In August 2003, the county's mobile projection team came to Laoling Township.
In the evening, the town government compound was full of people. Those who lived nearby came early to take a small stool to reserve a place; those who lived far away came late and had to squeeze in wherever there was space, sitting on the ground. A few teenagers climbed up the tree branches and sat on them to look down at the excitement.
Zhao Ming, the 15-year-old eldest son of Xia Pai Village Party Secretary Zhao Hongxin, and his 11-year-old brother Zhao Liang squeezed through the crowd but couldn't find a suitable place. Ye Dalin and a few acquaintances were squeezed on a wooden board, laughing and joking, and when he saw the two brothers of the Zhao family, he reached out and slapped Zhao Ming on the butt.
"Uncle Ye, you are here too?" Zhao Ming asked with a smile.
"I've been here doing some work and haven't been home yet! Don't go too far. I'll take you back after the movie!" Ye Dalin instructed the two brothers.
Ye Dalin is a capable man in Xia Pai Village. He is quick-witted, has many ideas and is bold. In the past few years, he and several people in the village illegally purchased pine seeds and made some money. Recently, he is planning to build a brick factory in the Huangnitang area of the fifth team of Xia Pai Village. The village party secretary Zhao Hongxin said to him: "Building a brick factory is not as simple as purchasing pine seeds. It is sneaky and the government will not investigate unless the people report it. It involves matters related to national policies in forestry, land and other departments. Blind development is against the law and will be held legally responsible."
Ye Dalin didn't dare to do it privately. After running around for half a month, he finally got the formalities done. The formalities were done, but the brick factory was delayed in opening. Time is money, which made Ye Dalin very anxious. It turned out that there were more than a dozen ownerless old graves in this area. For many years, no one had come to visit the graves. Since they were ownerless old graves, Ye Dalin asked the migrant workers to secretly dig up the graves and bury the bones in the grove. As soon as the soil on a grave was dug up, it was seen that the ochre-red coffin lid had been pried open, and the bones in the coffin were vaguely visible. Everyone guessed that this old grave had been robbed by tomb robbers. Just as they were about to continue digging, a gust of cold wind suddenly blew, and five finger marks were left on the faces of several people. Everyone was scared, knowing that doing the evil thing of digging up other people's ancestral graves would be punished, and several migrant workers ran away, saying that they would do it anyway. Ye Dalin was in a dilemma. At this point, he had no choice but to go to the township government to discuss with the civil affairs department. The township civil affairs department was helpless about this matter, and three days had passed without any result. I spent a whole day in the civil affairs department today, and wanted to go back to the village in the evening. I heard that the county projection team came to the township to show movies, so Ye Dalin stayed to watch a movie to relax.
Unfortunately the weather started raining before the movie was halfway through.
First, a few raindrops fell, and then they fell like beans. The villagers sitting in the open air could not hold on any longer and ran to the eaves to take shelter from the rain. The rain was getting heavier, and a flash of lightning flashed across the dark sky, followed by a dull thunder. The loud speaker on the roof of the township government sounded: "The movie is over, everyone go home! It's over!"
Suddenly, the sound of thunder, rain and shouting overwhelmed the sound of the horn. Those who lived nearby ran back home like rabbits, while those who lived far away stood there like frightened roe deer, not knowing what to do! Ye Dalin stood in the rain in front of the commune gate, tiptoed and looked around, and finally saw Zhao Ming holding a piece of plastic sheet to shield his brother from the rain. The two brothers walked towards this side clumsily, hunched over.
"Zhao Ming, come here!" Ye Dalin shouted to the two brothers.
The two little brothers took small steps and quickly came to Ye Dalin's side.
"Let's take shelter for a while. We'll go when the rain stops." Ye Dalin pulled the two brothers over. "Your clothes are all wet. Don't catch a cold!" As he said that, he took off his coat and put it on the shivering younger brother.
The rain was still falling, and the people who took shelter under the eaves gradually dispersed.
"Brother, I'm hungry!" The younger brother looked up and said to Zhao Ming. In order to watch this movie, they ran away secretly without telling their family, and they haven't had dinner yet.
"Hold on for a while. When the rain stops, we'll leave and go home to eat!" Zhao Ming supported his younger brother.
Ye Dalin looked at the sky, then looked at the two brothers of the Zhao family, and said, "Let's go to the store for a while!"
