The benefactor brothers and sisters guarded him until the next morning, and then asked Dr. Zhang from the village to come and show him, saying that it was not a big deal, maybe he was frightened, and suggested taking medicine, and also suggested that he should ask Yunxian Gu to jump and summon a soul at night.

After Dr. Zhang left, the benefactor brother and sister were worried, and they looked for Yun Xian Gu to jump, and the spirit was going to be born.

"Do you know your birthday?" The benefactor asked softly.

Jiang Yu looked at her, no sadness or joy, and did not speak.

"We have no malice, we are afraid that the water ghosts in the water will come back." Uncle Benefactor explained.

Jiang Yu took the charcoal from the hand of the three-year-old girl and wrote the birthday on the concrete floor.

The aunt breathed a sigh of relief, took a black old-fashioned fountain pen from the locked box, solemnly wrote his eight characters on the rough yellow paper, and said to the uncle, "You go and invite Yun Xiangu." ”

"But this name—" Uncle Benefactor was worried again, and people wanted names for spirits.

Jiang Yu was helpless, so he wrote the word "Afan".

"It's probably his nickname, and that's enough." The benefactor's uncle looked at it and said to the aunt, "Sister, look at this baby's handwriting, it looks much better than your writing." ”

The benefactor smiled and added the word "Afan" to the yellow paper.

Uncle went out, and that night he invited Yunxian Gu to dance the great god, burn paper money, and walked around the village with a spiritualist lamp, all the way, all the way shouting: "Afan, come back, go home." Afan, are you going home? ”

According to the rules, Jiang Yu needed to agree, but he couldn't speak. It was a three-year-old girl who answered.

The little girl sat on her uncle's neck and said in a milky voice, "Come home." ”

Go home!

These three words gave Jiang Yu a wonderful experience, as if the mud walls full of bee holes, the thatched hut with wind and rain, the house where rats and spiders come and go freely, and the bluestone slabs and overgrown courtyards are really his home.

That night, the moonlight shone in through the cracks in the walls like water. The quiet moonlight fell on the ground, and those tiny spider webs were also magnified, and there was an artistic conception of Chinese painting.

This was originally a very beautiful picture, but Jiang Yu's memory of being locked up in a dark room before was too terrifying. Waking up in a nightmare, looking at such a scene, I only felt that there were terrible monsters all around, so I hid in the corner, hugged myself and cried in a low voice.

The little girl who was sleeping on the small wooden bed somehow woke up, quickly rolled over, and came over to stand beside him, looking at him at a loss.

After waiting for a while, she hugged him like a mother coaxing a child, and said, "Brother, don't cry, baby, love me." ”

What the three-year-old girl's big name was, until he left, I didn't know. All he knew was that the whole family and even the whole village called her baby.

Seeing him crying, the baby was anxious, and his speech was not clear, clearly wanting to comfort him "The baby loves you", but it was said that "the baby loves me".

He looked at the pure child, smelled the smell of milk on her body, and the previous fear and nervousness disappeared a lot.

"Brother, the moon, it's good-looking." When she saw that he was no longer crying, she laughed to herself.

He did not speak, and sat side by side with him.

That night, he sat on the damp ground with a three-and-a-half-year-old girl and watched the moonlight all night.

The moonlight moves, the light and shadow change, and the pattern on the ground changes.

With each change, the little girl would move with the moonlight, clapping her hands happily, and introducing in a few words what she thought was a painting of light and shadow.

Later, when the day was light, the little girl said that she would sing a song for him.

The morning light was faint, and in the hazy light, the birds had not yet gotten up.

The little girl's immature voice sounded: "The bamboo blossoms, hey, Mimi lies in her mother's arms and counts the stars, the stars, the stars are so beautiful, where is tomorrow's breakfast?" ”

Her pronunciation is immature and non-standard, and she only remembers these four sentences, and sings them over and over again a few times, and says embarrassedly: "Brother, I haven't finished learning yet." Mom can sing. ”

He didn't speak, and the sunlight peeked in through the thin morning mist, and fell softly.

