At the time of the unitary, Wei Lai, who was soaked in rain, squatted next to the stone pier in front of the Lu Mansion.

He dragged a book in his hand, which was also soaked by the rain, lowered his head, and watched the rain falling from the eaves lapping on the steps with empty eyes, the water splashing and annihilating, repeating itself, magnificent and cold.

He seemed to have been there for a long time, the water dripping from the ends of his hair and clothes already dripping wet the ground around him.

The sky was getting darker and darker, and although it was summer, because of the torrential rain, the lights had been lit in the courtyard opposite, and the afterglow shone on the boy's body through the rain curtain, stretching his shadow very long.

Suddenly, the light dimmed—something blocked it.

Wei Lai looked up, and a man with an umbrella at the bottom of the steps was standing in the rain curtain to face him.

Wei Lai was stunned, and then stood up.

The man bowed his head, put away his umbrella, walked under the eaves, and did not talk to Wei Lai, he came straight to the door of the house, opened the door lock without hurry, and walked into it, but did not close the door of the house.

Wei Lai did not hesitate, and followed the man into the door of the mansion, and at the end he did not forget to close the door that had not been closed.

Lu Guanshan seemed to have just returned from the county government, and he was still wearing the gray-black official clothes, his robe was loose, the corners of his clothes and shoes were stained with a little mud, and there were a few faint seams on the sleeves of his right arm. Wei Lai frowned, and somewhat guessed where Lu Guanshan, who had returned so late, had gone.

Lu Mansion is not big, one old and one young soon walked to the main house for both dining and guests, Lu Guanshan still didn't pay attention to Wei Lai, he slowly took off his official hat, took off his robe and put it on the desk on the side, and lit the candlestick in the room, and placed it in a position that could illuminate the whole room, then sat down, looked at Wei Lai, and said calmly: "I didn't expect you to finish it so quickly in the past few days." ”

A flame rose in Wei Lai's eyes, and he dragged the soaked book in his hand and threw it at Lu Guanshan's feet: "You trick me!"

Lu Guanshan poured himself a glass of water, his slightly wrinkled face was half bright and half extinguished under the light of the candle flame, he glanced at the soaked book, although the ink on the cover had been somewhat scattered under the erosion of the rain, but he could still vaguely recognize the words "dove swallowing dragon".

Lu Guanshan put the water cup to his lips and took a sip: "Didn't you rely on this magic power a few days ago to almost kill a Cang Yuwei General Banner, it may not be real, but how can it not be considered fake?"

"That's not what I want, I can't swallow its dragon qi, how can I live?" Lu Guanshan's casual attitude made Wei Lai a little annoyed, and his voice was pulled extremely high by him, but it fell very low in an instant: "There are still twelve days, and I will be sixteen years old." ”

Lu Guanshan's eyebrows raised: "Afraid of death?" Then go to Tiangang Mountain, now I will repair a book, you bow your head to Cao Tongyun, for the sake of your father's affection, this matter may not have a turnaround." ”

Wei Lai was a little impatient with Lu Guanshan, who was still rehashing the old matter, and he didn't take Lu Guanshan's words, but looked at the other party directly, and said: "What's the point of doing this, you should know that I won't give up." ”

Lu Guanshan put down the water glass and looked at Wei Lai for the first time: "Then you should also know that I won't really harm you, earlier, or later, I will definitely send the second half of the broken method to you." ”

The expression on Wei Lai's face froze, and he was a little angry, but he said, "I don't think this is your reason to lie to me." ”

"No, you're kidding me. Lu Guanshan's face was expressionless, and his tone was calm: "You agreed that I would not participate in this matter, and you also promised to move out of the Lu Mansion, so I will not mention the matter of sending you to Tiangang Mountain." You've completed the dragon phase, and you've discovered that the dove snake's method of devouring the dragon is not complete, so you should know my plans. If you are true to your word, you should stay at home honestly at this time, and wait for the news of my death, and then what you want will definitely appear in your home. ”

"But what about you? There are still more than ten days before your sixteenth birthday, and now you are in a hurry to ask me about your guilt, what are you anxious about? Afraid of death? Wouldn't it be safer for me to give you advice? Or did you not intend to follow the 'gentleman's agreement' between us from the beginning?"

