According to Xiao Xuzi's advice, I haven't told anyone about the things I did in the army for so many years, and I just plan to live an ordinary life honestly. But contrary to expectations, something unexpected happened to me again.
The year I retired, I used the money from my cigarette box to open a stationery store next to the town’s middle school, married a wife, and taught myself the craft of masonry, carving tombstones and inscriptions for others. In a blink of an eye, spring turned to winter for ten years. Now, I have become a relatively famous young artist in the town.
Although the income is not high, my life is still plenty. To praise my town and my life, I once wrote this poem:
I love my town.
I know every place and corner of the town.
I love my town.
Because when I open every door in the town, I will be greeted by smiling faces one after another.
I love my town.
I often share my experiences with my classmates, and the wealthy women in the group are all envious of my free life.
In order to liven up the atmosphere in the group, I often send red envelopes to the group.
The rich women were very polite. After grabbing the red envelopes, some gave flowers, some thanked others, and some even asked, "Are you getting rich again?"
I said, "Yes!" and everyone gave me a bunch of thumbs up.
At this time, I will continue to say, "This is earned from the tombstone I just finished carving."
When everyone heard this, they said, "Oh, right? Next time, I won't grab your red envelope. I don't dare to ask for it. It's too scary!"
well! I have long known that these rich women are like big-tailed goldfish. Their memory is guaranteed to last only seven seconds, and they will drop everything as soon as they see a red envelope.
Sure enough, I guessed it right. Whenever I handed out a red envelope, they would forget where it came from and rush to grab it.
So the days go by so fast and it’s so fun.
But one day something happened.
That night I drank a few more cups, handed out the red envelopes and fell asleep.
But the next morning, my waist couldn't straighten up, and I didn't even dare to touch the ground with my feet.
This frightened my daughter-in-law Zhao Yue, "Did you catch a cold? You didn't eat anything last night! Let's close the door today and go to the city to see the doctor!"
"It's too early to have time to talk!" My body has always been stiff and I can't stand up straight. I'm actually more anxious than my wife.
Of course my wife listened to my words and hurriedly pulled me to the passenger station on a tricycle. We got on the first train and headed for the provincial capital. I registered at the best hospital in the provincial capital and took pictures, running upstairs and downstairs. As a result, the big doctor looked at my film upside down and said, "There's nothing wrong with you!"
I bared my teeth and said, "It's impossible, doctor, it hurts so much, and you still say there's nothing wrong!"
The doctor made a face and said: "Young man, you have to believe in science!"
OK, believe in science. Nowadays, when doctors open their mouths, it means science, and when they open their mouths, they mean authority.
I had no choice but to let my wife support me and rush to the second hospital. It was time to register and go upstairs and downstairs to shoot a movie again. My wife was so exhausted that she was out of breath. After looking at the doctor, the doctor said: "From the film, we really can't see anything wrong. I can't say whether you two should use other methods to take a look! I'll find someone for you to find." he."
The elderly doctor handed me a piece of paper. When I looked at the name written on it, I knew who this person was. I had heard about it for a long time.
So I listened to the doctor's words and took a taxi with my wife to return the same way.
The car did not go directly home. Instead, it bypassed our town and drove left and right on a dirt road until it entered Mr. Zhang’s house in Zhangjiatun.
The old man's small courtyard is not big but very clean. The branches of two old pines and cypresses are so lush and interspersed that they almost cover the sky in the courtyard.
The old man's room must be very dark due to the influence of the pine trees. There are no unnecessary furnishings in the room. On the square table near the north wall, there is a portrait of an ancient person hanging, pink candles are burning, and sandalwood is flowing.
An old man with a white beard was sitting on the kang, engrossed in writing.
After waiting for a long time, he raised his head. The old man's eyes were particularly bright: "My waist is not good, why don't you come and see your waist?"
My wife hurriedly said: "Yes, uncle!"
"We all looked at it at the big hospital in the city this morning, but we didn't even say anything. Why don't you come and take a look!"
The old man stroked his beard, looked at me, and nodded gently.
"You are finally here, I have been waiting for you for a long time!"
My scalp tightened. When I get older, will he know what happened to me back then? impossible.
