Dreaming in the garden

一

Chang Nian is the first time to visit Chang's old house, and it will be the last time.

He came back from the United States after traveling across the ocean to preside over the sale of the old house. From now on, the United States will be the home of the Chang family.

Chang Nian leaned against the west window of the study on the second floor, facing an old theater.The wind at the end of summer rushes towards the face wrapped in the heat that has been reluctant to leave, making Chang Nian feel bored for a while.

The sale of the old house was originally negotiated by the intermediary, and I often thought that I came here just to sign the transfer agreement.However, when things came to an end, the buyer heard some rumors from somewhere, and knew that the house was not well feng shui, so he began to bargain with Chang Nian.And the target of the rumor is this theater.

It is said that this theater is haunted by ghosts.

There was a lot of noise downstairs, and the couple buyers appeared at the Xipian door, dancing and gesticulating and discussing.When he caught sight of the outer wall of the theatre, he immediately became like a debt collector seeing a debtor, and his words became more intense, pointing at the wall, and spreading all the resentment that Chang Nian didn't get cheap on the wall On the other hand, I have no scruples at all that I am still at the door of someone's house, or deliberately pointing at Sang and scolding Huai for others to listen to!

Chang Nian looked coldly at the couple as if they were performing a cross talk, talking to each other sentence by sentence.The Chang family is not short of this money, but he did it on purpose.

The shrill voice seemed to explode in my ears again: "We have all found out that the theater next to this house is not clean! Oh, it's scary! Why don't you give us tens of thousands of yuan cheaper As for us, we reluctantly took this house. Otherwise, who would want a house with bad Fengshui!" In order to strengthen her persuasiveness, she repeated, "It's scary!" His high-spirited appearance was like a monkey snatching food from a tourist, and his thickly painted face was distorted with excitement.

But what is the constant thought?That's an iron plate!You can only consider yourself unlucky when you bump into it.

"No delivery!"

two

After watching the play for a while, the couple downstairs still didn't leave, Chang Nian got a little impatient, the noise was really annoying.His hand had already touched the flower pot by the window, and with just one movement, the pot would explode around the couple, terrifying them.

"Meng Hui Ying Zhuan~ Chaotic years are everywhere~ People set up small pavilions and deep courtyards..."

Before the flower pot was smashed to pieces, the sound of gongs and drums protruded, and the very light, melodious and melodious tone that seemed to be scattered in the wind at any time passed through the willow trees by the east wall of the garden, through the leaky window carved with drama classics, and shuttled in the noisy world. In the noise, the complaints of the couple were crushed one by one.They suddenly fell silent, and their eyes doubled in size.

"It's haunted——" the terrified shout resounded throughout the alley.The car drove away.

The sound of the music in the opera garden is still up and down in the wind—"The Peony Pavilion", Grandpa Chang Nian's favorite and only opera.Chang Nian can be called familiar with this, and now he is singing "Garden Tour".

Chang Nian felt that he should visit this garden, and it scares away his guests no matter what.The couple probably won't come back again.

The history of this theater can be traced back to the period of the Republic of China, and it was considered a well-known name in this town at that time.Peony Garden is the name of this theater because the most popular piece in this theater is Tang Xianzu's "The Peony Pavilion".These are what Chang Nian saw from the stone tablet introducing the attractions at the entrance.

It is also written on the stele that this theater was bombed once during the Anti-Japanese War, and even killed a small team of the Japanese army. It can be regarded as an anti-Japanese "hero".So, following the trend of culture and reminiscing about history, the townspeople excitedly tidied up the place and "copied" a "Peony Garden" on the original site.

I often look at the wooden gate. The craftsman probably deliberately made it look old when building it. The paint on the wood is deep and gray, as if it has really endured decades of wind and rain. After all, the heaviness of baptism cannot be imitated.

However, it is not entirely true to say that this "Peony Garden" is a pure copycat version.Apart from the original foundation under the feet, Chang Nian soon saw the only two historical relics left at the entrance of the atrium.

Passing through the gate, you can see the plaque hanging above the gate of the atrium at a glance.The whole door plaque looks like an old man who just escaped from the fire.There were several cracks on the plaque, the words "Peony Garden" were blackened by smoke, and there was a line of charcoal at the bottom.Probably because this is a real cultural relic, so it didn't give it a new paint. It just stood above the door with a gray head and a black face, watching everyone who entered the garden.

