Chapter 21 Chapter 20 Van Gogh's Left Ear

Layer after layer of darkness smeared the sky, Manlong Village gradually regained its calm, the thunder and wind disappeared.Liao's second child fed Zhao Shuai a bowl of boiling water, and after choking a few times, Zhao Shuai woke up.I finally breathed a sigh of relief, if something happened to Zhao Shuai, I would really be ashamed to go back to see his parents.Zhao Shuai rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably. He sat up from the bed, babbling and screaming in pain. Seeing him jumping around, it should be fine. Second Liao put down the bowl and asked, "Brother, who knocked you out? You didn't steal from others, did you?"

"Ah?" Zhao Shuai didn't fully understand what was going on, "By the way, it seems that someone sneaked up on me." "Did you see who it is?" I asked anxiously. "It's so dark, how can I see it... Ouch!" Zhao Shuai stuck out his tongue in pain, "He hit him from behind, and I don't have eyes in the back of my head." "Quickly tell the truth, have you offended someone, and why do people always want to take your life?" I was still worried. Zhao Shuai replied innocently: "How could I offend someone? Probably he thought I was you."

I hummed and said, "Just keep your mouth shut, you must have molested some girl, and her lover is burning with jealousy, so I'm willing to kill you." After asking for a while, Zhao Shuai really didn't know who knocked him out, and he had a head injury and needed a good rest, so we didn't ask any more questions.After turning off the lights, the three of us lay on the bed to rest. Later, Liao's second son thought it was too crowded, so he spread a mat on the floor and fell asleep.Because Zhao Shuai was attacked continuously, I was worried that someone would break in and commit murder, so I was half asleep and half awake, and I felt a headache after dawn.

The next day, Liao Er Er got up early, and only Zhao Shuai and I were still lying on the bed.Manlong Village has grown tea for generations. Liao Lao Er is a tea master. He knows more about tea ceremony than us, so it is easy to get close to the people in the village.Manlongzhai grows a lot of tea nearby. They pick the tea leaves, and after making them, they will sell them in the county town for money and exchange them for daily necessities.Liao's second child is very tactful and sophisticated, he approached the old people to make friends, and it took only one morning to get a lot of information about the demon house.Old people know more than young people, and they are more real, so I got up and asked Liao Erer what he knew.

Liao Laoer still knew everything about me, and he said that other old people didn't know anything about Yaozhai, and everyone said that the only one who knew the most details was old man Hu Jie.Liao Lao Er and I walked back to Lao Wang's house, Lao Wang was not at home, and Zhao Shuai was having breakfast alone.After entering the house, Liao Er said mysteriously that he was not without gains this morning. Although the old people knew about the same as us, he found a useful piece of information. "What kind of information? It doesn't mean that there are some monsters in the house again, the male and female demons?" I asked listlessly.

"Of course not." Liao Er Er's face darkened, "It's about why the demon house had to be demolished seven years ago." I've always been curious about the demolition of the demon's house in Manlong Village seven years ago, but due to the major events that have happened in the past few days, I haven't asked others about it.The demon house is not in Manlong Village, no matter it is haunted by ghosts and demons, as long as you don't go there, you will be fine, there is no need to go to Taisui to break ground.Having said that, why did the British named Lyle build a house in such a remote place? Because the British like to be quiet, they chose such a place specially?Like the dignitaries in the past, they must have built their houses in the city, and only hermits would go to the mountains.

Liao Er knew that I was curious, but he didn't tell me the truth of the matter right away, but first asked me if I knew why Van Gogh lost his left ear.I was suddenly asked by Liao's second child, and my thinking didn't keep up, and I said "ah" several times in a row.Van Gogh is a world celebrity and a talented painter. Everyone knows everyone. Of course I know this character. Van Gogh's life is full of legends, and his paintings are world-renowned, but his emotional world is not very satisfactory.At that time, Van Gogh fell in love with a prostitute, and later in order to show his love to the prostitute, he cut off his left ear.Who knew that this move failed to win the heart of the prostitute, but scared the prostitute away. It can be said that Van Gogh lost his wife and lost his army—this is the story of Van Gogh's left ear.

