I forced my sleepy eyes open, pulled out a straw from under the mattress, grabbed the ear of rice that was gone, and stroked it from the beginning to the other. At that time, the beds were all hard beds, and adding two fingers of straw under the quilt could increase the softness of the bed. Until now, almost every household uses spring beds, and grandpa is still used to laying a layer of dry and fluffy straw under the quilt.

I tied up the dead rat with straw that had been stripped of the leaves and stems. I learned this trick from my grandfather, who had never tied a mouse with straw. He is usually used to tie fish or lobsters, or crabs. Grandpa had a paddy field near the old river, and whenever the rainy season came, his field was flooded by the overflow of the old river. The rainy season tends to focus on the rice harvest season. Therefore, while many people were busy harvesting when the water in the field was dry, there was still water in Grandpa's field that reached the feet and necks.

Ripe rice should not wait any longer, even if the water in the field has not dried up, you must roll up your trouser legs and go to harvest, otherwise the rice stalks will easily lodging. As soon as the rice stalk is lodging, not only does harvesting become more difficult, but the rice is also prone to mold, resulting in a decrease in yield.

Grandpa could count when it would rain and sit at home smoking cigarettes when everyone was making fertilizer. After a few days of rain, some people who didn't listen to their grandfather's words were washed away by the rain, and their physical work was wasted. Grandpa can calculate which kind of rice will reduce the yield this year, and choose the right variety before everyone. Grandpa could calculate which days would be humid and stuffy, and spread the rice stored at home on the floor early to dry.

Sometimes my mother smiled and said, "Your grandfather is not the dragon lord who calls for wind and rain, but your grandfather knows what the dragon lord will do this year." "Mom is not exaggerating. When I asked him, he said a lot of neat and rhyming mantras, which made my second monk scratch my head.

But grandpa also had times when he was helpless, such as the field next to the old river. When it was harvest time, I had to follow my grandfather to roll up my trousers and harvest hard in that paddy field. Grandpa joked that it was our grandfather and grandson ploughing in the fields. Because it is difficult to pull out the feet in the mud, the situation is really a bit like a buffalo plowing a field.

And I learned how to use straw to tie rats in this paddy field where I couldn't pull out my legs.

Because a lorry carrying lobsters had overturned on the road in front of Thrush Village, the lobsters were scattered in the paddy fields next to it. Soon, lobsters with long whiskers and red tongs could be found in almost every paddy field in Thrush Village. There are many old rivers, some children get a frog as bait, no need to hook, only a sewing thread to tie it, and then throw the frog into the water as bait, a morning can hang half a bucket of lobsters with teeth and claws. When the grandfather was cutting the rice, he saw that the water was turning up as if it was boiling in a turbid place, so he quietly opened his hand, touched the place where the water was turning, waited for a while, and then quickly closed his hand. At this time, my grandfather asked me with a smile on his face: "Liang Zai, guess what, what did I catch in my hand?" ”

I pretended to follow my grandfather's example and pinched my fingers, and then recited a few words of mantra: "Dongfang Chengzi laughs, it should be a crucian carp, right?" ”

Grandpa let go of his hand, and in the palm of his hand was a fish, or a lobster, or a crab. It stayed in Grandpa's hands and did not struggle to escape. As soon as Grandpa raised his hand, it turned out that there was already a straw tied to the gills of a fish, or the pincers of a lobster, or the foot of a crab.

I asked my grandfather why the lobster had to tie the tongs, and the crab also had a pair of tongs, but why didn't the pincers tie the feet instead?

Grandpa said that the lobster's pincers can be clamped in all directions, and its legs are too thin, so it is necessary to control its pincers. Crabs have pincers, but their attack direction is limited. It doesn't even bother with the back, and as long as it's not directly facing it, it's okay if you poke your finger in the eye.

Then I tried it, and sure enough. Later, my grandfather's words gave me a hint on how to deal with four blind men, one one-eyed one-eyed five-eye. When I couldn't get up with Mr. Ichimoku, I told my grandfather about my method, and he praised me again, saying that I really had a talent for catching ghosts. He didn't know, but a lot of my thoughts came from what he told me.

For me, memories are very sad things, whether they are sad, happy, separated or united. When I think of that night when I stood in the hazy moonlight with a dead mouse with a straw, I can't help but think of so many things from that straw, so many things about my grandfather.

Every time I think of this, I can't help but think of the snoring across the wall, the smell of smoke beside me, and the two smoky yellow fingers.

I remember that night very clearly. I don't know why, but the more I was confused, the clearer I remembered.

That night, I threw the mouse and when I turned back to my bed, I suddenly heard my grandfather next door say, "The mouse climbs the beam of the house, and the worm falls." "It wasn't loud, I could hear it, it seemed to be what it was meant for me. Although I heard the pronunciation of the word "魍魉" at the time, I didn't know that my grandfather was talking about these two words. At that time, I thought that my grandfather was talking about "delusional" or "Wang Liang" or something like that.

I also found a more reasonable explanation for myself, the "delusion" of "delusional" means bad person, and "good" means good person. When the rat climbs the beam, the "hundred arts" will fall into the hands of the good guys or the bad guys. "Hundred Techniques" may be my book "Hundred Techniques". Whether it was referring to my book "Hundred Techniques", I was not sure at the time. Because Grandpa just said it in a daze, I took it as a babble, and didn't bother to guess Grandpa's words. However, there should be a reason why the rats are abnormally concentrated here tonight. Subconsciously, I sensed something big about to happen. At that time, I naturally attributed the possibility of a major event to Mr. Ichimoku.

After Grandpa said that, the snoring continued.

And my sleepiness came up like a tidal wave, and I couldn't contain it. I threw myself on the bed and quickly fell asleep.

When I got up the next day, I didn't wash my hands and face before I went to ask my grandfather: "What does it mean that a mouse climbs the beam of the house, and a hundred tricks fall into delusion?" ”

Grandpa was standing on the big rock in front of the door and rinsed his mouth, and he almost swallowed the toothpaste water in his mouth when he heard my words.

...