Liu Xianyang quickly ran back with a basket on his back. Chen Pingan was watching the well digging and earth moving by the well. Liu Xianyang kicked Chen Pingan on the butt, so hard that the straw-shoe boy almost ate his shit. When he turned around, he saw it was a tall boy. After that, I didn’t care anymore. Liu Xianyang said carelessly: "It's done. Master Ruan told me not to run around here these days. I dig wells during the day and forge iron at night. After ten and a half days, I will be his first one in this town." Apprentice, what is your name? I’ll bring you a basket and help you touch the stones from the blacksmith shop to the covered bridge. We agreed in advance that the place on Qing Niu’s back should be there. Puddle, I can't help you anymore. Master Ruan said he would break my legs if I dare to cross even half a step to the north or west of the covered bridge these days."
Liu Xianyang said. He put his arm around the straw-shoe boy's neck and whispered: "Master Ruan said that things will not be lost in the small town. He also said that those outsiders, who abide by a very strange rule, did fair business, and also did deception and abduction. He can be a liar, even a beggar who picks up rags, but he can't be a sneaky thief. He said here, God doesn't take a nap or close his eyes, he just stares at us. You say it's scary, but it's not scary. Anyway, I'm so scared."
Liu Xianyang suddenly threatened: "Chen, you can continue to live in my house, but don't wait for me to go back, you have already given me the precious armor. Sell it!"
Chen Pingan punched Liu Xianyang in the chest, causing the tall boy to quickly let go. He rubbed it hard for a few times before regaining his breath, and cursed: "You are a thin, bamboo-pole-like little hairy monkey. With so much strength! Could it be that walking a hundred miles of mountain road with Old Man Yao or spending a few months in the mountains cutting firewood and burning charcoal can increase your strength to the point of death?"
Chen Pingan smiled and said: "Anyway, I am carrying a basket of stones, and I can run back to the town before you."
Liu Xianyang squinted and said, "Then let's see who can hold his breath under the water longer?"
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As he approached the stream, Chen Ping'an bent over and rolled up his trousers, and said casually: "I won't do anything more than just one breath."
Before going into the water, Chen Ping'an pulled up a lot of streams. The spring grass was placed in the basket, and he said that every time he picked up twenty stones, he would put more grass in it. Liu Xianyang was so annoyed that he wanted to throw the basket behind his back to Chen Pingan, but the latter refused and said that if he had to carry the basket himself, Liu Xianyang would definitely throw stones directly into the basket, which would make him feel distressed. Liu Xianyang almost gave up his choice on the spot. These colorful stones have been worthless for thousands of years. Why do you, Chen Pingan, become so squeamish when it comes to you? Do you still dare to think that Uncle Liu's methods are not gentle enough?
But in the end, the tall young man was still reluctant to dig into the water. Chen Pingan and one of them planned to clean up the creek completely. The water in the stream here is still mostly at knee level, and in some slightly higher places, the water level reaches waist level. Occasionally, there are small puddles as high as a person's height, mostly where boulders gather. At these places, it's time for Liu Xianyang to show off his skills. First he took off the basket and handed it to the grass squatting on the boulder.The shoe boy, he dived to the bottom of the water in one breath and took out the snake gallstone he wanted from the gaps in the huge rocks or even the layers of rocks.
Of course Chen Pingan can do it, but it will be very hard and far more time-consuming and labor-intensive than Liu Xianyang.
Before touching the covered bridge, the basket was seven to eight points full. There was a dark green snake gallstone in it. Liu Xianyang had to touch it three times at the bottom of a deep pit before he finally found it. It was huge. Like the palm of your hand, there are dots of golden stars and water-like lines. The stone is hard and thin, and it is very heavy when you hold it. When Chen Ping'an rubs it with his hand, it feels like it is shimmering and splashing with sharp edges.
As long as you are not blind, you will know that this stone is very unusual.
The last two teenagers sat side by side on a huge rock in the stream. Liu Xianyang put his hands on the stone, looked at the slowly flowing stream, and asked: "Chen Pingan, have you ever thought about leaving in the future?" A small town?"
