Chapter 34 short story green turtle

The smelly water in front of old man Hu San is a paradise for chickens.The house is an old-fashioned three-story building. The sewer has been blocked for many years, so every family pours sewage out of the window.On a sunny day, the sun dried the sewage, and the soil on the edge was loose and fat, and all kinds of bugs crawled out of it, and old man Hu San's flock of chickens began to have a passionate feast.The chicken's two paws forcefully scraped the soil over, and the sharp beak kept pecking at the soil, and there were always unexpected harvests.They don't look like they are looking for food, but it seems that because of their scratching, worms grow in the soil.There is a pitted hen that old man Hu San admires the most. She loves cleaning very much and always stands on the side of the dry ground. She scratches with both feet calmly and powerfully. Eager and flustered like her peers, there seemed to be an inner rhythm, and of course she was tireless in this regard.Not far in front of the house is the main road, where agricultural vehicles emit billowing black smoke, and taxis bark harshly.

Old man Hu San sits at the door and dozes off every day. This is his compulsory course from 2:00 to 3:00 every afternoon.He felt that the world around him was changing day by day, and he couldn't tell where it had changed.He has been living in memories since many years ago.For example, this pitted hen, old man Hu San always thinks of her image when she was young.At that time, the pitted chicken ran swayingly, and was almost caught by an eagle once, but the hungry eagle missed her and caught another white hen. After that accident, she gave birth to this kind of queen like dignity.When he was young, he planned with others to build a rocket to go to the moon. It was a mistake. He had long since lost interest in that kind of thing, but some things remained in his memory forever: the dark courtyard, the bright The glaring gas lamps, the dirty blueprints, and the smoking men with gangster-like faces gathered around the big square table. Everyone had ashen faces, eyes staring at the blueprints, but they were waiting for that fatal scream in their hearts.Old man Hu San always thought, why can't people be as calm and composed as this mottled chicken?Everyone was startled and kicked all four legs of the table.There was a thin man among the people, who rushed out whenever there was any noise, bumped into something and knocked over something, and was just as crazy every time. By the time everyone realized it, he had already disappeared without a trace.The planning process was really long and boring. Everyone was haunted by the data and had nightmares, and they were unwilling to give up, so everyone lived in the dark.Hu San often bumped into a colleague on the street in broad daylight, and heard him say a few numbers with his eyes wide open. Only after listening did he realize that he was sleepwalking.Hu San seems to be able to vividly remember everything, but there is only one thing that terrifies him because of its vagueness and thinness, and that is his own image.

"Old man Hu San's chicken looks better than mine." Yuan Pu yelled loudly, and stopped in front of Hu San. Hu San didn't want to talk to him, and still kept his eyes closed.This Yuanpu also planned rocket building with all of them before, but he disappeared not long after, and when he came back, he was already a little old man, and he settled down two streets away from Hu San’s house. He ran over and sneered at Hu San, as if he was looking for fun, but also seemed to be dissatisfied with himself.He often started to attack Hu San, filled with righteous indignation, but later turned into self-defeating, and sometimes cried.Hu San hated his exaggeration the most, but his emotions didn't look like exaggeration, but he had something in his heart to find someone to vent to.

Yuan Pu looked very stubborn today, standing in front of Hu San to block the sun, waiting to talk to him.Hu San remembered that the place where he was standing was the place where they used to set the square table. At that time, there were no buildings, only a one-story house with stone walls and a yard. There were four black locusts planted in the yard. , Hu San's face was swollen, and the plain, unpainted catalpa square table was placed under the locust tree. Hu San opened his eyes reluctantly, and let out a reproachful "Huh?" "I'm done with the calculations." Yuan Pu said, still motionless.

