low-key warlock

Firecrackers bid farewell to the old year, and every household welcomes the new year with Spring Festival couplets.

At 04:30 in the morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Su Chunfeng woke up early from his sleep, woke up his younger brother Xiaoyu, and then went out to turn on the lights in the living room, yard, and kitchen.

It is a custom in the countryside of Jinzhou County that every house should be lit on the fifth watch on the New Year's Day.

And after eating the New Year's Eve dumplings, you have to go out of the house to pay New Year's greetings to the elders in the village. Regardless of surname, those who have a good relationship and seniority, all have to go to pay New Year's greetings to the elders of the other party's family. Kneel down, but don't kowtow!If anyone's family is younger in the village, they almost have to go door-to-door to kowtow to pay New Year's greetings.

While Su Chunfeng was standing in the yard washing up without fear of the cold, his mother, Chen Xiulan, had already gotten up and was busy cooking dumplings for the New Year's Eve in the kitchen.

And his father, Su Cheng, led Xiaoyu, who was jumping around and excited, and lit a bonfire outside the main house door, under the west platform.

In the dark night, there were already sporadic firecrackers and firecrackers.

After washing up, Su Chunfeng stood on the platform outside the house, guarding the bonfire, his face glowing red.Looking at the blazing bonfire, the fire is bright, mixed with black shadows, and sometimes the wet firewood makes a crackling sound, bursting out countless flashes of sparks.Suddenly, he felt like a dream, he was reborn... This was the first Spring Festival he was going to spend since he was reborn.

Looking back on the past, it suddenly seemed like a dream.

At this age in the previous life, he hardly stayed at home during the Chinese New Year, and went out to play like crazy every day. On New Year’s Eve, he would play at other people’s houses until the next day when he went home at five o’clock to eat dumplings. .

He didn't go out last night.

With my parents and younger brother, I make stuffing, knead noodles, make dumplings, and watch the Spring Festival Gala at home.

In a trance, I don't know how long I have thought about it, but it seems that I haven't thought about anything.Su Chunfeng saw his father put a hanging firecracker on the iron wire used to dry clothes in the yard, and then simply wrapped it around a few times.The younger brother Su Chunyu stood excitedly at the door and stared at the hanging firecrackers, and at the same time raised his hands to cover his ears, and shouted loudly: "Brother, brother, our father is going to set off the firecrackers, come in quickly!"

"Hey!" Su Chunfeng replied with a smile, turned around and walked into the house.

Chen Xiulan was standing at the door of the Westinghouse kitchen with a smile, holding the dumpling strainer in her hand - after the hanging whip was set off, it was time to fill the dumplings and eat them.

Su Cheng held a cigarette in his hand and lit the firecrackers, then strode to the door and turned his head to look back.

The rapid sound of firecrackers exploded in the small courtyard, and under the reflection of lights and firelight, the smoke filled with the pungent smell of gunpowder filled the air—thousands of ringing firecrackers!In the countryside these days, there are not many households in the village who are willing to set off [-] firecrackers at the fifth watch of the new year.

The family of four listened and watched the firecrackers go off, all showing happy smiles.

Chen Xiulan turned around and went back to the kitchen to fill up the dumplings.

Su Cheng and his two sons each took a few two-gun cannons and chose their respective positions in the yard.Su Cheng lit the cigarette, while Su Chunfeng and his younger brother Su Chunyu each pulled out a burning firewood stick from the campfire.

Boom!

Pole!

The sound of firecrackers was deafening.

Su Chunfeng smelled the smell of gunpowder amidst the sound of firecrackers, intoxicated, happy, and nostalgic, a few crystal tears flowed from the corners of his eyes at some point.

"Brother, why are you crying?"

"No." Su Chunfeng said with a smile, "I was choked by the smell of gunpowder just now..."

"Oh……"

At this time, the sound of firecrackers and firecrackers in the village became dense, one after another deafeningly exploded the dark night, and countless stars blinked and looked curiously at the human world on the vast land.

……

In winter, the days are short and the nights are long.

And the time when the villagers wake up and wander around the village to pay New Year's greetings is the darkest time of night.Fortunately, because of the Chinese New Year, the street lamps in the village will be turned on for a few days at night.But under the dim street lights, the streets and alleys of the village are full of people coming and going, all of them are New Year's greetings.

Su Chunfeng is naturally not vulgar.After wandering around the village with the people of his family, after the New Year greetings, he went one by one to the homes of his playmates who grew up together, to give New Year greetings to the elders in their families.

After turning around in this circle, the sky became brighter.

As soon as he got home, his father Su Chengcheng asked, "Have you finished the transfer?"

"Well, it's over." Su Chunfeng nodded.

"Follow me to Liu Jinming's house, and kowtow to his mother to pay New Year's greetings..." Su Cheng sighed lightly, and said, "Although the old lady had a bad heart in the past, she has no major conflicts with our family, and Liu Jinming and I have a reasonable relationship. Now that the old lady has been paralyzed in bed for so long, and we are neighbors, it is unreasonable not to pay a New Year's greeting."

Su Chunfeng replied without hesitation: "OK."

The so-called man has gold under his knees, and everyone in the world knows this truth.But the people in Jinzhou County know better, and they often joked: "During the first few days of the first lunar month, a man's knee was really not worth much money, but only a few favors." But then again , Sometimes, human feelings are really not what money can measure.

Su Cheng led his two sons, and the father and son entered Liu Jinming's house together.

