The old man pointed at me: "Old man Bai told you right. Among the pile of scrap metal pulled from Hanzhong, there was a big iron Buddha and an iron tower top. I thought that if I melted it, I could get at least a few hundred kilograms out of it.
It’s molten iron.”
"But my sister doesn't agree. My second aunt has always chanted Buddha's name. My younger sister was influenced by my second aunt and also chanted Buddha's name. We built a small Buddhist hall at home. When we go back and have nothing to do, we burn incense and recite sutras."
"Later, you should have guessed that he wanted to keep Tie Buddha and Tie Ding. As the director of the Second Cotton Factory, how could I agree to her doing this."
"I never thought about it..."
"She concealed it from me and secretly conspired with Bai Tingli and Tang Xin to steal the iron Buddha and the iron top."
"After the incident, despite the huge pressure from the municipal government and various team members in the factory, I just gave him a circular of criticism. In order to give an explanation to the superiors, I fired Bai Tingli."
The old man suddenly became excited and asked me loudly: "Did I do anything wrong? I was right! I just want to protect her!"
"I like her!"
I couldn't close my mouth in shock.
The news was so unexpected that it temporarily made me forget the pain of the wound on my leg.
How could I not hear it?
"She" refers to Wang Xiaoqin who hung herself from the pear tree every year. What I never imagined was that Wang Xiaoqin would be Wang Xinggui's sister...
And from the meaning behind the old man's words, I could tell that his love for Wang Xiaoqin was not the kind of love a normal older brother would have for his younger sister.
I recall the girl in the old photos, standing in the cotton field, with her hair braided and wearing a floral cotton-padded jacket. In that era when there were no cosmetics for beauty, she could definitely be considered a beautiful girl.
"I know what's going on in your head."
Mr. Xing took out a bottle of wine from the pocket of his military coat. The wine was a small, flat bottle of low-quality wine that came in packages of three ounces. I had drunk it before and it was very spicy.
He unscrewed the cap of the bottle and took a sip. He wiped his mouth and said, "She and I are not related by blood. Why can't we be together? Tell me."
I opened my mouth, not knowing what to say.
Mr. Xing has white hair, dirty clothes, black hands and muddy fingernails.
He just looked at me, his eyes turned red, and he cried. He seemed to have been very wronged, so he put down his cigarette and wine, and kept wiping his tears.
"I killed her!"
"It was the gossip in the factory that killed her!"
The old man kicked down the table and said loudly:
"I'm just a bullshit factory manager!"
"If one day I were allowed to go back to fifty years ago! I would f**king kill all those who chewed their tongues! Cut off all their tongues! Cut off all their tongues and fry them! When they are fried, take them out.
Go feed the dogs!”
"Gudong... Gudong..."
Mr. Xing drank a bottle of wine and threw the empty bottle in the corner.
"Forehead."
After burping, he said: "I don't care about the top of the iron tower. It belongs to Old Man Bai. You can take it as long as you want. I asked you to take it."
As he spoke, Mr. Xing walked up to me and patted my cheek with his hand.
"You should just stop when you're done, why do you have to come back?"
"Why so greedy?"
"The Iron Buddha belongs to Xiaoqin, but you want to take it away! Whoever dares to take it will die!"
The wrinkles on the old man's face were squeezed together, and his eyes were filled with murderous intent.
I was really frightened. I could see a ruthlessness and madness in his eyes. He might really kill someone for Iron Buddha.
"Xing...Master Xing...let me go first."
"We don't want your Iron Buddha anymore."
"Let me go, and I will persuade others when I go back."
The old man shook his head.
"I thought you would give up after getting the Iron Top. I was wrong. You still want the Iron Buddha. Thieves are naturally greedy."
"I changed my mind."
"I'm going to kill you so that no one will think of Iron Buddha."
