Dinner was served, and the banquet was withdrawn.

Tu Gong instructed the maids in the house to serve Yan Ling to bathe and rest, and he himself went to Gwangju County, one to contact and sell rice paper, and the other to inquire about Yan Ling's trip to Lishan tomorrow.

Yan Ling was so moved that she actually met such a good person, so she relaxed her vigilance, and after bathing, she rested peacefully.

Sure enough, the night was uneventful.

In the early morning of the next day, Yan Ling was still asleep, and Tu Gong had ordered the maid to summon her to get up. Yan Ling got up and washed, came to the living room, and met with Tu Gong.

Tu Gong introduced an obese merchant named Lao Wu to Yan Ling, and it was this Lao Wu who was going to send Yan Ling to Li Mountain.

Yan Ling was overjoyed, had breakfast with the two of them, and set off immediately.

Tu Gong sent Yan Ling out of the mansion and wished him a smooth journey. Yan Ling took out two taels of silver as a reward for the hospitality. Tu Gong laughed and refused, asked Yan Ling to board the carriage, and ordered the servant to send a delicate basket containing candied fruit to quench the hunger and thirst of the journey.

Yan Ling was about to excuse himself, but when he heard the crisp sound of the horsewhip, the four wheels slowly started, and Lao Wu had already driven the two-horse carriage into the Wuli Pine Forest Road.

Yan Ling had no choice but to put the basket away, and when she opened the back window to say goodbye, she had already disappeared from the luxurious mansion, only to see the mountains stretching, the pine forests clinging, and the thick morning fog drifting around.

The wheels rolled out of the five-mile pine forest, looking at the continuous water and mountain cold, and the endless cold wind whining in the ears.

The two chatted while walking, Yan Ling knew that Lao Wu and Tu Gong were old acquaintances, and this trip was a return business, just to buy some rice paper to sell back, and Lao Wu also knew Yan Ling's purpose of going to Lishan: not only to cultivate into immortals, but also to give birth to Xiaobao.

After chatting for a long time, Yan Ling gradually fell asleep, it turned out that this long-distance trip was the most likely to make people sleepy, and he fell asleep again in a slight shaking.

I don't know how long I slept well, Yan Ling woke up, so he hurriedly lifted the curtain of the front car and asked, "Uncle Wu, how far is it from Li Mountain?"

"It's not far away, it's more than two hundred miles away, and it's getting late, and there's a small town not far ahead, and we'll spend the night there tonight. ”

"Ahh ”

"No, girl, although my two horses are thousands of miles of horses, it is normal for them to travel thousands of miles a day, but at this time a thousand miles have passed, and I am also hungry, and the horses are also tired, so let's stay in the town in front of me for the night, and feed these two horses some forage at the same time. ”

"The distance of more than 200 miles is very close, can't you reach it in the blink of an eye?"

"The distance of more than 200 miles is not far, and it is not near or far, but at night, it is not easy to hurry when the lights are blind. ”

"Uncle Wu, please do it, you can do your best, I really can't wait to get to Lishanli soon." ”

"Okay, okay...... Entrusted by people, loyal to people, then hurry overnight. Lao Wu was helpless, raised his horsewhip, gave a clear shout, and drove the two healthy horses to continue to hurry.

After passing through that town, the sky was getting darker and darker, and I gradually lost my fingers.

Lao Wu had no choice but to light a white paper lantern, cantilevered in front of the two horses with a long pole, and march forward at night, but at this time the road was rugged and winding, and it became more and more difficult to walk, and he did not travel a few miles for a long time, after all, the white paper lantern could not shine far away.

Yan Ling was bumpy and bumpy in the car, and she was uncomfortable, regretting that she didn't listen to the persuasion: rest the night in that town.

When Yan Ling regretted it, he suddenly heard Lao Wu calling: "Girl, there are a few farmhouse lights at the foot of the mountain in front, I think this overnight rush is not only slow, but also very dangerous, it is better to borrow the farmer at the foot of the mountain in front of you for the night, get up early tomorrow, and then continue to hurry." ”

"Okay, just listen to Uncle Wu: sure enough, this carriage is not easy to travel at night, so let's go to the farmhouse in front of us to borrow it for the night. Yan Ling opened the curtain of the car in front of him, and saw that there were several farmhouse lights flickering at the foot of the mountain not far ahead, so he agreed to Lao Wu's suggestion.

Lao Wu drove slowly for a while, turned into a potholed path, and after about 200 meters, he came to the door of a farmhouse's fence canopy.

But I saw that there were three or five mouths in the fence wall, and one of the halls was lit with a dim red light, and there were constantly voices of people inside, men and women, old and young, but they were far away and could not be heard very clearly, but in the boundless night, it was full of warm human fireworks.

After Lao Wu jumped off the front and settled, Yan Ling also got out of the carriage. She stood outside the tent door, looking in through the light, but she accidentally caught a glimpse of a small wooden board hanging on the tent door, and the word "Washington" was written on the small wooden board.

The door of the hall had been opened, and a boy in his teens came out of the light.

