Chapter 3 The Cellar
Cellar, this is the past in the northern countryside every household will have something, the general cellar is used to store food place, the cellar is often built outdoors or directly dug in the house, the hole is often smaller, and the internal space is relatively large, the general depth is about two or three meters, the hole will have a cover plate, this structure is very conducive to the constant temperature of the cellar, because it is in the underground temperature and humidity can often be maintained very well, after the cellar is built, people usually put things such as grain inside, and then seal the hole, A confined space is formed inside. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ļ½ļ½ļ½Uļ½Eć info So it's good for long-term storage of things like grain. Compared with the outdoor cellar, the indoor cellar has a better constant temperature effect in winter, because in the northern winter, every household will light a stove, so as to prevent the stored grain and other freezing due to excessive temperature difference. This cellar in my hometown is built in the house, in fact, the fat man is more lucky this time, the cellar of the hometown due to a long time of unmanaged, the baffle at the entrance of the hole has been broken for a long time, maybe it was bitten by a rat or something, in short, there is no confined space, if the cover of the cellar in the past is relatively intact, the fat man suddenly fell down, it is very likely that the fat man had an accident due to lack of oxygen. But there will be no hidden compartment in the cellar of the average family, but what about the hidden compartment in the cellar of your own home?
I broke the mud around the dark grid with my hand and used the light of my phone to observe the dark grid. The dark compartment is not very large, about the size of a microwave oven, there is an oil paper package inside, the package is about the size of a shoe box, and the oil paper still looks oily on the package inside the dark grid, and the preservation is still relatively good. Wrap, I seem to understand the role of this dark grid.
At this time, the fat man also stood up, covered his ass and panted and walked towards me, looking at me in a daze against the wall, "Xiao Jiang, what are you doing?"
"I've found a dark grid," I said, gesturing to the dark grid on the cellar wall, toward the fat man.
"Dark?" Only then did the fat man see that there was something in the dark grid and the dark grid.
I motioned to the fat man, let the fat man take the mobile phone to me to shine, I slowly put my hand into the dark compartment and slowly took out the things in the dark compartment, at this time I found that my previous observation was not wrong, this is indeed a box wrapped in oilcloth, this object is only the size of a shoe box, very light, I hold this oilcloth package, my heart has been difficult to calm down, suddenly remembered the box left by my grandfather, is it that the box that disappeared for so many years was found, and for a while all kinds of thoughts filled my brain. I carefully placed the oilcloth wrap on the ground, took off my jacket, and tied the wrap inside, thinking to myself whether it was my grandfather's legacy or not, this parcel was definitely an old object. I put the package on my back and crawled out of the cellar with the fat man.
The fat man climbed out of the hole and sat on the ground, wiped his face and said to me, "Xiao Jiang, what is this, let you be so careful and careful, and pick it up with your clothes"
I gently put the oiled paper wrap on the ground, untied the clothes on it, and said to the fat man, "I suspect this is the box left by my grandfather."
"The one your grandfather gave to your grandmother when he came home?" The fat man looked surprised.
"All I can say now is that it could be"
"You bring it to me and let me see" The fat man finished and took the package, first looking at it back and forth, then shaking it vigorously, and then trying to open the oilcloth on it.
"Don't move" I stopped the fat man's idea of wanting to open the tarpaulin.
The fat man looked puzzled: "If you don't open it, how can you know what is inside." ā
"I can't open it yet, you give me something," I picked up the package.
"I don't think it's a baby, I've checked it so lightly, how do I feel like he's like an urn when I look at this size and size" The fat man rambled on the side, as if he was upset that I stopped him.
"Okay fat man, no matter what it is, but it can't be opened directly, it's been down for so long, and suddenly take it out, the humidity and air environment have changed, and it is possible to damage the things inside" I explained, in fact, this is not that I lied to the fat man, for many cultural relics or other items that have been stored underground for a long time, especially for wood, as well as paper, ink paintings, etc., suddenly from the ground to the ground, it is easy to damage, such as the Qinling Terracotta Army, when it was first unearthed, it was colored, But after the excavation, it did not fade immediately, and I could know from the observation just now that the thing wrapped in the tarpaulin was a cuboid, wooden structure, and it had been stored in the cellar for so long that if it was opened rashly, it might cause irreparable damage.
