Haizhou, "the state of the East China Sea", traces can be traced back to 10,000 years ago, more than 2,000 years ago, the city was built more than 2,000 years ago, 1,500 years ago, since ancient times, it is the place where the mountains and the sea are pillowed, and Zhong Lingyu is beautiful.

Chapter I

There is a saying that "the people are precious, the community is secondary, and the monarch is light", but how many princes and princes of the past dynasties will regard the common people as the noble?

The 10th year of the Republic of China, the year is in Xinyou, it is the 3rd day of August of the year coincides with the 30th day of the 6th month of the lunar calendar, and the first congress of the Communist Party of China after twists and turns finally ended successfully on an inconspicuous painting boat in Nanhu, Jiaxing. It was also on the same day that in an inconspicuous Guwei village in the southeast of Banpu Town, Guanyun County, Haizhou, the ancient city, a family of snake catchers surnamed Shi who was too small to be small also gave birth to a new life, boy, the whole family was naturally very happy!

The baby's father's name is Shi Dakai, which is quite similar to the name of Shi Dakai, the winged king of the "Taiping Tianwen", and the Shi family was also troubled by the Qing Yamen because of the suspicion of banditry and anti-Qing Dynasty, but since the revolutionaries pulled up the "republican" banner uprising, they have no time to care about such idle matters as names.

Early in the morning of June 30, Shi Zhushi, the daughter-in-law of Dakai, felt a faint pain in her stomach, and after dinner, the pain became even more and more painful.

At this time, the Huai River area in northern Jiangsu is in the midst of heavy rain, which has been intermittent and intermittent for several months, and this record may not be broken for hundreds of years. And for the past ten days and ten hours, the rain has not stopped. Although Haizhou is adjacent to the sea in the east, the flood is difficult to retreat for a while, and the stagnant water is thigh-deep, and you can easily shuttle back and forth by setting up a small bamboo raft. Coincidentally, in the afternoon of this day, the rain gradually stopped, and Dakai asked his father and mother to take care of his daughter-in-law at home, and he hurried to Nantou Zhang Village to ask for a stable wife. Although the Wen Po is only three or four miles away from the Shi family, the water is too deep today, and it really takes a lot of effort to make a round trip.

Dakai's father, Lao Shi, looked anxiously at the main road at the head of the village from time to time, and listened to the heart-rending cries of his daughter-in-law in the house, and his heart became even more anxious. His wife, Shi Yushi, has been comforting her daughter-in-law in the room: "Bear with me a little longer, Wen Po will be here soon." ”

After a long wait, the old stone finally saw two figures swaying on the road, and shouted straight into the house: "Coming, coming, at the intersection of the road!" ”

At this time, Da Kai was also anxious, I didn't know what happened to my daughter-in-law, so I could only walk anxiously in the water with Wen Po, one young and one old, one after the other, and the reflection of the two kept writhing with the water waves raised by each foot. Just after noon, the sun was very hot, but fortunately, a few scattered trees with leaves hanging on the roadside could still shade the two of them from time to time.

Finally arrived at Shi's house, several people got busy, boiling water, preparing cloth bags, preparing midwives, the division of labor was clear, and they were not in a hurry. After a little effort, the child fell to the ground, and the mother and child were safe.

Wen Po took a look, this child is a little lean, but his skin is quite white, and his hair is black and shiny, especially those big eyes, he can look directly at people when he is born, as if he can see through the whole person or the whole world. Strange to say, the child neither cried nor made a fuss, but just raised the corners of her mouth, and a smile of gratitude was evident in her wrinkled face.

Wen Po was stunned at this time, and said to the Shi family: "I have been delivering babies for almost 30 years, and it is the first time I have seen such a special child, and this will definitely be different from ordinary people when he grows up." ”

The old stone was just busy with his work, and then he remembered to smoke a bag of dry tobacco, and he grabbed the tobacco while taking over the words of Wen Po and said: "These days, we don't want to get ahead, just want to be safe!" ”

"Yes, yes, yes, that's what my brother said! Just be safe! The woman chimed in.

