Author: Zhou Zishuo
In the early days of land reform, there was Zhao Sheng in Shouguang, a native of Wangzhuang, the king of the city. His father died when he was young, and he was dependent on his mother. The family was also poor, and he occasionally lacked morning meals and had no money to live in. However, he was very reluctant to study since he was a child. He studied in high school in Wujiachizi, Changle County.
It was more than fifty miles from the school to his home, and he walked both ways. The only place he must pass on the road was the north tomb of the sun family in Zaohu Village. The pines and dense forests here are dense, and the tombs are numerous, so people are afraid of them. However, this passage cuts through them, and there is no way to go around. One night, Zhao Sheng had to take a day off, and walked back together with other students from the poor family of Shouguang. When they arrived at the intersection of Tianma Street, all his classmates went west, and no one accompanied him for the rest of the way. At dusk, he would have his meal at a teahouse near the road, waiting for those who were traveling with him. At dusk, without success, he got up and headed north, where he died alone. This place is about a mile long, without a single lamp shadow, surrounded by forests of stone monuments, ancient trees, and the crows of foxes and owls. Fortunately, the moon is bright and the stars are shining brightly, so we can see the way back and be able to make some decisions.
After walking for a long time, Zhao Sheng saw the shadow of a huge monument in the distance, with a turtle crouching on its head, and he began to feel happy, knowing that the dangerous road was about to end. Before he arrived, a man suddenly came out from the roadside, holding a lantern and heading towards the monument. Zhao Sheng was so frightened that he tried to shout and ran away, but he stumbled to the ground and could only scream. The lantern lighting person heard the sound and came over. She was a young girl, wearing a white and blue dress with a sloping lapel. She laughed and said, "How can I make you afraid?" Zhao Sheng felt at peace when he heard it, and said: "It is already dusk, why are you doing this?" The answer was: "I am not angry about the quarrel with my mother, and I want to seek justice from the elders of the clan." Zhao Sheng stood up without thinking too much and said, "I want to return home to Wangwangzhuang, so I will say goodbye." Unexpectedly, the woman said: "Fang and my mother I have a grudge, but I don’t want to go home tonight. My grandma’s home is Wangwang. I want to go, can I go with you?” At this time, the clouds cover the stars and the moon, making it difficult to see the path. Zhao Shengsi might be able to use the light of a lamp to respond. , meet and return.
The rest of the road was smooth, and the two of them walked quickly and chatted happily. When he arrived at Zhao Sheng's door, he saw that he had left the door open for him. Sheng asked, "Would you like to sit down when you come in?" He replied, "It's almost the second watch of the night, so I can't disturb you. I would like to thank you for accompanying me all the way. I can't thank you enough. It's just something to eat." He took a few peach cakes from his sleeve. , wrapped it in a handkerchief, handed it to Zhao Sheng, and left in a hurry. Zhao Sheng went into the house in the dark to sue his mother. The mother was so strange that she lit a lamp and looked at the gifts. They were all horrified. Instead, she found a tomb wrapped in paper and a sacrificial cake. Zhao Sheng fell ill immediately and failed to seek medical treatment, so he died soon after.
Afterwards, Zhao's mother asked around and learned that this girl's nickname was "Shi", and she was the second daughter of the rich man Sun of Zaohu Village and the third sister in her family. That year, when the Dan River flowed down, the water in Xiwan covered half of the polder wall. Many villagers went to the bay to play in the water. The three sisters also wanted to go there. However, it was inconvenient because they were daughters, so they entered the water when no one was around. However, they all made a mistake. No matter how deep the water was, only the younger sister survived among the three. Sun Gong lost his two daughters and was extremely sad. However, the country girl died unmarried and was not allowed to be buried in the ancestor's tomb. Instead, he ordered someone to put the coffin in a coffin and put it on a high ground. The coffin was sealed and the mouth was left open so that one could see inside. Later, the grandson and his wife died, and the younger sister married into a neighboring village, where she was often offered sacrifices during festivals. Later, the eldest sister was married to the son of a certain family in Xixiang who died young. The coffin had to be moved, but there were only a few left on the high ground. After that, people who returned late often saw a faint fluorescent light coming from the high ground to the northern tomb.
The matchmaker in the later scriptures said that when Zhao’s mother met her younger sister, she was already over seventy years old, but she was well versed in current affairs and knew her purpose. She said: “We are now Xinhua, and we should not have done this. According to the old custom, I am pitiful that my second sister is alone in Gaogang now. She is really lonely. When it comes to seeking marriage, I can only think of the reason why you are here. No matter whether it is true or false, I will pick you up on a day."
After the marriage was completed, the image of the firefly did not appear again.
——————————————————————————————
A few days ago, I was collecting stories with literary friend Zhou Zishuo Hucun, visited teacher Sun Zhiqiang. Based on the interview data, he wrote three articles after returning, "Indifferent to fame and wealth, enthusiastic about public welfare - a record of Sun Zhiqiang, a retired teacher from Tianma Junior High School", "Recording Shouguang" Chronicle of Zaohu Village Collection" and "Memory of Shouguang" Hearings about the past in Zaohu Village".
He said in WeChat: "I showed Teacher Sun all three articles you wrote. Teacher Sun modestly said that he was not as good at writing. Teacher Sun also told two stories as supplements. , one is about the dark marriage incident in the village, and the other is about the righteous man in the village defeating the bandit king. The first story would be very interesting if written in Pu Gong's Liaozhai style..."
This afternoon Zhou Zishuo sent me a story about a supernatural marriage in Zaohu Village written in Liaozhai style. It is well written, please share it. The title was added by me.
(The picture is taken from the Internet and has nothing to do with the content)