The story of Lao Zhang in the carriage shop

I'm talking about the late Qing Dynasty.

In the twenty-second year of Guangxu, that is, the year before last, Li Hongzhang's adult just signed the treaty of shimonoseki with the Japanese, so the days of fighting temporarily ended. Although exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous fees have not decreased, ordinary people are not so worried. The emperor of Beijing, Galeries Lafayette, is so far away from us that I dare not even think about it.

Liu's car shop is also a minor celebrity in Xiahe Town. It is said that boss Liu and the government are also good friends. Lao Zhang is the driver in Liu's shop. He is a steady driver, eats well and is a good worker. In Liu's shop, he is also an old master, but this big Lao Zhang is a bit bad and his mouth is too big. He likes to brag. Others drink too much. Blow. He doesn't drink or suck. He is duplicitous and doesn't understand.

The driver's favorite thing to do is to get together after work to blow his calves and drink a little wine. They are all suffering people and have not seen much of the world. Except what I saw on the rickshaw, most of them were men and women, nothing serious. I don't know why that day, but I talked about the ghosts in the ancient stone bridge in the town.

The ancient stone bridge in the town east, I don't know when it was built, but it crossed a modest ditch. Usually you can walk when it is dry, but when it rains, the ditch can become half the width of the river and several feet deep, so you really can't cross without a bridge. After crossing the stone bridge, even half of the forest is not an ancient tree, but a poplar with scars on its eyes. We call this tree. The ghost clapped his hands and said it was windy, the leaves made a loud noise, and then they chased it to dark. Sounds like a bunch of things, still clapping your hands, which is quite impressive. The legend doesn't know when it started. At midnight, a woman sat on the stone pier by the bridge, with long hair and sobbing, and disappeared at dawn. But during the day, no one in the nearby Qiliba village has seen this woman.

The coachmen all felt a little strange when they talked about it. They didn't say anything, but they were directly afraid. In this troubled times, there is nothing, and some feel sorry for this woman. They said something might have happened at home, but it wasn't necessarily a female ghost.

Lao Zhang left his pie mouth when he heard this. What a ghost! He just scared himself. I'll bring her back for everyone to see. Lao Zhang is used to talking at ordinary times. When everyone heard him say this, they all laughed and didn't take it seriously.

Today, Lao Zhang probably drank some wine and boasted more vigorously than usual. Seeing that others did not respond, he felt that he had lost face. He said to them, don't believe me. I'll get that bitch back after drinking. Other drivers ignored him, but young Li drank a little, and said, Lao Zhang, just now, I need a wife, so you can help me get it back. Lao Zhang was glad to see someone answering the phone and said he would go at once. Everyone laughed for a while.

To tell the truth, no one is serious at this time.

As luck would have it, Liu Er, the shopkeeper, passed by and saw how busy it was inside. When he heard it, he said, Lao Zhang, don't brag. I'll give you an extra month's salary if you can bring back the ghost of Guqiao to be Li's wife. If you can't get it back, you are a braggart. Lao Zhang is a proud man and an old-school Liu's coaching shop. How can you let a person who is in charge of the second place speak directly? At that time, he said, two cabinets, a gentleman speaks quickly and keeps his word. The shopkeeper said, I can still lie to you in front of so many postures. Lao Zhang borrowed a healthy mule from the second shopkeeper, went to the backcourt, put a few layers of oil on the mule's ass and rode away.

From the coach shop, the more you go to Dongguqiao, the darker the sky is, the moon is not bright, and the sky is gloomy, like old and broken gray cotton wool. Lao Zhang rode on a mule, and the wine slowly passed. I thought there really was a woman crying at night on this ancient bridge, but no one saw it with their own eyes. What if it's really a female ghost? Turn around and run, whatever. Anyway, the mule's ass and tail are oiled, and even the ghost can't be caught. But if I get caught, I'll read Buddha and Bodhisattva at once, read aloud and shout loudly, presumably to scare this ghost. The more I think about it, the more I feel that it seems to be getting cold, and the hairs on my back want to stand on end.

When the mule came to the ancient bridge, its hoof kicked and stamped on the ground. Lao Zhang rode on the back of a mule and tried to look at the stone pier by the bridge, but it was too dark to see the outline of the stone pier half a man high. The stone bridge also made this gray reflection, and I couldn't see anything clearly. Lao Zhang had no choice but to get off the mule. He patted the mule's neck with his hand and found Dajian mule standing sweating all over. Lao Zhang summoned up his courage and walked to the bridge. He felt a twinge of regret. He only hates that he didn't bring the flint with him, and now he is walking in disgrace.

