Fiction is considered the secret history of a people.

- Balzac

Bai Jiaxuan was later proud that he had married seven women in his life.

He had just passed his sixteenth birthday when he married his daughter-in-law. It was the firstborn daughter of Gong Zengrong, a big family in Shanggongjia Village, Xiyuan, who was two years older than him. He spent his wedding night in complete ignorance and complete panic, leaving behind a ridiculous stupidity that he would never forget to be ashamed of. A year later, the woman died in childbirth.

The second room is married to the daughter of Pang Xiurui, a solid family in Pangjia Village, Nanyuan. This woman was exactly two years younger than him, and she was handsome and her eyes were bright. She had no idea what it was like to marry, and he was now well acquainted with all the secrets between men and women. He looked at her shyness and panic, and thought of his first stupidity, which made it even more exciting. As he coaxed and engulfed his little daughter-in-law, who was dodging but did not dare to disobey him, he heard her cry of pain instead of joy. When he rested tiredly, he realized that the pain in the inside of his shoulder was piercing, and she had bitten him to pieces. When he was soothing and grieving, his heart was full of annoyance for this pampered and somewhat willful goddaughter. Just as she was about to have a seizure, she pulled him on the shoulder and signaled him to do it again. As soon as she had the first sexual intercourse between a man and a woman, she became unbridled and willful. From the time this woman got off the sedan chair and carried a red silk scarf into the Bai family's gatehouse to the time she lay down in a thin coffin and carried out of the gatehouse, it was less than a year, and she died of tuberculosis.

The third woman is the firstborn daughter of an equally wealthy family in Shangfanjiazhai in Beiyuan, and her sixteen-year-old body has developed as plump and mature as a twenty-year-old woman, with plump shoulders and round buttocks, and a pair of big tits. She is either precocious, or she has knowledge of men and women before marriage, and as soon as she gets into the bed, she hugs him tightly, showing urgency and greed on her arms, and she presses her plump and swollen ** to his chest without shyness. When he entered her body, she screamed, but not in pain but in obsession. The woman, who looked like a ball of pompoms, was entangled in his arms for a year before she became a dry stalk, and finally vomited blood and died, and she did not know what the disease was.

The fourth woman was married to the village of Mijiapu near Yamagen in the southern plains. He had little memory of this woman. She didn't seem to react to all of his actions. She never refuses when he wants to come, and she never sticks to him when he doesn't. She just did what she was supposed to do from morning till night and barely said a word. When she died, he was not at home, but went to the town, and when he came back, he saw that her mouth was biting the horns, her nails were scratched, the blood on her hands had not completely dried up, and the blackened blood stains and marks scratched by her fingernails were condensed on the sides of the kang and the kang mat. said that he suddenly had a stomachache in the afternoon, and his father went to the town to ask Mr. Leng for first aid when he was not there. Mr. Leng broke it off as a wool boil, and when he pricked the needle and bleed, the blood had turned into a black thick juice that could not be released. She died in agony, curled up into a dried shrimp.

After the death of four women in a row, Jiaxuan was scared, and began to believe the rumors that the villagers had been whispering about his hard life, and he was afraid that he was destined to be a bachelor for the rest of his life. His old son Bingde and the old man remarried for him, and he advised his father to postpone it for a while. The old man Bingde put his pursed lips at the chimney of the hookah, blew out the ash with a poof, twisted the yellow and soft tobacco into the chimney, pursed his lips and blew the fire paper with a puff, and puffed out two puffs of smoke from his nostrils, and said undoubtedly: "Sell another mule colt!"

