On the twenty-third day of the 1968 month, snowflakes fell in the gloomy sky. The door of the house "creaked" and pushed open, the people who came in were covered with snow, their eyebrows and upper lips were covered with a layer of white frost, and a look of "wind and snow returning to the people at night" made me see clearly, and shouted in surprise: "Cousin you are coming!" ”
My cousin's name is Shu Sheng, the same age as me, and he is also a junior high school graduate of the class of 66. A year ago, the scene of the big series was vividly remembered, I joined the tandem team of seven people, Xi'an was squeezed by the crowd when taking the train, after leaving the group, I lost contact, and went to Chengdu alone to find my cousin's home, unforgettable aunt kind and kind, unforgettable two cousins warm hospitality. A hot current surged in my heart when I met again, and I hugged my cousin tightly, my eyes filled with tears, and said, "It's a pleasure to see you." ”
The mother looked up and down at the stranger, confused and unaware. I said, "He's a cousin from Sichuan." The mother suddenly became sunny, her smile hung on her face, her legs and feet were also sharp, and she suddenly grabbed her cousin's hand, and a few tears flowed from her eyes and said: "Good nephew, look like your father." The whole family was silent, thinking about the sudden change, and their eyes were glancing at the relative who had just entered the door in front of them.
He said in a Sichuan tone, "I went back to my hometown for three days, and I first lived in my uncle's house." I didn't catch the shuttle early this morning, so I followed my uncle's instructions. The voice sounded strange, and then said: "Chengdu factional struggle is very fierce, from the factional martial arts of throwing stones and wielding sticks to the offensive battle with guns and live ammunition." Every day I was scared, I couldn't find a job when I left school, and it was really difficult to stay at home and eat idle meals. My mother suggested that I go back to my hometown, and there was a livelihood to do, so I rushed back to my hometown. Listening to him was like a deserter on a battlefield.
The mother smiled and said, "Just come back!" The seriously ill father seemed to be much more relaxed, and his speech also had a spirit, sitting on the edge of the kang, smoking a cigarette and chanting: "A family far away from home is your aunt's heart." ”
To tell the truth, the number of people in the whole family I am most happy, we both talk speculatively, have a sharp mind, when I heard that my cousin went home this time to prepare to live for a while, my heart was warm, how happy it would be to have a good partner who played official affairs.
In the New Year, my family came to a distant relative, and the news fell to every family like a wind blowing snowflakes, and the neighbors braved the snow and came to see the liveliness. In that era, few people went out, who came to the city of relatives like aliens, love to see strange, want to understand some of the outside world, look at the city people fashionable dress, especially love to listen to foreigners talk, after listening to him will laugh at him: "talk strangely."
The head of the Red Guards of the production team was the director of the Brigade Revolutionary Committee, and I was very happy, and I still had a lot of respect for him. More than a month ago, I was stuck in a mud pit and participated in a two-faction martial fight for seven days and eight nights. As the defeated party, with the help of the captain of the brigade, he escaped the embarrassing situation of being beaten once.
Today, the director came not only with the style of an official, but also came to see my family and relatives with some concern, and should be warmly received. First brewed him a cup of jasmine tea brought by his cousin, and then took out a cigarette from his father's cigarette box and handed it to him, a wisp of green smoke came out of his nose, and he took a sip of tea in his mouth, and said happily: "Good tea." It was also the first time he had listened to a Sichuanese speech, his cousin's witty and humorous words, and the long Sichuan cavity of the back sound infected him at once, and he became like a lizard's tongue secreting a glue-like slime, sticking to his cousin.
Everyone loves to listen to my cousin's "swinging dragon gate array", I know a few Words of Sichuanese, and deliberately ask a question and answer dialogue.
I asked in the Yuanqu dialect, "What do you do?" ”
The cousin replied in Sichuanese, "What's the matter?" ”
"Haircut"
"Hinged BrainCase",
"Turn over a ridge and you'll be there"
"Up the slope, the next bump is close"...
There are more than four sounds of Yuanqu dialect, it sounds pure and solid, and the Sichuan dialect has many tongues, which sounds obvious and interesting.
We both slept on a small kang behind the cave, excited to talk in the middle of the night, just a blink of an eye in the middle of the night, a "bang" knock in the haze woke me up, with a little anger and asked: "Who is it?" Do? ”
"I'm the director of the Brigade Revolutionary Committee, open the door!" As soon as I heard his voice, the clouds of sorrow in my heart dissipated. Opening the door and walking into three men, the head of the brigade was carrying two militiamen, carrying a Type 38 rifle on his shoulder and wearing a Red Guard armband on his left arm. His face was like a trick, and he said grimly: "Receiving a notice from the Commune Revolutionary Committee, all personnel who are not local household registrations will be arrested." ”
I replied, "He's my family, don't you know?" ”
The leader of the rebel faction said viciously, "You must also arrest your relatives!" ”
"You are a good person, just raise your hand and let go of a horse."
The head of the brigade shouted with a straight face: "The class struggle is a life-and-death battle between you and me, and you did not raise your hands high. "Talking and taking my cousin away, I followed closely behind.
Flying snowflakes chased away the stars and the moon, and the road at the entrance of the alley was like a thick quilt covered with a layer of cotton wool, and the feet were half a foot thick, and with one step, the snow grains kissed the trouser barrel and drilled into the shoes. The first time my cousin returned to his hometown, he felt such cold and desolation, saw the snow for the first time, and experienced the taste of snow in this humiliating way. My heart was sour and my eyes were moist. A cold wind blew my ears ach, and I hurried home to get my "slam" hat and put it on my cousin's head, the brim of which was pulled down like a large sock, the head was tightly wrapped, and the face only showed eyes, nose, and mouth, similar to the masked criminal who committed the crime. Don't look unsightly, defending against the cold does work, and I believe that my cousin in the south will certainly not be frozen this night.
