"The phone you are calling is turned off."

Putting down the phone, Xiao Li said to Lu Yushan and Zhang Fan on the side:

"Uncle Shao is missing."

…………

"Uncle Shao! There you are! ”

More than ten years ago

Beijing

A very excited young boy's voice sounded, and I saw a little boy running out of the courtyard of a bungalow, jumping up and jumping up against an adult man who had just entered the courtyard.

"This melon baby—"

The adult laughed and didn't dodge, and walked the little boy who pounced on him with one arm on his side.

"Uncle Shao!"

As soon as he stepped into the middle of his body, the man immediately froze, squinting at the little girl who had been waiting in the room for a long time, only to see the latter with two small hands behind his back, pouting with a small expression of displeasure.

"My son, I'm getting more and more handsome!"

The man called "Uncle Shao" smiled and reached out to stroke the girl's head, but the other party retreated and dodged, and pointed to the little boy who was being held with his little hand and said, "You put my brother down first, and I'll ask you." ”

Uncle Shao was very obedient, hurriedly put the little boy down, squatted down and waited for the little girl to "reprimand".

"I ask you—"

The girl checked around Uncle Shao with her hands behind her back like a little adult, and asked:

"Where's our gift?!"

"yes!"

The little boy just remembered this, and hurriedly looked at it and asked, "Uncle Shao, why didn't you bring a gift this time?!" ”

Uncle Shao's face froze, patted his head and realized: "Oops-this turtle's braincase, it's too anxious to come out." ”

Looking at how satisfied the two children were with this explanation, no matter how much they coaxed and persuaded them, they no longer paid attention to them.

"Xiaoli! Tong'er! ”

I heard a call from another hut in the courtyard, followed by footsteps from far and near:

"Your Uncle Shao just came and the two of them were messing around, and they were going to play for a while, so that your Uncle Shao could rest for a while!"

These two children are Xiaoli and Xiaotong, Uncle Shao is a friend of his father, and he likes this brother and sister very much, and he will bring a lot of fun every time he comes. This time he was empty-handed, and the child's heart was a hundred unhappy, even if he was told by his mother, he muttered quietly.

"I didn't bring any gifts...... It's so stingy......"

"That's it...... We're not good friends with him anymore......"

"Sister-in-law, don't blame the babies, this braincase has really not been shining lately-"

Uncle Shao patted his head and smiled, and then asked Xiaoli: "Gua Wazi - Lao Tzu remembers that there is a place that sells fish and shrimp nearby?" ”

The two siblings nodded their heads like rattles in response.

"Got it—"

Uncle Shao turned his head and said to Xiaoli's mother: "Sister-in-law, it's still very early to eat, I'll take the two babies to play for a while——"

"Let's go!"

Before Xiaoli's mother could stop her, Uncle Shao led the two out of the yard left and right.

…………

Water mills

Located in the east of Beijing, locals are accustomed to pronouncing it as "water awl".

There is an east-west river in this area, which eventually joins the reservoir in the middle of the Tonghui River. And Uncle Shao, Xiaoli and Xiaotong went near a bridge not far from the source of the river.

I don't know when this bridge began, and some traveling merchants who deal in fish and birds sell their own and tricycle frames and several bird cages. As a result, the number of customers gradually increased, and some people saw the business opportunity and turned to the quieter riverside path under the bridge, and finally felt that it was not enough, so they built a simple shed for nearly a mile, and finally became a veritable "flower, bird, fish and insects" market.

"Uncle Shao! Look! ”

Xiaoli and Xiaotong walked around the market for a while, and children like fish, birds, cats and dogs. I saw Xiaotong squatting down to greet Uncle Shao not far away, who waved his hand and smiled: "Mi'er, don't be in a hurry, don't be in a hurry!" ”

When Uncle Shao got closer, he saw Xiaotong pointing to a goldfish, stared at it for a while, shook his head and pouted, "This one is not good, the tail is ugly and thin, and the tail of the fish is open." Then he glanced at the other tank, pointed and asked the boss: "Handsome guy, this fish is a lot of money?" ”

"Where are you, you don't have much money, five taels a piece."

The shopkeeper answered.

"Got it! Gua Wazi, come and see! This fish is so good! ”

Uncle Shao grabbed his hand, but he grabbed it empty, and then looked at the past, where were the two brothers and sisters Xiaoli and Xiaotong?

"Baby!"

Uncle Shao looked around, and saw a group of people not far away who seemed to be talking about something, and hurriedly ran over.

"You melon baby! It's a hurry to die! ”

Uncle Shao easily squeezed into the crowd, and when he saw the two brothers and sisters, he hurriedly hugged him and pinched a few handfuls hard, making sure that he was not injured before he rested.

"Uncle Shao, this grandmother's fish are dead!"

I only heard Xiaoli point to an old man who was sighing in front of a stall.

"Yes, the little fish are all dead, how pitiful!"

Xiaotong also said with a milky voice.

"These fish are all dead, and they are also evil, there has never been such a thing before."

Just listen to someone in the crowd.

"Is there a problem with the water?"

"Not to mention, the water pollution in this ditch is getting worse and worse, and I can't guarantee that several families will use the water in it."

Uncle Shao heard the discussion of the people behind him, so he stepped forward to look.

"Old woman, how many times have these fish died?"

Uncle Shao asked.

"No more, no less, only half an hour."

The old man waved his hand in response.

"Then how can you do this-"

Uncle Shao picked up a small fish from the water, only to feel dry to the touch, and gently pinched the fish's belly to make it empty, and said secretly in his heart:

"This fish is almost dried, how can it be that it has only been dead for half an hour?" Then he continued to ask the old man:

"Old woman, are other shops that have had accidents like this?"

"Yes, next to this one, that one...... And that ......"

The old man pointed to several stalls in response.

"Did the fish move anything before it died?"

Uncle Shao asked again.

"I didn't do anything, I just scooped a few basins of water from the river. Alas...... It's also up to me, someone has long said that this stinky river ditch is dirty and unusable......"

The old man said with self-pity.

"Come here, come over and follow Uncle Shao to have a look."

The servants took a look at all the fish shops that had an accident in the back.

"Sure enough, the fish died very strangely......"

Uncle Shao pondered in front of the last store.

Babies - come here, follow me! ”

Uncle Shao made a move, and took the two brothers and sisters down the slope and walked towards the river, the latter was wondering how the fish seller came here in the back, who thought that Uncle Shao would squat by the stinky river and not leave, looking left and right as if looking for something.

"It's supposed to be this area, why don't you feel anything...... Could it be that Lao Tzu is wrong again? ”

Uncle Shao frowned, rubbed his chin and muttered, stared at it for a while, then straightened up, dusted off the dust before and after, and said: "This brain case is not bright again, Lao Tzu still wants to be some kind of cat demon cat fairy who is fishing by the river to eat." Babies, let's go, let's go! ”

Uncle Shao had just taken a step, only to feel that his clothes were tight, but when he looked back, he saw Xiaotong's little hand holding the lower corner of his shirt.

"Uncle Shao—"

Xiaotong pointed to the river and said:

"Auntie, what about us......"