The next morning, the old man Bingde led the mule and the colt to Bailu Town, and when he came back, it was already dark, and he threw down the reins of the half-iron chain and half-leather rope, and told his son: "The daughter-in-law said that it was done." The three girls of the carpenter Wei family in Lijia Village, Shangliyuan. "This woman is a poor woman, and she has no way to take care of the wrong door. Carpenter Wei Laosan raised five women, and he was worried about not being able to make ends meet, as long as he gave a high gold dowry, he didn't pay much attention to the soft life of men. At this time, the villages near and far were enthusiastically spreading far more than the fatal physiological secrets about Jiaxuan, saying that he had a dog, long enough to wrap around his waist, and that he had a poisonous barb on the pointed end, and that the women's liver, lungs, intestines and stomachs were all smashed and injected with poisonous juice. None of those honest people think about the rich ancestral virtue and solid family business of Bai Bingde's family in Bailu Village, and no one wants to send their daughter to the house of that monster with a dog to die; Only people like the carpenter Wei Laosan who are eager to kick the woman out of the door can suffer this loss. At the important juncture when the marriage was intensified in accordance with the strict procedures and etiquette of the ancestors, the old man Bingde himself suddenly died violently.

It was the season of wheat and rape dry pods, just handed over the lunar calendar in April, the festival is in Xiaoman, and the croppers who took off their cotton clothes and pants and put on single clothes and pants are still unbearable and hot. After lunch, the old man of Bingde told the long-term worker Lu San to plant cotton after feeding the livestock, so he lay down and rested for a while. Every day after lunch, he had to rest for a while, sometimes so short that he only blinked and squinted for a nap, and then jumped off the kang and wiped his eyes and face with a wet towel dipped in cold water. Then he sat down to drink tea and smoke hookah, and his muscles and bones became excited, like a clockwork that had tightened its clockwork one turn at a time; When Lu San had fed the livestock, he and he carried the plough and led the horse out of the village alley and into the field, and he was in good spirits like a general on an expedition. Throughout the day, he was energetic and focused on the farm work in his hands, often forcing Lu San, a young man, to pant and sweat and dare not have a moment of slackness. He never scolded the long-term workers, let alone beat them with his hands and feet, and the agreed value and salary were definitely not less than a liter and a penny. He and Changgong washed their faces in the same copper basin and sat at the same table to eat. The long hours he used have done his best and he has become a very friendly friend, and the whole plain is reciting the good story and good name of Bai Bingde in Bailu Village. As soon as the old man of Bingde lay down, he was moist and confused. He dreamed that he was cutting wheat in an ox-cart with a sickle, and suddenly there was a light above his head, and the sky was full of fire, and a mass of flesh that fell right on his chest and burned so that the flesh creaked, and he tumbled from the ox-cart into a rut full of loess and grass clippings. When he woke up, he had fallen to the brick floor under the kang, and he touched his chest, which was intact and showed no signs of burning fire, but his heart was burning like a flame, burning his throat, mouth, and tongue, and all of them became hard, stiff, stiff, and dry. His woman heard the noise and ran into the house, hugged him and pulled him, but she couldn't make him climb onto the kang, and immediately panicked and called out to her son Jiaxuan and Changgong Lusan. The three of them lifted the old man Bingde to the kang, and they all leaned down together and anxiously and affectionately asked what was wrong. But the old man Bingde couldn't speak, but scratched his neck and chest with the thick nails on his thick and hard fingers, and his mouth made the same cry as when a dog was wronged. Jiaxuan and his mother were all stupid, only Changgong Lusan's brain was not confused, and he hurriedly shouted: "Go and ask Mr." Jiaxuan got reminded and ran out of the yard and went to Bailu Town to invite Mr.

