Chapter 3 Chapter two

one Eighteen years ago, this mother was only eight years old.In X County, where I grew up, I lived the life of the children of ordinary middle-class families. There are parents, a grandmother, an unmarried aunt, two younger siblings, and a maid in the family. In winter, I accompanied my grandmother to warm up by the stove, and then I quietly went to the snow field in the backyard with my younger siblings to print Luohan.Or knock down the ice in the tank, blow it with a straw pipe, pass the rope through it, and lift it up as a gong.Or burn sweet potatoes and chestnuts in the hot ashes of the stove.In these days, the main thing is spinning the wheel, spinning slivers of cotton into fine yarn, everything learned by grown-ups.Spring is here, according to the local people's spring entertainment, I spent a spring.Summer and autumn are all over like this.She is already eight years old.At that time, the family called her eldest sister, because she was the oldest among the children.At that time, this eldest sister knew the four seasons of the year, spring, summer, autumn and winter, welcoming winter, Chinese New Year, Dragon Boat Festival, eating new food, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival, Winter Solstice Festival, Laba Buddha's birthday.All kinds of festive seasons come in order, and every time this kind of day comes, the family cooks all kinds of good things to eat, and no matter how old the children are, it seems that these things are easy to remember and of course.

Her childhood wasn't too bad. In June of that year, the local sky was dry and there was no rain, and the fields were dried into hay.According to the habits of the semi-civilized peoples in the interior of China, the power to rain falls in the hands of the Jade Emperor in the sky and the Dragon King in the river. The Jade Emperor in the sky can give rain at will, and the Dragon King in the river can also make clouds to make rain.I don't know when and what month, there are smart people in the local area who came up with such a good plan, and found a way to make it rain on the Jade Emperor.This method can be divided into two kinds: soft-seeking and counter-reacting: soft-seeking is to set up an altar for offering sacrifices, the whole city is sealed off, representatives of the devout men and believers kowtow, and a vegetarian feast is held outside the altar for seven days. Raise the mast, burn sky wax, and give food, so that during the incense sticks, each family puts out all the treasures on trays, and walks around the city, like an exhibition (a Guanyin is indispensable in the incense sticks), so it is said that when you come here, the weather will be good, the country will be peaceful and the people will be safe. up.The anti-reactive method of asking for rain is much simpler and more free and easy. It only needs ten local naughty children, a dog, a stool, and a pair of broken drums.They tied the dog to a chair with a straw rope and put a willow ring on the dog's head. Two or three people carried the respectable leader all over the street, followed by loud drums and gongs.The children were all shirtless, and they went to beg for rain in front of each house, and each house poured buckets and buckets of water on this group of children and the dog of the head of the high office.Seeing this situation, the Jade Emperor in the sky seemed to think that there was a revolutionary act underground, and there was a big conspiracy to overthrow the Jade Emperor, so he became angry and rained.

As for making the Dragon King rain?The method is different.This is still a matter for children, because the local adults only know three things: kowtow, fasting, and making money.Children use grass to tie dragons, or five knots, or three knots and seven knots, depending on their ability. To make the grass dragon, still use gongs and drums, first go to the river to ask for water, and after asking for water, go to each house to ask for rain.On the one hand, because of the hot weather, these urchins who usually soak in the river all day long have a more sincere need for water to drench their heads and bodies than the head of the ceremony, so no family can be stingy with the clean water in the tank.They sometimes take the dragon dance to the four villages in the suburbs, because the etiquette of the country people is to prepare snacks in addition to the water for them, so it is necessary for the grass dragon to go to the countryside.

There is no rain in June.It is said that a lot of sandalwood incense has been used in May, and the sun is still in the sky every day, and there is no sign of rain.Those who have done the offering, those who kowtow kowtow, those who eat fast eat fast, and those who make money don’t let go of good opportunities to make some money. If it doesn’t rain, the local officials, gentry, and academic circles have nothing to do.The children understood that the responsible local people had done their duty and that it was their turn, and many grass dragons appeared.On the streets and alleys of Tangtang during the day, there is no shortage of lively and joyful voices everywhere.The children are brave and extraordinary, each with the spirit of going through fire and water, and they come and go on the street all day long.

