Mosquitoes in the countryside are too poisonous. Ning Ning woke up in the middle of the night by the mosquito bite. He couldn't sleep again with Cui Hongmei's loud snoring, and kept his eyes open until dawn.
Quietly got out of bed, she pushed the door lightly and walked out, looking at Ningjia Village outside the door.
At first glance, it is a small and exquisite ancient town.
Hui-style architecture with black tiles and white walls, houses are closely connected with each other, every household has raised corners and eaves, and although the sparrow is small, it has all the internal organs. A chastity archway, and finally arrived at an ancestral hall.
The Jinshi Archway and the Chastity Archway have both been eroded by wind and rain. Only the ancestral hall in front of them is in full swing. A group of people are busy in front of the door before dawn. A wooden stage rises flat in their hands. While directing them, someone suddenly pointed in Ning Ning's direction. He turned his head and said with a smile, "Aiya, daughter of the Ning family, why are you here?"
"...I went out to buy breakfast." Ning Ning made up an excuse, then looked at the stage in front of him and said, "What is this doing?"
"Let's sing on stage." The old village chief said with a smile, and the smile made Ning Ning feel a little uncomfortable.
"When will the stage be set up?" Ning Ning pretended to be very interested, "Who did you invite to sing?"
"How can outsiders be allowed to sing a play for the ancestors?" The old village chief shook his head, "We will perform and sing the Nuo dance by ourselves."
Suddenly he looked up at Ning Ning again, with a weird smile: "You are also your own, and you have to act."
Ning Ning was stunned.
"...Ning Ning!" Ning Yuren's voice suddenly sounded behind her, she turned her head, and saw her mother walking towards her quickly, with sweat on her forehead, as if she was running all the way.
Stopping Ning Ning behind him, Ning Yu, like a hen protecting her calf, said to the old village chief vigilantly and cautiously, "My surname is also Ning, and I will act in this play."
The old village chief shook his head: "The married daughter, the water that was poured out..."
"I just gave birth to a daughter, not married." Ning Yuren interrupted him with a rather tough attitude.
Ning Ning looked at the old village chief and then at his mother.
She had never seen this scene before.
Although she also went to the countryside with her last time, she still maintained the bad habit she developed in the city. She stayed in bed at eight or nine in the morning. After she woke up, her mother had already prepared breakfast. When eating, her mother seemed to be casual He said, "I'm going to dance the Nuo dance at the ancestor worship ceremony in a month's time."
Originally, Ning Ning wanted to stay together until a month later, but she was spoiled, she couldn't stand the poisonous mosquitoes in the countryside, and she couldn't stand the boring life in the small village, so she made a fuss to go back, and Ning Yuren didn't seem to want her to stay here too much. Stay, and soon find someone to drive over and pick up Ning Ning.
What happened after that, Ning Ning didn't know.
By the way, the person who came to pick her up seems to be...
"What do you say?" The old village chief's words interrupted Ning Ning's thoughts. He stared into Ning Ning's eyes and asked, "Do you want your mother to replace you?"
Ning Ning's heart moved.
In place of the word, subtle makes people feel uneasy.
Ning Yuren tugged at her clothes behind her back, but Ning Ning pretended not to feel it, and said to the old village chief innocently, "But I have never danced Nuo dance, it's only been a month... can you do it?"
"Others can't do it, you can do it!" Seeing her relaxed tone, the old village chief was overjoyed, "Who made your Ning family's role in Nuo dance always..."
"Don't talk about it." Ning Yuren suddenly screamed, seeing everyone putting down their work and looking at her, she smiled ugly, grabbed Ning Ning's arm and said, "Let's discuss it, turn back I'll give you a letter of approval."
After she finished speaking, she pulled Ning Ning back in a hurry, and the villagers she met along the way greeted her warmly.
"Oh, Ning's daughter, she came out so early, have you eaten yet?"
"Daughter of the Ning family, why don't you come to my house to eat, the just-made clay pot soup."
"Let's eat at my house, Ning's daughter, I'll give you noodles, with eggs buried in the noodles, if you want to eat a few."
The daughter of the Ning family, the daughter of the Ning family, the mother is the daughter of the Ning family, and she is also the daughter of the Ning family, so who are they calling
Because he has always lived under the aura of his mother, Ning Ning once subconsciously believed that the enthusiasm of the villagers was aimed at the people of Ning Yu.
Now, only to find that their eyes have all passed Ning Yuren and stayed on themselves.
"boom!"
The wooden door was closed, shutting the eyes of the villagers outside.
The pale mosquito net trembled, and Cui Hongmei on the bed turned over and continued to snort.
"...Mom." Ning Ning took a deep breath and asked, "What on earth do the Ning family do?"
"Don't ask more." Ning Yuren said firmly.
"If you don't tell me, I'll ask others later." Ning Ning said, "For example, the village chief, he will definitely be willing to tell me."