Bailu Town is in the west of the village, a small street, a pharmacy, Mr. Leng sits in the hall for medical treatment, and also sells traditional Chinese medicine. When Mr. Leng heard Jiaxuan say that he was sick, he understood in his heart, took out a leather bag from the drawer and hung it on the waistband of his trousers, and hurried to Bai's house. Mr. Leng is a famous doctor in Bailu Plain, wearing a beige silk shirt with fine workmanship, black silk pants, and the silk shirt and silk pants are shaking when he raises his feet and waves his hand; In his forties, his hair was as black as ink, as oily as wax, his face was ruddy, and his eyes were clear. When Mr. Leng saw a doctor, no matter how tall or short the gatehouse was, he would not be discarded because of people, the Caidong people carried him in a sedan chair or pulled him with an ox cart with blankets, the poor people pulled a donkey to pick him up, and he went on foot. Caidong people gave him gold and silver rewards, he did not refuse, the poor man's family gave a few copper dollars and hemp money, he also calmly put it in his pocket, so poor that he couldn't get the money for a while, he didn't force or even ask, let the patient send it to him when he came to the work at hand. He fell into good fame. When his father, Mr. Lao Leng, passed away, the golden plaques and silk sent by the survivors who saved his life and many villagers who simply admired medical ethics were hung all over the street. Mr. Leng sat on the chair that was black and shiny with raw lacquer, and people found that he was colder than the old Mr. Leng. He doesn't talk much, but he doesn't slack off anxious patients. He is always calm and calm, he is optimistic about the disease, he looks bad at it, he looks like he looks like he sees the dead, and he always gives the impression that this is the way he gives to any patient and his family members who are more anxious than the patient. If you look at the disease, it is because of his excellent medical skills, this disease is not a problem, so it is not worth exaggerating and praised, if you don't see the disease or see the dead, it is because you unfortunately have a terminal illness, not Mr. Leng's mediocre medical skills, that appearance makes the patients and their families firmly believe that even if a hundred doctors are replaced, even if the medicine king is reincarnated, it is helpless.

As soon as Mr. Leng entered the door, he saw the old man of Bingde twisted like a twist on the kang, still moaning like a dog. He remained silent, touched the pulse of his left hand with a cold face and pinched his belly, then opened the mouth of the old man Bingde with both hands, and turned his head and asked Jiaxuan with a slight "um", "Is there any soju?" Jiaxuan's mother, Bai Zhao, responded with a "yes, yes", and turned around and took a whole bottle of soju. Mr. Leng asked for another celadon bowl, poured the soju into the bowl, and motioned to Jiaxuan with his eyes to light the wine. Jiaxuan's face was full of sweat, and his trembling hands pinched the flint and fire sickle, but he couldn't make a spark. Lu San took it and lit the fire paper in just one stroke, and with a puff of the flames, he lit the shochu. Mr. Leng unfastened his wallet from the waistband of his trousers and unbuttoned it, revealing a row of knives, an awl, a thick needle, and a gleaming triangular spatula. Mr. Leng took out a steel needle thick of wheat straw and a steel plate, and put them on the blue flame of the soju to barbecue, and then ordered Jiaxuan to crush the old man's hands, and instructed Bai Zhao to press his legs, especially telling Lu San to hold the master's head and neck, no matter what happened, he could not relax. Everything was carried out strictly according to Mr. Leng's instructions. Mr. Leng stuffed the steel plate into the mouth of the old man in Bingde, and turned it into a V-shaped support plate with the index finger of his left hand, pried the mouth of the old man in Bingde to the limit, and the steel needle in his right hand that was burning red and yellow on the flame of soju poked into his throat. Mr. Leng said while wiping the knife, "Let go of your hand." Finished. Then he blew out the flames in the shochu bowl. The old man Bingde's legs, feet and arms twisted like twists relaxed, and he was scattered and motionless on the kang at will, and a stream of jet-black mucus began to flow out of his mouth, which was disgusting to look at, and Jiaxuan carefully wiped it with a towel. At this time, the old man Bingde gradually opened his eyes. The four of them discovered this great turning point at the same time, and at the same time discovered that there was a ray of living light in the eyelids of Wei Qi that represented the return of life, like a soft and vibrant ray of sunlight leaking out from the cracks of the clouds of haze. The three of them let out a pleasant "oh" at the same time, and invariably turned to look at Mr. Leng with tears in their eyes. Mr. Leng was still the same as usual, and said, "Pour some cold boiled water." The three of them hurriedly poured a few spoonfuls of boiling water into the wide mouth, and the old man Bingde sat up magically, grabbed Mr. Leng's hand and said a joke: "Oops! Cold nephew! I'm ticking the book of life and death for Lord Yama! Someone snatched the brush from my hand and stabbed it straight into my throat. I also said to Lord Yama, 'Look, you can't blame me!' The three laughed with tears in their eyes. The old man of Bingde blamed his wife and said, "Why don't you pick up tea and rice for Mr. yet-" Bai Zhao hurriedly left with an apology for neglecting his benefactor, and there was a loud sound of adding water and bellows from the stove.

