Chapter 3 Section 2 The Growth of the Grave Robber

Uncle Gousheng’s home is in our neighboring village. In the countryside, Uncle Dog Leftover is a legend. The Qinling Mountains is like a big river, flowing from west to east, mighty and boundless, when it flows to our village, it suddenly turns a corner, and then turns back to the east.Our village is on the cliff here, and Uncle Gousheng's village is on the other cliff.When we were young, we often stood on the cliff at the head of the village and chatted with our friends on another cliff. We shouted: "Oh - what did you eat for lunch?" We shouted to the other side: "Oh - stir up the group." This kind of food It is to stir the sweet potato noodles in a boiling water pot, cook and solidify, let cool after solidification, cut into small pieces after cooling, and eat in a soup bowl with chili garlic, soy sauce and vinegar and other seasonings.The food of this difficult time is now almost forgotten by people.We yelled again: "Oh—what class are you having at noon?" We yelled to the other side: "Oh——Liu Wenxue Fights the Landlord." The "little hero" Liu Wenxue in our childhood hearts is almost forgotten by people now.

We can see the figure on the opposite cliff and hear the sound of the opposite cliff. However, it takes half a day to walk to the opposite cliff.The cliff is so deep that if you throw a stone down, you can't hear the sound for a long time.In the village, a pig slipped and fell off a cliff. When people found it at the bottom of the cliff, it had been broken into several pieces. Going from one side of the cliff to the other, climbing up and down, is extremely difficult. Although the two villages have heard the sound of chickens and dogs, it is difficult to communicate with each other.If people want to discuss things with the people on the opposite cliff, they shout: "Oh—the Chunsheng's family is waiting for you at the temple fair." The Chunsheng's family on the opposite side is a matchmaker. Running cheerfully on the dirt road leading to the village, she covered all the villages within a hundred miles with her little feet.She is a celebrity in our hometown.

Uncle Gousheng is also a celebrity. Uncle Gousheng once had an older brother named Gouwa.All the children in our village have heard of Gou Wa even though they have never seen Gou Wa.When adults frighten disobedient children, they say: "Do you want to be a dog and tell wolves to take you away?" The children immediately become very obedient and obedient. When Gouwa was 8 years old and Uncle Gousheng was 5 years old, they played at the entrance of the village with several other children in the village. If it is in the shape of a bowl, then press it hard on the ground, the hollow mud will make a thick sound, and the bottom of the "bowl" will be hit by the air to create a gap. The children compete to see who has the biggest gap.At that time, the adults were studying Chairman Mao's works in the village.

When Gouwa was suppressing his cannon, he saw a dog squatting tens of meters away, so he shouted: "Pu Ba --" and stretched out his palm to greet the dog.The dog came over wagging its tail. It opened its mouth and bit Gouwa's neck. With a flick of its head, it carried Gouwa on its shoulders, then ran slowly into the ravine wagging its buttocks. Seeing this, Uncle Gousheng hurried into the room where he was studying Chairman Mao's works, and said to his mother out of breath, "Mom, Mom, the dog ran away with my brother." The venue suddenly exploded, and everyone knew that it was not a dog, but a wolf.The men picked up the shovel and wooden fork behind the door and ran after them, while the women were busy looking for their children.Our village on the opposite cliff heard the shout, and my father and the others also picked up farm tools to intercept the wolf that had carried Gouwa on its back.

However, that day until dawn, people searched everywhere in the ravine with torches, but they didn't see the wolf or Gouwa. Three days later, an old lady in our village went to the threshing field to collect wheat straw. At that time, people used firewood for cooking, and the firewood needed wheat straw to ignite the fire;The old lady put her hand into the straw pile and felt something was wrong. When she pulled it out, it was a human leg.The old lady was paralyzed with fright. The man also wore an embroidered tiger shoe on his leg, tied around his ankle.It was Gouwa's leg. Gouwa was eaten by wolves and only one leg was left. The wolf buried the leg in the straw pile and prepared to eat it next time.Many years later, my mother told me that the incisions on that leg were neat, as if they had been sawed off by a saw.

