Chapter 2 Lunar New Year's eve

Counting to the left from the south end of the street, number seven is that place.Originally, the house number was not clear.Everything here is a part of the world. There are people, speech and actions, eating, drinking, insults and disturbances. Everything is not different from another world.Everything here is ugly, ordinary, distressed, dusty, and even stinky. Many people gathered around a bed.The bed was made of dark wood, small, and a man slept on the mattress on top of the old plank.A man is a dying man.A head full of messy hair was resting on a bundle of newspaper-like objects. His eyes were dull, his face was pale, his nostrils were turned up, his mouth was slightly open, and his chest was panting slightly.

In the middle of the house is a fifteen-candle lamp hanging high.Although there were many people in the room, they were all silent, each immersed in a kind of thought.Although neither of them spoke, when their eyes met, their opinions had already been exchanged under such circumstances. There were six people in total, surrounded by the patient's bed, two of them were women, one was about twenty-five years old, and the other was younger, less than sixteen years old.The older one is the patient's wife and the younger one is the patient's sister. The patient's wife, seeing the patient's head turned slightly, hurriedly took the teacup in her hand and bent down to bring it to the patient's face.The contents of the cup are a kind of light red potion.The patient seemed to have regained his senses, and when he knew the woman had brought the medicine, he opened his eyes with a thankful expression on his face.He wanted to say something, but he tried his best, but he couldn't say it, and he closed his eyes again. He hadn't taken the medicine, and he was already in a drowsy sleep.

After a while, the young woman sat on an old rattan chair near the window, panting, and brushed her short hair with her hands. In this innocent girl's heart, she still seemed to be extremely at a loss about life, she didn't Don't forget that tonight is New Year's Eve! The patient is clearly hopeless, wandering on the borderline between life and death, whether he can come back to life, or die, no one dares to judge what will happen after an hour. In the distance, the sound of firecrackers can be heard, intermittently like gunfire during a war. At the same time, there was the sound of someone throwing dice and yelling in a nearby place, and the sound of gongs, drums, and flutes could be heard.It was almost dawn at this time. In terms of time, New Year's Eve should have passed, and it should be the first day of the new month.The sound of firecrackers coming from everywhere, you can imagine how strong the atmosphere of joy is at this time, and how happy and excited everyone is to spend this New Year's Eve, watching the night escape, and welcoming the first day of the year The new light of the day.

As if hearing the crowing of the rooster, the young woman got up again and went to the window and opened one of them.After opening the window, the sound from outside became clearer.And at the same time, there is a faint mixture of gas and nitrate gas in the air, blowing into the room.The woman seemed to feel that the wind blowing from outside was too cold for the patient, so she immediately closed the window gently and walked over to the patient. "Fourth sister-in-law, you go to rest, it's okay, probably..." The so-called fourth sister-in-law is the woman who feeds the patient medicine. At this moment, she is sitting on the side of the bed with her head lowered, pinching the patient's hand.Hearing that she was advised to rest, she remained silent, only raised her head, smiled at the young woman reluctantly, and then asked, "Is it dawn, Fifth Sister?"

"It's coming soon. It's about six o'clock...Bai Sheng, please go downstairs to the tailor shop to check the clock. What time is it?" "Okay, I'll go." Bai Sheng, the youngest of the men, a relative of the patient, responded, went down the stairs, and wiped himself by the stairs.Before the person watching the clock came back, everyone in the room paid new attention to the time, because they were busy in the middle of the night, and everyone's attention was focused on the patient's every weak breath. At this time, it seemed that they only remembered that New Year's Eve had passed , the new year has begun, and the sick should be temporarily put aside to breathe in the fresh air for a while.Not long after, Bai Sheng came up the stairs, first making noises on the stairs, and then crawled out from the dark place.This man, with a woman's sharp voice, tried to lower his voice at this time, and said softly, "Little lady, it's only five o'clock." "It's only five o'clock" implies that the yawns are coming.At this time, the woman sitting beside the hospital bed quietly asked them to go to sleep.Then he turned to Bai Sheng and asked him to go to the back room to fetch pumpkin seeds for everyone to peel.

