Before each dawn, the sky seems to be at its darkest.

But at this time the summer morning is still very warm, because there is very little reinforced concrete indifference everywhere.

I woke up earlier than usual that day, and although it was still early in the normal wake-up time, I was woken up. I got up in a daze, and when I saw the sky outside the wooden window, I guess it should be almost dawn.

The compound did not quiet down at the moment, but because of the affairs of Xiaohua's family, it became even more noisy and noisy.

I instinctively got scared again, but because I hadn't slept enough, I looked a little dazed, like I was half asleep and half awake anyway. My mother also got up in a hurry, probably seeing my eyes and cowering in the bed, and rushed over after comforting me a few words.

She didn't tell me anything, but I felt even more uneasy, and I vaguely guessed what was going on!

The neighbors in the compound seemed to have gotten up, and I hid under the covers with my head covered, and I also heard the heart-rending cry of Xiaohua's mother. At this time, even if I didn't get up, I knew that everyone was rushing to Xiaohua's house.

Restlessness and unwillingness, I couldn't help but peek out of the bed. There was an oil lamp in the room, and under the dim oil lamp, I felt that the old furniture in the room was dancing with its teeth and claws. I quickly put down the mosquito net, and my heart pounded.

Because the people who live in this compound are all from their own families, although the bloodlines of each house are a little old now, after all, they are all children of the same family. No matter what is going on in any family, it is the family that says it, and it needs to be helped.

I was scared at the time, but I understood my mother. I nested in bed, hoping that my mother would come back soon. I don't remember anything else, my mind was full of fear that something would suddenly pop out of the dim old furniture.

Everyone wants to go to Xiaohua's house, first, to comfort his mother, and I think more to do something. Xiaohua's father has been in bed for many years, and everyone has some pity. Especially some old people took the initiative to go, because Xiaohua's father was of high seniority, and only the old man could come forward to be suitable.

I was frightened and scared, and then I wondered why my mother hadn't come back, and I thought I was crying under the covers. I still remember that my grandmother, who was not in good health, got up and rushed over, because when she walked out the window, she called her mother's name, and I didn't dare to answer.

When my mother came back, although I was still shivering, I was still a little dazed, and for my mother, she naturally knew that I was timid, and comforted me to get up and make breakfast together. I finally got up and saw the flames in the fire, and my restless heart slowly calmed down.

Fried rice was a fatal temptation for me as a child.

See the leftovers slowly stir-fried, fragrant in the iron pan, and sprinkle with a little salt. When the rice is a little potted, put a little lard along the edge of the iron pot and sprinkle a little chopped green onion when the pot is raised.

It's a good fried rice in oil.

At that time, when supplies were still scarce, the average family had one or two hens, and it was a luxury to be able to lay eggs every day. Even if that's the case, I'm not much interested in eggs. So since I was a child, I didn't add eggs to fried rice.

Maybe there was a fire, and my courage was getting bigger. It was getting brighter, and my mother took me to the intersection to go to school.

I faintly saw that the people in the compound had come out, as well as some old people with compassion next to them, and even more so Xiaohua's mother, who was sitting on the wooden pier at the door, her eyes were stunned and scary.

The wing room on the left where I live is close to the gate of the compound, and although Xiaohua's house is next to the utility room on the right, it is actually only about ten meters away from the gate, so it is not far from the compound. There was a cry in his house, and he heard any movement in the compound very clearly.

When he passed by Xiaohua's door on school, the wooden door of their house had already been opened, and someone was walking out with quilts and clothes, and Xiaohua was standing beside his mother at a loss. Looking at his confused appearance, I couldn't help but clench my mother's hand tightly.

Xiaohua didn't look at me, his two sisters and brother were also crying in the house, and I saw that my mother's eyes were red. I didn't dare to squeak and ask, but when I saw the things that the old people in the compound carried out, I naturally saw it more clearly, and I felt a little sad in my heart.

