Chapter 29 distant relatives

Before the Spring Festival, I rushed back from other places to Northeast Gaomi Township to reunite with my family.When he entered the house, his buttocks were not yet settled, and his father seemed to say very plainly: "Your eighth uncle has written." I stand up. Our family moved from the county seat to this poor place eighty years ago. According to my father, my great-grandfather lost all his family property in a lawsuit and had to move.My great-grandfather had three sons, my grandfather was the second, and my grandfather's elder brother—my great-grandfather—was the father of my eighth uncle.My father's generation has eight cousins, and the eighth uncle is the only son of the great grandfather.Eighth Uncle married his daughter-in-law when he was seventeen years old. That was in 1946.In the second year, in order to escape the "land reform", the grandfather's family went to Qingdao to seek refuge, the Kuomintang army retreated, and the eighth uncle disappeared.Since then, there has been no news for more than forty years. During the "Cultural Revolution", the school forced us to reveal the whereabouts of the Eighth Uncle. How could we know?Later, the school said that my eighth uncle was a Kuomintang in Taiwan, and we were asked to draw a clear line.None of us could be sure whether the Eighth Uncle was dead or alive, but his shadow kept haunting us and made us unhappy.

Mother once told us about the appearance and shape of Eighth Uncle.In my impression, he seems to have a round and chubby face, a hoarse voice, yellow hair, thin eyes, and a very kind appearance.On those distant winter nights, my mother was doing needlework under the oil lamp, and the sound of "cha la cha la" footsteps sounded in the yard... "Lao Ba is here," the mother raised her head, put the sewing needles on her hair, and said to the father who was reading idle books by the light: "He never lifts his feet when he walks, the old ancestor of Fei Xie." The father kept his eyes on the book and said, "Uncle said in the pharmacy this morning that he wanted to marry Lao Ba a wife a few years ago."

The mother asked in a low voice, "I heard that uncle and his mother-in-law are on good terms?" Father snapped: "What nonsense are you talking about!" Without saying a word, the eighth uncle opened the door and came in, and asked with a smile: "Brother and sister-in-law, are you arguing?"The mother said: "Old man, are you ashamed, you are the one who is about to marry a wife, and even robbed your nephew of dry food!" The eighth uncle grinned, chewed the dry food, and said, "I didn't rob him!" It’s polite to eat the breasts!” The mother blushed and scolded the father: “You still don’t slap his mouth!” The father said: “Sister-in-law and uncle, kiss your neck!” The mother scolded: “You brothers, you are not serious! "Uncle Eight reached out to touch my elder brother's stomach who was sleeping.Mother said: "Baby, can you sit still? Hold him when he wakes up!" Uncle Ba said, "I'll hold him." He put on the big shoes with his legs crossed on the kang.Father said: "Old Ba, Uncle is going to marry you a wife!" Uncle Ba was happy.My mother said: "You look so unruly, you can't close your mouth. Be careful from now on, if you dare to be glib and dishonest, I will find someone to punish you!" Uncle Eight said: "She dares! She dares to flap her wings at me, I will If you don’t hit her, you’ll be bruised.” The mother said, “Go, go! This is called ‘a bachelor beats his wife, seeks a man and beats a donkey’, and when my fairy-like sister-in-law arrives, it will melt like a piece of sugar !"...

"Forty-three years in the blink of an eye..." my father said with emotion. "Where is the letter?" I asked. "It's at your little aunt's place," said the father. "Don't go and watch it, you're afraid of people." I said, "Now that the policy has changed and class struggle is stopped, who are you afraid of?" My mother shook her gray head and said, "I'm afraid your eighth aunt and Pan'er will know." Got a lot of wrinkles. Immediately, the eighth aunt who was old but still refreshed seemed to be standing in front of me.Behind her stood two young men.One was older, short in stature, with a purple face, two big ears, and a sparse yellow mustache on his lips.He is Paner.There has always been disagreement in the family as to whether Pan'er is the blood of the Eighth Uncle.Mother said that although Pan'er didn't look like Uncle Ba, her hoarse voice did.I heard that before his death, the great-grandpa let out a rumor that Pan'er's aunt had been intimate with the eighth uncle in Qingdao, and that Pan'er might be the seed of the eighth uncle.Eighth Uncle's sister-in-law is a little woman with a purple face.The other young man standing behind Aunt Eight was tall, with a square face and wide mouth, and a dignified appearance.The most striking thing is his two beautiful big hands.He is the illegitimate son of Aunt Eight, and his name is Ao'er.Both Pan'er and Ao'er have married wives and have children, and their children's surname is the eighth uncle's surname - "Guan".

