Old things in the south

Chapter 6 Hui'an Pavilion (5)
"Where is it?" I turned my head to look at the Kuanyuan gate, but there was no one there.In my fantasy, there should be a girl standing by the gate of the courtyard, wearing a red flower shirt and trousers, a yellow braid like a dog's tail, big eyes, and a row of long eyelashes like a small curtain, twinkling. Yes, they are waving to me!I was a little dizzy, as if I was about to fall down. I closed my eyes, and then opened them again. There was indeed a shadow on the other side of the door. It was getting closer and closer. It turned out that it was Xiuzhen's mother. Waving to me, she said:
"Xiuzhen, why do you let Xiaoyingzi bask in the old man's bed?"

"There was no sun in this place just now." Xiuzhen said.

"Move away, isn't there shade here?" Xiuzhen's mother came over and pulled me up.

The phantom disappeared in my eyes, and I suddenly remembered the story that Xiuzhen had not finished telling.I said:
"Niu'er, no, where is Xiao Guizi? I just said that?"

Xiuzhen laughed and pointed at her stomach:

"Here it is, not yet born!"

Xiuzhen's mother came to hang clothes in this courtyard.A rope was run from a branch to the wall, and she was hanging pieces up to dry.

Xiuzhen looked at it and said:

"Mom, let's hang your trousers by the wall, it's not suitable for Sikang to go in and out."

Wang Ma scolded and said:

"Screw you!"

Xiuzhen was not angry when her mother scolded her, but said to me:
"My mother loves Sikang too. She told my father that we don't have a son, and you have never been educated. It would be a good thing to have someone who can read and write in our house. My father agreed. I Where was he talking just now! Oh, he is fine, am I not sick? He said he was the one who killed me, didn’t he say that he would marry me and teach me to study? At this moment, a telegram came from his home, His mother is sick, tell him to go back quickly..."

"Xiaoyingzi," Wang Ma suddenly stopped Xiuzhen and said to me, "Why do you love to listen to her nonsense so much? It's really strange. Children are afraid of her and avoid her, but you don't."

"Mom, don't disturb me, I haven't finished talking here yet! I still have something to ask Xiaoyingzi!"

Old Wang Ma ignored her and just said to me:

"Xiaoyingzi, it's time to go back. I heard Mama Song calling you in the alley just now. I dare not say you are here."

After finishing speaking, Old Wang Ma took the empty basin and left.Xiuzhen saw her mother walk out of the gate of the courtyard, and then said: "Si Kang, there are..." She counted with her fingers, "It's been more than a month, it's been more than six years, no, there's more than one more." I’ll be back in a month, no, I’ll give birth to Xiao Guizi in one month.”

Whether it is six years or more than a month, Xiuzhen is as unclear as I am.At this time, she picked up my hand to have a look, and picked off the dried rot on the nails, oh, my nails are all red!I was so happy that I laughed and played with my hands.

"Xiaoyingzi," she said again in a low voice, "I have something to ask you. When you see Xiaoguizi, call her and go find her father together. If we find her father, I will be cured."

"What disease?" I looked at Xiuzhen's face.

"Yingzi, people say that I'm crazy. Do you think I'm crazy? People are picking things up all over the floor and beating people. How can I be crazy? Do you think I'm crazy?"

"No," I shook my head, really, I just think Xiuzhen is so cute, so pitiful, she just wants to find her Sikang and Niuer—no, Xiaoguizi.

"Why can't they come back after leaving?" I asked again.

"Sikang must have been detained by his mother. As for Xiao Guizi, I also wondered what happened. She wasn't in Haidian or in my aunt's house. When I asked, my mother became anxious and said:' Throw it away! Why do you keep such a barbarian seed? He won’t come back anyway, cheating people!’ When I heard this, I passed out immediately. When I woke up, they said I was crazy. Xiaoyingzi, I trust you so much You, when you see Xiao Guizi, bring her here, I have everything ready. Go back."

I was stunned when I heard it, and there seemed to be a picture in my mind, which was gradually getting bigger and bigger, and my head felt a little uncomfortable. I agreed: "Okay, okay." I kicked small stones all the way, looked at the red nails on my hands, and returned home.

"Look at your tanned face! Come and eat." My mother didn't blame me too much when she saw me coming back sweating profusely.

But I just want to drink water, not to eat, so I pour a few cups of cold boiled water down, sit on the dining table, panting, pick up the chopsticks, but look at my own nails to play with.

"Who dyed you?" Mom asked.

"Little fairy, it's okay for children to dye their nails!" Dad said half angrily.

"Who dyed it for you?" Mom asked again.

"Hmm—" I thought for a moment, "Third Aunt Sikang." I dare not, and would not say, that Xiuzhen is crazy.

