21. The fog of life experience

Zhang Zhen listened to Sun Laohan's words and wondered in his heart: Shouldn't I have been born in this village? How did you come to this village?

Sun Laohan walked into the back room, and Zhang Zhen followed in.

Sun Laohan added some charcoal fire to the stove, and then continued: "This matter is a long story. Let me first tell you about the origin of this village. Otherwise, you won't believe me! ”

Zhang Zhen's intuition told him that what Sun Laohan said next was definitely a secret. He also seemed to understand what Zhang Lei said to him when he left, Sun Laohan finished talking about Li Gen and Zhang Lei in order to leave him to tell him these things. But he didn't know what Sun Laohan said next would have on him, he was a little excited, looking forward to it, and nervous at the same time.

Sun Laohan opened the conversation box and said slowly: "This village is called Gengzhuang, and it has been called Gengzhuang since there was this village!" But who in this village believes in Geng? You also saw that they were all the Zhang family and the Li family.

Speaking of the surname Geng, in fact, everyone in this village believed in Geng before, but then an incident happened, and the people in this village changed their surnames.

This starts with a dynasty a long time ago, during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Chongba became the emperor from a monk, and then killed all the people around him who fought the world together. Only a few of his most trusted families remained. One of them is the Geng family!

The Geng family has two brothers. The eldest brother is called Geng Haotian, the second brother is called Geng Handi, the eldest brother is scheming, the second brother is brave and good at fighting, and he is Zhu Chongba's right-hand man. The two brothers helped Zhu Chongba fight the world and won the emperor's appreciation. But they were low-key and never acted in front of the emperor. So, that's why they weren't killed. Because of this, they were also given a secret mission by the emperor.

But a generation of emperors and courtiers, and later after Zhu Di became the emperor in the Ming Dynasty, they were ostracized, and the whole family was worried about their names. Seeing that the situation was not good, the brothers prepared to resign and go home. But they knew the secrets of the royal family, how could Zhu Di let them go easily, so Zhu Di casually found a reason to arrest them, and the Geng family was wanted by the whole country. As soon as the two brothers saw that the situation was not good, they took their wives and children and began to die.

It wasn't until they met the exiled prisoners that they were among them that they survived. At that time, there were no major crimes committed by these prisoners, and many of them were relocated by order. Most of them were from Shanxi, and they left their hometown and went to the northwest and even the desert as soon as the emperor decreed them. Even now, many local people say that their ancestral home is the big locust tree in Shanxi, and there are two nails on the little finger of the left foot. ”

Zhang Zhen was excited when he heard this, and couldn't help but interject: "Then why don't I have two nails on my left foot?" ”

Sun Laohan was not shocked when he heard Zhang Zhen say this. explained: "Naturally, you don't have it, because you are not from the big locust tree in Shanxi." You are a descendant of the Geng family! ”

"Geng family?"

"Yes, it's the Geng family. The Geng brothers came here with the migrants. When they were in this place, they felt that the mountain was high and deep enough that the royal people could not find it for a while. They escaped from the ranks and settled here.

But since it is a fugitive, it is necessary to remain incognito. The two brothers didn't dare to have their surname Geng, so they changed their surname. The eldest brother Geng Haotian changed his surname to Zhang and called Zhang Hao, and the second brother Geng Handi changed his surname to Li and called Li Han. ”

Zhang Zhen listened wonderfully, but he still didn't answer, and immediately asked: "Why do you want to change the surname Zhang and Li?" ”

Old Man Sun laughed: "There's nothing curious about this. At that time, the surnames Zhang and Li were relatively populous. If you change it this way, you won't be noticed. I don't know what they thought at the time, but there's nothing to say about it anyway. At that time, they could also be changed to Wang, Yang, Sun. Anyway, I can't take the surname Geng anymore. You can't even be surnamed Zhu, the emperor's surname at that time was Zhu. ”

Zhang Zhen also understood and stopped asking. Continue to listen to Sun Laohan.

"After they changed their names, they settled here. Whether it is the Zhang family or the Li family, they are a family, so they cannot intermarry. They married girls from other places, and within a few years, they developed. From generation to generation, more and more people will come.

To this day, everyone who goes out of this village knows that his surname is Zhang or Li, and he doesn't remember what his previous surname was. At that time, the Zhang and Li families were still part of you and me, living together. Later, there was a conflict, and in order to better keep the secret, they divided the river. The Zhang family lives in the north of the river and has a secret, and the Li family lives in the south of the river and has another secret.

Zhang and Li Tongzong, for hundreds of years, only their patriarch knew about these so-called secret things. I think after so many years, they probably don't know what the secret they keep is.

In order not to let the clansmen forget that everyone's surname is Geng, they took the ancestral purple gold lamp and started to 'make trouble'. It is rumored that the 14th of July was the day of their separation, so on the 13th of July they were happy together, in order to look forward to the future and to keep their family mission from forgetting. That's how "Thirteen" came about! ”

Mayor Zhang is so old, it is the first time he has heard about this, and his grandfather should know about it as the patriarch, but why didn't he tell him? I didn't expect such a lively "Thirteen" to be such a origin. But hasn't this old man Sun only been in Gengzhuang for more than 20 years? How could he know so much about Geng Zhuang?

