Primer It was raining lightly, and the river was covered with smoke.Everything below the river is shrouded in this kind of gray rain and mist, hazy. In the distance, the roar of the beach water three miles downstream could be heard.And occasionally you can hear the sound of boatmen slapping their oars and beating the water in the upper stone canyon and shouting slogans. People who live on the river street can know from this shouting that a merchant ship is approaching the pier.This wharf is named × Village, it is under the jurisdiction of × × Prefecture, and it is located in the middle of the Youshui River Basin.Going down for more than 200 li to reach Yuanling, which is the big port where the Youshui River and the Yuanshui River converge.Go up two hundred miles to reach Chadong, which is on the border of Sichuan and Hunan, and borders Youyang. Chadong and Youyang should be the place where scholars call "exploring the secrets of Eryou".

As usual, Chinese scholars will feel yearning for the name Youshui, because the exploration of Eryou Cave can be the tail end of most scholars' curiosity. But in fact, although caves of this size can be found everywhere on the outskirts, except for some local countrymen who ventured into the depths of the cave with food and furniture on time to torture the nitrate, few other people bothered.Precisely because most of the caves have an equal balance of strangeness and danger, and there are indispensable beasts and long insects in the interior. Even country people are bound by the danger, and there are some legends and taboos.Only the large and small caves on the stone walls in the Binhe area are slightly different. Although there are no secret books to be found, they are still inhabited.Those living in those natural caves are mostly civilians who seem to be abandoned by the sky but do not want to completely abandon themselves.Some are single men who seem to live a semi-primitive life, with nothing but the simple tools of life.Some had wives, children, and livestock.People who live in this kind of cave can climb up and down from the crevices of the stone walls, go up between the cliffs and over the stone beams to gather medicine and hunt animals on the big ridge, and go down to the riverside, and use various methods to fish and fish. .

(Children will accidentally fall from the cliff into the water to feed the fish.) After the herbs are collected and dried, they are taken to Yicheng, which is 60 miles away, and sold to the local official medicine shop, and the money is exchanged for oil and salt. Go home with miscellaneous grains.Most of the animal skins are sold to the local farmers who collect mountain goods. Traveling one hundred and twenty miles back and forth once entering the county seat, and sometimes getting less than one yuan, seems to them like many other personnel affairs, very common.Go down the river to catch fish, and sell the live fish to merchants on the boats.Or hang it on the cliff to dry in the sun, connect it with thin strips, and at the same time go to the clerk at the tax customs for a little salt. (As usual, the person in charge will entrust someone to take this kind of dried fish back to his hometown, honor his relatives, or present it to the director.) The local climate is excellent, and the scenery is beautiful and pleasing to the eye.A river is clear and transparent, and there are endless tall and beautiful peaks along the banks of the river.There are many birds that are good at singing. On the big black stones by the river, in the clear winter, there are also wild warblers, thrushes, and red-headed white-winged birds, flying out of the bamboos in the mountains, flocking on the stones to bask in the sun. Singing their melodious tunes leisurely and contentedly.When a boat approached, Fang Cong calmly flew towards the bamboo forest with joyful noises.The wharf is a T-shaped street. There are not many houses along the river. Most of them are for people living on boats. The other vertical street leans against the water and leans against the mountain, stacked with tiles and rafters. The black tiles and white walls make the scenery look like picturesque.

One mile away from the wharf, the stone walls in the upper reaches of the river are mottled with colors. Under the moonlight and sunlight, they always look like two rows of magical barriers, changing colors from time to time under the manipulation of a magic hand.And those who live in the caves on the stone wall also raise chickens and dogs, and the barking of chickens and dogs is mixed in the human language, which really sounds like a fairy family.But in fact, the people in this place are very poor.Most people who live in caves live extremely poor, ordinary, and even stupid lives, hopeless and helpless to survive.The people living on Dock Street, except for a few Jiangxi natives in Zhuangtou No. 1 and the clerks in the customs office, most of the rest are small businessmen.These people sell food and drink for people to eat and drink, and sell opium to drug people's souls and destroy people's bodies.Selling private parts relieves the fatigue of the people on board, and at the same time spreads gonorrhea and syphilis popular among civilized people.In the food, small pork that died of smallpox and stinking beef offal were considered big meat.Most of the opium smoke indicates cloud soil and river soil, but in fact it is only local products, plus half of the ingredients made from pumpkin skin and other things.As for body buying and selling, women over the age of forty still have the opportunity to participate in this life competition.

