Chapter 7 7

27 "I'm not a lunatic asylum here, so you bring it back, too! What if something happens?" Liyue yelled when she found out that I had kept my younger brother in for the night. "It doesn't matter, he doesn't understand anything, so he won't cause trouble." I hurriedly explained for my younger brother, who sat cross-legged on my bed, blushing from the sun, kissing Liyue, blinking his eyes a few times. "You said it so lightly!" Li Yue pointed at my face, "He ran out so madly, his family must be looking everywhere, maybe they have already called the police! Send him home quickly , lest the police come to the door and say that we hide a madman here."

"Where are we going to send him?" I laughed and said, "He can't even tell where his home is - he only knows it's in Wanhua." "Cough, it's all your trouble!" Li Yue gave me a hard look, then sat down next to my younger brother, looked him up, then put on a smiley face, coaxing him and said: "Come on, little brother, tell Sister Liyue: Where is your home? Which street in Wanhua? Is it Guangzhou Street? There is a big temple called Longshan Temple, do you know?" The little brother opened his mouth halfway, staring blankly at Li Yue. "You don't tell? You ran out, your mother is dying! Your mother is looking for you, do you know?"

Li Yue stretched out her hand to touch the younger brother's bald head, and the younger brother suddenly burst out laughing, swaying back and forth, and uttered a series of baby words like humming. "What kind of trick is this?" Li Yue asked in amazement. I laughed. "He told you: Grandmother went up the mountain, Grandmother went up the mountain—" "Hey——" Li Yue shook her head and sighed, "You're an idiot!" "Fruit—one fruit—" the younger brother cried. Little Johnny Dendenden ran in, grabbed a carambola and gnawed on it. Abasan followed behind, his panting stomach bulging.The younger brother climbed out of the bed as soon as he got up, and reached out to grab the carambola in Little Johnny's hand, and Little Johnny quickly hid behind Abasang.

"You also come to grab the children's things!" Abasang raised his hand and was about to hit him, but the younger brother shrank his head and closed his eyes. "Abasan, go to the refrigerator and get one for this little nerve!" Li Yue laughed. "I want to ask Ah Qing to get it!" Abasang yelled, "The mangoes in the refrigerator are gone, and there are two bottles of milk missing from Little Johnny—ask Ah Qing, where are they all?" I hurried out of the room, Liyue scolded sharply from behind: "You want to die! You dare to touch my mango, twenty yuan a piece, if you don't buy one tomorrow, do you think I still have a meal for you?"

I went to the refrigerator and got a carambola to pass to my younger brother. "Did you hear that?" I smiled and said, "I was scolded because you are delicious!" The younger brother took the green carambola but was reluctant to eat it. He held it in his hand and played with it upside down. "Listen," Liyue said to me, pointing at her little brother again, "this is a burden you found, you have to find a solution yourself. Send this little nerve away tonight---where will I send it to me?" It doesn't matter, it can be sent to the police station or a mental hospital."

"Sister Liyue," I said with an apologetic smile, "you are a kind person. It's already late today, so let this little guy stay here for another night. I'll go to the police tomorrow and let the police take him away." "No!" Li Yue waved her hands, "You and Xiaoyu, two glass bastards, have already caused me so much trouble living here --- the important people have come, and the fightrs have come. Now add such an idiot Boy, I'm going crazy myself! What's more, you haven't paid the rent of 300 yuan last month, and you dare to take someone in. When I get angry, I will kick you out together!"

"I promise!" I patted my chest and said, "I will definitely get the money tonight and pay the rent. We can discuss it now, right?" "Let's talk after you get the money---" Li Yue's tone loosened, but she squinted at me and smiled, "The line can be longer tonight, and come back with a big goldfish! " When I left, I told Abasan a lot of good things, and asked her to take care of my younger brother, and when there were leftovers, I would serve him a bowl of rice. "It's so hot, and I'm required to serve that little man!" Abasang disapproved.

"Please, Abasan, I'll buy a catty of lychees for you to eat." Abasang can eat five catties of lychees at a time. Once he got a nosebleed, so he had to buy herbal tea to drink. "If you want to buy it, buy fresh ones!" Abasan snorted, "Bring back those bug-infested ones last time." I rushed to the park and found our master, Instructor Yang. He and the primitive man A Xiongzai were sitting on the stone railing of the lotus pond, side by side, one huge and the other fat.I turned over and asked Teacher Yang to borrow money, five hundred yuan. "Master," I shouted with a smile, "it's really urgent, and I will return it in two days."

"Do I open a bank?" Coach Yang scolded, "Everyone comes to me to adjust their positions! How about this, I will figure out a way out for you, you go to Dashiji and wait for me first. I will ask a God of Wealth for you Grandpa is here." I walked to Dashiji on Hengyang Road, chose a quiet corner to sit down, and ordered a glass of guava juice. After waiting for about half an hour, Coach Yang brought a person. He asked that person to sit next to me and sit by myself across from me. "This is Boss Lai." Instructor Yang introduced, then winked at the surnamed Lai, and said with a smile:

"How about it, Boss Lai, am I right? Is this young man still handsome?" The man surnamed Lai moved his body, tilted his head and looked me up and down.He is a fat man in his forties, with a red liver lid, under the rose red light, glistening with wet oily sweat.His hair was cropped short, parted in the middle, and permed in fine waves.He was wearing a Hong Kong shirt of Thai silk with gold thread between jade and green. He sat down and stretched out his stomach.On the bald ring finger of his left hand, he wore a thick square gold ring.When he looked at me, his puffy eyes were filled with a smile.I lowered my head and sucked my guava juice.

