Cao Wenxuan's Blue Flowers

One autumn evening, a strange old woman hobbled along the dirt road in front of the village. At that time, Qiu Qiu was picking ginkgo under the ginkgo tree at the head of the village.

The old woman seems to be very old. A few gray hairs, it is difficult to cover her scalp and thin shoulder blades, and prop up an old coat that is too fat. Her teeth are almost gone, her mouth is deeply sunken, and her mouth can't help crawling unconsciously. She was leaning on a bamboo pole taller than herself, with a thin blue cloth bag on her arm, covered in dust, and seemed to come from far away.

When she finally reached the end of the village, she stopped and looked around strangely, as if trying to identify the village.

Qiu Qiu got a fright, hid behind the ginkgo tree and leaned out to see the old woman. When she suddenly felt that this was an old lady with a kind face and a little pity, she went forward and asked who she was looking for.

The old woman looked at Qiu Qiu: "I'm going home ... home ..." Her voice was vague and hoarse. But Qiu Qiu still understood. She stared at the old woman's face, her eyes full of doubts: who is she? Qiu Qiu was very confused, so he turned and ran home and led his grandmother, who was in her seventies, to the village head.

Grandma stared at the old woman for a long time, raised her stiff hand and pointed at each other:

"This ... isn't this a silver horn?"

"I went home ... home ..." The old woman went to her grandmother.

"You have been out for more than thirty years!"

"Come back, don't go ..."

The number of onlookers slowly increased. The young man didn't know the old lady and asked her, "Who is she?" "Yinjiao." "Who is Yinjiao?" "Silver Correction is Xiao and her mother."

"Who is Mix?" "Mix has been drowned for many years." ……

That night, Qiu Qiu sat on grandma's bed and listened to grandma's story about the old woman until after midnight. ...

two

Your grandmother Yinjiao does one thing in her life: help others cry. In recent years, the crying has faded. 10 years ago, anyone who had a funeral had to ask someone to help him cry.

Funerals always want to do a good job of funeral. This funeral should be done so that everyone in the former village and the back house can say it is decent. First, there must be ostentation and extravagance. Second, let people feel bitter and sad.

On the day of the funeral, many people came to see it from morning till night. Grandma likes watching and crying with others. Tears make me feel better.

If the funeral is not done well, someone will say, "Everyone in his family can't be sad, a group of heartless people." In fact, it is not necessarily not sad, but no one in that family will cry. If you want people to feel sad, you must criticize at the same time. Some people don't scold, just cry. There are also some people who are unreasonable. They are not very talkative. When they cry, they cry blindly and cry out what they shouldn't cry.

A few years ago, the Zhou Jia girl in Xiwangzhuang died. This is a scandal, which is not easy to make public. Sister-in-law is half an idiot, but in front of so many people, she cried and sniffed, "My own sister, why don't people die after abortion?" Why did you die after a miscarriage? " My miserable sister ... brother-in-law slapped me a mile away: "Go away! "Some people cry things not ugly, but the way of crying is ugly, very strange and ugly, and the voice is wrong, which makes people laugh at the funeral.

What's so important about this mourning? One more thing, you know? Your child's family doesn't know. Grandma told you: it was crying to death, but it was for the living. People will die, but we can't just let them die in vain! If you cry, you will criticize the merits of the dead life. When many good people die, there is no one to criticize. Others can't remember the merits and demerits of his life. What a pity that the living died quietly without any benefit! If someone can criticize while crying and put out the good things of his life one by one, this good man will be respected and his family will be respected. When you meet a dead bad guy or villain, you should cry and scold. No one will do bad things all his life, there will always be some good things. I have softened my heart by saying all his good things. If you think everyone is dead, you won't care anymore, and you will be a little sad when he dies! I don't think he is such a bad person, and my family has taken a high look since then.

In this way, people often ask some people who can cry to help them cry. Your grandmother Yinjiao cried the most. Anyone who has a funeral has to invite her.

Everyone in the village knows that she will cry when she is sixteen. In the autumn when she was thirteen, there were plagues everywhere. That day, her father was just carried away in the morning, and her mother left at night. Grow painfully to sixteen.

