Just after the rainy season, the water level of the stream has risen a few times, and the elixirs in the mountains are also competing to grow, and at this time of the year, the Yaoshan County next to Wuling Mountain will always hold a grand medicine stone meeting, and the rare elixir from Wuling Mountain will be exhibited and auctioned.

As a result, the Qujiang ferry port in the early summer of the 32nd year of Mingtai has become more and more busy in recent days, and small boats, merchant ships and official ships coming and going are densely lined up at the Qujiang ferry. The shouting is even more incessant all day long.

The dusk was over, and the sunset reluctantly took one last look at the world, and then disappeared into the sky, and a star appeared in the southern sky, twinkling and twinkling.

Gradually, the sky was full of stars, and a crescent moon hung in the starry sky, like a smile from above.

On the edge of Wuling Mountain, a melodious flute sounded, beautiful and beautiful, as crisp as the birds in the forest, and as long as the clear spring in the mountains.

The breeze blows, and it also becomes the foil of this flute.

A squirrel tried hard all day but did not find food to eat, so he had to take the pine cones left over from last year and gnaw on them, but the sound of the flute sounded, as if the day's fatigue was gone, and the squirrel stopped, and looked at the girl who played the flute blankly, and his big eyes blinked, as if he had seen the most beautiful scenery in the world.

The girl stood by the river with a basket on her back, and in the basket was a small hoe and some medicinal herbs. She was wearing plain linen clothes, her skin was fair, her eyes were not big or small, and they were just right to embellish her charming fair little face, just like a drop of water on a white jade that exuded a warm and radiant brilliance.

There were several bamboo rafts swimming down the river nearby, looking at the girl, the medicine pickers on the bamboo raft greeted the girl in unison, and the girl also smiled and nodded in greeting.

She looks twenty-eight years old, and she is already a beautiful girl, but her heart is pure, just like this pure flute.

When the sound of the flute stopped, the girl put the basket on the bamboo raft beside her, inserted the homemade simple bamboo flute into her waist, and then made a trumpet shape with her little hands, and shouted loudly to the mountain: "Grandpa, it's dark, go home." ”

An old but very energetic echo came from somewhere in the mountains, "Here, call Xiaoxue." ”

"Oh. With that, the girl shouted to the mountain again, "Xiaoxue, go home." ”

On the top of the mountain, a twelve-year-old boy is sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, but it gives the impression that it is ...... He didn't close his eyes.

Starlight crept over him, then turned into blood-colored shimmers around him. He seemed to go in and meditate.

Hearing the girl's crisp voice, the young man slowly opened his eyes, exhaled heavily, and closed his efforts.

However, the moment the boy opened his eyes, a pair of blood-red heavy pupils appeared, and the young man was the child with heavy pupils nine years ago - Zhaoxue.

He rolled over and replied, "Oh, here it is." ”

He lifted the basket behind him, carried a basket full of medicinal herbs, and went down the mountain road with a hoe, and the road that was faintly visible at night under the starlight was very smooth, and after a while, he came to the riverside.

A one-eyed old man sat on a bamboo raft smoking a dry cigarette, and the girl was waiting for him with a bamboo pole.

Seeing him coming, the old man laughed and said, "Hurry up, go home and eat." ”

The girl put down the bamboo pole and took Zhao Xue's back basket, Zhao Xue stepped onto the bamboo raft and sat next to the old man.

The girl put the basket together with herself, and looked at her brother's basket full of herbs, and her heart was very happy, although she didn't pick much, but Xiaoxue picked so much, she could be proud.

She took out a black strip of cloth from her arms, turned to look at Zhao Xue, smiled slightly, and said, "Be good, don't resist." ”

Hearing this, Zhao Xue habitually tilted her head back, but the old man gently patted him on the back and said, "Listen to my sister." ”

Pouting, Zhao Xue's eyes rolled a few times, and she "handed over" her head, and the girl was satisfied: "This is good." ”

As she spoke, she covered him with a strip of cloth, which was a simple blindfold, although it was linen, but she washed it cleanly, no worse than those silk ones, and besides, she personally went to the nearby city and bought it for twenty yuan, which was the best.

Zhao Xue was a little unhappy, pursed her lips again, and said, "I don't want to wear this thing at all." ”

"Why?" the girl asked with concern, a hint of loneliness flashing in her eyes.

"Because I can't see my sister and grandfather clearly. "Zhaoxue has always been very honest.

Hearing this, the girl held the bamboo pole and made the bamboo raft far from the shore, as if she had eaten glutinous rice dumplings, sweet.

The bamboo raft gradually went down the river, and the young man's voice suddenly sounded: "Sister, let me help you." ”

"No, you're young. ”

"No, Xiaoxue has the strength now, you see......"

"Ah~ You put my sister down, my sister wants to hold the oars. ”

"Hey, hey. Zhao Xue's embarrassed voice sounded, "I just want my sister to know that Zhao Xue is capable of doing this now, and I have a lot of strength." ”

The girl lowered her head and said a sentence for a long time, "That's ...... Then you can't take advantage of your sister's inattention...... Just pick up my sister. ”

It was dark, and neither Zhao Xue nor the old man could see the girl's blushing face, and the girl pretended to be angry, and stomped her feet gently, and the bamboo raft shook slightly.