"Ah Qing, Mr. Lai is the boss of the Yongchang suit store in Ximending." Instructor Yang whimpered at the surnamed Lai and said with a smile, "Boss Lai wants to give you a pair of suit pants—made to order!" "How many inches is your waist, little brother? I'll measure it for you—" The man surnamed Lai took advantage of the situation and stretched out his hand to squeeze my waist. I quickly moved away, and both he and Coach Yang laughed. . "A body full of hard muscles!" The surname Lai said with a smile, "Have you practiced kung fu?" "My apprentice's childishness is very generous, and he has almost become an indestructible body." Coach Yang laughed with the surname Lai again. Coach Yang flicked his finger, and the waiter brought two Bottle of cold beer. "You can say it yourself, little brother," the man surnamed Lai patted me on the shoulder, "You want Ma Hai or Dacron." I kept my head down, sucking on the straw. "I think it's an Aolong suit," Teacher Yang replied on my behalf. "Last time I went to your Yongchang and saw a new batch of Aolong suit material. It's very good. It's cool in summer. I wanted to make a suit at first." I asked four thousand and five, and I slipped away in a hurry. We can't afford the suits in your big shop!" Coach Yang sighed for a long time, looking very regretful. "What's the problem with Master Yang wanting a suit? We Yongchang can still afford it for such a small thing!" The surname Lai patted his chest, "I'm in the shop tomorrow morning, and Master Yang will come and have it tailored. " "With my figure, I'm afraid your store will suffer a bit." Coach Yang lowered his head and glanced helplessly at his round waist like a bucket. "Do you want us to match up?" The surname Lai leaned forward and whispered in Coach Yang's ear, but a pair of small, swollen eyes slipped towards me. "This apprentice has eighteen martial arts skills, and he has everything!" Instructor Yang winked at the man surnamed Lai again for a while.Suddenly, I felt itchy and numb like caterpillars crawling on my thigh. A hand surnamed Lai stretched out from under the table, and a few fingers slowly climbed up my leg.I felt the hairs all over my body, and I stretched out my hand to grab the bald and bald hand surnamed Lai with Fang Jindajie, and when I lifted it up, I slapped it on the table, making the beer bottle pop one time. "Master, I'm going first!" I stood up abruptly, and hurried to the gate of the Great Century without looking back. Coach Yang was chasing after me, and I only heard him yell angrily in a low voice: "Ah Qing—" After leaving Great Century, I went straight to the silver carriage in Ximending to find Manager Yan.Manager Yan is from Hunan, Hengyang, Hunan.I met him in the park the first week I left home, and he took me back to his apartment on Jinhua Street and asked me to move in with him.He arranged for me a place in the Silver Coach, as a waiter.He frowned, pointed at my face and said: "Little boy, you just made your debut, and there is still salvation, hurry up and do something serious. You are messing around in the park, if you sink, you will be doomed!" I worked in the silver carriage for three days, and when I slipped away, I still had a key to Manager Yan’s Jinhua Street apartment in my pocket, and I never had a chance to return it to him.I walked into the manager's room in the silver carriage, bowed deeply to Manager Yan, and said: "Hello, Manager Yan." "Hey! Little devil, do you still have the face to see me?" Manager Yan was startled when he saw me, and then said with warmth, "I thought you were caught on Huoshao Island!" "My manager, do me a favor." I said with a smile. "So you still need me someday!" Manager Yan sneered. "I need to accommodate the manager, first borrow 500 yuan, for emergency." I leaned over and smiled. "Borrowing money? How can it be so easy?" "If you can't pay the rent, the landlord will evict you." I begged. Manager Yan nodded to me and sighed: "What a piece of cheap stuff. I let you live there for nothing. You are restless. You are willing to be obscene. I heard that you are doing well in the park. What money do you need?" I lowered my head and said for a while: "The manager lent me five hundred yuan first, and I will try to repay it. If the manager has something to do here, I am willing to do it, and the salary will be deducted." "Listen to your tone, do you want to change your ways?" Manager Yan finally relented, "I'll give you another chance. We have a younger brother who is on sick leave for three days and is looking for someone to take over. You will report at two o'clock tomorrow. .” As he spoke, he took out three hundred-yuan bills from his wallet and said: "Whether it will be successful or not depends on your own good luck! I will give you three hundred first, and I