In order to reward Liu Ye, grandma took Liu Ye to visit relatives in the nearby Linxian Mall after the beginning of autumn and before the start of school.

I woke up early that morning with a pleasant temperature and exceptionally fresh air. Liu Ye couldn't help but run outside the house and look up at the sky. The blue sky of Nava Blue Tile and the white clouds like cotton floated in the air, giving those who saw it a kind of joy of harvest. Yes, if you collect that cotton, how many quilts can you make? One of the clusters of white clouds turned out to be in the shape of a girl in a wedding dress. Her long fluffy hair, her waist, and her layered skirt give people a graceful and graceful beauty. Strangely enough, she had her hands on her chest, as if she were holding a ring ruler, and in front of her, there was a male monster with a human face and a lion body, and the monster looked at her with affection, and its mouth opened and closed as if to express some kind of emotion. Liu Ye stared blankly, imagining. Grandma's shouting interrupted her.

"Ye Mao, hurry up and eat, Huo Lai and we are going to catch the car."

Liu Ye and his grandfather and grandmother ate fried dough sticks and mille-feuille with relish, as well as home-made pickled snow mushrooms and dried bean skin. My grandparents had green tea. Liu Ye felt thirsty, so he said playfully: "Grandma, I drink your water." She looked at her grandmother coquettishly.

Grandma glanced at her grandfather in embarrassment, "This child, alas! Grandma won't let you say that, but she wants to say that. ”

"What do you say?" Liu Ye was unhappy and threw the fritters on the porcelain plate, "I won't eat it!" ”

"Okay Ye Mao, say whatever you want, just say it. Eat fast! Grandma put the chopsticks in her hand.

Grandpa stopped his chopsticks and looked at Liu Ye kindly, "In the future, I'll just say 'Grandma, I want to drink tea'......"

Before his grandfather finished speaking, Liu Ye grabbed Bai Dao, "I want to say that!" ”

Because Liu Ye knew that when she said that, it would bring funny feelings to her grandmother, and she wanted to make her grandmother happy, just like that.

Liu Ye took a sip of strong tea from his grandmother's tea jar, felt a little bitter, and shouted: "Why do you love to drink such bitter tea!" ”

My grandmother said, "We've been like this all our lives." It's good to drink tea. ”

Yes, the faint aroma of tea, thick on the tip of the tongue, and the crispy old fritters rolled in bean skin, releasing the delicacy in the mouth, plus a little pickles, that kind of hometown taste is difficult to find in Liu Ye later.

When she was in high school, she read a sentence in Xin Qiji's "Water Dragon Yin", "Hugh said that the perch is good, and the west wind and the season eagle have not returned?" Zhang Han of the Western Jin Dynasty was an official in Luoyang, and when he saw the autumn wind rising, he said because he thought that the delicious sea bass soup in Wuzhong's hometown had just been listed, so he said: "The value of life lies in being able to be comfortable and satisfied, how can you be an official thousands of miles away in order to seek fame and title?" He resigned and returned to the south. Later generations will regard homesickness as "the thought of the perch". The word "thoughts of the soup" was fixed in Liu Ye's heart, and it became a complex that haunted her all her life.

Liu Ye and her grandmother got on the bus to the mall. At first, there were only a few people in the car, but then there were people on the road one after another, and when they arrived at the mall, the car was already full.

Liu Ye was a little motion sick, so he leaned on his grandmother. Grandma put one hand around her, and with the other she lovingly stroked her hair, pulling the strands of hair that were on her eyes. Liu Ye closed his eyes and enjoyed his grandmother's caresses.

"If relatives don't leave, they can't be relatives, and if they don't leave, they can't go home." Grandma whispered to Liu Ye, "Your grandfather has a strange temper, no wonder, his parents died early when he was a child, and he was brought up by his sister-in-law and sisters-in-law." He hasn't been back to his hometown for so many years. I'm going to have to see his brother and sister-in-law, sisters! ”

Liu Ye listened to her grandmother's words quietly, and a scene flashed in her mind: the young and beautiful grandmother came to the young grandfather's house with her mother who had just completed the moon, and they formed a new home.

This is what my grandmother nagged her many times when she was sick.

"Ye Mao, he is not your grandfather, your grandfather was the mayor of Y Town before liberation, he is tall and thin, you see that your mother is not like me, she is like her father.

