The joyful atmosphere of the Lantern Festival has not yet dissipated in the countryside, Liang Shirong and Liang Yaofu came down from Shuangshi Mountain to buy some saplings from the nursery, and heard the sound of firecrackers and gongs and drums in the distance, Liang Yaofu proposed: "Wudong Village is going to the king today, let's go and have a look, how about it?" ”

Liang Shirong: "Okay." ”

Wudong Village at the foot of Shuangshi Mountain ushered in the grand festival of "Walking King" on the eighteenth day of the first lunar month.

There are more than 10 workshops in Wudong Village, each of which has an "authoritative king" handed down from their ancestors. These clay or wood carvings of the king are usually enshrined in the temple at the head of the village. On the day of "Walking the King's Day", the villagers of each square held colorful flags with the words "wind and rain are smooth" and "Guotai Min'an", and carried the king of their own workshop to patrol the village with their heads held high, beating gongs and drums, and dancing lions to open the way. This was followed by villagers dressed as samurai, armed with swords, guns, swords, halberds, and guards, shouting loudly and majesticly. Along the way, the suona eight notes played in unison, and the sound shook the sky. The sound of "crackling" firecrackers was deafening, and the debris of the firecrackers was splashing like red rain. The villagers use this to ward off evil spirits and pray for a year of happiness and auspiciousness.

After the villagers carried the king through the village, the lion teams from each square gathered to the square in front of the Dawang Temple. The warriors danced the lions, flipped over, pounced, jumped, jumped high, and worshipped...... Show your best to perform, with many fancy and difficult ways to show their lion skills. Finally, the "green picking" competition was held to see which lion team could stack the highest tower and pick down the hanging "green", so as to compete for the "high" crown. Villagers dressed in new clothes surrounded the square, and the sounds of laughter, applause, cheers, gongs and drums, and firecrackers mingled together to form a festive symphony, which was very lively.

Shanggang Village, near Liang Shirong's hometown, also has the custom of walking the king, and today I celebrated this rare festival in Wudong Village, feeling particularly cordial and applauding happily.

A young man with clear eyebrows came to Liang Yaofu's side, pulled him aside, and talked to him about something.

After Liang Yaofu heard this, he pulled Liang Shirong out of the crowd of onlookers, pointed to the young man and introduced Liang Shirong and said, "Yarong, I will introduce a friend to you." This is called Zhu Deyi. ”

"Zhu Deyi?" Liang Shirong felt that this name was a little familiar, and was playful: "Good wishes...... Good luck ......"

Liang Yaofu said bluntly: "Zhu Deyi is Zhu Deren's younger brother who used to bet with me in the market town about 'which is bigger, sand pear or longan'. ”

As soon as he heard Zhu Deren's name, Liang Shirong's brows furrowed.

Seeing Liang Shirong's expression, Liang Yaofu deduced his thoughts and made his words clear: "Although he and Zhu Deren are two biological brothers, their temperaments are completely different. He had a problem that he couldn't solve, and he knew that you had solved my problem that day with your wisdom, so he came to me to see if you could do him a favor. ”

Liang Shirong asked Zhu Deyi, "What do you want me to help you?" ”

"Alas!" Zhu Deyi sighed helplessly, "I don't know my heart. This matter has to do with my brother Deren. ”

"Ah, it's this Zhu Deren again?!" Liang Shirong looked at Zhu Deyi, "What happened to you and your brother?" ”

"You listen to me," Zhu Deyi told Liang Shirong in detail about the cause and effect of this incident.

It turned out that Zhu Deyi's father divided the family property before he died in his seventies, two big houses, and one for each of the two brothers. The four jars of gold he had saved were divided into two parts, one for each of his sons, so Zhu Deyi also got two jars of gold. A few months ago, the old lady of the Zhu family proposed to Zhu Deyi, but a tornado blew and overturned the roof of Zhu Deyi's house, and a lot of tiles were blown away. In order to make it easier to repair the house, Zhu Deyi sealed the two jars of gold that his father had distributed and handed them over to his brother Zhu Deren for temporary safekeeping, and he would retrieve them after the house was repaired. After more than a month, Zhu Deyi's house was repaired. He and his mother went to Zhu Deren's place to retrieve the two clay pots, and prepared to take some dowry gifts for the woman. But when he took the pot back, he felt that it was much lighter than before, and he was suspicious, and when he opened the seal, the gold inside was gone, only a pile of stones the size of a fist. Obviously, Zhu Deren replaced Zhu Deyi's 2 jars of gold with stones. Zhu Deyi was angry, and asked Zhu Deren to reason with him and asked him to return the 2 jars of gold.

