Chapter 7 Four

younger brother I sat up suddenly, and heard myself yell.It was already noon in the dazzling sunlight, and the room was boiling with heat.The sweat on the back flowed down one by one, as if many caterpillars were crawling on it, itchy and numb.The straw mat on the bed was covered with a large black sweat stain, and it was another scorching hot day.The room I shared with Xiaoyu was separated by plywood, only five tatami mats in size, except for a bed and two bamboo bamboo cages, there was nothing to fit in it.Because it faces west, in the afternoon, the sun comes in fiercely, and the room is like a steamer, making people uneasy.

I sat on the bed, my head felt tired from waking up, but my throat was dry and burning.A woman's shrill laughter came from outside the window, probably those bar girls on Jinzhou Street were so hot that they ran to the alley to enjoy the cool and make fun of them.The bar in the alley is not yet on the market, but the radio is turned up, blasting first-rate manic jazz.Gradually, I seemed to remember that just now, I saw my younger brother in a hazy moment.He was standing at the head of my bed in his Scout uniform, the one with the shoulder straps.I saw his snow-white baby face clearly, he stretched out his hand with a smile, and said to me,

Ah Qing, where is my harmonica? Last year, for my younger brother’s birthday, when he was fifteen, I gave him a harmonica. I bought it at the Gongxue Club, a butterfly card, 270 yuan, which cost me half a month’s money for delivering newspapers.The younger brother loves it so much that he can't bear to put it down. He puts the harmonica in the back pocket of his trousers when he goes to school, and puts it under the pillow at night.When I fell asleep on the bed, I had to take it out and play it a few times. At first, my younger brother could only play single notes. Later, I taught him harmony, and he could learn it as soon as he learned it, and he played more disciplinedly than me.At that time, "Treading the Snow and Looking for Plum Blossoms" was being taught at school, and my younger brother would play this light and flowing piece every day when he came home.Sometimes when we went to bed and turned off the lights, my younger brother would take out the harmonica and cover his head under the blanket to play. The sound of the harmonica came out from under the blanket, muffled.Once, my father was woken up, and he rushed in angrily, and threw off the bed for my younger brother. The younger brother was afraid of being beaten, so he hugged his head with both hands and curled up into a ball.Father looked at it and smiled.That was the only time I saw such a kind smile on my father's stern face covered with gray lines.I jumped out of bed, dragged out my bamboo cage from under the bed, and pulled out the butterfly harmonica I gave to my younger brother from inside.It has not been wiped for several months, and the white copper skin of the harmonica is a little yellow.I put it near my mouth and blew a few times, the sound is still very clear, but it has a musty smell.On the day I ran away from home, this harmonica happened to be in my trouser pocket, and it was the only thing I brought out of the house.

It's been more than three months, this is the first time, I think of my younger brother.These more than three months have been a series of days without memory.During the day, we lurk everywhere, like hibernating poisonous snakes, curled up in their own caves one by one.It wasn't until the night came that we woke up. Under the protection of the darkness, like a group of bats, we began to fly frantically in the night sky of Taipei.In the park, we were like a group of forbidden souls, on the steps of the lotus pond, circling in circles, dancing a sacrificial dance, chasing each other crazily, chasing each other late into the night and into the early morning.We fled to Nanyang Street, and swarmed into Xinnanyang. In the cold air reeking of urine, we stretched out our octopus-like claws to catch those blurred faces in the back row of the cinema.We dodged the Ximending neon lights and slipped into the stinky public toilets on the upper, middle and lower floors of the Zhonghua Mall.We use our eyes, gestures, and footsteps to send out all kinds of mysterious signals to contact our fellow travelers.We are in Wanhua, we are in Yuanhuan, we are in Sanshui Street, we are in North Zhongshan Road, we sneaked into the damp alleys, and slipped into the dark and decaying inns left over from the Japanese occupation era .It wasn't until late at night, until the night was really late, that there were no more pedestrians on the road, and we crawled back to the street one by one from every corner. At this time, these deserted and undefended streets really belonged to us.Holding a stack of sweaty NT dollars in our hands, at the moment before dawn, we dragged our semen-drained bodies, presumptuous and exhausted, and strolled back to our respective caves.