Moving to the bridge next to the stone pier, the clouds in the sky cracked a small crack, and the moon was still invisible, but brighter than before. Lao Zhang held the pier in one hand and looked around. Opposite the river ditch, poplar leaves are ringing in the wind, like a large group of people hiding around clapping. Lao Zhang looked at it for a long time, but there was no one around, no one. I hung my heart for a long time and slowly put it down. Forget it. It's all a lie. There are no ghosts. Go back by mule.

Just took two steps, I heard the crying behind me.

Lao Zhang suddenly felt scared, wanted to run, and couldn't lift his legs. He could feel it shivering. Obviously no one saw it, who was crying there!

When Lao Zhang stood in situ, a woman's voice came from behind him for a while. Brother Zhang, when you turned around and heard the sound, Lao Zhang suddenly felt very familiar. He is like the second girl in the teahouse next to the garage. He slowly turned around and saw a woman sitting on the dock a few steps away, with long hair covering her face and unclear facial features. She was wearing a green coat, shining in the moonlight. How do you know my last name is Zhang? Why are you sitting here at midnight? Are you a girl? The woman said, Brother Zhang, you will know who it is when you come near ... The older Zhang Ming knew that there was something fishy in it, but this leg involuntarily pulled him to the woman.

So close, a woman's hand leans on her leg, and under the moon, her hand is white without blood. Lao Zhang said, who the hell are you? I haven't finished asking. I don't know where the wind came from and blew all the hair off that woman's face. Now Lao Zhang can see clearly that this woman has no face! Where there is a long face, there is no face!

? Who is this? He is a ghost! Lao Zhang was scared at that time. Why did he read aloud the Bodhisattva and quickly get on the mule? He doesn't remember anything. His head is empty, and his legs seem to grow on the ground. It's inhuman to stare at such human hair in front of him. The woman stood up slowly, gave a cry and laugh, and slowly came to Lao Zhang. With every step, her body became bigger, and the green coat began to crack inside her body and make a noise. Lao Zhang watched the ghost's scalp explode slowly, and his hair fell all over the floor, hiding a black thing inside. At this time, Lao Zhang felt his head ringing and his legs moving. He turned and shouted to his mother, and then ran to the mule. That GREAT GHOST is still unhurried, step by step, but each step is bigger and deeper than the previous one. The big mule was stunned and stood still. Lao Zhang just jumped on the mule and shook his hand and spanked the mule desperately. The big mule was stunned and motionless. Lao Zhang smoked a few mouthfuls and the animal began to run away. Lao Zhang lies on the back of the mule. He listened to the ghost of the big man behind him, and he could feel the air conditioner spraying on his back. Lao Zhang secretly turned around. The black thing made him angry. Clothes and so on have long gone, like a mass of black fog, claws stretched out in advance, once and for all caught the mule's ass, thanks to oil, but still can't escape the ghost's long claws. Every time I catch it, the mule can't stand the pain, screaming and rushing forward. The ghost has been chasing after him and stamping his feet on the ground. Lao Zhang is lying on the mule's back, running around, thinking about it all the time.

Back, the ghost of air conditioning, but also one share spray up, Lao Zhang regretted it.

But suddenly, the ghost's air conditioner disappeared. Lao Zhang looked up and saw that the mule knew the way and ran back to the cart shop. The people in the cart shop are still there, brightly lit, waiting for Lao Zhang to catch the female ghost back. Lao Zhang jumped into the yard, grabbed it on the ground and shouted, there is a ghost, it's a female ghost. Next to him, he saw Lao Zhang flop down. First, he laughed for a while, and then everyone felt something was wrong. Lao Zhang was sweating all over, his braids were blown up and his face was pale. He hurriedly asked what was going on, but Lao Zhang was speechless and drank a bowl of water, making his eyes stupid. It's a female. The coachmen also slowly felt panic, and they all dispersed. Li didn't dare to say anything more and left in a hurry. The shopkeeper Liu Er knocked out the cigarette in his pipe and came over and said to Lao Zhang, let's go back to the house. Lao Zhang sat for a long time, watching the morning sun shine through the window, and felt that the car could not catch up and had to rest for two days.

