Eleventh

Since that day, Lilac has been associated with brown hanging and brown spinning all her life. Lilac learned the craft with her master's eldest brother and traveled to every place in the neighboring towns and towns, doing some farm work and housework at the master's house when she had nothing to do. Lilac is ingenious, plus the loss of the family, the neighbors around the master like cloves, and the young daughter is the elder sister and the elder sister is short and the clove is born to the same mother. The wife also took pity on Lilac, and often taught Lilac many women to make a slipknot in her free time. When the master passed away, the clove hung filial piety, and when the master passed away, there was something at home that did not catch up. Lilac has always been ashamed of this, and often said that the master's family treated me like a daughter back then.

Although he worshipped the master, the craft was basically taught by the eldest brother, and the master was also happy. Lilac is very hard-working, less than a year has learned to make all kinds of brown rope, but to make the coffin rope needs to use a lot of small brown rope synthesis, to make this kind of large brown rope Lilac can only barely start.

Lilac and the eldest brother stayed at the master's house for two years. It's just that in the dead of night, Lilac often worries about her grandmother who stays at home alone, and thinks of her father who hasn't heard from her for more than ten years, as well as her hard-working mother who has passed away and her uncle who was very good to her when she was young. When I was uncomfortable, my tears wet my pillow, and once I couldn't help but sobble and woke up my daughter.

The young woman rubbed her misty eyes and asked with some horror, "Sister Man, what's wrong?" Are you angry or are people bullying you? "No, my sister, go to sleep!" Lilac wiped away her tears and pretended to fall asleep.

At this time, the young woman stretched out her hand from the quilt, pinched the lilac hair around her fingers, and asked in a careful whisper, "Homesick?" Lilac was speechless, but tears soaked her pillow like water from the floodgates.

Sometimes I think of Qiusheng, especially when the sister-in-law next door to the master's house said that Lilac was so ingenious that it would be better to marry her as her brother and sister-in-law, Lilac blushed and said, "Ignore you," and turned her head and ran away. The sister-in-law laughed behind her and said, "Look at you, Lilac is shy!" In fact, how did they know that Lilac already had someone in her heart.

Later, she really met Qiusheng, and she was even happier that Qiusheng brought an exciting news - the whereabouts of her father, who she hadn't seen for many years.

It was one day in November, when Lilac and her eldest brother had finished their work from a neighboring village and were returning home from dinner at the boss's house. When I arrived at the master's house, it was already dark, and I was far from entering the house, and the young girl had already greeted them at the intersection and shouted at them: "Brother Xu, Sister Man, there is a guest at home looking for you!" When Sister Lilac entered the courtyard and was about to put away her tools, a person came out of the house and shouted at them, "Brother Xu, Sister Man,"

Lilac heard the voice, but the tool on her back had fallen to the ground, and it turned out to be Qiusheng—somewhat unexpectedly. When the eldest brother saw it, he hurriedly greeted him and said, "My brother is too hearty, what's the matter with us today?!"

Qiusheng scratched his head, looked at Lilac, and then looked at the eldest brother and said, "First, I came to see the two of you, and second, I have a big event to tell you, sit down and talk slowly!" Hearing Qiusheng say that he came to visit them, Lilac was very happy in her heart.

"Xuzong, Sister Man, you two come into the house quickly, your master and wife have made tea, and sit in the house to talk." At this time, the master came out and called.

At that moment, a few people sat down and talked while drinking tea, and then Qiusheng told Lilac them a good news, Qiusheng met his father in Huarong County, and his father was still alive.

Qiusheng said that since that time he broke up with Lilac and them, he returned to Yiyang after finishing his errands in Xinhua, and he has also learned some skills with the shopkeeper Wang in the past two years. Business, such as putting a row of escorts, melons, scoops, timber, settling accounts, etc., has already let Qiusheng bring a new apprentice to do it alone.

Ten days ago, Qiusheng was entrusted by the shopkeeper of the king to settle the account with Boss Zhou, who went to Huarong County to do dried fish business, and it was already dark when he arrived in Huarong County. Qiusheng thought that it was not good to disturb people so late, so it was better to find a store to rest for one night and stay early in the morning before going. Huarong is the plain of the lake area, not as crowded as the Anhua Mountains, the street shops are a little scattered, and Qiusheng wandered around for a while before choosing a restaurant to eat. After dinner, it was too early to think about it, so the owner of the same shop said hello and said that he would go to the street shop to see what he could sell, and leave a door later. The shopkeeper replied: "Okay, I'll wait when you arrive."

Qiusheng walked all the way, and many shops were closed. Qiusheng entered a few unclosed grocery stores, picked and picked, and had no favorite thoughts, so it was better to go back to the store to rest and pick up tomorrow. At this time, there were only a few pedestrians on the street, and when passing by an alley, a woman suddenly grabbed Qiusheng's sleeve and whispered to the gods: "A few young people, play a little trick, there are a lot of beautiful girls and girls." Qiu Shengmao was frightened when he saw it, it turned out to be a secret prostitute, and this accent called the unmarried woman an aunt, and the little daughter-in-law woman a girl.

