In the west of the Flood Continent, a mountain range that stretches for seven thousand miles from north to south, the mountain range is as high as a cloud, and from a distance, the rolling mountains embedded in the sky reflect the shining golden light under the illumination of the sunset, which is extraordinarily magnificent, like a beautiful picture. It is the Nanling Mountain Range, and legend has it that Yun Xiaofeng, the holy martial master of Huayun, is buried in the mountain.

In the south of the Nanling Mountains, in the territory of Pinghai City, there is a small town called Linshui, even if it is close to noon, the town is extraordinarily quiet.

The town is hazy and hazy, and it has not yet dissipated, a river passes through the town, and the river water is crystal clear on the wide river, like a large mirror as clear as a mirror, which can reflect the emerald green mountains in the distance, the blue water, and everything around the town as hazy as ink paintings.

The river along the street is full of all kinds of boats, one next to the other, as if each boat is holding hands to go for a walk! From time to time, a leaf boat quietly came out of the half-moon-shaped bridge hole under the stone bridge, as if playing hide and seek with Brother Qiaodong.

On the winding lanes of the town, a little girl walks quickly with heavy steps on her back with a basket full of wild vegetables, her hair is a little messy, and her two long braids are not swaying with her steps even though they are pressed against her back by the basket.

When she came to the door of a secluded house, she stretched out her hands to push the door open, but for some reason, her hands stopped in the air, and she seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then she faintly heard a breath.

"Squeak!"

Pushed open the door and stood at the door, only to see her frowning for a while, and then her eyes wide, just looking at it in a daze, her eyes seemed to have a trace of surprise, and there was also some fear.

The room was a little dim, and I saw a man in an apron about forty years old standing in the corner, looking a little haggard, his eyes were blank, the skin on his face was very rough, as if he hadn't slept soundly for a long time, his eyes were also deeply sunken, his eyes were black, and he was sorting out a pile of children's clothes. And the table behind him was full of cooked meals, and he was Bai Moran's adoptive father Bai Ermao.

Seeing that the door was opened, Bai Ermao turned around, saw that it was Bai Moran, and looked at Bai Moran for a while, then he coughed lightly, put down the clothes in his hand, and stretched out his hand to the dining table next to him.

"Let's put down and eat"

He walked over, helped put down the back, and put it outside the door, and then took Bai Moran into the house to wash his hands, he looked at Bai Moran's wet skirt and dirty shoes, glanced at Bai Moran who was at a loss, and stopped talking.

After Bai Moran finished washing his hands, he took a towel and pulled her hand to help her dry it, then dragged the wooden bench next to him and motioned for Bai Moran to sit down.

Bai Moran slowly sat on the bench and looked at Bai Ermao in a daze.

"That's it, eat, right?"

Father seems to have a little less sternness in his eyes today, but it doesn't look natural at all, Bai Moran picked up the rice bowl and looked at the food on the table, there were five or six dishes and one soup, from childhood to adulthood, it was a luxury to eat two or three dishes at ordinary times, not to mention that there were three meat dishes on the table now.

If it is placed in normal times, let alone cooking, it is lucky not to be beaten and scolded when you go back late, let alone such a hearty meal.

Looking at Bai Moran who was in a daze with the bowl, Bai Ermao picked up the chopsticks and put a piece of meat into Bai Moran's bowl, and then said, "Why don't you eat it?" ”

"I wrestled, so I came back late"

Bai Moran lowered his head, not daring to look at Bai Ermao again.

After listening to this, Bai Ermao put down the chopsticks in his hand, turned sideways and stroked Bai Moran's somewhat messy hair, smiled slightly, and then raised her hand holding the rice bowl, signaled her to eat, and then said, "It's okay, it's good that you didn't fall."

This is the first time she has memory that her father has been so gentle, she was warm, but the tears rolled down uncontrollably, she quickly lowered her head and raised her sleeves to wipe it, and put the rice that was about to go into her mouth back into the bowl.

"Don't like it?"

Seeing that Bai Moran didn't say anything for a long time, Bai Ermao looked at the table and asked.

"No, it's just..."

Bai Moran took the chopsticks and pestled them in the bowl, and then continued to ask in a low voice, "Dad, what's wrong with you today?"

"Don't ask, let's eat, we'll have something to do later."

"Hmm"

Glancing at Bai Ermao, who had already eaten, Bai Moran picked up his rice bowl and began to devour it.

Bai Ermao nodded with satisfaction while eating, and after a while, his meal had not been finished, and at this time, Bai Moran had already finished eating and put down the dishes and chopsticks.

Bai Ermao was stunned for a moment, then looked at Bai Moran's rice bowl that was bigger than himself, and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"Eat some more, shall you?"

"No, I still have to cook pig food!"

Bai Moran got up and prepared to leave as he spoke, Bai Ermao grabbed Bai Moran and pulled him back to the bench and said, "Don't cook, don't cook, I've sold all the pigs, let's rest, let's talk for a while, how about it?" ”

"What!"

After listening, Bai Mo stood up suddenly, glanced at Bai Ermao incredulously, and then quickly ran out, ran back after a while, and then said anxiously: "Dad, did you really sell the pig?" ”

Bai Ermao, with his shoulders shook, then said, "It's sold!" ”

"The pigs haven't grown up yet!"

"Can you just stop talking about pigs?" Saying that, Bai Ermao pressed Bai Moran's shoulder and motioned for her to sit down, and then said, "Sit down, let's talk."

Bai Moran sat on the bench, looking at the back basket full of weeds outside the door for a while, and looking at the food on the table for a while, his eyes kept rolling, and he didn't calm down.

"Hey! Mo Ran, your father and I have not done anything over the years, and I have indeed wronged you, I hope you don't hate me" Bai Ermao sighed and said.

