From going out to dinner with Xia Bizhu at noon to the present, it has finally rained, and it is a heavy rain, as An Su expected, after the shower, the sky showed a smiling face again. Pen fun and pavilion www.biquge.info

Standing on the rooftop of the top floor, Ansu looked up at the sky and took a deep breath, she couldn't remember how long it had been since she had seen the clear sky after the afternoon shower, she missed it so much. Because it was like the smile in the depths of memory.

She just looked at the sky with infinite affection......

Ansu was born in a family of workers in a small county town in the province, and his father was a painter in a craft factory, specializing in painting bamboo and wood handicrafts. Her mother, Liu Hui, is a temporary worker in a craft factory, weaving bamboo and rattan crafts in the weaving workshop. Influenced by her father since she was a child, Ansu likes to draw and is quite talented. The craft factory has outgoing processing work, and the workers in the factory will take the work home to do. From the age of three, Ansu learned to hold a pen. In the evening, when Dad was working, she was holding a pen and drawing happily.

Five-year-olds are mostly carefree and don't know about sorrow. But the age of five was a watershed moment for Ansu. She lived happily until she was five years old. Although the family conditions are not very good, she is her father's little princess. After the age of five, she could only watch other children coddle in their parents' arms.

When she was five years old, Ansu's father died of illness. When my father died, the family was destitute. In order to treat his father's illness, all the things that the family could sell were sold. At that time, the young Ansu was still ignorant, watching the newly purchased black and white TV, the dilapidated three-purpose machine, the clothes and cars all being removed, and even the 28-inch bicycle that her father used to ride to and from work every day was pushed out and never came back, she couldn't help but worry about whether the few toys that her father bought for her would also be taken away.

A few months later, her toys were still there, but Dad never returned.

In the days when Dad first left, people always came to the house every day, didn't say anything, sat down, and then left with a sigh. After the people left, her mother hugged her and curled up on the bed and cried silently. Later, An Su learned that in order to treat his father's illness, in addition to selling his family's things, he also owed a few hundred yuan in foreign debts. At that time, a few hundred yuan was undoubtedly an astronomical amount for their family. Although their family lives in a house, the rent is low, but the mother and daughter's food, clothing, housing and transportation are a lot of expenses, and it is difficult to maintain the mother's meager salary every month, coupled with the instability of temporary workers, this once happy family has become stormy in an instant. There is no one in my mother's house, and there is no hope at all. The grandparents took out the coffin in order to treat their son, and they were also very poor. The kindergarten tuition fee of 25 yuan made my mother at a loss, and the money she borrowed before had not been repaid, and she was really embarrassed to borrow it again, and everyone knew that their family was unable to repay it, and they were not willing to borrow again. In the end, after my grandmother learned about it, she sold the two chickens in the house, turned over the cabinets and scraped together 30 yuan to send them over.

Before the Chinese New Year that year, Ansu was sent to her grandparents' house in the suburbs because her mother was going to remarry. The other party is a snack bar owner, he marries Ansu's mother and promises to pay off all debts for their family, on the condition that Ansu can't go with him. But they would cover her tuition, which Ansu's mother had fought for. In this way, since the age of six, Ansu has lived with her grandparents, and she can only see her mother three or twice a year.

The day before Ansu went to her grandparents' house, her mother put a new box of watercolor pens in her bag when she helped her organize her things. She said to her daughter: "Mom knows that you like to draw, so if you like it, you will continue to draw, and Mom will find a way to save money for you to continue studying." ”

Ansu suddenly grew up on that day and nodded sensibly.

Although the grandparents are not old, they have a bad living environment for a long time, and the loss of their only son has hit them very mentally, and they have suddenly aged a lot, and their grandmother has been sick for a long time. The old man was also reasonable, knowing that his daughter-in-law was still young, and the other party was also willing to help pay off the debt, so he supported his daughter-in-law to remarry and resolutely took on the responsibility of taking care of his granddaughter.

Grandpa Ann is a well-known duck commander in the village because he has twenty-four ducks. Whenever others asked him how many ducks he had, he always said "240,000 troops" in a bold manner. Don't underestimate these twenty-four ducks, they only lay eggs, and they are better than other people's duck eggs, which are the main source of income for the family. Grandpa Ann drove his army of 240,000 to the creek every day to let them feed on their own, while he himself went to the fields to dig earthworms. After driving back the 240,000-strong army in the evening, they had to wait for them to eat "tonics". The reason why Grandpa An's duck eggs are better than others lies in these "supplements". He disposes of the earthworms he digs up during the day and feeds them to the ducks. But there are also times when he is worried, that is, when he gets up in the morning to pick up duck eggs, if a few of them do not lay eggs, he will be in a hurry to squeeze the duck butts. Whenever this happens, Ansu always laughs out loud.

