Grandma Qin and Qin's mother kept urging Qin Yin to go back to the house, saying that if you meet a good man, you are not too young, come back on a blind date, and the end will be over. Qin Yin didn't think so, but the number of urgings was too much, and the constant psychological hints also made Qin Yin start to have the idea of going home on a blind date.

At the turn of spring and summer, the weather in the south is humid, and the slightly stuffy air still reveals a slight chill. On weekends, Koto wakes up early and returns from the commune to the small mountain village. She went home on a blind date. Passing by the path next to the stream at the edge of the village, I vaguely heard the women who were washing clothes in the stream say: The five-year-old girl named Xiaoqing is dead.

Xiaoqing is Qinyin's neighbor, and because she lives close, Xiaoqing often plays games with Qinyin. Qin Yin occasionally has a fruit, sugar and other delicious little things at home, and secretly leaves a copy for Xiaoqing. Whenever Qin Yin came back from outside, Xiaoqing ran over with cheers.

Qin Yin didn't believe the news that Xiaoqing was dead, but she had returned to the village, and she really didn't see Xiaoqing running over. When she got home, she went to find Xiaoqing, and just as she was about to step into Xiaoqing's door, she was pulled back by Grandma Qin and pushed back to her house half-pulled and half-pulled. Grandma's eager and mysterious series of movements made Qin Yin feel an inexplicable strangeness. Entering the house, the grandmother said with a serious face: "Xiaoqing is dead, don't look for her in the future." ”

"How can a child die if he is not sick or in pain?" The sudden change made the piano sound stunned. I just heard the news of Xiaoqing's death by the stream, and Qin Yin hoped that it was fake, but seeing her grandmother's serious appearance and not asking more, she had actually confirmed in her heart: Xiaoqing is really dead.

Throughout the morning, although Qin Yin did not ask Xiaoqing directly about it according to the old rural customs, he had been secretly observing the movements of Xiaoqing's family. Xiaoqing's family killed the pig last night, and most of the pork was picked by the brigade to buy it in a unified manner. Xiaoqing's parents were busy boiling pork pickles with the small part of pork, pig intestines, and pig red that they were allowed to leave behind, and a delicious taste floated far away.

At noon, Xiaoqing's brother and sister squatted outside the door with pork pickles and ate them. When killing pigs, it is a rare time for rural people to have meat to eat, which is very tempting. For people in small mountain villages who usually live by drinking gruel and delivering pickles, it is indeed mouth-watering. The children in the small mountain village have developed a habit that no matter how greedy they are, they can't show it, and they pretend that they don't know anything.

I really didn't see Xiaoqing, is Xiaoqing really dead? Why don't I see her family sad? Qinyin didn't feel that Xiaoqing's family showed signs of sadness, and she recalled a glimmer of doubt about whether Xiaoqing was really dead.

obviously came back on a blind date, but was haunted by Xiaoqing's death. Qin Yin suppressed a trace of discomfort in her heart. Grandma Qin said that the blind date was helping Xiaoqing's family, and she came over for dinner in the evening, so everyone could see each other.

Before dinner, I finally saw a man hurrying through the door. Qin Yin couldn't help but blurt out the other party's name: "Lin Qian!"

Lin Qian also saw the sound of the piano, and greeted him with a smile, still carrying a piece of pork in his hand.

Grandma Jean smiled and said, "Ah?

"You urged me to come back on a blind date, could it be a blind date with Lin Qian?" asked Qin Yin pretending to be surprised. In fact, she had already expected in her heart that this Lin Qian was her blind date.

The mother interjected, "It's him." You see how good people are to us, they often bring pork to our house. I also shush your grandmother and ask for warmth, and often come to the house to help when there is something, and she is very diligent. ”

Qin Yin has a noncommittal expression.

Qin Mu continued: "Other people's girls want to find this kind of man, but they haven't been lucky enough to find it. ”

Kotone smiled. Lin Qian hurriedly leaned over to Qinyin and said some clichés about how to take care of acquaintances when selling pork.

Soon, dinner began, and Qin Yin sat around the Eight Immortals table with Grandma Qin, Qin Father, Qin Mother, Qin Brother, Qin Sister, and of course, Lin Qian, and had dinner together. Mother Qin served steaming pork pickles, said that the neighbor had killed the pig, and sent a bowl of it. The pork sent by Lin Qian will be left for tomorrow.

Isn't this what Xiaoqing's family sent to Qin Yin, who naturally thought of Xiao Qing again, took a piece of meat, and asked Grandma while eating, "Is Xiaoqing really dead?" Grandma Qin immediately straightened her face and shouted with a look of taboo gods: "Don't ask." ”

The old people in the mountains are very superstitious and taboo the dead, and Grandma Qin's actions are also expected.

Although the grandmother did not answer, because of the question of the sound of the music, it caused a discussion among the family.

Father Qin said to himself: "The adults are so careless, so hot a large bucket of boiling water for killing pigs is placed on the bench, and no one will notice when the children get close." ”

In fact, the grandmother only knew one thing, but not the other, so she asked, "Where is the child buried?"

Qin's father said: "Lin Qian helped his family kill the pig, should know best. ”

Lin Qian continued: "Before dawn, her father took a dung basket and carried it to the opposite hillside, dug a pit and buried it. ”

"Why don't you see his family sad?" Qin Mei asked curiously.