Alas, he was so good to me! Grandma was immersed in happy memories, "I had two big braids, and my hair was black and oily, thick and shiny. The eyes flickered, the skin was snow-white, and the ...... was watery."

A whistle interrupted Liu Ye's thoughts. It turned out to be a dog in the middle of the road, and he was overwhelmed by the panic when he saw the car.

"Crush it, there's dog meat to eat!" A grinning male passenger shouted.

"Don't you see it's an old, sick dog? What's so delicious. A well-dressed middle-aged woman replied.

"Oh, this big sister, you've never been hungry. I'm so hungry, why don't you eat! ”

"Let me tell you, there was a famine that year, and our family couldn't get a meal, so we ate two meals a day, one in the morning and one at noon, saying that it was a meal, alas, what was it, it was all ****** thin soup and little water, and rice grains were boiled in clear water. There is not even oil in the stir-fry, so I pinch a few sesame seeds and fry them in the pot, which is considered oil. I'm so hungry that my whole body is swollen, and I'm almost a bear! ”

Seeing that a passenger turned his head to look at him sympathetically, he swallowed his saliva Xingzi continued, "My family lives near the commune health center, and I heard that people say that taking placenta is a big tonic, and I also want to get a side to taste." I have a neighbor who is a midwife in a health center, and I heard that she often eats placenta, but you don't see that her face is red and bright, and her face looks like lard. She didn't give it to me, she was afraid that if she gave it to me, the neighbors would know about her. That day she hinted to me, saying that you should go to the back hillside and have a look. ”

The grinning man saw that everyone's attention was on him, so he stopped mysteriously and coughed, "Guess what I saw!" ”

"What, talk about it quickly, don't be in a hurry!" Some passengers are in a hurry.

"I saw a lot of stillbirths thrown on the hillside, you didn't see it, some of the stillborns have a clear nose and eyes."

"Don't say it, it's crazy!" Well-dressed women don't want to.

"Let him finish, let him finish! Anyway, we don't have anything to do in the car, what are you afraid of, so many people! "The man who was in a hurry just now stopped the delicate woman.

"I was also panicked at first, but when I thought of the swelling all over my body, and I didn't have money to cut meat to eat, I had the courage to pick up a pair, don't say it, after eating a few pairs, it's also effective, don't you see, I'm not good!" He patted his chest.

"Alright, alright, don't talk about these terrible things, scare my child!" Grandma hugged Liu Ye tightly and complained to the man sitting in the aisle. The man grinned, showing a mouthful of yellow teeth, and there were a few unwiped cat droppings (eye droppings) stuck to the corners of his eyes. Seeing his grandmother complaining about him, he felt bored, turned his face out of the window, and sang the movie "Railway Guerrilla" episode, "The sun is about to set in the west / Quiet on Weishan Lake /

Play my beloved lute/Sing that beautiful song/Climb on a speeding train/Like riding a galloping horse/Station and on the railway line/It's a good battlefield for us to kill the enemy......"

"Alas, don't say it, this **** looks crooked and cracked, and it's really pretty to sing!" I don't know who said it.

Liu Ye also sat up straight curiously, and quietly looked at the man through his grandmother, the man's voice was thick and mellow, subdued, and affectionate, like a voice coming from the radio. Liu Ye clearly remembered the existence of that man, breaking the monotony and tedium of this journey.

After getting off the train, they bought some wake-up at a store near the station. What peach crisps, mung bean cakes, small gold silk and biscuits and the like. Because the awakening of the mall is famous, it is commonly known as "the eater of the mall". In other words, if you want to eat delicious, you still have to come to the mall. Two packs per family. The awakening is wrapped in earthy gray sesame oil paper, wrapped in a boxy appearance, covered with a square piece of colored bright paper. Then tie it tightly with a thin paper rope of earthy gray. Grandma asked for ten packs of different varieties to wake up. Packed in a large cloth bag. Liu Ye followed behind his grandmother with trepidation.

They walked along the main street and turned two more alleys, inquiring as they walked to find their grandfather's fourth brother's house.

In front of the brown-red wooden door, an old man sat on a rattan chair, wearing a half-sleeved white sweatshirt and knee-length dark blue shorts, his hands wrapped around his right leg, his right leg curled up on the rattan chair, his left leg on the ground, his eyes slightly closed, his head little by little, dozing.

When my grandmother saw the old man, she was surprised and said, "I found it, right here." ”

The old man opened his eyes and looked at them stunned, "Fourth brother, it's me!" ”

"Eighth sister!" The old man hurriedly stood up.

