"Okay, after drinking this glass of wine, let's go down the mountain!" Xu Zhuo filled his and Tang Ding's wine glasses.

"Grandpa, you can also go down the mountain with me, I will raise you. My house is big, the scenery is good, and there are people to accompany you. ”

Xu Zhuo smiled and waved his hand, "In my life, there are too many leaked heavenly opportunities, and there are many things missed, so it's good to spend the rest of my life peacefully here." ”

"Grandpa!" Tang Ding hugged Xu Zhuo.

"Life and death are just idle things, I have lived for more than a hundred years, and I have long seen it. Xu Zhuo touched Tang Ding's head again, "I won't wait to die forever, I will go down the mountain to see you, don't worry!"

Tang Ding was afraid that Xu Zhuo would die alone in this deep mountain, and there would not even be anyone to collect the body, which was unfilial piety to be a junior. When Tang Ding saw Xu Zhuo, he really felt like a grandfather, this feeling was like meeting a relative, without a sense of estrangement.

Xu Zhuo was sitting on Tang Ding's three heads.

"Alright, after drinking this cup, let's go down the mountain!"

Tang Ding drank the sweet potato wine in the cup in one gulp, but the originally sweet wine seemed to have a more bitter taste.

.

Tang Ding waved goodbye to his master Xu Zhuo, walked in this Dragon and Tiger Mountain for two days, and finally arrived at a small village in the mountains.

In this small village in the south, there are very few people, and there are only a dozen families in the entire village.

Tang Ding was immersed in the sorrow of parting with Xu Zhuo, and there was no way to find the whereabouts of his parents for the time being, so he simply walked slowly, he was going to rest in this small village and eat some hot food.

Of course, another reason why Tang Ding was going to rest in this small village was that he came across an inn with a "Walking Foot Inn" hanging at a small intersection not far away.

It was precisely because he saw this inn that Tang Ding had the idea of staying in the hotel to eat.

The inn in the deep mountains, everyone seems to be afraid, but Tang Ding is not afraid of anything, although this inn is a little heavy, but he is fearless.

However, when Tang Ding entered the inn, he found that there was no one here, not only did he not live in the hotel, but even the innkeeper did not have it, this was an empty house, and it was a very clean empty house, but there was a sign of the inn.

Tang Ding shouted a few times, but no one answered, he turned around and went out of the door, and went to see the signboard of "Xingjiao Inn" hanging at the door again, yes, this is a hotel.

Tang Ding thought that the innkeeper might have something urgent and didn't have time to close, and he would come back after a while, but he waited from morning to three o'clock in the afternoon, and the boss didn't come back, and he didn't even come alone.

In an inn deep in the mountains, it's normal that there is no one, but it's not normal if there is no boss.

The boss didn't come back, and Tang Ding didn't want to stay here all the time, "Forget it, let's continue to hurry, I can't eat this hot meal." ”

Tang Ding put the water he had just drunk and put it in his carry-on package, got up, and just walked out of the door of the hotel, a ten-year-old little girl was startled when she saw Tang Ding coming out of the hotel, and the little girl seemed to have seen something extremely terrifying, standing still, closing her eyes, and covering her face.

"Little friend, let me ask, are you from this village? Why is there no one in this small inn, the boss?" Tang Ding asked the little girl for the first time, the little girl never spoke, Tang Ding asked again, the little girl peeked at Tang Ding from between her scattered fingers, and quickly turned her head after a glance.

"Little sister, do you know why there is no one in this hotel?"

Tang Ding asked again, and the girl reacted that she was asking her, she looked at Tang Ding timidly, "Isn't this family, do you want to spend the night?" You can go to my house, my house is where I and my grandparents are at home, and there is a place. ”

Although Tang Ding thanked her, he didn't understand what the little girl meant by "this is not", what was it? She didn't say, and Tang Ding didn't continue to ask, but fortunately, the little girl said that she could live in her house, Tang Ding quickly took out 500 yuan and stuffed it into the little girl, "Is there a hot meal?"

The little girl was happy, holding the money in one hand and a basket full of wild vegetables in the other, and ran with Tang Ding to the small village not far away, "I'll go back and make it for you." ”

The little girl's home, like the houses in the village, looked from a distance, they were all very simple, they were all made of stones, the courtyard wall was very low, and when it reached Tang Ding's waist, even the little girl could see inside from the outside of the wall.

"Grandpa, grandma, I've brought an uncle back, he's going to stay with us for a few days, oh, it's the money from the uncle!" the little girl jumped back to the house with the low courtyard wall.

Tang Ding followed, looking at the small village as he walked.

The small village is very dilapidated, and there are not many people living in it, only a dozen households. The village road, in fact, is not a road, it is just a path that people walk on too much.

The little girl's home is almost all made of stone, low stone houses, and even Tang Ding didn't see any traces of cement, I wonder if this house built entirely of stone will collapse?

Before entering the little girl's house, Tang Ding felt that there was a ghost haunting in the house. Tang Ding only saw the little girl's grandfather, but did not see the little girl's grandmother.