will replenish you when you come to work." I took Manager Yan's money, thank you very much, then ran out of the silver carriage, bought a catty of lychees at a roadside fruit stand, and bought four freshly made lychees from a stand selling shredded radish pancakes at the entrance of Wuxiangzhai. The baked shredded radish cake is sweet and salty.The shredded radish pancakes of this family are particularly well made. The pancakes are soft and crispy, and the fillings are willing to put lard, which is very fragrant.I used to go to night school in Yude, come home from school, and transfer to the bus in Ximending. If I had money left in my pocket, I would go to this stall to buy four shredded radish pancakes and share it with my younger brother for supper. night.On winter nights, I would stuff the shredded radish pancakes wrapped in newspaper into my breast jacket, zip it up, and when I got home, the pancakes were still warm.Sometimes when my brother fell asleep, I would pull him up, and the two of us would sit on the bed, spread out the newspaper, and eat sesame seeds on the bed. The younger brother was already lying on the bed, stripped naked, his shirt and underwear thrown all over the floor, and he was sound asleep.When I approached the bed, I suddenly noticed that there was a large piece of black and damp on the straw mat that was covering his lower body.I hastily put down the lychee and the packet of shredded radish pancakes in my hand, and went to push him awake. "Get up, get up." I grabbed his arm with both hands and pulled him up. He stared at me sleepily, with a mat mark on his left cheek that was red from sleep. "Look, you got into trouble!" I pointed to the urine stain on the mat and said to him, I lifted the mat, and the mattress underneath was also soaked, a yellow puddle.I saw my younger brother standing there in a daze, looking around, I couldn't help being a little annoyed, I walked over and slapped him on the buttocks. "Such a big person is still drowning in bed!" I hit harder, my little brother was hit by me, and he staggered forward. He looked at me in panic, touched his buttocks with one hand, and rubbed to the corner of the room.I pulled up the straw mat and mattress, and took them to the bathroom. The mattress couldn’t be washed, so I had to hang it on the shelf temporarily until the sun came out to dry. I then sprinkled soap powder on the straw mat with a rag After wiping it vigorously and changing the water several times, the urine stain was washed away, and it was taken to the drying rack on the roof behind the kitchen, and hung up to dry.Turning back to the room, the younger brother squatted in the corner of the room, with his hands around his knees, and squatted into a ball.When he saw me walk in, his mouth was tightly shut and his eyes were wide open.I picked up the packet of radish pancakes, sat across from him, opened the newspaper, and spread it on the floor. "Look, little brother, I bought shredded radish pancakes for you to eat." I picked out a sweet one and handed it to him, but he stared at me blankly and didn't reach out to take it. "This is sweet and delicious." I smiled and brought the pancakes to him, but he turned his head abruptly. "Forget it, I'll eat it!" I ate the cookie in a few bites. "It smells so good!" I smacked my lips and glanced at him, his eyes moved up and down with my mouth. "Do you want it?" I brought another salty pancake to his mouth, and suddenly with a flick of his hand, he knocked the pancake to the ground, rolling sesame seeds all over the floor. "You want to die!" I slammed the top of his shaved bald head with my hand, got up, picked up the radish pancake that rolled to the foot of the bed, and blew twice.The little brother hugged his bald head with both hands, and opened his mouth, and began to cry, tears rolling down his thin and blue chest ribs one by one.Standing in front of this bald, naked child with tears rolling down his face, I suddenly felt a little at a loss.I knelt down, patted his shoulder, and said with a smile: "I was joking with you, little guy, and I didn't really hit you." He ignored it, still desperately covering his head, shrugging his shoulders and sobbing. "Come on, come on, I won't touch you in the future." I stroked his head for a while. Last year, the night before my brother's fifteenth birthday, I beat him up and his nose was bleeding.My brother has always been obedient to me, but for some reason that night, he lost his temper.That night it was his turn to wash the dishes. He hid in the room, sat on the bed, and was fascinated by the comic book "Huang Tianba" that I rented.I called him several times, but he ignored him.I reached out to grab the book in his hand, but he pushed it away and shouted: "Fuck you!" I was furious, and I punched