Chapter 10 fourth quarter

We waited three days because we thought the police might still be lingering by the river.Finally, ten days after that bug hunt, we went to that river at night.It's just that this time we didn't go to the place we used to go to, but the other side of the river. "Will you be there?" "have no idea." "If so, how to ask?" "give it to me." On the dark road we pedaled towards the river bank, chatting quickly.Will those two be on the other side of the river?Did they come to catch insects today and we were lucky enough to meet them?Those two people, those two brothers and sisters who are similar to us.

No, I didn't actually think about those things. The "two people on the other side" may not be brother and sister at all.Probably neither duo nor schoolboy.For those of us who can only see the light of a flashlight, it is impossible to know this. Cross the bridge and reach the other side.The surrounding scenery is no different from the usual embankment.We parked our bicycles side by side and went down the slope of the embankment.At this moment, someone gradually approached below.Who is it?Only black outlines are visible.The man bent over and approached us impatiently along the slope.When we got to our side, we saw that the other party had a flashlight in his hand, but he didn't turn it on.Gradually he could see his whole body—a thin, bespectacled man who looked like a middle school student.He rolled his eyes at us like a fly, then passed us silently.I shifted my gaze from him back to the front, and was about to continue walking down the embankment——

But the steps stopped suddenly. I looked at Zhijia, and Zhijia looked at me.We coincidentally. Is that the person just now? The people just now were the "two people on the other side", right? When I turned around, the man had already climbed up the embankment, and his back in a short-sleeved shirt had slowly disappeared at the edge of the slope. "Brother, hurry up and ask him—" Zhijia grabbed my pants.Yes, the person had to be asked, and pretended not to know. ——Do you know what happened on the other side? —— Fake laugh. —Did you see anything that night? —— But no, I really can't do it.That person was scary, kind of scary.I don't know what he is thinking.

We just kept our mouths shut and stared blankly at the man disappearing on the embankment.Although we have to stop him. "Today is really lively." Suddenly, a voice came from behind. "Are you hunting bugs too?" My heart was pounding and I was about to jump out, and I hurriedly looked back.Looking at us with a smile was a man in a white shirt and gray trousers.He looked younger than his father, thin and tall, with hair parted down the middle.Possibly the police. "In summer, children often come to this river to catch insects." A voice with emotion. "You too? You still have a flashlight."

I didn't answer, but Zhijia nodded. --not good.If this person is a policeman, they may be investigating who killed the uncle and who threw concrete blocks from the bridge on the other side of the river.How much do the police know?We don't know.There were no further reports after that.Only once did he say that the uncle's name was Tian Ze or something.So it's better not to say anything at the moment. "Only occasionally." I quickly grabbed the conversation. "We really only come here to catch bugs once in a while." "Where are you all caught? Over there?"

When he asked, I immediately shook my head. "This way. We haven't been to the opposite side." "That's right, over here." The uncle pouted and nodded, with his hands on his hips.I thought he was going to stay in this position thinking for a while, but suddenly he raised his head. "Are you the children who often catch bugs in the grass here?" What the uncle said should be the place where the "two people on the other side" often hang out, the place where the flashlight light on the other side disappears, and the place that is symmetrical with us.I nodded.

"Yes, we are there." I want to pretend to be "two people on the other side". "That's it, then you are the ones who often click there, no wonder you can always see the light of the flashlight." My plan worked. This uncle may not be a policeman.Because he "always sees" the flashlight light, it means he was here often before the incident. "To be honest, there was a middle school student holding a flashlight just now. I thought it was him. I was about to ask, but he ran away." The uncle put his hands on his knees and looked at us. "But it's better for you not to come to this river. A terrible thing happened a few days ago. I was also questioned by the police—you know about that incident, right?"

I didn't answer.Zhijia didn't answer easily this time either, but just silently looked up at the uncle. "My friend was killed. On the other side of the river." "friend……" "Yes, friend." The uncle nodded and said, "Xiao Tian is a homeless man like me. His surname is Tian Ze, so I call him Xiao Tian. He lives in a tent on the opposite bridge pier. I'm here, so he and I'm opposite." "what?" I subconsciously re-examined each other up and down. "Surprised that I'm a homeless person? Yes, I'm a typical homeless person, longer than Oda has lived here. Everything is written on your face, kid."

The uncle laughed haha. "Children's innocence is terrifying." He scratched his head as he said. Indeed, upon closer inspection, the collar and corners of his shirt had turned yellow, the hem of his trousers had fallen off, and there were cracks on the toes of his leather shoes.And, although it's not as serious as the dead uncle, he also has a bit of a bad smell. "I said you, can you tell me—" As if suddenly remembering, the uncle's expression became very serious. "The night Xiaotian died, you came here too, to catch bugs in the grass here?" "yes."

