Chapter 2 A spell in Yangcun

A bug flew close to the ground and disappeared inexplicably in this world, followed by a chicken.This is the origin of the story.The owner of the chicken, Zhong Yonglian, believed that his neighbor Wu Haiying had stolen it.There are two evidences: 1. Zhong Yonglian went all the way to Wu Haiying's vegetable garden and found that the paw prints disappeared there; 2. The smell of stewed meat wafted from Wu Haiying's house.Wu Haiying is a woman who is not easy to mess with. She likes to fight, but she can't beat the burning house.Zhong Yonglian thought that his son, who looked gloomy like a killer, would be at home. He didn't call back for a long time, and he didn't send any money.

When dusk fell, the thin Zhong Yonglian thought of two questions: 1. Zhong Yonglian did not destroy this seemingly harmonious relationship, nor could she maintain it alone; 2. A chicken can say whether it is big or small , delay processing tomorrow, it will expire.So she went around the village and said, "Have you seen my chicken?" Knowing that it ended up heading east toward the garden." This was a strategy my husband taught me.When he was dying, he explained that if he had to find a reason, he had better go around the village first and do mass work.Finally Zhong Yonglian came to Wu Haiying's house and sang three times: "I don't know who stole my chicken." Wu Haiying asked, "Er Niang, what happened?"

"I don't know which dog stole my chicken." When she said that, Zhong Yonglian felt that she was slipping into a terrible abyss, but when Wu Haiying said that the chicken would come back by itself, she was even more ruthless, "What if you die, How can I eat it all in my stomach?" Zhong Yonglian turned his head to one side when he spoke, and Wu Haiying seemed to understand. "Er Niang, don't you think it's me?" "I know whoever did it." Zhong Yonglian wanted to leave after delivering the verdict, but Wu Haiying grabbed his sleeve and she threw it off. After killing your chicken, make it clear before leaving."

"I didn't say you ate it, it was you who said you ate it." "Where did I say I ate it?" "If you eat it, you eat it. It's just a chicken. I can't prove it." It was raining in Yangcun right now, and the rain was blowing obliquely like rows of ellipsis.Wu Haiying grabbed Zhong Yonglian by the collar, looked at the wet face calmly, and slapped him hard.The latter's tears and nosebleeds welled up, and his face was disfigured, thus creating a double disgrace.When Wu Haiying was about to slap the second one, she thought she had finally killed her husband, so she wailed and bumped into Wu Haiying, who retreated a few steps and fell to the ground.Wu Haiying hurriedly got up, grabbed Zhong Yonglian's hair (like pulling a handful of barnyard grass), and pulled and twisted until Zhong Yonglian fell to the ground.When people came, they found Zhong Yonglian prostrate on the ground, sometimes calling her husband's name, sometimes calling her son's name, while Wu Haiying was rubbing her hands aside, her husband called her back, but she didn't, saying, "She was the first to frame me for stealing." She's a dick." Zhong Yonglian continued to slap the muddy water and said, "Still talking." A few women went to pull it up, but when she pulled it up, she threw herself down again, and after a while her hands and feet twitched.

"Pretend." Wu Haiying said. "Can you say a few words less." Her husband took her into the house, but she still said: "Everyone is here today, she falsely accused me of stealing her chicken, and I will steal me and kill her in front of her. Zhong Yonglian sat up and poked her with his finger: "Okay, if you stole it, your son will die this year; if you didn't steal it, my son will die this year." "If I stole it, my son will die this year." Wu Haiying said. "Let's see whose son died." Then Zhong Yonglian said again, "I don't believe it." She spoke so resolutely that when she got home, she felt that she had got a little justice, sobbed in self-pity, and fell asleep.The next morning, the chicken came back with wet feathers and red cloth strips on its legs, digging the soil like a lonely hermit.She snuck it home and killed it.

Zhong Yonglian always felt guilty when he saw Wu Haiying in the future, until he woke up one day: Wu Haiying didn't steal the chicken, so he couldn't explain anything.If she is really a thief, she should be a good person just because she didn't steal the chicken?She consciously thought about the fishy smell, Wu Haiying pulled her hair, dragged her into the muddy water, and let her eat the smell. When she met Wu Haiying again, she raised her head and held her chest up, as contemptuous as the other party.Later, they got up and put film on the fence to prevent the chickens from flying away, and asked the son-in-law to write on the red cloth strip of each chicken leg: whoever steals the chicken will die.