Chen Ping'an replied: "I haven't thought about it yet. You have to have money when you go away. And after leaving, there is no one to help clean up the house, in case it collapses one day. What should I do? And my parents’ graves also require me to pull weeds frequently.”
Liu Xianyang said helplessly: “Why do you always think about so many useless things? It’s boring. No wonder. Song Jixin said that you are destined to fight against the wall. You will wander around in such a big place and you will never be able to get out."
Chen Pingan turned around and asked with a smile: "Do you still remember? Is that the tree I told you last time?"
Liu Xianyang said angrily: "There is a tree growing on the grave, is it worth making a fuss about? The grave of ancestor Zhi has nothing to do with you Chen Pingan!"
Chen Pingan sat cross-legged and sighed softly: "I wonder if there are many people named Chen outside the small town! "
Liu Xianyang said: "I don't know about the outside of the town. I only know that in the town, there are only three or two cats and dogs named Chen, and except for you, they seem to be all. They are the sons of families with four surnames and ten clans, and have been slaves for generations. What is funny is that these people are treated like cattle and horses in the house, bowing their heads, but as soon as they leave those big houses, everyone will immediately change their faces when they see them. In the end, They like dogs and look down on others. So Old Man Yao is right, if you, Chen Ping'an, go to serve as their subordinates one day, then your entire Chen family who has not moved out of the town will be wiped out."
According to Old Man Yao, there were two branches of people named Chen in the town, but one of them moved out very early. The Chen Pingan branch was also prosperous in the past, but this one "is < /p>
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"Ago" is really too long. Even Old Man Yao can't tell whether it is hundreds of years, five hundred years, or eight hundred years? Or a thousand years? Later, it was divided into several houses, and the number of people became increasingly scarce. All their luck was probably taken away by those who moved out. The incense was often cut off, so that many tombs were gradually left unattended, and most of the tombs were located on the top of the hill. , the inspectors sent by the imperial court one after another ordered it to be turned into aA forbidden mountain.
Old man Yao took Chen Pingan into the mountains for the last time. When he passed one of the mountains, he pointed out a place to him and said that it was the burial place of another ancestor of the Chen family, and the tomb was there. It's a mountain with good feng shui. As for the Chen Ping'an branch, old man Yao said that the immortals could not be found. In the past few hundred years, the descendants of this branch surnamed Chen have not made much progress. Being a servant is useless.
Chen Ping'an once secretly looked for the tomb of the ancestor of the Chen family. When he arrived, there were only weeds and many foxes and rabbits, but he didn't see the tomb. Among them was a straw-shoe boy. The unrecognizable tree is not tall, much shorter than the old locust trees in the town.
It is overgrown with weeds, infested by foxes and rabbits, and is lonely and lonely, with only one luxuriant tree.
Chen Pingan shook his head and said: "Before my mother left, she made me swear that I could be a beggar. Even if I starve to death, I would not be allowed to be a servant of those wealthy families."
Liu Xianyang blurted out: "Then before your mother died, didn't you have to swear an oath that you would never go to the dragon kiln as an apprentice?"
The straw-shoe boy's face was gloomy, and he did not refute, nor was he exposed. Later he became angry from shame.
Liu Xianyang felt a little guilty, and he was not the kind of person who was willing to say "I'm sorry" after doing something wrong, so he had to pretend that nothing happened, stood up and said, "Let's go, dig a well, right?" Now, I will work hard with Master Ruan and try to get you to be a part-time apprentice here. Then it will be easy to touch the stone."
Chen Pingan said: "Don't worry, wait for those two. Before you give up and leave the town, I will help you look after your house during this period."
Liu Xianyang asked curiously: "Why do you think I can escape from being a disciple of Master Ruan? "
Chen Pingan thought for a while and said uncertainly: "It's like it suddenly rains. You have to find a roof to hide, right?"
Liu Xianyang turned to look at the sword furnace iron. Shop, "Who do you think Master Ruan is? He doesn't look like such a powerful person. Can he suppress those two groups of people?"
Chen Pingan comforted: "You can't judge a person by his appearance."
Liu Xianyang turned around and said, "You, Chen Pingan, look like a poor man, so are you poor?"