This night made him feel more relaxed and warm than ever.

Later, Jiang Yu was woken up several times at night, and he was scared, so he hugged himself and cried lowly.

But the little girl slept well and did not wake up as she did that night.

However, the benefactor aunt appeared every time, took his hand affectionately, smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, Afan, it's all over." ”

He didn't speak, he felt very warm, the benefactor aunt was an extremely good-looking woman, and that kind of gentleness was very much like the former Aunt Qing.

So, Jiang Yu was even more scared, and after feeling the warmth more than once, she pushed her benefactor and aunt away. He was afraid that this was yet another gentle trap, the beginning of another terror.

The benefactor's aunt sighed softly every time, and said to herself: "Afan, what happened to you!" ”

He didn't speak, and the benefactor aunt didn't have a trick.

Once, during the daytime nap, he had a nightmare, and when he woke up, he hid in the corner with himself in his arms and cried.

The aunt came to reassure him as usual, but in the end he was pushed away.

The aunt was helpless, so she held her big belly and shouted gently: "Baby, you come to play with my brother." ”

The baby is the daughter of the benefactor's aunt, three and a half years old, with a pigtail of horns, and when she heard the call, she jumped over.

She giggled, her bright eyes shining like clean crystal marbles.

She stretched out her chubby little hand to Jiang Yu and said, "Brother, play, climb trees." ”

But he was unmoved.

The little girl stood in front of him, staring at him. After waiting for a while, seeing that he didn't mean to play together, he changed his strategy and said very flatteringly: "Brother, then you are here, look, baby, climb the tree for you." ”

Then, I climbed a small tree.

He lifted his heart up, for fear that she would fall, so he instinctively stepped forward and stood under the tree to protect her.

But she hugged the tree and smiled slyly: "Brother! ”

"Come down." He was anxious and urged.

But the little girl cheered: "Mom, my brother has spoken." ”

Jiang Yu himself was also stunned, he originally thought that he would not be able to speak anymore, and tried to open his mouth, but he couldn't make a sound. But at this moment, because he was worried about the baby's safety, he was able to speak.

He was stunned, but the baby ran over happily, took the hand of the benefactor and said excitedly, "Brother, speak." ”

The benefactor's aunt was brushing her clothes on the laundry table made of sand and stone, smiled at the little girl, and said gently, "So, the baby should talk to his brother more." ”

"Okay." The little girl replied crisply, and then slid down the tree like a monkey, and the whole action was done in one go.

Jiang Yu was surprised. He has seen many children of that size, both male and female, at this age, still running and running, and the rhythm of falling down if they are not careful, but the baby's movements are too agile.

"Brother!" As if pleased, she made a garland of wild daisies in her hand and gave them to him.

She picked up the blades of grass on the ground, took out the red fruit from it, carefully washed it in clean water, held it to him, and said, "Brother, eat, sweet potato seeds, delicious." ”

She dug until the middle of the summer, carefully put it in the basket he carried, and said, "Be careful, don't touch it, it's a little poisonous." ”

She went into the cornfield to pick fresh cucumbers, washed them in the well water, and handed them to him: "Brother, eat, delicious." ”

......

Like a cheerful butterfly, she flew around, slowly dispelling the dark clouds of fear in his heart. His night, gradually away from the nightmare, slept until dawn.

The family is kind and harmonious.

is not only a little baby, but also a benefactor brother and sister who also treats him as a member.

In his free time, his benefactor would take him to catch birds, dig earthworms, catch shrimp and crabs with grasshoppers, go up the mountain to set hunting traps, and personally demonstrate how to catch snakes.

He didn't talk much, but Uncle Benefactor spoke in detail.

Every time, the birds, game, and river fresh food that the two of them got back would turn into all kinds of delicacies after passing through the hands of the aunt.

And that's not all. The benefactor's aunt also bought cloth and came back, cut three sets of clothes for him, and sewed them by herself.

Many times, he seems to have forgotten that his name is Jiang Yu.