In the late spring of this year, Grandma Cunxi passed away. On the day of burial, all the children knelt on the ground and cried. People cry around the inner three floors and the outer three floors, pointing to who cries the most and who has more bitter water in his stomach. Your grandmother Yinjiao is standing in the distance. These five grandmothers are kind-hearted, and take Grandma Yinjiao, whom you have no dependence on, as your granddaughter. In your grandmother Yinjiao's heart, Grandma Wu is a great benefactor. Grandma Wu's family here is crying out of strength, and your grandmother Yinjiao is here. She plopped down on her knees in front of grandma Wu's coffin. First she cried silently, then she cried silently, and then she cried louder and louder. She scolded the five grandmothers one by one, crying more sadly than her son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren. She cried on the coffin of fifth grandma, and no one could persuade her to come. After crying, she couldn't cry, but she still cried. All the people present began to cry after her.

After that, everyone knew that your grandmother Yinjiao cried well; If there is any more funeral, I will ask your grandmother Yinjiao to help me cry. However, few people can know how your grandmother Yinjiao cries so well. She has a bitter heart and is a bitter person. ...

three

After grandma Yinjiao came back, she hired someone to build a small hut by the river that drowned that year. Since then, the life of wandering in a foreign land has completely ended.

Qiu Qiu often goes to Granny Yinjiao's cabin to play, and sometimes she is with Granny Yinjiao. At this time, she sat by and listened quietly to the loud but unclear conversation between the two old people. Look at their heads burning and shaking out of control. Sometimes, she goes alone; At that time, she would ask Granny Yinjiao endless questions. In Qiu Qiu's view, Granny Yinjiao is a story, a long and fascinating story.

Grandma Yinjiao likes Qiu Qiu very much. She likes her pigtails, small mouth and a pair of squinting eyes. She often reaches out her rough and trembling hands and caresses Qiu Qiu's head and cheeks. Sometimes, Granny Yinjiao's expression will become far away:

"Small, looks like you. When she left, she was younger than you ... "

Qiu Qiu ran to the cabin by the river whenever he had time. Old people and young people who have never met before always like to stay together. Qiu Qiu's grandmother said to people everywhere, "Our Qiu Qiu doesn't want me."

"You have been in jiangnan for decades. Do Jiangnan people also want to help cry? " Qiu Qiu asked.

"Man Zi won't cry, speak softly, cry out loud, sad. Jiangnan people are proud and always want to make the funeral decent, so many women with beautiful voices in Jiangbei have come to Jiangnan. If someone needs help crying, help crying; When you don't help crying, you take care of the children, sew clothes, cook and do odd jobs. Jiangnan people have money and can earn a lot of money. "

"Why do you earn so much money?"

"Build a house! Build a big house, a wide and spacious house. "

"Why not build it?"

"It's covered."

"Where is it?"

"It's three miles from here, in dayangzhuang."

When Qiu Qiu asked her why she built her house in dayangzhuang and why she lived in this small house instead of the big house in dayangzhuang, she stopped talking and looked at dayangzhuang outside, as if looking for something that was almost gone in her memory. Soon, Qiu Qiu heard her heavy sigh. For a long time, she remained silent.

Qiu Qiu returned home, told this scene to her grandmother and asked her why.

Grandma told her, "At that time, your grandmother Yinjiao was famous for crying. Whose funeral? Fiona Fang Myers came to see her cry. She was dressed in plain clothes, with a white handkerchief tucked in the neckline, her hair neatly combed and a small blue flower inserted. People who help to cry always insert a small blue flower. She came, asked the story of the deceased, sighed, knelt in front of the crying person, slapped her hand on the ground, threw her head back and burst into tears. Everyone else who knelt down and cried forgot to cry. It was not until your grandmother Yinjiao burst into tears that she remembered what she should do. She followed her and cried all the way. Your grandmother Yinjiao's long cry can make people tremble. She can sink for a long time in one breath, like a hundred years, and then slowly come to her senses.

"She can sing and cry. Her voice is very beautiful. She really cried and made people cry. What everyone likes to hear is her scolding and crying. Crying and crying, she' scolded'. If a child dies, she will scold:' You debt collector! Mom, is it easy for me to raise you with a mouthful of water and a mouthful of rice? You heartless son of a bitch, just want a little help from you, kick you and leave? "How dare you!" She cried and said how the child's mother conceived him, gave birth to him and raised him. After crying, she shouted:' If I had known today, your mother would have locked you in the toilet …' If an old man died, she would shout:' You damn fool, your heart is really cruel! Leave us alone, old and young. You go to leisure and make us suffer! Why don't you take us with you? "You hurt all of us …" Now that you mention it, don't you think it strange that so many people came all the way to listen to your grandmother Yinjiao cry?

"Listen to cry, there is a gentleman who teaches primary school in dayangzhuang.

