Old things in the south

Chapter 5 Hui'an Pavilion (4)
I remember what Xiuzhen said most, or what she said about giving birth to Xiao Guizi.One day, I sneaked here early to find Xiuzhen, and she saw that I hadn’t even braided my hair, so she took out the hair comb box, took out a horn comb, bone needles, and a big red string, and spread my hair out. Comb slowly.She was sitting on a chair, and I was sitting on a small bench, sandwiched between her legs, my arms were just on her legs, and my hands were touching her knees, two bones They were all turned into sharp stones, and she was extremely thin.With my back behind her, she asked me:
"Yingzi, what month were you born?"

"Me? The grass grows and the green leaves come out. My mother said, I was born in that lukewarm spring. What about Xiaoguizi?" Xiuzhen always linked my affairs with Xiaoguizi's, so I also I immediately thought of Xiao Guizi.

"Little Osmanthus," Xiuzhen said, "the grass is turning yellow and the green leaves are about to fall off. She was born in the lukewarm autumn. At that time, the sweet-scented osmanthus was fragrant. Have you heard it? Just like I gave you This sweet-scented osmanthus oil is so fragrant." She said, shaking her palm in front of my nose.

"Xiao-gui-zi." I sniffed, smelling the smell of oil, and couldn't help saying it word by word, as if I understood the meaning.

Xiuzhen happily said:

"By the way, Xiao Guizi, that's how she got her name."

"Why didn't I see the sweet-scented osmanthus tree? Which tree here is sweet-scented osmanthus?" I asked.

"It's not born in this house!" Xiuzhen was already braiding my hair, it was so tight that it hurt to pull my hair, I said:

"Why do you use so much strength?"

"I wish I had had so much strength back then. I gave birth to Xiao Guizi, and I was so weak that I fell into a drowsy sleep. When I woke up, Xiao Guizi was no longer by my side. I heard her crying when I was sleeping. How did I wake up?" I asked, where is the child? What my mother wanted to say, my aunt took it, she glanced at my mother, and said to me kindly: Your body is weak, the child is crying, when you I was noisy, so I hugged me to my room. I said, oh. I fell asleep again." Xiuzhen stopped talking here, and my braids were tied up, and she went on to say:
"It's as if I heard my mother say to my aunt: Don't let her know. It's really confusing, what the hell is going on? How did I get here and can't take it? Did they give the baby to-? Or throw it away ——? Absolutely not! Absolutely not!”

I had already stood up and looked at Xiuzhen, who was frowning and thinking blankly.She often stopped talking suddenly, and then said in a low voice, "It's really confusing, what's the matter?"When she was putting away the hair box, I saw that the watch I gave Xiao Guizi was in the box. She picked up the watch, put it in her palm, and said:

"Xiao Guizi's father also had a big pocket watch, but he pawned it off after he died. He just returned home after pawning that watch. Don't mention the poverty! I didn't tell him that I had it, anyway, he went to check it out." He will come back in January. He told my mother, don’t worry, he sold the sweet potato field at the bottom of the mountain when he returned home, and then he came to Beijing to marry me. It’s not easy to go all the way. No, let him think about it too! You don’t know how deep his affection is! I didn’t tell my mother that I had it, so I couldn’t say it out loud. Anyway, it’s his, and it won’t be too late to talk about it after I get married...”

"What's there?" I don't understand.

"I have Xiaoguizi!"

"Didn't you just say that there are no more?" I didn't understand.

"Yes, no more, no more, no more, Xiaoyingzi, why are you bothering me? Listen to me and count for you." She put away the watch I gave Xiaoguizi, and then counted it to me with her fingers listen:

"He left in spring. The day he left, the weather was so good. He carried the suitcase and didn't dare to look at me. Some of his classmates and classmates escorted him to the door, so he didn't So tell me something else. When I packed his suitcases for him the night before, we both said the same thing. He said that the life in Hui’an is very hard, and everyone who can manage has gone overseas to make a living. I can’t grow anything, but I grow a lot of sweet potatoes. Their family eats sweet potatoes all year round, sweet potato rice, sweet potato porridge, dried sweet potatoes, sweet potato fries, and sweet potato chips, which can make people outside cry. So, he I was reluctant to let me, a person from the north, suffer that hardship. I said no, my mother gave birth to my only daughter and went to eat sweet potatoes with you, how could she be willing! He said, you are a dutiful daughter, and I am also a dutiful son. My mother detained me and forbade me to come to Beijing again? I said, then I will chase you.

