The Hope You Gave Me: 15-guhuayu

Min Hui is a full-fledged otaku, and has never traveled anywhere in such a short period of time. Apart from his hometown, he has never been to places north of Beijing and south of Shanghai.

He Xinqi rushed from Harbin to Kunming non-stop, got off the plane and took the bus for another three hours before arriving in Xingshui County. The two booked a room at a hotel near the station and slept for one night. The next morning, I came to the lobby and asked the waiter at the front desk how to get to Anya Village.

"It's not far. Fifty minutes by bike," the front desk said.

"Can a taxi go in?"

"There are no rentals nearby. Why don't you go to the street and ask to see if anyone passes by Anya, and give them some money to take you for a ride."

The two walked around the street and found a tricycle. The owner of the car was an uncle in his fifties. He happened to pass by Anya and was willing to take them for a ride. Xin Qi gave him 100 yuan. The two of them sat on the wooden board in the back seat one by one, huddled with a bunch of watermelons.

After sitting for less than 20 minutes, the tricycle turned off the concrete road and walked onto a narrow muddy field. On the left is a large green rice field, and on the right is a depression full of vegetables. Behind the rice field is a farmhouse with black tiles and white walls, hidden in huge banana trees. The uncle hummed a little tune while stepping on the car. The mud was uneven, and the watermelon on the car rolled eastward and westward for a while. For fear of breaking the watermelon, Xin Qi and Min Hui had to step on one with one foot and hug with the other. One, like playing acrobatics.

After riding for more than ten minutes, the dirt road became narrower and narrower, leaving only a field road as wide as one person, and it was full of muddy water. The uncle parked the tricycle aside and told them to get off: "The car in front can't pass. You see - go straight along this road, you will see a yew tree in twenty minutes, go around it and go to the right fifty The next step is the entrance of Anya's village."

The sun is harsh. Min Hui put up a pergola and looked forward. There were many big trees by the road, and she didn't even recognize which one was a yew. Seeing her confused, the uncle smiled and said, "I saw it when I got there, a very tall tree covered with red fruits, which is easy to recognize. When you come back, you still go here. There are a lot of tricycles on the road going back to the county, stop one at random, as long as you give money, everyone will be happy to take you for a ride.”

"Okay, thank you uncle!" Xin Qila Min Hui was about to get out of the car, uncle thought for a while, and then said, "Forget it, I'll give it to you."

"Then these watermelons—"

"No one will take it. Everyone in this area knows that I planted this melon." The uncle took off his shoes and threw them into the car. Seeing that they were both wearing white sneakers, he said, "There are rice fields in front, and the ground is on the ground. It's all water, take off your shoes before walking, otherwise, white shoes will turn black."

The two had to take off their shoes and socks, stuffed their shoes into their backpacks, rolled up their pant legs, and walked barefoot in the muddy water.

“Uncle, do you also live in Anya Village?” Xin Qi asked.

"Yes."

"Ask you about a person: He Xiangu - do you know me?"

"I know. Her name is He Cuigu. Because of her fortune-telling skills, the villagers nicknamed her 'He Xiangu'. She lives in the second house in the east of the village."

"Does she live alone?" Min Hui asked.

"No, there's also my husband, I call him 'Uncle Yao'. Her parents' family and her son also live in the village." The uncle seems to like walking on the muddy ground, and his big feet are stepping on the muddy water. , "A big family."

"Is Xiangu He at home recently?" Xin Qi walked beside him and was splashed with muddy water.

"Yes, I talked to her yesterday." The uncle glanced at him, "Did you make a special trip to find her?"

"Yes, ask her about something."

"She opened a local restaurant at the entrance of the village, sometimes at home, sometimes in the restaurant."

As he was talking, a large group of ducks suddenly jumped out of the rice bushes, swaying past Min Hui's feet, Min Hui flicked aside and stepped into the paddy field, Xin Qi hurriedly grabbed her .

"Huh—" Min Hui felt that something had been stepped on under her feet, and the cat's waist stretched out her hand to catch a fish, and a fish jumped out, which she quickly caught, "Ah yo! How come there are fish here? "

"It's a croaker, a kind of crucian carp." The uncle laughed, "Don't you know that fish can be raised in the rice fields? In May, the fry are put into the seedling fields, and in August, the millet will bloom and the fish will eat it. After eating Guhua, it becomes very plump, and this is the season to eat Guhua fish.”

"Where can I eat it?" Min Hui hurriedly put the fish back in the field as soon as she heard that it was someone's fry.

"He Xiangu's house has it in the local restaurant. This is a special dish. Her daughter-in-law cooks it herself and uses her own marinated fermented bean curd to braise it. It's very delicious. You must remember to eat it."

"Wow, He Xiangu's family is very capable." Min Hui praised.