The streets are all wet.The street after being sprinkled with water is exposed to the sun in the sky, and smoke is emitted from the stone slabs, and passers-by feel as if the rain has just passed. A grass dragon belonging to Yanyi Street in Nanmen City walked around, and finally stopped in the yard of Wen Wen's elder sister's house. The children shouted in unison, please enjoy the rain.The drums, whose leather surfaces were wet with water, were beating loudly, and the children could not go out without water. The children all came out to watch. "The dragon is here, asking for water."

The older sister ran into the house repeatedly with the same younger brother. "The dragon is coming and wants water!" "Water is coming!" Sure enough, the maid came from the kitchen with a bucket, and the eldest sister took a small gourd-made ladle, scooped up the water in the bucket, and poured it on the dragon in the yard. "It won't work, it needs heavy rain." "Turn around, I'll water it for a day." "If it rains heavily, the dragon's mouth will be dry, this is not acceptable!" The eldest sister got a little angry and called Mrs. Zhang to bring out a big ladle.Mrs. Zhang poured water with a big ladle, but my sister still used a small ladle.

Watering one bucket is not enough, and a second bucket is needed. Then came the third bucket. After arriving at the dragon head dancer, he saw that the person who watered the water with a small ladle was the person who pretended to be Guanyin last month. This discovery surprised him. "This is Guanyin, this is Guanyin, look!" Everyone recognized the eldest sister as Guanyin.The eldest sister was ashamed, threw the ladle to the ground and ran away.The children complained, and Guanyin had to pour another bucket of water.Standing on the top of the stone step with the eight-inch pipe in the mouth was the elder sister's father. He was silent for a while. Look, he saw that these children were too presumptuous. The water poured over the head of the boy who was the faucet.

In this place, people are called beauties, not like immortals, but just enough to pretend to be Guanyin Bodhisattva. The eldest sister did pretend to be Guanyin once during the Qingjiao in May of that year. two Being beautiful and slender is justified for the local old ladies to criticize them as "too good-looking but short-lived".But it goes without saying that everything the old ladies say is the same as the old ones, and when they see the eldest sister, there is no old lady who does not want to marry her as a daughter-in-law. The local children also take pleasure in making Avalokitesvara their fiancée, so when a child raised at home is asked if he would like to have Avalokitesvara as his wife, he blushes and walks away, unwilling to agree, but he is already in his heart. Very satisfied.

After ten years, this Guanyin became the daughter-in-law of an old lady, and the wife of a young man. The marriage situation is in accordance with the local customs. , put on the deacon hat with chicken feathers on one side, sat outside the door, opened his eyes as if addicted, puffed up his cheeks every time a guest came in, and played his Qingshengping welcome tune. As for the eldest sister's husband, he was the kid who danced the grass dragon head back then, and now he is graduating from middle school. He married his wife and made a double happiness.To entertain the guests, it cost nearly a thousand yuan, and I got a whole room of red silk and red paper wedding curtains. The guests who came had never eaten wine and had nothing to do, so they just took appreciation of this gift as a pastime.

In the past ten years, the country has changed countless people who sit in the court, and the local area has also affected the troubled house, which is even worse than before.Although it seems that both men and women are figures of the new era, that night, the husband's former comrades remembered what happened in the past, and forced the groom to still be the grass dragon's head and let the bride pour tea on her head.This elegant game has also won the patronage of a few elderly people who have a childlike innocence and usually maintain themselves with etiquette.After everything has been done, the guests should feel bored, so that Guanyin can sit opposite the dragon head.Avalokitesvara sits beside the bed, a big new wooden bed, painted in vermilion, and behind the newcomers are six layers of red and green brocade quilts.