Song Quezi, who ran a convenience store, was delighted when he saw Ye Dalin, "Dalin, were you left behind by the rain? It's rare to see you, so let's have a few drinks together!" As he said that, he poured two jugs of leaking white wine from the jar, took out two salted duck eggs, and a basket of cornmeal and vegetable dumplings.
Ye Dalin did not refuse and sat down in front of Song Quezi. He took two vegetable dumplings and handed them to the two Zhao brothers, "Are you hungry? Eat!" He then said to Song Quezi, "The two boys from Zhao Hongxin's family didn't even eat in order to watch a movie!"
When he heard that they were Zhao Hongxin's two sons, Song Quezi hurriedly asked the two children to sit down, "If you didn't tell me, I really wouldn't have known. Eat, kids. Your father and I are good friends. Don't be so formal. Eat until you're full!"
Song Quezi cut his salted duck egg in half and handed it to the two brothers, saying, "Eat it right away, don't choke!" After each of them ate three vegetable dumplings and half a salted duck egg and drank most of the teacup of cold boiled water, the two brothers became more energetic. "Uncle Ye, the rain is easing, let's go first, you and Uncle Song drink slowly!" Zhao Ming said to Ye Dalin.
"Can you two make it six miles up the mountain road?" Ye Dalin was worried and said hesitantly while looking at the wine in the glass.
"It's okay, Uncle Ye, we are just brothers, there's nothing to be afraid of, just accompany Uncle Song and drink slowly! My father is coming this way to greet us!"
"Well, then, be careful and don't fall!" Ye Dalin gave a few more instructions, watched the two brothers leave, and turned back to drink with Song Quezi.
The heavy raindrops that had just poured down suddenly turned into a drizzle. Zhao Ming tied a plastic sheet around his brother's neck to keep out the rain and the cold. Zhao Ming dragged his brother home. After walking for about half an hour, the rain stopped. Then, with the faint light, he found that the two of them had walked into a cemetery. The dark graves were connected together. Zhao Ming felt his scalp tingling and subconsciously clenched his brother's hand. Suddenly, a cough came from behind. The two brothers turned around and saw a dark shadow standing not far away. Zhao Ming shouted, "Who?" The dark shadow smiled and floated towards them. The two brothers tried to run, but their bodies seemed to be nailed down and couldn't move. A stream of heat flowed down the brother's trouser legs, and the dark shadow disappeared in an instant.
Zhao Ming grabbed his brother and ran, stumbling. After running for an unknown amount of time, he saw a little light in front of them, flickering towards them. Then he heard someone shouting "Zhao Ming – Zhao Liang -".
"Dad! Dad!" The two little brothers were overjoyed and ran towards the person who was coming, shouting.
The person who came was their father Zhao Hongxin.
At dinner time, Zhao Hongxin didn't see her two sons, thinking they went out to play. She searched all over the village, but couldn't find them after a long time. Suddenly she remembered that there was an open-air movie in the courtyard of the township government, and the two boys might have secretly gone to watch the movie. Zhao Hongxin was so angry that she kept scolding her two sons for being disobedient. It was a six-mile mountain road, and it was dark and slippery. What if something happened? Zhao Hongxin ran all the way with a flashlight to meet her two sons.
"Xiaoliang, don't tell Dad or the others anything! Got it?" Zhao Ming told his brother. Seeing his brother nod, he felt relieved. He was unwilling to miss the movie this time because of the rain, and wanted to come back someday. If Dad knew about seeing the shadow, he would not let them go to the village to watch a movie.
Seeing his two sons, Zhao Hong felt relieved. He didn't bother to scold his sons. He grabbed one with each hand and turned around to walk home.
When Zhao Liang got home, he cried out that he was cold and went to his mother's arms. His mother felt his pants and found them wet. She asked her son distressedly, "Why did you wet your pants?" The fifth son was about to tell his mother, but when he saw his brother staring at him, he swallowed the words back.
Ye Dalin and Zhao Hongxin grew up together naked. The two families are close neighbors, and the older and younger generations get along very well. When the elders of the two families were alive, they always had a meal together during festivals. They were like relatives. Looking at the dark sky outside the window, Ye Dalin felt more and more that something was wrong. After all, they were two little kids. If something happened, he would not be able to explain to Zhao Hongxin, nor to his own conscience. He raised his head and drank half a cup of white wine, "Brother, I'm leaving first. I'm worried about the two kids walking at night!" Song Quezi did not stay and sent Ye Dalin out of the house.