"Not all of them. Uncle Yao is very lazy. She doesn't do her farm work well, and she is greedy for wine. Her family's money is all obtained by He Xiangu outside. Awesome."

While chatting, the uncle took them to the door of He Xiangu's house, and then turned and left.

Min Hui knocked on the courtyard door, and seeing that it was just hiding, she pushed it gently and walked in.

The concrete floor in the middle is covered with peanuts. On the rattan chair next to it sits an old woman, wearing a navy blue Shihlin shirt and a string of silver bracelets, taking a nap in the sun. Hearing the movement, he opened his eyes and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

The old lady spoke Mandarin, which surprised Xin Qi and Min Hui.

"Does He Cuigu live here?"

"I am."

"Hello, Auntie!"

He Xiangu squinted at them, her eyes very vigilant: "Is something wrong?"

"That's right," Xin Qi said politely, "We were introduced by Tong Tianhai."

"Tong Tianhai?" He Tianxian was taken aback, "Who is it? I don't know."

"You probably don't remember much. Twenty-three years ago, he asked his cousin to adopt a boy from you, remember? About a year and a half?"

"Nothing." He Xiangu shook her head decisively.

"Can you recall it carefully?" Afraid of scaring her, Min Hui added softly, "Tong Tianhai said that there were two boys in your hands at that time, both of them were over a year old, one was white and fat, the other Yellow and thin? Tong Tianhai took the white and fat boy away. What about the remaining boy? Do you know who he was adopted by?"

"How can I recall something that didn't happen? Made it up out of thin air?" He Xiangu chuckled, "Besides, what does this have to do with you?"

"That child may be my brother. My brother was abducted when he was one and a half years old. Do you remember that yellow and thin boy - where is his hometown?"

"What's yellow and thin? I'll say it again," He Xiangu's tone became colder and colder, her two black eye bags were like two eyebrows jumping, "I haven't seen your brother, you Wrong person."

"Auntie, please don't get me wrong. We don't mean anything else, we just want to know the situation and see if we can find any clues from your side."

"I don't know Tong Tianhai, I haven't seen his cousin, and I don't even have a one-and-a-half-year-old boy!" He Xiangu rolled her eyes and tilted her body, holding the small teapot next to her in her hands. Taking a sip, "I don't know where you heard the news, this news must be wrong."

"Auntie," Xin Qi saw her denial, and simply showed his cards, "Since you won't say it, then we have to call the police and let the police investigate the matter."

"Report, feel free to report! The police are busy, how to investigate what happened 20 years ago? Want to exhaust them?" He Xiangu looked like a dead pig not afraid of being scalded by boiling water, "Don't scare me. Auntie is timid and scared me sick, you have to support me!"

"Auntie—"

"Let's go quickly, don't come again." He Xiangu picked up the bamboo broom on the ground and stood up. Xin Qi thought she was going to do it, thinking that this old lady looked like an experienced habitual offender. When there was a conflict, she pretended to be dead on the spot, and she really couldn't do anything about it. He quickly pulled Min Hui out of the courtyard.

Running all the way, without asking anything, Min Hui was very unwilling. Seeing He Xiangu's stubborn attitude and tight-lipped, she was even more angry: "No, I have to ask her, this can't be left alone!"

After saying that, I stomped my feet and wanted to break in again. Leng might as well lock the courtyard door from the inside with a "click" sound.

The two looked at each other.

"What should I do?" Min Hui wiped the sweat from her forehead.

"Isn't there another uncle?" Xin Qi said, "Let's go ask him?"

***

The two waited outside the courtyard for a while, but no one came out, so they decided to go to the local restaurant at the entrance of the village to find out. When I arrived at the restaurant, I found that the door was open and there were no customers inside. Instead, sitting on the bamboo chair by the door was a bald old man peeling garlic, with a radio and a wine pot on the ground. While peeling garlic, the old man listened to the play and drank a little wine, enjoying himself very much.

Min Hui and Xin Qi looked at each other and shouted in unison, "Uncle!"

"Hey." The old man replied, thinking they were here to eat, and quickly gave up his seat, "What do you two want to eat?"

"Do you have Guhuayu?" Xin Qi said immediately, "Braised?"

"Yes, yes." The old man pointed to the menu on the wall, "Just one dish?"

Xin Qi ordered four of the most expensive dishes on the wall, and asked for a bottle of Erguotou. When the old man saw that there was a business, he immediately laughed from ear to ear, "I'm going to ask my daughter-in-law to cook the dishes, you guys Sit slowly."

After a while, the dishes were ready. The old man poured wine for them. Min Hui didn't drink. He only needed a bottle of juice. Xin Qi pulled the old man onto the chair and poured him a glass: "Uncle, I Seeing that you are good at drinking, would you like to accompany me for a few drinks?"