She is not shy or afraid, because she often sees him after getting married a few years ago. He is studying in Lianhe Middle School, and she is also studying in Kunfan Girls' Middle School.But she has a restraint, she understands that this is not an ordinary day. He asked her: "Tired yet?" She was silent. "You really look like Guanyin today." She was silent and laughed. "I'm exhausted, something nasty." She laughed again. "What are you laughing at?" She said in a low voice: "I laughed at the fact that when you were the leader, you were sent out by your father pouring a bucket of clean water on your head." "It is because of that day that we are here today." "You were a little ruffian then." "You are really Guanyin today." She was silent, and he said again: "Avalokitesvara descends to earth, you think how happy I am." "I'm just afraid that because I'm in front of you all day, even the living Guanyin will bore you one day." "The candle's still burning, I'll swear it." "But today is not the day for swearing. Don't say such things." "Tonight, I can only say that you are really good-looking, I know." "There is little difference between telling a lie to deceive yourself and telling a lie to deceive others." "Am I lying to myself? I don't admit it!" "Anything that is denied at this time will be naturally admitted at another time." He stopped talking, feeling a little cold in his heart. When she saw his situation, she was amused. After a while she said to herself: "A bucket of water is not enough, a ladle of water will make you crazy, and you have to swear!" "I'm really not one to understand women." "He who doesn't understand women is not necessarily a bad husband." It was his turn to laugh. This husband really lacks the genius to understand women, but he will still be a good husband in his later life. The beauty of the bride became the standard by which locals judged women's conversation. A person who can be a good wife in front of her husband is not considered a good wife in the family as a rule, so they got married for one year, and her husband went to an accounting school in XX, and this Guanyin also lived in XX with her husband, and separated from the family up.In both respects, the family can provide a little money every year, so their life is not very embarrassing after they arrive in XX. Because she didn't have children to burden her, she went to ×× to study in a girls' middle school. She went to school during the day and lived in the same place at night.But after her husband graduated from accounting school, for some reason she was only a third-year middle school student. Her husband was immediately introduced by that relative to work as a staff member in a trust company, and she stopped studying on her own will. The turning point of life is for her husband's career.As soon as her husband started a career, and as soon as she left school, she would often hang out with the wives of some colleagues. As usual, these wives would invite four of their companions to play mahjong every day, except for the children and housekeepers. After several years of ××, her temperament became like that of ordinary wives, and she completely disappeared the mood of her smart daughter when she got married, and she became a woman who lived a normal life and seemed to be very happy. Although the husband sometimes realizes that his wife's loveliness is gone after a year of marriage, whose fault is this?And he, a good husband who only knows that stability in his career is happiness in life, and who signs at the company's accounting department at the end of the month to get his salary and goes home, what he needs is a housewife in the current situation.Just as he needed, she made herself into a woman-type woman that was not difficult to find everywhere. She was thin at first, but she looked a little fatter later. They live in a stable life, all that can disturb their hearts from time to time is the lack of a child. In the years of XX, the major events that can be recorded are that her father died and her younger sister got married, which sometimes made her cry when she thought of her mother who lived far away.But even if there are tears in her life, she has no way to make her husband say "you are so fat" without a smile at a certain time. three One year, there were only two people in the family.It was winter, and it was snowing in ××, and the snow was very heavy. Every morning when my husband went out, he had to cover his neck with a fur collar coat to get into the car. During such days, she just warmed up by the stove at home all day, because the weather was too cold to go out to play cards. Often have. On a Sunday in such a cold weather, the husband did not work or go out, and the two of them sat around the fire and talked about gossips that were within the limits of a young gentleman.But he wanted to invite her to play in a ×× park in the south of the city, and she also had the same intention, so she put on a new fox fur coat she had made not long ago, and the two of them went to ×× park by car. This time they went out and brought an unexpected joy home. They met a person while watching plums in the garden.This person had a wedding banquet in the year when the couple got married, and going back in time, it was a hot day when the dragon tied the grass and the dragon prayed for rain and danced the dragon's tail. They are old friends.Before meeting him, the couple didn't know where he went, but he didn't hear anyone say that the couple was in XX.He had only come to XX not long ago, and he hadn't heard the news about their living here from other places, but he met in the park by accident. The couple didn't know him at the time.It was easy for him to recognize the couple.Because he heard them talking, saw their faces, and