"Introduction
Behind the world is philosophy.
Three autumns a day
Liu Zhenyun
Foreword Paintings of Uncle Six
After writing this novel, looking back, I would like to talk about the original intention of writing this novel.
For uncle six, for uncle six's paintings.
The sixth uncle once played strings in the Yu Opera Troupe in Yanjin County. Because he was the sixth oldest in the family, when he was young, he was called Little Sixth, or Sixth Brother; when he was older, the younger generations called him Sixth Uncle. When I was eight years old, the Yanjin County Yu Opera Troupe recruited students, and I also went to the exam. Just after singing two sentences on stage, he was bombarded off the stage by the regimental commander. Genius, like killing a chicken, it is difficult to learn such an ugly voice, the regiment leader said. At that time, my mother was selling soy sauce at the vice food store department of the east street of the county town, and when the sixth uncle went to play soy sauce, he said to my mother, Sister Liu, when your child came to power, I tried my best, and the tone of the strings was set to the lowest. My mom said that the mud couldn't hold up the wall. Uncle Six in the troupe in addition to pulling strings, but also painted sets.
Later, the families bought television sets, no one watched the play, the troupe was disbanded, and the sixth uncle went to the county state-owned machinery factory to work as a sand turner; later the machinery factory closed down, and then went to the county cotton spinning factory as a machine repairman. After work, Uncle Six never touched the strings again, but picked up the craft of painting sets and painted at home. Before the Spring Festival, I also wrote the Spring Festival, and sold it in the market to subsidize the family.
One year, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, I went back to Yanjin to visit my relatives, met Uncle Six on the street, and talked about the time when I applied for the troupe, and Uncle Six said that fortunately, I was not admitted that year, otherwise I would be unemployed now. The two laughed. Uncle Six asked, I heard that you are now writing novels? I said, uncle, going astray. Asked him again, I heard that you are painting now? Uncle Six said, your aunt scolded me every day, saying that I was neurotic. He also said that the nerves are nerves, and if there is no scratch to kill time, the heart will be bored and suffocated. I said, no, the same is true of writing novels, just to relieve boredom, not a big deal. The two laughed again. Later I gave him a few novels I had written, and he invited me to his house to see the paintings. Over time, it has become a habit, every year or Qingming, or the Dragon Boat Festival, or the Mid-Autumn Festival, or the Spring Festival, I go back to my hometown to visit my relatives, I go to the sixth uncle's house to see the paintings. He painted intermittently, and I watched it intermittently. The sixth uncle mainly painted Yanjin, but it was different from the Yanjin in front of him. Yanjin is not on the side of the Yellow River, and the county seat of Yanjin in his painting faces the Yellow River, and the yellow river has terrible waves; there is a ferry port on the shore. Yanjin is a plain, there is no mountain in the territory, he painted the county seat of Yanjin, backed by a majestic mountain, behind the mountain is still a mountain; on the top of the mountain, there is snow that does not melt all year round. One year during the Dragon Boat Festival, when I saw him in his painting, under the moonlight, a handsome girl smiled forward and backward, and next to her was a persimmon tree, and the tree was full of red persimmons like lanterns, so I asked, Who is this person? Uncle Six said that a fairy who had mistakenly entered Yanjin. I asked, what was she laughing at? Uncle Six said, go to people's dreams to listen to jokes, give fun. And he said, who makes us Yanjin people love to tell jokes? I also saw a painting of a group of men and women with their heads gathered together, smiling with their mouths wide open. In another painting, on the contrary, a group of heads, with serious faces, with their eyes closed. Laughing, I can understand, Yanjin people love to tell jokes, closed eyes serious and why? I asked Uncle Six. Uncle Six said that he was crushed to death by the joke. He also said that there are those who like jokes, there are those who like to be serious, or rather, they are crushed to death by seriousness. In another painting, there is a restaurant, a person lying under the table, everyone gathered in a circle, the leftover juice on the table, one of the plates, there is a fish head, the fish head is laughing. What happened to this man on the ground? I asked. Uncle Six said that he was eating fish, and the person at the next table told a joke, and he laughed and was stuck by the fish thorn, or, stuck by the joke. I see the name of the painting: public place, do not talk about jokes. I said, Uncle Six, you're postmodern enough. Uncle Six shook his hand, I don't understand these terms, just draw them at will. I said, painting at will is a realm. Uncle Six shook his head: The words do not reach the meaning, the words do not reach the meaning. This day the six aunts were next to it. When the sixth aunt was young, she also sang in the troupe, singing Dao Ma Dan; after the troupe was disbanded, she went to the county candy factory to wrap sugar paper. The sixth aunt interjected, since you want to paint, why don't you draw something useful? Uncle Six asked, what is useful? The sixth aunt said that painting some flowers to bloom and be rich, painting some magpies to climb the branches, painting some Danfeng Chaoyang, even if you paint some door gods, like the Spring League, you can also get it to sell on the set. He also said, pen and ink paper, all kinds of pigments, you can spend a lot of money. Uncle Six didn't respond to Aunt Six, and I didn't explain it in the middle. The explanation for this matter is also unclear. One year, during the Dragon Boat Festival, I saw a painting in which a woman danced over the Yellow River, like a fairy flying in the sky, like Chang'e running to the moon. I asked, who is this woman? On this day, the sixth aunt was not around, the sixth uncle said, a ghost. I asked, who? Uncle Six whispered that in the past, he also sang in the troupe, and uncle, also a confidant of red dust, later married someone else, and later hanged because of a leek, the other day in my dream, is how to dance on the river. And said, jump wow, jump wow. He whispered again, don't tell you six aunts. In the Mid-Autumn Festival of the year, I saw a painting of a man in his belly, carrying a woman, on the train. I pointed to the woman in her belly, who? Uncle Six said that he was also a ghost. I asked, why did it run into someone else's stomach? Uncle Six said that attaching to others is to find relatives in thousands of miles. One year, on the Qingming Festival, I saw a painting of hell painted by Uncle Six, all the little ghosts, some are being cut off their noses, some are being ripped off, some are being sawn in half, some are being roasted on the fire, some are being thrown on the knife mountain, and through the painting, I can hear the ghosts crying wolf, but I see Yan Luo in the painting laughing. I asked, such