"Okay!" Xiao Bao'er smiled, wiped away the tears on her mother's face, stretched out her white and tender left little thumb, and smiled innocently: "Pull the hook!"

"Pull the hook!" Sister Liu stretched out her little thumb and hooked it with her daughter, and Xiao Bao'er began to read: "The hook is not allowed to ......change for a hundred years when it is hanged."

Xu Daoyun knocked on the wooden bowl with the chopsticks in his hand, and found that most of the dishes and chopsticks furniture in Sister Liu's house were peach wood, which was also exquisite, of course, because the peach blossom forest was full of peach trees.

Peach, the essence of the five trees, also known as the fairy wood, has the magic of the town house to ward off evil spirits, exorcise ghosts, according to legend, praise the father day by day, thirst and death, turned into a peach forest.

Although the peach wood this time is not as good as the fairy wood of Cangshan, but because of this, there are treasures in the world, gathering the aura of heaven and earth, and the peach wood is also more affected by the psychic perception, and the wooden swords made are also superior.

Most of the local villagers make a living by selling peach wood or making peach wood furniture, and the Taoist priests of Qingyang Temple also have many contacts with the residents here.

......

After eating, Sister Liu reluctantly took Xu Daoyun's hand and said, "I'm going to leave so soon, why don't you stay for two more days?"

Uncle Craftsman also said: "Yes, don't leave in a hurry, the people of our village are preparing to hold a feast, thank Dr. Ma for saving the sick children in the village, you can stay for two more days." ”

Xiao Bao'er also came up and hugged Xu Daoyun's thigh, and said reluctantly: "Big brother, stay and accompany Bao'er more, okay?"

Xu Daoyun didn't know how to solve such a warm invitation in front of him, so he threw all the problems to Tie Niu, who also wanted him to solve the problem: "Tie Niu, what about Sister Liu, answer you." ”

Tie Niu was stunned for a moment, and then politely refused: "Sister Liu, I understand your intentions, but we are still in a hurry to go to Qingping Mansion, and we really can't delay any longer." ”

Xu Daoyun nodded and agreed: "Yes, just in case, it's better to leave as soon as possible." ”

"Hey. Sister Liu sighed and said, "Okay, since you have made up your mind, then I won't force you to stay." It's a fool's errand to hit the road early, so you wait. She ran into the room, and after a long time, she took out six stacks of oil paper bags and stuffed them to Xu Daoyun and Tie Niu, and said with a smile: "Come, this is Sister Liu's own pickled beef and mutton, you can take it to eat on the road." ”

"How embarrassing is this, thank you, Sister Liu. Xu Daoyun was polite in his words, but he had already reached out and taken the oil paper bag, and it was quite weighty, about four or five catties.

Sister Liu said: "Haha, what's polite, our family's Bao'er was saved thanks to your risky collection of herbs." Ay... I wanted you to stay a few more days, and I could entertain you well, but since you were in a hurry, there was no way. ”

Xu Daoyun asked, "Sister Liu, do you know who sells horses around here?"

"Horse?" Sister Liu thought about it carefully and ordered: "Oh yes, craftsman, you take the two sons to Uncle Wang, and tell others that I introduced them, and the price must be fair." ”

"Okay, don't worry, the hostess. The dyeing workshop guy nodded, pushed open the courtyard door and walked out, and promised: "Don't worry, boss, I will definitely ask Uncle Wang to give a fair price." ”

"Good. Sister Liu nodded and instructed, "Two sons, be careful on the road." ”

"Okay, don't worry!" the two walked out of the courtyard and followed Uncle Craftsman towards the village.

After a short time, a few people came to the outside of a stable, and Uncle Craftsman opened his voice, and a voice as imposing as his sturdy appearance came out: "Uncle Wang, someone has come to buy a horse!"

"Come on. An old man with a white sweat towel around his neck came out from under the roof of the stable, he recognized the person at a glance, and greeted warmly: "It turned out to be the craftsman of the Liu family." He glanced at Xu Daoyun and the others who were following the man, and said with a smile: "Old man, if I guess correctly, these two teenagers should have come to buy horses." ”

Uncle Craftsman was honest, and he said the words that the proprietress explained to him: "The proprietress of my family said that you should give a fair price, and the herbs that Dr. Ma gave to the children in the village were picked back by them, and they are benefactors, so they must give a fair price!"

