Chapter 9 Seventy-ninth night half a needle

It may be because of the typhoon that the originally hot August has cooled down, but when I think about the coming July and a half, I suddenly feel that the weather is very suitable for the occasion again.Not knowing where Ji Yan and Li Duo had gone, he opened the mailbox casually, only to find that there were more letters from Feng Jiyan. Compared to knowing that July and a half is approaching, this guy actually sent a greeting letter, but it's a bit awkward to watch. "It's almost July and a half. A few days ago, Li Duo and I wanted to cross a river in order to find local legends. It was said that something very strange happened in the village across the river. I was in a hurry to get there, but there was no bridge on the river. But the water was swollen again, so I took an old man's boat to go there, I didn't expect to have an unexpected harvest, and the ghost festival is approaching, maybe you may use this story." I looked at the words in front of me, and suddenly came Spirited, the drowsiness of waking up in the morning was swept away, and I continued to read.

"It's very desolate here, and there are only endless rocky beaches and weeds around. The originally narrow river suddenly became turbulent, like kneaded dough, and the water waves were surging one by one. Li Duo and I I searched for a long time, but I didn't see the bridge across the river. The sky gradually dimmed. The heavy rain that just ended seemed to turn around again. There is actually a small boat docked in it. If you don't look carefully, it seems to be melted into it. I walked over to see a ferryman wearing a gray-white straw hat, an old blue overalls jacket, and gray shorts, smoking a hookah with his head sullen.I walked over and asked.

'Do you want to sail? ' He raised his head, his face was like a shriveled old steamed bun that had been placed for a long time, it was chlorotic, and it looked like a severely shrunken apple. His eyebrows had almost fallen off completely, and his eyes and cheeks were covered with deep-seated wrinkles.With a cigarette holder in his mouth, he looked at us with indifferent eyes.The sleeves rolled up to the elbows are covered with long and thin blood vessels as thick as earthworms, protruding one by one - people who have been in contact with water all year round will have this situation, their skin is yellow and dry, and there are layers of blood vessels standing on it. The gray-black dead skin had completely fallen off, and finally, after staring at us for a few seconds, his mouth left the hookah.

'Of course, but what's your last name? ' he asked in a thick regional accent. I was surprised by his question, but I still told him, Li Duo was also a little displeased, and hurriedly urged. He seems to be very old, but he doesn't know why he is still ferrying, and there seems to be very few people here, maybe it's not us, he doesn't receive a single guest a day. The old man’s body is very muscular, standing up straight like an iron plate, he packed up the hookah and unloaded our luggage. The boat is not big, but it can barely accommodate four people. Li Duo and I are facing each other. Sit down, while the old man stood at the bow of the boat and propped the boat away from the river bank.

The boat sailed slowly towards the center of the river, the current seemed to be a little weaker, and there were still many strange rocks standing beside the river. 'In July and August, the mountain torrents come fiercely, and the water here also rises violently, so you must look at those caves. If the river water passes over the stones, you can't get out of the boat even if you have high money. 'The old man's voice was hoarse, but very clear. He probably saw me staring at the stone, so he explained. 'Why did you ask our surnames just now? ' Li Duo asked the old man curiously.The old man hesitated for a while, and suddenly sang high-pitched towards the sky. The singing sound reflected from the surrounding mountain walls and surrounded his ears.

"Crossing people, don't worry, wait for me to ask your name, don't be afraid of bad waves and dangerous shoals, boatmen are full of courage, they would rather carry a needle when they go out, and don't carry people surnamed Chen when they go home." 'After the old man finished singing, he bowed his head and said to us. 'I am a boatman who lives on the other side of the river. There are rules in this area. You must bring a needle when you go out of the boat. No one surnamed Chen will be carried back to the boat. ' 'Oh?The person surnamed Chen is not included because of the homonym of Chen Chen, but why do you need to bring a needle? ' I asked curiously.