Hu San felt that he was a bit strange today, why did he give up on himself as soon as he opened his mouth? "I haven't been anywhere in my life," he added. "Then you're still coming back?" Hu San retorted viciously. The thought of being ruined by this guy again after a good afternoon made him angry. "I shouldn't have come back." "It's too late to leave now, just bring a change of clothes." "That's true. But what's the use? Let me tell you a secret. In all the days I was out there, there was not a day when I didn't think about our old business and the terrible consequences. I always went to the middle of the river. Go, let the river cover my head, if I don't know how to water, maybe I can't come back. When I come back, I will spend my old age like you, I even raised chickens, but I can't, I'm almost finished ."

"Everything will be fine." Hu San said softly. He walked very slowly when he left, and Hu San felt that he was hesitating inside.He thought, if their launch was successful that time, would the young Hu San have a vivid image in his memory now?Now he is sitting here, trying his best to re-feel the psychological shock caused by that strange cry before.It was the middle of the night, and people were running around like a flock of frightened chickens. Hu San rushed back to his office and squatted down in a dark corner.A streak of moonlight fell from the tall, narrow window, accentuating the surrounding darkness, and the rows of bookshelves rattled.But Hu San didn't feel terrified, as if even the fear wasn't very real, he just hoped that the dawn would come soon, and people would come back as soon as it dawned.He never expected that there was a person squatting by the door, and it was the groan of that person that exposed himself.That man was a chef, and the chef kept repeating this sentence: "Tell me, how can a person endure this kind of fear?" His joints were crackling, his body was like sifting chaff, and his voice became weaker and weaker. .He finally breathed his last before dawn.The chef's death was a bit like some kind of secret presented to Hu San. It took a lot of effort for several men to get him to the funeral car with his big bones.Thirty years later, the image of the chef is still so vivid.He had a daughter, who was about five years old at the time, and the child fell on the stretcher, leaving several teeth marks on the father's face. The scene was horrible.The girl married a pastry chef when she grew up, and Hu San often saw her selling bread with her eyes downcast, and every time she passed by, Hu San always made a detour.Yuan Pu's departure was before the chef's death, and his departure did not bring him relief at all, and his heart seemed to tighten even more.At that time, there were often sporadic news about him, all of which were extremely absurd, and often caused an uproar among the people, so Hu San didn't feel that he had left.Besides, he didn't go very far, and from the map he seemed to be circling the area.It's kind of funny that he actually said the word "career" today.Even he, Hu San, didn't know what to think about the plan when he was young. It seemed to be just a big and empty reverie, without any substance.However, isn't there something substantial about him himself?It can be described with metaphors such as a scarf and a cloud of smoke.During the few days when the stone house was being demolished, he had been running around with the workers, his legs no longer looked like his own, and he seemed to be flying through the clouds, causing several people to stop their work from time to time and look at him in surprise.On the first day of living in the new building, Hu San heard the sound of motors ringing all night long. He got up several times and went outside to look, but he couldn’t find the place where the sound was coming from. It seemed that everything around him had become motors. The ground also produced a slight vibration.After a while, he finally realized that the only way out was to get used to the noise.None of the residents in the building felt the ubiquitous noise, and they did not get up at night.At the beginning, Hu San always wanted to communicate with these people and talk about this matter, but every time he saw their unusually serious faces, he retracted what he wanted to say.Year after year, Hu San's desire to communicate with others has completely disappeared, and now he is even afraid that his neighbors will intervene in his life.He sat by the door, closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, but was actually awake most of the time.There was an old woman named Suyuan who was particularly annoying to him. She always came to chat with him and called him an "old hero". It was "too strange" and a big "shock" to her.Hu San thought, she really didn't hear that kind of noise, or she didn't get up for a walk at night.Her attitude is to make Hu San feel ashamed, why?What does Hu San have to be ashamed of?

