【Lou Cheng】 How easy is another day

I'm hungry, I'm thinking it's already this point, I can skip dinner and go straight to sleep, get up early tomorrow, and start a new day's itinerary logically.

At the time no one understood the meaning behind Alejandro's slightly subtle smile.Until they entered the yard greeted by the hounds—

There were too many people in the brightly lit courtyard, none of whom had been seen at the lunch table.In the air is the sweetness of alcohol transpiration, mixed with the scent of citrus trees, there is a different kind of chilling feeling.The guitar sound was mostly overwhelmed by the rhythmic applause, but the heavy singing voice was particularly distant - it was flamenco.

Stunned, they were handed wine and told to drink it up, and were quickly pulled into the dining room—there was an exaggeratedly large table in the middle of the room, and Mingtai wowed in surprise when he saw it: "This is the bed!"

On the dining table that was comparable to the king's wedding bed, there was a mountain of food and a sea of ​​wine, and the silver tableware glistened against the lights and candles.Mrs. Rodriguez stood at one end of the table, methodically directing her daughter, daughter-in-law, and other family members to make sure everything was according to her plan.

Minglou praised sincerely: "Lingtang is indeed the Queen of Sheba in the twentieth century."

Alejandro laughed and refilled his drink.Mingtai, who didn't know where he went before, came out of nowhere at this time, looked at Mrs. Rodriguez in a daze for a long time, and suddenly said, "Brother, I miss my sister."

Minglou turned his head, smiled at him, and patted his head lightly after a while: "I miss her too."

The meal lasted until midnight without incident, and Ming Lou basically didn't understand what he ate, and couldn't listen to what others said, it was too noisy, but also so pleasant.The memory of going to social dramas with my parents and sister in my childhood flashed inexplicably. It was also a night as bright as day. With Daddy in his arms, the family of four sat neatly in the tea shed, the stage in the distance was full of people, and the gongs and drums were blaring.He didn't remember what show he was watching at the time, but he remembered that he was sleepy after listening to it, and then he woke up somehow. Mom cut an orange into two, gave half to him and half to Mingjing, and the orange was peeled before peeling. Simmered on the hand stove, it is not cold at all when eaten, and it is very sweet.

Sensing someone lightly touching his leg, Ming Lou turned his face away.

What came into view was Mingcheng's face, with slight concern in his eyes.Minglou first took a look at Mingtai—the latter was putting a fat cat on his head, causing a new round of laughter, and then turned his attention to Mingcheng.

No one sees them, and no one understands them.Minglou smiled and silently said three words.

Mingcheng was startled for a moment, then quickly turned his back, picked up the water glass after a while, but forgot that the glass was already empty.

He heard his young man grit his teeth and curse, it sounded a bit like a "rogue", but the tone was so brisk, Ming Lou felt that he must have heard it wrong.

He touched an orange from the fruit plate, and after peeling it, he handed half of it to the people around him.

After the banquet was over, everyone went back to the yard, drinking, chatting and dancing flamenco.The singer's voice was loud and clear, and Minglou couldn't understand what he was singing, but somehow felt that it was like a sad song.Only later did he know that it was indeed a sad song, but it did not prevent people from celebrating with it.

At this time, the conversation between Mingcheng and Alejandro reached his ears.Mingcheng said: "I have a Spanish poet I like very much. He has a collection of poems called "Deep Songs"..."

"Federico?" Alejandro looked at Mingcheng in surprise, "I didn't know you knew him. He is from Grenada. The child of one of my aunts is a college classmate with him, and I only know his sister ...I didn't know you liked him. If we knew, we could go to his house as a guest, but I heard that he has been in Barcelona and Madrid for the past few years. I don't know if he will come back for Christmas... Well, I will give you How about a signed copy of his poems?"

When he said this, his eyes lit up, and when the song stopped, he rushed forward to stop the singer, and after a quick conversation, he turned around and waved to Mingcheng with a smile: "Come on! Let's have a Federico's song!"

Look where he comes from!

from Spain.

clean and dark sky,

scorched land,

and clear water slowly

Flowing river bed.

dark savior,

with burning hair,

prominent cheekbones

And white pupils.

See where he goes!