When he understood, he suddenly felt embarrassed to run away with a hard throw. Because he didn't choose the right way, he didn't want to bump into a person on the cross street, but he heard a sound that the person was already lying on the ground.

When Qiusheng saw it, he thought it was bad, so he was busy pulling it, but he couldn't pull it up. If you look closely, there is a pair of crutches next to this man's thin clothes and ragged clothes, and he can't understand it on his dim face on the street, he is about fifty years old. Before Qiusheng could speak, this person had already grabbed Qiusheng's leg pants and screamed: "Oops, oops, someone is coming,"

When Qiusheng heard that this old man was mixed with an Anhua accent, he hurriedly squatted down and asked, "Uncle, where did you hit it, don't worry, wait for me to see, I won't run."

The old man heard Qiusheng speak, was stunned for a moment, and let go of the hand holding Qiusheng. After a while, Fu grabbed his clothes and pants again, and said in his mouth: "After the birth of the family, my whole body hurts, how did I get it?!" Yanbi looked at Qiusheng for a moment, hesitated for a moment and then asked, "Houshengjia, are you Anhua?"

At this time, there were three or two people on the street who heard the sound and watched the excitement, and you talked about it word by word, and one of the fat men also bowed his head and joked at the old man: "Zhang Guizi, you are hairy, you have eaten now in the past ten days and a half months!" After finishing speaking, he looked up at Qiusheng and bluffed loudly: "You offspring, what are you anxious about?" It's not good to look at the road, this crutch is lonely and lonely now, and you can't afford to bump into it, and you don't want to find a way! As he spoke, he secretly kicked the old man with his foot. The old man howled even harder.

Qiusheng panicked when he saw it, obviously everyone bullied him for his foreign accent, and secretly thought that he was not familiar with the place and didn't even have a helper to get into this matter, and he didn't know what to do at once. Qiusheng had no choice but to ask everyone to help carry the old man to the door of a shop, and begged for a bench to place the old man well.

The old man leaned against the wallboard and snorted dryly. By the light of the store, Qiusheng looked at the old man's haggard and white face, and felt a little familiar, but he couldn't remember when and where he had seen it. After hesitating for a moment, he tried to ask: "Uncle, where are you from Anhua, we seem to have met before?" What are you doing here? ”

Without waiting for the old man to speak, the shopkeeper hurriedly replied: "Hou Shengzi, Zhang Kidnapper wandered here many years ago, and he has no children and no daughters." Rely on setting up a stall to measure a word to tell a fortune, write a good handwriting, write a letter for someone to sell some couplets, and sometimes tell a piece of drama in the vernacular to earn a stutter. On weekdays, I live in the bridge pavilion and bridge cave, and I have to eat and eat, and live one day at a time. Now you admit it, give some money and disperse! ”

At this time, the old man stopped humming, looked at Qiusheng carefully, shook his head again, and then lowered his head and said, "I've been away from home for more than ten years, I can't remember—where are you?"

Qiusheng listened and talked about his name and family situation. The old man lowered his head at first and listened carefully, and then when he talked about his address, name, and the situation of the family, the old man suddenly opened his mouth in astonishment, raised his head, and carefully greeted Qiusheng for a while.

Seeing the excitement, the crowd was no longer noisy, and after a while, the old man asked leisurely: "Houshengjia, are you from Lilac Castle?" Your family name is Gui? Is there an uncle named Gui Xiaotong? ”

When Qiusheng heard this, he hurriedly replied: "Yes, yes, my third uncle's name is Gui Xiaotong, what do you call him?" The old man didn't answer, but hugged his fists at the onlookers and said, "Fortunately, everyone, this life is my nephew, and I took the trouble to make trouble, so I will take your heart."

When the people heard that they were acquainted, they were bored and dispersed one by one.

At this time, the old man said kindly to Chong Qiusheng: "Virtuous nephew, is it convenient for my uncle to go to my kennel?" Uncle has something to say to you! ”

After listening to this, Qiusheng hurriedly responded: "Okay, okay, it should be," After finishing speaking, he hurriedly went to the street to pick up the crutches, leaned over and asked, "Did you bump into my uncle just now, is it in the way?" Why don't you find a Lang Zhong to take a look?! ”

The old man took the crutches, looked up at the air, and said apologetically: "Virtuous nephew, uncle is taking trouble!" Look at what Uncle is doing, I am shocked to you, the family doesn't recognize the family - go, Uncle is doing it! ”

After saying that, he jumped up on crutches, and then Qiusheng realized that one of the old uncle's legs was completely dragged, as if the wood hanging on his waist was useless.

After passing through several lanes and finally coming to the riverside bridge and cave, the riverside was quiet, the old man stopped, and said to Qiusheng with an apologetic face with some anxiety: "Virtuous nephew, there were many people on the street just now, and there are some things that can't be said." Speaking of which, the old man looked at the bridge hole, pointed with his cane, and said with a puff in his mouth: "My kennel is messy, so I won't invite you in."