As soon as girls turn thirteen or fourteen, they are often called to bloom by local celebrities who spend twenty or thirty dollars. The intention is not to satisfy a kind of animal nature and get a little cruel pleasure, but most of them use it to rush Unlucky, or think that in this way, some kind of dirty disease on the body can be cured. In comparison, the lives of people living in caves are simpler, more stable, and less affected by outside influences.The lives of those who live on the docks are much broader and, at the same time, much more depraved. The business and the people's physical and moral strength in this place seem to be collapsing, and they are slipping to the irreparable side.Who should be responsible for this issue?Is it inevitable or artificial?If it is man-made, is it the people themselves or the magistrates who rule over the people?Few consider it.As for themselves, they only feel that the world is changing, constantly changing.It is not easy to understand what it looks like after changing back and forth.But I know that the more you go down, the more expensive it is to buy things, and the harder it is to dawdle.Some people do not admit that this change was preordained in "Song of Biscuit", and want to push it to personnel matters, so they say that everything is caused by "revolution".It makes sense. Since the Revolution of 1911, this small place has been burned three times because it is a wharf in the middle of a river and a station where a post road passes.Because of the passage of the army, and the coming and going of the bandits after the defeat of the army, a little bit of the essence of the place was sucked and stripped clean. All the local strong men, most of the honest ones have been forced by the army to serve as husbands, and most of the live ones have been wrapped up by the bandits. Go be a minion.There is a little old and weak dregs left, which are naturally similar to other places, living in this small area, dragging it down, waiting for it to perish and rot.The elderly cursed the revolution, thinking that it should be responsible for all misfortunes, but at the same time, they fantasized that the world might turn around for the better after a big change in sixty years and a small change in twenty years.The so-called change for the better, of course, is to restore one by one as before: there is an emperor in the imperial court of the capital, a minister of military affairs, a governor in the province, and a grandfather in the county. (What the grandpa does is sit in the courtroom to hear cases, send grain houses to urge rent, or go to the countryside in sedan chairs to give orders to squires.) The emperor was in charge of the big officials, the big officials were in charge of the small officials, the small officials were in charge of the common people, and the common people plowed the fields and weaved Cloth for business, live a good life.In addition, how many gods there are in the temple, and the things that the officials cannot control are all under the control of the gods.

There are also Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, smiling Mimi sitting on the lotus throne, listening to people make wishes, and acquiescing.Those who recite Amitabha and eat long fasts can ascend to the western heaven after death, where there are five-color lotus flowers waiting for these believers to sit.Everyone has a conscience in their chests, and they will pay interest when they borrow money, and they will not be bad at the time of repayment.Bad-hearted people are not tolerated by the sky, and good deeds will be rewarded with good rewards.Steal chickens to eat raw and rotten mouth sores, and unfilial parents who waste rice will be beaten to death by thunder.As for the younger ones, they understand that the "past" is just a story, an old saying, once the world is gone, there will be no turning back, so they honestly learn how to compete for survival from the current world.There are no curses, no fantasies in life, just be a person in your own way every day.Learn to endure rape, bully the weak, envy and compete with peers, be hypocritical and cunning in making money, and have no shame.Live life and develop a view of life and death that is between a philosopher and a fool: live, live like that.

I can't live, I'm going to die, I'll die as much as I can, I'll fall down, I'll lie in the soil, let it stink, rot, maggots grow, water melts, and it's over.A closer look at everything here makes one feel amazed and apprehensive, because it seems to have been distorted by the revolutionary upheaval, distorted, completely out of shape, and there is no hope of returning to the past, even recreating the future.The place is a part of nature, and although it does not seem to be completely destroyed, the people who occupy it are hopeless.But no. Life is something that exists everywhere.A piece of fossil has the meaning of a piece of fossil. From it, we can see what the vegetation looked like at that time.There are many living people here, and although life is a little different from other places, it is still life.All life has its special state in that small place, and how can it share a common state with life in other places.And as a rule life has its good side in every situation.Ugly, obscene, and depraved, in the end it is still a fresh "life". (A piece of dirty pond with green mold growing, evaporating stench, numerous bubbles, still alive.) People come from here.

Have all the situations here already existed or will happen in another part of this country?In addition, is it possible for all the things on the ground to happen in this small area?Think about it and you will understand.There is nothing new under the sun, and we have to admit that first. For example, the meaning of this unlucky rain to people varies from person to person as usual, and in this place there are obviously human worries and joys because of it.Customs officers pretended to be public servants and used public funds to stock up on the ten shi grains they bought. The rain was hopeless.The manager of Shanhuozhuang bought twenty-five pieces of cowhide for the owner. Once the rain fell, each piece of cowhide would add two catties of moisture, and at least fifty catties of weight could be added.The mountain people who live in the cave are inconvenient to collect medicine when it rains, so they have to sit by the entrance of the cave, staring blankly at the rain like a gazelle.The little whore who lives on the side street of the wharf, can help Yu to keep a salter. In order to flatter this "God of Wealth", my mother goes all over the street to buy old hens to entertain the salter. Put three or two hundred dollars into your purse for pocket money.

Chapter One The person in charge of the tax customs and the manager of Shanhuozhuang used to represent a class in the local area, the so-called upper class.Unlike ordinary people, regardless of their status, their lifestyles are also very different.The difference is that it is convenient to get money, use it freely, and the amount of money circulated in the hands is more, so the knowledge or experience is much richer and superior to others in the local area. These people must have "entertainment" with each other on a daily basis. In other words, every day, either the big bosses go to the bureau to eat and drink, or the big boss picks up the bureau chief and the deputy battalion commander and company commander of the provincial army stationed there to eat and drink at the village.Eating and drinking are not the main things. Before eating and drinking, sitting at the table playing cards, and after eating and drinking, lying on the bed to burn cigarettes, seem to be indispensable.It was not until midnight that lanterns were lit to see off the guests.As usual, the officer has an orderly, holding a large flashlight about two feet long, and walking around shaking the thing that represents modern civilization.But the bureau chief lit a Mobil mast lamp, and he wobbled back to his tax office with it alone. "Entertainment"

Since it has become a daily occurrence for a few well-off people in the local area, the chief of the bureau never takes it to heart if he wins or loses by twenty or thirty. It is a good card by chance, a strange card for adventure, no matter it is in the hands of others or your own, but it is easy to remember it and study it in various ways.To be honest, this director not only has a lot of research on the way of cards, but also seems to be full of research and knows a lot about other things.In particular, the fraudulent frauds in the industry are very capable.This small bureau card was originally just a review office. The official monthly salary of the clerk was only 25 yuan, and even the allowance for office expenses was only about 50 yuan.