him on the door, knocking him over to the bed.I've never been that rough with him before, and that one miss knocked his nosebleed out.The younger brother didn't cry or make a sound, just took a stack of thick toilet paper, raised his head, and wiped the blood from his nostrils one by one.I was startled and completely flustered.At night, we lay down, and in the dark, I could hear my brother blowing his nose with toilet paper from time to time.I didn't sleep well that night, and I was very upset.The next day, when I gave the butterfly brand harmonica bought by the Guan Gong Institute to my younger brother, my younger brother and sister were so happy that they laughed, holding the harmonica, playing it back and forth, and couldn't bear to let it go for a moment. There was a small spot of blood that hadn't been washed off.I coaxed my little brother for a while, and he finally stopped crying.I went and got a wet face towel to wipe his face, and handed him a shredded carrot cake.This time he took it and ate it happily. All of a sudden, he ate up the two pancakes, and there were a few sesame seeds on the corners of his mouth. "Are the shredded radish pancakes delicious, brother?" I asked him as we lay together on the hard slabs. "No." He replied. "Do you like sweet or salty?" "Sweet—" He thought for a moment. "Then next time I'll just buy you something sweet, okay?" "Well." "You are not allowed to drown in the bed again, there is no food for drowning in the bed." "Hehe." He laughed. "Did you have fun swimming today?" "Okay." "In two days, we will go to the water source again." "Well." "You know, you can't swim when the typhoon comes," I said. At night, the radio broadcast that there is a strong typhoon Amelie in the Philippines, and it is blowing towards Taiwan. If the wind direction does not change, it will pass the northern part of Taiwan within a day or two. "Typhoon - strong wind, ho, ho, ho, understand?" "Huh—huh—" the younger brother imitated me, and I laughed. "Little brother, let's go to sleep." I said. "No." He replied. I turned sideways, stretched out my arms, and put my arms around his bony shoulders. 28 In the morning, the weather really changed.It was sunny and rainy, and the air pressure was so low that the sweat on the skin could not break out. Typhoon Amelie might really be coming soon.I got up first, and my younger brother was still sleeping soundly on his side. On his thin back, there were horizontal and slanted red marks, which were caused by the hard bed board.I walked into the bathroom, and Abasan was squatting by the sink, scrubbing his clothes.As soon as she saw me, she pointed to the straw mats and mattresses hanging in the bathroom and shouted: "You hang this bathroom room, you can't even walk in!" "I'll take it right away," I apologized with a smile. "That little guy drowned in the bed last night—he didn't give you any trouble, did he, Abasan?" "Still talking!" Abasan snorted, "Don't look at that little nerve, he is skinny, and when he eats, he purrs like a piglet. Give him a dish, wipe it all away, and go to catch Little Johnny again." I can't stop the meatloaf in the bowl. Last night, Liyue made me laugh and cry with that idiot of yours!" "why?" Abasan flicked the soap foam off his hands, but laughed first: "Last night, Zhu Di, Meng Na, and Wu Lulu from 'Chinese Dolls' came to chat with Liyue. A few crazy women were eating watermelon while chattering. They laughed at Wu Lulu and her for making fake milk. While talking lively, your little idiot rushed in, naked, and sat next to Li Yue. Several people were startled. The little idiot stretched out his hands to touch Li Yue's face, and then Hitting her chest with her head, Li Yue laughed loudly and shouted: "Your mother will die!" Pushing him into Wu Lulu's arms, Wu Lulu, Zhu Di, and Meng Na hid and shouted. Shouting, it made a fuss. Later, it was Li Yue who took a piece of watermelon and coaxed and pulled that little nerve out." "I didn't expect that the little guy would make trouble in the Fragrance Kingdom!" I laughed. "I see you, hurry up and get him away," Abasan said, sighing again, "I don't know what evil his parents have done!" "I'm trying to find a way to find his home. If I find him, I'll take him away immediately," I comforted Abasang and said, "Abasan, I brought you back a bunch of lychees last night. The lychees are so big!" Compare it with your hands. "Well," Abasan snorted, and said, "I don't believe it, let's take a look." After I washed my face and went back to the house, my younger brother had already got up, sitting on the edge of the bed, his eyes were bleary-eyed, and he was in a daze.When he saw me, he grinned and laughed.I went over and pulled out a set of my old clothes from under the bed, and handed them to him, asking him to put