Back to 1984: Hunting in the Mountains

It wasn't until the next day that the police came and left.

Wang Xiaoqin still didn't come.

But Yu Qiushan came back and said that he had sent a telegram to his second uncle and that his second uncle would come back soon.

Yu Qiushan was more rational and was busy negotiating with the hospital inside and out.

A completely different personality from Yu Qiutang.

Yu Qiutang had no mood to do these chores. He had just been on guard all night and was exhausted. He was ready to go back and wash himself to wake up a little.

On the way back, I met Qiu Yuan.

When brothers meet, they naturally don't know what to say. Instead, they just exchange a few simple words and then part ways.

When Yu Detu died, these children were still young and no one had any feelings about it.

Now that they are grown up and sensible, they know what the death of a close uncle means. For a while, the atmosphere in the entire Yu family was shrouded in sadness. No matter what their personality was, they became much quieter at this time.

Yu Qiu used to be a person who liked to laugh, with clear eyes, and was a very gentle boy. But now his eyes seemed to be covered with a veil, losing their former brilliance.

When Yu Qiutang left, Qiang pulled himself together and patted his cousin on the shoulder: "Yuanzi, cheer up. The adults are even sadder than us. You must learn to suppress your sadness in your heart."

Yu Qiuyuan nodded.

When Yu Qiutang returned home, he happened to see his father carrying a roll of rope on his shoulder and carrying a saw and an axe and was about to go out, so he asked him where he was going.

"Go find some wood for your fourth uncle to make a coffin."

"My family is not..."

"I want to make a cypress coffin for my brother."

Yu Dejin seemed to be speaking to Yu Qiutang, but it also seemed as if he was speaking to himself. After he finished speaking, he did not stay for long and continued walking towards the alley.

Yu Qiutang looked at his room, gritted his teeth, and turned around to follow his father: "I'll go with you."

"it is good."

Yu Dejin didn't look back, nor did he refuse.

The two of them walked towards the mountains facing the rising sun.

They met a few neighbors on the way. Some of them immediately avoided them when they saw them, while others who were on good terms with them stopped Yu Dejin and asked him if it was true that Fourth Uncle had been in trouble.

If the news that someone took medicine spreads very quickly.

These people may have some sympathy in their hearts, but in fact they are more well-intentioned and make worthless comments.

It's nothing more than some words like "it's a pity that you're so young and can't think straight".

There were also people who comforted Yu Dejin and told him not to feel too sad.

Yu Dejin usually likes to leave a good impression on everyone, but now he doesn't want to say much, so he just passes by in silence. Instead, Yu Qiutang has no choice but to give him a bitter smile.

If the relationship is average, you can ignore it.

Some relationships are great.

We can't just ignore the past. The dead are dead, and the living have to continue living.

The two walked in silence.

Yu Dejin didn't say anything, and Yu Qiutang didn't say anything either. He walked behind, looking at his father's back, and suddenly felt that his father was so old.

The sadness overwhelmed his body and spread out, as if the entire mountain could not be stretched out, shrouding the forest in his sorrow.

He really wanted to say something to comfort his father, but he didn't know where to start.

The two people's destination was very clear, which was to find a place with pine and cypress trees, and just find a sturdy tree.

As they were walking, Yu Dejin suddenly asked Yu Qiutang, "Second brother, have you ever thought about the eldest brother?"

Yu Qiutang was stunned.

Why are you suddenly asking this?

He quickly recalled and found that there was no signal stored in his mind that his father was directly concerned about his eldest brother.

Ever since his eldest brother left in a fit of anger, he has not contacted his family.

Considering that no one cared about the children, the family believed that the eldest brother must have died.

Later, I heard from a man from the neighboring village who worked in a coal mine that he seemed to have seen the eldest brother in that coal mine.

My father went to look for it with my uncle at that time, but when they got there, an accident had just happened in the coal mine. It was said that many people had died and were buried underground, and many people had not been dug out.

Many of the people who went out to mine coal at that time were illegal residents and did not have an ID card. They used certificates from the village committee, which were even fake.

So it is understandable that no traces were left.

Not being able to find his whereabouts, the father's resentment towards the eldest brother deepened. He had originally been very loving to the eldest brother's two children, but since he came back, he became very strict, obviously like a different person.

"Was I too harsh on your brother?"

