Reading The Remnants (Wen Guan)

Hejia Village is halfway up the mountain, so it’s not easy to find. The tea shops along the way asked about it, and it was so easy to find the way. I don’t know if it was an illusion. When the few tea sellers who carried the poles heard the three characters of Hejiacun, their expressions changed, and they hurriedly pointed out the way, and then buried their heads in the pot.

As we walked up, the sky gradually darkened, and the dusk fell heavily, like an upside-down bowl of mud.

The mountain should be cooler than the bottom. The snow along the way has not melted clean. The more you go inside, the more messy the snow piles. There is also a layer of slippery ice on the road. There are only a few footprints and ruts, as if it were There is not much communication.

The first few layers of cotton trousers were exposed and tucked in woolen socks. It was not too cold, but the shoes walked very hard, with several deep scars.

He remembered the days when he walked through the streets and alleys. In the cold weather, his cotton shoes were cracked and he was reluctant to throw them away. Sister-in-law Tu made up and made up, but couldn’t distinguish the original material. It only took a few days. The cowhide is not distressed anymore.

He glanced at Li Shixi next to him. Good days started here, and he was not used to expressing gratitude. But he knew very well that if he and his mother-in-law were still in the alleys of Beijing as before, now there are wars everywhere, and they don’t know if they are still alive, let alone live in a concession.

In this world, life is not expensive, and nothing is extravagant. An Sheng is extravagance.

He didn’t have the ability to paint the youngest boy, but he got the most expensive gift in the world. He didn’t know how to repay it, so he followed Li Shixi sternly.

Li Shiyi saw the youngest Tuo staring at her, a little uncomfortable, raised his eyelids, and asked him, “What?”

Tu Laoyao blinked his eyes, “Ah”, his gaze crossed Li Shiyi and cast behind him, wheezing: “The top of the mountain is so reflective that it might be snow all year round?”

Li Shiyi glanced at him, “Um”, then looked at him again, seeing that he was speechless, as if he didn’t want to talk, so he didn’t have the leisure to ask.

After going around half a mountain, there were a few old cows coming home on both sides. There was a small village in front of him. Half a piece of old wood was inserted in the snow on the roadside, and the word “He” was vaguely depicted on coal.

The village is a typical Huizhou architecture, with blue tiles and white walls, the eaves are staggered, and the paintings are superimposed. Looking at the ink and wash landscape painting from a distance, the smoke just rises, and the rubble is lined with fog. It is a reunion. Good scene.

Li Shiyi slowed down, the shoes were still stained with unmelted ice, and the toe caps were a little wet, showing some long-distance travellers. She thought about it, she didn’t need to worry about her clothes, she only took off her hat. After he came down, he smoothed his hair, peeled off the rot, rubbed the reddish cheeks with the back of his hand, and tidied the baggage, and then walked inside.

Youngest Tu’s watched her unhurried movements, creating overlapping illusions. The first time he saw Li Eleven, she was also tidying up the guy’s affairs in an orderly manner. At that time, she went over the wall to find the stove, and her movements were neat and tidy. Clean, but lazy, as if she wouldn’t even raise her eyelids as long as you were not too loud.

Now she dressed up in front of him again, but her slow movements were indecisive like lotus roots, and her eyes were fanned and fanned, as if she was thinking about it.

“Actually, you don’t have to be too nervous.” Tu Yaoyao comforted her, “Perhaps, have you left in the early nineteenth?”

Li Shiyi paused and glanced at him.

The youngest Tu Yao almost committed suicide by biting his tongue.

He bit the tip of his tongue and watched left and right, but his heart was full of doubts: “There is no one in this village?”

The doors of the houses were closed everywhere, and all businesses were closed. There were no dogs in the yard, and the leaves of the vegetables were sluggish. By chance, there was a house that looked like it was watered today. There were no pedestrians on the trail, but one was left at the alley. A brazier was not cared for, and only burned to himself. Tu’s youngest boy took a closer look, and it was a few pieces of clothes that he burned.

He poked his hands and looked: “It’s a waste.”

Li Shiyi said, “Sick Village.”

She suddenly understood why people on the way looked different, and she also understood why the roads were covered with snow on the way.

