Notes From Buried Times Chapter 1

What is history?

"History is a kind of comprehensive knowledge. Any written records, oral legends, physical materials, positive records and negative records, including some scraps of copper and iron" are all history.

Everything that exists and has existed, everything that happens and has happened, is history.

What is archaeology?

Archaeology is the tracing of history, the verification of historical materials, the perception of the past, and the touch of time.

History is soaked with blood and tears between the lines, while archaeology is a journey through wind and rain.

1979, the era of recovery.

Parents and children do not need to expose each other or sacrifice their own relatives for the sake of justice; there is no need to shout "Long live Chairman Mao" while breaking the legs of their relatives; there is no need to pin Chairman Mao's portraits on their flesh; there is no need to catch teachers, both men and women, and shave their heads in the yin-yang style first.

So Professor Li Changsheng woke up from his nightmare and was rehabilitated. After the rehabilitation, he persuaded the school to organize an archaeological team to go to the southwestern border.

Professor Li is sixty years old, an old horse in the stable. He is the only one left in the History Institute of xx University after the Cultural Revolution. The rest of them jumped into the lake and made a promise in front of their superiors: first, I will never take a penny from the country; second, I will never use up normal study time and make full use of the summer vacation.

He carefully selected ten people from the history department, both men and women, packed their bags, and prepared to set off. They even bought train tickets. However, nine of them were turned down by a farewell banquet - it was said that the pot of fried snails was not fresh.

Professor Li was addicted to snails and had diarrhea so severe that he was almost dehydrated. He lay in the hospital receiving an IV drip. He looked at his students' sallow faces one by one and sighed: "To die before accomplishing one's mission is to make heroes cry!"

The survivor was a boy.

But this guy was not content to eat and intended to tease the restaurant waiter. The waiter's father, who was also the chef, chased him for two kilometers with a spatula in his hand. In his panic, he stepped on empty air and broke his bone.

Then a little kid who came to eat for free stood out.

Little Daniel Xia, pretty and kind? She ate half a basin of snails by herself without any injury.

A stomach made of steel.

Professor Li stared at the ceiling with lifeless eyes: "I'm not willing to accept this..."

Xiao Shi, a student who shared the same pain, helped him count the pills and also sighed: "Alas..."

Daniel Xia came to visit the patient: "Teacher Li~~"

Professor Li said weakly: "Sit down..."

Daniel Xia pretended to be concerned and asked, "Teacher, how are you today? Is you in good health?"

Professor Li rolled his eyes and said, Daniel Xia, what a coincidence, I heard everything you said in the corridor just now, gloating over the students who were receiving intravenous drips. He said, Daniel Xia, I suddenly have an idea.

Daniel Xia put down the canned fruit and asked, "What?"

Professor Li asked: "Your institute was protected by superiors during the Cultural Revolution, and you did not stop your field archaeological activities. How do you think you have accumulated experience?"

Daniel Xia thought about it, narrowed his eyes and smiled, and said unceremoniously: "It should be no problem for the team leader."

"You really won't give up until you blow your own trumpet," Professor Li pinched his face and said, "Then please be the leader and go to Yunnan in my place."

Daniel Xia didn't even change his smile and said, "Teacher Li, I suddenly remembered that I have something else to do. I'll leave first."

Professor Li coughed, and Xiao Shi immediately threw Daniel Xia to the ground.

Professor Li said, "Please."

"Don't tickle me, oh, Xiao Shi, you are such a traitor..." Daniel Xia was in a hurry to tangle with Xiao Shi: "Teacher Li, I'm not lying to you, I really have something to do. Several suspected human bone fossils were found in the Sichuan Basin. The report has just been submitted. We have to go and take a look with the paleontologists."

Professor Li got out of bed, slipped on his slippers, and ran to the nurse's duty room, holding his stomach. He ran back a minute later: "That's strange, Daniel Xia, why did your teacher Qian say on the phone that no fossils have been found in Sichuan recently?"

Daniel Xia pushed Xiao Shi desperately: "Oh, then I remembered it wrong, it's Xinjiang."

"Unfortunately, I asked as well," Professor Li said, "and it seems that there is no such thing in Xinjiang either."

Daniel Xia said: "It's Liaoning."

"Xiao Shi, please go out for a moment. I want to talk to Daniel Xia." said Professor Li.

Daniel Xia kept complaining that he was really busy, and Professor Li ordered Xiao Shi to close the door without caring. Five minutes later, Daniel Xia's evil laughter came from the door.

Xiao Shi stuck his head in: "What are you laughing at?"

Daniel Xia crossed her legs, held half an apple in her mouth and made faces at him.

Professor Li touched Daniel Xia's head lovingly: "Okay, okay."

Daniel Xia asked: "Am I going alone? Who else will go besides me?"

"No, just you," Professor Li said, "but there are several archaeologists there, and one of them is my student. I have already contacted him in advance, and he will come to pick you up."

Daniel Xia nodded to show that he understood.

Xiaoshi looked Daniel Xia up and down, and whispered to Professor Li: "Even if there is someone in Yunnan to help, do you really plan to send this pretty boy?"

Professor Li motioned him to lean closer and said earnestly: "When surviving in the wild, you will encounter many uncertain foods. If you and I eat them, we will die, but he will be fine."

Xiao Shi suddenly realized.

After eating the apple, Daniel Xia continued to discuss the details of the event with Professor Li until the nurse came in to chase them away.

Two days later, the archaeological team was about to board the train, but Daniel Xia was almost late. He was out of breath all the way and holding a big cat in his arms, which looked to weigh at least 20 kilograms.

... Xiao Shi stared at him: "I say, Comrade Daniel Xia."

