The Complete Works of Lu Xun's Novels

Chapter 4

When Lao Chuan came home, the shop had already been tidied up, and there were rows of tea tables that were shiny and slippery.But there were no guests; only Xiao Shuan was sitting at the table in the back row eating, big bead of sweat rolled down his forehead, his jacket was stuck to his spine, his two shoulder blades protruded high, printed in an embossed "" character.Seeing this, Old Shuan couldn't help frowning.His woman hurried out from under the stove, her eyes were open and her lips were trembling.

"Have you got it?"

"Come on."

The two went into the stove together and discussed for a while; Aunt Hua went out, and after a while, she came back with an old lotus leaf and spread it on the table.Lao Chuan also opened the lantern cover, and rewrapped the red steamed bun with lotus leaves.Xiao Shuan also finished his meal, and his mother hurriedly said, "Xiao Shuan—sit down, don't come here." While setting up the stove, Old Shuan took a green bag and a red, white and white lantern, They were stuffed together in the stove; when a burst of red and black flames passed, the shophouse was filled with a strange fragrance.

"It smells so good! What kind of snacks are you eating?" This is the arrival of the fifth young master with a hunchback.This man always lived in the teahouse every day, he was the first to come and the last to go. At this time, he happened to come to a table in the corner facing the street and sat down to ask questions, but no one answered him. "Fried rice porridge?" Still no one answered.Old Chuan hurried out to make tea for him.

"Xiao Shuan come in!" Aunt Hua called Xiao Shuan into the inner room, and placed a stool in the middle, and Xiao Shuan sat down.His mother took a plate of black round things and said softly:
"Eat it, the disease will be cured."

Xiao Shuan picked up the black thing and looked at it for a while, as if he was risking his own life, feeling strange in his heart.Open it very carefully, a stream of white air came out from the scorched skin, and when the white air dissipated, it was two halves of white flour steamed buns. ——It didn't take long, and it was all in my stomach, but I completely forgot what it tasted; there was only an empty plate left in front of me.Beside him stood his father on one side and his mother on the other, their eyes seemed to want to inject something into him and then take something out; their heart couldn't help beating, and they pressed their chests again. A fit of coughing.

"Let's just sleep for a while——it'll be fine."

Xiao Shuan followed his mother's advice and fell asleep coughing.Aunt Hua waited for him to breathe calmly, and then gently covered him with a quilt full of patches.

three

There were many people sitting in the shop, and Lao Shuan was also busy, carrying a big copper pot, making tea for the customers one after another; black lines circled both eye sockets.

"Old Shuan, are you not feeling well?—Are you sick?" said a man with a gray beard.

"No."

"No? - I wanted to smile, but it didn't look like..." Gray Beard canceled his words.

"Old Chuan is just busy. If his son..." Before the hunchbacked Fifth Young Master could finish his sentence, a man with a swollen face suddenly barged in. He was wearing a black cloth shirt with loose buttons and a wide black belt. , tied around the waist indiscriminately.As soon as he entered the door, he yelled at Old Shuan:

"Have you eaten? Are you ready? Old Shuan, you are lucky! You are lucky, if it is not for my message spirit..."

Old Chuan held the teapot in one hand, and hung the other respectfully; he listened with a smile on his face.All the people in the house listened respectfully.Aunt Hua also had black eyes, and smilingly brought out a teacup with tea and an olive, and Lao Chuan went to wash the water.

"This is wrapped! This is different. Think about it, take it while it's hot, and eat it while it's hot." The man with thick meat just yelled.

"Really, how could this happen without Uncle Kang's care..." Aunt Hua also thanked him gratefully.

"Wrap well, wrap well! Eat this kind of steamed bun while it's hot. This kind of human blood steamed bun is good for all kinds of tuberculosis!"

When Aunt Hua heard the word "consumption", her face changed a little, she seemed a little unhappy; but she immediately smiled and walked away with accusations.But Uncle Kang didn't notice it, he still raised his throat and just yelled, so that Xiao Shuan, who was sleeping inside, also coughed together.

