let me look at you

Chapter 22 Wu Yu, Wu Yu!
A boy who was one year older than Ju Nian, a "little monk" who shaved his head and shaved his own way when he was a child, a son of a murderer, a baby who was briefly adopted and then abandoned by his aunt and uncle, a... the most precious in memory scars.

My aunt and uncle live in the outskirts of the city. They are engaged in a small fruit selling business. Life is not difficult, but they have to get up early and work late every day.

Ju Nian had a cousin who was four years older than her.But when my cousin was three years old, he was playing alone in the open space in front of his house. A farm vehicle passed by. My cousin was crushed under the wheels and turned into a bloody mess. There was no need for an ambulance to come.When the aunt and uncle rushed back and cried loudly, they could only face the cold body of their son.

For some unknown reason, after my cousin was away, my aunt and uncle never succeeded in trying to have a child. Maybe not all people are as lucky as Ju Nian’s parents. There is no birth of a newborn to dilute the unhappiness. The grief of the past, a couple who experienced the pain of bereavement was facing a collapse of their marriage, they cried, they regretted, and they resented each other.

The uncle scolded the aunt, if she hadn't been cooking in the back room that day and didn't pay attention to take care of her son, how could such a tragedy happen, she killed her son.

My aunt cried and said that if she wanted to blame her, she could only blame her uncle, who left all the family affairs to her alone and was busy outside all day, so he was the indirect murderer.

At that time, Ju Nian's grandfather was still alive, and he didn't want his daughter and son-in-law to lose out in grief. So, the year after his cousin passed away, he decided to adopt a newborn boy for them.The boy's home is actually near his aunt's house. His father was shot because he killed someone drunk, and his mother left, leaving a grandma who couldn't take care of him.

The aunt and uncle adopted the child, but life did not turn around as Grandpa Ju Nian expected.Because it is a big mistake to know the child's family. No matter how innocent the child is, they think every day that the child's father is a murderer. It's the little murderer.This idea made the poor child extremely hideous, and it became a problem for the couple.In addition, Ju Nian's uncle missed his son too much, and felt that no one's child could replace his son who died young, and he became more and more disgusted with the boy he carried, so that when the child cried, he uttered bad words, Even hit hard.

Really because of this, life with children is not as peaceful as two people crying back to back.Before the child had been in this house for three months, the aunt sent the little boy back to his grandmother.When others found out about this, it became more and more difficult for them to adopt a new child, and it was like this day after day, until Ju Nian was sent to them.

After so many years, my uncle is no longer interested in raising another child.My aunt used to like Ju Nian quite a lot. She said that the child was obedient, quiet, and had a companion by his side who could help with some work. Besides, it was also a favor for my younger brother, who should have a boy.Their old Xie's family came down from Grandpa Ju Nian, and they couldn't stop the incense.

In this way, Ju Nian transferred from Cuihu Primary School near the Procuratorate to Taiyuan Primary School in the suburbs of the city.At that time, there were farmlands on the outskirts of the city, and the roads were not as easy to identify as in the urban area. On the first day of school, my aunt took her for a walk, so she had the right to recognize the road.

"Do you remember the way?" asked the aunt.

Ju Nian nodded.

She remembered then, but coming home from school, when she was walking alone on the winding path for the first time, it was easy to get lost.Walking and walking, I don't know which side my aunt's house should be on.

The primary school students swarming out from the school at the same time gradually disappeared from Ju Nian's side. The children who were walking in the same direction together disappeared after several intersections.The sun was setting little by little in front of her left, Ju Nian finally stopped and turned around in a daze.The sunset in the suburbs is strange, the undulating waves of the wind blowing through the rice fields in the distance are strange, the inconspicuous little white flowers at the feet are strange, the smell of soil in the air is strange, and every direction in the southeast, north and west is strange ... everything that can be perceived with the eyes is strange.

She knew that she could no longer go forward blindly. According to the journey her aunt took when she accompanied her to school, she should have arrived home by now.Aunt and uncle may be waiting for her to eat. She has just moved into someone else's house, so she can't add so much worry and trouble to others from the beginning.