a bloody scene, why did Yan Luo laugh? Uncle Six said, a little ghost, before dying, said a joke, Yan Luo asked, are you a Yanjin person? Hearing Uncle Six say this, I also shook my head and smiled. Uncle Six also said that in general, Yanjin is still mainly laughing. I also saw a painting of a Taoist-like person with words in his mouth, using steel needles to nail some small people made of paper to the wooden board, and the title of the painting was: No Injustice, No Revenge. I asked, no grievances, no revenge, what do people do? Uncle Six said that it was a profession. I understood, and a layer of cold sweat appeared on my back. Uncle Liu also paints people in daily life, such as Wu Dazui, who is selling sheep soup in Beiguan, Lao Zhu, who is brine pig's trotters in Xiguan, Lao Dong, a blind man who is telling fortunes in East Street, and Guo Baochen, who is sweeping the streets of Cross Street, and so on. At this time, the brushwork is very realistic, reduced to sketching. The sixth uncle pointed to Wu Dazui, the whole of Yanjin County, the number of sheep soup he boiled well, but unfortunately just over forty died. He also said that he was too fat to eat. He also said that he did not smile all day, and he was full of worries, but he was still crushed to death by his heart. The sixth uncle pointed to the fortune-telling old Dong, this old Dong, nonsense for a lifetime. He also said that the only way to find the blind is to find problems that people with eyes cannot solve; he also said that problems that cannot be solved by seriousness can only find nonsense. Pointing to Guo Baochen, Old Guo has been sweeping the streets in his life, and Old Dong said that in his previous life, he was a prime minister, and in his previous life, he killed people like hemp, and in this life he cleaned up his own children. He also said that Lao Guo's brain was confused, but his son went to study in Britain, which is called negative and negative. Uncle Six also painted a large painting of two meters square, which is also a sketch, and in the painting, all the colleagues of the troupe at that time have their own looks in the painting. The sixth uncle pointed to the person in the painting, this person is called Chen Changjie, after the dissolution of the troupe, his wife drank pesticides and died, he went to Wuhan, and worked as a furnace in the Wuhan engine maintenance section; this is Sun Xiaobao, who sang ugly in the year, and later went to Daqing, working as a driller in the Daqing oil field; and pointed to a four- or five-year-old child in the picture, this is Chen Changjie's son, called Bright, when he was young, he played in the background every day, and when he grew up, he went from Yanjin to Xi'an for unspeakable reasons. He also pointed to a woman in the painting and whispered to me that she was the one who danced on the Yellow River. I will realize that this is Uncle Six's red dust confidant at that time. I looked at it closely and said, "It's pretty." Uncle Six said that the past could not be looked back. He also said that seven or eight of the people on this painting were gone. He also said that when he painted this painting, many people forgot about it and did not paint it. This year's Spring Festival, I saw another painting of a child running along the railway, a kite flying in the sky, followed by an old cow. I asked, this kid, why are you running on the railway? Uncle Six said he had taken the train backwards. I saw the name of this painting as "Sitting Back." I said, this child, too careless. Uncle Six said, in life, do we sit in the car less often? I understood and nodded. Uncle Six also painted a ten-meter-long scroll, such as the "Qingming River Map", which is also a sketch of gongbi, but the painting is the market at Yanjin Ferry, but the people on the painting are all dressed in the costumes of the Song Dynasty; the Yellow River is turbulent; under the willow trees on the shore, there are flutes blowing and strings; there are fishermen standing on the bow of the boat to fish, and the nets come from the net, not the Yellow River carp, nor the grass carp, crucian carp or fathead fish, but a mermaid; the cart, the burdened, the cattle-herding, the bustling, walking on the bridge of the ferry; the door of a shop under the bridge There is a plaque hanging on it, with the words "One Day, Three Autumns". I pointed to the plaque and said, Uncle Six, the door plaque of the store, there is no such inscription, it is "business is booming" or "the source of wealth is luxuriant". Uncle Six laughed, he was drunk that day, he left the door plaque small, and he couldn't put down the thick words of "prosperous business" or "rich in wealth", he could only "three autumns in one day", and there were few strokes in "three autumns in one day". Uncle Six also painted some animals, such as dogs, such as cats, such as foxes, such as weasels, each with a look; one of the monkeys, leaning against the willow tree of the ferry, fell asleep with his hands on his stomach, and wore an iron ring around his neck, and the iron ring was tied to the iron chain, and the iron chain was tied to the willow tree, and the remaining iron chain was pulled on it; the head and body were covered with scars, and they had not yet scabs. I asked, look at the cocoons on its butts and soles, as thick as copper coins, I'm afraid it's not too old, right? Uncle Six said, this is my self-portrait. I pointed to the wounds on the monkey's head and body, why was he beaten? Uncle Six said that he couldn't move the play and didn't want to play, but if the person who played with the monkey didn't do it, it wouldn't be beaten.
When I returned from the Mid-Autumn Festival of the previous year, I heard that my sixth aunt had depression. I went to Uncle Six's house to see the paintings and found that it was not the case. Others who have depression do not like to talk, and the sixth aunt is talking endlessly, saying all the unsatisfactory things in her life; the piles of unsatisfactory things are all related to uncle six. Uncle Six bowed his head and did not speak, but just pointed to the painting and looked at the painting. In the midst of all the gushing, where do I still have the heart to look at the painting? After casually reading two or three photos, he said that there were guests at home at noon and walked out of Uncle Six's house.
When I went back during the Spring Festival last year, I heard that Uncle Six had died and had a heart attack. Has been dead for more than a month. When I went to visit Uncle Six's house, Uncle Six became a picture on the wall. Talking with the sixth aunt about the sixth uncle, the sixth aunt said that that morning, the sixth uncle was drinking peppery soup, the head was twisted and out of breath, and then began to talk about how to pull the sixth uncle to the hospital for rescue, did not rescue him, did not even leave a word when he died, and then how to notify relatives and friends, take care of the funeral of the sixth uncle, etc.; listening to the speed and proficiency of the sixth aunt to say these words, like singing and memorizing lines, she knew that she had said these words to people countless times. I suddenly remembered something and interrupted the sixth aunt's words: "What about the painting of the sixth uncle?" ”
"The day he died, when the paper burned."