Because there were too many mosquitoes and flies in the water, Hu San always lit a stick of hygienic incense next to the chair. A plate of this kind of incense can be lit for four hours. The strong herbal smell often makes him hallucinate, and everything is lost. confused in time.So the old courtyard reappeared in front of my eyes, but the people around the square table were not those old men, but these serious-faced people in the building, and Suyuan was among them, her old voice was like a duck quacking.She often utters the kind of heartfelt words that are not willing to be lonely, such as "never have the slightest thought of being discouraged" and so on.She is an active member among the people.In this illusion, Hu San himself was not present, and sometimes he thought he might be hiding in a corner.The sounds that echoed in my ears were the duck-like voice, and then there was the sound of the motor, which was simply earth-shattering.Hu San closed his eyes and smiled wryly. He felt something cold on his forehead. It turned out that the dirty water from upstairs splashed on his face.The pitted hen had eaten enough and was bathing with the plaster on the ground. Every day when Hu San looked at her, there was that kind of awe in his heart.

"Come? Come! I knew you were coming. People of our age, are there any other things that need to be on our minds? Although you are reluctant, that's not what's on your mind?" Yuan Pu said quickly while arranging Hu San to sit down.Hu San saw a large water tank in Yuanpu's house, and there were six green-haired turtles crawling in it. These turtles looked like ghosts.When Yuan Pu came in just now, he was lying on the side of the tank to feed them, his innocent expression didn't look like he had something on his mind at all, and Hu San couldn't help wondering if he was lying in front of him.Of course, it is also possible that he belongs to the kind of person who can be open and sighs during the day, and snores when he collapses at night.Hu San rarely came to Yuanpu's house, how could he know that he was coming?

"These turtles are new to me, and their old look suits me very well." Yuan Pu laughed, and Hu San thought he looked like a child.The room was filled with the usual smell of an old bachelor's house, the same smell as Hu San's house.Hu San couldn't find anything to say, so he bent down to inspect the turtles. Hu San had never seen this kind of turtle before, and they were fluffy and eerie.At this time, Yuanpu suddenly reached out and pressed his neck into the tank, and said hurriedly against his ear: "Look, what a solemn expression! Get closer, get closer! Those beards and hairs on their bodies To bring you back tens of thousands of years ago..."

Hu San tried his best to move out because of fear, but still wet his hair, he was really angry from embarrassment. "M-murder?" he stammered, blushing. "Why kill you? He's already old and useless, he's worth the effort of others." Yuan Pu walked away resentfully, and said, "Don't keep thinking in one direction." As a result of the tossing just now, the green-haired turtle started to swim, with its green hair up and down, very slowly, not like swimming, but like a corpse floating on the water.Hu San withdrew his eyes from the tank, thinking in his heart that Yuan Pu's actions just now were too incredible, could it be that these decades of life have already made him abnormal?He was smoking a cigarette at the door, his pale, long fingers trembling slightly.Hu Sanyi's anger came up again when he remembered that his hands almost killed him just now.This person's life was so unsatisfactory, but he always made great efforts to do strange things secretly. Hu San didn't expect that his skinny hands would have such strength.However, this person's mind is obviously not on killing people, and his attitude is always very vague, as if he is always thinking about some distant things.After calming down, Hu San didn't dare to think that he had seen through the old man in front of him.Everything depends on the development of the situation. This is the creed of old man Hu San all his life.Thinking about it, even his own youthful image was only vaguely recalled for a lifetime, so how could he figure out the old man in front of him?

