Wang Gu'an was very familiar with this look, just like when he was a child, he looked at Ji Chenru the same way. At that time, Ji Chenru was the king of the children in Xinghua Lane and Niping Lane. He caught snakes, birds and fish, as if there was nothing in the world that Ji Chenru could not do. Later, some of the peers who followed Ji Chenru as followers also went to Longyao as apprentices, and more of them went to work as clerks in various grocery stores in the town, or helped relatives with accounts. Some, as Ye Dan said, would go to the fields to dig for food. In the end, he was the only one who was still hanging around with Ji Chenru.
Wang Gu'an strung the three slate fish given to the girl with a few dogtail grass through the gills and handed them to the girl. She took the string of fish and lifted it. It was a little light, and it didn't feel like it could make a plate of fried fish with green peppers. She tilted her head and glanced at the creek puddle, full of expectation. Wang Gu'an understood and apologized, "I will make soup with the fish I caught next for my friend to nourish his body, so I can't give it to you."
The girl pointed to the open package not far away, indicating that she could exchange the cakes for the fish. Wang Gu'an shook his head and smiled, "No, cakes are delicious and can fill your stomach, but they are not as nourishing as fish soup."
The girl nodded, did not force him, sat back in her original position silently, carefully placed the fish at her feet, and then continued her great cause of "eating up all the money".
Although Wang Gu'an was curious about her identity, he did not ask too much. Judging from her dress, she did not look like a lady from Taoye Lane, Fulu Street, but rather like Shi Hui, the neighbor next door, who was delicate and taciturn. Wang Gu'an suddenly got a little worried. Could she be a little maid who stole food from home? I heard that the rules in those big houses are very strict. Ji Chenru and Ye Dan always like to say the opposite, but this is an exception. However, Ji Chenru's statement is very scary. He said that if the maids in those houses with high walls walk in the wrong posture, the housekeeper with eyes as good as snake-catching eagles will break their legs and throw them to the street outside the wall to die. Ye Dan said that Ji Chenru was spreading rumors, so it was not that exaggerated. It was just that the maids and nannies in the big houses did walk like cats and could not hear any sound. At that time, Ji Chenru caught a glimpse of the maid Shi Hui who was secretly happy on the side, and immediately became angry and scolded Ye Dan, "What kind of goose is this? Can your goose talk?"
Wang Gu'an finally caught seven or eight slate fish, and the bamboo basket was shaken by them. The pale-faced boy knew that he had almost reached his limit. The cold water in spring was the kind that drilled into his bones. The main reason was that his injured left hand could not stand it. After Wang Gu'an went ashore for the last time, he quickly jumped off the green stone cliff and got into the grass by the stream, making a rustling sound. Not long after, he pulled out three or four kinds of grass. Many grass roots were covered with mud. He held a large handful in his palm and picked up an ordinary stone. After returning to the stone cliff, he found a natural small pit the size of his palm on the stone cliff. After wiping it dry, he began to gently pound the herbs. Soon it turned into a ball of green paste, and the juice exuded the unique fragrance of wild grass by the spring water.
With his back to the girl, Wang Gu'an took a deep breath, clenched his teeth, and began to dismantle the cotton cloth in his left hand. Sweat soon oozed out of his forehead, covering the cold stream water that slipped from his hair. The bloody wound, although better than the visible bones before the bandage, is still shocking. Wang Gu'an did not expect his left hand to touch the stream when he came, so he did not prepare cotton strips. Before, his mind was full of snake gallstones to make money and catching fish for soup. Only then did he realize that he had made a big mistake. The boy was a little confused, and suddenly a palm appeared in front of him, with several dry and clean strips of cloth spread out. It turned out that the girl in blue had torn off a piece of sleeve at some point. Wang Gu'an smiled bitterly, not caring to be polite to the girl. After applying the herbs on the wound on the palm of his hand, he approached his mouth, bit one end with his teeth, pulled it tight with his right hand, circled the back of his hand twice and tied a knot. A series of actions, orderly, like a butterfly around a branch, dazzled the onlookers.
After the bandage was completed, Wang Gu'an slowly raised his right arm to wipe the sweat off his face. Both arms trembled and were completely out of control.
The girl in green clothes squatting nearby gave Wang Gu'an a thumbs up, with a look of "you are awesome" on her face.
Wang Gu'an pointed to his eyes with his right hand and smiled bitterly: "In fact, it hurts so much that tears are flowing out of my eyes."