The man is quiet, his face is very white and he wears a pair of glasses. As long as he hears the news that your grandmother Yinjiao is crying, he will always arrive. When he came, he stood in the crowd and silently looked at your grandmother Yinjiao. Every time she cries, Grandma Yinjiao always looks like she is seriously ill, and her face is ugly, so she can't get up on the stool. The people who listened to the crying dispersed, but she still had no strength to go home. That little gentleman always follows closely. Your grandmother Yinjiao is on her way. He followed her not far away and kept her at home. Then your grandmother Yinjiao married him.

"In those days, your grandmother Yinjiao was like a different person, smiling all day, and her face was always red. Alone, now I have a family and a companion, and I am still a cultured person who loves to wash my face with soap. She is naturally satisfied. In those days, she always thought that she couldn't let him live with her, so she went everywhere to help cry. But she won't cry all the time. The rest of the time, she will help people make clothes and collect soles.

"Later, she gave birth to a daughter, called little man. When Mix celebrated her fourth birthday, she discussed with him: "If we had more money, we could build a house." . I want to go to Jiangnan, and Gao Qiao is headed by Oh Mom, who is willing to take me there. You are very young at home. She went to Jiangnan.

Two years later, she brought back a sum of money and built a big house in dayangzhuang, where she couldn't find a second home in Fiona Fang. There were three people in the family. After a while, she left again. Finally, when the house was built and the money was not enough, I asked someone else to borrow money.

She thinks there should be something in such a big house, otherwise it will look empty. She also wants to buy more clothes for her father and daughter to prevent them from walking in front of others and being looked down upon. Besides, she is used to wandering outside.

"She didn't expect that when she came back every other year, Mr. Xiao had fallen in love with one of his female students. The students at that time were very old. That girl is very beautiful.

And your grandmother Yinjiao is old at this time; A pair of eyes are always wet with tears all year round, and the edges are rotten, which makes people not very refreshing. She begged him piteously. He said that the girl had a child. She didn't make any noise and came back with the small one.

I said to her,' The house was built with the money you earned. Why did you leave it to him? "You are so honest and stupid!" She held Mix tightly in her arms and said nothing. Tell him to get out! Many people said to her. She shook her head and said, "I have a little darling. She buried her mouth in tiny hair and rolled it into her mouth with her tongue while crying. Since then, she has never been to Dayangzhuang ... "

Qiu Qiu walked to the door and looked at the hut by the river with a pair of tearful eyes. ...

four

Qiu Qiu ran to Granny Yinjiao's cabin more often. She is willing to enjoy the cool with Grandma Yinjiao by the river, to bask in the sun under the eaves, and to listen to Grandma Yinjiao's rambling. Grandma Yinjiao doesn't feel lonely with Qiu Qiu. If Qiu Qiu doesn't come for a few days, Grandma Yinjiao will stand on the bamboo pole, put her hand on her forehead and watch the road.

September 13 is Mix's birthday. Early in the morning, Grandma Yinjiao sat by the river. She didn't cry, just stared at the autumn river.

When Qiu Lai was in autumn, she obediently sat beside Grandma Yinjiao and stared at the river.

Grandma Yinjiao seems to be saying to Qiu Qiu and herself, "I shouldn't have entrusted her to Jiangnan. She was only seven years old when she left. She must miss me. She ran to the river and made a boat out of reed leaves. I know. She wants the boat to take her to me. The wind blew the boat away. The child was so stupid that he forgot to drink water and even took off his shoes. He followed the boat. This river bank is steep! She hung up the phone and slipped ... "

She said it as if she had seen it with her own eyes: "I left that day and she cried and wouldn't let me go."

I coaxed her into saying, "Mom will buy you something nice." Small said, "I want a lollipop." Mom will buy you lollipops. The cabinet said,' I want a small horn that can blow the horn. Mom will buy you a trumpet. My cupboard is lovely. Stop fooling around and take my hand to the village entrance. I said, "Mix, go home!" Mix shook his head: "You go first." The little one comes first. Mom goes first. ..... I was trying to make money outside, and I fell down and tried to grab a handful of mud! At night, I want nothing but my smallness.

I bought her a lollipop, a small horn that makes a harsh sound when blown. I will go back.

Along the way, I thought: Send Mix to school in autumn. I send her there every day and pick her up every day so that she can read as much as her father ... This child, how stupid she is ... "

Her eyes looked straight at the water, as if to see a lovely little guy from the water.

Towards noon, Grandma Yinjiao said, "I gave birth to Mix at this time."