When the fat man heard me say this, he didn't say anything, but looked at the furniture in the house and said, ""How are you going to get these away?"
"Find a truck tomorrow to pull away all their useful ones, and dispose of the useless ones."
"Why don't we go find the handlebars, don't stay here anymore, I feel uncomfortable staying here all the time," the fat man said, lighting a cigarette.
I re-wrapped the oilcloth bag in my clothes, and though I couldn't say for sure what it was, caution was necessary for a person studying archaeology. After wrapping up, I walked out of the village with the fat man and returned to the car, while I locked the oilcloth wrap in the trunk.
I drove with the fat man to find the moving team, looking for a long time did not find, and finally found a small truck on the side of the road with a face of odd jobs, and called a few farm workers, and returned to the village in a mighty way, my car still heard the entrance of the village, and the truck exerted his incomparably strong strength, directly over the obstacle to the mouth of the alley at the door of the house.
After getting out of the car, the migrant workers went directly into the house and began to move furniture and other things outside, while the fat man instructed them outside, telling the migrant workers to be careful. Looking at the furniture that was moved out, I couldn't help but sigh, these old objects didn't feel anything in the dim light in the house, but when I moved out, I felt that they were really beautiful, all kinds of carved flowers and trees all showed the craftsmanship of the craftsman, but it was also strange, so many years the old house is a mouse, but the furniture has not been bitten, this is very strange, for a while I can't think clearly, is it because of the cat in the cellar of the family who was hacked to death?
The migrant workers were busy moving things, putting furniture and the like in the car, while I sat with the fat man on the rocks next to me and smoked and watched them work.
"Stop, what are you doing?" Suddenly, there was a shouting outside the door.
When the fat man and I heard this, we were shocked at first, thinking that someone was going to make trouble? The fat man was even more flexible, picked up the broken kitchen knife and ran to the door, and I was relieved to chase it out.
"Old man, are you sick?" the fat man shouted at the door with a knife, and the migrant workers around him stopped what they were doing and stood there watching everything that was happening in front of him.
I went out to see that there was an old man who was preventing everyone from moving things, the old man was wearing a brocade Tang suit, holding a silver dragon head crutch in his hand, full of white hair, a face of vicissitudes, but it looked like there was a sense of awe, there was a girl in her early 20s next to him, with a delicate face, a black leather coat, looking at a chivalrous feeling, but through the girl's eyes I seemed to feel that the girl was a little strange, this feeling could not be expressed in words, the girl held the old man, constantly looking around everyone around.
"I'm sick, I see you're sick, who let you in, I saw just now that you kicked the door in" The old man was angry, and the crutch in his hand kept smashing on the ground.
"Let's move things and do something about you, hurry up, otherwise don't blame me for being unkind" The fat man also looked angry.
I stepped forward and grabbed the fat man, motioned to the fat man to let him, and the fat man looked at the old man in front of him, who was at least 60 years old, with white hair, and suddenly felt that the fat man should not be angry with the old man.
"Old man, isn't it going to be demolished here, my dad asked me to come back and move things, my friend can't speak, don't be angry" I saw that the atmosphere was a little tense and hurriedly went to the round.
"Your dad? Who is your dad? The old man frowned and looked at me with suspicion.
"My dad is Song Zhi," I replied.
"Song Wait?" The old man suddenly became excited, and his old face trembled, and I wondered if this old man knew my father.
"Is your father really Song Zhi?" The old man looked excited, and hurriedly walked over and grabbed my hand. I nodded, thinking that the old man wouldn't be so excited to hear my father's name.
"Are you Song Xiaojiang?" The more the old man spoke, the more excited he became, holding my hand and shaking all the time, while the fat man and the migrant workers around him were at a loss.
"Yes, I'm Song Xiaojiang" I was also puzzled at this time, thinking about what this old man was going to do.