"When you saw those turtles just now—" he paused, gargling his throat, "when you observed them up close, you didn't have that kind of impulse, which is beyond my expectation. Can you What do you get? Everyone has troubles, so you better go." Hu San walked out of that room lightly, as if his feet were not his own anymore.However, he also noticed the flock of chickens in front of the house. What kind of chickens were they? They seemed to have never been fed.He was worried that Yuan Pu would stare at his back, so he didn't look back.After walking for a while, he was surprised to find that most of the houses around Yuanpu's residence had been demolished, which he didn't notice when he came.Big trucks come and go, all moving, and this area is almost in ruins.Someone was calling him, the thin man from before, an old colleague who hadn't seen him for many years, his hair was all white.Next to him was his wife, shivering like a dead leaf in the wind.Decades have passed, and this guy still has that spark of passion in his eyes.He was moving now, and he told Hu San, "Leaving the former residence behind is like remembering it forever." Hu San hated his verbalism very much, and shook his hands to leave, but he held on to his sleeves.His eyes were watery, and he insisted on Hu San answering his question: "What decision was made at Yuanpu's house?" Hu San said, without making any decision.He shook his head in disbelief and said that he had no choice but to travel far away with all his doubts.The lace of one of his leather shoes was all loose, and his coat was not buttoned properly, like an old beggar, he had no sense of his material life at all, which was expected by Hu San.He continued to pester him, but the thin wife grabbed the back of his clothes and dragged him away like a tug-of-war.At a distance, he staggered and raised an arm and shouted, "Farewell, my friend!" Hu San walked forward for a while, and the car that the thin man moved followed. It was like playing hide-and-seek. It walked when Hu San walked, and stopped when Hu San stopped. The driver honked his horn repeatedly, which was very annoying.The thin man leaned on a large cabinet with a broken door, looking detached, while his wife signaled to Hu San to get out of the way. Hu San had already moved to the side of the road. She was still not satisfied, and squeezed her hands together. Cheng fist threatened to make Hu San completely disappear from her sight.Hu San felt amused. In his impression, this woman had never escaped from the disease. How did she become so strong now?Could it be that moving has inspired her vitality?For many years, there was one thing that made Hu San uneasy, that is, all the members in the previous plan did not leave this place, as if they had made an appointment.They live around him, but they don't communicate with each other. The only person who has contact with Hu San is Yuan Pu.Although he doesn't communicate with each other, Hu San doesn't feel that he has broken away from the former group.All of them are perverse, reticent, scattered in the crowd and not conspicuous.Normally, the thin man would not talk to him, but today the couple's attitude is very abnormal, maybe it is really the last breakup.Hu San looked at the thin man carefully, and saw that he was still in deep thought, and his expression was no longer human. After digging and digging among the demolished houses, he was covered in dust, and old man Hu San finally got back home.Sitting on the armchair at the door, panting, recalling this trip, he felt as if he had been hit by a trap.I couldn't help thinking of what Yuan Pu said to him when he left: "Hu San, you've already lived to the end." This kind of thing is nothing new, so he is not afraid, he is just curious: what will happen next what?Now he finally connects these things: this is the change that happened around him, more than thirty years have passed in a blink of an eye, the change is real.But after thinking about it, it seems that nothing has changed. It is still the plan that dominates everyone's life.It was because of that hollow fantasy that they didn't move, and I'm afraid they moved for the same reason.Hu San heard from his neighbor Suyuan that the skinny man was always shut up at home and cried loudly, and the neuroticism of his youth hadn't changed at all.For him, Hu San, the former stone house was changed into the current building, the yard became the road, and he himself changed from a technical person to a retired lonely old man. He didn't feel much of these changes.One night, determined to be a thief, he sneaked into a warehouse behind a shop and stole a case of beer.The crime was successful and nothing happened.So he felt that this move was completely superfluous.The case of beer was still under the bed, wrapped in old newspaper, as if mocking his futility. One rainy day, Hu San was lying in the room, and saw a familiar figure passing by the window, and then another, and when the third person appeared, Hu San couldn't help shouting: "Xiao Lu!" The man stopped. Hu San immediately felt that it