Grandma immediately raised her slap as if she was going to be beaten down, signaling Qin Mei not to intervene.

Lin Qian, who didn't raise his head, slowly took over and said: "Look, there are so many children in their family, what is the matter with the death of a little girl, you see her mother's belly is big again." ”

Qin Yin originally picked up a piece of meat, put it back in the bowl, glared at Lin Qian and said, "You don't care about people's lives!

The whole family seemed to pause, looking at Kotone's expression.

Qin Yin frowned, and looked unhappy in his heart. Lin Qian also realized that he didn't choose what he said.

The blind date ended in unhappiness......

Regarding Xiaoqing's death, Qin Yin probably also knew the synopsis from everyone's discussions: rural people are in a hurry to kill pigs before dawn, and send them to the brigade at dawn, Xiaoqing got up in the middle of the night to watch the pig killing, and accidentally knocked over a large bucket of boiling water for killing pigs on the bench, and the boiling water was all poured on Xiaoqing's body, scalded to death, and was hastily buried.

Qin Yin remembers that when he was a child, he also got up in the middle of the night to watch the pig slaughter, and he also saw several buckets of boiling water, and at this moment he was secretly glad that he was not scalded to death when he was a child.

After that, the sound of the piano fell into sadness. It's not for a failed blind date, she doesn't like Lin Qian in the first place. It's because the death of a little girl ended so hastily. Kotone felt inexplicably scared in her heart......

In contrast, the blind date was only a small episode in Qinyin's heart at best, so that it was uprooted in the bottom of his heart afterwards. But Xiaoqing's death has been tightly entangled with her.

Not far away, the brook gathers women to wash clothes every morning, and sometimes housewives are not available, and some little girls come here to wash clothes instead of adults. At that time, there were no washing machines in rural households, and most people carried washboards to the nearby creek to wash their clothes, and some simply washed their clothes on the smooth stones soaked in the stream.

Of course, decades later, you can see an article on WeChat saying that the washboard, like an old antique, has become a torture tool for powerful women in the family to punish men, and you can't help but smile dumbly. But that's for later.

As the saying goes, "three women in a play", yes, the women who wash the clothes here often do the laundry while talking about some strange things and jokes they know, which attracts laughter from the stream.

Early the next morning, Qin Yin passed by the stream, and Grandma Qin, Xiaoqing's mother and some other people were washing clothes.

Qinyin heard her grandmother say that in the old society, the village was poorer, and there was really no choice but to drown the baby. Then there are many women who ask their grandmothers if they have drowned babies. Grandma laughed and didn't answer, just splashed water on those who deliberately teased her.

Qin Yin walked to the stream, squatted down, and asked her grandmother, "What is a drowning baby?"

Grandma replied without hesitation: "In the old society, some families were so poor that they couldn't open the pot, so they had to put the newborn baby girl into a basin or bucket and drown, which was called drowning. ”

"Why are you drowning baby girls, are there any baby boys?"

"When the baby boy grows up and has the strength to do heavy work, he will pass on the family lineage, who is willing to drown?"

Speaking of this, Qin Yin suddenly thought of Xiaoqing, and hurriedly asked: "Xiaoqing was also drenched to death by the bucket of water, and her parents are not distressed, could it be a drowning baby?"

"Of course it's not a drowning. In the old society, people were so poor that they were about to starve to death before they drowned babies, and in the new society after liberation, no one drowned babies. Besides, Xiaoqing was scalded to death by the boiling water that killed the pig, and many people saw it with their own eyes. Xiaoqing's mother took the words of the piano and quickly explained.

Qin Yin read some books and knew some knowledge, but she didn't take into account Xiaoqing's mother's feelings at all in public, saying that although this was not a drowning baby, it was also ignorant and backward. In the future, when society develops, children should not deal with such accidents privately, they should be reported to the public security bureau, and parents should be held accountable for not taking good care of their children.

Xiaoqing's mother knew that Qin Yin was a person with knowledge and culture, and she did not refute it. He just muttered in response: "Who doesn't love their children? It's just that there are many people in the family, and they don't have enough food and clothing, and they are busy farming all day long, so they don't have time to think about it so much." So saying, he took out his laundry hand to wipe his tears.

The stream, which had been laughing and laughing just now, suddenly became silent.

Qin Yin still refuses to give up, saying that the people in this mountain are too ignorant and want to change the status quo in the future.

A woman who was a little farther away might want to change this embarrassing situation, and suddenly amplified her voice and said to Grandma Qin, your family's Qinyin reputation is terrible, I rushed to the market that day, met a stammer, and asked if the female announcer of the commune was from your village, "That, that, that, female, female, female broadcaster, yes, yes, no, no, no, no......" I am almost finished eating a bowl of noodles, and he hasn't finished asking a word for a long time.

The woman's words drew laughter from everyone again.

Qin Yin was funny, didn't laugh, but didn't mention Xiaoqing's matter again, just let his expression appear relaxed. Since then, until the novel came out, no one mentioned the little girl who was scalded to death by boiling water.

While Qin Yin was talking and laughing with the women who were doing the laundry, a man in charge of running errands in the production team came running over and told her: "The commune has told you to go back to the radio station, a big leader is coming!"