Chapter 8 The Novella Course-5

They stood for a while longer.Pip thought it was really boring, so he suggested to go to the mountain to have a look.But the third girl firmly opposed it. "What's there to see on the hill? Not even a tree. He said it was just an excuse to do forest work, and I suspect he's out there chasing game at the moment, and I can see he's not going to do anything. " After standing for a while longer, they decided to go back.As soon as they set foot on the way home, the third girl became very excited.She babbled about little things that happened in town: someone's roof was leaking, a restaurant was selling stinky fish to customers, a worker on the late shift was picking a fight and smashing up a grocery store , a child set off firecrackers, blowing up his left eye, and so on.The things she said were all things that Pipzhun didn't care about at all. The more Pipzhun listened to it, the more impatient he became. He wanted to quarrel with her, but he held back when he thought of his situation.

When they got back to town in the afternoon, Pip must have been so tired that he wanted to lie down as soon as he got home, but the third girl wouldn't let him lie down, and she came in with a mustache and wanted to borrow his bed again. "The three of us can sleep together," Pip said bitterly. "How can I do that?" The third girl was taken aback, "That's disgusting! Besides, can you bear it?" "What can't I stand!" Pip Zhun yelled, "It's you who said you can't stand it, I'm fine here! Don't worry about me." Saying that, Pip Zhun really used the broken quilt Cover your head, close your eyes, and fall asleep in a while.

He also woke up a few times in the middle, and saw the two people somersaulting on the bed with drowsy eyes, drenched in sweat.He really dozed off too much, and fell asleep again before he could take a closer look.In his dream, he saw Miss Li whom he had not seen for a long time, and he and Miss Li also slept on this bed, but they didn't do that kind of thing, they just sat in a daze. When Pipzhun woke up, the third girl was hugging the little beard and was still sound asleep. Pipzhun pushed her hard. She yawned and said in a daze: "Do you want to find the messenger? I talked to him, and he said you don't need to see him..." Then he fell asleep again.

Pip walked into the street blankly, suddenly feeling that all hope had been lost, and his eyes were dark.He wanted to kneel down and cry, but the woman washing fish in the street stared at him and stood beside him and would not move away.He walked forward, and she also moved forward, and when he turned around, she followed him again, with a vigilant light in her eyes. Pip said to her with a wry smile, "I've lost my heart." She frowned, waved her hand contemptuously, and said, "It's nothing. You can help me wash the fish. You see me busy every day, but you don't come to help. I always count on you to help, and you can also help me in my shop." eat in."

"I'm not good at washing fish, I'm an outsider here, and I want to find out some things," Pipjun said. "Outsider!" the woman snorted, "What outsider, don't pretend to be stupid. You live in that house, and I saw the third girl give you money! How dare you say that-outsider! Damn it! Come here, I have A travel plan, let me tell you slowly, I intend to invite you to go together." The woman took him into the back room of the hotel, took out a map from a drawer, and put it on the table.It was a map Pip had never seen before.The woman drew a circle in the picture with a red pen and said:

"This is our town. You see, I'm going to follow this road to the Forester. This is the road you walked today, don't you remember?" Pip would shake his head vigorously, and say that he really had no memory at all. He had no idea where their town was located in their country, and there was no indication on the map.He thought for a while, and made another old mistake: "Have you ever been to Wuli Street? That's where I used to live. There is a building there. A cat lives in the secret passage of the building. Every family there has a strange history..." His words were interrupted by the woman's laughter, and the woman laughed and laughed until the tears flowed down her cheeks, and at last she said despondently:

"What's the matter with you? You unworthy fellow." "I'm an outsider, right?" Pip June still didn't give up. "If you don't speak, no one will believe that you are an outsider. You really look like an outsider when you say that. Although you don't remember the route, you will repeat the route you walked today many times , you will memorize it unconsciously. Look here, this is an eight-story house with a terrace on the roof and a restaurant downstairs. This road leads to the city... " Pip's eyes moved back and forth with her red pen, trying to see what was going on. "You really don't recognize where you've lived?" she asked rhetorically.

"This is not the place where I lived, I told you, the place I lived was called Wuli Street, and this is Mountain Street, the house and the location are completely wrong. Every place on your map I have unfamiliar." "You can intentionally train yourself to look at the map every day, and you will recognize some places if you look at it a lot." She said coldly, flipping the map away. "Where did I live?" "I told you to look at the map every day, but it's unreasonable for you to ask me. Why can't you reflect on it? Now I'm going to wash the fish, you can go, you can come back in the middle of the night, I There's no rest at night anyway, and the rest of our town does. Don't lose heart."

