dhibooks Chapter 57 Birds
Chapter 57 Birds
They stayed in the county for almost two weeks, but made no progress except offending Xiao Hu.Brother Qi still goes to paint every day, sometimes Sang Nan comes to pick him up, sometimes it is another pilot, regardless of the weather.One day, when Brother Qi was about to go out, Cheng Tianlu answered the phone.After hanging up the phone, he had a sarcastic smile on his face, "You can go to Sangnan's house later, now, let's go to the square to watch the excitement."
There are few pedestrians in the square on weekdays, but today it is crowded with people. The media's long guns and short guns surrounded a shed with a red plastic roof.The two couldn't squeeze in, so they could only prick up their ears to listen to the words coming from the microphone.
After hearing a few words, Brother Qi looked at Cheng Tianlu in surprise: "Are they going to demolish the abandoned city?"
"What's so surprising about this? Those dilapidated houses are scars, and it's a miracle that they can survive until now. The question is why they were demolished at this time?"
"because of U.S?"
"We don't have that much energy...it's him."
A familiar voice came from the microphone, and Brother Qi blurted out: "Uncle Hai!" In standard Mandarin, Uncle Hai first praised the leader's stinky feet, and then talked about the reconstruction plan of the old city, which will soon build high-end residential areas, theme parks and Hotel and so on. "We can't forget the history. It is the history that brought us to today. The county's long cultural history has added thickness and depth to the city's construction. We are about to shoot a big-budget movie for the county. We will invite great directors and top stars to promote the city. The splendor and beauty of the county has won popularity for the county, attracted more business opportunities, and stimulated the growth of local GDP..."
Brother Qi became impatient after hearing a few words: "What is he talking about?"
Scanning the densely packed cameras all day long, if it weren't for the disappearance incident, where would there be so many multimedia in this small county?The bell tower's sudden reappearance and the arrival of Ban Wu and Tong Yiru provided a lot of news material.He sneered and said: "Uncle Hai means to give back to his hometown. He not only invests in building buildings, but also makes movies to increase the reputation of the county. There are stories to tell when attracting investment. Damn it, it's really a good plan. It turns out that he is looking for his roots It’s fake, it’s true to make money.”
Brother Qi didn't speak.Cheng Tianlu continued: "Don't even think about shooting zombies massacring the city. According to Uncle Hai's grand plan, you must tell a story with positive energy. The county's splendor and beauty, the motherland's prosperity and progress, and the ghosts and snakes retreat. Our movie is It's all over."
Except for Brother Qi and Uncle Hai, who have business to do, everyone else can't stay anymore. The photographer has already left, and Ling Lingjiu and Ban Wu are also discussing returning to Beijing.Only Cheng Tianlu became more and more obsessed with the truth about the village. After running around the archives, he chatted with old people everywhere in the city.
He regained the drive and enthusiasm he had when working in the field.The abandoned city was about to be demolished, and the traces of history were about to be erased. He seemed to be watching a big ship sinking, and just wanted to race against time to get something back.
"Uncle, when did you leave the village?"
"It has been in 30."
"That was a long time ago, did you go back and have a look?"
"I don't have time, I'm doing a small business. Most of the people I know are gone, so I don't have anything to play when I go back."
"They all went out to work?"
"There are a lot of part-time workers, small place, no land, why not starve to death if you don't work?"
"Was it a mine before?"
"Can't remember."
"Can't remember?" Cheng Tianlu was very surprised. This old man is almost seventy years old. He has a clear mind and logical logic when talking about things. How could he not remember the main livelihood of the village?
"I haven't dug mines, so I don't know. There are a lot of mines in this area, especially iron. There may be iron digging."
He asked to see old photos of the old man, but the old man refused, "There are no photos, no time to take pictures, what do you want to know?" The old man's face showed a look of alarm.It happened that the old man's teacher's daughter came over with tea, and Cheng Tianlu took the opportunity to chat with her.
After exchanging pleasantries, Tianlu said, "I have a friend from the same village as you. He said that when he was young, he often went to dig snails in the river. I didn't have this thing in my hometown. It was the first time I ate it. It was really fresh."