Ever since she lost Gouwa, Uncle Gousheng’s mother has been crying and crying. Later, she blinded one eye and almost lost her vision in the other eye.The old lady in my memory always had red eyes, wiping tears that could never be wiped away. When Uncle Gousheng was 8 years old, he also encountered a disaster. In the Qinling Mountains, it is extremely cold in winter and hot in summer.People in our hometown spread out straw mats in the yard when they sleep in midsummer, and the whole family sleeps in the yard.There are many mosquitoes on summer nights, so people light a weed called mugwort next to the straw mats, and the billowing smoke will smoke away the mosquitoes.Because it was the Cultural Revolution at that time, all the male laborers from every household went to build water conservancy projects, leaving only women and children in the family.

That night, when Uncle Gousheng’s mother was sleeping, she stretched out her hand subconsciously. There was nothing around her, and there was no son. She got up screaming and saw a black shadow moving by the water hole at the door by the moonlight.There is a circular hole under the wall next to the gate of every family in our hometown.This hole has two purposes. When it rains, the water in the yard flows out from this hole; when the gate of the yard is closed, the late chickens come in through this hole.Because of these two special purposes, this kind of hole will not be very large, with a diameter of only about 20 centimeters.When Uncle Gousheng's mother saw a dark shadow there, she ran over without fear, and suddenly heard the child's cry.She yelled loudly, opened the courtyard door, and saw a wolf running briskly along the alleyway, while the child was stuck in the water hole, unable to advance or retreat.After the neighbors came running, they turned on their flashlights and saw two sharp wounds on Uncle Gousheng's neck, bleeding out.It was bitten by the teeth of a wolf.

For a long time, people couldn't imagine how the wolf got into the yard and dragged the child out of such a small water hole. The 5-year-old children were all stuck, but the wolf was able to escape without incident.So people are saying that wolves have the ability to shrink bones. Also, when wolves are pouncing on their prey, they always bite the opponent's throat at once, so that the opponent has no chance to breathe.And when the wolf is changing mouths, the opponent will be able to breathe.Therefore, after the young Uncle Gousheng was bitten by the wolf, he didn't cry out, but when he got stuck in the water hole, the wolf changed his mouth, and he cried out.

The wolf tooth mark on the neck has accompanied Uncle Gou Sheng all his life, and everyone in the surrounding villages knows the child with the wolf tooth mark on his neck.After he grew up, he never could be called a daughter-in-law. Even though his mother went to Chunsheng's house time and time again, giving them food that the family couldn't bear to eat, but when people mentioned this man with wolf teeth marks on his neck, He waved his hands repeatedly and shook his head, saying that living with such a man would make him panic. My brother was eaten by wolves, and I was almost taken away by wolves. The marks of wolf teeth on my neck made me unable to be called a daughter-in-law. Therefore, Uncle Gousheng hated wolves so much that he was always looking for opportunities to take revenge on wolves.

Once, Uncle Gousheng was mowing grass in the mountains and found a wolf den halfway up the mountain. There were two wolf cubs in the wolf den. The two furry guys who could not walk grinned at him and barked threateningly.Wolves are cruel by nature, and their ferocity is inherent.Uncle Gousheng hacked one wolf cub to death with a sickle, and brought the other wolf cub back to the village. That evening, Uncle Gousheng tied the little wolf cub to the old locust tree at the entrance of the village. The two hind legs of the little wolf cub were hung by long ropes. The little wolf cub was only two meters above the ground. You can hit it by jumping.

