Hunger for a hundred years

Chapter 18 (18)
In the early morning, the street was surprisingly quiet. Under the twilight of the sky, Qingshiban Street was dark, like the back of a big fish; Ergao yo—a bowl of Ergao yo—" The peddler was an old woman who always spit out the "bowl" very heavy and long, "Ergao" slipped by, and the word "yo" was swallowed by her Dropped, like a helpless sigh.At the gate of the police station at the junction of Middle Street and Upper Street, there must be a slender gray-clothed soldier who shouted: "Wait!" The old woman stopped shouting and stood still. Mian Shau Kei walked up to the old woman, carefully picked up five bowls of cakes, turned around and left without paying.This is his tribute to the guard company commander.After the gray-clothed soldier entered, the old woman immediately withdrew the smile on her face, shed a few drops of miserable tears on the silent street, pushed the "chicken bus" and walked a few steps before thinking of her. Duty, "Wan'er Cake ──Wan'er Cake ──" to sell.If it is a cold scene, the old lady's cries will be heard until noon, and on rush days, around ten o'clock in the morning, her voice will be drowned out by the noisy buzzing.

Throughout the day, there are almost always fights in the street; there are very few fights, and if you see that they are about to fight, it proves that the fight is almost over.The mighty water here cultivates people's water nature.Huang and Zhong Erba are also surrounded by water, but the temperament of the people on the dam is violent and rough. If it is not for the inheritance of the character of the ancient ancestors, it is really impossible to explain.

The watery nature of the residents of Qingxichang is reflected in the generous and fluid character of the men and their dispositions that are not conceited (Wang Weizhou is an exception), and more importantly, in the women.The women here are all beautiful, with long eyebrows and beautiful eyes, and a good waist.When they talk, they always have a kind of astringent coquettishness, and they look around when they have nothing to do. Even if there is no one around, they like to look around.At the head of the stone arch bridge, there is a woman in her twenties who dresses up enchantingly when she is on the market. She sits on a bamboo stool by the door mending clothes or knitting socks. She sits for a whole day, as if she has nothing to eat have a meal.Decades later, I graduated from Xuri Middle School in Zhongjiaba, and went to Qingxichang to take the senior high school entrance examination. I met this woman's granddaughter in a restaurant.The woman was also in her twenties and was the owner of the restaurant.Her eyes as black as lacquer make her as charming as Qingxihe, and her thick eyebrows make her look wild.She was wearing a single shirt with dark flowers, and her huge and firm breasts were bouncing back and forth between the kitchen and the hall, but her waist and steps were very lazy, which contrasted with the lively breasts.As soon as the matter was over, she stood by the door, leaned on it and looked at it, winking like her grandmother, and couldn't help trembling when she saw something ridiculous
At nightfall, the brothel opened at the same time as Wanjia Casino.There are several brothels here, each of which raises seven or eight prostitutes ranging from ten to ten, for the enjoyment of local rich men and individual sailors on board.The prostitutes in Qingxi River don't pay much attention to grooming, they all keep their faces in the sky, but they don't lose their exaggerated enthusiasm.The laughter and shouts of the prostitutes, mixed with the cheers in the casino, made the quiet stone street smell hot and fishy.

In a teahouse in Xitou, there was a middle-aged storyteller, wearing a navy blue double-breasted gown. On rush days, when the teahouse was packed with people like bamboo shoots, he slapped his gavel on the table: "Speak." Talking about "Fengshen Bang", "Generals of the Yang Family" and "Army of the Yue Family"
There is a photo studio on North Street, and there is an old fortune teller sitting there all day long.Although he is too old to lift or touch, he is called a "child prodigy" under the guise.It is said that the fortune-telling accuracy of the child prodigy is terrifying!One day in the summer of the 24th year of the Republic of China, the concubine of Liu Cunhou, the warlord of Xuding Prefecture, came here admiringly, looking for a fortune-telling boy prodigy.What a flirtatious and arrogant woman she was, with slanted eyes and pouty mouth, her body was surrounded by emerald beads, a champagne swayed gently in her hand, and every nerve on her rosy face was like that of the Liu family. Light the overlord lamp!Surrounded by many servants and servants, she walked into the photo studio like a weak willow in the wind, and sat down opposite the prodigy: "Prodigy, do you think my life is good?" She looked at the prodigy almost contemptuously, and when she spoke Like not moving.The child prodigy took a sip of tea, and calmly replied, "Ten yuan, please." The concubine's vermilion lips parted, revealing her fine, orderly and dazzling teeth, and she almost burst out of laughter.Then she stood up and was about to leave.The child prodigy said softly, "Ten yuan is cheap.

