Chapter 20 Chapter Seventeen The Night of Parting

Farewell, Three Gorges.Tomorrow we will leave you forever, and go to a strange new place to build a new home. Farewell, Three Gorges.Tomorrow we will embark on a migration journey, one hundred miles, two hundred miles... one thousand miles, maybe we will never be accompanied by the beautiful Three Gorges, let alone the sound of the wind and water of the Three Gorges. Farewell, my Three Gorges, my beloved. Farewell, my Three Gorges, my life. ………… Don't think that the above words are written by me as a writer. This is what I inadvertently heard from the Three Gorges immigrants who were about to leave their homeland during my interviews.

That is poetry, that is song, that is hot tears and the voice of parting... "Come on, have a drink! If you think of me, drink it!" At an immigrant's house, a man in his thirties picked up a bowl full of home-brewed rice wine and insisted on me drinking it. Even though I'm a teetotaler, I can't refuse at this moment.Because I heard that an immigrant invited a cadre to drink at home on the last night of parting from the Three Gorges and was rejected. Is it an honor to be a Three Gorges immigrant to Lao Tzu? You don’t want to see Lao Tzu come back to see the Three Gorges Dam in the future?”

drink!drink!Almost all immigrants who move out have to hold a few tables of banquets in front of their old houses in their last days, and invite villagers and relatives from the village to have a "farewell banquet". The men drank wine and chewed chili peppers. The women chewed chili peppers and drank wine. People in Xiajiang cannot do without wine, because the riverside and mountains are humid and rainy.This is a habit passed down from generation to generation. Although fishing and stretching are not so much today, life without wine is by no means the life of Xiajiang people. Xiajiang people cannot live without spicy peppers, without spicy peppers, it is not the character and temper of Sanxia people.

Immigrants know that starting tomorrow, most of the new places they move to will not have so many spicy peppers waiting for them.The new living environment and culture force them to change their habit of eating spicy food one day, and maybe the last generation of them will still retain this habit of eating spicy food.Children are easy to change and are easily tempted by McDonald's and KFC.And even if this kind of temptation happens in another 10 or 20 years, their mother is still very afraid. The old people know that they will never have the chance to go back to the Three Gorges. The wind of the Xiajiang River has hardened their old bones. When they arrive in a new place, they may not be able to withstand the wind of modern civilization mixed with the sound of cars and disco. Crispy.So they sat silently by the river blowing in the evening wind, sometimes lowered their heads to listen to the sound of the turbulent river waves, and sometimes raised their heads to look at the stars and wisps of moonlight covered by the Goddess Peak...

The middle-aged people know that there may be a day to return to the Three Gorges, but at that time they can only be tourists in the Three Gorges reservoir or visitors to the dam.At that time, the wind of the great river, the tide of the great river, and even the hot peppers on the roadside were unfamiliar to them.They held big bowls and drank heavily again and again, and no one could persuade them—they wanted to drink until dawn, until the "immigration ship" that moved far away set off... The women knew that the Three Gorges was only a topic for them to chat with others. Even if they brought the round baskets and long poles to their new homes, they could only be hung on the wall as props to tell their family history to their children and grandchildren.So they spent the last night sorting out the things that they couldn't take away, because it was so that they could leave the utensils they cherished in the past with dignity to the relatives and friends in the hometown who didn't leave...

The children are the most excited group, they don't know what the adults are thinking, they only know that the parents who have always been strict at night will let them jump around.So they appeared to be very active, hiding cats, drilling tables, and even using brushes or colored pens on the walls of those empty old houses, scribbling freely, drawing cars, high-rise buildings, rockets, and All their visions and hopes for tomorrow... The last night is beautiful and enchanting; rich and colorful. The last night was bitter and dull again; it was sad and desolate. There were so many immigrant stories that night, and it was also very tense and restless, making people feel that they didn't know what was going to happen.

Suddenly, there was a chaotic sound of "ping-pong-pong" at the banquet of the immigrant Fusheng's house, followed by the sound of scolding between two men and the sound of ransacking property.The sword has been unsheathed, and people are sweating coldly over the grievances between a pair of brothers, but the development of things is quite unexpected—— "It's been decades, have you ever honored your parents with a decent meal?" Fu Sheng, who was leaving tomorrow, finally uttered the words that had been on his mind for decades. "Brother, you have guts! Today you punched me awake. If I dare not be filial to my parents in the future, and you throw me into the Yangtze River when you come back, I will never poke my head! Come on! Brother, Sister-in-law, I offer you a toast. Thank you for giving me a chance to wake up before leaving!"

