Their worries and complaints can be heard clearly. He gained a lot of information from these complaints.
This world of paper dolls is Hejia Village. It was around May and June, when the rice in the field had just grown high, but there was continuous torrential rain from the sky. The torrential rain has lasted for half a month. The water level in the river has soared, and the water in the fields cannot be pumped out. If it continues like this, the rice in the fields will be drowned.
Farmers with their faces facing the loess and their backs facing the sky live off the rice in the fields every year. When the rice is drowned, their hope for this year is gone.
Therefore, every household has hung up the sweeping mother, hoping that the rainstorm will stop as soon as possible.
But God did not hear their prayers. Jiang Greed saw a tall male paper figurine running over staggeringly. He even fell because of a slippery foot, but he didn't bother to scream for pain, and ran around the village like crazy, shouting as he ran: " The river is about to burst, the river is about to burst!"
All the closed doors were opened, and paper dolls, big and small, ran out of the house. The rain wet their bodies, but they didn't realize it. anxiety and fear.
Everyone gathered in the open space in the rain. The old village chief stood out tremblingly with a cane. He slammed the cane vigorously and said loudly: "Men, bring your stuff and follow me to the embankment!"
So a group of male paper figurines went home and took all kinds of farm tools, Hulala followed the village chief to the river embankment.
Jiang Greed saw a tall and thin paper man in the mixed crowd. He was completely different from other paper figures. Even holding farm tools, his back was straight.
The men worked day and night by the river, filling sand and plugging the gap... All of them worked day and night, and finally plugged the gap that was about to burst.
The thin paper bodies were mixed with rainwater and sand, but they didn't fall down, and they dragged back home tiredly.
Jiang Greed followed behind the thin and tall paper figurine, and followed him back home.
The tall and thin paper man's house is at the end of the village. Compared with other houses that are close together, this family is a little far away, standing alone on the edge of the village.
But soon, a mother and daughter, one big and one small, broke the lonely atmosphere. They opened the door and welcomed the male paper figurine into the house with joyful smiles on their faces.
Especially the little paper figurine, she has a round face, big eyes, and two lovely blushes on her cheeks. Seeing the man returning home, he smiled happily and called out "Dad" in a crisp voice.
The male paper figurine laughed, and his exhaustion seemed to be swept away. He picked up the little paper figurine, and the family of three entered the house.
The face of the little paper man being hugged was buried in his father's neck, but when the door was closed, he suddenly raised his face, his dark round eyes met Jiang Greed's, the corners of his curved mouth were straightened, and there was a gloomy resentment in his eyes .
—In this village, Jiang Greed is invisible to others.
Jiang Greed didn't stop because of this, he looked over from house to house.
The rain outside has not stopped, as if it will never stop. But on such an exhausting night, someone quietly opened the door one after another, and then the paper people came out one after another, silently going to the largest house at the head of the village.
That's the village chief's house.
Jiang Li counted the number of people, and almost all the healthy adults in the village had arrived.
Except for the tall and thin man's family, their family seemed to be isolated by the village. @无限好文, all in Jinjiang Literature City
The old village chief was still on crutches, but he didn't look old at this time. Instead, he closed the door carefully, and then announced something that made everyone terrified.
"The gap in the embankment can only be blocked for two days at most, and it will be washed away soon. We can't block it at all."
All the paper figurines showed terrified expressions.
The village head pointed to the sky, and continued: "It has been raining for more than ten days, and it is the rain god who is angry. We must find a way to appease the anger of the rain god, so that the rain will stop. Otherwise, if it continues like this, we will be Can't live."
Someone murmured, "Do you want to sacrifice to the Rain God?"
The village chief's flat face became wrinkled, but his eyes were shining strangely: "Yes, you have to try, otherwise the big guy will not survive."
"But where does the sacrifice come from?"
Someone asked a question again, and this question seemed very frightening. All the paper figurines closed their mouths tightly and looked around nervously.
Jiang Greed's calm expression finally gradually sank.
The village head said: "If there is a girl in the house, raise your hand."
The paper figurines present looked at each other, but no one moved.
They know very well what it means to worship the Rain God.
There was a custom of offering sacrifices to the God of Rain in the village long ago. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, every year when the rainy season came, Hejia Village would sacrifice to the God of Rain, praying for good weather and a good harvest this year. Legend has it that the Rain God likes beautiful girls, so every year when offering sacrifices to the Rain God, the most beautiful one will be selected from the girls aged eight to fifteen in the village as a sacrifice to the Rain God.
The tradition of offering sacrifices to the Rain God has continued for many years, and the girl dedicated to the Rain God gradually has a nice name, Sao Qingniang.