Hearing this, the concubine turned around, raised her eyebrows, and said angrily, "I'd rather spend ten yuan to buy a dog!" "The child prodigy was not angry at all, and still said calmly: "Madam calm down.You are 23 years old and have just enjoyed three years of blessing.Both of your parents died when you were three years old, and you were sold to a rich family in baskets. At the age of 12, you were taken over by the master, and at the age of 15, you were raped by the master's son." At this point, the concubine's arrogance completely disappeared, tears streaming down her face, Begging the child prodigy to stop talking, and at the same time politely handed over ten yuan. The child prodigy stopped complaining about her past experience, and said flatly: "Madam will be bloody. "The little concubine was startled, the shampa fell to the ground, and asked how to dissolve it. The child prodigy said: "If you stay behind closed doors for a year, you can eliminate disasters and turn good luck." "The concubine left in tears. Two months later, Liu Cunhou was going to go hunting in the mountains, and all the concubines were vying for favor, and they all followed the commander. The concubine who asked the prodigy to tell her fortune completely forgot the prodigy's advice and snuggled up to him. Liu Cunhou acted like a baby in Liu Cunhou's arms. Liu Cunhou took her alone. As a result, when chasing a furry dog, the concubine was trampled to death by a horse's hoof.
On the river dam dragged out of North Street, there is a bull market and a pig market.As soon as I left the alley at the intersection of the street, I could smell a mixture of pig manure and cow dung from a long distance.The river dam is very lively, sometimes even hotter than the main street.Those cattle dealers, buyers and sellers stand very close together, head to head, don't talk much, just use their hands to type code words under the skirt of their clothes, "hands off" means five hundred, if the other party disagrees, say "break the horns", It means minus one hundred.Those who sell pigs should be more open and aboveboard, and bargain with buyers loudly and aggressively.This is probably due to the high price of cattle, and the number is said, and they are afraid of being snatched by treacherous and violent people, and may lose their lives because of it.Not only live cattle and pigs are sold here, but beef and pork are also sold here. The purple beef and snow white pork are hung on the iron rings supported by wooden poles, swaying with the river wind, and greet buyers with silent words.The most spectacular ones are the pig-killing farm and the cattle-killing farm, where the pigs howled and screamed, and the soft long knife pierced their fat necks; hoof, let out a cry, and put it down heavily, but it never made a sound. Before the butcher took the knife to skin its neck, it only shed a few tears, and then it died with its neck stretched out.

He Da often went to the slaughterhouses for pigs and cattle. He was not moved by the death of pigs, but saddened by the death of cattle.

He often sheds more tears than cows.

In the far corner, there was another beggar watching the cattle slaughter.He watched it with gusto and secretly learned the craft.Decades later, his skill brought his family a big advantage, and even almost saved their lives.He also passed on the understanding of the cow to his son and let it flourish.This person is He Jianshen.He Da didn't find Jianshen, but Jianshen saw him. However, he already had the experience of begging, so he didn't need to rely on He Da's guidance.Whenever he saw that He Da turned and left before the pigs and cows had been killed and stripped, he snickered in his heart: What a stupid pig!

It should be known that there will always be a lot of gains at the scene of slaughtering pigs and cattle: picking up the splattered bone fragments and pieces of meat, and a wildfire is a delicious meal.
On the edge of the cattle killing field, there are often teams of people passing by.That's the tracker pulling the boat.The trackers have bare feet, revealing reddish-brown foot shafts that have been swollen by water and dried by the sun and wind. Their hair is disheveled, their faces and necks are as dark as mud, their eyes are dull and tough, and their mouths are tightly shut.This is life at the bottom of the water.The angry waves like a hot horse, the shining rope on the shoulder, and the stubborn big boat following far behind are the basis for their survival.The section of the river outside the slaughterhouse is relatively gentle, so the trackers can walk upright and step across the sand in a hurry.After passing this section of the road, the river seemed to grow taller suddenly, and the body of the river became narrower. The trackers all bowed their waists, let the ropes be deeply pulled into their flesh, and crawled forward.No one chanted, and no one spoke.In the river bend not far ahead, the ground is covered with acacia thorns, the bare feet of those trackers have broken the needles, and the bloodstains are twisted in pain, stretching wordlessly into the distance
If he hadn't seen that thrilling scene, He Da might have stayed near Qingxichang forever. --
That day, as usual, He Da tried every means to comfort his stomach, and then wandered on the river beach, watching a group of carefree children taking a bath with their bare buttocks in the long river.These children are about the same age as him, but they are all so happy!While pitying his life experience, he also thought of Jianshen, wondering where he wandered to?He regretted breaking up with him. He deeply remembered Jianshen's begging eyes when he decided to break up with him. He Da picked up a small stone like a pancake and played with it in his hand, thinking , if this is really a pancake!When he was convinced that it was just a stone, he raised his hand and threw it into the middle of the river.The pebble bounced twice on the water skin and got into the water, like a fish escaping from death.The fine ripples hadn't dissipated yet, and he heard the sound of the gong behind him.

