A Bicycle that can't fly（一）

The crazy woman came to Jiajia Village a year earlier than me. It was also in late autumn, and it was also Jia Yiren who picked her up and brought her to Jia Youfu's home.

Her sudden arrival and permanent departure, to most people in Jiajia Village, was like the coming and going of a strange animal. Because most of the Jia family members never regarded her as a real person from beginning to end.

"Hey, cripple, your wife is here!"

When those busybodies shouted and made a fuss, Jia Yiren was in the yard, delivering the firewood chopped by Jia Youfu to the firewood room to prepare for the winter. They squeezed into the yard in groups of three or five, snatched the firewood from Jia Yiren's hands, and pushed him out of the yard and went to the village entrance.

"Still hesitating, go and take your wife home!"

When Jia Yiren limped into the sight of the crowd, the Jia family members surrounding the crazy woman automatically made way for him. Those people who were curious saw such a funny scene: a ragged crazy woman and a disabled short man, one moving and one still, looking at each other. So they all laughed happily.

A hand stretched out from the crowd and pushed the crazy woman to Jia Yiren.

"Hey, cripple! Today is a good day, God gave you a woman!"

The crazy woman staggered, waved her hands in fear, and kept shouting. However, her random waving and loud shouting were not threatening to those strong men.

Four years later, Jia Guangcai, who pushed the crazy woman into the abyss again, was also mixed in the crowd of onlookers. At the age of fifteen, he had fully demonstrated his vigorous sexual desire and hooligan temperament. Compared with Jia Yiren's poor imitation of hooliganism after the death of the crazy woman, Jia Guangcai's hooliganism was natural. He stretched his head, looked left and right, swallowed his saliva, then walked forward, pulled off the mad woman's worn-out thin shirt, and grabbed her chest fiercely.

"It's quite strong," he smiled and took his hand back, rubbing the grease on his fingers, "It can be used, but it's a little dirty."

The mad woman screamed in fear, hugged her chest with her hands, arched her back and trembled.

Jia Guangcai's reckless behavior made the other men present bolder and reached out to touch the mad woman's body. They used all kinds of obscene words to evaluate her chest, her waist, her buttocks and her thighs. The words were vulgar, as if they were evaluating a tool for sexual gratification.

"It's a big ass, but it's full of shit and urine, and it stinks."

"Just wash it and it will work."

"Look at this ass, I'm afraid it was already given birth!" A middle-aged woman in the crowd clapped her hands and responded loudly with her rich experience.

"It's OK if it is viable ..."

"The breasts are pretty perky!"

"A broken pot meets a broken pot lid, cripple, she's just right for you!"

"She doesn't look young..."

"It's not bad for him!"

Those who don't regard the crazy woman as a human being also don't regard Jia Yiren as a human being. They all think that Jia Yiren must have done something wrong in his previous life, and that he has this twisted and terrifying appearance in this life. Moreover, the family has lost a strong labor force and gained a burden who eats dry food, which is despised by people in the village. They are self-righteous and feel ashamed for Jia Yiren.

Jia Yiren ignored those sarcastic remarks, he had long been accustomed to people's unscrupulous ridicule of his body.

He looked at the trembling crazy woman, her naked, greasy upper body, and suddenly felt pity for her. So he leaned over, took off the single clothes on his body, limped to the crazy woman, and tried to put the clothes on her with his healthy right hand. But as soon as he approached, the crazy woman dodged in fear, moaning in pain, as if she was afraid that Jia Yiren would hit her. Therefore, Jia Yiren tried several times, but failed to successfully put clothes on her.

Jia Guangcai found this scene very strange.

"He's still pretending here!"

Jia Guangcai blew a few loud and strange whistles, rushed forward, snatched the single clothes in Jia Yiren's hand, waved it in the air, and then threw it on the crazy woman's head.

"Lift the veil!" he shouted loudly.

The mad woman became even more uneasy because her vision was blocked. The short second half of this poor woman's life was like a leaf that was at risk of falling at any time in the bleak autumn wind, and she was always filled with fear and anxiety. She screamed and wailed, eagerly knocked off the clothes covering her head, and wanted to escape from the crowd.

"The bride can't wait, she lifted the veil herself!"

