There is a mountain ridge at the northwest end of Shanggou Village, which turns from northwest to east. The slope of the mountain ridge is gentle and the vegetation is lush. At the easternmost end of the mountain ridge, there is a cliff where a family named Li lives. There is a stream flowing under the cliff. The stream is not wide, but it is clear. The water bags on both sides of the stream are dense and lush. Around the Dragon Boat Festival, the bouquets are golden florets, and the shadows of the flowers are as golden as those on the shore. The breeze is blowing, the water surface is slightly rippling, and the whole stream is like the milky way in the sky, shining with golden light and winding eastward.

In the early years, there were ethnic rape in the fields on both sides of the stream. When rape flowers and water bag flowers are in full bloom, it is spectacular to stand on the cliff and see a golden color. Children who graze and women who wash clothes and vegetables like to weave garlands with water bags and wear them on their heads. Naughty children ran to the rape field to catch butterflies, and a pair of small hands swayed in the yellow sea of flowers. The adults by the stream are also beaming, laughing and watering each other.

There is no fish in the stream, which may be related to its source being a mountain spring. The mountain spring is in a canyon in northern Liang Shan. No one knows how deep the mountain spring is, and there is no legend about it. It seems that there is a mountain spring and there is Shanggou Village. Therefore, the villagers have called it "the fountain of youth" for generations, and there is a big millstone beside the mountain spring. No one can tell clearly how it came from and what it was used for.

The fountain of youth is the most lively place in the village. Pick water in the morning, drink livestock, wash vegetables and wash clothes in the evening; Sitting in the mill basking in the sun, chatting, sewing and enjoying the cool in the moonlight is also the place to welcome XiShen in the Spring Festival. Everything in Shanggou Village seems to start from here.

As soon as the cock crows in the morning, the villagers take off the latch, creak, and the door opens, followed by the sound of carrying water in the bucket. As soon as they go out, they can meet their neighbors.

"Grandpa, carry water?"

"Well, you get up early!"

"Go to the queue first!"

……

Immediately understand each other's mind, ha ha ha smiled. Laughing and laughing, they went to the "fountain of youth". When they went to the spring, there were already 335 people waiting in line on the rice mill. In fact, it doesn't need time to scoop water. The spring is open and there is no shed cover. A few spoonfuls, a full bucket. The reason why villagers get up early to queue up may be to chat with each other and listen to the new things that happened in their neighbors all night, and more importantly, to stagger the time with people who come to drink livestock and transport some clean water.

The drinking animals in Shanggou Village are different from other places. The water flowing from the "fountain of youth" forms a stream that runs through the village, but the villagers have to drive the animals to the "fountain of youth" and have a drink with people. For many years, no one felt anything wrong. For generations, people have lived like this, and there have been no infectious diseases.

There are hundreds of domestic animals in Shanggou Village. The Li family has three mules and ten sheep. Mr. Li is not the third son of the Li family. There is a Li in Shanggou village. His name is Li. As for why the villagers call him Mr. Li, he himself is not clear.

Master Li has a dog, a local dog, small and black. Third Master Li called him "pot coal". Drinking livestock in other people's homes is led by people, and Mr. Li drives the dog. Ten sheep is enough, and even three fat mules dare not cross the border. Master Li is always in high spirits when he follows the dog behind his back. He is wearing a short jacket, a pair of black trousers and a pair of cloth shoes. He is clean and comfortable. He had a hookah about two feet long in his mouth, and the pipe hung on the tobacco rod, swinging leisurely with Li Shifu's leisurely pace.

When spring comes, the younger generation on the millstone will get up and move to one side: "Third Master is coming!" " "When I met a man of similar age, Nuo Nuo said," Here comes his third master! "He always smiles and answers," Everyone gets up early. Then, I strolled slowly with measured steps, sat on the millstone, took off the dry cigarette pan and knocked on the sole a few times. I wiped the cigarette holder with my hand and handed it to the people around me. "Want a pot? "The new tobacco leaves are a little hard." People around you always politely refuse.

The villagers in Shanggou Village have always respected Li Shifu. His qualifications are not high, but he has a skill.