The child has landed safely, and the old stone asked Dakai to take out some ocean and send it to Wen Po, and continued to smoke the cigarette pouch and said: "We only have these grass pillows to tear down the red, no better than the high pillow people have good money, and I hope it is not strange." Today is a bit of a hurry, the family is busy arguing, and they don't bother to prepare other things. Wait until you boil the red eggs another day, and then ask the old woman to send you some. ”

Now that Wen Po has already received the demolition, she is naturally very happy: "Brother is a little out of sight when he says this, this year is in chaos, and life is not easy!" I have been delivering babies for more than 20 years, and when I meet those poor families, let alone look at the money, they sometimes don't even accept other people's money. I'll accept this red today, thank you brother! ”

After Mrs. Wen told the Shi family to take care of the mother, Dakai sent her to the road. Although it was a large road, it was also flooded to the depth of the calf. When you come, you are in a hurry, and then you will look carefully at both sides of the road, the small ditch has long been so diffuse that you can't find the edge, the water in the crop field is flooded deeper, and the stick straw that is one person high in the stick field has been flooded by most of it, leaving only the whiskers panting, soybeans, mung beans or something have long been overflowed, and they have been flooded for a few days, and the water will not recede I am afraid that there will be no harvest at all.

Da Kai watched Wen Po leave cautiously, and told her to be careful on the road and not to slip. Wen Po turned back to Da Kai and said, "Big young man, don't worry, it's only afternoon, the sun is still high, I'll just walk slowly, you can go back and see your son quickly." ”

Just after walking back for a while, he suddenly felt a white light passing not far from the right, and shook his eyes. Da Kai didn't care at first, after all, there was water all around, and from time to time some big fish shuttled through it, and the white scales were as big as a palm, and it was normal for a reflection to shine in the eyes. But after walking for less than two steps, the light flashed in its place again, and out of curiosity, he jumped over to find out.

When I looked closer, it turned out to be a rabbit on the reeds, its fur so white that it could reflect the sun's rays, and one of its feet seemed to be entangled in something, and the other foot was thrashing in the water, trying to break free. When he opened it and looked closely, there was a chain snake three feet away from the rabbit, which looked almost four feet long, spitting out a letter and staring at the white rabbit with his eyes.

Seeing such a scene, if it were someone else, he would be extremely frightened, but when he saw it, he was not afraid, but his heart became happy: he had seen a three-foot-six, seven-year-old fire chain snake for the longest time, and today was the first time he had seen such a long one, and since his daughter-in-law was pregnant, he had not gone far away, and he had not caught a snake for a while, and his hands were itchy. Naturally, this chain snake will not take the initiative to eat rabbits, presumably because the rabbit is afraid, and the sound of plopping and kicking water annoys it.

The chain snake must have smelled the snake catcher, and wanted to turn around and flee. Seeing this, Dakai picked up a small branch, quickly reached over and picked up the snake first, and when the snake was picked out of the water and thrown into the air, he stepped forward, pinched the snake's head firmly with his right hand, and then wrapped the snake's body around his shoulder, and the snake obediently obeyed.

Looking at the rabbit on closer inspection, it turned out that its legs were entangled in a bunch of lara vines. He grabbed the rabbit's two ears and pulled it with his foot, and then tore off the lara vine.

After getting it done, Dakai grabbed the fire chain snake in one hand and the rabbit in the other, and walked home triumphantly, feeling beautiful in his heart, which may be the feeling of killing two birds with one stone. When I arrived at home, even my father, Lao Shi, was taken aback, and he had caught snakes for almost forty years, not to mention that he was in this vicinity, and even in the whole of Haizhou, he had never seen such a long fire chain snake! The old stone took the snake, picked up the scimitar, raised the knife in his hand, divided the snake by two in three strokes, and solved the snake in a few strokes, and the technique was extremely skillful.

Dakai took the rabbit to the house, and thought that he would also slaughter and stew some broth for his daughter-in-law to make up, but Shi Zhushi saw that the rabbit was white and quite spiritual, so he said that he had just had a son today, and it was inconvenient to kill for himself, so it was better to wait for the water to recede and release it in a few days, which could be regarded as accumulating virtue and doing good. Although Dakai was not very willing, it was not worth upsetting his daughter-in-law about this, and his mother Shi Yushi was also on the side to help her daughter-in-law talk, so he put the rabbit in the basket.

