I shook my head, and to be honest, this is something I've been struggling with. When I was a child, I was very envious when I saw other people's children who could go into the water at will. I didn't dare to go out with them for fear of being scolded by my family when I went back, so I could only watch them enviously by the river most of the time. Only occasionally do I sneak out with my children, but I don't usually go into the water.

The fourth grandfather sighed heavily and said, "The family didn't let you go into the water, but it was actually because of your father." ”

"My dad?" I looked at the fourth grandfather suspiciously, I always thought that the reason why the family didn't let me go into the water was because of my grandfather's tragic end, but I didn't expect it to be related to my father, who had been missing for more than 20 years and still didn't know whether he was alive or dead.

I once heard my mother say that my father went to the Haihe River to find his grandfather's body and never returned, and my mother used all kinds of forces to mobilize almost the water ghosts of Tianjin Wei to chase straight to both sides of the Yellow River from the lower end of the Nine Rivers, but the final result was still no one alive and dead.

Everyone was a little discouraged after a long time, but only my mother always believed that my father was still alive, and she did not give up after so many years, and always believed that he would come back one day.

The fourth grandfather took another sip of wine, and said in a deep voice: "I am your grandfather's best brother, after your father's accident, I swore to protect you, the last bloodline of the Qin family, for your safety, so I and all the people of the Qin family decided to quit the business of digging corpses from now on, and you are not allowed to touch these things again." ”

Hearing what the fourth grandfather said, it suddenly became clear to me that the tragic death of my grandfather and the unknown death of my father must have caused a lot of mental stimulation and psychological shadow to my mother and the old people in my family. The fourth grandfather did this to protect me so that I could grow up peacefully.

The fourth grandfather said: "According to the ancestral teachings, our Haihe water ghosts should have been passed down from generation to generation, but how many generations have been begging for a living on the river, but after your grandfather and father had an accident, your mother and I and a few old guys decided to disobey the ancestral teachings and no longer teach the Haihe water ghosts. The Qin family has not had a good death for several generations, so we can't afford to lose you, the last descendant. We want you to grow up healthy and safe like an ordinary child, so I have been letting you study diligently until you are admitted to university, even if you secretly decide to go to Tibet to join the army, there is no way to stop you, so that you will no longer be able to contact the business of digging corpses in the Haihe River. Speaking of this, there were faint tears in the eyes of the fourth grandfather.

In fact, I can understand the feelings of my mother and the fourth grandfather, they want to lose the livelihood passed down from their ancestors to their own hands, what courage it takes, and what a sad thing it is! On the one hand, the craftsmanship passed down from generation to generation by the ancestors and ancestors, and on the other hand, the safe growth of the descendants.

The fourth grandfather raised his neck and drank the old white dry in the wine cup: "Mo San, I hope you can understand the good intentions of your mother and me, don't hate your mother, and don't think that the fourth grandfather is greedy for life and afraid of death." It doesn't matter if the fourth grandfather loses his life, but I can't let you put yourself in danger. You have never walked on the Haihe River, and you have no idea how many deadly crises lurk in the lower ends of the Nine Rivers, which have stretched for hundreds of years, that you can't see or imagine! ”

I looked at the fourth grandfather with tears in my eyes, and also drank the old white dry in the wine cup in one gulp: "Fourth grandfather, I understand!" ”

The fourth grandfather poured two more cups of Lao Baigan, and said with a solemn face: "Actually, I called you here just to tell you about an incident that your grandfather encountered back then, and after you heard it, you will understand why we don't agree to let you get involved in these things again." ”

"My grandfather's story?" I straightened my back and pricked up my ears. For so many years, I have always wanted to hear stories about my grandfather, but my grandfather was very secretive about it, never revealed anything to me, and then when I was a little older, he also died, so after so many years, I only know that my grandfather was killed in an accident on the Haihe River, but I don't know what happened and what kind of experience he had when he was young. Now that the fourth grandfather finally took the initiative to mention this matter, I naturally had to listen attentively.

The fourth grandfather took a sip of Lao Baigan, and while knocking on the peanuts, he began his narration:

"Your grandfather Qin Shoudao was in his early twenties, married to your grandmother for more than a year, and then gave birth to your father. In order to give my family a better life and take care of this family, your grandfather dragged me to run around on the Haihe River every day, which was very hard.

