Peach and Plum Do Not Speak

The shady compartment, the faint sound of the car, and the sound of a child in the adjacent seat. An Zhi tilted his head in drowsiness and fell off the shoulder of the person next to him.

A hand came to support her head, and An Zhi leaned on her shoulder, looking out the window, it was an endless green, with pale mountains and grid-like fields in the distance.

An Zhi slowly blinked his eyelids.

"Dream?" Yan Xi asked softly.

This summer after the end of her sophomore year, An Zhi celebrated her 18th birthday. And she made a decision to go back to her birthplace where she had lived for more than five years.

Yan Xi took a week's leave to accompany her.

They took the high-speed train, and An Zhi fell asleep on the way. In the haze, her limbs seemed to shrunk to a small size, sitting on the seat that was large for her, and next to her was wearing sunglasses and closed her eyes. Tao Zhenzhen resting.

She was stunned and fearful for a while, as if the thirteen years of growth had vanished in an instant, and she had never met Yan Xi before.

It wasn't until Yan Xi's hand came over and she asked her that An Zhi's heart slowly fell. She instinctively approached Yan Xi and shook her head, "No."

Yan Xi smiled at her and patted her to let her go back to sleep.

When the high-speed train arrived at the station, they took a taxi and arrived in the town.

The summer in the countryside in July is getting deeper and deeper, far from the hustle and bustle of the city, and there are large fields under the rolling hills.

The village is not desolate, and the means of transportation are mostly electric motorcycles, bicycles, and private cars. It's just that the buildings are different, some are tall, some are low, it can be seen that they are built by themselves, there is no consistency, and each village must have an ancestral hall. Next to the ancestral hall, there is a very old tree with a thick trunk. There are many red strips tied on it.

Before An Zhi came, he asked Tao Zhenzhen for the address and the phone number of his relatives. For so many years, they have not come back, and the house is cleaned by someone else.

Yan Xi, who grew up in a modern city, most of which is social practice in college, or has been to the countryside during her internship, has a fresh feeling for this southern town, especially since this is where An Zhi was born. Natural intimacy.

An Zhi thought that he didn't remember much about the life here, but when he got off the car and walked along the embankment of the small river, those memories naturally came to his mind.

Grandpa took her to go fishing on a bicycle, fly a kite, and take her by the hand to the ancestral hall to worship.

She even remembered that there was a mahogany door in the middle of the ancestral hall. It is said that there was a jinshi in the village before Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty. Rank, but only boys can cross, girls are not allowed.

"Is there such a thing?" Yan Xi raised his eyebrows.

An Zhixiao remembered the first time she went to the ancestral hall. When An Zhi was three or four years old, she looked up and felt that the door was very high, with a big flower made of red cloth tied to the top of the door. She wanted to go too, but the adults told her not to.

She didn't understand, her eyes twinkled, she nodded obediently, but took small steps. She was only a little tall at the time, wearing a small skirt, and her tender lotus-like arms hugged the door. A look of "If you don't let me cross, I will hold on to it", which amused the adults around him.

"What about later?" Yan Xi laughed, and it was conceivable that when she was a child, her cheeks were puffed up and she was very serious and cute.

Later, of course, An Zhi stepped over, and her grandfather agreed with a smile.

They talked as they walked, perhaps because they were too eye-catching, Yan Xi was wearing a long skirt and a big hat with sun protection, and she looked like a model walking down from a magazine.

An Zhi's relative, she had to tell her aunt's people to see Yan Xi, her eyes lit up and looked at her up and down, "You look like the one on the TV... Oops, you're so beautiful."

Yan Xi smiled, "You've mistaken the wrong person." The southern town's accent was thin, and it really was the place where An Zhi grew up.

"Really? Oh, it's so similar." The relatives and aunts turned to look at An Zhi: "I don't even dare to recognize you, sister."

In the village, little girls are called younger sisters and little boys are called younger brothers.

Grandpa An's ashes have been placed in the nunnery in the mountains, but there are incense burners in the ancestral hall. Relatives and aunts led them to the ancestral hall and asked An Zhi to offer incense to her grandfather.

"Hey, your mother went back once. During the festivals, no one will offer incense to your grandfather. You'll be fine when you come."

An Zhi pursed his lips and knelt down with the incense.

When a person dies like a lamp goes out, the saying of "the spirit in the sky" is optional, but as a descendant, I still hope that there will be a place where we can place our condolences.

An Shangxiang kowtowed three more times, his eyes were already red.

At this time, Yan Xi also knelt down beside her, An Zhi stared at her blankly, Yan Xi followed her example, offered incense, and then kowtowed. Reaching out and pulling her up, he smiled at her gently and comfortingly.