Chen Pingan grinned and had nothing to say.
Liu Xianyang stood up and asked: "Would you like to help you carry it to the covered bridge?"
Chen Pingan shook his head and said: "No, it's not heavy."
"Remember to return the basket to me next time."
After Liu Xianyang finished saying this, he jumped off the boulder and walked quickly in the stream, making countless splashes.
Chen Pingan carried the basket on his back and carefully got off the boulder. After landing, he slowly walked towards the covered bridge.
After Chen Pingan walked for a while, he heard a burst of footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw that it was Liu Xianyang.
Under the warm sunshine of early spring, the tall boy snatched the basket from the straw-shoe boy and carried it on his own. He turned around and said sarcastically: "From a distance, you look like a little grasshopper carrying a basket.It looks like a stone. It's really pitiful. I'll show my kindness and help you carry it to the covered bridge. "
In the spring breeze, two young men walked together.
"My surname is Chen. If I succeed in my studies in the future, I must go out to see and marry Bizhigui." He also wants a good-looking wife, drinks the most expensive wine, lives in the biggest house, and rides the fastest horse! ”
“I want to see mountains as high as the sky and rivers that are countless larger than our creek.” "
"In short, I, Liu Xianyang, will never stay here and wait to die. ”
In the spring breeze, the tall young man is looking forward to the future, and the boy in straw sandals is chewing the roots of grass, one is talking and the other is listening.
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Chen Pingan Carrying the basket of stones back to Liu Xianyang's yard, he still picked out the few stones he liked the most and took them to the side room. After locking the house and courtyard doors, he ran to the clay vase. Lane, when I arrived in my yard, I saw a girl in black sitting in the yard basking in the sun. After Chen Pingan said hello, she began to cook medicine.
There were constant chopping sounds from the yard next door. This was strange. Although Song Jixin lived a life without a father or a mother in the eyes of outsiders, he had always had enough food and clothing for so many years, and even had plenty of money. He couldn't say that he lived a better life than the young masters in the house with the fourth surname, but he was indeed no worse than the direct descendants of the ten clans. , the four treasures of the study, the elegant playthings on the desk, and the clean things in the study, many luxury items that Chen Ping'an had never seen or heard of were moved to Song Jixin's house every now and then. In fact, Song Jixin never had any. Dirty and physical work, pickles are too smelly, Song Jixin does not allow his maid Zhigui to do it, and chopping firewood is too tiring, Song Jixin directly buys bundles of firewood and bags of high-quality charcoal every year .
When Chen Pingan brought the medicinal soup to the girl in black, the yard next door was still chopping firewood intermittently. While Chen Pingan was drinking medicine, Chen Pingan couldn't help but walk to the courtyard wall and stand on tiptoe to look. When I went there, I found that Zhigui was holding a kitchen knife and killing "a person". It was an embryo made of wood. Chen Pingan had been making porcelain for many years. He had seen many good things and cut down countless trees. So you can tell the rough shade at a glance. The color of the wood is like jade, it must be a very old object, and the puppet is covered with dense red and black spots. The wood
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I had been chopped and chopped into many pieces by Zhigui.
The girl suddenly turned her head and found Chen Pingan. She raised her arms with sweat and stains on her face. , wiped his face, and said with a forced smile: "You are back. I wanted to borrow a hatchet from you earlier, but your guest was unwilling to open the door for me.
Chen Ping'an was stunned for a moment, "I'm going to get you a hatchet. Don't use too much force at the beginning. The hatchet is no better than a kitchen knife. It's easy to slip. Don't hurt yourself." "
The girl sat on the small bench, exhausted, waving her hand and saying: "I know, hurry up and get it." "
Chen Pingan retrieved the hatchet. The girl was already standing on the side of the courtyard wall and asked with a smile: "Do you know what that is? ”
Chen PinganHe shook his head and said, "I don't know."
Zhigui didn't give an answer, turned around and continued to sit on the small bench, chopping hard.