Grandma An is a well-known embroiderer in the village, often embroidering insoles, belly pockets, and straps for neighbors to take to the city to sell. But when you are old, even if you sit at the gate every day and keep embroidering, the output is limited. Therefore, the family relied on grandpa's 240,000 army, grandma's manual work, raising chickens and vegetables, and the pitiful subsidies given by the government. Although the days were hard, they did not starve or freeze.

Ansu is the spiritual pillar of her grandparents, and she loves and cares for her. Although she felt happy at her grandparents' house, she was also lonely. The children's playmates are all the same age, but the children in the village are reluctant to play with her because she has no father or mother. The old people in the village are superstitious, saying that Ansu's father is a short-lived ghost, and the family has lost the pillars of the family, and Ansu's mother remarried her husband before his bones are cold, and she is not a good woman. People who believe in this statement are reluctant to let their children play with Ansu. There are not many children in the village, and those who are the same age as An Su are unfortunately in the ranks of believing in bad luck.

After Ansu came to her grandparents' house, because the nearest kindergarten was far away, the elderly could not ride a bicycle, so it was really inconvenient to pick up and drop off. My mother discussed with my grandparents that Ansu would go to elementary school early next semester and no longer go to kindergarten. In this way, Ansu did not go to the kindergarten in the last half year, but followed her grandparents around every day.

This village is not big, there is only one way in and out of the village, and there are not many people in the village, so the living can be recognized at a glance. There is a mountain behind the village, which is not very high, and the road up the mountain is also very safe, and there are many trees, birds and butterflies on the mountain, and the children in the village love to play there. Especially in summer, the shady mountain roads are a paradise for children, and even three-year-old children will follow their older siblings up the mountain to play. There is a temple at the top of the hill called Myoho-ji Temple, which is more than 100 years old, and the village can hear the long bell every morning. There are not many monks in the temple, but the incense is prosperous. It is said that the bodhisattvas here are very spiritual, so they are famous far and wide, and even people from the city come to burn incense. Grandma is a devout Buddhist, and on the fifteenth day of the new year, she went to the temple to burn incense and worship the Buddha.

At first, Ansu was reluctant to go up the mountain with her grandmother. Because she doesn't think there's anything fun in the temple. Later, she was really bored, so she followed her grandmother up the mountain to burn incense.

For decades, my grandmother insisted on burning incense at the temple on the fifteenth day of the new year, and she would go up the mountain with the laymen to help when the temple held a puja, and the masters in the temple knew her. The temple is very large, the Daxiong Treasure Hall, the Medicine Buddha Hall, the Tianwang Palace, the Guanyin Pavilion, the Jizo Pavilion and so on, each pavilion and each hall burns incense, three kneels and three worships to worship the Buddha also takes a lot of time. If a pilgrim comes to worship and confess, the grandmother will reverently chant with the laymen in the Lotus Society.

The first time Ansu went up the mountain with her grandmother, it was not the first day of the new year or the fifteenth day, but the birthday of Guanyin on the 19th day of the second lunar month. She still clearly remembers that it was drizzling that day, and there was a hint of cold in the air, and her grandmother held a bamboo basket with an umbrella in one hand and led her little hand up the mountain with the other.

As soon as you enter the mountain gate, you can hear the low chanting sound coming from the Daxiong Treasure Hall, which is peaceful and sacred, so that the listener suddenly calms down, even the lively and active Xiao Ansu is no exception. On that day, many people came to the temple to worship, and An Su looked around curiously. After the grandmother delivered the basket of fresh vegetables picked from the field in the morning to the house, she led Ansu to the main hall to worship. The old man knew that his granddaughter was lively and active, and he was worried that she would affect the master's chanting in the main hall, so he let her play outside. An Su felt that the chanting was boring, and his heart was already ready to move. Grandma told her to pay attention to safety, not to run around, not to go out of the mountain gate. After listening to her grandmother's instructions, she ran out happily like a released pigeon.

Ansu didn't run out to play, but focused on what caught her attention as soon as she entered the temple. She likes the Buddhist ornaments, and she even looks at the costumes of the Bodhisattvas enshrined in the temple with relish. She carefully studied the ornaments on each Bodhisattva in each pavilion and hall, the embroidery on the incense table, the dragon gate tent, the treasure cover, the hanging flag, and so on. She had heard before that the table circumference on the incense table in the Daxiong Treasure Hall was embroidered by her grandmother and other embroidery experts in the village a few years ago.

If Grandma was on the side, she would definitely be stopped. At that time, everyone in the temple was busy with the puja, and no one noticed a child studying things in the halls that no one would normally pay attention to.