them on, while instructing him: "Little brother, I have something to do when I go out, so you stay at home and don't go outside, do you understand?" "No." The younger brother nodded and responded. "Then you are not allowed to take off your clothes." I pulled my brother's shirt, spanked his buttocks, and said with a smile, "running around with bare buttocks, are you ashamed?" "Ball, ball." The younger brother cheered, a big red, blue and white colored leather ball rolled into the room and rolled to the younger brother's feet.Little Johnny ran in wearing open pants, crawled to the ground and went to catch the ball, giggling non-stop.The little brother also crawled on the floor and grabbed the ball with little Johnny. I picked up the hanging lychee I bought last night and took it to the kitchen for Abasan. Abasan peeled one and put it in his mouth, then he groaned.I handed her two hundred yuan and asked her to transfer it to Li Yue. "This is the rent I owe Liyue, and the rest will be given to her in two days." I left another 20 yuan and asked Abasan to bring back two steamed buns for my brother to eat when he bought vegetables.Walking out the door, the sky was drizzled, and a group of dark clouds moved up and down. Looking up, I saw a bright green head popping out of the window of my room upstairs. The little brother was lying on the window sill, visiting .I waved to him, and he raised his hands and waved twice. "Little guy—" I called. "Ah———" he replied upstairs. I rushed to the Silver Horse Carriage in Ximending, and the afternoon shift just started. Manager Yan saw me reporting for duty, and he praised me quite a bit, saying: "It looks like you're on your way." "Cultivated by the manager, how dare you be ignorant of flattery?" I laughed. "When did you know what's good?" Manager Yan pouted, "Hurry up and change your uniform." I changed into the uniform of Yingsheng's white coat and black trousers, and started iced coffee, lemonade, red bean soup, and sugarcane juice. They held up the trays in groups.The guests who came in to escape the rain and heat were all talking about Amelie. The typhoon's wind speed strengthened again, and the radius of the storm expanded to 500 miles. It will land in the northern part of Taiwan and Hong Kong around tomorrow afternoon.After the shops in the Ximending area closed at night, they all added windproof wooden boards to the outside of the glass windows.The silver carriage closed at ten o'clock, and Manager Yan shared the small account among us, thirty-five yuan each.He called me to the manager's office, took out two hundred-yuan bills from his pocket and gave them to me. "You asked me to borrow this yesterday, and you collected five hundred yuan to pay the rent for you—didn't you come to lie to me this time?" I took the banknote and hurriedly swore: "This time it is indeed true. I paid the landlord two hundred yuan yesterday, and I still owe one hundred yuan." Manager Yan sized me up and said in a deep thought: "What do you plan to do after three days' work? Do you want to go back to that job again?" I suddenly felt heat on my face, lowered my head and said vaguely: "I'll give it a try and get a job—if the manager needs someone here, I'd love to come back." "There are no vacancies right now. A younger brother will leave next month, and I will let you know," Manager Yan said seriously, "Go back quickly, the typhoon is coming." Before leaving the silver carriage, I went to the kitchen and took out a brown paper bag from the cupboard. There were two pieces of chestnut cakes in the bag, which were left by a table of moviegoers in the afternoon who didn't have time to finish them.I put it in a bag and hid it in the cupboard, ready to take it home at night and have a supper with my younger brother.Sitting on the bus home, I began to think in my heart: How long can I let my little brother stay with Liyue?I can't drag it any longer, where do I put that little guy?I want to finish my shift for three days and tell Manager Yan that I am willing to move back to live with him in his apartment on Jinhua Street—I still have a key to his apartment that I haven’t returned to him—I can tell him, The younger brother is my younger brother, please take him in temporarily.If I was officially a waiter in the silver coach, and I behaved properly, maybe he would agree.Manager Yan is very kind to me and always wants me to "return to good".If he doesn't agree, I still think of one person—my mother's adoptive mother, our grandmother Wu Haomei.After my mother's adoptive father passed away, my mother and grandma started dating again. My mother took me and my younger brother to Longtan, Taoyuan County to visit my grandma.Grandma Wu Haomei is a fat and strong woman, with a pair of enlarged feet, and when she walks, she