In this small place, the director is not only an invisible leader, but also good at dancing. His position also increases his convenience in managing his life.He is only 31 years old this year, so he has a bright future! It was about nine o'clock in the morning. According to the local rules, ordinary people had already had breakfast and went to work.This local dignitary has just woken up, barefoot, wearing a pair of buttoned slippers, and a fine white cloth shorts and jacket. He rinses his mouth with a tiger brand white enamel mouthwash jar, and brushes his teeth with a star brand toothbrush. The tooth powder is an old beauty brand.Standing on the porch of the bureau while rinsing and brushing his teeth, he thought of many things in the drizzle at the curtain.When the rain falls, even though it is small, it will become a "half-river" when it reaches Chenzhou. The trees that are moored on the river a hundred miles above Chenzhou will naturally have to take advantage of the water to release them. When you are in front of Wusumu Pass, you will be very busy and happy to the detriment of the staff.But these things have nothing to do with each other.He has no share in the benefit of the rising water that the tax collectors have.He was worried that it was a joint business deal with a local master. Among the thousands of logs floating in the river, there are three half-submerged logs, with two picks of Sichuan goods hollowed out in the center, risky stealing, if he passes the pass, he will earn 600 yuan safely, If he can't pass the test, he will lose nearly a thousand yuan in the bet. He thought of "Dumu Pass" sung by Li Jirui. After rinsing his mouth, he scraped vigorously to stir the toothbrush in the enamel pot, and poured the water into the patio vigorously.Ask the little man: "Heizi, have I steamed white fungus?" Heizi was cleaning the director's smoking set on a stool by the door.Plates, lamps, small jars, tobacco skewers, a dried flint, a round flint, and besides that little teapot, and two valuable pipes (with silver decorations on them) old ivory mouth), wipe them one by one. The boy had just been injured by a genus, and not long after he recovered, his eyelids were swollen, his head was like a triangle, and his neck was thin.The mouth is always open, as if the lower lip is a little too long, and it seems that it cannot be hung up; it seems that it has not gotten enough sleep since childhood, and it seems that it wants to take a nap anytime, anywhere, even when it is doing something.But in fact, while he was wiping his cigarette set, he thought of the situation of his mother, who had remarried to a boatman, in that three-cabin tung oil boat, filled with tung oil, and drifting downstream due to the rain.Maybe the boat is going down the beach, a boat is going in and out of the white waves, the deck is full of water, three or five sailors are bending over to row the oars vigorously, the boatman is holding a pipe in his mouth, and his two big hairy hands are showing his muscles. Holding the sandalwood tiller, roaring loudly, fighting the current.As for the mother, squatting in the cabin beside the crock pot, washing rice and boiling water. ...so he was silent when the chief called him. Then the bureau chief got angry, and scolded the kid with his special language: "Heizi, Heizi, have you been deafened by X? Why don't you pay attention to what I say.You want to see the water ducks fight, don't you?You do things like a woman. Xiaomi can't do big things well for a long time, it's slower than embroidery, and I have to break my baby in the end. " After Heizi was scolded, he was busy tidying up the smoking equipment, and made a mistake in his busy schedule, almost spilling the cigarette paste in the small box.The chief caught a glimpse. "Ancestor, bastard, why don't you be more careful? You spilled mine, can you afford it? It's useless to boil you into ointment. It costs less than four taels of oil to make a paste, and it is worth a dime at most.You are such a wasteful thing... ". Heizi knows the director's temper, even if he scolds, he can say all kinds of weird things, he is very popular, he doesn't treat his subordinates right away, it seems that scolding is just a kind of ventriloquist training, a kind of excretion of knowledge, which is beneficial to himself. harmless.Sometimes, and because I heard his ingenious curse language, which aroused laughter, I felt that the director was very interesting.Only because of this, the director's words often have a different meaning to Heizi. The scolded Heizi hangs his lower lip, listens to the director's instructions, and the words get further and further away. Fortunately, he heard a cat meowing in the kitchen, and he remembered the white fungus steamed in the pot.Hurry up and bring the whole smoking set into the room, and take white fungus to replenish the director's spirit.In fact, when he got to the entrance of the white fungus, the director had almost spent