I reluctantly stood up and said, "Old man, I am an ordinary farmer. If I had known your name, I would have never come to visit you. It happened that I was out of luck this morning and my waist could not straighten up."
Unexpectedly, the old man just smiled and said, "That's right. If I guessed correctly, you will engrave a monument. And last night you engrave the name of the ancestor wrongly. Is this the case?"
Oh, it turns out it wasn't ten years ago, I was relieved.
Then he said: "Yes, yes, sir, I can carve a monument, but I can guarantee that the name cannot be engraved wrong!"
The old man smiled and said: "Young man, don't be so stubborn! Just go back and take a good look at it. If you make a mistake, quickly change it and engrave it again!"
After the old man finished speaking, he closed his eyes slightly and stopped talking.
Upon seeing this, my wife and I hurried home. I was helped to the backyard and called my employer in front of the carved stone tablet.
The other party is a young man from the south. He ordered the tombstone from me the day before yesterday.
He said that the tombstone at the front of their family cemetery had weathered and needed to be re-erected, and that it should be erected higher for the benefit of future generations. It’s no surprise that I don’t understand all of this.
So he rushed out overnight and waited for someone from the other party to arrive and take him to the designated place and settle him down at the designated time. There will be no big problem with this monument.
At this time, the call was connected. After a conversation with the other party, I found out that what the old man said came true. It was indeed me who had carved the name of his ancestor wrongly. "Liang Guiwen" was carved into "Liang Huiwen". It turns out that the employer was originally from the north, but after living in the south for a long time, he adopted the local accent. But I unexpectedly missed a verification link.
My wife was overjoyed when she heard this, and I felt sweat on my forehead.
I began to admire this old man in my heart, he is really a god!
So if I made any mistakes, I quickly corrected them. I endured the pain in my back and finished carving the new tombstone in one breath. The tombstone was finished, but the pain in my back became more and more severe.
We quickly came to find the old man again.
It was already setting sun. But the old man was waiting for us under the pine tree, fanning himself!
The old man smiled when he saw us entering the hospital. He first offered a seat to my wife, and then asked me to lie down on the wicker chair and not move.
Said, "Have you finished changing it?"
The daughter-in-law said, "You are so amazing! You have finished changing it! Old man!"
I said, "Old man, I'm convinced. I made the wrong mistake and corrected it, but the pain in my back is getting worse again!"
The old man waved his feather fan and said, "Your waist will never recover. You will have to spend the rest of your life on the kang!"
"Spend your whole life on the kang?" My body shook and I couldn't say a word.
The daughter-in-law was so panicked now that she burst into tears.
"Anything else, old gentleman, we have seniors and juniors, and the whole family is counting on him! Please show mercy and save our leader! We will recognize how much it costs!" As he said this, he knelt down before the old man. In front of him, he kowtowed repeatedly.
The old man was not moved by my wife's tears. He said calmly: "My child, it's useless to cry. After all, it was you who carved the names of other people's ancestors wrongly. It's normal to punish you for your carelessness. I don't want you." Your life will be good!"
My wife knelt down and prayed again and again, "Don't do this, old man, you must help us think of a way! Please, let us, the head of the family, stand up!"
"Alas! It's not impossible for your boss to stand up!"
"You said, as long as it can make his waist better, we will do it. Just do it!" I usually make the decision on big and small things at home, and I make the final decision. I didn't think that a weak woman would be at this critical moment. Shi Shi dared to be so decisive, which surprised me!
The old man looked directly at me and said, "Actually, the only way to get you to stand up is to punish you for helping me find something."
"What is it? Tell me where to find it quickly!" The wife had already stood up at the old man's signal and stamped her feet anxiously.
The old man said slowly: "This thing doesn't exist now. I have to punish you to go to the country more than two thousand years ago to find it. As long as you are willing to go, you will be able to stand up immediately, and your previous abilities will be restored. You Are you willing or unwilling?”
When my wife heard this, she looked at the old man and then at me. "Master, what are you capable of? After living with you for so many years, why don't I know whether you are willing or not? This is time travel!"
My wife has watched time-travel dramas frequently, and he understands what time-travel is all about.
I know that the old man in front of me is by no means an ordinary person.
I could only say, "As long as it allows me to stand up and live a normal life, I can do anything. As for whether my abilities have been restored, I don't care."