'Let me tell you a story about why you wear a needle. 'The old man raised his head and looked at the obscene sky. 'The terrain in this area is not good, and it is very desolate, so I didn't go to repair the bridge. Naturally, there are more ferrymen like me. We boatmen shook our hands. Some people have been eating river noodles for generations. They live by the river and grow by the river. Even if they die, their families should be buried on the bank of the river. go down. It is a matter of course that people who go out on a boat are good at swimming, but as long as it is the first time to go out on a boat alone, the old people always explain that they should carry a needle with them.When I asked why, they always sighed and shook their heads in silence.

I went out alone for the first time, and I was very happy, but I didn’t think much of the needle, but since the elders said it, I naturally nodded and said yes, so I pinned the needle in my trouser belt. After a long time, I naturally forgot about it up. Until one day, it was also a day like this. In July and August, there was a heavy rain for several days. Everyone couldn’t get out of the boat, lost their income, and sat at home in a daze. Finally, the rain stopped for a long time. People. Sure enough, the business was very busy that day. I went out at noon. By the time it got dark, I had been laying down for more than a dozen years. I hardly rested. Although I was tired, I was happy in my heart. helped someone.

I was just about to go back when I was stopped by a young man. He was tall and tall, but it was already dark and I couldn't see his face clearly. He was dressed as a scholar, with a leather suitcase in his hand, and black leather shoes on his feet. 'Take me there. The young man touched his body and took out the money. I looked at it and saw that it was more than double the ship's fare. I was about to take it when I suddenly remembered that I hadn't asked him yet. I was a little annoyed that the young man's surname was Chen, so I waved my hands and couldn't help it.

'If you don't cross, it's already dark, and there's no one around here, so why don't I have to walk back?What happened to the surname Chen?Is it possible that people surnamed Chen will not cross the river for the rest of their lives?Why are there still feudal superstitious people like you in this era. 'He was a little angry, scolded me loudly, and then picked on his body again. 'Take it! 'He actually took some more, I hesitated, at that time people were young and fearless, there was so much control there, just thinking that they always had to go home, why not bring one more person, take it with one hand After paying the money, let the man board the boat.

