He felt flustered, and he didn't know how to talk to people, let alone how to tell Suzuka. He's not even a quarryman, he's just a stone mushroom picker. The great joy of expecting to see her was mixed with the embarrassment of facing her, and he had no choice but to bury himself deeper into the crowd. Looking at Suzuka's every move in the chaos, Wen Jindu felt a lot more relieved.

But suddenly such a day became a luxury. Every first and fifteenth day of the new year, Wen Jindu would be surprised to find that there were a few fewer quarrymen. It's like a marmot hiding in a cellar that sees the tunnel where he is hiding is being dug up little by little, and every half a month, the hole doubles in size, and the sun pours in irrepressibly. If the cellar were completely excavated, the little marmot would have to face the sun on its own. He was not ready to face such a moment, but behind the panic, he was still secretly savoring a trace of ethereal sweetness.

Shanshangao is probably the largest village on the Huangyangling Mountains, and nearly half of the more than 100 households make a living from quarrying. Huangyangling is a branch of Nandui Mountain, and the terrain is also generally steep, and it is difficult to find a flat land that is the size of a palm. In the mountains, everyone grows yellow millet, and where there is a village, you can see small patches of yellow millet fields the size of a small house, all of which are terraced fields built with stones one by one. In the early years, there was a tour party in the foggy day to see the terraced scenery on the Huangyangling Mountain, written in the book, thought it was beautiful, in fact, behind this beautiful scenery is the mountain people extremely bitter days. Because it is not easy to farm, the families on Huangyangling are very scarce, and there are often no more than ten households in a village. If there are more than 10 households, it will be more difficult to find so many land seeds.

The terrain of the mountain is relatively flat, but it will definitely not be able to support hundreds of families. It's just that it just so happens that there is a Xiangshuitan nearby, and this Xiangshuitan happens to produce stones, and the rich families in Zhongzhou and Wanzhou happen to like waterstones, and the mountain col has become the most famous mountain village in Wanzhou. About half of the water stones of the entire eastern continent came from the mountain col of Huangyangling. He Zhen also produces stones, but the quarrymen on the mountain talk about the stones of Hezhen, and they are all disdainful. "And the town stone? The meaning behind "hehe......hehe" and "hehe" is to say, how can that quality be compared with the stone of Huangyangling?

When I first heard the stones of Beibi Mountain, the people on the mountain still looked disdainful. "North Stone? Haven't heard of it! In their simple thinking, there is probably no place where the water stone can be compared with Huangyangling, and the good stone in the mouth of the merchants is nothing more than a tool used to suppress the price. Seeing that they didn't believe it, the merchant who came to buy the stone shook his head, and when he came again, he took out a piece of yellowstone the size of a sea bowl from his skin, which was actually square, without any impurities, and so pure that it was intoxicating. Luo Jiu, the oldest quarryman on the mountain, held the stone and forgot to breathe for a while.

"Guess how much?" There was an indescribable melancholy in the merchant's smile. "Such a big stone ......" Luo Jiu hesitated, he had mined a stone all his life, and he had never seen such a good and big stone, "sky-high price......" "It's not sky-high." The merchant held out two fingers. 20,000 gold baht? Luo Jiu said in surprise, the stone quarried in a month on the mountain is almost to such a size, even if it is crushed stone, I am afraid that 20,000 gold baht will not be able to beat it. The merchant shook his head. "Two hundred thousand!" Luo Jiu breathed a sigh of relief, such a price did not have much impact on the stone on the mountain.

"Two thousand!" The merchant said through gritted teeth. Luo Jiu seemed to have been struck by thunder, his face was half black and half blue, and he pointed at the merchant and took a few steps back, speechless. "Lao Luo," the merchant put the yellow stone into his skin, "if it is a stone of 200,000 gold baht, I dare to bring it with me just to show you?" His smile was ugly, "It's all over!" Whether you are or we, today is the last business, and we have done our best for generations. Bei Bishi rushed in like this, and everyone had no way to live. ”

That was on the seventh day of last month. It is common for princes to fight, and for many years everyone thinks that this has nothing to do with Wanzhou, but this time the river network is also involved, and the market is suddenly full of extremely exquisite river products. The businessman said that Heluo does not need to quarry, they will refine, not to mention the size of the sea bowl, the bigger one can also be refined, in just half a year, the largest water and stone trading place in Wanzhou has moved from bluestone to the clouds. Buying stones is profitable, even if the businessman does not wash his hands, he will not change his career to sell steamed buns when he returns to Qingshi. The stone carvers of the jewelry workshop all ran to Huai'an and the clouds. Only the quarrymen on the hill, guarding a ringing pool, could do nothing.