She asked Qiu Qiu to help her walk to the water's edge, then sat down on the river bank, fumbled out a small cloth bag from her pocket, put it in her palm, and shook it open to reveal a pile of bills. "Small ones cost money!" She put money on the water one by one. There is a breeze on the river, and money, large and small, forms a long queue and winds downstream.

Qiu Qiu cupped his chin in his hands and silently watched the money slip away one by one.

Sometimes the wind is a little biased, and the money is blown to the shore and blocked by reed poles. She will push them away with branches and let them continue to float away.

About forty or fifty meters away from them, a boy named Jiukuan and a boy named Shrimp put a boat with ducks across the middle of the river, lying on the side of the boat, waiting for the money to float over one by one. They quarreled later.

Jiukuan said, "Can't you catch it next year?"

Shrimp said, "Don't catch it next year?"

After the argument, they went back to the way they had agreed: one for nine widths and one for shrimp.

Qiu Qiu finally found them and ran along the river. She said loudly:

"Don't you make money!"

Jiukuan cheekily smiled and said, "Let you catch it?"

"Bah!" Qiu Qiu said: "This is for small money!"

Jiukuan knew a thing or two and said, "Mix is long dead."

Qiu Qiu found three or four half bricks and held one high: "If you don't go away, I'll waste it!" She has a terrible face.

Jiukuan and Shrimp are a little afraid of Qiu Qiu. Seeing Qiu Qiu holding a brick in his hand, he really wanted to smash it, so he had to hold the boat in the distance until Qiu Qiu could not see it. But he didn't leave, still waiting patiently for the money to flow down the river.

Qiu Qiu sat on the high bank of the river, guarding the river very carefully, watching the money drift past one by one with his eyes.

five

The crying in this place once failed, but it has gradually flourished in recent years.

This spring, an 80-year-old woman died in Zouzhuang, two miles north. Children and grandchildren are full, and there are many rich people who are determined to do a good job in the funeral and compare all the funerals they have done. The older one said, "Grandma Yinjiao from the South is back, please ask her to help me cry!" " "Young people don't know much about grandma Yinjiao's brilliance. As soon as she cried, the older people told her the prestige of the year in detail, just like telling a mythical figure. Encouraged by this, the head of the family invited an old man to invite Grandma Yinjiao.

Grandma Yinjiao heard someone ask her to help her cry, her head was trembling and her neck was shaking, and her dark brown hands were shaking. There are people here who remember her! You still need her! "I'll go, I'll go!" She said.

That day, she asked Qiu Qiu to help her, went to the river, washed her face, neck, arms and new clothes with clear water, and asked Qiu Qiu to comb her hair smoothly. Qiu Qiu is very excited and busy.

Finally, Granny Yinjiao asked Qiu Qiu to pick a small blue flower from the ridge and put it on her head.

Grandma Yinjiao was picked up by a small wooden boat. Qiu Qiu also went with the ship.

The news spread and hundreds of people came from all directions. They want to see grandma Yinjiao, who is often mentioned by the old people, and appreciate her crying, which is famous in the surrounding dozens of miles.

Most people don't know the silver horn, so they ask each other, "Where is it? Where is it? "

Someone pointed, "That's it."

People seem a little disappointed. Grandma Yinjiao seems to have lost the elegance they felt in the legend. They can only expect her to cry.

At the beginning of mourning, a group of people knelt in front of the coffin of the deceased and began to cry one after another.

Grandma Yinjiao, supported by someone, walked to the front of the kneeling and crying crowd. At this time, the onlookers suddenly quieted down from the commotion, and all eyes followed Grandma Yinjiao.

Grandma Yinjiao didn't kneel very neatly, but someone helped her and she almost fell to the ground. When she took out the white handkerchief from the neckline, she also looked a little sloppy, which made people who witnessed her crying feel a little uncomfortable. As usual, she raised her face, raised her hand with a handkerchief and patted it on the ground, but it lacked some weight. She began to cry. She wanted to raise her voice very high at once, but she couldn't help it. The voice is old and ordinary, and she doesn't have the power to seize the heart and tear it apart at once.

The onlookers became a little excited.

Drill in the innermost Qiu Qiu lift up your face, looking at those onlookers. Seeing the disappointment in their eyes, she couldn't help feeling sorry for Grandma Yinjiao. How she wished Granny Yinjiao would cry loudly and break her heart!

However, Granny Yinjiao's voice is so weak and disgraceful!

Once upon a time, she was good at swearing. But at that time, her memory and oral expression were particularly good, and she spoke very clearly. Although she was crying, she really heard every word. Now, she seems to be scribbling aimlessly in a secluded place, and others don't know what she scolded.

