When Xiao Hei heard the word witch, his face became gloomy, and he asked us to lean our heads over and then said slowly: "People say that where there is a witch, there is death, and everyone who has seen her basically does not live long, and the death is ugly." Legend has it that the witch exists in every corner of the village, and can change into anyone, she actually lives with us, maybe she can still hear us now......" Xiao Hei couldn't help but look at the window twice.

Xiong Zi was a little scared when he heard this, and leaned back: "Don't say it, there will be such a thing, you shouldn't have told the story in advance?"

"If you don't believe it, go home and ask your parents, they must know a little, this is a secret that everyone in the village should know, why many people die inexplicably every year, people will disappear, then Wushan is so dangerous and terrible, why are so many people going up the mountain without their lives, all of this is inseparable from her!

"We don't care about witches, weasel and dead classmates we will let go first, now what we have to do is to solve these confusions in our hearts first, we have to start with the hunters first, we will definitely be able to get clues about my uncle from their mouths, let's take it step by step" I reasoned and felt that I had a preconceived idea from my uncle's death.

"Why don't you ask your aunt directly, she must know something" Wang Qiu glanced at me and was angry with me: "Uncle Xiongzi must be related to his aunt, no matter how stupid I am, I understand that it is easy to start first, how easy is it to set up Orion?" Uncle is a dead man, are you stupid if you don't find your aunt first? ”

I really wanted to punch Wang Qiu to shut up his stinky mouth, but when I thought about it, this guy didn't seem to be rude, and what he said made sense, my aunt must know something that we all don't know. Maybe I'll be able to figure out some clues.

"Forget it, let's take our time with these things, it's useless to be in a hurry, by the way, Zhang Lian, you have a birthday tomorrow," Xiong Zi didn't want to talk about these weird things anymore, and suddenly mentioned my birthday.

Only then did I realize that I was going to have my birthday tomorrow, and I didn't expect that I would forget about it when I came to school. I was very touched that Xiongzi still remembered this incident, but remembering his mother's recent physical condition and the promise about the birthday, it seems that now it is also a wish that must not be realized, and I can't help but feel a little uncomfortable.

Xiong Zi knew that I was anxious about something at the moment and patted me on the shoulder: "You ask for leave tomorrow, I'll write the notes for you, go back and see your mother, have a meal with the family, and leave the rest to us" Xiong Zi glanced at Wang Qiu after speaking, and the celebration of my birthday is done by Wang Qiu almost every year, he has a lot of ideas, and things that are not about learning have always been more thoughtful than everyone thinks.

"It's your birthday, boss! That's a big deal! Wang Qiu changed his face with excitement, as if this was the focus of tonight's discussion. He suggested that he and the three of them should think of a plan to commemorate this special day.

"It's still a big deal...... Why don't you do it for three days, or for the first seven days, and you buy some flowers, and call the whole village to come to dinner and pay tribute to me? "I didn't even have the heart to think about these things, and it sounded like half of it, so angry and funny.

"Phew! It's so unlucky, you don't care, this matter is wrapped up in me and Heiwa! You just wait to come back and enjoy the surprise" Wang Qiu is confident, and the guarantor wants to give me a satisfactory birthday, low-key luxury and different.

I didn't want to talk too much about my meaningless birthday, so I ended the conversation early, and it was not too early to go to bed. Let's drag on the story.

Early in the morning, I went to Mr. Li's office to ask for leave, and everything went smoothly, Mr. Li was very trusting and considerate of himself, and got the fake note without much effort.

"Your name is Zhang Lone, right?" the female teacher who picked up the water suddenly called out to me. I froze in place, looking at the female teacher I had never seen before.

"That's right, teacher, I'm Zhang Lone," I looked at her for a moment to make sure she was talking to me, and then nodded politely.

"Got it, you go get busy" The female teacher didn't say anything more to me, it seemed that she just wanted to confirm my name.

Listening to the class bell ringing, I walked out of the campus quickly, my steps were a little load-bearing, and my heart was full of thoughts. I don't know how my mother is now.

Walking on familiar roads, there are not many pedestrians. I rarely slowed down. It's my birthday today, so I should be a little more relaxed.

The old lady called out my name again, and I walked over with a smile on my face.

"Zhang Lone, it's okay when school starts," the old grandmother smiled, and there was more kindness on her old face.