Lu Guanshan threw out a series of questions unhurriedly, which made Wei Lai's face a little ugly, he lowered his head and whispered: "I just... Just wanted to help you. ”

"You can't help me, no one can help me. After Lu Guanshan said this, the coldness on his face melted a little, and his voice softened: "Obedient, you are only sixteen years old, I hope you can live well." ”

Wei Lai's eyes lit up with flames, his face was flushed, and his hidden hands were clenched into fists under some wide cuffs.

He raised his head suddenly, looked at Lu Guanshan with a hideous expression, and shouted, "You don't want me to die! Then why do you want to send me to death?"

"Everyone in Wupan City said that I was a fool, and they all said that I was atoning for my father's sins! But you know best, I'm not a fool!

"I've been worshipping him for six years, and every time I ask him for his blessing, I want to cut him with a thousand knives! Isn't my father's death enough?

The boy's roar was so heartbreaking that by the second half of the year, his voice had become a little hoarse.

Lu Guanshan did not feel the slightest displeasure because of Wei Lai's questioning, but the look on his face was a little softer at that time. He looked at the boy who was panting for breath and something was surging in his eyes, but he was trying to hold back, and he reached out and gently stroked his head.

"Ahh He called softly.

"You want revenge, do you think you're going to kill just that snake?"

"Most of the good in this world is like rootless duckweed, and it will be broken when it is broken, but the evil in this world is like an iceberg on the surface of the water, you see that it is always just a corner of his surface, tracing back to the source, you will know that in front of you is a towering giant, so huge that you suffocate and make you despair. ”

"Whether I'm or your father, in fact, I didn't die in the hands of that snake, but in this helplessness and despair. ”

"Then don't die!" Wei Lai said eagerly, "Since you can't do it, then live well and leave it to me to do it, why do you have to die?"

This question seemed to be asked to Lu Guanshan, and the Confucian student suddenly fell silent at that time.

A gust of night wind blew and poured into the door, blowing Wei Lai's clothes, raising the man's sideburns, and extinguishing the candles in the room.

Wei Lai looked up at the man in the dark, and vaguely he caught a glimpse of the corner of the man's mouth suddenly rising, as if he was smiling. Then his deep voice rang out, he said.

"But it's hard to settle. ”

......

Liu Zhijie shrunk up, squatted on the threshold of the firewood room, crossed his hands, tugged into his cuffs, and looked at the courtyard door with blazing eyes.

"Alas, if I don't come back, I'm going to starve to death, old man. He muttered, looking rather frustrated.

Then he looked up at the rainstorm again, his brow furrowed slightly, and he was about to mumble something.

Squeak.

The door of the courtyard suddenly opened at that time, and Liu Jiejie looked sideways, but saw Wei Laiyin, who was wet all over, walking into the courtyard with a gloomy face.

Grunt!

Liu Jiejie swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and the words of complaint that came to his mouth were swallowed back alive at this time--the comer is not good! Liu Zhijie was between the desire of his tongue and his life, and quickly made a choice, he shrunk his neck, carefully retreated into the firewood room, and was about to close the door quietly......

But a hand reached out and pressed against the door.

Liu Jiejie's heart jumped, the expression on his face froze, and his gaze slowly moved up along the outstretched arm, and finally landed on Wei Lai's cloudy face.

Grunt.

Probably shocked by Wei Lai's momentum at the moment, Liu Jiejie swallowed another mouthful of saliva, and his face was piled up with an ugly smile that was not smiling, and asked, "Little brother... It's so late, you and I are alone, what is there to talk about tomorrow, otherwise others will know, the old man will not be able to protect the old man's evening, but he has no shame to see my wife who has been to Jiuquan for more than 60 years. ”

Wei Lai had already gotten along in the past few days and was accustomed to Liu Jiejie's nonsense, so he didn't pay attention to it at all, but handed the thing in his other hand down the crack in the door to Liu Jiejie with a calm face.