The guests present clapped their hands in unison and shouted Olé in a low voice, and the whole courtyard seemed to vibrate slightly amid the music and applause.Alejandro finally took off his suit jacket, threw off his tie, pulled Mingcheng across the crowd to the very center of the courtyard, handed him over to a dancer who seemed to have no age and no history, and asked her to teach this foreigner Youth dancing.

Mingcheng was a little shy at first, but he has always been good at coordination and knows the rhythm. After a few bars, he quickly caught up with the beat.Minglou was far away, looking at him with a smile, seeing that his white shirt was dyed a warm orange by the light, his forehead hair was soaked, and with his movements, the color was darker than usual, deeper than a crow's wings .

He raised his glass to Mingcheng in the crowd from a distance, the young man looked at him with a smile, but he didn't leave for a moment.

Chapter 23 Fragmented Night of Fennel and Silver / Lanochedeanísyplata (Final)

For the next two days they wandered around the city and neighboring towns with Alejandro, his brothers and friends.Drives, rides horses, drinks a lot, barely sleeps, never feels hungry.They quickly adapted to the rhythm of time in Spain: getting up early at ten o'clock, having breakfast at eleven o'clock, lunch at two o'clock, lunch break until five o'clock, and then social hour, sitting at the dinner table at 09:30, not early It's not too late, just right.The night officially begins.

On Christmas Eve, the men in the family got up late and did not go downstairs until after noon.The grown-up women, on the other hand, gathered in the kitchen before dawn, working together to kick off the festivities.

For French-educated Ming men, it was a crime to watch women go about their business while they themselves did nothing.But Mrs. Rodriguez did not allow them to enter the kitchen at all, for simple reasons: first, men were not supposed to enter the kitchen;

But Mingcheng still couldn't sit still, went in, and came out with a tray in his hand, which contained fried eggs with truffles, and a bright red lipstick mark was poked on both cheeks and forehead; after half an hour, he looked Mingcheng. Lou didn’t sit still, but he brought back a plate of sliced ​​ham and a bowl of olives, but no lipstick marks. According to his explanation, “Mrs. Rodriguez is very busy and has nothing else to do except feed us”; When Alejandro came into the kitchen for the third time, he could only hear the shaking inside. According to the results of their hard work in Spanish these days, they probably said, "Baby, don't make trouble for me. Stay and drink and chat with your friends or do something else just don’t bother us!” After less than 2 minutes, Alejandro came out with two bottles of wine.

The young master of Mingtai looked at the situation and decided to continue playing with the dog.

Alejandro's father and three older brothers wisely played cards in the card room on the second floor. His young nephews were surrounded by nurses and nannies in the children's room to play or take a nap. Only the twins and The dog stayed in the courtyard with the youngest brother and his guests, listening to his brother teach foreigners how to speak Spanish, playing the guitar, and chatting about the traditional Andalusian Christmas customs.

Gradually, Minglou realized that the reason why Alejandro stayed with them outside was probably waiting for someone, otherwise he would have no reason to walk towards the gate every once in a while, as if everyone was invisible Have a look.

At about three o'clock, people really came.As soon as he heard the door knock, he almost ran all the way to the door, his whole body tensed up.Seeing this, Minglou and Mingcheng exchanged glances, and found that the other party had noticed the abnormality.

But when the door opened, he suddenly relaxed again.The visitor was an elderly nun with bad legs and a small bamboo basket on her arm.Alejandro called her mother loudly, and Mrs. Rodriguez came out impatiently. When she saw the visitor, her eyes widened suddenly, as if some miracle happened suddenly before her eyes.

She walked quickly to the elderly lady, hugged, kissed, and whispered to her, and tears suddenly filled her beautiful eyes.The voices of the two people were very low and they spoke very fast. Although Mingcheng listened to everything, they didn't fully understand it: they seemed to be greeting and wishing each other, one invited the other to join the dinner and the other politely declined.He couldn't understand where the tears came from.

The nun only stayed for ten minutes and was about to leave after handing over the basket to Mrs. Rodriguez.Mrs. Rodriguez hurried back to the kitchen, and when she returned, the guests had left.She snapped at Alejandro: "Why didn't you keep her!"

He was taken aback by his mother's sudden anger: "...Why didn't you keep her?"

She glared at him, opened the wallet she was holding, took out all the banknotes, and pushed her son: "Catch up with her. Give this to her. Thank her. Go!"

