Although I felt disgusted in my heart, I didn't say anything. I guess I accidentally stepped on a paper man when I was watching the funeral at the entrance of the village in the morning. If I had to scream about this, it would be too shameless.
I took off the paper figure from the sole of my shoe and crumpled it into a ball.
The village is extremely poor and remote, with no electricity. It gets dark relatively early in winter. When we arrived at Zheng Shitou's house, the sun was already dark. Zheng Shitou lit an oil lamp and lifted the wick to make the flame bigger.
Then he said apologetically: "I'm just kidding you. The village is like a ball. It's too poor to keep mice."
"It's okay, it doesn't matter."
"It turns out that during the Cultural Revolution, a power-generating machine was brought to the town and left in the village for many years. No one used it, and it is no longer needed now." Zheng Shitou lit another oil lamp and walked out of the main house.
, said: "Sit down first, I'll get you something to eat."
Zheng Shitou ran to the kitchen nearby, and the three of us began to look at these houses. They were all buildings built a long time ago. The houses were very high, and there were a few broken baskets hanging on the beams. This was also a custom, fearing that the family would
The children stole the food, and the food was hung high, out of reach of the children. There were no decent furnishings in the house, and it was like picking up a shabby nest. Some furniture was pieced together here and there. The quilt on the bed was about a year old.
It hasn't been disassembled and washed, and it smells weird.
"What do you think? Is there anything weird?" I asked Li Fusheng in a low voice.
"Probably not. Zheng Shitou is a straightforward person. If there is anything, he can't pretend it." Li Fusheng said: "It's easier for people like this to talk to each other. Eat slowly when you eat later, take the opportunity to chat, and ask the questions that need to be asked."
Ask about everything.”
We waited for a while, and Zheng Shitou came with rice. Steamed buns mixed with mixed grains and white flour, stewed radish and cabbage, with a layer of oil floating on them. I guess it was a foreigner who came to the house, and some oil was added when cooking.
, if Zheng Shitou ate it by himself, he wouldn’t even put in the oil.
"Eat, eat." Zheng Shitou was very enthusiastic. He put down the food and sat with us, holding the steamed buns for us.
Li Fusheng ate the steamed bun slowly and started chatting with Zheng Shitou. Zheng Shitou usually didn't have anyone to talk to in the village, so the conversation started all of a sudden. His brain capacity and Li Fusheng's were not at the same level.
Go up and gradually tell all the messy things in the village.
Because of its remoteness, this village seems to have been forgotten by the outside world. Many years ago, the wars and disasters did not disturb this place. Even the Cultural Revolution did not have much impact on the old village. It was too remote and the town
The people from the Revolutionary Committee were too lazy to run.
"Everyone in the village who can leave has left, why didn't you leave?" Li Fusheng bit his steamed bun and asked Zheng Shitou with a smile.
"Why didn't you leave? It's just that your life was bad." Zheng Shitou smiled at us naively, with an indescribable bitterness in his smile: "I would have gone out thirty years ago."
During the Cultural Revolution, Zheng Shitou traveled to other places several times. After the Cultural Revolution, he stopped staying in the village and went to work outside. He helped people in a factory, just as he said.
His life was not good. At that time, living conditions were still a bit difficult. Once, Zheng Shitou and another person went to the factory canteen at night, got a sack of soybeans, sold them to tofu makers, and made a little money. Later,
After this matter was revealed, Zheng Shitou was sent to the police station. The people at the police station saw that he was honest and didn't give him much trouble. They gave him a lesson, confiscated the stolen money, and then released him. Zheng Shitou couldn't stay in the original factory anymore, so he
Changed the place.
He naively thought that this matter would just go away and no one would mention it again in the future. But three months later, when the crackdown began, the matter was brought out again, and when it was brought out, it was not only written for inspection, persuasion and education.
So simple, Zheng Shitou was sentenced to thirteen years and sent to a labor camp in the northwest.
He was a naive person who didn't know how to work in a camp or form a relationship with others. He worked hard and suffered a lot on the farm, but he was sentenced to thirteen years, and his sentence was reduced by one year, and he served a full twelve years of squatting.
He just came back in the year. After being imprisoned in that place for twelve years, he became even more stupid and out of touch with the society at that time. If he was thrown into the city, he couldn't adapt at all, so he honestly returned to the birthplace.
I still live in my old village until now.
We apologized for Zheng Shitou. Zheng Shitou was very moved and thought he had met a close friend. After dinner, we continued to sit and chat. Li Fusheng asked when the village was built. Zheng Shitou held the cigarette we gave him.
, he squinted his eyes and thought for a long time. When he was a child, he heard the old people in the village say that at the end of the Ming Dynasty, probably during the Wanli period, this village already existed. But other than these, Zheng Shitou could not provide any more information.