all his energy in the bowl of white fungus on scolding that kid. Somewhere on River Street there were ducks squawking loudly. The chief thought of his own duck, and when he realized that Heizi forgot to feed the duck fighting duck with the white woodworm powder, he made another adjustment, comparing the boy to all kinds of people who didn't eat well. The bird, beast, insect and fish at work, but in the end, he was asked to go to a duck seller in the street to see if the boss had bought a good product.Feed the ducks yourself. Heizi wore a bamboo hat, opened his mouth, shrugged his shoulders, and ran outside.The director also threw the words at Heizi. "Come back early, don't watch chess in Sanheyi again. You watch other people play chess, you watch dogs marrying each other on the street, you watch all kinds of plays, and you get points for everything, except for your mother and rowing boats." because you have no part for that.” Heizi left the game silently, but said to himself: "You see everything, you know everything. You lie on the floor and watch Sanhe Yi's daughter take a bath. You don't seem to know it, but others do!" Heizi was only twelve years old, he looked like a half-idiot, but he knew everything in his heart, understood everything. The households in ×× are similar to other small places. Each household must keep a few chickens and ducks as part of production and as a form of entertainment.The hens used to raise chickens are mostly used for laying eggs to hatch chicks, or stewing soup for eating. (The white-haired and black-boned ones are used as a tonic for the local rich and old.) The rooster is used as a morning waker, to ward off evil spirits, and to peck centipedes and insects.At the end of the year, the owner catches it, unceremoniously cuts its throat with a knife, pulls off the dazzling golden neck hair or back feathers, and sticks pinches dipped in hot chicken blood on the door lintel and stove. , on the beams of the bed, on the bow of the boat, and on all large agricultural tools, the purpose is also to ward off evil spirits. And boiled its whole body for nothing, and dedicated it to the ancestors of the family gods.Sometimes the locals go up to the mountains to collect herbs to hunt, and go into caves to boil nitrate, and they also bring a live rooster, which is said to be very useful when lost.As for using it to fight, due to different habits, it is only a matter for local children to play.The people near the big river are suitable for keeping ducks because of the favorable location, so the local people also train the duck's fighting spirit to become a resilient warrior for gambling. A good male duck with green head and neck is very valuable.Usually locked in a cage, fed all kinds of weird food, when fighting by the water, the people on the boat and the resident family will each identify one of them, put down the bet, guess the outcome, and bet on the outcome of the match. Only the female ducks are very free. They are released early in the morning, gather together in the big river, find dried shrimps and floating food in Pingtan, and return home at night.When it rained, the big river stopped, so I just wagged my short tail in the muddy water of the side streets, staggered back and forth, looking for something, as if I was very happy.In front of the two tofu workshops in the street, as usual, there was a piece of dirty water, covered with white foam, and there were many red threadworms wriggling in the water. When these ducks found it, it was like discovering a treasure house, and they scrambled to get one. The reddish flat mouth shell is inserted into the dirty water to chatter.As for the roosters and hens in this season, they mostly hide under the tables and chairs at home and on the crossbeams under the local stalls, shrinking their bodies and watching the game of ducks on the street.From time to time, he turned his head to look at the sky, and gave a soft cooing sound, as if to say, "This is the weather, and it will clear up tomorrow." Because when the weather clears, ducks have to go down to the river, and a street is still reserved for chickens. There is. Heizi went to the old place where the ducks were raised, looked at the ducks, chatted a few casual words, walked up the street to see the dyeing workshop, and watched the millers kicking stones to grind cloth. The roller is smooth and smooth, which is very interesting.At the same time, there were also two dirty children from Hexia Hengjie, standing still in the muddy water in front of the gate, looking at that thing, Heizi was very familiar with them, so he joked and called one of them "Slug", Talking nonsense, thinking that if a slug is crushed under a stone roller, it will inevitably be like Shen Gongbao being beaten to a pulp by Monkey King with a golden cudgel, turning into a piece of water and losing its human form. The slug understands the source of sunspots. Shrimp and crabs also grow in the water, and they can’t tell