On the wall to the right below the plaque hangs a tightly framed black and white photograph.On the top of the photo, there are a few golden words "the original photo of 'Peony Garden'".Chang Nian stared at this photo for a long time.At that time, it should be the time when the "Peony Garden" opened its doors for performances, and the open-air square in the entire atrium was full of seats.And this photo was obviously taken from a high place on the east side of the theater, so the layout of the whole theater can be seen at a glance.Chang Nian couldn't help but think of the attic of the old house.Due to the shooting technique and the distance, the scene on the stage is not very real, but it can be vaguely judged from the costumes that the two female characters are waving their sleeves at each other.An inexplicable feeling rose in his heart, Chang Nian couldn't explain it, but he decided that it was Du Liniang and Chunxiang on the stage - Youyuan.

"Meng Hui Ying Zhuan~ Chaotic years are everywhere~ People set up small pavilions and deep courtyards..."

The melody in the garden went round and round, just like Du Liniang who couldn't find her lover, and returned to the starting point sadly.Chang Nian found the source of the music behind the stage in the open-air square of the atrium—the old man was holding an old-fashioned tape recorder in his hand, squinting his eyes, moving his lips from time to time and humming a few words, listening with gusto.

It's also because of the guilty conscience of the couple just now, all kinds of vitriol towards other people's courtyard walls, coupled with the rumors heard by hearsay, together with the melody, they were naturally scared out of their wits.

Chang Nian found a stool and sat down beside him, without disturbing the old man.In the last few years of his life, his grandfather could not leave his bed.Chang Nian was the closest to grandpa, and he almost accompanied the old man through the last days.What the old man likes most when lying on the bed is to ask Chang Nian to play "The Peony Pavilion" for him over and over again, as if he will never get tired of listening to it.That expression was completely different from the old man who was simply immersed in the beauty of opera.When the music starts, Grandpa's hazy eyes will suddenly light up, like a lost ship suddenly finding its way in the void.The tides of nostalgia and sadness come and go, the light in the eyes flickers on and off, and suddenly it can't bear it anymore, turning into two bays of spring water.I often thought, if I had a choice, these two bays of spring water must want to flow to the far east.That is the hometown of "The Peony Pavilion", the hometown of grandpa. The song "Peony Pavilion" sung in a foreign country has turned into a bridge, which has brought together all the thoughts of grandpa.It's just that no one knows what he is reciting, even if it is a regular recitation.

At the end of the song, the old man finally noticed Chang Nian.

Chang Nian stood up and slightly bowed his head in greeting: "Hello! My name is Chang Nian."

"I heard that a handsome young man from the Chang family came back to his hometown. You and your father really look alike... Is it your father who comes back every year to worship the ancestors?" The old man asked uncertainly.Seeing that Chang Nian nodded, the uncle smiled heartily, "My surname is Zhang, you can just call me Uncle Zhang. Hey hey hey~ You sit down!"

When Chang Nian sat down, Uncle Zhang smiled again: "Your father and I are old acquaintances. Every time he goes back to his hometown to worship his ancestors, I buy things for him. But he never goes shopping, always After sacrificing ancestors, I left in a hurry the next day."

"My dad is a man of efficiency, and he does everything quickly and neatly."

Chang Nian also smiled, and with a few short conversations, the sense of estrangement in his heart suddenly disappeared. It seemed that there was a wonderful feeling spreading between him and this "hometown" where he met for the first time. It was long and soft, like ——The same as grandpa's arms.I often think about it, no wonder many people have always chanted their hometown. It turns out that the hometown is so gentle to the returning wanderers.

Uncle Zhang stood up, slapped himself on the back, and said, "Look at me, old man, you must have come to visit the garden, and you were dragged by me to talk. It's still early before closing, so you can take your time."

"But remember..." Uncle Zhang paused, then continued in a soft voice, "Don't go into the last room on the left when you go up the stairs!"

"What's wrong with that room?"

This time, Uncle Zhang paused for a while, as if hesitating whether to speak, but finally he leaned over, but his voice was lower: "There is something dirty in there, something will happen!"