For more than three months, my head has been empty, as if someone lifted my skull and dug out my brain at once, and I have no thoughts or feelings at all.My younger brother, my most beloved younger brother, I never thought about him.But at that moment just now, he was clearly standing in front of my bed, so close to me, stretched out his hand, and said to me with a smile: Ah Qing, where is my harmonica?I remember I grabbed his hand and it was cold.Just like that night, my father went to bed first, and I sat next to my brother to guard him. I went to pinch his hand, but his hand was so cold that I shivered.We put lots of dry ice the size of bricks under his body.The dry ice kept emitting cold smoke, and Diwa seemed to be sleeping in the mist.At the municipal funeral home they put him in a small coffin.His small coffin was thin, like a wooden box. Taking advantage of their unsuspecting, I sneaked into the morgue and lifted the lid of Diwa's coffin.The younger brother was lying on his back in a very cramped position, and they put on makeup for him, putting a touch of rouge on his snow-white baby face.They folded his hands over his chest, and his shoulders were squeezed and arched.Diwa seemed to be pretending to be asleep, with a mischievous and funny face, as if she couldn't help but laugh at any time.We transported my younger brother to the Bitan Cemetery. Two coffin-carrying porters with rough hands and feet lifted the coffin out of the car and bumped into each other. The head of the coffin hit the car door with a whistling sound.Furious, I walked over, gave the porter a hard push, and shouted:

Take it easy, you know? Still not up?The sun is basking in the ass! Li Yue poked her head in and smiled, she was only wearing bra briefs and a short-sleeved pink silk pajamas, her curly hair hadn't been removed yet. Has Xiaoyu ever come back?I asked. Let me ask you, where did that little glass go wild last night?Li Yue squinted at me and burst out laughing, Ah Qing, please be honest, did you catch any big fish last night?Is it a blue and white or an old loach? Is there any food left?I ignore Li Yue. You haven't paid off the food you owed me last month, do you still want to eat? It's okay to pay back one hundred first, right?I took out a hundred-yuan bill from my trouser pocket, and Li Yue snatched it, and said with a smile:

Hurry up, the porridge made in the morning is all rotten. I followed Li Yue to the room next to her.Her room is only separated from ours by a thin layer of plywood.When Liyue's GI lover, Johnny, lived with her, she arranged our room as a small living room.After Johnny abandoned her and returned to the United States, she sublet it to Xiaoyu, only charging him four hundred yuan a month, and letting him take lunch.After Xiaoyu got acquainted with Lao Zhou, he often didn't come back to live, so he asked me to move in and share half of his rent. Liyue is Xiaoyu's cousin, she loves Xiaoyu very much, and often grabs Xiaoyu's cheek and calls him Little Glass.Liyue has a great physique and is coquettish. She is very popular in New York bars, and those American soldiers call her Lili.Li Yue took her two big tits with her hands, raised her face, and said disdainfully: "What are you afraid of?"My wife has plenty of capital!Sometimes when she went to work during the day, Abasang at home was busy with work, so she drove her three-year-old mongrel son Johnny to our room and asked us to take care of him.That bastard was a cutie, with pure white baby flesh, green eyes, but black curly hair.Li Yue originally threw her bastard to the orphanage, but she was reluctant and went to pick him up again.Li Yue said, the little bastard's father is a very handsome American man.There was a photo of him in a white navy uniform on her case, grinning, with dazzled eyes, and a flirtatious look.Li Yue lived with him, stuck with him for a year, and gave birth to a little bastard for him. He patted his ass and slipped back to the country.There were only three letters in total, sending twenty dollars to buy little Johnny a Christmas present.Li Yue sighed helplessly: Is the American bird very conscientious?But she said she didn't hate him, she forgave him, and she would sleep with him when he came.

Ah, there are squid to eat! I saw a plate of sauerkraut fried squid and a bowl of white porridge on the dining table in Liyue's room. Sister Liyue, you are such a good person!I touched Li Yue's firm and moist shoulder. Fuck you, stop flattering me, Liyue sat across from me and smiled, I ask you, where did Yuzai go to eat wild food last night? Xiaoyu?I found an overseas Chinese godfather from Tokyo. Yi Niang!Liyue giggled, that little glass only loves sashimi!Last year, there was an overseas Chinese from Osaka who opened a Chinese restaurant.Yuzai had a dream of cherry blossoms for several months because of him.Lao Zhou came to look for him in the middle of the night last night, and I lied for him, saying that he had gone back to Sanchong Town.Lao Zhou just didn't believe it, so he grabbed me and complained, and I couldn't understand Nong Nong's Shanghai dialect.I think that fat grandpa still has some sincerity towards Yuzai.