The girl turned her head and glanced at the big basket and green bamboo fish basket woven by the boy himself, a little confused.
Wang Gu'an looked embarrassed, "Those stones can make money, and catching fish is also important."
The girl was confused, but still did not speak. Her eyes were a little empty, and she turned her head to stare at the sparkling stream.
The gurgling stream caressed the stones exposed on the water, making a rustling sound.
At that moment, the starry sky was bright, the world was lonely, and it seemed that there were only a pair of boys and girls in the world.
Wang Gu'an's body gradually calmed down and stabilized, and his original rapid breathing began to slow down subconsciously and turned into a long and continuous breathing.
It was like a stream that had burst into a mountain torrent and turned into a stream with dry water in spring and autumn.
The boy himself did not care about this quiet change at all, it was natural and a natural outcome.
Wang Gu'an knew that he could not be blown by the cold wind of early spring for too long, so he had to go back to the town to change clothes. The boy naturally did not understand the health preservation and pathology in the medical books, but the boy who was most afraid of getting sick in his life had long developed a keen intuition about the changes of the four seasons and his own body's adaptation. So he quickly put on his straw sandals, tied a fish basket around his waist, carried the basket, waved to the girl in green, and said with a smile: "I'm leaving, girl, you should go home early too."
As Wang Gu'an walked down the cliff, he couldn't help but turn his head to remind her: "The water is very deep over there on the corridor bridge, be careful not to slip. When you go home, it's best to lean on the side of the paddy field. Even if you fall, it's better to fall into the stream with mud..."
As Wang Gu'an was talking, he suddenly realized that what he said was a bit unlucky. It didn't sound like good words, but rather the kind of curse words that Gu Can's mother in Niping Lane was best at. Wang Gu'an quickly shut up, stopped nagging, quickened his pace, and ran north to the town.
The basket was heavy.
But the boy in straw sandals was particularly happy.
After untying the knot in his heart that was almost dead, Wang Gu'an felt for the first time that he had to live well, well.
For example, he had to be rich!
If you can afford the spring couplets with a unique scent of ink, the painted door gods, and the meat buns from Auntie Mao's shop, it would be best if you could buy a cow and raise a flock of chickens like Ye Dan next door...
The girl in green is still working tirelessly to "dig the mountain", with a serious look on her face. Every time she picks up a new cake, it's like she's dealing with a mortal enemy.
When she was struggling with a piece of peach cake, her body suddenly stiffened. After realizing that something was wrong, she didn't run away, but opened her mouth wide, swallowed half of the cake, clapped her hands, and sat there waiting to die.
I don't know when a man appeared. He was not tall, but gave a sense of being honest and solid, but people would not mistake him for a peasant farmer, because the man's eyes were too dazzling and people dared not look directly at him.
The man looked at the floral pattern package that was left at the "foot of the mountain" with a helpless look on his face. He wanted to teach his daughter a lesson, but he couldn't bear to do it. He looked at his daughter's stubborn look, saying that she would accept the punishment if she made a mistake. He felt even more distressed, as if he was the one who made the mistake.
The man wanted to say something to ease the atmosphere, such as "My daughter, if you are hungry, just eat at the Jianlu hut. After you finish eating, I will go to the town to buy you some tomorrow."
But when the words came to his lips, the introverted man couldn't say them. It seemed that every word was of great importance, and he held his tongue tightly. He didn't know how to comfort his daughter.
At this moment, the man felt that he was not as capable as the straw sandal boy. At least his daughter didn't need to be so nervous.
The girl in green suddenly raised her head and asked, "Dad, why didn't you take him as an apprentice at that time?"
The man felt relieved when his daughter took the initiative to speak.
Although the man had a stern face, he sat down next to his daughter and explained, "The kid has a good temperament, but his bones are too poor. Even if Dad accepts him, he will be left behind by his fellow apprentices. No matter how hard he tries, he can only watch the gap widen. What if there is another Senior Brother Liu? Why bother?"
The green-clothed girl looked gloomy. It was unknown whether it was because of the "Senior Brother Liu" or the passing of the boy in straw sandals.
The man hesitated for a moment, but still did not intend to hide her, lest she go astray or ruin the saint's plan. "Besides, this boy is too ordinary. In the small town, he is very special. Xiu'er, you probably don't know that this kid's natal porcelain was broken by someone very early, so he became a lonely ghost, not protected by his ancestors. At the same time, there will be all kinds of strange things that are not easy to detect. This is why Ye Dan and the woman chose to be his neighbors. Otherwise, with Ye Dan's identity, he would not even be able to live in Fulu Street? Obviously impossible."