Seeing that Yu Qiutang did not answer, Yu Dejin asked again.

Yu Qiutang was helpless.

How do I say this?

He had almost forgotten this old event and tried to think about it in a calm manner, but his father put it in front of him at this time, forcing him to face the problem head-on.

The disagreement between my father and my eldest brother actually originated from a misunderstanding.

After my mother passed away, my father was very irritable for a while. Of course, he was always irritable, but his daily irritability did not mean he was completely unreasonable, and he could control himself.

If the father is described as a lion, then the mother is the father's cage.

With his mother around, his father's temper would be locked in a cage. Although he would sometimes get angry and lose his temper with his mother, his mother would always gently resolve the situation.

It made him lose his temper.

So even though my father may seem very chauvinistic in front of outsiders, he is very tolerant towards my mother.

If a person is born with a good temper, it is not called tolerance, because he is like that to everyone.

And if a person has a violent nature, but is willing to suppress his lion's temper and be as submissive as a sheep, then that is true emotion.

At that time, the atmosphere at home was relatively good.

But after my mother died, my father suddenly felt unrestrained and seemed very uncomfortable. For a long time, he was in a semi-collapsed state, which was even more serious than his current situation.

After being suppressed for a long time, he finally exploded.

The reason was very simple. One of my eldest brother's classmates went to the army. After he was finally discharged, he and his buddies got together and drank some wine. He forgot about his father's instructions to collect the sheep.

It happened to rain that day, and the sheep ate grass that was soaked in rain water, became bloated, and died.

When my father came back and saw the dead sheep, he was already furious. Then when he saw my brother very drunk, the resentment that had been accumulating for many days suddenly erupted.

Not only did they humiliate him in person, they even mentioned that he was a child brought up by his mother, that he ate his own food, wore his own clothes, and that he was raised with great difficulty, and that he was even married off and had children.

He can't even do a simple task when told to do so. What's the use of having a son like this who eats for free at home? Let his brother get out of the house.

My brother really went out in the heavy rain, leaving his wife and children behind, and never came back.

After the father calmed down, he thought that his brother must be temporarily angry and was hiding somewhere. He would be back soon, after all, he had a wife and children at home.

But who could have thought that after my brother left, there would be no news from him again.

After my brother left, my sister-in-law naturally hated my father very much. In addition, she was exhausted from raising the children alone, and her health deteriorated at a young age.

When my sister-in-law's parents learned the news, they took her back, hoping that she could be nursed back to health, but she still died in her parents' home.

The woman's family was even more resentful and did not send the body back but buried it there.

As a result, Xiaowei and Xiaoyun not only lost their parents, but they couldn’t even see their parents’ graves.

Over the years, my father has always been reluctant to mention this matter.

It was almost his Achilles' heel, a piece of brick pressing on his heart.

Among the family members, only Yu Qiutang and his two children always remember his eldest brother and sister-in-law. The others are not related to him and don't care much about him.

Even Yu Chunmei actually had no idea about this half-brother. She just felt sorry for the two children.

Yu Qiutang didn't expect that his father's mind was beating so fast that he actually asked this directly, catching him off guard.

After thinking for a moment, he decided to tell the truth.

"You probably asked too much of him. After my mother passed away, you felt bad. We were the children's chorus, right? My brother was young at the time, and it wasn't easy to raise two children..."

Yu Qiutang paused, and then said: "After all, they are not biological father and son. You used to think of him as your biological son, but there is a blood relationship between biological father and son that cannot be cut off. Just like no matter how you treat me, I will not really do anything to you, just because you are my father and I am thinking about your good.

But my brother is not.

Even if he understands your goodness, this feeling will turn into hatred at the critical moment, especially my brother always thinks that my mother's death was tiring. Why was it tiring? It's because you, as a husband, are pretentious and busy all day long, but don't bring back much money.

At that time, the production team settled money and distributed food according to centimeters. Why did our family always have so little? It was because of you. There was no other way. My mother could only help cut vegetables for the production team’s canteen after work. Everything happened very late.

She was reluctant to eat every day and gave all the nutritious food to us. Naturally, her body couldn't take it. You just thought that you were being good to her, and the villagers also thought you were a good man.

But it's not.

You are just living in the good image you created for yourself, seeking false reputation, but in reality, you have done far less than you think. "

Yu Qiutang's tone was very calm.