Her unfamiliar and sluggish movements, as well as all the thankless wrong postures, made Chen Pingan very anxious. However, since she did not ask for help, Chen Pingan stopped being sentimental and turned around to look. , found that Miss Ning was no longer in the yard, Chen Pingan remembered something, walked quickly to the house, put something on the table, and placed it opposite the girl in black.
It was a piece of snake gallstone that could fit in the palm of one hand. It was like a piece of frozen honey, with a fine texture and a very positive color.
Ning Yao is a little strange.
Chen Pingan smiled and said: "Miss Ning, this is for you."
The girl in black who never left her body suddenly asked: "This is your favorite?"
Chen Ping'an was a little embarrassed, "This piece...is probably ranked fourth. I have hidden the three best pieces."
She then accepted the stone and raised both hands. Twisting his fingers and raising it above his head, the light entered the house through the window and reflected on the stone.
She raised her head, squinted her eyes, and carefully observed the subtle lines of the stone.
She looked at the stone.
The young man looked at her.
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In the middle of the night, a young man sneaked into Mubo Alley, like a wild cat walking at night, silently, and quietly came to the yard of Gu Can’s house. He found the There was a large water tank placed in the corner of the yard. After squatting down, I found that the snake gallstones that were originally neatly piled had been rummaged through by someone. It seemed that this person knew about stones earlier than Chen Pingan. value. Gu Can is the only geek in the town who likes to collect snake gallstones. No matter how many he finds in the creek, he only takes one piece home at a time. The child only picks the most pleasing stone. Over time, he saves fifty or sixty yuan. A stone was used by him to cover the gap at the bottom of the water tank.
After Chen Pingan removed many of the dried snake gallstones, he was relieved when he saw that there were no signs of digging at the bottom of the water tank.
He began to dig the soil bit by bit with his right hand. When he finally touched the butter paper, he was shocked and slowed down.
Finally, he took out an object wrapped in butter paper, which looked like a book.
After hiding it in his arms, Chen Pingan filled it back with soil again, and then carefully looked at the snake gallstones. The remaining stones were all "dead". Compared with the two times Chen Pingan was a child, The newly picked stones in the stream are completely different in terms of color, texture and weight. The stones in front of me are like lifeless old people, while the ones picked up by Chen Pingan are like newborn babies, full of vitality.
Chen Pingan thought for a while and planned to leave Mud Bottle Lane from the direction of his house.
When he walked to the door of Song Jixin's house, he heard a creak and the door opened. Chen Pingan had to pretend to knock on his door and shouted: "Miss Ning, are you asleep? I Come back and get something."
The lights in the room soon turned on, and the girl in black came to Chen.Open the courtyard door safely.
Next door, the maid Zhigui slowly walked out of the house. When she arrived in the yard, she saw the shadowy figure of Chen Pingan, holding a large yellowing book in her arms. She shook her head and clicked her tongue. Tsk tsk, it seems like I happened to catch a couple.
She walked alone in Mud Bottle Alley, jumping up and down.
Her golden eyes looked particularly cold and sacred in the night alley.
The slender and graceful girl is like a dragon wandering in the narrow stone crevices. It seems that as long as she walks out of the alley, she will transform into a dragon.
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Although Ning Yao let Chen Pingan into the yard and even into the house, her face was very ugly. She sat at the table with one arm against her On the scabbard, fingers tapped lightly on the handle.
After Chen Pingan confirmed that Zhigui had walked into the alley, he explained awkwardly: "I went to Gu Can's house to get something, but she was about to go out, so I had to hide here. , Miss Ning, don’t think too much.”
She asked: “What is it?”
Chen Pingan hesitated and took out the butter paper bag, “I am now. I don’t know.”
She turned around and said, “Open it yourself and see if you want to let me know.”
Chen Pingan nodded and sat down. Opposite her desk, she opened the layers of butter paper, and mud crumbs kept falling on the table. Finally, an ancient book was indeed revealed.
There are only two words on the cover of the ancient book, and Chen Pingan only recognizes one of them, mountain.
He placed the ancient book on the table, turned around, pushed it towards the girl in black, and asked curiously: "Miss Ning, what does this character read?"
The girl turned around again , glanced down and said: "Shake."
The title of the book is Shake the Mountain.
(End of this chapter)