4. Who doesn't want to return to their roots

At 8 o'clock in the morning, the small courtyard is full of sunshine, the cyan wall is full of yellow leaves and pothos, the golden branches and leaves are wrapped around the thick vines, on the right side of the yard, a small pavilion is built with rough wood, outside the pavilion is a one-person osmanthus tree, bent and vigorous, the branches are luxuriant. On the left is a small vegetable garden, deserted, and the black earth is overgrown with small grasses.

Mo Lei was wearing a set of casual clothes of the original owner of the house, and he found that this cheap cousin was about the same size as himself, and there were several suits in the wardrobe that looked expensive, but Mo Lei never refused formal wear, and only this kind of unrestrained clothing was his favorite.

"What good air." Mo Lei sat in the gazebo, leaning on the bamboo chair casually, not feeling that there was anything wrong with a corpse just moving out of this building. Bernikin on the side was a little uneasy, his eyes flickered behind the lenses, a trace of his messy hair hung down on his forehead, his face was swollen, and he held a glass of boiling water in his hand, casually responding to Mo Lei.

"Can you tell me what you know? Bernie, I'm just here to ask for money, and I want to take the inheritance and leave as soon as possible, but the two attacks in a row can't be accidental, right? ”

Mo Lei looked at the middle-aged man in front of him whose face was full of unsatisfactory life, probably trembling but having a happy face, and was a little emotional, so he lowered his tone a little.

"I'm really uninformed, speculating, but I can't talk nonsense, I'm a lawyer." Bernikin's voice was a little hoarse, and he still had palpitations, after all, even if he had lived here for decades, he had often seen group fights, street fights, and even gunshots, but he would always go far away, and he had never seen a bloody corpse like today.

But Bernikin also knew that the young man in front of him was also innocent.

"Do I have the word 'unlucky' written on my head?" Mo Lei smiled and laughed at himself.

"Your cousin, Mr. Meng, is also a highly respected person here, and the Chinese here are very united with each other and take care of each other......

"All in unison?" Mo Lei asked rhetorically.

He had seen old men look at Bernikin with contempt.

"Hmm. Very aligned. I was different, because I didn't accept the plantation that my father gave me, I sold it, because I didn't want to be a farmer for the rest of my life, although I had the help of the workers, but I also went out early and returned late to the sun, I didn't want to live in this valley for the rest of my life, and I didn't want my daughter to live in this valley for the rest ......of my life. ”

Mo Lei waved his hand, he didn't think it was a big deal, everyone has their own ambitions.

"There are too few pure Chinese here." Bernikin took a sip of water and then continued to talk to Mo Lei.

"I heard my grandfather say that the first generation of Chinese came here in the late Qing Dynasty, and at that time, in addition to hard work, there were real knives and guns that were only made up in small pieces of land like this, and the Chinese, their passion for the land is latent in their bones. They cultivated wasteland, planted coffee, cocoa, corn, bananas, haha, and it was said that there were people who planted rice, and of course I heard that. ”

"People who can endure the suffering, right here facing the loess with their backs to the sky, can't stand this suffering, some of them went to the Caribbean to be pirates, and some of them started some messy livelihoods, Colombia, there are unique conditions for growing crops, cocaine and the like, you know."

"However, I heard that most of those who ran away have no bones."

"The people who stayed finally settled down, and then they got bigger and bigger, and they also had some capital."

But after all, this is a foreign country, Chinese all over the world are the same, everyone wants to return to their roots. However, I can't go back, after several generations, where will I go back? What are you going to do when you go back? The relatives at home have long since died, and there is no land or land, what can they do? Or the same sentence, there is no tile to cover the body, and there is no place to stand on the bottom, how can it be returned? ”

Mo Lei was silent.

"Your cousin's family came here before the Anti-Japanese War, in fact, he can write you into his own will, it is already a very happy thing, there are many old people here who have been lonely all their lives, probably in his vein, and they will be broken when they die, this, in our place, is very particular. By the way, do you see our schools here? ”

Mo Lei nodded.

