I have watched too many palace dramas in recent years. I always feel particularly friendly when I see the Empress Whole Ears Comes to Empress, but this often reminds me of the River Basin by the Sekawa River. Half a century ago, Empress Whole Street has passed by.

Grandpa Guo

Liao Wei

In recent years, I have watched too many palace dramas. The Empress Whole Ears Comes The Empress, but I always feel particularly friendly - this often reminds me of the river bank by the Sechuan River. Half a century ago, the Empress Whole Ears has passed by. Of course, these empresses are not palace empresses, they are the most grassroots mother-in-law guests. From Shangjie to Xiajie, we all the way: there are Empress Fu who sells salt and kerosene, Empress Peng who helps people make sweaters, Empress Xiong who is mute, Empress Yu who has inconvenient legs and feet, and Empress Guo who runs small department stores... I don’t know what the requirements are, but the locals call middle-aged women "Empress" and call their husbands "Grandpa". Among all the ladies, I am closest to my neighbor, Empress Guo. Since my parents are dual-employed people, I lived in her house at the age of two or three and did not leave until I was eight or nine years old.

There is Empress Guo, so naturally there is Grandpa Guo. Empress Guo said that Grandpa Guo was very "relocated" when he was a child (dialect: naughty), and his father was classmates with his enlightenment and studying in a private school. My father can sit still, have good homework, and he has to praise him every day. Grandpa Guo was itchy when he was studying, and the bench in the school seemed to have nails. One day he finally couldn't stand it anymore. He threw his schoolbag into the windmill truck, secretly ran to Chongqing City, carried the load, and went around the streets to sell "fighting beans" (dialect: fried beans). A few years later, Grandpa Guo, who had grown up, returned home in glory, married Queen Guo, and bought two small houses on Hebaochang Street, and then set up camp.

When I was young, Grandpa Guo had a bad temper and was surprisingly hot in his liver. It is said that he once slapped Empress Guo and slapped (Yanyan: fell to the ground). When I was sensible, he was already an old man in his 50s, but his heroism was still as strong as before. When he walked, he felt shocked at the beginning and end of the town, but he had never seen him beat anyone again.

At first, he traveled around the country to "build houses". The so-called "building a house" is not about building a new house, but about correcting the crooked wooden houses. For more than half of a year, I took on work in rural areas around Jiangjin and Luzhou. I just ate the longan brought back by Grandpa Guo, remembered Luzhou, ate rice candy, , remembered Jiangjin. "Building a house" is very hard and I can't find much money, so naturally I can't improve the living conditions of the family. His daughter (I call my sister) has lived in my house for four or five years. The bacon, sausage, and red tofu made by his house are placed upstairs. When I want to eat, I open the door to pick it up.

In 1976, Grandpa Guo went home for the Spring Festival and never went out again. Originally, Empress Guo set up a department store next to the door of the wine store in the middle of the venue, selling needles, tight cloth, reinforced ribbons, buttons, mirrors, etc. A large needle is divided into two small needles. The most expensive one is just a few yellow cloth hats that cost 8 cents each, and the business has always been light. After Grandpa Guo took over the operation of a small stall, he took the courage to borrow 500 yuan from the credit union and went to places such as Yongchuan , Dazu , and Shuangqiao , and carried various small goods back in large bags. Therefore, people found that there were fishing lines and hooks that adults liked by children; plexiglass buckles and nylon socks that women jealous of; liberation shoes , basket ropes that workers love... and these things are difficult to buy in the town supply and marketing cooperative stores and several other stalls. So, the farmers who were rushing to the field and the residents on the street liked to surround Grandpa Guo’s stall to pick and choose. The left one called "Grandpa Guo" and another called "Grandpa Guo", which made his eyes laugh in a crack.

For more than a year, Grandpa Guo’s stall has expanded from one door panel into two door panels, and he also bought a half-old radio from someone else. As long as it is "cold sky" (dialect: not rushing to the scene ), the sound is so loud that everyone in the audience can hear it. When he encounters the Sichuan opera trailer such as " Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai " and "Lotus Garden", he even made tea early, wrapped his leaves and cigarettes, invited a group of old friends, smoked two benches around the stall, and smoked while drinking tea. He even said two words from his mouth, "Brother Liang..." I couldn't understand the others. I often guard Grandpa Guo’s radio and love to listen to the stories told by Grandpa Sun Jingxiu.When it's empty, Grandpa Guo will give an opening remark: "It's the day when it's white, and it's so white. It's so white. Three days, three days, four days, Sichuan North, and…" I'm so happy. Many times, I'm so happy. "Dawei, why do you read a little more in a tic toe?" He wrote a "don" on the door panel with tea. "You're just thinking about it. Throwing a stone into the well is like dong thiang, and a pounding sound!" Seeing that I couldn't answer, he laughed. Many years later, I learned that "Dong" is a polyphonic character, which can be read by jǐng, which means "jing". In addition, it is also pronounced as dǎn, one is the sound made in the well; the other is the surname. Although there is no dong pronunciation in the dictionary, there is indeed this statement in many places. Moreover, some people in Guizhou pronounce it as bong, and it is said that there is a place called Gedong. Once, Grandpa Guo came to test me again: "A man ate a candy bun that I just got a cage, but his back burned. Dawei, what's the matter?" I thought about it, but I couldn't find it after I got a slash. He took a sip of the leaf cigarette and told the answer - as soon as the hot bun was opened, the candy flowed to the hands and crooked. The man went to lick the candy on his hands and held half of the bun in his hand, and the hot candy just dripped on his back. His answer is always so unexpected and reasonable!

