现在这栋破房子最醒目的东西是那几根黑黢黢的梁，南方的雨季照常来了，新闻联播的声音从别人家的窗户里传来时，此时刚好又下起了一阵小雨。梁与梁相交的地方染上了接近于黑色的绿色，这是长期受潮又无人问津的结果，两根梁之间隔着一张快要腐烂的风景画木牌匾，木牌匾上印着热带某处的景色。那是湖中央一栋雪白的仿欧式建筑，饱和度虽然下降了但碧波仍然荡漾，湖心中本来纯白的天鹅又点染上了一些天上的蓝，原本属于蓝色的天空现在属于了深褐色的霉斑，从这栋建筑里看不见人，只有几扇黑压压的窗口，如果那建筑能装下一台天文望远镜，那么在天文望远镜后面往外看的人也许正好可以看到小明的眼睛从遮雨的塑料桶下露了出来。十来岁的他正望着这栋仿欧式建筑，就在那一瞬间关于天堂的想象出现在脑中，这念头随后穿过了透风的屋顶飞到了夜幕将落的天空。

小明天生腿脚不好使，所以他很少出外走动，关于外面的世界原本都来自他的家里人，在他爸爸妈妈吵架打架的时候，他总是能学到很多关于外面的新知识。比如新的地名，旧的女人，或者是一根葱的价钱应该是多少。有一天早上，他爸爸出门前摸了摸他的头，小明的单眼皮并不灵动显得呆呆的，他望着他爸爸。这个本村最著名的穷鬼兼酒鬼名誉所有者轻轻叹了口气，然后捻起了小明的几根头发用力一拽，小明哭了，他爸爸没有再回来过。爸爸走了之后，小明的妈妈每天都很开心地出去打牌，起初是每天做完活儿了之后打牌，慢慢打牌变成了活儿，总之小明越来越少见到妈妈。有一天小明刚起来，发现妈妈又没在家，这已经是第三天了，这时小明突然想起了爸爸，于是他无法自制地号啕大哭起来，哭得撕心裂肺，鼻涕进了嘴里，又从鼻子里被喷出来，他被自己的狼狈举动逗笑了，控制不住地笑了，一边笑一边想这样到底算什么啊！太不严肃了，他哭得就更厉害了。在最厉害的时候，邻居家大婶儿火急火燎地冲了进来，拿起袖子给孩子擦眼泪。邻居大婶儿嘴巴念念有词：“母子连心啊，母子连心啊”，邻居大婶拉过小明抱在自己丰腴的胸脯上，那种柔软让小明有点不知如何是好。邻居大婶摸着小明的头说：“孩子，你妈没了，猝死在牌桌上了”。小明听明白这句话后慢慢收起了哭声，他并不灵动的单眼皮抬了起来，他望着大婶儿，鼻涕从大婶儿的胸脯拉出了一条细丝儿，他心里的石头咯噔坠地了，他心想：“幸好妈妈没有丢下我。”大婶儿安慰小明说不要害怕，以后她会照顾着他。

时间在小明的身上像刮腻子一样涂上了一层又一层的防腐剂，以避免小明心里那股味道随着这栋屋子的逐渐衰败而散发到整个村子。开始的那几年雨总是下个不停，屋子前那个院子因为疏于打理所以长势惊人，在齐腰高的野草中有一条大婶儿进出踩出来的过道。在这屋子里面只剩下了头发随着年龄疯长的小明和偶尔晃过的大婶儿的身影，大婶儿每次拿吃穿过来时总会顺便替小明清理一下屋子，最开始是一些用过的帕子，然后变成了小明当时还够不着的桌子，再后来家里那台唯一可以发出声音的收音机也被拿走了。拿走就拿走吧，反正小明也听不明白收音机里在说些什么。自从家里没了收音机之后，小明的耳朵变得更加敏锐了，院子里野草春风吹又生，他听得到新草破土时的挣扎，听得到头顶某片瓦的龟裂，在雨来之前，他已经提前听到天空上风云际会的密谋。这时他会把塑料桶罩在自己头顶上，蹲在原地，嘴里倒数着数迎接大雨做客他家。

塑料盆是小明家最多的东西，这也是他唯一一次向大婶儿开口索要的东西。起初是因为在一个阳光灿烂的午后，小明睡过去了。在睡梦中的他没有听到天空上风云际会的密谋，不请自来的大雨将他从睡梦里吵醒了。他很少发气，很少对生活提出什么要求，这一次是唯一一次。他气大雨没有让他睡一个好觉，睡觉是小明最重要的事，因为多睡觉就可以少吃饭，少吃饭才可以有饭吃。大婶儿晚上临近天黑才过来，小明问大婶儿能不能给他一个桶，大婶儿没有拒绝他。自那以后，他的头上就多了一个家当，下再大的雨，他都可以睡。至于雨打在塑料桶上的声音，那对小明来说不是什么问题，他是把这声音当乐曲来听的。