"It's okay, grandma, you're okay"

"Okay..... the old lady smiled and nodded, "Are you going to see your mother again?" ”

"Yes, I haven't been there for a long time, I'll check it out today when I have time" I didn't mean to leave, I just wanted to tell my grandmother why I was here at this time.

"Oh...... Then you go quickly, grandma won't delay you" The old grandmother nodded again after speaking, and her smile never left.

I said goodbye to my grandmother, my tense face relaxed a lot, and I walked to the health center.

The last time I came to the clinic, my mother had already changed wards, saying that she wanted to take better care of her, but I knew that this was only because my mother's condition had worsened, and the previous medical measures had no effect. The mother had fallen into a coma.

Looking at the mother in the house, lying on the neat hospital bed, all kinds of machines around me, I have never seen these things when I come out, I don't know what the meaning of their existence is, every time I see it, I only feel afraid in my heart, and my heart begins to feel uneasy, these series of instrument lines, intersecting and entwining my mother's weak body. It seems that the mother is being delivered with nutrients to sustain her life, but at any time there may be bad news announcing the death of the mother.

"I can't go in yet, she needs a quiet rest," the doctor walked over and stood beside me.

"When will I wake up, even if I open my eyes," I looked back at the doctor, and my mother's condition had not only not eased, but it seemed that it had become very serious today.

"We'll do our best, don't worry"

I didn't answer, but nodded silently, and such a reply was undoubtedly the most pale and powerless for me.

"I won't bother, if there is any news, please be sure to let me know," I said and bowed deeply to the doctor. He left the hospital with a weight-bearing step.

I didn't go directly to Yulu's house to find my aunt, I felt a little tired, I was in a bad mood now, I couldn't go the same way and put it back, it would make my grandmother worry, and I went home after a round of mountain roads.

"Zhang Lin is back" Grandpa just walked out of the back room, and happened to meet me, looking a little surprised and happy.

I said hello to my grandfather, and looked into the back room, and it was rare for my father and brother to be in the house, so I walked in.

"Let's go to the health center" My father was busy cooking, and he lowered his head and asked,

"I've been there, I want to come back for my birthday today" I stood beside my father, my body unconsciously straightened, trying to hide my physical exhaustion and mental malaise.

"It's your birthday today, take it easy, sit down, I'll help" My brother put down his work, asked me to sit down, and walked to my father to help.

Grandpa sat in the doorway, smoked a cigarette, and greeted people passing by. I was in a daze, this feeling is familiar, when I was a child, I was like this almost every day, I couldn't find anything to do after I finished my homework, so I sat alone in a daze, my father and brother cooked, my grandfather smoked, and my mother sewed clothes. Now there's no going back.

Grandpa knew everyone in the village, young and old, who could speak. Having been a carpenter all his life, almost every household in the village has furniture that his grandfather polished with his hands. The toys I had when I was a child were also from my grandfather's hands, and for a long time they were all treasures that I held in my hands, and time passed too fast, and those things didn't know where to put them, and they probably left quietly with their long legs with their childhood.

My father, with the help of my brother, quickly cooked the meal. I helped set the table and called Wang Qiu's parents and my own aunt and uncle. It's been a long time since we've eaten together.

"What? Don't you know that the king ball is celebrating your birthday? Why didn't he come?" as soon as my uncle came to the table, he began to ask me why Wang Qiu didn't appear.

He ...... "I didn't think about how to answer, I used to have dinner with myself every time I had a birthday, but today my next seat is empty, and I said how I feel a little unaccustomed."

"Forget it, that little rabbit cub should study hard, if his academic performance is the same as yours, I don't care about him when he plays every day" Uncle spoke, took a sip of wine and signaled everyone to ignore Wang Qiu.

Silently eating and watching the adults drink and talk, I didn't say a word. My aunt's constant questions seemed very boring, all of them were inconsequential women's opinions, and I could answer the conversation at the dinner table if I could, so I smiled and nodded or shut up and ate the food, and everyone knew that I didn't like to talk.

I didn't let me clean up after dinner, I always have a privilege for my birthday,

"I also said it at the dinner table, the key is to look at yourself, you are not a child for a long time, you must learn to discipline yourself and be responsible for yourself" My father walked up to me and finished speaking, what I didn't expect was that the pack of cigarettes in his hand was handed to me directly after saying these words.

I thought it was so incredible, could I have been tacitly allowed to smoke? Just because of this birthday? Or did my father already know that I started smoking, and he just turned a blind eye, and today he only has a step to acquiesce that I can smoke? ”

"Take it, you will shoulder this responsibility sooner or later" Seeing that I had not moved for a long time, my father put the cigarette in my hand, and left after saying this serious sentence.

