Hunger for a hundred years

Chapter 52 (9)
"Yes," He Da said, "the ancient village is gone, the ancient village is dead, young people today have forgotten it, and people in the future will not know that there is an ancient village in Hejiapo, but at least in our place In the hearts of generations, it is still alive. Just as you suspected, the ancient village was not built by Mr. Luo, but by the people of Hejiapo in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. It was only the people who built the village. They just took root in Hejiapo. At that time, they had some messy surnames, and no one was surnamed He. In order to be consistent with the outside world and fight for a piece of survival territory, they all changed their surnames and became a family."
"What's your surname? What's going on with Yang Guangda's family?"
"Only Yang Guangda's ancestors were unwilling to change their surnames! Although his ancestors worked very hard in the public affairs, because they did not change their surnames, they could not stand in Hejiapo and were isolated. Although Yang Guangda had a weird temper, he did not offend him during his lifetime. He was extraordinary, but no one buried him and his wife after they died, and they rotted in the red sweet potato pit. Besides, Yang Guangda's weird temper was also caused by Poshang people's isolation of him."
I feel like the ground under my feet is like a giant, slowly waking up and straightening up.Yang Guangda's ancestors refused to change their surnames to express their eternal memory of their ancestors and their birthplace. Unexpectedly, the bodies and souls of their descendants were submerged in a vigorous immigration movement and submerged in a brand-new regional cultural background.In fact, those people who changed their surnames did not have nostalgia and pursuit of their own eternal essence. For example, in He Jiapo's "jia", they read "ga" instead of "jia", which is obviously a Huguang nationality. dialect.Keeping place names and their special pronunciations with you is a common feature of ancient tribal migrations and immigrant societies.He Jiapo's ancestors pointed out the way home for themselves in this very vague way to outsiders.

He Da said: The ancestor of your great-grandfather He Xingneng was once the patriarch of Hejiapo, and the ancestor of He Huaqiang went up the mountain when He Xingneng's ancestor was the patriarch.The ancestors of He Huaqiang paid the price. Out of a family of [-], [-] fell in Lai Chaowan, and only three survived.They were surnamed Wang at the time, and the three survivors knelt in front of the patriarch for five days and nights before the patriarch allowed them to change their surnames to He.This family is really not simple, the patriarch is not their opponent at all.You can see that they can kneel in front of other people's door for five days and five nights, and you should understand that it is not something simple people can do.At that time, Wu Sangui's former general Wang Fan (who had defected to the Qing Dynasty) had an anti-Qing general under his command and went to Hejiapo to take refuge. A masked man robbed.These three masked men are the three brothers of the Wang family. They hid the general in the earthen warehouse for three months.

Why did they risk their lives to save the general?They didn't know clearly, and people asked them later, and they didn't know it themselves, but this proved that the three brothers of the Wang family had different ideas. If they wanted to change their lives, they had to act differently.Thus their fortunes were changed.One day, when the three brothers came back from the slope, the general suddenly disappeared.As a result, he voted for the Qing Dynasty again, and went to Jiangxi to do Tongzhi.He wrote a letter to his colleagues in Xuding Mansion, saying that XX was his benefactor.All of a sudden, the three brothers of the Wang family suddenly prospered. Although they didn't become patriarchs, who on this slope would dare to provoke them?They began to act recklessly, forcibly buying and occupying other people's land, and even occupied the patriarch's little lady, and hid them in the earthen warehouse like the general Zang Na.The patriarch and the people on Poshang thought that the little lady had rolled down the Dahegou and rushed to the Qingxi River, because she went to Dahegou to wash clothes and disappeared.Her whereabouts were not known until she gave birth to a baby for the three brothers.This annoyed the people on Poshang. Isn't everyone surnamed He now?Since it is a surname, it is an ancestor, and a woman who occupies the patriarch is incest.Without the patriarch's help, the people on Poshang hung up the three brothers and beat them severely—"Remembering this, even though He Huaqiang thought about your grandma Xu Lian, he didn't dare to touch her." The sinful little lady was tied up, tied with stones, and sank alive into the weir pond.
I interjected, "Is that the weir pond next to Grandpa's grave?"
He Da nodded.

"No wonder, when we go fishing for clam shells when the sky is dry, our feet are often stabbed, maybe by the little lady's bones."
He Da sighed, and then said: The life of men on the mountain is hard, and the life of women is even harder.Then he swallowed a mouthful of saliva with difficulty, and continued the words above: Since then, the three brothers of the Wang family have opposed everyone on the slope, and they have become deadly enemies with the patriarch's family.But how smart they are, they have been reproduced from generation to generation, and the further they go, the more capable they are.They first planted poppies in Hejiapo. Although they harmed countless people, they made a fortune for themselves.As far as He Huaqiang's father's generation, the family was in decline, but that was for a short time.He Huaqiang said that he hates poverty the most, because he knows that wealth can support He Zhongbao's family. They only value Tuba and value money, and have never paid attention to officials, positions, books, and etiquette.He Huaqiang could have been the security chief, but he was wrong. Although He Zhongbao had worked in the commune, he must have found it boring, so he resolutely refused to reinstate him after being rehabilitated.What is he thinking, I can't hide it from me!