The rabbit said strangely, he didn't go anywhere, but jumped straight to the bed, and actually lay down next to the child, and the child also opened his eyes and stared at the rabbit, and the corners of his mouth were raised, showing a smiling expression.

"It seems that this rabbit is destined for our son!" Shi Zhushi looked at the scene in front of him and said.

At this time, Da Kai picked up his newborn son and said: "The small body is a little weak, these years are in chaos, and it is not easy to raise a child!" ”

Shi Zhu had just given birth to a child, and his body was very tired, so he lay on the couch and whispered: "If it's not good to raise, you have to raise your son well!" Fortunately, I can still catch some snakes and sell them to make up for my family, otherwise it would be even more difficult for this day. She paused for a moment, and then said to Dakai, "Daddy, go and ask his daddy to name the child!" ”

After a bag of cigarettes was smoked, he knocked the mouth of the big tobacco pouch to the wall, as if he had an answer, and said while collecting the tobacco bag: "This child is a little lean, I hope that when he grows up, his body can be stronger, and he will stand up to the sky, so he will be called 'Stone Pillar', and his nickname will be called Pillar." ”

"Well, that's a good name!" Except for the newborn baby who didn't squeak, the other three adults of the Shi family all agreed with the name.

The old stone then said: "I just thought about it, if you want to live a better life, let's go to Mangdang Mountain to catch the big black python after the spring next year!" ”

"It's good, it's too dangerous to catch the big snake, I heard that the snake can also do some witchcraft. Although life at home is difficult, it can still get by, if there is an accident in the big snake, it will be more than worth the loss! I've heard that many people tried to catch the snake, but they were killed by the snake. Shi Yushi took over the conversation, with twelve points of disagreement in his voice.

Da Kai was unhappy on the side: "My mother, what are you afraid of, those people were killed by the big snake because of the kung fu of the three-legged cat." No matter how powerful this snake is, it will not have a head, and with our family's ability to catch snakes for generations, it will definitely be no problem to catch it. Besides, even if you can't catch it, you can get out of it with your whole body, and you won't lose your life. Next year I'm going to take the lead and see how it goes......"

"Well, but the black python in Mangdang Mountain is really not easy to mess with. You have to work harder, and learn more about catching snakes, there is a lot of knowledge here. I'll teach you when I'm not busy, and there's no harm in learning more! Old Stone said.

At this time, the sun has set outside, the heavy rain has just stopped, and the sunset is reflected red by the setting sun, like a beautiful picture, with bright colors, which makes people full of expectations for the future life.

Shi Yu's family was busy with dinner, and the family was very tired today, so they all lay down early to rest after eating. The night was very quiet, and naturally the moon did not come out, except for the occasional sound of water as the fish moved through the yard, and then the cry of a child. Breastfeeding, cooking dinner, changing diapers, these are naturally the business of the two women.

After three days, the water finally receded, and the large and small roads showed their original outlines, but the weeds on the edge of the ditch were soaked for a few days, and they had already shown their defeat. At this time, snails can be seen crawling everywhere on the road, in the fields, and on the crop poles, and they come out of nowhere. Many people in the village come early in the morning with a small fish basket to pick it up, and when they get home, they smash the shell, wash the mucus with a little salt water and fry it, or cut it and cook it in rice - snails are a good delicacy in such a time when food is scarce.

Dakai looked outside, and estimated that the rabbit could also have a way to live, so he discussed with his daughter-in-law and released the rabbit. The rabbit jumped a few times, looked back and opened up, and another burst of white light shook his eyes, and by the time he looked again, the rabbit had long since disappeared into the grass.

After a few bags of cigarettes, the old man in the village sent someone to call the old stone over, saying that he was counting the crops with everyone. When Lao Shi arrived at Master Ding's house, there were already many people here, and they were all long-term and short-term workers who often worked for Ding's family.