Ju Nian regretted it very much. When she felt confused at the beginning, there were several children from the same school in front of her and behind her. Although she didn't know each other, she could still ask. She shouldn't be so mean-spirited.Now it's all right, everyone has gone home, like a bird returning to its nest at dusk, only her is left.

I didn't know what to do, the wind blew the grass in front of me a little lower, revealing the back of a person, wearing white clothes, squatting, quietly, without making a sound or moving, I don't know what I was doing.

Ju Nian looked around, but there were no other figures. She didn't want to get lost until dark, so she took two steps forward boldly.

"You... hello."

The man did not move, lying in ambush in the grass, motionless.

The plot about the abandoned corpse on the roadside that I saw in the book suddenly took root in Ju Nian's mind. It really is not a good thing for children to read too many miscellaneous books.This person must have been squatting there for more than a short while, he shouldn't be dead, right?Ju Nian thought secretly.

To this day, I still don't know why the ten-year-old self didn't choose to run wildly when faced with the back of a suspected "dead body", but walked behind the person in panic, and stretched out a stick timidly and tremblingly. Finger, poked on the man's back.

When the fingers touched the man's back for the first time, the man moved his shoulders, but when Ju Nian stepped in for the second time, the man jumped out of the grass like a monkey whose butt was burned And rise.

This action was so sudden that Ju Nian was so startled that he was dumbfounded in his throat.The man seemed no less shocked than she was. He took a step back and patted his chest in shock.

"Why do you come out in broad daylight to scare people?"

"I thought you were dead. Yes, I'm sorry." After the words were out of his mouth, Ju Nian realized that he had probably made a slip of the tongue. Why did others curse him to death when they were so good.

She waited for the man to reply to her, "You're just dead." Who knew that the man froze for a moment, lowered his hands clapping his chest, and just laughed like that.

Now Ju Nian can see clearly that this "dead man" who she mistakenly thought was in the grass is just a little furry kid about her age, and what is that white dress not the school uniform of Taiyuan Elementary School.The strange thing is that the boy is thin, but has a big bald head. The whole head is bald, and against the baggy school uniform, he looks like a little monk who ran out of a temple to beg for alms.

A "little monk" lurking in the grass.

For some reason, Ju Nian also thought it was a bit funny, so he foolishly laughed along with the boy.

"You still poke me when I'm dead?"

The boy was not much taller than Ju Nian, and the crazy-growing weeds covered the top of his head, and two long and narrow grass blades were still lying on his cheeks, the tails were emerald green, and the tips of the leaves were a little yellow.Probably the grass was scratching his face, he stretched out his hand and waved away those annoying leaves.He is a "little monk" as clean and bright as a green lamp in front of a Buddha.

"I wanted to ask you for directions, but I called you, but you didn't respond." Ju Nian stopped laughing and said with a little embarrassment.She is in the third grade. Children of this age already know that boys and girls are different, let alone a stranger.

"You talk like a mosquito humming. Who can hear you? You suddenly poked me and almost scared my soul out. Asking the way, where do you want to go? Look at your face, you don't live near here Bar."

Looking at his appearance, he looks like a local snake.

Ju Nian didn't say much, just asked: "Student, do you know where Xie Maojuan's house is going?"

"Xie Maojuan?" The boy repeated, as if digesting the name.

"Yes, she is my aunt, and my uncle's surname is Liu. Do you know where they live?" Ju Nian began to feel a little disappointed.She hasn't been to her aunt's house many times in these years, and she doesn't know how to describe the characteristics of that house.The area of ​​this area is not small, judging by the way he frowns, he may not know it.

"Oh, Fruit Liu, I know." The boy suddenly smiled brightly, and turned around to point her in the direction, "Here, you go in the direction of the sugarcane field and pass through it, it will be closer, and then You will see a very tall metasequoia tree, you know what a metasequoia is, turn to the left of the tree, go straight, and soon you will arrive at Guoguo Liu's house."