I carried him and rowed towards the opposite bank, but I felt a little uneasy. The familiar waterway turned out to be unfamiliar. I wished that a gust of wind would blow me to the opposite bank and go home earlier. When the boat arrived in the middle of the river, the two chatted. It turned out that this young man surnamed Chen was actually a scholar who had studied at a university, and he came here to collect folk customs and brought a box of books to educate the children here. I couldn't help admiring him for that. But unexpectedly, when there were still a few miles offshore, it really started to rain. The rain was very heavy, and within a short while, my boat was filled with water, and the wind was blowing hard, but it didn't blow me to the shore, but to the center of the river, and I panicked at a young age. , have never encountered such a thing. 'Boatman, what should we do now? ' The young man shouted loudly, but his words were inarticulate and slurred, probably because of the rainwater rushing into his mouth. 'You hold on to the boat, I'll find a way! ’ I told him, but I couldn’t help but feel fear in my heart. Although I haven’t been on the boat for a long time, I know that under such wind and rain, once the boat hits a raised stone cave, we will definitely fall into the river. I can't swim out either. Sure enough, before I could finish speaking, the boat capsized, and the young man and I fell into the water. The water hit me hard, and my flesh hurt so badly that my mouth and nostrils were filled with water. Fortunately, I managed to swim out of the water, but the scholar was gone, and the river was dark beside me. The sound of rain mixed with the sound of thunder drowned out my shouting. 'Perhaps it has sunk to the bottom, alas, this surname is really wicked. 'I sighed, and immediately swam towards the opposite bank. Suddenly, the soles of my feet sank, as if being pulled by someone, and then I felt hugged around my waist, and I quickly rolled over under the water. A bolt of lightning struck, and I saw the young man tightly hugging my waist, his hands desperately grabbing my waistband. 'let go!Otherwise we will die together! 'I yelled loudly, but he seemed to have lost consciousness, clung to me blankly, and shook his head desperately. I don't know what to do, I just know that once I exhaust all my strength, I will wait for my family to retrieve my body tomorrow. Everyone on the water knows that no matter how good the water quality is, once a person with such a strong desire to survive People hugged, there is no way to survive.This kind of person is like a weight, even if there is no wind and rain, it is difficult to swim with him. I suddenly remembered, and remembered a needle that I brought with me before I left. At that time, I didn't think much about it, I took out the needle from the waistband of my trousers, and stabbed it hard towards the back of the young man's hand. He yelped and looked at me with anger and malice. 'do not blame me!Otherwise everyone will die together! 'I closed my eyes, pulled the needle out, and stuck it in again. As expected, the strength in my waist was weakened, and I immediately broke free from his hand, but with too much force, the pulled out needle broke, and the pillow remained on the back of the young man's hand. I tried my best to breastfeed, and when I touched the stones on the river bank and struggled to climb up, the rain stopped immediately. Seeing that there was no danger, I passed out. When I woke up, I was already at home. I've never seen it so big and so fast. They also said that when I came back, I had half a needle firmly in my hand. After that, I got seriously ill, and when I closed my eyes, I saw that young man standing in front of me wetly demanding his life.And I finally understood why the old people told me to bring a needle, but they were unwilling to explain the reason again and again. I hid the half needle. I didn't tell anyone about it, but I told my father. My father was shocked when he heard it. The reason why he was surprised was not because of this incident. 'You didn't get the needle back whole?But it was broken in that person's hand? ' he asked palely, and I replied yes. 'This is taboo!Unless we can find the man's body, then,' my father stopped, sighed, and shook his head, and he wouldn't tell me even if I asked. Afterwards, everyone searched along the river with some good water, but they did not find the man's body. This made me really worried for a long time, but nothing happened for more than ten years, and I gradually forgot about it. Until I got married and had children too, until my daughter grew up.Though my father died in worry, holding that half of the needle even on his deathbed.But I didn't mind too much, maybe it's because I didn't believe in ghosts and gods since I was a child, and I also paid attention to the weather after that, and I definitely didn't force people to cross the river anymore. At the beginning of August last year, I received a letter from my daughter—the only post office here that can communicate with the outside world is dozens of miles away from the village, and I will go there to get letters for the whole village every once in a while, she told me in the letter , will bring my boyfriend here.For so many years, as long as her daughter was outside, she would send her letters, but