Nine thirty in the morning.

The dark clouds were almost overhead, and the sky was overcast, but the raindrops that could wash away all the dust in the world did not fall.

Wind Shadow House took his seven younger brothers and sisters and stood quietly in the mourning hall.

It has been seven days since Feng Hongwei committed suicide, and as some people often say, the earth will still turn without you. For this metropolis with a permanent population of 3.5 million, Feng Hongwei's death was like a drop of water falling into the sea, which once caused a small ripple, but soon disappeared without a trace.

Feng Hongwei retired from the army four years ago, entered the city procuratorate half a year later, and was transferred to the anti-corruption bureau a year later.

Then it only took him two and a half years to accumulate an astonishing fortune by blackmailing officials, demanding filial piety from some charlatans. In the end, he, the director of the anti-corruption bureau who guarded and stole himself, was finally pulled off the boat by dozens of letters of accusation because he was too greedy, too desperate, and offended too many people. The night before the Commission for Discipline Inspection officially made a decision on him, he drove his car to the outskirts of the chemical plant and committed suicide by jumping into a pool of nitrate.

Like Feng Hongwei, a rat who wears the coat of a cat and burrows into the granary, suicide has a special term, called suicide in fear of sin. Even his family members have been looked upon by thousands of people, so after his death, Fengyinglou should use the most low-key attitude to deal with the aftermath, and then honestly hibernate until the outside world forgets Feng Hongwei and what he has done.

But Feng Ying Lou didn't do this, and at his insistence, they released Feng Hongwei's obituary, and they rented the mourning hall.

Those officials who were caught by Feng Hongwei, no matter what conditions Feng Hongwei proposed, could only raise their smiling faces and nod vigorously; There are also those who are free from the legal gray area, and there are disgraceful things between each other, once a conflict occurs, it can only be resolved privately according to the "rules of the rivers and lakes", so the businessmen who have repeatedly invited Feng Hongwei, the "big brother", to arbitrate, will certainly not be stupid to attend Feng Hongwei's memorial service. You know, the reporters of the media, as well as the staff of the Commission for Discipline Inspection, are staring around, waiting for the prey to take the bait.

Besides, isn't it an unwritten unspoken rule in officialdom and shopping malls?

Therefore, Feng Hongwei's mourning hall has been open for a full hour and a half, in front of the door of the mourning hall, there are no worshippers, no mourning, no wreaths, no incense, no one comes in, and it is still quiet. Faced with this kind of scene, which had already been expected by him, Feng Yinglou didn't say anything, just bit his lip, erected his body like a javelin, and let the people who passed by the door of the mourning hall look at their families with doubt, even sarcasm and disdain.

This situation lasted for two hours, and the reporters and the staff of the Discipline Inspection Commission all thought that no one would come to this mourning hall again to pay homage to a corrupt official who would carry a lifetime of infamy even if he died, and those reporters with flexible minds had even begun to conceive such news articles as "A corrupt official pointed out by a thousand husbands will dare to open a mourning hall after his death, and make the world laugh for a hundred years", a thin, small figure appeared in front of him and his seven younger siblings. Needless to say, the crystal tears in the corners of her eyes and the white paper flower on her chest are enough to show her intention and sincerity.

From the outside, she is just an ordinary girl. She should have been born in the countryside and has not been in the city for a long time, so she still retains a strong local flavor in her body. She ignored the reporters who pointed the camera at her, nor the staff of the Commission for Discipline Inspection who were no different from ordinary passers-by to her, she just walked into the mourning hall belonging to Feng Hongwei with a sad and reverent face, and then knelt in front of Feng Hongwei with her knees bent in front of everyone.

She didn't burn paper money, but cherished a pair of red embroidered insoles, put it on top of the brazier in front of Feng Hongwei's posthumous portrait, and let the flames sweep up, swallowing the insoles embroidered with the words "A good man's life is safe" little by little, and turned into faint ashes.

When the girl walked out of the mourning hall, a reporter surrounded her, sent the microphone to the girl, and asked: "Can you tell us why you came to worship a corrupt official who was a prisoner who stole and eventually caused anger and resentment, and committed suicide in fear of sin?" Also, you burned a red embroidered insole in front of the mourning hall, does this have any special meaning for you and Feng Hongwei? ”

Hearing the reporter's question, the eyes of several younger siblings were red, and everyone's eyes fell on the face of Fengyinglou, even if Fengyinglou only nodded slightly, these children would rush out desperately. But the Wind Shadow Building didn't move, he still stood there quietly, he just opened his eyes wide and pricked up his ears.

