Cao Wenxuan's Novels Reading and Appreciation: The Grass House

Chapter 3 Grass House (1)
bald crane
一
Bald Crane and Sangsang were classmates from the first grade to the sixth grade.

The bald crane should be called Lu He.But because he is a complete little bald boy from Yau Ma Tei, everyone calls him bald crane.The small village where the bald crane is located is a small village planted with many maple trees.After autumn, the maple trees turn red one by one, very red.But in this village, there are many bald men.They bald their heads one by one, and they walked under such a beautiful maple tree, which attracted the teachers of Yau Ma Tei Primary School to stop and watch quietly.Those bald spots were under the maple trees, glowing slightly red.When the maple leaves are densely packed, and there are occasional gaps, when someone walks by over there, they will shine brightly, like tiles in the sand.Those teachers who put their hands in their trouser pockets or crossed their arms on their chests looked at them and laughed, not knowing what they meant.

Bald Crane has seen this kind of smile many times.

But in Sangsang's memory, Bald Crane didn't seem to care about his baldness until he was in the third grade.This may be because he is not the only bald man in his village, or it may be because the bald crane is too young to remember that he should care about being bald.Bald Crane has been living happily.If someone calls him bald crane, he will happily agree, as if his original name was bald crane, not Lu He.

The baldness of the bald crane is very authentic.He used his long and beautiful neck to support such a bald head.There is absolutely no scar on this head, and it is so smooth and even.Under the sun, this head was as bright as wax, which reminded his classmates that it would also be bright at night.Because of being bald like this, children will often look at it in a daze, and will have the desire to dip their fingers in a little saliva and rub it lightly in their hearts.In fact, the head of the bald crane is often touched by people.Later, Bald Crane found out that the children liked to touch his head, so he regarded his own head as precious, and no longer let them touch it whenever they wanted.If someone touches his head secretly, he will immediately turn his head to judge, seeing that it is someone weaker than him, he will chase after him and let that person take a punch in the back; seeing that it is someone stronger than him, He will curse.Someone must touch it, that's okay, but you have to pay Tuhe something: either a piece of candy, or lend him an eraser or pencil for a long time.With a broken ruler, Sangsang got two touches in exchange.At that time, Bald Crane lowered his head obediently and put it in front of Sangsang's eyes.Sangsang stretched out her hand to touch it, and the bald crane would count: "Once..." Sangsang felt that the bald crane's head was very smooth, just like when he touched a pebble by the river that had been washed by water for countless years. almost.

When Bald Crane was in the third grade, by accident, it seemed that one morning, he became concerned about his baldness.Bald Crane's head can't be touched now.Whoever touches it, he will be impatient with anyone, and he will fight with his life.If people call him Tuhe again, he won't answer anymore.Moreover, no one can exchange things for a touch.Ding Si, a butcher in Yau Ma Tei, saw that the bald crane was staring at the meat on his meat table greedily, so he cut off a piece weighing two catties with a knife, poked a hole with the tip of the knife, threaded a piece of straw rope, and then put it on the table high up. Hold it in front of the bald crane: "Let me touch your head, and this piece of meat will be yours." Saying that, he was about to stretch out his greasy hand.The bald crane said: "Give me the meat first." Ding Si said: "Let me touch it first, and then I will give you the meat." The bald crane said: "No, give me the meat first." Ding Si waited until the door was closed After a few people who were chatting greeted them, they gave the meat to the bald crane.Bald Crane looked at the piece of meat—it was really a good piece of meat!But the bald crane slammed the door hard, threw the piece of meat onto the dusty road, and then ran away.Ding Si grabbed the butcher's knife and chased him out.The bald crane ran for a while but stopped running.He grabbed a brick from the ground, turned around, and faced Ding Si who was holding a sharp knife through gritted teeth.Ding Si didn't dare to take another step forward, he waved the knife twice in the air, said "little baldy", turned and left.

The bald crane is no longer happy.

It rained heavily that day, and Bald Crane came to school without an umbrella.Although it was raining, it was not dark.Therefore, in the silver rain curtain, the bald crane's head is extraordinarily bright.Zhiyue and Xiang Toon, both holding a red-oiled paper umbrella, dodged by the side of the road, letting the bald crane pass by.Bald Crane sensed that the eyes of the two girls were staring at his head under the red oiled paper umbrella.He walked past them.When he turned to look at them, all he saw were two girls covering their mouths with their hands, hiding their smiles.Bald Crane walked towards the school with his head down.But he didn't go into the classroom, but walked into the bamboo forest by the river.

The rain "rustled" on the bamboo leaves, and then dripped from the gaps onto his bald head.He rubbed his head with his hand and looked out over the river in dismay.On the surface of the water, two or three ducks with plump feathers were swimming in the rain, looking very happy.

The bald crane picked up a tile and smashed it, startling the ducks flapping their wings and swimming away.The bald crane threw out another six or seven tiles one after another, and he didn't stop until his tiles could no longer disturb the ducks.He felt a little cold, but he didn't walk to the classroom shivering until the end of a class.