recently, the letters have been a bit strange. The letters were damp as if they had been hit by fog. I thought they had been flooded in the mail, but the other letters were fine.I once wrote back to ask her, and my daughter only said that she accidentally got wet, or that she started writing every time after washing the clothes and dishes. Has the water not dried up after so long?I became suspicious. But I didn't mind too much, I was just anxious to go back and tell the mother the news. The two of us are immersed in happiness. Since our daughter went to other provinces to study in college, I have been going home less and less frequently. The last time was more than half a year ago. There are fewer and fewer people of this generation who lead people across the river. In case they come in a hurry and cannot find someone to cross the river, I will wait by the river every day for the next few days. The money sent by the daughter is enough to maintain the family. I waited for more than ten days in succession, until the night of July half.So as soon as it got dark, I planned to go back by punting.Just got up, but saw two people walking in the distance. A young woman and a tall man held hands tightly together. That woman is naturally my daughter, but when I saw the man, I was startled. I don't know why I think of the young man who looked like a scholar for decades, unless the clothes and hairstyle are different, and even the suitcases in his hands are the same.But even the face still feels blurred, half-resembling and not-like.I bit the tip of my tongue secretly, and told myself that there was no such weird thing in the world, and it was all due to my old eyesight. My future son-in-law respects me very much, and my daughter introduced me warmly.It turned out that this man was my daughter's college classmate, one class higher than my daughter, and he also helped introduce her daughter's job.Naturally, I was very happy with this son-in-law. Seeing that it was getting late, I stopped chatting and let the two of us board the boat. The old boatman said while shaking his oars, the boat was already approaching the middle of the river, but he suddenly stopped, squinting at me and Li Duo with strange eyes. 'Just like the two of you, you are sitting opposite each other, looking at each other very happily, but I felt a little weird at the time, but I never noticed it. It should be easy to think of it, maybe I was too happy at the time, but ignored it. ' He sighed and lowered his straw hat so that I couldn't see his eyes. There was another villager who was punting together that day. His boat also carried two girls from the village. He said that he had just returned from burning paper money by the river. When his boat passed by me, he suddenly looked at me. looked, and then said something strange. 'It's so shallow. ’ and it was cut open.I didn't care, it was just a joke at the time. When I got back to the village, my mother-in-law was waiting anxiously. She had already prepared a table of dishes, all of which were seasonal river delicacies. Most of them were fish and shrimp. I was afraid that my son-in-law would not be used to eating them, and I was afraid of the smell, so I made them specially. some pork and vegetables.The man called his daughter Mom and Dad together. We were very happy to hear that, and I simply treated him as my son-in-law. It was a good meal that night, although I kept looking at my son-in-law's left hand under the light. The half of the needle I broke was left in the young man's left hand. Although I repeatedly scolded myself for being suspicious, my eyes unconsciously glanced over. Even after eating, the daughter's hand was still holding the man's left hand, and I couldn't see anything. After dinner, I vacated a room for my son-in-law. My daughter is a little unhappy, but I don't care. Although our family is poor and humble, this girl still wants a good reputation. However, in the village by the river, there is moisture in the wind at night, and blowing it overnight can hurt bones. Not to mention my age, even young people can't afford it, and there are only two bedrooms in my house. The daughter naturally followed his mother. I can only sleep with my son-in-law. But when I looked into the eyes of my son-in-law, he seemed to be very happy, like a fisherman by the river staring at the live fish with a harpoon. 'Go to sleep! 'I gritted my teeth, turned off the lights, and lay down with all my clothes on. In the room over there, the couple hadn't seen each other for a while, so whispering was inevitable, but in the middle of the night, it was naturally calm, with only slight snoring. I fell into a deep sleep, dreaming, dreaming of the young man who fell into the river and I stabbed his hand with a needle. Not long after, I felt cold on my cheeks, opened my eyes, and found my son-in-law standing in front of me, soaked, staring at me, his hair dripping down in strands.Topless, wearing a pair of shorts. His appearance was almost the same as that of the young man who fell into the water, as if he had just crawled out from the bottom of the river in my dream. With a sudden shock, I jumped up and grabbed the clothes stick beside the bed. He seemed a little surprised, then looked at himself, and then smiled. 