They have never been in touch with each other ever since. Entering the twelfth lunar month, the whole Yangcun was excited for the return of Wu Haiying's son Guohua from Dongguan.He was driving a white Buick, the tires grinding winter grass and rocks into the ground without making a sound.Guohua pulled the handbrake steadily like a national leader, slammed the car door, and pressed the remote control, and the stationary car chirped as if frightened.A twenty-two or three-year-old foreign woman stood beside him, looking at him affectionately.Her skin is delicate and fair, her face is small enough to hold with one hand, her eyes radiate the light of a foreign girl, her hair is short and thick, dyed red like sunset.In winter, she wore a long gray T-shirt that tied her waist and a pair of black leather pants, showing her exquisite curves and slender legs.She doesn't reject people, always showing pomegranate fine teeth and smiling innocently.

"Xixi, go in." Guohua called.She took antelope steps and obediently disappeared into Wu Haiying's house.There is no one more beautiful than her.The men and women in Yangcun have empty hearts all day long, and there is always a wind that makes people painful and intoxicated.And she never went out again, and it wasn't until Wu Haiying urged her to come out for a while, that Guohua took her carelessly away to several relatives.Wu Haiying's face was full of red every day, and she walked around uncontrollably.Everyone knew what she wanted, so they praised her, and she said: "Where, where, the girl's parents haven't agreed yet." If others didn't say "sooner or later", she would go on to say: "It's an exchange." The ring." At this time, she was so careless that she couldn't care less about mocking Zhong Yonglian, but the latter felt that there was no greater humiliation than this.

Zhong Yonglian went to town, took out a note and asked the boss to call.She wanted to order her son Guofeng to bring a girl back this year no matter what, even if it was rent.The phone has been dead.Zhong Yonglian said: "Dial again, is it wrong?" The boss dialed again, but the result was even worse, the other party shut down.Guofeng is a cold person. He never says where he works or makes phone calls.If he is worried, he will say: "You are an old bone, I am not worried about you, you are worried about me, are you full?" One year when he went to the town to play during the Spring Festival, he ran back barefoot after dark, with a wound on his face , but just did not tell Zhong Yonglian what happened.He didn't go out for another year and went to transport with his uncle. When his uncle fell ill, he drove the car to Anhui, and when it broke down, he called back.Uncle rushed all the way there, only to find that the car door was open, the key was inserted under the steering wheel, and no one was there.Later, Guofeng said: "Do you think such a broken car should have been thrown away?"

Zhong Yonglian walked into the police station.She put the scarf around her head.A defenseman received her. "I'll report the case." "Who are you?" "Don't worry about who I am, I'll report the crime." Then she covered her mouth with her palm, leaned into the other's ear and said, "Guohua is back." "Which country?" "That Guohua who ran away from gambling is back." After thinking about it, she said, "He also brought back a woman who looks like a chicken to me." "Thank you, Auntie." They should be thankful. This police station has been operating on fines since its establishment. Last year, one table was caught and each person was fined 400 yuan. Du Guohua ran away.The influence is not good, and many people say that if Guohua doesn't pay it, why should he pay it.