Having said this, He Da took a puff of cigarette.The smoke was long gone, so he struck a match and lit it again.

I waited quietly for He Da to speak.

He Zhongbao has always had resentment in his heart!He Da said that he wanted revenge.Your grandfather is the adopted son of He Xingneng, so of course he wants to seek revenge from us.For this, I forgive him and understand him.So, in front of him, I sometimes hesitate and let him go. In your mother's words, I "don't understand", but I understand it in my heart!Do you think I'm afraid of him?I have endured so much suffering, so what else do I need to be afraid of?But He Zhongbao sometimes went too far.He falsely accused your mother of stealing his sheep, he killed the craftsman Li with a soft knife, forced Jiangao to death in partnership, prevented others from fetching water from the well, beat Jianshen when he was entertaining guests, and killed Bai'er. All overdone!He seems to know how to judge the situation, but in fact he can't judge the situation at all, which is where he is stupid.

In winter, a rock eagle lingered on the top of Yanghou Mountain opposite, then swooped down and disappeared in the dark valley.

He Da finished smoking a pot of cigarettes, extinguished the cigarette butt under his feet, looked at the long river below the mountain, and said in a deeper tone: "Don't look at He Zhongcai buying land and He Zhongbao selling land on the eve of liberation. In fact, among the three brothers, He Zhongbao valued the land the most, and he also took the past family property the most seriously. He took the trouble to find someone to pretend to be his father's reincarnation because he was confused about real estate."
"That is to say, he really went looking for that mysterious girl?"
"I later learned that the girl was from Suwan. Suwan was five miles upstream from Dongbachang. He Zhongbao invited him on a rush day and gave some money to the girl's parents. But don't think that He Zhongbao is here. It's a lie, all these years, he has been looking for his father's reincarnated child body. He heard that when he saw that girl, he suddenly felt that he had returned to the past. The scene in front of him was Hejiapo when his father was alive. So he decided that the girl was his father. The whole thing behind, that is, the girl came to ask for the land deed, was all planned by He Zhongbao, but he was not a fake anyway. He believed in his bones that he was better than anyone else. Believe it!"
The mountain wind has risen.The golden green leaves collide with each other, making a quiet copper rhyme sound.

He Da glanced at the mountain that was rendered more and more silent by the mountain wind, and said mysteriously: "He Zhongbao's home is dedicated to a god."
"god?"
"The god is in the attic of his house. I discovered it by accident. That year, He Zhongbao falsely accused your mother of stealing his sheep. I went to He Zhongbao to reason. I opened the door and went in. I saw He Zhongbao at a glance. Burning incense to that god! That god is enshrined behind Chairman Mao’s porcelain plaster statue, and its position is higher than Chairman Mao’s. That is to say, He Zhongbao regards that god more important than Chairman Mao! Usually, he must I didn’t put it there, but only took it out when offering incense. At that time, He Zhongbao turned around and saw me, and his hands were shaking with fright. I stood there for 2 minutes and came out without saying anything. After that, I didn’t tell I never told anyone, not even your mother. If I tell you, during the Cultural Revolution, He Zhongbao would be considered a counter-revolutionary, and he might even be shot."
"He beat his mother, why did you let him go?"
"At the end of the day, we all live on the same slope. I let him think about it."
After a pause, I asked, "Is that the tablet of his ancestor?"
"Yes, and no. That's a god of agriculture. That god's name is Qi, have you heard of it?"
I nodded. "Qi" is a god and also the son of a god. His mother, Jiang Yuan, stepped on a giant's big footprint in the field, her blood pulsed suddenly, and she became pregnant.After the child was born, Jiang did not dare to take him, and threw him in an alley, in the woods, and on a frozen waterway, but the child was protected by God and miraculously survived.Jiang was very surprised and raised him.His name "Qi" means to have been discarded.Ai has cultivated the crops since he was a child, and the fruits he planted are lush and extraordinary.He can also process food, and the food he makes is even praised by God.

Now it seems that offering a god of agriculture only expresses the simple wishes of farmers, but in that special year, when He Zhongbao used another god as a cover to express his loyalty to the god of agriculture, it was a double heart for that other god. , is a heinous crime.

