Key points of Chapter 2 of Luo Tuo Xiang

Twenty-one

Xiangzi’s car was sold!

Money was like running water, and his hand could no longer hold it back; dead people had to be carried out, and even opening a disaster list cost money.

Xiangzi seemed dumbfounded. Seeing everyone in a hurry, he just took out the money. His eyes were terribly red, and there was a ball of yellow-white blur in the corners of his eyes; his ears were deafened, and he followed everyone around without knowing what he was doing.

Following Hu Niu’s coffin to the outside of the city, he gained some clarity, but he still couldn’t think about anything in his heart. No one attended the funeral except Xiangzi and Xiao Fuzi's two younger brothers. Each of them held a dozen thin pieces of paper money and scattered them along the road to the roadblock.

Silently stumbling, Xiangzi watched the bearer bury the coffin, but he did not cry. It was like a raging fire was burning in his mind, drying up his tears and making him unable to cry even if he wanted to. Staring blankly, he almost didn't know what it was for. It wasn't until the "boss" came to explain that he thought about going home.

The room has been tidied up by Xiao Fuzi. When he came back, he fell down on the kang, too tired to move any more. His eyes were too dry to close, and he stared blankly at the ceiling with some traces of rain leaks. Unable to fall asleep, he sat up. After taking a look inside the room, he didn't dare to look again. I don't know what to do. He went out and bought a pack of "Yellow Lion" cigarettes. Sitting on the edge of the Kang, he lit a cigarette; he didn't like smoking. I stared blankly at the blue smoke on the end of the cigarette, and suddenly burst into tears, not only thinking of Huniu, but also everything. After coming to the city for a few years, this is the result of his hard work, that's it, that's it! He couldn't even cry! Car, car, car is your job. Buy, lose; buy again, sell; rise and fall three times, like a ghost, never able to catch it, and suffer all the hardship and grievance in vain. Nothing, nothing, not even a wife! Although Huniu is powerful, how can we have a family without her? Looking at the things in the house, they all belong to her, but she herself is buried outside the city! The more he thought about it, the more he hated it. His tears were held back by his anger. He smoked the cigarette fiercely. The less he liked it, the more he wanted to smoke it.

After finishing the cigarette, I held my head in my hands. My mouth and heart were burning. I wanted to scream for a while and spurt out all the blood in my heart.

At some unknown time, Xiao Fuzi came in and stood in front of the dish table in the outer room, staring at him blankly.

He looked up suddenly and saw her, and tears flowed down quickly. At this time, even when he saw a dog, he would shed tears; he was filled with grievances and wanted to vent them when he met a living thing; he wanted to talk to her and get some sympathy. However, he talked too much and couldn't open his mouth.

"Brother Xiang!" She moved forward, "I packed everything."

He nodded, not caring to thank her; politeness in sorrow It's hypocrisy.

"What are you going to do?"

"Huh?" He didn't seem to understand, but then he understood and shook his head - he didn't care to think about it. way.

She took two more steps forward, her face suddenly turned red, showing a few white teeth, but she could not speak. Her life forces her to forget her shame, but when it comes to serious matters, she is still a sincere woman: a woman's heart uses up most of her heart in shame. "I want..." was all she said. There were many words in her mind; when her face turned red, they all suddenly ran away and she could no longer think of them.

There are not many truths in the world, and a woman's blush is worth a lot of words; even Xiangzi understood what she meant. In his eyes, she was the most beautiful woman, and her beauty was in her bones. Even though she had sores all over her body and her skin was rotten, she was still beautiful in his heart. She is beautiful, she is young, she is strong, she is diligent and thrifty. If Xiangzi wants to marry again, she is an ideal person. He didn't want to remarry right away, and he couldn't think about anything else. But since she was willing and had to propose it immediately because of the pressure of life, he seemed to have no way to refuse. She was so kind and had helped him so much. He could only nod. He really wanted to go over and hug her, cry happily, cry out all the grievances, and then work together with her to move forward. Running hard. In her, he saw the comfort that a man could get and deserve from a woman.

He is not very talkative, but when he meets her, he is willing to talk casually; with her listening, his words will not be in vain; her nod or smile is the most perfect answer, which makes him feel that he is really Became "home".

At this moment, Xiao Fuzi's second brother came in: "Sister! Dad is here!"

She frowned. As soon as she opened the door, Er Qiangzi had already walked into the courtyard.

"What are you doing in Xiangzi's house?" Er Qiangzi's eyes widened, his feet were mixed with garlic, and he swayed here and there: "You haven't sold enough, you have to sell it for free. Teaching Xiangzi to play? You shameless thing!" Xiangzi rushed out when he heard his name and stood behind Xiao Fuzi.