A few days later, the police station sent a policeman, a driver, and a member of the joint defense team. They made a sudden attack and arrested Guohua like a lively rabbit. The woman named Xixi followed behind and said like a woman in a TV series. :"why why?" "Go away!" shouted the defender with a Stalin beard.Xixi kept patting him.Her Mandarin is very good, even when she speaks vicious words.She clenched her cheeks tightly, burst into tears, and said, "The police can arrest people at will? The police will be lawless?" If those people hesitated, it was because of her beauty and her childlike seriousness.After a while they carried Guohua away, leaving behind a pile of dust and smoke. When Wu Haiying came back from cutting pigweed, her legs and feet trembled when she heard about it, and she passed out, while Xixi squatted aside and cried.Zhong Yonglian looked through the window, sneered a few times, and thought he deserved it, thinking about it, there was nothing to be afraid of, walking around the room, loudly saying that he deserved it. Half an hour later, Guohua rushed back, kissed Xixi on the forehead, ran to the second floor, and hid in Gudou.After a while he pushed Gu Dou up and said, "Let's just say I ran away over the mountain." At dusk, the squad returned to Yangcun. They broke into Wu's house, searched it roughly and roughly, and asked about Wu Haiying's collar: "Where did your son go?" "I have no idea." "Where did your son go, don't you know?" Wu Haiying turned her head. "I ran away over the mountain." The Sichuan girl said sadly and calmly. "Ran?" "Yes, run away." The defense team came over and shot the flashlight at her face.She closed her eyes, bit her lip, her taut face trembled from time to time, and her long eyelashes left a shadow. "Ran?" "Yes, ran away." She emphasized her tone.Then the defense team said, "Where's your temporary residence permit?" "No." "must have." "No." "Then you go back with us to investigate." "why?" The flashlight hit her mouth suddenly, and she collapsed to the ground.They say "go, go", drag and go.A pair of high-top leather shoes rubbed back and forth, and when they couldn't move, her eyes showed despair, like a fish on a chopping board seeing a kitchen knife.That's how she gave a desperate look to a bunch of strange relatives.The latter couldn't bear it all, and ran home one by one.When she was dragged to the grain drying ground, they poured out from all directions like cavalry, surrounded the small team, and beat them non-stop with brooms, clothes poles, sticks and even cigarette bags.In the chaos, the police could only be heard shouting to calm down, but no one could calm down.They finally stopped because there was a shout from afar: "Stop." They stepped aside, letting the prince who had been hiding in the barn while driving a Buick home with Meggie hold up his kitchen knife like a true warrior. come over.Before he could stand still, he slashed at the defender's arm without any hesitation.Everyone closes their eyes.Things are heading towards irreversible horror.Even Guohua himself couldn't believe it, he raised his knife and stood there.Only Zhong Yonglian encouraged him in his heart: "Chop! Chop! Chop quickly! If you chop it to death, you will die with it." He kept chopping down again. no blood.No words.The process of beheading is so long that even the victim can't stand it.The defense team grabbed the kitchen knife and said, "Don't chop it with the back of the knife." Guohua suddenly felt extremely humiliated, and snatched another firewood gun to stab them to death.The three people from the police station were all awake now, and ran away like cattle. It took a while to reunite, and they scrambled to disappear down the distant path. Guohua left the village in a hurry with the startled beauty. The migrant workers slowly returned, and in front of the children, they conjured paper that could sing, golden mobile phones, and cigarettes that would not burn but would smoke. These things modified Yangcun.Zhong Yonglian followed him to the village every time to look around, hoping that his tall son would show up, but he never did.She asked if Zeng knew where Guofeng worked, but none of them knew. She went to the town to call Guofeng's mobile phone, but the boss said it was shut down.He said that the downtime means that the mobile phone is disabled, and the fee may not be paid, or it may be because of being robbed. In Guangdong, people are robbed by motorcycles and dragged to the ground for tens of meters. She couldn't resist the torment of persistent insomnia, and fell asleep in a chair one day.In the dream, Guofeng turned into a child with a pale face and hoarse speech.She scooped out a spoonful of porridge, mixed it with medicine, and blew it carefully, "Eat, child, take a bite, and you'll be fine." But Guofeng always looked at her miserably, shaking his head slightly.At this moment, she fell into a kind of helpless anxiety.She took the bowl away, and when she came back, she saw a huge soy sauce-colored monster lying on the bed—with thin ribs embedded in its chest, its internal organs