escape and return

When passing by the neighboring village, Fangge paid special attention to it. Although the village was quiet and there were no people to be seen, there were smoke from the chimneys of several families.He glanced in the direction of his cousin's house. There was no smoke there.

Fangge quickly passed through a row of old houses and walked straight to Diwan Village.Further up is the mountain depression where parents often work. There used to be level and level curved terraced fields, which were opened up by Yuan Dashan and his wife. They sprinkled seeds in spring and harvested buckets of grain in autumn. It was cleaned up neatly, without a single weed.

But now, the weeds taller than a person seem to tell people that the owner has been away for many years.

The more he went up, the heavier his steps became, the original path was submerged, and Fangge could only pick up easy places to walk.

When he finally climbed up the slope, he could see the roof around the corner. Fangge ran a few steps and looked anxiously at the old house that he had lived in for many years, but he didn't think, there is no such thing as an old house, Fangge The pupils shrank, and there seemed to be ruins.Fangge staggered, gasping for breath, his heart pounding against his eardrums, he stabilized his body, ran across the weeds, and ran towards the pile of ruins.

There are traces of fire everywhere, except for the original girders and pillars that can still be seen in shape, staggered and fallen, the others have become ashes, thick weeds have grown on the scorched land, and broken tiles have fallen everywhere Yes, the cowshed and pigsty next to it are still relatively complete, except for the straw-draped roof, the clay walls on all sides are still standing firmly.A large area of ​​smoky blackness was left on the dirt wall, and the bamboo forest outside the wall had expanded its territory, and tall green bamboos poked their heads out from inside the wall.

What the hell happened here?

Fangge stabilized his mind, as if he remembered something, he suddenly raised his head and looked towards the opposite side. It used to be Uncle Yuan's house, and the old lady of Yuan's family also lived there. Now, it is also empty, and the lobby of their house has become a mess The grass nest is surrounded by lush vegetation in front of the hall and behind the house.

The fish pond in the middle has long since dried up, and a pond of calamus has grown.

Fangge stepped on the broken tiles and turned over the scorched wooden piles, and came to the side of Xishan. Uncle Yuan's brick wall had fallen down at some point, and the bricks were scattered all over the floor.Further up is the small slope of Xishan Mountain, where you could see the golden sunset before, but now the small slope has been invaded by various vegetation. This is the only way my sister must go home!

Dou Da's tears dripped down his chin and onto the green leaves under his feet. What happened here?Mom and Dad, where are you?Is everything safe and sound?Are you ok?

After a while, Fangge was awakened by the mountain wind. There were many animals in the mountain, and there were a few noises from time to time. He rubbed the goose bumps on his arms, swallowed silently, and stopped crying.

After most of the day, he was hungry and thirsty, and he only had the clothes and shoes he would bring to school.After thinking for a while, Fangge walked towards the pond of spring water behind the original house.

People in the mountains will dig a pond in front of and behind their houses to store mountain spring water. The pond in their house is just dug under the mountain wall of the back mountain, and the spring water flowing from the stone wall is continuously stored in the pond. .

It took a while for Fangge to find the pond filled with tiles. Fortunately, there was still some clean water beside the pond. Fangge took a few sips with his hands to dilute the bitterness in his mouthful. Dongxi ran across the back mountain and rolled down the mountain wall with a bunch of slippery stones, which startled Fangge.

He quickly stood up, stumbled and ran out, stepped over the pillars, climbed over the beams, and stood on the way he came. The place was relatively open, giving Fangge a sense of security.

Standing quietly in front of the ruins, Fangge secretly vowed in his heart that he must find Yuan Song and his sister, and find his parents.Then, taking a deep look at this former home, he turned and left.

Passing by the neighboring village again, he saw a family.

The old lady was carrying a basket of plum vegetables to dry on the bamboo mat, when she saw a half-grown child passing by, the old lady felt familiar, and shouted: "Hey, boy, which one is it?"