I was stunned: "How did such a good painting burn?" ”
"Those broken things, some of them, some of them, no one likes them except that he likes them."
"Auntie, I like it."
The sixth aunt slapped her face: "Forget about you, I remembered it earlier, I left it for you." ”
He also said, "Man cannot be resurrected from the dead, and the paper is burned to ashes, and he cannot be found again, and this can only be the case." ”
That's all there is to it. The ashes of Uncle Six's paintings are now drifting nowhere. That night, I dreamed of uncle six, Yanjin ferry, full of snow, on the shore, uncle six white robes, twisted body, as if singing, the snow that flew in the sky, and then became his painting in the sky, and he spread his hands on me and sang: "Why, why not?" "What, what?" When I woke up, I couldn't sleep anymore. A month later, I made up my mind to pick up the paintings that Uncle Six had turned to ashes again; I couldn't paint, but I could connect the different pictures of Uncle Six and write a novel. Or, I can't see Uncle Six's painting anymore, so I have to write this novel to commemorate my past with Uncle Six, so as to leave Yanjin in Uncle Six's painting.
However, it is not easy to change the painting into a novel. Painting after painting is a fragment of life, which is not related, and the novel must have coherent characters and stories; also, some of Uncle Six's paintings belong to the postmodern, people and the environment are deformed, exaggerated, through life and death, gods and ghosts, and some paintings are very realistic, painting the normality of daily life, the normal state of daily life, and the continuation of daily life day after day; between the two, the style is not unified; the painting is one by one, you can do this, and the description method and writing style of a novel must be unified. After I wrote two chapters, I wanted to give up, but then I thought that I was a student of a book, I had no power to tie the chicken, but I used writing to relieve people's boredom, and I had acquiesced in my heart to uncle six, to use my own little skill to pick up the emotions and hearts of my friends who had been forgotten, and I could not repeat my promises and credulity, and gave up halfway, or reluctantly did it.
In writing, I try to coordinate the postmodern, deformed, exaggerated, traversal of life and death, gods and ghosts and the depictions of daily life that appear in the painting; take the transformation, exaggeration, and crossing of life and death and the ghosts and ghosts as the basis for laying and hot pots; most of the chapters, mainly based on daily life, some chapters, there are some postmodern gods and ghosts, Bo people laugh, I think the reader will not be serious; in the choice of the main characters, I pick out a few people from the two-meter square troupe character group pixel sketch, Let it run through the whole novel; of course, one of the heroines is uncle six's confidant in red dust; so it is done to consider that these characters are closer to uncle six. Among these characters, the main people who left Yanjin are those who leave Yanjin, because only those who leave Yanjin can know more about Yanjin; and the paintings of the sixth uncle have always painted Yanjin; this is the difference between the novel and the painting; this aspect runs out of the painting, please do not blame the sixth uncle. At the same time, pulling the scene apart is also to make room for the novel's tossing and turning. Also, because uncle six's paintings have been destroyed, the paintings of uncle six themselves are also memories of the past, and the memory of uncles' paintings in memory, only to reproduce the situation in the paintings, it is inevitable that the difference is not a centimeter, and it is difficult to return to the realm of uncle six's paintings; if the tiger is not an anti-dog, please also ask uncle six not to blame. All in all, in the novel, there are places of loyalty to Uncle Six and places of betrayal of Uncle Six, which I did not expect when I first started writing. But the heart of a pure child, the heavens and the earth can be learned. Uncle Six said that Yanjin still focuses on laughter, so let's take it as a joke.
Thank you to everyone who read this book. I also thank you on behalf of Uncle Six.
......
Part II Cherry
One
Chen Changjie wrote from Wuhan, saying that he was getting married again, and asked Li Yansheng to go to Wuhan to attend the wedding, "We must arrive before July 8th" and "Talk to each other, cut through."
Ten years ago, Li Yansheng and Chen Changjie were both actors in the Yanjin County Fengleiyu Opera Troupe. The troupe's best play is "The Legend of the White Snake", Li Yansheng plays Xu Xian, Chen Changjie plays Fahai, and actress Cherry plays White Snake, which is the White Lady. So far, I think that this play can be performed well, all because of Chen Changjie's words. He said that the drama of "The Legend of the White Snake" is the trouble caused by the lower body. A sentence led to another sentence, Chen Changjie said, you see, a snake cultivated for a thousand years, and finally became an immortal, everyone in the world wants to go to the immortal world when they die, and the funeral shed is written, early ascending to the immortal world, this snake has become a fairy, and then comes to the human world to become a woman, entangled with men; it not only wants to become an immortal in that aspect, but also wants to become an immortal in this regard, which is called inching forward; with who is entangled in the human world, it also has prior considerations, one cannot find the poor, and the people who carry large bags on the docks do not understand the wind and moon; second, they cannot find rich people, and the rich people's wives and concubines are in groups. Who cares about a wild woman on the side of the road? So he took a fancy to Xu Xian, a white-faced scholar; Xu Xian, one had read books, and the other was good-looking; he went to a Chinese medicine shop during the day as an apprentice to earn a living, and at night he was alone in front of a lone lamp, and if a beauty fell today, wouldn't it be like dry firewood encountering a fire? People who have read the book also understand the wind and snow; this snake is indeed accurate; besides, Fahai is a monk, and all women in the world cannot be entangled, or is it a man instead of a man, and now that he finds a snake that has also come to the human world to do evil, can he not be jealous? So he beat this woman back to her original form and pressed it with a tower, and I am not good, nor can I make you good; you say, is this the mind? Are these minds? Li Yansheng felt that Chen Changjie was reasonable, and Cherry also felt that he was reasonable. On the stage, every scene is really moving, and every line is spoken from the heart; not only is it really moving and heartfelt, but it also seems to have a voice out of the string; it is a very colorful play, and it is also tragic and poignant; Alas, a person and a snake are as deep as the sea, and this feeling should only be in the play, how many times can the human world hear it? In the play, Fahai sang to Xu Xian:
You love her because she's beautiful as a flower
Who knew it was a poisonous snake in its bones
……
Xu Xian sang:
When I loved her, I didn't know it was a poisonous snake
To this day, I don't want to love my heart like a knife
The White Lady sang to Fahai:
I have no enmity or enmity with you
Why did you hurt my husband and wife?