"Isn't it? There are the most snails in the river in my hometown. One of our sisters takes a bamboo basket, the other picks up the snails, and the other boils water. The snails caught are boiled in water, which is better than restaurants."
"But there is a strange thing. My friend went back to visit relatives the year before last and found that the river was gone. The whole village has never had a river. Do you think it's strange?" Cheng Tianlu showed her the map on his phone.
With a blank face, she murmured: "Is there no river? Then I remembered wrongly, maybe the snail fishing was at my aunt's house, and we often went to my fourth aunt's house for two or three weeks during the summer vacation. That's right, it was at my aunt's house. "
"I haven't been to your village, so I don't know if there is a river. Or is the map wrong?"
She laughed: "The map can't be wrong! The map is measured by the state, and big companies make software, so they can't make mistakes. I was a child a few decades ago, and children can't remember the trivial things clearly."
Cheng Tianlu sighed: "The trivial memories are honest. Thank you. Uncle, take care of your health. Goodbye." Cheng Tianlu said goodbye while thinking that if someone asked next time, she would definitely answer that she fished at the fourth aunt's house. The snails, and I also believe it.
Memory tampering is that simple.
All day long, he took the bus and wandered aimlessly in the county.The travel brochure Qi Geer brought from the lobby was spread out on his lap. The outdated printing and typesetting, the saturation is particularly high, and the titles are all written in bright red, which is dazzling.The brochure is probably more than ten years ago. Compared with the current appearance of the city, the changes have been huge. Most of the crocodile gardens, bird parks, karst cave light shows, and small Miao villages that have been built following the trend have been closed, and those who are still alive are also depressed. dilapidated.Large shopping malls have sprung up, selling clothes made in Guangzhou that are actually produced in Guangzhou, and countless milk tea shops and fried chicken shops. The width of the roads and the number of traffic lights are beyond the reach of the capital.Although there is no traffic jam, the bus travels very slowly.
One person sat next to Cheng Tianlu.Cheng Tianlu raised his eyes and said in surprise, "Big star, why don't you come out to experience people's livelihood?"
Tong Yiru smiled: "It's been a long time since I took a bus date with a man, and I want to experience the feeling of first love again. You are alone anyway, don't you mind?"
"You have a thick skin."
Tong Yiru ignored his ridicule: "What truth are you still looking for?"
"Based on your tone, you think I'm doing something stupid?"
"No," Tong Yiru said sincerely, "It's the reporter's job to find the truth, and I can't even admire it. What are you looking at?"
Chengtian Road spread out the map, "This is the tour map of the county more than ten years ago. The motherland has changed so fast. The last time I came was 7 years ago. It is very different from ten years ago, and it is also very different from now. Same. But one thing remains the same, the root.”
"Little Hu? The one holding the flag?"
Cheng Tianlu laughed.His fingers swiped around on the map: "Anyway, it's okay, let's go to the bird park to date. Birds, peacocks, pigeons, sparrows...these messengers brought so many messages, but unfortunately I didn't understand them all."
After several twists and turns, they arrived at a desolate place on the outskirts of the city.There are a few dilapidated apartments and small shops around the bus stop sign, and there are not even the usual fruit vendors.Tong Yiru was surprised: "How can there be buses in this kind of place?"
"When this bird park first opened, it boasted that it was the number one in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, and it kept many rare birds. There may have been a lot of tourists at that time."
The two walked along the potholed asphalt road for a while, then turned to a green dirt road, and came to an imposing iron fence.There was no one at the gate, and the font on the signboard was mottled and faded, half covered by a large banner.The banner reads: Build a beautiful homeland and wish the motherland prosperity.The banners were brightly colored and had obviously just been hung.A word for no reason, Tianlu thought to himself, such a construction, is this place going to be closed and demolished?
Although it is dilapidated and dilapidated, the symbol of the bird park is still there - a huge net.The large net to prevent birds from escaping has fallen a lot of dead leaves and branches, making it even more bulky.
"Shall we go in and explore?" Tong Yiru said with a smile: "It's really like going back to high school."