Uncle Wang wiped his sweat with a dyed white towel, picked off the grass residue on his body, waved his hand and smiled: "Hey, Liu Yatou is really, Uncle Wang, can't she believe it, and she has to make a special trip to let your stubborn stone come to me?"

He patted his chest and continued: "Don't worry, it's not for Liu Yatou's face, only they are the life-saving benefactors of the children in the village, my horses here, don't make more money, how much money buys and how much you pay, absolutely not to you, what?"

Uncle Craftsman gave him a thumbs up: "Uncle Wang, I'll tell the proprietress when I go back." ”

"Yes, if you don't say anything, it's just to repay me, I'm afraid of you, the more you smear, the blacker it gets, and it will cause me Liu Yatou's grudge. Uncle Wang pushed Uncle Craftsman away, which shows that the relationship between the two of them is very good.

Uncle Wang is a lot old, and he has to take care of the horses in the stable every day, and he can't stand the forage and everything he moves. Uncle Craftsman is honest, kind-hearted and simple-hearted, and every evening he is busy with the affairs of the dyeing workshop, and when he comes back from here, he will help Uncle Wang carry the forage back to the stable.

Later, every time Uncle Craftsman came back from his busy work, he would see Uncle Wang moving forage. And when Uncle Wang saw him coming, he would throw a bag of home-brewed rice wine to him, which was regarded as a reward. Then, without saying anything, the two of them carried a large pile of hay into the stable.

Over time, Uncle Wang got to know this honest man from other places, although he was a round older than him, the two got along very well.

Uncle Wang did not marry a wife, he had no children and no daughters under his knees, he was alone in the New Year's holidays or something, although he had the money to buy good wine and food, but he was the only one who ate, and it was inevitable that he would be lonely and tasteless.

Since the village moved to Uncle Craftsman, Uncle Wang's life no longer seems to be so passable and meaningless. Every time I celebrate a festival or something, I will buy a lot of good meat, and personally call Uncle Craftsman to eat at home, saying that it is to repay him for his hard work every day to carry forage back and forth.

In fact, the old man was lonely in his old age and wanted to find someone to talk to, and the craftsman was the old man who was forgotten by Uncle Wang in his later years......

Uncle Wang led the three of them to the stable, pointed to the thirteen tall horses, and asked with a smile: "What's the matter, little brother, your Uncle Wang's horse is okay." ”

"What a good horse!" Xu Daoyun's eyes couldn't help but shine, he had walked through many places and seen a lot of handsome horses, but at this moment he was also surprised by the horses raised by Uncle Wang, who were exceptionally handsome, agile and fast, and very good.

Uncle Wang touched the first brown-haired horse at the head of the line, and said proudly: "Hey, the two of you are right, Uncle Wang, I don't have anything else, but the ability to raise horses handed down by this ancestor is still passable." My great-grandfather, that is a horse raised in the county guard of Yuan'an County, and he also became an official. ”

He put one hand on Mulan, held a horse forage in his mouth, and sighed: "It's a pity that the good times didn't last long, my grandfather offended someone in Yuan'an County, and that person's father-in-law was a red man next to the county guard, and his power was monstrous." I think that although my great-grandfather was also an official, he was just a horse breeder in the end, how could he be taken seriously by those people in the county guard's mansion? No one wants to offend the red people around the county guard for the sake of a mere horse breeder, isn't that digging his own grave?"

Uncle Wang turned his resentment into a smile and said: "But it's okay, it's just that I was deprived of my official position and expelled from it, and in the end I saved my family's life, so I ended up in this small mountain village." After losing his official position, he also lost his court, and although his grandfather was reluctant, he had to manage the family business and support the family. So he started raising horses again, not to mention, his grandfather's skill in raising horses is really good, ordinary people only think that they can grow tall and strong when they are fed with grass and water every day, and they can grow tall and strong when they are full, but in fact, they are completely wrong. ”

Uncle Wang opened the conversation box and continued to tell his story: "Actually, in this village, there are ordinary people who are engaged in farming, where will anyone need horses? At that time, there was a famine, and the money that my grandfather had accumulated for many years as a big official was first used to raise horses, and then there was no business. ”

"Coupled with the famine, my grandfather had no choice but to kill horses to satisfy his hunger. The horses were also smart, and thought that the horses that had been taken away were fine, and it was strange to say, very spiritual, and the third time when the grandfather had to come to the stable again to kill the horses, as soon as the wooden fence was opened, the horses went crazy and knocked down their grandfather and rushed out, and scattered in a hurry. ”

"My grandfather was old at that time, and his legs and feet were inconvenient because of rheumatism, so where could he catch up? ”

Uncle Craftsman became interested and asked, "What happened later?"