Fusheng hugged his younger brother who had been awkward for nearly 30 years, crying and laughing, laughing and crying. Originally, an old father who left with the eldest son, and an old mother who stayed with the younger son, also hugged each other and cried and laughed.Together, the old couple will stay in the Three Gorges under the moonlight for the time being, and they will go to Jiangsu together next year after the eldest son settles down in his new home. "Come here, congratulations on your family's well-being and happiness!" The town officials and villagers all came to raise their glasses to wish.

"Let's go, you men go home and drink!" The Daning River belonged to the women that night, and a few men swimming in the water were chased ashore by a group of female immigrants who were leaving tomorrow, and drove them back home. "Sisters, don't be so shy! Take it off! Take it all off! Tonight we women have to be unrestrained and unrestrained! Hehehe..." A young daughter-in-law with a pretty face and a plump body neatly pulled herself from top to bottom His clothes were stripped off.Then strip the other sisters naked one by one. "Oh, can you slow down? Why do you want me to be like a man?" Someone shouted in a high-pitched voice.

So there was another burst of laughter on the water. The men in Murakami said that the woman tonight was the cutest and the one who disturbed their hearts the most.Look at them one by one naked and frolicking in the water for fun, touching and admiring their own and others' graceful figures and postures from time to time. This night, the river beach was more lively and cheerful than the village.Women have never had such freedom. They seem to want to dissolve their bodies in the mother river, and they seem to want to wash away the sweat and milk stains left on their bodies, so that other men can live in their new homes. Look at how beautiful and pure these Xiajiang girls are!