"It turns out that your little Shuan met such good luck. The disease must be completely cured; no wonder Old Shuan is smiling all day long." Said the white beard, walked up to Uncle Kang, and asked in a low voice, "Kang Uncle—I heard that one of the prisoners who ended up today is a child of the Xia family, whose child is that? What is it?"

"Whose? Isn't it Grandma Xia's son? That little guy!" Uncle Kang was very happy when he saw that everyone was listening to him, his flesh was full, and he said louder, "This little thing doesn't want to die. Just don’t. I didn’t get any benefit this time; even the stripped clothes were taken by the red-eyed Ah Yi who was in charge. ——Firstly, it’s our Uncle Shuan’s luck; secondly, it’s Mr. Xia I was rewarded with 25 taels of snow-white silver, and I pocketed it alone, without spending a penny."

Xiao Shuan slowly walked out of the small room, pressed his hands on his chest, and coughed unceasingly; he went to the stove, put out a bowl of cold rice, soaked it in hot water, and ate it after sitting down.Aunt Hua followed him and asked softly, "Xiao Shuan, how are you?——Are you still just hungry?..."

"Wrap it up, wrap it up!" Uncle Kang glanced at Xiao Shuan, but still turned his face, and said to everyone, "Mr. Xia is such a good guy, if he doesn't report to the officials first, he will be executed all over the house. What now? Silver!—this little thing is worth nothing! Shut up in Laurie, and persuade him to rebel."

"Ah, that's okay." A man in his 20s sitting in the back seat was very angry.

"You have to know that Ah Yi with red eyes went to make a deal, but he talked to him. He said: The world of the Qing Dynasty belongs to all of us. Think: Is this a human language? Red eyes knew his family There is only one old woman, but I didn't expect him to be so poor, and he couldn't squeeze out any oil, and he was already so angry. He wanted to scratch the tiger's head, so he gave him two mouths!"

"Brother Yi is a good punch. These two strokes must be enough for him." The hunchback in the corner suddenly became happy.

"He is not afraid of being beaten by such a cheap bone, and he has to say that he is pitiful."

The gray-bearded man said, "What's the pity for hitting this kind of thing?"

Uncle Kang looked like he was not up to, and said with a sneer, "You didn't hear me clearly; to see his air, it means Ah Yi is pitiful!"

The eyes of the people who listened were suddenly a bit stagnant; the words also stopped.Xiaoshuan had finished eating, sweating all over his head, and steam came out of his head.

"Ah Yi is pitiful—crazy talk, he's gone crazy." The gray beard said suddenly.

"Going crazy." The man in his 20s also suddenly realized.

The customers in the store became lively again, chatting and laughing.Xiao Shuan also took advantage of the excitement and coughed desperately; Uncle Kang stepped forward, patted him on the shoulder and said:
"Wrap it up! Xiao Shuan—don't cough like that. Wrap it up!"

"Crazy." The hunchback fifth young master nodded and said.

four

The ground outside Xiguan, next to the city root, was originally a piece of official land; there was a crooked thin road in the middle, which was made by people who greedy for sidewalks, but it became a natural boundary.On the left side of the road, the executed and murdered are buried, and on the right side are the mounds of the poor.Both sides have been buried layer upon layer, just like steamed buns when a wealthy family celebrates a birthday.

The Qingming Festival this year was extremely cold; the willows only spit out new shoots the size of half a grain of rice.Before dawn, Aunt Hua was already sitting in front of a new grave on the right, putting out four dishes and a bowl of rice, and wept a lot.After melting the paper, I sat on the ground blankly; as if waiting for something, but I couldn't tell what I was waiting for.The breeze picked up and blew his short hair, which was indeed much whiter than last year.

Another woman came along the path, also with half-white hair and a ragged dress; she was carrying an old round red lacquer basket with a bunch of paper ingots hanging from it, and walked three steps at a time.Suddenly seeing Aunt Hua sitting on the ground looking at him, she hesitated a little, with a look of shame showing on her pale face; but finally bit the bullet, walked to the grave on the left, and put down the basket.

