The boy laughed, put the stick down, went over and picked up the puppy, and said, "Why are you alone in this wilderness?" What about your master, or your mother? ”

The puppy seemed to sense his kindness and was not afraid, and barked a few times.

The young man said to Lu Man, "This puppy appears here, there must be hunters nearby." As he spoke, he heard the barking of a big dog and the voice of a man.

The boy didn't dare to hold the puppy in his arms, and the protected the cub for fear that it would misunderstand and bite herself.

The puppy didn't run away, and barked a few more times.

Half an hour later, a man and a dog ran out of the woods in front of him, and the young man hurriedly pulled Lu Man and ran away. The big dog ran to the puppy and barked at the boy and Lu Man in the distance.

The hunter who came with him was about seventeen or eighteen years old, tall and dark, and lowered his body to pat the big dog for comfort. said, "Shanzi, be honest." He stood up again and said to the young man and Lu Man, "Why did you two come here, where are your adults?" ”

The young man hugged his fists and said, "This big brother, we are greedy for fun and separated from our family, where is Guangji Temple going?" ”

The hunter pointed in that direction and said, "Guangji Temple go that way." However, the road is a bit long, and the mountain road is not easy to climb, so if you two go there, you will have to walk at least to the next day. He pointed at Lu Man and said, "Those mountain roads, this little girl may not be able to climb them." ”

When the young man saw that the direction pointed by the hunter was ready, he let go of half of his heart. If the hunter is pointing in the wrong direction, he will definitely find a way to escape.

The young man took out a purse from his arms, took out two jade pendants from his waist, and said, "This big brother, I only have so many valuable things on me, and I will give them to you." ”

The hunter laughed and said, "Little brother, what do you think of me, you rich people just have a lot of eyes. I am a hunter, and I eat according to my ability, what do I want you to do? Then he pointed to the grove and said, "I have a makeshift house on the other side of the woods, so let's go and rest." I will lead you out of the mountain. Rent an ox cart in the village and go home. ”

The boy laughed and said, "I'm sorry, it's my villain's heart." He introduced himself again, "My surname is Jiang, and this is my sister." If we can go home, we will be grateful at home. ”

The hunter laughed, "No thanks. What kind of encounter is better than chance encounter, we meet here, it is also fate. Little Brother Jiang, Little Sister Jiang, my surname is Zheng, and my name is Zheng Qiang. ”

The boy and Lu Man both greeted, "Brother Zheng." ”

The boy and Lu Man followed Zheng Qiang to the woods, and when they walked through the woods, they saw a wooden house, and Shanzi and his son ran towards the wooden house happily.

Entering the house, Zheng Qiang gave the boy and Lu Man a piece of corn tortilla, and scooped a bowl of cold water. smiled, "I'm going to hunt in the mountains, this is my temporary foothold, and you will be settled." ”

The two had not eaten since the previous night, and they were so hungry that they ate the bread in one go.

The young man realized that after he finished eating, he found that Zheng Qiang was only drinking water with a bowl. Thinking that he must have eaten other people's rations, he blushed. said, "Brother Zheng, we ate your meal. ”

Zheng Qiang smiled, "I play roughly, and I often have a full meal and a hungry meal, unlike you children of rich and noble families." ”

They rested for a while, Zheng Qiang hung the two rabbits, a pheasant, and a roe deer in the house around his waist, got up and walked out of the mountain with them and the two dogs.

After walking a mountain road, Lu Man couldn't walk, walked very slowly, and cried that his feet hurt. Helpless, the young man had to carry her on his back and continue walking.

Zheng Qiang also picked up the puppy and said with a smile, "Little Brother Jiang is a good brother who feels sorry for his sister. ”

Xiao Lu Man was sour in his heart, and felt that it was good to have an older brother. After listening to Zheng Qiang's words, tears came out. She buried her face in the socket of the boy's neck, and tears flowed down his neck.

The boy paused and asked, "What's wrong with you?" ”

Xiao Lu Man choked up and whispered in his ear, "It feels good to have a brother." ”

The boy smiled and walked forward with a firmer step.

When Xiao Lu Man called a teenager again, he was only called "big brother". When I told Zheng Qiang about my youth, I also proudly said "my eldest brother".

It was almost noon, and a few people finally walked out of the mountain, and Lu Man came down to walk by himself.

There is a small village at the foot of the mountain, where Zheng Qiang's home is located. The village is small and built on the mountain. As soon as they entered the village, many children gathered around them, looking at the boy and Lu Man like monkeys.

Zheng Qiang scolded with a smile, "Go, go, what to see, stay away." They are the children of rich and noble families, you mud children don't scare people. ”

They entered Zheng Qiang's house, the fence courtyard wall, and the adobe house.

As soon as Zheng Qiang walked into the courtyard, he shouted in a loud voice, "Mother, mother, you are here." ”

With a sound of answer, a woman in her thirties walked out of the room.

Aunt Zheng saw that Lu Man and the young man were white, tender and beautiful, although the clothes were a little dirty, but they were good materials, they must be the sons and daughters of a rich family, I don't know why they came here. She smiled, "Ouch, what a distinguished guest, our family is simple, don't dislike it." "Very cool woman.

The young man hurriedly bowed down and said, "Aunt Zheng, I'm sorry." My surname is Jiang, and she is my sister-in-law. Xiao Lu Man also bowed.

"Oh, it's Young Master Jiang, Miss Jiang, please come forward." The woman smiled heartily.

The house is simple but clean.

Zheng Qiang made two bowls of sugar water for them to drink, and Aunt Zheng went into the kitchen to make several large bowls of noodles, and also gave the two of them two poached eggs.

The boy and Lu Man were both hungry, and after a while, the boy ate all the noodles and eggs. Xiao Lu Man finished eating the eggs, but the noodles were not finished, and Aunt Zheng took them and finished eating.

After the meal, the young man quietly discussed with Lu Man, "Aunt Zheng and Brother Zheng are very good, let's rest at Zheng's house for a day, and go back tomorrow, so that the family will be anxious." All right? ”

Lu Man didn't want to make her family anxious, she only felt that Brother Jiang was very good and didn't want to leave him, so she nodded approvingly when she heard this.

The young man cheekily said to Zheng Qiang's mother and son, "Aunt Zheng, Brother Zheng, my sister and I both like the tranquility here, can you let us stay for a day and rent an ox cart to go home at noon tomorrow?" ”

As he spoke, he took out his purse again, leaving only two silver bills, saying that he would rent a car tomorrow, and forcibly stuffed the rest of the dozen taels of silver and a jade pendant into Zheng Qiang's hand. He also said, "This is not only our food and shelter money, but also our life-saving money." If we hadn't met Brother Zheng, we wouldn't know if we could come out in the mountains. If Brother Zheng is polite, he just doesn't treat me as a brother, and we are embarrassed to disturb your house. ”

Zheng Qiang blushed and accepted the silver and pendants, and only took the roe deer and a rabbit to the town to sell, saying that he would eat stewed chicken and roast rabbit at night.

At the end of the day, the boy and Lu Man sat in the yard and teased the little dog, feeling that time passed quickly.