Chapter 8 Chapter Six

In 1929, I turned fourteen.That year, I became a sinner. Also in that year, scientists from home and abroad came to Longgu Mountain in Zhoukoudian one after another.Wearing sunhats and high boots, carrying all kinds of shovels, probing sticks, sorting trays, and hissing potions, they dug holes and ran from drugstore to drugstore, buying all the medicines in the store. keel.We also heard rumors that foreigners are going to set up their own keel agencies.Some villagers ran to the site of the archaeological pit with axes in their hands and drove the foreigners out. Later, several Chinese workers who helped the scientists dig the keels spread rumors that two of the keel bones were probably human teeth.Everyone thought they were talking about someone who hadn't been dead for long.Whose grave would it be dug from?Whose family's old man, or old lady?Some people stopped buying keels because of this.There are large characters posted on the door of the pharmacy, claiming: The medicinal materials in this store do not contain human bones.

At that time, Aunt Bao still had four or five keel bones, all of which were dug by us in the ancestral secret cave of their family. There was another one, which was an oracle bone given to her by her father many years ago.She used up the rest to treat me over the years.She assured me that the ones she gave me were definitely not human bones.But not long after she said this, her father, the dead bone setter, entrusted her with a dream and said, "The bones in your hand are not keel bones, but bones of our family. Ancestor with a hole in his mouth. We stole his bones, he cursed us, so almost our whole family died. Your mother, your brother, me, and your fiancé were all cursed by the ancestors. Besides, it’s not that It’s over when a person dies. Ever since I came to the underworld, the ghosts of my ancestors have always haunted me. If I hadn’t already died, I would have been scared to death by him thousands of times.”

"Then what should we do?" Aunt Bao asked in her dream. "Return the bones. Unless the bones are returned to their original owners, he will never let us go. The next one is you, and the future generations of our family will not be able to escape the curse. My dear daughter, listen to me, your own The ancestors seek revenge on you, the most terrible thing." The next morning, Aunt Bao got up early to go out and came back very late.After she came back, she looked much more relaxed.But soon there was news from the workers on Dragon Bone Mountain, they said: "Those teeth are not only human teeth, but also fell from the skulls of our earliest ancestors. The ancestors from a million years ago!" "The scientists named the skull "Peking Man."What they need now is to find more bone fragments to put together a complete skull, and then find a few more bones to connect the head to the chin, then connect the chin to the neck, connect the neck to the shoulders, and so on , make him a complete man.That is to say, there are still a lot of bones to be found, so the scientists asked the villagers to collect keel bones from the medicine shop and the front and back of their houses.If human bones are found, the person who finds them can go to receive the reward.

What a million years!Everyone kept talking.There was endless discussion.The second uncle guessed that one keel can be exchanged for one million copper coins.But my father said: "Copper coins are worthless now. One million taels of silver is about the same." Everyone talked about it, and the amount finally rose to one million taels of gold.The whole town is talking about this, and everyone keeps saying that "old bones grow new flesh" all day long.Since the value of the keel is so high now, at least everyone thinks so, the keel cannot be traded as an ordinary medicinal material.Those who are terminally ill have no keel to heal, and can only wait for death.But so what?We are all descendants of Beijingers.This Beijinger is famous all over the world.

I naturally thought of those keel bones that Aunt Bao put back in the cave.It was definitely a human bone—that's what her father had told her in a dream. "We can sell one million taels of gold," I said to Aunt Bao.I don't want to sell the keel for my own sake. I think that if Aunt Bao's keel can help the family earn a lot of money, the family might think highly of her. But Aunt Bao gestured with her fingers and said, whatever the millions, if we sell the bones, the curse will find us again, and the ghosts will take us and our little bones away.At that time we have to hang millions of gold around our necks and bribe the imps of the underworld.She stretched out her finger and poked it on my forehead, and then said, let me tell you, if we don’t torture our whole family to death, there will be endless ghosts.When our family members are all dead, it will be over.She clenched her fist and hit her chest again.I'd rather die myself.I really don't want to live anymore.I survived because of you.