"Run outside to recognize uncles and aunts!" Mom brought me a plate of food, and said to me: "Your uncle said that there is still one month to go to the primary school entrance examination, how can you count?" ? Do the math, if you don't know how to count, you won't pass the exam."

"One, two, three,...eighteen, nineteen, twenty, 26,..." My mind is really confused, I just want to throw down the chopsticks and lie down on the bed for a while, but I refuse to do this because they will Said that I was sick and was not allowed to go out.

"Random numbers!" Mom glared at me, "Listen to me to count for you, two vulgar, two vulgar records one, two vulgar records two, two vulgar records three, two vulgar records plain, two vulgar records five,..."

Song Mama, who was serving the meal next to me, couldn't help laughing at first, followed by my dad and me laughing, I took advantage of this and threw down the chopsticks and said:
"Mom, listening to your Beijing dialect, I can't even eat. Twenty, not Ersulu; 21, not Ersuluyi; 22, not Ersuluer..."

Mom also laughed and said:

"Okay, okay, don't learn from me."

I didn't eat, and my parents didn't pay attention.I probably drank cold boiled water just now, and I feel better, and my head is no longer dizzy.My parents went to take a nap, and I went to the yard and sat on a small bench under the tree, watching the group of little chickens being released.The little oily chicken had grown very big, and was pecking rice all over the ground to eat, while the cicadas on the tree were chirping "I got it, I got it", and it was very quiet around.I picked up a twig to draw on the ground, and saw a chicken pecking insects to eat, and suddenly remembered the bottle of hanged ghosts I caught in the Hui'an Pavilion and forgot to bring back.

Although I was thinking this way, I was too lazy to stand up, as if I was going to be sleepy, I couldn't help closing my eyes, then bent down, put my head in my hands, and buried it deeply in my thighs.

In this sleepless dream, my eyes were confused; I was catching silkworms under the tree across the courtyard, the hanged ghost wriggled in the glass bottle, and after a while it turned into a silkworm on the table in Xiuzhen's room, looking up. My head was spinning silk, as if Xiuzhen had put silkworms on my arm and crawled. Once itching, I suddenly opened my eyes and looked up. It turned out that there were two flies flying around my arm.I flicked away the flies with a wave of my hand, and fell asleep again.This time, a basin of cold water poured down my back, it was chilly, I hugged my head tightly, no, another basin of cold water poured down my neck, it was cold and wet, I said it was cold!Someone beside me giggled, I struggled to stand up, woke up suddenly, opened my eyes, wondering what time it is?Because the sky seemed to be dark all of a sudden, I remember that when I sat here, there was sunlight!Standing in front of me was Niu'er, she was smiling, and I still felt that my back was wet and cold, so I touched it with the back of my hand, but it wasn't wet.But her body was still a little chilly, she couldn't help shivering, and then sneezed twice, Niu'er's smile faded, and she said:
"What's the matter with you? You're stupid, talking in your sleep."

I didn't seem to wake up yet, and if I couldn't stand up, I quickly sat down again.At this time, the thunder sounded, rumbling from a distance.The sky on the opposite side also turned black like ink was splashed, and the thick clouds followed the thunder, like a group of black evil spirits striding down from the sky.There was a slight wind, no wonder I felt cold.I couldn't help asking Niuer:

"Are you cold? Why am I so cold?"

Niuer shook her head, looked at me suspiciously, and asked:
"You look so special now, you seem to be frightened, or have you been beaten?"

"No, no." I said, "My father only hits my palms, and never hits you as hard as your father."

"Then what's wrong with you?" She pointed at my face again, "It's so ugly!"

"I must be hungry, I didn't eat at noon."

At this time, the thunder became louder, and heavy raindrops fell. Mama Song came to the yard to collect the clothes, and drove the chicken to the west wing.Niuer and I also followed in.Song Ma put the chick in the coop and ran out again, saying:

"It's going to rain heavily, and Niu'er can't go back."

After Mama Song went out, no, the rain immediately started to rain heavily.Niuer and I leaned against the door to watch the rain.The sound of the rain was so loud that it fell on the brick floor, and there was more and more rainwater on the ground. Although there was a hole in the corner of the yard, it couldn't squeeze so much rainwater.The water in the yard rose and overflowed the lower steps. The water splashed onto the door of the house and onto our trouser legs. Niuer and I were stunned by the ferocious rain, and our eyes were fixed on the ground. Neither speak.Suddenly my mother spoke to me from the window of the north room and raised her hand, but I couldn't hear her words. She raised her hand to tell us not to stand at the door and get wet by the rain.Niu'er and I entered the room according to mother's gestures, closed the door, and ran to the window to look out the glass.

"I don't know how long it will take?" Niu'er asked.

"You can't go back." After I finished speaking, I sneezed two more times.