"What's wrong with you?"

Bai Moran looked at Bai Ermao, who was different from usual, didn't catch his words, and asked again.

"It's not much, it's just that you've suffered in our family all these years"

"I don't feel wronged, I just hope that my father will stop gambling money, don't go to someone to drink, and work hard in the mountains! We're going to be fine."

"What a job! Look at Chen Laosan next door, Chen Da Hammer They get up early every day and are greedy for dry goods, they have been like this for generations, and they are not unsuccessful" After listening to Bai Ermao, he said excitedly.

"Then they have food to eat every day, and they have meat to eat every day, and our family has paid off all the food, not to mention, we haven't eaten meat for a long time" Bai Moran said with tears in his eyes.

"That's it!" Bai Ermao slapped the table, gasped, and then said: "It's already very good if you don't starve to death, and you still pick and choose."

Saying that, he seemed to think of something, then calmed down and took a long breath, looked at Bai Moran calmly and said: "Okay, Dad knows, gambling money is not good, drinking is not good, Dad will slowly change in the future"

"And, you know what? Your father has also found a good way to live outside, it must be better than getting up early in the mountains and being greedy for darkness" As he spoke, he picked up the clothes he had sorted out earlier, and then made them into packages and said to Bai Moran: "We are going to live in the city in the future, this is your salute"

"Going to live in the city?"

"Yes, go to live in the city, I found a job in the city, and I have dozens of taels of copper and stone every month!"

Bai Ermao said, pulling Bai Moran out, Bai Moran didn't know what his father was going to do, so he was pulled out.

Walking out of the door, Bai Ermao turned around and looked at the crooked and collapsed house and said to himself: "When you make a lot of money, you will come back and repair the house again."

After that, he closed the door and prepared to lock it.

"Let's go, let's go to town"

"Leaving now?" Bai Moran said incredulously.

"Yes, let's go now"

"Wait"

As she spoke, she took out a necklace from her arms, lowered her head, spread the necklace in her hand, and looked at it in a daze, as if she was thinking about something.

Since she was a child, she has always had to carry this necklace to sleep, and according to her father, this is a relic left to her by her mother.

I saw a strange pattern engraved on the cherry red necklace, the chain was broken for some reason, and there was a word vaguely engraved on the necklace, but she was illiterate, and her father was illiterate. She also went to ask a gentleman in the town, who looked at it for a long time, and then returned the necklace to her without saying anything. But it didn't matter, the important thing was that with the necklace, she could feel her mother by her side.

She pushed open the door, went in and took out a hoe and a piece of clothing, then went to the bottom of the tree behind the house, dug a hole, wrapped the necklace in the garment repeatedly, carefully put it in, and filled it in.

"Why don't you take it away?" Bai Ermao asked puzzled.

Bai Moran replied while filling in: "It's the only thing my mother left me, I'm afraid I'll lose it with it."

Saying that, Bai Moran paused, pestle the hoe and said to himself in a voice that only he could hear: "If you lose it, there will be no more mothers."

Bai Ermao's eyes flickered, he hid it from Bai Moran, in fact, he picked it up by the river outside the town, because Bai Ermao was ugly, drunk and gambling, and poor, no one wanted to marry his daughter to her, so he lived with Bai Moran like this.

This necklace was in Bai Moran's arms when he picked it up, the chain was broken at that time, and he also took the necklace to the pawn shop and asked the shopkeeper how much it was worth, the pawn shop shopkeeper knew that Bai Ermao was a poor gambler, how could there be anything valuable, and that strange necklace, with his decades of experience, he had never seen it at all, it was estimated that Bai Ermao got it to trick him, the shopkeeper thought about it like this, and threw it out directly.

Looking at Bai Moran's reluctant appearance, Bai Ermao sighed and said, "Take it, just keep it carefully, how can you lose it?" ”

"It's not that Dad doesn't know that I'm usually very aggressive, I always lose everything, I can't afford to lose this necklace one day."

At noon, the sun is on three poles, at this time is the most unsuitable for hurrying, I don't know whether Bai Ermao is temporary or deliberate, they took the salute, and went on the road under the scorching sun, along the way Bai Ermao held Bai Moran's little hand, they walked out of the town, walked through the river beach, crossed the creek, and crossed the mountains and rivers. Bai Moran was tired, so Bai Ermao carried her on his back and continued to walk.

I don't know how long it took, the sun was setting, and the two figures appeared in the afterglow of the light.

Until nightfall, they rushed nearly a hundred miles, from Linshui Town to Pinghai City, there were more than four hundred miles away, counting food and rest, they expected to catch up with three days to arrive.

At night, they found a cave to rest, Bai Ermao lit a bonfire in the cave, and after eating dry food, they were ready to rest.

Bai Moran rubbed her feet and walked the mountain road for a day, her legs were sore and painful, but looking back on this way, her father picked up her novel and carried her on his back, and suddenly laughed as if he had eaten a jar of honey.

"If only he had been so good"

"What are you underestimating?"

Bai Ermao asked after hearing Bai Moran muttering to himself.

"Oh, nothing"

"Sleep, I'll continue to travel tomorrow!"

Saying that, Bai Ermao turned around and prepared to fall asleep.

"Daddy?"

"Huh?"

"What kind of person is my mother?"

"Why are you asking this, didn't you say it all, your mother gave birth to you and went, your mother is very good" Bai Ermao turned around and said with some annoyance, but after a while, he slowed down and said: "She is very beautiful, just as beautiful as you!" Very gentle and caring! ”

"Then why haven't you mentioned your grandparents?" Bai Moran continued to ask.

"It's also dead" Bai Ermao said and turned around, straightened the robe covering the wounded body, and then said, "Sleep"

In this way, she imagined her mother's face and fell asleep with a smile.

End of chapter