That's the only answer.We did, however, see the light of this flashlight that night. "Didn't you see anything? Anything, didn't you notice anything that night? For example, there are strange people wandering on the other side, who is standing on the bridge?" The uncle's Adam's apple moved, lowered his voice and continued: "I feel very reconciled to the fact that Xiao Tian was killed. I don't know if it's because the person who died was a homeless man. The police seemed to be very relaxed... I have been thinking about whether I can catch the murderer by my own strength."

I shook my head. "I didn't see anything." "That's it..." The uncle dropped his shoulders regretfully.Over his slumped shoulders he could see the bridge with its lights intertwined.Can you see where we dropped the concrete block?I stared intently... from a distance.But if you pay attention, I think you can get a general idea of ​​who is doing what on the bridge.If someone had been looking at the bridge at that time, he probably would have noticed that the two children had thrown something into the river.But it doesn't matter, it's impossible to see the face clearly.No matter how good the eyesight is, it is impossible to see the face clearly.Even if they knew it was two children, they wouldn't be able to see clearly that it was the two of us. I looked at Zhijia and signaled her that it was okay with my eyes.Zhijia nodded.Nobody knew we were murderers.The police didn't seem to be taking the search all that seriously either.It doesn't matter anymore, there is no need to worry anymore. Suddenly there was a sound like winding a clockwork beside him, but the sound was not loud.I didn't want to continue this topic, so I listened to the voice and pretended to be very interested in my surroundings. "It's a mole cricket. It screams in the grass." The uncle said, his tone was completely different from before, and he seemed very happy. "The sound was previously thought to be an earthworm sound -- the call of an earthworm." "yes?" "I used to think that it was earthworms singing in the soil. So the Japanese used to call earthworms song girls, singing women, but in fact, the result of the investigation was that it was the sound made by mole crickets rubbing their wings. What a ridiculous misunderstanding." The uncle smiled happily.That expression is the same as when my father said professional baseball.He seemed to have more than enough to say, and wanted to say a little more. "You like bugs, don't you?" "Ah, it's okay." "So it's very helpful to learn more. There are many, many types of bugs, and no matter how you learn, there are still many, many incredible things. It's really endless. There is nothing more interesting to learn than endless things." The uncle said very excitedly.The worrying things have passed, and now, in our eyes, the uncle is like a relative we have known for a long time. "Has uncle ever learned about bugs?" "I learned it. When I was a student. My dream at that time was to be an entomologist." "Didn't it work?" We have never met a scholar, so we asked.I just simply thought that since the uncle likes bugs so much, he also wanted to be an entomologist, why didn't he make it. "I found that there were too many competitors in the middle, so I was afraid and gave up. I thought that with so many people running towards the same goal, people like myself must not be competitive, so I chose to go to an ordinary company to work. Road. It turned out to be what it is now.” The uncle sighed softly. "This is a mistake. After working for many years, many things have happened, and now I am living by this river. It is impossible to become an entomologist now.--But you still have a lot of time, whether you are a scholar or anything, There is still hope.” It's the first time I've heard anyone say that.Although I don't have any specific goals and dreams yet, I'm still very happy to hear these words. "Dream bigger and better." Zhijia and I nodded respectively, agreeing with what the uncle said.During this period, the mole crickets were still screaming in the grass. "Come and see." As he said that, the uncle suddenly started walking towards the top of the river embankment.Thinking of what happened that night, I was a little scared, but the uncle seemed to be walking towards a place with light, so I followed.Zhijia also followed me. The place where the uncle stopped was at the head of the bridge.He put one hand on the railing and looked up at the streetlight.On the upper end of the black telephone pole, the flowerpot-shaped light bulb was shining, being bumped stubbornly by bugs the size of a thumbnail.It's the copper flower beetle. "Bugs keep banging their heads on light bulbs, do you know why?" The uncle looked up at the streetlight and asked. "Because they like to fly against the light?" I answer. "Half right." The uncle turned to look at me and bent down. "Half of the truth is that bugs do rely on the position of light to fly, such as the moon, stars or the sun. But they don't necessarily fly against the light, but let the stars and the moon always be in the same direction for themselves. In this way Can fly straight, can't I?" "Ah... yes." Understand so-so.Indeed, if we keep the moon walking on the right, we can walk in a straight line.Because when we walk, the moon will follow.Of course, there will be some changes after a certain amount of time. ——When I was explaining this to Zhijia, the uncle kept nodding beside me, and then said in the same tone as a teacher who was continuing the class: "But after humans made small light sources like street lamps, they caused trouble for bugs. Do you know what trouble it is?" After thinking about it for a while, we still shook our heads together. "If you want the light to always be in the same direction for you, the larger the light source, the better. After all, you want to fly in a straight line. But if the light is too small, the situation is different. In that case, the bugs will circle around the light source. , and the circle will get smaller and smaller, and finally bump your head into the light source like this until the surroundings become brighter and the light source disappears.” I see. "So those beetles