She threw the bamboo pole into Zhao Xue's hand, and said angrily: "Here you go, punish you for taking me and my grandfather home." ”

"Okay. Zhao Xue took the bamboo pole, her heart was overjoyed, and she hurriedly followed her sister's paddle and controlled the bamboo raft down the river.

The young man is born, and the bamboo raft is rickety.

"Forget it, I'll do it!"

......

The girl is an orphan picked up by the old blind man Niu in the process of taking Zhao Xue's bumps, a little more than three years older than Zhao Xue, when the old blind man Niu met her in the broken temple, she curled up in the deepest part of the corner where the old blind man was resting, with a pair of eyes against the hard steamed buns begging in Zhao Xue's hand, only longing.

The old blind man was kind-hearted, so he gave his steamed buns to the little girl, causing himself to be hungry for a day.

The next day they continued to walk north, not knowing where to go, and walked and walked to Yaoshan County in the northeast of Yun County, and this way, this little girl has been following them, following from afar, they stop, the little girl stops, they go, the little girl goes.

Once, they met a young lady from a large family who was doing good deeds to the poor who were wandering.

The two of them got porridge and steamed buns, and they were reluctant to eat the steamed buns and kept them.

At night they slept in a dilapidated house, and the little girl came in with her, and she knew that they did not want to take her, so she silently went to the corner, curled up on the cold ground, and went straight to sleep.

Zhaoxue wanted her grandfather to take her, but her grandfather said that they couldn't even support themselves, so who else could they take with them? No one knows how many people are dying in the peaceful and prosperous world, they are just a heavy pupil who everyone shouts and beats and can only hide everywhere, and the other is a lame old bone who is blind in one eye, and he doesn't know how many years he can live.

The little girl didn't get the steamed buns, so she could only go hungry. So a person goes to bed early, only when he falls asleep will he not feel cold, he will not feel hungry, if he can dream of his parents, maybe he can eat the white rice made by his mother.

But in the end, she still woke up, maybe it was hungry, maybe it was cold, maybe she didn't dream of her parents...... She couldn't find anything to eat, so she simply took advantage of the dark night to find some dead weeds around her and stuffed them into her mouth, whether it was delicious or not, as long as she could eat it.

Zhao Xue took advantage of her grandfather's late sleep, quietly crawled to his side, handed her the half of the steamed bun that was quietly left in her hand, and said with a smile: "Sister, you eat, I'm not hungry, I specially left it for you." ”

She looked at Zhao Xue with gratitude, and the weeds in her mouth fell out a little...... She was stunned, and Zhao Xue reached out on the clothes full of pudding, rubbed it, and reached out to help her remove the weeds from her mouth, he was very careful, knowing that his hands were not clean, so he did not touch the little girl's lips.

Zhao Xue smiled, a little silly.

The old blind man turned over, with his back to the two of them, not knowing whether he was awake or not.

Eating steamed buns, she cried silently, very happy, but she just wanted to cry, she couldn't help it, but she was afraid of waking up the sleeping cow old blind man, so she couldn't touch it and endured it.

The next day, the little girl and Zhao Xue got together, and the two had a good time, but the old and blind man didn't see it.

The little girl said that her name was Xing'er, the star of the stars.

At that time, Zhaoxue was six years old and the little girl was ten years old......

Their current home is a small mountain village by the Qujiang River in Yaoshan County, and they have no land, so they borrowed an axe and built a shack first.

Fortunately, Yaoshan County is doing the work of collecting medicine, Niu Lao Blind has some experience, so he collects medicine during the day, Xing'er never forgets, does work for other large merchants during the day, does everything, runs around all day, asks about some structures of the human ship in his spare time, and draws a picture of the appearance and construction method of the big ship in his heart in about ten days.

Not to mention, they really built a small boat, two floors, and it was moored in a place by the Qujiang River.

At that time, Xing'er was eleven years old, Zhaoxue was seven years old, and Niu Lao was a year older.

When I got home, it was already dark and the starlight was blurred, but it was also a little hazy when it shone on Qujiang, and Qujiang was even more beautiful and charming.

Xing'er kept the herbs in a box given by the Chamber of Commerce in the city, and then put them in a corner of the boat to seal them for preservation, and fished out a carp from the "fish pond" surrounded by fishing nets, and this was the dinner day.

Boiled fish, the water is ready-made, and the Qujiang water can be dry and clean.

Near midnight, the three of them gradually fell asleep, and after a hard day's work, they fell asleep not long after.

The day of the Qujiang medicine picker is to bring a little food in the morning, and then go up the mountain to collect medicine, which is generally a day.

ps: The scene at the beginning is taken from Lu You's "Six Words of Summer" The stream rises and the breeze blows, and the moon sets and the sky is full of stars. Several boats crossed the mouth of Pupu, and a whistle sounded in front of the mountain.