Yu Hua's "Brothers" Part 2 Serial 1
The dead are gone, but the living are still there. Li Lan gave up and returned to the west, walking on the long road to the underworld, looking for Song Fanping's missing breath in the vast ghosts. She no longer knew how her two sons were wandering in the world.
Song Gang's grandfather was dying. The old landowner was bedridden. He only ate a few mouthfuls of rice and drank a few mouthfuls of water for several days, and was so thin that only a handful of bones were left. The old landlord knew that he was leaving, so he grabbed Song Gang and stared at the door and refused to let go. Song Gang knew what his eyes were saying, so on those evenings when there was no wind or rain, Song Gang would carry him on his back and slowly walk past each house in the village. The old landlord would look at each house as if saying goodbye. Familiar face. After arriving at the entrance of the village, Song Gang stood under an elm tree, with his grandfather lying on his back. Next to them were the graves of Song Fanping and Li Lan. The two of them silently watched the sunset disappear in the west.
Song Gang felt that the grandfather on his back was as light as a small bundle of firewood. Every night when Song Gang returned home from the village entrance, when Song Gang put his grandfather down on his back, his grandfather seemed to be dead and made no sound. , but the next day grandpa’s eyes will gradually open with the morning light, and the light of life is still shining. Day after day, the old landlord seems to be dead, but in fact he is alive. Song Gang's grandfather no longer had the energy to speak or smile. On the dusk of the fateful day, under the elm tree at the entrance of the village, next to the graves of Song Fanping and Li Lan, the old landowner suddenly raised his head and smiled. Song Gang did not see the smile on his grandfather's back, but only heard his grandfather say in his ear:
"The suffering has come to an end."
The old landlord's His head fell on Song Gang's shoulder, motionless as if sleeping. Song Gang still stood there with his grandfather on his back, watching the path leading to Liu Town gradually blurring in the falling night. He turned around and walked into the village in the moonlight. Song Gang felt that his grandfather's head on his shoulder was following his footsteps. Shake. After returning home, Song Gang carefully placed his grandfather on the bed and covered him with a quilt as usual. This night the old landowner opened his eyes slightly twice, wanting to take a look at his grandson, but he could only see the silent darkness, and then his eyes closed forever, never opening again with the morning light.
When Song Gang got up in the morning, he didn't know that his grandfather had passed away. He didn't know it for the whole day. The old landlord lay silently on the bed, neither eating nor drinking. This scene had happened many times, but Song Gang didn't take it to heart. In the evening, Song Gang still carried his grandfather on his back. He felt that his grandfather's body seemed to be stiff. When he walked out of the house, his grandfather's head slipped from his shoulders. Song Gang freed up a hand to hold his grandfather's head on his shoulders. After putting it on his shoulders, he continued to walk in front of every house in the village. Grandpa's head continued to sway with his footsteps. Grandpa's head was as hard as a shaking stone on his shoulders. Song Gang suddenly felt something as he walked towards the entrance of the village. Grandpa's shaking head slipped off his shoulders several times. Song Gang reached back and touched his grandfather's cold cheek. Song Gang stood under the elm tree. He raised his fingers behind his shoulders and put them against his grandfather's nostrils. He hadn't felt his grandfather's breath for a long time. He felt his fingers getting cold. At this time, he knew that his grandfather was really 's dead.
The next morning, people in the village watched Song Gang bend over, holding his dead grandfather on his back with his left hand, holding a roll of straw mat under his right arm, and holding a shovel in his right hand, walking from house to house. He walked over and said sadly:
"Grandpa is dead."
Several poor relatives of the old landlord followed Song Gang to the entrance of the village, and other people in the village also came to the entrance of the village. Helping Song Gang to spread the straw mat on the ground, Song Gang carefully placed the grandfather on his back in the straw mat as if on a bed. Several poor relatives swept up the grass and tied three strands of straw rope. This is the old man. The coffin of the landowner. Several men in the village helped dig the grave. Song Gang hugged his grandfather on the mat, walked to the grave, knelt down on both legs, and put his grandfather into the grave. Then he stood up, wiped his wet eyes, and started to walk into the grave. Fill with soil. Seeing the lonely Song Gang, several women in the village couldn't help but shed tears.