When the old man heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up, he sat down hastily, and took the bowls and chopsticks that Min Hui handed him over: "Aiya, Lu Lier, uncle shouldn't drink with you. However, Erguotou is more than fifty degrees, I'm afraid you'll get drunk alone, so let's help you share a little." After speaking, he was polite, put his chopsticks on the table, and put a piece of beef into his mouth and chewed it.

"Eat the vegetables, Uncle." Min Hui took a whole Guhuayu into his bowl, "There are too many dishes, we can't take them away if we can't finish them. Would you like to share a little?"

"Okay, okay." The old man drank the wine in his glass, "How does Guhuayu taste?"

"It's so delicious, is this red stuff doubanjiang?" Min Hui pretended to be curious, "It's really good!"

"It's not doubanjiang, it's our own marinated tofu. It's salty and spicy when cooking fish, and it smells like soy sauce!"

"Come on, uncle, I'll give you a toast." Xin Qi raised his glass and drank it all.

"Thank you, thank you! Are you--visiting relatives or passing by?" After a few glasses of wine, the old man's tongue was a little big, "You look like you are from the city?"

"We're here to find someone. Uncle, do you recognize He Xiangu and Aunt He?" Min Hui pretended to be casual.

"He Xiangu? Recognize her! She's my wife. Do you have anything to do with her? She's at home, I'll take you there?"

"No hurry, no hurry, eat first." Xin Qi poured him another glass.

Min Hui deliberately didn't speak for a long time, and lowered her head to eat rice in her mouth.

"What's the matter, girl? Do you have anything to do with Aunt He? I know everything she knows, and the same goes for me." As he spoke, the uncle touched his bald head, "Of course, if you come here If I ask her to tell her fortune, then I won't."

"I'm here to find my brother." Min Hui repeated what He Xiangu had just said, "This is all twenty years ago, I'm afraid your old man has forgotten it, right? "

The old man squinted his eyes and thought for a while, then smiled: "Remember, uncle has a good memory. I was there at the time, two boys, the one adopted by the Tong family came from Harbin. The other is Huaihua. Yes. I even changed their diapers."

Min Hui was stunned: "Huaihua? Hunan Huaihua?"

"Yes."

"No way, why is Huaihua? Are you sure, uncle? Did you remember correctly?"

"Hey, it can't be wrong." The old man sighed heavily and whispered, "Just for this child, your aunt has been in prison for five years."

Xin Qi's wine glass was raised halfway, and his hand stopped in the air: "Why?"

"Someone was arrested, so I gave her a confession. At that time, the child was ill and was dying, and he didn't find a home for a long time. Your aunt took him to the hospital to see a doctor, and he was caught. The child There is a palm-sized birthmark on the leg, which the biological parents quickly found."

Min Hui's heart sank suddenly, and the clue was broken again: "Uncle, have you ever seen a child from Hechi, Guangxi?"

"No." Uncle Yao shook his head.

"Uncle, let me toast you again." Seeing that Min Hui was sweating in a hurry, Xin Qi hurriedly poured the wine.

While he was getting more and more drunk, the two of them made all kinds of clichés, but Uncle Yao didn't hide it. He said anything and answered any questions, but he didn't know much, and he didn't ask any questions until he was drunk on the table. come up with new clues.

The two were so frustrated that they had to go home.

Drinking about half a bottle of Erguotou, Xin Qi was a little on the head and walked forward in the mud, his body was shaking so badly that he almost fell into the field several times. Min Hui had to hold it tightly. Looking at him, he couldn't help complaining: "You too, there are so many wines in the wine cabinet, why don't you just order Erguotou and drink some beer?"

"Uncle Yao has such a large amount of alcohol, I'm afraid it's not easy to get drunk with ordinary wine. Besides—" Before he finished speaking, he vomited for a while, and ran to the next big tree and vomited. Min Hui beat him on the back and handed him a bottle of mineral water to rinse his mouth.

The two rested for a while beside Tian Geng. Xin Qi leaned on Min Hui's body and became dizzy. Seeing that he was about to fall asleep, Min Hui quickly pushed him to wake up: "Xin Qi, don't sleep. If you don't go to the back of the village, you should go back quickly. Go back to the hotel and take a good bath before going to sleep. Look at you, your feet are soaked in muddy water, be careful of leeches!"

Speaking of that, he dragged him forward, passing by a shade of trees, and suddenly there was the sound of a motorcycle behind him. Looking back, two men wearing black helmets rushed over on motorcycles. Before Min Hui could understand what was going on, the backpack on her body was robbed.

Another man jumped off the motorcycle with a pick in his hand and swiped at Xin Qi's back. Xin Qi stumbled and fell to the ground, but he quickly got up and picked it up He took a stone and threw it at the man, and it hit his helmet. The man didn't dodge either, grabbing a wooden pick and dashing forward.

"Run!" Xin Qi shouted.