On the way back to Yongtai, Uncle Zhu told us that Hao Youde and his daughter had disappeared overnight. No one knows where they went.

I was stunned. I noticed that my father's face turned white all of a sudden.

"Why don't you know where they went? Didn't they greet you before they left? Father asked.

"Nope. They didn't say hello to anyone. I asked everyone who had fun with Hao Youde, and they all said they didn't know. Uncle Zhu said.

"How so? Did something happen? ”

"Impossible!" I immediately cried out, "Uncle Zhu, you must know where they went?" ”

"I don't know, set sail."

"You must know!"

"What are you arguing about? Will Uncle Zhu still lie to us? Father said.

"It's all your fault, it's all your fault!" I couldn't help but cry.

"What's wrong with you?" Mother said.

"Blame me for what?" The father asked rhetorically.

"Why didn't you come last summer? Why didn't you come last summer?! How many times I beg you to beg and you will not come! "My tears flowed into my mouth, salty.

"Isn't our house a house?" Father's voice was loud. He wouldn't be in a much better mood than I am.

"Set sail, how did you talk to Dad?" Mother said.

"It's you who made me unable to see Hao Junqi. I promised Hao Junqi to come to see her last summer. ”

"How did we expect that something would happen to Grandpa Hao's house?"

"I don't care. I hate you, I hate you! "I let go and ran.

"Where are you going?" This is the voice of the mother.

"Zheng Qihang-" It was Zhu Jinshan who caught up.

I ran with all my strength until I reached the river bank before I stopped. This is where we herd our cattle in the summer. The grass on the continent was luxuriant, and several cows were grazing leisurely, and a few were bathing in the river, and they soaked their whole bodies in the water, only their heads were exposed on the water.

I let the tears flow.

Zhu Jinshan seemed to understand me very well, and he stood beside me without saying a word.

After a while, the parents caught up. Uncle Zhu pushes the grain with a wheelbarrow.

Uncle Zhu said: "Set sail, we adults can understand your feelings." No one expected that something would happen to Grandpa Hao's house. They went out and will come back one day, and as soon as they come back, Uncle Zhu will send you a letter, okay? ”

I'm silent. What year will Hao Junqi come back?

"Look, with Uncle Zhu's words, what are you worried about?" Mother said.

I'm silent. What if Hao Junqi came back ten years later?

"As long as Uncle Zhu sends a letter saying that Hao Junqi is back, Dad will bring you over immediately." The father's tone was extremely heavy.

I'm silent. What if Hao Junqi doesn't come back in this life?

On the way back to Yongtai, I barely said a word, but when Zhu Jinshan told me that he had dropped out of school, I said in surprise: "Huh? ”

Zhu Jinshan stopped studying last year. He couldn't read it, he didn't want to read it, so his parents followed him. He spends his days either chopping wood or herding cattle, and he can do almost all the work in the fields. That's why he's tanned. Doing these things, he felt happier.

"I bought a lot of stationery for you." I say.

"Give it to my sister. I don't need it anymore anyway. ”

At dinner in the evening, Uncle Zhu called several of his father's close friends. Even one who lives in Luwan Village has come. They are called fists and drinks, and they are noisy. I sat at the table and listened to them chatting over a drink. My mother helped out in the kitchen.

"That Hao Youde, too timid and afraid, why escape? And there are no dead people? The old Wu, whose face was red from drinking, said.

"I guess Hao Youde fled because he beat the old village chief's son to death," Mr. Zhu said. I noticed that my father's eyes were red, and he didn't say anything, but drank silently, and his voice was very loud when he called for a fist.

"What the hell is going on? There are all kinds of theories," said Yu Zhongshui, who came from Luwan — everyone called him Yu Shorty.

"It stands to reason that the son of the old village chief knows best," Mr. Zhang said.

"The problem is that he fainted. He said that he met a drunk Hao Youde, Hao Youde stopped him, saying that he would not move, he only muttered, 'Look at whether you move or not', and didn't say anything else, Hao Youde pushed him violently, he didn't watch out, his body fell back, he felt a sharp pain, and then he didn't know anything. Uncle Zhu said.

"Isn't Hao Youde a non-drinker?" Lao Wu said.

"I've lived in Hao's house for more than ten years and haven't seen Hao Youde drink," my father said.

"So, I don't know ...... this statement," Yu Shorty said.

"It's also possible that there was alcohol. During the day, Hao Youde quarreled with the old village chief so fiercely," Uncle Zhu said, "We can't persuade us no matter how much we persuade him." ”

"What else does the old village chief have to say? He can't help it. He was also forced by orders from his superiors. I can't figure out why Hao Youde is reluctant to move. This is the general situation, can you bear it alone? Zhang Beizi said.