Jia Guangcai blew another obscene whistle, making the Jia family members present laugh. The cheerful laughter of the crowd made him feel that his words and deeds were encouraged and appreciated, so he walked forward arrogantly, grabbed the crazy woman's arm with one hand and Jia Yiren's arm with the other, and strode towards Jia Youfu's house.

"Enter the bridal chamber!" he shouted ostentatiously.

In the evening, the news that Jia Yiren had picked up a crazy woman from outside as his wife drifted across the entire Jiajia Village along with the rising smoke. People who were busy working during the day and missed the excitement came to Jia Youfu's house with their bowls of rice. They ate rice with big mouthfuls and stretched their necks to look at the crazy woman locked in the house.

Jia Yiren didn't want to pay attention to the people's eyes watching the show and the teasing that didn't doubt his good intentions. He quickly used a spoon to dig the rice in the bowl. After half a day, he was starving. After finishing his meal, Jia Youfu sat on the doorstep, also silently watching those people, just smoking the long-stemmed dry tobacco in his hand. After the busy autumn harvest, his energy seemed to be overdrawn. Gradually, he was unwilling to speak, often felt bored, and occasionally forgot things.

"I heard that Brother Yiren got a wife."

The people who watched the excitement had almost left, and the widow of the pig farm came into the yard carrying a heavy cloth bag. She put the cloth bag on the greasy dining table, glanced at the food on the table, took out a handful of fried broad beans from her pocket and put them on the table.

"Try it. It's freshly fried and smells delicious!"

She took out another handful of fried broad beans from her pocket and held them in her palm, picked up one and bit it with her teeth, then nimbly peeled off the burnt shell, threw it into her mouth, and chewed it again.

"I packed some old clothes."

The widow pointed at the cloth bag on the table, raised her elbow, then walked to Jia Youfu, stood outside the door, and stretched her neck to look into the room.

"Oh, it's dark, I can't see anything clearly. I don't know if the clothes fit. I took them from the cabinet, so they are a little damp. They will be fine after a few days of drying."

The room was dark, and the widow didn't see anything. She only heard a series of nonsense and retracted her neck. She put the hand holding the fried broad beans in front of Jia Youfu, weighed it, and signaled him to try it. Jia Youfu shook his pipe and waved his hand, and she put his hand back again.

"Uncle, the roof and door of the pigpen are broken again. Please help me fix it when you are free. The sun was strong a few days ago, so I dried some new straw. This time, please compact the roof. I am alone and rely on this litter of pigs to survive. I can't let them freeze to death."

When the widow's family built the pigpen, many men in the village went to work, and Jia Youfu was one of them. Later, when the pigpen broke or leaked, she asked the men who worked there to help. But those men didn't care about their work at all. Seeing that her husband died early, they always wanted to touch her and take advantage of her, which caused a lot of ugly rumors. After looking around, only Jia Youfu was the most well-behaved. He did the work without saying a word and was always polite to her.

"Well, when I have money, I will build a high wall, an iron house, a big iron door, and a big iron lock. No matter how capable those pigs are, they can't jump up and break the lock from the outside..."

The widow sighed.

When she got married, she didn't find out clearly, and the man kept it a secret from her, so she didn't know that her husband had a genetic disease. Less than a year after the marriage, he died of illness, fortunately he didn't have time to leave the child. Her father-in-law died early, and her mother-in-law had a stroke and was paralyzed in bed. The family relied on her to raise pigs. She took good care of her mother-in-law for seven or eight years, and sent her to the ground. Now she is the only one left in the family with a litter of pigs. The relatives who are ugly and ugly came to her house together and made a fuss about dividing the family property, but she took the hatchet and chopped them off one by one.

Even though she was so tough, the pigpen still broke from time to time, either there was a hole in the roof or the door lock was lifted. There was no evidence, so it was not easy to accuse anyone. But there were always some men who were particularly well-informed. When they saw her, they asked her with a playful smile whether the broken pigpen needed to be repaired. What she said just now were all angry words. She knew that the iron house, iron door and iron lock could lock the four-legged pigs in the pigpen, but could not lock the two-legged men outside the pigpen. Everyone said that there were many gossips in front of the widow's door, but she did not cause these gossips. She was the one who came to her door and refused to let her go. Those men were all the same. They always thought that women were born to open their legs to satisfy their dirty and vulgar desires. Everyone thought that they could sleep with her, pat their butts and leave after sleeping with her, without paying any feelings, let alone taking any responsibilities. They all thought that if they didn't take advantage, they would suffer a loss. Who was sincere?

