Chapter 27: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 27: Shangou Village 27

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

When Liao Chunhua left, Li Xiulan was the only person in the whole village who went to see her off.

No one would have expected that two former bitter enemies could now bid farewell on friendly terms.

Not long after Liao Chunhua left, He Dazhu also went to the City to work.

Seeing that Li Xiulan had firmly refused him several times, he felt it was boring and stopped shamelessly pestering Li Xiulan.

Yang Dafu left, Liao Chunhua left, He Dazhu also left.

These three people who had plunged Li Xiulan into a vortex of rumors and gossip all left, Shangou Village returned to its former calm, and Li Xiulan could finally live a normal life again.

Spring passed, autumn came, time flew, and before she knew it, Wang Xiaohua was already one week old.

He had been weaned off milk and reached the stage of learning to speak.

His small pudding-like stature toddled toward Li Xiulan with a slightly stiff gait.

"Mama, Mama..."

Perhaps because Li Xiulan had suffered a serious illness during her pregnancy, Wang Xiaohua was born weaker than normal people.

Other children at this age are at least knee-high, but he is still very tiny.

However, he learned to speak and walk faster than others; whatever he did, he seemed to be much quicker than his two older brothers.

His two older brothers couldn't speak at one week old, but he was different — he could already speak very clearly now.

Today Li Xiulan was going to take her three sons for a haircut. Since the one time his fetal hair was cut after birth, Wang Xiaohua had never had a haircut; now his hair had grown long like a little girl's, long enough to tie two small braids.

Li Xiulan carried Wang Xiaohua on her back, led Wang Dashan and Wang Erhai by the hand, and took them together to the village barber "Dashaoben's" home.

"Xiu Xiu Xiu Xiulan... bring bring bring... bring bring bring... bring children to cut cut cut... cut hair?"

"Dashaoben's" original name was Wu Daben; because he was born with a large tongue and spoke with a stammer, the villagers all called him "Dashaoben".

Dashaoben married a wife, a foolish woman; the foolish woman gave birth to a mentally disabled foolish son; the family of three relied entirely on the money Dashaoben earned as a barber to survive.

"Yes, Dashan, you go up first for a cut, hurry up!"

Li Xiulan pulled Wang Dashan up, and he sat down on the barber chair.

Dashaoben took out a cape, wrapped it around Wang Dashan's neck, then took out his old barber scissors and began cutting Wang Dashan's hair.

Those were manual barber scissors, different from ordinary scissors; outwardly they looked more like a miniature lawn mower, the cutting end was very bulky with interlocking teeth, and the handle end curved up at an angle, convenient for pushing forward when cutting hair.

Dashaoben's hands were busy; the barber scissors pushed across Wang Dashan's scalp, cutting out even hair roots.

Wang Dashan's face showed pained expressions from time to time, because Dashaoben's barber scissors were too old and would snag his hair now and then, making him extremely uncomfortable.

Fortunately, Dashaoben's hands were still quite deft; before long he had finished cutting a small crew cut for him.

He took out a straight razor, stropped it a few times on a piece of black leather hanging on the dilapidated wall, then applied soapy water around Wang Dashan's hairline and cleanly shaved off the fine hair; the haircut was done.

"Cut cut cut cut... cut done, ne ne ne ne next..."

While removing the cape from Wang Dashan's neck, Dashaoben patted the remaining hair off his neck, speaking with a stammer.

"Erhai, your turn!"

Before Dashaoben could finish speaking, Li Xiulan hurriedly urged Wang Erhai up.

"Uncle Daben, could you cut a little lighter?"

Wang Erhai sat on the barber chair, his eyes showing a trace of fear and pity.

Every time he got a haircut the scissors would pull his hair roots several times, so he had developed a psychological resistance to haircuts.

Dashaoben's old face wore a simple, honest smile:

"Do do do don't be afraid... no no no no pain, you you you don't don't don't, don't move around..."

Dashaoben's barber scissors flew swiftly across Wang Erhai's scalp.

"Ouch, ouch..." Wang Erhai kept crying out in pain; every time his hair roots were pulled, he couldn't help pursing his lips and wrinkling his nose; it was clear that for a child, this really hurt.

Li Xiulan watching from the side couldn't help reminding Dashaoben:

"Brother Daben, your scissors need sharpening."

"Thi thi thi, this morning! Just just just just just... just sharpened..."

Dashaoben stopped the scissors in his hand and explained to Li Xiulan with difficulty.