Ju Nian looked in the direction of his finger, and saw an endless sugarcane field.

"Why, you want to take the main road? You've gone astray now, and if you take the main road again, it will probably be dark when you get home. Don't you believe me?" The "little monk" tilted his head with a serious expression on his face.

"Huh? I believe it."

In order to prove her trust, Ju Nian really walked towards the sugarcane forest. After walking five steps, she hesitated five times, and finally decided to turn around and ask.

"What were you doing squatting just now?"

"There's an ant nest on the ground. Come on, or your aunt should be in a hurry. Remember, turn to the left of the tree and keep going, keep going..."

It took Ju Nian a long time to walk through the sugarcane field. The leaves of the sugarcane swept her skin red and itchy, and the back of her left hand was even cut by the sharp leaf edge.However, Ju Nian just thought in his heart, as soon as possible, he could go back to his aunt's house sooner.

The sugarcane field finally came to an end, there was a bamboo forest over there, and there was a small road right in front of the bamboo forest, but where was there any Metasequoia?Ju Nian looked back anxiously, only seeing the beige leaves of mature sugar cane, and it was impossible to confront the boy.

There is only one road ahead, and Ju Nian has no choice.She thought, maybe there used to be a metasequoia here, and the path was just to the left of the metasequoia. For some reason, the tree was cut down, and the roots were dug out, but the boy didn't know.

She just walked and walked along that path, and the sky turned gray, dark gray... The moon was peeking out from the other side.Isn't this way closer?Why does it seem to extend to infinity, the aunt's house does not appear, and no one else's house appears, surrounded by bamboo forests slope after slope, there are no human voices, only the chirping of insects.

When the surrounding area was finally enveloped in darkness, Ju Nian was willing to believe that the bald boy with a clean smile might have deceived her.Why would he tease a stranger?The answer is not important anymore.Ju Nian didn't even know how to stop, she just kept walking, kept walking, the earth is round, didn't Columbus prove this?

The visibility on the path was already very low, and all we could rely on was a little bit of moonlight in the sky.In the wilderness, the moon is dark and the wind is high, for a little girl alone, all kinds of horrible things may happen.Ju Nian was trembling. She was afraid that a female ghost in white clothes and red lips would suddenly float out of the bamboo forest, so she could only desperately get rid of these things from her mind. In the moonlight, besides ghosts, there were elves, lovely elves.

Ju Nian quickly got into her own small world, and the closed door blocked her from the horrors of the outside world, allowing her to stumble, but kept walking all the way.No matter how dark it is outside, the moonlight is clear and the flowers are fragrant in her small world.

She didn't know how long she walked, walking aimlessly.As I walked, for some reason, the end of the road seemed unimportant, whether my aunt's house was on the other side was unimportant, and why my parents didn't want her became unimportant.

What's so sad, going from mom and dad's house to aunt's is just going from one place to another.Her heart has always lived in her own world, all right.

Xie Ju Nian, who is in the third grade of elementary school, felt that he suddenly had an epiphany when he got lost.Could it be that the boy who looked like a little monk wrongly pointed out a road that gave her a Zen machine?Just like the Buddhist scriptures she heard when she grew up, when the World Honored One held up flowers and smiled at the Lingshan meeting, everyone was silent for a while, except Venerable Kasyapa who suddenly realized.Hehe, one mistake plus one mistake is right, just like a negative makes a positive.

I never expected that the lost child would have a smile on her face, and she walked to the end of the path unknowingly, where there are long and winding concrete stairs, and I don't know whether they extend to heaven or not. hell.

Ju Nian was tired, and in his memory, he hadn't walked such a long road alone, and his bangs were sticking wetly to his forehead.She sat on the first step and untied her schoolbag. Will someone come to her?If she starved to death quietly in this deserted place, would she look ugly?

She leaned on the schoolbag on her lap and dozed off. When she woke up, she heard calls from far and near in the night.

"Year of the Orange... Thank you for the Year of the Orange..."