rose and fell sharply, some cysts were punctured, and dark red blood dripped down its meridians , and the limbs are like skinned rabbits.It was half-squatting, with its right hand holding onto the bed board, trying to stand up, its bent legs trembling like a sieve, and the quilt covering its body slipped down.It has a huge oval-shaped bald head with a few hairs stuck to it, no eyes, no ears, no nose, only a mouth with sharp teeth to breathe heavily.When it panted, its gills opened and closed disturbingly, and a fishy smell gushed out from all around.It dangled and was about to fall, when the hand suddenly stretched out and caught her, she woke up.Her wrist felt cold and sore. She hurried to the girl's house and found her son-in-law who was playing cards in the sun. "Guofeng didn't call back for so long. I dreamed that he had bloody wings and tail, and I was a little worried." The son-in-law looked at her. "His sister loves him so much." The son-in-law wanted to say something but didn't say anything. "Go and get him back, I only have you as a son-in-law." "How to find it?" "You will always have a way, you go and help me find it." "How can I find it in such a big country? I don't even know he is in Fujian, Guangdong." "You will always find it. You young people have a way. You just bring him back to spend the New Year with me. After the New Year, he can do anything with you. I am not in good health. I just want to take a look at him. Take it easy." The son-in-law stood up, and Zhong Yonglian suddenly knelt down and grabbed his trouser legs, dragged his knees, and said tearfully: "I'm afraid Guofeng is dead, he is really dead. Your maternal father died early. I only have such a son, this son How can I live if I die?" "What nonsense?" said the son-in-law.Seeing his wife approaching, he said, "Okay." "You must go find it." "Okay, I'll go now." The son-in-law took Zhong Yonglian's five hundred yuan, went to the county town for a day and came back, and returned the five hundred yuan.He lied, saying that he met his neighbor Li Yuanrong at the train station, got a letter, and that Guofeng would return within a few days.She didn't believe it, so he dialed Li Yuanrong with his cell phone, and Li Yuanrong said, "Er Niang, Guofeng is coming back soon, and now he can earn one thousand a day, and he won't return until he earns enough." Guoguang came back, which confirmed Li Yuanrong's statement. Guofeng was in Guoguang's factory next door. Guofeng was working overtime these days, his salary was doubled, and he could earn 400 a day.It was Guofeng who asked him to bring the letter back, and he will come back on New Year's Eve. "How is Guofeng now?" "Still not talkative, with long hair, temperament like a poet." Zhong Yonglian knew that Guofeng made money to promote Pai Gow in She Village.Every year on the first day of the first lunar month, ten tables are set up in front of Shecun Temple to attract migrant workers from all over the world. I worked hard for a year just to lose everything here, and then I borrowed money to buy a train ticket before going to the south.Last year, Guofeng won the first four days and lost on the fifth day.When he came back, his eyes were red, he drank a bowl of porridge and left. On the morning of Chinese New Year's Eve, Zhong Yonglian set out the stove to stew chicken, goose, beef and elbow, washed the vegetables, checked that the heat was about the same, and threw the bean curd sticks into the soup pot.At noon, the dishes were cold, and she still stayed at home, slowly doing what she had finished.At this time, she is like a reserved woman in love, no matter how many desires she has, she only hides them in her heart and never takes a step out of the house.She had to wait for him to rush in impatiently and call out mother before she turned around and opened her peach-like smile. "It's back, Guofeng." "Yes, I'm back, mother." She is only waiting for these two sentences.But the time is sinking, the road and air outside the village are dark and stagnant, there is no sound of vehicles, no noise, only a few children quietly set off firecrackers.Then it got dark, like pouring a lot of ink.Zhong Yonglian sat on the threshold, tears streaming down his face. At eleven o'clock in the evening, every house closed its doors, and Zhong Yonglian also wanted to close the door, but saw a straight weak light shooting from the sky in the distance.She froze until it got bigger and bigger and shot towards this direction, and then she cheered up. "This car light is like a golden cudgel, it is stirring in the sky." She thought, then trotted, felt slow after running for a while, and simply let go of her pace and ran like a man. It was a van, and it didn't stop when it passed her. She sat on the road and began to cry. She was in pain, and her whole body was in pain.Her shoe ran off, the stone tip cut her foot, and she fell.Her son is not coming back.But when she felt that she had nothing to comfort herself, the van that was clearly going elsewhere turned back and drove towards the village.It happened to be parked in front of her house and