thirty-one

After the death of the scumbag, Wenhuazi told him to choke on his mother's count. In everything, his mother has to use the scum to compare him. And he himself wondered how to compare every one of his shortcomings, and there was an advantage in scooping slag. And he has so many shortcomings, and he shows his feet as soon as he moves. So, from time to time, he reminded his mother of his mother's nostalgia for the slag, and after the counting, he cried, and the crying was over.

"Culture, give your mother a beating on the back. The mother shouted.

"I'm feeding the pigs. He said.

His mother cried: "I want to fish for the slag, I don't need to say it, he will beat me." As soon as I entered the door, he handed me the washing water, and didn't want me to move. Slag, why did you leave so early......"

Crying makes people's hearts sour and annoyed. The culture is panicking. He was also uncomfortable in his heart, and it was not only his brother who died. Of course, when his brother died, he was so uncomfortable that he felt like a piece of flesh had been stripped of his heart. This younger brother is good, although he is much younger than him, but he lets him everywhere. If it weren't for him, he would have been able to study a year earlier and earn two more "three good students" certificates. However, sad is sad, the dead are dead, and the living still have to live. Therefore, the living cannot help but think more about the living people and the things that are alive.

He thinks about Little Cuizi. Since Xiao Cuizi left, he gradually realized that Xiao Cuizi likes himself, and he also likes Xiao Cuizi. Moreover, Xiao Cuizi's hope for him is also becoming clear day by day. The culture has become boring, even more boring than his brother. Xiao Cuizi left, his brother was also sad, and the sad thing was that his daughter-in-law was gone. His brother is twenty-six years old and misses his daughter-in-law. And it's not his daughter-in-law who is sad, she is not his daughter-in-law. My brother doesn't have a daughter-in-law yet, so he doesn't dare to think about his daughter-in-law Therefore, he is looking forward to his brother marrying his daughter-in-law soon, but it is better not to be Xiao Cuizi, it must not be Xiao Cuizi, but not Xiao Cuizi. Oh, little Cuizi, don't come back. But he couldn't bear to want Xiao Cuizi to come back. When he went down to the lake, he thought, and Little Cuizi ran over and pushed him with his face facing the sky, and on the edge of the well, he thought, and Little Cuizi jumped out and held down his flat shoulder: "Give me back my 'December'!" He remembered that he had "returned" her song, and told her to sing it at once, without running a single sound. "You're supposed to go to school. Wenhuazi sighed. He found that Xiao Cuizi's hope for him was actually her own hope. She should have gone to school. And now, even he himself has no school, what else is he talking about Xiao Cuizi!

He missed school and wanted to read. He often went to Bao Renwen, borrowed books to read, and talked to him. He himself thinks it's surprising, now he can't get along with anyone, but he can pull with Bao Renwen.

"Brother Wen, you can't live like this all the time!" he said.

"I can't go on like everyone else. Bao Renwen replied. The answer is inexplicable, but the culture understands everything.

"Don't you feel bitter?"

"Don't be afraid of suffering, as long as there is hope. ”

"Do you have hope?"

"If you want to, you can't, if you don't want to, you don't Bao Renwen smiled extremely subtly, but Wenzi fully understood.

"How can you live a lifetime, isn't it, Brother Wen?"

"As long as you feel like it's delicious. ”

"Everyone has their own way, isn't it, Brother Wen?"

"Don't look at how others are doing, just take care of yourself. ”

"Don't care what others think of us, just care about your own life. ”

The two of them are like going to Zen, and they can play all night. Every time he came out of Bao Renwen's dilapidated house, Wenwenzi felt a little brighter in his heart.

One night, when he came back from Bao Renwen's house and walked to the door of his house, a person suddenly flashed out of the dark shadows and stood in front of him, looking at him with a pair of dark eyes. He almost screamed, but she covered his mouth, dragged him, and ran to the back of the house. Xiao Cui's hand was hot and hot, and he grabbed it and didn't let go.

The two of them ran off the stage and got into the straw ground, and then they stood still. Xiao Cui turned her head and looked at the culture, and the culture also looked at Xiao Cui. Xiao Cui's face has been thinned, her eyes are bigger, black holes, and bottomless. The moonlight cast the shadow of the seedling leaf on her face, and the shadow swayed, and her face was bright and dark, as if in a dream.

"Where did you go?" Wenkoko wanted to touch her face, but she didn't dare, but she was trembling at the thought.

Xiao Cuizi didn't answer, but just looked at him.

Wenhuazi couldn't help but get scared, and pushed her: "Why are you back again?"

"Came back for you. Xiao Cuizi said, tears flowed down, big tears, hit the seedlings leaves, "pop" sound.

Now it's the turn of the culture to stop talking.

"You don't want me to come back?" asked Xiao Cui resentfully.

"I was thinking of going to you. ”

Xiao Cuizi hugged Wenhuazi's neck, and Wenhuazi dared to hug her. The moon looked at them quietly, for a while, moved a little, looked a little more, moved a little more. It's dew. The straw is jointing, and the "brush" is softly sounding. An autumn insect is "squeaking" and singing. The leaves swayed, shaking the shadow to Xiaocui, and then to Wenhuazi. The dew is cool and sweet.

"Cui, don't go. To go, let's go together. ”

"I'm coming back to ask for your words. If you say that, I'm not afraid. ”

"I'm not afraid, Emily. Wenhua Zi muttered.

"I want you to say that, culture. Xiao Cui muttered.

"I think you're thinking so hard. "Wenhua Zi cried.

"I think you're thinking so hard. Cui cried even more sadly.

"I want you to scold me and beat me. ”

"Cheap bones!" Xiao Cui burst into tears and laughed. Laughed and cried again.

The two laughed softly and cried softly. The moon watched them quietly, and the leaves slapped them quietly.

thirty-two

Bao Bingde is married. Married to a pock-faced sister in Shilipu, although she is pock-faced and stupid, she is still a good girl! immediately set a date, and said that he would marry him. Although the madman had only been dead for three months, everyone understood: neither man nor woman could wait. Three acres and four points of land are lying there, and they have to be served every day, and there is no one at home who can't cook. Besides, Bao Bingde is over forty years old and is waiting to hold his son.