That grave and Xiaoshuan's are lined up in a row, with only a small road between them.Aunt Hua watched him arrange four dishes and a bowl of rice, and wept for a while, and melted the paper ingots; she thought to herself, "The one in this grave is also a son." The old woman lingered for a while, and suddenly His hands and feet trembled a little, and he staggered back a few steps, staring in a daze.

When Aunt Hua saw this, she was afraid that he was going to go mad with grief, so she couldn't help but stood up, crossed the path, and whispered to him, "Don't be sad, you old lady——we'd better go back."

The man nodded his head, his eyes still staring upward; he also stammered in a low voice, "Look——look at what this is?"

Aunt Hua followed him to look, and her eyes came to the tomb in front of her. The grass roots on the tomb hadn't fully closed yet, and there were patches of loess exposed, which was really ugly.When I looked up carefully, I was also surprised; there was clearly a circle of red and white flowers around the pointed round top of the tomb.

Their eyes have been aging for many years, but they can still clearly see the red and white flowers.There are not many flowers, and they are arranged in a circle, not very energetic, but neat.Aunt Hua was busy looking at her son's and other people's graves, but there were only a few small blue and white flowers that were not afraid of the cold, blooming sporadically;The old woman walked a few steps closer, took a closer look, and said to herself, "This has no roots, and it doesn't look like I opened it myself. - Who comes to this place? Children don't come to play; - Relatives My family has not come here long ago.——What's going on here?" He thought and thought, and suddenly wept again, and said loudly:

"Yu'er, they have wronged you, you still can't forget it, but you're sad, today I'm showing some inspiration, do you want me to know?" He looked around and saw a crow standing on a leafless tree , then went on to say, "I know. ——Yu'er, I have pity that they cheated you. They will always have retribution in the future, and God knows it; just close your eyes. ——If you are really here, hear my words ,—then teach this crow to fly to the top of your grave, and show me."

The breeze has died down long ago; the dead grass stands upright like copper wire.A trembling voice became thinner and thinner in the air, until it was so thin that the surroundings were dead quiet.The two stood in the dry grass, looking up at the crow; the crow was also among the straight branches, with its head bowed, standing like cast iron.

A lot of time passed; the number of people visiting the grave gradually increased, and a few old and young were haunting the earthen graves.

For some reason, Aunt Hua seemed to have unloaded a heavy burden, so she thought of leaving; while persuading her, "Let's go back."

The old woman sighed, put away the food listlessly; hesitated for a moment, and finally walked away slowly.He said to himself, "What's going on here?..."

They couldn't walk twenty or thirty steps away, when they suddenly heard a loud "dumb" cry from behind; both of them turned their heads in horror, and saw the crow spread its wings, flinched, and headed straight towards the distant place. In the sky, arrows flew away.

April [-].

This article was originally published in the fifth issue of the sixth volume of "New Youth" in May [-].

tomorrow
"No sound,—what's the matter with the little thing?"

The red-nosed old man held a bowl of rice wine in his hand, and pouted his mouth towards the partition wall as he spoke.Lanpi Awu put down the wine bowl, slapped him hard on the back, and mumbled:

"You... you, you are thinking again..."

It turns out that Lu Town is a secluded place, and there are still some ancient customs: everyone closes the door and goes to sleep until there is a watch.There were only two people who didn't sleep in the middle of the night: one was Xianheng Hotel, where a few wine and meat friends gathered around the counter, eating and drinking happily; Spinning cotton yarn with both hands to support himself and his three-year-old son, so he went to bed late.

In the past few days, there has been no sound of spinning.But since there were only two families that didn't sleep late at night, and the fourth sister-in-law Shan's house had a voice, naturally only Lao Gong heard it, and if there was no sound, only Lao Gong heard it.

After being beaten, Lao Gong drank a big gulp of wine as if he was very comfortable, and began to sing a ditty.

