The riverside turned into a mess. The faces of the Zhang family and his son were blue and white, as if they had not slept for days and nights. They were chasing and beating several old women, but they had no power to resist.
.
Two of those who came with the Zhang family wanted to step forward to help, but were grabbed by others before they could even take a step forward.
"Isn't this the boss of Carpenter Wang's family? You are also here to help Zhang Laizi? No one knows who he is, and you are still helping him? Your father-in-law just came over from the other side of the road. If he sees you here
Damn it, I might have to prepare a meal for you again."
Everyone lives on both sides of the Nulong River, and there are relatives between villages, so most of them know each other.
When Boss Wang heard that his butcher husband was coming, he was frightened and quickly apologized: "Hey, hey, I'm just passing by, passing by, I'll leave right away, right now..."
Then he tucked his tail between his legs and ran away, for fear of being caught by his father-in-law.
The villagers watching the excitement burst out laughing and pointed at other people who helped Zhang and his son and made sarcastic remarks.
"Zhuzi ferries people across the river every day in an orderly manner, which has brought so much convenience to villages all over the country. You guys are working together in a big group. It's not fair to bully people!"
"Isn't it? The girl from his family wanted to jump into the river. If the human pillars hadn't caught her in time, she would have been swept away by the river. Later, many people saw Zhang Daya going to the city. This was really kind.
There’s no reward!”
Zhuzhu was usually kind to people. When the villagers wanted to cross the river, they would usually exchange things for boat fare. Sometimes he didn't mind if things were a little short, so when Aunt Chunhua took the lead, the others were still willing to help and say a few words.
of.
During the commotion, no one noticed that the pillar that had been squeezed out looked very strange, and the clothes on his back were soaked. They watched in horror as the noisy crowd kept passing through "Zhang Daya".
But no one noticed anything was wrong.
Zhang Daya's body looked a little illusory, like a shadow. Except for the reaction when the villagers said she was an "abandoned woman without a child", other times she seemed to be unconscious and could not move at all.
He stood blankly next to the wooden stakes that tied the boat, facing the direction of Nulong River, as if waiting for something.
At this time, after taking a closer look, Zhu Zhu discovered that the other party looked a little weird, his face was a bit swollen, his hair and clothes were wet, and he was dripping water.
He covered his mouth: This is obviously what a person looks like after drowning!
Could it be that Zhang Daya still threw herself into the river after getting off the boat? But this time no one stopped her, so she finally got her wish.
Everything unusual in front of him points to one thing, one thing that Zhuzi is very unwilling and dare not admit, that is, he, look! See! Ghost!
The sky was dark today, with thick dark clouds covering the entire sky. It had just reached midnight, and it already felt like it was getting dark. The wind on the river was blowing loudly, as if a ghost was crying.
Zhuzi only felt creepy, but did not dare to say anything, because he knew that if people knew that he could see ghosts, the originally friendly villagers would be afraid of him, stay away from him, and some would even sacrifice him to the river god.
possible!
So he could only try to pretend to be normal, watching the Zhang family and his son being beaten away with their heads full of buns, watching Aunt Chunhua standing by the river and cursing in the direction of Taohua Village for half an hour, watching himself dragging
A leg to thank the women and others who helped speak.
Aunt Chunhua scolded her for a long time, and still shouted angrily: "It's getting late, it might rain, and there are big waves on the river, so we can't cross the river today, so everyone should go home."
The crowd gradually dispersed, and Zhuzi took a sneak peek, only to see that Zhang Daya had not followed the Zhangs and his son away, but was still standing upright next to the wooden pile, facing his boat parked on the shore.
Zhu Zhu only felt his scalp numb. How could he dare to go over and untie the rope?
Just when he didn't know what to do, Aunt Chunhua asked his family to go to dinner. In the past, he would have refused if he could, but this time he agreed immediately and just wanted to leave the river bank as soon as possible.
Aunt Chunhua was also a little surprised, and laughed boldly: "That's how it should be! The dog went up the mountain today to catch two rabbits, stir-fry them, they are good for drinking!"
Gou'er is the nickname of Aunt Chunhua's son. Country people don't have any ostentation in naming names. Cats and dogs bark wildly in order to make a good living. His real name is Li Zhuangshi. He is fifteen or sixteen this year and has not yet gotten married.
When we arrived at Aunt Chunhua's house, the dog was squatting in the yard playing with the big yellow dog. When he saw the pillar coming, he rushed towards him like a monkey and pestered him to teach him how to punt.
"Go, go!" Aunt Chunhua instructed with disgust: "Go and get the rabbit out, don't do nothing all day long. Can you learn how to punt, get out!"
After being slapped twice, the dog laughed and ran to fetch water. Zhuzi walked under the eaves and called "Uncle" to the middle-aged man who squatted there and looked honest and good-natured.
One night, even the fragrant rabbit meat couldn't bring Zhu Zhu out of his daze. Aunt Chunhua rambled on about the day's events on the table several times. In the end, she pulled Zhu Zhu and said with sincerity.
stand up.
"I told you to find a mother-in-law quickly. If you had a mother-in-law, Zhang Laizi wouldn't have come up with such a harmful trick today, asking you to marry her daughter who can't lay eggs. Bah, it's so shameless!"