which one is taller and which is lower, so they say: "Sunspot, I don’t press you, try it, if you can’t press it, the water will come out." Oil, press out three taels of oil to light the lamp, and let your mother go to Qingqiu Road!" Heizi said, "Your mother married an oil seller, and your oil has been squeezed out long ago, so you are as thin as an underground ghost. You are a solid oil bottle." The slug was brought up in the depths of his heart, and he blinked his big protruding eyes, looked at Heizi fiercely and said, "Your mother married a boatman, and the sandalwood tiller and penny sticks are— On your mother's X heart. You were pushed out by that boatman. Your mother is really oppressed!" Because Heizi has recently become a civil servant and eats public meals, although he is beaten and scolded all the time in the tax bureau, compared with the boys in the same street, he always feels that his status is already higher, and he can use his status to bluff people.Usually when I go to a small stall to buy peaches, plums and fruits, I am always a little unreasonable when negotiating the price, relying on the power of others.After the price has been agreed, we still pick and choose, and sow two.He bought spicy bean pods from a woman in the country, and the deal was completed. Before leaving, he would reach into the basket to grab some more, which made the woman tug on his sleeve anxiously, and said, "I'm not robbing someone to owe me money." Duan, you are a woman, what do you mean by arresting me during the day and night!" Intentionally aroused the laughter of others.Powerful people in the official circle paid the official price for buying things as usual, and gave as much as they liked, but this is a thing of the past, and it will not be done after the revolution.Although there are still many advantages to being the chief of the bureau nowadays, you can receive some timely vegetables and fruits from small businessmen at any time. Herbal hunters must first bring them to the chief when they encounter big-headed Polygonum multiflorum or snake skin.There are still a lot of small advantages to be taken by the public in the game when performing official duties, but in the end it is not as good as it used to be, and the advantages are nothing more than robbing and cheating, grabbing an extra handful of peppers and so on.But when it comes to another matter, such as arguing in the same class, everyone naturally has to give in, and the older ones have also been scolded by Heizi.So this civil servant was a little proud and a little careless.Now unexpectedly, steel meets steel.After the slug's background was discovered by Heizi, he couldn't get angry, so he retaliated anyway. Heizi ignored the slug, approached him, and punched the slug.The kid staggered for a moment, then turned around and said, "Heizi, a gentleman uses his words but doesn't use his hands, how do you beat someone?" Heizi thought the slug was afraid of him, so he ignored the words and rushed over to punch him again. Just hit and say, "I beat you bastard, how about you?" While protecting his head with his hands, the slug kicked sunspot with his feet. The other kid was originally with the slug, and when he saw that they were fighting, he persuaded them to fight and said in a hoarse voice, "No fight, no fight. A gentleman uses his mouth but not his hands. He has something to say!" Holding Heizi's arms, Heizi was punched three times in the face by the slug.Then a few people rolled up in the muddy water like rolling balls. When people in the street heard someone fighting, they immediately became active. Everyone left the cigarette tray or the card table and gathered in front of the street to watch the excitement.It was originally a two-person fight, but now it has become a three-person fight. Heizi's two fists are no match for four hands. Although he suppressed the slug, he was also crushed and wished that the three of them were covered in dirty mud.The spectators all said that it was good to fight well, but they couldn't tell who was right and who was wrong, precisely because it was customary that once this situation came, it didn't matter what was right and what was wrong. Just as a boy was touching a big pebble with his fist out of the mud, and smashing it on Heizi's forehead, an old woman yelled sharply, "You little bastard, what are you doing!" The boy's slender arms saved Heizi.But after saving Heizi, the hen escaped. It turned out that the old hen was tucked under the other side at this time, but it escaped, splashing around in the muddy water, splashing the muddy water.Everyone laughed. "It's so lively, so lively!" The fight between the bad boys was dissuaded by the others, and the old woman hurried to catch her old hen in the muddy water.After capturing the chicken, he cursed loudly: "You flat-haired bastard, you thought you could fly to the sky!" Someone interrupted and asked, "Old lady, how much is this fat chicken?" The old lady took a