Mr. Leng sat down and didn't speak, took the white copper hookah handed to him by Jiaxuan and smoked it leisurely. Bai Zhao brought a gold-rimmed fine porcelain bowl with three poached eggs as white as jade. With just one gesture, Mr. Leng expressed an unquestionable and resolute refusal. Bai Zhao still wanted to say something about his own care, but the hands and feet of the old man Bingde twisted again with the sudden fall of his body, and it became more violent, the living light in his eyes quickly converged, and he had a dying look, and a howling dog-like bark poured out of his throat again. The woman's son, who had completely lifted the load in his heart, and Changgong were shocked, and suddenly realized that they were happy too early, and the crisis had not been eradicated, and suddenly fell into an even heavier second blow. Mr. Leng still did not panic and did as before, and re-grilled the steel plates and steel needles in the blue flame of the burning soju. Without orders, the three of them had already suppressed and crushed the head, hands, legs and feet of the old man Bingde to death. The red steel needle stabbed into the throat again, and there was a puff of blue smoke with a scorching smell. The old man was quiet again, and then his eyes flashed with life, this time he didn't tell the joke of ticking a circle in the life and death book of Hades. The suspicion on the faces and eyes of the three people froze. Mr. Leng picked up the leather wallet that was polished purple and shiny, tied it back to the waistband of his trousers, and prepared to leave. Jiaxuan, his mother and Changgong Lu Sanyi grabbed Mr. Leng's arm, how dare you leave like this? What can you do if you go and do it again? Mr. Leng didn't move his eyebrows and said with a flat face: "As the saying goes, there is a repeat and a second and a second and no three and a four. If it doesn't happen again, it's a great blessing for the uncle's life, in case it happens again and again...... I took away his pen to tick and draw circles, and I didn't have anything to do!" Then he walked out of the house, walked through the courtyard, and walked out of the street. Jiaxuan asked his father what kind of illness he was suffering from while seeing him off, and Mr. Leng said, "Blind and blind." "Jiaxuan can barely walk into the gatehouse." The self-explanatory exact meaning of "blind disease" is a terminal illness.

