1.

A.D. 1933, January, Forbidden City.

This year's winter seems to be colder than in previous years, Shi Guoyi wrapped the military-colored coat on his body, and the pace under his feet couldn't help but speed up a little - he just wanted to rush to the laboratory in Tsinghua Park as soon as possible, not because there were any important experiments to do, but because the sultry environment there was really desirable in this cold winter.

The sky gradually darkened, and the cold wind blew more and more coldly, like a sharp blade, and the face was shaved painfully. The pedestrians on the street are all in a hurry, their expressions solemn, and even the theaters and restaurants that used to be bustling with excitement are less cheerful and laughing, and most people's attention is not on opera and fine wine, but gathering in twos and threes to discuss the current situation in a low voice, each considering their future choices.

Scattered across the street were a few discarded newspapers of the Shishi Daily, one of the most influential newspapers in the Forbidden City. I saw the words "Shanhaiguan Fall" printed in black and white on the front page of the newspaper, and the words "Shanhaiguan Fall" were printed in black and white, which made the temperature in the city drop a few points.

Shi Guoyi is in his early fifties this year, and now works at Tsinghua Garden, where he is a university teacher and teaches students, and is also engaged in biological research. Speaking of this Shanhaiguan, Shi Guoyi's ancestral home is there, and he grew up there, until he later went abroad to study at Cambridge College in the United Kingdom, and after returning to China, he went to the capital to engage in education and academic research, and then his family moved to the Forbidden City.

Shi Guoyi has been interested in his family's family history since he was a child, and this interest stems from the wonderful stories his grandfather told him when he was a child. When Shi Guoyi's grandfather was still alive, the Manchu Dynasty had not yet fallen, and everyone still had a long braid on the back of their heads. At that time, the Shi family still lived in the ancestral house of Qinhuangyu Shanhaiguan, which was a fairly spacious house, and the old man of the Shi family always liked to sit in the patio of his own courtyard, holding Shi Guoyi, who was still a little bit, and telling him some stories, among which the most talked about was the family history of the Shi family.

"Xiaoyi, don't you believe it - there are really immortals in this world!" The old man of the Shi family once asked Shi Guoyi.

In the ninth year of Guangxu, that is, fifty years ago, when Shi Guoyi was only five or six years old, where would he think so much, he only heard his grandfather ask, so he replied casually: "Then believe it, if there are no immortals in this world, then how can Sun Wukong in "Journey to the West" subdue demons all the way and protect Tang Sanzang to the west to learn scriptures!"

The old man of the Shi family twisted his beard, amused by his grandson's answer, and then said: "Xiaoyi, Tang Xuanzang's learning of scriptures is indeed true in history, but he did not go to the West Heaven, but to India. "Journey to the West" is just a novel written by later generations, and those fairies and demons are all made up by Mr. Wu Chengen, which is really untrue. ”

Shi Guoyi's little face suddenly cried and mourned, and his disappointment was overflowing, obviously deep in the child's heart, he actually yearned for the immortal Taoism in "Journey to the West". He looked up at his grandfather and asked, "Is there really no god in this world?"

The old man of the Shi family touched his beard and laughed a few times: "Journey to the West is not real, but this does not mean that immortals do not exist." Do you know Xiaoyi, in fact, our Shi family can be regarded as the descendants of the gods. ”

Shi Guoyi's eyes suddenly sparkled: "Really?"

"Of course it's true, can grandpa still lie to you!" The old man's eyes flashed with wisdom, "These things, grandpa only knew these things when he was a child when he listened to my elders, and all this has to start with the ancestors of our Shi family." It is said that a long, long time ago, the ancestor of our Shi family did not have the surname Shi, but the surname Wei. ”

"Surname Wei?" Shi Guoyi wondered, "Then why did you change your surname later?"

"The origin of the ancestors of this family is impossible to verify. The old man of the Shi family said slowly, "It is said that the ancestor was only a child of a poor family, just because the family was too poor, and there were many children in the family, there was really no way to raise this one, so he threw the child into the wilderness; In short, the ancestor of this family is actually an abandoned baby. ”

"Originally, an abandoned baby who was thrown into the wilderness must not have lived long. Unexpectedly, at this time, a fairy came, took our ancestors to a fairyland where flowers bloom all year round, gave him the surname Wei, and raised him. However, as the ancestors grew up, the characteristics of being a man became more and more obvious, and there had never been a man in the fairyland, so naturally this case would not be broken because of the ancestors. So, the fairy entrusted the ancestor to an immortal who knew him, so that the ancestor would live with this immortal in the future. And this immortal is surnamed Shi. ”

Shi Guoyi's interest was completely aroused, and he stopped talking and stopped, and hurriedly urged: "Then what?"

The old man of the Shi family continued: "Later, there was a catastrophe between heaven and earth, and the people of the fairy world flew to the sky, while the human world sank with turbidity, which was for the mortal world. The fairy surnamed Wei has never descended to the heavenly realm since then, and the immortal surnamed Shi has stayed in Shanhaiguan with his ancestors and settled down until today. ”

After listening to the story, Shi Guoyi's face was overjoyed: "It turns out that our family is really the descendants of immortals! But since we are the descendants of immortals, why don't we cast spells?