随着瓦一片片凋零，地上的盆子就越来越多。这些盆子大部分是塑料的，也有一些金属的，都是邻居们得知小明家的屋顶越来越烂以后送给他的。农村里常见的那种蓝白相间的塑料盆在家里摆了好多，它们围着床一圈圈的摆着像夏天开放的荷叶一样，只是这些塑料盆子通常会比较长命，这多少让小明觉得心里是踏实的。小明一开始并不需要这么多盆子，但是随着大婶儿拿盆过来，后面也有好几个好心的邻居跟着拿盆过来，小明本来想拒绝，可是邻居说放着也是放着，在家也没人用还占位置不如就给用得着的人用好了。小明不好意思伤害邻居们的好心，就这样他破烂得只剩下几根横梁的家成了附近几乎邻居家共识下的仓库。

院子里的野草已经枯了黄了好多个来回了，在这段日子里小明逐渐长成了大明。自从小明长成大明的那天起，大婶儿再也没有来过这栋早已经被搬空又摆满了的破房子。头顶的那块木牌匾成了唯一还能遮风挡雨的地方，它正好对应着下方大明的床，大明还是一如即往躺在床上睡觉，那个大婶儿送给他的塑料桶罩在他的头顶上。阳光射进屋子里，照射在大明的塑料桶上，光把桶底照得透亮，阳光晃过他的眼睛，他好像又回到了那个明亮的午后，头顶的瓦片还没有掉完，墙壁也还是完整不透风的，那几根粗壮的梁正值壮年又亮又光滑，阳光穿过窗户射进他的眼睛里，直到他在一片迷糊中听到收音机响起了音乐。那歌声绕着梁垂下来，一阵阵地轻抚着那时还是小明的大头，他眯着眼睛仿佛隔着鸡蛋的角蛋白层薄膜看到爸爸妈妈又重新搂抱在一起。

迷迷糊糊中他听到大婶儿在叫他的名字。大婶儿撑着雨伞站在原来门口的位置，齐肩深的野草掩盖了大婶儿的身体。大婶儿漂浮在野草上的头告诉大明，她的大儿子在县城里要结婚了。她们一家现在要搬去县城里住了，特意来跟他说一声再见，大婶儿告诉大明，以后大明要是要结婚了，她一定来当他的家长。说到这儿大婶儿声音有点发颤，她最后摆了摆手，摇摇头，撑着一把伞就离开了。离开前她还对大明嘱咐了最后一句，这房子空得不能再住人了，他应该离开这里去求生活，要活下去。大婶儿走了后，小明望着头顶那张快要腐烂脱皮的木牌匾发神，望着木牌匾上那栋在湖心中央宛若天堂的欧式建筑他有了一丝疑惑，这么大的房子真的能住人吗？

大明把头重新塞进了塑料桶里，开始倒数，在数到零的时候天空又开始淅淅沥沥地下雨了，雨滴蜂拥进屋子里，各就其位地掉落在水位不一，材质不一的桶里和盆里。这个破烂的房子一瞬间就成了演奏现场，舞美是由几根破木梁和一片齐腰深的野草作为主体构成的，中央位置的那张床上躺着这场演出唯一的艺术家和观众，以它为中心那些破烂乐器逐渐展开。在雨滴不同的击打位置下它们彼此托举辉映，那瑰丽无比的音色、音高、时值、音量千奇八怪但又暗藏着严密的逻辑，其所构成的乐声直冲云霄。我想即便是当年最为先锋的约翰凯奇也会为此而感到折服，就算他无比坚定地认为自己是那个时代最先锋的创作者，他应该也没有办法不服一个根本不想创作音乐的音乐家。约翰凯奇如果有幸，将在这里听到音乐史上各种已经出现过的，还未出现过的音乐或者声音。

雨势弱了下来，磅礴的声音逐渐变得婉转昏暗，大明的头还在桶里，从木牌匾上滴落下来的水珠缓慢地打在他头顶的塑料桶上，他的心和身体像海绵浸透了雨水变得颇有一些沉甸甸的，叮咚不一的声音还在接连不断发出空灵的声响。大明被塑料桶罩着的头下还剩下整个屋子里唯一一小块指甲盖大小的干燥地方。天色暗下来的时候雨终于停了，大明揭开了塑料桶，从雨后的云里爬起了最后的一点夕阳，夕阳的光照在大明脸上，大明哭了。他流下了自从告别小明后多年以来的第一滴眼泪，那滴眼泪没有发出任何一点声音，但是它吞噬了还干燥着的最后一块地方。