Ye Dalin thought: "The two kids have been walking for nearly half an hour. They will probably have reached home before I catch up with them. I'd better take a shortcut to catch up with them!" He walked up the path while thinking. Although it was summer, the evening breeze after the rain was still quite cool. The wind blew away the alcohol in Ye Dalin's body. He was dazed and walked on the yellow mud road with one foot deep and one foot shallow. The yellow mud road had just been soaked by rain and was very muddy. He had to pull his shoes hard every time he took a step. At this speed, he still couldn't catch up with the two little brothers. Ye Dalin was anxious, so he simply rolled up his trouser legs, went barefoot, and hurried forward on the yellow mud road with two wet lazy men's shoes covered with yellow mud.
"Gu-gu-gu-gu" the toads in the yellow mud pond by the roadside called out in high and low voices, and Ye Dalin recalled what happened when he was a child. When Ye Dalin was thirteen years old, he had rat sores. After the abscess broke, yellow-brown pus flowed out, with cheese-like substances in the middle. He had a low fever, night sweats, and anorexia all day long, and he was so thin that only a bag of bones remained. An old lady gave a folk remedy, scrambled eggs with toad skin, and eating it for two weeks would cure it. It was summer at that time, and Zhao Hongxin went to the mud pond every day to catch toads. The toads at home filled half a small tank, and Hongxin's mother also sent eggs that she was reluctant to eat to Ye Dalin. After eating it for two weeks, the rat sores were cured.
The cry of the toad struck Ye Dalin's heart. He became more and more worried about the two little brothers and could not help but quicken his pace. Who would have thought that he would slip down a small step in a hurry. There was a small puddle under the small step. His foot stepped on something soft and slippery. Ye Dalin was startled. When he looked down, he saw a big toad under his feet. As the saying goes: A toad jumps on the instep of your feet. It may not bite you, but it will make you feel irritated. Ye Dalin jumped up the small step and said, "Old toad, I didn't mean to step on you. Don't be angry!" Ye Dalin turned around and said. Suddenly, a cough sounded behind him. He turned around and saw a man sitting on the ground. Ye Dalin was scared and broke into a cold sweat.
"Who is it?" Ye Dalin asked in a trembling voice.
"I'm Mrs. Wang. I slipped and sprained my ankle just now. I can't walk. I just happened to meet you. Can you carry me for a while?"
The old lady's words were very clear, and Ye Dalin calmed down. He said, "Auntie, wait for me to wipe my feet and put on my shoes."
The old lady was very happy and said, "Don't worry, just wipe it. It would be terrible if you cut your feet without shoes!"
While he was talking, Ye Dalin put on his shoes. He squatted down and let Mrs. Wang climb up. Mrs. Wang held Ye Dalin's shoulders with both hands and lay on his back. "Let's go!" Ye Dalin stood up with all his strength. "Auntie, you are so heavy!"
"Hehe——" The old lady laughed twice embarrassedly.
This laughter made Ye Dalin very uncomfortable. He said, "Auntie, it's dark and the weather is bad. Why don't you stay at home? Why come out?"
"Don't mention it. My house was flooded. It's wet and damp. It's uninhabitable. I have to move!" Mrs. Wang said sadly.
"Auntie, who else do you have?" Ye Dalin asked with concern. "Don't your children live with you?"
"There is no one left. All the children are dead. It has been more than a hundred years!" said the old lady sadly.
"This old lady looks to be around 80 years old at most. She can walk at night by herself, so she is not so confused that she can't count." Ye Dalin smiled, "Auntie, where are you going?"
"Where should I go? Let me think!" The old lady said to herself, "It's too dry on the mountain top and too wet below the mountain top. If it doesn't work, I'll go home with you!"
Ye Dalin was in a dilemma when he heard this. He said, "Auntie, my family can't do that. My mother had a stroke and is paralyzed in bed. My wife is so tired from taking care of her that she is complaining all day long. If I carry you back home, she will definitely file for divorce with me!"
"You kid, I thought you were a kind-hearted person, but it seems you are as bad as those people!" As he said this, he grabbed Ye Dalin's shoulder hard.
Ye Dalin shuddered in pain, "Don't tickle me! It's not that I dislike you, I just can't help it! I'll go home and talk to my wife before I pick you up!"
"By the time you've finished the discussion, I'll be rotten to the bone! You're fooling me, an old lady!" As he said that, he scratched Ye Dalin's shoulder again.