"But the messenger doesn't intend to see me." "Don't lose heart, come and check the map every night." "What is your last name?" "Me? Whatever surname you want. You can also call me Lao Zeng, so that you don't have too many names and confuse your mind. Someone called me Mrs. Li a few days ago, these things are not important. You have to keep an eye on the map Don't let go of every mark on the board, so that you will recognize some places. Let me ask you, someone said that I sold stinky fish to customers, did the third girl say it?"

"I don't know, I'm not good at noticing things like that." "Ha! You lied, it's okay, I'll figure it out." As soon as Pipzhun went out, he was punched in the back. Looking back, it was the third girl. "You weak-willed fellow! I told you to learn well, but you got involved with profiteers who sell stinky fish! What the hell is going on in your mind? Now, the messenger must be furious." "He's not going to see me for a long time, is he?" "He doesn't plan to see you anymore. That doesn't mean he won't send you a message. What he wants to send is through me. What do you want? You are greedy and offended him, and I will do it for you too." It's a scapegoat, I'm really unlucky. Look, didn't he go ahead? He went upstairs to the hotel. He is very busy. Don't hang on to him. You are like an ignorant child, so angry I'm dead. I'm going to deliver the water now, and here's two dollars." She hurried to the teahouse, and Pip saw the mustache standing aside.