Along with the shouts, there were many beams of flashlights.

Ju Nian's heart tightened, and he was dragged back to reality.She got into trouble and made the adults look around.

"I'm here, I'm here!"

Is her voice loud enough?Can those who seek hear?
"I knew you were here!"

The face of the "little monk" appeared behind a bright light, and Ju Nian covered his eyes, noticing him approaching, and leaned over to look at himself sitting on the steps.

"Are you stupid? I lied to you to play. I waited for you to turn back at the other end of the sugarcane field. When the sun went down, there was no one. Why don't you know how to turn back?" the "little monk" asked.

Ju Nian persuaded him with his own reasons: "The earth is round, why should I turn back?" The "little monk" opened his mouth halfway, and sat down next to Ju Nian.

"Stupid, stupid!"

Ju Nian is not stupid, she said: "You are stupid, since you lied to me, you came around to find me again. By the way, when was that Metasequoia tree cut down?"

"How do you know that a metasequoia tree was cut down there?"

"You said it!"

The "little monk" shone the flashlight on his face from bottom to top, smiling eeriely.

"You are so strange that you don't even ask me why I am playing tricks on you. Do you know where this is?"

Ju Nian shook her head blankly, she really didn't know.

"This is the martyr's cemetery. Go up the steps and you will find the martyr's tombstone. There are many dead people buried in it. Fortunately, you are not stupid enough to climb up at night."

"The ghosts of martyrs are good ghosts!" Ju Nian said with certainty.

"Wrong! Apart from the ghosts of the martyrs, there are many, many other ghosts. This place is remote, not when commemorating the martyrs, and few people will come." The "little monk" lowered his voice and made a scared expression, " I heard that many murders happened there. Do you know what kind of sound the unjustly killed ghosts make when they appear... It sounds like crying, laughing, and meowing like wild cats. These ghosts can also transform, from one to two ..."

"Hehe, hehe." Ju Nian laughed abruptly, startling the "little monk" who told scary ghost stories in turn.

"You, what are you laughing at?" He asked in horror.

Ju Nian sincerely praised: "You are so interesting."

While speaking, the adult's footsteps approached.

"Orange year, orange year, are you there?"

Ju Nian quickly suppressed his smile, grabbed his schoolbag and stood up, ready to fight.

Aunts, uncles, and one or two adults who didn't know came.

As soon as my aunt saw Ju Nian, she rushed forward, angry, anxious and relieved.

"Sin, you don't come home after school, what are you doing in this gloomy place? You're going to piss me off, be careful and I'll tell your parents." The aunt turned Ju Nian in a circle. , I was relieved to find that there was nothing more or less on her body.Uncle also had a straight face and said nothing.

"Quickly, what are you doing here?" Auntie asked Ju Nian, but she glanced at the "little monk".

Ju Nian couldn't help turning his head to look at the "little monk", who was playing with a flashlight with his head down.

"I got lost, wandered around, and came here. It was this classmate who found me."

"Lost? Why are you so stupid, kid?" Auntie took Ju Nian's hand angrily. With what face do you go to meet your parents?"

Ju Nian was surrounded by several adults and walked forward. As he walked, he couldn't help turning his head. The "little monk" still stood there, as if his flashlight was the most fun toy in the world.

"Aunt, he..." Ju Nian asked timidly.

My aunt walked so fast that Ju Nian had to trot to keep up.

"That's the murderer's son, he's not a good guy, stay away from him, you're not allowed to play with him!" Only when the boy was out of sight, the aunt lowered her voice to warn.

"Auntie, what's the name of the murderer's son?"

"Wu Yu."

Thinking about it now, Ju Nian actually knew the name Wu Yu for the first time from his aunt's disgusting mouth.

He is Wu Yu.A boy who was one year older than Ju Nian, a "little monk" who shaved his head and shaved his own way when he was a child, a son of a murderer, a baby who was briefly adopted and then abandoned by his aunt and uncle, a... the most precious in memory scars.

(End of this chapter)