The old landlord was buried next to Song Fanping and Li Lan. Song Gang mourned his grandfather for fourteen days. After the first seven and twenty-seven days, Song Gang began to pack his belongings. The broken house and a few pieces of broken furniture were given to several poor relatives. Someone from the village happened to be entering the city, and Song Gang entrusted him to deliver a message to Baldy Li, telling him that Song Gang was coming back.
Song Gang woke up at four o'clock in the morning that day. He opened the door and saw the sky full of stars. Thinking that he was about to meet Baldy Li, he couldn't wait to close the door and his footsteps clicked. "He walked towards the entrance of the village. He stood in the moonlight at the entrance of the village for a while, looked back at the village where he had lived for ten years, then looked down at Song Fanping and Li Lan's old grave and the old landlord's new grave, and then walked onto the deserted path under the moonlight. , walked towards the sleeping Liu Zhen. Song Gang said goodbye to his grandfather, whom he had been dependent on for ten years, and walked towards Baldy Li, who had been dependent on him for life.
Song Gang held a travel bag in his hand and walked into our Liu Town from the south gate at dawn, returning to his former home covered with travel. It was this travel bag that Li Lan once carried to Shanghai for medical treatment. When she came back from Shanghai with it, she received the news of Song Fanping's death. She knelt on the ground in front of the station and held up the soil stained with Song Fanping's blood. After getting this travel bag, when Song Gang went to live with his grandfather in the countryside, Li Lan put Song Gang's clothes and the bag of White Rabbit toffee into this travel bag. Now Song Gang came back with it. There were a few shabby clothes in the travel bag, which were all Song Gang's property.
Song Gang, who was a boy in the past and is now a handsome young man, is back. When Song Gang came back, Baldy Li was not at home. Baldy Li knew that Song Gang was coming back, so he woke up at four in the morning and happily waited for Song Gang's return. Baldy Li went out onto the street at dawn, going to a locksmith to get a key for Song Gang. Baldy Li didn't expect that Song Gang would be on the road when the sky was full of stars, and he would already be standing in front of his house at dawn. Song Gang stood outside the door with his travel bag for more than two hours. At that time, Baldy Li was standing on the street waiting for the locksmith's shop to open. At this time, Song Gang was as tall as his father, but not as tall as Song Fanping. Song Gang was thin and fair. His clothes were too short and hung on his waist. His two sleeves and two trousers were all connected. A section came out and was connected with fabrics of different colors. Song Gang stood quietly at the door of his former home, quietly waiting for Baldy Li to come home. His two hands alternately carried the travel bag. He did not put the travel bag on the ground because he did not want to dirty it. .
When Baldy Li came home, he saw Song Gang from a distance. He saw this tall brother standing at the door in a daze holding a travel bag. Baldy Li ran over, then quietly ran up behind Song Gang and raised his hand. He kicked Song Gang's butt hard. After Song Gang stumbled, he heard Baldy Li laughing. The two brothers then chased and fought in front of the house for half an hour, causing the dust in front of the house to fly. Baldy Li kicked his left leg, then swept his right leg, with a mantis kick, and swept his leg. Song Gang jumped up and down with his travel bag, dodging left and right to prevent Baldy Li from touching him. Baldy Li attacked like a spear, and Song Gang defended like a shield. The two brothers laughed non-stop, till they burst into tears, then laughed out of their noses, and finally bent down and coughed. Then Baldy Li panted and took out the new key, handed it to Song Gang, and said to Song Gang:
"Open the door."
Bald Li and Song Gang Like weeds, they have been trampled over and over again by footsteps and rolled over by wheels, but they still grow up vigorously. The notorious Baldy Li, no factory wanted him after graduating from high school. At this time, the Cultural Revolution ended and reform and opening up began. Tao Qing was already the deputy director of the County Civil Affairs Bureau. Tao Qing thought of Song Fanping's tragic death in front of the station, and of Li Lan's blood when she knelt down to kowtow to him. Tao Qing accepted Baldy Li and assigned him to work under the Civil Affairs Bureau. Work as a worker in a welfare factory. There are fifteen people in the welfare factory. In addition to Baldy Li, there are two cripples, three idiots, four blind people, and five deaf people. Song Gang's household registration was in Liu Town. After he came back, he was assigned to work as a worker in the Liu Town Hardware Factory, the same hardware factory where Liu Chenggong and Writer Liu served as the supply and marketing section chief.