"Don't, don't," a man in a tunic suit hurriedly stopped Bai Sheng.He frowned and looked at the sick man on the bed. It had been one o'clock and he didn't speak until then. The woman was dizzy at first, and forgot to invite the guest to sit when the guest came. At this moment, she remembered the guest, and hurriedly got up, and moved a small stool that Bai Sheng was sitting on to the side of the bed to let the guest.After a little humility, the guests sat down. The woman called Bai Sheng to get tea again, but Bai Sheng opened the drawer very loudly because he was looking for a teacup, and the young woman rushed over to do something.

After the guest sat down, he said, "He can still wake up, I don't think I'm afraid." "It's all like this in the middle of the night. It's much worse than yesterday. I'm afraid it's hopeless." "Where's the doctor?" "Because the money has..." The guest bit his lower lip with his teeth, could not say anything, and only looked at the patient. At this time, the patient turned his body again, and the guest hurriedly stood up and down to approach the patient. "Mingshi, Mingshi, I'm here." Hearing the guest's voice, the patient seemed to pay attention a little, moved his head slightly, and let out a long sigh.

"I'm Wanli, I'm here to see you... Are you in pain? Do you still know me?... Tell me, can you talk?" The guest looked at the patient gloomyly, shouted, and told the patient his name.The patient moved his head slightly again, and made a small sound in his throat, as if talking, but there was no sound coming out.At this time, the woman brought the liquid medicine in the cup to the patient's mouth again. When the patient's mouth moved slightly, the woman stuffed the rubber tube into the patient's mouth.After a while, the patient sighed again, then opened his eyes, looked around blankly, saw some people around the bed, and saw his own woman, as if he didn't know each other at all, and finally turned his eyes to The face of the guest did not move.

"Are you Wanli?" "Yes, Mingshi. You are more awake now, are you uncomfortable?" "I'm not very uncomfortable. I'm dying, I can't stay in this world for a long time, Angel I..." After saying that, it seemed to be a wry smile.But the muscles of the face are not suitable for this kind of expression. At this moment, the patient only had a slight laugh in his nose. He then shook his head, and suddenly closed his eyes forcefully, indicating that the suffering is on this poor man, and he is dying. In the past, he kept beating this sick body. The woman touched the patient's forehead, which was covered with sweat.The patient felt it, and then he seemed to know that there was a woman beside him, and said quietly: "Thank you, thank you, why don't you go to sleep?" He looked at everyone again, "Why are you all here?"

With tears in her eyes, the woman said in a mother's voice, "It's early, it's not time to sleep yet." "Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep. Bai Sheng, Bai Sheng, stay here with me and let my aunt go to sleep. I am awake and much better. I also want to sleep for a while. The woman saw that the patient suddenly became more awake, and saw the other two men who were terribly tired, shaking their bodies there. She was embarrassed to ask these people to stay up all night, so she followed the patient and said, "Everyone, go to sleep and get some sleep. Alright, Bai Sheng, light the lamp and lead Mr. Song and Mr. Wu to the back building to sleep."