"... You'd better not listen to what he said." Ning Yuren frowned, seeing Ning Ning looking at her stubbornly, he sighed helplessly, and pulled Ning Ning to sit down by the table, the fat teapot poured two bowls Tea, she took a sip from the bowl, and then said lightly, "Nuo dance, taking off the mask is a human being, wearing a mask is a god, it is a sacrificial dance handed down from ancient times, the styles are different in different places, this one in the village, It's been a long time, probably going back to Song Ming's time..."
She picked up the bowl and took another sip, then continued, "The position of the Ning family in this Nuo dance is God."
"What god, it's clearly a ghost."
Ning Ning and Ning Yuren looked at the sound, and saw that the grandmother on the bed had woken up at some point, and was curled up in the tent, yawning and saying to the two of them, "Really, can you speak out? Say, I can't sleep because of the noise."
Ning Yuren looked at Ning Ning and asked her, "Mom, how do you say it's a ghost?"
"It's not what I said, it's what your dad said." Cui Hongmei continued yawning, "He always said that this Nuo dance can't be danced any more, the dancers are ghosts, and the people watching are ghosts, really, in the red era, This kind of thing can be said nonsense? It's a blessing to be in the village, because of his surname Ning... "
Cui Hongmei likes to arrange other people's faults, especially her own relatives, but she was born in this village and grew up in this village. After removing the complaints in her words, she gradually returned to the village Nuo. The truth about dance...
Once upon a time, everyone in Ningjia Village would dance the Nuo dance.
And according to different surnames, everyone plays a different role. The Ning family has only played one role since the establishment of the village - God.
But after the founding of the People's Republic of China, there was a period of turmoil, and even people from other villages reported that the people of Ningjia Village danced together. We still regard Nuo dance as a family heirloom craft, which is passed on to the children and grandchildren of the family from generation to generation.
It was not until the reform and opening up and the successful application of the Nuo dance to the World Heritage List that the village resumed its past traditions and held a Nuo dance ancestor worship ceremony every few years.
"But it's hard to pick up the lost traditions," Cui Hongmei said, "Especially in recent years, too many people have come to work in cities, and many young people are reluctant to learn Nuo dance from their elders. "
Having said that, she glanced at Ning Yuren.
Ning Ning blinked: "Grandma, your Nuo dance must be very good."
"Of course!" Cui Hongmei shifted her eyes, looking a little guilty, "...I danced very well when I was young, otherwise your grandfather wouldn't like me. Now that I'm old, I can't dance anymore."
"Mom does?" Ning Ning turned to look at Ning Yuren again.
Ning Yuren hesitated for a moment: "I know a little bit, your grandfather taught me, but he died of illness before he finished."
"I don't know at all." Ning Ning looked at them, "Why does the village chief insist on me coming?"
Ning Yuren and Cui Hongmei looked at each other and were puzzled. After all, Ning Ning's grandfather died too early, and there were many important things that he didn't have time to explain clearly.
Cui Hongmei rolled her eyes and suddenly smiled, "I know why?"
"You already have children, even if you don't get married, half of the water is poured out." She said to Ning Yuren, then turned her eyes to Ning Ning, "You are different, your surname is Ning, and you are also Not married, I guess those immortals want to introduce their grandsons and nephews to you."
Ning Ning's mouth twitched: "Isn't it so bloody?"
"You're still young, and you're not born and raised in this village, you don't understand." Cui Hongmei said more and more energetic, simply sat up and danced, "In your eyes, nothing is fart, but in the eyes of those old guys, it is like the emperor. The throne is no different. Just wait and see, I know them too well, and they will definitely introduce you to someone. If they do, then the masks of the Ning family will naturally belong to their family. "
"Mask?" Ning Ning was stunned, she didn't know how this matter had something to do with the mask again.
"What do you think? Nuo dances are all danced with masks on. Every family in the village has a different mask." Having said that, Cui Hongmei looked around, "Speaking of which, where are our masks?"
The three of them began to rummage through the boxes. They couldn't find anything on the first floor. They were thinking about going to the second floor. The house made of wood has been beaten by wind and rain for hundreds of years. In a mass of mud that would sink, Ning Ning went up twice and then went down again. He really didn't have the guts to take such a staircase.
Dong Dong Dong, after a few knocks on the door.
After opening the door, the old village chief stood outside with a cane, looked them up and down, and said with a smile, "Are you cleaning the room?"
The three answered in unison, this time there are some mother-daughter fans.
After chatting with them for a while, the old village chief returned to the topic and said to them, "Come to my house for dinner together at night, my house has already set up a banquet."
"Why is this so embarrassing?" Ning Yuren politely declined, "I just had a banquet at your house yesterday, I really don't need to be so polite."
"I'm not being polite to you." The old village chief said with a smile, "Yesterday's acting was for you to wash away the dust, today's banquet..."
He slowly turned his head and stared at Ning Ning: "It was specially prepared for you."
After he left, the three of them looked at each other, Cui Hongmei raised one corner of her lips and smiled proudly: "I'm right, the old guy is going to introduce you to someone."