The next morning, the eldest brother also rushed home from other places.After lunch, my mother said, "Go and see your eldest grandma. I heard that she is very ill." Grandma lived in the East Hutong. There were three old thatched houses, and two were added at the west end. A circle of earthen walls formed a courtyard.Every summer and autumn, the earthen walls are covered with lentil vines, and strings of purple lentil flowers are in full bloom.There is a sycamore tree in the yard, and a loofah must be planted under the tree every year.When my grandfather was alive, he often sat under a tree to check the pulse of others, while my grandmother kneaded black pills the size of sycamore seeds beside her.

My eldest brother and I entered the house, and my little aunt exchanged a few words with us.Her face was tired, and her speech was not as loud as usual, so decisive, and so eloquent.The little aunt is a capable woman. She studied medicine from her grandfather since she was a child, and now she is considered a famous doctor in the village. Many people ask her.The eighth uncle was away, and the eighth aunt was no longer tolerated by her parents-in-law, so she moved back to live in her mother's village, and the care of the elderly actually fell on the little aunt's shoulders. Grandma lay on the kang with her eyes closed, her face a little swollen.There was a stand in front of the kang, and a bottle of salt water was hung on the stand, and the little aunt was instilling the big grandmother.The grandma kept moving the right hand with the needle inserted, and the little aunt sat sideways on the edge of the kang, holding the grandma's hand and neck.To be honest, I don't like grandma.She is too stingy in her life, very greedy for money, so unsuitable to let others eat.Aunt Eight moved out because she couldn't bear her abuse.Several times, when I went to her house, I was eating and there was meat on the table. When she saw me coming in, she immediately hid the meat bowl under the table.These kid-like tricks made everyone in the family hate her, even the grandpa couldn't understand her.My grandpa once said to me: "If you want to come and see me, your great grandma has that kind of poor and lowly problem, and she will never get rid of it in her life." Years, no matter how much she hurt our hearts in the past, we have no reason to hate her.Her right hand was grasped, so she raised her left hand to her chest, and groped along the edge of the quilt.The brown-spotted old hand was like a blind little animal, sniffing something, as if it was afraid of something.

The eldest grandma was groping for something while murmuring something in an indistinct voice.We guessed what she meant.If there is such a thing as "telepathy", Uncle Ba will definitely feel heartbroken in Taiwan.There is no doubt that Grandma is a very unfortunate mother. My little aunt blushed in our silence, and she said: "Your eighth uncle has a letter." I said, "Listen to what my father said." My sister got up, took out the letter from the cabinet and showed it to us.The letter was very short, with no special words, and inside the letter was a colored photo, showing an old man in a suit and tie with a big face and a middle-aged fat woman - must be the second and eighth aunt - with a man and a woman. Female with two children.This man is far from the Eighth Uncle I imagined.

The little aunt said with tears in her eyes: "Your eighth uncle's life is not easy...your great-grandfather made a fortune telling you that your eighth-uncle is still alive, and he is still there...your great-grandfather has never done anything bad in his life, retribution... ..." The little aunt told us that she was cold when she received the letter, crying and laughing for a while.He also said to tell the news about the eighth uncle to the grandma, and the grandma threw the bowl that was being rinsed into the pot—— "Fart, fart!" The grandma waved the cooking broom, and the dirty pot water splashed the little aunt's face.After cursing a few words, her voice suddenly dropped, with muddy old tears streaming down her face, she murmured, "I don't have a son... I haven't given birth to a son in my life..."

"Mother, it's really my brother's letter!" The little aunt said, crying, "Look at the photo, my brother, my sister-in-law, this is your grandson, this is your granddaughter..." The grandma raised her sleeves and rubbed her eyes, and sent the photo far away into the light. Looking at it, the arm holding the photo fell off like a branch cut off by a sharp knife, and the whole person turned back like a wall. fall... In fact, it was Uncle Eight's letter that killed Grandma. The little aunt sighed and said: "For more than forty years, how many hardships the family has suffered, I am the one who suffered the most..."