It is also evil. The next day, Lao Zhang was ill. High fever, full of nonsense This disease is endless. I often sit up from the kang in the middle of the night, saying nothing and staring at my eyes, just like a porcelain hook, with no god in my eyes. I don't know how to drink water every day, but I have no time to wipe my sweat. People like to take it out of the water and give the mat on the kang a person's appearance. Mrs. Lao Zhang is too small to do any heavy work. For many years, she has no children. The whole family is pointing at Lao Zhang alone. Lao Zhang is ill and wants to ask the doctor to take medicine, but he can't drink any medicine, so he can't take it. That sweat is scary. This makes Mrs. Zhang anxious. She found the car shop with her little feet and wanted to ask everyone for help.

The handlebars in the coach's shop are all rough. They haven't read any books. They think about how to get the car ready every day and get money every month, which is better than farming and collecting manure in the city. Who can come up with any good ideas? Who can really take the time to help Lao Zhang?

Ask the shopkeeper Liu Er. Li knew Mrs. Lao Zhang and poured a bowl of water.

The shopkeeper Liu Er listened to Mrs. Lao Zhang's tears and said nothing for a long time. He took two dollars back, gently put it on the table and said, Sister-in-law, look at this posture. It's terrible that Xu Daoren went through customs clearance in Chengxi III. Go find him. Take care of these two wallets first, and then Lao Zhang will go back to the store and look for the supply cabinet slowly.

The Taoist Xu of Sanqingguan in the west of the city is thin, wearing a black robe and a small bun on his head, all gray and poked with chopsticks. After listening to Lao Zhang's story, she copied a mahogany stick and cooked a meal at Lao Zhang's house. It's strange to say. As soon as Taoist Xu entered the room, Lao Zhang stood up from the kang and sat up without speaking. His eyes were fixed on Taoist Xu. When Xu Daochang put the mahogany stick on the kang, Lao Zhang's black eyes turned up. Xu Daochang took one look, swung it up and hit Lao Zhang with a few sticks on his back. Then he took out two pieces of yellow paper and told Mrs. Lao Zhang to burn it, mix it with water, and drink it if you don't go in, no matter where you pour it. Finally, looking back, I said, this is dirty. This month 17, there was a lot of blood. If you can do it, you can do it If you can't do it, no one can stop it.

I didn't want money, so I walked away.

Drink Taoist Xu's spell with water, and the next day, Lao Zhang's illness recovered and his sweat disappeared, and he became more and more normal every day.

On the sixteenth day, Mrs. Zhang told Lao Zhang what Taoist Xu said before he left. Lao Zhang said a long time ago that he would go to the garage tomorrow to see if he could send a job. No, forget it.

/kloc-on the morning of 0/7, early in the morning, just before dawn, the door of the yard rang, and Lao Zhang put on his clothes to watch. It turned out to be a cousin that I haven't seen for years in my second aunt's family in Shandong. It was said that he had made a fortune. Behind him, several camels, full of goods, and two followers hurried back to Shandong and passed by.

Lao Zhang hurried into the room.

Cousin said, Cousin, followers don't come in. Let me tell you something. As I spoke, I took off my wallet on my shoulder and took out a few small gold coins and a few small ingots. Lao Zhang didn't see so much gold and silver, so he was startled and said, Cousin, what do you mean?

Cousin said, cousin, sister-in-law, I have been driving for a long time and I am very thirsty. Can you get me a bowl of water?

Mrs. Zhang quickly got up and went to the kitchen to scoop water. When she returned to the door, she heard two brothers fighting and ran to the house. Seeing that my cousin seems to have grown up, her hair has fallen out, her head is cracked in half, and her claws are black and long. When Lao Zhang saw his wife running over, he shouted, don't be stupefied, and bring me the kitchen knife at home quickly. This is a monster, not a cousin!

Mrs. Zhang was so frightened that her legs could not move for a long time. She stood at the door, looking at the monster. She grabbed Lao Zhang with one paw and bit it down, pulling her face. Mrs. Zhang's eyes were black with fear. She heard the monster pass by and said, if you dare to take a knife, you will eat it!

At dawn, neighbors found several dead camels tied to Lao Zhang's door, and their skins were rotten. There are two bodies, mutilated and decomposed, which seem to have been dead for a long time.

Hurriedly ran into the house and saw Mrs. Zhang in a coma at the door. Lao Zhang was bitten by something, his head was half pulled, and his limbs were scattered in the room. The strangest thing is that there are several gold bars and ingots wrapped in yellow and white tin foil on the table.