"It doesn't matter, we are not tired." One of the men who said this, yawned as soon as he finished speaking. The other was about to speak, but was stopped by a yawn. The young guest in the Chinese tunic suit, seeing this situation, said, "Everyone, go and have a rest! Now that you're awake, it's okay. It's still early, so why don't you go to bed and have a rest." "Don't—" After saying two words, he strangled his throat for yawning again, and the man simply stopped talking and coughed lightly, as if this could drive away the sleepiness. The two women and the guest named Wanli couldn't help laughing.The younger woman asked Bai Sheng to hold a candle, and the two men saw Bai Sheng waiting at the door, so they had to follow Bai Sheng to the back room. When there were four people left in the room, the patient seemed to be a little more aware.He seemed to be surprised by the situation tonight, and didn't understand why everyone came here. "Why should they stay up late to delay sleep? They all have something to do during the day, so I don't want them to accompany me!" It's hard for women to say because the disease is almost hopeless, just say they won't be here for long. The patient looked at the younger woman again and said, "Fifth Sister, why did you come back from the factory again?" The woman said, "Today is Sunday." This is of course a lie to the patient, because the patient has a fever and is very easy to get angry. The patient looked at his sister, as if looking for something in the woman's face. He probably found him, complained a little, and seemed to be talking to himself, "You should read even on Sundays. Why don't you read the book? Have you read the book I want you to read?" "Read it!" "how much?" "After reading, I have written my notes. I will show you tomorrow." Before the woman had finished telling her lies, firecrackers suddenly ignited in the yard next door, and they rang out.The sudden sound made the patient startled. The patient closed his eyes and thought for a while amidst the constant noise, and then retrieved the past days from his memory. Come, so he looked at the man in the tunic suit.He wanted to pull the man with his hand so that his head was close to the bed so he could talk, but he couldn't stretch out his hand.Seeing the situation, the woman thought that the patient wanted to turn over, so she quickly lifted the quilt on the patient and reached out to help the patient's shoulder. "I don't want you! I don't want you! Wanli,...Wanli,...Come here, come closer, I'll ask you....Is it New Year's Eve tonight?" The guest was silent, not knowing how to promise the patient.At this time, a mother-child cannon in the neighboring courtyard rang again. "Today is New Year's Eve! Fifth sister, tell me, right?" The young woman nodded.However, seeing the color of the guest, he immediately realized that he had done something wrong, and regretted it too late. The patient asked the guest again, "Wanli, isn't it?" The guest had no choice but to nod and said, "Yes, it's New Year's Eve." "New Year's Eve! You forgot the one we said..." The guest was silent. "What? Wanli, have you forgotten?" The patient's eyes suddenly brightened, and his voice became much clearer. The guest came here, witnessed the patient's excitement, but replied calmly and serenely, "Mingshi, I have not forgotten. We have already done everything that needs to be done!" "Really?" "When have I ever lied to a friend?" "My God! You are human! Tell me what to do!" The guest turned his head slightly so that the woman could not see his face, and said, "It worked out. Providence helped us, and our plan went very smoothly. " Seeing the guest's appearance, the patient realized that what he said was not a lie, and suddenly, as if he had an unexpected strength, he stood up, hugged the guest's head and neck, and kissed frantically.The woman hurriedly went to relieve the guest's plight, and after putting the patient down to the original position with the guest, she gave the patient a glass of water to drink. Although the patient was lying down, he still struggled to sit up and asked the guest about the details of what he had done.The guest remained calm as usual, and when he saw the patient's excitement, he brought his eyebrows together a little more. The patient drank the water, paused for a while, and looked at the guest with a smile, "Tell me, is it really successful?" I want to understand, tell me!" The guest said heavily, "Yes, it's a success. The hope has been realized." When he said this, he saw the rafters on the roof and heaved a sigh of relief.He told the patient about his victory, but he kept another sacrifice that came with it. The patient must know the details of the situation, so the guest told everything about what happened three or four o'clock before.He talked about how things were done according to the original plan, he talked about the retribution of all those who deserved retribution during all the plans, and he talked about the process of destruction.It is because the patient received this kind of news, just like after a few injections from the doctor, his whole body suddenly became active, as if in an instant. After listening to the guest's report, the