This is a trap set by Uncle Gousheng. Then, the men in the village dug a trench under the wolf cub. In the trench, a rake was placed upside down, with the bright tines pointing upwards, waiting for the wolf to fall. The trench was covered with weeds and floating soil.After lunch, every family closed the door and turned off the lights, but none of them fell asleep, waiting for the thrilling moment when the she-wolf arrived. When it was almost midnight, the she-wolf finally appeared, and she howled mournfully. That voice came into the house through the crack of the window, which made everyone's heart tremble uncontrollably.The female wolf came to the old locust tree and circled around the old locust tree, but did not go to rescue the cub.Later, the female wolf ran up and down the village road like crazy, hissing and screaming. The sound was like a knife cutting through the dark sky, revealing the bleak starlight.The men in the village originally planned to surround and wipe out the female wolf, but they gave up this plan when they heard the female wolf's cry. After dawn, the female wolf finally left.When people opened the door, they suddenly found a calf lying down in front of the breeding room at the entrance of the village. The calf's face was scratched to pieces by wolf claws, and the calf's belly was also emptied by the she-wolf.This is the female wolf demonstrating to the villagers. My mother once said that there is a word called "wolf gobble". When a wolf eats something, it always swallows it in a hurry, and then returns to the nest to digest it slowly. This is formed by the living environment for thousands of years.In order to be able to complete the maximum amount of food intake in the shortest time, wolves have to choose "gobble". My mother said that once, when the people in the village were chasing a wolf that had just eaten - the wolf ran into the sheepfold - the wolf was running slowly with its fat belly shaking, and the crowd hurried behind. Hurrying, the distance is getting closer and closer.Suddenly, the wolf stopped, lowered his head and vomited desperately. After vomiting out a lot of bloody food, he ran briskly away.This time, people can no longer catch up.My mother said that among the pile of food were large pieces of undigested mutton. Wolves also change coat color.In summer, when the wheat is ripe, wolves hide in the wheat fields. The color of their fur is the same as that of the ripe wheat. After the wheat is harvested, the wolf's fur becomes the same color as the land. My mother said that in our hometown, wolves have been fighting with humans for thousands of years, and no one obeys the other. The harsh living environment for thousands of years has not only determined the eating habits and external characteristics of wolves, but also cultivated wolves' cunning, cunning, ferocity and tenacity.Of all the animals the fox is cunning and the tiger fierce, but the wolf alone is both. People play tricks on wolves, and wolves play tricks on people. Once, when Uncle Gousheng and the others were collecting firewood in the mountains, they saw an old-fashioned wolf on the bank of the fence tens of meters away.The wolf staggered its steps, its fur was dry and felt like a felt sheet, and every step it took took a breath, as if it was about to die.Uncle Gousheng and the others were extremely happy, waving their heads and shouting, rushing towards the dying wolf.When he was only 20 meters away from the old wolf, Uncle Gousheng who rushed ahead suddenly saw three huge hornet's nests hanging on the jujube thorns in front of him. Each hornet's nest was as big as a sunflower, and there were thousands of them. Thousands of golden wasps crawling in and out of the hive, the sight makes one's scalp tingle.Hornets are extremely vigilant, and when the hive is slightly impacted by external force, they will attack in groups.These hornets land on people, and within 10 minutes, people will be stung to death.Uncle Gousheng once saw a swarm of wasps stung a cow to death.The concealment of these three hornet's nests is very strong. They hang above the jujube thorns, and the jujube thorns are surrounded by various weeds and mugworts that are half a person's height, covering the hornet's nests. If you don't look carefully, you really can't find them. . Uncle Gousheng and the others broke out in a cold sweat, and quietly backed away.They retreated to safety and saw the old wolf smiling back at them.Uncle Gousheng said that he will never forget that weird smiling face.After the old wolf laughed, he moved his vigorous feet and ran away briskly. In the indomitable struggle between Uncle Gousheng and the wolf, he discovered the ancient tomb.Once, a flash flood broke out and caused a landslide.When Uncle Gousheng went up the mountain to cut firewood, he saw a coffin lying on the side of the road. The lid of the coffin had been washed away, exposing the bones inside.Uncle Gousheng has always been very courageous, he threw the bones aside, and brought the pots and jars inside back home.The small pots