Li Xiulan could only show a helpless smile:

"Alright alright, hurry up and cut... Erhai, bear with it a bit, it'll be over soon."

Wang Erhai held it in, his face looking like he was about to cry.

Wang Xiaohua in Li Xiulan's arms understood nothing, but seeing his two older brothers resist haircuts so much, he also felt fear in his heart.

As a result, Wang Erhai who was having his hair pulled didn't cry, but Wang Xiaohua who hadn't even started his haircut wailed loudly.

"Wah... Mama, no haircut, no haircut, don't cut hair..."

Wang Xiaohua cried and begged.

Li Xiulan felt depressed and hurriedly comforted him:

"Xiaohua don't cry, summer's here, a haircut will be cooler."

Wang Xiaohua began struggling in Li Xiulan's arms, like a stubborn worm:

"I don't want cooler, I don't want a haircut, I don't want to!"

Dashaoben's face was full of simple smiles, cheerful; he had long since seen this so often it was no longer strange.

He had cut many children's hair; many children were unwilling, and some even had to be forcibly held down by their parents before they could be cut.

"Wait wait wait you press him press him press him press him press him, press him just just just just just, just good!"

Dashaoben shaved Wang Erhai's fine hair, then called for Li Xiulan to put Wang Xiaohua on the chair.

As soon as Wang Xiaohua was placed on the chair, she ran off the chair in a flash.

Running toward the Firewood Room inside Dashaoben's Barbershop.

Like a loach, Li Xiulan couldn't catch her no matter how she tried.

"Don't don't don't don't... don't let him go in!"

Dashaoben's face changed drastically.

Before he could finish his sentence, Wang Xiaohua had slipped through the cracked door and into Dashaoben's barbershop's Firewood Room!

"Quick quick quick quick quick go get him out!"

Dashaoben was anxious like an ant on a hot pot.

Li Xiulan was instead puzzled—it was just a firewood room, not a dragon's pool or tiger's den; surely no danger for a child running in.

However, the next second.

"Waaah!!"

Wang Xiaohua's sharp wail came from inside the firewood room.

Li Xiulan was stunned.

She hurriedly ran over.

When she pushed open the firewood room door.

Only see at the very back of the firewood room, there was a pigsty surrounded by iron railings.

Inside, besides two pigs, two dirty people were also kept.

Those two people were none other than Dashaoben's intellectually disabled wife and intellectually disabled son!

His wife and son were both tied with rope, living with the pigs, filthy all over, reeking of strong pig shit and pig urine.

At this moment, Dashaoben's son reached a hand out from the pigsty, pulling Wang Xiaohua's clothes, grinning foolishly, wanting to drag Wang Xiaohua into the pigsty.

Wang Xiaohua was pulled and stuck in the middle of the rust-stained iron railings smeared with pig manure, letting out pig-slaughtering wails.

The two pigs in the pigsty were frightened and hurriedly hid in the corner.

Seeing this, Li Xiulan without a word hurriedly went to grab Wang Xiaohua.

"Let go, don't touch my son!"

However, the fool didn't understand her words and kept pulling Wang Xiaohua while grinning foolishly.

Fortunately Dashaoben came in at this time.

Dashaoben picked up a wooden spoon for feeding pigs and struck the fool's head hard.

With a "Bang" dull sound, the fool quickly let go and hid in the pigsty corner, curling up with the two dirty pigs.

His gaze toward Dashaoben was full of fear.

"A-gain a-gain a-gain a-gain a-gain make me make me make me make me make me trouble!"

Dashaoben opened the pigsty door, walked in, and beat his fool son hard.

Beating him until he wailed.

Li Xiulan couldn't bear to watch anymore.

She held the already-stopped-crying Wang Xiaohua and stopped Dashaoben:

"Enough enough stop hitting, hit again and someone will die! Xiaohua won't get a haircut today, I'll pay you!"

Li Xiulan took out two wrinkled five-mao bills from her pocket and handed them to Dashaoben.

Five mao per child was the current haircut rate, which Li Xiulan knew.

Dashaoben wiped his hands, dirtied from hitting his fool son, with his clothes, then took the money, smiling humbly and apologetically as he saw Li Xiulan off:

"Want want want, or-or-or-or another day I-I-I-I, I to your your your your home, give give give, give your little son cut cut cut cut hair!"

"Let's talk about it another day!"

Li Xiulan took her three sons and left in a hurry.

Wang Xiaohua in her arms had been scared out of her wits, and now her face was full of terror, her eyes unfocused.