When the suitcase was knocked over just now, I seemed to hear a crisp sound. Squatting down, I opened the lock of the box to take a look, and sure enough, half of the bottle of tofu inside was broken, but fortunately I put a plastic bag on the outside of the bottle, so that the mellow and appetizing bean curd juice did not soak the clothes. I had no choice but to pick up the handle of the plastic bag and throw all the broken bottles and bean curd into the nearest trash can.

This tofu was brought to me by my second brother from home two months ago. After graduating from university, I came to Shen'an and never returned to Taozhen. My brothers never took the initiative to ask me to go back, and they never even asked me why I didn't go back, but every three months, the second brother would come to check on the post and bring some of my favorite food, and the tofu made by my sister-in-law has never been interrupted for six years.

For the children of Liu Dawan's family, this tofu is more precious than breast milk.

When my father left, my mother handled the funeral, and when my mother left, the eldest brother was not yet fifteen years old, and the funeral was all handled by my father's younger brother, my uncle Liu Erwan. The eldest brother was still full of gratitude, if it weren't for his uncle, he would be like a headless fly with his younger siblings alone, and he didn't know what to do. However, when his uncle Liu Erwan put a stack of bills totaling 380 yuan and an IOU of 250 yuan in front of him, he was dumbfounded. Not to mention how the 380 yuan bill came from, the other 250 yuan was obviously handed over to his uncle at that time to do various miscellaneous expenses, and the uncle said that the family's accounts should be clearer and clearer, so he specially wrote a receipt to prove that he received 250 yuan in cash from the eldest brother, and the eldest brother vaguely remembered that it was written on it, "I hereby received two hundred and fifty yuan", but he didn't look closely at who received the money from whom, he signed it in a daze, how did he think that the receipt turned into an IOU! It was he who was careless, but how did he expect his uncle to do something on it, even if their brothers are not the real Liu family, I am his own niece! In black and white, Brother Ren couldn't speak clearly, so he could only smash his front teeth and swallow his own stomach. Six hundred and thirty yuan, where did he raise such a large sum of money? The eldest brother swallowed the dumb loss raw, and begged the uncle to slow down our brother and sister for a while, we will definitely pay back a lot of money after we make money, even if it is with interest, but the uncle disagreed, complaining that he also borrowed the money outside, and he couldn't delay it, for the sake of the family, if Dalong you really can't come up with the money, just take the house and the shop to pay! The eldest brother realized at that moment that everything was for our family's house and shop.

In late autumn, I don't know if Sun Dasheng kicked over the alchemy furnace of the immortal monarch again, and the furnace bricks fell on the nine mountains, burning the branches and leaves of the mountains to the sky. Halfway up the hill to the southeast, a small boxy hut with thick creepers burning from the base of the wall to the roof, and the heart-shaped leaves with jagged edges seemed to be burned to ashes in an instant. At the foot of the wall, there are still some pink and green poisonous mushrooms, which look like the fairy hut in the fairy tale. As he approached, the door was crookedly hung on a pine post that had not even been shaved clean, and there were two large knotted pine posts, the opening was no more than five feet high, and the eldest brother and the second brother had to bow half to get in. After years of wind and rain, the lower half of the door panel and the door post have become black and mildew, and everything shows signs of oldness, dilapidation and decay, and if it is not repaired in a hurry, it probably will not survive a typhoon.

There are no windows in the small hut, but the light penetrates in all directions through the thatched roof and the wooden walls on all sides. Inside, apart from a bed made of a dozen gray bricks and two large wooden barrels filled with glazed water, there was only a wide spiderless spider's web and an orange-red striped centipede in the corner, which squirmed at the foot of the bed arch and shrunk, leaving a slender train track on the thick ash behind it.

The size of the thatched hut can not accommodate eight cows, it was originally a grass shed used by my father to adjust the glaze pulp, as early as when the brothers did not come to our old Liu's house, my father took over a big job, a porcelain shop in the city ordered a hundred pairs of dishes and tea sets, asked for 20 days of delivery, so busy that I didn't have time to go home, my father added a few wooden planks on all sides of the shed, and spread thick thatch on the top, and the temporary food and accommodation were in it. He probably didn't expect that the thatched hut that was hastily built at that time would one day become a home for the children. Although, from a functional point of view, it can only be called home if it meets the two basic conditions of shelter from the wind and rain, however, we are already thankful that there is such a place to stay, not to mention, the thatched hut is surrounded by mountains and rivers, decorated with natural potted plants, parents are not far away, and there are quiet neighbors in other graves on the mountain as companions, which is not bad to the extreme.

The first year we spent on the Nine Mountains was special. That year, the heavy snow began on the evening of the 28th of the year, and continued to fall until the 30th of the Chinese New Year's Eve, and the seemingly pure and beautiful white petals were like gods, engulfing the entire Tao Town little by little, without a trace. Looking down from the mountain, the town looms in the snow and mist, like an ancient city lost on the map, revealing a transcendent and mysterious tranquility.

