The old man did not speak immediately, but took out the cigarette paper and tobacco and rolled it, then lit it and took a puff, and then opened his mouth to tell us: "This matter has been decades away from now, and it was still at the beginning of liberation. ”

Chen Xianyi and I knew that the old man was about to get into the main topic, so we both listened carefully.

It turned out that this was the case, at the beginning of the liberation, the whole country rolled up a storm of breaking the four old and establishing the four new, and this storm swept the land of China, and their Baishi Township was naturally not immune.

Li Xianguo, a local elder, happened to be the captain of this collective brigade, and at that time, the Red Guards came down from the county, and the people in the neighboring village brigade were engaged in sports.

At that time, the movement in Baishi Township was very intense, many temples were smashed, and all the gods and goddesses related to cows, ghosts, snakes, gods, and feudal superstitions were also tied up and criticized for fighting. Like some goddesses and Mr. Bazi, they are blind themselves, and after a lot of criticism, some people even lost their lives.

At that time, the Liu family happened to be a person in Li Xianguo's village brigade, and at first the movement of breaking the old and establishing the new did not implicate the Liu family. But later, because of some gods and goddesses, Mr. Bazi and Mr. Feng Shui were finished, and at this time, some people said that the Liu family was also the propagandist of the cow, ghost, snake and god, although he was a carpenter, but he knew Lu Banshu, a great tumor of socialism.

When the Red Guard general heard this, the willow carpenter had actually learned the evil art of Lubanshu, so what was it? So he immediately asked Li Xianguo to notify the people of the village brigade to hold a meeting. The willow carpenter mentioned here is naturally the head of the Liu family today, Liu Yishou.

That night, in the village hall, the Red Guards saw that everyone had arrived, so with a gesture of their hands, several people went to tie up the willow carpenter who came to the meeting and escorted them to the rostrum. With a big hat and a cover, he said that the willow carpenter was a big tumor of feudal superstition and socialism, and he was going to criticize him in this village meeting tonight.

At that time, the willow carpenter was completely blinded, so he kept refuting it, saying that he was just a carpenter, not a god stick of a cow ghost and snake god.

The Red Guard general wanted to testify to all the villagers present at the meeting whether the willow carpenter was a magic stick and whether he had learned Lubanshu.

At that time, there were more than 100 villagers who came to the meeting, and although most of them were silent, a small number of people testified against the willow carpenter.

The willow carpenter naturally knew that once this big hat was covered and the feudal superstition was confirmed, then his life would be over. So he kept begging the villagers not to harm him, and when people came to the moment of life and death, begging was really pitiful, pitiful, and sincere. In addition, they are all from the same village, and their ancestors have lived together in this place for generations, so when the villagers saw the miserable crying of the willow carpenter, most of them couldn't bear it, and they sympathized, and the voice that pointed out that he knew Lu Banshu became smaller and smaller.

When the Red Guards saw it, they became angry and threatened that if anyone did not tell the truth, they would all be criticized as accomplices when it was verified. Now everyone panicked, if you tell the truth, you will hurt the willow carpenter, and if you don't tell the truth, you will be implicated, and everyone immediately closed their mouths.

The Red Guard general finally questioned Li Xianguo, because he was the captain of the village brigade, and asked him to be in front of all the villagers of the village brigade, to tell the truth, whether the willow carpenter could do Lu Banshu.

At that time, Li Xianguo didn't want to harm the willow carpenter, but if he shielded the willow carpenter, he would be an accomplice. At that time, this kind of big hat was covered, not to mention that you were the captain of a brigade, and even the county magistrate was all over immediately. In the end, Li Xianguo, who was the captain of the team, had no choice but to tell the truth, saying that the willow carpenter did know Lu Banshu.

With the testimony of the captain Li Xianguo, the label of the willow carpenter as a feudal superstitious god stick is confirmed, and he is regarded as the object of criticism. That night, he was tied up by the villagers in the auditorium, and a meeting was held to criticize the willow carpenter, and all the villagers took turns on the stage to criticize the willow carpenter, spitting and spitting, kicking and beating, in short, he willow carpenter was the public enemy of the people, and everyone had to draw a line with him and stand on the opposite side of him.

Here, the willow carpenter was doing criticism in the auditorium, and on the other side, a villager went to the willow carpenter's house and raided the Liu family. Overnight, the willow carpenter went from a carpenter to a prisoner and became a public enemy of the people.

In this way, the willow carpenter tied up the village to make a batch of buckets and sent them to the township, and the township sent them to the county after completing the batch buckets, and sent them back at night and locked them in the cowshed.

Li Xianguo said that when the willow carpenter was locked up in the cowshed, he had no food, and he would secretly deliver food to the willow carpenter every night, which saved his life, otherwise even if he did not die in the fight, he would have starved to death in the morning.

At the same time, Li Xianguo also told the willow carpenter that he had no choice but to tell the truth at the conference. At that time, the willow carpenter did not hold a grudge against him, and said that he only blamed the movement.