This is the second time I heard such words today, and Chang Nian was a little dumbfounded. It is the 21st century, and science has traveled all over the world: "Uncle Zhang, we want to talk about science..."

"I saw it with my own eyes!" Uncle Zhang seemed a little anxious, and sat down again, ready to start a long speech, "The strange thing started when the town was planning to rebuild the garden. It was bombed here before, and it took a long time. Yeah, basically the whole garden collapsed. So I decided to clean up the old ones and build a new one. I was also here at the time, and it would be nice to earn some money. After finishing the first day, I went back to the garden. When I got home, I found that my pipe was missing. I thought it must have been left here, so I came to look for it after dinner. Then guess what I saw?” Uncle Zhang’s eyes widened suddenly, “I saw There was a man bent down looking for something among the piles of tiles and stones. His sleeves were so long that they dragged to the ground. I pointed a flashlight at him, and he seemed to be startled. He turned his head. His face was pale and pale. He was scared to death. personal!"

"Maybe it's just someone like you who dropped something."

"Who in a normal person would dress like a troupe and go out to look for things at night? It's still summer, and the heat won't kill me!"

"Then have you seen him since?"

"Oh, young man. It's unlucky enough to see this kind of thing once. However, something strange happened later." Uncle Zhang breathed a sigh of relief, "Actually, I also reassured myself at first, and felt like you , Did I make a mistake? If it wasn't for that incident... this garden is really weird!"

Uncle Zhang came slowly.

After the "Peony Garden" is built, in addition to being used for viewing, it will naturally be used for other purposes.So, if there is something to do in the town, a show or something will be arranged here.At the beginning of the period, everything was peaceful, and there were nearly ten performances of singing and dancing on the stage in the atrium. There were specially invited singing and dancing troupes, and there were also shows organized by the women in the town who liked to sing and dance.Once, the old man of a rich family in the village had his [-]th birthday, so he invited a troupe to come and have fun.The location of the acting is naturally the "Peony Garden".There is no need to worry about the place to live here. In addition to storing sundries, the rooms on the second floor of the "Peony Garden" surrounded by the atrium square are also equipped with several rooms for guests to live in.Xiyuan lived in the room on the right side of the stairs.

This birthday show will be sung for six days, one is the [-]th birthday of the old man, and the other is the auspicious meaning of "Six and Six Dashun".The troupe started singing that night.After singing the birthday opera, in order to echo the history of the theater, there was another song "The Peony Pavilion".Although this deviates from the theme of celebrating the birthday, it is a happy ending anyway. The host waved his hand, let's sing!But here comes the matter.

Early the next morning, the Hua Dan who played Du Liniang the night before found that the "Du Liniang" costume she had hung in the room was missing.It was easy for everyone to find it, and finally found the clothes in the eastmost room on the left side of the stairs.There is also an extra wooden shelf in the room, and the costumes are neatly hung on it in the shape of a cross.Everyone agreed that someone was doing a silly prank.This person is either from a troupe or a townsman.So the head of the troupe and the mayor gathered their own people together, gave a good education, and stated the evil nature of such pranks.But what's the use?The same thing happened on the third day.Now everyone may be a little flustered, the prankster can't be found, and the scolding will not be scolded.The head of the regiment locked the clothes in the box, and the mayor also put a heavy lock on the door and window of the room in the east.So, when the costumes still appeared in the east room on the fourth day, everyone was blown away.The key is still in the mayor's hand, but the lock is gone.Are you trying to say the mayor is a suspect?Anyway, it's all good.There is no need to sing in the play, and the troupe doesn’t even want this set of costumes. They just wait for the owner to settle the money quickly and let them go away; It is true to drive away bad luck.And the most important thing is that this matter cannot be spread.The town is known as a "historical town". If there are supernatural events here, who would dare to come here.So, after discussing with the troupe, everyone assumed that this had never happened.Of course the head of the troupe agreed, if this matter got out, it would be nice to be thought that their troupe would be in bad luck.

"Since then, the garden has become deserted, and occasionally it is so lively during the day. But I have to stay here to remind people who come to visit, lest they offend the ancestors." Uncle Zhang yawned, " Alright, old man, I'll go to sleep for a while, you can go shopping by yourself, remember my words!"

Chang Nian was lost in thought looking at the room that Uncle Zhang was talking about.