he can't see our ears

When talking about this, the elder sister was flipping through a kraft paper bag.She touched a letter paper folded in half: "Finally found it."

She handed me the letter paper.On such a large piece of paper, there is only one line of small numbers.She told me that this is the mobile phone number left by the man.

When his family moved out, they didn't actually tell their neighbors where they were going to move.They are running away, and they will definitely not tell anyone where they are going casually.

Just the day before they moved out, the man came to the neighborhood committee and happened to meet this eldest sister.

The eldest sister is a familiar face of the local residents, and is known for her enthusiasm and kindness.The man also seemed to trust her very much, so he left her a call.

At that time, he said to the eldest sister: "Leave me my contact information. In case my lover comes to me in the future, you can give her this number. I don't use my mobile phone very often. Sometimes it will be turned off, but I will definitely not change the number. If you can't get through once, call again, I will be there."

The eldest sister is really kind and responsible.She secretly left her contact number and did not disclose it to anyone unrelated.The eldest sister knew that my mother had an accident, so I showed her a bunch of identification materials, including my ID card and the electronic version of the abandoned household registration book, so I was not considered an "unrelated person".

The eldest sister said: "Actually, I also think that person is not normal, but when he said 'in case my lover comes to me'...what should I say, the consciousness in his eyes is very clear, he is not real Crazy. So I think there must be something going on here, and it needs to be taken seriously."

I put away the piece of paper and thanked the eldest sister repeatedly.A gratified smile appeared on the eldest sister's face.

In her opinion, this may be a story of family and love with ups and downs.She hopes to help us give fathers the opportunity to return to their sons and bring broken families back together...

I find it funny.Of course, I'm not making fun of this big sister, I really appreciate her.

I'm just in a complicated mood and can't laugh or cry.

After I walked out of the neighborhood committee office, I looked at the number in my hand and suddenly thought about something: The man said to others, "In case my lover finds him"... What did he think at that time?Did he think my mother would definitely go to him?

They used to have a bad fight, and he didn't have any nostalgia for his family anymore.Why did he think his wife would definitely come to him?

As I walked and thought, I walked to a bustling street and found a fast food restaurant.After sitting down, I took out my mobile phone and was in a daze for a while before making up my mind to dial the number.

The man said that he often turned off the phone, and I was prepared to be unable to get through, but I didn't expect that the phone would be connected as soon as I made a call, and I was picked up immediately.

I heard his voice.I couldn't speak for a while, and when I was silent, he took the initiative to say a name, which was my mother's name.

His voice trembled a little: "Is that you?"

I didn't know how to answer for a while.

If I made a sound and he heard it was a man, would he hang up the phone immediately?Or if I reveal my identity and say that I am not her, but her son... Will he think that I am my elder brother, and then hang up the phone immediately?what do i say?Say "I am her second son"?Will he ignore me even more?

Can't think too much.I took a deep breath and decided not to mention my identity.

I imitated the tone of the policewoman before, speaking in a completely irrelevant manner, calling her by my mother's name, and telling this man that she had been missing for many years.

He didn't hang up the phone, just listened quietly.Then I revealed my identity, great, he didn't hang up.

I called him uncle on the phone, but he was not used to it, and told me not to call him that because it sounded uncomfortable.I asked him what his name was, his surname was Zhang, just let me call him Lao Zhang.

By the way, my eldest brother didn't share his last name.We have the same surname as our mother, Liu.

When I mentioned my eldest brother, Lao Zhang interrupted me and asked me where I was now, and I said it was a certain county.

He asked me to find a paper to take notes, and then told me a string of bus numbers and station names.

I asked him what that meant, and he said let me follow this route, and I would be able to find the place where he lives and works now.He wanted to meet and talk with me.

His attitude made me a little uncomfortable.Very unnatural.

When he said this, he didn't say a word of nonsense, and he didn't ask what my purpose was, as if he already knew my purpose, so he didn't need to ask.

It's like...he had predicted that something would happen to his eldest brother.

I have come all the time, so I have to do as he said.

The bus he mentioned is on this street, so it's not hard to find.The route is quite far, I have to back up three times, and they are all slow trains with dense stops.In order to see him before dark, I must start now.

When I was sitting in the car, I started to think about the situation with my eldest brother when I was free.

I wanted to call the hospital and ask how my elder brother was doing, but after much deliberation, I still didn't call.

On the way, Lao Zhang sent me several text messages, each time asking where I was.

When I got on the last train that was about to reverse, Lao Zhang told me that he would wait for me at the station, and I could see him when I got off the train.

There are very few people on this train, and the last train is very early, so it can be seen that it leads to a very remote place.At the penultimate stop, I got off the bus.

When I stood up in the car, I saw the figure on the side of the road through the window.

To be honest, I was quite surprised at the time.In my imagination, this man is extremely greasy and ugly, but in fact he looks okay.

Maybe it's because he doesn't eat well. He's much thinner than his peers, and he's shaved well. He looks a bit like my older brother 30 years later.Their father and son look quite alike.

He didn't say anything when he saw me, so he said directly: "Here we are, come with me and go to the place where I am on duty to talk."

I asked, "Where do you work?"

He said: "In a seawater fish and shellfish farm. I am guarding the material warehouse, and they are in charge of food and housing."

I said "Oh" and followed him silently.

Maybe it's because there are farms nearby that the fishy smell in the air is getting heavier. I don't know if this is normal.