The old man Bai Bingde died. His father's death was Jiaxuan's first time he had seen a person's death. Grandpa died before he could come to the world, and he didn't have any memory intelligence when grandma died. He couldn't even watch the death of his four women and take their last breath, and he was dragged by his mother to Lusan's livestock shed, where he was draped in a red cloth to prevent the ghost from possessing him. His father's death was the first person he had ever seen in his life to move from the yang world to the yin world. His death left him with a permanent memory, a memory that was not dimmed and fading with age, but was like a bronze mirror that was constantly wiped and brightened. After Mr. Leng tucked his wallet back to his traditional Chinese medicine hall in Bailu Town, Jiaxuan, his mother Bai Zhao and Changgong Lu San surrounded the old men of Bingde on and under the kang, guarding the king like the most loyal guards. He and his mother fed the patient a spoonful of sugar water, treadling on thin ice in the hope that they would not have another seizure after that terrible interval. The old man Bingde glanced at the three people around him with his very weak and mournful eyes, and then scanned the whole room through the gap surrounded by them, and probably noticed that Mr. Leng was gone, so he closed his eyes after hesitating, and when he opened them again, there was a dead and undoubted silence. He had already foreseen that time was very limited, so he immediately stared at his son Jiaxuan with calm eyes, and said undoubtedly: "I am dead, you quickly marry the carpenter Wei family." Jiaxuan said, "Dad...... Let's not talk about that. I'll treat you first, and then I'll talk about it when you're cured. The old man Bingde said: "What I said is that if I die, you promise me to my face." Jiaxuan was embarrassed: "I really want to ...... In that case, it will have to be after three years of filial piety. It's etiquette. The old man of Bingde said: "'Unfilial piety has three nos, and the queen is great'." Did you read the book into the belly of the dog? Several generations of our Bai family are prosperous, and people are not prosperous. Your father is a single collapse and guards me a single collapser, and you are still a single collapser. I remember that the men of the Bai family are all short-lived, your lord lived to forty-eight, your lord lived to forty-six, and I lived the longest to pass the fifty mark. If you keep filial piety for three years, you are a filial son? You will be rebellious and unfilial after you die!" Jiaxuan's head began to sweat. The old man of Bingde said: "After the fourth room, marry the fifth room." Anyone who left was destined not to be from the Bai family. If a person can't save it, he owes money to others and hasn't paid it back. I just want to say one thing, even if you sell cattle, horses, land, houses, and sell all of them, ......" Jiaxuan saw his mother giving him a look, but he was so anxious that he couldn't speak, how could there be a reason to do red things before the three-year filial piety period expired? In the middle of the stalemate, the old man Bingde writhed again, the living light in his eyes flickered away, and his mouth made a dog-like bark with a whining sound, and the three of them didn't know what to do. One of Jiaxuan's wrists was suddenly grabbed by his father, the nails were as tight as if they were being cut straight into the flesh, his dying eyes emitted a fierce light, and the white foam in his mouth kept gushing out, rolling and twisting on the kang, but the hand did not relax. Mother was anxious: "Give your dad a word!" Lu San was also anxious: "You should go down!" Jiaxuan cried: "Dad...... I listen to you...... Don't worry...... Bingde old man immediately let go, leaned back, and kicked his legs and became angry. Jiaxuan fainted as soon as he cried, and when he was rescued, his father had already put on his old clothes, and the incense wax had been burned on the spiritual table. Lu San said: "You can't cry anymore, settle the funeral first." If you don't call the shots, others can't move. Jiaxuan immediately agreed with several elders in the clan on the funeral, and he must do something that must be done first: send four people from the clan who are close to the clan to report the funeral to relatives and friends according to the four roads of southeast, west, and north; Eight people from afar-away clansmen were sent to change shifts day and night to dig tombs, and before Mr. Yin Yang had not determined the acupuncture points, he would push bricks to the cemetery to make preparations for the hoop tomb; Then send three or four helping township party members to the water mill to grind noodles, but their own stone mill is too slow. Come down to discuss the matter of the musicians, this needs to be the master of Jiaxuan, how many musicians are invited? What's the scene? How long will it last? Jiaxuan said: "My father has worked hard and is pitiful, and it is said that he should be buried at home for three years." My dad has something to say when he is dying, he will be buried in three days, no drum music, everything is simple. I don't think you can keep the spirit for three years, and you don't want to be buried hastily for three days, and you can also tie the tomb well. Uncles, you advise ...... "The elders and elders from far away and near the door all know that Jiaxuan's fate is not good, and so far there is not even a woman who has fallen on horseback, so they all agree with Jiaxuan's arrangement. A Bo Langran said: "When people say, 'look ahead and look backward,' they can't always take care of the front and the back, so they can only look ahead and look backwards; life and death cannot be taken care of at the same time, so they should take care of life first and then look at death." The matter was immediately settled, and a person was sent to the neighboring village to find the master of the music class, and the number of people who were hung up on the eight and five was determined, and the whole class was released on the first three days and the next day, and only five people in the middle three days were required to keep stringing in front of the spirit.