There is a head and a face in the village, Bao Bingde invites all of them, and Bao Renwen is also invited. But Bao Renwen excused himself and didn't go. He sat in his small dilapidated house, and when he heard the shouting of punches from Bao Bingde's house, he was very melancholy, as if he had lost something. He felt a little lonely. A lonely lamp accompanied by a lonely soul, I don't know what I am living.

It seems to be more noisy over there, maybe it's a noisy room. It was quiet again, and the bride was singing a little song. After a while, it was quiet again, and it was about the end of the song. Bao Renwen listened to the movement over there with bated breath, didn't watch out for the door opened, and a cultural son came in, which startled him firmly.

"See the bride?" Bao Renwen asked him.

"Glance at it. Wenhua said.

"What's going on?"

"A pit on the face. Wenhuazi sat on the edge of the bed, flipping through the books.

Bao Renwen rested his head on his arm, lying on the bed, looking at the beam of the black hole.

"My mother is crying again, I want to fish for scum. At this time last year, I sat on a bench with my mother to break a big straw stick. ”

"Slag fishing is a good example, and even Bao Yanrong, a hero, respects him a little. Bao Renwen said.

"Brother Wen, can't you write an article about scooping scum?"

"Write about scum?" Bao Renwen sat up.

"The scum didn't die for himself, he died for Bao Wuye, there is a letter!"

"No, you can write a reportage. Bao Renwen muttered to himself.

"My brother is hard enough, it's only been nine years, and he hasn't been a man yet! ”

"Although others are small, they are doing great virtues. ”

"My mother chattered when she cried, and she didn't give him a good tea meal. This year, I can harvest a lot and eat a full stomach. He's gone again. ”

Bao Renwen got off the ground and touched his shoes under the bed. He was completely agitated, and a shiver of happiness filled his body. "Inspiration came. "It's inspiration." "He's sure. Hurriedly touched the pen and paper, completely forgot about the culture, and set it aside.

He ignored Wenzi, Wenzizi ignored him, took off his shoes, went to bed, lay down with his arms on his pillow, and changed places with Bao Renwen. He looked at the beams of the black hole.

Xiao Cuizi doesn't know if she will come tonight, there is such a big movement in the village, people come and go, and it can't stop until the third watch. Xiao Cuizi worked for people in Liujiazi, ten miles away, and said that he would come over as soon as he was free. Let Wenhua Zi go to the backstage of the house every night, when the moon is in the middle of the sky. They made an appointment, gritted their teeth and waited, and when Jianzi married his daughter-in-law, Xiaocui came back, and Wenzi got married. Although she and Jianzi are not married and the second is not registered, everyone in the village thinks that she is Jianzi's daughter-in-law. And Wenhuazi is her brother-in-law. Therefore, she has to wait for Jianzi to become a family before she can show up.

Bao Yanshan's family is so worried about the construction of the son. She understands that the important reason why Jianzi can't be said to be a daughter-in-law is that there is no house at home. The three broken mud houses, after such a once-in-a-century water bubble, fell down again, and the roof fell down every day, maybe when they all lay down, burying a few members of the family in it. She planned with the man, harvested the autumn, sold all the grain except for the seeds, and built a house. But what do you have to eat without food? This is another thing to worry about. The two of them baked cakes on the pillow every night, turning them over until the rooster crowed until dawn.

Wenhuazi looked at the roof beam, and there seemed to be a big black hole on the beam, looking at it, Wenhuazi felt as if he had fallen into that big hole.

It was quiet over there, and someone knocked on the door and walked by, and the sound of talking hit the ground:

"I'm not afraid of a hemp face, as long as I can give birth. ”

"Look at her thick waist and big belly, she can give birth to a litter!"

"Grandma's, cold. ”

The footsteps knocked on the mud and went away.

The moon is in the middle of the sky.

thirty-three

The second aunt's eldest son is sixteen, and he has grown into a big man, with a black face, and he doesn't smile. Last year, I was called "uncle", but this year I won't call it. Pick it up and call him, and he ignores it. The second aunt consulted him about everything, let alone with Shilai. He picked up the loose merchant and picked it up, and when he saw the merchant's drum, he took it in his hand and shook it gently:

Ding-dong, ding-dong.

The sound of the merchant's drum is crisp and crisp. He was stunned, as if he remembered something, and finally he didn't think of anything. He thrust the merchant's drum into his waist, picked up the merchant's pick, and left. I didn't say hello to the second aunt. The second aunt burned the pot and waited for it to eat, but she couldn't wait, she couldn't come. Zhuang before and after Zhuang looked for it, people said, did not see the pick-up, but saw a merchant, hit the road and walked over, that look is indeed a bit like pick-up. She hurried home to find the loose pick, and when she couldn't find it, she understood.

"I'm afraid you won't come back?" she pouted, filled a bowl of porridge herself, grabbed a pancake and ate it, brushed the pot and fell asleep. She didn't sleep all night, and as soon as there was a stir, she had to prick up her ears to hear if someone was knocking on the door. No one knocked on the door.

When she woke up early the next day, she did whatever she had to do. The third day passed like this. On the fourth day, she was a little breathless, she didn't close her eyes all night, sat on the bed around the quilt, and smoked for a night. When it was dawn, she changed into a half-new coat of Haichanglan and decided to find it.

"My mother, what are you looking for? find a bear!" said to her rudely.

"I'm going to find you, you bastard!" she scolded, the eldest son didn't dare to make a sound, she also scolded, "If you didn't have him, you would have died a long time ago, and if you didn't starve to death, you would have died of exhaustion." He's yours big. Don't look at how old you are, it's also your age. Do you dare to call him big, you look at ......" The second aunt scolded, and couldn't help but feel a little sad. She remembered the appearance of picking up and plowing the ground, her bare backbone, the beads of sweat on her back were shiny, and the waistband of her pants was wet.