I put my hands over my nose.At this time, Lao Zhang said to me: "Is the smell quite strong? This farm is dying. It seems that there is a problem with the sea water used. A large number of aquatic products died, and the loss was serious. One day is a good day, and one day the factory will completely close down. I'm going to find another place to live."

I asked him: "You have been living in the warehouse? Don't you have your own home?"

He shook his head: "No."

After a short walk, we finally arrived at the place where he lived.It is very close to the sea and seawater farms, but it is not in the breeding area, it is a separate small courtyard.

The warehouse is full of temporarily unused equipment and office supplies. In fact, there is nothing particularly valuable, so the factory only hired him to look after it.

He lives in a very small house.I followed him in and was deeply shocked by the appearance in the room.

The room was small and very messy.There are a lot of newspapers and printing paper on the wall, and the paintings are messy.There were only three pieces of furniture in the room: an iron frame bed, a round folding table, and a plastic chair.There were papers and books piled on the furniture, uneaten lunch boxes on the concrete floor, and a lot of miscellaneous garbage that I didn't even want to look at.

When my mother mentioned Lao Zhang in the past, she said inside and outside that he was a shrewd and meticulous person when he was young, with good taste, and he was quite particular about basic necessities of life.My mother thinks that it is because he is too paranoid and obsessed with details that he has mental problems.

Lao Zhang moved the books from the plastic chair and asked me to sit down, while he himself sat on the edge of the bed.

He didn't even pour water for me, thanks to the bottled water I bought when I came out of the county.

He cut to the chase and said, "I know why you're here."

I said: "You seem to know that my mother will definitely come to you, even though it is not her... Anyway, someone will definitely come to you about my brother. You are not surprised at all."

"Indeed, I thought she would come to me a long time ago." After he finished speaking, he shook his head again, and continued, "But I didn't expect that it wasn't her who came... I didn't expect that she was gone."

I asked, "Have you read the latest news?"

"See. Well, I know what you're trying to say."

"Then I don't have to tell you. Did you think something was going to happen to him a long time ago?"

He didn't answer me, but asked: "How is his current situation? Tell me about it."

So I told him about my brother.From physical scars to mental symptoms, from not being able to see ears, and now not being able to see head and skin.

Lao Zhang was silent for a long time after listening.He stood up and went to pick things from a pile of sundries. I thought he was looking for cigarettes, but in the end he took out a few books for me.

Some are foreign dubbed novels, some are comic books, and they are all small books.The book is in good condition, old but at least not falling apart.Several books are "The Stolen Kingdom", "A Midsummer Tale", "The Stolen Child".

"Have you heard of the 'changing soul' thing?" Lao Zhang asked.

"heard about it."

"Oh? I thought you hadn't heard of it."

"I read some poems in college, and it was mentioned in the poems," I asked, "Why do you mention this?"

I asked "Why bring this up", but I didn't need to ask. When I heard the word "changing soul", I immediately guessed what Lao Zhang was thinking.

I hadn't thought about this before. "Changeling" is just a foreign ghost story. Although I have heard of it, I never paid attention to it.

The so-called "changelings" are derived from European folklore.It is said that there is a kind of goblin living in the countryside, and ordinary people cannot see their whereabouts.They will steal babies from ordinary human homes, and put children from the fairy world into human cradles.

There is a certain disguise on the goblin child, and human parents are often unable to detect the strangeness in time. Occasionally, some sensitive mothers find that it is not their own child, but it is too late. Even if she abandons the goblin child, her real child will never come back.Human children were brought into the world of goblins, and they were invisible to humans ever since.

Fairy children stay in the human world, and their habits will become more and more human-like, and they will gradually forget their memories of being fairies, and become real human beings in thinking.This kind of child is often very well-behaved and smarter than ordinary human children of the same age. Apart from this, there is nothing strange about it.

If they don't know they are elves, they can't use the elves' magic, once they regain their memory and remember their true race, their power will return to them.

At that time, they may bring luck and miracles to their parents, or they may bring disaster to the family... Whether it is a blessing or a curse, it depends on the arrangement of fate.

I feel both angry and funny.

I asked Lao Zhang: "You keep saying that your child was changed. Do you think he is a 'changeling'? Are you okay? This is a folklore, and it is a foreign legend, and it has nothing to do with us." ?”

Lao Zhang didn't explain, but handed me another book.

This book is older, and it is not a book in the strict sense, but a thread-bound manuscript.

He said: "I discovered this a few years ago. This book was recopied in the 50s, and the old one should have been worn out. This time it's not from a foreign country, it's all from my hometown. , it was left over from generation to generation in the county, and I found it with great difficulty."

The manuscript does not even have the title of the book.Turning to the first page, there is a line-by-line record, which is roughly a certain day of a certain year, where the child with the very name disappeared, and when and where he returned.If you flip through it, the whole book is full of this kind of content.

I noticed that the earliest record was in the Daoguang period, and the latest record was in the late 30s.

At first glance, the contents of the files seem to be cases of missing children, but they cannot be regarded as real cases of disappearance.Because every child ends up going back to their parents.

Some parents found it by themselves; some parents gave up after searching for a long time, and the child reappeared a few days later; some parents did not search at all, and the child either appeared in the wasteland or by the sea, or was found by other villagers and brought back to the village.

Also, these children certainly did not run away from home on their own initiative.Because according to the records, they were all under one year old when they disappeared, and they couldn't walk alone at all.