Jiukuan and Shrimp, who came to watch the excitement with adults, climbed to the top of the open shed. At first, I pretended to look at it carefully, but now I have no patience and hit each other with the fruit of neem tree.

Qiu Qiu stared at them mercilessly.

Jiukuan and Shrimp turned their necks to Qiu Qiu, blinked, ignored them, and still smashed the neem fruit.

When the shrimp was trying to avoid a nine-wide neem fruit, it accidentally fell to the ground, grinning with pain. Qiu Qiu scolded in his mind, "What a good fall! I fell dead! "

At this point, the family of the deceased cried brilliantly. The granddaughters are all young and strong, and they have beautiful voices. Compared with filial piety and pain, they cried with great momentum and drowned grandma Yinjiao's cry.

People were a little disappointed and dispersed after a while.

Qiu Qiu has been watching, silently waiting for grandma's Yinjiao.

After the funeral, Grandma Yinjiao was a little wobbly after being helped up. Fortunately, Qiu Qiu is her support.

The host family is a good family. Many people came up to thank Granny Yinjiao, and resolutely disagreed with Granny Yinjiao's idea of walking back by herself, or sent someone to take her back by boat.

Along the way, Grandma Yinjiao didn't speak. She grabbed Qiu Qiu's hand and stared at the river in a daze. The wind stirred a few strands of hair on her yellow forehead.

Qiu Qiu felt that Granny Yinjiao's hands were cold. ...

six

In summer, Mr. Gui in the village died again.

Grandma Yinjiao asked Qiu Qiu, "Do you know when their family is sad?"

Qiu Qiu replied, "Grandma said tomorrow afternoon."

The next afternoon, Grandma Yinjiao asked Qiu Qiu again, "Don't they need help crying?"

Qiu Qiu said, "No."

In fact, she heard from her grandmother that Master Gui's family had invited a crying ghost at the bridge.

"Oh!" Grandma Yinjiao nodded, but she looked very dull.

After that, it rained for several days, and Qiu Qiu didn't go to Grandma Yinjiao's cabin. She sometimes stands at the door and looks at the hut through the transparent rain curtain. It's sunny, and light blue smoke comes out of every chimney. Qiu Qiu suddenly said to grandma:

"Why doesn't Granny Yinjiao's chimney smoke?"

Grandma took a look, pulled Qiu Qiu out of the house and walked to the hut.

In a short time, Qiu Qiu cried and went door to door, telling people:

"Granny Yinjiao is dead ..."

Several old people changed grandma Yinjiao's clothes and cried for her. It's very warm and can't be put on hold for a long time. A coffin tied her up and carried her to the barren hills. Because most people are not familiar with her, although the coffin followed in a long queue, they all went to see the burial and almost no one cried.

Qiu Qiu followed Granny Yinjiao's coffin closely. She didn't cry either, but her eyes were dull.

People dispersed one by one, but Qiu Qiu didn't leave. She is a child and people don't pay attention to her. She looked at the pile of new soil and didn't know whether she wanted to cry or not.

Jiukuan and shrimp walk on the ridge of the field.

Jiukuan said, "We can't make any money on September 13 this year."

Shrimp said, "I want to buy a small horn!" " "

Qiu Qiu turned around and saw Jiukuan and Shrimp skipping forward. Suddenly, he intercepted it obliquely and got into their midst.

Before they could react, she had grabbed their ears with both hands and made them scream in pain: "What happened to us? What happened to us? "

Qiu Qiu didn't answer. He bit his lips with his teeth, grabbed their ears, dragged them all the way to grandma Yinjiao's grave, and then made them kneel on the ground: "Cry!

Cry! "

Jiukuan and Shrimp rubbed their ears with their hands and said, "We ... we won't cry." They are a little afraid of Qiu Qiu in front of them and dare not get up and run away.

"Cry!" Qiu Qiu kicked them respectively.

They began to cry. I cried badly. Crying, while secretly laughing at each other, and secretly glance at Qiu Qiu.

Qiu Qiu suddenly had a sour nose and said, "Get out!"

Jiukuan and Shrimp ran away.

On the battlefield, Qiu Qiu is lonely. She picked a handful of small blue flowers and sprinkled them on Grandma Yinjiao's grave.

Those flowers are so blue and bright that you can see them from a distance.

Qiu Qiu knelt down at Granny Yinjiao's grave.

The fields are quiet. On the quiet field, a little girl's distant and pure cry echoed gently.

At that time, the kind twilight was shut in the field. ...