It should be something that Xiaohua's father used before his death, including clothes and bedding, which were obviously used as a book and wanted to be burned in a fire. This is the custom of the villagers, saying that after a person dies, if the things before death are not turned to ashes with them, they will be useless in the underworld.

As a family member, they naturally do not want to see this situation, so the deceased's utensils are usually burned. Even if the family wants to leave a memory, it is also particularly meaningful to leave one or two things, but what can the villagers precious?

Seeing that they had piled all those things aside, it was a small piece of self-reserved soil next to the paddy field of Xiao Hua's house, but it was only a point of the range. I don't know why, but I suddenly felt a wave of fear, because I suddenly thought of the burned book of Thin Feet.

The gray ashes inexplicably chilled my heart, because the adults said that they were the ashes left by burning the dead. If the brave man can come to the ashes the next morning and see some traces.

That kind of trace is naturally left by the deceased, and every time I hear such a statement, I will be very scared when I see the ashes burned by these books.

Even from a distance, I could smell a strong smell, and I really didn't know how his family got used to it. Maybe I'm too young, or maybe I don't have the experience.

My mother's appetite was not very good, so she pulled me forward briskly and walked to the dirt road at the entrance of the compound. In front of the dirt road was a large lotus pond, and we walked all the way to the lotus pond, and my mother's face was a little better.

From time to time, I looked back in the direction of Xiaohua's house, and my mother seemed to see my fear, and while talking to me softly, she said that I would wait for her by the lotus pond after school in the afternoon. I hummed softly mechanically, but I felt as if I was weak.

All I could think of was Xiaohua's mother's sad look, maybe that sadness prevailed, but I wasn't so afraid of Xiaohua's father's death. My impression of Xiaohua's mother was not deep when I was a child, after all, she was much older than my mother.

I remember her as a thin, wrinkled woman, and her hair seemed to be half-white. As you can imagine, she was obviously not young, but she was not too old, because she should have been nearly fifty years old by then.

But what makes me sad for her at a young age is that Xiaohua's father left, and she became a widow. Widows are very pitiful in the village, and I have heard adults say that women generally live longer than men, and often young widows live alone for decades.

It is said that she is also a hard-working woman since she was a child, she lost her father and remarried with her mother to another family, who knew that her biological mother died soon after, and later became the child daughter-in-law of Xiaohua's grandfather's family. And I didn't have any contact with the so-called mother's family later, and I haven't seen anyone from Xiaohua's family come to visit relatives.

She followed Xiaohua's father and gave birth to four children, Xiaohua was born to her when she was forty years old. It is said that the original intention was to rejoice Xiaohua's father's body, and his father's health was already a little bad at that time.

However, Xiaohua's father's health is not only not improving, but also deteriorating. In the end, when I knew, I hadn't even seen Xiaohua's father's face.

Anyway, I heard an amazing gossip that Xiaohua's father was sick and that it was actually related to his grandfather. Although I was not sure or dared to ask adults, I heard the same news that night.

When an old man was chatting, he accidentally revealed a message that Xiaohua's grandfather was a loser before his death. Their family used to be very wealthy, but later because of their addiction to smoking, they broke down their bodies and ruined their belongings.

The people in the family couldn't look past it, and there was no Xiaohua's father at that time, so they found a wife for Xiaohua's grandfather in order to stay behind. Although she gave birth to Xiaohua's father, she was also frail and sickly since she was a child.

Especially after the liberation, because everyone had to work equally, Xiaohua's father was far from catching up with ordinary labor. And Xiaohua's grandfather naturally couldn't see all this, he died before liberation.

Because of physical reasons, Xiaohua's father was exhausted very early and suffered from tuberculosis that was feared by the villagers. At that time, this disease was a death disease, and it was basically impossible to cure it, and it was said that it was caused by exhaustion.

All I heard was a few words, and I was condoling for Xiaohua's father at night, and many old people from the clan came to the compound. The old man in Xiaohua's house did not hide his words, and sang in the sacrificial text that the death of Xiaohua's father was a kind of retribution.

A kind of retribution for the repayment of debts to predecessors.