Liu Jiejie's nostrils shrank, and when he looked down, he found that Wei Lai was carrying a large bag of buns in his hand, and from the familiar aroma coming from the cloth bag, Liu Jiejie could conclude that this bun must still be from the steamed bun shop in the east of the city.

Liu Jiejie suddenly smiled, what net worth and life, what the night was not guaranteed was left behind by him at that time, he opened the door, took the bag of buns, and didn't care that the cloth bag and buns were still stained with water stains, put the buns on his body and wiped them, and then devoured them without any scruples.

"You like this bun very much, why?" Wei Lai squatted beside Liu Jiejie, also picked up a bun, put it to his mouth and took a big bite.

The steamed bun shop of the Zhang family in the east of the city can be regarded as a time-honored signboard in Wupan City, and it is said that since Aunt Zhang's grandfather's generation, he has started this business in Wupan City.

"This one. Liu Jiejie ate with a mouth full of oil, and replied with a mouthful: "My old wife was very good at making steamed buns when she was alive, and his steamed buns are exactly the same as those made by my old wife." ”

Liu Jiejie ate a lot of things, and he said it carefully.

So much so that Wei Lai was a little convinced that this old man really had a wife, of course, as for whether he had been dead for sixty years, it was difficult for Wei Lai to delve into it.

Wei Lai sat next to Liu Jiejie, looked at the vegetable bun that he had bitten a gap in a daze, and muttered, "Do you miss her?"

Liu Jiejie, who was eating well, didn't seem to understand what Wei Lai meant, and he continued to fight with those buns without raising his head, and responded perfunctorily in his mouth: "What?"

"Did I say you miss your wife?" Wei Lai asked.

"What do you want her to do? When she was there, the old man was kind to her, and he was still guarding her like a jade when he died, and he was like a day for sixty years, and if he missed her, it was better to live a few more days and eat a few more buns. Liu Jiejie said nonchalantly, as if the attraction of his wife was far less than the vegetable bag in front of him.

Wei Lai obviously didn't understand the old man's logic very well, he frowned, and asked, "But she's dead, you won't see her again, are you ......?"

When Liu Jiejie heard this, he put down the bun in his hand and looked up at Wei Lai, the look on his face was surprisingly serious at that time, and he was like the old man in Wei Lai's impression. He said solemnly: "Why can't I meet it? My wife said that she will be my wife in the next life." ”

Liu Jiejie said such a thing so seriously, so that Wei Lai didn't know what to do for a while. He couldn't bear to expose the facts that the old man seemed to be full of, but after a short silence, he shook his head and said with a wry smile: "How can there be an afterlife." ”

After saying this, Wei Lai stood up happily, wanting to end this conversation between the bull's head and the horse's mouth.

But as soon as he got up, the old man's voice sounded again.

"I heard such a story a long time ago. ”

"It is said that there is a kind of insect in this world, called a grasshopper, and the lifespan of a grasshopper is very short, but only one day. There was a grasshopper who met a grasshopper, and the two little ones talked very happily and soon became friends, and in the evening the grasshopper said to the grasshopper, 'I'm going home, we'll see you tomorrow,' and the grasshopper was surprised, and he asked, 'Tomorrow? ”

After that, the grasshopper never saw the grasshopper again, but much later, the grasshopper met a mouse, and they talked for a long time and became friends. When winter came, the mouse said to the grasshopper, 'I'm going to hibernate, we'll see you next year,' and the grasshopper was surprised when he heard this, and he asked, 'Next year?

"You see, we all live in this life, and we haven't seen the next life, but not seeing it doesn't mean we don't, doesn't it?"

"So, we have to live well, what if there is really an afterlife? At that time, when you saw the old man who was separated in this life, he asked you: 'Xiao Wei, after I left in the previous life, have you been obedient and live well?' You have to tell him with confidence: 'Well, I am very obedient, I have always lived well.'" "Literary