The village is too big, if every family goes to quarry, Xiangshuitan will become a dumpling pool, not to mention that the leader can't agree. A maximum of twenty people can go to quarrying at a time. At the beginning of spring every year, each household draws lots to arrange the order of quarrying, and each family only needs to line up three or four times a year to ensure the cost of the whole year. On the first day of the Lunar New Year last month, Wen Jindu remembered that there were thirteen or fourteen quarrymen. But by fifteen, there were only seven left. Today is the first day of the new year, and it is almost noon, how many people will come? Wen Jindu looked in the direction of the village, the dirt road was quiet, there was no figure, and the clearing in the forest was quiet, only his heart was "pounding". Wen Jindu also heard the news brought by the businessman. It's just that in two or three days, the mountain col is as soft and quiet as a cramp, and there is no life.

He sighed, lowered his head, stared at the water stone in his palm for a moment, and the tip of the snowy knife jumped, and fell into the middle of his palm. "Brother Adu!" Wen Jindu was taken aback, his hand shook, and the tip of the knife lightly picked out a blood line on the edge of his palm. "Brother Adu!" This time he heard clearly, someone was pinching his throat and shouting. It must be Romison, no matter how good his ventriloquist is, how can he learn Suzuka's voice? It's Suzuka's breathing, and Wen Jindu can hear it.

"Ah Sheng, come out!" He shook the edge of his palm and said. With a "bang", a man jumped out of the bushes behind him. Luo Misheng's face did not have the embarrassment of being exposed, it was still the appearance of a hippie smile, "You can hear it......" He leaned in front of Wen Jindu, and wanted to say something naughty, but he saw the blood on Wen Jindu's hand at a glance, and he was so shocked that he forgot Fang Cai's words. "Oh, why are you so careless," he reached out to grab Wen Jindu's hand, "I saw blood, how can I go today?" ”

Wen Jindu hid his hand behind him in a panic, "It's a little broken, it's okay." "Are you alright?" Luo Misheng looked at Wen Jindu suspiciously. Unlike quarrymen, Wen Jindu is a stone picker. I heard that stone flesh is the most sensitive to blood, and it can't grow if it is stained with a trace of blood. "It's okay......" Wen Jindu said vaguely, his heart burning. If you cut your hand, you shouldn't be able to pick up stone meat. But if you can't go to Xiangshuitan, it means that you can't be with Suzuka this afternoon...... He was so anxious that the roots of his ears were a little red. "It's okay, it's okay." Luo Misheng seemed to see a little bit of Wen Jindu's eagerness. If Suzuka didn't have an opinion, he naturally wouldn't talk much, but his face suddenly became heavy, "Anyway, let's go!" I don't know when the next one will be. ”

"What's next?" Wen Jindu didn't understand. Luo Misheng looked around: "Adu, if my father hadn't forced me today, I wouldn't have come!" He took a deep breath, "In the past month, you have also seen that all the young and strong people in the village have come down the mountain!" The stone is worthless, everyone has to find a way to live. My father is too old and too dead, and I will pick it again today, just to reassure him. He patted Wen Jindu on the shoulder, "I will also go to Huai'an in two days, Xiaoshan They said that there is still pearl diving work on the beach." Those rivers may not even be able to refine pearls!" He laughed as he spoke, and there was something indescribable in his laughter.

"There are no more quarrymen!" Wen Jindu let out a sigh of relief. There was no quarryman, only a stone picker. It's so big that there are only two of Suzuka and him in a big waterhole. "If there is no quarryman, how can the leader live?" Romison shook his head. "I ......" Wen Jindu said the word "I" at the mouth, his face turned blood-red, but he couldn't say the following words. Luo Misheng stared at Wen Jindu: "Suzuka is a good girl, but ...... She's the leader! Adu, ah......" He suddenly stopped, and saw Wen Jindu's eyes showing indescribable bitterness.