Having cried enough and said enough, the little aunt wiped her reddened eyelids with a towel, and told us: "Your Eighth Uncle has something to believe, as long as our family knows it, don't make it public." I said, "Actually, it's okay. The ban on both sides of the Taiwan Strait has been lifted. Many veterans have come back to visit their relatives. Sooner or later, my eighth uncle will come back." The eldest brother kicked my foot, stood up and said goodbye. When I walked under the sycamore tree, the refreshing image of my eighth aunt immediately appeared in front of me.

The eighth uncle's wedding is scheduled to be held on the sixteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.It was indeed a good day. When the red sun came out, the hoarfrost on the trees shone beautifully.The relatives came the day before, and the grandpa's house couldn't fit in, so they squeezed into our house.There was no me at that time, my eldest brother was just three years old, wearing new clothes and hats, chasing sparrows in the yard.The eldest brother chased the sparrows for a while, and smelled the smell of cooked noodles and fried pork with cabbage from the grandfather's house, and saw the milky white water vapor rushing from the door of the grandfather's house, permeating the fresh and cold morning air.The eighth uncle, who was full of glory, came and invited his relatives to eat noodles—the whole family ate noodles on the morning of the wedding, and took my eldest brother away. The eldest brother said that on the morning of the eighth uncle's wedding, there were a whole company of people who came to eat noodles.The eldest grandma stood beside the pot with a dark face, looking extremely unhappy. Mother said that Grandma was too stingy.For the great joy of my son's wedding, I rolled out some mixed noodles mixed with sweet potatoes, and the boiled noodles were sticky, like paste.It's fine if it's poor, there are more than a dozen shi of wheat hoarded in the wing room, and it's hard to bear to give it to people to eat. The eldest brother is the first boy in our generation, and the whole family cherishes him, and he has a lot of petty temper.The grandma brought him a bowl of miscellaneous noodles, and he refused to eat them in a temper, crying for white noodles.The grandfather was drinking with someone in the pharmacy, and when he heard the cry of the elder brother, he came over with a three-pointed drunkenness, asked a few words, understood it carefully, and his eyes immediately turned green.He gave the grandma a hard look, and cursed: "Dog food!" Then, he bent down in his robe, picked up a bowl of mixed noodles, strode to the outside of the pigsty, and poured the noodles into the pigsty through the earthen wall. In the pigsty.Everyone was taken aback by Grandpa.The grandpa entered the house with only a basin in his hand, threw the basin on the pot, and shouted at the grandma: "Re-roll it for me! Use white flour, the best flour!" The grandma sat down on the ground and burst into tears. .The grandpa picked up a rolling pin and rushed up, but was immediately stopped by people and persuaded: "Shopkeeper, don't get angry, don't get angry." The grandpa pointed the rolling pin at the grandma and shouted: "Get out of here, or I will give up!" You!" Grandma was stunned, muttering something in a low voice, got up from the ground, patted the soil on her buttocks, looked sideways at Grandpa, still muttering, walked to the face tank, lifted the tank cover, and Scoop after scoop, scoop out the white flour, the tears of the grandma fell down in strings.Mother said she was crying for her white face, not for anything else. Finally, the stomachs of everyone were dismissed, and the grandma ran to the pigsty to cry again.What are you crying for?Crying about the pot of mixed noodles.Everyone was angry and funny, and they muttered: I'm afraid I can't find a mother with this number in the world! While making noise around the pigsty, I heard the sound of gongs on the street, and the sound of trumpets and suonas came leisurely.Someone shouted: "Here we come!" So everyone stopped caring about grandma and flocked to the streets to watch the excitement.From a distance, I saw two sedan chairs—one blue and one red—floating tremblingly from the other side of the street.In front of the sedan chair, there was a group of drummers playing festive music, and a dozen or so half-grown children held high the banner umbrella fans, and they were a little majestic.When approaching the house, the team moved slowly, and the bearers all held their shoulders with their hands and stepped on square steps, showing a chic posture.The pole of the sedan chair trembled, and the sedan chair seemed to be floating on the water.Eighth Uncle raised the car curtain by himself, to see the people outside and let them see him.Mother said that the eighth uncle was wearing a long