Pile of wheat, Shanggou village is vast and sparsely populated. When harvesters, rotary cultivators and threshers are not popular, it is impossible to grind the planted wheat in autumn. As soon as the wheat arrived in the field, women and children began to beat the seeds with flail. All men, old and young, rushed mules, horses, donkeys and cows to plow the fields. This will allow flax and potatoes to be harvested and dug, so be quick and slow. So every household uses donkeys to transport all the wheat to the fields, and then grinds it collectively when it is frozen in winter. The farm is public, generally circular, and every household has a place with a head, and the wheat transported is piled up in its own place. Stacking seems to have no technical content, but it is just a bunch of bundles of wheat, but it is actually a very hard work and an experiential work. If the pile is too big, it won't be put away. Too small, it is inevitable that it will be top-heavy, unstable and hollow.

Therefore, there are not many craftsmen stacking wheat stacks in a village. Li Dui Mai Dui has three unique skills, which are absolutely accurate. Who told him to pile wheat, he knew exactly how big the bottom of the mat was. He always put the last bundle of wheat on the wheat pile and covered it with the lid reserved by his family, just like the teapot on the teapot, just right and exactly the same; Absolutely fast. When other craftsmen are piling wheat bales, they all seem to be in a hurry. Li Shifu is two people. He stood in the middle of the wheat pile, with a bundle of wheat in each hand. When he threw it, he pressed it, squeezed it, and put the wheat bundle in the right place, with a round heart and a round edge. In half a day, a wheat pile was completed. Absolutely stable, no matter the shape of the gourd or the shape of the nib, there has never been any deviation. I heard that there are fewer mice on the pile.

Therefore, Li Shifu was very busy during the wheat harvest. He never refused the invitation of his host and the West, and his work was never discounted. The villagers in Shanggou Village are willing to invite him. Besides living well, the key is that Li invited him. In a word, it's simple and entertaining. A pot of dry cigarettes and a meal are also lively. They always throw off their voices and shout Shaanxi opera while stacking wheat stacks.

"Mahan dynasty shouted.

Mo Huwei stepped back,

Make it clear to the master

Seeing that the princess is no better than her peers,

……"。

When I have a rest, I still like to listen to some folk songs. After I live, my master has no emotional pressure. When I saw him, I naturally blushed for Ling Shuidao and never mentioned this help again. He doesn't know how many wheat stacks Mr. Li piled for the villagers, but the villagers remember.

So, when I learned that Li Shifu's son was getting married, all the men, women and children in the village went to help, carrying water, chopping wood and scrubbing ... It was very lively. Li Shifu's family was well-off in those years, and it was the first time in Shanggou Village that the banquet was set for ten tables. This has really envied many unmarried teenagers and unmarried girls for a long time, but

The grandson of Master Li was born. He is a boy, chubby, with big eyes, but his lips are purple and black. After a few months, he was out of breath after eating a few mouthfuls of milk, and he didn't cry or make trouble. They didn't know it was a disease, only that the child was fine. One night, I suddenly had a fever and never recovered. Less than one year old when he died. I was wrapped in a straw mat and buried in a valley in the west of Liangshan Mountain.

In the fourth year, another boy was born, and his lips were still purple and black. This time, they did not dare to delay and rushed to the city hospital. After examination, they were diagnosed with congenital heart disease and could not be cured. The heart has several holes and can only be maintained by taking medicine. The doctor advised them to give up. Li Shifu knelt in the doctor's office and begged them to save the child. The Li family can't live without the queen!

The doctor hugged Li Shifu: "It's hopeless. No hospital in the world can save it. Go home! "

Master Li denied this fate. He sold all his possessions and took his children everywhere for medical treatment. Xi and Beijing have been there, and tried the folk prescription. The child became sicker and sicker, and finally left, still buried in the mountains west of Liangshan.

Mr. Li lost his sheep and sold his mule. The "coal can" is so old that no one wants it. He hung his tail and still followed him. He sometimes goes to the "fountain of youth", mostly when no one is around, or after dinner on a moonlit night. He sat alone on the millstone, doing nothing and sitting with glassy eyes. The "coal can" lay quietly at his feet. The water in the "fountain of youth" is still clear, and Mr. Li's eyes are getting cloudy.

Third Master Li became a monk in Pantou Mountain, five miles from Shanggou Village.

Occasionally, I sometimes meet him, carrying a basket with wild cotton roots.