are used to store salt, the large jars are used to store soy sauce and vinegar, and there is a bigger one, which he made into a urinal. At that time, water conservancy was still under construction, and people were often able to dig out ancient tombs.After discovering the ancient tomb, people looted all the things in the ancient tomb and took them home as daily necessities.People at that time did not know that these things were priceless ancient relics.It is said that the urinals of many people in the village are utensils from the Qin and Han Dynasties. One year after the "Cultural Revolution", a southern businessman came to the village. He walked into every house and was surprised when he saw people's daily necessities. He asked how these things came from. The mountain people were very kind and said that It was dug out from an ancient tomb.The southern businessman said: "I will buy this thing. You can buy new ones if you have money. The new one looks better than the old one and lasts longer." The villagers were very happy. They didn't bargain. They sell as much as they want, and then take the money, which is a huge sum of money for them, to happily go to the temple fair at the foot of the mountain to purchase brand-new daily necessities. There are many good things in the ancient tomb, not only pots and pots, but also some calligraphy and paintings.A southern businessman walked into an old lady’s home and saw a picture of a lady hanging on the wall. Of course, the old lady didn’t know it was a picture of a lady, she just thought it looked good and hung it on the wall.The southern businessman said: "How much do you want to sell this painting to me?" He took off the painting on the wall, and he could see from the signature that it was Tang Bohu's work.He had just stepped out of the house when the old lady stopped him from behind: "Hey, there are more here. I'm going to make some shoes." Then, she took out a painting from under the mat, which showed a fat horse. strong horse.Looking at this work by Han Gan, the southern businessman was so excited that his hands trembled. He gave the old lady 100 yuan and said, "This money can buy a lot of paper, enough to make shoes for a lifetime." Everyone wears cloth shoes, and before making cloth shoes, the shoe pattern must be hinged. At that time, paper was scarce, and women used whatever paper they saw to hinge the shoe pattern. My mother once said to me: "Things like shoe hinges are about the eighth wife." The eighth wife passed away when I was very young. She gave birth to eight children in her life, but none of them survived. In the end, she was a nephew. To die for her. In our place, there are many legends about ancient tombs, wolves and cultural relics.In the past thousands of years of human history, there have always been many tomb robbers. Our area is the dividing line between the north and the south of China, and it has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. Throughout the dynasties, countless wars have occurred on our land, and there are as many as a hundred wars recorded in the local county annals alone. One of the most amazing stories circulating in the countryside is that in ancient times, a general rescued a wolf from a trap on the way to battle, and this wolf was a wolf.The head wolf summoned all the hundreds of wolves under his command for the general to dispatch.Whenever a war breaks out, this pack of wolves becomes the vanguard of the general, invincible and invincible. Later, the general died on the battlefield and was buried in the mountain. The wolf leader led the wolves to guard the general's tomb day and night.After the death of the alpha wolf, its descendants continue to guard it for generations.Several gangs of tomb robbers once set their sights on the general's tomb, and were either repelled by the wolves or killed by the wolves.Later, in that special era of fighting against heaven and earth, the general's tomb was flattened into land, and the wolves were scattered by brave people.This legend also came to an abrupt end. This legend was once recorded in the local county annals of the Qing Dynasty. In fact, many modern tomb robbers use ancient books such as county annals as clues for tomb robbers.They looked for clues from these ancient books, and then started.There are usually only three or five members in a tomb robbery gang, and one of them must have at least a rudimentary knowledge of writing and ink.The modern gang of tomb robbers is completely different from what we imagined sitting in the study. The tomb-robbing gang formed by fellow-townsmen and fellow-clansmen absolutely did not involve father and son.If a father robs a tomb, the son will never participate; if a son robs the tomb, the father will definitely stay away.This is an unwritten rule established by tomb robbers in China for thousands of years. Tomb robbery is a job of tying your head to your trouser belt, and it is also the most despicable behavior.According to folklore, tomb thieves will kill their offspring, and the government will also give