robe, a top hat, a red dress, and a flower on his hairpin, sitting in a sedan chair and laughing sweetly.Enough to show off on the street, the sedan chair landed at the door of the grandma's house.My grandma and the third grandma dragged the eldest grandma out of the pigsty.Grandma was covered in pig feces, exuding dirty air.My grandma and the third grandma took off her dirty clothes like peeling skin, and hurriedly changed her into some clean clothes. My grandma and the third grandma took the eldest grandma out to be ready to be worshiped by the bride and groom, and my mother and fourth aunt helped the eighth aunt out of the sedan chair.A mischievous man squeezed over and raised the hem of the skirt to look at the bride's feet, and shouted: "What big feet!" The mother said: "Big feet stepping on all directions!" The crowd burst into laughter.The eldest brother said that he saw a bronze mirror hanging from Aunt Eight's waist, shining brightly, and he didn't know what it was about.It was only later that I learned that this was called the "Yao Yao (waist) mirror", which was rented together with the sedan chair and returned to others after use. When worshiping the heaven and the earth, the eighth uncle embroidered his legs with fists, as if deliberately making a fool of himself, which made people laugh while clutching their bellies.After worshiping heaven and earth and worshiping the high hall, the grandpa sat upright to receive the ceremony, with a majestic face and the air of a great man.The eldest grandma turned her face sideways and pursed her mouth, looking very unhappy.Mother said that Aunt Eight exuded a sweet aroma, like freshly steamed white flour steamed buns.Because of this smell, my mother has a good impression of my eighth aunt.Mother felt that Aunt Eight's hands were cold, and secretly wondered what caused the newcomer's hands to be so cold.The cumbersome etiquette was finally completed, and the mother and fourth aunt led the eighth aunt to the bridal chamber and put on the kang, and the red hijab was also removed at this time.The mother said she was taken aback when she removed the red hijab.Aunt Eight has a pink face, long and slender eyebrows, a pair of big black eyes with single eyelids, a big mouth with upturned corners, curved like a moon, and bright red lips.My mother said that the eighth aunt's facial features were not standard beauty parts alone, but when combined with her face, they produced a different kind of elegance and a different kind of brilliance.Aunt Eight is really tall and slender, and she doesn't look bloated even in old age.She speaks softly, has a gentle temper, and is not arrogant at all.After Eighth Aunt sat down on the kang, the eldest grandma pulled a long face and brought up a red lacquered wooden tray, followed by tea and snacks. The snacks had been stored for too long and had a musty smell.The mother said that as soon as the grandma came in, the eighth aunt didn't know whether to bend or straighten her fingers. It was so unnatural, but the grandma stared fiercely at her daughter-in-law's face, as if she had deep hatred.The eighth uncle poked his head in sneakily, but was thrown out by his mother.The fire was constantly burning in the pot and stove below, and the kang was scorching hot.The kang where Eighth Aunt was sitting was especially hot. Seeing her constantly moving her buttocks, her mother said, "Sister, put a quilt on it." Aunt Eight nodded, expressing her agreement with her mother's suggestion.She was just about to get up when she heard a loud noise from the bed.Eighth Aunt jumped up from the kang, her face was pale and pale, with beads of sweat hanging down her face.The bridal chamber was filled with gunpowder smoke, and the mother and fourth aunt were speechless in shock.There was a hole in the new Kang mat.Aunt Eight's buttocks were also hurt a bit.The female relatives in the outer room rushed to hear the sound. After research, the explosives were paper bombs wrapped in kraft paper, yellow explosives and broken glass inside. .According to the custom, the elder brother-in-law will make the new kang for the new daughter-in-law, and the father will make the kang for the eighth aunt.When the grandma saw that the brand-new kang mat was blown up, she was furious.Jumping under the kang, children scolded my father for breaking his conscience.The elder brother cannot enter the sister-in-law's house, and the father stands outside the window and argues loudly.My father said that maybe a child threw the bomb on the haystack, and he brought it in when he was pulling the grass to lay the kang.The eldest grandma refused to let her go, and insisted that it was my father who deliberately committed adultery and evil.In the end, it was the grandpa who came to rescue his father. The grandpa said that a little noise is more auspicious than no noise.The mother said that her heart