"I don't care if Uncle Feng is a corrupt official or not, I only know that he is my benefactor and a good person."

Hearing the girl's answer, several reporters showed disapproving looks on their faces, and one of the younger reporters blurted out: "How can a scum like Feng Hongwei, who sucks people's fat and people's ointment, be a good person, girl, don't be deceived by him." ”

Facing the reporters who surrounded her, as well as a few microphones raised in front of her, this girl who grew up in the countryside and has not been in the city for a long time is obviously a little stage frightened, but standing in front of Feng Hongwei's mourning hall, listening to the comments of those reporters on Feng Hongwei, she suddenly blushed, and her voice suddenly became louder: "I was deceived by someone, and I was abducted, but I am not Uncle Feng!" I threw the note out of the window and begged someone to call the police, but the note was sent to someone to pick it up and really went to the police station, the police didn't take the note seriously at all, I was sold to a mountain village that was poorer than my hometown, and sold to a man who was more than 20 years older than me as his wife. After he knew that all my money was stolen by the traffickers, he also helped me rent a house, gave me 500 yuan, and helped me find a job. ”

The girl's voice paused slightly, but she still mustered up her courage and continued: "I'm just a countryman and don't know any big truths, but I also know that being a man must be grateful to repay him, and I can only take out my hand to repay him." I cheekily hugged him, and I told him that I didn't care that he had a wife, but Uncle Wind pushed me away, and he told me that he saved me because I should have been saved, and he didn't want anything, and then he walked away. ”

After saying these words, this girl from a remote mountain village with a surname that still retains a simple side like a mountain widened her eyes, looked at several reporters in front of her, and hissed: "You say, what did Uncle Feng lie to me, why is he not a good person?" If this is a lie, then can you lie to me once? ”

Faced with the questioning of a country girl, several reporters who had received higher education and could usually speak well, were speechless, and the girl who burned a pair of red insoles in front of Feng Hongwei's spiritual seat no longer paid attention to the news reporters in front of her, who were known as the uncrowned king, turned around and walked away silently.

Just as the girl disappeared at the bottom of the street, several gray-haired old men, accompanied by their juniors, walked into the mourning hall of Feng Hongwei.

Although they were so old that they had to be helped to walk, when they stood in front of Feng Hongwei's statue, these old people straightened their waists again.

"Salute!"

I don't know who issued a slogan that was still loud no matter how the years passed, and a few old right hands had already drawn to the right foreheads of several old people with the same uniformity as they once were. Even an old man in a wheelchair who can no longer stand up on his own strength is no exception.

Of course, it can be seen from the eyes of Fengying Lou that these old men were all once soldiers. On the bodies of several of them, even now they still bear the scars inflicted on the battlefield. But what Fengyinglou doesn't understand is how these veterans, who are more than his grandfather, have a relationship with Feng Hongwei.

The old man in the wheelchair kept trembling his lips, and even Kazekage, who was trained in lip reading, couldn't tell what he wanted to say. But those old people understood, and one of them said to Feng Hongwei's portrait: "Big brother, the fourth said, thank you for giving him the medicine for cerebral thrombosis, although he can't stand up yet, but he finally doesn't have to lie motionless on the bed every day and wait for death, and he also thank you for giving him a wheelchair." ”

"We veterans, some of us have fought in the eight-year War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, some have been guerrillas in the mountains, and some have participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.

put a few things in front of the statue of Feng Hongwei, and then these old people who had experienced the darkest era in China and came out of the rain of bullets, accompanied by their juniors, walked out of the mourning hall.

Not all soldiers who participated in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression can achieve fame, I don't know how many people returned to their homes with exhaustion and scars, and picked up their hoes again. In the annals of the Republic, there will be no their names, there will be no names on the monument to the martyrs, the enemy's bullets and shells on the battlefield did not kill them, but they have already destroyed their health, when they were young, they didn't feel anything, and when they were old, all kinds of problems appeared, and the subsidy of twelve yuan and four cents a month can be said to be a drop in the bucket. On the day of Army Day, the local political axe invited them to make dumplings together and gave them a bag of white noodles and a few catties of meat.

It is because life is not satisfactory, and it can even be said that life is quite difficult, these old people did not send any wreaths to Feng Hongwei.