Mustache said: "You shouldn't betray her. Although she is so powerful that she can lift a bucket full of boiling water with one hand, she is a woman who comes and goes without a trace. Just say me, I still feel uneasy when I hang out with her every day , I am very worried that she will disappear when I wake up. How dare you betray her? Are you really an ignorant child? I think you are not too young." "I'm fifty-two this year." "Both of us should be careful to win her favor. I am most afraid that she will be angry, and she will disappear when she is angry. She has passion, but we don't, isn't it? This is very dangerous. One day when she is angry, she will be A bucket of boiling water was thrown at me, but luckily I dodged quickly. What are you doing standing here?" "Do you know Wuli Street?" "I heard her talk about it. Why do you want to go back there so much? Is it not good here? You wander around every day and do nothing, and she gives you two dollars to take you to the teahouse, and I enjoy it You can't get this kind of treatment! You really don't have the heart to swallow the elephant." "I'm not from here, Wuli Street is my hometown, and I'm the son-in-law of a family there." "That's just your dream. I also dreamed of being a son-in-law." Mustache swayed into the teahouse.Pip must have heard the rumble of an airplane, a plane flying low, and the words on the fuselage were clearly read, but the words were not read.The plane circled several times over the small town before flying away.Pip found the streets deserted, even the children who set off the firecrackers were hidden, and all the shops were shut.He was wondering when the woman washing the fish came over, dragged him into the house, and said solemnly: "We don't like this kind of stuff here." "what?" "Then the plane. You think, we have lived here for generations, we have our own map, and now this plane comes out, and this question must arise: Where did it come from? Are we going to change our minds and recreate it?" A map? It’s not going to work, so we’re all closing shop.” Immediately, the words "the shopkeeper closed the shop door" came to Pipzhun's mind. He was full of emotions and couldn't calm down.The plane hummed again, and the expression on the woman's face was indifferent.Pip went to the door, and was about to put his head out to look around, when he heard the woman say coldly behind her: "You have no way out." Then Pip drew back.The plane hummed for a long time, and everything returned to calm.The woman took out the map again and asked Pip to identify it. She pointed her nails stubbornly to a street sign, and asked Pip to look and see.At last Pip would say hesitantly: "I feel kind of familiar, kind of like where I used to live." Satisfied, the woman released Pipzhun and let him go out.The street returned to its original appearance, people were everywhere, and the firecrackers rang.An old woman who looked familiar was scolding her naughty grandson.The entrance of the teahouse was full of men in green robes, with their hands behind their backs, looking up at the sky, thoughtful.Pip must have seen the messenger and the man with the cropped hair among them, whispering to each other.At this time, the third girl came from across the road with a bucket of boiling water. She yelled, and the messenger and the crew cut quickly gave way to her.Suddenly, a little boy got into the group of green clothes, picked up a long string of firecrackers on a bamboo pole, and they exploded "popping", and the street was full of gunpowder smoke, which was deafening.But those people seemed to be deaf, still standing there motionless, the messenger and the man with the cropped hair could actually whisper to each other amidst the sound of firecrackers.The firecrackers made Pip feel flustered, so he had to dodge for a while, and when he came back, all the men in green robes had disappeared, the hall of the teahouse was empty, and the third girl was gone, only Mustache sat alone. Sitting in a corner drinking tea.Pip walked towards Mustache. "You betrayed her again and again, it really hurts her heart, but she is a great kind person, and she gives you two dollars a day." Mustache didn't look at him when he spoke.Pip sat beside him involuntarily, and seemed to have a feeling of sympathy with him.Mustache began to tell about the benefits of the third girl, but Pip did not understand what he said, but felt very moved.The little beard started to cry while talking, and Pip was about to cry.At this moment, he saw a figure outside the window, it was the fish washing woman.The woman beckoned to him to get out, but he was afraid that Mustache would see her, so he lowered his head and pretended not to see her.The mustache was still crying, but Pipzhun didn't want to cry anymore, he suddenly felt that there was a fraud.Thinking of this, the more depressed he became, he said to Mustache: "Don't cry, okay?" "Isn't this kind of thing worth my sorrow for her?" Mustache took out a handkerchief and wiped his tears. "Don't be sad, I'll just break up with her, and I won't look for her again." Pipzhun seemed to have a sudden determination. "Really?" Mustache grabbed Pipzhun's hand eagerly, with an expression on his face as if he had let go of his mind.He quickly wiped away the tears with a handkerchief. "Really," said Pip Zhun slowly, rising to his feet and walking towards the woman waiting at the door. "Hello, old Zeng," said Pip Zhun. "Good! Good! We're all good!" said the fish-cleaning woman happily. "This time, let's make a travel plan. Come with me." They went into the small room behind the woman's restaurant, and the woman opened a drawer, took out the map and put it on the table for him to see. It was already dark outside and he couldn't see clearly, but the woman asked him not to turn on the light. "This kind of light at dusk is the best exercise for your eyes," she said. "I can't see anything," complained Pip. "As long as you sit here for a long time, a map exactly like this one will appear in your mind. This one was drawn by me, do you know how it was made?" "have no idea." "Think about it, I'm going to work." Pip sat in the dimly lit little house, his mind racing like a wild horse.This time, what he was thinking about was not about Wulijie at all. His current situation bothered him.For a while, he wanted to go to the barren hills to guard the forest with the old man, and live in a shed for the rest of his life; for a while, he wanted to study together with the old woman, and jointly make a new map; The role of conveying that subtle message to newcomers in the future; or when the plane lands again Nuo ≌ larva ? The plane leaves here and continues to look for new towns.Among these thoughts, he never once thought of returning to Wuli Street.It was as if an invisible hand opened a hole in his dark heart and let in a beam of light, and he felt himself gradually becoming more