before it could be painted, she couldn't help but feel a sinking heart, and said in her heart: The funeral scene in front of me is exactly the same as what I saw in my dream!At this moment, she saw Granny Meng holding a bamboo basket, standing under the apricot tree at the door, distributing silk flowers to the mourners. The flowers are white, and each person has one flower.When Granny Meng came to the end of the line, the basket was already empty.Granny Meng smiled, lifted up the empty basket, shook it at Xiumi, and said: "What a coincidence! It just happens to be missing your flower." Xiumi refused to go any further.She stood under the tall apricot tree in a daze, motionless.Although she knew that the silk flowers in her dream were yellow and the ones in Granny Meng's basket were white, she was still terrified, as if she was dreaming.The sky was high and blue as if it was about to drip dye.She couldn't help thinking that although she was awake now, she was part of a larger, more distant dream. Baochen came back from Qinggang with his four-year-old son Tiger.The child was not upside down, but he was stubborn by nature.The whole body is as black as coke, and the oil is shiny.Wearing only a pair of bright red shorts, he ran like a rolling fireball.His lightning-like figure was everywhere in the garden, and the sound of ding ding dong dong was everywhere.Due to the lack of father's discipline for many years, when he first came to Puji, he would inevitably cause various troubles.Just a few days after he arrived, he cut off the necks of two big reed roosters in the neighbor's house, carried them to the kitchen, threw them to the ground, and said to the magpie, "I'll drink the stew." The next day, he drilled She went to Cuilian's bed and dropped a pile of shit, causing Cuilian to complain about the smell of dead mice all day long.He also stabbed the hornets under the eaves of Hua Erniang's house until they exploded. He was not injured at all, but Hua Erniang's face was swollen for a whole month. In those days, Baochen was busy going door-to-door in the village to apologize every day, and kept saying that he wanted to strangle his son to death, but he just couldn't bear to touch him with a finger. Several kisses on his ass.But finally one day, Baochen really almost killed him. That night, Xiumi and Cuilian were both in their mother's room, and they gathered together to do needlework, when they suddenly saw a magpie running up the stairs in a panic, shouting, "No, no, Baochen wants to He strangled the tiger to death, and he is looking for rope all over the house. I can't stop him, so go and persuade him personally." When Cuilian heard this, she put down the scissors and was about to leave. Her mother shouted, "No one is allowed to go!" Cuilian was so frightened that she stuck out her tongue.The magpie was also taken aback, and froze on the threshold. "This child should be disciplined and disciplined well. If he is disobedient, where did he come from? Where can he go back!" Mother said again. This sentence was clearly meant for Bao Chen downstairs, and Bao Chen really heard it in the yard.He had no choice but to torture his son harder to show his obedience.He tied the tiger to a post in the porch, swung the whip and whipped it mindlessly, making the little thing cry and babble.It wasn't until the child's cries were faint and gradually quieted down that the mother turned her mouth to Cuilian. Xiumi followed Cuilian to the downstairs, and saw that the tiger's head had obviously drooped limply.That Baochen was still beating non-stop, like a madman.Cuilian hurried over to grab the whip and untie the child.The child's face was covered with blood, his nose opened and closed, and it seemed that only the air was going in, and there was no air coming out.When Xiumi saw the red paint on the pillar, he knocked it to the ground.Cuilian carried the baby to her bed, pinched him again, and sprayed cold water on him. Finally, the tiger gasped and called out, "Father!" Bao Chen was also frightened.Hearing his son calling him daddy, he burst into tears.He knelt by the bed, buried his face in his son's chest and wept. Xiumi didn't know why Baochen and her mother were so angry.But since Baochen was so ruthless, it must be the little thing who caused some serious disaster.She asked Magpie and Cuilian, but they both said they didn't know.Magpie said she didn't know, but she really didn't know.But Cuilian obviously hesitated to speak, with a smile on her lips, she finally said: "There are some things that you don't know. Take it easy." The family returned to calm the next day, as if nothing had happened.The mother even asked Baochen to measure the child's feet, and she wanted to make him a pair of cloth shoes with her own hands.Xiumi felt that everything that was going on in this village was a mystery, and all the mysteries were kept silent to her.Her curiosity, like a foal, has been fed fat and strong, and she will run wild if she doesn't let her decide.She vowed to get to the bottom of this matter.One day after half a month, she finally got an opportunity. A man who played the flute and sold sugar cakes came to the village.The tiger was squatting by the pond to play, watching the sugar cake seller swallowing.Ever since he was beaten violently by his father, the child suddenly went to another extreme. He was listless all day long, squatting on the ground wherever he went, and kept silent.Xiumi walked up to him, knelt down, and said to the tiger, "Do you want my sister to buy you some candy?" The tiger grinned.He remained silent.Xiumi went over to buy a piece of candy buds and put it in