walks faster than the ducks she raises.Grandma is a caring person and loves us very much. Early the next morning, she took a big blue child and led me and my younger brother to the duck shed to pick up duck eggs.Hundreds of ducks had been put into the pond long ago, and in the duck shed, among the piles of duck feces and feathers, blue duck eggs were exposed.My brother and I screamed in excitement, and we didn't care about the smell of duck feces, we went all over the ground to dig duck eggs.The younger brother couldn't even walk steadily, and wobbled in the duck shed, grabbing duck feces with one hand.Mother also rushed over, and grandma smiled at her and said: "Ali, just leave them here and pick up duck eggs for me." Last year my grandmother came to visit us in Taipei and brought two baby ducks, one black for me and one white for my younger brother.When she mentioned my mother, she cursed a few more words and shed a few tears. Before leaving, she said to me: "It's vacation, take your younger brother and go to the countryside." Those two ducklings grew up in one autumn, one black and one white, with shiny feathers and bright red meat crowns, and they would shake their buttocks and sip their bluff when they saw people.We call them black and white.Feeding those two ducks has become a daily event for me and my brother.We often go to the small river on Shulan Street to dig for earthworms. The soil by the river is fertile, and the roots of earthworms are as thick as little fingers.We dug a foreign tin can and came back, fed two ducks so fat that their buttocks almost fell to the ground.When it was Chinese New Year, my father caught two ducks, cut off each duck, and chopped off the heads of both ducks.My father thought that the two ducks made duck droppings everywhere in the courtyard, which smelled bad and attracted a lot of flies, and last year's Chinese New Year, my father didn't have the money to add more vegetables.Two ducks, Ah Hei used to stew soup, Ah Bai crispy.My father gave one of the crispy duck legs to me and the other to my younger brother, but he ate the duck neck to drink.I ate very appetizingly, but my brother was pale and didn't even touch the duck's legs.When his father asked him, he said he had an upset stomach.I know that he loves his Ah Bai so much that he can't eat it.After dinner I whispered to him: "Fool, what's there to be sad about? Let's go to Taoyuan during the summer vacation, and we'll just ask grandma for two baby ducks to raise. I'll choose a white one for you, okay?" My brother and I never went to Taoyuan.I think if I take my younger brother to my grandmother's house, it will probably not be a problem to stay for a few days.I can help my uncle catch ducks, and my younger brother can follow my grandmother Wu Haomei to pick up duck eggs, probably it will be okay. "Sister Liyue, how are you? The rent has been paid, why don't you drive us away now?" Back on Jinzhou Street, the first thing to do is to give Liyue one hundred yuan and pay the remainder.I know Liyue's temper. Although she is generous to me and Xiaoyu, she doesn't owe the rent for a long time.Liyue was discussing something with Abasang in the room. She took my money and said to me: "Sit down, Ah Qing." "Sister Liyue, I'm also at work," I sat down and said with a smile, "In the silver carriage, my shift for a month is less than your one-night travel expenses." "Ah Qing," Li Yue took a drag on her cigarette and said slowly, "This afternoon, something happened to your crazy boy." "What happened?" I asked anxiously. "He hurt our little Johnny!" Abasang said eagerly. "It's like this," Li Yue explained, "in the afternoon, he was fighting for the ball with Little Johnny. He pushed Little Johnny, and Little Johnny fell onto the corner of the table and knocked out one of his front teeth— " "Poor thing, a mouth full of blood!" Abasan pointed to his mouth and gestured. "Damn it! Wait until I hit him!" I yelled. "I've already spanked him a long time ago," Abasang said angrily, "That idiot is still laughing!" I stood up and wanted to go to my room, but Li Yue stopped me and said: "You don't have to go, I have already sent him away." I froze for a moment, staring at Liyue without making a sound. "Sent it away? Where did it go?" After a while, I asked scoldingly, my voice trembling a little. "The police are here—" Abasan interrupted. "The police station sent a car to take him away," Li Yue said, and she added, "Forget it, I'll save you trouble—" "Why are you calling the police?" I yelled suddenly, feeling a surge of rage. "Where did you get my little brother?" "You're crazy too!" Li Yue exclaimed. "I'll go find him," I threw the bag of chestnut cakes on the table and shouted angrily, "I can't find him, I want you to be responsible—" I kept running