After several days of hard work, Liu Sicheng, an urban boy who did not know grains, fully realized the hardships of being a farmer.

It's spring now, and the weather hasn't completely warmed up, otherwise under the scorching sun, with Liu Sicheng's thin body, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on for even a day.

However, even if there is no scorching sun, the calves still need to stand in the kneeless paddy field when working, and there is a layer of mud under the feet, and there are all kinds of mosquitoes on the water surface.

Even so, Liu Sicheng's heart was sweet.

There is no other reason, just because Xiaoxue also works with him.

Whether it is transplanting, weeding, or fertilizing, Xiaoxue is much more profitable than Liu Sicheng, and often finds time to guide Liu Sicheng to work. Liu Sicheng, who originally wanted to perform in front of Xiaoxue, couldn't help but feel ashamed, and recognized the fact that the ancients were indeed better than the present in terms of manual labor.

When he returned home at night, Liu Sicheng was almost exhausted, he didn't even have the strength to lift his feet, and his whole person was like a lump of mud on the bamboo couch, not wanting to move.

Every now and then, Xiaoxue will silently walk into the kitchen and cook for Liu Sicheng without complaint.

The production in the mountains is not abundant, and can only be described as coarse tea and light rice, but Xiaoxue's cooking skills are really first-class, even the most ordinary ingredients, in her hands can always make a different taste. The aroma of the meal, accompanied by Xiaoxue's fresh and elegant body fragrance, made the hungry Liu Sicheng's appetite increase. Looking at Liu Sicheng's happy appearance, Xiaoxue's face was filled with a smile of relief. Xiaoxue needs to take care of her daily life, which makes Liu Sicheng full of gratitude to Xiaoxue.

Every night before going to bed, the two like to lie on their respective couches and chat and talk, and every now is the perfect time for Liu Sicheng to perform a solo show. He added fuel to the mythological stories he read from modern books, and then told them to Xiaoxue in a colorful voice imitating the tone of the storyteller. In ancient times, when spiritual life was extremely scarce, this trick was tried and tested, and it could amuse Xiaoxue every time. Xiaoxue's happy smile is the biggest feedback to Liu Sicheng, he is in it and never gets tired of it.

But tonight, Liu Sicheng noticed that the atmosphere was a little solemn. Under the flickering oil lamp, Liu Sicheng found that Xiaoxue's eyes were extremely serious. Before Liu Sicheng could speak, Xiaoxue took the initiative to say:

"Sicheng, tomorrow we are going to go on the expedition......"

The word "expedition" touched Liu Sicheng's sensitive nerves in an instant, and he hurriedly asked:

"Expedition? Where are you going? ”

"We united several nearby tribes to rob a team of Han army rations." Xiaoxue's tone was a little sad, and she said helplessly, "Every time, someone will die." Maybe...... Maybe your closest friend......"

"Then why do you want to go on the expedition?" Hearing this, Liu Sicheng sat up from the couch abruptly, looked in the direction of Xiaoxue and asked.

Xiaoxue also got up when she heard the sound and patiently explained to Liu Sicheng:

"Because we don't have enough food. Originally, the Yue people lived in the fertile plain area, but due to the continuous raids and plundering of the Han army, the Yue people had to flee into the mountains. Although it was possible to rely on the mountains and forests to resist the nuisance of the Han army, there was a shortage of arable land in the mountains, resulting in insufficient grain production. So we had to take the risk of going out of the mountains and robbing the Han army of rations to fill the food shortage. Not only did we steal the grain, but we also burned all the surplus grain that we couldn't take away, which can be regarded as a punishment for the Han army! ”

In the dim light, Liu Sicheng witnessed Xiaoxue's angry eyes for the first time, but that look was fleeting.

After Xiaoxue said this, Liu Sicheng suddenly remembered something, so he suggested in a pleading tone:

"Xiaoxue, can you only grab food on this expedition and stop burning the surplus grain?"

"Why is that?" After hearing this, Xiaoxue changed her past gentleness, stared at Liu Sicheng with angry eyes, and asked sharply, "Isn't it possible for you to sympathize with the Han army?" ”

Even a gentle and kind person like Xiaoxue glared at Liu Sicheng angrily, which shows how deep the contradiction between the two clans is. When Liu Sicheng heard this, he did not back down, but continued to persuade in a firm tone:

"No, I don't sympathize with them! I just don't want the Yue people to make the same mistake! ”

As soon as these words came out, a trace of tremor passed in Xiaoxue's eyes, and Liu Sicheng met Xiaoxue's gaze and continued:

"If you burn the surplus grain, will the Han army starve?"

"No, they will forcibly requisition more food from the Han people to make up for the loss." Xiaoxue replied truthfully.