Fangge stopped, looked at the old lady, thought for a while, and then stepped forward and replied politely: "Grandma, I am from Yuan Dashan's family, may I ask, does grandma know what happened to Yuan Dashan's family? "

Grandma paused, looked at Fang Ge carefully, and after a while, she seemed to remember something, and exclaimed in surprise: "Hey, you are Ge Ge, the one that Dashan and the others often brought over to play with? Isn't it! Your mother Call grid behind you every day, haha!"

"Yes grandma, you still remember!"

"Then how can I not remember that there are only a few families in the village, and the number of people in each family is clear." The old lady smiled kindly and waved to Fang Ge, "Come on, child, come in Let’s take a rest, you just came out of Diwan? Haven’t you had lunch yet? Why are you back alone? Where’s the mountain?” As she spoke, she stretched out her hand and pulled him across the grid, sending him into the room collar. "Why come back when the house is burned down?"

"Grandma, do you know that my house burned down? Do you know when it happened? Do you know what happened?" Fang Ge hurriedly asked.

"Your father didn't tell you? Didn't they go to the city to look for you?" The old lady turned her head and looked at Fang Ge strangely, "Hey, strange, why did you come here alone? What about Yuan Dashan, Du Lijuan and the others? , how could I let you come back alone?"

"I haven't seen them for four or five years." Fang Ge shook his head. He also wanted to know where his parents were.

The old lady paused, sighed softly, and pulled Fangge to sit on the dining table in the main room, "Wait a minute, grandma will serve you a bowl of rice, and I will talk to you later." After a while, She came out with a bowl full of sweet potato rice, "Hurry up, kid." She pulled out another wooden stool under the table and sat down.

"You eat, grandma will tell you." The old lady nodded and signaled him to eat first.

"No wonder they came here foolishly. They didn't look for you. Alas, they were so unlucky. Yuan Zuwang's wife next door went crazy. She ran out after lighting the fire. No one watched his son. That little bastard took I was playing with the fire starter. I passed by your back mountain. It is said that I accidentally fell and the fire starter fell, and it happened to land on the haystack at the back door of your house. No, the fire started slowly. Originally Nothing happened, the fire didn't spread so quickly, the dead child was frightened when he saw a wisp of smoke coming out, and ran home without daring to tell anyone. By the time Dashan and the others came back from the field, it was already too late. Go into the bedroom in time to grab some belongings and come out."

"Later, the two families had a fight. Yuan Zuwang's family was really nothing. They knew that his son was in trouble, but they still covered up and didn't help. Your parents had no place to live, so they ran to our village that night to confess Brother's gone."

"Then is my cousin's family still in the village?" Originally, he was very angry, but he was keeping accounts for Yuan Xiaolong in his heart, but when he heard about his cousin's family, Fangge raised a little hope.

"Leave early, your cousin took his parents to live in the city in the second year after your parents left. Now there are only a few of us old people left in the village, and young people generally live in the city. not coming back."

They are all gone, so where can I find them?

"Grandma, do you know where Yuan Xiaolong and his family have gone?"

"They, their family didn't get along with us, and they didn't tell others when they left, who knows." The old lady turned her head to look at Fangge, and then said: "Your village is already empty. It's been many years, kid, don't come back. Hey, which way did you come back?"

Fangge pointed to the east, took a sip of his rice and looked at the old lady with round eyes.

"Oh, that road has long been closed. There are many dead and dirty things in this mountain. Don't take that road when you go down the mountain."

Hearing these words, Fangge's back suddenly broke out in cold sweat, what do you mean?

"If you want to go down the mountain, just go straight down from our village, don't go to the side of the col, the road down here is smooth, and some old men in the village will repair it regularly. We can't go in and out of the village now This is the way they all go.”

"But grandma, I haven't walked this way."

"It's okay if you haven't walked it. The road is easy to recognize, and it's not that steep. There are villages further down. There is a village a few miles away. I really don't know if I can ask someone. Don't worry about the deserted road over there. Let's go, you are a child, the meat is tender, and you are too attractive. The old Wang who went back to the village came back from that road in the middle of the night. After falling asleep, he talked nonsense, foamed at the mouth, and killed his wife Mother was scared to death."

Fangge nodded, and rubbed his arm vigorously, feeling terrified.