Hearing my grandfather speak, I quickly stood up to make sure if he was talking nonsense or if he was really talking to me.

Who knew that when I put my face in front of his eyes, he pushed me away:

"Why are you holding me back? Didn't you see the shining star that day? That's a good thing! ”

I couldn't tell if my grandfather was talking nonsense, so I asked:

"Grandpa, are you talking to me?"

Grandpa turned to look at me:

"Who else can I tell if I don't tell you? Is there anyone else here? ”

I felt a wave of ecstasy, but I wasn't sure.

"Grandpa, who am I?" I asked tentatively.

My grandfather reached out and grabbed my ear, pulled it hard, and said with a smile:

"You are my grandson, He Zimu!"

I pointed to the two women who were speaking, and continued:

"What about them? Who are they? ”

My grandfather stood up from the recliner, looked at my mother and grandmother, and said:

"My mother and my daughter."

I almost jumped up when I heard this, and quickly shouted to my mother and grandmother:

"Grandpa is awake, grandpa is awake!"

My mom and grandmother probably hadn't figured out what I meant, just glanced at me and then went back to their conversation.

I didn't bother to pay attention to them, so I immediately handed the tortoise shell in my hand to my grandfather and asked:

"Grandpa, look, what is this?"

Grandpa straightened up, took the two tortoise shells in his hand, turned them over and looked at them for a moment, then held one of them up, and said to me:

"This is my father's, I don't know whose this is."

My grandfather's answer was very frustrating, and I thought that he would either burst into tears when he saw the tortoise shell, or tell me what kind of family heirloom it was, and then tell me the legend behind the tortoise shell.

But who knew that my grandfather would answer so calmly, as if this tortoise shell was just a very ordinary object.

I was a little unwilling, so I snatched the tortoise shell, put it back in front of his eyes, and said:

"Grandpa, this is great-grandfather's, he used to take it with him when he went out to work, have you forgotten? Didn't you also take this tortoiseshell to Bandit Bay? ”

As soon as I heard the word "Robber's Bay", my grandfather trembled visibly, and he pulled the tortoise shell in my hand and said:

"You can't go to Robbers' Bay, but you can't go, Zimu, do you hear me? Don't go to Bandit Bay! ”

I can't help but feel funny, I can't even go to the Tusi Tomb below!

Looking at my grandfather's question and answer, I understood, my grandfather's thinking was confused, and although he woke up now, his memory has not fully recovered, and he needs me to guide him little by little.

But my grandfather's illness does not allow me to ask too much, the doctor said before, my grandfather will often be in a state of confusion in the future, although it is possible to return to normal, but the time and duration of the return to normal are difficult to control, so maybe the next second grandpa will return to a state of chaos.

I racked my brain to think about the most crucial question, and finally, I thought of it, so I asked my grandfather:

"Grandpa, do you remember when your father was injured? After that injury, your father was angry with you, and it didn't go away for a long time. Tell me, what happened back then? ”

Grandpa rolled his eyes and thought about it for a moment, and suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he shoved the tortoise shell into my hand, and then said in a panic:

"Nothing! Nothing! Nothing! ”

I said in my heart that you look like this, what do you look like you have nothing? Three-year-old children can see that something big must have happened back then!

I knew that I couldn't push my grandfather too hard, otherwise it would be difficult for him to be in a hurry and confused.

I handed the tortoise shell back to him and asked softly as if I were a child:

"Grandpa, is what happened back then related to this tortoise shell?"

Who knew that my grandfather shook his head like a rattle.

I had an idea and asked:

"Does that have something to do with chasing corpses?"

Unexpectedly, when my grandfather heard this, he immediately looked at me with wide eyes, his eyes were full of fear and a trace of guilt, I knew that this time I was right.

Grandpa trembled and stretched out a hand, grabbed my arm, and said with a crying voice:

"Zimu, don't learn from your grandfather!"

So, in addition to being frightened and guilty, my grandfather told me what had happened back then:

After the liberation of the whole country in 1949, there was still a small remnant of the Kuomintang forces, entrenched in the mountains south of the Yangtze River, they gathered bandits and gangsters with the intention of disturbing the situation of national unity, however, under the strong blows of the party and the government, these reactionaries were finally exterminated in the mountains.

In 1965, my great-grandfather Li Yishui took my grandfather Li Shoude on a "journey" as usual, and this year, my mother was 5 years old.

The two of them were dressed plainly, one of them was carrying a coat, and outsiders could know what they were doing at a glance.

After wandering for more than a month, the two came to Pingxiang, Jiangxi.

Here, my grandfather focused on explaining to me what they do.

He said that although his grandfather Li Yishui never admitted that he was a corpse chaser, and his grandfather was not allowed to mention it outside, their job was to drive corpses.

Grandpa said that both father and son said that they were fortune tellers, and they did do some things to do gossip and look at yin and yang, but these incomes were just some subsistence money for them, and their main source of income was to drive corpses.