“How do you know?” Tu Laoyao was surprised.

Li Shiyi sniffed: “The smell of medicine, don’t you smell it?”

Tu’s youngest sniffed like a dog, raised his hand and pinched his nose left and right Hu Lu: “I’m afraid that rhinitis has committed again.”

He discerned it carefully, it was a few vague coughs. Li Shiyi took out a piece of cloth from his baggage and handed it to him: “Cover your nose and mouth.”

After finishing speaking, he stepped forward. The youngest Tu Yao wanted to remind Li Shiyi while tying the cloth strips, but suddenly remembered what was important, so he rejoiced. The Shixi sister was an enlightened Bodhisattva, so you don’t need to be afraid.

Li Yixi did not squint, and walked deeper in the direction of the stronger smell of medicine. Her steps were a little hurried, like a snare drum in her heart, just after turning a corner, the sound of the drum sounded. The power stopped like a power failure, and then there was the lingering sound of sizzling electricity, and a “chuck-” ground stuck out from her ear.

She panted slightly and looked ahead. She could hear the bubbling sound of a medicine stove on the street, the “pupu” sound of a fan squatting back and forth, and the little boy squatting on the side endorsed one sentence after another. A little girl closed the door with a “creak”, took out a small pot of charcoal fire from inside, bent down and handed it to the stove.

What’s more, she could hear the sound of rustling of heavy snow on the top of the distant mountain, the rustling sound of fire under the stove, the rustling of the skirt of a fan of medicine rubbing against the ground, And the sound of his heartbeat like an uproar against the waves.

In fact, there are more noisy noises, such as the yelling of Tu Laoyao chatting in the ears, and Chunping who passed the charcoal bowl with “Yeah” surprise greetings, but her ears can’t tolerate too much noise. So she only allowed her to walk over slowly, watching Song Jiu who stopped cooking the medicine and stared at her sideways.

The beauty of the word “finally” will not be known until you use it.

For example, Li Shiyi finally found Song Shiji.

Tu Laoyao covered his face with a strip of cloth, only showing a pair of squinted eyes, stretched out his arm and index finger and couldn’t stop the place: “Nineteen!”

He turned around and smiled at Li Shiyi: “Nineteen, nineteen!”

He saw Li Shiyi glance at him quite calmly, as if he was saying—I don’t know if it’s nineteen?

But the youngest Tu didn’t take the action back. He saw the slight smile and shame in Li Shi’s eyes. She was not used to excitement, so the youngest Tu was excited for her.

So he trot forward, his voice louder, for fear that his mouth would be covered, Song Jiu could not hear him: “It’s really you. I said I saw you a few days ago, and I was wearing this dress and following this girl doll. You have grown so much.”

Song Nineteen stood up, put the Pu Shan down, and smiled back to the youngest Tu’s boy: “How did you grow up?”

Youngest Tuo smiled: “I used to be a girl, but now she looks like a sister.”

It’s not a small nineteen, it’s a big nineteen.

Song Nineteen didn’t speak, but just laughed, so that the youngest boy had shiny eyes, and felt that the bigger Nineteen was really good-looking. He looks proud of a young girl in my family, and he doesn’t know where this pride comes from.

He looked back at Li Shixi who was approaching, but she didn’t speak, and she didn’t even look at Song Jiu seriously. She only looked at the fan Song Jiu put down, but Chunping stepped forward and wrapped her up. She had to be as strict as Tu’s youngest member, pulling her sleeves and calling her: “Eleventh Sister.”

After not seeing it for a while, Chunping seemed to grow a little bit taller, and was not as introverted as it was at the beginning, and even greeted her on her own initiative.

Li Shiyi smiled and touched the top of her head.

She was suddenly a little sad, not more than the little bit of Chunping who grew tall, not more than the little bit of Chunping who was lively. Song Nineteen did not change, but Chunping’s change appropriately confirmed the “absence” she had previously thought.

Li Shiyi raised his head and yelled softly: “Nineteen.”

Song Nineteen had a pause and nodded: “Yeah.”

Just glanced at her, then turned to look at the stove again, as if it were very important.