Cheng Tianlu shook his head, looking at the desolate gate, lost interest.He came here driven by intuition, without any purpose, and now that Skynet blocked the door, he didn't want to get into this oppressive big birdcage at all.
"We're here to take pictures and then go back."
"Eh? After more than an hour in the car, came to see this broken door?!"
"You are the one who wants to follow," Cheng Tianlu murmured without looking at her, "Is this 'river' also flowing to the Story Basin?"
"What river? What story basin?"
"The theory of director Ben Wu. He said that the movie has many narrative clues, like dark rivers, all flowing to the same basin. When the water in the basin rises, we will know where the story finally converges. The peacock is one of them. A 'river', but it's so hidden I can't even find it anywhere."
Tong Yiru thought for a while, squatted down, picked up a branch, and swept out a relatively flat sandy ground.
"Did you ever play that kind of paper maze when you were young, such as lost puppies and fish, find them quickly. If you start from the starting point, you will definitely encounter many obstacles. All children will cheat. Go up. This is the starting point," she drew a circle on the sand, and from the circle extended upward a line that said "sea", another line that said "dream", and the last line that said "nine".
Cheng Tianlu was aroused, squatted down and said, "Hai is Uncle Hai, Meng is Xu Mengsi, Jiu is Brother Jiu."
Tong Yiru nodded.
Cheng Tianlu: "Uncle Hai is indeed from the village. When you were at my house, you saw Brother Qi scratching away Duomi's painting, so you knew that Uncle Hai was involved with the village. What's suspicious about Mengsi and Brother Jiu?"
"Ling Lingjiu is the least keen on finding people. He eats, sleeps, and pretends to be an unrelated bystander. If he is acting, the person who looks the least compatible is usually the murderer. Isn't that the case in all stories? Did you write it?"
Cheng Tianlu smiled: "Okay, doing nothing can be a reason to be suspected. The life of a lazy person is really hard. Where is Mengsi?"
"Mengsi is even more suspicious! She threatened me on the first day she came to the county, telling me not to harass Brother Qi. Hmph, you treat Brother Qi as a treasure. In my opinion, he is a top-notch director. I harass him for nothing." Well?"
"That's really hard for you. When you are cast aside by the whole circle, only this nine-rate director is willing to take you in." Cheng Tianlu drew a line under "Nine" and "Dream" with his fingers, "These two have doubts, continue Bar."
Tong Yiru drew another line and wrote the word "painting", "This is the painter who committed suicide. Is he also from the village?"
"Correct."
"Why did you have contact with the painter? Because Ban Wu is right?" She wrote "Ban" next to the line.
"I saw the painter Domi's painting at a meeting of the Directors Association. Uncle Hai invited me to this meeting, so Uncle Hai knew from the beginning, or at least suspected, that Domi had something to do with his hometown."
"Why did Uncle Hai invite you?"
"Lead Qige the way, and get to know more people in the circle." Tong Yiru drew the last line, writing "Cheng" and "Tu", and then solemnly wrote the word "Basin" on top of "Cheng". "You were pulled in because of the report about the murderous butcher. The butcher may also be a villager. If these lines are a maze, look back along the line, and all the lines intersect here—" Tong Yiru said The word "Qi" was written in the original circle.
"Brother Qi?!"
"Yes, Brother Qi's set is the starting point. Uncle Hai, Xu Mengsi, Ban Wu, you and me, Duomi's paintings, and the butcher's incident all intersect here. If there is a problem, the problem has long been hidden on the set. You are everywhere Run, why don't you ask Brother Qi? He is not a fool, he must have understood where the origin is and where the basin is."
"How could he not tell me? Impossible!"
Tong Yiru sneered: "Now someone is missing and even has a broken hand. What if there is a so-called 'murderer' among us? We are all friends around him. Who do you think he should believe?"
Cheng Tianlu felt offended, "Nonsense, he won't believe me!"
"Wishful thinking."
Cheng Tianlu stood up, stomping his feet irritably.The sand table where the whole story is going is trampled in a mess by him, and the logic of cause and effect can no longer be seen, and the fragmented unfinished building.