Under the crack of the door, I could only see a pair of eyes of Chun Gen'er. I put my eyes on the crack and wanted to see inside his room, but it was so dark that I couldn't see anything.

"Why don't you eat dates?" Harugen asked me.

I don't like to eat.

"Can you do me a favor?

Chun Gen'er seems to have a request for me. His eyes are always the same, even if he is asking for others, he still has a cold look.

I nodded.

Chun Gen'er slipped a copper key through the crack in the door.

"I want to go out too, but my grandfather always locks me out, can you help me unlock the door?"

His eyes blinked. I took the key and helped Harugen open the door.

That was the first time I had seen Harugen up close, he was wearing a water-blue undershirt, barefoot, dirty, and I could clearly see that his arms and legs were covered with incense ash and mud. I don't know if it's because it's stained with too much incense ash. The smell of incense ash on it.

I don't know why, Harugen is always locked up at home by his grandfather. Since then, I have always sneaked to Harugen's house to open the door for him while his grandfather was away. Gradually, he and I became playmates. Ever since I was always playing with Harugen, the other children in the village began to distance themselves from me. But I don't care, because although Harune is a child. There was a strange smell, but he was very obedient, like my little henchman.

After being friends with Chungen'er for a while, we often went together to catch knowledge, lay yellow eels, and dig birds' eggs. Harugen likes to go to the river beach at the west end of the village, where he can spend the whole afternoon. After becoming his friend, I also became a frequent visitor to the river beach in the west of the village.

The river beach is an over-the-top slope. Above the slope is the upper river, and below the slope is the lower river. Because of the different topography, the river is divided into two halves. If the water rises, the beach will be flooded and the two rivers will be connected. But most of the time, the river can't rise, so the small slope under the bridge has become a paradise for Chungen and me.

We fished for lobsters there and boiled eggs there secretly.

When I was a child, I didn't know how scared I was, but now that I think about it, that place is really a little eerie. The slopes are paved with stones, which are tombstones. I heard my grandfather say that when I was working as a collective, the river often flooded, and then the village found its own way. At that time, there were many mounds on a hill in front of the village, and there were black ink stone tablets standing in front of the graves. Originally, the people here died of the plague, so the graves were graves that had no descendants to sacrifice. After the village consulted, they took the stone tablets and built the tidal flats and embankments in the river.

The tombstones are laid on the small slope of the riverbank, and the handwriting can be clearly seen on them. What is the tomb, how many years was born in Guangxu, and how many years did he die. After the washing of the river, how many years did the Su Pinyu be on the arsenic surface H Pingxu, and how many years did he die. After the erosion of the river, the rust condenses on the surface of the stele. , the darkness is deeper. Young and ignorant, I don't know how to avoid taboos, and I try to recognize, the words on it, but at that time, I just . Going to elementary school, plus. It's all traditional characters, and I can't recognize it at all.

I still can't forget what happened on the beach that day.

That day, Chungen didn't seem to be very happy, and her mood was very low.

Gen'er, what's wrong with you? I asked with concern.

Nianhui, my dad is back.

Why did your dad come back?"

My dad loves to beat people, and I'm afraid of him. In order to prevent my father from seeing me, my grandfather locked me in the big closet in his room every night. Locked in the closet, I can't get out. ”

Gen'er, my grandmother said that your mother is gone, and your father is not good to you, why don't you go with your mother?" I asked Harune.