was inappropriate to call the old man in front of him "Xiaolu", which was the name thirty years ago. The grooves on Xiaolu's forehead moved exaggeratedly a few times, but he still stood where he was, without poking his head in to look. "Teacher Hu has world affairs in his heart, which is really commendable." Hu San saw another person pushing towards Xiaolu, and then there were fifth and sixth people, all of whom were acquaintances, and they were impatiently pushing Xiaolu forward, because there were still people behind.Hu San closed his eyes, he didn't want to look any more, these people had filled his mind.How did he become as "pretending to have world affairs in his heart" as he is now?Isn't this the change of himself?The plan that has died is actually being revived every moment. This kind of resurrection in the blood vessels is difficult to express in words. Think about it, it has been more than 30 years, and the original team of the year is still in the Here, what is it if it's not reconciliation?Today seems to be a special day. These people who usually don't interact with each other pass by his house together. Could it be that something is going to happen?Hu San got excited, put on his shoes and went outside to watch. His chickens lined up in a row under the eaves in front of the house, standing and squatting, combing their feathers calmly.The rain was drifting obliquely, and the air was filled with a sad mood, and the excitement that had just arisen in Hu San's heart gradually subsided again.Old lady Suyuan ran towards him out of the rain, waved her hand and said: "he died." "Who?" "Your eldest brother. The old man lived for too long, and maggots grew on his neck. It seemed that he was very happy when he left! After walking for several days, the family didn't find out. I can understand this kind of thing. " Big Brother is the central figure in that plan and he deserves happiness.Hu San saw the facts before him clearly.Should he pay a visit?Hu San looked at the pitted hen, as if asking her to make up her mind.Mo Dian Chicken lazily retracted its head into its wings, as if it didn't care about anything. "It's best not to say goodbye to those close to you." Suyuan said with an insider's expression. But she didn't know it, she was an outsider who moved here later.Sometimes, the judgment of outsiders often hits the nail on the head. Hu San made up his mind in a short while not to join the ranks of his former accomplices.He sat under the eaves watching the rain, and those green turtles always appeared in his mind. He deeply felt that Yuan Pu was really a visionary, and he himself, a little dull, had never been as restless as him. It can be said that Compared with Yuan Pu, my own life belongs to the kind of half-dead.For more than thirty years, Hu San has never had a dream, he is always awake, and only dozes off at night.Sometimes, when he was extremely tired, he wondered, could this be a dream?but not.He bit his finger, frowning in pain.Only childhood memories have dreams. "They will all be leaving this place as soon as the funeral is over. It must have been agreed." "Very good." "And you, I'm afraid you stayed forever. Someone has to stay, right?" "right." "I can understand how you feel." Although Hu San hated the old lady Suyuan, he couldn't help telling her about the green turtle.Suyuan said, Yuanpu's pickled old man, who opened his mouth and his teeth are rotten, of course only that kind of monster is suitable for breeding.Hu San was very annoyed again, he shouldn't have talked far away with this old woman, what value is the opinion of such a person?It's nothing more than a discussion, but I actually told her the secret of my colleague, I was really dizzy.Seeing that his face was gloomy, Suyuan stomped away and kicked the spotted chicken while walking. The hen screamed and flew into the air and landed in the muddy water.Hu San looked at the embarrassed look of the hen, and thought to herself, she also lost her composure sometimes.Yuan Pu left yesterday evening, carrying an ugly and big burden, hunchbacked and walking very fast. Hu San wanted to catch up with him and call him, but his feet seemed to be nailed in place.Maybe he had seen Hu San long ago and didn't want to say goodbye to him out of contempt.When Hu San recalled the scene of the green-haired turtle, he felt a little ashamed.After the colleagues are gone, there will be some empty houses left. Will there be people to live in those houses?Hu San was thinking about Yuanpu's tortoise, so he went to his house to see it that night.Looking in through the crack of the door, the water tank is still in the middle of the house, and the turtle is of course also inside.The female neighbor came to tell Hu San that Yuan Pu would not come back, and told her not to touch the things in the house. Yuan Pu also said that the turtles could live for two years without eating.Hu San shuddered all over when he heard this, and hurried to leave. The female neighbor followed him and said, "Mr. Yuanpu is really a ruthless hero." Hu San seemed to hear her laughing