"Then I have nothing to fear," I said. "Anyway, it's you who cursed and not me. I can go and get the bones back." Aunt Bao suddenly slapped me on the head.Don't say such things!She waved her hands desperately.Do you think I have suffered enough?Never go back.Never move those bones.Promise me quickly, tell me right away that you won't go!She grabbed my shoulder and shook it desperately until I couldn't take it anymore and promised her that I wouldn't go, she didn't give up. One day, I remember it was the day before the Spring Festival, the old cook at home came back from the fair and announced a big news that spread throughout Xianxin Village.Boss Zhang of the coffin shop suddenly became famous and was about to make a fortune.At the beginning, he gave some keel bones to the scientists, and now it turns out that they are indeed human bones.Exactly how old the bones were was not known, but everyone guessed it must be at least a million years old, or maybe two million years old.

At that time, our whole family, women and children, were in the ink shop, only Aunt Bao was not there. She was in the cellar, counting the ink sticks she had carved.I'm glad she wasn't there because she spits on whenever Boss Jang is mentioned.When he came to deliver the wood, everyone asked Aunt Bao to go back to the room, and Aunt Bao beat the iron bucket in the room and cursed Boss Zhang. She knocked so loudly that the nearby tenants yelled at her. "What a coincidence," said the aunt. "Isn't it Boss Zhang who sold us wood? Maybe we can share some of his blessings."

"There's more to our family than that," my mother boasted. "Back when my uncle was killed by Mongolian bandits, Boss Zhang happened to bump into him, so he stopped the car to help. This Boss Zhang is a good man." It seems that we really have a relationship with this boss Zhang.Mother thought that since Boss Zhang was about to make a fortune, the wood left over from his coffins should be sold at a lower price, and the price would probably drop soon. "It's a blessing for everyone to share," my mother continued in her own words. "Otherwise God will not obey."

Aunt Bao returned to Mofang and quickly understood what everyone was talking about.She beat her chest and stamped her feet, waved her hands desperately, and said with gestures, this person named Zhang was either Dongshi, or he killed my father and Hu Sen. She made a strange sound desperately, as if she wanted to take her throat out. I think she is wrong.Her father was drunk and fell off the carriage to death, and her uncle was kicked to death by his own horse.That's what my mother and aunts told me. Aunt Bao grabbed my arm, stared into my eyes, and said to me quickly with her hands, tell them, little dog, tell them what I said is true.She made a gesture and poured the keel into the palm of her hand, and said: I understand now, the keel that the person surnamed Zhang took probably belonged to our family, my father.On the day of my wedding, Zhang stole the keel, which was my dowry.Those are the keels dug out of the monkey's mouth hole.We have to get the bones back from the person surnamed Zhang and return them to the cave, otherwise the curse will not be lifted.Say it quickly.

Before I could speak, my mother interrupted: "I don't want to listen to her crazy talk. Do you hear me, girl?" Everyone was staring at me, and Aunt Bao was staring at me too.Come on, she urged me in sign language.But I turned my head to my mother, nodded and replied, "I understand." Aunt Bao rushed out of Mofang with a sobbing voice, which made me feel anxious and feel bad about myself. For a long time, there was no sound in Mofang.Later the old lady walked up to her mother and asked anxiously, "Hey, have you seen Hu Sen?" "He's in the yard," the mother replied.Then the old lady staggered out.