The boy vaguely saw the carriage and the lantern, looked back into the hall and shouted, "Grandpa, you have good ears, someone is really coming." ”

"Of course Grandpa's ears are smart. An old man's voice came from the hall, "Second brother, this big night, it must be inconvenient for pedestrians to come to spend the night, you go and open the door, grandpa will come immediately." ”

"Ah!" the boy jumped off the threshold with joy, and by the dim light, walked briskly towards the tent door.

Behind the boy suddenly came a noisy pleading voice, both male and female, and the child's voice was immature and melodious:

"Grandpa: I'm going too!"

"Grandpa: I'm going too. ”

"Grandpa: I'm going to ...... too"

"Alright, alright...... Don't quarrel, come with me, and the boss will prepare a stool to entertain the guests. ”

As soon as the words fell, a tough old man walked out of the door, holding a two-year-old child in his arms, followed by three children of the same age, two men and one woman, screaming and shouting, like bees flying around the flowers, a joyful scene.

The old man walked to the back of the tent with steady steps, and the boy and the second boy slowly opened the fence door, and the two little brothers coaxed and came to help.

Lao Wu saw that the gate of the fence opened, and an old man appeared in front of him, so he said: "Old man, the two of us are in a hurry, but I didn't expect it to be late when I arrived here, and I want to borrow it for the night in your mansion, I don't know if it's okay?"

"It's easy to say...... There is always an inconvenient time when you go out, if you don't dislike it, please stay in the cold house tonight. The old man said and made a gesture of inviting in.

Lao Wu thanked him a few times, called out to Yan Ling, who was stunned, and then drove the carriage into the tent door together.

The second boy and his two younger brothers were very sensible, and together they pushed the gate shut, pressed it against it with two sticks, and then followed the hall with a bouncing horse.

The hall is very simple, except for a table of eight immortals and four benches, there are a few low stools and an oil lamp, and there is a fire pit dug in the middle of the hall, and some charcoal fire is burned in it, which is sparkling, but it adds a lot of warmth to this poor family.

The old man invited the two to sit down by the fire to bake the fire, and all the children immediately sat down, all looking at them with bright eyes, full of enthusiasm and curiosity.

The old man hugged the child in his arms and said, "Look at the two guest officers in a hurry, or I'm afraid that I haven't eaten dinner yet, right?"

"Thank you for your concern, the two of us are not hungry now. Lao Wu replied.

"There is nothing to eat at home, there is still a little pot left, soak it in boiling water to soften, add some lard and salt, and you can make do with a meal of salted dried radish, but the two guest officers are not strange. ”

"Where, where...... There is no need to bother the old man, I am grateful that the two of us can borrow it for a night. ”

"Meeting is fate, and the guest officer doesn't have to be polite. The old man said, and instructed the eldest grandson beside him, "Eldest sister, you go and make two bowls of pots for the guest officer, remember to add oil and salt, just put a little less, and get a plate of salted dried radishes." ”

"Got it, grandpa. The eldest girl answered.

"Grandpa: I want to eat pot too!"

"Grandpa: I also want to eat pot pasta. ”

"Grandpa: I want to eat pot ...... too"

There was another loud noise of boys and girls, buzzing like a few bees collecting honey.

The old man sank his face, pretended to be angry, and said: "The second, the third, the fourth, and the fifth, there are guests here, have you all forgotten the rules?"

The boys and girls stopped arguing for a moment, silent, and watched their grandfather with timid eyes.

At this time, Yan Ling suddenly remembered that there was still a fruit candied fruit sent by Tu Gong in the car, and because he was sleepy on the way, he had not eaten, so he got up and walked out, went to the carriage and took out the basket, carried it in his hand, and returned to the hall.

"Little brother, little sister, come here, sister, there are many delicious dishes here. Yan Lingliang lit up the basket and greeted him affectionately.

"Really?"

"What a beautiful basket!"

"Big sister: What is there to eat in your basket?"

The boys and girls were like little sparrows, chattering around and looking at the baskets, their short eyes raised, their high eyes low, and their pupils flashing with excitement and curiosity.

"There's a lot of good food, come on...... This orange is for you...... Come...... This apple is for you...... This one...... This honey cake is for you...... This persimmon is ...... for you" Yan Ling opened the basket, as if opening a treasure chest, took out the fruit preserves from it, and distributed them one by one, and sent an orange to the old man, and a piece of persimmon to Lao Wu, and finally said, "Little brother and sister, you eat slowly, after eating, there is still in the basket of big sister." ”

"Really?" the second boy exclaimed in surprise as he looked into the basket, "Wow!

"Second brother and second brother...... Are your oranges delicious?" said the boy.

"It's delicious, I'll give you a petal!" The second boy carefully broke off a petal of the orange and stuffed it into the third boy's mouth.

The third boy took a bite and said with a mouthful of sweet juice: "Well, there is a lot of sweet water, it's really delicious! Second brother, if you eat my cake, it's delicious." As he spoke, he handed the persimmon to his second brother's mouth.

The second boy took a bite, chewed it, and shouted, "It's delicious!"

The younger brothers and sisters next to him came up one after another, exchanging fruit preserves to eat, you bite my apple, I eat your honey cake, and don't forget to feed the child in the old man's arms, shouting at each other, joyful, full of warm family affection between brothers and sisters.

The happy scene made Yan Ling think of the loneliness of being a guest in the Tu Gong Mansion for a while, and inexplicably produced a trace of melancholy.