front of his nose.The tiger reached out to grab it, but Xiumi moved away with a shake of her hand. "Tell me why your father beat you so hard that day." Xiumi winked at him. "Father won't tell anyone, even if you die," Tiger said. Xiumi waved the sugar bud in front of his eyes again, and the little thing's saliva immediately flowed out. "Let me tell you, you can't tell others." The tiger thought for a while, and finally let go. "I won't tell anyone." Xiumi said, patting her chest. "Do you really want to know?" "of course it's true." "You must not tell anyone." "Let's pull the hook." Xiumi pulled the hook with him, "Now can you talk?" "You give me the sugar first, then I can tell you." Tiger said. Xiumi gave him the sugar.The child took the candy, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it, and then swallowed it with a retracted neck.Afterwards, he patted his buttocks, stood up and was about to leave. "You haven't told me what's the matter?" Xiumi wanted to reach out to catch him, but his body was naked, black and slippery, and he couldn't catch him, letting him run away. "No more!" the tiger ran to the other side of the pond, pointed to the sky, and shouted at her, "No more! You have turned into a bird and flew!" This time Baochen went back to Qinggang to pick up his child, and also went to Shangdang, Pukou, and some places in Qingzhou to find out his father's whereabouts.He almost searched all the small villages and towns around this county, but there was still no news about his father. It's almost the end of September.When my father left, the cotton in the field had just bloomed. Now, the sound of cotton plucking can be heard from every household.One day, my mother discussed with Baochen whether it was possible to build a clothes tomb for my father.Bao Chen said: "Don't rush to repair the grave. Although the master is crazy, it can't be said that he died immediately. What's more, he brought a box with him before going out, and took a lot of bank notes from the house. It is obvious that he is not seeking death. "But we can't be hung up about him all day long, and our hearts are in a state of anxiety." Mother said. "Madam, don't worry. I'll ask someone to investigate carefully when the farming is slack. As long as the master is still alive. If you build such a tomb for no reason, and the master suddenly comes back with a suitcase, wouldn't it be someone else?" Seeing a joke?" Mother said that she had already asked the Bodhisattva about it, and it was all right.Besides, according to the old customs of Puji, a person has been lost for half a year. If a tomb is built and repaired, it doesn't matter whether he lives or dies. If he builds a tomb, forget it." Baochen still wanted to argue, but his mother lowered her face, "Just hire someone to repair it, and you don't need to worry about the rest." Baochen was so scared that he quickly changed his words: "Repair, repair, I'll go get it right now." It was disturbing news that eventually forced my mother to give up her decision to repair the grave.One day at the end of the month, the owner of Chenji Rice Store in Changzhou sent a staff to Puji to deliver a letter.It was almost dark when the guy came to Puji by boat. He said that this morning, two monks in green clothes came from nowhere to buy rice in the store. "Among them is a monk who looks exactly like your master. My boss once came to Puji to harvest rice and met Master Lu. He also heard that Master Lu had been missing for half a year and was in a hurry to investigate, so when he saw the monk, he stayed Think carefully. My master asked him which temple's eminent monk he was, and where was the mansion before he became a monk. Neither of them said a word, but urged to buy rice. Because of the long interval between the years, whether it is your master or not, my master does not know. I can't be sure. It happened that the rice in the store was sold out that day, and the new rice hadn't been pounded yet, so we made an appointment to pay a deposit first and come back to pick up the rice in two days. As soon as they left, my master felt that this was a big deal. After thinking about it for a long time, he died. I'll let you know as soon as possible. What my boss means is that tomorrow, some people will go to your mansion and hide in the store in advance. When the monk arrives the day after tomorrow, you can recognize each other through the window. If it is really your master, my master will not be in vain This worrying is also considered a merit. If it is not your master, fortunately, don't blame him." The mother hurriedly let the magpie make a fire to cook and entertain the buddies.Those who came did not refuse, had dinner and wine, did not delay, asked for pine oil, and drove back to Changzhou overnight with a torch. The next day, my mother got up early and took Xiumi, Cuilian and Baochen to Changzhou on the other side of the Yangtze River.Magpies and tigers stayed to watch the house.Before leaving, Zhang Jiyuan came out of the backyard unexpectedly, looking sleepy.He didn't wash his face, but he rubbed his eyes, patted Bao Chen's shoulder and said, "I'll go with you, how about it?" Bao Chen was taken aback for a moment, and then asked: "Uncle, do you know where we are going?" "I know, aren't you going to Changzhou to buy rice?" Zhang Jiyuan said. What she said made her mother and Cuilian both laugh.Cuilian whispered to Xiumi: "Buy rice? The rice harvested by our tenants every year is too late to sell. This idiot wants us to buy rice!" Bao Chen smiled and said, "We're going to buy rice, what are you going to do?" Zhang Jiyuan said: "I'm going shopping, I've