When he got home at night, he said to his father, "I don't go to school anymore."

"Someone bullied you?"

"No one bullies me."

"Then why don't you say you can't go to school?"

"I just don't want to go to school."

"Nonsense!" Father slapped Bald Crane on the head.

Bald Crane glanced at his father, lowered his head and cried.

Father seemed to suddenly understand something.He turned around and sat down on a stool in the shadow that the light couldn't reach, and immediately, the bald head of the bald crane reflected the light of the flickering cigarette in his father's hand.

The next day, my father didn't force Bald Crane to go to school.He went to the town to buy a few catties of ginger: Someone taught him a secret recipe, saying that by rubbing ginger with ginger, hair would grow back in 49 days.He told Bald Crane this.Bald Crane just sat on the stool and let his father rub the sliced ​​ginger back and forth on his head without saying a word.My father polished it carefully, like a coppersmith trying to impress a customer polishing a piece of his bronze.The bald crane soon felt a burning sting.But the bald crane sat motionless, letting his father rub it with ginger slices.

When Sangsang and the others saw the bald man again, the bald man was still bald, but the bald head had turned red, as if he had just drunk wine.

I don't know if it's the paper moon or the toon, but when Bald Crane walked into the classroom, he smelled a nice smell of ginger, so he said softly: "The classroom smells of ginger."

At that time, all the students in the class were there, and everyone sniffed their noses together, only to hear a sound of breathing.Then they all said that it does have ginger flavor.So they smelled each other again, and it turned out that everyone seemed to have the smell of ginger, and no one had the smell of ginger.

The bald crane sat there motionless.When he feels that there may be one or several noses sniffing and sniffing along the way of the smell, he is about to smell him, and when he smells directly on his head, he says "I want to go to the toilet", and then I quickly pretended to be unable to hold back and ran out of the classroom.He ran to the river, picked up a handful of mud with his hands, applied it on his head, and then washed it off with clean water.This was repeated several times until I thought that the smell of ginger had been completely washed away before I walked back to the classroom.

Seventy-seven and 49 days passed, and there was still no movement on the bald crane's head.

Summer is here, when people try to remove something from their bodies and heads, but the bald crane wears a thin hat that his father bought back from the city, and appears in the eyes of people in Yau Ma Tei.

two

Sangsang is the son of the principal Sancho.Sangsang's home is on the campus of Yau Ma Tei Primary School, which is also a grass house.

Yau Ma Tei Primary School is a grass house.More than a dozen thatched houses seem to be connected in a regular and irregular manner.They are respectively used as classrooms, offices, teacher's dormitory, or activity room, warehouse or something.Before and after these grass houses or between these grass houses, there are always some arrangements, or a cluster of two bamboos, or three or two roses, or a canna with colorful flowers, or simply a small piece mixed with small flowers. grass.There is no trace of deliberation in these arrangements, as if this campus existed in the first place, and it was originally like this.These thatched houses do not look very tall, but they have big roofs and are very spacious inside.This grass house is actually very valuable.It is not built with ordinary straw or wheat straw, but with cogon grass mown from the beach three hundred miles away.That thatch grows luxuriantly on the beach, exposed to the sea wind and the unobstructed sun, each blade grows very resilient, shining like copper wire when the sun shines, and when the sea wind blows, it grows very resilient. It can make a metallic sound.A house built with this grass will last forever.Wealthy families here all save money to build this kind of house.The thatched house of Yau Ma Tei Elementary School, the grass is used very carefully and extravagantly. The grass selection is stricter than that of any other family here, and the roof is thicker. Therefore, the grass house of Yau Ma Tei Primary School is warm in winter. It is cool in summer.These houses, under the pure sky in the countryside, look simple and simple, but when the sun shines in the sky, the roofs of the houses are gleaming with gold, showing a sense of luxury.

Sangsang likes these grass houses, not only because he is a student in the grass house, but also because his family is also in this grass house.

Sangsang is in these grass houses, in front of, behind and in all directions to show herself, to tell people "I am Sangsang".

Sangsang is Sangsang, and Sangsang is different from other children, not because Sangsang is the principal's son, but just because Sangsang is Sangsang.