I looked at my father's back, and my heart was a little sour, could it be ...... I'm going to grow up?

"Zhang Lone, you come in" My brother's voice came from behind my ear, and I walked over.

"Do you want it?" I handed out the cigarette and handed it to Zhang Lei like an hour.

"No need, I'll just smoke one" The brother took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, and the sound of burning cigarette paper mixed with some smoke disappeared in the air. For the first time, I felt that my brother's smoking had a temperament, a state and taste different from that of my own king. It is like the performance of the years on Zhang Lei.

I didn't smoke along with it, and waited quietly, waiting for my brother to make a sound later.

"You're also twenty," Zhang Lei said lightly

"Yes, I let out a sigh," I couldn't imagine so soon, I still remember all kinds of interesting things when I was a child, I remember when you peed in the wine glass, you told me and Wang Qiu, it was the beer you stole and let us both drink it while it was hot, Wang Qiu was so happy that he grabbed it and took a big sip, I was also stupid at the time, and I actually drank it together, if I didn't notice that it tasted wrong, I really took your urine as beer. "I don't know why I brought it up at this point, and I was talking about it with a smile on my face.

Zhang Lei remembered this interesting story, laughed for a while, and said, "Yes...... We got along so well then."

"And then? Why didn't we go on like this later" I didn't dare to look at Zhang Lei's face after speaking, and couldn't help but light a cigarette

Zhang Lei's smile gradually solidified, and his eyes became hesitant.

"Later, maybe because we all grew up, we had our own circle of friends, met different people, our thoughts changed, time was too fast, we didn't have time to communicate anymore" I can feel that Zhang Lei has tried his best to explain, he still can't say the real reason that caused our two brothers to become colder, what he concealed was the key to the change of things, what he just said was just a high-sounding truth, but he wanted to show the truth in front of me.

Zhang Lei looked at me with a very unnatural expression, tangled, guilty and unwilling, I didn't know that he had said sorry to me hundreds of times in his heart, and the secret buried in his heart I would never hear from his mouth for the rest of my life.

We all fell silent, smoking cigarettes in our hands over and over again.

Suddenly, Zhang Lei spoke: "Do you know, most people die when they are twenty or thirty years old, because after this age, they are just their own shadows, and the rest of their lives are spent imitating themselves, day after day, repeating what they have done, what they think, what they love and hate. I'm trying to avoid this, and I hope you can do your best and not be looked down upon by yourself. Don't be like me" is a quote from the book that strikes me as inexplicable.

I didn't know what he meant, and I couldn't understand that he was actually trying to tell me that some mistakes were like his own mistakes that would take a lifetime to pay for. I can only understand Zhang Lei's hope that I don't make mistakes at the best age, become confused, become impulsive, become lazy, and repeat my numb life over and over again.

"You must spend your life happily" Zhang Lei said this sentence earnestly and extinguished the cigarette butt in his hand.

I'm still very happy, very happy that my brother Zhang Lei can have the heart to say these things to himself, even if it's only this time.

"I know, I'll try"

Zhang Lei let out a sigh and looked at me: "Okay, I'm going to do something, the news above hasn't come down yet, I'll tell you in person when I leave" Zhang Lei said what I wanted to hear the most today, and then turned around and left. I stood still, reminiscing about the scene just now, that strange brother seemed to be re-entering his life step by step, even if he was leaving.

I rested alone in the house for a while, trying to remember the memories I shared with my brother when I was a child, and time slipped away quietly, and my grandfather was going back, and called me out before leaving.

"This is your grandmother's pendant before her death, I have always carried it with me, you can take it, look at it when you think of her, it will be a birthday gift from your grandfather." Grandpa carefully put the things in his hand into my hands. I've never seen this pendant, and my grandmother has so few memories of herself that I don't even know what she looks like and what posture she walks in.

"Grandpa, I ......" I could see the importance of this thing to Grandpa, and thought about refusing.

"Take it, grandpa can't make toys when he's old, and you've grown up, wear it, and it will bless you" Grandpa touched my hair after a long absence, and his dry and yellowed palms looked so warm and memorable.

Looking at the back of my grandfather in the distance, I suddenly had a feeling that the meaning of grandpa's life and those so-called love and hate may have already been buried with my lover.