Pick up and pick up the merchant to pick up and walk on the road, the road is white, over the dam in front, gone. He suddenly remembered a moonlit night, this road was white, and a beetle turned over on the dam, and slowly approached, and it was a flat car, and a woman in a blue and white flower jacket pulled the flat car, and there was a cool bed frame on the car, and a basket, and there was cloth in the basket, cotton wool, fruit, and a box of cigarettes. His heart was pounding, his eyes were hot, as if something was coming out, and he raised his hand and touched it. Quiet in the Zhuangzi, only the old man and children. He walked over to his hut, which had almost sunk into the ground, with only a rotten roof left on the ground. There are many houses with blue bricks to the top.

The door was not locked, it was hidden, and it could not be pushed by pushing the door, and if you tried harder, the door collapsed. The house was empty, and there were stalks of broken wheat all over the place. Sunlight peeked in through the window openings, rolling up a few wisps of ash. There was only one stove and two beds in the house: a board bed and a cool bed. He was standing, his head touching the beam. There were a few children at the door, staring at him stunned.

"What about the people in this house?" he asked the child.

"Gone. The child replied.

"Where are you going?"

The children looked at each other, and one of them said, "It's up to the north." ”

He stood for a moment, then came out, put the door on, closed it, and turned around.

The sun pierced his eyes and he couldn't open them. The sun is shining.

Pick up and pick up the merchant and walk on the road, walking through a piece of land, this is two, that is three, doing work. He thought about his second aunt's land. He thought about the taste of the land being burned by the sun and burning his heart, thinking about the bitter smell of the land, thinking about what he planted and what he harvested, and he couldn't deceive at all, and he didn't deceive people's honesty at all, and when he thought about the second aunt plowing the ground, the ragged gown fluttered and flickered, and a pair of soft and sturdy mothers appeared from time to time. He walked lazily on the road, and the merchant's drum sounded listlessly:

"Ding-knock, ding-knock. ”

When I entered Zhuangzi, a daughter-in-law came to pick up flower threads, and a sister came to pick up buttons...... Hands of all colors were churning in the box. He looked at the hands, and his heart was sullen. Wait until they have picked enough, buy it, or don't buy it. He straightened his pick, shouldered it, straightened his waist, and just took a step, he stood again. Ten paces away from him, there stood a girl, her face was dirt, sweat, and flowers, her hands pinched her waist, and she looked at him hatefully.

"Two, two," he said, "child, child." ”

"The mother is dead! was dumped by her man, hanged, thrown into the river, and hit his head on Bao Mountain and died!"

"Oh, how can you. Picking up the smiling face, but in my heart it was like drinking a bowl of hot tea, very comfortable.

"Her man has found Sister Huanghua! He has found a foreign girl wearing high heels and a hot lion's head! He has found a young lady who lives in the building!"

"Where, how can you!" picked up and approached, raised his hand, touched the second aunt's shoulder, and was slapped off by the second aunt.

"Her man died, she was widowed, she remarried, and she went to the other side of the mountain!"

"Oh, how can you. "Pick up the hand that came back and put it on his head, scratching it.

"I gave birth to a big purring child, there are male, female, long, short, square, round......" The second aunt herself laughed and quickly covered it again.

Pick up and take two steps forward.

"Where are you going?" shouted the second aunt.

"Let's go!" he replied.

"Where is your home? Do you remember home?"

I didn't dare to move, and stood there.

"Are you dead? Don't move, do you want to die in the field feeding the dogs?"

Only then did he dare to move around and follow her. It was like a stone had been laid down in his heart, and he asked himself: What is the matter? Nothing, nothing. He replied to himself. The more he walked, the more briskly he went, and he couldn't help but walk into the second aunt's head.

The sun shone on the land, the wind blew the big willow tree, the willow branches fluttered to and fro, and a finch sang. The drum of the merchant "ding-dong" sounded. He walked and turned around, and saw that the second aunt was wiping her tears, and he was stupid again:

"You, what are you doing here?"

"You conscienceless!" the second aunt choked and scolded.

"I'll come home when I go. ”

"I'm not looking for you, you're coming home?"

"If you don't look for it, you can come home. ”

"Nonsense. ”

"If you talk nonsense, there will be five thunders in the sky!" he swore by the curse. He looked at his second aunt's tearful hairy eyes, and his nose was sore.

The two followed each other back to the village, and it was already noon. The second aunt opened the lock and entered the house, shouting and picking it up: "Burn the pot!"

Before she could sit down in front of the pot, she shouted again:

"The water tank has bottomed out, and I don't pick up the water, it's so blind. ”

So, he got up again and went to fetch water.

thirty-four

Bao Bingde didn't understand why he could have said so much. When it was dark, as soon as his head was on the pillow, he began to babble at his new daughter-in-law, and the chatter was endless. He told her the origin of Xiao Baozhuang: The ancestors of the Bao family were officials, but they are poor now, but they have roots. He told her all the instigation of his family: the woman in his past, how the woman had become crazy, how she wanted to hang herself but not die, and how she fell down and drowned when the flood was raging, and she still hasn't found a single hair.

The daughter-in-law always listened quietly. I couldn't see the pockmarks on her face in the dark, I couldn't see anything, I just felt her face against his, her eyes blinking, blinking for half a day, blinking for half a day. He knew she was awake and listening to him!

Bao Bingde thought that he was not good at talking. He often didn't say a word for several days, and when he opened his mouth, he startled himself. Now I can't stop talking about it, and even I feel annoyed. It's not like it's been all the last few years. It's strange to say, when people speak, it seems to come to life. He seemed to come back to life. Looking back on those years, I don't know what I'm living for. He just felt that he was talking too much, and he was afraid of being annoyed.

Her face was against his, blinking for half a day, blinking for half a day. She was awake, listening to him.

