Chapter 4: Kid, come home with me.

It's too cold, and no amount of heavy sleepiness can stand up to a chilly late fall night.

Lin Jian sat on the futon, wrapped in the large coat the man had given him, as close to the fire pit as possible, occasionally adding a wad of paper money to it and relying on the meager warmth.

The yard is very quiet, the big aunt they said is still busy tomorrow, after sending away the last guest went back to the house to rest, before entering the hall room and instructed him once again, incense can not be broken.

Lin Jian sleepy and confused, but the ear is good, heard the sound of footsteps immediately opened his eyes, heart thumping, the mind uncontrollably appeared before those who have heard of the gods and ghosts of the picture, with three fears, holding a point of fear, glanced at the incense table on the three incense, the face is still not much expression, but the heart is actually more than a little bit of trepidation and anticipation.

The footsteps are close, there are shadows, and the little unspeakable anticipation of looking up turns into an accident.

Shen Ke was also very surprised, not realizing that this child was the only one left in the hearth.

Lin Jian watched as he walked in and squatted down beside himself, and again hung his head without saying a word, staring only at the fire pit in front of him.

Shen Ke was quiet and didn't know what to think, and in the middle of the day, he took the initiative to ask, "Why don't you go to bed?"

Thinking that she was still wearing someone else's jacket, Lin Jian unprecedentedly replied, "Shou Xiang."

"They let you alone?"

Lin Jian could hear what that meant and turned his face away, but then he didn't say anything.

Shen Ke was alone and silent, and after a while, reached over and pulled another futon next to him and sat down beside the child.

The two people do not say anything, just guard a pot of fire will be extinguished to keep warm, close to the heat up, Lin Jian began to sleep again, eyelids have a blinking.

At that moment, Shen Ke, who was next to me, suddenly said, "If you are sleepy, go back to sleep, and I will keep watch for you for a while."

His words hit the tipping point of Lin Jian's lethargy, and in a flash, the child came back to life with a jolt of energy.

Lin Jian didn't respond, just reached out and reached for a stack of papers and threw them into the fire pit.

Shen Ke, on the other hand, saw the meaning of "no" in the act of "throwing".

Late at night, an adult and a child, guarding a pot of fire three incense, but also so also through most of the night.

In the second half of the night, Lin Jian really can not hold out, sitting on the futon curled legs asleep, Shen Ke before doing design to catch up with the plans to stay up all night has become a habit, two cups of extra strong can hang a night, think of the things after dawn, he was brewing to ask the child's thoughts, a turn of the head, he saw Lin Jian shrunk into such a small ball, his head is buried in his arm, with this extreme lack of security and self-defense posture is sleeping deeply. In this extremely insecure self-defense posture, he was sleeping deeply.

So just played a good belly can only stop, on second thought, ask also useless, no matter whether this child is willing or not, I'm afraid that can not change the Lin family must push him out of the door of the idea.

Shen Ke sighed darkly and took three replacements for the incense on the incense stand as it was about to burn out.

Lin Jian this sleep is evil, obviously feel not much time, was woken up by the sound of the hall pushed the door, only to find that the eastern sky has been flooded with fish belly white.

He jerked his head around, a breath having been raised to the top of his head and falling lightly, exhaling around the corner.

The incense hadn't broken, and a thick layer of ash had built up in the burner, thicker than it had been last night before he'd fallen asleep.

Big Aunt's family also got up, today to send his father out of the funeral earth, and "Caoer" set the time early, He Xi wash wash from the hall out of the waist again tied a white belt, walked to the mouth of the hearth, rushed to Lin Jian said: "My mom called you to go to eat a bite of rice, I'll take over for you will be a while. I'll take over for you."

Lin Jian didn't say anything, wobbling to his feet from the cushions and staggering a step as he walked out of the hearth.

Entering the hall, the big aunt is still at the table, Lin Jian went to wash his hands in the basin, walked to the stove in silence, took a bowl, served porridge, and returned to the table to hold and drink.

He was still wearing Shen Ke's jacket, which was too big and the sleeves too long to hold chopsticks, so he took it off in the heat of the hall, thought about it, rolled it up in his lap and piled it up, but didn't put it down after all.