The aunts began to chew their tongues.The second aunt said softly, "I'm still crazy about what happened back then. Fifteen years have passed." For a while, I couldn't figure out whether they were talking about the old lady or Aunt Bao. The aunt went on to say, "Fortunately, she can't speak. Otherwise, if we want to teach people what she wants to say, where will our family's face be saved?" "You should kick her out," Second Aunt said to her mother.The mother nodded towards the old lady.The old lady over there was walking up and down and scratching at a bleeding wound behind her ear.My mother said, "It's because of the old lady that the crazy nanny has been here for so many years." I immediately understood what my mother meant: as soon as the old lady passed away, she could ask Aunt Bao to walk.For Aunt Bao, I felt a sudden tenderness in my heart.I wanted to tell my mother that she couldn't drive Aunt Bao away.But my mother didn't say anything, how could I argue with her? A month later, the old lady fell down and hit her head on the brick edge of her kang, and died before you.Father, uncle and second uncle rushed back from Beijing regardless of the dangerous journey.At that time, the area between Beijing and Zhoukoudian became a battlefield for warlords, and gun battles occurred from time to time.Our house is fairly safe, only seeing the tenants quarreling, and never seeing a gunfight.The old lady's body was placed in the main hall. When we paid homage, we had to teach the tenants not to shout a few times. When Boss Zhang delivered the coffin, Aunt Bao was still in her room, banging on the iron bucket and cursing him.I sat on a bench in the front yard and watched my father and Boss Zhang unload the car. I thought to myself, Aunt Bao was wrong.Boss Zhang is not like a thief.He was tall and well-mannered, with a calm demeanor.His father enthusiastically praised him for "making great contributions to science, history, and even the whole of China."Boss Zhang was obviously very happy and polite again.Then my father went into the house to get the money for the coffin and pay it to Boss Zhang. It was very cold that day, but Boss Zhang was sweating.He raised his hand and wiped his forehead with his sleeve, and it took a while before he noticed that I was staring at him. "You've really grown taller," he said to me.I blushed.Boss Zhang is a big celebrity, and a big celebrity is talking to me. "My sister is taller than me." I thought for a while and said. "She's a year younger than me." "Ah, good," he said. I don't want him to praise Gao Ling. "I heard that you have bones from Pekingese?" I said again. "Which bone is it?" "Oh, only a few dollars that matter." I also wanted to show some importance, so without thinking, I said, "I used to have some bones too," and immediately covered my mouth with my hand. Boss Zhang smiled, waited for me to continue, and then said after a while, "Where is that bone now?" Not wanting to be rude, I replied, "We put it back in the hole." "Where's the hole?" "I can't. My nanny made me promise not to. It's a secret." "Oh, that nanny of yours is the one with a particularly ugly face." Boss Zhang gesticulated on his face with his fingers. I nod. "She's a lunatic." He looked towards the sound of the drum being knocked.I said nothing. "It's the bone she went to find in that cave, right?" "We found it together. She put the bones back," I said quickly. "But I can't say where the hole is." "Of course. It really shouldn't be told to irrelevant people." "Oh, you're not a stranger! Our family knows you very well. Everyone says so." "You shouldn't have told me, though. But you must have told your parents." I shake my head. "I didn't tell anyone. If I had, they'd have gone and dug the bones out. That's what Aunt Precious said. She said the bones had to stay in the holes, or she'd be out of luck." "how could be?" "It's a curse. She'll die if I say it." "She's pretty old anyway, isn't she?" "I don't know. I don't think she's old." "Women die at all ages, but it's not because of any evil spells, it's often due to illness or accidents. The wife in front of me died ten years ago. She has always been stupid, and fell off the roof one day. Now I have a new wife, and it's better than the old one. If your nurse dies, you can find a new one." "I'm so old I don't need a sitter anymore," I said.I'm starting to dislike this kind of conversation.Soon my father took out the money given to Boss Zhang.The two of them chatted for a while, and then Boss Zhang said to me, "Let's talk about it next time I see you." After speaking, he took the empty car and left.Boss Zhang, a big celebrity in the town, actually noticed such a little guy, and my father seemed very happy to see me. A few days later, we had a funeral for the old lady.Everyone cried loudly, and according to custom, the mother, as the head of the house, cried the loudest.She devoted herself to her duties and cried until all thoughts were lost.I cried too, and I was still very scared, afraid that after the funeral was over, my mother would have to drive Aunt Bao to walk. But she didn't.Here's the thing: The mother believed that the soul of the old lady was still at home, and checked whether everyone followed her instructions and whether they violated them.Every time my mother was squatting in the toilet, I could always hear a voice asking her, "Have you seen