on Zhongshan North Road, facing the strong wind and scattered raindrops.The head of the typhoon has arrived.There are no pedestrians on the road, and the fluorescent lights on both sides are purple and foggy in the wind and rain.I ran to the third sub-bureau at the intersection of Nanjing East Road in one breath, and explained my purpose to the policeman on duty at the gate of the sub-bureau. He led me in and met a police officer in the office inside.The police officer was about forty, scorched and thin, but kind.There is a portable radio on his desk, which is playing Beijing opera carefully.The police officer knew that I was looking for someone, so he took out a form, asked me to fill it out, and asked me: "Who are you looking for?" I hesitated for a while, then replied: "It's my brother." "what name?" "Little brother—" I had no choice but to answer. "I was asking his real name." "Sir," I explained, "there's something wrong with my little brother—I mean, he's not very smart, like a kid of two or three—" "Hey," the police officer waved his hand to stop me from sighing, "I see, you mean your brother is an idiot? This is another case without a clue. Last month, near the circle, we also arrested a psychopath A woman, she is naked on the Ring Street, jumping around. We asked her what her last name was, but she couldn’t tell herself——to this day, she is still locked up in a mental nursing home in Taipei, and no one has claimed it.” "Sir, my little brother, did you send the three-pointer?" I inquired. "We have no records here, even if they are sent, we will not take them in. Generally, such cases will be sent to the General Administration for special treatment and distributed to several mental hospitals. The hospitals in Taipei are full, and sometimes they will be sent to Hsinchu and Taoyuan. go--" The police officer was talking, but suddenly stopped and listened intently. The radio on his desk was reporting the news of the typhoon: the strong typhoon Amelie has advanced to 24 degrees north latitude and 124 degrees east longitude at 10 kilometers per hour. The wind speed hits the northern tip of Taiwan—— "Boy," said the sergeant to me gravely, "Amelie's about to land." Seeing that I was still standing in a daze and refused to leave, he comforted me and said: "Well, you go back first. We will inform you tomorrow when we have news here. You'd better go to the General Administration to check. If it has been sent to the hospital, don't worry, there are doctors and nurses there to take care of it, so nothing will happen." Coming out of the three-point office, I wandered in a daze on the street, and walked up to the Zhongshan Bridge.The wind blew up my shirt, but the sweat on my back kept flowing out.The sky was dark, but Taipei City under the bridge was submerged in a sea of ​​dim lights.Standing on the bridge, I began to feel the loneliness of the boundless sky again. 29 Sir, have you sent a boy with a bald head and bare feet?Do you have a deranged boy here, sir?Fourteen or five steps, with bare feet?Sir, it was delivered yesterday, he has no surname or first name, his name is little brother—— The next morning, I went out and searched for that idiot all over Taipei.I first went to the third branch office, the fourth branch office, and finally the general office, but I couldn't find out where I was. In the end, I had to rush to the Taipei Mental Sanatorium.The nurse at the gate of the nursing home did not allow me to enter the ward, but only allowed me to watch from outside the iron railing.He told me that there were only two teenage patients in total, but they were both admitted to the hospital more than three months ago.One came out, a fat boy of sixteen or seventeen with tortoiseshell glasses and a face full of pimples. He was wearing a green cloth nightgown and stretched out a pair of fat arms like pig's hooves, like a patient. Like nocturnal wanderlust, he groped forward and walked. "Isn't it this?" The male nurse pointed at the fat boy and asked in a low voice. "No—sir—" I said. "He is a white and thin boy with a green monk's head shaved." At noon, Taipei City was covered by the storm radius, and the wind became more and more violent.The tall coconut trees on both sides of Ren'ai Road were blown away by the wind, and the long and long leaves were blown off and fell on the road, rolling rustlingly.A utility pole on Hangzhou South Road was turned upside down at a forty-five-degree angle. Bundles of wires were loose and hung to the ground. The traffic police were blowing whistles to direct vehicles to detour.Pedestrians on the road were shaken by the blowing.A woman's plastic flower umbrella was blown into the air with a whiz, like a kite that was unstringed, floating up and down.After a heavy rainstorm, Chongqing South Road was