beginning of autumn

Xiaohui had skin injuries all over his body, and he recovered almost in a few days.After breakfast, Liqiu said that he would go back to his home. Seeing that Xiaohui was a little puzzled, he smiled and said: "I heard my aunt secretly whispering to herself in the room yesterday that she wants to eat small rice buns a little bit." , Unfortunately, we don’t have a small pan for burning steamed buns at home. We used to have one at home, but I don’t know if it’s still there. I’ll go back and look for it, maybe it can come in handy.” Xiaohui laughed after hearing this: “My mother is Seeing your good temper, I want you to make more delicious food for him in a different way. It’s not a big deal, why bother with that.” Li Qiu took a peek at him, didn’t speak, and came from the warehouse in the east. I found a small woven bag and hurried home.

There were weeds everywhere beside the well platform, and the lock hanging on the gate was rusted to a bad shape, and Li Qiu took a lot of effort to open it.The yard was desolate, and half of the chicken coop on the wall was gone.Pushing open the two wooden doors, the furnishings in the room are still the same, but there is a thick layer of dust everywhere.Li Qiu looked at these old things, the past was vivid in his mind, and he couldn't help crying.He went to the well to fetch some water, and cleaned the inside and outside of the house, and the dilapidated small courtyard seemed a little more angry.

The slightly rusty little iron griddle was still quietly lying under the wooden bed, and after so many years, it seemed that it could still smell the faint fragrance of the oil that was applied on it.Liqiu thought of the scene of secretly making steamed buns for Yunfei in the kitchen that winter, and couldn't help feeling warm in his heart.He cleaned the small iron grid, wrapped it in a piece of clean cotton cloth, put it in a woven bag, took some other daily necessities, and prepared to leave the hospital with the bag on his back.Suddenly a piercing siren sounded in his ear, and he shivered involuntarily.

A lot of people gathered at the gate of the school, discussing something in full swing.When Li Qiu passed by, some people even pointed at him, gloating at his misfortune.He has been used to it over the years, and he doesn't take what others say or do.As we got closer to Xiaohui's house, we could vaguely hear Aunt Huang's crying and slamming something.He couldn't help feeling a little anxious, and trotted all the way into the yard.

There were a lot of spectators standing in the yard, Li Qiu squeezed in and took a look, he was dumbfounded, all the things thrown on the ground were his own things.Seeing the small blue and white warm hat soaking in the sewage in the south corner of the courtyard, Liqiu couldn't help but feel heartbroken. He hurried over and pulled it out of the water, wrung out the water and put it on the stone steps to dry.Aunt Huang saw that Li Qiu had come back, so she became very angry. She stood in front of the north house and pointed at him, crying and cursing: "You bastard, you have the nerve to come back, and get away with these rags as soon as possible." Far away, so as not to be upset when I see you again." Li Qiu faintly sensed that something might have happened to Xiaohui, and hurriedly asked: "Auntie, what's wrong with you? Is there something wrong at home?" Aunt Huang didn't answer , sat on the ground and burst into tears.San'er heard the news and rushed over, helped Liqiu pack his things, and dragged him out of the yard.Liqiu asked tearfully: "Brother San, do you know where I'm going? Did something happen at home while I'm not here?" San'er looked back at him, and said with some sobs: "Liqiu, if you didn't You can live in my house first. I’m afraid Brother Hui won’t be able to come back for a while.” Li Qiu was shocked when he heard that, all the things he was holding in his hand fell to the ground with a “snap”, and he anxiously Asked: "Brother San, did my brother fight with others again?" San'er secretly wiped his tears with his sleeve, and said after a moment of silence: "I met Brother Hui when I just went out in the morning, and he said you should go home I got something, and I was a little worried, so I wanted to take a look over there. I went with him when I had nothing to do. We two brothers were walking and chatting, but when we got near Gangzi’s house, we suddenly came from the next door. A few officers from the Public Security Bureau came out of the alley, and they took him under control on the spot. The reason was that he was drinking, committing murder and wounding others, so they wanted to arrest him. This wasn't a big deal at all, Brother Hui had been arrested quite a few times for these things before. But what I never expected was that the damn shrew Cui Xiang'e appeared out of nowhere. Seeing such a situation, she immediately pretended to be pitiful and knelt on the ground crying to the police, saying that on the wedding night, Brother Hui took advantage of his lust and raped her while he was drunk. The husband swallowed his anger and dared not ask, but in private he divorced her because of this matter. What happened was that everyone was afraid to speak out because of his lust and face. She also knelt down and begged the police to uphold justice for the sisters in the village. Brother Hui must be brought to justice. Director Qiu, who heard the news, also added fuel and vinegar to the side, and patted his chest and swore that he had never lied when he grew up. If Zou Xiaohui is released, the people of Qiujiagou will be even worse in the future. I can't live anymore. I know they are all talking nonsense for their own selfish desires, but in this way, brother Hui's crime will be serious. I wanted to slap them in the face desperately, although brother Hui was so angry that his eyes They were all red, but seeing that I was a little restless next to me, and secretly gave me winks to tell me not to act rashly, I just watched him being escorted into the car and taken away. I really hate myself now, I think back when I first entered the village, I was blinded and rejected by many people for no reason. If Brother Hui hadn't been helping me, I might have left the whole family and left. He is in trouble now, and I But I can’t do anything, I can only stand by and watch, speaking of it, I’m powerless after all.” After speaking, he squatted there and began to cry.