What they sent to Feng Hongwei was a few white paper flowers, plus three military merit medals. Of these three military medals, two of them carry the most brilliant five-pointed star, while the other one depicts the blue sky and white sky. Although they come from different camps, Feng Ying Lou can definitely be sure that those old men can cherish them in front of Feng Hongwei, so what is condensed on them must be the most moving chapter of countless Chinese [***] people holding hands and fighting against strong enemies heart to heart in those long eight years!

Maybe the expressions of these old people are too solemn, maybe their behavior has revealed too much information, those reporters who blocked in front of the door of the mourning hall and still do not follow it until now, this time they did not gather around to ask why they came to worship a god and a ghost, of course, it should be a big corrupt official who is shouted and beaten by rats crossing the street.

I don't know when it started, but the number of people in the mourning hall gradually increased.

There was no one to organize, so of course they would not arrive in advance before the opening of the mourning hall and put up a posture there. Most of them arrived in twos and threes, and among them, there were the most ordinary company employees, small traders who pushed carts every day and fought guerrilla warfare with the chengguan in the streets and alleys, and students, and they almost included the entire people at the bottom of society.

They all knew Feng Hongwei's surname, so even if they could, no one made a special trip to bring a huge wreath or a basket of flowers. Some people put a flower in front of Feng Hongwei, some people put a white paper flower, and some people, with empty hands, whispered silently for a long, long time in front of Feng Hongwei's spiritual seat.

In this way, people come and go, and in the end, in front of the statue of Feng Hongwei, flowers and paper flowers are mixed together, and they are piled up into a small mountain.

It is through these worshippers that Fengyinglou has the most intuitive understanding of what Feng Hongwei has done over the years. As the director of the anti-corruption bureau, Fengyinglou can of course have evidence of corruption by some officials, but he did not bring these officials to justice, but separately "talked" with them, until the other party "willingly" took out a large sum of money to get along with him in a "personal relationship".

He is a big corrupt official who specializes in extorting corrupt officials and unscrupulous businessmen, and because of this, the speed at which he accumulates wealth is as amazing as the speed at which he offends people.

After receiving the money, Feng Hongwei used them to donate to three Hope Primary Schools, and in this city, set up an education foundation, which allowed nearly 700 out-of-school children in the province to return to school. He also built two bridges, financed 28 lonely elderly people, and opened a welfare factory for the disabled.

After arriving at the local work, Feng Hongwei would follow the leaders every year on Arbor Day, carrying shovels and running to the mountains to plant trees, but he soon found that they planted trees on the same hillside every year, and the saplings always did not grow long and did not live long every year. For them, Arbor Day is not so much a social welfare activity as a publicly-funded field tour.

Looking at the barren mountains and listening to the leaders of the bureau, they talked at length about how bad China's natural environment is, what soil erosion, what desertification is serious, and what holes in the ozone layer. As for the saplings they planted today, whether they died because they planted them in the wrong way, or because they didn't water them, or they were just thrown away and sold somewhere else, that's not something they can do.

No one thought that after participating in two superficial afforestations, Feng Hongwei would really take action. He signed a 200-year-long contract with the locals for the barren mountains, and in just two years, he planted 2,000 acres of forests. He also hired some mountain people who violated the national family planning policy and left their hometowns with their wives and children, and let them be responsible for guarding the forest. Although the saplings planted in the barren mountains are far from mature in two years, the saplings on the entire hillside are full of life, and it is believed that within ten years, this place will become a sea of green.

If Feng Hongwei continues to work in the position of director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, it will take another ten years at most to complete his lofty ambition of "planting 10,000 acres of trees".

Feng Hongwei also accompanied the leaders of the city to inspect the remote and poor mountainous areas, and expressed his condolences to the teachers who insisted on teaching the children there.

Ten years ago, the teacher who taught in a poor mountainous area worked as a guitarist in a band in Shenzhen, and his income was quite high even from today's perspective. It was by chance that he came into contact with children in remote mountainous areas, and he quit his job as a guitarist and entered the mountainous area, where he stayed in a mountain village primary school for ten years.

In the face of such a dedicated figure, of course, the provincial and municipal leaders praised it, and the reporters even cracked wildly, recording all the precious historical scenes when the leaders shook hands with this teacher. As for the leaders and teachers, they shared weal and woe, carried water from several miles away, and even made a lunch for the children with the teachers, which made the children smile, and it was natural that it became the headline of the news column that night.

A week later, Feng Hongwei returned to the small mountain village alone and found the teacher. After meeting, he asked the other party directly: "Do you regret it?" ”

The teacher didn't know why a director of the anti-corruption bureau would go and return, let alone understand the meaning of Feng Hongwei's words, so he was silent.