Alejandro quickly returned, money still in hand.He looked at his mother and shook his head: "No. She didn't accept it, saying it was a Christmas present for you and our family. Like every year in the past."

Mrs. Rodriguez looked at her little son, but handed the basket to Mingcheng who was beside her, and forced a smile: "Our traditional Christmas food. Try it."

After speaking, she took another deep look at the closed door, and hurried back to the kitchen.

This sudden visit and farewell made the atmosphere in the yard suddenly delicate.Alejandro looked at Minglou who was asking questions, shrugged, and said in a low mood: "Marzipan. It's different from France. The tradition here is that nuns make it around Christmas. My mother asked you Try it, just try it."

Mingcheng lifted the white cloth covering the basket, and the marzipan was carefully squeezed into the shapes of lamb, star and cedar, and the fragrance came over his face.

He silently handed one to Alejandro, and distributed it to the twins who surrounded him. Then he tentatively asked, "Your relatives? Why don't you stay?"

The Spaniard sounded frustrated: "No. My mother's friend. Her convent was in the next town. It was burned some time ago, and her leg was also broken during that time."

Before Minglou and Mingcheng spoke, Mingtai, who had been enjoying playing with dogs before, raised his head: "Why hit women? Especially older women."

Alejandro hesitated for a moment. "It's not women. They're against the Catholic Church and the clergy."

"Who are they?" Mingtai continued to ask a little bit reluctantly.The usual pleasure and smile in his eyes was gone, and he was angry.

This time the silence was longer: "I don't know if they are who they claim to be."

"It doesn't matter what kind of people they are. Cowards bully women, children and the elderly."

Alejandro looked at Mingtai and smiled faintly: "If everyone thought like you, the world would be much more peaceful."

Later Mingtai was taken to the other side of the yard by the twins, and after Minglou and Mingtai looked at each other again, Minglou said: "I read the newspaper, saying that communists and anarchists killed priests in Spain, But I thought it was in the north."

"Asturias?" Alejandro paused, "The south is not that bad. Not yet. At least the priests and nuns I know are still alive, whether they are all healthy or not is another matter. Those communists don't like the rich, they don't like the people of faith, and most of all they don't like people who disagree with them. Elections are coming next February, who knows if we're one step closer to hell?"

Before these words came out, Alejandro Alfonso Rodriguez had always been a typical Spaniard and a typical physicist in Minglou's heart: the part belonging to Spain was warm and cheerful, and the part of the physicist was warm and cheerful. Some are rational and apolitical.But at this moment, he did strongly express his political leanings.

There was a puzzled look on Minglou's face. Alejandro stared at him and waved his hands after a while: "I actually like part of communism. Maybe I'm an anarchist at heart. It's just that there is no such thing as communism in this world." There is nothing worse than politics, if it involves us Spaniards, it will be worse...Minglou, let's not discuss this topic. Mom will interrupt me if she hears us discussing politics in this house The legs and my mouth were sewn up."

As soon as the last sentence was uttered, he became a typical Spaniard again.

Minglou smiled: "Of course."

They sat down again.As soon as he sat down, Ming Lou asked nonchalantly, "By the way, are there any guests at home today?"

"Huh?" His dark brown eyes turned suddenly.

"I see you are always looking at the door, thinking you are waiting for someone." His tone was still understated, and his smile was impeccable.

"No." Alejandro replied without thinking.

He lied.

Minglou saw the same judgment in Mingcheng's eyes.

The man Alejandro was waiting for showed up at dinner on Christmas Eve.

The family had just finished their prayers and clinked glasses when Mr Rodriguez rose to make the first cuts of the truffle-stuffed turkey.Everyone was kissing and wishing each other their neighbors while drinking and drinking, and almost no one heard the knock on the door.

But Mingcheng heard it.

After confirming that it was indeed the knock on the door, Mingcheng gestured to Minglou on the other side of the table with his gaze.Minglou's eyes flashed, he walked around Alejandro's third sister, and asked him softly, "Listen, is there someone knocking on the door?"

Alejandro's expression changed instantly.He put down the cup in his hand and fixedly looked at his mother sitting in the hostess' seat.

The mother caught her son's gaze, and she also stopped.

The abnormality was quickly noticed by other people present. Everyone looked at each other, perhaps thinking of the same place. Gradually, everyone put down their wine glasses or knives and forks, and silence flooded the entire room like a tide.Some people looked at Mrs. Rodriguez with pleading eyes, others lowered their heads. Only Mingtai was still looking around, but no one spoke.