there were some traces to find out the outlines of the past two people, he greeted them rashly. The leaves in the sea sometimes float in one place because of the wind.They met and got together like leaves. The couple entertained the guest at home that day.The guest was originally sent to and from an agency in Harbin as a representative of the office.Everyone knows everything, everyone knows what happened in the past ten years.In the eyes of the guests, the host and his wife are no longer the couple in their impression.But for her, the guest of course felt a kind of intimacy and a kind of melancholy, because the guest was still single, so of course there was a little melancholy of reflection in this family, and this melancholy seemed to be given only by the host and not from the housewife. If you are a guest, you can take it back. In front of the guests, the host always displays the demeanor of a good husband, and the guests are always a little uneasy about it.Although he was eating and chatting with them, some things he thought of were said to be things that a smart person should not think about.He vaguely felt that this woman was not as complete as he remembered him, and he couldn't help but feel sentimental about the beauty's age, but if he thought about himself, he would become a person who would not look good if he didn't shave his face for a week, he felt The future life is uncertain, and I have settled myself in the imagination of a ridiculous story. After the good husband accompanied the guest to his own residence at night, he still told her the story of the guest's childhood. For the story, which was half her husband's own, and half her own with pleasure, did not lessen his interest, and helped him to remember it a little. Talking about the story of the grass dragon, the husband said something like this: "Back then he swore that he would not be a human being if he didn't get you into his family. I talked about this with him on the road, and he laughed. He really wasn't married, but certainly not for you. " This was said when Caolong went out after being watered by her.From my husband's point of view, there are all good people in the world, and my friend is the best of good people. Speaking of this is just an indirect proof of how cute this good friend is.A person who doesn't understand love has been married for many years, but his knowledge of love is like a pharmacist's knowledge of medicine bottles. He knows that medicine can kill people, but he is not very clear about medicine and knows the amount of medicine needed for certain types of patients. . As for her, she could only laugh when she heard what her husband said.She cannot take much responsibility for making the future life come to a precipice and be frightening.A woman is giving, she is doing her best to protect herself with the love that her husband gave her, and in the end she also gives what she can to her husband as a friend. "He shouldn't have said such things." Afterwards, although she did not shift the responsibility for what she did to what her husband said, if he hadn't told the previous story, she would have done more to protect herself than she did. What can be done is still firm. The reason why the guest did some capricious things with her after the arrival was that this stain was left behind—a little life is still not her own fault! Four A good husband is not around, and there are only guests and housewives in the house. This is an everyday thing. The time is spring. spring afternoon.In the living room, you can see the lilacs in the yard, the fresh green grass and trees, and smell the fragrance of the earth. It seems that because of the guests, she is much younger than before.Both the guest and her husband have discovered this youthful rejuvenation by accident, and I can also prove it by being interested in some trivial things. The guests come to talk every day, wait at home for the good husband to come back from work, have dinner at home together, or go to the park to spend the beautiful evening together. The position occupied by a guest in a woman's heart is slightly different from that of a "guest" from the perspective of a guest. But the guest is a highly educated person, who is not lacking in human reason and enthusiasm control, sometimes it is really admirable.A man like the character of the guest is not what the world calls a man who takes an adventurous path.Had it not been for such a good husband, he would not have suddenly lost this strength, and could have always maintained a respectable and sincere impression on everyone he met in life.Even at any time, this good husband would never have any doubts about this friend's personality. He never thought that this friend is a friend who has done amazing things.He sometimes felt sorry for his friend's restraint, and even advised her to get rid of this friend's restraint in a kind of kinship.Needless to say, when he said this, he saw her embarrassment, and thought it was a pity that his words had not been understood by women.What he didn't expect was that they also did what he didn't mention. Because just talking between two people has become a daily thing, so everything that can be talked about is everything between them.They talked about life, about all kinds of life.They speak of awareness of life, and social awareness, and personal attitudes towards life.They make the lives of others the subject of conversation.And they sometimes talk about all the different things marriage means to everyone.Just because they seem to have gained the trust of their husbands, they didn't do what they should have done. At a certain point, they checked each other as if they were surprised. No one has the courage to deny this love, and finally they can't extricate themselves