In fact, we can all understand Hao Youde's feelings. One is a father and the other is a wife, both of them are new graves, and they are all flooded all at once, and it is unacceptable for anyone to change them. Lao Wu said.

"If you can't accept it, you have to accept it. Can you stop it? Besides, every man dies, and what is in the grave? ”

"How so? It's a thought," Uncle Zhu said.

"So I reasoned," said Lao Wu, "Hao Youde must have been in a bad mood because he quarreled with the old village chief during the day, so he borrowed wine to drown his sorrows at night, drank too much wine, met the old village chief's son, and wanted to vent his anger, so he theorized with the old village chief's son." The old village chief's son fell to the ground and fainted, he thought that someone had died, so he fled with his daughter overnight. ”

"That's how it should be, that's how it should be. Come, let's drink. Do not say. Uncle Zhu said.

"Isn't there anyone who knows where they've gone?" Father asked suddenly.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Don't any of his relatives know?" The father continued to ask.

"Hao Youde doesn't have any relatives here. No one on his wife's side knew where he had gone. Uncle Zhu added.

"If he hid out with a pure heart, how could he tell others?" Zhang Beizi said. "Come on, Lao Zheng, let's make a fist, it's our turn to punch."

My father didn't have the heart to punch anymore, and seeing that he had drunk too much, he got up and sat down again. "How can it be so sad, how can it be so sad! The dead are dead, scattered, and there is no home. ”

"You're not alone. No one can figure it out," Uncle Zhu said, "Lao Zheng, you came today to dispel everyone's thoughts." ”

"What's the idea?"

"Oh, let's talk about it," Zhang Beizi grabbed the topic, "everyone in the village thought that something big would happen to your family." ”

"Why?" Father's eyes widened. The mother, who was standing on the side chatting with Aunt Zhu, also looked here.

"Isn't it about your son and Hao Youde's daughter going up to Tiger Slope, we all thought it was retribution on your heads." Yu Shorty said.

"Retribution? What retribution? "Mother came over.

"You intellectuals are not superstitious, but we still believe in the words of our ancestors. Tiger Slope is a forbidden place, didn't your son and Hao Junqi go up? The Optimus Stone Pillar was still split in half, so the Hao family would die and scatter. ”

I couldn't believe my ears. Will these changes in Hao Junqi's family be related to our going up Tiger Slope? It stands to reason that the retribution should be due to me and my family, and it is for my business.

"So we also thought that your family would also suffer retribution, and we were afraid that we would not see you. After all, many people know that you will come to the East Gate last year to have a look, and Hao Youde's daughter is waiting at the entrance of the village every day," Lao Wu said.

"I was going to come, because I was busy decorating the house and couldn't find time." Father said.

"It's good if you come, and no one will think that there will be any retribution. The year before last, the matter of setting sail and Junqi sinking the pond scared many people after all. Uncle Zhu said.

In the evening, my parents and Uncle Zhu chatted in front of the hall, and Zhu Jinshan and I slept in the same bed and slept under the mosquito net. It's that kind of white gauze mosquito net. Almost all of them are Zhu Jinshan talking.

"If only you had come last summer," Zhu Jinshan said, "then we could have fun together again." You're gone, Hao Junqi is gone, and I don't have anyone to play with. I often think back to when we were kids playing together. ”

"Me too."

"Last summer, Hao Junqi and I couldn't tell you how many times we went to the village to wait for you, and we both firmly believed that you would come. Because you said you would come. It's a terrible taste for those people. I waited for more than ten days in a row and then stopped waiting. I know you're not coming. But mainly my dad has to tell me to do a lot of things.

In this way, only Hao Junqi was left waiting at the entrance of the village. Every evening, when I came home with a cow, I saw Hao Junqi waiting at the entrance of the village. She kicked the rocks on the ground in boredom. I told her to go back, and she always had to wait a little longer until Grandpa Hao called her to eat.

She had to wait at the entrance of the village almost every afternoon that summer. Even if there is something to do, she has to come to the entrance of the village. She was afraid that she would not be at the entrance of the village when you came, and in that case, she said, you would be very sad. Once or twice she even ran to the pavilion to wait for you. We all persuaded her, saying that you won't be coming this summer, and told her not to wait, and she cried. She said that you will definitely come, she said that you will definitely come this summer, and she said that Brother Hang will not lie. ”

I turned to my side and slept with my back to Zhu Jinshan. My tears ran down my cheeks and down the mat. The mat was wet.