matchmaking

The old house of the Yu family still maintains its old appearance.

The posters of the last century’s “Years per Mu” have long since faded. The corners of several photo frames next to each other are folded, the glass surface is cracked, and the black and white photos have a muddy yellow color. The face is clearly pale.

The wooden floor in the living room is even more dilapidated, and it creaks and creaks constantly when stepped on; the big round table in the middle is lame, and a piece of brick and stone is placed under it. Elderly people with asthma.

The children's playfulness, the adults' scolding and laughing and cursing were all lost in the long time, and in the end only the two old people who had gone through vicissitudes remained with the old house.

Luo Youning vaguely felt that he had forgotten something, but after thinking about it carefully, he couldn't remember it.

The Yu family's grandfather was sitting on the old man's chair in the corner reading the newspaper. Seeing him trembling on crutches, he was about to get up: "Ning Wa, Ning Wa is back."

Luo Youning hurried forward to help him: "Grandpa, don't worry, slow down, slow down!"

The grandfather of the Yu family bent his back, and tapped his cane on the ground twice aggressively. His eyes were sunken deep in his eye sockets, and his eyes were cloudy and gray, but there was a gentle warmth in his eyes as he looked at him: "Ning Wa has grown up, You are as old as Bingwen. You didn’t come back with Bingwen for so many years, is it because you blamed grandpa for beating you with bamboo strips?”

Luo Youning blinked his eyes and tried not to let the red eyes overflow with tears: "Why, I have been thinking about you, Grandpa Yu." Just like in the past, he picked up words to make this ancient old man happy: "This is not the case. I have been busy all year, and I have been busy studying and working, and I have always wanted to come back but have not found the time."

"Good boy." Grandpa Yu sighed deeply, "You and he are both good boys."

The two elders of the Yu family were strict and strict, but they always favored him.In Yu Bingwen's house, he is like a child of other people's family. No matter how mischievous he is, he is still a good boy. If he does something bad, he will always only greet Yu Bingwen.

Luo Youning coaxed the old man and said, "Well, it's because you taught me well, Grandpa."

The grandfather of the Yu family laughed, and patted him on the back with his withered hands, "Go and sit down, grandpa will make you tea. I'll add some honey to the tea, don't tell your grandma."

Luo Youning didn't want to trouble him, but the grandfather of the Yu family moved swiftly even though he was old, and with a few squeaks of crutches, he had already lifted the curtain and went to the back kitchen.

The room was quiet, and through the carved windows, one could see the Yu family's grandmother busy with her back in the backyard.

The panic just now was like an ebb tide, gradually dissipating.Luo Youning is like a child who has fled back to his own home, all ghosts are kept out of the door, and his home will shelter him from the wind and rain.

He supported the round table and sat down slowly, looking around at the furnishings in the room.

There are still some changes in the main hall. It seems that there are a few more tablets on the altar, which are too far away to see clearly.

He stood up and took a few steps towards the altar. The curtain in front of the altar trembled slightly, and a pale little hand protruded from inside to slowly lift the bright yellow curtain out of a gap.

Luo Youning stopped suddenly, his eyes fell just in time to meet the pale face clamped between the cracks——

It was a child's face. It seemed to be lying on the ground and looked out cautiously. Seeing that Luo Youning was not hiding, it just whispered: "He is coming, why don't you hide?"

Luo Youning's heart jumped, and suddenly there were two knocks on the main door of the hall with his back turned. The sound was very soft, and stopped after a while.

Luo Youning stared at the child, and the child raised his index finger to him in a silent gesture, then retreated and disappeared into the depths of the table curtain.

The knock on the door from the front door continued, "Knock—knock—", the elongated sound echoed in the empty hall, soft and slow, like a careless urging.

Luo Youning was a little restless, thinking about the axe, thinking about the nightmarish shadow, the broken head of the child rolled over the green grass that was about to drip, and the thick blood fell straight into the deep pool—"Plop. "

He closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to shake those horrible memories out of his eyes.But it was useless, the hands on his knees were already trembling, the evil spirit knocked on the door of the Yu family's old house, and it was about to break in - he had already implicated Dayu, and he could not implicate the two old men of the Yu family anymore.

He stood up abruptly from the chair, and was about to run towards the back door, but as soon as he reached the corridor, the curtain facing him shook slightly, and the old face of Grandpa Yu suddenly appeared behind the curtain: "Where are you going?"

Luo Youning was startled. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the corridor behind the door curtain. It was clearly bright, but the corridor leading to the back door was completely dark.

He took a few steps back, and the thoughts buried deep in his memory seemed to be struggling out of the shackles.

"Come here," the cane knocked on the ground, shattering his hesitation, "Sit with grandpa and drink tea for a while, your grandma will find something for you later."

The old man staggered with a cane in one hand and refreshments in the other.

"Grandpa, don't be too busy." Luo Youning quickly picked up the tray, put the refreshments on the table, and said in a low voice: "Someone is knocking on the door outside... They are here to look for me! I'll go out and have a look, and I'll come back later you."

He was afraid that the old man would keep him, so he wanted to go out, but what moved faster than him was the hand stretched out from the ground, the palm like a dead branch clamped on his wrist in an instant: "Sit down," the old man suddenly seemed to have changed Just like me, with a livid face and two cloudy eyes, she stared at him and repeated, "Sit with grandpa."