After everyone arrived, the housekeeper Ding Dali said to everyone: "You have all seen that the water has been blistering for several days, and many crops have died. Now I see that it's going to be the beginning of autumn.,It's a little late.,Today it's a lot of people to replant something.。 ”

These people are experts in work, squatting there and smoking dry tobacco, you say a word to me, anyway, in the end, it is too late to replant soybeans, sticks and reeds, it is better to plant some eggs and yams, and you can also order two rows of mung beans on the edge of the field, and you can collect some things more or less. Steward Ding finally said to everyone: "Okay, that's it." This time is too early or late, let's do it this afternoon! ”

So, in the next few days, Lao Shi took his son Dakai to help in the field of Master Ding's house.

Mr. Ding's family has a total of more than 150 acres of land, and there are a lot of crops that were flooded this time. There is another landlord in the village, Mr. Liu, who has less land at home, about 100 acres, and has also hired some people to do it according to the method of Mr. Ding's family.

Although this place is called Guwei Village, there is no family surnamed Gu, and no one remembers what it was called before. It is said that in the 50th year of Qianlong, there was a big family surnamed Gu, who bought the fields here by virtue of his relationship with Shen's subordinates, and changed this place into Guweizhuang. In the following 70 years, people from the Barefoot Gang often settled and settled here, and it gradually developed into Guwei Village. Later, the Taiping army killed and confiscated the land, and the Gu family was defeated from then on, and more than 30 people up and down were either beheaded or exiled. Not long after, the Taiping army was defeated again, and this place returned to the official army. Later, this land somehow fell into the hands of the Ding and Liu families, and the current two masters, Ding and Liu, have been passed down to the fourth generation.

The Ding and Liu families have always had some origins, so many things are synchronized. Now the warlords are fighting and the soldiers are in chaos, and people are looking forward to living a peaceful life after the death of the Qing Dynasty, but the men's braids have been cut for ten years, and they have not seen peace. In this world, the poor people are not having a good time, and even the landlord's family is not having a good time, and they still have to rely on the villagers to help them work, so these two old men are polite to the big guys.

In general, there were not many catastrophes in Haizhou, except for such and such taxes for the officials, and the people in the village could barely survive and not starve to death.

The next day of the beginning of autumn, it is the seventh day of Shizhu's birth, according to the custom of Guanyun, a boy was born, and he had to boil red eggs to give good news to his mother's family. Shi Yushi was busy boiling the eggs early in the morning, simply dyed them red, and carried them in a basket before they were cold, and went out in the morning cool. The daughter-in-law Shi Zhu's maiden home is in Zhuzhuang in the north, which is more than ten miles away from Guwei, and it takes less than two hours to walk a single trip. When Shi Yu arrived at his in-laws' house, he walked a few more relatives, and rushed back to the main road outside the village at about eleven o'clock.

At this time, although the beginning of autumn has passed, the weather is still very hot. Shi Yushi walked more than 20 miles, and it was almost noon, and he was already sweating profusely. As she walked, she suddenly felt a cool breeze blowing in her face, and when she looked up, she saw a monk standing in front of her, with a majestic figure, a little fat, two earlobes that were obviously different from ordinary people, and her eyes were full of vicissitudes but full of economic growth.

When the monk saw Shi Yu, he saluted with his right hand and said, "The poor monk is polite." Dare to ask the donor's family a few days ago? If you happen to meet it today, can you go to the donor's house to make a fate? ”

Shi Yu glanced at the monk, at first glance it seemed to be different from ordinary people, but there are not a few people in this world who pretend to be wandering monks to make money. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, she coped and said, "Yes, yes! It's a grandson! With that, he continued on his way.

The monk said in the back, "Amitabha! At first glance, the female benefactor is a person who has seen the world, not like this country man! ”

After hearing this, Shi Yushi slowed down, turned around and said, "Master is smiling, where have we rural peasant women seen the world!" But you, the master, seem to be the one who has traveled all over the world and is well-informed! ”

The monk continued: "Although the old man has traveled all over the world, and he has also been to the Emperor's Extreme Lingxiao Palace, he has not set foot in the Forbidden City on earth; I have also seen the true dragon face in the sky, but I have never seen the face of the Son of Heaven underground, let alone the big battles of the 28 sedan chairs."

After hearing this, Shi Yu looked up at the monk again, and seemed to know that this monk was not simple, unlike ordinary wandering monks, who did know something.