"Later, maybe I really accumulated yin virtue in my previous life. Uncle Wang said excitedly: "The city guard of the nearby Jiling City was ordered to exterminate the bandits in the chaotic stone mountain and fire village, because the famine was serious, these bandits who had lost their conscience were still burning and looting everywhere, and there was a lot of grain, grass and money stored in the village. However, the castle keeper paid the price for his arrogance, fell into the treacherous tricks of the bandits, and the escort team led by him was completely wiped out, and he was also shot in the left shoulder by a bow, and escaped down the mountain with his life saved by the desperate resistance of the guards. There are bandits chasing after him, he thought he was going to die under the knife, but he ran out of a horse in the woods, he was too happy to see it, and immediately turned over on the horse, although there are many bandits, but after all, there are only two legs, how to run a good horse?"

"The horse came to our village with the city guard, and came to my grandfather, who had been nurtured by the way of a doctor since he was a child, and had great compassion in his heart, even if the rice jar at home was empty, he still took out a few wound medicines to cure him, and also took out only a few catties of horse meat to entertain him. The city guard came back from the dead, walked at the ghost gate, was grateful to his grandfather, and frankly told him the identity and the ins and outs of the matter. ”

Although the two are one or two years apart, they are still friends. He invited his grandfather to live in the castle guard, but his grandfather was unwilling to live in a place related to the imperial court because of the great injustice of the year. The castle guard did not force him to stay, and after returning to the ridge, he sent people to send grain, grass and money, which helped his grandfather's family survive the famine. Later, the city guards adopted their hearts, recruited troops and horses, and then attacked the fire village, breaking it in one fell swoop. ”

He did not monopolize the grain, grass and money accumulated in the village, but gave alms to the people, and the famine of that year was all survived by the great guards of the city of Jiling. But he still did not forget the grace of saving his life, and every year he sent people to his grandfather to buy good horses for use in battle, or to introduce them to the dignitaries in the city, in short, the business was so good that he was busy all day. ”

Uncle Craftsman asked again, "What happened later?"

Uncle Wang sighed and said: "People will change, and the moon will be lacking." No morning sun lasts a whole day. ”

Xu Daoyun felt that this Uncle Wang was very interesting, and he spoke as if he was talking a story, only to hear Uncle Wang sigh sadly, and continued: "After all, my grandfather is old, and he will leave after five or six years, but he has no regrets. There is a son and a daughter under his knees, and his daughter was introduced by Lord Cheng Shou and married to a scholarly family in the city of Mojiling, and his son was also a matchmaker of Lord Joling, and he took the daughter of the owner of the largest tailor shop in Moling. This day is also comfortable, year after year, the world changes, and the days have changed from the original wealth and idleness, to the way I am now. But it's also very good, I raise horses now, I don't have to worry about food and clothing, and I live a free life, which is better than being angry with other people's birds outside. ”

Xu Daoyun heard the indignation in his tone, and asked, "Uncle Wang has ever gone outside to beg for a living before?"

"Not really!" Uncle Wang smiled: "I was still young at the time, probably three or two years older than you." My dad also inherited my grandfather's horse raising skills, but I don't like to raise horses. ”

He scratched his head and said ashamedly: "Hehe, at that time, with my enthusiasm, I was unwilling to stay in such a small place and raise horses for a lifetime." I think the two heroes are extraordinary, they should be going to Qingping Mansion to participate in the selection of the Zhongmiao Xuanmen, right? Hehe, I have already guessed that I was like you at the beginning, thinking that I could join any of the hundred families, and from now on I will fight the sword world and live freely. ”

Uncle Wang said in frustration: "It's a pity, my qualifications are not good, I was eliminated before I passed the first level, but I damn it and have a good face, I don't want to just come back so gray and let the old man be buried, so that the people in the village look down on me, so I want to make a name for myself and return to my hometown, and I won't let people look down on me when the time comes." ”

"But I still overestimated myself, or underestimated the hardships outside, and finally found a job as an inn junior, and ran away because I offended people within a few days. In the end, I really had no choice, hungry, wearing a tattered shirt that had only been changed and washed once for dozens of days, carrying the pig's head meat bought with the last few pieces of broken silver, and went home in disgrace. ”