Luo Youning's spine was chilled by his gaze, and his legs retreated uncontrollably and sat down.

The old man's expression returned to calm in an instant, and he pushed the refreshments in front of him: "Eat something first, your grandma has something to find for you."

The chair was covered with soft and comfortable cushions, but Luo Youning felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. The knocking sound from the door kept amplifying in his ears, and the knocking sound changed from slow to rapid, from nothing to continuous—"Bang bang bang! bang!" Bang bang!"

Looking at the old man's indifferent appearance, Luo Youning felt anxious secretly: "Grandpa, outside..."

"They are all lonely ghosts without family protection, and they will scare the children." The teacup was clinking with the lid on the teacup, and the old man stared at Luo Youning and asked, "Why don't you eat, because you think grandpa made tea?" taste not good?"

He was such an old god, Luo Youning didn't dare to argue too much, he hurriedly picked up the teacup and sipped it, some mud was rubbed against the sides of the cup, and some soil was stained on the rim of the cup.

He bite the bullet and took a sip of the tea, the mouth was jerky, and a smell of earth came one after another, rushing into the nostrils, and his breath was full of mud.He felt weird and didn't dare to drink any more, so he put down his teacup and took a look at the pastry that went with the tea. He didn't know how long the pastry had been sitting there, it was covered with dry spots and mold, it was hard to swallow just looking at it.

He was worrying about how to fool around, and someone beside him called him: "Ning Wa, come and try these shoes."

The old lady came in quietly, holding a pair of old-fashioned cloth shoes in her hands. The uppers of the shoes were in the shape of auspicious clouds drawn with silver threads, and they were dug out from nowhere.

"Look at you, you look like a wild cat." The old man took the shoes and walked to him to put them down, just like he did when he was a child. He squatted down to take off his shoes and wipe his feet, chanting in dialect She said, "Put on these shoes, Ning Wa will be able to walk all the way back to your place."

"Grandma, I'll do it myself." Luo Youning didn't dare to ask her to help, and quickly bent down to take off the sneakers and the wet and dirty socks inside, took the towel and wiped it by himself, "I will wear it myself."

The soles are tight, and the cloth surface is seamed smoothly. It is a bit big on the feet, but it is comfortable and light to walk on.

"Just right, just right," Yu's grandma grinned and muttered, "This pair was originally made for Bingwen, but Bingwen can't wear it anymore, Ning Wa just fits in it."

Looking at the white-haired old man in front of him, Luo Youning couldn't help the soreness in his eyes, and his words were choked up: "Thank you grandma...Thank you grandma."

The old lady waved her hand, stood up and said, "Go back after drinking the tea that grandpa made for you. Go straight through the back door, and someone will come looking for you."

Luo Youning was a little dazed: "Grandma, where else can I go? Isn't this the village?" He suddenly remembered something, "I have a friend who came with me, a friend of Dayu and I. He seems to be with me. got separated..."

Just as he finished speaking, there was a loud bang from the door in the main hall, as if some sharp weapon had slammed the solid door open.

The two old people hadn't heard of it, the grandfather of the Yu family leaned on the back of the chair and read the newspaper again, and the grandmother of the Yu family looked at him with a kind smile.

Only Luo Youning was in a panic. He was worried about hurting the two old people. He stood up and was about to rush out, but a hand suddenly stretched out from his shoulder and pushed him forward suddenly, followed by an old and hoarse voice: "Good boy, go back!" Well, this is not the place for you."

Luo Youning's face changed suddenly, and the familiar scene in front of him was like a cracked glass mirror, falling apart in an instant, and the dense fog that concealed the space surged from the cracks, engulfing him in a short while.

At the end of the impression was the whisper of the old man, as if he was speaking some unfathomable prophecy: "...you can find what you are looking for at the entrance of the village."

Thick fog thickens the forest and gathers green leaves.Ye Cui is not clear, pieces are hanging between the branches, and there are gray-painted wild bats hanging upside down.

After a brief separation, the person behind him quickly grabbed his hand again.

Ten fingers intertwined, the slender knuckles were cold with a bit of cold air, and there were some calluses hidden in the palm, Qiao Jing stopped and called out uncertainly: "Luo Youning?"

The person behind responded in a low voice, with a bit of panic in his voice: "Let's go."

The fog is too thick to see clearly, only vague outlines can be seen vaguely.The young man seemed to be very close to him. He lowered his head slightly, and the tips of his hair were long and softly stuck to his forehead. His hair was pitch black and his skin was snow-white, just like the appearance in his memory.

The fog was strangely thick, Qiao Jing just wanted to get out quickly and ask what happened, so she dragged him forward quickly.

Their journey was smooth, and after a few steps, they encountered a fork. The left fork sprinted, and the fog gradually dispersed. At the end, there was a small boundary marker. Yanyuan Village suddenly appeared.

A villager who was carrying firewood came to meet him, he was taken aback when he saw him, and said in a local accent: "Young man, which family do you belong to?"

Qiao Jing didn't know the situation in Yu Bingwen's home, so she subconsciously turned her head to look at Luo Youning, but at this moment, how could there be Luo Youning behind him?Only the shallow water mist lingering like a gauze remains, carrying ups and downs, seeming to laugh at his sudden carelessness.

Qiao Jing slowly clenched her fists, and there was a light click between her fingers.

He spread his five fingers, and there was only half of a wet branch lying across his palm.

It was the hand he mistakenly thought he was holding.