Lao Lai "Takako"
Text/Sihua Zhao
In a person's life, we will meet all kinds of people, and the moments that can make us remember must have something special about him. Looking back on my childhood, Lao Lai's "Takako" is like a "bean sprout" that appeared in my life, I don't remember much, but I can't forget it in the time and space of memory.
If Lao Lai's "noble son" were still alive today, he would probably be in his fifties or less than sixties, and his father was almost the same era as my grandfather, and both father and son belonged to the poor people of that era.
Lao Lai's "noble son" died a few years later than his grandfather, and when his grandfather died, "guizi" kept vigil for three nights, and in the past, as long as there was an old man in the village who died, the "night watchman" Guizi would go to the scene, ask the lord's family for two or two small wines, and take a small plate of peanuts and rice, and when he was drunk at night, he slept on the spot in the spiritual hall of the master's house. When Grandpa died, "Takako" slept in Grandpa's spiritual hall for three nights, when I was less than ten years old, and after years of obscurity, the appearance of "Takako" has long been unclear, but the deeds of "Takako" have not been less than listening to my mother. "Takako" eventually died in someone else's spiritual hall, and on a certain night of vigilance, he drank three pounds of liquor from the owner of the house, and never woke up again.
Saying that "Takako" is an old lai, most of the time I learned it from my mother. Once and I was most impressed by myself, at that time every household contracted the wasteland of the state-owned forest farm, my family is no exception, in the high mountains three miles away from home, my mother reclaimed a barren mountain of about less than one acre, where I planted some crops such as grain all year round, one summer at noon, I sent lunch to my mother and aunt who were cultivating in the barren mountains, in order to catch the short road, I chose the path up the mountain, and lao Lai "Takako" just happened to hide in a third of the path, and when I approached, I suddenly jumped out. Scared me to the point of crying when I was only seven years old, the forestkeeper of the state-owned forest farm, my father, heard my crying and immediately found me along the path, and Lao Lai "Takako" was like a doll who did something wrong, standing on the side and giggling, my mother and aunt also came to my side after a few minutes of crying, my mother shouted "Takako", saying that he should not scare me, at that time "Takako" was embarrassed to go far, and now in retrospect, "Takako" may have just treated me as a playmate, I didn't know that I couldn't bear the weight of the joke when I was only seven years old, and years later, when I recalled this picture again, I could still understand the idea of "Takako".
Lao Lai's "Noble Son" love to keep the spirit comes from his father, his father was originally a Taoist master who ran the "spirit field" in the countryside, "Guizi" followed his father to one ceremony after another from childhood, and over the years, "Guizi" became the "spirit keeper" of these ten miles and eight spiritual fields. "Takako's" brain is not flexible enough, but when he meets every fellow villager, he can greet him warmly, and he often makes us children laugh, and occasionally "Takako" will take out a small colored candy from the pocket of his clothes to please those of us who play with him. After all, the father of "Takako" failed to accompany "Takako" for too long, after which "Takako" began to eat "a hundred rice", picking up waste for a living, fortunately, the villagers in the township were considerate of "Takako's" not easy, which family cooked dumplings, met "Takako" to eat a few, which stewed pork noodles, also gave a bowl to the passing "Takako", encountered red and white happy events, "Takako" must be the "protagonist" on the field, but "Takako" never disliked, when people are on the table, he hides far away, Waiting for the Lord's family to give him a bowl to eat alone in the corner, others give him, he wants, others do not give, he is at most obsessed with watching, not robbing. For this reason, for the death of "Takako" a few years later, everyone regrets that although "Takako" always relies on other people's homes, all behaviors are liked, and they love to lie on the road, but they will smile at every passerby.
In the simple life of "Takako", only enough to eat and drink, for the complex society, he did not go deep, ate a hundred meals, and was a qualified "guardian of the spirit", presumably in his short life is also content.
Zhao Sihua, female, post-90s, Tujia family, member of Zhangjiajie Writers Association, student of Mao Zedong Literature Institute, loves literature and likes free creation, and occasionally publishes prose and poetry.