Fourth

Still on the way home, I saw from a distance that the oil lamp at home had been lit, and my father, who bought goods in the county, had already returned. When he saw his grandparents and grandchildren, he hurriedly took the cloves from his grandmother's arms and put them down, and said angrily: "Mom, where are you going when the lights are blind?"

Grandma was silent for a moment, and then said slowly, "I'll talk to you at night." Then I went to the kitchen without looking back to get food. Dad was a little stunned and didn't ask any more questions.

Just after dinner, when my grandmother was about to fetch water and wash her feet with cloves, a man with a long shirt in front of him was stepping through the door and bowing his head into the courtyard, without even mentioning an oil lamp, and Lilac saw that it was his uncle. Grandma hurriedly put down the footbasin in her hand and said busily: "Oh, uncle is here, what's the good thing in such a late night, don't fall if the black light is blind, come into the house!" This is the uncle hurriedly waving his hand, signaling grandma to be silent, and walking quickly into the back kitchen.

At this time, my father was boiling water in the kitchen, and when I saw that my uncle was busy getting up to say hello, my uncle said a few words to my father, and then turned back to greet my grandmother, saying some kind words to congratulate the old man on becoming a grandmother, and then whether adults and children can be safe. When my grandmother was busy looking for eggs to get my uncle something to eat, my uncle and father said, "Brother-in-law, I'll talk to you about something." After speaking, she walked to the guest room, and Lilac was also busy holding her father's hand and walking to the room. At this time, the uncle stroked the clove head and said, "Sister Man, my uncle came in a hurry today, and I forgot to bring something to eat, next time my uncle will buy candy for you."

After speaking, he paused for a moment, and slowly said to his father: "Brother-in-law, I came today to have a big event, and you also know the affairs of the Communist Party today, which are strictly investigated in various places. After speaking, Yanqing stopped on his father's face for a few seconds, then lowered his head and said: "Today, Director Liu interrogated the scar guy, and the scar guy recruited him, saying that you sent some goods to Director Lu in May, and Director Lu also accompanied you in Hankou for two days, Director Lu, you know, now there is no corpse, and they are all thrown into the Xiangjiang River to feed the meat!" Brother-in-law, you are an understanding person, tell me the truth to my brother, do you have anything to do with Director Lu? What's the matter, the family brother knows how to help you! Then the uncle raised his head again and stared at his father's eyes, as if he wanted to find something in his father's eyes.

This time, the bluffing father was not light, and he was busy arguing: "Zhipeng, I really sent goods to Director Lu last time, and you also know that I am begging to eat hundreds of meals, and Director Lu is familiar with him, what kind of thing did he take at that time when he was in Han, Director Lu invited a guest!" I was also confused, how did I know that the Kuomintang and the Communist Party would make such a fuss, and then I was a businessman who knew so many things, and my brother said a few more good words for my brother in front of County Magistrate Lin, and explained it clearly! ”

"Well, don't talk about it, the family should be, it's just that people will come from the county in the next few days, so you have to make some preparations. I'm going to tell you today that you've taken a big risk—you know. ”

After finishing speaking, the two uncles chatted for a long time, and then the grandmother came in with a few poached eggs and said, "Uncle, hurry up and eat something while it's hot, I'm really sorry that there is nothing to prepare in the house so late at night!" ”

"No, grandma, it's just a disturbance in the middle of the night!" After finishing speaking, the poached egg disappeared into the night in a hurry without eating.

The next day, at dawn, a noise interrupted Lilac's dream. When Lilac got up and walked to the hall, there were already several people standing in the room, two of them were still leaning and carrying spears, and there were two probes with guns on their backs by the earthen wall of the courtyard gate looking around.

I only heard a big man in silk clothes who took the lead and hugged his fist at his father: "Boss Cao, the matter is also clear, please take a trip, it is not easy for the elder brother to eat this bowl of rice, rest assured, Brother Yong greeted me when I came, if there is anything to do in the future, my elder brother can still say a few words to the head of Chen!"

Dad was stunned for a while, picked up the long cigarette stick, and said slowly: "There are a few brothers, I will go with you." Then he turned to his grandmother and said, "Mom, don't worry!"

When he was about to leave the house, he leaned over and instructed Lilac: "Listen to grandma at home, and your father will come back and take you to Wang's house to eat and drink."

After finishing speaking, he gestured with his hand to please, and then walked away under the support of the soldiers from the countryside who carried the gun, and Lilac chased after him.

At noon that day, Lilac secretly went to Wulei Cave, Mr. Wang and Ziyang father and son were gone, and the cave was clean as if no one had ever come.