"Auntie, if you scratch me again, I won't carry you!" Ye Dalin was a little angry, "You old lady, you take my kindness for granted!"
The old lady suddenly started crying, and her sobbing voice was so miserable that Ye Dalin felt very sad.
"Auntie, don't cry! Let me think about it, let me think about it!" He comforted the old lady.
The old lady stopped crying and put her face on Ye Dalin's back, "Good boy, think about it, I'll take a nap, I'm sleepy!"
"Auntie, are you cold? Why is your body so cold?" Ye Dalin asked.
"The person has died and his body is cold." The old lady said in a low voice.
"This old lady's words are incoherent. She must be getting old and confused!" Ye Dalin thought.
The old lady was so skinny that it hurt Ye Dalin's arms so much that they felt sore and painful. Ye Dalin had to endure it for fear that the old lady would fall.
The weight of the old lady was getting heavier. Ye Dalin's steps were a little unsteady. Waves of stabbing pain in his shoulder spread throughout his body. He couldn't bear it any longer. "Auntie, please get down first. Let's rest for a while before we go!"
The old lady didn't answer, but wrapped her arms tightly around Ye Dalin's neck.
Ye Dalin was speechless and breathless, and he fell to the ground. The old lady fell heavily on Ye Dalin.
"This crazy old woman is trying to strangle me to death! I can't be a good person, I'd better run away!" Ye Dalin got up and crawled forward. Behind him came the shrill cry of Mrs. Wang: "Carry me and go with you, carry me and go with you! Woo woo–"
Ye Dalin ran back to the village and went straight to Zhao Hongxin's home.
After entering the room, he saw Zhao Ming lying in bed, and the stone in his heart fell to the ground. He lifted the quilt and slapped Zhao Ming's bare buttocks, "Uncle Ye has been screwed!"
Zhao Ming was about to fall asleep when Ye Dalin slapped him awake. He smiled and said, "Uncle Ye, you just came back!"
"That's right. I almost got strangled to death by a crazy old woman just to chase you two!"
Under the light, Ye Dalin looked like a donkey that had just rolled around in a muddy pond, his whole body yellow and wet.
"What happened? Did you fall into the yellow mud?" Zhao Hongxin's wife hurried down the ground, washed a towel and handed it to Ye Dalin. Ye Dalin wiped the sweat off his face and said to Zhao Hongxin, "Wipe my back!" Then he turned around.
"Dalin, what's wrong with you?" Zhao Hongxin screamed.
"I asked an old crazy woman to scratch my shoulder a few times!" As he said this, he walked to the mirror, looked at his shoulder, and was shocked. There was a bloody wound on his shoulder that was five or six inches long from top to bottom. It was not scratched, but was clearly cut by a hard object like an iron nail. Ye Dalin felt the pain piercing his heart.
Zhao Hongxin quickly cleaned the wound with salt water and ground tetracycline into powder and sprinkled it on the wound.
Thinking about old Mrs. Wang, Ye Dalin and Zhao Hongxin couldn't sleep well all night.
The next day, Zhao Hongxin and Ye Dalin got up at dawn and took their sons along the mountain road to look for Mrs. Wang. After more than half an hour, they arrived at the place where Ye Dalin met Mrs. Wang last night.
"Isn't this the yellow mud pond where I planned to build a brick factory?" Several people were silent. The mountain was quiet, and the sound of birds could be heard from the woods from time to time. On the right side of the path, along the mountain, there was a small forest. The forest was overgrown with weeds, and several abandoned graves were hidden; on the slope on the left side of the path, there was a grave pit left when Ye Dalin directed the migrant workers to dig up the ownerless old graves. Some rainwater accumulated in it, and several toads were gurgling in the water. A coffin cover was soaked in the yellow mud pond. There was a six-inch long iron nail on each of the two corners of the wide head. The rusty iron nails stood upright and were stained with blood.
Zhao Hongxin glanced at Ye Dalin, and saw that Ye Dalin 's face was pale, he covered the wound on his shoulder with his hand, and his legs were shaking. It turned out that Ye Dalin was not carrying Mrs. Wang last night, he was carrying this coffin board!
Ye Dalin repaired the abandoned old graves and added soil to several other abandoned old graves. As for building a brick factory, Ye Dalin did not mention it again. Is it necessary to mention it? Who dares to destroy the environment and dig up the graves of their ancestors?