At this time, Fourth Shan's Wife was holding his Bao'er, sitting on the edge of the bed, and the spinning wheel stood quietly on the ground.The dark light shone on Bao'er's face, which was blushing with a hint of blue.Fourth Shan's sister-in-law calculated in her heart: I have also asked for the magic lottery, maybe my wish has been granted, and both parties have also tried it. If it still doesn't work, what should I do? ——Then I can only go to see He Xiaoxian.But Bao'er may have light days and heavy nights, and tomorrow, when the sun rises, the fever will subside and the asthma will subside: this is really a common thing for patients.

Fourth Shan's wife is a clumsy woman who doesn't understand the horror of the word "but": many bad things are made better thanks to having him, but many good things are also ruined because of him.Summer nights are short, not long after the old archers finished singing, the east has turned white; after a while, the silvery white dawn seeped through the window cracks.

Fourth Shan's sister-in-law waited for dawn, but it was not as easy as others. She felt that it was very slow. Bao'er's breath took almost a year.It's actually bright now; the sky is so bright that it overwhelms the light, and I can see Bao'er's nostrils flapping back and forth.

Fourth Shan's sister-in-law knew something was wrong, and secretly called out "Ah!" She calculated in her heart: what's the matter?The only way to go to see He Xiaoxian.Although she was a clumsy woman, she had a decision in her heart, so she stood up, took out from the wooden cabinet the thirteen small silver dollars and 180 copper coins that she had saved every day, put them in his pockets, locked the door, and held Bao'er straight to He home ran over.

It was still early, and there were already four patients sitting in He's house.He took out four dimes of silver dollars and bought a lottery, and it was Bao'er's fifth turn.He Xiaoxian stretched out two fingers to feel the pulse, the nails were more than four inches long, the Fourth Shan's sister-in-law wondered secretly, and calculated in her heart: Bao'er should be alive.But I couldn't help being anxious, and I couldn't help but ask, so I said awkwardly:

"Sir, what's wrong with my Bao'er?"

"He's choked up."

"Is it okay? He..."

"Go and eat two posts first."

"He couldn't breathe, his nose and wings were flapping."

"This is Huo Kejin ②..."

He Xiaoxian closed his eyes after half a sentence; Fourth Shan's sister-in-law was too embarrassed to ask again.A man in his thirties sitting opposite He Xiaoxian had already written a prescription, pointed to the words on the corner of the paper and said:
"This first taste of Baoying Huoming Pill must be found in Jia's Jishi old shop!"

Fourth Shan's sister-in-law took the prescription and thought as she walked.Although she is a clumsy woman, she knows that the He family, the Jishi old store and her own home are exactly a triangle point; naturally, it is cheaper to buy the medicine back home.So he ran towards the old Jishi store again.The clerk also curled up his long nails to look at the square slowly, and slowly packed the medicine.Fourth Shan's sister-in-law hugged Bao'er and waited; Bao'er suddenly raised her small hand and pulled out a lock of his messy hair. This was an unprecedented move, and Fourth Shan's sister-in-law was terrified.

The sun rose early.Fourth Shan's sister-in-law carried the child in her arms and carried the medicine bag, and felt heavier as she walked; the child struggled unceasingly, and the road felt longer and longer.Reluctantly, I sat on the threshold of a mansion by the roadside, rested for a while, the clothes gradually turned cold, and I realized that I was sweating all over, but Bao'er seemed to have fallen asleep.He got up again and walked slowly, but still couldn't hold on, and suddenly someone said in his ear:
"Sister-in-law Shan Si, I'll hold Bo Luo for you!" It seemed to be the voice of Lan Pi Ah Wu.

When he looked up, it was the blue skinned Ah Wu, following him with sleepy eyes.

At this time, Fourth Shan's Wife, although she very much hoped to bring down a general to help him, she didn't want it to be Ah Wu.But Ah Wu was a bit chivalrous, no matter what, he always wanted to help, so he gave way for a while, and finally got permission.He stretched out his arms, stretched down from between Mrs. Shan Fourth's breasts and the child, and carried the child.Fourth Shan's wife felt a streak of heat on her breasts, and the heat reached her face and ears in an instant.