"Send him to the door, watch him get into the rickshaw, look up at the sky, a piece of white cloud, like a boat, slowly moving towards the horizon, I seem to be on a boat, my heart is floating, just like the owner is gone childlike.

"I sent him out and came back to the house, feeling sick and dizzy. I regretted not telling him about it. I wanted to chase him out, but it was too late.

"Day after day, he never came back. I have a big belly, and I can't hide it from my mother. She was so anxious to question me that I couldn't tell, but I didn't care about being shy, so I told My mother. I said, he will come back one day. If he doesn’t come back, I’ll go! My mother gagged my mouth and said: Girl, don’t say that, it’s shameful! If he doesn’t Come back, we can't shout out. Just like that, I was sent back to Haidian.

"It was not easy for Xiao Guizi to be born. I had no strength at all. I smelled the fragrance of the sweet-scented osmanthus tree outside the window. I thought to myself, the girl who gave birth will be called Xiao Guizi. The grandmother who delivered the baby My mother-in-law told me to bite my braids, use force, force, and finally hit the ground, croak, croak, how loud the cry is!"

When Xiuzhen said this, she took a big breath, her face turned blue, she couldn't continue the story, so she just said casually, she said:
"Xiaoyingzi, don't you love your third aunt?"

"Who is Third Aunt?"

"Me! You call Sikang the third uncle, and I'm your third aunt. You can't settle this. Call me."

"Yeah—" I laughed, a little embarrassed, but still called her: "Third Aunt, Xiuzhen."

"If you see Xiaoguizi, bring her back."

"How do I know what Xiaoguizi is like?"

"Her," Xiuzhen closed her eyes and thought, "I saw a little pink meat dumpling when I was born, and when I fell asleep, I heard my mother tell my grandma, look! What a crime, there is a green mark in the middle of the back of the neck, it should not come, but it must come, so that Lord Yan poked it into the world with his finger! Xiaoyingzi, there is a green mark in the middle of the back of the neck, that is Our little Guizi, do you remember?"

"Remember." I replied confusedly.

So, she asked me now if I remember what I said, is this the thing?I replied to her, "Remember, isn't it about Xiao Guizi's green diary?"

Xiuzhen nodded.

Xiuzhen packed up the silkworm boxes on the table and said to me again:
"Let's paint our nails while he's sleeping." She pulled me into the yard.There are several potted flowers under the wall, Xiuzhen pointed to me, "This is mint leaves, this is nail grass." She picked a few red flowers from nail grass and put them in a small porcelain dish, and we went to the room. Sit down on the doorstep.She was gently pounding the safflower with a piece of rock sugar.I ask her:

"Is this something to eat? Add rock sugar?"

Xiuzhen laughed heartily and said:

"Silly girl, you just know how to eat it. This is alum, where did you get the rock sugar! Just watch."

She smashed the red flowers and asked me to reach out, and took a clip from my head, picked up the rotten thing, piled it on my nails, and told me not to touch it with open hands after they were piled up. , she said when they dried, my fingernails turned red, like hers, and she held out her hand to show me.

I opened my hand for a while, already impatient, and I said:

"I'm going home."

"You must break it when you go home, don't go, listen to me tell you a story." She said.

"I want to hear the story of my third uncle."

"Be quiet." She waved her hand to me and said softly, "Let me see if he wakes up first, and if he wants to drink water." She went in, came out again, and sat down with her hands resting on the With his chin resting on his lap, he suddenly stared at the locust tree in a daze.

"Say it! You." I said.

She was startled, "Huh?" She didn't seem to hear my question, but then she burst into tears, "What's more, there's no one left, no one left! The old one! The young one!"

I didn't say a word, and she cried for a while, sobbing, and then she took a big breath, looked at me and smiled, that tear pit!I felt like I had seen Xiuzhen with this face somewhere.