was in a mess, as if she had seen the family's messy end. Decades later, Eighth Aunt smiled wryly and said to her father, "Brother, you are also a good person, plant bombs on the heads of brothers and daughters-in-law!" The father also smiled wryly and said, "I originally wanted to play a joke on Lao Ba, but I didn't expect to make a big mess!" Mother said that on the morning after Aunt Eight got married, Grandma brought a thumping stone from the mouth of the chicken coop and put it in front of Aunt Eight's kang, and brought a hammer and a pot of pigs with red meat stars on them. Bones, said coldly: "Idle is idle, find some work for you. Smash these pig bones into mud and make carrot balls to eat." The mother said that the grandma was too mean, and the new daughter-in-law would not leave for three days. It was a rule passed down from the old life that the bridal chamber should not have a stove, but it was changed in her hands.She is wearing silk and satin, so you can ask me to do something else, but let me smash your flesh and bones!The mother and all the sisters-in-law went to see Aunt Eight, and as soon as they lifted the curtain, they saw Aunt Eight breaking bones and weeping in the room, and the splashed bones stained her new clothes. Grandma's condition is getting worse day by day, and it seems that she won't be able to survive the Spring Festival.Aunt Eight had arrived early and was waiting by the bed day and night. On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, Pan'er drove a tractor, saying that she was here to pick up Aunt Eight to go back to "resign from the stove".Because the alley of my grandma's house was very narrow and it was impossible to turn around, he parked the tractor in front of my house.After parking the car, he went to my house first. When he saw me and my eldest brother, he smiled very affectionately.I called him "brother", but I felt a little awkward in my heart.He was wearing a fur coat and a dog fur hat, and he had chilblains on his hands but no gloves. He took out a bottle of white wine from his coat pocket and said it was for his father to drink during the New Year.Father declined, but still took it.Sitting on the edge of the Kang, he was smoking a cigarette, the snow-white cigarettes contrasted sharply with his black hands.Every Spring Festival, he followed his eighth aunt back to the grave to worship his ancestors, usually in the afternoon of New Year's Eve, and rushed back in the evening of the second day of junior high school after handing out "horses". This happens every year without delay.You can imagine how the older and weirder grandma treats them, but they still come. I once said to my father, if I never come!Picture what?The father sighed and said, "Isn't it just to find a home and let outsiders see that they are our old butler's people, or the two children will become wild animals?"I said what's wrong with wild species!Father said: It's not that simple, your eighth aunt is a scheming person. Pan'er was smoking a cigarette dully.Everyone feels depressed.The father sighed and said, "Pan'er, let me tell you, your father has a letter." After being bored for a long time, Pan'er said: "I've heard the rumors a long time ago. My little aunt also looked at the scales poorly. What are you doing with the cover up? I lived for more than 40 years without my father. Could it be that I can't live without my father for the rest of my life?" Going down? You have all seen how my grandma treats my girls. It’s all because of my mother’s infatuation. It’s not for her. What am I doing here? For those two bowls of rotten dumplings? Uncle, you have to do it for me Mother fights for justice!" After finishing speaking, Pan'er got up and went to the East Alley to see the eldest grandma. My elder brother and I sent him to the door. My elder brother blamed him for not wearing gloves. He smiled and said, "The more you cover it, the colder it gets." On the afternoon of the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Grandma took her last breath.My father, several uncles, and our brothers all went to see Grandma's remains.She was lying straight on the kang, wearing a bright shroud, with a piece of yellow mounting paper covering her face, and the smell in the room was very unpleasant.Little Auntie and Big Auntie—Grandmaid’s eldest daughter—slapped their knees and howled.The eldest uncle also came, standing leaning against the door frame, blinking his eyelids quickly, with a sly expression on his face.Eighth Aunt's face was full of tears, sitting in front of the stove to boil water.Pan'er and Ao'er stood in the yard, listening to the movement in the house. Father and uncles discussed the funeral of the great grandmother, selected the cemetery, prepared birthday materials, organized banquets, and other matters, and arranged for special personnel to take care of them.In the end, there