At this time, it is April, the spring flowers are blooming, the breeze is coming, the green that can be seen everywhere, comfortable and quiet, the river water begins to flow slowly with the ice, the mountains and ravines look so comfortable and safe when they wake up, and from time to time there are birdsong calls across the sky, through the clouds, over the earth, until they disappear into the towering mountains, the air exudes the fragrance of earth, which is the taste of spring.

Because the light rain kept falling, the road was a little slippery, and a young man came from afar, riding a tall horse, and the mud of the road made him unable to move forward, and it was inaccessible here, and there was no place to shelter from the rain, so the young man had to turn over and dismount, and tear off the hat on his body and drape it on the horse, and he could also block the luggage, and he looked like he was going to go out of the distance.

This person's surname is Li Mingfanyi, a native of Yan Guo, who lives in Longhu Mountain, and has followed his master to practice martial arts in the mountains since he was a child, and for some reason, in the past few days, the master drove him down the mountain.

Look closely at the young man in his twenties, his face is like a crown of jade, his eyes are like stars, his eight-character sword eyebrows, broad shoulders, straight back, and thin waist; Wearing a robe, a brocade belt around his waist, and a piece of fine jade flawless, stepping on white-soled satin boots, he looked at it as magnificent, elegant, clean, and neat. It is the talent who is in his prime, and the cardamom is a chic person.

The sky is still very gloomy, it seems that the rain will not stop for a while and a half, Li Fanyi can only lead the horse to continue to move forward, the muddy road is too difficult to walk, Li Fan hit a few stumbles and almost fell, after walking for a long time, he is already hungry and sleepy, and it is still raining, and his clothes are already soaked.

After walking for about half an hour, he vaguely saw a family in front of him, Li Fan didn't care about the possibility of wrestling, so he hurriedly walked three steps and two steps towards this house, and after a while, he came to the gate.

Li Fanyi stood in front of the door and stopped to watch, but a few simple thatched houses, surrounded by a fence wall, the courtyard was paved with a few bluestone slabs, due to the rain, the fog was thick on the mountainside behind the house, a dense scene, like a fairyland.

Li Fan muttered in his heart, wondering if there was anyone inside, looking left and right, but he didn't know what to do.

I thought to myself, this outside world is not good at all, the mountains are carefree, and they have never had sorrows, but now they are hungry and don't even have a place to shelter from the rain, and they want to escape from such a situation for a while, but how can they tell the master when they go back? Don't you sometimes yearn for life at the bottom of the mountain? I was getting closer and closer to Beijing, but I couldn't go back, so I had to cheer myself up, and tentatively shouted into the house: "Is there anyone?" Is there anyone in the house? ”

From time to time, an old man came out of the house, who looked to be about sixty years old, with silver-white hair, a slightly dark face with many wrinkles, a few sparse wisps of goatee, a slightly thin figure, and a little hunchbacked, but he looked very energetic.

The old man wore a hat on his shoulders, stepped on the bluestone slab and walked to the door, and asked Li Fanyi: "Young man, who are you looking for?"

Li Fan hurriedly bowed down and said: "Uncle, I came from Longhu Mountain, I want to go to the capital, see that the rain will not stop for a while and a half, and I hope that you will find a convenience, let me go in and take shelter from the rain for the time being."

When the old man heard what he meant, he looked Li Fan up and down, and saw that the young man was kind, polite and generous, not like a bad person, so he opened the door and said, "Oh, come in."

After speaking, the old man waved his hand, signaled Li Fan to go in, Li Fan thanked the old man, led the horse into the courtyard, found a place to shelter from the rain and bolted the horse, the old man got some forage for the horse, and then followed the old man into the house, the house was not big, only a few simple furniture, but very neat and clean.

There is also an old lady and a little girl in the house, the little girl is very cute, the little face is pink and red, maybe because of the thinness, it looks like the eyes are very big, the little girl saw Li Fan come in a little shy, and quickly got behind the old lady's body. The old man introduced: "This is the old man's wife and little granddaughter," and explained Li Fanyi's intention.

The old lady saw Li Fan come in and said, "Young man, your clothes are soaked, you wait a minute, I'll go find you dry clothes to change into."

As he spoke, he got up and went to find clothes, and the old man poured a bowl of boiling water for Li Fanyi, handed it over, and said, "Drink some water first, and drain the dampness and cold in your body."

Li Fan said: "Thank you, uncle, I hope I didn't bother you, I'm really sorry."

After drinking water, the old lady came over with the clothes she had found and said, "Young man, I don't know if this dress fits, you can change it first."

After Li Fan thanked him 10,000 times, he changed his clothes and sat down next to the stove, took his wet clothes and roasted them, and said, "Uncle, what kind of territory is this?"