The knock on the door finally became more distinct.

No one answered the door, as if standing at the door were the guards of the Jewish Council who wanted to take the Nazarene away.

The knock on the door was heavy and persistent, one knock, another knock, foreshadowing something.Under the light, Mrs. Rodriguez's expression looked extremely determined. She was originally a tall and plump woman with a sharp outline, sitting there motionless, just like a queen or a statue of a female saint. up.

"Mother……"

Alejandro opened his mouth as if crying.

The line of Mrs. Rodriguez's jaw remained grimly silent, and she straightened her back, looking at the full Christmas dinner table: "Do not open the door."

"Mom. Please." Finally, another child joined the pleading ranks.

Cries disturbed the silence.Mr. Rodriguez put the napkin on the table and went to open the door sullenly.

He brought in a young woman, tall, pale, and unusually thin.The men present all stood up when they saw her, and the women also stood up later. Only the hostess maintained a silent and majestic sitting posture, and did not even cast a single glance at the uninvited guest.

Soon there was a new sound in the room, followed by dead silence, and another round of staring at each other—she was pregnant.

She has the same eyes and forehead as many people here, and the blood relationship between them is self-evident.But she was not like them, probably because of the light in her eyes and the stern look on her face.

She silently looked at everyone present, at the dining table where there was no empty seat, her lips moved, but she didn't make a sound.Minglou wanted to give her his seat, but at this moment Mrs. Rodriguez said, "Everyone sit down."

No one moved at first, she repeated, and Mr. Rodriguez let go of his daughter's arm, sighed, and returned to his seat.

Everyone sat down.

The hostess nodded, and the servants began to share the turkey.

The young woman who was left out on one side didn't seem surprised by the situation, her expression was exactly the same as her mother's.She straightened her back, her pale face was calm and indifferent, but there was fire in her eyes.Her voice was hoarse due to too much talking: "I passed by here to congratulate you on the festival."

"I don't need the blessings of atheists. If you kill a few priests less, it is the greatest blessing and grace to my family."

She retorted softly: "I didn't kill anyone."

Mrs. Rodriguez still didn't look at her, with a sneer at the corner of her mouth: "You haven't killed anyone yet. May the Lord bless you."

"They killed us!" Mrs. Rodriguez's words hit her somehow, a strange blush welled up on her face, "They killed us! With guns! With knives! With sticks! They killed us!" Kill women and children! Hang people alive!"

The shouted voice echoed, unusually sharp and thin.

"Who are they? Who are you? To your left and right, to your Communist Party, are you killing only priests? You are killing Spaniards. Spaniards like you."

"Am I not a Spaniard? Aren't the hanged Spaniards? Do workers deserve to die? Communists deserve to die?"

The young lady's face was contorted with anger.The twins were completely petrified by the scene, and after a while one of them started crying, and the other soon after.The nanny hurried over to take the two children away, but one of them refused to obey anyway. He ran to his sister whom he had not seen for a long time, hugged her waist, and buried his face in the depths of the half-worn cotton coat.

Her thin hands stroked the child's hair and the back of his neck, and she looked at her family, who were looking at her, with pleading eyes.

But she didn't mean to beg. Under the anger, she looked even thinner, not as good as a piece of paper.

Her mother picked up the knife and fork, lowered her eyes, and said coldly: "There is no place for you tonight. After dinner we are going to church for mass, and you will certainly not join us. You and your comrades Please don't kill people on Christmas Eve at least. Kill the Spaniards."

She finally knew that she would never get her mother's understanding again.She looked at her father - he was crying for his daughter, but she smiled and went to kiss him and wish him a Merry Christmas.

One by one she kissed her brothers and sisters, as well as their mates, to wish them the holiday season.When he reached Alejandro for the kiss he grabbed her arm and held her tightly.Their faces are so similar, they have been together since the mother's womb.She kissed her younger brother, who came to this world only a few hours later than her, and tears finally wet each other's faces.

Finally, she came to her mother's side.After hesitating for a moment, she leaned close to her face, but her mother avoided it.

The chair dragged a sharp noise on the floor, Ming Lou saw her mouth was opened and closed, only two words.There is no sound.