been feeling bored for the past few days." "If you're willing to go, that's the best. If the master goes crazy, I'm afraid I won't be able to catch him alone." Bao Chen said.He looked back at his mother again, as if asking for her opinion. "Since that's the case, you don't want to go, Xiumi." Mother thought for a while and frowned. As soon as her mother finished speaking, Xiumi suddenly threw a green cloth package in her hand to the ground and said angrily: "I said I didn't want to go a long time ago. You wanted me to go with you desperately. Now, you won't let me go. I don't know what you mean?" When she called out like that, she was startled too.Mother stared at her blankly, unable to speak for a long time, as if she didn't know her in her eyes.When the eyes of the mother and daughter met, it was as if blades met, and they couldn't dodge in time. The two pairs of eyes were like mirrors, reflecting their respective hearts, and both of them were taken aback. Cuilian hurried over to persuade her: "Let's go together. If the master really became a monk, I'm afraid I won't be able to persuade him to go back. Xiumi has gone, and at least I can let their father and daughter meet." The mother didn't say anything, she walked ahead alone.After walking a few steps, he turned his head to look at her again, his eyes clearly said: "This little hoof!How dare you talk back to me in public!I'm afraid she's too big to be treated like a child in the future... Cuilian came to pull her, but Xiumi refused to leave.Zhang Jiyuan picked up the green cloth package from the ground with a smile on his face, patted off the dust on it, handed it to Xiumi, and made a face for her: "How about I learn how to bray a donkey for you?" After finishing speaking, she really let out a gurgling sound, causing Xiumi to bite her lip and hold her breath so that she could not let herself laugh out loud. Mother and Baochen walked in the front, Cuilian and Zhang Jiyuan walked in the middle, and Xiumi was the only one left alone.The terrain of Puji is low-lying, and the Yangtze River passes two or three miles south of the village. From a distance, the high embankment seems to be hanging above the head.Soon, Xiumi could see the patched cloth sails in the river, and the sound of the rushing water became clear and audible. The sky was gloomy, and there was already a slight coolness in the air.The open port and paddy fields under the levee are full of water chestnut and rusty calamus.Flocks of egrets fluttered their wings and flew on the water.Xiumi didn't know what Cuilian and Zhang Jiyuan were talking about, but she laughed from time to time, and Cuilian punched him from time to time.Every time at this time, Zhang Jiyuan turned to look at her. The anger in Xiumi's heart was surging again, she felt that there was an iron curtain in front of her eyes for all people and things, she could only see some details, but she couldn't know the ins and outs of it.She has grown up so much, and there is nothing that makes her feel obvious. For example, Zhang Jiyuan and Cuilian are talking and laughing. She can only hear them laughing, but she doesn't know why they are laughing. When she gets closer, the two people But suddenly stopped talking.As if angry with herself, Xiumi deliberately slowed down her pace, but the two people in front saw that she was far behind, and stood there waiting for her again.When she got close, they ignored her and continued walking, talking, looking back at her from time to time.When approaching the ferry, Xiumi suddenly saw two people standing still.In front of them, mother and Baochen had already stepped onto the high embankment.She saw Cuilian put a hand on Zhang Jiyuan's shoulder, took off the shoes, and poured out the sand inside.She actually put her hand on his shoulder!And Zhang Jiyuan even supported her arm with one hand, and they were still laughing.They didn't pay attention to her existence at all, and they moved on.She began to curse them with the most vicious thoughts in her heart, and each thought touched the most secret darkness of her heart. The wind at the ferry was high and the waves were rough, and the turbid water rushed to the shore layer by layer, rustling.Tan Shuijin has already hoisted the sails on the boat, and Bao Chen is also there to help.The little yellow-haired Tan Si was pulling out a bench from the house, asking his mother to sit and rest.Holding a plate in her hand, Gao Caixia asked her mother to taste the rice cake she had just steamed.Cuilian and Zhang Jiyuan were separated by an upturned small raft, facing the gloomy river, they did not speak for some reason.Seeing Xiumi come down from the embankment, Cuilian waved to her. "Why are you walking so slowly?" Cuilian said. Xiumi didn't answer.She found that Cuilian's tone of voice was different.Her flushed face became dizzy.Her cheerful and excited look was different. Xiumi felt her heart sinking continuously.I'm a fool, a fool, a fool.In their eyes, I am a fool.Xiumi was pinching the front of her clothes, repeating these few words over and over again.Fortunately, Gao Caixia came towards her with rice cakes.She asked Xiumi to eat rice cakes, and asked Tan Si to call her sister, but the little yellow hair just smiled. Shui Jin quickly hoisted the sails and greeted them to board.At that time, the southeast wind was strong on the river, and the ferry was bumping and shaking in the wind and waves.Xiumi stepped onto the diving board, Zhang Jiyuan came to help her from behind, Xiumi shook his hand away angrily, and shouted: "Do you tube!" When she called out, all the people on the boat looked at her in surprise.