"Hey, there are people peeping on the shore!" A girl suddenly discovered the "situation". "Which one? Hey, it must be a greedy cat who can't meow. Leave him alone, let's just have fun!" The sisters pretended they hadn't seen anything, and continued to swim and play in the water and on the beach as if there was no one else around.They sometimes hit the water to play, and sometimes jumped out of the water to show their charm. The "Picture of Naked Girls Playing in the Water under the Moon" is the most emotional scenery in the Three Gorges at this time. Under the moonlight, the streets of the small town are still brightly lit late at night. Whether it is the immigrants who are leaving tomorrow or the immigrants who will leave behind, no one has the intention of closing the doors and turning off the lights this night.The men continued to drink freely, the women continued to chatter, and the children, tired of playing, squinted in their mother's arms for a moment before bouncing away.In the long small street, a hoarse and yelling voice suddenly sounded: "Hey, Gou Bao is a pitiful child. If he leaves, I'm afraid he won't be able to bring back Zhenzhen's soul again..." Listening to this familiar and desolate singing, the residents of the small town sighed. The story about Goubao can be told in three days and three nights, but no one wants to repeat the details of the story, because it is really a scene that the residents of the town can't bear to recall... That scene actually happened two months ago.That day was the wedding day of Gou Bao and a girl who had been in love with each other for several years.At night, Gou Bao had just bid farewell to the rowdy young people in the town, and started the wedding night with his new wife. Suddenly, thunder rumbled outside, followed by heavy rain. "Mudslide! Hurry up and run for your life——" I don't know who was the first to break the silence of the rainy night and let out a frightening scream.Residents in mountainous areas are not afraid of tigers or wolves, but are afraid of mudslides. Whenever they hear mudslides, they will panic. "Run! Run—" The residents ran out of the houses one after another, and some people who lived in the building wrapped up their quilts and jumped straight down——at that moment, they were competing with life for time! "Gou Bao, it seems that someone is calling outside? Listen..." The bride woke the groom up. Gou Bao collected himself, as if he felt a voice in his ear. "Those naughty friends of mine must be eavesdropping on our bridal chamber outside the door, don't worry about it, sleep with us." Gou Bao hugged the bride and returned to the intoxicated dream. "No, Goubao, it seems that something happened outside! Go and have a look! Go and have a look!" This time Goubao was completely woken up by the bride.He listened carefully: No, there are cries outside! Gou Bao didn't care to put on his coat, and jumped up from the bed. The moment he opened the door, he heard the neighbor on the opposite side shouting to him: "Gou Bao, run! Hurry up!" Gou Bao Before he realized what was going on, he heard an extremely terrifying voice "rumbling—" pressing towards him from behind. "It's broken, a mudslide!" Just as Gou Bao realized it, he saw a "giant dragon" rolling into his house from under his heels.Gou Bao jumped up subconsciously, then jumped up three times in a row, and quickly climbed up a tree in front of the house. "Zhenzhen!" Gou Bao desperately called out to the bride who was still in the house, but before he could yell a second time, the rushing mudslide was like a ferocious beast, engulfing the houses and most of the town's streets up... "Zhenzhen! Zhenzhen——" Gou Bao's voice became hoarse, and he couldn't wake up the bride who was buried under the mudslide several feet deep. This is a disaster that no one expected, it ruthlessly swallowed up the properties of more than 20 households in the small town.The worst one is naturally Gou Bao. Not only did he lose his house, but what made him even more sad was that he lost his new wife. "Touch it, I still have her body temperature!" Gou Bao let the villagers touch his clothes over and over again with tears until his voice was completely hoarse... Residents of the town know that Gou Bao originally planned to get married in the year after next. Because of the Three Gorges immigration, he moved his wedding date to Zhen Zhen two years earlier in order to be able to go to a new place with his beloved to build a new home.But a sudden disaster changed everything for him.However, the Three Gorges immigration is unchangeable.From then on, Goubao dragged his long figure under the moonlight every night in the dead of night, along the streets of the small town, sang his own songs over and over again with a hoarse voice, and relentlessly searched for the bride. Soul... This is the last night of parting from the Three Gorges, and Goubao is still singing hoarse songs, walking the long streets of the small town over and over again. The difference was that there were several immigration officials behind him that night. "Don't follow me, can you? I want to be alone!" Gou Bao suddenly roared. The cadres walked away quietly.Goubao's hoarse singing sounded again in the small street... "Mom, I'm not leaving tomorrow!" When the adults of the Feng family were toasting happily, their baby suddenly burst into tears. "What's the matter, baby?" The young mother came over and asked. "My Mimi is gone, I won't leave tomorrow, I want to stay with Mimi, woohoo..." This baby, she said the most taboo words among immigrants at this time! "Damn girl!" The mother angrily slapped the baby heavily on the face. The baby couldn't help crying, which made the child's father angry: "What are you doing! What's wrong with the baby? Mimi is her companion, not for a day or two, you don't know that. Why do you smoke? her face?" "What's the matter with a dead cat? If you lose it, you'll lose it, and you'll be leaving tomorrow anyway. Look at her sad look, she might not look like this even if I die!" The woman gave the man a blank look, and turned the baby Push aside. The man became even more angry: "Are you a bird? If you don't find Mimi tonight, I won't leave tomorrow!" "You bear bag, you look like a baby, you don't speak seriously." The woman muttered. "It's not serious, let me tell you, I won't leave tomorrow!" "If you don't leave, don't leave. Find a dead woman on the mountain and start a family!" "It's none of your business whether I get married or not?" "I don't care! I don't care if you jump into the Yangtze River and overwhelm the river. Bah! Drown you bastard!" "I'm drowning, and you won't be good either!" Men and women, you say a word to each other, and neither of them gives in. In the end, the wine table fell, the stools and chairs flew, and the two hugged each other and opened up. "Mom and Dad, can you stop beating me? I don't want Mimi anymore, woo woo..." Wa'er cried heart-piercingly. "Act now. If you don't find a kitten for my baby tonight, don't come to see me!" After the township chief found out about this, he immediately called in seven cadres and gave a stern order. So the "search cat" campaign began. Later, more than 20 villagers voluntarily joined the action team, which has never been seen in the village... After several hours of intense search, "Mimi" was finally found under an old tree. "Hee hee, Mimi, we can go together tomorrow!" Wa'er smiled through tears.Her parents also smiled happily. "Look, the sun in the east has come out. Come on, let's go to our new home!" The family held hands and strode together towards the "immigrant boat" by the river.Behind is the cheerful kitten that is bouncing...