(Author's note: This chapter is recommended to be eaten with BGM, BGM is recommended: "Roots Main Theme" - Victor Butzelaar.) Please do not leave the title of the book or the author's name in the music review area, thank you for your cooperation. ）

This is the story of what happened when I was a child.

I grew up in a poor family, and my father's sister was my little aunt, seven years older than me, just like my eldest sister. Although the family is poor, they are also content and happy.

What I didn't expect was that when I was seven years old, my father encountered wolves when he went hunting in the mountains. Although he was reluctantly brought back by his companions, he did not survive after all. After this change, the family became more and more difficult, although the mother did other people's laundry to supplement the family, the family is still increasingly embarrassed.

Although my mother was determined to keep the festival, she could not bear to see my yellow face and shabby clothes, so she always cried quietly at night.

When the little aunt saw this, she said to my mother, "I am fourteen years old, and when will I not marry at this time?" Sister-in-law doesn't have to worry, as long as she raises Chen Er well. Despite her mother's best efforts, the little aunt found the matchmaker herself.

It just so happened that the matchmaker said that someone was looking for a wife, and the family also had a lot of family resources, but it was inconvenient to live in the mountains, and it might be difficult to return to her parents' house to visit relatives in the future.

My little aunt hugged her mother and cried, and said to me, "Chen Er must study hard in the future." And he got married on an auspicious day.

After my sister-in-law got married, my family's family situation improved for a while, and I was finally able to eat enough. But he didn't want to be blessed and misfortune was not alone, and soon his mother fell ill because she missed her father. Before he died, he gave me all the money he had left, and asked someone to take me to my sister-in-law's house to join her.

The sister-in-law married a family surnamed Liu. This man did live in the mountains, and the man entrusted by my mother stopped outside the mountain because it was too dangerous, and found an excuse to leave me where I was, and secretly left by himself.

While I was weeping in the wilderness, I saw a little man with a gloomy face who asked me who I was and what I was here for.

I explained the whole thing to him, and the little guy said that he was the little guy of the Liu family, and he came out to buy daily necessities, so he took me into the mountain.

Today, fifty years later, the feeling I felt when I first saw the house in the col is as clear as the inscription on the stone stele.

The whole house stood too closely surrounded by trees, and looked like a damp and dark anthill exposed on the ground; The tall walls and the green tiles on the eaves are covered with blackened moss, which makes people feel chilly even in the middle of summer.

In the gloomy atmosphere, the little maid went in to report, and I stayed in the courtyard, and after a while, I saw my long-lost sister-in-law come out.

When I talked about what happened after I said goodbye, my sister-in-law touched my head and sighed: "I didn't expect my sister-in-law to follow my eldest brother, she is really a festival." Then he ordered his subordinates to tell his uncle.

My uncle sent someone to reply to my sister-in-law that there was no need to report such a trivial matter to him, and she was in charge. My aunt let me live in the same courtyard with her, and from then on, I borrowed from Liu's house and began to read and write.

At that time, I didn't think my uncle was abnormal, but because he was willing to take me in, he thought that he was really a good person.

My uncle's surname is Liu, the word is long and white, taciturn, except for the time of eating and resting, he just reads behind closed doors in the study.

I asked my sister-in-law what kind of work my uncle's family was doing, and why I never saw him go out to make a living or associate with people, and my sister-in-law didn't know, but only encouraged me: "In the future, Ah Chen will also study day and night like Lang Jun to gain fame and fame, so as to make the situation of the Qian family better." ”

I then concentrated on observing the other people in the courtyard, and heard from the maid that it turned out that my uncle still had several concubines, all of whom were pregnant. Before long, I heard that someone seemed to have a miscarriage, and even the life of the concubine could not be saved, so he was pulled out and buried together.

When my sister-in-law heard about it, she let me play in the courtyard for two days. I took the cage my sister-in-law had made for me, and tried to look for bugs and spiders to play with as I had done when I was at home, but I found nothing.

One day, I was reading under the window when I heard a slave enter the courtyard and hurriedly reported that an aunt was in labor. I saw my uncle hurrying out of the yard and not coming back until night. In the middle of the night, I went out to relieve my hands, and saw that there seemed to be a faint candlelight in the direction of the study in the courtyard next door.