The two got their first month's salary on the same day. The hardware factory where Song Gang worked was close to home. Song Gang returned home first. He stood at the door waiting for Baldy Li to come back from get off work. Song Gang's His right hand was inserted into his trouser pocket, holding the eighteen yuan inside. His right hand was sweating when he held the first salary. Song Gang saw Baldy Li coming back from get off work with a happy face and his right hand in his trouser pocket. Song Gang knew that Baldy Li had also received his salary, so he sweated over it. Baldy Li approached, and Song Gang asked him happily:
"Did you get it?"
Baldy Li nodded. Seeing the joy on Song Gang's face, he also asked: " Did you get it too?"
Song Gang also nodded, and the two of them entered the house, closing the door as if they were worried about someone stealing it, and closing the curtains. The two of them laughed non-stop. They each took out their wages and put them on the bed. The total amount was thirty-six yuan. Both of their money was wet with sweat on their hands. The two of them sat on the bed and counted the thirty-six yuan over and over again. Baldy Li's eyes were shining, and Song Gang's eyes were narrowed. At this time, Song Gang was already short-sighted. He raised the money with both hands and looked at it, almost putting it on his nose. Baldy Li proposed that the two people's money should be put together and Song Gang would be in charge of it. Song Gang felt that he was the elder brother and he should be in charge. Song Gang picked up the money on the bed one by one, folded it neatly, let Baldy Li count it one last time, and he also counted it one last time, and then said happily:
"I never I have never seen so much money."
Song Gang stood up on the bed and hit his head on the roof. Song Gang lowered his head and unbuttoned his two-piece trousers, revealing underwear made of several pieces of old fabric. There was a small pocket on the inside of the underwear. Song Gang carefully put the two people's wages in it. Into this little pocket. Baldy Li said that the small pockets on Song Gang's underwear were very delicately sewn, and asked him who sewed them? Song Gang said that he sewed it himself and said that he cut and sewed these underwear himself. Baldy Li screamed and said:
"Are you a boy or a girl?"
Song Gang chuckled and said: "I can also knit sweaters. "
The first thing the two people did after receiving their first month's salary was to walk into the People's Restaurant and each had a bowl of steaming Yangchun noodles. Baldy Li said that he wanted to eat three-fresh noodles, but Song Gang did not agree. Song Gang said that he would eat three-fresh noodles when life gets better in the future. Baldy Li felt that Song Gang was right, and thought that this time he would eat his own food, not his own. After asking about those people in Lin Hong's ass, Baldy Li nodded and agreed to eat Yangchun noodles. Song Gang walked to the counter where the invoice was issued, unbuttoned his trousers, and while looking at the woman at the counter who was issuing the invoice, he groped in his underwear, making Baldy Li standing next to him chuckle. The man in his forties at the counter The 20-year-old woman waited expressionlessly for Song Gang to take out the money, as if she had seen this kind of thing many times. Song Gang accurately took out a one-yuan bill from his underwear, handed it to the woman at the counter, and waited for her to return with change while holding up his trousers. Two bowls of Yangchun noodles cost 18 cents each. After getting back 80 cents and 2 cents, Song Gang folded the money from large to small. There was also a two-cent coin. He fumbled and put it back into the pocket of his underwear, and then tied up the long sleeves outside. pants, and followed Baldy Li to an empty table and sat down.
The two of them finished eating Yangchun noodles, wiped the sweat from their foreheads and walked out of the People's Hotel together. They walked into the Hongqi Cloth Store and chose dark blue khaki cloth. This time the person standing at the counter was a girl in her twenties. Song Gang unbuttoned his trousers on the spot and reached into his underwear to fumble around. The girl looked at Song Gang's action and Baldy Li smiling evilly at the side, and her face suddenly turned red. She turned her head and spoke to her colleague without saying a word. This time Song Gang fumbled for a long time, still counting in his mouth as he fumbled. When he took out the money, it happened to be the price of the cloth, one cent less, not one cent more.