"Third Master digs medicine?"

"Third Master digs medicine?"

……

After several phone calls, he didn't answer, thin body, wide cassock and messy bun.

two

In the winter night, the snow all over the sky pours down with the cold north wind, like a white curtain drawn from heaven and earth, which is somewhat desolate in the silence of Shanggou Village. At this moment, there is no light, no barking, and everything seems to be still and forgotten. The cliff to the east of the village is special in the white world. Under the cliff, there was a man with his hands in his sleeves and a headscarf around his head. He stood with his back against the cliff and looked out into the ditch on the south side of the cliff from time to time, looking anxious. Gou is the south gate of Shanggou Village, but few people go there. In addition to the long distance and complex terrain, the forests on both sides of the ditch are also dense, and wild animals are often seen. Few people usually walk around unless it is necessary.

Suddenly, a row of footprints appeared on the snow in the ditch, and then there was a creak. A man with a bent waist, holding something wrapped in a thick quilt in his arms, walked slowly towards the cliff.

The people under the cliff whispered, "Sister, Sister …".

The man didn't respond. He just ran to the edge of the cliff and looked around: "Keep your voice down, didn't anyone see it?"

"no"

Now, hurry back to Steve. Said, and handed the things in my arms to my sister!

Her sister quickly took it and held it in her arms.

"Sister, how are your parents?"

"Well, don't say, be careful of freezing, I went back. Let Steve know, don't be hard. "

"Elder sister ..."

"Xiaolan, don't be hard. We will talk about the play on April 8. "

With that, she lowered her head, looked around and walked into the snow all over the sky. From a distance, I heard Xiaolan's crying voice: "Sister, be careful!"

A line of tears fell on her cheek, and the snow blew away in an instant.

With a wave of her hand, she quickly walked into the ditch.

Jiao Xiaolan watched her sister's figure disappear in Amb Lee, raised her hand and wiped her tears, looked around and hurried home.

The door is not bolted. As soon as she came in, the light in Nizi's room came on. She lifted the curtain, and Nizi was sitting on the kang, wrapped tightly by the quilt, and her eyes were red. Obviously, she had just cried.

"Feed some milk. I'm afraid I'm hungry. I am a good baby. I haven't cried after all this walking. I'd better sleep! "

As she spoke, she untied the quilt in her arms, revealing a slightly red face, a little white on the fingertips of a pair of small hands, her hair still wet, her eyes closed, and she was obviously just born.

Nizi grabbed the child, lifted her skirt to feed her, and the snow-white milk spilled out of her mouth.

"Steve, don't be sad, it is good to be your own baby. No one doubts it, and it doesn't belong to others. You are kissing it. "

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa" The child's cry echoed over the cliff, and Jiao Xiaolan and Steve sobbed in the dark.

The night is already deep, and the snow is getting bigger and bigger, covering up everything in the world, and black and white can't be distinguished.

three

In April, peach blossom powder, White and Red in Pantou Mountain are in full bloom on the mountain. Some of them stick out branches under tall birch trees, some stretch in the wind among cypresses, and some quietly hide in the corner behind the temple. Seen from a distance, the red wall and Yamato are particularly solemn in a peach blossom.

The temple on Pantou Mountain is not big. On the platform of the top of the mountain, the main hall is in the north, inside which is the Jade Emperor, the left-leaning hall is the Three Empresses, and the right-leaning hall is the Guan Emperor. In the middle of the yard, there is a cypress tree about one hundred years old. There is a bell hanging above and a tripod standing below. There is an archway in the south, and there is a clearing outside the archway. On April 8, the stage of the temple fair was built on this open space.

There are two tile houses in the east of the main hall, one is inhabited by an unknown Taoist and the other is a kitchen. Li Shifu came and lived in the kitchen. Taoist priests on Pantou Mountain have no fixed personnel, so the leader is no different from others. Most of them are villagers in the surrounding villages. Some of them go home again in a few days, and some wander around and never come back. So, whoever comes first is responsible.

Master Li is late. He must work, and he doesn't have much work. He gets up in the morning to clean the courtyard, flick the dust on the statue, pick a bucket of water and cook. Sometimes he carries a basket and digs for medicinal materials everywhere. When he dug a basket, he took it to the door of Shanggou Village. When he fell, he left without entering the door.