Wen Jindu looked down at the ground, the shadow under his feet shifted slightly, and when he raised his head, he met Luo Misheng's gaze again, and both of them were equally surprised: Suzuka was actually late. "Don't be ......" Wen Jindu suddenly panicked, what if Suzuka is sick? At the thought of it, a layer of sweat appeared on the door of his head. Luo Misheng also felt strange, and was about to say wait a little longer, when he suddenly heard something, and a smile flowed on his face. Walk through the fragrant pine

"Get your hands out." Suzuka pinched his waist with both hands and said to Wen Jindu very powerfully. Wen Jindu was stunned for a moment, and honestly stretched out the hand hidden behind his back to Suzuka. Suzuka leaned over to look at it with a straight face, and his serious expression made Wen Jindu, who was a whole head taller than her, couldn't help but shrink his neck, making Luo Misheng want to laugh.

"It's so deep!" Seeing Wen Jindu's wound, Suzuka exclaimed in surprise and eagerly grabbed Wen Jindu's palm.

Although it is only a slight touch on the tip of the knife, the wound is not shallow. On the day of quarrying, Wen Jindu only did two things in the morning: sharpened his already sharp stone picking knife so that it would shine in a place where there was no sunlight; When I really couldn't grind anymore, I began to carve something mysteriously. The sharp stone picker slid across Wen Jindu's hand, and at first he could only see some blood, but then the wound opened open, and the red blood flowed out.

"It's fine." Wen Jindu's face was ugly, "It'll be better soon." As he spoke, he pulled his hand back vigorously. Of course, it won't be fine, there are many rules for going to the Xiangshuitan, and not seeing blood is the biggest one. It's not just because the stone flesh is stiff when it encounters blood, but mainly because the painting is jealous of blood, if you smell the smell of blood, you hide at the bottom of the pool and refuse to come out, and you can't quarry stones. It turned out that Wen Jindu thought that he could get away with it, but when he saw the blood flowing like this, he also knew in his heart that the chance was really slim. The days that he had been looking forward to for half a month passed by like this, and he didn't know what it was like in his heart, so he just stared at Suzuka's skirt, and his heart sank coldly.

Luo Misheng's face changed, and he said loudly: "Suzuka, Suzuka......" called "Suzuka" twice, but couldn't say anything. Suzuka realized that he had been holding on to Wen Jindu, and hurriedly let go of his hand and took two steps back, his face flushed. She wrenched her hands helplessly, and muttered, "Brother Adu, I'...... I'm so anxious......

The leader of the mountain is a very special role. They are not only guarding this sounding pool, but also the shadow in the pool. Since ancient times, the Feng family has been guarding the edge of the pond for generations because of a mysterious agreement, which is probably earlier than the first mountain people to settle in the mountain pass. No one can tell the ins and outs of the painting, but in the legend of the mountain village, this life that guards great wealth can bring endless disasters to the world. The leader himself is a clear proof, as if to fulfill some curse, no one has died peacefully, no matter how old or young, the end of the leader is always a bizarre death.

The hundreds of families on the mountain rely on the guide to go to the pond to quarry, and they willingly provide the guide with food for daily use, and when they see the guide, they have to bow their heads to give way. But behind respect is a deep fear. Perhaps, the meaning of the offering is to ask the leader to bear the calamity of the painted shadows, since there is such a mysterious contract between them.

There is an unwritten rule in the mountain pass: the leader does not come to the village, and the villagers do not go around the leader's hut. A small mountain beam completely separates the mountain col and the Xiangshuitan into two worlds. In fact, everyone in the village is familiar with the guide. Quarrying twice a month, what adult man hasn't walked with a guide? But no one dared to come within arm's length of the leader. Physical contact is even more taboo, if the person in the col is touched by the leader, it is great bad luck. Legends and rumors thrive on the mountain, making it impossible to distinguish the line between truth and imagination. Suzuka's father died young, and he took over the role of leading the way at a young age.

In terms of age, most of the quarrymen are Suzuka's elders, and everyone feels sorry for this little girl, and they talk and laugh casually, and there are fewer taboos than before. But Suzuka grabbed Wen Jindu's hand like this, and Luo Misheng couldn't help but be frightened. Wen Jindu's face was even redder than Suzuka, and he just withdrew his hand just because he was worried that he couldn't go quarrying with Suzuka, where would he think of this section. Seeing Suzuka's self-blame, a heart was as soft as mutton fat that had seen the sun, sticky and flowed into his stomach, and it hurt to touch any piece.

He was stupid, and at this time he would only stammer, "No, no...... It's okay, it's okay......" raised his two hands, eager to put them back into Suzuka's hands, but he was too shy to dare.