Articles about old houses

Brother comes home late - the story of the old house

My cousin Ali is much older than me. The incident happened when he was in junior high school and I had just learned to walk. This story was told to me by him when we were drinking. I always thought that he was an atheist, but I didn't expect that he would have such an experience, and even he couldn't explain it himself.

When Ali was in junior high school, his grandfather had passed away for a few years, and his aunt had just been married for more than a year and gave birth to a daughter. Grandma went to take care of her child, and the old house at home remained empty. At that time, Ali was in the rebellious phase. His uncle asked him to go east and he went west, but he always did the opposite. He also wanted to become independent all day long. When he saw that his grandfather's old house was empty, he discussed with his uncle that he would move there. Live in the old courtyard. The uncle didn't agree at first, but later he saw that he couldn't resist him, so he let him go. He was living in the west wing of the house where his grandfather and grandmother lived. On the second day after he moved in, a strange thing happened.

Ali’s junior high school at that time implemented a system of make-up classes and evening self-study. Every night, it was already past nine o’clock when he finished evening self-study. In rural areas, everyone goes to bed early, around eight o'clock. Students who live on campus can go back to the dormitory directly after studying in the evening. This is very difficult for students like Ali who have to go to school in order to save money, because the school is not where my home is. That village was a town more than ten miles away. It was almost ten o'clock when he returned home every day. For the safety of students, schools usually require students from the same village to go together. However, most of Ali's classmates from the same village live on campus, and a few of them are senior classmates. They are not willing to go home with Ali, who is younger than them. In desperation, Ali often walked home at night by himself. He was extremely excited when he told me about this experience. He said that he would sprint home at a speed of 100 meters after school every day because of the night roads in rural areas. I can't even see it, it all depends on my senses, memory and moonlight. It is not difficult to imagine that it is indeed a bit crazy for a child who has just entered junior high school to walk such a long night.

Ali went home from evening self-study that night as usual. That night the moonlight was particularly brighter than before, and everything on the road could be seen clearly, so Ali did not run home as usual. Instead, he walked back slowly. When he was about to reach Wangzhuang, the sky suddenly darkened and the moon disappeared. Wangzhuang is the village next door to my home. The two villages are only two miles apart. When Ali was rejoicing that he was almost home, he suddenly saw a blurry white shadow on the road ahead. In such an environment, the first thing that must come to mind is It's a *** thing. Ali was shocked and did not dare to go any further, but he found that the thing did not move, and seemed to be waiting for him. Ali stood there blankly for several minutes, and the thing remained motionless. Ali was a little relieved. He thought it might be a scarecrow or something like plastic paper. He laughed inwardly at how a grown man could be so timid, so he kept walking. But his movement didn't matter, the thing started to move forward. Ali was stunned for a moment, and his feet fell softly and he sat on the ground. Unexpectedly, the thing in his blurry vision followed him and stopped again. Ali thought it was all over now, he must have been haunted by a ghost. He sat on the ground and his mind went blank. He didn't know how long it had been. He thought that sitting like this was not an option. If it was like when he lived at home before, if his uncle saw him not coming back so late, he would definitely come out to look for him. . But now he lives alone in his grandma's old house. Even if he doesn't go back for one night, his uncle won't know. The earliest they won't find out that he hasn't come back is when they have breakfast tomorrow morning. He thinks that maybe by then He himself became a ghost. He finally made up his mind that he must return home, or at least run to his grandmother's house at the entrance of the village. He mustered up the courage to stand up and continue walking forward.

Oddly enough, that thing kept walking in front of Ali and stopped whenever Ali stopped. There was always a certain distance between the two. Ali was a little relieved now. He had just arrived at the entrance of the village. He had already seen his grandma's old house. Ali was so happy in his heart, but who knew that when he was about to reach the door of the old house, the thing suddenly stopped. Ali was dumbfounded, and an unprecedented sense of fear came over him. He thought, this thing is not stupid, he even knows where I live, and must have been targeting me for a long time. He didn't dare to go forward. The thing was standing motionless at the door of the old house, because it was the thing that stopped first this time. Ali would not be stupid enough to go forward and shorten the distance between himself and the thing. distance between. Ali almost burst into tears. He called his uncle over and over again in his heart, but he did not dare to shout out because it was a quiet rural night. Even he would be frightened by shouting, let alone in such a situation. Seeing that the situation was not improving, Ali suddenly had an idea. He thought what would happen if he walked to his home at this time? Without thinking carefully, Ali suddenly changed his direction and walked towards his home.