relaxed.He started pacing the room.At this time, it was completely dark, and looking out from the side window, the town had a panoramic view.The neon lights are colorful, the sound of firecrackers is one after another, and the dark blue night sky is exceptionally pure.He turned on the light and saw the rough map on the table. He picked up the map and looked at it, and a refreshing intimacy came to him. He clearly felt that he had lived in this small town all his life. , He has been to every shop and every house here countless times, and his breath and footprints are everywhere.It turned out that he was born here, and the woman in front of him might be his sister.He used to think he was a man without ancestry, just because he didn't know it.No wonder he always saw some familiar faces on the streets here, but forgot who they were.But feeling belongs to feeling, this kind of thing cannot be proved. "I'm not going home anymore!" he shouted to the woman who came in. "Good!" said the woman happily, "you have finally returned to your original home, and we can travel together every day, can't we? I remember that your father was an explorer, and he fell into the ice cave." Pip was almost astonished, but said: "I want to explore too, right here." "Okay, let's make plans tonight. Now I'm going to clean the kitchen." Pip continued to look out the window, and he saw the third girl and the little beard walking down the street with their arms in their arms. Their figures were floating like two wandering spirits. Behind them was a group of workers going to work the night shift. Behind the workers was the messenger.The courier walked slowly, looking around, looking very obscene. On his foot, the lace of one shoe had unraveled.He also saw Pip June standing at the window. "Hello, Mr. Pip-jun," he said. "Hello." Pip replied indifferently, feeling that he had completely lost interest in him and had doubts about this person.Who gave this man the message as a messenger?What kind of message is he conveying?It's so strange that he, this guy who hangs out in the teahouse, can manipulate his fate. "Have you settled here?" asked the messenger. "I'm staying here." "Very well, we will be neighbors from now on. I live down the street, and I knew you would live there." "You brag, no one knows where I'm going to live." "Maybe." He disappeared into the night. Lao Zeng came in and told him that the work in the shop was over and it was two o'clock in the night. Originally, she was going to study maps and write and draw pictures at night, but now that he came, she dozed off instead, thinking sleep.There is only one bed in the room, what should I do?It's okay for the two of them to sleep together, anyway, she also looks at him like her son or brother or something.She fell asleep on the bed talking.Pip was trying to stay awake at first, but couldn't keep his eyes open for a while, so he fell asleep on the other side of the bed. He woke up in the middle of the night, and saw her walking around the house with her waist bent, and the firecrackers were so loud outside that it felt like the earth was shaking.Then she went out, and Pip June followed her. "Where are we going?" he asked. "Go travel." After walking a few streets, she led him into a pitch-black air-raid shelter. There was a little red light at the entrance of the cave, and it was a man smoking a cigarette. "Are you coming?" asked the man, and Pip could have heard the old man with the white beard talking. "I heard that you went to find me. You went with the third girl. Why bother? I'm not there at all. That hut is an excuse for the third girl's whimsy. Think, those woods have nothing to do with me, why should I Guard them? Even the woods are the third girl's nonsense. Where are there trees? There are only grasses on the mountains. Your eyesight must be better now, can you see me?" "Can't see, can only hear you talking." "He can't work hard to train his eyesight," the old lady once said, "I hinted to him earlier that our eyesight is like night owls, but he still doesn't believe it. Now you should be convinced? We can see Seeing you, you just can't see us. You have to live with me and practice every day." The old man once said: "Do you remember the magazine thing? Actually, you've been practicing since then, but it's impossible to get to our level. For example, we can go in this hole and go all the way to the top of the mountain." , and then walk back, as for you, you can only wander around the edge of the cave." His tone was triumphant, "I hide now, and you will never see me again." He did hide, and Pip felt around, and could only feel the mossy walls of the cave. "Your skills are still far behind!" said the woman, "We should go back." "But we haven't traveled yet!" "Travel? I forgot. Haven't you traveled?" "I'm not traveling, I'm still in this town." "I don't know what you're talking about. Why do you say the words travelling? You've seen my map and don't understand? Do you think your father was doing the kind of traveling you're talking about?" Fell into the ice? I tell you not at all, he fell into the small river in front of us. It was so cold that no one could rescue him. We have been waiting for you for decades, and now you are here, yes Deceived, you voluntarily deceived, right? There is still a little time, let's go back and sleep." Pip must have stayed at the old lady Zeng's house.During the day, the woman was busy with things in the store, and she let Pipzhun sit on a small round stool all day peeling edamame.Pip was not very serious at first, but after a while he stood up again and went out into the street to watch the excitement.Later, the woman got angry and took him back to teach him a lesson, so he became honest.But his concentration is not concentrated, he is always listening to the sound outside.One day, he heard the third girl and Xiao Huzi quarreling outside. It seemed that the third girl had been beaten by the little beard, and the third girl screamed.Pip must have wanted to go out to have a look, but Lao Zeng stopped him.Another day in the afternoon, he heard Miss Li's voice, he rushed out recklessly, but saw a strange girl who spoke, the girl was very ugly, and she was not young.Then Lao Zeng also came out and accused him of being frivolous and never working hard. She also called him an "old pervert" in front of the ugly girl and asked her to beware of him, which made Pipzhun dumbfounded, so he had no choice but to grieve Liuliu went back to peel the edamame. Peeling edamame was a monotonous, endless job, and Pip must have wondered why so many edamame were needed in the shop, and when he finally finished peeling a basket, the woman brought it again and asked him to "cancel once and for all." Thoughts," "concentration," and the like repelled Pip. Every night, when the woman finished her work, she set out the map to study with him.It was a study, but Pip must