Fahai sang:
I don't hurt you personally
In order to divide the three realms between the demons
The three-person stall began to sing together:
Whatever
Do it
"The Legend of the White Snake" has become the masterpiece of the Wind and Thunder Yu Theater Troupe. From this play, the three also became the famous characters of Yanjin. But acting has also fallen ill, and the three of them have encountered problems in life, and they also love to say "What, why?" "What, what?"
In the play, Cherry is Li Yansheng, xu Xian's wife; in reality, Cherry later marries Fahai Chen Changjie. Cherry water snake waist, melon face, apricot core eyes, before speaking, love first glance at you; every day in life together, the stage is ear-to-ear grinding, Li Yansheng has also moved his mind to her, but watch Chen Changjie always talk to cherry in the background; after talking about the play, he also tells jokes with cherry; say one, cherry "didi" laughs for a while; say one, cherry "didi" laughs for a while; know that cherry must marry Chen Changjie: he can use words to move a play, can he still use words to move a woman? Later, Li Yansheng married Hu Xiaofeng, who wrapped sugar paper in the county candy factory. Hu Xiaofeng has thick breasts, big eyes, and sugar-wrapped paper, likes to watch dramas, likes Xu Xian, played by Li Yansheng, a handsome white-faced student. One night, at the end of the performance, Li Yansheng took off his makeup in the background and walked out the back door of the theater, and Hu Xiaofeng was standing in the doorway; when he came out, he took out a handful of sugar from his pocket: "Eat candy." And he said, "Not ordinary sugar." ”
"Why isn't it ordinary?"
"Take a closer look."
Li Yansheng looked closely, a handful of sugar, each sugar paper, with a pen to draw a red heart.
Hu Xiaofeng: "This is the benefit of wrapping sugar paper in a candy factory." ”
Li Yansheng: "My heart is received, but my molar teeth are mothed by insects, and I can't eat sugar." ”
"So why are you going now?"
"After singing all night, I was sleepy and wanted to go home and sleep."
"After singing all night, aren't you hungry?" Sleeping hungry is not good for the stomach. Hu Xiaofeng said, "Old Hu on the cross street is still selling peppery soup, let's go drink peppery soup." ”
"My throat is still hot, and I don't dare to eat spicy things."
"The sheep soup restaurant of Wu Dazui's family in Beiguankou is still open, let's go drink sheep soup." Soup does not tooth. ”
Intermittently, the mutton soup was drunk for a month. Every day, Hu Xiaofeng changes into a new outfit. That night, the two were drinking sheep soup, and Hu Xiaofeng said: "Yansheng, I speak straight, you won't blame me, right?" ”
Li Yansheng used the line in the play: "Forgive you for your innocence." ”
"Would you rather fall in love with someone or a snake?"
Li Yansheng lifted his face from the heat of the sheep soup: "That's singing." If in life, who goes to the Xiguan City Wall root to find a snake to fall in love, isn't that crazy? In love, of course, you have to talk to people. ”
Hu Xiaofeng put down the spoon: "If you fall in love with someone, you will find me." ”
"Why?"
"I'm better than the White Lady."
"What's the good?"
"The white lady has no breasts, I have breasts."
Li Yansheng thought for a moment, cherry enchanting is enchanting, but flat chest, Hu Xiaofeng is thicker, but big breasts; looking at the opposite side, two round balls, the mouth of the shirt is almost broken. Li Yansheng "poofed" and laughed.
In the first two years of marriage, at night, Hu Xiaofeng loved to let Li Yansheng paint his face and paint Xu Xian in the play. Li Yansheng: "Do you like me, or do you like Xu Xian in the play?" ”
Hu Xiaofeng twisted his body on the top: "With you now, I have become the White Lady." ”
It turned out that she wanted to become a writhing snake.
Later, every family bought a TV, no one watched the play, and the Wind and Thunder Yu Theater Troupe disbanded. The troupe has a hundred and ten people, the trees are scattered, everyone runs to things, five elements and eight works, to see what each person can find for a living. Li Yansheng, Chen Changjie and Cherry entered the Yanjin County State Machinery Factory together. The director of the machinery factory is called Hu Zhankui, who likes to watch dramas and likes to watch "The Legend of the White Snake", so he took in the three leading actors of "The Legend of the White Snake". Li Yansheng worked as a sand turner, Chen Changjie became a sheet metal worker, and cherries steamed steamed steamed buns in the canteen. Catching up with the holidays, or the guests in the factory, Hu Zhankui let the three of them sing "The Legend of the White Snake". No one plays strings and drums, and the three can only sing; without group performances, the three cannot sing the whole play, but can only sing the folding play; what the three people often sing is "Why, why?" "What, what?" A. The three of them on the stage "Why, why?" "What, what?" Hu Zhankui touched his bald head offstage and laughed. Later, the machinery factory closed down, and the three of them bid farewell to Xu Xian, Fahai and White Snake completely, and each of them sought their own way to live. Chen Changjie and Cherry went to the county cotton spinning factory, Chen Changjie became a mechanic, and Cherry became a car blocker. Li Yansheng went to the county food company and sold soy sauce vinegar and pickles at the East Street Store Department; to the left of the counter selling soy sauce vinegar and pickles was the counter selling pepper sauce tofu; Xiao Bai, who sold pepper sauce tofu, later followed the army and went to Gansu with her husband, and the pepper sauce tofu was also sold by Li Yansheng.