The two of them were more than two feet and five inches apart and walked together.Ah Wu said something, but Fourth Shan's sister-in-law mostly didn't answer.Not long after he left, Ah Wu returned the child to him, saying that it was time for the meal that he had agreed with his friends yesterday; Fourth Shan's sister-in-law picked up the child.Fortunately, home is not far away. I saw Wang Jiuma sitting on the side of the street, talking from a distance:

"Sister-in-law Shansi, what's the matter with the child? ——Have you seen Mr.?"

"Look. I've seen it.—Wang Jiuma, you are old and see a lot, why don't you ask your old Fayan to take a look, how about..."

"Well……"

"how……?"

"Hmm..." Wang Jiuma looked at it carefully, nodded her head twice, and shook her head twice.

It was already noon when Bao'er took the medicine.Fourth Shan's sister-in-law looked carefully at his expression, as if she had calmed down a lot; in the afternoon, she suddenly opened her eyes and called out "Mom!" Then she closed her eyes again, as if she had fallen asleep.He fell asleep for a moment, with beads of sweat dripping from his forehead and the tip of his nose. Sister-in-law Shan touched it lightly, and his hands stuck like glue; when he hurriedly touched his chest, he couldn't help sobbing.

Bao'er's breathing changed from steady to none, and Fourth Shan's sister-in-law's voice changed from whimpering to howling.At this time, several groups of people gathered: inside the door were Wang Jiuma's blue-skinned Ah Wu and the like, and outside the door were Xianheng's shopkeeper and the red-nosed Lao Gong and the like.Wang Jiuma issued an order to burn a bunch of paper money; she also used two benches and five pieces of clothes as payment, and borrowed two foreign dollars for Mrs. Shan Fourth to prepare meals for the helpers.

The first problem is the coffin.Fourth Shan's sister-in-law also had a pair of silver earrings and a gold-covered silver hairpin, which were handed over to Xianheng's shopkeeper, entrusting him to act as a guarantor to buy a coffin half cash and half credit.Lanpi Ah Wu also stretched out his hand, willing to volunteer, but Wang Jiu's mother forbade him, and only allowed him to carry the coffin tomorrow. Ah Wu scolded "old beast" and stood sullenly.The shopkeeper went away by himself; when he came back at night, he said that the coffin had to be made now, and it would be done in the middle of the night.

When the shopkeeper came back, the helpers had already eaten; because Lu Zhen still had some ancient customs, they all went home to sleep before the next watch.Only Ah Wu was still drinking at Xianheng's counter, and Lao Gong was also humming.

At this time, Fourth Shan's wife was sitting on the edge of the bed crying, Bao'er was lying on the bed, and the spinning wheel was standing quietly on the ground.For a long time, Fourth Shan's sister-in-law's tears came to an end, her eyes were wide open, and she looked around, feeling strange: everything was impossible.He calculated in his mind: It's just a dream, these things are all dreams.When I wake up tomorrow, I will sleep soundly on the bed, and Bao'er will also sleep soundly beside me.He also woke up, called "Mom", and jumped to play like a dragon and a tiger.

Lao Gong's singing had long been silenced, and Xian Heng also turned off the lights.Fourth Shan's sister-in-law opened her eyes, she never believed in everything. ——The rooster also crowed; the east gradually turned white, and the silver-white dawn penetrated through the cracks of the window.

The silvery white dawn gradually turned crimson again, and the sun's rays continued to reach the ridge of the roof.Fourth Shan's sister-in-law opened her eyes and sat blankly; she was startled when she heard the knock on the door, and ran out to open the door.An unknown person outside the door carried something on his back; behind him stood Wang Jiuma.

Oh, and here they come with the coffin on their backs.

In the second half of the day, the coffin was closed: because Sister-in-law Shan cried and looked at it once, she was never willing to close it; fortunately, Wang Jiuma was impatient and ran forward angrily, dragging him away , it was quickly covered.

(End of this chapter)