"This is an unwritten rule, a tacit understanding of the silence between each other, and all children's enlightenment must start from Chinese. Teaching "The Book of Songs", teaching "Hundred Family Names", "Three Character Texts", teaching "Kindergarten", and teaching Chinese history, however, the Chinese history books are getting thicker and thicker, and Mr. Teacher's voice is also louder, haha, and even some local children come here to learn our courses. ”

"But the initiator of all this was initiated by a certain generation of ancestors of your cousin's family, the old Meng family. It is said that this old ancestor also did many things, such as enclosing the Chinese community, which he proposed and started, and of course his descendants are also perfecting his last wish from generation to generation. ”

"This place, in fact, is very sad, the area is too big, the regional changes are too big, from north to south, from the Caribbean Sea to the Amazon rainforest, beaches, snow-capped mountains, rainforests, mountains, transportation facilities are very underdeveloped. Because of this, in some places, the government can't control it at all, gun control is too lax, in the past, who would dare to stay here? You're rich, aren't you? Kidnapping your little kid and making you a car bomb? Drop a grenade at your door? Many shops close at 7 a.m., and there are few pedestrians during the day. ”

"Your cousin's elders, all the way to your cousin's generation, are constantly improving and consolidating the position of the Chinese here - you have money that is useless, you have to be powerful and have armed forces, and you have to be on guard at any time against those bandits who rush into your house and loot you, so you can see the big men with AK47s guarding the door, and see this wall."

Of course, the Meng family is the largest landowner in the community and the de facto leader of the community. You don't have to look at his house as shabby as compared to other estates, but you see that your inheritance document shows not only the land, but also the mine. However, by the end of your cousin's generation, the only prestigious Meng family man also died, and all the efforts they had made for generations were in vain. Bernikin drew a circle with his hand.

"In fact, everyone understands that the Meng family is not only for themselves, but also for everyone. However, this will inevitably make those who do not work hard red, including some Chinese. ”

"Listen to what you mean, I came to inherit the inheritance, and there are still a lot of people who don't want me to appear?" Mo Lei put down the water glass in his hand and looked at the dazzling green leaves outside the pavilion, under the sunlight, the dewdrops on the leaves exuded a crystal light.

"Before your cousin died, a local company actually came to negotiate with him, wanting to buy all the land of the Chinese here, and they planned to build a huge ecological community here, but your cousin didn't agree."

"Well, what about after that? So Wilson is also their man? Mo Lei asked lightly.

"The vast majority of all the farmers don't want it, this is the place where their ancestors have lived and multiplied for generations, how can it be sold."

"And, building an ecological community here? The devil believes. As for Wilson, he must know something, but I don't think he knows much, and he is a more conscientious lawyer. But, I still hope that you will get your inheritance and leave this place quickly. Bernikin's face flushed, a little angry.

"Since the refusal to be acquired, there have often been more inexplicable people here, in short, there is trouble everywhere, and the guards of our community have fought with some boys and these people a few times, and now, girls are not allowed or afraid to go out alone."

"The police don't care?" Mo Lei asked rhetorically.

"Police? What you see, even if a few people die, the police just ask a few words and leave, not to mention this kind of conflict? The police simply said that the civil conflict was over. ”

"The question is, do you really use these escorts?" Mo Lei remembered the gun-wielding men he had just seen in the community.

"Well, most of these people are of mixed Chinese and local descent, and they are very unpopular among the locals, hey, you wait, why are you so noisy?"

He was about to say more, when suddenly there was a commotion from the direction of the shopping street, and Bernikin pricked up his ears to listen, and suddenly stood up.

"Looks like my wife." He pulled his leg and ran outside.

Mo Lei was stunned for a moment, and quickly followed, and when he locked the door, he found that Bernikin had rushed out a few hundred meters away. Mo Lei shook his head, put the key in his pocket, and walked in the direction of the noise.