Because they work in different places, Li Yansheng and Chen Changjie do not see each other every day as usual. Sometimes when they met on the street, the two stood down and talked for two days; or they met and went to the Xiguan "Marshal canopy" restaurant to eat a pig's trotter. In the past, in the county theater troupe and the machinery factory, the two often went to the "marshal of the canopy" and drank a sip with the pig's trotters. In the past, we used to be together every day, and we said we would go; now when we work in different places, we have to make an appointment to eat pig's trotters. At first, once a week, then once a month, and then at home, rice, oil and salt, eating and drinking Lasa, the more things went on, the slower the heart of the meeting. If you want to eat pig's trotters, you often go to the "canopy marshal" alone and buy a pig's trotter to take home to eat. When Chen Changjie's children passed a hundred days, the two families gathered together for a meal. Chen Changjie and Cherry gave their son a name called Hanlin. Li Yansheng understood that in the "Legend of the White Snake", the white lady gave birth to a son named Hanlin, and later was admitted to the Yuan, and now let the child call this name, hoping that the child will have the same appearance as Hanlin in the play in the future. Chen Changjie pointed to the cherry and said that she had given the name. Li Yansheng and Hu Xiaofeng said busily, get up well, get up well, look at Hanlin's forehead, the heavenly court is full, and it is not wrong to grow up. After this gathering, the meeting between the two became intermittent again. If you don't see each other for a long time, the news of the other party is to listen to others. Listening to others, Chen Changjie and Cherry's son Hanlin is one year old; when he hears others say that Hanlin can talk, he always says that his eyes are black, and his grandmother changes his name to Bright; two years have passed, and I have heard others say that the relationship between Chen Changjie and Cherry has become worse, and the two fight every day. Occasionally, Li Yansheng and Chen Changjie also met on the street, not talking about their hearts together for a long time, and suddenly they couldn't talk so deeply, and it was not good to inquire into each other's private affairs. One day, Li Yansheng suddenly heard that Cherry had hanged herself. Why hang? For a handful of leeks. For the sake of leeks, Cherry and Chen Changjie had a dispute at home, Chen Changjie said, you have the ability to die, and after saying it, you went out. I didn't expect Cherry to hang herself at home. At the cherry funeral, Li Yan went to mourn before he died, Yanjin had the custom of losing his family half a head, Chen Changjie saw Li Yansheng, knelt down and prostrated. Li Yansheng was busy helping him up. Chen Changjie took Li Yansheng's hand and cried: "It's hard to say a word." ”
Li Yansheng had no choice but to comfort him: "People cannot be resurrected from the dead, and now it is too late to say anything." ”
"I shouldn't have looked for Cherry in the first place, we weren't all the way, and to find her was to harm her."
"You can't say that either."
"Why can't you say that? We are opposites in the play, she plays the white snake, I play Fahai. ”
"In the drama and in life, there are still two different things."
At this time, Li Yansheng saw that on the cherry spirit shed, the four words "Early Ascension Immortal Realm" were written. In front of the cherry statue, stood the three-year-old son Bright. Bright was dressed in filial piety, sucking in his nose while looking at Li Yansheng with his eyes open. Li Yansheng said to Chen Changjie: "Don't mention the previous things, let's raise the children first." ”
"Now everyone in the county knows that I killed my wife, and I can't stay in Yanjin."
"That's what you think, others don't think that way."
"We went from the troupe to the machinery factory, we were together every day, what kind of person am I, don't you know in your heart?"
"Of course I know." Li Yansheng also said, "In the future, when you can't think about it, you will find me, and we will go to the 'Marshal of the Canopy' to eat pig's trotters together." ”
Chen Changjie nodded, "You are the only one who can speak your heart in Yanjin." ”
Li Yansheng did not expect that in the past month after the cherry funeral, Chen Changjie completely left Yanjin. He had an uncle who worked as a wrench in the Wuhan locomotive section, and Chen Changjie took his three-year-old son Mingliang to Wuhan to join his uncle. Before leaving, he did not say hello to Li Yansheng.
Fast forward three years, Chen Changjie wrote a letter, he was getting married again in Wuhan, asking Li Yansheng to go to Wuhan to attend the wedding. The letter was sent to the East Street Store Department of Yanjin County Vice Food Company. Li Yansheng read Chen Changjie's letter in the store department, remembering that when he and Chen Changjie were in the troupe, when they were in the machinery factory, when the two ate pig's trotters together, many past events, did not read the letter all forgotten, a look at the letter all remembered, Wuhan can not not go. When I got home from work in the evening, I discussed with my wife Hu Xiaofeng how to go to Wuhan. At this time, Hu Xiaofeng not only had thick chests, but also his whole body was thicker; at night, he no longer let Li Yansheng paint his face and dress Xu Xian, and he did not twist his body. Unexpectedly, she heard that Li Yansheng was going to Wuhan to attend Chen Changjie's wedding, so she spat out two words: "Don't go." ”
"Old friend, can't help but go, when he died in Yanjin, he also told me that I am the only one who can speak from the heart in Yanjin."
"I don't care if his dead wife marries his wife, I just ask you, when you go to Wuhan, who pays for the road?"
"Of course I'm out."
"You go to the wedding, do you give your share of the money?"
"Of course you have to give your share of the money."
"Wuhan is not close to Yanjin, you only earn more than sixty yuan a month, tickets plus a share of money, you can't get two months' salary?" These two months I have been weak, standing a sweat, sitting down or sweating, I am not willing to spend money to see a doctor, ah, your own wife you do not care, but do not care if others marry their wives? ”
Unexpectedly, one thing led to another; after a few years of marriage, this kind of thing led to more and more things that led to another; Li Yansheng was afraid that Hu Xiaofeng was pulling more and more, so he quickly stopped talking: "Go or not, this is not a discussion with you." ”
He also said, "Invite or not invite him, go or not go to us." ”
After going to work the next day, Li Yanshengto, who sold tobacco and alcohol at the counter on the right, took care of the counter selling soy sauce and vinegar pickles and peppercorn sauce and tofu for him, he first went to find a few companions who used to sing together in the troupe, and then went to find a few colleagues who used to work together in the machinery factory, asking them if they knew about Chen Changjie's marriage in Wuhan, and whether anyone went to Wuhan to attend Chen Changjie's wedding. After a circle of questions, no one knew about Chen Changjie's marriage in Wuhan; some people had already forgotten Chen Changjie, "Chen Changjie, who?" He was reminded, "Oh, oh, he," the one who forced his wife to die." It seems that Chen Changjie got married in Wuhan, and Quan Yanjin informed him alone. Since he is a person, there is nothing special about Li Yansheng not going; but precisely because he is a person, it is obvious that he does not go; since he is not clear, since he is only informed of one person, it can be seen that he is regarded as the only friend in Yanjin, and if he does not go, it will seem unjust; moreover, the letter also writes the four words "Yu Yan Face Narrative", what will this "Yu Yan" be? But go, obviously can't pass Hu Xiaofeng's pass. He inquired about the train ticket to Wuhan for a round trip of more than a hundred yuan; to attend Chen Changjie's wedding, he got at least fifty yuan with the gift; it added up to almost two hundred yuan; and Li Yansheng's monthly salary was only sixty-five yuan; when he went to Wuhan, the salary for two months was not enough, and What Hu Xiaofeng said was also the truth; why not, why? What to do, what to do? Li Yansheng sighed to himself.