The little girl's grandfather took the five hundred yuan given to him by his granddaughter, looked at Tang Ding who walked into the courtyard gate, took out one hundred of the money, and handed the remaining four hundred to Tang Ding, "You don't need these, these will be returned to you." ”

"It's okay, uncle, you can take it, I have to stay here for two or three days, these are the accommodation and food expenses. When the time comes, I will give it if it is not enough. ”

Tang Ding lived in Yancheng and walked in the south, the money in these places was not worth much, and a hundred yuan was taken out, and it was spent as soon as he turned around. However, the cost in this mountain will definitely be lower, since you eat and live here, you should give money.

And he didn't think that the money was too much, if he stayed here for two days, the accommodation fee plus three meals a day, Tang Ding thought that the money should be enough.

"It's okay to live, but the farm life is harder, and the food is coarse. The old man still gave Tang Ding four hundred yuan to the fortress, "This money is reserved for the eldest girl to go to school, and I don't want the rest." ”

Tang Ding saw that the old man was very resolute, and he changed his way, "Then I'll stay for a few more days." ”

Tang Ding heard the old man say that he wanted to send the eldest girl to school, and he was going to give a little more, but the old man didn't accept the money, and he definitely couldn't ask for more money for the old man, so Tang Ding gave up. Let's wait until you're gone!

"It doesn't work, it doesn't work. Even if the uncle accepted the money, his mouth was still full of thoughts.

"Big girl, go to those eggs, make a scrambled egg for your uncle, and I'll catch a chicken." ”

"Okay, let's go. ”

Tang Ding can see that the old man and the little girl are sincerely welcoming themselves, without pretentiousness, the folk customs here are very simple, Tang Ding feels that he can relieve his tense nerves here, maybe after relaxing, he can come up with a way.

Tang Ding sat on the bluestone slab in the courtyard, looking at the sun on the mountain in the distance.

The mornings and nights in the mountains are different from those outside the mountains, where the morning is late and the darkness is early.

Tang Ding came out of the "Walking Foot Hotel" only two or three o'clock, and now it is just over three o'clock, and the sun is already about to set.

The old man's hands and feet are nimble, boiling water, and killing chickens.

The little girl worked more quickly, she boiled water, scalded vegetables, and then helped her grandfather wash the chickens, chop them, and put them in the pot.

The ten-year-old girl's work is more convenient than the change of knives and lotus in a big hotel.

When the sun was about to set, the fragrant chicken stew with shiitake mushrooms was ready, and then the little girl made a scrambled egg and wild vegetables, and a hearty meal was ready.

"Uncle, grandpa, you eat first, I'll bring a bowl to grandma. Although the little girl swallowed when she saw the fragrant chicken, she still had to serve a bowl to her grandmother first.

"Well, go ahead. ”

The old man took out the plastic bucket that he filled with wine, Tang Ding looked at it, there were snakes, scorpions and other things in it, the old man poured the wine glasses of himself and Tang Ding full, Tang Ding tasted it, and he was very energetic.

"Come, eat chicken, eat chicken. "This chicken is already a dish for entertaining guests in the mountains.

Tang Ding took a bite of chicken, it was greasy and abnormal, and the heat was just right, it was the taste of the farmer's house, "It's delicious, it tastes delicious~!"

"Eat more if it's delicious. When the old man saw Tang Ding's admiration, he was also very happy and beckoned Tang Ding to eat more.

The materials in the mountains are scarce, and it usually takes a day to go to the market, get up at three or four o'clock in the morning, walk for four or five hours to the market, and then buy something and come back, because the market will end at noon, and then rush back in the afternoon, which is exactly one day.

In addition, pork is generally not cheap, and if people in the mountains do not have a beam on the house, weddings and funerals, they generally will not cut meat and eat it.

But raising chickens is different, chicks are very cheap, raised at home, can lay eggs, can eat meat, and free-range chickens will turn over the soil in front of the house and behind the house to find insects to eat, and basically do not consume much food, so in the mountains, chickens are the most popular poultry.

It is precisely because the chicken is very important in the hearts of the people in the mountains that the people in the mountains will not take it out when they are idle, unless they are entertaining guests.

The old man also took a piece of chicken and put it in his mouth to taste it slowly.

"Drink!"

The old man is in a good mood today, and Tang Ding is not bad, although he has just waited for hours in the hotel in front of him, but he has eaten such authentic farm food, which is worth it.

In fact, Tang Ding still has a lot to ask, but he has never had a chance to ask. For example, how could there be no one in the store in front of her?

And how can there be a ghost haunting the house? What happened to the little girl's grandmother? Does it have anything to do with the ghost I saw?

But after all, this is a family matter, and it is not good for Tang Ding to ask too rashly, and there is no suitable opportunity to say it.

Tang Ding and the old man drank four or five glasses of wine, and the little girl came out of the house with two bowls, and Tang Ding could see that the contents of these two bowls were basically not moving.

"Grandma took a bite, and then again, hey, grandpa, what can I do if grandma is like this?" the little girl burst into tears.