"Quick, Liu Ye, call the fourth grandfather." Liu Ye shouted timidly, "Hello Fourth Grandpa!" ”

She saw that the fourth grandfather looked very much like her grandfather, and the strangeness quickly disappeared.

At this time, an old lady came out of the house, she first squinted and hesitated at them, and then stepped forward in surprise to hug her grandmother, and shouted excitedly, "Eighth sister, it's really you!" My God, what gust of wind has brought you here! ”

She dragged Liu Ye again, "Come and let me see, this little granddaughter is so old!" Look, how painful the child grows! ”

"Yes, I'm going to take the junior high school exam this year. I won the second place in the whole commune! ”

"Yo Yo, it's still weird, this kid!" They walked into the house as they spoke.

The fourth grandmother called warm water to let them wash their faces, the fourth grandfather poured tea for them, and the fourth grandmother panicked and brought a pu leaf fan to sit next to her grandmother and Liu Ye and fan them a fan. When fanning the fan, the fourth grandmother looked at them with a smile, one would fan Liu Ye twice on her back, and the other would fan her grandmother's back twice.

Grandma didn't want to say, "Fourth sister, come, I'll fan myself." "As he spoke, he was going to grab the fan.

The fourth grandmother hid the fan behind her back, "His eighth sister, what are you polite, it's all your own family!" As he spoke, he sped up the speed of the fan.

Grandma took out two packs from the cloth bag to wake up, and they woke up and drank tea, Liu Ye still remembers the taste, not to mention how great it was!

The next few days were spent in a lively and strong family relationship. Liu Ye vaguely remembered that when he went to every house, his relatives were so enthusiastic that he couldn't breathe. There are dozens of dishes every day at noon and in the evening, and the kind of restaurant that is rich and depressed at that time cannot be made.

Liu Ye remembered that the son of his grandfather's second sister, who he called his cousin, was nearly fifty years old and was admitted to a mental hospital. As the adults talked, she vaguely heard that her cousin had been the president of the county court. In one case, a murderer was sentenced to death, and after the verdict was announced, when the execution was carried out, the murderer who walked to the execution ground turned his head and shouted out his cousin's name, and the cousin was looking down at the verdict, and agreed without paying attention. Unexpectedly, less than half a month after the murderer was executed, my cousin began to be in a trance, began to talk to himself, and suddenly shouted from his dream at night, "It's not the person I killed, it's not the person I killed, you have misjudged, I am wronged!" "Later, he used to throw things frantically and bite people at home. It made a mess inside and outside the house. In the end, he had to be sent to a psychiatric hospital.

Grandpa's second sister, when my grandfather was a child, she loved her grandfather the most, and she hugged her grandfather the most, but she didn't expect to live a bad life in her later years because of her son's illness.

Fortunately, the son and daughter-in-law of the grandfather's eldest brother are the pride of their family. Especially the daughter-in-law, as the head of a county and the eldest son and daughter-in-law of the family, is very good at things. Her own parents-in-law are no longer alive, and she treats the elders of these living in-laws very respectful and filial, and she has to consult her about anything in this family. Although the uncle is also the secretary of a commune in this county, after all, he is his wife's subordinate, so he is invisibly afraid of his wife. As soon as the grandmother arrived that day, the family passed the news to the county magistrate, and after the meeting in the evening, she rushed to the fourth grandmother's house to see her grandmother and Liu Ye.

Before leaving, she took Liu Ye's hand and said to her grandmother, "Eighth aunt, Shuhuai is in the commune, and he can't come back today, you stay a few more days, and he will come to see you the next day." Otherwise, you and Xiao Ye will go to live at my house. ”

Before my grandmother could speak, the fourth grandmother rushed to say, "No, no, you guys are busy, just live here, we old sisters haven't seen each other for so many years, we have to talk about our daily routines!" ”

The county magistrate rode her bicycle away.

Liu Ye asked her grandmother curiously, "Why don't you take a jeep?" She's such a big official! ”

"This kid, so young, knows what kind of official or not. She's not working, so she comes home to see us, what kind of car is she taking! ”

Three days later, the eldest concubine accompanied her uncle to see them, and tore cotton silk cloth for her grandparents and grandmothers to make clothes. also bought Liu Ye a foreign finished gown with lace edges.