She already had it in her belly, and for some reason, he didn't have to lie on her stomach to listen, and he knew that it must be a living child. He so decided. He thinks that this girl is dedicated to giving birth to children for him to live, and she is an out-and-out girl, at home. Sleep with such girls in your arms, sleep soundly, sleep really.

Sometimes, however, he sat on the bench with his feet soaked in the footbasin, smoking a cigarette pouch, and watched her go about his work. Looking at it, you can't help but see a slender back, with a big braid jumping on the back, like a long worm. His heart will hurt like a knife. He felt that the madman had deliberately jumped into the water to make way for this daughter-in-law, and he had also made way for him. Alas, if you find her body and bury it in the ground, it is good to look at it often, hold the soil, pull the weeds, and have a place to feel uncomfortable. But she didn't know where to hide, she couldn't even find a hair, she didn't even let him hold the soil, she didn't let him pull out the grass, she didn't even occupy any land, she didn't even give him any discomfort. It was to let him pass, and it was also to ask him to let her go.

Bao Bingde's heart was sour. But as soon as it got dark, I put my arms around the girls, and the words came again. The roots of the ears faintly seem to be singing a little song in the field behind the house, and the sound is thin and the wind blows. After listening to it again, it was gone.

thirty-five

Bao Renwen stayed up for a few nights and wrote a reportage for slag. This time, he sent out four or five or six or seven copies in a row, and sent them to several places: provincial, regional, and county cultural centers, periodicals, newspapers, youth newspapers, and juvenile newspapers......

After the autumn harvest, the grain went into the house and was hoarded. It's the Chinese New Year, and Bao Bingde's belly is very tall and it's about to give birth.

Firecrackers rang out again and again in front of the village, and the beams on the roof were raised!

On this day, a jeep came on the road, and when I entered the village, I asked where Bao Renwen's family lived, and then I went all the way to find it.

Bao Renwen was working in the field when he saw a jeep coming from afar. The car stopped, and two people came down and walked towards him, and they were walking towards him, stepping on the wheat seedlings that were just emerging. He straightened up, put up the pergola with his hands and looked at it, and his heart "pounded". He could tell that the two men were not from the village, and one of them was not even from this place. What are they here for? The sun is shining in their eyes, and they can't open their eyes. The two men came from where the sun was shining.

The two men came step by step.

The two of them came step by step.

The two of them walked up to them step by step and asked:

"Are you Comrade Bao Renwen?"

"Yes. He said, his voice shaking.

"This is Comrade **, a reporter from the regional newspaper Hyosung. The man who looked like this place pointed to the person who didn't look like this place and said, "I am from the county cultural center, and my surname is Wang." ”

Comrade had already reached out and held his hand. ** Comrade wore a pair of glasses, and he was very tender, and he did not dare to judge his age. It's hard to say how old the people in the city are. He shook Bao Renwen's hand enthusiastically and pulled him to sit down on the ground, as if it were his home's land.

He really came for the reportage of the scum. When they received the manuscript, they read it first and pressed it down. Later, after the New Year, it was approaching March. March is Courtesy Month. The leaders asked them to grasp a typical example well so as to cooperate with the propaganda of "five stresses and four beauty." So they remembered this reportage again, found it again, looked at it, circulated it, and felt that the deeds were okay. In other words, how can I say it? The article should also be polished, and the plot of taking care of the five guarantee households should be further fleshed out and strengthened. You must know that the problem of the elderly is simply a worldwide social problem. Therefore, I sent Comrade ** to cooperate with Comrade Bao Renwen to complete this reportage together. The matter is very urgent, today, Bao Renwen is going to go into the city with them. It is necessary to strive to complete it before March, so that Comrade ** can return to the society with the manuscript and see it in the newspaper on March 1.

When Bao Renwen heard him say all this, it was as if he had fallen into a fivefold cloud. "I'm not dreaming, am I?" he asked himself. "I'm not dreaming, am I?" he asked himself. He felt dizzy, felt weak and weak, and couldn't even smile anymore. He looked at the tender face of Comrade ** and couldn't hear what he was saying, as if there was a malfunction in the movie, only the figure had no sound. Comrade Lao Wang handed over the cigarette roll, he took it in a daze, and actually asked Comrade ** to light the fire, and he didn't even say thank you.

Finally, Comrade ** stood up, patted the dirt on his buttocks, and said, "That's it." ”

Bao Renwen also stood up, patted the soil on his buttocks, and said, "Okay, that's it." ”

"Let's go now!"

"Okay, let's go. Bao Renwen followed. In a trance, I don't know where to go. Walking out of the wheat field and getting into the jeep, the smell of stinky gasoline made him cold: **Comrade is going to go to the scum house to have a look, and his parents lala.

Bao Yanshan's house was boiling the pot, and when he saw two strangers coming, he was a little panicked and hurriedly stood up. Comrade Lao Wang said:

"This is a reporter from the regional "Hyosung Daily", who has come to interview the deeds of your family Bao Renping, and wants to write an article to report it!"

His mother was still confused.

"This is a county and regional cadre, come to ask about your family's scum, and write an article to praise it!" Bao Renwen explained.

She understood, relieved: "Sit in the house, sit in the house!"

It was pitch black inside, and a grain hoard took up a third of the room. **Seemed to look left and right in some surprise and did not speak. Someone went to the lake and called Bao Yanshan.

"This is Bao Renping's father. Bao Renwen introduced.

The two stepped forward together, one holding a hand and shaking it vigorously. Bao Yanshan looked at them in confusion, and finally let his hands go:

"Sit, sit!"

After everyone sat down, Comrade ** lifted his glasses and asked in a low voice:

"At what age did Bao Renping start taking care of Bao Wuye?"

"When I was young, I was close to Bao Wuye. If you can talk, you will invite Bao Wuye to dinner, and if you can walk, you will go to deliver pancakes to Bao Wuye. ”

"Why is he so good to Fifth Master Bao?"

"They have a fate. Bao Wuye ignores people, stubborn, just cares about the scum, and the scum. ”

"Did Bao Renping keep a diary before his death?"