She also figured it out. Life is not the same without anyone. It is better to rely on the pigs at home than to rely on those men. Living alone, you will not be bullied, you will not be tired, and you will be free and easy. When you are old and can't walk anymore, you can dig a hole and bury yourself.

"Uncle, when are you free, come and help me. Let's do it as usual. I'll cook you a delicious meal. Brother Yiren, come too. The food I cook is praised by gods."

 Jia Yiren nodded and ate the last spoonful of rice in the bowl.

After the widow left, Jia Youfu washed the dishes and boiled a large pot of hot water with the firewood he had just chopped in the afternoon. He and Jia Yiren found the large wooden barrel used for bathing during the New Year, added water, and carried the crazy woman into the barrel. At first, the crazy woman struggled desperately, splashing out nearly half a bucket of water, soaking Jia Youfu and Jia Yiren. Later, the crazy woman gradually lost her strength, and she slumped in the barrel and stopped struggling. By the time she was scrubbed clean, three buckets of hot water had been changed.

After the stains on her body were washed clean, the shocking scars on the crazy woman's body were revealed. Those crisscrossing scars, as well as the twisted and deformed wrists and ankles, silently told of her past tragic experiences.

Jia Youfu put on the clothes brought by the widow on her, and laid a straw mat and blanket on Jia Yiren's bed, changed the big quilt, and arranged for the crazy woman to sleep. When the cleanup was finished, it was already the middle of the night when the dogs didn't even bark.

After Jia Youfu returned to his room, Jia Yiren got into bed and leaned against the crazy woman curled up in the quilt. The warm and soft body exuded the smell of soap and mothballs, which made his heart and body tremble uncontrollably. He turned sideways with difficulty, stretched out his intact right hand, and gently kneaded the crazy woman's body. This was the first time he touched a woman. The touch was soft, like a peeled, steaming boiled egg, like compacted cotton wool, and like water warmed by the sun. It was very wonderful, making him feel dizzy and as if his soul had left his body. Jia Yiren's mood was surging, his breathing became heavier, and his hands gradually became neither light nor heavy, but the piece of meat under his crotch was still curled up quietly, like a dead object.

After tossing and turning for an afternoon and taking such a long hot bath, the crazy woman's strength had long been drained, so she was unable to resist and collapsed heavily on the bed. Jia Yiren's actions tickled her body, so she trembled slightly and laughed out loud. Jia Yiren didn't understand why she was laughing, but he thought it was funny, so he laughed too. At this moment, a strange feeling rose in his heart, as if his life, which had been dormant for more than 30 years, had come alive at this moment. The hand wandering on the crazy woman's body suddenly stopped.

Because he was lying on his side, his twisted left arm and left hand had been pressed down, which made him feel uncomfortable. And his raised right hand was also a little sore. Jia Yiren panted, retracted his right hand, and lay down again.

The crazy woman stopped laughing, was silent for a while, and then cried bitterly as if relieved.

Jia Yiren's desire for the opposite sex's body slowly subsided in the pain of half of his body and the sad crying of the crazy woman. He opened his eyes, stared at the dark night, and imagined that his soul broke free from his body and floated up. Then, he saw his body and the crazy woman's body lying side by side on the bed. On the square wooden bed, two people were lying, a crazy woman who sometimes laughed and sometimes cried, and a disabled impotent man. These two people, in the eyes and mouths of others, became a perfect couple. What a funny and sad thing!

The dark night pressed on him and also on his heart. He stroked his fingers, looking back at the soft touch just now, and couldn't stop feeling ashamed and sad. The woman lying next to him was an incomplete woman; and he himself was an incomplete man. One was mentally disabled, and the other was physically disabled. Even in the eyes of those who teased them, they were not even a complete and real person. In essence, he and the crazy woman had similar experiences and pains, and they should sympathize with each other.