headbutt them?" I point to the streetlight.The uncle narrowed his eyes kindly and looked at me. "Yes. So the bigger the dream, the better." A silence followed. "The bigger it is, the straighter it can fly." I didn't fully understand what the uncle muttered, but I could still feel the words spreading in my chest. "I'll say it again, don't come here again." The uncle quietly turned to face us. "The police may come again, and people who are interested in the incident have begun to come. Just now, a man who looks like a middle school student was driven away by me. At first he lied that he was here to catch bugs, but he told the truth soon. He In fact, I saw the news from the news and came here purely out of interest. Since I don’t know where the incident happened, I came here first to have a look.” Huh? Isn't that middle school student "two people on the other side"?totally ok?But didn't the uncle say that he didn't talk to the middle school students just now? He said that the other party ran away as soon as he was about to strike up a conversation. "You're still children, and you have a long way to go. I'm not an assistant to the police, and I can't say those nice words. But—" The uncle hesitated for a while, then said: "I can keep silent." What is he saying? The uncle raised his body and looked towards the opposite bank. "What I'm going to say now has nothing to do with you, so can you relax and listen to it? Just listen to what I said about bugs just now." After such foreshadowing, the uncle began to say: "Last summer, Oda molested a little girl. It was the girl who set off fireworks by the river at night, two girls in the fourth grade of elementary school." The uncle's tone seemed to be telling a story. "The man showed it off to me—what he did to those two girls. Of course I blamed him, but he got angry and beat me up. I couldn't stand up. I woke up. ——Actually, I wanted to move out and tear down the tent. But in the end I stayed because I liked this place and I was worried that Oda would moleste other children.” The uncle took a deep breath, and then exhaled slowly. "Beginning last month, every night, sometimes the light of a flashlight flashed in the grass opposite. It was two children who went there to play. The street lights by the bridge were very bright, so when the two people stopped their bicycles, this side They can all be seen vaguely. It’s a boy and a girl. I’m very worried. I’m worried that Oda will do something bad again.” The uncle frowned and blinked several times. "I should have warned the two kids, or said hello to the police. But I couldn't, I was too scared. Afraid of being hit by Oda, kicked by Oda - so I took a roundabout approach .When the two children are on the opposite bank, I light the flashlight here. It can be regarded as a warning to Oda-I am watching him." All of a sudden, a cold air surged in my chest. "I'm the one answering the flashlight signal here." The uncle said with very sad eyes. "But that night was very unlucky. My flashlight was out of power and I had no spare. At this time, the light of the two flashlights on the opposite side suddenly became one. I was very disturbed. I was worried that the girl was taken away by Oda, and I The flashlight on this side went out, and Oda thought I was not there, so he had another evil thought. After hesitating for a while, I stood up and hurried to the bridge. I wanted to run to the other side, but on the way I saw the lights of two flashlights .So I came back with peace of mind." After speaking, the uncle looked at us.That expression seemed to indicate that he didn't plan to say anything more until I or Zhijia spoke. "I'm back... what will happen after that?" I asked reluctantly as if trying to force a voice out of my throat. "Keep looking at the opposite bank. I saw two children going up the embankment to get their bicycles. Then, the two squatted down—" Halfway through the conversation, the uncle lowered his head and thought for a while, then sighed. "Because on the other side of the river, I couldn't see the faces of the two children clearly. I had doubts when you came. The suspicion was you, but I was not sure." A large truck passed us and interrupted the uncle. My legs began to tremble slightly.How would he know?Why would he know?Uncle knows that we are the murderers of that incident.When did you know?How do you know? "I was only sure when you lied just now." "lie……" "You said it was you who were always waving the flashlights here? And you said it was you who came here to catch bugs. There is no more obvious lie than that." Indeed.That can't be us.Because that is uncle. —shoulder began to tremble.So are fingers and teeth.Unable to move eyes.The voice rose to the throat, and it seemed that it was about to fly out of the mouth.I failed.It was revealed because of me.Will we be arrested by the police? "As I said earlier, I don't have the power to convict anyone, so I won't tell anyone. It's just—" The uncle looked down. "I want you to know one thing." We knew Uncle was trying to hide from our sight.However, at this moment, the uncle uttered the most powerful words so far.Every word is clear, as if clenching your own voice with your teeth. "No one deserves a damn." These are the last words of the uncle. Afterwards, the uncle turned his back to us, and walked quietly down the river embankment through the grass.We watched as the emaciated figure was gradually swallowed by the darkness, finally disappearing in the shadows of the bridge piers.The air vibrated as a pickup truck drove by.The copper-flowered beetle on its head was still banging its head against the street lamp, repeating relentlessly.Before us a white butterfly fluttered past, heading for the dark river.In the darkness, the white flickered, and finally disappeared as if melting into the darkness. On the way back, we pushed our bikes.Zhijia cried, because she was holding on to the bicycle with both hands and could not move freely, tears dripped down Zhijia's chin.Zhijia opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't make a sound.And my eyes were filled with tears at this time.The two of us wept quietly, our home was still far away, but our tears could not be stopped.