look at the man, flattened her thin mouth, and pretended to be smiling. While wiping the muddy water on the tail of the chicken with her hands, she said, "Everything is so expensive these days. Yang's raises chickens." It's like raising a child who weighs three and a half catties and costs me seven cents, so I really eat Korean ginseng." Unexpectedly, Mrs. Yang was watching the battle among the crowd, so she interjected, "Mother, what are you talking about, Korean ginseng and American ginseng? You have money, and I have the goods. If you are willing to do business, can I rob you?" Unclean, what do you mean..." The old lady felt sorry, and it was not easy to talk back.But showing his face in public was a disgraceful face, and just as the hen was struggling, he slapped the hen hard, pointed at the wax gourd and scolded the gourd, "You flat-haired bastard, come to take advantage of the fire!" The kid who was fighting with said, "If you don't go home, I will break your dog legs! What else do you care about when others fight, and you will bear the murder case!" While scolding the kid, pushing and shoving the kid, he walked away. Yang said: "Who doesn't raise a flat-haired animal to eat? It's not like you. You raise your sons and daughters for people to play, and you close the door in broad daylight as long as you have money. You don't have any shame. Didn't you commit crimes in your previous three lives?" Although the old lady knew that Mrs. Yang was still scolding her, she pretended not to hear her and left by herself. Mrs. Yang also knew that the old lady had admitted her grievance, and that the vicious dog would not catch up with the wall man. After everyone persuaded her, she said nothing more. One of the three fighting boys left, the other two had been pulled away at that time, although they were still looking at each other bitterly, they had no intention of fighting again. A middle-aged man next to him who was rescued from the siege had just finished smoking and was full of energy, so he teased the little official Heizi and said: "Heizi, your chief sees that you can fight like this, so I will give you the longan wolfberry soup for ducks tomorrow. It makes you fat and fat, so I bet on you! Next time you play, I will definitely bet three cents in your name as a pair of pants!" Everyone laughed. Another veteran said, "If the old bitch hadn't let out a yell, you'd be a blackie if you didn't have a flower and you'd be popular." Heizi said, "Her nephew smashed my head, and I'm going to take off her family god sign." The veteran said, "What kind of household god brand does she have? She has meat shields in her house. If you are a child like you, if you go to Dongting Lake if you take a hot piss!" Heizi looked at the retired soldier resentfully. The retired soldier was funny and easy-going, so he said, "Heizi, do you want to fight with me? I can't beat you, I'm afraid of you—I have been taught!" The smoker said, "Heizi, forget it, go back to the bureau and change your clothes. Your bureau chief will reward you with 'fried pork with bamboo shoots' and beat you like a pig." "The director doesn't have cigarettes to eat, and he is addicted to cigarettes, so he is like a pig snort like you!" After Heizi finished speaking, he left.When he reached the lower ridge, he staggered and almost slipped, which caused everyone to laugh. After Heizi left, the veteran laughed at him because he was the uncle of Slug, and said, "Slug, you are really good at fighting, and you are slippery all over. I am not your opponent, let alone Xiao Heizi. You will be in the circle in the future." When fighting him, I will bet you five hundred." The slug said, "Little Heizi is taking advantage of others, thinking that he can bully others because he is an officer in the bureau. I am not afraid of him!" "Who is not a dog these days? Tomorrow when you grow up, you will become a soldier. With three guns and two cannons, you will conquer the whole world. You will become the battalion commander and company commander. The purple lamb robe of the director will be left for you. You don't need to send someone to send it to you." The Baojing Battalion is here. The big fish eat the small fish, and the small fish eat dried shrimps, you have to make up your mind!" The slug doesn't know what "will" is, but only knows that as a battalion commander, it can act recklessly and do many lawless things.The director is afraid of him, and the county magistrate is also afraid of him.When you need money, bring the General Office of the Chamber of Commerce and the General Manager of the Country League to the camp and you will have the money.What do you want money for?Buy Three Fortress cigarettes, put them in long ivory bone pipes, and smoke them one puff at a time.While adjudicating the case, he smoked while asking someone to hit the board.When he was angry, he said, "You bastard, I will shoot you!" So he really sent the guards to tie the man to the rocky beach by