My father's answer was unexpected, but it was also unexpected. From my father's reaction after waking up today, I can tell that it is not surprising for my father that my mother will become a paper doll.
.
Maybe even when he wakes up, he will know what he spent in exchange for his waking up.
He didn't speak, and I didn't ask any questions, but I knew that everything would have an answer tonight. Since my father called me out so late at night, as my father, he should confess the truth to his son.
The peach garden in the back mountain is Grandpa Qi’s peach garden. Children in the mountain village don’t like romance like the people in the city. They think the peach garden is the most beautiful when the peach blossoms are in full bloom. In the eyes of us when we were young, no matter how beautiful the peach blossoms are, they can’t compare.
The trees are covered with huge peaches, some are crisp and delicious, some are soft, but all are sweet and delicious.
We will even find the biggest peach on the tree in the peach orchard and call it the Peach King. Then a group of people will start a duel to choose the most powerful one and call it the Monkey King. Only the Monkey King can eat the biggest peach.
, the rest of us can only watch him eating with gusto, and then he will deliberately make a really sweet expression to make us feel inferior to other little peaches.
Now think about it, we were not the monkey king at that time, but the funny ones invited by the monkeys. But the happy days of funny comparisons in childhood have passed. The strongest monkey king back then is now married and has children. And I
, already half a head taller than his father.
As soon as we arrived at Houshan Peach Garden, the black dog that would chase us all over the yard when we came to steal peaches barked a few times, but the sound was no longer as clear and loud as before, and even the dog was already old.
Grandpa Qi heard the dog barking and came out holding a lantern and said: Who is it?
Grandpa Seven, it was me. It was too hot to sleep at night, so I came out to get some air. I quickly told him that if he saw us holding a paper figure for burial in the middle of the night, this old man’s heart would probably not be able to bear it.
There are a lot of mosquitoes. Grandpa Qi asked me if I need mosquito-repellent incense.
No, you go to bed early, I will turn around and go back. After I said that, Grandpa Qi walked back with his waist bent and holding a lantern.
The two of us walked around the Taoyuan, and in a secluded place, my father gently put my mother on the ground with a gentle movement, and then he took out the erhu on his back. My father had an erhu, and he grew up so big.
I had no idea at all.
It’s been more than twenty years, and I just remembered that I have never given you a name. Isn’t it too late to give you a name now? If you like peach wood and wood, then choose Mu Zi Li. You have a good temperament.
You can tell by looking at me that I have no education, so don’t blame me if I sound bad, just call me Li Jinzhi. My father put the erhu next to my mother and muttered to her lying on the ground.
After speaking, he struck a match, his hand trembling slightly, and finally the flame slowly placed on the face of the old woman with picturesque features.
It ignited quickly. In the blink of an eye, the paper man was swallowed up by the flames. At the same time, what was swallowed up by the flames was his father's erhu.
The royal concubine's drunkenness that night really became her last song.
An indescribable feeling spread in my heart, I don't know if it was sadness or something else. There were no tears, only bitterness and uneasiness in my heart. But I didn't know where the uneasiness came from.
I took out the suicide note my mother left for my father from my pocket. I hesitated for a day whether to give it to him, but finally I gave it to him. My father was much stronger than I thought.
Dad, these are the last words Mom gave you. I said to him.
He took it, smiled lightly, threw it directly into the fire without looking at it, and said: I don't need to look at it to know what she wants to say to me. It's nothing more than giving me back what she owed me.
Is it right to accuse me of making decisions for her on my own?
I was stunned for a moment and didn't know what to say. How happy it is for people to understand each other like father and mother and live a normal life.
The paper figurine burned very quickly and quickly turned into a pile of ashes. The two of us just watched. When it finally burned out, my father said: Xiaofan, kowtow to your mother.
I knelt down and kowtowed three times solemnly.
Xiaofan, don't blame your mother, she cares about you more than anyone else. My father whispered in my ear.
I endured the tears all night, and when my father said these words, my tears burst instantly. I, Lin Xiaofan, am not a stone-hearted person, let alone have no feelings for my mother. It’s because I still can’t tell clearly. What was burned just now?