Sangsang's whimsical or unexpected behaviors are consistent.Sangsang thought that he had a good place to live, but his pigeons didn't have one... Many of his pigeons could only go through holes in the wall to spend the night or hatch young pigeons, so he felt pity in his heart and decided to improve the place for the pigeons.When his father and mother were not at home that day, he called Ashu and Zhu Xiaogu to collect all the dishes and other things from the cupboard at home and throw them in the corner, and then lifted the cupboard After coming out, according to his imagination of a high-grade pigeon cage, let A Shu and Zhu Xiaogu work together to modify it with a saw and an axe.Four legs are not necessary, saw them off.The glass door was not necessary, knocked.The cupboard originally had four layers, but each layer was huge and useless.Sangsang asked Ashu to steal a few boards from home, and divided each floor into three levels.Sangsang did some calculations, there were three "households" on the first floor, and a total of twelve "households" could be arranged on the fourth floor. She felt that she had done a great deed for the pigeons, and she felt very noble in her heart, and she was moved by herself.When the sun went down and the sunlight dyed the grass house red, the big pigeon cage was firmly hung on the wall after several efforts by him and Ashu.At night, when the mother looked at a disabled cupboard hanging high on the west wall and became the new home of the pigeons, she dragged Sangsang to the house, closed the door and gave him a solid beating.But Sangsang didn't have a long memory, and after only a dozen days, his old illness relapsed.That day, when he was playing by the river, he saw a fishing boat fishing with a net on the river, and each net could catch fish and shrimp, so he wished he had a net in his heart.But there is no net at home.Sangsang felt itchy in her heart, feeling that she must have a net.He turned around inside and outside the house, and saw the mosquito net on his parents' big bed.This is obviously a mosquito net, but in Sangsang's eyes, it is clearly a very good net.He tore off the mosquito net three times and two times, then found a pair of scissors, and changed the mosquito net into a net in three times and five times. Then he called Ashu and the others to make a net frame with bamboo poles to support He got a duck boat and went fishing on the river.People from both sides of the river came to see it and asked, "Sangsang, what is that net made of?" Sangsang replied, "A mosquito net."People on both sides of the strait are happy.The female teacher Wen Youju said worriedly: "Sangsang, you are going to be beaten again." Sangsang suddenly realized the seriousness of the problem, but with so many interesting eyes on both sides of the strait, he was still very excited to indulge in fishing. In joy and impulse.At noon, my mother saw two or three catties of fish and shrimp in the bamboo basket, and asked, "Where did you get the fish and shrimp?" Sangsang said, "I caught it." "You caught it?" What did you use to hit it?" "That's how I hit it." My mother was too busy cooking, so she didn't have the time to investigate carefully.At noon, the family happily ate fish and shrimp. As they ate, the mother became suspicious again: "Sangsang, what did you use to get the fish and shrimp?" Shrimp, deliberately hemmed and hawed.But the mother put down the chopsticks and refused to eat. When he finished eating the shrimp, she asked again: "What kind of fish and shrimp did you use?" Sangsang held the rice bowl in one hand and grasped the chopsticks in the other, and wanted to leave the table, but her mother couldn't use it. In a defiant tone, she said, "Don't leave yet. Tell me, what did you use to catch the fish and shrimp?" Sangsang retreated into the corner.Little sister Liuliu was sitting on the chair, chewing the prawns relish, while swinging her legs happily, while looking at Sangsang: "My brother caught fish with a net." The mother asked: "Where is he?" The net here?” Liu Liu said, “It’s made of mosquito nets.” Mother put down the bowls and chopsticks in her hand and walked into the room.After a while, the mother came out again and cursed at the back of Sangsang who had already run away.But the mother did not chase after him.At night, after Sangsang came back, his mother didn't beat him either.His mother punished him by taking off his mosquito net.The result of taking off the mosquito net was that he was bitten by the mosquitoes and had red envelopes all over his body, and his left eye was red and swollen and shiny.

The current summer is an out-and-out summer.As soon as the sun showed its face, the sky and the earth were filled with invisible heat, and when the sun, like a golden wheel, rumbled and rolled towards the top of people's heads, the sky and the earth seemed to be ablaze.The leaves of the reeds by the river were curled in the sun, and all plants could not resist the attack of this heat wave, and lowered their heads drowsily.Occasionally people walked by on the main road, but they were in a hurry, as if they would be burned if they stayed in the sun for a long time.Children who could swim and those who could not were all forced into the river by the unbearable heat.Therefore, the river is full of noise.

Sangsang has been soaking in the water for several hours, now he comes to the shore to eat a melon, and he plans to go down the river after eating.He sat on the threshold and ate while watching his mother take a cane and beat the quilts and cotton clothes hanging all over the yard.He knows that this is called "exposure", that is, in the hottest dog days, the cotton-padded clothes are put in the sun to dry them. As long as they are left in the sun for one day, they will not get moldy until winter.Mother went back to the house.After eating the melon, Sangsang was about to go back to the river again, but was stopped by a sudden whim.He thought: In this weather, I put on cotton-padded clothes and trousers, what will happen to people?He remembered that when he went to the city, he saw the popsicle sellers covering the popsicles in cotton covers.He still couldn't figure out why the popsicle didn't melt even though he was covered tightly by the cotton cover.The thought haunted him.Sangsang is a person who is easily entangled in some thoughts.

Not far away, Zhiyue was passing through the field ridge among the corn bushes, coming to school.Zhiyue wore a beautiful straw hat, and walked all the way, gently stroking the corn leaves on the side of the road with her hands.At that time, the corn was spitting out red or green ears.Zhiyue is not like a little girl in the country, she is still so white in this summer.Her face and the arms and legs left out by the short-sleeved shirt and shorts were shining white in the corn bushes.

(End of this chapter)