wouldn't turn off. she ran back. Guofeng took out a simple bag, threw it on the ground, took out two hundred from his trouser pocket, and gave it to the driver.He is still so indifferent.Zhong Yonglian picked up the bag and said, "Master, do you want to have a meal at home?" The driver didn't answer and drove away. "Why are you back so late?" she asked. "Take the train for a day and a night, and I can't rent a car in the county." The son was a little annoyed. "hungry?" "Hungry." "I'll get you hot food." "Drink porridge." "What do you do with porridge for Chinese New Year?" "Drink porridge." Guofeng's voice was small, but still majestic.He said again: "Sleepy, call me when you're done." Then he closed his eyes, walked skillfully to the bedroom, and fell down on the bed.It took Zhong Yonglian a long time to pull out the quilt from under him and cover him.Then she went to cook porridge with great solidity and great emptiness.She washed the pot, washed the rice, and poured in a lot of water.She knew that her son liked porridge like clear soup.The clearer the soup, the less water the better.She waited, feeling exhausted, so she went to shake the gas tank. Sometimes she felt that it was cooked, and when she lifted the lid, a puff of white steam came out. She scooped it out with a spoon, but it was still hard.After the porridge was ready, she filled a bowl, endured the boiling heat, brought it into the bedroom, and called out.There was a slight sound in the bed, and he let out a distant murmur. "Feng, get up and drink porridge." He didn't answer.She sat on the edge of the bed and waited.It takes at least three thousand miles by train, and at least sixty miles back from the county seat.She quietly tucked in the blanket.Snow started falling outside the window, how peaceful it was, my son was fast asleep.There was heavy snow outside the window. After a while she called again: "Feng." no answer. Like an old cow, she moved her face closer and called softly: "Feng, get up, eat something first, and go to bed after eating." She was a little terrified when she was called like this, and she went to touch his face, but it was ice General ice.Probing the nostrils, the breath is already weak.She shook him like a dangling water bag.So she was anxious, went to pull him, her hand slipped from the ski jacket, then rolled up his sleeve, and grabbed his wrist.She used a lot of force, and felt that the opponent was unexpectedly light, but she couldn't catch it no matter what. Suddenly she froze and began to cry. What she caught was not human hands, but dead dogs, cats, and rats, her fingers covered with slippery, smelly fat.Her thumb was pinching her son's tattered wrist, reaching Bai Sensen's bones.His arm was completely purple, purple like an eggplant, and it would rot if he scratched it.She pushed on his woolen sweater, and it was the same on his body, with purple blood vessels like purple canals, crisscrossing his chest.When she hurriedly climbed up to pick him up from behind, his head seemed to have been chopped off, and suddenly fell down, and from the mouth that was forced to open, he vomited out a breath of chemical fertilizer. The doctor walked out of the ward after three minutes of observation. After finding Zhong Yonglian, he said indignantly, "Your son's body is completely rotten. His organs, skin, and bones are all rotten. He rotted to death." Later, she rented a car to transport Guofeng back and buried him quietly. After the beginning of spring, Director Wu of the County Legal Aid Center, who aspires to become a national barrister, came to Yang Village and found her with gray hair.He explained the words lead content, weekly workload, and protective measures, but found that the other party didn't understand them at all, so he made an analogy, like the poison gas factory when the Japanese invaded China, this one was more poisonous than that one.Zhong Yonglian shook his head and walked away. "I'm doing it for your own good, and I don't want you to pay a penny." "no." "Did your son die in vain?" "No, there is no need." Zhong Yonglian was very stubborn.Later, she walked to the neighbor's house, as if recovering from a serious illness, very slowly and carefully let her buttocks land on the stone sill.Seeing this, Wu Haiying came out with a stool, "It's cold sitting here, Er Niang." "If you want to say, I shouldn't doubt you." "Er Niang, you still say such things at this time." Wu Haiying knelt down and touched Zhong Yonglian's hand, Zhong Yonglian asked her to touch it well.Wu Haiying didn't speak any more, she kept crying, while Zhong Yonglian kept raising his head like a martyr.At this time, at the head of the village, at the home of the wage earner who hadn’t left yet, Beyonce’s "Halo" was playing on the stereo: Everywhere I'm looking now I'm surrounded by your embrace Baby I can see your halo You know you're my saving grace You're everything I need and more It's written all over your face Baby I can feel your halo Pray it won't fade away They listened like two stones. (Thanks to Mr. Yang Jibin for telling me the prototype of this story.)