Xiuzhen wiped away the tears with her fingers, and took my hand and put it on hers, so that I could relax and not feel tired when I opened my hand with painted nails.She turned sideways again and looked at the gate across the courtyard, as if she was looking at someone.She said to herself:

"It was at this time that he came. He brought a roll of bedding and a suitcase and moved into this hut. He was wearing a gray coat with a pen pinned to the lapel. I was in the middle of cleaning the room! Dad led him Come in, and say to him, "The houses in the main courtyard of the guild hall are full, and the second master of the Chen family asked you to free up these two small rooms." He said, "Okay, okay, this is very good." Father gave He unpacked the luggage and spread out the thin and old quilt. I thought to myself, how can he survive the cold weather in Beijing? Xiaoyingzi, how many students who live in the clubhouse are rich? Rich I lived in an apartment. My father often said, back then, when the second master of the Chen family came to Beijing to take the exam, he brought a small reminder to serve his pen and ink! The second master won the exam and became an official in Beijing, so he took this apartment The guild hall has undergone a major renovation, and now, when poor students come to Beijing to study, they always talk to the second master. The second master said that Sikang is a hard-working student in their village, and he can read books. Two huts were packed up for him to live in.

"I was still cleaning the glass, so I didn't look at him directly. My father said to him, this quilt! It won't survive the winter. My father really likes to take care of other people's affairs. He must be embarrassed, so he messed up. He didn't say anything. Dad asked him which school he was in, and he said it was in Peking University, drink! My father said again, this road is not close, and I went to the beach! But it is a good school!

"Dad helped him pack those pieces of broken luggage and went out. Before leaving, he saw me cleaning the glass. He said, okay, girl. I followed and looked back at him. Who knew he would He was looking up at me! My heart jumped, and Maimen Kaner almost fell out! Look at his appearance, how deep his eyes are! Before you can see him clearly, he sees through you. Go back to the house Come here, I eat and sleep, and I always have his two eyes that look at people like that. This is fate. There are many college students coming and going in the guild hall throughout the year, why I-I just...cough!"

Xiuzhen's face was slightly flushed, and she raised my hand to see if my dyed nails were dry. She gently blew on my nails, her eyelids drooped, and her eyelashes were like a row of small curtains. She asked me:

"Xiaoyingzi, do you understand? Fate?" She didn't necessarily want me to answer her, and I didn't intend to answer her, but I just thought in my heart that there is someone with such long eyelashes. I thought of my lady in the west wing. Crybaby friend.Xiuzhen went on to chatter:

"I bring him boiling water every day. My father should have done this. We boiled a big pot of boiling water twice in the morning and evening, and sent them to each room to wash the gentlemen's face and make tea. My father is used to walking around the main courtyard. , I just forgot about crossing the hospital. Sometimes Si Kang would come down to our window to ask for it. "Long class." He just called out softly, "Is there any boiling water?" Send it back. Sometimes my father would remember it before he called me, but he was too lazy to leave, so he sent me to go. I came and went, this errand—delivering boiled water in the courtyard seemed to be my job.

"I delivered the water, and didn't say a word to him. I entered the room, and he was sitting at the desk, reading and writing with the lamp on. With a sullen face, I opened the lid of the teapot and brushed—— Yes, I heard the sound of boiling water being poured into the pot. He was so timid that he didn’t even dare to tilt his eyes, so he just sat with his eyelids closed. I leaned over to see what he was writing, but he also turned his head and said, "Can you read?" I shook my head. From here on, the two of us started talking."

"Where was Xiao Guizi at that time?" I suddenly thought of this person who had something to do with Xiuzhen.

"Her!" Xiuzhen laughed, "There's no sign yet! By the way, where did Xiao Guizi go? Did you find it? Is that the lifeblood of both of us? I haven't finished telling you yet, He took my hand one day, just like I took yours, and said: 'Follow me!' He drank some wine, and I was confused, he drank to keep warm, two rooms, Start a small fire, and it happens from time to time. The wind was so strong that day that the door frame slammed. My father and mother went back to Haidian to rent the land, and asked my aunt to accompany me. She fell asleep, so I slipped here. Came across the courtyard. His face was hot and pressed against mine. He talked a lot, and the smell of alcohol suffocated me, and I got drunk after smelling it.

"He often likes to drink some wine to drive away the cold, so I secretly bought half-empty peanuts and brought them to his house to drink for him. The north wind beat the window paper, making it sound like a flute Yes. I held his hand, and the two of them were warm, and they were no longer cold.

"He was sick, and I ran back and forth, but I couldn't hide it from my mother. That day I was carrying porridge and wanted to give it to him. My mother said: 'Avoid suspicion, girl, do you understand?' I said No words."

From Xiuzhen's eyes, I seemed to see Uncle Sikang lying on the bed in the back room; his hair was disheveled, and he had no energy to drink or eat, so he hummed.

"What happened later? Are you ready?" I couldn't help asking.

"How can I go? I'm going to collapse! So it's Xiao Guizi who came!"

(End of this chapter)