When Ali talked about this, I was already sweating profusely as a listener, but I still didn’t understand why that thing didn’t get close to Ali, but kept a certain distance from him. Could it be that someone was deliberately trying to scare Ali? I told Ali my doubts, and Ali said that at first he also doubted whether someone was scaring him, but in such an environment, no one would rather believe it, not to mention that strange things were still to come.

What it means is that Ali suddenly changed his direction. In fact, Ali didn’t know whether this method would work or not. It’s called seeking medical treatment in case of emergency. Ali tried to walk a little further, but the thing didn’t follow. Ali was so happy. He thought he was finally safe. Who knew that thing suddenly appeared in front of him again, a white shadow, fluttering. Ali collapsed completely. He turned around and ran towards his grandma's old house. , in his own words, at this speed he dares to compete with the world 100-meter champion, and he may not necessarily lose. He didn't know how he ran into the old house. He closed the door all of a sudden, then quickly ran into the west wing and closed the door. In a flash, he picked up the quilt, covered himself and squatted at the foot of the bed. Ali was so frightened that he shook and listened carefully to what was happening outside the window. At this time, there was silence outside the window, without any sound. Suddenly, he heard the door of the main room being knocked by something. Now Ali was shaking even more violently, and his tears flowed down unconsciously. Sobbing quietly. Something kept knocking on the door of the main room, and Ali's nerves jumped violently with each knocking sound. The knocking sounds were light and heavy, "pop", "pop", "pop"...

I don’t know how long I have been knocking, but the sound suddenly stopped. Ali did not relax his vigilance when the sound stopped. His nerves were like a string that was fully stretched, and he did not miss any sound. It had been quiet for a few minutes, and suddenly the knocking sounded again. This time it was not knocking on the door of the main room, but on the door of the west wing where Ali was. Ali was so frightened that he cried "Wow". He was crying and yelling. I think this is how people should react when they are on the verge of collapse. He didn't care about the knock on the door, and he took it upon himself anyway. His curses got louder and louder, and he didn't know how long he had been cursing. Suddenly, he heard the uncle outside the door shouting into the room, "Ally, you are swearing. Are you possessed or something?" Ali was so excited that he cried even louder and shouted vaguely: "Dad! Help me!" The uncle kicked open the door of the west wing, and Ali was already crying. She was in tears and threw herself into the uncle's arms. The uncle asked Ali what happened and why the door to the main room was not closed. How could Ali know?

It turned out that the uncle had a meeting in the brigade that night. The uncle was the village party secretary. They talked about raising funds to build roads very late. As soon as they came back, they heard crying in the old house, so he came over to see what was going on. , and then Ali was saved. Ali has been living on campus since then, and rarely walks at night by himself. Also, Ali can't explain why the door to the main room was opened, and his uncle can't analyze it. I don't understand the reason even more, so I'll leave it to everyone to analyze. Bar.

The old house has grown up in the years when the moss marks have gradually deepened

The old house has grown up in the years when the moss marks have gradually deepened.

This is an old house that belongs to our family. It has been eroded by wind and rain for several years. She has deep roots in the soil and protects our growth as the years go by. Even if the world is changing and there are no people in the alleys, even if it is a long time ago, all the life scenes of our family have clearly happened, and they have been legitimately left in the form of physical evidence, becoming an inescapable tragedy and joy. Intertwined memories.

Now, she stands there quietly, so quiet that no one can feel her presence, but it makes me really feel that she is still the smallest unit in this town.