So, Jia Yiren's sexual desire completely retreated, and was replaced by a heartfelt pity for the crazy woman and a desire to become a complete and real person.

He kept the gentle touch of shame in his heart. This was the first time he touched a woman's body, and also the last time. This only touch added a bit of sacred and sad color to his later memories. The mad woman, and the world she lived in when she was awake, became an existence that he could not reach. It was a pure spiritual yearning that was separated from desire, and it was also his deep inferiority in the face of a world where he could not stay.

His encounter with the mad woman was sudden and absurd, but it also added a lot of tenderness to the painful years of each other.

Since then, the mad woman has lived in this house.

The ballad written by Jia Guangcai for this bizarre fate has been sung privately in Jiajia Village for a long time. After hearing it, some children learned it and sang a few sentences from time to time when chasing and playing. They were so young that they could not understand the painful reality hidden behind the ballad at all, but simply thought it was fun.

"Jia Yiren, it's amazing, no one wants you because you have a crooked leg and crooked hands. Crazy woman, you are shameless, you lift your veil to sleep. Turn off the lights, touch the birds, and your son will cry next year."

They sang while running and chasing. Once there was a conflict, this ballad became a powerful weapon for them to attack each other.

If they had a conflict with a boy, they would threaten him: "You will also marry a crazy woman in the future!"

If they had a conflict with a girl, they would curse her: "You will also become a crazy woman in the future!"

After scolding and scolding, the crazy woman was scolded the most.

This poor woman was driven crazy by a group of shameless people, and then ridiculed by a group of shameless people. Instead of condemning the traffickers and unscrupulous rapists who bought and sold women, they blamed the crazy woman.

Those boring guys whose assholes can be seen when they open their mouths and whose skin is so shallow that it looks like a decoration, kept talking: It's all because she was born too beautiful that bad people wanted to see her; it's all because she was horny and lecherous that men's dicks swelled; it's all because she was unlucky and unlucky that she didn't live long.

After calculating and calculating, the account was finally put on the crazy woman. She couldn't blame the sky, the earth, or others, but only herself.

They talked and talked, and finally came to a unified conclusion: women should know how to keep themselves clean, and they can't be too beautiful, otherwise they will be a disaster.

Four years later, when Jia Guangcai set his eyes on the crazy woman again and pushed her into the endless abyss again after she had finally climbed up, such a conclusion had the so-called factual basis and became the truth all of a sudden.

Therefore, after the crazy woman died tragically in the mass poisoning incident, the villagers did not allow Jia Yiren to bury her body in the village. They thought she was dirty, crazy, scary, and unlucky, and they were worried that burying her in the village would affect the Feng Shui of the village and bring bad luck to the village. They forced Jia Yiren to transport the horrible body of the crazy woman out of the village and find a place far away to bury her. The carpenter in the village was also unwilling to prepare a coffin for the crazy woman.

Jia Yiren, who was in a weak position in the village, was unable to resist the crowd. He could only push the cart and, under the supervision of the crowd, push the body of the crazy woman, who could not stretch freely until her death, out of the village and bury it shallowly in a wasteland outside the village.

The crazy woman's funeral was extremely sloppy, with no coffin, no funeral, and no rebirth sutra.

But I know that the soul of the crazy woman should have been extremely light when she climbed the high mountains to the Yellow Spring Road. Because Jia Yiren shed enough tears for her in a place where no one could see. The deep mourning and sorrow, as well as the silent tears, are enough to prove the preciousness of the crazy woman's life.

Late at night on the day when the crazy woman was buried, Jia Yiren went out of the village alone, secretly dug out her body, and then transported it back to the village on a cart. He wrapped her in a quilt and buried her deep in the dense woods at the entrance of the village. The wasteland was empty and vast, and there were many gravels mixed in the soil. He didn't want the crazy woman's body to suffer. Moreover, he had already regarded the crazy woman as a family member in his heart, and didn't want her soul to wander in the wilderness. If her soul couldn't return to the hometown she missed day and night, at least there was a home here for her to rest; at least there were people here who missed her deeply.

After the crazy woman died, Jia Yiren began to reshape himself as a gangster. He cheated a lot of money by spreading rumors and pretending to be a ghost, and finally bought the bicycle he had agreed with the crazy woman.