When An Su sat on the futon in front of the Jizo Pavilion and tugged at the table circumference on the incense table to study the bottom of the sky, her sleeves were gently ripped off. She looked back and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually a little monk, about the same age as herself, wearing a long gray monk's robe, white monk's socks, and gray monk's shoes, looking at her with a smile. She had never seen such a beautiful smile, as clear as the sky after a summer rain. She had never seen such clear eyes, like dew drops on lotus leaves in the early morning. She couldn't help but be stunned. From then on, whenever she saw the clear sky, she would always think of the little monk's smile. So much so that many years later, when she missed the smile of the little monk in the bustling city, she always looked forward to a rain in the afternoon.

After coming to the village for such a long time, this is the first time that a child has taken the initiative to approach her, which makes An Su feel very happy.

The little monk squatted down and shook his head at her with a smile. Suddenly, a faint scent of sandalwood wafted over.

Hey? This little monk has a fragrance. This discovery made her can't help but lean over her face and take a deep breath.

The little monk looked at him with a smile, then pointed to the table that she was still pulling and waved his hand.

Ansu asked him, "You mean this thing can't be touched, right?" ”

The little monk smiled and nodded, revealing his white and neat teeth.

Ansu obediently lowered the table circumference.

The little monk stepped forward to tidy up, folded his hands and bowed respectfully, then turned and stretched out his hand to her. This time she understood, it was to pull her up. She happily stretched out her hand and took advantage of the momentum to stand up.

The moment the two little hands shook each other, An Su's heart was instantly inexplicably happy, and it felt like a drizzle falling on his face in early spring and February, cold but not biting, as if mixed with a trace of refreshing fragrance. This is in addition to the clear smile and fragrance, the little monk gave An Su another feeling.

The little monk withdrew his hand, then folded his hands and pointed to the futon.

She knowingly asked, "You mean, you can't sit here, can you?" ”

The little monk still folded his hands and nodded.

Puzzled, she asked, "Why don't you speak?" ”

The little monk still folded his hands and shook his head with a smile.

She hesitated for a moment and asked, "You can't speak?" ”

The little monk did not nod or shake his head, but looked up at the Jizo Bodhisattva enshrined in the temple. No one knows what was going on in his heart at that moment? But Ansu saw a flash of sadness on his face. When he looked back again, his expression had regained clarity, and he nodded slightly.

An Su understood that he was a monk who could not speak, that is, what people often called mute. But she didn't like the word dumb very much, and she felt that it should not be used on the little monk in front of her. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel sad.

Before An Su could recover from his sad mood, the little monk had already turned around, as if he was about to leave. At that moment, she grabbed the sleeve of the little monk's robe. She didn't understand why she did it, she just did it so naturally. The little monk looked back at his sleeve that was being pulled, smiled faintly, thought about it, and took her hand to the mountain gate.

Although it is still in February, the snow-white pear blossoms on both sides of the long staircase at the entrance of the mountain have quietly bloomed on the branches. The drizzle has gradually subsided, and gradually turned into rain and dust drifting in the wind, and the mountains and forests are filled with smoke, like a fairyland. Closing his eyes, the faint fragrance of pear blossoms seemed to drift into An Su's young heart through the low chanting sound and the pleasant sound of the impact of the magic weapon.

"It's a long staircase!" When I came up with my grandmother in the morning, I realized that the grandparents and grandchildren were out of breath at that time, and they only cared about climbing the ladder and ignored the pear blossoms on both sides.

The little monk gestured to An Su with both hands.

"You mean, there are eighty-one stairs here?"

The little monk smiled and nodded

"Really? I count. ”

The little monk stood at the gate of the mountain, smiling as An Su walked down step by step, listening to her count as she walked.

"One, two, three, four, five...... Seventy-eight, seventy-nine, eighty, eighty-one......"

"It's really eighty-one!" An Su turned around and shouted happily at the little monk.

Although she was separated by eighty-one steps, she could still clearly see the little monk's breezy smile. In the mist and rain, the pear blossoms on both sides of the stairs are like two straight lines extending upwards, and at the end stands a clear and clear little monk, as if he only needs to turn around and enter the mountain gate, he can ride the wind straight into the sky......

"Ansu, Ansu."

Xia Bizhu's continuous calls pulled her back to reality.

Xia Bizhu smiled, "I knew you would be here." ”

Ansu turned around and asked, "Are those guests gone?" ”

Xia Bizhu smiled and nodded.

An Su said lightly: "Congratulations, this month's sales task was completed ahead of schedule. ”

Xia Bizhu said with a smile: "Naturally, I am happy to complete the sales ahead of schedule, and what is even happier?" ”

"Oh?"

Xia Bizhu was silent, obviously not going to say,

Ansu ignored her and looked up at the sky.

Xia Bizhu stood beside her, accompanying her to look at the clear sky.