'I'm sorry, Dad, I scared you. I couldn't sleep, so I went out for a swim. Because of my weak body, I was sent to the swimming team to learn since I was a child. comfortable. ' He bowed his head again in apology, and went in. I just put down my things and lay down again. But that person likes to go swimming in the middle of July at night?And as long as he doesn't hold hands with his daughter, his left hand is either hidden behind his back or clenched tightly. If I don't look at his hands, I'm afraid I won't feel at ease.With this thought, I fell asleep again. The daughter told us she would be staying here with her son-in-law for a week. 'Dad, we have to go back in a week, there is not much time, and we will often go home to visit the two elders in the future. 'The daughter smiled and said, I know that girls are not allowed to stay in university, not to mention that here is a remote place, so I can't let my daughter go her own way, right?But when I think of it, my nose is sore again, as if someone poured ginger water from my nostrils, it is bitter and spicy. This son-in-law doesn't like to talk, but he is very respectful, and I hang my eyes on him all day long. Finally, I thought of a chance to see his left hand. 'You like swimming, the weather is nice today and the river is warm, why don't we go for a swim?Can you still compete? If you can't beat me, I won't allow my daughter to marry you. 'I joked, and my son-in-law readily agreed. 'I will definitely win you. ' he half-closed his eyes and said with a grin. The river water is the least harmful at noon. I took him to the riverside, and there was no one there. This area is surrounded by mountains, and there are many weeds. The sun cannot shine in, and the temperature is much lower. I quickly undressed and looked at him. My son-in-law also slowly took off his clothes. I finally saw his left hand. I didn’t know whether to say I was disappointed or happy. There was nothing on his hand, it was very smooth, white and tender, like a scholar holding a pen and paper. 'Let's swim. ' He jumped into the river with a splash.I also went down the river right after, feeling the stone in my heart fell to the ground, naturally I had nothing to worry about, and I swam very happily. He and I are both people who don't talk much, and it may be because of this that my daughter likes him. The two chatted with each other and then fell silent. The river was a bit muddy, and I couldn't see anything due to the raised silt. Thinking about the incident more than 20 years ago, it was welded in my heart like a scar. I tried my best to swim forward and saw my son-in-law in front of me. In a place of stature, maybe I am really old, so I want to beat him. But when I lowered my head, my anger disappeared instantly. Something floated under my body, a human-shaped thing. At first I thought it was my own shadow at the bottom of the river under the sun, but as the rolled up sand gradually receded, it turned out to be a corpse. The hair has almost fallen off completely, and the face is like a mushroom with soaked hair, with small purple-black blood vessels densely covering the entire balloon-like face, the mouth is bulging, something is contained in it, and the limbs are floating feebly , he slowly floated up, almost touching my face. Although his appearance had changed a lot, I recognized him immediately from his clothes. It was a corpse that was not found more than 20 years ago, but the leather box was no longer visible, and I thought it had been washed away. I am usually very courageous, but this time I was really scared, I missed my breath, choked into my chest, and my legs cramped again. And I saw the corpse with bulging eyes looking at me and smiling slightly, his left sleeve floated up, blocking my eyes. My throat began to feel tight, and I gradually felt out of breath, my eyes went dark, and finally I heard the voice of my son-in-law. When I woke up, there were many people around, and I was already lying on my bed. It turned out that my son-in-law fought me back. 'Corpse!The corpse! There seemed to be water in my lungs, so I shouted loudly again, coughing so far away, my mother-in-law patted my back lightly. 'Filled up. 'The villagers next to me told me. 'Why can't the corpses of more than twenty years come up?And it hasn't rotted yet? ' I asked aloud, not knowing whether to ask myself or someone else, because I wanted to know the answer or I would go crazy. I don't know if it's rotten or not, but it's natural if it doesn't float up. The son-in-law suddenly said coldly, "His stomach is full of cobblestones. When they moved them up just now, it made a gurgling sound. It is just like the cement mixer on the construction site. The belly is uneven. It is natural for one person to swallow so many stones." I can't get up. ' 'No wonder, I saw the corpse with a bulging mouth. 'I just calmed down. 'Besides, the corpse lost its left hand, as if it had been gnawed off by something. ' said a man next to him. I was silent for a while, waved my hand, motioned everyone to disperse, then ignored my family's inquiries, buried my head and went to sleep. In fact, I can sleep there.Where is the left hand with the half needle? If I can't find the half needle, sooner or later I will die like my father, and I will die without peace of mind. The days passed and my daughter told me that they would be leaving soon.Fortunately, my body recovered after a short period of time, but my heart disease cannot be cured. People in the village know that there are not many things that have happened in the past few decades. The daughter held the hand of her son-in-law and looked at the new grave with a sad face. 