immediately submerged, and the yellow and turbid small river was snaking along the road.The shop signs erected on the arcades on both sides of Hengyang Street and Chengdu Road were rattled and rattled by Feng Zhida's panic. The "Big Three Yuan" blew off, and the signboard frame made of foreign iron rolled over the asphalt road, making a sharp sound.I rushed back to Ximending by bus, but the Silver Carriage was closed for a day and did not open.I feel hungry, but most of the snack bars in Ximending are closed.I braved the wind and walked to Wuchang Street, hoping to find some vendors there.A few fruit sellers were cleaning up their stalls, pushing carts, and going home early.A gust of wind blew in, and several vendors bent over at the same time, desperately resisting the carts full of cantaloupe and guava.The last vendor was a petite young woman, her long hair was blown wildly by the wind, she was wearing a red sarong, and the skirt was blown up, revealing her blue and white calves .Her cart was full of bright red tomatoes.The woman leaned forward with her shoulders against the cart, but her slender body was no match for the strong wind, and she was forced to stagger back and forth.她脚下一松，一下坐跌到地上去，推车前后一颠簸，哗啦啦便震落了十几枚西洋柿，鲜红的滚得一地。我赶忙跑过去，抓住推车手柄，将车子稳住。女人从地上挣了起来。她看见一地的西洋柿，有几枚还浸在污水里，痛惜叹道： "Ai." 她捞起裙子，弯下身，去将地上那些红柿子，一只只拾了起来，兜在裙子里。她把几枚没有跌伤的，用裙角揩了一揩，仍旧放回推车上，剩下五六枚，跌得裂开了，果汁淋淋漓漓流了出来。女人挑了一枚特别大的，递给我道： “我们吃掉吧——这些卖不出去了的。” 我也不客气，道了一声谢，便接过柿子，大口啃了起来。柿子熟透了，沁甜如蜜。女人自己也挑了一枚，跟我两人立在风中，一同吃着跌破的柿子。她大约二十七八岁，深坑的大眼睛，尖尖的下巴，大概刚使过劲，青白的脸上，泛着红晕。大约她看我吃得兴高采烈，她那双深坑的大眼睛，从容地注视着我，笑道： “很甜呢，是呀？” 说着她又递了一枚跌伤了的柿子给我。我有许多年没有吃过这种透熟沁甜的西洋软柿了。我记得那年母亲离家出走的前两天，她对我突然变得异样的温柔起来，那天她买了几枚西洋柿回家，竟意外的把我叫到天井中，坐在矮凳上，跟她一块儿剥柿子吃。那几枚西洋柿已经烂熟，手一撕，皮便扯掉。母亲剥好一枚柿子，自己先咬了一口，惊喜地叫道： “真甜阿！” 顺手便把剩下的半枚递给我，我咬了两口，果然甜丝丝的，却又带着些许柿子特有的涩味。 “好吃么？”母亲微笑道，她摘下手帕来，替我拭去口角上的柿子汁。大概因为母亲从来没有对我那样亲昵过，她那次突发的爱抚，使我感到受宠若惊，而且惶惑不解，竟至於有点尴尬起来。 “黑仔，你知道麽？你阿母小时卖过柿子的呢！”母亲若有所思地追忆道。母亲很少提起她在桃园乡下养父母家的生涯，偶尔提起，也是一片忿恨。“我们乡下园里，有十几棵柿子树，就在池塘边。柿子熟了，吃不完，你阿婆便叫我拿去镇上去卖，卖不掉的，我就统统自己吃掉——”母亲说着咯咯地笑了，“—一吃多了，肚子发疼！” 母亲笑得前俯后仰，她那一头长长的黑发一匹黑锻似的波动起来。我看见母亲笑得那般开心，乐得象个小女孩一般，也跟着她笑了起来。那是唯一的一次，我们母子俩在一块儿笑得那般忘情。两天后，母亲便失踪了。 “我要买两斤柿子。”我对那个摊贩女人说道。 “十五块一斤——”她打量着我说，随着挑了四枚最大最鲜红的，用秤秤了一下，递给我看，风把秤锤吹得飘荡起来。 “两斤二两，就算你两斤吧。”她好意地说道。 "Thank you." 我道了谢，把三十块钱钞票塞了给她。 她将钱收到裙子口袋里，推起她的车子，顶着风，吃力地行走下去，她的头发，在风中，飘得老高。偶一回头，她望着我，却又笑了，我捏着那袋柿子，乘上了公共汽车，往南机场去。我要把那袋又红又大的西洋柿，拿去送给母亲。 到达南机场克难路母亲居住的那间碉堡似的阴暗潮湿的水泥楼房里，来开门的，又是上次那个额上生满了白瘢的老太婆，她见了我，没等我开口便说道： “你是阿丽的大儿子阿青，是么？” “我给阿母送点东西来，阿巴桑，”我应道。 老太婆让了我进去，走到里面那间昏幽的厅堂，她止住我道： "You wait a moment." 说着她迳自蹭到里面，搬出一只竹篾编的箱笼来，嘭地一下搁到地上，掀开了盖子，喘吁吁地指着笼子里说道： “阿丽留下的东西，都在这里了。” 竹篾笼里，塞满了破烂的衣物，母亲上次身上裹着的那件透着药味的黑绒线衫也覆盖在里面。老太婆弯下身去，伸手到笼子里翻掀了一阵，把母亲两件斑斑点点泛了黄的亵衣也扯了山来，笼里发出一阵刺鼻的怪味。 “没有什么值钱的东西，你要呢，就拿几件去。”老太婆仰起面对我说道。 “是几时的事——”我悄声问道。 “你上次什么时候来的？”老太婆偏过头去，眯起眼睛想了一下问道，她脑后吊着的那一小团稀疏的发髻，好象随时都会剥落似的。 “是中元节，七月十五。” “对啦，就是第二天，半夜三更断的气。” 我双手紧捏住那袋柿子，看着老太婆蹲在地上，把笼子里的破烂左翻右翻，半天她立起身来，拍了一拍手，唠噔起来： “阿丽病了那么久，在床上都睡了三个多月，用了多少钱，你知道么？我们并不是有钱的人家啦，很艰苦呢。这次事情，火葬费就是三千块——一是阿丽自己要烧的，我们是遂她的愿。老实说，我儿子也算对得起她了——”老太婆又砸嘴又叹气，向我数说，她看见我没有答腔，一直瞅着竹篾箱笼里那一堆破烂，她便冷笑了一声，说道： “她那只金戒子么？值几个钱？早赔进去了。你今天来，来得正好。你阿母留下了话：无论如何，要你把她的骨灰送回你们家去，葬在她小儿子的旁边——” “她的骨灰放在哪里？”我打断了她的话。 “大龙峒大悲寺，我们已经跟庙里的老师傅讲好了，你自已去取吧。” 大悲寺是一个破旧荒凉的庙宇，四周围着七零八落的违章建筑。有些贫苦老人无处安身，便挤到寺里去栖住去了。我进到寺内，看到里边三五成群，衣着褴褛的老人，拱缩在一堆。有的在条凳上呆坐，有的交头接耳在私语。一个小沙弥引我去见寺里住持，他是一个七十左右的老和尚，一脸皱得眉眼不清，矮小的身躯，干枯得只剩下一袭骨架，身上那件黑袈裟，拖拖曳曳，差不多垂到了地上。我向他说明来意，老和尚的听觉失灵，我讲话，他便用手兜住耳朵，他那张瘪得深坑下去的秃嘴巴，一径开翕着，喃喃不停。我在他耳朵边喊了几次母亲的名字，他才若有所悟似的，点了点头。 “黄——丽——霞——她是半个多月以前进来的吧？”老和尚的声音颤抖而沙哑。 “是的，老师傅。” “他们说，她在等她的儿子，等他来领她回家——” “我就是她的儿子，黄丽霞的儿子，”我弯下身去，在他耳边大声说道。 “咳。”老和尚叹了一口气，喃喃自语地念了几句，然后朝我摔了一下手，说道： “跟我来吧，小弟。” 老和尚颤巍巍地走了出去，一阵劲风把他那袭袈裟吹得抖瑟瑟地飘起，他那枯瘦的身躯连晃了几下。我跟在他身后，向寺庙右侧的极乐殿走去。殿里是置放灵骨的所在，里面暝暗，靠正面墙有一个三叠层的木架，密密地排着三排一只只酱黑色圆肚子的骨灰坛，木架上端点着一盏黯淡的长明灯。骨灰坛上都贴了标签，有的年代久了，没人收葬，坛上积了一层灰，标签变得焦黄，上面的姓氏字迹都模糊了。 “黄丽霞在这里。” 老和尚走过去，弯下身，颤抖抖地伸出手来，按到第二排左边第四只坛子上。我赶忙蹭过去。那是一只新坛子，在幽暝中，还微微地反着光。标签是白的，上面写着“桃园黄丽霞”几个字。骨灰坛约一尺高，是黑陶坯，表面粗糙，挤在几个骨灰坛的中间。 “你来把你母亲带走吧。” 老和尚回头向我说道，我将手上那袋柿子挟到腋下，佝下身去，双手将母亲那只骨灰坛捧了起来。 “老师傅，我要到殿上去上一炷香。”我对老和尚说道。老和尚点了点头，他那张坑下去的瘪嘴开翕了两下，然后蹒跚地引领着我，踱过走廊，往正殿上走去。到了大悲殿门口，他却止住了脚，对我说道。 “小弟，把你的母亲放在殿外头，里面有佛祖菩萨，她是不能进去的。” 我把母亲的骨灰坛放置在大悲殿门槛外面地上，步入殿内，殿门上端悬着一块乌木横匾，“苦海慈航”四个大字金漆已经剥落，木匾齐中间开了一道裂痕。殿内神龛暗沉沉的，布满了灰尘，殿中央那尊巨大的佛祖塑像，大概因为香火不盛，年久失修，金面熏得焦黄，莲座也缺裂了。供台上供着香烛果品，风从殿外卷进来，吹得香烟乱绕。我把那几枚鲜红的西洋柿搁到台上的供碟里，向老和尚要了一炷香，因为风大，划了三次火柴才点燃，一阵浓郁的香烟扑到脸上来，熏得我的眼睛酸辣辣的。我双手握住那炷香，插到台上一只蓝瓷香盆里，退回到殿中央，在那尊巨大的佛橡面前，跪拜了下去。我自己从来没有进过寺庙，烧香拜佛。可是记得小时候，每年观音诞，母亲便买了香烛到板桥那间香火鼎盛的观音庙去进香。有一次她带了我和弟娃一块儿去，要我们跟她一同跪拜观音菩萨，她那娇小的身躯匍匐在观音大士的脚下，一头的长发几乎吊到了地上。母亲双手合什，嘴里喃喃念念，在祈求倾诉，她那双深坑的大眼睛，闪烁得厉害，在发着异常痛苦的光芒。那天中元节，我去探访她，她紧握住我的手，要我到寺里替她上一炷香，乞求佛祖超生，赦她一生的罪孽。那时她那双变成了两个黑洞的眼里，也那样充满了惧畏和惊惶。母亲大概一生都在害怕着什么，所以她那双眼睛才会那样一径闪烁不定，如同一双受惊的小鹿，四处乱窜。一辈子，她都在惊惧，在窜逃，在流浪，她跟着她那些男人，一个又一个，飘泊了半生，始终没有找到归宿，最后堕落瘫痪在她那张塞满棉被发着汗臭药味的破床上，染上了一身的恶毒——她临终时，必是万分孤绝凄惶的。然而她那具残破的躯骸已经焚烧成灰，封装在殿外那只粗陶的坛里，难道坛里的那些灰烬仍带着她生前的罪孽么？我朝着佛祖一头磕了下去，额头抵住佛殿冰凉的磨石地上。 “小弟，快送你母亲回去吧，大风要来了——” 祈求完毕，老和尚颤着声音向我招手道，他企立在殿外的石阶上，他身上那袭黑袈裟，给风吹得急切地抖动着。