Chapter 3 Chapter 1 The Mysterious Visitor

Things have to start in the middle of winter in 1970. The "Cultural Revolution" is in full swing. In the middle of the night, something earth-shattering happened in Woniu Village.The sleeping villagers of Woniu Village were suddenly awakened by a thunderbolt. It is very strange that thunder falls in the cold winter months. After Zhang Yaoye was awakened by the thunder, he never fell asleep again.Heizi barked outside the door.Zhang Yaoye originally wanted to get up and tell Heizi not to bark, but it was very troublesome to get up at night in the cold weather, so Zhang Yaoye dismissed the idea.

Fortunately, Heizi kept silent after screaming for a while, probably because he was frightened by the weird thunder. After being awakened by the thunderstorm, Zhang Yaoye never fell asleep again, and woke up early.He had to go door to door to inform the people in the village that he would attend the criticism meeting in the ancestral hall in the morning. It is said to be a criticism meeting, but it is actually going through the motions.The one who can criticize and fight in Woniu Village is Zhang Ziyin, a five-guarantee household.Zhang Ziyin was originally captured by the Kuomintang, but later escaped back.Because of this, he was condemned to be criticized every now and then!

When Master Zhang Yao went from house to house to notify, he also had to say hello to the young boys in the village first, and told them to be gentle when they went to Zhang Ziyin's house to escort Zhang Ziyin.Because Zhang Ziyin suffers from asthma in winter, he is afraid that these stunned young boys will cause trouble if their hands and feet become heavy. Master Zhang Yao of Woniu Village has the highest seniority, and his speech is also prestige, so these stunned youths still obey Master Zhang Yao. It snowed all night, Zhang Yaoye opened the gate of the courtyard, and the surrounding scene was completely covered by white snow.

Zhang Yaoye was just about to habitually call out to Heizi who was guarding the gate, but he saw that the iron chain holding Heizi was empty. Just as he was wondering, he saw something move in the straw pile where Heizi was sleeping. Unlike Heizi, it seemed that he had slept alone. Master Zhang Yao was startled, and just about to shout, he saw a movement in the pile of firewood on the steps beside the gate, and a short and ugly man got out of the pile of firewood. This ugly man was wearing a shabby cotton-padded jacket, staring at Master Zhang Yao with a fierce look on his face. Master Zhang Yao didn't know this person, so he asked, "Where are you from?"

The ugly man didn't speak, but just stared at Zhang Yaoye with straight eyes, looking like he was about to fight. Zhang Yaoye couldn't figure it out for a moment, and wanted to ask again. At this time, another person appeared from the straw pile where Heizi was sleeping, and it turned out to be a young woman. Although the woman's hair was a little messy, her face was beautifully white and quiet. Zhang Yaoye can be considered to have seen some people in the world, he guessed from the woman's expression that this woman must have a background. So he said to the woman, "Did you come together?"

The woman's attitude was kind, and she said, "We came together. He is my husband, surnamed Tuo. He can't speak, he's a mute." Mr. Zhang Yao had never heard of such a strange surname, let alone such a beautiful daughter-in-law who was short and ugly and dumb.So Master Zhang Yao was quite surprised. While talking, the woman stood up, combing her straw-stained hair, and said, "We escaped here. It's midnight, we're tired from walking, and we'll just spend the night at your door. Didn't bother you?" Only then did Zhang Yaoye see clearly that this quiet and beautiful woman was already a pregnant woman with a big belly.

So Master Zhang Yao kept saying: "No trouble, no trouble." The attitude of the ugly man also softened, and he moved out two heavy black lacquered boxes from the firewood pile. Seeing the tired look on the woman's face, Zhang Yaoye knew that the woman must not have had a good rest at night, so he was moved with compassion, and said, "Why don't you go to my house and sit down first, and then go on your way after breakfast?" The woman didn't refuse, so she said to the ugly man, "Master Tuo, move the box into the old man's house. We'll go on our way in the afternoon."

The ugly man called Master Tuo seemed to understand what the beautiful woman said, so he began to move things into the house. Zhang Yaoye asked Granny Zhang to take care of this strange woman who was pregnant with Liujia, and then went door-to-door to inform the criticism meeting full of doubts. In the middle of the criticism meeting, Master Zhang Yao went home.He was always restless. When I got home, something happened at home.As soon as Mr. Zhang Yao stepped into the house, he saw Granny Zhang running out of the main room on pointed feet, with a panicked expression on her face. When she saw Mr. Zhang, she shouted at Mr. Zhang as if she had seen a savior. : "Old man, you are back, what should you do? What should you do?"