When it was almost dinner, my uncle came back from the county seat in a hurry, and as soon as he entered the door, he yelled at his grandmother: "Mom, hurry up and get some food, I'm starving to death, and I'm sucking up my lunch!" After speaking, he lifted the teapot and grunted his throat, and his neck was full of tea. Grandma hurriedly handed over the towel and said, "Slow down, don't choke!" What's wrong with your brother? ”

The uncle took the towel, wiped off the sweat and the tea in his neck, and said with a sigh: "This sore guy who cut off his skull and died bit the goods sent by his brother, and he also talked about Director Lu's good when he had dinner with Director Lu, and he was in a group to bite his brother to death!" Thanks to the mercy of my brothers, I have been beaten a few times less! Now it's Head Chen who personally asked, and I asked people a few times, but I couldn't talk! Uncle Ding Xiang is also yes, County Magistrate Lin said, 'Zhipeng, you made a great contribution to digging out Wang Hui's bandit leader last time, and the party and the state treated you well. As the head of the county Qingxiang Office, I hope you can stand firm this time! 'I don't dare to put another fart, I will only say in my mouth, yes, yes, yes, Zhipeng knows, Zhipeng knows. When I went to him again for ideas, no one knew where to run!! ”

At this time, the grandmother, who was used to seeing the scene, also panicked, and told her uncle, this time your brother must not have an accident, you have to understand something, no matter how much money you have, you have to get your brother out! The uncle raised his head buried in the bowl and said as he chewed, "Mom, I know!!"

My uncle went out with my grandmother overnight and didn't come back until late at night.

As soon as the morning dawned, my uncle went out with my grandmother again, and when I left, I asked my uncle and grandfather next door to take care of him for a few days. Lilac later said to the same person that in order to rescue my father, my grandmother sent money to dinner as long as she could get in touch with someone who could talk, and even my grandmother's dowry dozens of years ago was taken, and she spent all the belongings saved by my grandfather's father for the second generation.

The cypress trees in Luoying Village are concave, the mountains and forests on the slope of Wangjiayuan opposite the village, and the full paddy fields of more than 10 acres of early flooding and harvest in Yaojiatong under the village are all sold to several wealthy households in the village. Especially the cypress recess, the green hills, the reckless forest giant trees, decades or even hundreds of years, when the lilac father renovated and expanded the house was reluctant to cut down. Some of the paddy fields and forests are still handed down from the ancestors of the old man.

On the day of writing the deed, the grandmother had tears in her eyes, and said to the grandfather of the guarantor Wang: "Shame on the ancestors, we are already sorry for the ancestors by selling the property that we have raised, and the cypress concave green water trust is still a ...... handed down from the hands of the grandfather."

Grandpa Wang was also a little sorry and comforted: "Feng Shui takes turns, and some hardships in the family are inevitable. Sister-in-law, as long as the jade comes out, the situation will still be yours in three or five years! ”

Grandma looked at the pine and cypress, and seemed to answer and seemed to say to herself: "Thirty years in Hedong, forty years in Hexi, only thousands of years of houses and graves, from Mao to see the mountains, rivers and fields that have been passed down for generations. My jade comes out, where can the good mountains and soil in the world come out......"

Later, Xu Zong took money from business, insisted on spending an extra ten silver dollars, and asked someone to make peace with him, and said all the good things. finally redeemed the mountain forest handed down by the prince from Liu Tuofu, but his grandmother had a heart.

A few days later, three more people were killed in the ancestral hall, and more than 20 prisoners were brought with them.

A few days later, my mother and my brothers came back from eating my nephew's full moon wine at Wangjiayuan, and there were many guests in the house. Uncles, aunts, brothers-in-law, etc.

Uncle also came back and was busy entertaining everyone. At this time, my uncle said to my uncle: "Brother Yong, I want to do my best to deal with my brother-in-law this time, there are some things I can't come forward in person, County Magistrate Lin is a gift from me against the scolding and tyranny, and I have done my best to be imprisoned pending trial, and I will find a way when the wind eases down!"

The uncle hurriedly replied: "Uncle, you have helped a lot, several nephews know that the family has nothing to talk about, and a few nephews will repay you when they are older in the future!"

"Risk, the family is polite, it should be, it should be!" Uncle hurriedly agreed.

On that day, the whole family was happily drinking and chatting, and only the brother-in-law was very happy.

Not to mention, the money sent out played a role, and Dad's case was temporarily suspended. I heard my uncle come back and say that my father lived in a prison for two people, and the conditions were the best, and the visit was free. When my grandmother heard this, she was very happy in her heart, and said a little proudly: "Money makes ghosts grind, yang money and yin money, you have to make every effort, and you can't fake it!"