the river and shot him.The usefulness of the battalion commander, in the eyes of the slug, is nothing more than that.Veterans are older and more knowledgeable, so they naturally have a slightly different view of the battalion commander.But in fact, the prestige of a battalion commander in the local area can only be seen from these things, and nothing else is needed. Slug said, "I must aspire to be a battalion commander." The old lady is a good deed, she casually said two bad things about the Yang family in this street, who knew that she was humiliated by the Yang family, felt very uncomfortable, went back to the house in Hejie, opened the waist door, and pushed the old hen to the house as hard as she could There was a slap in the room, clapping hands and saying, "When I was on my back, I just met you, a bastard!" The old hen yelled, as if to say, "What does this have to do with me? You, let me out! " The little whore, Gui Zhi, was burning cigarettes for the salt guest on the flower-board bed in the back room, while singing "Ten Xiang Lang", "Thoughts of Four Seasons" and other small tunes to amuse the salt guest.Hearing the crowing of the rooster, I knew that my mother was back, so I talked to her godmother loudly: "Mother, mother, did you buy the chicken? Is it fat?" The old lady was still out of breath, and went into the house to scoop water with a ladle to wash her hands, and said to herself, "Why don't you get fat? You can eat a big family for a dollar, and you still don't get fat like a big spider?" Refers to Yang who sells chickens to raise prices.Guizhi heard the last sentence but couldn't hear the next one, so she said, "Why is it a dollar? Mother." She meant why chickens are so expensive, and there was an air of disbelief in her words. The old lady bought chicken flowers with seven cents. She wanted to come back and pay for the eight cents, so she deducted one cent and put it in her purse.Now being annoyed by Yang, when Gui Zhi asked about it, he chanted scriptures, "Why isn't it a dollar? If you don't believe me, you can ask. For this flat-haired beast, it's like looking for my own uncle. I can't find it anywhere. Yang took this chicken Treat it as an eight-treasure essence, and it costs me one dollar, and if one is missing, it’s no deal. I’ll drop one to get my teeth fixed.” Seeing that the old lady was angry, Guizhi knew the old lady's temper, and was most afraid of being suspected of giving away money, so she hurriedly spoke with a smiley face, and came out of the room, grabbed the fat hen with both hands, and brought it into the room to give salt. Passengers take a look.But he said, "What a fat chicken, what a fat chicken." Yanke just laughed and didn't speak.The dialogue between the two can be heard clearly. Yan Ke was about thirty-four or fifteen years old, wearing a short green cloth jacket, a crepe scarf on his head, three red marks on his neck, a pair of bright eyes, and two high cheekbones on his face. , and also wore a wind rattan-covered silver bracelet on his arm. It was obvious at a glance that he was an expert man who would make money in business transactions and spend money on women.After passing through X village, this is the first time I met Guizhi when I came to this little whore's house.After staying only one night, he bit his neck and cast a long curse, thinking that he would never forget it and never let it go.As a matter of fact, the rain fell by chance and kept him for another day.The salt man also used the excuse that Shui Da broke down, stayed and chatted with Gui Zhi.When it was agreed to stay in the morning, the old lady said: "Brother-in-law, if you don't keep guests, you will stay. If you can't, I will help you. I will kill a chicken to entertain you, and I will cook a chicken for you to drink with." , I'll drink three cups with you, I don't want to drink with you too." Because the old bitch called him brother-in-law, Yan Ke said with a smile, "Mother, you don't need to kill chickens and geese to treat me like Xi Ke, just keep his old life. We are born once, and we are acquainted twice. I won't be long Still have to come. How much can I eat alone? No need to kill chickens." The old woman also smiled, "I put the wine and wine in front of the gods, and I did my best! My brother-in-law is tired, so I need to make up for it." Yan Ke couldn't resist this kindness, so he broke the banknotes, took out a foreign dollar from his suede pocket, stuffed it into the old lady's hand, and said it was the price of a chicken.Although the old lady still excused herself, she deliberately said to Guizhi loudly, "Look, what is this! How can there be such a reason, how can there be such a reason, and ask brother-in-law to spend money?" When the salt guest arrived, he pretended to be angry and said, "Old lady, come on, isn't your treat the same as my treat? I'm a straight-hearted person. I'm not happy about you being such a mother-in-law." As a last resort, it was finally accepted