One day, he received a big business, a big boss in Shandong was hacked and killed by the enemy and his body was thrown to Haihe. Your old Qin family was already a well-known water ghost family in Tianjin Weishang at that time, so the family of the big boss naturally found us and promised to give us a large sum of money to help find and salvage the body of the big boss, and also paid a large amount of deposit in advance.

This is a valuable task, I don't worry about your grandfather doing it alone, in order to complete this matter faster and better, I decided to accompany your grandfather out on the ship, and after properly handling the housework, our brothers immediately began this salvage mission.

You know, corpse boats are all kinds of Upong boats. In fact, this is exquisite, the black is black, black represents death, it is said that the undead in the water see the black canopy boat and know that the ship is here to take the undead home, so naturally they will not embarrass the ship. Because most of the time the corpse collectors go out alone, the corpse boat is not large, and it can only accommodate two or three people. In order to complete this task faster, we deliberately put less food and fresh water on the boat, so that the boat is light, and the rowing is fast, which can save a lot of time.

Before leaving, we prepared a big red rooster, placed a bowl of snow-white glutinous rice in the bow of the boat, inserted three incense sticks in the bowl, and worshiped Mazu Niangniang.

At this time, a strange thing happened that worried me. One of the incense candles was halfway through the burning, but it suddenly went out, and it was not lit at all. According to the traditional saying, people are taboo three long and two short, incense taboo two short and one long, if this incense comes out, someone must mourn, which casts a lingering shadow on our travel.

In fact, I also tried to persuade your grandfather, but your grandfather's temperament was more stubborn than mine, and he was even more crazy when he was young, not to mention that it was indeed a big business, and your grandfather was reluctant to give up easily. At that time, your grandfather refuted me, saying that his life is in his own hands, how can an incense candle decide our fate? Maybe the incense candle was blown off by the river wind?

I know that your grandfather attaches great importance to this business, the other party's remuneration is very high, and your grandfather plans to earn money to buy a big house with three entrances and three exits, so I didn't say anything more. I regret this very much until now, the grandfather's testament naturally has their reason, but it is a pity that we did not listen to the grandfather's testament at that time, which caused the bitter fruit later! Alas! If I had dragged your grandfather on a mission, maybe your grandfather wouldn't have encountered anything later. ”

The fourth grandfather's tone was full of deep regret and self-blame, and he swallowed a big mouthful of Lao Baigan by himself, and his eyes were red. It seems that after so many years, the fourth grandfather still hasn't been able to get out of the trauma and shadow caused by this incident, which also makes me more curious about what major connection this incident they encountered when they were young and the tragic death of grandpa later.

So I was relieved: "Fourth grandfather, you don't have to blame yourself, in fact, you can't be blamed for this matter, we are just ordinary mortals, and none of us can foresee the future." I'm not a fatalist, but there are some things in this world that are really destined, and if God wants to take a person's life, then no one can stop it. Isn't there a saying that 'the king of Hades wants you to die in the third watch, and will not keep you until the fifth watch'? ”

The fourth grandfather didn't speak, he drank one sip after another, and the dim light reflected on his face, as old as the bark of a tree.

Finally, the grandfather put down the wine cup heavily, sniffed, and continued: "When the incense candles are burned, we put the chicken head in a bowl full of glutinous rice, and sink into the Yellow River together. We drove the body boat up the river, and the weather was relatively dry during that time, there was no heavy rain, and the speed of the water was naturally slow. Based on our previous experience, the body of the big boss should still be within the range of several sections of the river in the city.

The weather was pretty good when we got out of the boat, the sun was like an arrow through the clouds and down on the water, refracting a little bit of gold, you can imagine what a beautiful picture it was, and if it hadn't happened, it would have been the most leisurely time we ever went into the water to retrieve the corpse.

The canopy boat was passing through the golden waves, and your grandfather was full of fighting spirit, standing at the bow of the boat with joy on his face, facing the river breeze, and said to me with his hands on his hips: "Fourth, you see that even God is blessing us, how can such a good weather be unfavorable?" That's why people have to be confident. ”

For the water ghosts walking on the lower tip of the Nine Rivers, the sun is of course the best weather to get out of the boat. Looking at such good weather, the haze in my heart was also dissipating little by little, and I thought that maybe I was too worried, so I quickly put the idea of being a teacher unfavorable behind.