When I was a child, I stayed at the house of my grandparents in the countryside. The village was called Snakehead Village. I heard from the old people in the village that a few years ago someone used a detonator to dig a well and blew up a big rock. Afterwards, the villagers went to look under the stone and found a black snake head weighing more than ten catties—that's how the village got its name.
The above-mentioned things are all legends, and it is difficult to study their authenticity. Like many taboos in the countryside, although they have been passed down from generation to generation, they have no factual basis. I also respect these taboos and stay away from them.
But there is such a taboo in Snakehead Village, I firmly believe it.
There is a saying that has been passed down from generation to generation here that in the first seven days after a person dies, the ghost of the dead person will return to the world of heaven and walk the path he walked before.
Therefore, if someone dies in a nearby village, on the seventh day, most of the villagers stay behind closed doors for fear of encountering unclean things.
That was when I was eight years old. In March, the temperature was still very low. When I got up in the morning, my grandma added a lot of clothes to me, and told me not to go out, saying that old man Chen from the next village had come back.
I was young at the time, not strong-minded, and there was no TV at home, so how could I stay there. When grandparents were not paying attention, they ran out, planning to find other children in the village to play with.
My grandparents' house is at the top of the village, and it takes a long way to find other children.
There is a big ditch next to my grandfather's house, and there is a muddy path beside the ditch, and there is a huge chestnut tree on the side of the road. We will come here to pick up the chestnuts on weekdays, although our hands will be tied all over. It is hurt, but also happy.
As soon as I got under the chestnut tree after I slipped out of my grandfather's house, an old man in his seventies walked up to me, wearing a black cotton-padded jacket and black shoes. Although there is a lot of mud on the road, there is no mud on the old man's shoes.
I ran in a hurry at the time, but I felt that the old man seemed to have seen it before, but I didn't know who he was.
As soon as I missed him, the old man groaned, then turned around and called me, "Hey, are you Haiwazi from the Ye family?"
When I heard him calling me, I stopped and turned around and gave a hum. When he saw that I answered him, he shrunk his mouth, smiled, and said: "I saw you a few days ago, you were so small, but now you are so big." Come on tiptoe and let me see how tall you are, and you still have to call me Grandpa Zhang when it comes to seniority."
At that time, I wanted to leave early, but my grandfather found out that I couldn't leave. I wanted to send him away as soon as possible, so I did what he said, but I didn't understand. He wanted to see my height, so why should I stand on tiptoe?
I glanced at him, oh and stood on tiptoe.
At that time, his eyes flickered, and he looked at the old man again, where could he be found in front of him.
Although I was not spiritually enlightened at that time, I knew that something strange had happened, and I went to my second grandma's house in a hurry.
My second grandmother is called Mu Wantong, and she is a well-known witch in the nearby village. Usually, if anyone has intractable diseases or dies, the figure of my second grandmother can basically appear.
I heard from my grandfather that when I was born, family planning was strictly enforced, and because I had an older sister above me, I became a key target.
My parents are also a little bit patriarchal. They only want to have a son, but they have never been willing to kill me. Every time they fight against the inspectors in the village and town, you come and I go, you go and I go back.
Even so, the people in the village and town are very greedy. Every time they come, they will take a few pieces of bacon away from my house. After going back and forth like this several times, my parents finally couldn't afford it and decided to fall for me.
My mother met my second grandma when she went to the town hospital. After the second grandma knew what my mother meant, she held my mother to persuade her, and said that a few days ago, she dreamed that a star fell on the roof of my house.
Thanks to my mother's superstition, she was actually persuaded to come back.
I was born by my second grandmother, and she also named me. She said that I have too much soil in the five elements, so she named me Ye Hai.
After I was born, the fine of 2,000 yuan paid by family planning was still lent by my second grandmother to my parents.
Maybe two thousand yuan doesn't seem like much now, but in the era when relatives and friends got married with half a basket of eggs, the weight of two thousand yuan was definitely no less than the tens of thousands now.
It was with the help of my second grandmother that I was able to survive, so now every time my parents call, they will ask me if I have visited my second grandmother.
Under the urging of my parents, going to my second grandma's house has become a routine for me. Even the big yellow cow at my second grandma's house will habitually grunt a few times when it sees me.
At that time, I was frightened by the old man, and immediately thought of going to the second grandma's house.
I don't know if I ran too fast, but I always feel like I'm light when I run, but fortunately, I ran to the gate of the second grandma's cattle pen in less than a minute.
I don't know why, but this time when the big yellow ox saw me, it ran to the corner of the cow pen, and I didn't bother to pay attention to it, so I turned a corner and ran to the second grandma's house.
The second grandma was tying shoes at the door at that time, and when she saw me, she smiled immediately and asked me to sit next to her in a chair.
After I sat down, I asked her who tied the shoes.
The second grandma said that this kind of shoes are called toad shoes, and they were pierced for herself, and they will be worn for a hundred years.
The old hundred years is what we say here, that is to say, after death, the old hundred years is just a kind wish.
After hearing this, I was a little puzzled, so I asked her why she didn't wear it when she was alive.