It is said that in the days when he criticized the willow carpenter, his wife ran to the Red Guard to intercede, and finally forced him to die, hanged himself, died, and the willow carpenter was also imprisoned.

This level was closed for several years, and the willow carpenter was not released from prison until this movement passed, and he had to continue to do carpenter work after he came out.

Speaking of this, the old man Li Xianguo was full of self-blame, sighed and said: "If you want to say that the Liu family has any grievances with me, there is only this matter." Alas, it was a time of social turmoil, and I couldn't help it, as the captain of the brigade, how could I tell lies in front of so many people in the conference? ”

Hearing this, I also understood, no wonder the Liu family wanted to use the broken beam urging technique to harm the Li family, and there was such a grudge between them. I'm sure that the reason why the willow carpenter wanted to kill the Li family must be because of this incident.

However, what Li Xianguo said was right, he was also helpless at that time, which was all due to the current situation. At that time, in the years of the movement, it was not what we can imagine today, Li Xianguo, as the captain of the brigade, just told the truth.

It's just that Carpenter Liu definitely won't really blame the hatred on the current situation, in his heart, he must think that everything he suffered was caused by Li Xianguo.

Grandpa and Mrs. Li were also victims of that era, they experienced criticism, and although they survived in the end, although they did not blame the villagers who criticized them at that time, the pain of those years must have been forgotten.

I took a long breath and became even more embarrassed. If the willow carpenter harmed the Li family, if it was just because of poor hospitality, or deducting wages, I would have really saved their Li family, after all, even if the willow carpenter was counterattacked, then it can only be blamed on the willow carpenter for acting too viciously, and I saved the Li family out of good deeds.

But now things are not so simple, because of Li Xianguo's testimony at the conference, Liu carpenter suffered so much pain, not only was he criticized and imprisoned, his house was raided, but even his wife was hanged for this matter. Although this incident was caused by the current situation at the time, it was Li Xianguo who testified against him, so he couldn't tell who was right and who was wrong, and he could only say that all this was cause and effect. And I can't kill the willow carpenter in order to save the Li family, right?

Of course, if the hatred between them is because the Li family simply killed the Liu family, I won't be embarrassed, just turn around and leave, after all, it is the evil fruit planted by the Li family itself. The reason why I am embarrassed is because there is no right or wrong in this matter, Li Xianguo, as the captain, just told the truth, this is not a wicked person, for this reason he died three sons, isn't it pitiful?

However, if I save the Li family and let the willow carpenter die from the backlash, then it will be very pitiful for the willow carpenter. Maybe it's because grandpa and grandma Chang both experienced that era and suffered the pain of being criticized, so I still have some sympathy for Carpenter Willow in my heart.

Seeing that I didn't speak, frowning, the old man Li Xianguo was anxious and asked me if the willow carpenter did something to build a house for the Li family because of this matter?

I didn't answer him immediately, and I was still in a quandary. I didn't answer Li Xianguo, and Chen Xianyi on the side also understood my difficulties, so he said to me: "Senior brother, this matter is very complicated, I don't think we can help the Li family, so let him ask another master!" ”

Chen Xianyi's words are very clear, which means to persuade me to leave this idle matter, I can't tell whether this matter is right or wrong, it is all cause and effect, let's leave.

However, as soon as the old man Li Xianguo heard Chen Xianyi's words, he naturally understood that he was persuading me to leave it alone, so he immediately knelt down at me and begged: "Sir, two gentlemen, you can do it, for the sake of my grandson, save us." If it were me, I wouldn't be embarrassed Mr., anyway, I would have lived enough, but his grandson was only sixteen years old, if Mr. saw that the problem was coming, I hope that the two gentlemen could show kindness and save our Li family. I beg you, old man, woo......"

In the end, perhaps remembering what happened to their Li family in the past few years, they immediately cried bitterly.

A 60-year-old white-haired old man knelt in front of us, crying incessantly, and the confirmation of this scene was sad.

I hurriedly helped the old man up, but the old man was reluctant to get up, and said: "Our Li family has never done evil, although I also blamed myself very much for the criticism of the willow carpenter, but the situation was like this, and I didn't mean to harm him." Even if the willow carpenter wants to take revenge, my Li family has already killed three sons, and I admit it. But my grandson is innocent, two gentlemen, please keep this grandson for me no matter what, old man, I will repay you both as a cow and a horse in the next life. ”

Seeing the old man crying, it was really pitiful, and at the same time he was right. He had pointed out that the willow carpenter had no choice, it was the reason of the situation, and now that his three sons are dead, everything should be over, and his grandchildren are innocent.

Chen Xianyi and I stood in front of the old man and were embarrassed, and Chen Xianyi couldn't persuade me to leave, after all, he was not the kind of ruthless person, and he was embarrassed to see such a scene.

I frowned, and after a long time, I finally sighed, and reached out to help the old man again, and said to him, "You can save you, but there is one thing you must promise me!" ”