Today, many years later, when the old house was revisited and mentioned again, I was surprised to find that it was not anything that changed my destiny, but the hidden things in the old house that I could not see. Things that have been destined for a long time, they pass through my life once and they are my life, making me believe that she and I exist in the same world. She gave me solidity and authenticity with a specific blood relationship, which made me miss her grand scene of green trees and branches. It also reminded me of a big family eating at the same table, a quiet ordinary world, where we spent time together day and night. , the scene of chatting and laughing through the mist rising from the soup...

The backyard of the old house is dark green with moss marks, hidden by weeds, and surrounded by the smell of grass and earth. It is so quiet that it is touching. . I deeply appreciate the melancholy and long historical texture that is released silently. One or two tiny insects flew up from the grass, kissing the scenery on the branches. Many yellowed past events flowed out like streams along the cracks of memory. Although the barriers were clear and the Han River and Chu boundary were clear, they still went round and round. Walking out in a circle, it is still lingering in my heart, forming a clear and mellow emotion, which makes people admire, move and sigh with emotion.

Recalling the days of joy and sorrow in the old house, the circles under my eyes still couldn't help but get red again and again, and I had the answer to the gains and losses of advancement and retreat, as well as perseverance.

The years of the old house are peaceful. She is no longer an abstract time term, she has a certain breath. Although the dust of the past has been submerged, some memories still come to me, like the new bamboos stretching slanting under the moon, with many stories slenderly told on the branches and leaves, and like the leisurely steps that have not been stepped on by shoes for many years, with several layers of thin new green floating on them. , once awakened, everything on your mind will be revealed in front of others.

Perhaps, as long as one drunken afternoon, scattered memories will continue to arrive today, and I will be soaked in the past, feeling that I have walked into an evening a century ago. Listen to the breathing of the old house and decipher the life code of the old house.

The sporadic stories are like clearly identifiable patterns. There are gaps. I don’t know where they are broken, and I don’t know where they are connected. Only the moss in the corner of the house remembers what happened here.

Grandma’s room still seems as simple as a lamp. The thin grandmother wore her hair in a neat bun, swaying in the dim light. In the purple fragrance of the night, the loneliness is boundless, flowing with the warm smell of camphor or plain sleeves and hair. That winding fragrance winds along the crack of the door to our noses, and we can't hide away.

Grandma practiced without makeup. She had white hair in all her dreams. There was no sadness in her eyes, no tears dried by the wind. She showed a peaceful and quiet expression in the grand realm of life. With her lifelong perseverance and widowhood, she allowed the calm smile on her face to hide the turmoil in her heart, and earned herself not only a chastity memorial arch, but also the traditional virtues of Chinese women, fulfilling the majesty and dignity of life, and forming herself. The double perfection and giving our family a kind of broad maternal love. From this, we can grow and bloom, continue to maintain that tenacity, and continue to stretch in her blood.

The attic when I was a girl already had flower windows. Open the flower windows and listen to the wind and rain and the flowers blooming. Occasionally, I would put one or two flowers in a porcelain vase. There will always be a branch of idle flowers pruned sideways and blooming like a classical woman. As a result, many graceful words and phrases would flow out, covering me like a mist. I was immersed in the mood of the rain in the middle of the night, holding a fine porcelain buckle bowl with orchids, and slowly sipping the fragrant tea of ??the years. The candlelight of the lampstand flickered, and a pale flower was reflected on the wall. There was still a dazzling red flower blooming stubbornly on the temple of my dream.

Perhaps, in life, many details are hidden and intertwined. Now, what complete story can the porcelain bottle on the attic dressing table tell that has not yet had time to break and weather?

Outside the window, the distant mountains are covered with green smoke and soft willow silk. The drizzle is falling, tapping the eaves of the plantain roof, and also tapping the thoughts of the people in front of the window. There is a layer of ancient meaning and distant old house. When one looks up, there is an invisible power lurking, that kind of unswerving maintenance of life and death, which awakens my confidence and peace of mind to stick to the next period of my life.

The old house is a place where you can forget time, a place where you can also forget yourself. In these busy years, she has grown up in the years with deepening moss marks, and experienced every ordinary passing time. Begonia remains the same, forgetting both things and me. It is not bright and beautiful, but silently exudes the fragrance of the heart, and has been cherished by us for a long time. And remember with nostalgia.