Ning Ning didn't take her words seriously, but on the way to the village chief's house at night, she began to be suspicious again.
There are no street lights in the village, and all the way to the village chief's house is illuminated by only one car light.
"...Why so many cars?" Ningning murmured.
The road in the village is very narrow, and it is too narrow for two cars to run side by side, so a long convoy is like a long snake with an invisible end, spreading from her side to the invisible end.
There are always car doors open, and one or two, or two or three strange faces, all well-dressed, look like a successful person, or the descendant of a successful person.
"Tsk, what's all the fuss about." Cui Hongmei said flatly, "It's not my business to return home, everyone here is like this."
Ning Ning thought that "everyone is like this" in her mouth was an exaggeration, but after entering the village chief's house, she was surprised to find that this was actually a big truth...
There are too many people gathered at the village chief's house, some can enter the house, some can only sit in the courtyard, hanging lanterns with long tassel hanging from the treetops, the lanterns are gently swaying with the tassel in the night wind, swaying. The light shone on the big round table in the yard, on the big fish and meat on the table, and on the faces beside the table.
In that face, Ning Ning actually saw many big names with names and surnames.
Or the financial rookie, or the literary giant, at worst, the winner of the highest prize in the history of the big lottery, usually only appears in the newspapers, and usually I don’t see any connection between them. How come they all come together today
Is it really as Cui Hongmei said... They are all homecoming people
"Ah, you're here." The village chief's son greeted you from the inside. "Dad and uncles and uncles have been waiting for you for a long time. Come in quickly."
At that moment, Ning Ning felt that everyone's eyes were focused on her.
In my ears, whispering voices rang out.
"who is she?"
"It's the Ning family."
"Why do we sit outside, but let her a junior sit inside?"
"Shh, you can say things like this, junior? But people..."
More and more people were talking, but the voices were getting lower and lower, buzzing like a beehive of bees.
Ning Ning didn't want to be discussed by them, nor did she want to go in and have a drink with her uncles and sing a red sunset, but she couldn't refuse. At this time, Ning Yuren patted her on the back and said with a smile, "Go in and give it to me. Uncles and uncles, have a toast and come out after toasting."
These words gave Ningning a step, she breathed a sigh of relief and nodded: "Okay."
She walked towards the main house alone. The village chief's son only took her for a while, and then stopped one meter away from the door, with a respectful attitude, as if he could not walk on the next road, only Ning Ning Can go with some people.
Ning Ning glanced at him, then walked over by herself, slowly pushing open the carved wooden door in front of her.
Light leaked out of it, streaming down her face.
Opposite is a long table, the main seat is the old village chief.
As the light streaming down Ning Ning's face became thicker, as the door opened wider and wider, she saw more than a dozen people sitting on the left and right of the long table.
When the door was fully opened, the group of people turned to look at her.
Everyone wears a mask on their face.
The candles flickered, cast on the mask, people or ghosts, monsters or monsters, all smiled at her in the swaying candle shadows, trying their best to be weird.
After a while, there was a chuckle. The old village chief lifted the mask on his face and smiled at Ning Ning: "Why, didn't your lord tell you the rules of the village? For this kind of banquet where everyone attends, the representatives of all surnames have to wear them. Came in a mask."
Ning Ning said honestly, "I haven't found the mask at home yet."
There was a commotion on the long table, and the old village chief put his crutches on the ground and smashed the pestle on the ground, da da da da signaled everyone to be quiet, and then said to Ning Ning earnestly: "Look back and look for it quickly, if you can't find it, come to me, I will let you know. The people in the village will help you find it... Well, you sit down first."
Ning Ning obediently sat down on his left hand, and as soon as her butt touched the stool, she began to think about what excuse to go out. Here, the village chief put on his crutches again, and drew everyone's attention to himself, then looked around at the people on the table, and sighed, "There's only one person left."
His words caused a sigh.
"Yeah, even the Ning family is back."
"It's rare to get this together."
"I'm afraid there will be no such opportunity in the future."
"It's a pity, it's a pity, there's only one difference, otherwise we'd be able to perform a complete play."
Ning Ning was really curious, so she whispered to the people around her: "Who are you talking about?"
It was a man wearing a mask with antlers, from a distance it looked like a beast, from a close up... Still not very human, he gave Ning Ning a deep look, and explained in a low voice, "In our village, a surname plays a role, pretending to be a god. Yes, those who pretend to be people and those who pretend to be ghosts are all here, only the last one is missing - the one who kills ghosts!"
As soon as the voice fell, the door suddenly opened with a creak.
"Who is it?" The village chief was about to get angry, "Who let you in..."
After a pause, he stared at each other's face with wide eyes, just like the others.
"Sorry." The tall man stood at the door with his back drawn very long behind him. He slowly raised his hand and took off the white and innocent mask on his face. His voice was low and hoarse, "I'm late."
Familiar voice...
Ning Ning stared blankly at the dusty face under his mask.
... how could it be him