The most eye-catching thing about this dilapidated house now is the black beams. The rainy season in the south has come as usual. When the sound of the news broadcast came from the windows of other people's houses, it happened to rain again. The intersection of the beams was stained with a green color close to black. This was the result of long-term moisture and no one caring about it. Between the two beams was a wooden plaque with a landscape painting that was about to rot. The wooden plaque was printed with a scene somewhere in the tropics. It was a snow-white imitation European-style building in the middle of the lake. Although the saturation was reduced, the blue waves were still rippling. The originally pure white swan in the center of the lake was dotted with some blue from the sky. The sky that was originally blue now belonged to dark brown mold spots. No one could be seen from this building, only a few dark windows. If the building could accommodate an astronomical telescope, then people looking out from behind the astronomical telescope might just be able to see Xiao Ming's eyes exposed from under the plastic bucket that was shielding against rain. The teenage boy was looking at this imitation European-style building, and at that moment the idea of heaven appeared in his mind. The idea then flew through the leaky roof and into the sky as night was about to fall.

Xiao Ming was born with weak legs and feet, so he seldom went out. All he knew about the outside world came from his family. When his parents quarreled and fought, he always learned a lot of new knowledge about the outside world. For example, new place names, old women, or how much a scallion should cost. One morning, his father touched his head before going out. Xiao Ming's single eyelids were not smart and looked dull. He looked at his father. The most famous poor ghost and drunkard honorary owner of the village sighed softly, then twisted a few of Xiao Ming's hair and pulled hard. Xiao Ming cried, and his father never came back. After his father left, Xiao Ming's mother went out to play cards happily every day. At first, she played cards after finishing work every day, and gradually playing cards became work. In short, Xiao Ming saw his mother less and less. One day, Xiao Ming just woke up and found that his mother was not at home again. This was the third day. At this time, Xiao Ming suddenly remembered his father, so he couldn't help crying and crying. He cried so hard that his snot entered his mouth and was sprayed out of his nose. He was amused by his own embarrassing behavior and couldn't help laughing. While laughing, he thought, what on earth is this! It's too frivolous, and he cried even harder. At the worst time, the neighbor's aunt rushed in in a hurry and took up her sleeves to wipe the child's tears. The neighbor's aunt kept saying, "Mother and child are connected by heart, mother and child are connected by heart." The neighbor's aunt pulled Xiao Ming and hugged him to her plump chest. The softness made Xiao Ming a little at a loss. The neighbor's aunt touched Xiao Ming's head and said, "Child, your mother is gone. She died suddenly at the card table." After Xiao Ming understood these words, he slowly stopped crying. He raised his sluggish single eyelids and looked at the aunt. His snot ran out of her chest like a thin thread. The stone in his heart fell to the ground. He thought to himself, "Luckily, my mother didn't abandon me." The aunt comforted Xiao Ming and told him not to be afraid and that she would take care of him in the future.

Time has applied layer after layer of preservatives to Xiao Ming's body like scraping putty, to prevent the smell in Xiao Ming's heart from spreading to the whole village as the house gradually decays. In the first few years, it rained non-stop. The yard in front of the house grew amazingly because it was neglected. There was an aisle in the waist-high weeds where the aunt walked in and out. In this house, there were only Xiao Ming, whose hair grew wildly with age, and the figure of the aunt who occasionally walked by. Every time the aunt brought food and clothes, she would clean the house for Xiao Ming. At first, it was some used handkerchiefs, and then it became the table that Xiao Ming couldn't reach at the time. Later, the only radio in the house that could make sounds was also taken away. Take it away, anyway, Xiao Ming couldn't understand what was being said on the radio. Since the radio was no longer at home, Xiao Ming's ears have become more acute. He can hear the struggle of the weeds in the yard growing again in the spring breeze, and the cracking of a tile above his head. Before the rain comes, he can already hear the conspiracy of the wind and clouds in the sky. At this time, he will cover his head with a plastic bucket, squat on the spot, and count down in his mouth to welcome the heavy rain to his home.