The old man hugged me, "My grandson, why did you come back?"
At this moment, the fat man's eyes are about to fall off when he sees this scene, in the face of this situation, I don't know what's going on, I don't know what to do, I'm the grandson of this old man, my grandfather hasn't disappeared for so long, I don't know if it's dead or alive, is it back?
"Uncle, you are mistaken, my grandfather has been missing for many years, and I don't know if he is dead or alive," I replied in surprise.
"Silly boy, how could I be mistaken, I am your Wang Zhicheng Wang Grandpa" The old man hugged me and left tears in his eyes.
As soon as I heard Wang Zhicheng, I thought to myself, could it be my father's adoptive father? Since my grandmother died, my dad was taken in by my grandfather's friend Wang Zhicheng, and helped my dad to go to school and work, and even my dad's job was found by Mrs. Wang's trust, I heard my dad talk about it, in my dad's eyes, he was my dad's reborn parent, but then Wang Zhicheng and Mrs. Wang later went to the UK with the family, and then occasionally contacted every year, why did he suddenly come back.
"You are Grandpa Wang" I knew that it was my father's adoptive father, and my heart was also hot, after all, he was also my grandfather.
"Yes, I thought there was a burglar in your house, so I ran over to take a look, but I didn't expect to meet my grandson" The old lady was very happy, turned to the girl and said: "A-Ning, come and call brother"
I heard the old lady call the girl's name, only to know that her name was A-Ning, and hurriedly nodded to her, the girl walked in front of me and called my brother very generously, I looked at the girl in front of me, thinking that I have such a sister is also a blessing.
"I said, sir, we have a family reunion, should we please celebrate" The fat man walked over with a smile.
"Celebrate, should celebrate," said the old lady happily.
Then we asked the migrant workers to load all the things into the car, at this time it was already dark, I told the driver to let him drive the car to a safe place, wait for tomorrow to leave, the driver agreed, the car drove away, I went to a better restaurant with the fat man and Mrs. Wang, and ate and chatted together.
At the dinner table, the old lady was eating while chatting with me about family life, it turned out that the old lady Wang was back to visit relatives this time, but he replied that his hometown found that his family had long since moved to where he had moved, and then he wanted to go to my hometown to see, but found that the fat man kicked open the door, and then called a group of people to move things, thinking that we were thieves.
After eating, the old lady lit a cigarette and said to me with a solemn expression: "Xiao Jiang, has your grandfather had any news in the past few years?" ā
"Grandpa, I don't have any news of my grandfather, I guess he's already dead," I replied.
"Hey, it's a pity, your grandfather was an archaeologist back then, but the society back then, hey, don't talk about it," the old lady said and shook his head.
"Grandpa, it's all over, don't be too sad," I comforted him.
"Xiao Jiang, in fact, I have something to do when I come back this time, you can see if you can help grandpa" The old lady suddenly raised his head and looked at me, I thought to myself that he could help me with something!
"Grandpa, what do you have to say, as long as I can help, I will definitely help" I replied to him without hesitation, after all, it was my grandfather, and he also had a nurturing grace for my father back then, how could I refuse.
The old lady pointed to A-Ning, who was sitting on the side, and said to me: "This is my granddaughter, who has been abroad in the past, but it has not been very peaceful abroad for many years, so I thought about letting her return to China, and I originally planned to come back and ask my relatives to help arrange it, but when I came back, I realized that they had all moved away" The old lady took a puff of cigarette and continued: "See if you can help me take care of A-Ning"
"It turns out that this is this, grandpa, don't worry, this is on me, I have my own store, as long as you don't dislike it, let A-Ning open a store with me, what do you think"
When the old man heard me, he was very happy and said to me, "What does my grandson say, I can rest assured that I will leave it to you."
"Come on, old lady, I'm sorry for today's matter, let's drink one" The fat man raised his glass and apologized to the old lady. The two of them were drinking together, at this time I peeked at A-Ning who was sitting on the side, A-Ning was eating, and he didn't speak, looking at the girl in front of him, what made me feel a trace of mystery?