Although Wenhe County has experienced the strange scene of the crescent moon turning into a full moon before, it has spread to nearby counties and even Guangyuan County, making it famous far and wide.
Even so, it cannot replace the real Mid-Autumn Festival night.
When the sunset glow dissipated, the sky seemed to have turned upside down in an instant.
From the dull dusk to the dark night.
Every household in Wenhe County, whether rich or poor, gathered at the table to eat delicious meals and admire the full moon with their families.
On Tongzhu Street, Lao Zhangtou's family, who make a living by running a blacksmith shop, also lived the Mid-Autumn Festival happily.
He originally had three sons.
Dalang stayed with him in Wenhe County, guarding his ancestral iron shop, marrying a wife and having children early.
Although the daughter-in-law is a few years older than the son, they all say that the eldest lady is hard-working and caring. She is very busy, not only taking care of the housework, but also raising a pair of grandchildren who are strong and fat. She also has a harmonious relationship with her mother-in-law, Mrs. Zhang.
Lao Zhangtou is a good blacksmith, but he is not very fond of words and does not know how to praise others. However, whenever he mentions his daughter-in-law, he will smile from ear to ear.
Although Erlang also learned blacksmithing skills from him when he was young, his luck was slightly better than that of Dalang.
When he was thirteen years old, he followed Lao Zhangtou to the county government to deliver iron tools.
Because of his strong body and skillful craftsmanship, he was favored by the craftsmen of the county official workshop.
Lao Zhang gritted his teeth and simply left Erlang in the county to follow the master craftsman and learn the forging skills of gold and silver flat copperware.
In order to allow the craftsman to take more care of Erlang, Lao Zhangtou made almost no money on that trip. After he came back, his mother-in-law scolded him, saying that he was just a coward. He rarely went to the county government. Not only did he lose his business, but he also lost money.
Lost my son.
Fortunately, Erlang is really talented and left his apprenticeship early. Now he has become one of the youngest craftsmen in the county official workshop.
The money you make every month? It can cover two months of business at the county’s blacksmith shop.
The youngest son unfortunately died young due to a serious illness that year.
Didn't live past the age of seven.
This is also the most taboo thing for the Lao Zhang family to mention.
Celebrating the same festival as in previous years? The Zhang family's eldest man and Erlang drank with their old father.
Father and son are all boring gourds. Although they don’t say much, they can use coarse fermented wine that is simply filtered through a strainer. Eat it with roasted chicken, but it is very easy to get drunk.
After just a few bowls of food, all three men were already red-faced and their tongues started to tremble when they spoke.
"Erlang, when you get rich in the county, don't forget your eldest brother and your sister-in-law."
"Brother, did you get an award? Erlang is just making a living in the official department. The first level of the official department is overwhelming, not to mention that the younger brother is just an ordinary craftsman. He is cautious and fearful all day long, how can the elder brother feel comfortable?"
"Hahaha? You used to be a dull boy, but after staying in the county for a few years, you can say polite words. Come on? Have another drink. Your sister-in-law was still telling me a few days ago that she wanted to help you make arrangements.
A daughter-in-law."
"Thank you for your concern, sister-in-law. My eldest brother is taken care of by my sister-in-law, and he has a son and a daughter? I really envy my younger brother. Hey... where are my nieces and nephews?"
"Yeah? These two little guys are still running around during the Mid-Autumn Festival? Remember they were picking garlic cloves just now? Go to the back room and have a look..."
…
"...No, I've searched the whole house! There's not even a single figure! The door is clearly locked... Dalang! Erlang! Look for it quickly!"
A slightly crying voice came from the Dalang's wife from the back room.
This year's Mid-Autumn Festival family dinner for Lao Zhangtou's family has been interrupted.
…
"Tiedan! Dong'er!"
"Come out quickly! Don't hide and seek with me!"
"Brother, let's go out and look for it! Hey... there are footprints here!"
"Ah? How could this happen! The wall is so high..."
Lao Zhangtou's family finally found two sets of footprints in front of the narrow patio of the simple courtyard.
The footprints walked on the wet soil all the way to the fence and earth wall that were as large as two grown men, and then disappeared.
"Did you three drink too much or something? Why are you so noisy! Why don't you go out and look for someone!"
In the end, it was Zhang's scream that woke the three of them up.
The father and son pushed open the door and ran out stumblingly.
Although the weather was cold early this year, there was no wind that night. All three of them had put on thick clothes and had just finished drinking, so they should have been warm.
But as soon as they stepped onto the long street, the three of them couldn't help but tremble.
In addition to the coldness, there is also a soul-stirring and eerie feeling, wandering around.
Under the dim moonlight, many neighbors also ran onto the street, calling loudly to their children with faces full of urgency.
Among them are Lao Sun's family next door and Master Zhang, who owns a noodle shop.
"What exactly is going on?"
Lao Zhangtou took a breath of air.
His two sons also looked at each other, their expressions getting increasingly ugly.
Especially Dalang, he was completely sober, his eyes were wide open, his fists were clenched, and his body was shaking slightly.
"Could it be thieves who came to the county to steal dolls? Tiedan! Dong'er! Where are you! Call daddy!"
At this time, a call came from not far away.
"I found it, I found it! They are all playing under the bridge!"
"I'm so scared! These melons are running around during the Mid-Autumn Festival. It's really disturbing."
"Humph, this tough guy, go back and see how I deal with him!"
"Okay, big brother, just find him."
Including the Zhang family and his son, the neighbors on Tongzhu Street breathed a sigh of relief.
Then they walked in small groups towards the bamboo bridge of Quexi River, which flows through the south of the county not far away.
At some point, a dark cloud passed over the sky.
Covering the bright white full moon.
Gathering up the frost-like moonlight.
The patter of raindrops fell from the sky, and in the blink of an eye, it became a heavy rain, pouring down.
The Zhang family father and son didn't even think about looking back to get their raincoats and rain gear, put up their clothes, and rushed towards the Quexi Bamboo Bridge at a faster pace.
"Tiedan! Dong'er! Come back quickly! What are you doing standing still? You..."
Zhang Dalang's voice stopped suddenly.
The man also stopped about ten steps away from the group of children.
He stared at that scene with wide eyes and his face gradually turned pale.
More and more neighbors gathered here.
Most of them are the same as Zhang Dalang.
He stood stunned on the spot, his face was stiff and ugly, vaguely weird and horrifying.
There are more than 20 children, ranging in age from three to ten years old, all from Tongzhu Street and nearby neighborhoods.
They held hands and formed a circle on the edge of the bamboo bridge. With stiff smiles on their faces, they stared at somewhere in the center of the circle, dancing strangely and humming a low tune.
The ditty is like some kind of nursery rhyme. Although it is indifferent, it is catchy.
But the content made everyone present feel numb and have skin bumps all over their bodies.
"The boy from the West's family is the girl from the East's family.
My sister lost her brother and apologized.
There is nothing in the river that you can find in the mountains.
Find bandits in the mountains to eat people.
…
The boy's body is covered with skin.
There is a rubber band on the skin drum.
The rubber bands were peeled off and bones were revealed.
Remove the bones and sacrifice the five internal organs..."