patient said with a smile on his face, his heart was burning red. "Wanli, you are really a brave man! I admit that you are a hero. I admit that you..." The guest didn't answer, bit his lip, moved to the window with an excuse, and opened the window again. Open the window for a while, then close it again.When the two women heard what happened, they didn't know what to say, so they were all silent. "Wanli, what you have done is unprecedented! I see that you are not flustered at all, and I admire you. You should go to Shanghai to hide, there is no harm in the concession there.But in this way, I don't think you can get married again.You really shouldn't have delayed your marriage for so long because of work.According to my advice, I will live with Lei Qing in Shanghai instead of those forms.Why doesn't this work?You're all set free, only this one is a little stubborn.Why do you have to get married?Others say that getting married is going to the grave. If you have love, why do you need to get married?It's your fault that you didn't live with her earlier, and you shouldn't.You listen to me and leave before dawn. I will ask Fifth Sister to persuade Lei Qing to go to Shanghai tomorrow. (The sound of gunfire from all over the place enters the ears) Listen, it's like shooting a gun!These damned people are congratulating this new year!Tomorrow morning their astonishment will redeem their joy. ... Wanli, the New Year's gift you gave is too good.You..." Nearby, the mother-child cannon made a low sound at first, rushed the small cannon into the air, and then exploded in the air, the loud sound shook the air, and the patient stopped talking. Seeing the patient's abnormal clarity, the woman thought it was inappropriate to talk too much and get too excited, so she put a little sleeping pill in a glass of water and forced the patient to take the medicine. After a few minutes, the patient fell into a deep sleep. After the patient was quiet, the guest in the back room began to snore. Something bit the heart of the guest named Wan Li.Guessing that there must be other reasons, the older woman asked softly, "Wanli, is there any sacrifice?" The guest nodded.So the woman asked again, "How much?" She replied, "One." The younger woman said, "Who is it?" The guest smiled wryly and didn't answer.He didn't seem to know this person's name, and even if he knew it, women wouldn't know it, so he didn't say anything. The woman realized that the victim was an acquaintance, and said, "Is it with you?" "..." The guest blew his whistle softly, and deliberately avoided paying attention. Fifth Sister patted the revolutionary song played by the guests with her foot, but after a while she suddenly asked, "Mr. Wan Li, who sacrificed?" The guest forced a smile again, and intentionally took a piece of orange prepared for the patient from the table, and put it in his mouth.After eating the orange, he picked another piece and put it in his mouth, saying, "The orange is sour, it's not very tasty." The older woman knew that the victim must have something to do with the guest, so she couldn't ask any more questions, so she immediately talked about the orange.They came to discuss the amount of money imported from the United States sold in one place in Shanghai every year, and they also talked about the types of Cantonese and Fuzhou tangerines.Soon the guest went to the window to open the window, saw the big stars in the sky have gradually faded, knew that it was not far to dawn, and told the woman that he wanted to go, and that he would go to Qingqiao early in the morning.Qingqiao is where the guest's lover Lei Qing lives. The woman thought the guest was going to say goodbye to his friend, so she said, "Wanli, you have gone to Shanghai, so let Lei Qing come to me. No one will pay attention here. .Ming Shi is so ill, others must not be suspicious. Go and go quickly, saying that we welcome her to come to celebrate the New Year." "..." The guest didn't say what he wanted to say. Fifth Sister and Lei Qing get along very well in normal times.He said, "I want her to come anyway, because I still have something to tell her." The young man really didn't understand how much the incident at night had to do with Lei Qing. Her business was nothing more than asking Lei Qing to tell her about knitting socks and studying. French. She repeatedly told Mr. Wan Li that Lei Qing must come. Seeing the innocent face of the little girl, the guest smiled miserably, nodded, promised to do as she wished, and went down the stairs.The woman sent him out of the gate. Although everything was calm, at the end, when she nodded to the woman and told her to take good care of the sick man, the man showed a bit of embarrassment and staggered away. Amidst the sound of firecrackers throughout the city, Heiye finally escaped, and Xinzheng came.Following the daylight came the news that three police officers in the city were assassinated last night, and one of the female murderers was captured on the spot, and the woman immediately jumped into the river and drowned.The woman's name is Lei Qing, she works as a clerk in Guangming Factory, and she got to know her through a worker in the same factory. Written in the summer of 1928