behind him.He was thinking all night last night, what would be the final situation of those turtles that couldn't get out?The faint sound of gongs and drums sounded in the rain. Hu San felt that this publicity was a bit ridiculous, and it didn't meet the wishes of the dead.How can a dead person who has been eaten by maggots want to make public?But maybe the sound of gongs and drums has another purpose, maybe those people want to cheer up their spirits?Just now Xiaolu looked like he was dreaming.Hu San himself wanted to dream. He had been thinking about it for thirty years, but he just couldn't do it. That's why he had to stay here.Probably the tortoise doesn't dream either.Thinking of this, Hu San was stunned for a moment, and finally understood Yuan Pu's intention of letting him see the turtle. This was his last message.He was so scared at the time, and now this day has finally come. When old man Hu San woke up from his short sleep, his heart calmed down instead.He got up and walked to the door, and let the group of chickens out of the chicken coop, only feeling a sense of solidity spread to his limbs.Everything around was solidified, the summer sun was shining outside the door, and even the sound of motor vehicles on the road could not be heard, but a big blowfly flew in the silence, making a buzzing sound in the air, getting bigger and bigger. It sounded like a helicopter was coming to sweep.Hu San was thinking freely amidst the ubiquitous humming sound, wondering how he could still have such sensitivity in his old age.He moved a box clumsily, and pulled out a wooden box from under the bed, which contained some souvenirs of his previous life.It was all ridiculous things, such as a rusty screw, a belt buckle, a packet of chicken plague, a piece of bark, a spinning top that was only a third of its size, a moldy negative (photographed a wall or the back of a person's head), a spoon handle, a bunch of shoelaces, and so on.He poked around in the box, and finally found the huge cicada slough. He put the thing on the table, and sat down panting to observe.In addition to its huge size, this cicada has a different color. It has been in the dark under the bed for so many years, and it still has that slight red color. At first glance, it looks like a live cicada.Hu San stared at the cicada, and the thinking in his head was immediately blocked, as if it was going to explode.Hu San looked away from the window, still feeling that the cicadas were getting bigger and bigger, and after a while, they filled the entire table.Hu San didn't dare to look at it, his eyes were in a trance, and when he lowered his head, he found that the round blowfly had fallen to his feet and was already dead.And outside the house, the motor vehicles on the road sounded again.Hu San found a piece of paper, wrapped the dead fly in it, and threw it into the garbage bag in the corner. Recalling the power of the fly just now, he was surprised how it died so simply. "Hu San, you still have such a lot of leisure at this age." Old lady Suyuan picked up the cicada slough from the table and shined it on the sun again and again.Hu San looked at her and panicked. "The thing about the green-haired turtle you talked about that day, I thought about it in my heart. Now that everyone is gone, don't you become a green-haired turtle?" She put down the cicada slough and said solemnly. "I'm so happy, this kind of thing." She pursed her lips and said something else. The old woman was gone, and the house still smelled of her body, the decaying smell of the cave.Hu San thought, he had never understood her words, but what she said today was exactly what was in his mind, he really saw a ghost.Indeed, to those turtles, isn't that big water tank as big as the world Hu San lives in?What's so scary about that kind of thing? Hu San immediately decided that he would visit those turtles in the afternoon and listen carefully to the sound through the crack of the door.If you meet a female neighbor, ask her in detail about Yuan Pu's situation before he left.Hu San shuddered at the thought that a person could maintain a gloomy passion for more than thirty years. Hu San knew that the cicada slough on the table was getting bigger again, and he knew it without looking at it.The huge thing blocked his thinking.He understood that it was just a shell, not a real creature like the green turtle at all, but he always doubted this division.For example, now, when he walked to the door and looked outside, he still felt the crowd in the room, the cicada slough was domineeringly expanding into the space, and he was being squeezed out of breath. "Green-haired turtle, green-haired turtle." He muttered like a fool, and a sense of happiness really came to him.The sun in the corridor and the chickens all looked very peaceful, just like a May morning in his experience.At this moment, just at this moment, he saw the image of himself when he was young, it was a fisherman with a lush beard on his face, and he knew it was himself, and every hair of his made old man Hu San haunt his dreams.