Liang Shirong: "Are you sure that those two clay pots are full of gold?" ”

Zhu Deyi's tone was very affirmative: "How can I remember wrong? My mother and father put the gold in it, and it can't be faked. My mother can testify to this on the spot. ”

Liang Shirong: "Since your mother personally came forward to testify, how can that Zhu Deren deny it?!" ”

Zhu Deyi: "According to common sense, he should be undeniable. But the fallacies he cites make it difficult to refute him. ”

Liang Shirong: "What kind of fallacy did he cite?" ”

Zhu Deyi waved his hands and said angrily: "My brother Deren said that when he gave him 2 clay pots, it was indeed gold, but he didn't know how the gold inside turned into stone. ”

Liang Shirong: "Gold can turn into stone, this is a strange thing that I have never heard of!" ”

Zhu Deyi: "When I questioned my brother Deren that day, he pointed to the sun and white clouds in the sky and replied, saying that things in the world are changing all the time, and the sun in the morning is in the east, and in the evening it becomes west. The white clouds in the sky are fine now, and when the wind comes, they will be blown away and become without a trace. ”

Liang Shirong thought of Liang Yaofu's bet in the past from the other party's account, and was quite touched: "This Zhu Deren has a lot of pits, and a lot of crooked reasoning will come out of his mouth." ”

Zhu Deyi: "So, people from all over the country are usually afraid of dealing with him." ”

Liang Shirong said to Zhu Deyi: "Since you know that he is such a person, why didn't you raise your vigilance at that time?" ”

Zhu Deyi beat his head with remorse: "At that time, even the gate of my house was blown down. During the repairs, my mother told me to take the two jars of gold to my brother for safekeeping, so that it would be safer at night. I think that I and Deren are compatriots, and my mother was present to testify. I didn't expect him to make such a despicable crosshand. ”

Liang Shirong: "Didn't your mother come forward to administer justice for you?" ”

Zhu Deyi was very helpless when he spoke: "My mother knew that this gold was related to my life's events, and scolded my brother Deren in front of me and asked him to return the two jars of gold to me, but Deren and his wife both denied it, saying that they had never touched the contents of the jars, and they returned the two jars to me intact." ”

"Ah, the six relatives don't recognize it, and they value money more than flesh and blood, it's too much." After listening to Zhu Deyi's speech, Liang Shirong thought for a while and asked, "Didn't there be a respected Township Chief Mo last time in the market town?" Why don't you come to him? ”

Zhu Deyi said: "I also went to the door to find the head of Mo Wen'an, and after hearing my story, he immediately went to my house and rebuked my brother Deren, telling him to value the brother's flesh and blood friendship, but my brother Deren and sister-in-law did not listen to it, and flatly denied that they had cheated the gold, and pointed to the two clay pots, saying that he did not know how the silver turned into stone. ”

Zhu Deyi: "Township Chief Mo went out of the gate and told me privately that he had no way to subdue my brother Deren. ”

Liang Shirong: "It's really no wonder that Township Chief Mo is there. ”

Zhu Deyi: "I heard people say that last time Brother Yaofu and my brother Deren made a bet in the market town, my brother won 400 Dougu by my brother's tricks, and he was almost bankrupt, but fortunately, you thought of a good way for Brother Yaofu and solved the crisis for him, so this time I came to you." ”

Liang Yaofu said to Liang Shirong: "Deyi is an honest man, Yarong, if you can help, help him." ”

Zhu Deyi said in a pleading voice: "I originally planned to keep these two jars of gold for three purposes, one is to solve my life's major events, the second is to support my mother, and the third is to open a small grocery store, so that I will have a basic source for my life in the future." ”

Liang Shirong: "It seems that those 2 jars of gold are indeed very important to you." ”

Zhu Deyi pleaded: "You must help me no matter what, and get back the two jars of gold from my brother Deren." I will thank you heavily. ”

Liang Shirong waved his hand: "Since I can help you, you must not mention any reward." ”

Originally, it was a period when Liang Shirong's business was at a low ebb, and it stands to reason that he should not show up, and it is too much better for a small matter. But he always has a heart of kindness and compassion for others and eliminating disasters for others, so Liang Shirong said to Zhu Deyi: "In this way, I will go to your house now, talk to your mother, see the situation on the ground, and see if I can come up with a good way." ”

"Okay, come with me." Zhu Deyi took Liang Shirong to his house at the head of the village.