Daniel Xia hugged the cat and asked solemnly, "What's the matter? Comrade Shi Xiangdong."

Xiao Shi said: "I promise Chairman Mao that you won't starve to death in Yunnan, so you don't need to bring rations."

Daniel Xia packed his backpack and said, "This cat can't be eaten. If it were edible, I would have eaten it long ago."

Xiao Shi asked: "Why can't I eat it?"

Daniel Xia stuffed the cat into his travel bag, gulped down a mouthful of cold water, and raised a finger mysteriously: "Comrade Shi Xiangdong, because that is not an ordinary cat."

Professor Li, who had come to see him off despite his illness, said unhappily, "Because that's not a cat, it's a Gu."

Xiao Shi said: "Ah?"

Professor Li pointed at Daniel Xia and said, "Don't ask me, ask him."

Daniel Xia was particularly proud. He unzipped his travel bag, held the cat's face and asked, "Old Henry Lao, as a revolutionary mentor, can I give this confused young man some advice?"

The big cat yawned and glanced at Xiao Shi lazily.

Daniel Xia then coughed solemnly: "Then Comrade Shi Xiangdong..."

Xiao Shi suddenly stood up and said, "You guys sit down, I'll go back first."

Daniel Xia hugged his legs and begged: "Just listen! I feel uncomfortable holding back my words! I will die if I hold it back until we reach Yunnan!"

Xiao Shi was unable to move forward, so he had to compromise: "Okay, okay, one Gu."

A cat poison.

This story starts with Daniel Xia's father.

Father Xia was an employee of a radio factory in public, but secretly he was a mystical culture enthusiast. When he had nothing to do after get off work, he would do superstitious work. Ten years later, he founded the first batch of qigong training classes in China. At its peak, one person performed qigong on the stage, and 3,000 people followed his qigong, shouting in unison, "Master, I have finally opened my third eye."

Such a person who is somewhere between a swindler and a charlatan is actually a writer who specializes in underground literature.

As the Cultural Revolution had just ended, very few people in China knew about Gu. In order to enlighten the people, Master Xia worked hard and spent three years reviewing and completing the popular science masterpiece "How to Raise Gu Scientifically", which has a total of more than 5,000 words. Apart from the 3,000 words plagiarized from "How to Raise Pigs Scientifically", Master Xia poured his thoughts into the book.

For example, what exactly is Gu?

Gu is said to be a specialty of Miao Village. It is made up of the characters for "insect" and "dish". As the saying goes, if utensils are not used for a long time, insects will grow on them. In other words, Gu is a kind of insect, a poisonous insect that is said to be so magical that people turn pale at the mention of it.

Master Xia made it scientific, saying that Gu is a poisonous parasite that affects the human body. So there are two ways to be poisoned: accidentally swallowing the parasite and accidentally swallowing the eggs.

So how to detoxify?

Of course, you should take intestinal worm medicine.

After Master Xia solved this ultimate problem, he began to put it into practice.

According to the traditional method in "Compendium of Materia Medica", Master Xia collected dozens of poisonous insects such as mosquitoes, flies, cockroaches, bedbugs, dung beetles, etc., put them into a large jar, and waited for the big insects to eat the small ones, and finally only one was left alive, and the Gu was then refined.

When the time came, I ran to check and found that the bug was gone, only a mouse was left.

Master Xia turned a blind eye to the big hole at the bottom of the jar and kept howling "Ahhh! It's done! I've done it!" At this time, his own cat suddenly appeared and ate the mouse in one gulp.

So Master Xia refined the world's largest Gu, which belonged to the cat family and mammals.

The Gu is available, but how to administer it is another problem.

According to Master Xia's theory, there are only two ways: one, swallow the cat; two, swallow the kitten.

First of all, it's impossible, a cat weighs more than 20 pounds and has so much hair. Second, it's impossible, it's a male cat.

Daniel Xia asked Xiao Shi sincerely: "What do you think we should do?"

Xiao Shi smiled at him sincerely, pointed at the ticket gate and said, "Please go away."

Professor Li was really very sick and hurt. His legs were so weak that they were shaking, but he still wanted to talk to Daniel Xia endlessly.

Daniel Xia said: "You should go back soon and don't get tired. I promise to complete the task."

Professor Li said no, I still have a lot of things to explain, and he was about to follow him to the platform. Daniel Xia patted his shoulder and said, "Can you trust me just for once?"

Professor Li looked into the student's eyes, and suddenly heaved a sigh of relief and smiled: "Okay, I'll trust you this time."

He stood in the crowd waiting for ticket checking and waved goodbye to Daniel Xia. He was pushed from time to time, and his fat body looked a little clumsy and pitiful.

Daniel Xia jumped up and shouted as he walked: "Goodbye, Teacher Li! Goodbye, Teacher!"

Professor Li also stood on tiptoe: "Be careful on the road!"

Daniel Xia put his hands to his mouth and said, "I know! You can go back now!"

The fat old man waved his hand to signal you to go ahead, and then watched the student walk through the ticket gate to the tunnel. When he was almost out of sight, he jumped up again, rushed to the railing and shouted: "Archaeology is science! It's not treasure hunting! Remember this!"

Daniel Xia stopped and turned back: "Yeah!!"

After getting on the train, Daniel Xia stuffed his luggage under the bed, secretly took the cat out, and asked it: "Old Henry Lao, what did the teacher say just now?"

Old Henry Lao meowed.

"You didn't hear it?" Daniel Xia smiled: "Actually, I didn't hear it either."

Old Henry Lao rubbed his body in his arms, yawned again, and turned his head to look out the window.

Along the railway are endless rice fields like mirrors, sparkling in the sun.