When the girl took it with a red face, Baldy Li asked Song Gang in surprise:
"When did you learn this blind skill?"
Song Gang squinted his eyes and looked at that His short-sighted eyes did not see the blushing girl clearly. He put on his trousers with a smile and said to Baldy Li with a smile:
"Fold the money neatly from small to large. You’ll know what the money is on the first one.”
Then the two of them walked into Tailor Zhang’s shop holding dark blue khakis, and each ordered a Chinese tunic suit. Song Gang unbuttoned his trousers for the third time and reached out to fumble in his crotch for the third time. Tailor Zhang hung the tape measure around his neck, watched Song Gang's hands groping in his crotch, and said with a smile:
"He's very good at finding places to hide money..."
Song Gang took out the money and handed it to Tailor Zhang. Tailor Zhang held it up to his nose, smelled it and said, "It still smells like dick..."
Song Gang, who is short-sighted, thought that Tailor Zhang smelled it. After smelling his money, he walked out of the tailor shop and asked Baldy Li with squinted eyes:
"Did he smell our money?"
Bald Li knew Song Gang's eyes Myopia was already very serious. He said he would go to an optical shop to get Song Gang a pair of glasses for myopia. Song Gang shook his head repeatedly and said that he would buy glasses for myopia when his life gets better in the future. Baldy Li nodded in agreement that he didn't want to eat the three-fresh noodles just now, but he didn't agree to not wear glasses this time. Baldy Li stood on the street and shouted at Song Gang:
"When life gets better in the future, you will also be blind!"
Bald Li's sudden anger made Song Gang Gang was startled. He squinted his eyes and saw many people on the street stopping to look at them. Song Gang asked Baldy Li to speak softly. Baldy Li lowered his voice and told Song Gang sternly that if he didn't get glasses today, they would separate. Then Baldy Li said loudly to Song Gang:
"Let's go get glasses."
As he spoke, Baldy Li walked to the optical shop in a swagger, and Song Gang followed hesitantly. Go up. The two people no longer walked side by side as before, but walked towards our optical shop in Liu Town one after another. The two people looked like they had just had a fight. Baldy Li walked in front like a victor, triumphantly, Song Gang seemed to be defeated and followed behind him very cowardly.
A month later, Baldy Li and Song Gang put on their dark blue khaki tunic suits. Song Gang also put on a pair of black-rimmed myopia glasses. Baldy Li bought the latest glasses in an optical store. The expensive pair of frames made Song Gang's eyes red. On the one hand, he felt sad that he had spent a lot of money, but on the other hand, he was deeply moved and felt that his brother was really good. Song Gang had just put on his pair of black-rimmed myopia glasses and walked out of the optical shop when he couldn't help but exclaimed. He said to Baldy Li in surprise:
"It's so clear!"
p>Song Gang told Baldy Li that after wearing his myopia glasses, the whole world seemed as clear as if it had just been washed. Baldy Li laughed loudly. He said that Song Gang now had four eyes, and when he saw a beautiful girl, he quickly pulled on his clothes. Song Gang nodded and smiled, looking seriously at the girls on the street for Baldy Li. The two brothers were wearing brand-new khaki Chinese tunic suits and dark blue colors as they walked on the streets of Liu Town. Several old people sitting on the street playing chess were surprised when they saw them. They said that yesterday these two men were dressed like beggars. Yes, today I am dressed like two county leaders. They said with emotion:
"Buddhas really rely on their gold attire, and people rely on their clothes."
Song Gang has a tall and tall figure, a handsome face, and wears black-rimmed glasses like a scholar; Baldy Li has a short and stout figure. Although he is wearing a Chinese tunic suit, his face looks like a bandit. These two people always walked inseparably on the streets of our town in Liu. The old man in Liu town pointed at them and said: One is a civil official and the other is a military attaché. The girls in Liu Town were not so polite. They talked about these two people privately: one looked like Tang Sanzang and the other looked like Zhu Bajie.