He Da also said: "Among the three brothers, He Zhongbao valued the land the most, but he was smarter than his brother He Zhongcai. He hinted at that He Zhongcai bought the land, and He Zhongcai fell into his trick. Get away by yourself. He Zhongbao is too clever, but his cleverness also hurt himself."
"I can't tell"
"Can't tell?" He Da stopped me from speaking, and raised his voice, "He is like his father, he didn't let his children go to school, he just hurt himself! He always dreamed about his ancestors, and vowed to fight against Hejiapo, The results are getting worse and worse. Although his family used to eat better and dress better, in fact, He Zhongbao has a harder life than anyone else on the slope!"
I have to admire my father from the bottom of my heart. His profound insight is beyond the reach of me, a liberal arts college student.

He Da saw from my eyes that his words might be of some use to me, and then said: Logically, He Zhongbao should be the most happy when repairing the water tank and demolishing the stockade, because the iron sand bombs fired from the stockade killed For the seventeen members of his ancestors, the existence of this village is also a humiliation to his family.But, you didn't see the situation at that time, He Zhongbao knelt under the stockade and cried, and he couldn't drag it!Other people on the slope were laughing and joking, secretly saying that he was crazy.From this point of view, He Zhongbao is He Zhongbao after all. He is more generous than many people. He knows that the stockade will be demolished, and his descendants will not be able to remember the hatred that lasted for hundreds of years. something happened.No, He Guanghui didn't take it seriously anymore!The year before last, he clamored to go out to work with He Tuanjie. He Zhongbao held up a pole and said that he broke his leg if he dared to go out. He Guanghui didn't make it.

"It's horrible to think about," I sighed.
He Da said: It’s actually not terrible. Think about it, a family of [-] was killed, and the remaining three had to kneel in front of the murderer’s door for five days and nights before they were allowed to change their surnames. It is incomprehensible.The patriarch at that time went too far, so he suffered retribution. In the generation of your great-grandfather He Xingneng, he has no children. If your grandfather hadn't adopted him, he would have no offspring.In fact, when your grandfather first came here, He Huaqiang was fully capable of driving him out of Hejiapo, and also had the ability to execute your grandfather and me, but he didn't do that. He wanted to leave a seedling for He Xingneng, for himself. keep an opponent
A nerve in my body made a clang.

He Da looked at me and said to himself, "But, no matter what He Zhongbao did to our family and He Jiapo, don't hold grudges against him. He is actually very pitiful. Think about it, Wouldn't it be pity to live with hatred all your life?"
Early the next morning, I hurriedly ate a bowl of cold rice left over from yesterday and went to Guzhai alone.The life experience of He Zhongbao's family, and He Zhongbao's unswerving analysis for the God of Saturn and his father, He Da, gave me a new perspective on this land and the people living on it.I tried to go to the ancient village to prove the reliability of this view.I walked in the morning glow, and came back only after the sunset glow dissipated.No one in the family called me.I guess it was He Da who told them not to bother me.The ruins of the ancient village were overgrown with wild grass, reaching up to my knees, and even sweeping my chest.Where the stone strips are laid, a mark can be clearly seen, like the scar left by the magic whip on the ground.I turned around in that small place, looking around.In a pit like a cow's footprint, there was a clump of tender grass that was as beautiful as a girl, and I couldn't help but gently poked it with my hand, but it turned out to be a coiled cauliflower snake!It probably didn't have time to find the hibernation hole when the cold suddenly fell.I don’t know if it’s because of the heat from my hand that it wakes up instantly, or because the uncomfortable and unsafe place makes it impossible to sleep with the seasons at all. As soon as I retracted my hand, it stretched out its head and looked at me. With two eyes, stretching his body lazily, he crawled out from the entrance of the village and went into the black-spotted bamboo forest.I broke out in a cold sweat and thought: What should I do if the snake attacks me?Do I avoid it, or kill it?
For most of that day, I searched on the imprints made by the stone strips, hoping to find a hemp coin that had witnessed the smoke of gunpowder recording time, but I found nothing.

In the afternoon, although there was still sunshine, the snowflakes were scattered and falling lightly. I couldn't see the snowflakes farther away through the skylight, so I felt that it was only the ancient village that was snowing, and the rest of the place was another world.

The sun has been shining, and the snowflakes have not stopped. When orange-red sun fruits hang on the tree stacks on the top of Yanghou Mountain, I am ready to go home.

The strange thing is that just after I stepped out of the gate of the imaginary village, the cauliflower snake that had burrowed into the bamboo forest for several hours came back slowly and continued to coil in the pit. --Is this snake that no longer attacks the soul left behind by the ancient village?
He Zhongbao never expected that his son He Guanghui went to the navy and passed the exam!
How could a man with webbed hands be admitted to the Navy?He Guanghui was full of joy, and answered this question tirelessly: "When I checked my hand, I looked like this," he said while putting the five thumbs of his left hand together and straightening them, "They didn't find out! "
When he went to preach to the villagers, He Zhongbao gritted his teeth with hatred at home.

He Guanghui went to refer to it, but did not let his father know, but only told his mother Wen.

(End of this chapter)