"We're not all minions! No matter how beautiful the master is, what can he do? In the end, it's not gone! It's also fate to see the master today, so let's invite the master to his home for some fasting. Shi Yu said as he led the monk home.

A few days after the flood receded, the sun evaporated the water from the earth, and it became more and more sweltering. Along the way, Shi Yushi kept wiping the beads of sweat on his forehead, but the monk's face did not change, and he did not see the slightest heat, but walked like a gust of wind.

When they arrived at Shi's house, the old Shi father and son had already returned from Master Ding's house. When the old stone saw a monk visiting, he asked what to call it, where is the person's name, and what is the noble cloud here.

The monk replied, "The poor monk is the law, and the four seas are his home." Passing by Haizhou this time, he counted that he had a relationship with Ling Sun, so he came to disturb him. As he spoke, he took out a blue jade pendant from his arms, shaped like a jade rabbit, crystal clear, hung with red thread, it seemed to be scattered with white light from a distance, but the light was gone when he looked closely, even these ordinary people could know that it was a good treasure at a glance.

"This rabbit pendant is a personal ornament for poor monks, and the red thread is made of ice silk, which can keep you safe in times of crisis. Now that he has a relationship with Ling Sun, he will give it to him for the time being. Fa Mao said.

The Shi family knew that this jade pendant was by no means a vulgar thing, and it was worth a lot of money, so they excused themselves several times, and then saw that the master of Fa Mao was resolute, so he thanked the master and accepted the jade pendant. Fa Mao said that he had come to make a fortune, but he did not stay for fasting, and after a while, the figure disappeared at the end of the road. It wasn't until decades later that Master Fa Mao "visited" Guwei Village again, and at that time it was naturally a different scene and a different world.

In the time of farming, the old stone took Dakai to catch snakes in the fields by the river a little farther away, firstly to teach Dakai some new skills, and secondly, to dry the snake meat and save it for eating in winter when there are no snakes to catch. Dakai is also very serious, refusing, seeking, leading, catching, picking, pressing, grabbing, dispensing, arranging, killing, everything is learned, after all, this family will depend on him to support it in the future.

Time always flies, and soon after the heavy snowfall, the grass grows and the eagle flies, and the earth recovers. The stone pillar was already able to climb and walk at this time, and occasionally stood for a while, which was the most fun time.

After Gu Yu, the Shi family prepared to go to Mangdang Mountain to catch the black python. Realgar, vinegar, garlic, tobacco, green wood incense, and dog poop beans are some must-haves, but the big snake in Mangdang Mountain must not be an idle person, and the old stone will pass down the yin and yang gossip plate and the seven-inch short sword made of peach wood to let Dakai take it, and of course, there is the unique "snake killing scatter" handed down by the ancestor.

The snake catcher has a particular point about this, for this kind of big snake, when the yin and yang gossip plate is opened, it needs to be used by both men and women to indicate the direction of the snake, so Shi Zhu followed Dakai to go together, and there was a good response on the road. On the second day of the fourth lunar month, the two officially set off.

Lao Shi and Shi Yu hugged the stone pillar and sent Da Kai and Shi Zhu to the head of the road. After some advice, when the two of them were turning to leave, Shi Zhu suddenly opened his mouth and called "I, my mother". Shi Zhu would also babble and say something before, but this time it was called very clearly, and Shi Zhu was so happy in his heart, after all, this was the first time he had heard his son call like this. She turned around and hugged the stone pillar and kissed it, and said "hey", saying that they would be back soon, and then left.

This call was the first time that the two of them had heard their son call them so seriously, but no one could have imagined that this would be the last time. In the future, Shizhu would occasionally "dream" of the scene of that day in his dreams: the wind was light, the buckwheat was green, the colorful flowers and butterflies waved their wings under the blue sky, the dandelions fluttered with the wind like snowflakes, and the blurred figures gradually drifted away until they were completely submerged in a piece of light. After waking up from the dream, he tried to remember what his parents looked like that day, but at that time he was still wearing slatted crotch pants, which was too small, and no matter how hard he tried to think about it, he couldn't remember it after all.