"I'm talking about Xiangzi," Er Qiangzi tried to straighten his chest crookedly, but he couldn't even stand upright: "I'm talking about Xiangzi, are you still a human being? Who are you taking advantage of?" No matter what, just taking advantage of her? "

Xiangzi didn't want to bully a drunkard, but the depression in his heart made him unable to control his anger. He took a step forward. The four red eyes were facing the light, as if they were about to stir up in the air and send out sparks. Xiangzi grabbed Er Qiangzi's shoulder and threw him far away as if he were lifting a child.

The condemnation of conscience turns into rage through drinking: Er Qiangzi’s drunkenness was somewhat of a pretense. After this fall, he half woke up. He wanted to counterattack, but he knew that he was no match for Xiangzi. It's very uncomfortable to go out like this honestly. He sat on the ground and refused to stand up, and it was inconvenient to sit like this all the time. He was so confused that he could only say casually: "What does it have to do with you if I discipline my children? Beat me? Your grandma! You deserve it!"

Xiangzi didn't want to talk back, so he just kept silent. Quietly waiting for him to counterattack.

Xiao Fuzi was in tears and didn’t know what to do. It was useless to persuade his father, and he felt uneasy watching Xiangzi beat him. She groped around all over her body, collected a dozen copper coins, and gave them to her brother. The younger brother would never dare to get close to his father's body on weekdays. Today, seeing that his father was beaten to the ground, he felt a little bolder. "Here you go, let's go!"

Er Qiangzi took the money with eyes and stood up while chattering:

"Leave it alone for you girls!" I'll kill you all with my sword!" As he was about to reach the street gate, he shouted, "Xiangzi! Let's see you outside!"

Er Qiangzi! After leaving, Xiangzi and Xiaofuzi entered the house together.

"I have no choice!" She said to herself, this sentence summed up all her difficulties and contained infinite hope - if Xiangzi was willing to marry her, she would have Found a way.

Xiangzi, after this scene, I saw many dark shadows on her body. He still likes her, but he can't bear the responsibility of raising her two younger brothers and a drunk father! He didn't dare to think that once Huniu died, he would be free; Huniu also had the benefits of Huniu, at least she helped him a lot financially. He didn't dare to think that Xiao Fuzi would take a bite of him, but it was absolutely true that her whole family would not be able to earn a living. To love or not to love, the poor have to decide based on money. "Love" is only born in rich families.

He started to pack his things.

"Are you going to move away?" Xiao Fuzi's lips turned completely white.

"Move away!" He was cruel. In a world without justice, poor people rely on cruelty to maintain their personal freedom, which is a very small freedom.

After looking at him, she lowered her head and walked out. She doesn't hate it, nor is she angry, just desperate.

Huniu’s jewelry and better clothes were all brought to the coffin. All that was left were some shabby clothes, a few wooden utensils, and some pots, pots, and spoons. Xiangzi picked out a few of the better clothes and put them aside; the rest of the clothes, newspaper and tape equipment were all sold. He called a "drum player"② and sold it for more than ten yuan. He was in a hurry to move out and get rid of these things, so he had no intention of finding a few more people to slowly lower the price③. The "drum player" packed away his things, leaving only his bedding and a few selected clothes in the room, which were placed on the kang without seats. The room was completely empty, and he felt a little happier, as if he had been freed from many entanglements, and he could fly far away from now on.

However, after a while, he remembered those things again. The table has been moved away, but there are still some traces left on the table legs - piles of fine soil, forming a few small squares against the base of the wall. Looking at these marks, he thought of things and people, as if they were all gone in a dream. No matter whether things are good or bad, no matter whether people are good or bad, without them, there will be no place for the heart. He sat on the edge of the kang and took out another "yellow lion".

Along with the cigarette, he brought out a broken piece of money. Intentionally or unintentionally, he took out all the money; for the past two days, he never bothered to do the calculation. He took out a pile of foreign money, dime notes, copper notes, copper coins, everything. The pile is not small. When I counted it, it was less than twenty yuan. After collecting more than ten yuan from selling things, his total property is only more than thirty yuan.

Putting the money on the Kang bricks, he stared at them, not knowing whether to cry or laugh.

There was no one or anything in the room, only himself and a pile of old, moldy money. What is this for?

He sighed, reluctantly holding the money in his arms, then picked up the bedding and a few clothes and went to find Xiao Fuzi.

"You can keep these clothes and wear them! Keep the bedding for a while, I will go to the car dealer first and then pick it up." Not daring to look at Xiao Fuzi, he lowered his head and finished speaking These.

She said nothing and only agreed twice.

Xiangzi found a depot and came back to get her bedding. He saw that her eyes were swollen from crying. He didn't know what to say, but he tried his best to come up with these two sentences: "Wait! When I'm done, I'll come! I'll definitely come!"