and sink into an abyss together. It wasn't until after passing through the peak of this childish behavior that the two of them examined each other, and felt that they had irreparably damaged something and created an invisible gap in their lives, and they felt remorse. Still have a more presumptuous spring. As a rule, the burden of being a woman is more than that of a man. Before she gets it, she knows that what she gets is not understanding, not enthusiasm, but some emptiness.Without confirming this emptiness, she used all her strengths to separate herself from evil and preserve her soul.She had done this before, and it was her husband who had failed in the end.There is no husband in the world who is more harmful than lack of jealousy, his abundance only pushes her away from him and closer to another.At that time, as long as her husband could restrain herself a little, she would not be in a situation where she would be burned by the fire by teasing with that friend. When she told the guest about the influence she had received in recent months, the guest seemed to think of a good husband for the first time.For the sake of a good husband, he was burning with shame.He didn't say anything, but he couldn't hide his panic. She was a little angry when she saw this. "A man's usefulness is only to ask a woman to obey him to do that stupid thing for the first time. Afterwards, the originally very smart lover will become a vulgar and selfish man." If she said it like this. "You're right, I'm useless." That's how he would promise her. "In my opinion, if you have the courage, take me away." She thought so, but she didn't say it. "I might go with you, but the good husband has no reason to part with you, and I dare say that you love me only in a game, in a passing interest. As for him, he is the one you love each other, He is the husband who makes you happy in this world." This man, he also thought the same way, and his thinking was really right, although his thinking was close to muddled at one time, but now he is correct. It's all because people are too smart, at least at this time people suddenly see the need to be smart.For the sake of the existence of another life, they all confessed their mistakes in the past spring; After that, she sneered, but he didn't ask her when he saw her smile. He could guess the meaning of the sneer.He felt the sadness of being shattered, as if he could see that at first the two were sinking at the same time, but now they were both suspended in the air, the distance between them was getting farther and farther away, and they would disappear sooner or later.He estimated for a while, and said to her categorically: "Forgive me, this is my fault. I lack stubbornness, so I can't plan to be with you forever. I realized it at this time. You take good care of me and him. I'm leaving. For the sake of all of us, this is the only way to go. " She pondered what this "complete" meant.She didn't say a word to save him until the afternoon.She looked at the man's thin face with very calm eyes, and finally turned around and laid her head on the back of the sofa. He thought she was crying, and repeated the habitual caress to comfort her, without saying a word, rubbing her hair with his hands, she raised her head and still stared at him. "Is my claim the reason for your distress?" The man said, and then he sank into a state of grief. The woman said, "There is no such thing." She said in her heart, "You men, every man has this kind of wit." But she didn't say this ironic remark, she went to the window to see Flower, said: "Thank you. For sure, the fruit on the branches is a matter of the future, and it is also a matter of the present." After saying that, he sighed desolately. The man, as if wanting to cover up his slander, said, "It's all wind." Women shouldn't, and that's heard too.She just repeated these words: "It's all the wind." The two were silent for a long time.It seems to be thinking about the "wind" of that other season.It seems that everyone understands that the wind has also become a thing of the past. The man wants to leave, but he can't, he knows that if he leaves, the rest of her will greet her good husband who came home from the trust company with tearful eyes, and their affairs will be complicated and difficult instead.He just sat on that big chair and waited for his good husband to come home. He thought about how to remove the barrier between the two of them.But he still left soon. ………… He left ××.She can understand him.What was beyond his expectation was how she covered up his almost naked behavior in front of a good husband, and she never shed tears once in front of her husband.She understood that confession was an entirely childish act.In order to seek the peace of those who love her, she does all she can to hide her shame in a corner of her heart, which is what an unfaithful wife should do to a good husband. After a while, she told her good husband the good news, and he accompanied her to a doctor for an examination. Because the good news was confirmed by the doctor, her husband's behavior made her look even more pitiful. What the future father said to the future mother, what he discussed, and the empty plans he made for the child, all made her use an extremely embarrassed wry smile as a foil.Take a look at both dementia and tolerance, both of which lead some days of a great life. Fives This child, endowed with a special name, lived in the world. For the sake of the child and the father of the child, she did what she should do, and gradually forgot about the past, even if she sometimes remembered that person, she would not be too embarrassed. A stable career, a virtuous wife, and Yuxue's son made this father feel the happiness of life.For this reason, he initiated obesity.