was a dispute over who should "throw tiles" for the grandma.The eighth uncle is not here, so this matter should be done by Pan'er. A few years ago, the grandpa's tile was also dropped by Pan'er, but the eldest aunt disagreed. The father was a little annoyed, and asked the eldest aunt: "Who will fall if Pan'er doesn't fall? He is the eldest grandson!" The eldest aunt pursed her lips and said, "Whose family's eldest grandson is he? We don't have such an eldest grandson in our family!" The father was angry, his eyebrows trembled frighteningly, and he said sharply, "When uncle passed away, it was also Pan'er who threw the roof tile! Why didn't you have any objections then?" The uncle said indifferently: "This moment is also that moment." The father roared: "What's your surname? Your surname is Huang! Why do you interfere with our old housekeeper's affairs?" The eldest uncle's face was flushed, and he turned his back to smoke. Pan'er said: "Uncle, don't fight for me, anyone can drop this tile!" Aunt Eight changed her usual posture and yelled at Pan'er: "Children, what are you talking about! Everything is up to your uncle's arrangement." The two aunts didn't speak anymore, they just raised their voices a little bit, howling and shouting: "Father, mother, why didn't you wait for my brother to come back and left..." Aunt Eight suddenly let out a cry of grief.It was the first time I saw Aunt Eight losing her composure and crying. On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, the whole family wears mourning for the funeral of the great grandmother. It was snowing lightly and the north wind was blowing sharply. It was very cold.After the coffin was carried out, people in linen and filial piety lined up behind the coffin.On both sides of the road stood the crowd watching the funeral.A fire was lit in the middle of the street.The corn sugar in Grandma's pillow was burning, and a few wisps of black smoke swirled on the weak dark red flame.We smelled a pungent smell.At the front of the line was the Uncle Wang, who acted as the "Secretary" and led the way with a flag that called for souls. The white paper on the flag pole rustled in the cold wind.My elder brother and I walked in front of the coffin, holding Pan'er by the arm.Pan'er was wearing heavy filial piety, holding a willow mourning stick in his right hand and a new earthen basin in his left hand, but he didn't cry.Under the guidance of Uncle Wang, we carried Pan'er to the fire.A black brick was placed in front of the fire.Amidst the singing-like cries of the female relatives, Pan'er raised the crock pot and threw it down on the blue bricks—it is unlucky if the crock pot cannot be broken—that's why the green bricks were placed—it rarely happens— Pan'er seemed to use a lot of strength, but the blue-gray earthenware basin jumped up from the green bricks, turned a few somersaults in the air, and fell to the ground intact.I saw an obsessed look on Pan'er's face.Uncle Wang turned around quickly, winking at us and making funny faces.I was at a loss and looked at my elder brother, but my elder brother was insensitive.Suddenly I heard Uncle Wang say in a low voice: "Step on! Step on! Step on it!" When I lifted my foot to step on the pot, my elder brother stomped on my foot.The pot is broken.It broke into several pieces without any effort, but Pan'er didn't break it on the green brick. The cemetery is not far from the village, and it will be there in a while.Grandpa's tomb has been opened, and a big hole has been dug out next to the coffin that has not yet decayed. Grandma and Grandpa will meet underground.The mourners were all scattered around the tomb, their eyes wide open, watching a dozen men carefully put the coffin of the great grandmother into the tomb.The weather was cold, the hands were half stiff, and the rope hanging the coffin was covered with slippery ice, so despite being careful, the grandma's coffin fell heavily into the grave.The frozen soil brought down by the coffin knocked over the soybean oil lamp placed in the tomb. The eldest aunt cried: "Mother, mother, I broke your bones..." While crying, she pretended to jump into the grave.Several female relatives pulled her aside by their arms.Uncle Wang waved his hand, and the men with red noses hurriedly shoveled up the frozen soil and threw them into the grave.Grandma's coffin made a hollow sound under the blow of frozen ground. On the way back, people shrunk their necks and turned their faces sideways, not daring to face the knife-like northeast wind.Aunt Eight walked with her two sons and the daughter-in-law who was holding the child.When all the people were rushing around to avoid the cold, Aunt Eight's family walked slowly in a cluster. The cold wind slapped their cheeks with snow particles. In the evening, the snow fell harder and harder. We persuaded my eighth aunt to stay overnight, but she