Later, when the policies became more and more relaxed, Grandpa Guo's business became bigger and bigger. The two door panels were not enough, so I added another piece to the side to specialize in selling leather shoes. In the early 1980s, leather shoes became the darling of the rural market. Grandpa Guo’s leather shoes are all the same as men and women, old and young, and the prices are old. If someone says, "Grandpa Guo, let's be more familiar with each other (dialect: cheaper), it's 20 yuan a pair." He will snatch the leather shoes, rub them with a veil while "hum": "Do you recognize the goods? 25 yuan, a penny is your money!" In the end, the buyer surrendered. On the one hand, the only one in the audience, and on the other hand, as long as you look a little familiar, even if the money is not enough, say hello, "Grandpa Guo, record the money in your book. I'll take you next time to get the money." You can leave if you pick up your shoes.

Grandpa Guo has two dreams, one is to be the old man Guo and the other is to build a new house. In the Hebaochang, being Grandpa Guo is a natural attribute, but it is not so easy to be Grandpa Guo. The "grandfather" in Hebaochang is qualified to be respected as "old grandfather" only if his son joins the army. Grandpa Guo's neighbor, Old Grandfather Peng and Old Grandfather Yang, is very envious. Grandpa Guo had the opportunity to be promoted to the "old man". He had three sons, the eldest son Guo Mang, the second son Guo Waer, and the third son Guo Xiaoer. Guo Mang learned the Bian Gua since he was a child. Xiao Hong's fist beat him so hard that he was a soldier. Unfortunately, he got married early and became an old man at the age of nineteen. The national kid is a elves and knows how to use probability to gamble on the small horse stocks, and always wins. That year, the recruited officers were coaxed into a circle, but during the physical examination, he lost the opportunity because of , . Guo Xiaoer was lucky and recruited workers in the unit. He went to the city to work as a worker at the age of 20, which also prevented Grandpa Guo from becoming an "old man". There is also a story about Grandpa Guo getting a face. His daughter joined the commune art troupe and played the heroine in a Sichuan opera about Rongchang pottery . When the stage was staged, there were crowds of people outside the commune theater, and it was hard to find a ticket. I still remember a short lyrics from her: Tantan is so cute, she looks so good, neither tall nor short, she looks like a human being...

After a few years, Grandpa Guo has really posted it and plans to build a house. At this time, he found that the competition was getting more and more intense - in just a short street, dozens of stalls were suddenly set up, and the supply and marketing cooperative also contracted it to individuals for management. Grandpa Guo used to sell 100 pairs of leather shoes on a day, but now he only has a few pairs sold. He was not convinced and "selling goods to the top". Soon, the contact goods were shipped back in batches. Empress Guo was worried when she saw it: "I can't sell it now, why are you still buying so many?" Grandpa Guo was confident: "I can't sell it this year, I will sell it next year, and the goods will not be lost."

The second year, most of the goods did not move. "Damn it, I'm willing to believe it!" Grandpa Guo borrowed money and bought a lot of goods... Year after year, business became more and more difficult. Grandpa Guo's inventory was piled up and higher, and his debts were owed more and more. He became more and more silent and thinner.One day I received a letter from him, and I borrowed money from me, saying that treasury bond is OK. I just started working at that time and I was really empty-handed. I couldn't help, and I was embarrassed to reply to the letter. This is also something that makes me regret for life.

The new house was repaired around 1990, with a total of 6 rooms on the first floor and one bottom. Grandpa Guo died upstairs at the age of 70. In early 1992, Grandpa Guo suddenly suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage and lay in bed for dozens of days, relying on infusion to maintain his life. When he was dying, he murmured to himself: "I am willing to believe, I am willing to believe..."

After Grandpa Guo's death, some people came to collect debts one after another. After his sons calculated, they were given more than 20,000 yuan, and the new building was worth more than 20,000 yuan, so some people had the idea of ​​a house. Looking at the heartbroken Empress Guo, the sons did not dare to say the word "sell".

(Author’s unit: Chongqing Municipal Media)

Appreciation