Kaolin
“Oh my god!”
Yang Jinyang couldn't help but brake hard and almost collided with the small tricycle in front.
"Fuck you! What's going on? The car is suddenly nailed to the ground! You can't play like this! If you keep playing like this, we'll die here!"
Yang Jinyang leaned forward, almost hitting the front of the car: "Sister! Be gentle! Your helmet hit my back. It's so hard. You've got good iron head skills!"
Zhou Xi patted him soothingly through his clothes: "Brother, I'm sorry, I just sleepwalked. Are you and Xiaolu okay?"
"It's okay, luckily I have super reflexes. What happened up ahead?"
Yang Jinyang stretched his neck and said, "Oh wow, we're at the mahjong parlor now! It's New Year's Day, so there are so many people here!"
"What are you doing up ahead?"
Yang Jinyang and Zhou Xi heard someone discussing.
"It's terrible! That bastard from Xiqiaotou is drunk and crazy again. He's lying on the street, throwing a tantrum and stinking. I don't know how many days he hasn't showered. He spends every day in the card hall. Today he said that if his son doesn't give him money, he'll die!"
"What a sin! He really thinks he's the king of the world. Where does his son get his money? With a father like this, anyone would be killed..."
"Oh, that family that just moved in two years ago? They had a huge fight this summer? I heard the son even took a kitchen knife and tried to chop his dad. The police were called because of the commotion. Yeah, isn't their son just in high school? Where did that kid get the money?"
"Yeah, it's a sin. Didn't the kid's mother run away? Before she ran away, she had the good sense to hide 100,000 yuan for her son's studies. But that damn old man loves gambling and is drunk every day. He must be out of money again!"
"Alas, what a sin it is to have such a father. Such a shameless man should just die, dragging down other people's children..."
"Pooh, pooh, pooh! It's New Year's Day, what are you talking about!"
"Don't worry, his son is a real character. If he is cruel enough, he will definitely not give money to his dead father!"
"That's good. He won't be sucked dry by his father. He should grow up quickly and run away. It's a sin to watch him."
The car in front started to move. Yang Jinyang carefully squeezed through the small car and whispered to Zhou Xi, "How tragic!"
Zhou Xi saw the back of a slender young man, resolute and lonely, walking away from everyone's gaze.
Does such a person care about the outside world's opinion? Of course he does, because reading teaches him to have a sense of shame. But there are people who refuse to have a sense of shame and want to drag such a proud young man down with him.
"Do you know who it is?"
The wind blowing in the face lifted Yang Jinyang's bangs.
"Well, you probably don't know. I heard from my mom that during the summer vacation, when you went to North City, the high school acceptance letters came out. And then, you drunkard's son, bah! That boy didn't receive the high school acceptance letter. His scores were a few points lower than yours, but he did very well in the exams and could have gotten into any school. He would have been ranked high at Yuxiu."
"You said, in this small town of ours, there are two talented people like you. None of the elite classes in the city are as talented as you two. In such an environment, you are untainted by the mud..."
Yang Jinyang spat.
"Oh, I'm getting off topic. Then, he went to the school to ask, and found out that the drunkard had told his homeroom teacher to change his major. It was a vocational high school! What a stupid vocational high school! He has such good grades, so he went to a vocational high school. But they didn't let him go to high school or college. Wouldn't that ruin him?"
Zhou Xi frowned, his right eyelid twitching, and his heart felt heavy. He should have been a child of destiny, but his wings were broken by his own biological parents...
"Then he had a fight with the drunk. My dad and the others were visiting grandma, so the boy came to my dad to ask about admissions. My dad said that with his grades, he would definitely get into the best class at Yuxiu."
Yang Jinyang sighed, "But Yuxiu, although it has the highest admission rate, as you know, the tuition is a bit high. Given his situation, he ended up going to No. 3 Middle School."
"What's your name?" Zhou Xi had a bad feeling.
"What's your name? Let me think, Chen, Chen Yu!"
Zhou Xi tightened her grip on her nails. It turned out that something like this had happened during the time she was away.
She never knew that Chen Yu's house was so close to hers.
No wonder Chen Yu looked so thin when I saw him that time.
When she returned to town to buy something, she met a drunkard. He reeked of alcohol, had long hair, and wore tattered clothes. It turned out that the drunkard was his...
He is a very clean person, even known as the flower of the mountain in school, but his family is like mud pulling him down.
Is this what they call every family has its own problems? However, this kind of problem is so rotten to the core, it's so unfair.
Yang Jinyang got emotional and stopped his electric scooter. "Oh my god! This is sick! This is taboo! What the hell! People like this are unworthy of being parents. They should just die early. Why keep them around? They're just a nuisance to others!"
Zhou Xi grabbed Yang Jinyang from behind and said, "Be careful. If you want to curse me, I'll curse you back. Don't let anyone hear it outside and bring trouble to Uncle Yang."
"Oh, but isn't it a bit bad for me to curse people behind their backs? It's too harsh. When the time comes..."
"What are you afraid of? Evildoers will be punished, and God is watching..."