"Diary?"

"Do you write articles every day when you are alive?" explains Bao Renwen, who invisibly became a translator.

"Since he went to school, every day after school, cut pig vegetables, and eaten, he has been lying on the table to do his homework. I kept writing, my hands were numb in the winter, and I still wrote in the summer, when the mosquitoes were crazy, I still wrote. Call him, scoop up the scum, and write it again tomorrow! He said: There will be homework for tomorrow tomorrow!"

"Is what he wrote still there?"

"It burned with his bag. ”

"Burned?" Comrade ** was surprised.

"The customs of this place: the young ghost, his things are not kept at home, they are all burned, and those that cannot be burned are buried and thrown away. Bao Renwen explained.

"Oh. Comrade ** took a soft breath.

"This kid has a hard life and hasn't had a good meal. He sighed, tears falling to the ground. He coughed, spit out two mouthfuls of phlegm, rubbed it with his foot, and rubbed it away.

The comrade stopped talking, and after a while, he said softly: "Let's go." ”

Bao Renwen took them to the big willow tree to have a look. **Comrade raised his head to look at the treetops, imagining how Bao Wuye was lying on the tree at that time. He looked down at the trunk of the tree again, imagining how the slag had died holding on to the trunk. **Touch the rough body of the tree, and don't speak.

Bao Renwen took them to the grave of the slag by the ditch to have a look. There was some green grass growing on the grave, swaying slightly in the wind. A snow-white lamb was nibbling on the tender grass, and a child was washing his feet in the ditch, staring at them with wide eyes and seriousness.

"Kid, come here. Something to ask you. The old king called him.

He ran up, took the lamb by the hand, turned his head and ran, looking back as he ran.

"The children in the village have never seen the world. Bao Renwen apologized on his behalf.

Lao Wang shook his head and smiled: "I want to ask him about Bao Renping." ”

** I didn't speak all the time, standing in front of the grave of the slag.

The grass on the grave was green and tender, swaying slightly with the wind.

thirty-six

Bao Bingde's family was born, and it was easy to give birth. People went to the lake to call Bao Bingde, and he ran home in a hurry. As soon as I arrived at the door, before I put down the hoe, there was a "whoop" inside and I went to the ground. It's a big fat girl.

is not a kid, and Bao Bingde is not discouraged. Girl boy, he wants it, the same gold. I've done it a few times in my dreams, and some people call him big.

But two months later, he became pregnant again. The township came to mobilize family planning and asked his women to have abortions and sterilizations. He promised to send his family back to his parents' house the next day. Where there is life, there is hope.

He walked back from her mother's home Shilibao alone, wanting to be happy, wanting to be happy. I didn't expect everyone to live to this point, and there was no hope for it. Unexpectedly, the mountain turned around and went again. He walked to the edge of the ditch and walked past the grave where the slag was being scooped. The wind blew through the graves, and the grass rustled. His legs went limp, he crouched down, and he remembered the mad woman. He looked at the small grave, the big black ditch under the grave, and couldn't help but have a strange thought:

"Maybe it was the scum who dragged her away, and he saw that I couldn't live anymore, so he pulled me a mile. ”

And he looked at the grave, and the grass on it shone in the moonlight.

"They all say that this kid is sensible. So small, so benevolent. ”

He looked at the ditch, the water, sparkling in the moonlight.

"This kid is amazing, and he is amazingly benevolent. The fate with Bao Wuye is also surprising, this is a little weird child. ”

He grabbed a handful of dirt and slapped it on the grave:

"Good boy, you bless your seventh master to give birth to a good son like you!"

He patted the earth firmly, paused for a while, and left.

The crackling firecrackers in the village raised the beams on the roof.

Across the ditch, in the shadow of the trees. There are two people, talking:

"Your family collects so much grain, and you still don't build a house?"

Over the years, our family owes a lot of debts to the team, and we say that we must be trustworthy in life, and we can't fail to repay the debts we borrow. ”

"When will the house be built?"

"When he had gathered wheat and sold his grain, he built a house. ”

"Why don't you go into business? Grow something else and sell it on the street. ”

"As I said, the most important thing is food. With food, there is nothing to fear. Besides—"

"Say anything more?"

"I said, we are our own people, not businessmen. ”

"What's wrong with business?"

"That has to trick people, and you have to be ruthless. ”

"One street is all business, and one street is full of wolves. ”

"That's not what I meant. ”

A pebble was thrown into the ditch, and a splash of water swept away in circles.

"Angry?"

"I'm afraid I'm going to starve you to build a house. I know you're a pot-bellied man. ”

"The ground is green and yellow, what can't you eat? gray cabbage, mother's vegetables. ”

"Eat it makes you feel edema. I was swollen and sick to death. ”

"No, you can't. My mother said that she had sold all the grain, and she had to keep a little of it. ”

"That's right. ”

The wind blew through the woods, and the water in a large ditch rippled slightly, shining brightly.

"What are you thinking? ”

"I think, in the future, I'll bring you steamed buns to eat. ”

thirty-seven

Bao Renwen followed ** and lived in the county for three days. said that it was cooperation, but in fact, it was Bao Renwen who provided the materials and wrote it. After writing it, let Bao Renwen read it again to see what is distorted and does not conform to the facts. After Bao Renwen pointed it out, ** changed it. After two days, Bao Renwen only moved his mouth, but he didn't use his pen, and he was very unhappy in his heart.

And the three days of contact with ** have made him break some of the mysteries of reporters. He didn't expect that the reporter was also the same person as him, he had to eat, sleep, and snore when he slept, which caused him to not sleep soundly for two nights. And he knew that ** was three or four years younger than him, cut the line, and then self-taught and entered the newspaper. He sometimes asked Bao Renwen to drink, and when he drank too much, he complained. Complaining that I don't have a diploma and can't eat. Houses are crowded, wages are low, bonuses are still being fought for, blah, blah, blah, blah Bao Renwen just didn't understand how a person who was engaged in such a noble cause could be troubled by so many mundane things. And with all these mundane things disturbing, how can we work on the soul of man!