In order not to make a fuss, Li Yansheng wrote a reply letter to Chen Changjie. First of all, he said some words to congratulate Chen Changjie on his marriage, and then said: "I should have gone to celebrate my brother, but I had no choice but to fall to my feet last week and couldn't get off the ground." Finally, it was written, "Coming to Japan for a long time, the rest of the words will be said later." A blind remark that sent things away.
Two
At the north pass of Yanjin County, there is a "Wu Dazui Sheep Soup Restaurant". When Li Yansheng and Hu Xiaofeng fell in love, they drank sheep soup for more than a month at the Wu Dazui Sheep Soup Restaurant. There are fifty or sixty yangtang restaurants in Yanjin County, and the business of Wu Dazui is good. In addition to selling lamb soup, Wu Dazui Sheep Soup Restaurant also grills lamb skewers, fights lamb fire, and also sells shabu lamb, lamb braised noodles, etc. Other restaurants are open during the day and closed at night, while Wu Dazui's sheep soup restaurant is closed during the day and opens at night until the early morning of the next day. By four or five o'clock in the morning, the customers were still in an endless stream. Everyone came, and the sheep soup of his house was fresh, and the lamb was tender; for he killed live sheep every day.
Wu Dazui killed sheep during the day, every day at about three or four o'clock in the afternoon. With a short mouth, a round head, a big belly, and no beard on his face, Wu pulled out a sheep from the sheepfold, and this sheep "babbled" and the other sheep cried in the sheepfold. Wu Dazui put the sheep on the case: "Don't bark, call it in vain." I will not kill you, and if it falls into the hands of others, I will kill you as well. ”
He also said: "I opened a restaurant to make money, and it cost you money to buy you, you can't always retire here, right?" ”
"I don't blame you, nor do I, but who made you build a sheep?"
"I'm going to use you at night, stop your delusions early, and go to Elysium."
"Falling into my hands is also fate."
With one knife, the sheep stopped barking, and the sheep in the pen stopped barking. The blood gushing out of the sheep's neck fell into the iron basin under the board. Sheep's blood is also a dish often ordered by customers.
Every day the white knife into the red knife out of the people, Wu Dazui in addition to killing the sheep to say something to the sheep, usually tight mouth, do not like greasy mouth slippery tongue. When Chen Changjie and Cherry were in love, they often went to Wu Dazui Sheep Soup Restaurant to drink sheep soup. When drinking sheep soup, Chen Changjie kept talking and kept telling jokes to Cherry. Talk about one, cherry "Didi" laughed for a while; talking about one, cherry "Didi" laughed for a while. Wu glared at them and turned to go to the backyard. Later, Li Yansheng and Hu Xiaofeng fell in love, and also came here to drink sheep soup, Wu Dazui did not pay much attention to Li Yansheng, thinking that the people who sang opera were people with greasy mouths and slippery tongues; don't you know that the people who eat by mouth are also different, and it is Chen Changjie who loves to talk, not Li Yansheng.
The man who sweeps the streets of the cross is Guo Baochen. Although Guo Baochen is a street sweeper, he is a good friend of Wu Dazui. The two can become good friends because both of them are tight-mouthed and hate rapping.
It's enough to know things, so why say it? That's it, so why bother? What's so funny in the world that giggles all day? When others came to the sheep soup restaurant to eat, Wu Dazui ignored it, that is, to collect money; when Guo Baochen came, Wu Dazui accompanied Guo Baochen to drink. Generally, there are four dishes, one boiled peanut rice, one cold mixed thorn mustard, one locust flower scrambled egg - Yanjin locust tree, one hand torn lamb - mutton is for Guo Baochen to eat, Wu Dazui has no mutton. The table next to the table where people were eating and drinking was boiling, wu Dazui and Guo Baochen drank two bottles of wine, and they couldn't say a few words, they all raised a glass to signal each other to drink. Others think they are drinking alcohol, but they drink it all. This table is more silent than sound, and Li Yansheng said this when he drank sheep soup at the Wu Dazui Sheep Soup Restaurant.
That night, Guo Baochen came over to drink with Wu Dazui again. In the silence, the two drank two more bottles. Early the next morning, Wu Dazui's family found that Wu Dazui was dead in bed. Pulled to the hospital, myocardial infarction.
Wu Dazui's second sister cut sugar cubes at the Yanjin Candy Factory; she cut sugar cubes, Hu Xiaofeng wrapped sugar paper, and although the two were not in the same workshop, they were colleagues. Wu Dazui's funeral, the second sister informed Hu Xiaofeng. On the day of the Wu family's funeral, Hu Xiaofeng asked Li Yansheng to go to the Wu family to eat a funeral feast. Li Yansheng asked: "When you go to the funeral feast, do you want to take the money with you?" ”
Hu Xiaofeng: "Of course you have to follow." ”
Li Yansheng remembered chen Changjie's wedding a few days ago, and Hu Xiaofeng did not let him participate, and muttered: "Your friend has something to go, but my friend can't go if he has something." ”
Hu Xiaofeng knew that Li Yansheng was talking about Chen Changjie's marriage in Wuhan, and immediately became anxious: "Can that be the same?" Your friend married his wife in Wuhan, and Wu Dazui sat down and died in Yanjin. ”
He also said, "Besides, is the money for the wedding the same as for the funeral?" ”
At that time, the rules of Yanjin were that the wedding share was heavier, fifty; the funeral was lighter, twenty. Li Yansheng was afraid that the more he said, the more he intercepted Hu Xiaofeng's words: "That's what I said, you are serious." ”
Then he said, "Aren't you afraid that if you send twenty yuan, you won't be able to eat it back?" ”
Hu Xiaofeng "poofed" and laughed.