Zhang Zhen looked at Sun Laohan and felt very strange, so he asked, "Grandpa Sun, didn't you say that you are not from this village?" How did you know so much? ”

When Sun Laohan heard Zhang Zhen ask this, there was a little change on his face. After pondering for a while, he said perfunctorily: "I'll tell you about this matter another day, and I'll tell you when the time comes." ”

Zhang Zhen heard that Sun Laohan deliberately didn't say anything, and knew that it would be in vain to ask any more. He changed his words and continued to ask Sun Laohan: "Then what is the secret you just said?" ”

Old Man Sun took a long breath, and then said, "I don't know, but I just know that the 'firefighting' played on the 'Thirteen' is related to this mission." I have pondered for so many years, and I thought that the word 'Geng' is composed of an ear and a fire, so people with the surname Geng must listen to the command of fire, and firefighting should be like this. ”

Zhang Zhen listened to Sun Laohan's explanation, which was somewhat far-fetched. If they didn't have the surname Geng, wouldn't they have to play the game of firefighting?

Sun Laohan looked at Zhang Zhen's thoughtful appearance and knew that Zhang Zhen didn't believe it. Immediately added: "Of course, this is my own blind guess." Not necessarily true. ”

Zhang Zhen doesn't care, after all, after so many years, who still knows these things? However, he suddenly thought of the question at the beginning, and then asked Sun Laohan: "You just said that you have been in this village for twenty years?" And said you came when I didn't come. What do you mean by this, I wasn't born in Gengzhuang either? ”

Sun Laohan couldn't answer what Zhang Zhen asked just now, and his heart changed somewhat.

As soon as I heard Zhang Zhen ask again, I chuckled in my heart, and there was a slightly surprised expression on my face. But it was immediately restored, he looked at Zhang Zhen and said:

"Since you asked, I'll tell you. Before the Geng brothers separated, the eldest of the Geng family had a son named Geng Xian, who was twenty years old at that time and had the ability to survive independently. He was ordered by his father to leave Gengzhuang, and then developed on his own outside, forming his own family. But the children born in his family will choose a healthy one to send back, grow up in Gengzhuang, and then go out to fend for themselves when they become adults. When the child who went out to earn a living has a child, he will send it back. And so on and so forth! So ......"

"So, I'm the kid who was sent here, and I'm going to go out when I grow up, right? So I don't call Zhang Zhen, my name is Geng Zhen? Zhang Zhen didn't wait for Sun Laohan to finish speaking, and continued Sun Laohan's words.

Sun Laohan wiped his stubble, nodded, and then said: "You can also say this, but the people in this Geng Zhuang are actually surnamed Geng, isn't it a code name?" ”

Zhang Zhen was still puzzled, so he asked: "Since you want to send it back in the end, why did you send it out in the first place?" Isn't this redundant? ”

Sun Laohan frowned and didn't know how to answer, he didn't expect this kid to be so thoughtful. Sun Laohan thought for a while, and then stammered: "We croppers plant the land, and we must change the seeds every few years, otherwise the crops in the field will not grow well." That's the truth. ”

Zhang Zhen listened to Sun Laohan's explanation, and his heart was happy, and he immediately understood what Sun Laohan meant.

He is much more mature than Sun Laohan thought, he has learned these things in the biology class of junior high school, and the hybrid advantage. He also understood in his heart that the purpose of sending it out was to protect the purity of the Geng family, and the people living in the village might marry their relatives. In this way, several generations have become relatives, so don't say anything pure, and it's a blessing not to be disabled.

Zhang Zhen didn't say much, nodded in understanding. Continue to listen to Sun Laohan.

Sun Laohan said: "Everyone is either surnamed Zhang or surnamed Li. Then this surname Geng is a mark for you. I had been waiting for you here for five years when you were sent to Gengzhuang, and I started building houses and cultivating land. ”

Sun Laohan said this, Zhang Zhen had some doubts. He immediately interrupted Sun Laohan and said:

"And who are my parents? Why are you waiting for me? ”

Sun Laohan saw that Zhang Zhen asked the previous question again, and he was a little embarrassed. didn't know how to reply to Zhang Zhen for a while, so he began to change the topic: "Don't you still have a lot of questions to ask?" Let me tell you a little bit about your body. ”

Zhang Zhen heard that Sun Laohan deliberately avoided the question he had just asked, and suddenly pulled it on his body again. I knew in my heart that Sun Laohan didn't want to tell himself the truth. But you can't keep it like this.

Seeing that Zhang Zhen didn't speak, Sun Laohan continued: "Your body has undergone some changes recently, not because of a disease, but because of your development. ”

As soon as Zhang Zhen heard about development, he immediately thought of the recent changes in his body organs, as well as Sun Jing who dreamed of sleeping at night. His face turned red all at once. I didn't know what to say, so I stammered, "Grandpa Sun, why are you ...... What the...... Know everything? ”

The development that Sun Laohan said was not the same thing as what Zhang Zhen thought, Sun Laohan looked at Zhang Zhen's blushing face. Haha smiled and said, "People, you have to go through." There's nothing to be embarrassed about. But the development I'm talking about today is not the same thing as you know that! Your development is not the same as the people in this village! ”