Then she scolded all the eighteen generations of the Zhang family and said she would go find a matchmaker tomorrow.
Zhuzi was silent for a while, then said nervously: "Auntie, I'm just a ferryman, no one dares to marry me, so let's forget it."
There was a sudden silence on the table.
Because of the legend about ferrymen connecting the human world and the world of death, most people have some invisible taboos against their profession. Although there is nothing unusual about their daily interactions, when it comes to marriage, no one is willing to marry their daughter to them.
.
Therefore, most of the ferrymen are widowers, and it is extremely difficult to find a wife. Just like Shuanzi, his father, he is also an old bachelor, and he just picked up the pillars to raise.
However, Aunt Chunhua sneered at such legends: "Don't listen to those idle people! I'll leave this matter to Auntie, and I promise to find you an innocent and good-looking girl!"
Zhuzi's eyes suddenly became confused, he was stunned for a while, and murmured: "I have a wife..."
"You have a wife?" Aunt Chunhua shouted loudly, her surprise was palpable.
The dog came over curiously: "Brother, madam, no, where is my sister-in-law? Does she look good? Why haven't she come to see you?"
Aunt Chunhua patted the dog away and asked repeatedly: "Why haven't you mentioned it before? Which village and household is this girl from? What is her temperament like? How many people are there in the family? Let me tell you, the first thing to consider when choosing a wife is
Character..."
But Zhu Zhu was confused and didn't know why he blurted out the words about having a lady.
Yes, where is his wife and who is she?
Obviously he has never been married, nor has he had an affair with any girl.
"me……"
He wanted to say that he had made a mistake just now, but he found that his mouth seemed to be no longer his, and he could not say the words "I don't have a wife." It seemed that there was a voice in his heart that kept telling him that he did have a wife and could not
If you are involved with another girl, you will be a betrayer.
Zhuzi felt that his mind was in a mess, and he didn't understand why he had this inexplicable feeling, as if he had forgotten many important things!
Seeing him like this, Uncle Li, who had always been taciturn, spoke up: "Okay, just say a few words and I won't let anyone eat."
Aunt Chunhua, who had always been shrewd, stopped talking. Thinking of Zhu Zhu's life experience, she had nothing to say.
However, Zhuzi soon had no time to think about this. After finishing the meal, he felt very uneasy thinking about going back to the ship. He didn't know if the ghost of Zhang Daya had left.
After lingering for a while, it was time for the Li family to go to bed. He really couldn't delay it, so he had to say goodbye and leave.
Tonight there was no light from the stars and the moon, and it was very difficult to walk along the short road to the river. It was not until I was sure that there was no one around the wooden pile that I dared to take a deep breath, feeling that my legs were weak.
But when he climbed onto the boat and was about to move out the wooden plank bed, he saw the ghost of Zhang Daya sitting in the cabin, and he almost convulsed!
He rolled out of the cabin and was about to rush off the boat, but found that the rope that had been tied just now had been loosened, and the boat had floated away from the shore!
"Sister, you and I have no grudges in the past and no grudges in the near future. I even pulled you when you jumped into the river that day. If you want revenge, don't come to me..."
Zhuzi was so frightened that he lost his mind and kept mumbling, but the boat drifted out of the relatively calm bay on the river bank, and was tossed to and fro by the rapid current of the Nulong River, and was in danger of capsizing at any time.
Zhuzhu had no choice but to rush over and grab the oar, trying to control the direction of the boat and row back to the shore.
However, everything seemed strange tonight. The boat that used to be very obedient in his hands became unruly, as if there was a force pulling it from the front, and it sailed straight towards the middle of the river.
At the end, Zhuzhu had no choice but to hold the oar stiffly, not daring to look back inside the cabin, and could only stare blankly at the water.
After an unknown amount of time, his whole body was completely blown by the cold wind on the river. His heartstrings, which had been tense due to fear for a long time, relaxed due to fatigue, and he raised his head!
"ah!"
Fog started to appear on the river at some point, and the gray sky was extremely low. No sun, moon or stars could be seen, and no dust on the land could be seen. Only a vast expanse of water could be seen.
Zhuzi opened his mouth in shock. He was sure that this was definitely not on the Nulong River, because the river under the boat was as quiet as a pool of stagnant water, without even a single ripple.
The boat still moved forward smoothly, even after he had let go of the oar, as if the boat knew where it was going.
By this time, Zhuzhu was completely resigned to his fate. He was not as scared as before, and a trace of curiosity arose in his heart.
He quietly turned around and saw Zhang Daya's ghost still sitting quietly in the cabin with her head lowered, as if she was just an ordinary person trying to cross the river.
After a long time, the river narrowed, and some extremely huge black shadows gradually appeared on both sides of the bank, towering into the clouds, hidden in the gray fog and making it difficult to see clearly. Every once in a while, there would be a shimmering shadow.
Lanterns hang high on the skinny branches, like guiding lights.
At this moment, a croaking sound suddenly came from the left!
Zhuzi was startled. He turned around and saw a big black crow standing on a branch. If the lantern hadn't been right next to him, he wouldn't have been able to spot it.
The big crow glanced at the pillar, croaked feebly again, and then uttered the human words: "Another newcomer... Come to the shore, the city of vain death has arrived, and all the souls on the ship have come down."