The funeral feast of the Wu family was placed in the "Wu Dazui Sheep Soup Restaurant". The Wu family invited many guests, a total of seventeen or eight tables, ten people at each table. Those who shared the table with Li Yansheng and Hu Xiaofeng knew each other and those who did not. But after three glasses of wine, they all knew each other. While eating, everyone talked about Wu Dazui's sudden death. One pointed: "That night, he had a drink with Guo Baochen and sat at that table." ”
"I can't see it, how strong the body is, say myocardial infarction, it will be myocardial infarction."
"Still drank too much, and a sweeper, drank two pounds."
"Eating too fat is also a reason, one meter six, more than two hundred pounds."
One person whispered, "Still killing too much, retribution." ”
At this time, Wu Dazui's younger brother Wu Erzui came to toast on behalf of the bereaved family and said to everyone: "Don't be blind, I have heard what you say." ”
He also said, "Ming told everyone that my brother did not die in myocardial infarction, nor did he die in retribution." ”
People: "Where did you die?" ”
"Die on a joke."
Brother Wu Dazui usually does not smile, and younger brother Wu Erzui loves to run the train with his mouth full; everyone says that his brother's words have been given to his younger brother; before Wu Dazui died, he often scolded Wu Erzui for "two hundred and five"; Wu Erzui was doing miscellaneous work in the restaurant, watching Wu Dazui come from a distance, busy stopping his mouth, busy with the work in his hand; now that Wu Dazui is dead, Wu Erzui is a little sad and also seems a little excited; his brother is sad when he dies, and no one cares about his speech, some excitement.
The crowd was stunned: "Death on a joke? You mean..."
Wu Erzui interrupted everyone: "This means very clearly, my brother met Hua Erniang." ”
He also said, "That night, my brother drank two pounds with Guo Baochen and fell asleep as usual. In the past, two people drank two pounds and it was okay, why did something suddenly happen this day? He didn't expect that the second lady would come to his dream at night and ask him for jokes; where would my brother tell jokes about such an old-fashioned person? Hua Erniang was annoyed and asked my brother to carry her to drink peppery soup, and in the blink of an eye, my brother was crushed to death by a mountain. ”
Hua Erniang has been in Yanjin for more than three thousand years; in people's dreams, Hua Erniang's use of jokes to crush people to death happens several times a year in Yanjin, and everyone is not surprised; but every year Yanjin suddenly dies hundreds of people, whether this person died suddenly by himself, or was crushed to death by Hua Erniang and jokes, it was difficult to distinguish for a while; everyone asked: "How can I see it?" ”
"Why do you think that Hua Erniang did it?"
Wu Erzu shook his hand: "My brother is a round head, right?"
When he was moved into the coffin, his head was flat; my brother had a big belly, right? Now it was a piece of paper; it was visible that it was pressed by the mountains. ”
He also said, "I told Sima Niu about this, and he came here to investigate, looked at my brother's body, and also believed that Hua Erniang had done it." ”
Sima Niu's family lived in Nanguan, the county seat, and was a chemistry teacher at Yanjin No. 1 Middle School, and in addition to teaching chemistry, he liked the Zhiwei novels of the Southern and Northern Dynasties of Wei and Jin; Hua Erniang came to Yanjin not far away, and stayed in Yanjin for more than three thousand years, sima Niu, after teaching, he was determined to write a "Biography of Hua Erniang"; according to him, he wrote this book not only to write about Hua Erniang's behavior in Yanjin, but also to study the chemical reaction between Hua Erniang and Yanjin because of a joke; what Hua Erniang did in Yanjin, bit by bit, he had collected for more than thirty years; or, He was an expert in the study of Hua Erniang; now that he had determined that Wu Dazui had been crushed to death by Hua Erniang, there was no doubt about it.
Wu Erzui added: "In the middle of the night that day, I heard a small whirlwind in the courtyard. ”
He also said, "Usually I always say that I am two hundred and five, so why don't I guard against it?" "Of course, it's Wu Dazui."
He also said, "Every day I keep a straight face on everyone, and I don't know the importance of jokes." ”
After saying that, he persuaded everyone to drink and went to another table.
Everyone nodded, "Since Sima Niu said, this matter was done by Hua Erniang, and it is certainly not an ordinary sudden death." ”
He began to talk about Hua Erniang's joke again.
"The second lady is also, knowing that Big Mouth is an old-fashioned person, and she is still looking for him."
"This is called fairness, who is who on the stall, the sky will fall and smash everyone, otherwise it will be a deliberate choice."
"Hua Erniang has been in Yanjin for more than three thousand years, and she can't take it off like a dog skin plaster."
"This is Yanjin's life, ancestors for generations, can only live with her."
"Then again, there are hua erniang, there are also benefits, being forced by hua erniang to rush, Yanjin talent is so humorous."
"No humor, let you go and drink peppery soup."
"When the big mouth is dying, you should also say to Hua Erniang, Second Niang, don't go drink peppery soup, come to my house and drink sheep soup."
Everyone laughed, Hu Xiaofeng laughed, and Li Yansheng also laughed.
Another person said: "The second mouth is also right, or the strange mouth is careless, as a Yanjin person, when he is sleeping, he does not prepare a joke." ”
"Who makes him hate jokes every day?" This is also called retribution. ”
"In the future, we will all have to be on guard." And the crowd said.