Chunping leaning on Li Shiyi looked at this and looked at that again. The same is true for the youngest Tu Yao next to Song Jiu. He cleared his throat to talk, but saw the little boy on the side approaching him, took Song Jiu’s hand, and asked her, “What’s behind the’Similar Sex’?”

Song Jiu was stunned. He didn’t come back to his senses, but listened to Li Shixi’s cold voice: “Xi Xiangyuan.”

She received it very gently, and her eyes fell on Song Jiu’s side like dust. It turned out that it was not the medicine furnace that was important. It turned out that the nineteenth was not unmoved by her arrival. It turned out that she was just in a daze for excuses. I was overwhelmed by this ordinary “San Zi Jing” question.

The little boy grinned: “Do you also recite the “San Zi Jing”?”

Li Shiyi retracted his gaze at the right time, and a little sugar filled the heart. She looked at the boy, with a big head and a small body, and her sparse hair could not cover her wide forehead. She looked like Xiaodouding’er.

She asked him: “What’s your name?”

“Small Dou Ding.” He replied crisply.

Li Shiyi raised his brows in surprise.

She heard Song Jiu’s nose move slightly, and a fleeting smile overflowed in Li Shi’s aftermath. The smile was somewhat unexpected, as if Song Jiu heard the name of Xiaodouding the first time. Raising his eyebrows, he secretly sighed in his heart that such a person lives up to his name.

Li Shiyi looked at her sideways, and Song Shiji was still looking at the stove, with no expression on his face.

The youngest Tu’s eyes rolled around, and said to Xiaodou Ding: “What’s the problem with the “Three Character Classic”? Zhao Qian and Sun Li, I will do with you, Uncle Tu. You come, don’t you Chunping? You come too, let’s compare A match, see who recites more.”

He greeted the two dolls into the house in twos or twos, leaving the afterglow of the setting sun to Li Shiyi and Song Shiji.

Seeing that the door was closed, Song Jiu turned his head, smoothed the cheongsam on his thigh with both hands, bent over and sat on the bench, holding his fan and paying attention to the fire.

Li Shiyi pursed his lips and sat next to her. He counted ten silently in his heart before he said, “Is it cold?”

As soon as she said the words, she regretted it, because her tone was not as gentle as she imagined, and it was also because she said a word of nonsense.

She is really bad at talking nonsense. I don’t know how she should take the next sentence if it is “cold” or “not cold” nineteen times.

“It’s not cold,” Song Jiu said as expected.

Li Shiyi said “Well”, and after thinking about it, it was a good thing that Song Shiji took care of her.

So she was silent for a while, and then asked, “What’s the situation in this village?”

Song Nineteen added two more pieces of charcoal, and said lowly: “The plague, most of the village is infected.”

This was the case when she came. Several families died, and the village didn’t know much to survive, so it didn’t go down the mountain.

Xiaodouding’s parents are gone, and they now live in the third uncle’s house next door. The third uncle had just contracted the disease, Song Jiu helped to make medicine, and she also took Xiao Dou Ding with her helper to read the characters. The aunt was very grateful, so she gave the vacant room of Dou Ding’s house to Song Jiu, and she often came to do it. Cook and chat.

Before Li Shiyi answered the conversation, the aunt from far away came, she was a little stunned when she saw the stranger, and after a few words of greeting, she carried the vegetable basket into the house.

Seeing that the fire had stabilized, Song Jiu went into the house to help his aunt to cook. Li Shixi followed in, and wanted to wash his hands, but was refused by his aunt. Li Shixi came to visit early, and he was not reluctant, so he straightened his sleeves and went to the hall. Go inside.

Before taking a few steps, I heard Song Jiu’s small voice: “This is not going to be washed.”

Aunt’s interface: “Celery?”

Song Jiu gave a soft “um” and didn’t speak any more.

There was a rushing sound of water inside, and the knife stomped on the cutting board rhythmically.

The corner of Li Shiyi’s mouth was lifted, and the curved arc was shallower than Song Shiji’s words, but it stayed for a long time, as if this smile made her very cherished.

Li Shishi doesn’t like eating celery, even if it is awkward, Song Shiji always keeps it in his heart.