Liu Jinming happened to be smoking in the yard. When he saw Su Cheng leading the two children in, he quickly showed a polite smile and said, "Chengzi is here."

"Hey, kowtow to my aunt to pay New Year's greetings, once a year..." Su Cheng said politely.

"It's in the back room, let's go." Liu Jinming warmly extended his hand to invite.

Su Chunfeng followed behind his father, and he still felt that Liu Jinming was a different person now, which was unbelievable—every time the old lady was paralyzed, Liu Jinming would be the first to greet Su Chunfeng whenever they met on the street.But when he was saying polite words just now, he looked at Su Chunfeng with an abnormal look like he was afraid.

Mrs. Liu lives in the west room of the main house.

Under the dim light, the house has not yet been renovated, with exposed red bricks and gray cracks, but some old newspapers are pasted on the wall beside the bed.

Mrs. Liu, who was paralyzed on the bed, was half lying and half sitting on the head of the bed, with a thick quilt behind her, trying to cheer up and guard her head at five o'clock on the new year. For her now, guarding her head is also an extremely difficult task. Task.

At this moment, the old lady looked depressed and looked sleepy.

"Mother, Cheng Zi brought the two children to kowtow to you." Liu Jinming lifted the cotton curtain and said, but didn't enter the room - he is a junior, so of course he can't be next to him when he kneels down.

Su Cheng and the two children walked in.

"Who?" The old lady opened her eyes drowsily, and when she saw Su Cheng and his son, especially Su Chunfeng who was standing behind Su Cheng's right, her sleepy old eyes suddenly widened.

"Old aunt, happy new year, I kowtow to you..." Su Cheng took the lead and knelt down.

Su Chunfeng and Su Chunyu also knelt on the ground following behind.

"Don't, don't!" The old lady yelled inexplicably in horror, her head and body trembling slightly—it seemed that she wanted to get out of bed and reach out to stop her, but at this moment her limbs were paralyzed and unable to move.

While speaking, Su Cheng and the two children stood up.

The so-called kowtow to pay New Year's greetings is mostly just a formality, just kneel down and get up.It's totally different from what the older generation said. If you want to kowtow to pay New Year's greetings back then, you really have to kneel down and then kowtow.With the development of society, some traditional customs, whether good or bad, seem to be constantly decreasing, and slowly disappear into the long river of history like little water flowers.

Now, kneeling is already kneeling, and it can be regarded as a respectful New Year's greeting.

Who would have thought that there would be so much resistance from the old lady?

For a moment, Su Cheng and the two children were a little embarrassed, and their expressions showed unconcealable anger—neighbors and neighbors looked up and looked down, how could there be such a disgusting person?

Seeing this, Liu Jinming hurried into the room, and scolded: "Mother, what nonsense are you talking about? Chengzi brought two children to kowtow to you for the new year, why are you getting older and more ignorant?" No wonder Liu Jinming dared to reprimand his mother, as the saying goes There is no filial son in front of Daojiu's hospital bed, this old lady is paralyzed due to her own sins, and all her family members are also suffering and suffering, spending all the savings of the brothers, and someone has to stay in front of the sick bed every day to take care of her.Liu Jinming, who is already irascible, doesn't have any sense of being afraid of his old lady at this time?

Old Mrs. Liu grinned fearfully and said, "That's not what I mean, it's because I can't stand Xiaofeng. That child will kneel down, yes, it will kill him."

Liu Jinming was taken aback for a moment before he realized why his mother was so panic-stricken.

After Su Cheng heard this, the unhappiness in his heart disappeared.He understood that the old lady had always been superstitious. At first Xiaofeng persuaded her to remove the earthen pot on the roof, but she refused to do so. Then she fell ill and was paralyzed in bed for no reason or coincidence.With her current attitude, she must be overly superstitious, afraid that this child Su Chunfeng will descend from a star... In short, it is that old superstitious thinking, that's why she said that if she couldn't stand Xiaofeng, kneeling down would kill her .

Su Chunfeng frowned, and cursed inwardly, "Gong Hu, you old bastard!"

He judged that being able to frighten the old lady of the Liu family into such a state was obviously not something as simple as superstition.

Instead, Gong Hu most likely told the old lady deterrent words that were closer to spells, and might even tell the old lady directly: "You can't afford to provoke that family!" The old lady who was originally superstitious The cause and effect of this sudden illness and being paralyzed in bed is very strange. Thinking about it a little bit, Su Chunfeng's warning and reminding her that night at a young age is more like threatening her. This kind of witchcraft might backfire ah……

The old lady was frightened by Gong Hu. If she wasn't afraid, she would be really old.

The truth, of course, is closer to Su Chunfeng's conjecture - although Gong Hu did not explicitly mention the mysterious and unknown "name" of warlock that day, he did talk about a lot of mysterious and mysterious things in a serious manner.He originally worked in the magic stick business in Xishan County, and he was a serious sorcerer, so it was definitely a piece of cake to fool ordinary and superstitious people like the old lady of the Liu family.

In this way, let alone the old lady, even Liu Jinming and his wife, who were already suspicious, were trembling with fright.

Because Gong Hu later said: "The person who cast the spell behind his back obviously showed mercy. Otherwise, old lady, you are not only paralyzed in bed now, but you are not the only one who suffers backlash."

So fucking scary!

Liu Jinming couldn't say these words out of face.

So he could only explain embarrassingly: "Chengzi, I'm sorry for you and the two children. The old lady often gets confused when she is sick. Don't be like her."

"Hey, it's all right..." Su Cheng smiled and shook his head without hesitation, then led the two children out.