The old man of the Shi family laughed and said, "You kid, you just think about playing and eating." has said that the content in "Journey to the West" is all apocryphal, and those immortal spells are naturally not true. The real Immortal Dao method is completely different from the kind of spell in your mouth. ”

"Have you seen that grandpa?" Shi Guoyi's eyes flashed with curiosity.

"Of course I haven't. The old man of the Shi family said with a smile, "The Taoism learned by the ancestors has been lost in many generations, and the current Shi family is just ordinary people. But then the conversation changed, "However, although the method of transporting the Dao Fa has been lost, the book that records the Dao Fa has been passed down as an heirloom of our family. ”

"Where? I want to see and I want to see!" Shi Guoyi shouted excitedly.

The old man of the Shi family couldn't resist his grandson, so he stood up with his back bent and led Shi Guoyi to an attic. This attic is located in the backyard of the Shi family's mansion, and there are some rare objects in it, and Shi Guoyi's father and mother do not allow Shi Guoyi to run into the attic to play on weekdays, for fear that he will break something, or bump into a corner. Now that he came to this place for the first time, Shi Guoyi was excited and inexplicably nervous at the same time.

The old man of the Shi family was looking for the so-called Taoist secret book on the bookshelf in the attic, but he didn't know if it was because he was old and had a bad memory or because the secret book was too hidden, so he didn't find it for a long time. Shi Guoyi was a little impatient waiting on the side, so he wandered around, and at a glance, he saw a strange flower planted in a huge flower pot.

This is a large flower with stems, it is more beautiful than any flower that Shi Guoyi has ever seen in his life, it looks like a begonia from the appearance, the heart-shaped pink petals are clustered one by one, delicate and moving, both like rouge dots, and like the dawn of the sky; the center of the bud is a golden stamen, like a starry spot, making the flower more dazzling. These are nothing, what is even more amazing is that the jade-like leaves are dotted with these bright yellow dots, Shi Guoyi carefully counted them, each piece is no more and no less, it is seven yellow dots.

Begonia has been a famous flower for both the elegant and the vulgar since ancient times, and is known as the "fairy in the flower". In the Ming Dynasty, it is recorded in the "Qunfang Spectrum": "There are four kinds of begonias, all of which are woody. These four products refer to: Xifu Begonia, Silk Begonia, Papaya Begonia and Sticky Begonia. Among them, the Xifu begonia is the most delicate and moving, both fragrant and gorgeous, and it is the top grade in the begonia. The imperial garden of the Forbidden City is planted with Xifu begonia, at the turn of spring and summer, the flowers are bright and moving, and accompanied by the precious flowers such as magnolia and peony in the garden, forming the artistic conception of "Yutang wealth", which is praised by the world.

Although there is only a single flower in front of him, and it is planted in a flower pot, it lacks some natural beauty, but Shi Guoyi feels in his heart that this is the most beautiful flower in the world, even if it is confined to the dark room, it cannot hide its beauty. This feeling has been retained until now, even if Shi Guoyi later went to the Imperial Garden of the Forbidden City and saw the real Xifu Begonia, he didn't think that the authentic flowers were much more gorgeous than the large flowers with stems in the attic.

Shi Guoyi looked at it, and couldn't help but stretch out his hand, wanting to touch the big flower. Suddenly, a dry pipe came from the side and hit the back of his hand. Shi Guoyi trembled as if he had been electrocuted, and hurriedly stretched out his hand back, only to see the old man of the Shi family standing next to him, and said solemnly: "Xiaoyi, this flower can't be touched!"

Shi Guoyi was puzzled: "Why, grandpa?"

The old man of the Shi family looked at the big flower with stems, squinted his eyes subtly, and said: "The name of this flower is 'Seven Heart Begonia', although the name has the word 'Begonia', but it is not a real begonia flower, but another peculiar variety. This flower is strange - its flowering period is as long as ten years, and only one plant grows in a generation, that is, there is no other seven-hearted begonia in this world except this one. ”

Shi Guoyi's eyes widened: "How did our family get such a precious variety?"

"This has something to do with the story that Grandpa just told you. The old man of the Shi family said with a smile, "Because this flower, like that Taoist secret book, has also been passed down from generation to generation." It is said that this is the gift that the fairy surnamed Wei left to our ancestors when they separated!"

"Isn't that a history of thousands of years?" Shi Guoyi said in surprise.

The old man of the Shi family nodded: "Not bad." ”

"No wonder," Shi Guoyi said ignorantly, "I said grandpa, why didn't you let me touch it, it turned out that I was afraid that I would damage this famous flower that has been around for thousands of years." ”

The old man of the Shi family hugged Shi Guoyi and said with a smile: "This is just one of them, and the other point is that although this flower looks beautiful, its body contains deadly poison! If you touch it directly without any protective measures, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

Shi Guoyi's little face suddenly turned pale with fright, and he couldn't even speak for a while.