Liu Ye mostly wears ordinary clothes made by garment factories, like this, the neckline and cuffs, the gown pockets are decorated, and it is the first time she has seen clothes embroidered with lace. When she sleeps at night, she rarely holds it to her chest. It wasn't until she fell asleep that her grandmother quietly took the spring and autumn fleece gown from her hand and put it in a cloth bag.

This visit to relatives made Liu Ye remember another thing vividly. It's to watch Chaplin's "Modern Times".

The second son of the fourth grandfather, who is in his Chinese New Year's Eve, was promoted to the director of the county's transportation bureau two years ago because he had attended college and had a college diploma.

And his younger brother, Liu Ye called his uncle, because he was an educated youth who came back from the countryside, he has been working as a worker in the factory. At that time, a diploma was a person's golden signboard, and even a pass that determined a person's career promotion.

At noon that day, the second uncle took the second concubine home, because of the passage of time, Liu Ye's memory of the second uncle was a little vague, and the deep impression was that he was polite and serious, and he was tall; And the second concubine is the kind of gentle and virtuous type, who speaks and smiles. She is not tall, but she has snow-white skin, and her temperament is very similar to that of a Japanese woman, and she is an elementary school teacher.

When the fourth grandmother saw them, she asked, "Why didn't Niu come back with you?" ”

The second concubine smiled and said, "It's her grandmother's house." ”

A hint of gloom flashed over the face of the fourth grandmother, but then she pretended to be indifferent, and explained to her grandmother, "Niu's grandfather and grandmother are all cultural people, so they can teach Niu to learn." ”

"How old is the girl, this year?" Grandma asked.

"I'm four years old." Eryan said with a smile.

The second uncle seemed to sense his mother's unhappiness, and hurriedly came up to play a round, he took out a wad of things from his briefcase, "Big (mother), eighth aunt, look, I bought you a movie ticket." I'm in for a treat tonight, everyone goes to the movies! ”

"What? Movie tickets! The brother-in-law who was holding the radio and listening to Liu Lanfang's "The Legend of Yue Fei" jumped up suddenly, "Have you bought a movie ticket?" Really! He snatched the movie ticket from his second uncle.

"I made an exception and opened the 'back door.'" The second uncle was also very relieved to see his younger brother happy.

"Eighth sister, you know, two, Ding is Ding, Mao is Mao, iron plate selfless, you want him to go through the back door, dream! It seems that your eighth aunt still has a big face! ”

Liu Ye, who was still listening to "The Legend of Yue Fei" with the fourth grandfather, was immersed in the plot of the angry death of the golden vulture and the laughing death of Niu Gao, who also raised his head curiously and looked at the laughing people at the dining table.

In the evening, several relatives, more than a dozen people, talked and laughed and came to the cinema. At the entrance to the movie theater, some people are looking in with their necks stretched, apparently people who have not bought tickets. Seeing Liu Ye and his group approaching, someone came up to talk, "Hey, fellow, do you have any extra tickets?" ”

"Nope." The uncle said expressionlessly.

"Alas, the child doesn't need to ask for a ticket, there are so many of you, just bring her in." The young man in bell bottoms pestered without giving up.

"Oh, what are you doing, scaring my child!" The fourth grandmother protected Liu Ye with her hands.

The movie theater was dark and full of people, and it could be said that it was full. It turns out that Chaplin's "Modern Times" is staged today. It is said that it has been on the show for several days in a row, and the venue is full.

Chaplin's mustache, wide-brimmed hat, overalls, and the pointed-toe black leather shoes on his feet are close-ups, and the key is that he is holding a big plier in his hand to turn the screws, which really makes people laugh and lean back, panting, and full of tears. Throughout the film, the audience laughed constantly. The laughter almost tore off the roof and let in the air.

Liu Ye also laughed so much that he lay on his grandmother's shoulder for a while, and lay on his grandmother's lap for a while.

Grandma's handkerchief was wet because she wiped her tears and saliva for herself and Liu Ye. The brother-in-law who was sitting next to her and the fourth grandmother was also laughing. One will clap your hands, and the other will stomp your feet. His high nose bridge and large eyes, as well as his angular face and parted hairstyle, all looked so vivid and bright because of his smile at this time. Only then did Liu Ye notice that his uncle was very handsome!

About ten days later, Liu Ye and his grandmother, escorted by relatives, reluctantly boarded the bus for the return trip.

The bus went away, and the figures of the relatives were still frozen in the August sun, flashing with warm memories.