It was only two strokes, and the hairs on Mei Xiaoren's body stood up.

She looked back in a daze, only to see that the moonlight reflected the smiling face behind her

"Are you a human or a ghost" Mei Xiaoren shuddered for a moment and took a small step back.

She buried her head in the ground, and saw a dark shadow on the ground, and her heart breathed a sigh of relief.

People have shadows, but ghosts don't.

She looked up at the young man in front of her, and saw that he was dressed in gray cloth and carrying an axe in his hand, and he was looking at her with a smile on his face.

The man looked at the little tree she had been cutting for a long time, and said with empty eyes, "Dude, how long have you cut down like this?"

Mei Xiaoren was inexplicable. She came here in the middle of the night to cut down trees because she was forced to be helpless, this person didn't look like a woodcutter, he didn't sleep in the middle of the night, and he came here with an axe to scare her a lot.

She frowned, too lazy to bother, turned around and pulled out her axe to continue chopping.

Seeing that she didn't answer, the man continued to ask: "Are you from the Shu clan?" sighed, and then said, "The last thing gentlemen want to see is the Shu people, no wonder they will give you this problem." ”

Mei Xiaoren stopped and glanced back at him. Her ancestors were all merchants, and indeed they were not scholars who had been officials for generations. But what is the matter with him, he came to the mountains and forests at night to tell her this

Something is wrong

In fact, cutting 100 catties of firewood is not a problem, only this tree is more than 100 catties, but to chop down this tree, it is like dripping water through a stone, and every axe has to cut the same place, it takes some patience and strength, and you have to concentrate on it. This is a bit of a test for her, who has never held an axe before.

He greeted with a smile: "My name is Su Li, and I am a student of Jinshan Academy. ”

Mei Xiaoren, a student of the academy, couldn't help but feel a little surprised in her heart, because after she had met that group of gentlemen, she could roughly deduce who the academy received, and thinking that four words were enough to sum up whether they were rich or expensive

Now that there is such a cloth-clothed civilian in front of her, claiming to be a student of the academy, why is she so unbelieving

"I'm also from the Shu clan, and I heard from my classmates that there was a student from the academy in the afternoon, and I heard that the bishop gave you a problem, so I came to see you."

Mei Xiaoren laughed twice, and then spoke: "If you don't watch it in the morning or at night, you just come while it's dark, you are a ghost."

"Alas, the brothers in the academy are all scholars, I really hope that Mr. can accept you, so that I can have company." Su Li lit up the axe in his hand and said with a smile, "Look, I'm here to help you." ”

Mei Xiaoren glanced at him in confusion, "You said that the academy is all children of the scholar clan, so how did you get in?"

"At the beginning, I had no way to study, so I entered the academy as a handyman for a few years, studying while working, which impressed the mountain man, and it was the mountain master who sent a message to accept me into the school." The smile on Su Li's face added a little pride.

"Oh." Mei Xiaoren replied faintly.

"But don't expect to be as lucky as me, now that the mountain master is seriously ill, no one will speak for you." Su Li walked to the opposite side of Mei Xiaoren as he spoke, picked up the axe and cut it down from the other side of the tree, and said, "The bishop is a member of the Zhengsanpin from Shangjing, where would you put us Shu clan in your eyes, not to mention that you are still from Xuanzhou." ”

Mei Xiaoren couldn't help but be curious: "Then you say, if I cut enough firewood for 100 catties tonight, the bishop will break his word."

"Of course not, but your thin body" Su Li looked her up and down for a while, and said a little reluctantly, "I'm afraid it's difficult to cut down this tree, but it's okay, we should help each other among our Shu clans." He smiled again, slashing harder and harder.

"Help me" Mei Xiaoren couldn't help but look vain, with a little suspicion in his eyes, "What are you trying to do?"

"Tutu, you and I are company." Su Li was always smiling.

As the saying goes, don't stretch out your hand and don't hit a smiling person, Mei Xiaoren didn't want to say more and it was inconvenient to refuse, and finally received Su Li's kindness. It's also better to have multiple friends than multiple passers-by when you're away from home.

Su Li is not big, but he has a brute force when he cuts down the tree, and he makes a big hole in the trunk in a few strokes.

Mei Xiaoren looked at it, and her heart was a lot more steady, otherwise she would have to go down the mountain to buy firewood in the middle of the night.

"What are you doing to study in the academy?" asked Mei Xiaoren as he chopped.

"Of course you want to be an official, aren't you?"

Mei Xiaoren raised his lips, it seemed that everyone was looking forward to the same.

Before the sun had risen, there was a dull sound in the woods, and the tree finally "clicked" to the ground.

Mei Xiaoren abandoned the axe and patted the dust on his hands, only to feel some hot pain in his palms. She cut down the trees all night, and not only was she exhausted, but her palms were worn by the rough handle of the axe.

No wonder the Bishop thought of this to scare her away, it must have been because she was born rich and noble, and she had not suffered much, and it was expected that she would either be scared away by the ghosts crying wolves in the mountains and forests, or she would be so tired that she would retreat.

But, she survived.

The sky was slightly bright, and Mei Xiaoren and Su Li dragged the branches and dragged the tree trunk into the mountain gate.

Su Li stopped when he entered the academy and whispered, "I have to go back, don't tell the gentlemen that I helped you." ”

"Thank you, I'll pay back this favor." Mei Xiaoren said.

Su Li smiled at her and disappeared into the misty sky.

At dawn, there was no figure in the academy, and Mei Xiaoren didn't go anywhere, dragging the trunk straight to the Jingdao Academy, throwing the trunk in front of the door, and she waited in front of the door, took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat on her head.

Who knows if she dragged her to the firewood room and turned back without evidence, these people would not admit it.

The morning sun pierces through the thick clouds and sprinkles the morning light on the mountains. A bell rang all over the academy, spreading far and wide, and there was gradually movement in the temple.

After a while, the group of adults from yesterday came out of the courtyard one after another, and when they saw the situation outside the door, they stopped, and soon blocked the courtyard door.

Mei Xiaoren was still waiting silently, until the bishop appeared, and she respectfully bowed her hand: "My lord, I did it below." ”

The green-clothed official glanced at Mei Xiaoren, and then looked at the trunk of the tree on the ground beside her, and recognized that the tree had a few catties and a few taels of eyesight.

"You're Alone"

It was not difficult for Mei Xiaoren to hear the doubts in his tone. She wants to hide it, how can she hide it, people make a special trip to test her, and they don't know if she can complete it independently in a proper manner

"The bishop only said that he would cut 100 catties of firewood, but he didn't say that I was limited to one person." Mei Xiaoren replied decisively and slightly vaguely, and didn't shake Su Li out anyway.

"Is it belted?"

Mei Xiaoren nodded.

"In this case, you can stay, but you only have one year, and this official will wait and see." The green-clothed official took the lead and walked down the steps, with no expression on his face, neither happy nor disappointed.

The other officials also followed, ignoring Mei Xiaoren, only the Tsing Yi official snorted as he passed by her, and then hurriedly left with his superiors.

On the long steps, Mei Xiaoren was the only one left.

When the footsteps behind her faded away, she looked up at the rising sun, and the smile on her lips was as bright as the morning light.