Suddenly, the old uncle threw a cane, held Qiusheng's arm with that hand, and said a little excitedly: "Virtuous nephew, do you remember?" Back then, your third uncle was in the county town, and I lived with your third uncle for more than half a year!! ”

Qiusheng was shocked when he heard this, and carefully forgave him, it turned out that the uncle was Lilac's father. At that time, Qiusheng held Lilac's father with both hands and looked up and down, and asked with concern: "Ouch, it turned out to be Uncle Cao!" Coincidentally, two years ago, I also went to Xinhua with Brother Xu Manmei. Uncle Cao, what's wrong with you? Why do you look like this?! ”

"Alas, it's hard to say, let's go into the bridge and talk about it!" After speaking, Lilac Daddy turned around and pushed open the old door panel at the entrance of the bridge, groped his way into the bridge, lit the oil lamp, and Qiusheng hurriedly followed into the bridge. The bridge hole is arched, there is a height of four or five meters, with the dim light, Qiusheng took a closer look, only to see that the other end of the bridge hole has been sealed with some miscellaneous things. At the bottom, the foot of the bed was made of stones, and an old wooden board was laid on it, and some straw was thickly piled up, and an old sheet was laid on the straw, and the quilt was patched like a monk's robe, and the sheet and the quilt were worn out and the original color could no longer be distinguished. The walls on the four sides have been blackened by the smoke of the cooking fire, and even the roof of the cave is a little black.

Lilac's father moved his body and handed over a tree, and said to Qiusheng apologetically: "Ouch, virtuous nephew, Uncle Cao is on this condition, the tea is bubbling, I'm sorry, you don't dislike Uncle Cao, you're very happy."

That night, the two uncles and nephews chatted for half a night, and Qiusheng talked about Qiusheng's third uncle and the situation of everyone in Lilac's family. When talking about the death of Lilac's mother and uncle, Lilac's father could no longer suppress the grief and sadness in his heart, and he couldn't help but cry in front of Qiusheng's juniors, and Qiusheng panicked and persuaded for a long time before calming down.

Lilac's father told Qiusheng why he hadn't come home for many years, and told him about the sins he had suffered for more than ten years.

Back then, after Ding Xiang's father broke up with his uncle during the Communist prison robbery, he ran to the north of the city with his escaped prisoners, wanting to go to Yiyang first and then find an opportunity to go to Caowei Street in Nanxian County to meet his uncle there according to the agreement with his uncle. As soon as I arrived in the direction of Wangcheng, I heard the sound of gunfire in front of me from a distance, and one or two people who ran in front of them fell down, and the others had fled in all directions when they saw this.

Seeing that the situation was not right, Lilac Dad turned right and ran straight in the direction of the Huanshui River. Lilac's father, who ran to the river, heard the shouting of gunshots behind him, and turned his head to see that the black pressure of the township group had already killed near Yangjiawan, a mile away.

Lilac Daddy didn't think much about it, and jumped over the stones that exposed the riverbed, and when he reached the middle of the river, there were no stones to tread, so he took off his shoes and put them under his armpits, and ran through the water. It was the dry season in the middle of winter, the river was not deep, and the water only reached the calf, but as soon as I entered the river, I felt a piercing pain in my feet like needle cones, and the cold air ran through the top of my head. Lilac's father sped up and ran wildly, but he didn't feel any pain.

When he reached the shore, he fell on the riverbed, and his shoes were broken open, and when he got up, he saw soldiers running on the path on the other side of the river. Lilac Dad picked up a pair of shoes and took them in his hand and ran to the loess pond, the soldiers on the other side stood on the opposite side of the road and looked, did not let go of the gun and did not chase, and went straight back to the county seat along the small path.

Lilac's father came to a family named Li Yuanben, and Li Yuanben had a relationship with him. After knocking on the door, the daughter of the Li family came out and shouted in surprise: "Lord Yushi, what's wrong with you, why are you barefoot?!"

When I just went down to the river, my feet hurt like a cone, and I became numb after a while, and then I stopped and felt a little numb, and my whole body was full of cold.

Lilac's father trembled and replied: "Sister Chun, you, you, is your father here?!" Chun Mei hurriedly replied: "My father and they went out to eat at my uncle's house, and I was the only one at home." Lord Yushi, I'll pour some hot water, scald my feet, be careful of freezing! After a while, Chun Mei poured a large basin of hot water and pulled a stool. Lilac's father soaked his feet in the hot water, turned around and called to Chunmei: "Good Chunmei, get two more dry straws for Uncle and put them outside the house."

At this time, my feet were already a little warm, and my body was still cold. After a while, Chunmei brought straw, and Lilac's father lit the straw with a fire sickle, and roasted it all over his chest and back. When his whole body was warm, he got up and said goodbye, saying that he would not wait for his father, and that he would not bother if there was any emergency.

When Li Yuanben came home, he saw the straw ash outside the house, so he asked what was going on. Chun Mei was busy talking about Lilac's father. Li Yuanben listened and hurriedly instructed Chun Mei to quickly sweep away the ashes, and then repeatedly instructed no matter who asked, don't tell that Jade Shiye has come, and if he does, he will have his head cut off.

The eleventh episode ends