Zhang Yaoye didn't understand what was going on, and saw that ugly Master Tuo circling like a headless fly at the door of the main room, making a babbling sound, so he scolded Granny Zhang: "The ghost is getting up? Hurry up!" What are you doing in such a hurry?" Granny Zhang said: "It's more urgent than a ghost kicking up! It's about to give birth! It's about to give birth!" Master Zhang Yao immediately understood what was going on, turned around and walked outside, muttering in his mouth: "No wonder the left eyelid has been twitching for a few days, and the disaster is really coming!"

As soon as he walked out of the door, Mr. Zhang Yao started to jog... The midwife in the village, Lan Erniang, was still holding a criticism meeting in the ancestral hall.He had to go to the venue and call her. In the courtyard made of bluestone strips in the ancestral hall, dozens of people from the village, young and old, sat under a hundred-year-old Luohan pine tree. Zhang Ziyin stood on a high wooden bench with his hands cut behind his back and bowed his head to plead guilty.The braided girl in the village - Zhang Qionghua is leading the crowd to shout slogans. "Down with Zhang Ziyin——Down with Zhang Ziyin's Kuomintang reactionaries—"

The midwife Lan Erniang was holding the soles of her shoes while shouting slogans.Master Zhang Yao walked over and whispered to Erniang Lan, Erniang Lan hurriedly got up. Lan Erniang is not a woman with small feet. She was liberated when her feet were first bound, so Lan Erniang can run quickly. Lan Erniang ran behind Mr. Zhang Yao and said, "Grandpa Yao! This is not a joke. No one in the village is pregnant? If you delay the meeting for a while, you will be responsible for deducting centimeters." Zhang Yaoye led Erniang Lan towards the house and said, "Am I kidding you about this too? Hurry up, someone will die if it's too late. Two lives!" Zhang Yaoye was so anxious that his beard was covered with hoarfrost. But Erniang Lan stopped behind, stomped her feet and said, "I have to go home to get some things." After speaking, she turned around and ran towards her home. Zhang Yaoye stomped his feet anxiously: "What else do you need? Go! Hurry up!" Zhang Yaoye said to himself while running towards the house: "Don't have a difficult delivery! It's better to have a smooth life!" At the entrance of the main room, Granny Zhang stood on her tiptoes looking outside, and finally saw Master Zhang Yao coming back, but she was alone, so she said, "Where is Erniang Lan? Who are you calling?" Zhang Yaoye said: "I shouted, and went home to get things again. How are you doing?" Granny Zhang said, "In the firewood pile." Zhang Yaoye stomped his feet and said, "You dead woman! How can you put people in the firewood pile? It's such a cold day. Animals? Mules?" As he said that, he ran towards the stove. Master Tuo stood guard at the door of the kitchen, babbling, anxious and irritable, his eyes were red. Zhang Yaoye went up and patted Master Tuo on the shoulder, and said loudly, "It's useless to be in a hurry! Hurry up and carry me!" Then he walked into the kitchen. The light in the kitchen was very dark, and Granny Zhang lit a kerosene lamp beside the pile of firewood. The woman was lying on the pile of firewood in the kitchen, her face was pale, and cold sweat flowed from her temples like threads.Granny Zhang covered the woman with a torn quilt, covering her tightly, only showing her pale face. Zhang Yaoye leaned forward and said to the woman: "Persist a little longer, the midwife will be here soon. Be sure to persevere!" The woman is very strong, she bit her lip hard and nodded to Master Zhang Yao, without saying a word. Zhang Yaoye asked Master Tuo to go up and hug the woman, but Master Tuo kept hiding behind, shaking his head like a rattle... Master Zhang Yao didn't understand what was going on, so he said, "Your mother-in-law, who will you hug if you don't come?" Granny Zhang ran in at this time and said to Master Zhang Yao, "Just deliver the baby here! If you can't move it, you should be moved out of work." Master Zhang Yao said: "How can this be done? They are not livestock or mules!" Granny Zhang said: "I will take care of her with Lan Erniang, you two men, go out quickly!" Master Zhang Yaoye and Master Tuo were driven out of the kitchen by Granny Zhang. The ugly Master Tuo was circling in the courtyard, anxious like ants on a hot pot.Seeing him like this, Zhang Yaoye went up and patted Master Tuo on the shoulder, and said, "It's all right, auspicious