For college students, this kind of romantic story is no stranger, but I was very surprised when Liao Er Er blurted it out.Liao Laoer saw that I looked down on him, so he was a little unconvinced. He said that although he has never read a book, it is not easy for a tea person with a little knowledge, and he knows more things than a book-reading child.This statement is not false, because the tea culture is extensive and profound, and often requires knowledge of the world. The more you know, the more helpful you will be to the tea ceremony.For example, how to make tea, how to grow tea, how to drink tea, these knowledge are extremely complicated, not clear in one or two sentences, often have to draw inferences, because it will involve non-tea culture.

Satisfied psychologically, Liao's second child finally stopped keeping secrets and revealed the news he had inquired this morning.It turned out that fifteen years ago in Manlong Village there was a young man and woman who fell in love and got married within a month, which became a popular story in the village.Once, a man went out to sell tea and came back a day late because of the heavy rain.I don't know what the man was thinking, but he suddenly cut off his left ear to prove his loyalty to the woman, not because he was just messing around outside.This behavior seems crazy, and other people have been unable to understand it. Some people who have read the book joked that men are imitating Van Gogh's left ear.

However, things didn't stop there. The woman hanged herself the night the man cut off her left ear.The place where the woman hanged herself was not inside the house, but above the gate of the village, just like old man Hu Jie, she hanged herself on the gate of the village.Because the village grows tea for a living, and the houses are very short, there is no need for a ladder, and there is only one ladder in the village.After a woman hanged herself with a ladder, the ladder was burned to prevent others from following suit and hanging herself. When the man saw his wife died, he used alcohol to drown his sorrows, and within half a year he went crazy.The woman gave birth to a little boy before she died, and the little boy has been living with the man all along, and there seems to be no more waves in his life.Unexpectedly, seven years ago, a strange event happened, which disturbed the peace of this disabled family, and made Manlong village boil again.Seven years ago, the woman's child was already eight years old. When he was playing in the forest, he was knocked unconscious. When he woke up, he found that he was in a deserted demon house.The boy fled back to the village, and when he told the story, everyone thought it was a monster.Instigated by everyone, everyone brought explosives to blow up the demon house.