I looked into the room, trying to find a place to lie down, preferably a bed for me to lie on.Although there were old beds in the house, boxes and flower pots were piled up on the beds, and they were full of dust.I couldn't bear it anymore, so I couldn't help but went to the bed and leaned on the box.Suddenly remembered the two pieces of clothes that Niuer kept in the empty box, opened it and took it out.

Niuer also came over, and she asked:
"What are you doing?"

"Put me on, I'm cold," I said.

Niuer smiled and said:
"You are so delicate! When it rains a little, you sneeze again, and you have to put on your clothes again."

She helped me put one on and I wrapped the other around my leg.We sat on a washboard, huddled in the corner, so I seemed to be more comfortable.But Niu'er felt sorry for the clothes wrapped around my legs, and said:
"I only have these two clothes, don't tear them apart!"

"Stingy ghost, your mother has made you a lot of clothes! You can't bear to lend me any of them!" Maybe my head was dizzy again. A bag of Xiaoguizi's clothes.

Niu'er widened her eyes, pointed to her own nose and said:
"My mother? Get me a lot of clothes? Are you awake?"

"No, no, I made a mistake." I raised my head, leaned against the wall, closed my eyes, thought for a while before saying:
"I mean Xiuzhen."

"Xiuzhen?"

"My third aunt."

"Your third aunt, that's about the same. She made a lot of clothes for you, so beautiful!"

"It's not for me, it's for Xiao Guizi." I turned my head and looked at Niu'er's face. I saw her face as two faces, and the two faces merged into one face.I can't tell if it's Niu'er or Xiao Guizi. What I think in my heart sometimes isn't what I say. My heart seems to be unable to control my mouth.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Niu'er slightly dodged her head from me in surprise.

"I'm thinking of someone, by the way, girl, tell me the story of your father and your mother!"

"What do they have to talk about!" Niu'er curled her lips, "When my father had an emperor in Qianqing's family, he didn't have to do anything. He ate, drank and had fun all day long. Later, when Qianqing's family disappeared, he was poor and didn't know how to I spent all my money on doing things, and I just made money by playing the huqin. He taught me how to sing, wishing that I could sing as well as Bi Yunxia and make money. ——Hey! Xiaoyingzi, I’m going to sing at Tianqiao , gathered around a circle of people to listen, and after I finished singing, I held a small basket and asked people for money, and as soon as they asked for money, everyone slipped away, and my father beat me up when I came back! He said, the one who gave the money is your grandpa, you have to show What a smiling face, look at your misery! As he said that, he hit me with a stick."

"That Bi Yunxia you mentioned is also singing at Tianqiao?"

"Where is it! People sing in the theater. The amusement park in the south of the city is not far from the overpass. Those who listen to Biyunxia are all uncles! But my father often said that many of the songs sung in the theater are sung on the overpass." .He forced me to learn and sing.”

"Don't you also love to sing? How can I say he forced it."

"I like to do whatever I want. I can sing as I like, and I can sing it to whoever I want. That's interesting. It's like the two of us in this room, and I'll sing for you."

Yes, I think of the day I first met Niuer, when the clerk at the oil and salt store asked her to sing, and she had tears in her eyes.

"But you still have to sing! What if you can't make money if you don't sing!"

"Me, hum!" Niu'er snorted fiercely, "I still want to find my own parents!"

"Then why didn't you stay with your own parents?" This is something I still don't understand.

"Who knows!" Niu'er hesitated, as if to say or not.The rain outside was still so heavy, the sky seemed to be falling down, and it seemed like there was a sea of ​​water in the sky pouring to the ground.

"One day, when I was sleeping, I heard my father and mother quarreling. My father said: 'This child is also stubborn, and her voice is actually pretty good, but she won't play if she says she doesn't want to play. What can I do?' My crippled mother said: "The more you beat her, the more you don't care about anything." My father said: "If you don't beat her, how can I be so angry! When I picked it up, it was not as big as a winter melon. I held it and brought it back. Now it’s taller than the table, but it’s out of control.” My mother said, “You made a wrong idea when you picked her up. It’s not the same as the one you raised with your own. My own loves her so much, and she can't treat you as a filial father." My father sighed, and said: "It's been five or six years in a flash! I was really evil that day, and I walked to Qihuamen to face shit. My mother said: "Yes, you said to pick up some coal cores to burn early in the morning, so as not to be seen as shabby. Don't you wash your mouth and face after getting up every day? You were busy that day. I didn’t go to the latrine, so I didn’t pick it up because of the coal core, but I picked up a little bastard who didn’t know who’s illegitimate.” My father said again: “I want to squat at the bottom of the city. Who knows, I will see a little boy It’s a burden! At first I thought I was going to make a fortune, but when I opened it, I realized that it was her. She was a real thing, and her small eyes were so small that she turned around!’ My mother said, ‘Hmph! You’re planning to make a fortune from her now. It's not easy to catch Ming'er singing as popular as Bi Yunxia.'..."

(End of this chapter)