Dagu and the others finished eating and got off the table, Lin Jian drank two bowls of congee with the squash and ate a small roll, ate until she was full before putting down the bowl, cleared the table out of habit, scooped two scoops of water into the cauldron on the stove, and without anyone's order, scrubbed the family's bowls.

When he finished cleaning up and walked out again, there were many people gathered in the courtyard, those who didn't come to the banquet last night came today, not long after, "Caoer" waved at him, Lin Jian walked over to him, holding the suit jacket.

Caoer" is also from the same village, in his fifties, and Lin Jianghe's relationship with him was quite good, and his father would always greet him as "Uncle", and if Lin Jian was there, he would let him shout "Grandpa Zhang" again. If Lin Jian was there, he would let him call out "Grandpa Zhang" again. At this time and Lin Jian accounted for half a day, but also to not get the child to say yes to a sentence, can not help but be a little anxious, "Lin family boy, told you to remember?"

Lin Jian did not say anything, waited for half a day, and nodded his head with a small amplitude.

Back in the hut, Lin Jian once again knelt down on the cushion, his face facing outward to the various faces on both sides of the canvas, when "Caoer" shouted again: "Why are you still holding the clothes in your arms? Said the person has bent down into the shed walked to the side, reaching out to take away.

Lin Jian steps back to avoid it.

"Caoer" anxious: "This child, why do not you let go, what is wrong with you?"

Lin Jian ignored him and, after some thought, turned back to reach the other futon, pushed it into a corner, and put his jacket on it.

Do not take care of people do not speak, do not make a sound is quite stubborn, see him like this, "Caoer" also have no recourse, heavy sigh, turned out of the shed.

This white meeting to today is the main event, the same village to live, not out of the five clothes of relatives, turn to turn the scene. According to the custom, brother's funeral sister can not wear funeral clothes, so Lin Jiangyue only in the front lapel don't a white flower, looking at the waves of people who came to pay their respects, crying almost fainted, He Guodong and He Zhou stood on both sides of the support her, one followed the huffing and puffing, and the other simply do not want to pretend, drooping eyelids without an expression.

A line of people stood at the entrance of the hearth, and "Caoer" shouted, "One bow, another bow, three bows - the filial son thanks!"

After each "filial son's thank you," Lin Jian kowtows to the ground.

Halfway through the day, he'd lost track of how many times he'd touched his head to the ground.

Before the funeral, He Guodong specially asked a yin and yang doctor to look at the time, and said that it was "auspicious" for the funeral to be held at 10:00 a.m. After the last head was bowed, "Caoer" stuffed a porcelain bowl into Lin Jian's hand, which contained paper money and burned ashes. After burning the ashes, he put a red brick in front of the hut and shouted, "Drop the mourning bowl!"

Lin Jian will be in the hands of the porcelain bowl to the brick head vigorously slammed, "bang" sound, broken porcelain flying splash, paper ash and smoke in all directions.

Lin Jian turned back and picked up Lin Jianghe's urn, stood at the front of the funeral procession, and walked away step by step.

Song Zhi watched the funeral procession go out the door, shaking his head and sighing tersely as if he were naturally speaking to himself, "Such a small child, poor thing."

The night did not sleep, Shen Ke's face is not very good, under the eyes of the black and blue is a little obvious, heard such a sentence, and looked at the crowd of people who are moving away, heart, not only.

When Lin Jianghe's ashes finally fell into the ground at the cemetery, it was more than two hours before Lin Jian followed the crowd home.

It's funny, today is the day of the funeral, but Lin Jiangyue and his family did not even prepare the last meal.

Funeral people have left one after another, the hearth is also demolished, the original cramped and cluttered courtyard seems to be quite empty all of a sudden.

Lin Jian took off his mourning clothes, removed Lin Jianghe's last photo from the table, and wanted to go back to the west room, but when he thought of something, he raised his eyes fiercely and realized that the futon on which the coat was placed was empty.