Miomama.

my mom.

She walked out the door, everyone looked at her, but still no one made a sound.

"Where is the father of the child? Is he still alive?"

Mrs. Rodriguez spoke without warning.

She stopped: "Yes. Still alive."

"You didn't have your father's permission and you weren't registered with the church, it would be an illegitimate child."

She looked at her mother, and it took a moment before she answered softly and firmly, "I don't need a church. I don't need any permission to love and live with another human being."

Mrs. Rodriguez frowned: "Go to hell."

Her voice was immediately drowned out by prayers at the table and the scraping of fingers on fabric as they made the sign of the sign of the cross.

The Nazarene disappeared into the night.

Not long after the uninvited guest left, Alejandro suddenly dropped the tableware, covered his face and cried bitterly without warning, the dead silence at the table finally ended, and fell into a new chaos.Naturally, it was impossible to have a good dinner. Fortunately, no one was hungry. The family still caught up with the Christmas mass in the main church. The three brothers of the Ming family were also invited to attend, and they did not refuse.

It was already late at night when they came out of the church, and people traditionally lit torches, wished each other well, and reveled all night long.Alejandro's eldest brother walked in the front with the torch, and he himself was in the rear.Unlike other families who are laughing and making noise, this is a silent team whose destination is home.

Before saying good night, Mrs. Rodriguez made a special trip to apologize to the three brothers of the Ming family, but Minglou comforted her instead, telling her that your child will definitely wake up and understand what is the most precious thing in a person's life.

After speaking, he saw the tears in her eyes.

That night, Minglou had a dream.

He has rarely dreamed in these years, probably because he has not slept soundly.When the dream started, he didn't even realize it was a dream.

He dreamed that he was in a completely strange place, Ming Jing was holding his arm, and the siblings were walking together.But as he walked, his sister disappeared.

Terrified, he looks around for her.Searching all over the world, searching day and night.But no matter how powerful he was in the dream, Ming Jing still didn't come back.

he is tired.sit down.Cry like a child.

Strange to say, just after crying, my sister came back, sat down beside him, hugged his shoulders, smiled and said to him, my silly brother.

He hugged her back, and the fragrance of her hair permeated.Sister, don't go anywhere.don't leave me.Don't leave us.

Their sister was still smiling, and replied softly, yes, I'm not going anywhere.Will never leave you guys.

There was the sound of windows being knocked.Minglou woke up instantly.

He touched his cheek subconsciously, it was dry.

The noise on the window sill still didn't stop.Minglou held the gun under the pillow calmly, changed his mind after a while, reached for his glasses, took off a lens, and held it between his fingers.

The window was pried open, and the night wind blew the curtains, bringing a burst of coolness.

He heard the slight clatter of bare feet on the floor, so soft it was like a cat.

As soon as the reckless intruder took two steps, Ming Lou let go of his hand.He sat up, did not turn on the light, but whispered, "Ah Cheng."

The figure in the darkness suddenly stopped: "Brother..."

Ming Lou installed the lenses, got out of bed in the dark, and walked towards the figure: "You don't want to die. How dare you climb the window in the middle of the night."

Mingcheng was silent for a moment: "It doesn't matter. There is no danger. There is only one floor away."

"Why didn't the dog bark?"

Mingcheng seemed to smile: "I've been feeding them for several days."

Minglou hooked the corners of his mouth, and said in a whisper: "Nonsense."

The wind blew the curtains rattling, and there was only a very thin and dim arc in the sky, which was the moon at thirty.It was so dark, but the torches on the side of the street kept on all night, dimly illuminating the corner of the house facing the street.

He could vaguely see Mingcheng's face, and Mingcheng's eyes shone brightly in the dark night.He didn't ask Mingcheng why he pried his window to come to him in the middle of the night, he just stretched out his hand, dragged him to his side, and hugged him tenderly.

The young man was only wearing a vest, and his bare arms and shoulders felt the coolness of a winter night.Facing Minglou's hug, Mingcheng was stunned for a moment before giving him a hug back, the heat of his breath lingering on his neck: "Brother, I had a dream."

Suddenly, Minglou saw silvery moonlight flowing on Mingcheng's back, and he couldn't find where they came from, so he hugged him even tighter, hoping that they would disappear slowly, more slowly: "I Made one too."

They never spoke again.

End of this article