Chapter 12
The next morning, everything was quiet.
A faint light shone through the mountain pass, and the sky was gray and just about to dawn. The entire village was hidden in the morning mist. Apart from the early birds calling and the crowing of roosters, there was almost no other sound.
Although the early morning is quiet, the work on the ground must start early.
The villagers were accustomed to hearing the roosters crow, rushing out to catch the morning's smell of earth, and returning before sunset. The work on the land wouldn't wait. The vegetable seedlings planted two days ago needed fertilizer early this morning, and the weeds around them had to be picked. The bright green leaves still clinged to the dew from the previous night. The soil, loosened by the hoes, mixed with the dew, felt soft underfoot when working in rubber shoes, but one had to be careful not to slip and fall flat on their backs.
After fetching water and applying fertilizer, I finished this area and then the next few areas. I was sweating when I finished all the work and it was already dawn.
Walking down the mountain, I found the gate of the village chief's house was open and there was no movement in the yard. There was only a child of three or four years old sitting on the threshold of the main room, with his head tilted against the door frame. He was not fully asleep yet and was holding a wooden toy in his hand and was reluctant to drop it.
"Dong, Dong" Li Cheng knocked twice on the open door.
The child suddenly woke up and stared at them blankly.
Li Cheng squatted down and lowered his voice, "Little friend, is this the village chief's house?"
The child stared blankly at the strange adults standing at his door. He grabbed the door frame, stood up, dropped the toy in his hand, and ran away in a hurry.
Seeing the frightened child running into the house, Li Cheng wondered, "Are children nowadays so shy?"
"Scared away by you?" Yang Ye yawned.
“I’m not a bad person.”
Hearing the commotion in the yard, my mother-in-law came out of the main room carrying a vegetable basket. Seeing them, she took a step back, holding onto the door frame with her hands, her eyes alert, as if the door would be shut if they took another step forward. "Who are you looking for?"
Li Cheng said politely, smiling, "We are doing archaeological work in the mountains and are here to see the village chief. Is this the village chief's home?"
"Yeah," the mother-in-law nodded, and looked at the people across from her suspiciously. Her body still reacted with caution, holding the basket in front of her, worried that these people might be burglars who were just dressed in decent clothes.
Xiao Ding noticed her mother-in-law's nervousness and took out her work ID to show her, "Don't worry, this is my work ID, you can take a look."
Grandma was skeptical. She put down her basket and wiped her hands on her apron before taking it with trembling hands. The work ID had Xiao Ding's photo on it, with the name of his work unit and a number handwritten underneath. Although she hadn't been educated much, she knew that a photo and name on a work ID meant it was legitimate.
I remembered that a while ago, the aunt next door told me that some incredible treasure seemed to have been unearthed on the mountain behind them. In the past few days, many people from the city have come here one after another. When they take a break, they will come down the mountain to chat with the villagers and ask about the village affairs.
The mother-in-law returned the documents to Xiao Ding and said, "The old man is dead and I don't know when he will be back."
Li Cheng agreed, "Is that so?"
The mother-in-law asked, "What do you want to see him about?"
Li Cheng said: "It's nothing serious, I just want to ask the village chief about some village affairs."
"Sit down and wait for a while." Grandma put the basket of vegetables at the door of the main room, brought out a few chairs from the house, and asked them to sit down. "The old man has to go to the fields every morning, and there is no definite news when he will be back."
Li Cheng casually asked, "Is there much work on the ground?"
"Not many, there are only a few plots of land in total. If you meet someone you know, and we just talk a few words, it will take a long time." The mother-in-law also sat down and talked to them while sorting out the slightly wilted vegetables in the basket.
Occasionally they would speak a few words, mostly just the mother-in-law, with Li Cheng chiming in, gossiping about family matters and other trivial matters. Those conversations were so boring that Zhou Yiheng yawned several times in a row from the moment he sat down.
The yard was simple in layout, and he glanced around carefully, quickly completing his inspection. The warm morning sun shone on his back, making him feel relaxed. When Yang Ye wasn't paying attention, he was lost in thought and dozed off.
Xiao Xiao waved her hand in front of his eyes, then pushed his arm to wake him up.
Yang Ye supported her chin with one hand. It was so comfortable. She didn't want to open her eyes, so she closed them and asked, "You're feeling sleepy so early in the morning. Didn't you sleep well last night?"
"I can't sleep. The mattress is too soft. Maybe I'm a little too attached to my bed." Zhou Yiheng pinched his fingertips to wake himself up.
Yang Ye opened his eyes. Zhou Yiheng was bleary-eyed, his forced eyes vacant. He rubbed his eyes, his eyelids slightly lowered, trying to dispel the lingering sleepiness. His eyes were still hazy, his gaze wandering, unable to find the right direction.
He just sat there quietly.
Yang Ye looked at him for a long time.
His dog-like eyes looked forward, clear and bright, and with the unique innocence of a teenager. Some things are really strange. At first glance, they seem similar, but when you think about it carefully, they seem strange. But after a while, that strangeness turns into a long-lost familiarity.
Li Cheng noticed the boy standing behind the door, who only dared to sneak a few glances. Originally, he was hiding under the square table in the house. Later, when he heard the adults gathered in the yard talking, he quietly came out and hid at the door, holding the door frame with one hand, and occasionally poking his head out to look at them.
Li Cheng made a face to tease him, but the boy was not afraid at all and responded by making a face as well.
"Your grandson?" Li Cheng was amused by him.
"Yes." The mother-in-law looked back at the boy and waved at him, not wanting him to run away.
Li Cheng asked, "How old are you?"
The mother-in-law is kind and loving, "Just three years old"
"Your house is still bigger."