and taken away. Although my old lady eats such a bowl of dirty food, she is over forty-five years old, and she still makes friends with an old sailor who is a boatman, chasing the sailor on the street for closing money.Not long ago, I bought a pair of pig's feet with a little of my savings, and gave it to a young sailor who was going down, because the sailor had promised her one thing.Although he has no sense of shame about the ugly things done by people, but in many ordinary relationships with people, he is still the same as ordinary people. Words and deeds require recognition and praise from others.In life, it is necessary to gain trust or friendship from another person, so that it seems to be able to live without guilt.People are profit-seeking and selfish, and they still have to abide by the customary etiquette. According to the local people, their hearts are not completely blackened. Guizhi is only eighteen years old, and he has eaten at the pier for nearly three years.Like other people who ate this bowl of rice, they originally lived in a small village more than ten miles away from here. They had yellow hair and a dry body. .Smallpox, measles, cholera, malaria, all kinds of severe infectious diseases came to his head in turn, and he was lucky enough to escape by taking wood bark incense ash indiscriminately.When he was thirteen years old, he was lured into an abandoned bunker with two peaches and defiled by a mission official. Naturally, he laughed first and then cried.But after gaining some popularity, he naturally changed a little physically and mentally. He grew taller, slimmer, and seemed a little smarter.到十五岁家里估计应当送出门了，把她嫁给一个孤身小农户，收回财礼二十吊，数目填写在婚书上，照习惯就等于卖绝。桂枝哭啼啼离开了自己那个家，到了另外一个人家里，生活除了在承宗接祖事情上有点变化，其余一切还是同往常一样。终日上山劳作，到头还不容易得到一饱。挨饿挨冷受自然的虐待，挨打挨骂受人事的折磨。孕了一个女儿，不足月就小产掉了。到十六岁时，小农户忍受不了，觉得不想办法实在活不下去。正值省里招兵，委员到了县里，且有公事行到乡长处，乐意去的壮丁不少。那农户就把桂枝送到×村一个远亲家里来寄住，自己当兵去了。丈夫一走，寄住在远亲家吃白食当然不成，总得想办法弄吃的。虽说不唇红齿白，身材俏俊，到底年纪轻，当令当时，俗话说十七八岁的姑娘，再丑到底是一朵花。就是喇叭花，也总不至于搁着无人注意。老娘其时正逃走了一个养女，要人补缺，找帮手不着，就认桂枝作干女儿，两人合作，来立门户。气运好，一上手就碰着一个庄号上的小东家，包了三个月，有吃有穿，且因此学了好些场面规矩。小老板一走，桂枝在当地土货中便成红人了。但塞翁失马，祸福同至，人一红，不久就被当地驻军一个下级军官霸占了。这军官赠给她一身脏病，军队移防命令一到，于是开拔了。一来一往三年的经验，教育了这个小娼妇，也成全了这个小娼妇。在当前，河街上吃四方饭的娘儿们中，桂枝已是一个老牌子，沿河弄船的青年水手，无人不知。尤其是东食西宿的办法，生活收入大半靠过路客商，恩情却结在当地一个傻小子身上，添了人一些笑话，也得到人一点称赞。 本地吃码头饭的女子，多数是有生意时应接生意，无生意时照例有个当地光棍，或退伍什长，或税关上司事一类人，由熟客成为独占者，终日在身边烧烟谈天。这种塌茸男子当初一时也许花了些钱到女人身上，后来倒多数是一钱不出，有的人且吃女的，用女的，不以为耻。平时住在女的家里犹如自己家里，客来时才走开。这种人大多是被烟毒熏得走了型，毫无骨气，但为人多懦而狡，有的且会周张，遇孱头客人生事闹乱子，就挺身出面来说理，见客人可以用语言唬诈时，必施小做作，借此弄点钱。有时花了眼睛，认错了人，讹人反被人拿住了把柄，就支支吾吾逃开，来不及时又即刻向人卑屈下流的求饶。挨打时或沉默的忍受，或故意呻吟，好象即刻就要重伤死去的样子，过后却从无向人复仇的心思。 为人俨然深得道家“柔则久存”的妙旨，对人对己都向抵抗极小的一方面滑去。碰硬钉子吃了亏，就以为世界变了，儿子常常打老子，毫无道理，也是道理。但这种鼻涕似的人生观，却无碍于他的存在。他还是吃，喝，睡，兴致好时还会唱唱。自以为当前的不如意正如往年的薛仁贵、秦琼，一朝时来运来，会成为名闻千古的英雄。唱《武家坡》，唱《卖马》，唱到后来说不定当真伤起心来了，必嘶着个嗓子向身边人嚷着说，“这日子逼死了英雄好汉，拖队伍去，拖队伍去！”其中自然也就有当真忍受不了，下山落草。跑了几趟生意，或就方便作坐地探子，事机不密，被驻军捉去，经不住三五百板子，把经过一五一十供出，牵到场坪上去示众。临刑时已昏头昏脑，眼里模模糊糊见着看热闹的妇女，强充好汉，勉强叫着，“同我相好的都来送终，儿女都来送终！”占点口上便宜，使得妇女们又羞又气，连声大骂，“刀砍的，这辈子刀砍你，二辈子刀还是砍你！”到后便当真跪在河边，咔嚓挨那一刀，流一滩血，拖到万人坑里用土掩了完事。 桂枝别有眼睛，选靠背不和人相同，不找在行人却找憨子。憨子住在河边石壁洞穴里，身个子高高的，人闷闷的，两个膀子全是黑肉，每天到山上去挖掘香附子和其他草药，自食其力，无求于人。间或兴子来时，就跟本地弄船的当二把纤，随船下辰州桃源县。照水上规矩下行弄船只能吃白饭，不取工钱。憨小子搭船下行时，在船头当桨手，一钱不名，依然快快乐乐，一面呼号一面用力荡桨，毫不含糊。船回头时，便把工钱预先支下，在下江买了礼物，戴合记的香粉，大生号的花洋布，带回来送给桂枝。因为作人厚道，不及别的人敲头掉尾，所以大家争着叫他憨子，憨子便成为这青年人的诨名。憨子不离家，也不常到河街成天粘在小娼妇身边，不过上山得到了点新鲜山果时，才带到河街来给桂枝，此外就是桂枝要老娘去叫来的。人来时常常一句话不说，见柴砍柴，见草挽草，不必嘱咐也会动手帮忙。无事可作就坐在灶边条凳上，吸他那枝老不离身的罗汉竹旱烟管，一面吸烟一面听老娘谈本街事情。本来说好留在河街过夜，到了半夜，不凑巧若有粮子上副爷来搭铺过夜，憨子得退避，就一声不响，点燃一段废缆子，独自摇着那个火炬回转洞穴去，从不抱怨。时间一多，倒把老娘过意不去，因此特别对他亲切。桂枝也认定憨子为人心子实，有包涵，可以信托，紧贴着心。 盐客昨晚上在此留宿，事先就是预先已约好了憨子，到时又把憨子那么打发回去的。 老娘烧了锅水，把鸡宰后，舀开水烫过鸡身，坐在腰门边，用小镊子摘鸡毛。正打量着把鸡身上某部分留下。又想起河中涨水，三门滩打了船，河中一定有人发财。又想起憨子，知道天落雨，憨子不上山，必坐在洞中望雨，打草鞋搓草绳子消磨长日。老娘自言自语说，“憨人有憨福”，不由得咕咕笑将起来。 桂枝正走出房门，见老娘只是咕咕笑。就问，“娘你笑什么？” 老娘说，“我笑憨子，昨天他说要到下江去奔前程，发了洋财好回来养我的老。他倒人好心好，只是我命未必好。等到他发洋财回来时，我大腿骨会可做棒槌打鼓了。”说了自己更觉得好笑，就大笑起来。 桂枝不作声，帮同老娘拔鸡毛。好象想起心事，吁了一口气。 老娘不大注意，依然接口说下去，“人都有一个命，生下来就在判官簿籍上注定了，洗不去，擦不脱。象我们吃这碗饭的人，也是命里排定的，你说不吃了，干别的去，不是做梦吗？” 桂枝说，“娘，你不干，有什么不成？活厌了，你要死，抓把烟灰，一碗水吞下肚里去，不是两脚一伸完事？你要死，判官会说不许你死？” “你真说得好容易。你哪知道罪受不够的人，寻短见死了，到地狱里去还是要受罪。” “我不相信。” “你哪能相信？你们年轻人什么都不相信，也就是什么都不明白。'清明要晴，谷雨要雨'，我说你就不信。'雷公不打吃饭人'，我说你又不信。……”老娘恰同中国一般老辈人相似，记忆中充满了格言和警句，一部分生活也就受这种字句所薰陶所支配。桂枝呢，年纪轻，神在自己行动里，不在格言警句上。 桂枝说，“那么，你为什么不相信鲤鱼打个翻身变成龙？” 老娘笑着说，“你说憨子会发洋财，中状元，作总司令，是不是？鲤鱼翻身变成龙，天下龙王只有四位，鲤鱼万万千，河中涨了水，一网下来就可以捉二十条鱼！万丈高楼从地起，总得有块地！” 憨子住的是洞窟，真不算地。但人好心地好，老娘得承认。老娘其实同桂枝一样，盼望憨子发迹，只是话说起来时，就不免如此悲观罢了。桂枝呢，对生活实际上似乎并无什么希望，尤其是对于憨子。她只要活下去，怎么样子活下去就更有意思一点，她不明白。 市面好，不闹兵荒匪荒，开心取乐的大爷手松性子好，来时有说有笑，不出乱子，就什么都觉得很好很好了。至于憨子将来，男子汉要看世界，各处跑，当然走路。发财不发财，还不是“命”？不过背时走运虽说是命，也要尽自己的力，尽自己的心。凡事胆子大，不怕难，做人正派，天纵无眼睛人总还有眼睛。憨子做人好，至少在她看来，是难得的。只要憨子养得起她，她就跟了他。要跑到远处去，她愿意跟去。 有只商船拢了码头，河下忽然人声嘈杂起来，桂枝到后楼去看热闹，船上许多水手正在抽桨放到篷上去，且一面向沿河吊脚楼窗口上熟人打招呼。老娘其时也来到窗边，看他们起货上岸。后舱口忽然钻出一个黑脸大肩膊青年水手，老娘一眼瞥见到了，就大声喊叫： “秋生，秋生，你回来了！我以为你上四川当兵打共产党去了！” 那水手说，“干娘，我回来了，红炮子钻心不是玩的。光棍打穷人，硬碰硬，谁愿意去？” 桂枝说，“你前次不是说三年五载才回来吗？” 那青年水手快快乐乐的说，“我想起娇娇，到龚滩就开了小差。” 桂枝说，“什么娇娇肉肉，你想起你干妈。” 这水手不再说什么，扛了红粉条一捆，攀船舷上了岸。桂枝忙去灶边烧火，预备倒水为这水手洗脚。 盐客听桂枝说话，问：“是谁？” 老娘答话说，“是秋生。” 秋生又是谁？没有再说及。因为老娘想到的是把鸡颈鸡头给秋生，所以又说，“姐夫，这鸡好肥！” 一九三七年上半年作，未写完。