When he walked home from the county seat, his heart was filled with a sense of loss. However, when he entered Xiao Baozhuang and faced the completely changed respectful gaze of the people, the sense of loss disappeared again, and his heart gradually became full. A week later, Hyosung published an article titled "Little Heroes at the Foot of Bao Mountain." His name is impressively printed in lead under the title, after **. He looked at the newspaper, and his heart was beating so hard that it seemed to jump out of his throat. After calming down for a while, he began to read the article, and his heartbeat gradually slowed down and became normal. Not a single word in the article was written by him. He slowly calmed down and looked at it again. This time, he found that a few sentences must have come from his earliest manuscript. For example: "In the face of death, he left his life to others and his death to himself." This sentence was in the original manuscript, and he remembered it. When he saw it the fifth or sixth time, he saw between the lines his labor. He really recognized that this was the best article, and it was also his Bao Renwen article. His article was finally printed in lead, and his name was finally printed in lead. This lead word is a kind of recognition, a kind of affirmation. His name is no longer insignificant. His existence seemed more certain, more tangible. If he originally had some doubts, some hesitations, and some uncertainties about whether he existed, then at this time, he was completely relieved.

Wenzi read this article to his eldest mother, but his eldest mother's face was faint, as if he was listening to a story about someone else's family. Those exciting words didn't seem to have much effect on him. The scum in the article seems to be far away from them, and they are divided. It's just that when the article mentioned Bao Yanshan's name, Bao Yanshan raised his head and asked:

"Mention me?"

"I've mentioned you, you're a big scumbag!"

"It's not interesting to mention what I'm doing. ”

"You're a big scumbag!"

And he stopped squeaking.

The article also mentions many people, such as the village chief who organized the rescue of people, and the slag pickup, all of whom were read several times by Wenhua Zi or other children who had read books.

This article has stirred the hearts of many people, some people have written letters to Baozhuang Primary School, some people have written letters to his mother, and some people have written letters to all the villagers in Xiaobaozhuang. On the day of Qingming, all the teachers and students of Baozhuang Primary School came to sweep the grave of the slag. According to the rules of the land, a piece of earth was pressed on the top of the grave. Then lay a wreath and tie it with wild flowers and weeds. Colorful, in the sun, very bright.

After two months, the wheat was finished. Xiao Baozhuang came to another jeep and got off three people. One is Lao Wang of the county cultural center, one is a chick wearing a dress, and the other is a man in his forties. Together, they walked into Bao Yanshan's home. This is a reporter from the provincial newspaper from the province. The province decided to vigorously publicize slag scooping.

Bao Yanshan was much calmer than last time, shook hands, and invited the guests to sit down. Then he told the story of the sacrifice before and after the slag was removed. I can't help but be sad and shed tears.

"Which hero did Bao Renping respect the most during his lifetime?" the woman asked.

Bao Yanshan didn't understand a little, but he was embarrassed to ask people to explain again and again, so he nodded, thought for a while and said: "Lao slag is very respectful to adults and children, and when I see the old man, I always say hello: 'Have you eaten?' and children, never fight and grind their teeth." ”

The woman swiped it down in her notebook for a while, and then asked, "Who influenced him to do this?"

Bao Yanshan thought for a while: "When I was a child with his mother, I said to him: 'When you see someone, you have to talk and greet you, and people who are older than you must not ignore it. If you're younger than you, let it go, that's a good boy. 'Our village is on the mile, since ancient times, it is about benevolence and righteousness, everyone helps when there is something in the family, and everyone knows it within a radius of dozens of miles. This child is affected by this. ”

The woman stumbled in her notebook for a while, then looked up and asked, "Is it a task arranged by the school for him to take care of Bao Wuye?"

"It's not. He is just good to Bao Wuye, and they have fate! To be honest, Bao Wuye is also good to him, and only when the two are good can they become one!" Bao Yanshan said.

The man spoke: "The schoolbag that Bao Renping used before his death, can you let us see it?"

"It's all burned. Bao Yanshan said, "The rules of this place, the things of young ghosts are not left at home, they are all burned and buried." ”

"Does he have any pictures?" he asked again.

"No, he didn't take a picture. ”

"Oh. The man seemed to take a breath.

"This kid has a hard life, and he hasn't eaten a good meal of tea and rice. Bao Yanshan's eyes turned red again, and he pointed to the food hoard in the house, "I can eat enough, but he is not there again." He choked up and couldn't say any more.

"Let's talk to Comrade Pickup again. They stood up and took their leave.

Bao Yanshan stood at the door, watching them go, and thought sadly: This kid is not alive, but when he dies, it can be regarded as a blessing for so many people to ask him. I felt a little comforted.

He stood leaning against the door, as if he heard the sound of a merchant's drum: "Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Ding Dong!"

thirty-eight

Pick up the pot and burn it. Seeing that a cadre from the province came to look for her, the second aunt pushed it up and burned it herself. When he picked it up, he smoked a cigarette and talked to the cadres in the province.

"That day, you went into the water to catch Bao Renping, didn't you?" the man asked.

"Everyone went into the water, some of them got rotten shoe shells, some of them got rotten cotton covers. Finally, I scooped up the slag. "Pick it up and be honest.

"How did you touch him?" the man asked.

"I slammed my eyes closed. As he was talking, the second aunt brought a few bowls of tea, one bowl per person, and also brought a bowl to the pickup, and quickly picked it up.

The second aunt let go and put it on the board: "Don't burn it." ”

He glanced at her gratefully, and then said, "I plunged down with a strong hand, and my hand touched the big willow tree, and I held on to the trunk of the tree and touched a small hand. I had already exhaled my breath, so I floated up and took a breath, and then I plunged him down again, and I dragged him up. Unable to drag, he held the tree in his hands and hugged it tightly. ”

"Oh. The man exhaled, and the woman kept writing down in the notebook.