Is it a paper man or my mother?
After everything was done, the two of us sat there, looking at the stars in the sky. If everything before was a nightmare, now that I woke up from the dream, everything seemed to be over, but I felt so lost.
I always feel that when I get home, there will be a quiet and beautiful old woman sitting in my father's room.
A person stays quietly by your side, and you don't care.
When she really left, she felt so uneasy and felt that something was missing in her life.
More than 20 years ago, when I was still young, young people at that time did not have many entertainment activities. Before we left Linjiazhuang, we had the same idea, that is, we always wanted to go out of the mountains and have a try.
I didn’t even know whether I was a member of the Kuomintang or a Communist. I was severely criticized, so I didn’t have time to take care of me, and I didn’t want to injure me, so I was asked to leave.
It was different from now. During the Cultural Revolution, there was chaos, but it was definitely not as disturbing as it was. But the poverty at that time was real, and it was quite poor. Today's young people have gone out.
I could work part-time and work hard, but at that time, it was difficult to find a job to earn a living. I was the tail end of the bourgeoisie, and I wanted to save face wherever there were shops and factories. I refused to join the famine team to beg for food. I always felt that I had both hands and feet.
Gentlemen, it's not a good idea to go begging.
Later, by chance, I joined a theater troupe and learned to play the erhu from an old man. I didn't say anything like nonsense that I fell in love with the erhu after seeing the old man's posture and feeling of playing the erhu. The main purpose at that time was
To fill your stomach.
The theater troupe at that time was still a small theater troupe, and it was also struggling. If someone really wanted to find trouble, it could even be divided into the four olds, old culture, old ideas, old customs, and old habits. So the theater troupe at that time was not at all
There is a fee, and the places where performances are held are also in rural areas. No money is charged. They only charge fellow villagers to order dry food to fill their stomachs.
It was at that time that I met your mother. You should be able to tell that she was a lady, which is not bad. Her ancestors looked up and even worked as a Taoist in Henan. Her family was quite well-off in the past, because
This, the criticism was particularly severe at that time. Your grandfather and your mother's father committed suicide at that time because they could not bear the torture.
The first time I met your mother was after a performance in a theater troupe. There was no place to live at that time, so we built a shed with firewood to make do for one night. I saw your mother when I had to urinate urgently at night, and she was all dirty.
A person hid behind a tree and peeked at me. I was so frightened that I lifted up my pants and stepped forward to catch her as she was about to run away.
That night, the troupe ran away overnight because they pitied her. She was severely criticized because of her poor family background, and because of her appearance, she was harmed by the captain of the production team.
We rescued her.
Other opera troupes in Henan all sing Henan Opera. We also sang this before. Each place has its own opera, Huangmei Opera, Errenzhuan, Peking Opera, Yue Diao and so on. After your mother joined us, she actually turned us into
The opera troupe came to life. Because of her family background, she was a rich young lady. She loved Peking Opera and could sing a few verses. She was tall and handsome and her singing voice was sweet. Every time she performed, she was always in her favor. We always
I can go out and collect some food and come back.
At that time, except that I picked her up, there was nothing romantic. In the troupe, I was just learning to play the erhu and could not get on stage. I could only be a handyman, and she suddenly became the top star.
Same thing, and the person she liked at that time was not me, but another young boy in the troupe. The young man was fair-faced, good-looking, and in your words, very handsome. She didn't notice at all that he had been silently
I like her.
Although we have been trying our best to avoid the village where she was found, how far can the troupe go? Later, when we were performing in a place, we met the captain of the production team who abused her at that time. He humiliated her and scolded her in front of everyone.
She is a feudal cancer, a prostitute, slap her in the face.
I happened to be sick that night and was away, so I took a nap in the shed. This is a fact, not an excuse for myself. When I found out, she hung herself on the stage without even closing her eyes.
I heard someone say that she was raped by the production team leader behind the stage that night, and the fair young man she liked didn't say a word.