Lao Zhou just bought Xiaoyu a Seiko watch last week, 1,500, automatic, and a calendar. I saw it, Yuzi was shining brightly on her hand, Li Yue sighed with a smile, who told that fat grandpa to fall in love with this heartless glass thing, he is considered unlucky! Grandmother Abasan walked in with little Johnny, and when the little bastard saw his mother, he staggered, grinning and bumped into his mother's arms and shouted.Li Yue picked up Little Johnny, peeled off his crotch pants, took a bite on his round buttocks, and said bitterly: You little bastard, you little bastard, you killed your mother!

Abasan was a fat man with an extremely irritable temper. He was out of breath after climbing the stairs for a long time, and the sweat dripped on his face.She put a pair of red candles, two sticks of incense, four or five strings of tinfoil ingots, and a large stack of paper money on the table in her hand, and then she did the math with Li Yue. July 15th, the Ghost Festival. Who are you burning money for, sister Liyue?I asked. Give me that damn daddy!Li Yue sighed, she picked up a string of ingots, rustling and rattling, when he was around, he asked me for money every day.If you die, you still want to ask me in your dream.If I don't burn it to him, I'm afraid that he will go to Hades to sue.

Sister Liyue, you give me half of the ingot, and I will give you the money. I took out 20 yuan and handed it to Liyue. Who are you burning again?Li Yue was surprised. I burned it to my brother. Did he ask you for money too? He asked me for a harmonica, I said, today is his sixteenth birthday. Harmonica?Liyue laughed out loud, probably that place also sells harmonicas, right?People say that the underworld is the same as ours, it has everything.There must be many bars too, if I die, I will go down there and be a bar girl!Otherwise, what should we do if so many American soldiers were killed in the Vietnam War? Liyue laughed wildly, her two big tits were bouncing, she pointed at me and shouted: Glass ghost!Glass ghost!If you and Yuzai die, you must also become a glass ghost.You are what you are alive, and you are what you are dead, and you can’t change it even if you want to! I took the two strings of ingots back to the room, put them on the bed, and then went to the bathroom to take a cold shower and wash my hair.I changed into a new set of clothes, a pair of dark blue dacron suit pants, and a pullover tights with blue and white strips.I also combed my long, hard and rebellious hair neatly, and put on some Xiaoyu's pomade.Before leaving, I put the butterfly harmonica in the back pocket of my trousers. I passed by the door of Liyue's room. Liyue blew a whistle and called: Dressed up like this, I went to find Lang Ke again. Without looking back, I ran downstairs and out into the outside world.Up and down Zhongshan North Road, it seemed to be covered with white smoking solution, and the air was so hot that it shivered.I hastily pulled out my pair of wide-brimmed jet-black sunglasses and put them on.This pair of sunglasses was left by a guest on a chest of drawers in a hotel, and I put them away and kept them for myself.In the crowd during the day, I wear these wide-brimmed sunglasses to cover half of my face.so.Even if you meet acquaintances, you can pretend not to see them and avoid them. I took a bus on Zhongshan North Road and sat in the corner of the last row of the car. It was very hot in the car. I had just taken a shower, and as soon as I sat down, I was wet again.I'm going to take the bus to Ximending, and then transfer to South Airport.My mother lives over there at the South Airport.For more than five years, I have not seen my mother.The last news I got about her was that she lived with a man who opened an underground tea room in South Airport.That was what my brother told me. He had visited his mother two or three times at the South Airport.His mother took him to Ximending to eat steamed dumplings, and the two ate three dumplings.But the mother later told the younger brother: nothing will happen in the future.Don't go to her again.The younger brother passed away, but the mother didn't know.I tried to tell her several times, but for some reason it just didn't work out.Because I haven't met my mother for many years, I was afraid of embarrassing everyone, so I had nothing to say. Thinking of my mother and my younger brother, I couldn't help but think of our dilapidated and dilapidated home.