On the first day of the new year, the snow stopped.

Although his parents are gone, the eldest brother still took his younger siblings to Mengjiazhuang early in the morning to pay New Year's greetings to his cousins and sisters-in-law, as in previous years. The snow is too thick, it is not easy to go down the mountain, especially me, wearing thick cotton pants and short legs stepping into the snow, to make the boss can pull out, although every step is not easy, but I am very energetic, and I can chase the third brother all the way in front of the snowball fight. Behind us, the eldest brother carried a load of neatly chopped firewood, and the second brother carried a bamboo basket with two packets of sugar, two bottles of wine and two bags of tea.

Finally arrived at the foot of the mountain, and at a glance, it was white.

Suddenly, a touch of bright red under the big tree at the corner of the col caught the eyes of the third brother, he fixed his eyes, turned around and ran, returned to me, and pretended to be calm and said, "Don't play yet!" The road ahead is not easy, let's go that way. The third brother took my hand and wanted to go in the other direction, but unfortunately, I also saw the red, and my eyes suddenly lit up, and I said in surprise: "Third brother, look! There's a flower there! As he spoke, he shook off the third brother's hand and moved his steps like wading through the water, and when the third brother caught up with me, he had already reached the bottom of the tree. Although he already knew what it was, he didn't look carefully at that time after all, and when he came to him, he subconsciously looked up, and he was so frightened that he ran away, leaving me alone to scream at the red hiss.

It turned out that the red was a person, and that tree was the sacred tree of Mengjiazhuang, and I called it the man-eating tree. I have heard that there is a mysterious tree in Jiushan, that tree is so thick that it takes nine big men to hold hands to hug it, and legend has it that every year a person hangs himself from that tree. I've always wondered, since it's a man-eating tree, why don't you just cut it down? But the old people of Mengjiazhuang said that it was the sacred tree of their Zhuangzi, and if the sacred tree was gone, their entire Zhuangzi would not be able to continue. Everyone thought that no one should die on it that year, and the old people in Zhuangzi were still worried, if no one came in, Zhuangzi was afraid that something big would happen next year, but they did not expect that on the night of the thirtieth day of the Chinese New Year's Eve, a girl who was only fifteen years old, wearing a new red dress, gave herself to the sacred tree.

I was only five years old at the time, and I don't remember much about my childhood, most of my memories are very vague, except for the picture, which seems to have left a deep imprint on my brain like a red-hot soldering iron, which is still very clear to this day: the red hung straight there, with two thick black braids on his head, and his whole face was blue and swollen, like a sauce bun; Two bloodshot eyeballs protrude from the eye socket, and two lines of blood and tears are faintly visible under the eye socket; Two cloudy icicles hung from under my pointed nose, and a purple-gray tongue crooked out of the corner of my mouth, smiling sideways at my pubic side. I was so frightened that I couldn't stop screaming, but my eyes couldn't leave that face as if it weren't for my second brother taking me away, I might really be like in the play, my soul was sucked away.

My third brother and I were frightened, the eldest brother wanted to go home first, but Mengjiazhuang was already in front of him, and besides, this year, I had to worship early and late, and I had to worship sooner or later, so it was better to go!

Mengjiazhuang is not big, more than 30 households, Zhuangzi and Jiushan are separated by a large piece of farmland, covered with snow, it is impossible to distinguish where is the field, where is the road, but it is more convenient. Passing through the farmland and crossing a stream that winds around the village, there are nine blue brick steps at the entrance of the stream is the cousin's house. The door was closed, the second brother knocked three times, no one answered the door, he knocked three more times, and shouted: "Cousin! Cousin-in-law! "There's no echo inside, but the door is bolted in, so they should all be at home! Isn't it that you haven't gotten up yet? But it was almost ten o'clock at that time, and the second brother looked at the eldest brother suspiciously, and the eldest brother changed the firewood on his right shoulder to his left shoulder, and said, "Maybe I didn't hear it, you can try again." The second brother knocked six times in a row and shouted, "Cousin and sister-in-law! Are you at home? I also tore my throat and shouted, "Cousin and sister-in-law! It's me! Fifteen! ”

There was finally movement inside, and after a short time, the voice of the eldest cousin came: "Hey! It's coming, it's coming! ”

When I entered the yard, I found that my cousins and sisters-in-law were there.

The eldest cousin held half a cigarette burning with red stars between the index finger and middle finger of his right hand, brought it to his lips and took a puff, and said, "With such a heavy snowfall, there is no need to pay New Year's greetings!" ”

The eldest brother first picked up the firewood to the firewood room on the left side of the courtyard gate, carefully stacked it on the pyre, turned around and said, "Then what's the matter!" ”

"Don't bother in the future, you see we don't lack firewood!" The second cousin put his hands in the pockets of the army-green cotton basket, shrunk his shoulders and said.