The villagers firmly believe that the girls who were dedicated to the rain god also became gods, and they became the sweeping mothers, who were the servants who were worshiped by the rain god. So whenever it rains, the villagers hang upside down the paper-cuts of Sao Qingniang under the windows or under the eaves, so that Sao Qingniang will hear the prayers of her relatives and ask the rain god to stop the heavy rain and make the sky clear.
Generations of people in Hejia Village firmly believe in this. It was only after the founding of New China that their traditions were forced to be interrupted.
The sacrifice to the Rain God has not been held for many years.
Now that the village head suddenly heard that he wanted to sacrifice to the Rain God, no one wanted to let the girl in the family be a sacrifice.
Times are changing, and people's thinking is also changing. Become more conscious, but also more selfish.
Some were silent, some hesitated, and some seemed to have made up their minds.
The village chief looked around, slammed his cane vigorously, and cursed: "You don't want to live anymore? If you don't sacrifice to the God of Rain, what will happen if the river breaks its embankment? What will happen to this year's harvest?"
A tall man raised his hand first, but he didn't want to make his own daughter a sacrifice, but cowardly suggested: "Otherwise, this time I will call Lao Qin's family, isn't his daughter just turned eight years old?" ? It looks good, the Rain God will definitely like it, "
The eyes of the others suddenly lit up.
The silent and hesitant paper figurines all began to voice their agreement.
There was a fiery light in their eyes, and you began to offer advice and suggestions one by one.
"Yes, the daughter of the old Qin's family looks the best."
"Anyway, the old Qin's family picked it up, so it won't be a problem for them to raise another one in the future."
"But Lao Qin has studied, he hates feudal superstition the most, what if he refuses?"
"Trick him out first, and tell him after the ceremony is over."
"That is, after staying in the village for so long, I must make some contributions."
"..."
All kinds of voices gathered together, like a monster devouring people. The monster opened its mouth wide and let out a stench, saying, "That's it, it's the daughter of the old Qin family."
The fate of the Qin family was hastily decided.
It was stormy outside, and the red Sao Qingniang who was hanging upside down under the window was grinning wider and wider, but red tears of blood flowed from her eyes.
In the world of paper dolls, time flows very quickly, and it is the next day in a blink of an eye.
The men of the village went to the embankment again in good spirits. Jiang Greed stood in front of Qin's house, silently watching the tall and thin paper figurine go out with a shovel on its shoulder.
Seeing this, he already understood what was about to happen.
The flat faces of those paper figurines matched reality one by one in his memory.
Boss He, Second He, Third He...
The living and the dead are all here at this time.
After the tall and thin paper figurine, that is, Qin Shuyi, left home, they secretly turned back. They tied up Qin Shuyi's wife and forcibly took away the crying child.
The little girl was taken to the village head's house by them. The village head's wife changed her into new red and green clothes, combed her lotus hair, painted her eyebrows and eyes, and handed her over to the Boss He urged, "Go quickly."
Mr. He carried the child and walked to the river.
Downstream of the gap in the embankment, a simple altar has been set up, and the village chief took up the role of priest. Regardless of his wet body, he knelt and worshiped by the river, his wrinkled body piously crawling into the mud in the land.
When all the ceremonies were over, He Lao Er and He Lao San moved the boulder together, He Lao Wu and He Lao Liu tied the little girl and the heavy boulder together with a rope, and He Lao Qi and He Lao Ba finally carried the boulder together with the girl. To the river, ready to be thrown into the raging water.
Jiang Greed subconsciously took a step forward, but heard a shrill cry from behind—
"Nan Nan!"
Qin Shuyi's wife rushed over staggeringly, her body was covered with muddy water, the corner of her mouth was torn from biting the hemp rope, and red blood like paint dripped from her mouth. But she couldn't care about anything else, she flew up and hugged her crying daughter, crying bitterly: "You are killing people! She is only eight years old, you can't do this, she is only eight years old!"
The paper people looked at him silently and indifferently. The flat face is exactly the same cruelty. @无限好文, all in Jinjiang Literature City
He Laosi stepped forward to pull her, but she hugged her daughter tightly and refused to let go. In the end, He Laosi forcibly broke off her fingers one by one, separating her from her daughter.
Jiang Greed even heard the sound of bones breaking. He moved forward, then moved back, and stood firmly in place.
All this is just a reenactment of the past, like a funny and cruel paper doll show, he is just an intruding audience, and nothing can be changed.
In the end, the woman was pulled away, and He Lao Liu and He Lao Qi mercilessly threw the girl together with the boulder into the swift river