…
"Aunt Lan! Aunt Lan!"
"Who is it?" Yang Jinyang ran out of the guest room on the first floor with his clothes draped over him.
It was only seven o'clock in the morning and everyone was still sleeping. He was sleeping soundly and having a good dream when his father kicked him awake and asked him to come out and see.
"Aunt, what's wrong? What are you doing so early?"
"The drunkard from Qiaotou fell to his death last night—"
It was raining heavily and Aunt Liu was shouting a little loudly. She was holding a large gray plaid umbrella in her hand, but her trouser legs were still soaked and it was so cold that she couldn't help stamping her feet.
Yang Jinyang's head suddenly felt empty and buzzing.
"What……"
A streak of purple lightning flashed across the distance, and the next second there was a loud bang. Yu received the order and worked harder, not holding back at all, as if he wanted to empty himself out completely.
"Yangyang, call your parents out! Hey! Let me go in first, the rain is too heavy! Ouch!"
"Okay! Auntie, wait a moment!" Yang Jinyang woodenly picked up the umbrella that had been placed in the corner for a long time without being used, rushed into the rain curtain, and opened the iron gate.
"Dad! Mom! Get up quickly——"
"Come, Liu Mei'er, drink some hot water and warm yourself up! My teacher will be up soon." Zhang Lixia hadn't combed her hair yet. She asked everyone to sit down and immediately went to pour boiling water from the thermos.
"It's okay, it's okay, old man. Don't worry, don't worry, it's okay. Oh, it's really true! You could die sooner or later, but why die at this time..."
"It was the last night of the New Year. I heard he got drunk and fell to the ground. He was only found this morning!"
Zhang Lixia sighed, she also knew what happened in Xiqiaotou's family, the person died, and the poor child was free.
Aunt Liu sighed, "It's better to be dead. That drunkard cursed everyone he saw, full of filthy words I couldn't stand. Adults and children alike couldn't resist seeing him. It would be peaceful now..."
"Forget it, the dead are the most important. What's the situation now?" Yang Wen helped Xu Shulan out and went next door to call Zhong Yinan.
Aunt Liu's face was filled with worry. "What else can we do? His child doesn't know how to handle these things. Even though they've only been here a few years, the villagers will definitely help as much as they can to help us get through this difficult time. My brother and his men have brought back a coffin, so let's put it in first."
According to the unspoken rules in the village, if there is a funeral and the host family is too busy or the family situation is not good, the villagers will go over to help. Helping others is also helping themselves. It is the family affection passed down from generation to generation and it is also the favor of human beings that will be seen every day.
"Sister, could it be that God heard it?" Yang Jinyang ran upstairs to call Zhou Xi and told her about it.
Zhou Xi felt cold under his feet and breathed a sigh of relief: "It's okay, brother. He has done too many bad things, and God will punish him."
God has eyes and cannot bear to see this. This kind of rotten person should die early. He is a burden to his family and the family will break up sooner or later. It is good enough that he died in pain without any illness.
Yang Jinyang clenched his hands, his hair a mess. "I, I really didn't mean to curse him. I hope he doesn't blame me. Yes, if you want to blame someone, blame him for doing too many bad things!"
"Go down first."
"Wait a minute!" Yang Jinyang slumped down on the stairs, gasping for breath. "I'm so scared! You don't know, a bolt of lightning just struck me. I thought I was going to see my grandmother."
The thunder just now was too real, as if it was striking Yang Jinyang directly. He was so scared that he couldn't move. He always heard his mother say that good people will be rewarded and bad people will not have a good death. You have to be careful when going out on rainy days, or you might be struck by Thunder God. This time he was really impressed.
"Maybe it's a good thing for Chen Yu. He is finally free from all constraints." Zhou Xi squatted down and sat with Yang Jinyang for a while.
"Well, yes, it's a good thing. However, he's also lost his only relative in this world. He should be sad too."
Zhou Xi's expression darkened, tears flashing in his eyes: "Go see him."
Since there was not enough space in one car, Yang Jinyang and Zhou Xi could only drive a small electric scooter, with Zhou Xi holding an umbrella.
When we arrived at the west end of the bridge, a plastic awning had already been set up next to it.
The mourning hall was set up in the house. Through the rain curtain, Zhou Xi saw Chen Yu, dressed in plain clothes, kneeling on a straw mat and burning paper money. Whenever a mourner came, he would stand up and bow slightly.
Garbage blocked the sewer, and muddy water continued to accumulate. Some people wore raincoats and rain boots, carried hoes and were clearing the sewer. The garbage dug out gave off a foul smell.
My shoes stepped into the rain and I didn't have time to lower my head. I only cared about whether my body was wet.
Zhou Xi hung the umbrella on the broken window at the door, followed the adults, took two purple incense sticks from the incense box, lit them with candlelight, bowed three times quietly, and then put them in the jar.
Zhong Yinan and Xu Shulan closed their eyes, clasped their hands together and whispered. After opening their eyes, they took out a stack of paper money from the trash can. Yellow smoke curled up, as if it was going to blacken the white ceiling.