"Oh, that's it!" I exclaimed, "I didn't expect it to be so complicated! Didn't Father Li break his leg during the bombing of the Yaozhai?" "Yeah, I don't know if the explosives are too fake. The house didn't blow up, but one of his legs was blown up." Liao Laoer scratched his calf while talking. "Then... the little boy should be 15 years old now, is his father still around?" I asked nervously, thinking that he might be dead too. Second Liao stopped scratching his hands, and he raised his head and said to me: "You have seen that child, it is the little black you mentioned, his father has the same surname as Zhao Shuai!" Zhao Shuai had just woken up and was yawning, when he heard Liao Er Er mention his name, he came over and asked what was wrong, and whether he was speaking ill of him behind his back.I was in high spirits, and after briefly telling Zhao Shuai what happened just now, I asked Liao Er to continue talking.It turned out that Xiao Hei's father went crazy 15 years ago, because he was locked in the house all the time, so we haven't found such a person until now.The little black dad was only in his 30s, and his youth was wasted just because of a bad relationship. After hearing what Liao's second son said, I deliberately hurt Zhao Shuai and told him to be careful with women, otherwise he would end up like Xiao Hei's father.Zhao Shuai dismissed it. He thought he had a unique vision and would not find the wrong woman.Second Liao saw that everyone was up and Lao Wang went out to get his tea again, so he discussed whether to arrest Xiao Hei and torture him, what he saw in the demon house seven years ago.Even if there is a monster in the demon house, if it knocked Xiao Hei unconscious and dragged him into the house, how could he not eat Xiao Hei, but let him go back and ask someone to blow up its lair. Of course, I also think that what happened seven years ago was not simple, but Xiao Hei is innocent and innocent, not like a person with a city.Zhao Shuai has a good impression of Xiao Hei. They were chased by a tiger yesterday, and Xiao Hei has been protecting each other with his life, so he thinks Xiao Hei will not lie.Liao Er was speechless. He said that since Xiao Hei wasn't lying, there must be something wrong with the person who knocked Xiao Hei out.It's a pity that no one knows who that person is, and why he is entrenched in the demon's house. Maybe the tribute tea with the pumpkin head has already been snatched away by that person. "Fuck, no, don't scare me." Zhao Shuai and I said in unison. "I'm just guessing, but probably not. I always feel that what happened to Xiao Hei has something to do with you, Xiao Zhao. It might be the same person who knocked you out." Second Liao speculated. "How do you know?" I sat on the chair and raised Erlang's legs, "Why did Xiao Hei and Lao Zhao not understand why they were knocked out? They are not fellow travelers at all. What do they have in common?" "They are all surnamed Zhao." Liao Er said casually. I nodded repeatedly and said, "That's right, Xiao Hei's father's surname is Zhao, so Xiao Hei must have his surname Zhao. Could it be that the murderer hated the person surnamed Zhao so much that he..." "So shit!" Zhao Shuai interrupted us and said angrily, "It's getting farther and farther away, the most important thing now is to find the pumpkin tea, whoever knocked me out, we will leave as soon as we find the tea. People, he can knock whoever he likes." I think what Zhao Shuai said is right, things in the village seem simple, but they are actually very complicated, let's not make trouble for nothing.This trip is only for the tribute tea with pumpkin heads, and ignores everything else, so as not to cause trouble.Liao's second child is a businessman, much smarter than us, and he doesn't want to go through this muddy water, he only takes so much trouble to find the golden melon head tribute tea faster.Today Li Xiuzhu is going to bury her mother, and we have to go to worship, so we have to go to the demon house tomorrow. After the plan was finalized, Pharaoh walked in angrily, still swearing.I asked Lao Wang what happened, if he had a fight with someone, and if we should vent our anger on him.Lao Wang sighed and said that after Hu Jie died, people in the village wanted to send them to the police station in the county to report the case.But the distance between the county seat and the stockade is long, and only his tractor is a motor vehicle, so everyone wants him to drive to the county seat.Unexpectedly, when Lao Wang was about to drive, he found that the four wheels of the tractor had been punctured and could no longer be started.Lao Wang didn't have a spare tire, and he couldn't fix the car in a while. Not only could he not go to the county town to report the crime, but he also couldn't consign the tea from the village. "You also know that I overturned my car on the road that day, and the tea leaves were already wet. I wanted to dry them before selling them, but now I can't." Old Wang said irritably. The second brother Liao answered, "Then what should I do, I have to go to the county town to buy tires." "I have called a young man to go. I am old and my legs are not good enough. I fainted before I reached the county town." Lao Wang said sadly. "You're always going strong, young people may not walk faster than you." Zhao Shuai coaxed. I also wanted to say a few words of flattery, and leave Manlong Village at that time, so that Old Wang can send us out.At that time, we walked to the stockade and we were out of breath. It would have been much easier if we had taken Pharaoh's tractor.Thinking of this, I didn't choose anything good to say, I just asked Lao Wang if he had had a tire before.Lao Wang said that this has never happened, and the people in the village are very honest, so how could they do immoral things.What's more, the tractor is the only means of transportation in the village, and it's too late to take care of the car, who is willing to puncture the tire. "Could it be that the murderer doesn't want you to report the crime?" Zhao Shuai blurted out. As soon as this remark came out, the four of us looked at each other in blank dismay. If someone really didn't want to report the crime, then the young man who was sent out might be in danger.