"Xiaoyi, you have to remember. The old man of the Shi family said earnestly, "You can't just look at the appearance, but also know how to see the essence through the phenomenon." Just like those mushrooms that grow in the wild, the more bright and beautiful the appearance, the more poisonous it is. When you grow up, you must remember what your grandfather told you. ”

Shi Guoyi nodded hurriedly: "Got it, grandpa." ”

The old man of the Shi family nodded with a "hmm", and suddenly freed up a hand like a trick, and there was an old booklet in his hand, and said with a smile: "I found the cheats, do you want to read it?"

"See!" Shi Guoyi suddenly put Fang Cai's horror behind him, and reached out to take the secret book in his grandfather's hand. The grandfather and grandson walked out of the attic playfully, leaving only the delicate seven-hearted begonia, still blooming there alone.

2.

That was the first time Shi Guoyi learned about the Seven Stories Building, as well as the relationship between his ancestors and Wei Chengcheng of Wanhua Valley and Shi Bin, the "Moon Worship Resident". Later, Shi Guoyi grew up and gradually matured in his thinking, so he no longer took the story of the old man of the Shi family about the immortal family seriously when he was a child.

In addition, the turbulent situation at that time, the Qing government was worried about internal and external troubles, Shi Guoyi was determined to learn to serve the country, and happened to catch up with Emperor Guangxu to support Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and others to implement the "Restoration Movement", the implementation of the new policy, then left Shanhaiguan, went to Kyoto to study, with his own strength was admitted to the Beijing Normal National Education College, received advanced education, under the influence of materialist thought, but also will not believe in any immortals.

However, there is one thing that Shi Guoyi has not understood, that is, the family heirloom Taoist secret book or something, he can understand that it is the feudal superstitious thought of the predecessors, if the runes in the book are taken out and explained by science, it may not be impossible to pass; but the one hidden in the attic is called "Seven Heart Begonia" The strange flower, really just like the old man of the Shi family said, the flowering period is ten years long, which is very abnormal, as if it is really not a mortal thing, but to say that it is really a strange flower handed down by the gods, he does not believe it anyway.

Shi Guoyi is very rigorous in his studies, which makes his grades in all subjects far ahead of other students in the college. The school thus won him an opportunity to study in the UK, so that he could study at Cambridge College. When choosing a major, out of trouble with his own seven-hearted begonia, Shi Guoyi's final major was "botany".

Thinking back to today, Shi Guoyi found that he had stood at the door of the Tsinghua Garden Experimental Building at some point. It began to drizzle in the sky, and the rain was like a cow's hair, drifting in the air with a light breeze, and it looked a little hazy under the lights of the school roadside. The rain was wet on his hair, and one or two drops of rain slipped down his hair and dripped into his collar, as if someone had put a block of ice on him, which made Shi Guoyi shiver fiercely.

Shi Guoyi rubbed his rain-soaked hair indiscriminately, wrapped his coat tighter, and hurriedly walked into the door of the experimental building with his bag in his hand. He reached out and touched the wall, only to touch the switch, and remembered that the electric light in the corridor had been broken for a while, but the school's electrician Lao Yang had been at home for the past two days due to illness, and Lao Yang's apprentice went back to his hometown to visit relatives, so he kept dragging it out and not repairing it. Shi Guoyi reluctantly put down his hand from the wall, shook his head, and walked all the way up to the third floor in the dark, which was not an easy task for an old teacher like him in his fifties, after all, his eyes were almost bad because of years of experiments.

found his own laboratory, Shi Guoyi took out the key from his bag to open the lock, inserted it in the lock hole and twisted it for a long time, but found that there was no movement, and then he realized that he still had a few students who were still staying here to do experiments. Shi Guoyi sighed secretly, put the key back in his bag, and unscrewed the doorknob.

"Teacher. There were three or five students in the laboratory, and when they heard the sound of the doorknob being twisted, they all raised their heads in unison, and when they saw Shi Guoyi walking in, they called him politely. Shi Guoyi is friendly, and he will not stand up when he is with his students, unlike some teachers who always keep a straight face and do not smile, which makes people stay away when they see him; discussing academic issues with him is like chatting with old friends, which not only feels relaxed, but also learns knowledge. So the students respected him and loved him very much.

Shi Guoyi nodded and responded: "You are busy." The students turned their attention back to the microscope and the lab report. Shi Guoyi put down the bag, took a dry towel from the shelf next to him, wiped his wet hair and water droplets on the surface of his coat, and poured a cup of hot water.

The rain began to fall heavily, not like the summer downpour, but it was dripping, and the raindrops made a crisp sound on the windows. Shi Guoyi circled around a few students, answered a few difficult questions from them, and saw that there was nothing to do with him for the time being, and then walked towards a small door next to him.

When you open the small door, you are greeted by the scent of earth and flowers. Inside, there was a small room that looked like a greenhouse, and there was only one table in it, on which were several notebooks and pens that had been filled, and in the center was a flower pot, and a large flower with stems was blooming in brilliant colors.

Shi Guoyi put on gloves and stroked the flowers and leaves of the Seven Heart Begonia, as if he felt that it was really conscious, for fear that using too much force would make it feel pain.

He suddenly sighed lightly and said in a low voice, "After so many years, I still can't understand you." Are you—really from the gods?!"

【To be continued】