severe sentences to catch tomb thieves.Therefore, in order to avoid cutting off the incense in the family, both father and son will not participate in the tomb robbery. Many tomb robbers' skills come from ancestral traditions. Uncle Gousheng's father used to be a tomb robber.Before liberation, he followed a group of tomb robbers as far as Luoyang, the eastern capital, and often traveled between Luoyang, the eastern capital, and Chang'an, the western capital. Chang'an is the future Xi'an.It is said that Uncle Gousheng’s father once made a fortune, but was kidnapped by bandits on the way. As a result, his family used years of savings to exchange half of his life, and the other half was lost in the bandit’s camp in the Qinling Mountains inside. After this catastrophe, Uncle Gousheng's father quit.In fact, he didn't have the energy to continue doing it.The bandits broke his waist, and he had to walk like a sleepy bug, obsequious and submissive, completely without the courage and cunning of the tomb robber. Uncle Gousheng is a posthumous child.Not long after his mother was pregnant with him, his father never returned on the way to a temple fair.When people found out, Uncle Gousheng's father had died under the cliff beside the mountain road, and his eyes and heart were poached out. It was the eve of the "Cultural Revolution".The police, wearing a white jacket and blue trousers, searched in various ways, but did not find the murderer. This case finally became an unsolved case. Regarding this unsolved case, it has been widely circulated in our hometown for a long time, and many different versions have been deduced.Some people said that he was seduced by ghosts, and that after he dug so many graves, wandering spirits found him and demanded his life; others said that the descendants of the stolen tombs killed him.His death was miserable, which showed that the murderer had a deep hatred with him. The father who had never met died, and the elder brother who was a few years older also died. The young Uncle Gou lived with his miserable and cowardly mother. It is the same as loach, but it is surprisingly courageous. It often dares to walk at night with a stick alone, and haunts graveyards.He crossed mountains and ridges like walking on flat ground, and his steps were so light that even rabbits could catch up.He is the hero in the hearts of the teenagers in the surrounding villages, and he is also the hero in my heart. At that time, many friends imitated a method of "using mice to control mice".The children said that this method was first introduced from Uncle Gousheng. This method is: catch a live mouse, don't kill it, stuff two grains of soybeans into its anus, sew it up with thread, and let the mouse go.After the soybeans are soaked in the body fluids of the mice, they will swell, and the mice will suffer unbearably pain, and will frantically bite the same kind. As a result, all the mice in the nest will be killed by it.In the end, it will suffocate itself. At that time, there was a severe shortage of food in the mountainous area, and people could not get enough to eat, and there were too many rats, competing with people for food.So, it's easy to catch a live mouse. I've always wanted to catch a mouse for this stimulating experiment.However, when I thought of the bloody scene of sewing a mouse's butt, I gave up this idea. I was very timid when I was a child.To this day, I don't know if this approach works. The orphans and widowed mother live in poverty and have to rely on the state to take care of them every year.At that time, there was nothing in state care, it was nothing more than a military quilt or a military overcoat, and it was not available every year.Because of poverty, Uncle Gou Sheng has some petty theft problems when he grows up.However, he does not steal people from his own village or the surrounding villages. Every time he steals, he has to go far away.In fact, rural people at that time were generally very poor, and they could not steal anything except food.Many years later, when I was reading "Jiabiangou Notes", I read a thief written in it.During the anti-rightist period, the thief escaped from Jiabiangou, where many people died, and came to Beijing, stealing agencies and factories, stealing a lot of money and food coupons every time.Compared with this thief, Uncle Gousheng looks very pitiful. Every time he steals, he only steals some steamed buns and yams. I can still remember that every New Year's Eve, when the Chinese New Year's steamed buns have just been steamed at home, there will be a knock on the door.The sound of knocking on the door was mixed with the howling wind, appearing weak and timid.Mother said: "The dog is left." My father would always turn over and jump off the kang to open the courtyard door.Then, Uncle Gousheng would follow his father into the room and walk into the dim light of the kerosene lamp.Uncle Gousheng is short and small, his height only reaches his father's waist, he has his hands in his sleeves, his face is pitiful and flattering, and his nose