On the day of the temple fair on April 8, believers and guests from all directions came to the dead, seeking money, going to the theatre, dating, playing tricks, selling jelly dough, and so on. People came and went, and it was very lively ... There are many kinds of people in the world, which is no different from the world under the rule of God.

There is no doubt that the officials who beg for children in front of the three temples of Pantou Mountain are the most loyal and devout. Mother-in-law brought her daughter-in-law, mother brought her daughter, and the whole family came. The bustling scene is very spectacular. I have my own young daughter-in-law. They always come shyly to the temple, hand in hand. When her companion pushed her forward, she bowed her head and hurried to burn incense, and then went to the theatre with her companion talking and laughing. I've been here a few times. They always look dignified, burn incense slowly, worship and pray all the time. There is no need to rush to the theatre. Find acquaintances first, look around, and then go to the theatre slowly after the play is 30% off. In addition to holding incense, some people still hold paper flowers in their hands. This kind of paper flower used to be in Sanyun Temple, mostly peony or rose with yellow flowers and green leaves. Last year, every believer who wanted a child took one home when he made a wish and put it in a vase in front of the temple in the main house. The family that gave birth to the child added two more flowers in the second year, and then returned to Sanyun Temple together. When a boy is born, he will hold it in his hand and his face will be like a spring breeze. When a girl is born, he usually covers it with a straw hat or skirt, and then goes to the front of the temple to wash his face, knock three times and worship nine times, and incense and arrange flowers.

Jiao and Jiao Xiaolan have given incense to their children for the sixth year this year, and the flowers are hidden in their skirts. This year, only Jiao brought flowers. Jiao Xiaolan finished burning incense and went to the theater on the edge of the archway, waiting for her sister Jiao Xiaoju to make a wish to arrange flowers. The drama is a team from Shaanxi Province, singing "Breaking the Mountain to Save Mother". There are only a few plays every year, the story remains the same and the singers are different.

Besides, she didn't come to the theatre.

Jiao inserted the flowers and pulled her sister's sleeve. They came to Li's room. Lee is not in the house. Jiao Xiaolan and Jiao Xiaoju looked out, locked the door and sat on the kang.

"Xiaolan, has Nizi recovered?"

"Much better, I have enough milk, but I often wipe my tears."

"The baby in my bad karma has given birth to three children in a row, premature delivery, and no one can stand it. What is the child's name? "

Jiao Xiaolan put down his glass and said with a smile, "Good boy, white and fat. Nizi told her to call. "

"Well, Steve still won't give up!"

"My heart is already dead, but I just can't stand other people's faces and gossip. What a clever doll it used to be, the weather will be different in a few years. " At some point, Jiao Xiaolan burst into tears.

"Small blue, killing two children is our fault, you know ..."

"Sister, life ... thanks to your call, no one in the village doubts that many villagers come over at the full moon and are very busy."

"Alas, fortunately, the two poor babies are about the same age."

"Sister, Xiu Xiu and Xiaojun don't blame you, do they?"

"Blame me me? What's to complain about? I have given birth to three girls. If I don't give it away, will there be a chance to have a boy? The policy is so tight that I can't help it. Besides, I didn't give it to anyone else. You are my sister, and you are afraid of mistreating the baby? "

"Our sister's life how so bitter! Sister, Nizi and I dare not show up in the village. It doesn't matter if I am old, but the children still want to live. What shall we do in the future? "

"Xiaolan, Wang Quan has been practicing for more than three years. It's time for God to open his eyes."

……

They didn't pay attention when they were talking. The sun has set outside, and the shadow of the main hall is heavily covered on the roof. The night in these two rooms seems to come too early. The temple yard is still crowded with people, bells are ringing one after another, and the cauldron is full of incense.

The play is already Zhou Ren Back to the House.

Li sat under a green peach tree, listening to the play with one build and the other. He can't calm down He dare not face his wife Jiao Xiaolan. He lied. He told her that Steve couldn't have children, and his home was not oriented well. It takes someone to become a monk to crack it. Jiao Xiaolan believed what he said.