people have their own appearance! Good people are regarded as heaven!" Nine of the ten mutes were deaf, so Master Tuo couldn't understand Zhang Yaoye's words, so he gestured to Zhang Yaoye.Master Zhang Yao looked at his gestures, his mind was confused, and he said, "Whoever follows you will suffer! Alas!" Master Zhang Yao was also spinning around in the small courtyard, unable to do anything. He really can't help with the matter of a woman giving birth, and this time it's a woman who has nothing to do with him giving birth, so he can't intervene even more. Now Zhang Yaoye is most worried about whether the woman will have a difficult labor or a smooth birth. Granny Zhang had previously conceived three children for Master Zhang Yao, but these three children were all dystocia when they were in labor.The midwife at that time was not Lan Erniang, but a one-eyed old woman from another village.This old woman can go down to the shadows to watch flowers dance, and people in a radius of more than ten miles call her Huang Xianniang.Huang Xianniang is also good at delivering babies. Before delivering the baby, she will scoop up a bowl of clear water, then recite a spell over the clear water for a while, and then ask the woman who gave birth to drink the water. Within ten minutes, the baby will fall to the ground, which is very effective. Almost all the girls and boys in a radius of more than ten miles were born by Huang Xianniang.She delivered the baby, and everyone in the village felt relieved. But when Granny Zhang gave birth, Huang Xianniang's methods failed.Grandma Zhang gave birth three times, and all three times were dystocia. Huang Xianniang tried all her tricks, but the child was stuck at the gate of Grandma Zhang and couldn't get up or down.Twice the child's feet and whole body came out, but the hands and head couldn't come out.When Huang Xianniang ran out of tricks, she had no choice but to say to Zhang Yaoye who was guarding outside: "Do you want an adult or a child?" Master Zhang Yao said that he wanted to be an adult. So Huang Xianniang stuffed the child who had already come out, and then broke the child's hands and feet. The method was quite cruel... Up to now, Master Zhang Yao has not had a male and a half female. During the campaign to sweep away all monsters, ghosts, and snake gods, Huang Xianniang suffered a disaster, and was tied up and paraded in public parades every day.Huang Xianniang couldn't bear the humiliation, and on a dark and windy night, while the militiamen guarding her were dozing off, she hanged herself to death on the beam of the storage room. Later, Lan Erniang became the midwife in the village. The more worried things are, the more things are coming.Granny Zhang ran out of the stove and said, "Why hasn't Lan Erniang come here yet? Are her feet bound at this time? The amniotic fluid has broken, and it looks like it's a difficult labor!" When Zhang Yaoye heard the word "dystocia", his scalp became numb and he said, "Really?" Granny Zhang said that I could already see the child's feet. Zhang Yaoye stomped his feet vigorously and wailed: "What's wrong with this?" Granny Zhang began to complain about Mr. Zhang Yao, saying: "You bring dirty people to the house early in the morning, what do you do now? If someone dies and is wronged, I don't think you want this old life." Stayed." Zhang Yaoye yelled at Granny Zhang: "It's useless for you to say such things now! Hurry up and take care of her, and I'll go see if Erniang Lan is here..." Said to go out again. At this time Lan Erniang finally came, carrying a bundle wrapped in home-woven cloth in her hand. Zhang Yaoye yelled at Lan Erniang as if seeing a savior: "Hurry up, Erniang, if you delay, you will die!" Lan Erniang, who had just entered the door, saw Master Tuo spinning around at this moment, as if frightened by Master Tuo's ugly appearance, her face tightened. She asked Master Zhang Yao: "Where is he?" Master Zhang Yao said urgently, "It's in the kitchen." As he spoke, he led Lan Erniang into the kitchen. After Erniang Lan went in, Granny Zhang closed the door of the kitchen again. Zhang Yaoye squatted in the courtyard and smoked Ye Yan.Master Tuo squatted on the steps, looking at the gray sky with a pair of fierce eyes... For a long time, there was still no movement in the stove house, neither the hoarse roar of the parturient mother nor the cry of the baby falling to the ground, Zhang Yaoye felt tense and tight in his heart. At this moment, Master Tuo seemed to be frozen