My hometown is more than 200 kilometers away from Xi'an, a small mountain village on the edge of the Yellow River. There are only thirty or forty families in the village, most of them are surnamed Qin, and there are also several surnames of Zhang, Wang, Li and Zhao, but they are all relatives retroactively.

In recent years, more and more people have gone out to work or do business, and fewer and fewer young people have stayed in the village. There are not many people in the village who can move into the city like the fat man's family, and the more choice is to leave their fathers to watch over the mountain village.

After my grandfather retired from the Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau, he returned to his hometown with his grandmother and lived in the old mansion ever since. I grew up here with my grandparents when I was a kid, and I left after college. After my parents retired, I returned to the village to take care of my grandparents for several years, and I, like other young people, only occasionally went back to see them. The fat man didn't go back much after the family moved, and he heard him say that his parents occasionally went back once or twice during the New Year's holidays, or visited the door, or took care of their old yard.

The fat man and I bought some snacks, cigarettes and alcohol in Xi'an, and then drove to our hometown. Along the way, the fat man and I had a word of idle talk, the car was not too fast, and it was back at home in more than three hours.

"Whose car?" As soon as I arrived at the door, the fat man pointed to a Mitsubishi SUV at the door and asked me.

"I don't know." I shook my head and said, "Maybe it's some kind of guest." ”

After the fat man got out of the car, he looked around the off-road vehicle and said, "There is a pass in the car that says it is the Salt Lake City Cultural Relics Bureau." ”

"Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau." I answered the fat man and said, "That's probably coming to grandpa." ”

"Tut-tut......" The fat man smacked his lips and muttered: "This car is not cheap, and sure enough, people who are engaged in cultural relics are rich." ”

"What are you talking about......" Hearing him say this, I couldn't laugh or cry, I didn't know how to tell him at all, so I simply ignored him and walked home alone.

It's been almost 20 years since my grandfather retired, and now the Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics can make a special trip to see him, and I can only think of one. The name of the person I have in mind is Zhou Xingyao, who is now the deputy director of the Salt Lake City Cultural Relics Bureau. I heard that after he graduated from university, my grandfather was his master when he was first assigned to the Cultural Relics Bureau, and later my grandfather retired, and he often took the bus to my house on holidays to ask for advice, and often ate and lived in my house. I also met him at that time, he was very nice, and often teased me to play with fat people.

Sure enough, as soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw a large square table under the shade of the trees in the courtyard, and three people were sitting around the table. My grandfather and Zhou Xingyao were chatting, and a young man next to him listened very carefully and silently. I wondered what my grandfather was talking about, so I listened carefully and it turned out to be talking about me.

Grandpa is complaining, "...... After graduating from college, I couldn't find a decent job, so I went to open some kind of bullshit antique shop......"

Zhou Xingyao asked my grandfather: "Master, I remember that Xiao Fen studied archaeology, right?" I'm thinking of asking him to help me. ”

"Yes, this kid has been smart since he was a child, he can learn everything as soon as he learns, you can talk about what kind of shop he will open if he learns archaeology well, how can the ancestors of the old Qin family be able to do business for generations......"

"Grandpa, what you said is not right, Xiao Fenke can do business." The fat man had come to the courtyard at some point, and said seriously.

The fat man hasn't come back for several years, and his grandfather didn't recognize him immediately, and Zhou Xingyao next to him hasn't seen the fat man for many years and hasn't recognized it. At this time, it showed the fat man's self-familiarity, and I saw that he ignored the puzzled eyes of several people present, pulled a chair and sat on the side of the crowd, and then said with a hippie smile: "Grandpa, Uncle Zhou, do you still remember me?" I'm Chubby, the Chubby of the old Wang's family next door. ”

"Oh, Chubby......"

“……”

After a few people were surprised and greeted, the fat man talked about how I sold the goods. As soon as I saw that this was the rhythm of an accident, I hurriedly walked behind the fat man, patted him, stopped him from talking, and then greeted a few people.

Grandpa asked me very calmly: "Fen, Xiaopang hasn't finished talking just now, you come and tell grandpa." ”

I have a headache, my grandfather hates profiteers the most, and this fat man describes me as a profiteer in a sentence or two, how can I explain this. I'm a little speechless: "I ......"

Fortunately, the fat man seemed to have understood where the problem came from, and moved the chair he was sitting on to his grandfather again, and said, "Grandpa, I know this matter best, so let's talk about it......"

The fat man Balabala was another burst of spittle, but the content of this talk was quite close to the facts, and a few people figured out what was going on, and it could be regarded as returning my innocence, and my hanging little liver was also put into my stomach.

After listening to the fat man's words, Zhou Xingyao turned his head and asked me: "Xiao Fen, the antique shop is not open, have you thought about what to do in the future?" ”

"I haven't thought about it yet." I answered truthfully that I did think about it, but it didn't come to fruition.

Grandpa was a little angry, and said: "Such a big person, what to do is two ends in three days, I haven't even thought about what to do in the future, the store will be closed when it says it will be closed, and your father will not beat ......you when he comes back."