The old man said: "This is the boundary of Qingzhou, and it will take half a day to ride a fast horse to the capital."

Li Fanyi said to himself: "Oh, after so many days, it's finally almost here."

Then he continued: "Uncle, I don't know what the capital looks like? Are the people there easy to get along with? ”

The old man laughed and said, "Young man, hearing you say this, it must be the first time to go out, right?" This capital is naturally full of people coming and going, lively and prosperous, and its own popularity is good, so it is naturally easy to get along anywhere, so you don't have to worry,"

The old man continued: "It's good to go out and walk more when you're young, which can not only broaden your horizons, but also train yourself. Don't worry about anything, what's to be afraid of, young people should have the courage to do what they should do. Don't blame me for speaking ugly, the old man looks at you but is a little cringe, then again, who hasn't come from ignorance and unknown,"

The eldest lady interjected on the side: "How can you talk to other people's children, can people still be worse than you?"

Li Fan said: "Auntie, to be honest, I also yearn for the bustling and lively scene in the capital, but the closer to the capital, the emptier my heart is, I should thank the old man for saying this to me, how much makes me feel a little confident,"

Li Fanyi then continued: "Uncle, are there only three of you at home? What about the child's parents? ”

When the old man heard this, he paused for a moment, bowed his head and said, "Life is not good," the old man sighed and continued: "Hey, I won't tell you, two years ago, my daughter-in-law here had a strange disease, and I have seen a lot of Langzhong, but they are helpless, and I have borrowed a lot of silver from relatives and friends, and after the silver is spent, I can no longer afford to take medicine." Just watched a big living person lose weight day by day, until he left, and the child was only two years old when he left. ”

The old man paused and continued: "But the life has to be passed, the fields planted can't produce much food in a year, and the taxes have been heavy for many years, and the old man's son is working outside, sometimes he is tired and tired, and the salary can't be paid, the people's hearts are not ancient, and the world is difficult," said the old man and wiped his tears, and the old lady hugged her little granddaughter tightly, and also wiped her tears.

As soon as Li Fan heard what the old man said, and saw this scene again, he regretted himself for a while, and he didn't know what to do.

Hurriedly put down the clothes that were about to be baked in his hand, got up and hugged his fists and said: "Uncle, old lady, I don't know the situation at home, I just care about talking nonsense, how do I know how to arouse the sad past of the second elder, how offended, and ask the second elder to bear with me."

The old lady kept wiping her tears and said with tears: "Young man, don't blame you, sometimes, this is fate, but my son and daughter-in-law, pity my little granddaughter,"

Li Fan said: "Oh, uncle, I heard that over the years, hasn't the imperial court been reducing taxes year by year?" Why is this the case? ”

The old man said: "Hey, the imperial court is exempting taxes, but the boundary of Qingzhou is looking for all kinds of excuses, increasing taxes year after year, the mountain is high and the emperor is far away, no one will tell you this reason, you can only live one day at a time,"

Li Fanyi didn't know how to comfort the elderly, although there are many truths in the world, they are just said to others, often immersive, and they may not be able to empathize, only cold and warm self-knowing. No one can understand the pain in the heart, and no one knows the pain in the heart, and the knots in the heart can only be solved by themselves.

For a while, the whole room fell into sadness and silence, no matter how beautiful the spring is, how wonderful the nature is, it can't resist the pessimism of the world. All we can do is to greet the rising sun and hope of tomorrow with confidence, and wish those who are alive happy and healthy, and those who leave no longer suffer and sorrow.

I don't know how long it took, the old man broke the silence: "Young man, you don't have to feel guilty, you are an outsider, you shouldn't tell you this." Our old couple are at this age, although they have not experienced strong winds and waves, but they have also crawled through the difficulties and ups and downs, and they should have seen a lot, but the most painful thing in the world is that the white-haired people send the black-haired people, which is really unpredictable. ”

Hearing what the old man said, Li Fanyi didn't know how to answer, and at the same time, he didn't know what to do. I just quietly looked at the fireworks in the stove and fell into deep thought. I thought in my heart, if I get fame one day, I must benefit the people, bless the world, and help the poor. Although he thinks so, he is a fledgling hairy young man, who knows the hardships of this world and the complexity of human feelings, and he can only understand this life and precipitate his own life after being baptized and polished in those years.

Time passed little by little, it was already evening, and it was still drizzling outside the window, at this time everyone's mood had returned to calm, and the stomach had reacted.

The old lady got up and prepared to get dinner, the old man prepared the fire, and Li Fanyi and the little girl chatted with each other.

After everyone had dinner, the old man took Li Fanyi to an empty room next door, laid a bed for Li Fanyi, and Li Fanyi followed the old man out to drink horses, fill up the night grass, tired for a day, returned to the house, and fell asleep.