Between the mouths and tongues, Li Yansheng got up and went to the backyard toilet to pee. Next to the toilet, there is Wu Dazui's sheepfold. A flock of sheep grazed in the sheepfold with their heads bowed, as if nothing had happened. Seeing these sheep, Li Yansheng sighed that Wu Dazui usually killed countless people, and did not expect to die at the hands of Hua Erniang; Wu Dazui was usually serious, and did not expect to die at the hands of jokes. Li Yansheng slept on weekdays, and Hua Erniang never came to his dreams. Like Wu Dazui, Li Yansheng does not like to talk on weekdays, if Hua Erniang comes to his dream, his fate will not be better than Wu Dazui; just in case, he needs to quickly learn a few jokes and remember them in his heart; and he thinks, on weekdays, he will not giggle haha, suddenly filled his heart with jokes, and also twist people to death; he was not crushed to death by Hua Erniang and jokes, and he first twisted himself to death by himself, but also became a joke; and thought, Yanjin more than half a million people, Hua Erniang is a person, she goes out to find jokes, for a moment or three, Where's your turn? Don't be careless, don't be a soldier, if you worry all day, you are not crushed to death by the second lady and the joke, first scare yourself to death, it has become a joke. Just like the sheep in the sheep pen, one sheep was killed by Wu Dazui, and the other sheep panicked for a while, "babbling" a few times, and then quietly bowed their heads and grazed. Or, before he was caught, he could only eat grass quietly, and it was useless to be afraid. This is also Yanjin. I also thought that Wu Dazui was dead, and I didn't know if Wu Erzui could continue to open the sheep soup restaurant. It is to go down, one does not like to talk, one mouth does not stop, the taste of sheep soup is definitely different. If you can't go on, you can only go to the "canopy marshal" to eat later.
Three
For seven or eight days, Li Yansheng's heart was always troubled. At that time, Yanjin circulated a song called "Should Eat, Should Drink", which sang: "Should eat, should drink, do not put things in your heart; people's lives, destined by heaven, it is useless to think wildly; the sky is not afraid, the earth is not afraid, the sky is not afraid, the sky is falling down and smashing everyone; should eat, should drink, can you still take me?" Everyone loves to sing, and Li Yansheng also loves to sing; if there is any trouble, sing a song, the annoyance will pass, and the people will be happy; but this time after singing for seven or eight days in a row, they still can't get happy, and their hearts are getting more and more bored. Think about what reason there is, and there is no reason, going to the grocery store every day to work and commute, eating three meals a day at home, no different from the past days. Recently, I have neither quarreled with Hu Xiaofeng nor had an awkward quarrel with my colleagues. In the words of Old Meng, who sells tobacco and alcohol at the counter next to him, he is asking for trouble. But this annoyance is very specific, Li Yansheng used to talk less, now less, can't say three words a day, love someone there stunned. When he goes to work, customers come to buy things, he often beats soy sauce into vinegar and weighs peppercorns into large ingredients; at home, eating rice, putting down chopsticks, looking out the window in a daze. Hu Xiaofeng: "Li Yansheng, what do you think?" ”
Li Yansheng fought a cold war, turned around, and said busily: "I didn't think anything." ”
At night, when Hu Xiaofeng woke up, he often found Li Yansheng sitting by the bed, shrugging his legs, looking at the darkness outside the window. Another time, Hu Xiaofeng was awakened by the sound of "babbling and babbling", woke up, saw Li Yansheng looking at the darkness outside the window, and whispered the singing section of "The Legend of the White Snake": "Why, why? "What, what?" ...... Singing and singing, one person cried. Hu Xiaofeng: "Li Yansheng, are you going to scare me to death?" ”
Hu Xiaofeng took Li Yansheng to the county hospital to check his body, measured his blood pressure, drew blood for a test, measured an electrocardiogram, and did CT of his internal organs. He was also taken to the county mental hospital for examination, and his spirit was also normal. Hu Xiaofeng: "Obviously there is something wrong with it, but there is actually nothing wrong with it, but it can make people sad to death." ”
Li Yansheng: "I don't want to do this, but I can't control myself." ”
He also said, "Xiao Feng, whether you are dead or alive in the future, you don't have to care about me." ”
Hu Xiaofeng cried: "You are still so scared of me, you want to scare me to death before you die, right?" Suddenly remembering something, he asked, "Did you meet Hua Erniang in your dream?" ”
Li Yansheng shook his head: "If I met her, I was like Wu Dazui, clumsy and clumsy, I had already been crushed to death by her and jokes, can I still talk to you now?" ”
Hu Xiaofeng suddenly remembered something: "Either this, you think that tonight, Hua Erniang will come to your dream, you must not hurry to prepare jokes?" With jokes in your heart, maybe you won't be bothered. ”
Li Yansheng shook his head again: "Don't tell jokes, I even sang the song "Should Eat, Drink", it is useless." ”
"What's the reason for that?"
"If I knew, I wouldn't be sick."
Due to worry, Hu Xiaofeng's love of sweating was cured by Li Yansheng.
Later, Li Yansheng's meal intake decreased significantly. A month passed, the person lost a circle, the eye sockets were prominent, and the cheekbones on the face were exposed. Old Meng, who sold tobacco and alcohol in the store department, said: "Yansheng, you can't continue to develop like this." ”
Li Yansheng: "Old Meng, I am getting more and more bored, to the point where I don't want to live." ”
Old Meng: "In this case, you can only go to Old Dong." ”
And he said, "Are you going?" You go, I can go with you. ”
See the full text
Selected Contemporary Novels, No. 1, 2022
About the Author
Liu Zhenyun, born in 1958 in Yanjin, Henan, graduated from the Department of Chinese of Peking University and is a professor at the School of Literature of Chinese University. He has written novels such as "Yellow Flowers in the Hometown World", "Hometown Together and Circulating", "Hometown Noodles and Flowers" (four volumes), "A Cavity of Nonsense", "Mobile Phone", "My Name is Liu Yuejin", "One Sentence Top Ten Thousand Sentences", "I Am Not Pan Jinlian", "Children of the Melon Eating Era", short and medium stories "Tappu", "Recruit Company", "Unit", "Chicken Feathers in a Place", "Wen Gu 1942" and so on. His works have been translated into English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Czech, Dutch, Hungarian, Serbian, Turkish, Romanian, Polish, Hebrew, Persian, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Kazakh and other languages. In 2011, "One Sentence Top 10,000 Sentences" won the Mao Dun Literature Award. In 2018, he was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Lettres des Arts et des Beaux-Arts. Films based on his works have won numerous awards internationally.
Selected from the July 2021 edition of Flower City Press
The original book was edited by Cai Bin and Ouyang Jiazi
Responsible editor Shi Yifeng
WeChat editor lyj in this issue
The image comes from the Internet