When she came to Xinquan last year, Li Jiangwei had never heard of any grandmothers who loved to eat melon seeds. Li Jiangwei wanted to ask a few more questions, but she heard Dai Zhu say: "I'm going to work on the festival first!" Go to sleep! ”

Without waiting for Li Jiangwei to speak, Dai Zhu left the room with a smile and closed the door intimately.

Since the end of the floods, the people of Shinsen are still shrouded in post-disaster grief, and the continuation of the festival will bring new expectations to the people of Shinsen for their future lives. For this reason, witches and men up and down the shrine, and even priests were busy. After everyone in the shrine had dinner, Daizhu went to count the things needed for the festival, and went back to his room to rest late in the evening, almost falling asleep.

Under such circumstances, Li Jiangwei was reluctant to disturb them.

After breakfast on the second day, Li Jiangwei was stopped by Dai Zhu when she was about to go out.

"Are you looking for Grandma?"

"Hmm."

Dai Zhu naturally grabbed Li Jiangwei's arm, walked out, and said as he walked: "It just so happens that I am going to go to the fried food shop today, so I can walk with you for a while." ”

Under Dai Zhu's introduction, Li Jiangwei learned about this grandmother's life experience. It turned out that this grandmother was an orphan, and she was taken in by the shrine as a witch since she was a child, and later when she met someone she liked, she left the shrine and went out to marry.

Until five years ago, Grandma's husband died of an illness, and her children left home for business all the year round, and she and a maid were the only ones in the family. Grandma was bored at home, and often sat on the side of the street with a handful of melon seeds and a bench, telling stories to the children playing on the street.

"Grandma is very nice, and many children are willing to play with her. There are grandmothers staring at the children, and the neighbors are not afraid that their children will be hurt while playing. Speaking of this, Dai Zhu smiled happily, "Now I will bring some melon seeds to Grandma, and I don't want to have a handful of more grandma." ”

After talking for a long time, a fried food shop appeared in Li Jiangwei's field of vision. The fried food shop is not big, and the shop has a little old feeling, like an old store that has been in business for a long time.

Dai Zhu pointed to this fried food shop and said to Li Jiangwei: "This shop fried food shop, grandma had it when she was still a girl's house, and it is grandma's favorite taste." ”

Li Jiangwei was brought into the store by Dai Zhu and saw a large bamboo basket full of roasted goods in the store. The aroma of fried goods came to her nose, so that Li Jiangwei couldn't help but take two more sips.

"Boss!" Dai Zhu beckoned to the middle-aged man in the store, "I want a pack of fried melon seeds!" Grab a handful and wrap it individually! ”

The boss smiled, and the corners of his mouth and eyes smiled: "It's for Aunt Alain?" ”

"Yes!" Dai Zhu stuffed the two oiled paper bags wrapped by the boss into Li Jiangwei's hands, and then continued: "I came today to talk to you about the festival, and I went back to the shrine to tell you about the stall you asked for before." ”

The boss rubbed his hands anxiously and asked, "What's wrong?" ”

"It's not that it can't be, but there are conditions."

Li Jiangwei saw that the two were going to talk about business, and took advantage of the time between the two to talk and expressed her intention to go to Grandma alone. Dai Zhu's side was weak, and nodded in response.

I left the roasting shop with two oiled paper bags, and randomly found an older person who looked like he lived in the local area to ask about Grandma. It didn't take long for Li Jiangwei to come to the street where Grandma was always under the guidance of passers-by.

Grandma sat on a small bamboo bench in a dyed blue cloth shirt, with an open piece of oil-wrapped paper on her thighs and a handful of melon seeds inside. At her right foot is a small bamboo basket with some melon seed skins, and she is surrounded by two children, who ask for melon seeds from Grandma from time to time.

Li Jiangwei stood for a while, and the two children got up and left, and did not forget to wave goodbye to their grandmother before leaving. Grandma also smiled and waved to them, saying goodbye.

After seeing the two children leave, Grandma's kind gaze fell on Li Jiangwei's body.

"Little girl? Coming to me? Grandma raised her hand and beckoned to Li Jiangwei, "Come here, Grandma will give you melon seeds to eat." ”

Li Jiangwei obediently approached Grandma and took out an oiled paper bag and sent it to Grandma.

Grandma was startled, then smiled and opened the oil-wrapped paper, and poured the melon seeds inside onto the oiled paper on her lap.

"Coming to talk to Grandma?"

Li Jiangwei nodded, "I heard that Grandma can tell stories, I want to listen to Grandma tell stories." ”

Grandma smiled kindly and said, "The little girl is not from Xinquan, right?" ”

"Hmmm! I came to look for a friend, but she's been a little busy lately, so I'll go out on my own. ”

Grandma grabbed a handful of melon seeds, stuffed them into Li Jiangwei's hand and said, "Grandma has a lot of stories. What stories do you want to hear? ”

"I want to hear about the origin of the new spring."

"Ouch, when it comes to Xinquan, I have to talk about the alchemist. A long, long time ago, when this area was still a small broken village, it suddenly suffered a major drought. Fortunately, a priest passed by and saw that the villagers were pitiful, so he pinched his fingers and counted the surrounding springs. The whole village survived by a spring, and the name of the village was changed to Xinquan Village......"

So far, the story told by Grandma is not much different from Daizhu's.

Later, the alchemist continued to wander, and when he was old, he returned to the village, took in an apprentice, and then stayed. At that time, the people of the village thanked Fang Shi for saving the people and treated him very well. I don't know if there is a good reward, after that, Xinquan Village gradually grew and became the largest village in these ten miles and eight townships. If it continues to develop, it may be bigger than Linsu on the side! It's a pity......"

Grandma suddenly sighed and sighed, "A thousand years ago, a disaster suddenly struck, and the people in Xinquan Village suffered heavy casualties. ”

Li Jiangwei was startled, and couldn't help muttering: "A thousand years ago? ”

Grandma nodded and continued: "I heard that thousands of years ago, there were a lot of monsters near the village, and the villagers had anything to do in order to save their lives. Like a hoe, a sickle, a nail rake, everything that looks like a fight at home has been taken! Guys get ready to fight that group of monsters! Who knows if it's a desperate fight, but there are still so many monsters! ”

Grandma speaks in a low voice, and the story is told with a sense of rhythm. Li Jiangwei was immediately attracted and immersed in it.

"And then? What happened next! ”

"Although they couldn't defeat that group of monsters, they bought a lot of time for Xinquan Village, and finally waited for the Fang Shi disciples who had gone out to wander for unknown generations. He seemed to be descending from heaven and threw out a few yellow talismans! Woo Mo fixed those monsters, picked up a peachwood sword and rushed forward! ”

Grandma said that she was nervous, and her hands were still gesturing. Her legs are very stable, no matter how she gestures with her upper body, the melon seeds on her legs have not fallen to the ground.

"I saw that Fang Shi wielding the wooden sword neatly, and he cut down the monster with three strokes and five divisions!"