"He died for Bao Wuye. "Pick it up.

The two of them were very moved to look at the pick-up, especially the little girl, whose eyes were watery and shiny, as if she was about to cry. She looked a little hot on her face and lowered her head.

"Let's go back to the village chief. He organized the rescue, didn't he?" the man asked.

"It was he, as soon as he heard that there were no people, he immediately took us down the mountain. ”

"Where does his family live?"

"His family lives in the east of the village, on a high platform, and there is a row of ......."

"The child is older, you can't finish running with the two comrades. The second aunt spoke.

Pick up and look at the second aunt, and the second aunt is also looking at him. So he got up and went with them.

Soon, a large piece of article was published in the provincial newspaper, entitled "Seedlings and New Wind - Remembering the Little Hero Bao Renping Who Sacrificed Himself for Others". The article is written in great detail, with a drawing. Everyone passed it on and looked at it, and they all said that it looked like a slag fisher. The article mentions picking up, and describes it, saying that he is simple and honest, physically strong, and went into the water several times, and finally rescued Bao Renping, but Bao Renping has closed his eyes forever in his arms. also mentioned the matter of picking up and the second aunt, saying that he did not think the second aunt was poor, and treated the second aunt's children as his own children. This is written as a background to the hero's growth. He even mentioned the old revolutionary Bao Yanrong and introduced his glorious history. said that the little hero grew up in such a place, and the spirit of his predecessors who were not afraid of sacrifice for the people undoubtedly had a subtle influence on him.

In this paragraph, Bao Yanrong found someone to read it again, pondered for a long time, and couldn't help but evoke his sense of honor that had long been asleep. For a day or two, he looked for Bao Renwen and wanted to pull him along. But Bao Renwen had no time to spare, and he was hurrying to write a longer and more literary work, and he decided to write a biography of a little hero.

Soon after the article was published, primary school students from neighboring villages, neighboring townships, and even neighboring counties lined up, carrying wreaths, to the grave of the slag fishing, and passed the team day to pay tribute to the little heroes and swear an oath to the little heroes. Wreaths of all kinds covered the grass on the grave, and gradually, piled up high, covering the small graves. Looking at it from afar, I only saw a flower bun, like a flower island on the green sea, illuminated by the sun.

At this time, a writer and an editor came to the provincial publishing house to edit and publish a book "The Story of Little Heroes".

Bao Renwen finally saw a writer so closely.

The writer was a short, skinny, forty-year-old man who smoked heavily. He seemed to have very severe tracheitis, and he sat there without speaking, and heard a gurgling sound in his throat. He read the draft written by Bao Renwen and decided to work on this "Story of Little Heroes" with Bao Renwen. On the basis of this "biography", this "biography" does collect a lot of biographical materials of the little hero. Together, they interviewed the little hero's relatives repeatedly, and then, went to find them.

The pick-up is not there, but the second aunt is there. Bao Renwen introduced to the writer: "This is from the family. ”

"Pick up the family, you go to the lake and shout to pick it up!" Bao Renwen told her.

He picked up what he had from home and went.

Bao Renwen said to the writer: "The wives here are called 'homely'. I call you this so that you may know the customs of this place. The writer smiled.

When I got home, I greeted the writers first, and then shouted at the family: "Burn tea!"

So, the family went to squat down in front of the stove and set fire to the pot.

picked up and told the writers about the process of his fishing for the little hero: "I plunged into it with a fierce son, no." No more fierce man plunged down, but there was none. Later, I thought that Bao Wuye was lying on the big willow tree, and he couldn't get far from the big willow tree. And he went down next to the tree, and touched the tree with his hand. This is the tree at the east end of Zhuang, the tallest tree in our Xiaobaozhuang. That time, only the treetops were left. Do you think there could be anything else?"

The writer nodded and wrote down in his notebook.

"I held on to the trunk of the tree, and I touched a small hand, and it was ......cold," he recounted, gradually moved by his own narrative, and his voice rose high. At this time, the second aunt came with tea.

Now, the second aunt is going to pay tribute to pick up three points, and everyone in the village is going to pay tribute to pick up three points. I felt that it was different from the past, and my waist slipped a little straighter, and my steps were very big, and I began to fight with everyone.

"Pick it up, it's noon this afternoon, the writer is having dinner at your house?"

"Nope. They went to the countryside to eat. ”

"Why don't you keep your home to eat?"

"Stay. They are polite. The talent in the city is polite. "Pick it up.

"Why don't you go back to your hometown and take a look?"

"It's too far away, not going back. ”

"Is there anyone else in my hometown?"

"It's just me. The voice was lowered, a little sad.

A few days later, someone gave him a message: Zhuangkou walked by an old merchant, and when he saw Baozhuang, he inquired about him and asked him if he was okay after he got married? Is there a doll? Can the Baozhuang people be reasonable with him? The man answered him one by one. When it was over, the old merchant asked him to carry a letter to pick it up, and his aunt was doing well in the north, with food and clothing. Asked him, "Aren't you going to see what you picked up?" and the old man hesitated and said, "No." ”

That night, I had a dream in which there was a merchant drum that always rang in my ears: "Ding Dong, Ding Dong, Ding Dong!"

thirty-nine

On this day, a jeep came from the county and parked in front of Bao Yanshan's house. The secretary of the county party committee stepped out of the car, grabbed Bao Yanshan's hand, and told him: "Bao Renping has been rated as a young hero by the provincial Youth League Committee, it's glorious!"

Bao Yanshan was stunned, his withered roots-like hands wrapped in the warm and soft hands of the county party secretary. He didn't understand what it meant to be a young hero, he only understood that it was rare to be so valued by the secretary of the county party committee. I was so excited that I couldn't say anything for a while.

The secretary of the county party committee hugged the hero's father, walked into the hero's home, was silent, and said a sentence for a long time: "I have suffered you." ”

"Now it's not bitter, there's food. Bao Yanshan pointed to the grain hoard, "It's just slag and he's gone." ”

"Is there enough food to eat?" the secretary of the county party committee touched the grain hoard.