"So in the end, it will only be the Han people who will starve!" At this time, Liu Sicheng was also moved by true feelings, he had completely regarded himself as a member of the times, so he analyzed to Xiaoxue, "Most of the harvest of the Han people in a year has to pay rent and taxes, and there is not much food left, plus the forced conscription of military food, can they still make a living?" The elderly, the weak, the women and the children starved and even starved to death. Do the Yue people want to inflict all their suffering on the innocent Han people? Please stop burning the surplus grain, let the Han people suffer less exploitation. ”

After hearing this, Xiaoxue looked at Liu Sicheng with surprised eyes, and the two were so silent that they had been familiar with each other for a long time.

"I'm sorry, I misunderstood you......" Xiaoxue lowered her head, her back was sobbing, "I was carried away by hatred, I didn't expect ......"

At this point, she finally burst into tears.

Seeing that the kind-hearted Xiaoxue couldn't cry, Liu Sicheng couldn't help but feel a little sad in his heart, and wanted to say some comforting words in his mouth, but he was short of words for a while, so he could only sit in a daze, silent.

"You are indeed very kind, and you are ......" Xiaoxue whispered softly as she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her hands, "and you are very thoughtful, unlike me......"

"No, Xiaoxue, you don't have to be presumptuous!" While comforting Xiaoxue, Liu Sicheng suddenly had a plan, and couldn't help shouting, "Xiaoxue, if there is enough arable land, won't all the problems be solved?" ”

Xiaoxue nodded first, then looked at the rolling mountains outside the window and shook her head, and sighed:

"Having said that, it's just that it's really hard to carve out more arable land in this deep mountain!"

"I have a law, maybe it works." Liu Sicheng impatiently turned over and asked urgently, "Is there paper and pen here?" ”

"Yes." Xiaoxue responded casually, and immediately turned over and stayed, her movements very light. Then she picked up the oil lamp placed on the window edge, walked to the corner of the wooden house, and pulled out a set of four treasures of the study from the lower level of the camphor wood wardrobe.

Immediately afterwards, Xiaoxue skillfully spread the paper on the wooden table, then filled the inkstone with a little water, held the ink block in the inkstone and grinded it carefully, and was ready to write in a short time.

I saw Xiaoxue take out a small wolf from a light yellow pear blossom wooden box, and then handed it to Liu Sicheng with both hands; After that, I picked the wick with my hand to make the oil lamp brighter. After everything was finished, Xiaoxue smiled and signaled to Liu Sicheng that it was ready.

Seeing Xiaoxue so skillfully preparing the four treasures of the study, Liu Sicheng couldn't help but be stunned. Originally, it was just casual talk, but I didn't think she really had a pen and paper. You must know that most women in ancient times did not understand literature and ink, let alone in such a remote mountainous area. Why is it that Xiaoxue has four treasures in her home? Could it be that Xiaoxue can read and write?

In addition, the paper at that time was not of good material, and the ink was easy to bloom, so it was generally not used for writing, and the white paper that Xiaoxue took out was no different from the letter paper used in later generations, why is this?

This is not the time to be cranky, Liu Sicheng took the brush handed by Xiaoxue with his right hand, and complained bitterly in his heart.

Oops, how do you write this calligraphy?

It turned out that Liu Sicheng had only practiced calligraphy for two months, and he was still in the sixth grade of primary school, and now he has not held a brush for six years, and most of this writing skill has long been forgotten.

Seeing that Liu Sicheng was still stunned, Xiaoxue reminded with a smile:

"Alright, you can write."

In desperation, Liu Sicheng had no choice but to force himself.

I saw that he was holding the pen in his hand, trying to recall the technique of moving the pen, for fear of being embarrassed in front of Xiaoxue. I haven't practiced for a long time, my fingers are stiff, and the posture of moving the pen is still a little funny in the eyes of others.

Because Liu Sicheng's calligraphy level was worrisome, he wasted several blank sheets of paper in a row before he could barely draw a sketch and mark a few key words on the picture.

"Okay, I'm done, you can take a look." Liu Sicheng casually threw the brush on the table, feeling relieved.

"What is this?" Xiaoxue took the sketch and looked at it carefully for a moment.

"The cylinder car, also known as the water turning and overturning car, is used for water irrigation through the action of water flow, day and night, which can greatly save manpower and animal power."

Liu Sicheng explained to Xiaoxue in detail the role of the cylinder car, and all of his knowledge came from an extracurricular research in high school, called "Agricultural Implements in the Middle Ages".

"With the cylinder cart, the saved human resources can be used to cultivate more arable land, and the Vietnamese people can produce enough grain with enough arable land, and they don't have to risk going out of the mountains to loot military rations. In this way, it can not only alleviate the contradictions, but also enable the people of the Yue and Han ethnic groups to live and work in peace and contentment, killing two birds with one stone! Liu Sicheng is like a political defense, adding a lot of "meaning".

