I didn't mean to say that to slander my second brother, but it's true that my eldest brother and I have always had a lot to figure out about him.
My second brother, I always think that he is the main reason for my mother’s increasing silence. He, my eldest brother and I are brothers, but we have the same father.
In the third year after my father Zhao Jianguo disappeared, the children in the village shouted along the street: Madman Zhao from the Zhao family is back. Madman Zhao from the Zhao family is back.
When the news reached my home, my elder brother and I ran to the entrance of the village. At that time, we saw him for the first time carrying a black bag, standing under the old locust tree at the entrance of the village.
To be honest, the moment I saw him, I had the illusion that my father was back, let alone the doll in the village.
But the man in front of me is obviously much younger, and is very similar to the black and white photo of my father when he was young in the photo frame at home.
My eldest brother and I looked at each other in shock. We didn’t know what was going on.
At this time, when he saw the two of us coming, he grinned, showing his white teeth, and said: When my mother left, she asked me to come here to find my father. His name is Zhao Jianguo.
My eldest brother and I were so frightened that we broke out in cold sweats. This was actually my father’s illegitimate child?!
Baga, that lunatic Zhao Jianguo who is usually crazy actually has such a romantic debt outside?!
Surprised, now that I had found him, I took him home. My mother's expression was even more exaggerated when she saw him.
But as expected of a noble lady from a declining family, she didn’t cry like other women. What’s more, my father has been missing for three years. Even if he cried, who would he cry to? My mother asked the two of us to take care of him.
.
Later, he settled in my house. He was older than me and younger than the eldest brother, so I called him second brother. In the following days, he just had an extra brother and a pair of bowls and chopsticks when eating. There were no big changes.
.
But one thing that still puzzles me now that I think about it is that since he is here and I have recognized him as my second brother, I have to go to the ancestral hall to enter his name into the family tree. At that time, my eldest brother and I went to the patriarch’s house to give him
When I entered the family tree, my eldest brother asked me with a gloomy donkey face: "San'er, do you feel that there is something wrong with you, the second brother?"
Maybe it’s because I was young at that time and usually had a carefree personality. Whenever I felt something, I just said: It’s pretty good, but I look a little too similar to my dad. When compared with him, it’s as if we are not biologically related.
, this can’t be considered something wrong, right?
Aren't you always asking for help when you go to the ground, and you don't worry about leaving your back to outsiders? Now the second brother is here. Although he may not know how to fight upside down, if you take him for a while, he will almost get the hang of it.
Isn’t that right? You will have a companion in the future, a brother who fights tigers, but you are afraid that he will seek wealth and kill you?
But my eldest brother shook his head and said with a confused look on his face: That's not what I'm talking about. You just said that he couldn't have been exposed to such things as reverse fighting before.
But, why the hell can I always smell a faint smell of corpse on him?!
"Corpse stench?!"
I was shocked. You know, people who often go to the ground to fight, have been in contact with the dead all year round, and touch gold on them, will inevitably have a smell on their bodies. My elder brother, my father, and the people in the village who still go to the ground now
Those people all have this kind of smell on their bodies. It doesn't matter to adults if they smell it, but not to children. Generally, people who often go to the ground will cry when they pick up a child, no matter how naughty or fearless. Even he himself
My own son is no good either. He cries whenever he comes into contact with him. I don’t know whether it’s because of the corpse smell on his body or the death aura that comes from being exposed to the dead for a long time.
My eldest brother said: Yes, I would definitely smell this smell wrong. Could it be that our second brother is also an expert? But I asked him, and he said that he has never been in the field.
When my eldest brother said this, I felt strange and wondered: "Brother, that's not right. Doesn't it say that people with body odor can't touch children? But the two children in the third aunt's family are very close to him.
ah."
The two of us have been unable to figure out the reason, and then we slowly put this doubt behind us. If we can't figure out the answer, why are we wondering? Anyway, he won't harm us.
But I have always thought that the second brother is a very dignified person who doesn't talk much. Several times when I saw him in a daze, his eyes were completely different from those of a young man. They were empty and vicissitudes, as if he had endless things to say.
story.
At the same time, he is also an extremely smart person. After my father left, the family situation became difficult in the first three years. Guo Jianguo knew how much money he had saved at that time and everything in the bankbook.
Although my eldest brother is also a fierce man and has the courage of my father, he is not good at dealing with people. In the business of fighting, there are different rules in the field, and there are also other rules in the world. Seniority in terms of seniority, and more importantly, to
They had their own shipping channels. In those days, it was no different than now. You could just take an item to an antique store and someone would pick it up. Even TV stations had treasure appraisal programs and live auctions. In the 1980s, if you had treasures on your hands, you could go to a regular store.
You can't tell the history of the antique shop, and no one dares to take over it. It's a private black market transaction, and it's a trivial matter for the price to be underpriced. It's also very common for gangsters to take advantage of others.
My eldest brother was definitely not able to handle this, but after my second brother came, everything was solved easily. However, although the eldest brother told me that the process was simple, it must have taken a lot of effort in practice. They did not tell me the specific details.
, but later I heard some cryptic comments from others in the village:
At that time, the eldest brother and the second brother brought a blue and white porcelain snuff bottle to "catch a meeting." A meeting is a slang term in this industry. It is a place where a group of counterfeiters trade with customers in private. At that meeting, more than one group of people wanted to beat them.
Two ideas.
The next morning, three male corpses were found in the cornfield of Huikou, with a fatal wound on their necks and no traces of a fight on their bodies.
From then on, no one without foresight would provoke the two of them. When other people in the Zhaojia Village saw that the goods were safe, they would also give them to them, but they would use some of the money from the sale.
Slowly, a perfect handicap system was formed, and the reputation of my family completely overshadowed the reputation of my father Guo Jianguo with his fists, and everyone respected me.
It was all placed on my second brother.
But a bigger question arises, that is, my second brother is extremely smart, but he is a boring person. Our family's financial situation has always been very good. I can also be regarded as a playboy, and I have done everything that a playboy likes to do.
thing.
My eldest brother usually prefers young women, likes drinking, and prefers loyalty.
But my second brother, you have no idea what he likes or what he wants.
Although he kept our house in order, he never carried more than a hundred dollars with him, and I never saw him touching any woman.
Except for our two brothers, he basically doesn't talk to anyone else unless necessary.
No one knows what he likes, what he wants, and what he is thinking.
Therefore, my eldest brother and I have always felt that my second brother is very mysterious and strange.
What’s more, he didn’t want to tell us more about the situation where Dad got the jade slip in the quicksand tomb, and we didn’t force him to ask more questions. We just made peace of mind and prepared to go to the mountain marked on the jade slip.
However, at this time, something suddenly interrupted our trip. (To be continued)