"Master, your old man is discouraged." Zhou Xingyao persuaded my grandfather, turned his head and said to me: "Xiao Fen, the Cultural Relics Bureau is going to set up an archaeological team during this time, mainly to rescue the excavation of the lonely mountain sacrifice rooftop behind our village, the bureau is not manpowered, if you are idle during this time, see if you can come over to help Uncle Zhou." ”

No wonder Zhou Xingyao came to see his grandfather, it turned out that he was also passing by here for work. The lonely mountain he was talking about was directly north of our village, less than five kilometers from the foot of the mountain. When I was a child, I often went up the mountain with the fat man to play, digging birds' nests, picking sour dates, and I was beaten by my grandfather for this. The so-called altar is at the top of the mountain, and because it is far from the village, I have never been there, and I have not heard of any ruins there, but I did not expect that the place would need to be rescued and excavated. Generally speaking, cultural relics and monuments that need to be excavated for rescue purposes have either been stolen by tomb thieves or damaged by natural disasters, in short, it is not a good thing for cultural relics and monuments.

I asked, "Uncle Zhou, what's wrong with the sacrificial rooftop, why do you suddenly have to rescue the excavation?" ”

"That's right." Zhou Xingyao thought for a while and said: "A few days ago, a forest farm worker picked up the cultural relics and handed them in, saying that they were found in the rocky ditch, and then the bureau sent people into the mountain to investigate, and found that some ancient ruins were exposed near the sacrificial roof because of the flash flood, and the specific situation was not very clear. ”

"I see." I roughly understood, but I think most of the arguments about the lack of manpower in the Cultural Relics Bureau are false, and I guess Uncle Zhou just wants to arrange a job for me. After I thought about this, I thought about how to dismiss his kindness, and I was embarrassed to refuse directly. When I was struggling, my phone rang and a text message came. I opened my phone and saw that it was from a fat man, so I peeked at the fat man and found that this product was giving me a look and motioning for me to read the message. I opened the text message and looked at it, and the fat man sent a total of four words: "The opportunity is rare." ”

The fat man still knew me better, and he knew that I was probably going to refuse, so he sent a message to persuade me. I smiled bitterly and shook my head at him gently, he was anxious when he saw it, patted his thigh, and said to Zhou Xingyao: "Uncle Zhou, my feelings are going to enter the lonely mountain this time." ”

Zhou Xingyao didn't know what the fat man was going to say, so he nodded to him and said yes.

"Uncle Zhou, if you want to go to the altar of the lonely mountain, you will find me, I often went there to play when I was a child." The fat man continued: "I am not as good as Xiao Fen, I don't know anything about archaeology, but I am more familiar with the terrain than him. ”

"Oh?" Zhou Xingyao looked at the fat man with interest and said, "I was still worried about finding a guide just now, and the guide will be automatically sent to the door......

My grandfather also said next to him: "Xiao Zhou, I was still struggling with who to take you into the mountain just now, after all, the rest of the village is a group of old people, and people are not able to do their muscles and bones, so it is much more reliable to let Xiaopang go than to let these old people in the village go." ”

"Grandpa is right, Uncle Zhou, you see that I am strong and strong, and I will definitely not drop the chain......" The fat man said and showed his biceps very unlimitedly, and the stars flew around with spittle in his mouth.

I couldn't figure out what kind of medicine was sold in the fat man's gourd, probably because I was afraid that I wouldn't go, so I signed up first, and then dragged me alive and dead. The fat man saw that I was silent on the side, and said to the others: "Xiao Fen is still so serious and careful, he has not spoken, and it is estimated that he has already begun to consider the work of entering the mountain." ”

I heard him say that and rolled his eyes. This is so shameless, when did I think about entering the mountain, obviously I was still hesitating how to refuse Uncle Zhou's invitation.

"Xiao Fen's personality is still the same as before." Zhou Xingyao stretched out his hand and patted me on the shoulder and said, "Everything is very well thought out in advance, archaeological work needs young people like you." ”

"Xiao Zhou, don't praise him." Grandpa said on the side: "Young people are unstable, and they are frizzy in everything, so you have to bother more in the future and educate him well." ”

"Master, what you said is out of sight......

"Don't talk about this, can the things handed in by the workers be clearly defined......

"It's hard to tell the date, but there are similar patterns on the things......"

"Any sketches?"

"Sketch in the bureau, I brought a photo ......"

"I'll look at ......"

The young man next to him took out a stack of photos from his briefcase and put them on the table, my grandfather took the stone mirror hanging on his chest and looked at it very seriously, and Zhou Xingyao on the side also discussed with his grandfather in a low voice while watching. The two of you are talking to me, and if no one is discussing, I have no chance to speak at all. I looked at the fat man next to me, and there was a little smug on his face.

I leaned over to him and lowered my voice and said, "Dead fatty, what the hell is the idea?" ”

"Nothing." The fat man quibbled in a low voice: "Look at you are unemployed now, plus I am an unemployed vagrant, the two of us can easily find a happy job, how good." ”

"What a fart, I don't know your little abacus yet...... I whispered, raising my hand to clean up the fat man, when a voice from the side interrupted me.