"yes!" Xiao Xue was excited when she heard this, and she couldn't help but exclaim, "Sicheng, I didn't expect you to be able to design such a subtle thing!" ”

"It's a clever trick." Liu Sicheng scratched his head and accepted the praise from Xiaoxue with a shameless face.

"You're amazing!" Xiao Xue paused, and then wondered, "However, your characters don't seem to be the same as Chinese characters." ”

"Yes, yes?" Liu Sicheng suddenly remembered that there were many differences between the Chinese characters at this time and the simplified characters he wrote, so he could only casually say nonsense, "This is actually ...... Words unique to my hometown. ”

"Really? Your hometown is so strange. Not only is the language strange, but the writing is also strange. Xiaoxue suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, how can I thank you for offering this now?" ”

Liu Sicheng helped Xiaoxue completely out of his heart, and never thought of asking for something in return. But since Xiao Xue asked like this, he couldn't help but be moved, and smiled at Xiao Xue:

"Xiaoxue, you don't have to be too polite, I just want you to fulfill one of my wishes."

"Say it." Xiaoxue tilted her head and responded cheerfully.

"I want ...... Want...... You ......" Liu Sicheng had a tricky expression.

Seeing this, Xiaoxue shyly didn't dare to look at him, and silently lowered her head.

"I want to ...... You...... You ......" Liu Sicheng deliberately dragged a long tone.

Xiaoxue's head is lowered.

"I want you to teach me how to write." Liu Sicheng finally said the answer.

As soon as the words fell, Xiaoxue raised her head in surprise and responded shyly:

"You want me to teach you how to write? It's as simple as that? ”

"Yes."

"Overcous!" Xiao Xue coldly came out with a sentence that Liu Sicheng didn't understand.

"What did you say?" Liu Sicheng shrunk his neck and wondered.

"Your hometown! It's that 'of course'. Xiaoxue folded her hands and smiled, "Don't you understand?" ”

Liu Sicheng couldn't help but laugh a little when he heard this, and he solemnly corrected Xiaoxue's non-standard pronunciation and said:

"It should be Of course."

"Almost." Xiaoxue smiled slightly, not impressed.

"So you agree." Liu Sicheng couldn't help but say excitedly.

Xiaoxue bowed her head slightly, indicating affirmation.

"Then I'll have to call you a teacher in the future?" The corners of Liu Sicheng's mouth raised, and he raised his hand to Xiaoxue's face and asked.

"Just call me Xiaoxue." Xiaoxue waved her hand and replied softly.

"Oh, Teacher Xiaoxue." Liu Sicheng said deliberately.

"Just call me Xiaoxue." Xiaoxue corrected.

"Oh, just call Teacher Xiaoxue." Liu Sicheng's interest in playing is unabated.

"Sicheng, it's ......good to joke about it," Xiaoxue said with her hands folded.

I was really happy to be funny with Xiaoxue, but Liu Sicheng naturally understood the truth of accepting it when he saw it, so he responded repeatedly:

"Okay, okay, Xiaoxue."

"That's right, Sicheng."

The two looked at each other and smiled, and the air was full of cheerful atmosphere.

Early the next morning, Xiaoxue led about 100 female warriors from her clan to set out from the nest. Each person carried a deer antler hunting bow with twenty white feather arrows, and because of the lack of iron tools in the mountains, less than forty percent of the female warriors could be equipped with ring-headed knives, and the rest could only carry wood knives for chopping wood. As for the armor for protection, there was no one, and each person only carried a rattan shield on his back to block arrows in battle. is such a poorly equipped team of 100 people, which is the maximum strength that Xiaoxue can accumulate. The fighting style of the Yue people is mainly surprise attacks, and they try to use arrows to kill and wound the enemy in the shadows, rather than engaging them at close range. After all, no matter how strong a woman is, she can't compete with an adult man, not to mention that her opponent is far superior to her in terms of equipment. Rashly engaging in hand-to-hand combat is tantamount to sending to death.

Liu Sicheng didn't know martial arts, so he couldn't accompany him, so he could only pray for them silently in his heart.

In the evening, this 100-man squad succeeded in a sneak attack and returned with a full load, but there were no casualties.

In the process, Xiaoxue complied with the agreement with Liu Sicheng and did not burn the surplus grain that could not be taken away.

After that, Xiaoxue led the clan to follow the schematic diagram drawn by Liu Sicheng, and after many assembly experiments, they finally built a practical cylinder car, and the actual use effect far exceeded expectations.

Because of this incident, the clansmen all revered Liu Sicheng, and Liu Sicheng became famous among the Yue people in the Luling area.