The family became a pot of porridge, and his father, who was seriously ill, pressed his abdomen with one hand, wiped his tears with the other, and said angrily: "It is only on the stall that Xiu Cai met the soldiers who are unreasonable, and the Red Guards are justified in rebelling." ”
Women always cry when they encounter sad things, as if this is a sincere disclosure of emotions and an outlet for women's compassion. My mother was no exception, nagging about the past over and over again: "You see, this little year is really bad." In 1942, little Japan burned down my mother's house, and my brother and his pregnant sister-in-law crossed the Yellow River in sheepskin and began a refugee life of hiding in Tibet, liberating them before settling in Sichuan. The road is so far, the mountains are so high, I miss my brother as a woman, I can only wash her face with tears. Today the nephew came home for the first time, his ass was not yet seated, the bed was not hot, the person was taken away, I was distressed! This gang is beating my heart and cutting my flesh, what a sin. I'm sorry for my dead brother, sorry for my virtuous sister-in-law. Even the crying belt said that the matter was clearly expressed, such as the tone of the crying like a needle hurting everyone's heart.
All night my mother didn't blink, her eyes red and swollen like walnuts. Overnight the fermentation and noodles were placed on the stove, the sky was almost dawning, and the fire was burning the dumplings, the wheat straw under the snowflakes only smoked and did not burn, and the smoke in the cave choked people's eyes to tears.
Early the next morning I went to see my cousin with the ravioli, and they were locked up in a cave in the commune compound, a kiln maker, a carpenter, a blacksmith, a bamboo smith... More than a hundred people crowded together. The smell of sweat from the people who contributed, the smell of smoke from the dry tobacco leaves, filled the house like a dark cloud, and the unpleasant air was suffocating. The cousin was born on the ground, squatting alone in the corner, bowing his head and silently, I think he was probably thinking of his mother and Thinking of Chengdu. I stood in front of the window sill shouting "brother", he looked up at me, a smile on his face, walked to the window sill, and took the steamed bun with pickles. I deliberately shouted, "You stand here and eat, no one dares to bully you." "I actually punched my face and pretended to be fat, but one sentence really scared the people in the house."
I wanted to find an acquaintance to be able to accommodate, and the former commune secretary who had been knocked down shrugged his head, with a frustrated face, a broom in his hand to sweep the snow, a path stretching in the snow, and at a glance he understood that he was undergoing labor reform. Many intercessors came to the commune compound, and the director of the Commune Revolutionary Committee was also the leader of the Red Guards seizing power; when they saw the situation, they showed a fierce look and spoke like a machine gun: "Without a household registration, it is a wandering, and a wanderer will become a stray criminal and a social turmoil." In order to consolidate the red political power, purify the ranks of the class, grasp the flow of the heart must be fierce, the hands must be hard, do not pay attention to the face, do not look at the familiar face, and do not fall behind. "In the face of this cold-blooded animal's lack of humanity, like an iron Buddha, chanting is useless. I dispelled the evil idea of accommodation and let things go.
The compound of the Commune Revolutionary Committee was crowded with people, and the snow stepped on it into an ice rink. An old man who had walked more than a dozen miles of mountain roads was so angry that his beard was upturned, and he waved his crutches in his hand and scolded loudly: "Your gang of cadres is even more powerful than bandits, why did a carpenter violate the king's law and you will also arrest him?" My son marries his daughter-in-law on the third day of the first month, the table in the marriage room is installing legs, and there is no carpenter like a monkey who has been dragged away by a monkey, which really wants me to look good. ”
Aunt Wang on the street twisted her little feet and staggered back and forth in the courtyard, always looking for the boss. Someone quietly pointed to the director of the commune, and she went forward to grab the corner of her clothes, a handful of snot and a handful of tears of sarcasm: "I know you, the chief of the commune has become the director, the year before I delivered food, you also embezzled two dollars." The bamboo smith weaves the blue edge in my house, you have caught him, without the bamboo smith blue is not woven, my steamed ”
The director of the brick and tile factory, Li, is more like an ant on a hot pot, sometimes walking fast, sometimes stomping his feet, and his two hands are rubbing back and forth urgently, and his face is more ugly than crying. He was embarrassed to offend the leader, waited and waited but there was no news, really forced dumb to open his mouth: "Finished, finished, the kiln master grabbed it, and a kiln brick burned into a knotty soup." ”
The commune compound has caught so many stray people, eating has become a big problem, coupled with the surrounding people's nonsense, the director of the commune revolutionary committee is like stepping on a piece of, notoriety. After a period of conspiracy, he asked the superior leader to decide to release the person.
The cousin took heavy steps, walked out of the cave with an embarrassed face, and when he saw his messy hair, sloppy clothes, and red and swollen eyes, he knew that he had not closed his eyelids all night. I took his hand and said, "Brother, let you suffer!" ”
He said optimistically: "Sun Wukong still experiences eighty-one difficulties." ”
When I returned home, in addition to my heartache, my mother also realized what the truth was: "In the new year, you should sacrifice the king of the stove, and the four old ones should not worship the ancestors and do not believe in God, you see that the king of the stove is angry and does not say good things but abuses the people badly." "One sentence makes everyone cry and laugh.
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Editor-in-charge
Yang Zhiqiang
About author:Lu Yuqi, Shanxi Yuanquren, member of the County Writers Association. Some of his works have been published in Yuncheng Daily, Yuncheng Evening News, Shunxiang and other newspapers and magazines.