He ran into the main house with the photo in his arms. Inside the house, Lin Jiangyue and He Guodong were sitting cross-legged on the kang and counting the money for their portions. When they saw him come in, they first shoved the money in their hands under the kang mat with a swish and asked with a tiger's face, "What are you doing, running all over the house with your father's photo in your arms? You shouldn't have put it anywhere else!"

Lin Jian pursed his lips and did not say anything, so small child, but the eyes are cold, gripping the picture frame of a few fingers are shaking, nail cover miserable white.

Perhaps the look in those eyes was too cold, Lin Jiangyue finally couldn't help himself and asked again, "What is your problem?"

"Clothes." Lin Jian finally spoke up, his voice too muffled to be heard, "Did you take the dress from the hearse?"

"What clothes?" He Guodong took over, in a hushed tone of voice, his tone unkind, "The sheds have all been torn down, where are the clothes?"

Lin Jian stopped talking, looked around, and after a few moments, asked, "Where is He Zhou?"

"That's your brother! Who are you talking to by name!" Lin Jiangyue admonished.

An eight-year-old child, the things that he has experienced in the past few days, those never exposed but rippling emotions have reached the limit, Lin Jian does not know what he should do, what can be done, only know that the location of the heart is really clogged with pain, pain that he wants to shout, want to scream, want to yell, want to do whatever it takes to smash to pieces all the people and things that can be seen in front of him and encountered.

But he didn't in the end, just swallowed hard and added, "That shirt belongs to someone else, it has to be returned."

"What do you mean, someone else's? Who do you want to return it to - it's just a ragged coat, I don't even care if I throw it away!" He Guodong heard this anxious, yelled, "Besides, to pay back is his family to pay back our family, owed a human life, to pay them off!"

Speaking of which, Lin Jiangyue hit his thigh: "Bad, where's the man surnamed Shen, he didn't run away, did he?"

After saying that, he started digging through his pockets, looking for the business card Song Zhi left behind last night.

After all, it's just a child, Lin Jian Looking at her impatient and flustered appearance, even the strongest anger, at this time, finally derived a little flavor similar to aggression, "Big Aunt, are you really going to give me away?"

Lin Jiangyue can finally find that business card, sniffed the hand of the cell phone a beat, and He Guodong next to the eye for a few seconds, cleared his throat, reluctantly changed a tone: "Bao'er, not the big aunt to give you away, is the big aunt really can not afford to support you, you say, your father is gone, no one in the family to make money cut off the income of your brother and your sister have to go to school, this later me and your aunt is also no way ah. This after ...... me and your aunt is also no way ah."

Slowly, see Lin Jian still no expression looking at her, the bottom of the eyes and surged a pair of tears: "Your father's heart is good, playing a small, obedient, you with him, you have to sympathize with the big aunt's difficulties, although we have a family name, but as the old saying goes, 'marrying out the aunt and grandmother pouring out the water', I will have to be buried in the old He family graveyard, big aunt, big aunt is not home. Buried in the old He family graveyard, Dagu, Dagu is not home ah ...... Moreover, that is a rich family, you go is to enjoy the blessings, and later grow up want to come back to see Dagu, come back at any time, we will always be a family family na!"

Lin Jian did not speak or make a statement, a pair of dark eyes just looked at her, the eyes were horribly quiet, until Lin Jiangyue's heart was a little panicked, only to spit out a sentence.

"You send me away and I'll never come back."

After saying that, she ran out of the house with the photo in her arms, and no matter how Lin Jiangyue shouted at the window, she didn't turn back.

Lin Jian ran all the way out of the yard, do not know where to go, do not know who to look for, is instinctively do not want to see the family, and do not want to follow the surname of Shen, he ran and thought, since there is no place to go, go to find his father.

Suddenly, the silhouette in front of him shook, and his footsteps could not be collected, and Lin Jian crashed headlong into the arms of the opposite person.

Instinctively backed up two steps, just looked up and saw the "Shen" standing in front of him.

Shen Ke lowered his eyes, looked at Lin Jian, then at the photo in his arms, and asked, "Where are you going?"

Lin Jian pursed his lips tightly to keep quiet, and wanted to go around him, but before he could move a step, in the next second, one of the wrists holding the photo was held by him.

"Kid." Shen Ke called to him, "Come home with me."