Bao Yanshan's family suddenly interjected: "Let's discuss selling the grain and building a house." ”

The secretary of the county party committee raised his head, looked around at the black hole, and said, "This house can't be lived." ”

"I don't have a house, my eldest child is twenty-seven, and I can't talk about my daughter-in-law. She wiped a handful of tears.

The secretary of the county party committee looked at the black hole and said, "Grain must not be sold." Then he shook Bao Yanshan's hand tightly and left.

The next day, the village chief came to tell Bao Yanshan that the county had granted him timber, cement, bricks and tiles to build a house for his family.

A few days later, the village chief told Bao Yanshan that the township agricultural machinery factory had assigned a quota to Jianzi and let him switch to commercial grain.

It was the first anniversary of the death of the slag that the county decided: move the grave.

The primary school in the county came with a wreath, the primary school in the township came with a wreath, and the primary school in Baozhuang came with a wreath.

The coffin of the slag came out of the ditch and moved to the middle of Xiaobaozhuang - on the field. Filled in more than a dozen steps, built a tall and large tomb, built bricks, plastered the cracks with cement, and erected a tall stone tablet, on which it was written:

Immortal

Now, the tallest in Baozhuang is no longer the big willow tree in Zhuangdong, but this monument. The monument stands, and behind it is the green and secluded Bao Mountain.

The drums of the team were beaten, the trumpets of the team were blown loudly, and the secretary of the county party committee gave a speech and laid the first wreath......

Bao Yanshan and the idiots in his family sat stunned, wanting to cry but not daring to cry. In advance, many people explained to them: "On this occasion, it's not good to cry again." ”

The tomb of the slag was moved to the middle of Xiaobaozhuang, which was big and high, like a house. The bricks are made of concrete, and the cement is plastered, and there will be no more weeds, and no lambs will come to gnaw grass to eat.

forty

Bao Yanshan's new house has been beamed and capped. There are four large rooms with large windows, pink and white walls, and gray floors.

Jianzi went to work in the agricultural machinery factory. The door-to-door proposers continue, and now it's his turn to pick someone.

On the day Jianzi got married, Xiao Cuizi returned. She knelt down at her mother's feet as she entered, knocking her head. Without waiting for her mother to come back to her senses, she got up and took the flat bucket and went to carry water, one trip at a time, and filled the two large tanks, which overflowed to the edge of the tank, and picked them up. Wenhuazi told her not to pick, she also ran to the edge of the well, Wenwenzi went to chase her, and drove to the edge of the well. She was putting the bucket down, and Wenzi grabbed the bucket, and the bucket fell into the well, and the two of them lay on the edge of the well and hooked the bucket.

"Stupid!" said to him.

"Why do you blame me?"

"I'm to blame you, I'm to blame you!" Xiao Cui said to him.

"What do you blame me?" the cultural child became more and more aggrieved.

"Blame you for not being the eldest or the second. ”

"What's wrong with the boss? What's wrong with the second child?"

"If it's the boss, I'm born to be ...... Can you afford to spend so much time?" Xiao Cui's eyes turned red.

The cultural sub-eye circles are also red.

Tears fell from both of them, and they landed in the well, where a bucket floated horizontally.

The village opened the road, widened the original village road, flattened it, and paved the stones. There are more people and cars coming day by day, and it is inconvenient to have no road. opened the road, wanted to drive away a vegetable field from the pick-up family, and the pick-up and his family's family agreed happily, and he didn't even want to accept compensation. He said, "I'm going to take this money, and my people will be gone." ”

The county wanted to build a memorial hall behind the slag tomb, and it was difficult to collect relics. The little hero used it before his death, and everything was burned. Later, the second boy found that on the mud wall of his thatched house, there was a word written by scooping slag, and his name was written - Bao Renping.

Asked him, was it indeed written by a little hero?

"That's right. That day, I with the scumbags, and each wrote their own names!"

Of course, there is also a word written by the second boy on the side: Bao Zhaohe.

But the mud wall rots when you touch it, and you can't get up. I have to put it there.

End

The tomb of the slag is located high in the center of Xiaobaozhuang, and the steps are clean. There is no need for the village chief to arrange, naturally someone will sweep it. He is big, his mother, his brother, and his sister-in-law naturally don't need to say it. There are also Bao Renwen, Bao Bingde, and Shilai, who also sweep every now and then. It is not good luck to just ask the village chief to buy a common broom and sweep the grave with his own broom.

The sun shone on the monument, white and dazzling.

Behind the stele is a newly raised tile house, the blue brick to the top, behind the tile house is Baoshan, green and secluded, covered in the fog, like very far away, and like very close.

Or the epilogue

Bao Bingyi pulled the pendant, and the song was sung to the end:

There are two words to add a vertical reading of a thousand words,

Qin Ganluo became the prime minister at the age of twelve.

There is a word to add a vertical belt and a hook to read the T-word,

Ding Lang also assiduously honored his mother.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, ninety,

Nineteen eight seven six five four three two one,

A short section of the pearl inverted roller blind.

Bao Yanrong listened, as if he was distracted, as if he remembered something. He thought about his own good years: the squad leader died, and he roared, "Follow me!" and there were only two and a half people left. The comrade-in-arms who only had half arms and half legs left, now I don't know where he is.

There was also a person sitting on the bed with his legs in his arms, an old man, with a wrinkled face, an old merchant who came from the far north, and stayed here. He sat in the corner, listening to Gu, but his eyes were fixed on the pick-up sitting on the threshold.

When he picked it up, he felt that someone was looking at him, and he looked into the corner of the wall and saw a pair of old eyes. He glanced at it, and then at it, strange in his heart, and felt a little familiar. After another look, I couldn't move away. The two pairs of eyes stared at each other from a distance.

A pendant creaked and pulled.

Xuzhou, November 17, 1984

Beijing, December 30, 1984