When Anzhi took some paper money and went to burn it outside, Yan Xi asked Anzhi's relatives and aunts, "Is there any other worship activity that requires burning paper money or something for the deceased?"

"Ah! Yes, my sister's mother also gave me some money, and asked me to do it for her every Qingming. Hey."

"So," Yan Xi thought thoughtfully, and then said to her relatives and aunt, "An Zhi is eighteen years old, and she has to express her affection to her grandfather. Can I ask you to join her for Qingming, Chinese New Year, and grandpa's birthday in the future..."

"Ah..." The relatives and aunts were stunned for a while, and then smiled: "My sister is still young, she will only need it when she gets married."

"Is that so?" Yan Xi was embarrassed to smile, but she thought about it for a long time, "Can I ask for your contact information? There may be more things to trouble you in the future, but don't worry, I will prepare the money. This is my contact information, I'm from Beicheng..."

When the relatives and aunts saw Yan Xi's appearance and temperament, her demeanor in speaking, and her speech and deeds were extremely tiring, it was too late to make friends, so there was nothing to disagree with. Strangely, she was searching her memory and couldn't remember that there was such a character in the Tao family.

Yan Xi smiled and replied, "I am her family."

After worshipping at the ancestral hall, An Zhi finally came to her home.

Most of the buildings in the village are two or three storeys, and there are even villas. Her house has only one floor.

Because my grandfather passed away, Tao Zhenzhen did not come back to live.

The house is also very empty, and it is customary in the village that all the personal belongings of the family members cannot be left behind after their death.

There is also a TV in the living room, a bed in the house, a water heater, and some simple kitchen utensils in the kitchen.

The house has been cleaned, but there is still a kind of loneliness that has been uninhabited for a long time.

"Is it okay to live here? It's a bit shabby." An Zhi was not used to it.

Yan Xi rubbed her hair and pushed the suitcase into the house. After cleaning up a little, they went to the market to buy vegetables.

An Zhi's relatives and aunt told her that the village is not a morning market, but an afternoon market. She had some impressions that the food court was very large, with rough divisions, but informal. Vegetables, fish, meat and fruits, department stores, and even small supermarkets are bustling and bustling with fireworks.

Yan Xi noticed that they did not speak Mandarin, but local dialects, which An Zhi could no longer speak.

The village is small, and everyone knows who. The two of them attracted a lot of attention in the market.

An Zhi bought some rice, vegetables and fruits, and a piece of fish, and the uncle who sold the fish neatly sliced ​​it for her.

"There is no takeout here, everyone cooks by themselves." An Zhi said to Yan Xi, "Let's have fish porridge tonight." When we got home, it was already evening, and the sky was ablaze with fire. nice.

The ankles of the skirt can even feel the scorching heat of the ground.

Yan Xi squinted with the camera and took several pictures.

Putting down the camera, the little girl in the neighborhood stared at her biting her fingers, she smiled at her, and the little girl smiled too, a smile that was missing two front teeth, and then she covered her mouth and ran away shyly.

After the porridge was boiled, An Zhi put some in a large bowl, and also filled two small bowls. There was no air conditioning in the room, it was sweltering and uncomfortable, and her forehead hair was wet.

Just when he was thinking about what to do, Yan Xi came in with a floor fan, "The neighbor borrowed it from us."

A seven- or eight-year-old girl followed behind. An Zhi brought a small bag of lychees and apples to her. She was embarrassed to take it and ran away. An Zhi followed her and gave the fruit to her parents.

Even with the fan, they still sweat a lot while drinking the porridge. The milky white fish meat and the green cilantro were very fresh and sweet. Yan Xi drank two bowls and took the initiative to wash the dishes after eating.

When the sun sets, the night falls, the breeze comes, and the heat is gone.

After taking a shower, Yan Xi took a towel and wiped her hair while facing the evening wind, and then sighed comfortably.

At night, the village is completely silent, and there are some unknown insects. The cool breeze is refreshing, the twilight is all around, and the lights of every house come through.

She brushed her wet hair, moved a short plastic stool and sat at the door to enjoy the cool air, blowing her hair, and using 4G to surf the Internet.

After just staying there for a while, she knew why the villagers didn't go out to enjoy the shade, but for a moment her legs were red and swollen. These southern mosquitoes are really poisonous and extremely itchy, but Yan Xi didn't dare to scratch too much. Endured scratching a few times, about to be itchy and cry.

As soon as I stepped in, a huge flying insect with wings swept past in my sight.

Yan Xi was stunned.

Is that... a cockroach?