'It's so pitiful, I don't even have a name. ' 'Why not, maybe it has the same name as me. The son-in-law suddenly said something, and I glared at him, and then I stopped. Seven days passed quickly, and my daughter actually started to cry, maybe because she was very reluctant, but there was nothing she could do. 'You must take care of yourself. The child's mother wiped her tears and grabbed her daughter's other hand, "Look at how cold your hand is, you must pay attention when you are pregnant with a doll." ' 'Well, he'll take care of me. The daughter smiled and looked at her son-in-law, who also nodded. I offered to send them across the river, but was rejected on the grounds that I was in good health and was not suitable, and I needed to stay in bed more. 'Papa, let's go. 'The son-in-law bowed to us, then suddenly let go of his daughter's left hand and stretched it out towards me.I froze for a moment, thinking that maybe this was their way of saying goodbye, so I also stretched out my hand, and the two of them held each other. At that time, I felt a slight tingling in the palm of my hand. My daughter and son-in-law disappeared outside the door. I turned my hand around, and there was half a rusty needle in my hand. At that time, I opened my mouth and opened my mouth to call my daughter back, but I knew it would be useless. The mother thought I was reluctant. , comforted me and said; 'My daughter will come back, what are you sad about. ' 'Back, I can't come back. I cried and said, I ignored her, just rushed into the inner room, found a small iron box, opened it, and inside was the other half of the needle. The two strokes are overlapped, and they are exactly together, a complete needle, which is the one I took out twenty years ago. I put the box back feebly, raised my eyelids with difficulty, and suddenly saw the leather box in the corner. The suitcase that the son-in-law brought on the first day. The suitcase was exactly the same as the one carried by the twenty-year-old young man. It's just that it was fine a few days ago, but now the box is leaking water, and streams of water flow out from the cracks of the box, wet a large area. I crawled over—because my legs were completely useless, I resisted to open the box, and there was nothing in it, the missing severed hand. There were only a lot of letters in it, letters soaked in water. Every letter has been received by us and sent by our daughter.Most of those letters were very blurred.I threw all the letters and boxes out of the house like crazy, my wife was terrified of me, she said later that I seemed like a hungry ghost. A few days later, I went to the post office again, and sure enough there was a letter from me. Unfortunately, it was not written by my daughter, it was sent by her unit.When I opened the letter, although I was prepared, I almost passed out. The letter stated that her daughter went swimming alone in the river two weeks ago, and was caught in a storm. As a result, her body was salvaged after a long time, and the most strange thing was that her hands were tightly held There was a severed hand, the left hand of a severed man, and everyone present said that the hand looked as if it had been soaked for many years.And this letter does not know why it took so long to get here. Holding the letter, I sat at the post office for a long time before I punted home. I didn’t even know how to tell the person at home, so I decided to hide it. I only said that my daughter had gone abroad. When I came back, I met that guy again. Only then did I understand that what he said that day was too shallow. In fact, he was curious why a big man on my boat was not as deep as a girl. I smiled wryly, of course, there was only a severed hand on the boat at that time. "The boatman finally finished speaking, and the boat has arrived. I gave him the boat money, but he waved his hand. "No, I'm very happy if you can listen to my story." He smiled plainly. "Then can you tell us where to go to Village A?" Li Duo asked him with a smile, the boatman nodded, got off the boat, pointed us to the map in detail, and then boarded and left. Looking at his figure gradually disappearing on the river surface, I just remembered that when he got on and off the boat just now, the boat didn't move. Who knows?Maybe it's his stability on the ship all year round. Hearing such a story before arriving in the village made him a little depressed, but who knew that there were even more strange things in the village?It's just that there is not enough time, so I can only stop here, and I will tell you in a few days. All is well, and I wish you and Luo Lei good health. " The content of the letter is over. It seems that Ji Yan wrote the letter for me after leaving the village. Of course, I am more anxious about his story a few days later, what is there in that strange village, but since he can tell me, Of course there is no danger. As long as everything is safe, as a friend, I am very happy. However, if I were a boatman, I would probably pick up the needle and stick it without hesitation?Maybe everyone will. (half needle finished)