Hu Sen?" When she said this, the second aunt replied, "When I saw your naked butt, Any ghost will be scared away." Everyone laughed, but the mother was furious when she heard this, and announced that everyone's monthly payment for the next month would be deducted. "Here is a lesson for you, to teach you how to respect old ladies," said the mother.Because of the haunting in the outer courtyard, my mother went to the village temple to burn incense and offer a lot of offerings every day.She also went to the old lady's grave to burn paper money, and made money for the old lady on the road, so that she would suffer less suffering in the underworld.But even so, my mother still suffered from constipation, and after staying up for ninety days, she ran back to the longevity shop and bought a paper car. The paper car was as big as a real car, and there was a driver on the car.The old lady once went back to Zhoukoudian to catch a temple fair, and saw a real car parked in the courtyard together with many horse-drawn carts and donkey carts.She said that the car drove away with a loud noise, and the ghosts would scare away when they heard it.The car is so fast that it can fly directly into the sky. So the car was reduced to ashes in the fire, and the soul of the old lady was sent from the latrine to the underworld.In this way, our house returned to its usual noisy appearance.Everyone went about their daily lives as usual, and what they talked about every day was mildew in the sorghum, cracked glass and other household chores, and there was nothing important about it. Only I am worried about Aunt Bao's fate in the future. I still remember the day my mother received the uninvited letter from Beijing.It was the dog days, and the mosquitoes were in full swing, and the melons and fruits would rot within an hour if they were placed outside in the sun.It has been more than ninety days since the old lady passed away.We were all sitting in the shade under the big tree in the yard, waiting to hear the news. We all know the old widow Liu who wrote the letter.She is a distant relative of our family, separated by eight floors from the father's line and five floors from the mother's line, so the relationship is not too far away, and she also participates in family weddings and weddings.The old lady also came to attend the funeral. Like everyone else, she cried loudly. My mother was illiterate, so I asked Gao Ling to read the letter to her.Seeing that such an important errand that showed my face fell into the hands of Gao Ling again, I could only try my best to hide my disappointment.Gao Ling straightened her hair, cleared her throat, licked her lips, and then opened her mouth to read: "'Cousin Xian Ruhao: I would like to convey my greetings to you on behalf of your family and relatives.'" Afterwards, Gao Ling stumbled and read a long list of names , which contains both newborn babies and relatives whose mothers know they are dead.On the next page, our old cousin wrote: "I know you are still in mourning, and cannot sleep or eat under the grief. So it seems inopportune to invite you all to Beijing at this time. But I keep referring to the last Take to heart what you and I said when we met at the funeral." Gao Ling put down the letter and turned to his mother, asking, "What are you talking about?" I was equally curious. Mother slapped Gao Ling's hand and said, "Don't worry about it. Keep reading, and I will tell you what you need to know." Gao Ling continued to read the letter: "'Forgive me to suggest, can the eldest daughter come to Beijing to meet a distant relative of mine.'" When I heard her talking about me, I was very excited.Gao Ling glared at me, and seeing her jealous face made me a little proud.Gao Ling continued to read, but the reading was not so enthusiastic: "'This relative of mine has four sons, and their family is the seventh cousin of mine. They are separated by three generations and have different surnames. Their family is in the same village as yours, but Almost completely unrelated to either of you.'" As soon as I heard the word "blood relative", I immediately understood that she wanted me to meet this person so that the family could see if I was suitable to be their wife.I was fourteen years old at the time, and most girls my age were already married at that time.As for who the family was, Widow Liu said that she would not disclose the family's situation unless she knew for sure that our family was interested in this matter.She wrote: "With all due respect, I didn't think of this family on my own initiative, but the father of the other party came to me and asked about Ru Ling's situation. The family obviously met Ru Ling, and they were especially impressed by her beauty and sweet temperament. deep." I blushed.My mother finally heard people praise me.Maybe she also thinks in her heart that I do have these advantages. "I'm going to Beijing too," Gao Ling whined like a kitten. Her mother scolded her and said, "Have you been invited? No! You are simply stupid for claiming to go." Gao Ling was about to moan again, and her mother pulled her braid vigorously and said, "Quickly shut up!" Mouth", then handed the letter to me, let me continue to read. I stood up straight and faced my mother, and began to read in a very cadenced manner: "'The other family suggests that the two sides meet in the Zunfu ink shop in Beijing.'" I