have been thinking of something else.Since he felt that he would never be able to understand it, he gave up studying.The woman didn't know that he was listening to the voices outside, and the two of them sat at the table, although they didn't understand each other at all, they felt like they were connected.Pip must have liked this moment of silence, as well as the noise outside.He was inside and outside at the same time, and his heart was throbbing with indescribable joy.They sat there without speaking a word, and the hours slipped away like this. After a few weeks, the woman told him that he could draw the new map himself.Pip's mind was in a mess, and he had no idea of ​​a new map at all.Lao Zeng put a piece of paper and a pen on the table and walked away. Now it was Pip who was allowed to sit alone in the room, and he was still listening to the sounds outside, and he sat there, and he couldn't draw anything, and the sheet of paper before him was always a blank sheet.Sometimes, he opened the drawer and took out the map drawn by Lao Zeng to look at it, or pretended to look at it, because he was still confused and didn't feel anything new.There must have been a real change in Pip these days, a change that had never been seen before, and that was that he had become more at ease with the situation, and let it go.Living in the woman's hotel, he felt more at ease every day.He no longer tried to find out about Wuli Street, nor was he embarrassed by the fact that his hair was getting thinner day by day, all these things were getting farther and farther away from him.He absently peeled the edamame, absently listened to the familiar and unfamiliar voices outside, and absently looked at the map drawn by Lao Zeng.He does these things every day without doing anything.One day, while sitting behind closed doors, he blurted out the word "stone" and fell silent. A few months later an unexpected visitor came into the restaurant, and as soon as his tall and familiar figure passed by the windowpane, Pip recognized him, and seemed a little annoyed at the recognition. His face fell.Pip would hate to be disturbed now. "Hello, Mr. Pip June." "Hello, old man, what are you doing here?" "Don't you want to know what's going on in Wuli Street?" Old Wang's tone was still as aggressive as before. "What on earth did you come to see me for?" Pip was annoyed. "Me? I came to see you? I'm your neighbor. I live on the street. Haven't you ever found out?" Old Wang's face showed a real surprised expression. "Then how did you come here?" Pip was even more troubled. "Did you come here alone?" "You don't have to worry about how I came here. I grew up here, and it's not easy to come here. Let me tell you, besides me, Miss Li also came, but she didn't show up in the town. She I have planned to live in seclusion from now on." A smile appeared on Old Wang's face. At this moment, Lao Zeng came in from the outside carrying dishes, and saw Lao Wang.She nodded to Lao Wang with the eyes of an acquaintance, which was regarded as a greeting. "And Miss Li's parents, Lao Zeng, and the white-bearded old man, are they all here?" Pip asked desperately, "And your museum, did you bring them too?" "It's all here." Lao Wang said affirmatively, "Speaking of the museum, do I still need to carry it with me? It's in my heart, and I can find materials at any time. For example, when you just came here, drinking tea in a teahouse I picked up the paper towels that I dropped, and now I keep them in an air-raid shelter. You have been to this air-raid shelter once, but you dare not go in. I even keep the shoes that your father left on the shore when he fell into the ice cave. In the future, I will Will show you one more time. Have you found a new job now?" "Hmm," said Pip-jun vaguely, listening to voices outside the window.Two women were arguing outside.The hoarse voice was like an old crow, and many people dragged carts and yelled on the street.Lao Wang was still talking, and Pip was getting more and more distracted, not knowing what he was talking about.Gradually, Lao Wang's voice became confused with the sounds outside, making it difficult to distinguish, and he himself disappeared from the room at some point.Pipzhun raised his head and saw that the old lady Zeng was bringing in a basket of celery and asked him to help clean it up. "This man smells bad, where did he come from?" asked the woman. "Just out of the graveyard," said Pip, surely. "I think so, otherwise why would it be so smelly." "He lives on the street, don't you know?" "Of course I know. Everyone I see in this town has lived here. Just like you, you were also born here, but you just came back after going out for a while. It's all the same as the map I drew Related." She said confidently. Pip was picking up the celery, feeling that his troubles were gradually disappearing.At this time, the old lady once again praised him for "improving his work" and rewarded him with an apple. That night, sitting under the electric light, the old woman used a red pen to mark the location of one town after another on the map, and briefly introduced the history of each town and how far they were from here.Pip listened without blinking, and found her words more and more incomprehensible.For example, she said, "This town is called Sixing Town, which is 130 kilometers away from here. You went there when you were twelve years old. When you and your father entered the town by car, there was an archway made of pines and cypresses at the intersection. Girls are eating wontons sitting at the rough table by the side of the road.” Another example, “This is the most prosperous city in this area, you talked about it many years ago.” "I haven't been to those places," Pip said. "Really?" said the woman, "You must have forgotten. You always remember the archway made of pines and cypresses." "Maybe." Pip sighed.He could see that this woman was after her, every sentence, every word, every line she drew on the paper, was full of that ruthless suggestion, which he had once refused, and now Still want to refuse.He felt imprisoned in this small room in the back of the restaurant in this small town.His eyes were bright and he could hear all directions, but his body could not move an inch.He faced the woman, and from her indifferent eyes, he clearly saw the abandoned house on the side of the road.In the beginning, he was imprisoned there. The woman's eyes told him that he had nowhere to hide. "It's just what you want," said the woman, who went into the hall, her hollow voice remaining in the room, rattling the walls, "one day you'll come out of here again." Go out of the house and walk straight along the street, and then you meet a wonton seller. After you greet him, continue walking, the street disappears behind you, and the sound of firecrackers becomes faint, and finally you arrive at a The new town, the yellow dog solemnly guards the street."