"You have a grandson too. How old is he?"
"Two years and three months old," Li Cheng replied with a smile, "Children of this age are hard to control and are very naughty."
"Yes," the mother-in-law also said, "a few days ago, my son took him to the city. When he came back in the evening, he talked to me a lot. He followed me when I cooked and was restless even when I lit the fire."
She said this, but her eyes were smiling.
Sitting in the yard of the village chief's house and chatting about family matters, time passed quickly.
The sun gradually rose and the weather became warmer.
The wooden bench was low, and once seated, everyone was squeezed together. After a long time, they felt uncomfortable all over. Yang Ye and Li Chengxian couldn't help but stand up, straightening their backs and stretching their muscles. From the next yard, they heard the sounds of chickens being fed and a few dogs barking. As they looked at each other, they couldn't help but laugh.
It is both intimate and rare, perhaps this is a feeling that only people at that time could imagine.
The village chief appeared at his door carrying a load and a hoe. Seeing strangers standing in the yard, he asked confusedly, "Who are you?"
The white vest, already worn out of shape by washing, had its curved collar drooped, revealing a sweaty neck. His arms and face were tanned. The hems of his dark grey trousers were rolled up, revealing dirt and grass at the folds. On his feet were a pair of worn black cloth shoes, the toes caked with mud.
There was a thin layer of dirt on his face, hair, and hands. His brown palms were covered with calluses, his skin was thick and rough, and his body was hunched, but he was in excellent spirits, with sparkling eyes and wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, which became more obvious when he spoke.
Li Cheng walked over and extended his hand to the person opposite him: "You are the village chief, right?"
The village chief nodded awkwardly. Seeing the mud on his hands and the clean clothes of the person opposite him, he wiped his hands on his vest a few times before shaking Li Cheng's hand and answering, "I am, who are you?"
"Hello, village chief. We are from the archaeological team on the mountain. We would like to ask you about some things in the village," Li Cheng said, finding his work ID to show him.
The village chief glanced at the documents from a distance, put away his water-carrying pole and hoe, walked to the pool to wash his hands, and said slowly, "Archaeological team, what do you want to ask?"
Li Cheng glanced at Xiao Ding, who came over and asked the village chief familiarly, "We want to know when this village was established. Has the village ever produced any great figures, such as generals who fought in wars, top scorers in the imperial examination, or business owners? The earlier the better."
"There should be a few." The village chief sat down and took out a pack of crumpled cigarette butts from his pocket. He asked Li Cheng if he wanted to smoke. Li Cheng waved his hand, and he lit one for himself.
Smoke rings blew out of the village chief's nose. He thought for a moment, "I heard from my grandfather's generation that there were a few landlords in the village before, but they were later overthrown. During the Guangxu period, there were still some people working in the palace, but I don't know what they did."
Li Cheng asked again: "Do you have a family tree? Can you show it to us?"
"I have the family tree." The villager stood up, walked into the house, and took out the family tree wrapped in layers of cloth from the drawer of the main hall. "More than ten years ago, there was a flood in the village, and most of this book was covered with mud, so it is difficult to read."
He brought a stool and placed the cloth bag on it. "It was originally placed in the cabinet of the village committee, but the village committee was washed away during the flood. The village had no money to rebuild it, so they had no choice but to put the things in my house."
Carefully opening the cloth wrapping, he revealed a family tree with a dark blue cover, not much bigger than a modern book. The cover was stained with dried mud, and the handwriting was already blurred, but he could still make out the four large characters "Wang Family Tree" on it.
The village chief turned the pages one by one, starting from the first page, which was written in small seal script, and then changed to regular script. The font became clearer and clearer. There was a brief and detailed introduction from the year of birth, time of birth, generation, surname, parents' surnames, and the date of moving to the village.
The pages of the book are yellowed and there are mud marks on the footers. Although they have been wiped, the marks on them have been preserved over time.
If the mud prints at the front are relatively clean, then the further you go, the more blurry what you see becomes.
The words are not clear, the papers are stuck together and I can't open them even if I want to.
Li Cheng looked at the pile of blurry handwriting and felt worried.
"That's all," said the village chief, closing the family tree and rewrapping it with cloth. "I originally wanted to find someone to rewrite it, but now everyone in the village has left, and there are fewer and fewer people left. We don't know what they've done outside or how many times they've gotten married, so we've been putting it off."
Seeing the thoughtful expressions on their faces, he asked tentatively, "You're looking for this, did you find some treasure in the mountains?"
"Nothing precious," Xiao Ding responded first, giving the reason, "Knowing more about the village will also make it easier for us to organize and record it."
"So," the village chief believed, "then you shouldn't look for me, you should ask Aniu's great-grandmother, she knows more than us."
"Grandma, how old is she?" Xiao Xiao asked.
"More than a hundred years old. When she was born, Puyi was still the emperor," the village chief said jokingly.
Yang Ye stood outside the crowd. She didn't join the crowd to look at the family tree, but instead glanced around the main room. Just as she was looking up, she heard the village chief's words. A rare flicker of impatience crossed her calm face. Her brows furrowed, and she took a few deep breaths, as if to calm herself down. She glanced at the village chief standing in the middle, but ultimately said nothing.
Zhou Yi turned his head and happened to see the change that flashed across her face. Although he didn't understand, he didn't think too much about it.
Xiao Ding asked: "Where does this person you are talking about live? Is she still in the village?"
"Yes, it's on the mountain behind."
Li Cheng took over the conversation, "Then could you please show us the way?"
"What's the inconvenience? The sooner you finish it, the sooner we can start working on the road." The family tree was put back into the original drawer, and then went into the house to talk to the mother-in-law. The village chief took the hatchet at the door and led a few people over.
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