The study is different from the library building, and only the uncle can enter it. I was puzzled, I didn't know why my uncle was still reading in the middle of the night. Curious, he put his ear to the wall, and seemed to vaguely hear the sound of flipping books, thinking that his uncle was really trying to read.

But I waited for half a year, and I didn't find any more children in the house.

When I asked the maid with whom I had been chatting again, she said she didn't know either. Soon my sister-in-law became pregnant, and I completely forgot about it.

Later, one day, my sister-in-law came to me and said, "Ah Chen is now a scholar, and my sister-in-law has a question for you, can you help me hear what this means?" ”

I was very happy, so I replied, "My sister-in-law just asks." ”

Unexpectedly, my sister-in-law said something strange that I had never heard of. I pondered for a long time, but I couldn't think of which words corresponded. I wrote down the pronunciation and searched for ancient books, but I couldn't find it. I was very puzzled, so I asked my sister-in-law where I heard that sentence, and my sister-in-law said hesitantly that it was just an accident to hear what my uncle said when he was drunk.

It wasn't long before I noticed that my aunt's face was becoming haggard and silent.

I was very worried, and I asked her what had happened, but my aunt said, "What is there to say about a woman who should be obedient to her husband?" ”

I looked at my sister-in-law's face, thought to myself that the sentence she had asked me must not be so simple, and vowed to find out.

Thinking that my uncle's knowledge also came from books, I searched through the Liu family's book collection, but to no avail.

I had never been in the study that my uncle frequented the most, so I asked my uncle to go into the study to borrow books.

The uncle was furious: "You are just a yellow-mouthed child, how dare you make such a request!" ”

I was so embarrassed that I dismissed the idea. My aunt found out about this, so she took me to my uncle, stood outside the study and said, "Although I am a woman, I also know that if I don't study, I won't understand reason." Now Lang Jun laughs at Ah Chen for being ignorant, and on the other hand, he doesn't give him a way to understand reason, how can there be such a way! ”

My uncle opened the door in the study and said angrily: "The collection of books here is just the genealogy and family history of my Liu family, and some barnyard records!" What truth can I teach you! ”

My aunt didn't believe me and told me to go in and find the book I wanted to read. I was too ashamed to go in, so my aunt said to me, "It's a good thing to read wisely, and if you don't steal or rob now, what is there to be afraid of?" Just go! ”

When I entered the study, I found that the shelves were full of genealogy and miscellaneous books. I was curious to borrow a book, and I inadvertently turned my head to see my uncle, who was standing by the wall, staring at me very angrily.

I immediately put the book back in its place, vowing in my heart that I would leave this place sooner or later.

Then I noticed that there was a very small door behind my uncle, painted white, and it was hard to see that there was another door there.

I could recognize it because of some dark handprint-shaped stains on the door. I felt very strange when I thought that my uncle kept telling me to take care of my books, but I entered the study without washing my hands.

But before I could ask, my uncle said loudly, "Have you finished reading?" Have the book you need? If not, go back! There are enough books in the library for you to read! "Kicked me out.

I left the study and told my sister-in-law that those books really didn't help. My sister-in-law didn't get angry with me, but said softly: "If you don't go in and watch, you won't know after all!" Don't be afraid! ”

I didn't tell my sister-in-law about my doubts, but in the middle of the night I sometimes thought that beyond the small door was the wall, and then came to my room. There is no door in my house, so where does that door lead?

And my uncle used to read these books at home every day, which made me very confused. These books are no different from fame and fame, so what good is it for him to study his family tree and county history day and night? I feel like my impression of my uncle has completely collapsed.

I don't know if it was because of this incident, and my sister-in-law unfortunately miscarried. I was very sorry in my heart, but my sister-in-law refused to see me.

I could only ask my uncle to convey the greetings on my behalf, and when I saw my uncle's face, it was still the same as before, without any sadness.

I couldn't help but ask, but my uncle said, "It's not the first time your sister-in-law has had a miscarriage." Originally, I decided to hide my sadness for her sake, is it your turn to ask? ”

Since then, I haven't spoken to my uncle again.