As we expected, this village had many old people in the past. The foundations of the houses they lived in could never be moved. The houses were really dilapidated and could be repaired on the spot, but they could not be moved. A long time ago, there were some activities in the old village.
, offering sacrifices to ancestors and the like are very solemn, but these rules are gradually forgotten by people, especially in recent years, almost all the people in the village have left, and the remaining ones don't care about them.
I am not very good at history, but I know that during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty was already in the process of extreme weakness. Land annexation intensified and social conflicts were exposed. In some places, taxes were so heavy that ordinary people could not bear it. Therefore, this old village
It is possible that some people who could not stand the outside world moved here to escape the troubled times. In my opinion, since everyone in a village has the surname Zheng, it may be that the entire clan moved collectively.
I was just wondering, is this Zheng related to my surname Zheng? It is obvious. My dad came here to see people, and it happened that people in a village all had the surname Zheng. If there is no relationship, it would be unreasonable.
People like Zheng Shitou are easy to get along with. After chatting for two hours, we already talked about everything. Zheng Shitou is more than ten years older than my dad. I thought, if my dad really lived here, Zheng Shitou would
Stone should know.
"Is there a man named Zheng Lifu in the village?" I found an opportunity and asked casually.
Zheng Shitou was not suspicious. He smacked his lips, raised his head and thought for a long time, saying that if he was a young man, he would definitely not know about it, and he had no impression in his mind.
"I'm in my late 40s and almost 50, so I'm not too young."
"Almost fifty..." Zheng Shitou calculated with his fingers, then smiled at me and said, "At this age, as soon as he was born, I was already making revolution outside.
It’s a ball doll, how do I know?”
I very much suspect that my dad has something to do with this village, but I know too little about him. Even his name may not be reliable. Even if he is from this village, his family will give him a name after he is born.
After my father left here, it was impossible for me to use the old name after he left here, and he would definitely change it. So when I talk about Zheng Lifu, Zheng Shitou is just a little bit
No impression at all.
All of a sudden I didn’t know how to continue asking. Zheng Shitou didn’t know this person at all, and it would be a waste of time to ask again. I secretly exchanged opinions with Li Fusheng. Since I couldn’t ask anything, I would go to the village by myself first.
Take a walk around and have a look.
"This village is so old and interesting." Li Fusheng said to Zheng Shitou: "Let's go for a walk in the village."
"Want to take a look in the village? Let's take a look during the day." Zheng Shitou said bluntly: "This village is very evil. I'm not telling you in vain. If it's night and outsiders walk in the village, they'll be so confused that they can't find their way."
"Is there still such a thing? Then you must not be lost."
"That's right." Zheng Shitou smiled: "No one in this village can get lost."
In order not to make Zheng Shitou suspicious, Li Fusheng discussed with him and asked him to take us to take a look in the village. The few banknotes we had earlier were indeed useful. In addition, we had a good chat with Zheng Shitou, so he agreed without much hesitation.
. It’s just that we city dwellers are a bit weird. We don’t stay at home in a warm and cozy home, but we hide in the mountains in the middle of winter.
"You guys wait, I'll find a lantern to light the way." Zheng Shitou turned around and rummaged around in the nooks and crannies of the house, muttering that he hadn't used a lantern for a long time and why he couldn't find it.
The smell in this room was indeed not very pleasant, so Kuang Haige and I came out first. A gust of cold wind made my whole body feel chilly. I wrapped my collar around my body and took a breath. The two of us walked slowly to the door.
, Kuang Haige looked a little guilty. When he came with my father, he didn't think much about it and didn't ask too many questions. Today, he can't provide any clues.
"This is none of your business." I stood at the door and said, "Even if you ask, he will definitely not say anything."
Zheng Shitou probably didn't know where he had put the lantern. He searched for several minutes. The night in the mountains was a bit cold. Kuang Haige and I ducked our feet slightly. Unintentionally, I turned around and glanced outside the door.
He immediately withdrew his gaze, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that he had just seen something. It seemed that something passed through his sight. He didn't see it clearly, but it left a little impression.
I couldn't help but turn my eyes over again, this time more deliberately. The moonlight above my head was not very bright, but I could see a general idea. This time I couldn't help it any longer. What came into my sight was very sudden.
It made my scalp feel numb, and I blurted out a cry.
Not far from the door of Zheng Shitou's house, there is a tree. The leaves have long fallen off, leaving some bare branches. I saw a child in white squatting on one of the branches.
The child's face was pale. Although the distance was not very close, I seemed to be able to see the two dull and dull eyes of the child in white, staring straight at me.