stiff, squatting on the edge of the steps in a daze, motionless, and the pair of fierce eyes staring blankly at the sky were also unblinking. Yaoye Zhang stood up and wanted to go to the door of the kitchen to listen to the movement, but Master Tuo, who had been silent all this time, babbled and gesticulated vigorously at Yaoye Zhang. Master Zhang Yao scolded: "Are you afraid that I will see your wife? What a bitch!" He backed off. This time, Master Zhang Yao felt even more worried than when Granny Zhang had a difficult delivery... Finally, Granny Zhang pushed open the door of the stove house a crack, and then came out cautiously. Master Zhang Yao hurried up and said to Granny Zhang, "How's it going? Do you have any questions, sir?" Granny Zhang said to Mr. Zhang Yao: "I've never seen such a stubborn person! Erniang Lan said that if she wanted to protect the child, she would not be able to protect the adult." Zhang Yaoye groaned "Oops" and said, "Why did this happen again? Then protect your lord!" Granny Zhang said: "The mother-in-law has to protect the child, and Lan Erniang dare not make decisions." Zhang Yaoye was so anxious that he walked around in the courtyard and said, "Why is this woman so stupid? Is it the doll or your own life that matters?" Granny Zhang said: "I just met her husband who is also dumb and deaf. What do you think about this matter?" Zhang Yaoye looked at Tuo Shi who was squatting on the steps like a stone lion, and there was nothing wrong with him. Lan Erniang also came out at this time, and said to Zhang Yaoye: "Master Yao, what do you think about this matter? You want a child desperately. If you want a child, you will die! It's almost halfway out, and I'm stuck there." Master Zhang Yao gritted his teeth and said, "You can't let her do this! My lord!" Lan Erniang said: "No! Without the child, she will not live. This woman is very stubborn!" Zhang Yaoye wriggled vigorously on his cheeks, and his face turned blue. Lan Erniang was also very anxious, and said, "You have to make up your mind quickly, Mr. Yao! After a while, I'm afraid both adults and children will die!" Zhang Yaoye said anxiously: "It's not me who gave birth to a child, what can I do?" The three of them were helpless in the courtyard. Zhang Yaoye pondered for a moment, then said to Lan Erniang: "Erniang, think of a way again, look..." "I have no choice." Lan Erniang said before waiting for Zhang Yaoye to finish speaking. Zhang Yaoye walked up to Master Tuo helplessly, patted Master Tuo on the shoulder, and said loudly, "Do you want an adult or a baby?" Master Tuo, who was as if frozen, was shocked by Zhang Yaoye's slap, staring at Zhang Yaoye with a pair of fierce eyes, and was stunned. Zhang Yaoye said again: "Do you want an adult or a baby? Make a gesture for me!" Master Tuo actually turned his face away and ignored Master Zhang Yao.Instead, he wasn't as distraught as before. Master Zhang Yao scolded: "How did you come across such an unlucky ghost?" Both Lan Erniang and Zhang Granny looked at Zhang Yaoye, waiting for him to make up his mind. Regarding the matter of a woman giving birth, what good idea can Zhang Yaoye have?So Zhang Yaoye was so anxious that he was sweating. Finally, Erniang Lan said, "If it really doesn't work, I just have to try." Hearing Lan Erniang's words, Zhang Yaoye seemed to see hope and savior, and said, "You have a solution?" Lan Erniang said: "I can only try. A dead horse is treated like a living horse." Master Zhang Yao said, "Why try?" Lan Erniang said: "I haven't tried it, and even if I haven't tried it now, I have to try it. After a while, I'm afraid I won't even have the chance to try it. I have to take a gamble." Master Zhang Yao said: "Then hurry up and try! If someone dies, I will take care of it! Saving people is the most important thing." Granny Zhang was so anxious that she beat Zhang Yaoye with her hands and said, "How much life do you have to bear?" Master Zhang Yao yelled at Granny Zhang: "At worst, I will be sent to sit in the study class to hang ducks floating in the water!" After hearing Zhang Yaoye's words, Lan Erniang also gained confidence and said, "With your Yaoye's words, I will try it." Master Zhang Yao said, "Hurry up! Don't delay." Lan Erniang walked into the kitchen, and Master Zhang Yao said to Granny Zhang, "Why don't you hurry in and help Lan Erniang?" Grandma Zhang was so angry that she couldn't speak, but she didn't dare not to listen to Master Zhang Yao, so she followed Lan Erniang into the stove room panting.