Plastic basins are the most common thing in Xiao Ming's home, and this is the only time he asked the aunt for something. It started because Xiao Ming fell asleep on a sunny afternoon. In his sleep, he did not hear the conspiracy of the wind and clouds in the sky, and the uninvited heavy rain woke him up from his sleep. He rarely gets angry and rarely makes any demands on life. This time is the only time. He was angry that the heavy rain did not let him sleep well. Sleeping is the most important thing for Xiao Ming, because more sleep means less food, and less food means more food. The aunt came over at night when it was almost dark. Xiao Ming asked the aunt if she could give him a bucket, and the aunt did not refuse him. Since then, he has had an extra property on his head, and he can sleep no matter how heavy the rain is. As for the sound of rain hitting the plastic bucket, it is not a problem for Xiao Ming. He listens to this sound as music.

As the tiles fell off one by one, there were more and more basins on the ground. Most of these basins were plastic, and some were metal. They were all given to Xiao Ming by his neighbors after they learned that the roof of his house was getting worse and worse. There were a lot of blue and white plastic basins commonly seen in rural areas at home. They were placed in circles around the bed like lotus leaves blooming in summer, but these plastic basins usually last longer, which made Xiao Ming feel more at ease. Xiao Ming didn't need so many basins at first, but as the aunt brought the basins over, several kind neighbors followed suit and brought basins. Xiao Ming wanted to refuse, but the neighbors said that they would just sit there anyway, and no one would use them at home and they would take up space, so it would be better to give them to those who needed them. Xiao Ming was embarrassed to hurt the kindness of his neighbors, so his dilapidated home with only a few beams left became a warehouse agreed upon by almost all the neighbors nearby.

The weeds in the yard had been withered and yellow for many years. During this period, Xiao Ming gradually grew into Daming. Since the day Xiao Ming grew into Daming, the aunt never came to this broken house that had long been emptied and filled. The wooden plaque above his head became the only place that could still shelter him from the wind and rain. It just corresponded to Daming's bed below. Daming was still lying on the bed and sleeping as usual, with the plastic bucket that the aunt gave him covering his head. The sunlight shone into the house and shone on Daming's plastic bucket, making the bottom of the bucket transparent. The sunlight flashed through his eyes, and he seemed to have returned to that bright afternoon. The tiles above his head had not fallen off completely, and the walls were still intact and airtight. The thick beams were in their prime, bright and smooth. The sunlight shone through the window into his eyes until he heard music from the radio in a daze. The singing voice hung down around the beams, gently caressing Xiao Ming's big head. He squinted his eyes and seemed to see his father and mother hugging each other again through the keratin film of an egg.

In a daze, he heard the aunt calling his name. The aunt was standing at the original door with an umbrella, and the shoulder-deep weeds covered the aunt's body. The aunt's head floating on the weeds told Daming that her eldest son was getting married in the county town. Their family was moving to the county town now, and they came to say goodbye to him. The aunt told Daming that if Daming got married in the future, she would definitely be his head. At this point, the aunt's voice trembled a little. She finally waved her hand, shook her head, and left with an umbrella. Before leaving, she also gave Daming a last word, saying that this house was too empty to be lived in, and he should leave here to seek a living and live. After the aunt left, Xiao Ming stared at the wooden plaque above his head that was about to rot and peel. Looking at the European-style building on the wooden plaque that looked like heaven in the middle of the lake, he had a little doubt. Can such a big house really be lived in?

Daming put his head back into the plastic bucket and began to count down. When he reached zero, it began to rain again. Raindrops swarmed into the house, falling into buckets and basins of different water levels and materials. This shabby house instantly became a performance venue. The stage design was mainly composed of a few broken wooden beams and a waist-deep patch of weeds. The only artist and audience of the performance lay on the bed in the center, and the shabby instruments gradually unfolded around it. Under the different hitting positions of the raindrops, they lifted and reflected each other. The magnificent timbre, pitch, duration, and volume were all strange but concealed a strict logic, and the music they composed soared into the sky. I think even John Cage, the most avant-garde of the time, would be impressed by this. Even if he firmly believed that he was the most avant-garde creator of that era, he should not be able to disobey a musician who did not want to create music at all. If John Cage is lucky, he will hear all kinds of music or sounds that have appeared or have not appeared in the history of music here.

The rain weakened, and the majestic sound gradually became gentle and dim. Daming's head was still in the bucket. The water drops dripping from the wooden plaque slowly hit the plastic bucket above his head. His heart and body were soaked in rain like a sponge and became quite heavy. The ding-dong sounds continued to make ethereal sounds. Under Daming's head covered by the plastic bucket, there was only a small dry area the size of a fingernail in the whole room. When it got dark, the rain finally stopped. Daming opened the plastic bucket. The last bit of sunset rose from the clouds after the rain. The light of the sunset shone on Daming's face, and Daming cried. He shed the first tear in many years since he said goodbye to Xiao Ming. That tear did not make any sound, but it swallowed up the last dry area.