In those years, there were too many unjust deaths. I heard my uncle say that when he tortured a prisoner a while ago, he was beaten in a hurry, and that person really couldn't stand it. He was woken up by cold water and returned to the sun, and the interrogation officer once again opened his teeth and claws to question. He opened his eyes and caught a glimpse of a man wearing a hat with Jiang Zhengyang written on it in a crowd of people watching by the window. He had no way to recruit him, and he was afraid of fighting again, so he opened his mouth and said, Jiang Zhengyang took him to Hankou, and he was now visiting me by the window outside!

It's pitiful, Jiang Zhengyang just watched the excitement, and in the blink of an eye, he became a key offender. Among the three people killed last time, Jiang Zhengyang was one of them.

A few days later, my mother was inconvenient to travel because of her little feet, so my grandmother took Sister Lilac to the county seat to see her father, which was the first time Lilac went to the county seat.

There are more than 40 miles from Luoyingzhai to the county seat, and when I am tired of walking, I hit a sharp point on the road, and I took the dry food I brought with me and begged for some tea and mixed it to eat.

When I arrived at the county seat, it was already noon, there were many shops in the city, all kinds of delicious and beautiful Linyao, Sister Lilac knew that she had spent a lot of money to save her father this time, and she didn't dare to talk to her grandmother after swallowing her saliva.

The county government is very large, and the main gate has a towering archway-style building, which is more magnificent than the ancestral hall of Luoyingzhai! There are a pair of stone lions with angry eyes in front of the main entrance, and there are several towering honey locust trees in the square in front of the door, the trunks of which cannot be hugged by a person, and they are covered with thorns.

At this time, the uncle came out, and after passing through a few doors, he saw a one-story house, and there were 2 soldiers with spears standing at the door, and he saw the uncle hurriedly shouting: "Brother Yong, Uncle is coming!?"

The uncle hurriedly took out a bottle of wine and some food from his grandmother's basket, and said, "Brothers, you are happy, everyone will take it and wait!" The soldier shirked and accepted it. One of them led Lilac and them through a corridor again, and shouted to the first room inside: "Lord Yushi, Uncle Niang is here to see you coming!"

On both sides of the corridor were rows of houses, each with three or five people standing or sitting in each room, standing or sitting because of the hot weather. Dad was in a room at the end of the left side, there were a few people chatting about something, and when he saw Grandma coming, he hurriedly stood up and said, "Mom, let your old man worry, it's okay, it's okay!"

After speaking, she pulled Sister Lilac and asked them one by one. There were also servants in the room, and after asking about the situation, they introduced them: "Third brother, this is my mother,—— this is my youngest."

At this time, one of the men of medium stature wearing a short shirt greeted his grandmother: "Hello auntie, the road is hard!" This is my second brother, this is my nephew, come and see me! ”

At this time, Lilac saw another person, one big and one small. One of the boys, about the same size as the eldest brother, was about ten years old, and looked at Lilac and them shyly, his eyes blinking.

Grandma took out all the things she brought to her father and told her father to put them away, and by the way, she took a few glutinous rice cakes and gave them to the third uncle and nephew in the same prison. The man accepted it after a polite moment.

Next, everyone talked about their lawsuits, and talked about their grievances and wrongs.

This Gui Xiaotong is the third son of the Lilac Fort Regiment ten miles away from the county seat, his father died only two months ago, and he has a face in the local area, and his family is good. When his father was alive, he served as the head of the regiment, and his temperament was upright and righteous, and his neighbors were harmonious, but he also offended some villains.

After his father's death, the township chief fabricated the facts and counted many public account deficits as the dead Gui Tuan. Gui Xiaotong couldn't swallow this anger, and reasoned with the chief of the bodyguard, but he didn't agree with each other and actually got into a fight, and when he missed, he threw the chief under the bridge, his legs were broken, and he spent a lot of money and silver to close the case.

I didn't want to talk for half an hour, when my uncle and the guards came over and said to my grandmother: "It's not too early, the brothers have already been gracious, don't embarrass them, come and pick up my brother home next time." After saying that, everyone got up and gave some instructions, and then left the prison together, and when they went out, they said some words to the guards to ask for care.

After going back and forth, the second brother of the Gui family got acquainted with his grandmother and uncle, and the children lost the restraint just now, and they talked about it for a while, but they were as intimate as childhood friends.

When he went to the restaurant on the street, the second brother of the Gui family insisted on inviting Lilac and a few of them to eat, but the uncle couldn't resist him, and in the end it was the second brother of the Gui family who paid the bill.

When he came back, he traveled five miles with the Gui family father and son. Along the way, the son of the Gui family and Lilac seemed to be friends for many years, and Lilac knew that this boy was born in autumn, so his father named him Qiusheng.