The whole house was filled with the smell of burning wax and paper, which made people feel dizzy and their hearts pounding.
"Thank you, thank you."
Zhang Lixia looked at the frail, helpless boy of sixteen or seventeen, and went up to hug him: "Chen Yu, I'm so sad..."
"My condolences..."
"Yeah." Chen Yu looked up and saw Zhou Xi, "Thank you."
Zhou Xi noticed the wound on Chen Yu's forehead under his hair and wanted to say something, but someone else came to pay their respects.
When Zhou Xi and Yang Jinyang returned, they still took the electric scooter, but the atmosphere was even more depressing.
"Sister, you said a person is gone just like that."
"Humans are very insignificant, so we must work harder to live. When we are alive, we have opportunities, but when we die, we have nothing." Zhou Xi held the umbrella with some difficulty and felt the rain hitting his shoes and socks.
Yang Jinyang forced a smile: "Can you say something nice? This is so depressing."
Zhou Xi smiled again, feeling the pain of the cold wind across his cheeks: "If you can't figure it out, don't think about it. People should look forward. Look, the plum blossoms are blooming."
There were many plum blossoms planted on the roadside. After the heavy rain, they were not knocked down, but bloomed in the cold.
Yang Jinyang slowed down the car. "Really? I thought I wouldn't be able to see the first bloom of plum blossoms this year, but I caught up with it."
Zhang Lixia was afraid that everyone would catch a cold, so she asked Yang Wen to make ginger tea as soon as she entered the door: "Teacher, Yang Wen, Yang Yang and I will not be going back for the next two days. We will wait until the matter with that family is over before leaving."
"Thank you for your hard work." Xu Shulan held the hot water, and her hands finally felt a little warm.
"Dad, let me help you!" Yang Jinyang took off his hat and finally breathed a sigh of relief, his hair covered tightly.
Yang Wen washed the ginger and chopped it up: "It's a good thing you paid attention, otherwise people would talk about this later."
Yang Jinyang saw that her hair was indeed eye-catching when she looked at it in the window.
The burial took place on the 26th. The rain finally stopped that day and the coffin was carried up the mountain much more smoothly.
After everyone had sent the spirit away according to the ritual and received the small red envelopes, it was almost evening, so they walked back to the village along the mountain path, went to Qiaoxi to drink tea, and then went home.
After everyone left, the small house became empty.
The table and the floor were a mess, the big candle at the door was still burning, and the pile of firewood was not extinguished. Chen Yu rolled up his sleeves, swept up the garbage and threw it into the firewood pile.
After a while, white smoke rose and became thicker and thicker. Finally, a small flame broke through the white smoke and was unstoppable with the help of the strong wind.
Chen Yu closed his eyes, his nose felt sore and hot, and the crackling sound in his ears seemed to be sweeping away the weeds in his heart.
Burn it all, don't leave any trace, not even a trace. He doesn't want to remember the vicious look Chen Caiwang gave him at the last moment. It was too cold, cold to the bone.
Chen Yu squatted close to the fire, not afraid of sparks flying out at all.
The fire roasted his eyes, it was very hot, very hot. He didn't know how long it had been. He saw his swollen face become blurred, and his figure gradually faded. Finally, it all turned into a wisp of smoke and drifted away in the wind. It was finally over.
Another figure in the firelight became clearer and clearer, getting closer and closer...
"Thank you, it's late, you can go back, I'm fine..."
“…”
After Zhou Xi returned home, she sneaked out again while no one was paying attention. She followed the sound and found Chen Yu in the backyard.
There is another person, Le Cheng.
"Now that you're here, walk with me."
Chen Yu turned around and walked towards her. His plain clothes made his face look even paler. His lips were bloodless, but the corners of his eyes were red.
"good."
Zhou Xi understood Chen Yu's expression, but couldn't help turning her head when she was about to turn the corner. The person behind her was staring at Chen Yu so closely that she didn't even notice her turning around.
"I'm sorry for taking advantage of you."
Zhou Xi heard Chen Yu's hoarse voice, which contained a lot of suppressed emotions.
"It's okay, you are?"
Chen Yu looked up, it was getting dark: "Yes, but it's impossible."
"Did you get scared?" Chen Yu hadn't heard Zhou Xi speak for a long time.
"No, I just thought about what happened in junior high school and found it a little funny. They chose the wrong person. There's no point in fighting over it."
"I didn't expect that, but who doesn't long for the sun?" Chen Yu pursed her lips. It was useless to look up, as tears would still fall.
Zhou Xi sat on the stone pier and chose to wait.
"Zhou Xi, I need to transfer schools. I can't stay in No. 3 Middle School anymore."
"Think it over, do you really not want it anymore?"
"It's not a choice I have, it's a necessity."
"Then where are you going?" Zhou Xi saw that the fire at the door had gone out, with only sparks struggling.
"Yuxiu, my only way out is to get into a good university. The college entrance examination is my last chance."
"Just ask if you need anything."
"Thanks."
Zhou Xi threw a stone, causing ripples on the calm river surface.
"Don't lose yourself, you will."
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