"Some people say that the teacher is a wax torch that turns to ashes and tears begin to dry, and I also know that when you first entered the mountainous area as a teacher, you wanted to use your own practical actions to change the poor face of this small mountain village, but it is obvious that ten years have passed, and you have not succeeded."

The teacher still used a silent attitude to face the man in front of him whose words were too sharp and had already stabbed his self-esteem.

"It's still very poor, the men still spend most of the year idle, they still like to drink wine made from bud rice, they still like to beat their wives at every turn, and the girls still have a hard time getting an education in your elementary school." Feng Hongwei really said like a knife: "In this small mountain village, the only person who has completely succeeded in changing your fate is yourself!" ”

Hearing such a declaration, the teacher was really angry, but Feng Hongwei's words made him silent again: "If you continue to stay in Shenzhen and continue to be your guitarist, I think even if you can't become famous, you should have a small amount of savings now." Take out half of this money, hire students who have graduated from teachers' colleges, and let them teach in the mountains, even if they are not old enough, they don't have enough hearts, and they can't stay for long, as long as you are willing to pay enough salary, coupled with such work experience, it will make them get twice the result with half the effort when they find the next job, and stay for half a year, they should still be able to do it. That's it, you make money outside, and then take out half of it, and ask teachers to teach, I think, with your income, you should be able to afford at least five teachers, right? ”

Feng Hongwei made a final summary of his judgment: "Your quality is worthy of respect, but it's a pity that you chose the wrong method." ”

The teacher finally couldn't help but ask, "What do you do if it were you?" ”

Feng Hongwei replied very nonsense: "I can give them a cornucopia, as long as they have money, they won't have to worry about not being able to build a good school and hiring enough teachers." As long as there is money, girls can also come to class, and there will be fewer and fewer young people in this village who are singles. ”

The teacher could be said to have turned his nose up at Feng Hongwei's words at that time, but Feng Hongwei was very serious, "Let's make a bet, if I can really give them an inexhaustible cornucopia for generations, you will leave this mountain, and while you are only in your thirties and still young, you will find your life again." ”

The teacher really didn't think so, but looking at Feng Hongwei's serious face, he finally high-fived him and swore an oath that in the eyes of normal people, it would never be successful.

As a result, the next day, a group of people came to this mountain, and they also brought a few carts of saplings. No, it's wrong, those are not saplings, but carefully selected and cut buds from date trees. Anyone who has studied nature knows that trees can be grafted, and grafting these jujube buds onto other branches can produce red jujubes in autumn.

In the mountains, there are few things, that is, there are many trees, and the sour jujube trees that can be seen everywhere are all over the mountains. Cutting off the excess branches, cutting a three-inch-long gap in the main branch, putting the buds in, and then tying and wrapping them tightly with plastic film, this kind of work is simple, but tedious.

The teacher didn't know how much money Feng Hongwei had invested and how many people he had hired to graft the buds of more than 30,000 jujube trees in the entire mountain in two months. When the golden autumn of September comes, red dates the size of quail eggs are also hung all over the mountain. The villagers rushed to pick these red dates and carry them out of the mountains to sell.

"Mr. Lu Xun said well, there is no road in this world, but when there are more people walking, there will be a road." Feng Hongwei pointed to the villagers who carried the bamboo baskets and walked out of the mountains with red dates, and said to the teacher: "People's greed is never endless, they are selling with bamboo baskets on their backs today, but they soon found that it is very hard, but the money earned is too little, and more dates will rot in the mountains in vain." Therefore, they will soon think of widening the road, at least so that they can drive the donkey cart and sell the dates in the cart. If one day, they will have the ambition to use a tractor to pull dates, this village, without you as a teacher, will not continue to be in the company of poverty. ”

The teacher nodded for the first time and approved Feng Hongwei's words, because he saw on the faces of the villagers that he had not seen him in the ten years he had been here...... Hope and greed!

In this bet, Feng Hongwei won.