insisted on leaving.So, we saw her family pull each other over the river embankment, blurred by the flying snowballs.At ten o'clock at night, our family gathered around the fire, listening to my father and mother talking about the past in the family.My mother said that after my eighth uncle disappeared, my grandfather was captured by the militiamen from Qingdao and detained in the township government.Aunt Eight delivered meals three times a day in a bamboo basket.Grandpa was imprisoned for three months, and Aunt Eight sent him off for three months.So everyone thinks that Aunt Eight is a good person, and she should be respected by the family rather than discriminated against.While talking, everyone was a little surprised when they heard the door slamming loudly. I went out and opened the door, and a man staggered in.Then, two yellow flashlights illuminated a whole world, and snowflakes danced in the light like flying moths.The ones holding the flashlights are Pan'er and Boo'er, and Aunt Eight has already entered the room. Aunt Eight pointed at Pan'er and scolded: "You bastard, his father didn't tell me sooner if he had a letter!" Her sincerity is touching.The snowflakes that hadn't been dusted off melted into glistening drops of water on her hair, and in the light, the upturned corners of Aunt Eight's mouth had turned into drooping crescent moons. She said: "Brother, you accompany me to find his little aunt, and let me see his father's letter and photos." My father thought about it, and said to my eldest brother and me: "You guys go with Eighth Aunt, and persuade your little aunt." It was hard for my little aunt to open the door.The lights in the room were bright, illuminating the face of the great aunt that resembles the face of the grandma and the face of the uncle who is wretched.They looked at us with hostile eyes.On the table, there are two bundles of yellow thread-bound books. I know that these are the medical books of the great grandfather, and I also know that the two bundles of books will be taken away by the greedy uncle. Aunt Eight cut to the chase and said, "Sister-in-law, show me your brother's photo." The little aunt glanced at us dissatisfied, and said coldly: "No!" Eighth Aunt's body shook, and the corners of her mouth trembled. Pan'er said: "Mother, go back! It's like a treasure, I don't have a father!" Aunt Eight slapped Pan'er across the face and cursed, "Bastard!" Pan'er covered her face and yelled: "You have some ambition, okay? My father is not a good guy. He wears a suit and tie outside, marrying a wife and having children. He has long forgotten you! You are infatuated!" Aunt Eight screamed sharply: "I'm just infatuated! It's always been a tradition for men to marry concubines. She's the little one, and I'm the big one!" My eldest brother and I pulled Pan'er away. Aunt Eight said: "My sister-in-law, our sister-in-law and I have been together for more than forty years. What do you think I was rude? Dad's birthday, the child's full moon, weddings and funerals, and knocking down walls to build houses. The man who was born as the old housekeeper died as the ghost of the old housekeeper, and your brother is also my man in the sky!" The eldest aunt smiled coldly and said, "What a festive woman, it's time to give you a tree archway!" She pointed to Ao'er and asked, "You said, "Where did he come from?" Aunt Eight's face was pale, with tears rolling in her eyes. Aunt Eight whimpered and said, "I was wrong...but think about it: I was only nineteen years old when his father left! Then I put on the hat of a landlord...I want to eat and live...I can't help it... " The eldest brother said: "Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, it is not easy for my eighth uncle, nor is it easy for my eighth aunt. Everyone is living a hard life. Today, we should be tolerant. The eighth aunt did not remarry. From a legal point of view, she is still the eighth uncle's wife. Therefore, Aunt Eight's request is not too much." The little aunt hesitated for a moment, and said, "I can show you, but you and Pan'er are not allowed to write letters asking for dollars!" The eighth aunt said excitedly: "Sister, don't worry, one day your brother comes back, I don't even want ten thousand taels of gold! I only want him." "Okay then," said the little aunt, "you swore with red lips and white teeth, everyone heard clearly." The little aunt took out the letter and handed it to the eighth aunt. When Aunt Eight took the letter, her big old mouth was twisted ugly.When the photo was held in Aunt Eight's hands, the letter fell to the ground like a big snowflake.The paper on the window was rattled by the snowflakes, and the night was getting deeper.After a long time, Aunt Eight straightened her back, returned the photo to Auntie, wiped her eyes with her jacket sleeve, turned to Pan'er and said, "Let's go home, where is Boer?"