stopped and smiled at Gao Ling.Neither Gao Ling nor I have ever been to the store.I continued to read, "'In this way, even if the two parties disagree, the two families will not lose face. If both parties think that this marriage is good, then it is really blessed by God, and I dare not take credit for it." The mother said contemptuously: "I dare not take credit for what I say, she is not planning a lot of thank you gifts." The rest of the letter is as follows: "It's hard to find a good daughter-in-law. I think you agree with that. Maybe you still remember my second daughter-in-law? I'm ashamed to say that she is cold-hearted. Today she told me that it would be better not to teach Ling'ai to follow her." Came to Beijing. She said that if people saw the two of them together, they would only be frightened by the ugly face of the nanny, and would not care about admiring the beauty of the girl. I said she was talking nonsense. Unexpectedly, when I was writing a letter, I suddenly I thought it would be inconvenient to take in servants here. My servants are already complaining that the bunk cannot be opened. Therefore, it may be better if the nanny does not come. The house is poor, so please forgive me for the inconvenience..." After reading the letter, I looked up at Aunt Bao, feeling very guilty.She gestured to me in sign language and said: It's okay, I will tell her later that I can sleep on the floor.I turned to my mother to hear what she had to say about it. "Write a reply and tell Widow Liu that I will send you there in a week. I should have sent you there in person, but it is the busy season of ink making, and I have too many things to do, so I can't leave. I will ask Old Wei Let you take his car. He always goes to Beijing to deliver medicinal materials at the beginning of the month, and he won't care if he takes an extra customer to earn some change." Aunt Bao waved for my attention.It's time to tell her that you can't go alone.If you go alone, who will look after this marriage for you?What if this stupid, nosy cousin sells you to a poor family as an aunt?Ask her to take this into consideration. I shake my head.I was afraid that asking unnecessary questions would annoy my mother and ruin my chance to go to Beijing.Aunt Bao pulled at my sleeve, but I still ignored it.Later, I ignored her many times, and Aunt Bao finally got angry.Because she can't speak, and her mother can't read, if I don't want to pass the message for her, she will have nothing to do. After returning to the room, Aunt Bao begged me hard.You are too young to go to Beijing alone.There are many dangers along the way that you can't imagine.The gangster might kill you and put your head on a stump... I didn't answer, I didn't argue with her, I didn't give her an excuse to argue with me.She kept nagging me all day long, and the next day, the third day, she was still nagging.Sometimes he even vented his anger on Widow Liu who wrote the letter.That woman simply doesn't care what's best for you.She meddles in other people's affairs all day long for money.It won't be long before she will get into a mess and reap the consequences. Later, Aunt Bao handed me a letter and asked me to pass it on to Gao Ling and ask Gao Ling to read it to my mother.I nodded and took it, but as soon as I turned the corner of the room, I opened it and looked: "The road is dangerous, not only are there bandit missiles, summer miasma is prevalent, and there are even unheard of diseases in Beijing, once Ru Ling gets sick , the nose and fingers may get sores and rot. Fortunately, I know how to cure these diseases, so as long as I go with you, Ru Ling will not come back sick and bring the whole family..." Later, Aunt Bao asked me if I had given the letter to my mother. I put on a straight face, hardened my heart, and lied, "Yes." Aunt Bao sighed, relieved.This is the first time I lied without being caught by her.I don't know if something has changed in her, so she can't tell if I'm telling the truth, or if I've changed? The night before I went out, Aunt Bao stood in front of me with the letter.I put the letter in a ball and stuffed it in my trousers pocket.What does it mean?She tugged on my arm and questioned me. "Let go of me," I protested to her. "You can't give me orders anymore." Do you think you are smart?You are just a silly girl. "I'm not. I don't need you anymore." You don't really need me until you grow your brain. "You're trying to keep me here so you can keep your nanny job." Her face darkened suddenly, as if someone had grabbed her neck.Errand?You think I'm staying here just to give you the trivial job of babysitting?oops!Did I live just to hear your child say such things? We were both gasping for breath.I yelled at her, telling her what I used to hear mothers and aunts say: "You survived because our family kindly took pity on you and saved your life. We didn't have to save you. Uncle He got kicked to death by his own horse because he wanted to marry you. Everyone knows that." Her whole body collapsed upon hearing this, and I thought she was finally willing to accept the reality.At that time, I was full of pity for her, just like pity those beggars, but dare not look them in the eyes.I feel that I have finally grown up, and Aunt Bao can no longer control me.It was as if the old me was watching the new me, wondering why I had such a great transformation.