is black and blue with cold.My father said: "Go to the kang." In the winter in the northern countryside, every household burns a hot kang, and when guests come, they sit on the hot kang first.Uncle Gousheng said: "Brother Li, no." Father said: "Have you eaten yet?" Uncle Gousheng said: "Brother Li, eat."My father knew that it would take several hours to walk from his village to our village. Without any explanation, my father brought two hot steamed buns from the kitchen, and brought oily meat and peppers for Uncle Gousheng to hold. eat.When Uncle Gousheng took a bite, half of the steamed bun was gone. After eating the steamed buns, Uncle Gousheng said: "Brother Li, I borrowed two yuan, and I will pay you back as soon as my money is loose." The father didn't speak, he called his mother, took out 5 yuan from the bottom of the box, and handed it to Uncle Gousheng.Then, wrap two steamed buns stuffed with spicy meat in a towel, and ask Uncle Gousheng to bring it to his mother.When Uncle Gousheng was about to leave the house, his father stuffed two packs of Flock cigarettes into Uncle Gousheng's pocket. Sheep Flock cigarettes cost 9 cents a pack, and they were the most commonly smoked cigarettes by farmers in Northwest China at that time. Seeing Uncle Gousheng walk out of the courtyard gate, I hurried out, chased after my buttocks and asked: "Uncle Gousheng, stuffing soybeans into the ditch for mice, will it kill the mice?" The ditch is the buttocks. Before Uncle Gousheng could answer, my father slapped me away: "Why are there so many nonsense?" Nonsense is gossip, useless words. My father kept sending Uncle Gousheng to the entrance of the village. In the dark, I heard my father say something like "you must learn well and be a good man". At that time, my father was making pigtails every year, and the family had a little savings. My father once took the dog leftover uncle to roll the pigtails.However, rolling pigs is a very hard and heavy physical work. The thin and thin Uncle Gousheng has been with his father for two days, and he can't stand it anymore.Later, he was still petty theft, still penniless. Autumn is the most beautiful scenery in the northern countryside, and it is also the season that farmers look forward to most.At this time, corn, yams, sweet potatoes, and black beans are all ripe, and everyone can eat enough. In the childhood autumn in my memory, I played behind Uncle Gousheng’s ass several times.The sky is high and the clouds are clear, the breeze is blowing, the mountains in the distance seem to be washed by water, there is a kind of exuberant green, there are wild geese flying in the sky, sometimes they are arranged in a line, and sometimes they are arranged in human characters. When I was a child, I used to be very poetic. I thought: "It would be nice to be a wild goose, then I can travel far, far away without spending a penny." However, at that time, I always didn't know where they came from and where they were going to fly. go.Later, when I was in college, I read Fan Zhongyan’s poem "Hengyang Geese Go Without Paying Attention", and I learned about these wild geese flying in my childhood memories. They flew from the Mongolian Plateau to the edge of Dongting Lake. I followed Uncle Gousheng to dig out hornet's nests and bird eggs.When digging out the hornet's nest, one should wrap the whole body tightly, poke the hornet's nest with a stick, and when the hornet comes rushing, jump down along the bank.After jumping a few times, the hornet will not be able to catch up.The wasp's eyes are on the top of its head, so it cannot see below itself.After all the wasps flew away, we picked up the hornet's nest, picked out the larvae inside, and grilled and ate them. When digging out the eggs, Uncle Gousheng was standing below. I stepped on his shoulder and reached into the bird's nest.Once, after I put my hand into the bird's nest, it felt cold, and I said, "Why is it cold?" Uncle Gousheng said, "Pull it out and have a look." I pulled it out, and a snake came out.The snake was thankfully non-venomous. At that time, because we were often hungry, we ate whatever we saw, and the production team did not dare to move the crops, so we got the idea of ​​animals.Light a fire and put all crawling animals in it. Cicadas eat the most in summer, and "clamps" (a black crawling insect that only appears when it rains) eat the most in rainy days. Later, I went to middle school, went to college, and took part in a job. Then I came to the south to work and cut off contact with Uncle Gousheng. After I started working, I stood by the cliff and shouted to the opposite village many times: "Oh—is Uncle Gousheng here?" A voice came from somewhere on the other side: "Oh—not here." "Where did you go?" "Oh—I don't know." Although I never saw Uncle Gousheng every time I went home, I heard from other people that he was still poor, didn’t farm well, was still idle, and couldn’t get a wife.In fact, I often think: which woman follows him, it will be unlucky. Now, I didn't expect Uncle Gou Sheng to go to the grave.