Li Qiu didn't think so, Xiaohui was kind to him, but now he was imprisoned, but he couldn't do anything about it.After saying goodbye to San'er in a hurry, he went to the town police station to inquire about the situation, but the staff there said they knew nothing about Zou Xiaohui's situation, and even taunted him.He fumbled for some small change left in his pocket, and drove to the county seat early the next morning. With the help of passers-by, he finally found the County Public Security Bureau, but no matter how much he begged, the gatekeeper The old man just refused to let him in.The shoe repairer at the door sat there and stared at him for a long time, then stopped him and said, "Son, how can ordinary people enter this door as they want? Besides, how can you ask someone to do something with just your mouth?" Okay?" Li Qiu understood what he meant, but he was shy and had no acquaintances to introduce him. He was at a loss when he heard someone calling him not far away, and hurriedly looked back, it turned out to be Uncle Li.

Seeing him wandering around in front of the police station, Uncle Li walked over and asked with concern, "What are you doing here?" Li Qiu hesitated for a long time, but still told him everything about Xiaohui. After hearing this, Uncle Li sighed and said: "Let me see, you'd better go home early, not to mention how deep the water is here, even I don't know, how can you understand it as a child?" ? Minister Qiu heard about this early in the morning, and became anxious, and fell ill again, and is still lying in the hospital now."

"How is Uncle Qiu?" Seeing Li Qiu's anxious look, Uncle Li hurriedly comforted him and said, "Don't panic, don't panic, you Uncle Qiu is fine, just rest for a few days and you'll be fine. It's just that Xiaohui's matter is a bit tricky. It seems that things are not as simple as imagined, so let's not get involved." He looked down at his watch and said with a smile: "Time flies so fast, it's only 12:30 in a short while. You now You must be hungry, let’s go, uncle will take you to eat a bowl of noodles.” Li Qiu was a little embarrassed, shook his head and said, “I’m not hungry.” Uncle Li frowned and said, “Take me as an outsider again, right? , if you don’t go, Xiaoyun will definitely settle the score with me when he finds out.” After speaking, he forced him to go to a nearby noodle shop.

Although the noodle shop is not big, it is packed full of people.Uncle Xiao Li led Li Qiu to stand at the door for a while, and waited for the customers in the store to check out and then found a seat and sat down.Li Qiu didn't like this kind of crowded place, and he would feel uncomfortable after a while, so he finished his noodles hastily, talked to Uncle Li, and slipped outside the door to breathe.This noodle shop is next to the movie theater in the county seat. It used to be a bustling place back then, but now it has become desolate and deserted.There is a movie poster from N years ago hanging on the advertisement column at the entrance of the theater, and it is densely covered with small advertisements that look like psoriasis, recruiting workers, treating diseases, all kinds of things, what was covered under it? The content is no longer known.

A few people passed by the billboard, their heads crowded together as if they were discussing something.I only heard one of them say: "The meaning of the leaders above is to take advantage of the situation in the country to collect his criminal evidence as soon as possible, and never let him come out to harm the people in the village. I think you two usually go with him. It’s relatively close, so I will naturally entrust this task to you. When the matter is settled, everything can be discussed.” The voice sounded familiar, and Li Qiu turned around and found that it was Director Qiu, Gangzi and Qiu Junlong. Fortunately, They did not find themselves.Seeing them walking away slowly, Li Qiu came out from behind the advertising column. He always felt that what Director Qiu said just now must have something to do with Xiaohui, and he couldn't help being secretly startled.

After Xiao Li came out of the noodle shop, he saw Li Qiu was still standing there, so he gave him some instructions before waving goodbye to him.Things seemed to be far from as simple as imagined, and Li Qiu couldn't help feeling sad after thinking about it.While he was in a daze, someone suddenly covered his eyes from behind, his hands were soft and soft, and there was a faint fragrance of jasmine wafting through them.He was both excited and puzzled, and asked a few times: "Is it Brother Yun?" The man let go of his hand when he heard this, and said with a smile, "Li Qiu, you take every piece of Brother Yun, who is this Brother Yun?" ?” Li Qiu turned around and looked, his face turned red all of a sudden, it turned out that standing in front of him was his distant cousin Lin Xiujuan.Although the relatives hadn't moved around for many years, Li Qiu had met her once a few years ago, so he recognized her at a glance.