One day not long after that, my sister-in-law suddenly called me in front of me and said to me: "I am Liu Langjun's stepfamily, and you are only my nephew, not a member of the Liu family." Now that you're an adult, it's not easy to live here for long. I have prepared a piece of wealth for you, and you can take it to study in a college in a nearby city. ”

I was very surprised, and cried and said, "Ah Chen was too young to grow up, and he was raised by his aunt. Although he knew that he was going to leave eventually, he really couldn't rest assured that his aunt was born, at least Rong Achen saw his cousin and sister born. ”

My sister-in-law's face changed greatly when she heard this, and she pointed at me and said, "To be honest, I have already found out, and it is precisely because of your restraining with me that I have not been able to have children." Now what else to say! Go ahead! I'm going to protect my children! Then he ordered his family to come in and take me away by force.

So I went to study at the academy and never returned to the willow house in the mountains. After being lifted, he also sent someone to bring a letter, wanting his sister-in-law to know about it. But the messenger who entrusted him with news and even money did not bring back even a word.

Later, I made a master book in Beijing, and in the past few decades, I have asked people to go back to my hometown to inquire about my sister-in-law's news, but those people have always been unable to find the location of the willow house according to my instructions. I thought that the mountains were remote, and my uncle had moved to another place to live, and the news on both sides was cut off, and I often wept in the middle of the night.

It happened to be one day, and the courtyard was idle, so everyone held a banquet. During the dinner, some people talked about the strange things they had heard, and one bachelor surnamed Yang said that he had heard his grandfather tell him about a strange case when he was a child.

This man's grandfather was an old Xiucai in the local county chronicle, and he said that a few years ago, a woman came to report to the official, saying that her husband had offered a monster to the monster at home, and that their son had been offered to the monster to eat. She also said that she woke up in the middle of the night when she was pregnant and saw her husband staring intently at her belly.

The magistrate did not believe this, and said, "If the tiger poison does not eat children, how can anyone sacrifice his own children?" Why would such a thing be done? Then he sent someone to send the woman home, and the woman's husband said that the woman had lost her heart and was talking nonsense because she had miscarried too many times. There is no further explanation of this matter because there is no evidence.

Soon after, the woman fell ill and died, and her husband married Xuxian. Because the interval is too short, some people say that he is ruthless behind his back.

It's just that for some reason, this husband took several wives and concubines, but never got a son and a half daughter, and the wives and concubines also died early. As time went on, the people thought that he was born a widower, so they stopped marrying his daughter to him, so the man left the land and sold the house where he lived.

After the new buyer moved into the house, he frequently dreamed of the cry of a child and a woman at night. So he ordered someone to dig up the green bricks in the yard and dig three feet into the ground, and saw many white bones in clay pots below, which stinked unpleasantly. The buyer panicked and immediately reported to the official, and the county official knew that the previous report was true, and immediately sent someone to arrest the man, but the man was no longer visible.

The matter eventually disappeared with the death of the county magistrate. I listened to this story of Mr. Yang, and I suddenly woke up from alcohol and asked him what the man's surname was and what he looked like. Mr. Yang said that because he had only heard his grandfather talk about it when he was a child, he didn't know the details, but he remembered that his grandfather had joked that the man's surname seemed to be associated with his surname, or Liu, or something else, and after a long time, he couldn't remember it clearly.

I trembled, forced myself to be calm, and hurriedly asked Mr. Yang: "Have you ever heard this?" So I told him what my sister-in-law had asked me. Mr. Yang's face was very surprised, and he asked me: "This is our dialect there, how can Brother Qian know how far apart from my house is a hundred miles?" It's just that it doesn't seem to be said here. ”

I asked him, "What do you mean by that?" What is the language? ”

Bachelor Yang waved his hand: "Where is there any allusion, in official terms, it means this: Fu Wei is still feasting." ”

I was chilled, and immediately asked my boss for leave, and rushed back to my hometown with dozens of young and sturdy family members. Unexpectedly, the road up and down the mountain in the past has been flooded with barren grass, and it took a month to forcibly clear the road and want to return to the barren mountain to find the location of the old willow house, but there is no way.

I sighed for a long time at the hotel, and at night I had a dream about my sister-in-law in a wedding dress.

I couldn't see her face, only a sigh that pushed me back, and the dream awoke.

I chose a piece of feng shui treasure land to erect a grave for my sister-in-law, and wrote this story to pay tribute to her.

When I put down my pen in the middle of the night, I seemed to hear her say to me, "I want to protect my children."