She nodded and said nothing.

Xiangzi only rested for one day, and then went to pull the cart as usual. He wasn't as enthusiastic about making deals as before, but he wasn't deliberately lazy either, he was just fooling around day by day without getting tired of it. After living like this for a month, he felt very peaceful in his heart. His face was a little plumper, but not as red as before; his face was yellow, not obviously strong, nor was he thin. The eyes are very bright, but there is no expression. They are always so bright and seem to be quite energetic, but they seem to have seen nothing. His look was very much like a tree after a storm, standing quietly in the sunshine, not daring to move at all. He didn't like talking before, and now he doesn't like talking even more. The day was already very warm, and the willow branches were already covered with young leaves. Sometimes he would put the car facing the sun, lowering his head and talking to himself, his mouth moving slightly. Sometimes he would lie on his back to receive the sunshine and take a nap; except when he had to speak , he hardly talked to others.

I have become addicted to cigarettes. As soon as he sat in the car, his big hands went under the breast pads. He lit a cigarette, inhaled and exhaled very slowly, looked up at the smoke ring, stared at it blankly, and then nodded, as if he saw something interesting.

When he pulled up the cart, he could run faster than the average cart driver, but he no longer ran as hard as he could. He was particularly careful when going around corners and going up and down slopes. Almost too cautious. Someone wanted to race with him. No matter what kind of teasing provoked him, he lowered his head and said nothing, and still ran neither fast nor slow. He seemed to have seen through what pulling a cart was all about and no longer wanted any glory or praise from it.

In the factory, he made friends; although he didn't like to talk much, the silent geese also liked to fly in groups. If he doesn't make friends, his loneliness may not be bearable. As soon as he took out his cigarette box, he passed it around to everyone. Sometimes people see that there is only one bottle left in his box and they are embarrassed to reach out, so he simply says: "Buy more!" When he catches up with everyone gambling, he does not hide aside like before, but also comes to take a look, and Sometimes he makes a bet and doesn't care whether he wins or loses. It seems that he just wants to show everyone that he is very gregarious and understands that everyone should be happy after working hard for a few days. He would accompany them when they drank; he would not drink much, but he would spend his own money to buy some food and wine for everyone to eat. Things that he looked down upon in the past now seemed interesting to him—since his own path was blocked, he had no choice but to admit that others were doing the right thing. If there is a scandal among friends, he originally did not know how to deal with people, but now he will pay forty copper coins, or he will be a "public discussion son"④. Not only did he pay for it, he also went to pay homage or celebrate in person, because he understood that these things were not just for wasting money, but some favors that must be fulfilled.

He just felt that she and Huniu were, to use the word he could think of, the same thing. She is very young, twenty-two or three years old at most, but her demeanor is very mature, never like a newly married woman, just like Hu Niu who has never had the shyness and gentleness of a young girl. She had a perm, wore high heels, and the clothes were cut just right to help her twist in an angular way. Even Xiangzi could see that although she was dressed so fashionably, she didn't have the magnanimity of ordinary ladies. But it's not like she was born a prostitute. Xiangzi couldn't figure out what was going on with her. He just thought she was a little scary, as scary as Hu Niu. However, Huniu is not as young as she is, not as beautiful as she is; so Xiangzi is even more afraid of her, as if she carries with her all the power and viciousness of women he has ever experienced. He couldn't bear to look at her.

After spending some time here, he became more and more afraid of her. When Xiangzi took Mr. Xia out, he never saw how much money he spent; however, Mr. Xia also sometimes went shopping - to buy medicine at a large pharmacy. Xiangzi didn't know what kind of medicine he bought; however, whenever he bought medicine, the couple seemed to like it very much, and even Mr. After two or three days of being energetic, Mr. As soon as he saw Mr. Xia sitting in the car like a dead ghost, Xiangzi knew it was time to go to the pharmacy again. He didn't like Mr. Xia, but every time he went to the pharmacy, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the old skinny monkey. When Mr. Xia returned home with the medicine bag, Xiangzi thought of Huniu and couldn't explain how uncomfortable he felt. He didn't want to hold a grudge against the dead ghost, but looking at himself and Mr. Xia, he couldn't help but resent her. In any case, his body was not as strong as before, and Hu Niu should bear most of the responsibility.

He really wanted to quit his job. However, quitting his job for such an irrelevant thing seemed outrageous; sucking on the "yellow lion", he said to himself, "Why bother with other people's business?!"

① Put aside With this problem in mind, we won’t settle it for the time being. We’ll talk about it later.

②The drummer is a hawker who collects used goods in Beijing.

③Hold the price, that is, wait for a high price.

④The public discussion is a gift agreed upon by both parties.