Wang Liulang

Eight

Xu Da finally got married.

He bought a lot of wine, too much to fit in the house, so he put them all in the coffin.But Liu Lang did not come back.

The woman—his wife—came here alone, with only a few clothes. Xu Da originally made a lot of tricks, but none of them were used, because the woman was almost kicked out of the house.She was standing at Xu Da's door, and the matchmaker pushed her into the room and said to Xu Da, why buy so much wine?It's not a treat.

Xu Da didn't ask her where the child was.After she got married, she took care of the housework every day. She didn't talk too much. She didn't care about the wine or the coffin.So Xu Da gradually turned a blind eye to the wine and the coffin.

He continued to go fishing day and night, but he would no longer bring wine.

He gradually felt that he liked his current wife very much.He knew she had a past, but he didn't ask; she knew he had a past, but she didn't ask either.There seemed to be a kind of silent tenderness between the two of them, and this kind of tenderness floated in the air with clear boundaries, so that no one would be suffocated and uncomfortable.

In this way, many years, many years, passed like this.

nine

I heard that in Zhaoyuan Town, south of the Yihe River, there is a land god who responds to requests.

The fishermen on the Yi River passed on the deeds of the land god through word of mouth. After hearing this, Xu Da casually asked, "Where is Zhaoyuan Town?"

"Ah, it's the part that was flooded when the Yellow River burst... and then the water receded, and the original Zhaoyuan Town was rebuilt." The speaker glanced at Xu Da, and suddenly said, "Ah, it's you, sir. your hometown?"

Xu laughed, "Maybe, I can't remember."

As it was getting dark, he pulled up the fishing net and slowly moored the boat to the shore.He is old and weak, and he has done such simple things for a long time.When night fell, he left his boat and headed home with the fish basket on his back.

The old woman cooked a table of dishes and was mending clothes at the table and waiting for him.Seeing him coming back, he came over to pick up the fish basket, and without much conversation, the two naturally started eating.After dinner, the lights in the hall were dimmed, and the lights in the bedroom were turned on. The two figures walked back and forth for a while, and finally, the lights in the bedroom were also turned off.

dark.

The white-haired Xu Da opened his eyes, looking at the darkness, surrounded by the slow breathing of his old wife.

I don't know how many years ago, he had expected such darkness.I don't know how many years ago, there will be a young man in white clothes who came by night, and stared at him with a pair of soft and bright eyes in such darkness.

He obviously hasn't thought of Liu Lang for a long time.

After a long time, he sat up and got out of bed.He started packing his bags.After searching for a long time in the cabinet in the dark, I found an old map from many years ago, and by the moonlight outside the window, I found the "Zhaoyuan Town" marked on it.

He put the map in his package and staggered to the hall.His body was no longer hidden, his back was bent, and he groped to touch the coffin with his hands.

Good wood was used back then, and the paint quality of the coffin is still as good as new.With all his strength, he pushed the coffin lid open a crack, "creak—" a rough and piercing voice sounded, and he was startled, so he couldn't help but stop and push again.

Afraid that he would wake up his old wife on the bed, he went to close the door of the bedroom and faced the coffin in the dark alone.

The lid of the coffin was half opened, and the aroma of the wine also came out.He bent down and moved the wine out of the coffin one by one until there was a space that could accommodate people, and then stepped in by himself.

Sitting in the coffin, he saw wisps of moonlight coming in from the door of the hall, like ghosts blown away by the wind.He lay down.

It turns out that lying in a coffin feels like this.

He closed his eyes.

Ten

Zhaoyuan Town.

Xu Da carried the burden on his back and watched the people coming and going on this land.Everyone seems to be in good spirits and the market is open.This used to be his hometown, but five or sixty years later, it was flooded by the Yellow River once, and even the newly exposed land was unfamiliar to him.

He is like a guest returning from afar, and also like a child who is a guest.

He grabbed a person and asked in a hoarse voice, "Where are you... the shrine of the Earth God?"

The man was startled when he heard this, and looked him up and down, "Master...isn't your surname Xu?"

Xu Da frowned: "Exactly, how do you..."

"Isn't the uncle from Zichuan?" The man's voice was a little higher, and the excitement was beyond words.

"Exactly..."

"It's you!" The man held his hands, "We all know you!"

After a while, Xu Da was surrounded by people.The man was holding the child, and the woman was leaning against the door, all looking at him curiously.They told him that the people in this town had a dream a few days ago. In the dream, the God of Earth told them: An old friend named Xu is coming from Zichuan. I have been waiting for him for a long time. You must entertain him well. ah.

After hearing this, Xu Da fell silent.

He went to the shrine alone.

There is a clay statue of a god enshrined in the hall, it is the young man in white, smiling gracefully, without looking at him, and the smile is much more solemn.But Xu Da looked at the clay figurine for a long time, but the more he looked at it, the more he felt that he was Liu Lang. Liu Lang had changed, but he didn't change much in the end.

In 60 years, Liu Lang was still as handsome as before, but what about him?Can Rokuro still recognize him?