This Lin Xiujuan has been smart since she was a child, and she is beautiful. When she was in middle school, she was well-known as the belle of the whole school. There were countless boys chasing her, but she just fell in love with Zhang Jianjun, a poor boy from Qiujiagou.After all, it was a girl’s house, until Jianjun dropped out of school because he couldn’t pay the tuition fees, and he never confided the slightest thing in his heart to the other party.After graduating from high school, although many people came to the house to propose marriage, Xiujuan didn't like any of them.The mother later found out what she was thinking, and after many secret inquiries, she learned that Zhang Jianjun was not only poor at home, but also raised a mother who suffered from mental illness for many years. , Forcibly locked in the house to prevent her from stepping out of the house.Later, a family surnamed Zhang from a neighboring village came to be a matchmaker. The parents saw that the family was well-off and that the child was decent-looking, and that he and Xiujuan were classmates.Strange to say, at first Xiujuan disagreed, but somehow she agreed, and the family found a good and auspicious day to marry her off.Now the young couple opened a hairdressing salon in the city, and they made a lot of money every day. They lived a prosperous life, and they couldn't help but envy others.

Sister Xiujuan told Li Qiu that she accidentally learned about his family's situation from other people, so she rushed here in a hurry early in the morning. She originally planned to visit Qiujiagou tomorrow, but she unexpectedly ran into him here.

※※※※※

Under the setting sun, the yellow sand stretched all the way to the end of the sky, and countless sand waves surged where the wind blew, and the whistling wind seemed to be mixed with the sound of people whimpering and crying.Zou Xiaohui walked alone in the desert, the wind blew his hair into a mess, like a traveler who has been wandering in the sea of ​​sand all his life, always looking for something...

He seemed to feel it, and the moment he turned his head, he and Li Qiu met each other's eyes, and a bright smile burst out on his frosty face...

With the sound of the gunshot, everything he had was gradually submerged in the boundless sea of ​​sand accompanied by the strong wind...

Li Qiu suddenly woke up from his dream, his heart was still beating wildly, and the electronic clock on the wall showed: June 1997, 6, 29:7.

Liqiu met San'er on the street a few days ago, and San'er told him that since Xiaohui was arrested, he had a hard time in the village, so he had to leave Qiujiagou with his wife, and searched randomly in the city. Doing physical labor, although life is hard, it can be regarded as simple and stable.Sure enough, Xiaohui was sentenced to death, and San'er secretly visited him on the day he was shot.He was wearing a blue suit that day, and his face was calm and composed like never before. He seemed to have tried his best to find something in the crowd. When he saw San'er in disappointment, he smiled and nodded at him.After he died, the village found someone to help him bury him on the Huangtu Mountain in the east of the village. During the Ching Ming Festival this year, San'er went back to see him. It was a short hill made of blue bricks. It can be seen from a distance from the big locust tree at the entrance of the village, standing there alone, as if quietly waiting for someone to come.

After breakfast, Liqiu took a car to her sister's hairdressing center. As soon as she entered the door, she saw Liu Xiaomei reading an old newspaper.Seeing Li Qiu walk in, he hurriedly smiled and said, "Brother Qiu, the newspaper said that there is a good guy named Zou Xiaohui in your Qiujiagou, and every new wife in the village has his bridal chamber helped by him. It is said that he has raped almost all women from 60 years old to girls in their teens. It is funny to think of it. Is there really anyone in this world who is so hungry? Even when he was hospitalized, he treated him carefully. The nurses and elder sisters who took care of her didn't let her go, causing her to commit suicide by taking medicine at a young age. It is said that someone saw it with her own eyes. Let me see, the conscience of this kind of scum has been eaten by dogs. And..." Li Qiu She couldn't stand listening to it anymore, snatched the newspaper from her hand, tore it up and threw it into the wastebasket, cursing: "Which bastard wrote this, it's full of nonsense!" I have never seen him get so angry, and he muttered in a low voice: "No way, he is the number one pen in the city, how could he be talking nonsense?"

Li Qiu was full of anger when he saw sister Xiujuan walking in from outside with a smile on her face, and said to him: "Qiu, your brother-in-law is coming back today, let Xiaomei take care of it first, why don't you go to the train station with your sister?" Alright?" Li Qiu quickly agreed with a smile.