The girl thought seriously, "Dad, do you mean he is a bit like bait?"
The man touched her head, "Almost."
Then he smiled and said, "If we, father and daughter, were not the sword cultivators who cared least about external things, opportunities and fate, maybe Dad would let him stay by his side to see if he could bring you more benefits."
The girl in green was a little depressed and in a bad mood.
The man sighed, "Xiu'er, my father's words are rough but true, don't think it's unpleasant."
The girl in green still looked sick and could not cheer up.
The man thought for a while and pointed to the covered bridge in the distance that was like a black dragon crossing the stream. "The construction of that covered bridge was a big effort of the Dali Dynasty, just to suppress that inconspicuous iron sword. Imagine that three thousand years later, a sword with a broken and exhausted soul, a dynasty still needs to pay such a huge price to suppress its remaining power after more than three thousand years, and all it wants is to let it rest for a while..."
The girl said, drooping her head, glancing at the foot of the mountain with the corner of her eyes, and echoed absent-mindedly: "It's great, it's great."
The man didn't know whether to laugh or cry, rubbing his forehead.
The world is big, but eating is the most important thing.
But the child's mother is not such a woman, so whose temperament does this girl take after?
The man patted his daughter's shoulder and said softly: "Dad is going to see someone, you can eat slowly, no one will snatch it from you."
The girl suddenly raised her head and grabbed the man's arm. There was a red bracelet on her wrist, shining brightly, showing the shape of a dragon with its head and tail connected.
Like a lively little flame dragon wrapped around the girl's wrist.
The man said with relief: "Finally, you still have some conscience. Okay, don't worry, Dad is going to see Mr. Liu."
The girl let go of her hand and immediately grabbed the cake and gobbled it up.
The man did not hit a place, and he couldn't help muttering: "Eat and eat, the rabbits of the surname Liu are not fake, but they really didn't say something wrong. Note, weeping. The man fled, and he did not forget to slap himself with his back. This is the time to give himself up. The loss is a lot.
———————
Wang Gu'an ran back to Ji Chenru's house all the way. When he unlocked, he could hear the guy's thunderous snoring sound. The heart is really uncomfortable.
First, he put the basket and the fish basket in the kitchen built in the yard, and went to the side room on the right that Ji Chenru had prepared for him. After Wang Gu'an quickly changed his clothes, he returned to the kitchen in the yard and began to deal with the stone fish. He cut open the belly, washed it, and put it in a clean porcelain plate, and then covered it with another plate to avoid attracting snakes, rats and insects.
Wang Gu'an picked out five or six most attractive snake gallstones from the basket and moved them to the side room where he slept.
Before that, he took a look at the long sword that Miss Ning had placed on the cabinet, which was still lying there quietly.
After doing all this, Wang Gu'an was finally able to lie in bed, and his body gradually warmed up, but the boy's eyes were shining.
On the one hand, his left hand was stinging, and on the other hand, he was not sleepy.
But the real reason was that Wang Gu'an knew more about the "unreasonableness" of those outsiders than Ji Chenru.
The boy did not dare to fall asleep.
So Wang Gu'an didn't sleep all night, always paying attention to the movement of the courtyard gate and the house door.
At dawn, Wang Gu'an got up and went to the kitchen, picked up his shoulder pole, and prepared to go to the iron lock well in Xinghua Lane to fetch two buckets of water.
Ji Chenru, who was sleepy, hid in the quilt with only his head exposed. After hearing the slight sound, he shouted in a daze: "Wang Gu'an, you got up so early? What are you doing?"
Wang Gu'an said unhappily: "Fetching water!"
Ji Chenru shouted again: "If you meet Shi Hui, say hello for me."
Wang Gu'an was too lazy to pay attention to this guy.
Just as he was about to leave the courtyard, Wang Gu'an suddenly heard Ji Chenru say, "Wang Gu'an, if you are willing to help, I will help you find stones in the puddle!"
Wang Gu'an smiled brightly, "Okay!"
Ji Chenru rolled his eyes, even tucked his head into the quilt, and muttered, "You ungrateful guy, you only know that this trick works."
————
On the stone steps of the corridor bridge, a middle-aged scholar sat alone, and he sat there until dawn.
When the first ray of dawn appeared in the sky, he looked up and smiled softly, "A thousand years of darkness, a lamp will make it bright."