Xu Da took out a wine gourd from the package.This wine gourd has been around for a long time, and there are gaps at the edge, and when the wine is sprinkled on the ground, it drips and drips unpleasantly.But he still sprinkled the wine half a circle around the incense table seriously.

"Liulang." Xu Da opened his mouth, but then he didn't know what to say.

There was silence in the ancestral hall, even Liu Lang would not answer his words at this time.

After a long time, he moved his lips and said softly again: "Liulang."

eleven

The people in Zhaoyuan Town were overjoyed to see Xu Da because of receiving the oracle, they took out their own good wine and food and entertained him in turn.If so, Xu Da had to stay in Zhaoyuan Town for many days before finally being able to leave.

Everyone asked him, don't you want to see God before leaving?

He thought for a long time, but couldn't answer.

The night before leaving Zhaoyuan Town, he dreamed of Liulang.Liu Lang was dressed in white, but his demeanor was much more mature than when he was a water ghost. When he saw him, he was no longer shy, but smiled kindly: "You came to visit me from afar, but I'm restricted by my position, so it's inconvenient for me to meet you." , I'm really sorry."

Xu Da looked at him and didn't speak.

He didn't realize until he saw Liu Lang that he didn't want to see him.

Liu Lang smiled and said: "Back then, with a thought of pity, I saved that woman, and received mercy from the heavens, let me escape from the body of a water ghost, and made a piece of land. Although I am here, I often hear about you. You are the same as that The woman is doing well, and you will live to the end of your life. In this way, I feel at ease."

It is probably God's prerogative to say such things.But God doesn’t know, people don’t necessarily care whether they will die or not.

Liu Lang talked so much, smiled so well, and everything was like a farewell and reunion with no leaks.Xu Da looked up at him, he was just a humble old mortal looking up at a god.

He called softly, "Liulang."

Liu Lang's expression did not change at all, only the corner of his clothes trembled.Because Xu Da was looking up at him, he could clearly see his spotless clothes.

"I heard you're leaving tomorrow," Liu Lang lowered his eyebrows, and finally stopped smiling, "I'll see you off."

On the second day, Xu Da left Zhaoyuan Town.

All the people in the town came to see him off, and they were sent far away from the entrance of the village.Suddenly there was a gust of wind, blowing from the forest tops, rolling up the dust on the ground, blowing away people's clothes and hair, like a naughty child.Then the wind lingered to Xu Da's side again, blowing the wine gourd hanging around his waist non-stop.

"Klang clang -- clang clang --" the wine gourd kept shaking, and the wine inside was empty, but it emitted a distant fragrance of wine for no reason.

Xu Da looked down at the wine gourd, and said softly, "Thank you, Liu Lang."

The wind stopped suddenly.

Xu Da turned around and trudged away alone, without anyone following him.

twelve

On the second day, the old wife found Xu Da who had died for a long time in the coffin.

All the villagers with good deeds gathered in this hut, chatting about the dead old man.He looked very calm, as if he had anticipated his death today, so he purposely lay down in the coffin.People also found the clothes for traveling with him, which contained a wine gourd, some old clothes, and a map.

"Oh - this paper is too old, what year is this map from?"

"Why haven't I seen this place before?"

"Here and here, a red circle is drawn - Zhaoyuan? Where is this?"

"Isn't this the town that was flooded by the Yellow River 60 years ago?"

"Is he going there?"

"Impossible, it's all part of the Yellow River now! If you want to say that the town has sunk at the bottom of the Yellow River a long time ago!"

thirteen

People were talking, and the old woman, the dead fisherman's wife, just sat in silence.

She remembered the day when she committed suicide and threw herself into the river many years ago.

The sun was shining that day, and she walked into the river with her child in her arms.At the moment when the river was submerged and her breathing stopped, she saw a boy.

The boy was dressed in white, looking at her with pity and envy in his eyes, he asked her in a very gentle voice: "Why do you want to die?"

With a pale face, she cried and said: "I gave birth to a child before I got married... The father of the child does not want me, and the family forces me to marry a poor fisherman..."

"It's so pitiful." The boy sighed.

This sigh made her understand that this young man really understood her pain, which made her cry even more sadly.

"But," the young man said again, "but if you drowned in the river like this and became a ghost, it would be a hundred times more painful than it is now."

She raised her teary eyes and looked at him in a daze.

The young man said softly: "Being a human is only for one life, but being a ghost is eternal. The pain of being a human is easy to forget, but the pain of being a ghost is unforgettable." He turned to look at her, "Do you want to be a drowned water ghost? You can think clearly."

She hesitated.

The young man smiled, "Why don't we go back to the world together? Let's meet the person we want to see together."

Her face turned slightly red, and after thinking about it, she asked him again: "You...you don't want to be a ghost anymore, do you?"

"I don't want to." The boy said, "As long as I can be a person for a moment, even if I am wiped out, I am willing."

He smiled, as if he thought of something else and felt happy and expectant, and his eyes twinkled like thousands of stars in the sky reflected in the water.

(Finish)