It was not like now, when transportation was underdeveloped and the means of transportation were inferior.

Grandpa said why do they have to run outside all year round? It's because their "business" is on the way.

Generally speaking, the people who die at home must have nothing to do with them, only those who die on the road need to "return to the roots", but this "falling leaves return to the roots" also depends on the person.

First of all, the lonely dead ghost does not touch, that is, the dead man who is unattended on the side of the road does not touch; Then, the clothes are tattered and do not touch, and the clothes are torn to prove that there is not much money, and they do not touch; Finally, the wicked do not touch, that is, those who commit evil or are punished with capital punishment do not touch.

Therefore, it depends on luck to do this business, sometimes you can't meet a single business in two or three months, and sometimes, you can make two or three main families at a time.

When my grandfather said this, he sighed, and he said that the more peaceful the years are, the more difficult it is to eat, especially now, what hearse, ice coffin, the appearance of these things, it is basically decided that there is no way out in this line of work.

Speaking back to the past, before coming to Pingxiang this time, Li Yishui and Li Shoude had not met a dead person, but this situation was not the first time they had encountered it, so the two of them were not in a hurry, and they arrived in Pingxiang all the way.

Who knew that as soon as he entered the boundary of Pingxiang, Li Yishui pointed ahead and said to Li Shoude:

"Business is coming!"

Li Shoude looked forward, but no one saw him, so he asked him where his father's business was?

Li Yishui smiled mysteriously and said:

"Wait!"

After saying that, he found a dry place to sit on the ground.

Li Shoude didn't know why, so he also sat down, he saw that his father was calculating something with his eyes closed at this moment, and he knew that his father was not joking.

After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, Li Shoude saw four or five people staggering towards the intersection in front of him, one of whom was carrying one on his back.

Li Yishui opened his eyes, glanced at the comer, and said:

"Not badly dressed, there is a door!"

After a while, the four or five people came to Li Yishui and his son, Li Yishui hurriedly handed over his kettle, and said with a smile:

"The trail is not easy to walk, a few people still have to carry a deceased, come, drink saliva slowly."

At this time, Li Shoude looked at the person who was being carried, and saw that the person's face was pale, the corners of his mouth seemed to be bloodshot, and his hands were put on the former's shoulders without strength, and he looked like a dead man.

The two sides exchanged pleasantries, Li Yishui and his son set out the details of this group of people, it turned out that these people are all engaged in the mountain goods business, they are from Hunan, this time they came to Jiangxi to talk about business, it was still smooth sailing, but who knew that someone proposed to come to the mountain to go around, but did not want to go down the mountain, one of them fell down the mountain and fell to his death.

At that time, it was difficult to get a car, and it was in the deep mountains and forests, so as soon as several people discussed, they planned to take turns carrying the deceased back.

The first person said that carrying the person back is a little hard and tiring, and it is nothing, but he is worried that the person will rot on the road, in that way, not to mention that it is not easy to carry it, it is to carry it back, how can his family stand it.

After listening to this, Li Yishui stepped forward to look at the deceased, and took the deceased's hand to probe the pulse door, and then said:

"Well, it's been less than two days since I died, and it's still too late."

As soon as the other party heard this, he deliberately looked at the two people, and when he saw what they were wearing and listened to their tone, the leader became suspicious.

"What are the two of you?" The man asked.

Li Yishui smiled, arched his hand and said:

"If you can trust me and can afford the money, you might as well hand over the deceased to me, after giving the first money, you should hurry up, you should rest and rest, I will take the deceased to arrive, and then I promise to return you a decent deceased, how about it?"

As soon as the other party heard this, he knew what these two men were doing, and immediately put the dead man down and asked:

"Sir is a corpse chaser?"

Li Yishui shook his head and said:

"You don't care what kind of craftsman I am, just believe me or not!"

Grandpa said that their business is not guaranteed by both parties, and it all depends on the integrity of the parties, otherwise, one party will not be able to find a place to reason after receiving the first money but not sending the corpse, and the other party will not give the rest of the money after receiving the corpse, so Li Yishui always has to ask him if he believes him when he receives the order.

After discussing for a while, the other party handed over the body to Li Yishui and returned the head money.

As soon as Li Yishui and his son left, they immediately stripped the deceased's clothes, and then sealed the meridians, and then the two bought an animal-powered cart in the market town with the corpse on their backs.

Li Yishui and his son never take a car when they go out, firstly, this livestock is not easy to serve on the road, and secondly, as long as there is money, the car can be bought casually.

In this way, the father and son of the Li family turned their heads, pulled the corpse and walked back.

But things are often like this, when you think the wind is calm, something will always catch you off guard: on the way back, Li Shoude met the second corpse in his life, and it was this corpse that almost severed the father-son relationship between him and Li Yishui.