"There are ones on the mountain anyway, so I'll pick some by the way." The eldest brother patted his hand sticking to the ashes and said.

"Sister-in-law, where is Rong Rong?" Every time I used to come over, I played with my eldest cousin's granddaughter, Rong Rong, who was the same age as me, but at this moment, there were only my cousins and sisters-in-law in the yard, and none of the juniors were missing.

The eldest cousin stood beside the eldest cousin and replied, "In the house!" ”

"I'm going to play with Rong Rong!" I was about to run into the house, but I was suddenly grabbed by my eldest cousin, "Don't go in!" ”

"Why?" I looked at my eldest cousin with wide eyes and no explanation.

"What the hell! Belch...... Rong Rong was sick and unwell. The eldest cousin said hesitantly.

"That's it! Then I'll see her! "I broke free from my cousin's hand and went back into the house again.

"I told you not to go, why don't you listen!" My eldest cousin stopped me, and her voice was colder than the snow on the ground.

I looked at my eldest cousin in amazement, it was the first time, and my eldest cousin, who had always been smiling, stopped smiling. The eldest brother was also a little stunned, but the second brother was very calm, seeing that the atmosphere was a little wrong, he hurriedly pulled me back to himself.

The second cousin-in-law wearing a peach embroidered cotton clip hurriedly came out to play a round, "That's the case, Rong Rong has a cold, and the eldest cousin-in-law is worried that it will not be good to infect you." ”

"So that's what happened!" The eldest brother smiled, turned to me and said, "Fifteen, be obedient!" Let's play with Rong Rong next time, okay? ”

The second brother silently glanced at the neat team in front of him, the two cousins stood in the middle, the two cousins stood at both ends, the second brother took a few steps forward and walked to the second cousin closest to him, handed the basket and said, "This is for the eldest cousin and the second cousin." ”

The second cousin-in-law pushed it away and said, "Oops! No, just keep it for yourselves. ”

"How can you be empty-handed for the New Year's greetings, you can accept it!" The second brother pushed it back again.

"No, no, you can take it back!" During the pushing, a bag of white sugar was sprinkled on the ground like snow, and the second brother hurriedly put the basket down, and when he checked it, he found that the newspaper that turned out to be wrapped in white sugar was wet.

The eldest brother explained: "I'm really sorry, on the way just now, I saw a girl hanged, just on the opposite tree, I don't know which family, the third and fifteenth were scared, so I didn't pay attention for a while, and put the basket on the snow." ”

"What?" The cousins and sisters-in-law, who were lined up, pulled a row of heads out of their collars and asked in unison.

"There's a girl who hanged." The eldest brother repeated.

"Did you bump into each other?" The eldest cousin-in-law strode out of the ranks, with two clusters of flames in her eyes, and if she was a little more prosperous, she could burn the bangs on her forehead.

The eldest brother looked at the eldest cousin in confusion, not knowing what he said wrong. I interjected first: "Bumped into it, that looks scary!" "After that, I had a cold war.

"Ran into you guys and came back?" The eldest cousin was angry and reprimanded, "It's really unlucky! This is the New Year, you are deliberately bringing bad luck to our family! ”

Our brother and sister stood aside in amazement.

"Don't go yet! Take away all these bad things! The eldest cousin gasped as if she were fighting.

The second brother didn't say anything, he bent down to carry the basket, and the eldest brother was so angry that his voice was trembling, and he stammered: "Those broken ...... Don't break something...... Don't ask for it! ”

The second brother still slowly lifted the basket, hugged it to his chest, and said unhurriedly: "Why not?" As he spoke, he turned to his eldest cousin, "I picked up ten loads of firewood with my eldest brother and sold them at the market, and when my father and mother were still there, they also sent these broken things, which is difficult for you to eat for so many years." ”

Since then, we have cut off contact with our relatives in Mengjiazhuang. At that time, I was still young, and every time I came to the New Year, I always shouted that I wanted to go to Rongrong's house to pay New Year's greetings. When I grew up, I understood a lot of things, and I don't think it's a big deal, after all, no one wants to climb a poor relative, not to mention that my broom star is notorious, so naturally I can hide as far as I can. Besides, my own uncle still swept our four siblings out of the house, let alone cousins?

Parents are gone, the house is gone, relatives see our four brothers and sisters are like ghosts hidden, we were forced to helpless, can only nest in the small thatched hut, eat the last meal did not eat, thanks to the former big bowl of porcelain is facing the door Lao Wang Tofu's daughter Yingxiang, that is, my sister-in-law now, carrying her father I don't know how many jars of tofu secretly sent to the small thatched house, at least half of the year, we ate tofu milk porridge.

The people in the station came and went, lively for a while and cold for a while, and finally when it was time for me to leave, there was no remembrance, no reluctance, and some were just eager to return to their hearts.

I miss home.