The teacher took care of his bags, and Feng Hongwei left the mountain. The two of them asked for two dishes in a small restaurant on a city street corner, ordered two bottles of beer and changed the glasses, and finally the teacher couldn't help asking: "You invested a lot of money in that mountain, right?" You grafted tens of thousands of jujubes, but you didn't take a single one, and let them become the income of the villagers, what is it for? ”

"To put it mildly, I call it caring for the people, being an official for a while, and benefiting one party," Feng Hongwei played with the wine glass in his hand, revealing a pale yellow liquid, he looked at the man sitting opposite him, and said in a deep voice: "Actually, that day you received the inspection of the leaders, listening to everyone's praise for you, I can feel that although you are smiling on your face, you are crying in your heart!" I respect your quality, and I recognize you as a person, I Feng Hongwei has not seen you, even if I haven't seen you, since God let us meet, I can't watch you fall deeper and deeper, for the sake of public welfare, I lost my whole life. ”

"Do what you can, do what you can!" Feng Hongwei suddenly sighed, he stretched out his hand and patted the other party's shoulder gently, "Ten years of tree cultivation, a hundred years of education, education is related to the future and development of the country, and it can be described as a strategic plan to improve the overall quality of the country through education!" In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary for the political axe agency to fully coordinate the plan and allocate astronomical financial support, without these prerequisites, relying only on private donations, coupled with the slogan of 'everyone gathers firewood and the flame is high', which fools the dead and does not pay for their lives, cannot form a scale and standardization, and the final outcome is only a superficial article. Without the support and deployment of the state, individuals rush forward too violently, and the final outcome is just a moth to a fire. ”

The teacher will never forget the faint sadness on Feng Hongwei's face when he said the word "moth to the fire". At that time, the two people looked at each other, feeling the sympathy between men, and tasting the slightly bitter, but fragrant wine juice in the cup, the teacher suddenly understood that the "moth" in Feng Hongwei's mouth was probably himself!

It was from that day that the teacher and Feng Hongwei became close friends.

And Feng Hongwei's funeral, of course, the teacher has to attend. He flew back directly from Shenzhen, and unlike everyone else, he also had a guitar in his hand.

"I have a song written for your father, can I play it for him here?"

Hearing the teacher's request, Wind Shadow House nodded lightly.

opened the piano case, adjusted the strings, and in full view of everyone, the teacher was holding the guitar in his hand, but his eyes had already fallen on the portrait of Feng Hongwei.

"At my age, it's impossible to be a guitarist in a rock band anymore. But ten years of life in the mountain village, I also learned to meditate, meet with you, talk with you at night, and let me have an epiphany about life, so, I began to try to integrate my emotions and life into music, write my own songs, now a year has passed, I have a small achievement, although not popular, but finally resynchronized with the city. By the way, I used half of my income to hire three teachers to teach in a mountain village. ”

The teacher's fingers gently swept over the strings, and in the light trembling of the strings, a string of melodious tones rippled in this somewhat monotonous, somewhat low space. "And what I'm going to play and sing now is what I think is the best song I've ever written, and it's the song I've written for you, and it's called ...... Moths. ”

Looking at the portrait, the man who once drank with him, once used the most straightforward and hurtful language, dragged him out of the mountain village, recalled the bits and pieces of their relationship, recalled the man, and when he said "moths to the fire", the sadness and no regrets on his face, all the feelings, at this time, turned into a ten-finger bounce. Sometimes passionate, sometimes gentle music, then shuttled and jumped throughout the mourning hall.

Light and darkness will never be able to blend

Right and wrong, and what can be used to measure it

The dream of youth and frivolity, the road without regrets

Twists and turns, intermittent, obsessive, one after another, and a few joys and sorrows

You are the moth that flutters in the dark

When you fly to the light, try to blend light and darkness, try to bring together right and wrong

Do you know that in this lonely/dark/unforgiving/icy wind and rain, in this splendid/sweet/moving/sad song

In the distance, your paradise has begun to catch fire

……

Frankly speaking, as a guitarist ten years ago, the teacher's singing voice is not good, he sings far less mellow and free than professional singers, but he sings with his heart, in the strings vibrating again and again, his soul, his feelings, his sadness, one by one, until everyone present, forming the most charming resonance of music.

When the song ended, the whole mourning hall was silent, and I don't know when, everyone present had burst into tears.

The teacher looked at the portrait of Feng Hongwei, held the guitar in his arms, and bent his waist deeply.

"You once told me that without the support and deployment of the state, if an individual rushes forward too violently, the final outcome will be just a moth to a fire." The teacher whispered, "You can see so clearly, you can even pull me out, but why, you yourself have become the moth that pounces on the flames?" ”

"Ding......

The teacher's fingers swept over the strings, bringing out a long tail note, he took another deep look at Feng Hongwei, and then strode out of the mourning hall without looking back.

"Lift up your heads!" Just as the teacher walked out of the mourning hall, he heard the whisper of the Wind Shadow Building: "I am proud to have such a father!" ”

(To be continued)