He wanted to say these words to his father in his previous life, but he never found an excuse or the right time.

My father never uttered these words until he died.

In fact, he had also fantasized that when he said this, he must have been very angry and arrogant to his father, making his father ashamed to face him.

I was speechless in the face of his righteous and stern criticism.

He was like a mother, avenging his brother and sister-in-law.

however……

Now that he actually said it out loud, he didn't feel very happy or comfortable at all.

He was just very calm.

It's as if he was saying something that couldn't be simpler.

After listening to me, my father was silent for a moment, and then he said lonely: "You have a point."

There was no excuse, nor was there any reason to shirk responsibility.

This state is like dead ashes.

The two men found a cypress tree that each person could hug and started sawing.

Yu Qiutang recalled the last time he and his father were sawing in the old birch forest. He felt a little warm at that time, but now it seemed a little complicated.

What I didn’t expect was that after just a while, my father started to pant, as if he had no strength left.

Yu Qiutang had no choice but to let him rest and pulled it up by himself.

Fortunately, we had a long saw and a medium saw, otherwise it would be difficult to pull it by one person. The wood of the cypress is very dense, so it takes a long time to pull it, but it has high strength. Two people pulling it means they are exerting force from two directions, so the strength of one person is more than doubled.

Often the saw would get stuck after just a few pulls and would have to be readjusted.

Yu Dejin sat against the tree, silently watching Yu Qiutang's actions. His eyes were dull and seemed very empty.

It was not until Yu Qiutang sawed the tree with a little bit still attached and pushed it down in the direction of Yu Dejin that the sound echoed throughout the forest, and Yu Dejin's eyes finally showed some light.

I really don't know what he was going to do with the tree when he came here alone.

Yu Dejin stood up and helped Yu Qiutang cut the tree, discarding the useless parts on both sides, leaving only the middle part without branches or scars, and a smooth part.

Yu Dejin took out a tape measure, measured the dimensions, marked the position with an ink pen, and cut off the excess again, leaving only the length of the coffin.

He picked up the rope again and began to tie it in silence.

Yu Qiutang watched him tie the rope to one end of the wood and couldn't help but suggest, "Dad, tie it in the middle and I'll carry it."

The wood weighs about 300 kilograms. Most people cannot carry it, but Yu Qiutang can.

But my father shook his head, tied the rope into a knot, wrapped it around his left and right arms a few times, and then exerted a little force and started to drag the wood.

Yu Qiutang was shocked.

What is this action? Is my father going to drag the wood back home like this?

This is too outrageous.

This place is seven or eight kilometers away from home. Even if we walk, it will take several hours. How long will it take to get there, dragging more than 300 kilograms of wood?

Besides, is there any need for this? I have already said I would memorize it.

"father?"

Yu Dejin, however, had already started dragging stubbornly.

Yu Qiutang had no choice but to follow behind with his tools.

Dragging such a piece of wood on the mountain road was extremely difficult. Yu Dejin was out of breath after dragging it for less than a hundred meters. But no matter what Yu Qiutang said, he gritted his teeth and persisted, moving forward without saying a word.

It was not until he had dragged for three or four hundred meters that he stopped and leaned against a tree to catch his breath.

"Dad, let me carry it. I can do it."

Yu Qiutang really couldn't bear it.

Yu Dejin's face turned red with tiredness, and it took him several minutes to calm down. Looking at his concerned son, his expression rarely relaxed.

"Our ancestors all said that this man committed suicide and will be punished by the King of Hell after his death. I am redeeming your fourth uncle. If the King of Hell sees my sincerity, he may be more lenient with your fourth uncle.

Otherwise, when he was alive, he lived a miserable life, and after his death he would be tortured again and again. How could I, as his brother, feel at ease? "

It turns out there is such a thing.

Yu Qiutang couldn't say it was superstition, so he could only comfort him softly, "Dad, it's no one's fault that Fourth Uncle got into trouble. Maybe this is his fate. No one can fight against their own destiny. Fourth Uncle can't do it, and maybe we can't do it either. Don't take it to heart."

Yu Dejin looked at his son after hearing this, "How old are you? You know what fate is. It's all fate. Then what is your fourth uncle doing in this world? Why does he have such a fate?" (End of this chapter)