He Da was taken aback, and turned his head to see that there were several thick men with red silk tied around their waists in front of them, all of whom were bare and bumpy, beating the gong, followed by more than ten criminals, after being tied up, All tied together with a thick rope.Each prisoner was escorted—in fact, dragged—by two gray-clothed soldiers.He Da didn't know where this group of strange people was going, and quickly retreated behind a sand dune.The group of people walked straight to the place where he was hidden.It was too late for He Da to back down again, and he couldn't help being paralyzed all over.The team stopped 20 meters away from him, and the leader of the gray-clothed man gave an order, and all the ten prisoners knelt on the sand.Before He Da understood what was going on, the soldiers raised their knives and dropped them, and more than a dozen human heads fell from their torsos like fruits. Their necks turned into a bloody hole like a chimney, and plunged into the sand. , ass upside down.After completing this simple agenda, the grey-clothed soldier beat the sky-high price of the gong and returned to the way he had come.

There is not a single irrelevant person on the road, and their gong sounds like knocking into the void.

After they disappeared in a grove of weeping willows, He Da's soul slowly returned to him.He looked at the human head not far away, where the knife passed, dirty blood flowed all over the ground, and the human head was filthy with dirty blood and black sand.Most of those people's eyes were not closed, and the doubts about life and death had not receded from their eyes.

What Da He remembers most is that a person's head has not been completely cut off, it is connected to the torso by a thin skin, and the holes on the head and neck are still bubbling with blood.

He Da escaped from that place.

Why were these people killed?Why are people from Wang Weizhou's hometown so indifferent to murder?When human blood flowed downriver with the river, those bathing children laughed and picked up blood wisps and threw them on each other's faces for fun. Why?Is it common to kill people in this way here?Decades later, He Da didn't want to understand.

He Da fled to a far away place, but ten days later, he came back to this river beach by a strange coincidence.

On the ground, only four or five human heads remained.The rest of the heads are all scalpless, and some eyes are no longer there, forming a scary hollow, and those with eyes are already a vast expanse of dead light.He Da felt cold all over and wanted to vomit.When he fled a hundred meters away, he saw more than a dozen pile-tailed dogs running towards the man's head.As soon as they arrived at the destination, more than ten dogs immediately started a fight for the spoils.He Da understood that those missing heads were dragged to a dark corner by dogs and gnawed off, and the scalps of several heads on the river beach must have been torn off by dogs.

He Da didn't dare to stay in Qingxi Field any longer, no matter day or night, his eyes were always on a human head without scalp, beside the head, swaying a few clumps of messy withered yellow hair.
Where are you going?He has traveled almost all over the waters in this area, and he has been to all the places where he may have been taken in; for him, all places are dead.

There is only one place, live forever!

After asking for a few copper coins, He Da boarded a cargo ship.

On the surface, it looks like an empty cargo ship. It goes up to Dongbachang, pulls back timber, cowhide, birch husk, etc., and sells them in Qingxi or Yongle, but in fact, behind a curtain on the ship, there is a batch of special goods. Goods: women.These women feel that Qingxi Farm and Yongle County are too crowded, so they only go to the relatively deserted Dongba Farm to do skin and meat business.

He Da got off the boat by a stone bridge.

The stone bridge is very short and narrow, built on both sides of the creek.This creek flows from the big river ditch in Hejiapo, and the water rushes down fiercely. It is buffered at the bottom of the bridge for a distance of ten feet, and directly flows into the Qingxi River.At the center of the river, the landscape completely disappears into the river.The right side of the bridge is covered by the mountain of Baiyanpo, and the left side of the bridge is an unnamed mountain, so the bridge body is not exposed to sunlight all day long. Therefore, the local people gave it a name: Liangqiao.He Da hasn't traveled this section of the road much, but he is familiar with it. From Wuming Mountain, he can climb about six or seven miles to Hejiapo.

It was drizzling that day, and He Da arrived at the entrance of the village with an unspeakable mood. When he passed by his father's grave, he calmed down.But he was still hesitant: Should he continue walking towards the depths of the courtyard where strife and hatred are hidden, or retreat back to Qingxi Field to live his free life?

Unable to make a decision for a moment, he just stood there blankly.

"Brother He!"
A sudden cry from behind nearly caused He Da to fall in the weir pond.

When he turned his head away, Hun was really frightened.

It was He Kunzhang's daughter calling him!

"Sister Chrysanthemum"
"When did you come back?"
"talent."
Chrysanthemum handed He Da a white radish.

He Dazheng was so hungry that he picked up the white radish and gnawed it.

(End of this chapter)