When they were about to part ways, the second brother of the Gui family saw that it was getting dark, and sincerely invited his grandparents and grandchildren to go to his house for one night to rest and go home tomorrow. Grandma excused herself that there was a big mess at home and she urgently needed to go back, saying that she would definitely bother her next time.

At this time, Qiusheng helped his father and said: "I have a lot of places in my house, I can sleep casually, and there are a lot of fish and shrimp caught the day before yesterday at home, which are delicious, ask my grandmother to make them for you!"

This amused my grandmother, and said with a smile: "Yo, Qiusheng has taken a fancy to my full sister, don't you know how to stay with guests!"

At this time, Qiusheng was so ashamed that he lowered his head and ran away with a red face, Lilac, who was never timid, pulled his grandmother's sleeve and looked at the distance with blinking, and Qiusheng's face was smeared with a trace of red. When Lilac remembered this decades later, she said to her grandchildren that it was destined in her previous life.

It was dark when I got home.

Because of their father, the three Lilac sisters never went to school again when they started school.

The eldest brother has reached the age of 10, and the grandmother asked an acquaintance that his father knew in the old days to send him to a familiar palm craftsman boss in the Xinhua tin mine as an apprentice to make brown rope (brown rope is a family and social necessity before the appearance of industrial nylon fiber ropes). At that time, there was nothing of value in the family except for the house left by the grandfather.

My sister and brother-in-law also came to see off my little nephew, and Lilac saw her nephew for the first time, and she was puffy, and she looked good like a sister! The apprenticeship was made up by my sister, and their father's affairs cost a lot of money. When I left, my mother cried into tears, and sent her miles on her little feet. Lilac stuffed the glutinous rice that belonged to her dinner last night to the eldest brother, and the uncle lowered his head and said nothing, and took the luggage to the eldest brother.

The eldest brother was very proud when he left, saying that in the future, he would learn the skills and earn a lot of money to buy a lot of good things for everyone.

At the end of the year, my father's case was not yet clear, and my uncle had also come twice, to the effect that there were riots in various places now, and Anhua was a serious area, and the top was strictly arrested, and my father couldn't get out a year ago. Uncle came once, and my mother cried once.

My uncle has been a lot more sensible since his father was in prison, and he brings some food to the family every once in a while. The last time I saw my uncle was Xiao Nian, and by the time I saw my uncle again, my uncle was already lying in the coffin board equipped for my grandmother.

That day, my uncle bought New Year's goods, bought a lot of delicious food and went home, and rarely bought gifts for my nephew, niece, mother, and sister-in-law. Lilac was given a good-looking copper-edged round mirror with feet, a rectangular comb-shaped box with a brown wooden comb inside. I bought more than the good years in the past, and I bought it well, and everyone had it. The mirror and the comb clove were brought to Lilac Castle when they were married to Qiusheng. For this reason, grandma also blamed him for not knowing how to live, when is it now. But when Grandma turned her back, Lilac found that her grandmother, who had never cried, had tears in her eyes!

Uncle didn't come back until noon, and it was already the sun setting when he had finished the meal, and he ate that meal for a long time until he lit the oil lamp. Lilac and the second brother have never eaten such a good thing since their father's accident, and they are hungry from time to time.

Uncle drank unhurriedly and talked a lot with grandma and mother. Father's business, the eldest brother's learning of art, reminiscing about grandpa, the past generations of the family, etc., and don't forget to educate and encourage the second brother Lilac to be obedient and motivated.

When talking about my father, my mother cried again, and there was a hint of relief on my grandmother's calm face. While eating, my uncle picked up the cloves and put them on his lap, and said to his mother: "Sister-in-law, my brother is a useless person, people in their thirties, and there are two cousins, and now they are still singles, so my mother, brother and sister-in-law are worried!" Now I also have a plan, I hope that my sister-in-law will be fulfilled! ”

"Such a thing, whether a family has a child or not, and now there is only one man in the house, and many things depend on you alone, and your nephews and nieces will know in the future!" Mom answered.

At this time, the uncle turned his head again and said to his grandmother word by word: "Mom, if my sister-in-law agrees, I want to take my sister to be my daughter, and there will be someone who will wear linen and filial piety when she dies in the future." Speaking of which, the circles under my eyes turned red.

Seeing this, my mother hurriedly responded: "If my uncle likes Manmei, Manmei will follow my uncle!" At this time, the uncle put down the cloves, knelt down coldly towards his mother, and kowtowed heavily. Mom hurriedly pulled up her uncle, "Uncle, look at what you're doing!" ”

The uncle didn't say anything more, picked up the cloves again, put them on his lap and drank the wine.

At this time, there was a trace of uneasiness in Grandma's eyes with joy and joy.

End of the fourth round