In fact, he was afraid of telling the truth and offending his relatives. Nizi is the daughter of Xiao Lan's sister Jiao Xiaoju. When my son Wen Hui was four years old, he got smallpox, leaving the root of the disease and his ears broken. From then on, he became deaf and dumb. When it comes to marrying a daughter-in-law, no girl wants to marry a deaf-mute person. Seeing that the Li family was about to break up, Xiaolan ran to her sister's house again and again and began to cry. Finally, her sister relented and married Wen Hui, which was even worse than before.

Another reason is that he has always felt that he is respectable in Shanggou Village. As a migrant worker, it is not easy to work hard to manage a little popularity relationship, but it is necessary to accept such a blow in the family line. He can't wipe his face, and he can't stand the sympathy of the villagers before and after.

So I hid the truth from my son and family and hid here to make my heart clean, but I didn't want to hurt Nizi and gave birth to another child who broke up early.

He thinks it is blasphemous to become a monk here, so he is also in constant fear.

He felt that he couldn't hide it any longer. The faces of his relatives and the eyes of the villagers are not important.

He came to the door and knocked several times. Jo opened the door. When she saw that it was Li Shifu, she turned and closed the door again.

"Elder sister, you are here!" Li Shifu patted the grass clippings on her skirt.

Jiao Xiaolan didn't look up, just sobbed.

"Xiaolan, don't cry. His uncle is here. Let's discuss it and see if there is a way out. "

"Sister, you and Xiaolan don't really know that when the second child was sick, the doctor in Beijing told me that Nizi and Wen Hui couldn't have children."

"Ah ..."

"The doctor said that the two of them are close relatives, and the babies born are all the same diseases and can't be cured."

"Ah ..."

"So, this has nothing to do with family status?" Jiao Xiaolan asked in amazement.

"Well,no." Li shrank and squatted down behind the door.

"You old bastard, why didn't you say so earlier? You could have made Steve and Wen Hui suffer. " Jiao Xiaolan picked up the stick on the table and went to Li's head.

Jiao Xiaoju quickly hugged her sister: "Xiaolan, Xiaolan, this is a temple. Don't let outsiders know that this is a joke. "

Jiao Xiaolan threw the flour stick on the ground, threw herself on the kang, buried her head under the pillow and burst into tears.

Li and Jiao secretly wiped their tears in the corner.

Outside, it is already dark, the play has stopped, the evening breeze is blowing gently, and there is a faint peach blossom fragrance. In the light of the room, three people sat quietly, and no one spoke. After a long time, Jiao Xiaoju's eyes suddenly lit up: "So, as long as it's not Wen Hui and Steve, it's possible to give birth to a good baby?"

The three of them looked at each other and suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, but they didn't speak, but obviously they all acquiesced in something, but no one said it.

At midnight, everything was calm, and the door of San Xiao Temple was slowly pushed open. A man slipped in, took a paper flower, turned the corner of the temple and disappeared into the depths of the night.

four

Nizi is crazy.

She ran back to the mountains all day, sometimes crying, sometimes laughing, sometimes talking, sometimes staring at the sun with her eyes open, and more often looking for something with her head down. In September, wild cotton in the mountains swayed in the warm wind, pink flowers covered the hillside, pheasants, rabbits and squirrels jumped out of the pine forest on the top of the mountain and played under the technical leaves; Butterflies, bees, grasshoppers and crickets are busy shuttling among the flowers. Tits fly in the blue sky and eagles soar in the sky.

There is a hillside in front of the Li family, and there are patches of wild cotton on the hillside. When the flowers bloom, the slope is full of pink flowers, and when the flowers fall, it is white cotton. Cotton hangs on the top of technology, and no one picks it. So when the flowers bloom the next year, there is still a lot of cotton floating on the dead branches, unlike the immortal body rotting. Below the hillside is a cliff, and there is a stream below the cliff.

Behind the house is the western hill, where wild cotton is particularly lush and there are more cotton on the dead branches. If you don't look carefully, no one will find those three small mounds. Next to the mound is a grave covered with white "hanging paper".

When did Steve go crazy?

Three aunts and six grandmothers on the rice mill said that it was the night Jiao Xiaolan jumped off the cliff.

"How can Jiao Xiaolan jump off a cliff?"

"What a pity."

"What a shame?"

"Lend my daughter-in-law seeds."

"Who said that?"

"Xuandao said."

Xuandao is an unknown Taoist on Pantou Mountain.