Second Mistress smiled and said, "Toad shoes can only be worn by dead people."
When the second grandma said this, I was taken aback at the time, because the old man I saw under the chestnut tree just now was wearing this kind of toad shoes.
Although I was frightened, I have been stubborn since I was a child, and I didn't say it out. I just watched the second grandma tie her shoes.
When I got bored watching it, I asked her, "How long has it been since my sister came back?"
The younger sister I'm talking about is the granddaughter of the second grandmother, named Ye Xiaoxiao, who was taken to the city by her parents since she was a child. I came back a few days ago, and I played with her for a few days, so I never forget it.
I have a vague impression of her, anyway, there are only a few words, very beautiful, very quiet, when I came last time, I wore bangs, wore a brown scarf, and wore a pink dress. She looked very beautiful , Like a fairy in the sky.
The second grandmother wore presbyopic glasses and said that she would be back in a few days, and then concentrated on tying up her shoes. After a while, she said another word, "Haiwazi, I will give you my sister as a wife. Don't have to."
I knew she was joking, so I nodded repeatedly and said yes.
She laughed twice and reached out to touch my head.
I yawned when she touched my head. She thought I was sleepy, so she asked me to sleep on her bed for a while.
The second grandmother is at home alone, and I talk to her the most on weekdays. I am more free in her house than in my grandfather's house.
Turned over on the bed a few times and then fell asleep in a daze. During this time, I heard the voice of my grandfather outside. He came to look for me. He was going to wake me up, but the second grandma stopped me and said to let me sleep for a while. .
At that time, I fell asleep more and more sleepy, and I didn't want to get up at all, so I turned over and fell asleep again.
When it was getting dark, the second grandma called me to get up to eat, and before she could say the word "eat", she suddenly yelled: "You short-lived ghost who cut off his head when his back was cut off, you just ran here."
I was startled by the sound at the time, thinking that the second grandma was scolding me, and was about to turn around to have a look, but saw the second grandma picked up the broom and whipped it towards me. I thought it would hit me, but The broom just fell next to me.
The second grandma had just dropped the broom when the old man who was under the chestnut tree just got up beside me and ran out the door.
I was immediately frightened and stupid, and I didn't even know when he came in.
Seeing that he was about to run away, Second Mistress closed the door with a bang.
The second grandmother can draw talismans herself, and there are talismans on her door and windows. I asked what the talismans were before, and she said they were used by An Zhai.
As soon as the door was closed, the old man had nowhere to run, and after a few glances at the room, he rushed towards Second Mistress.
When he rushed over, I could see clearly that his heels were missing, and he didn't have a chin at all.
I heard from my grandfather before that he said that ghosts have no jaws.
The more I saw such a scene, the more frightened I became, and I didn't dare to move on the bed.
The second grandma had trouble with her legs and feet. Seeing that the old man was about to pounce on her, she didn't move. She just swung the broom abruptly, only to hear a dull bang, and the old man was thrown flying by the broom.
Seeing the old man lying on the ground after being beaten, the second grandma quickly yelled at me, telling me to pee on the old man.
I was almost scared to death, how could I urinate at this moment, the second grandma saw that I was not moving, so she stretched out her finger and bit down.
After just one sip, I saw the blood on Second Grandma's fingers flowed happily.
After the second grandma got the blood out, she flicked it at the old man, and all the blood on her finger was thrown out, and a few drops of books got into my eyes.
At that time, the feeling after the blood entered the eyes was the same as that of onion water entering the eyes. I couldn't open them at all, tears flowed down my eyes. The old man really rushed towards me with smoke all over his body.
I rolled over and fell onto the bed. After a while, the second grandmother pulled me outside and washed my eyes with a basin of clean water.
After everything was over, my eyes were already swollen and high, like a bee sting, and it hurt like hell.
After crying at Second Mistress's place for a while, I asked Second Mistress who the old man was just now.
The second grandma said that the old man died a few days ago. Today was just the first seven days. I ran out and met him, and he followed me.
That time, my second grandmother taught me two things.
First, if you meet someone wearing toad shoes and old clothes calling you on the road, you must not agree, otherwise he will pester you.
Second, if a stranger asks you to stand on tiptoe, you must not stand on tiptoe, because the ghost will put its toe into your heel, and then follow you, extinguishing the three fires on the person's head by the way, and then there is no hope.
For a long time afterwards, I was too scared to go out, and my eyes always hurt, and this pain lasted for many years. In those days, my second grandmother often came to see me, and every time she came, she would bring me a bowl of red food, and said that after drinking it, my eyes would not hurt.
That incident had more impact on me than that. There is a saying in the village that everyone has flames, and people with low flames tend to attract ghosts. I bumped into a ghost, which naturally means that my fire is low. Since then, the villagers have quietly told their children not to stay with me, otherwise they will also bump into ghosts.
I don't know what I did wrong. No one is willing to go with me to herd cattle. My grandparents also felt the meaning of staying away from the villagers, and told me not to go to other people's houses every now and then.
Because I was disobedient, I met a ghost. This time I learned to be good. I listened to my grandparents and rarely went to other people's houses to play. The other children said a few words.