Li Degui thought about these past events and the precepts of his ancestors, and his heart was stunned for a while.

Early this morning, he said goodbye to his eldest brother and nephew in a hurry, and stumbled away from Jinxiba in order to return to Lijiashan as soon as possible and invite a few laborers to Jinxiba to carry up the two "ebony" sticks they had just taken out.

He crossed a small river ditch with "21 feet are not dry", passed through the Li Jiaji, walked through the gatehouse of the three passes in the front mountain, climbed to the Li family ancestral hall on the top of the mountain, and the mountain road of more than 70 miles, he only took half a day to get home.

Along the way, although he was only wearing thin clothes, facing the gusts of cold wind, he still felt sweaty all over his body, and his close-fitting underwear was glued to his back, cold and cold, although uncomfortable, he still walked forward excitedly. When he was about to arrive at the Li family ancestral hall, his father suddenly appeared in front of him with the mighty appearance of holding a dry tobacco pot, and his heart felt weak again. Li Degui is already a middle-aged man in his forties, and he is still afraid that his father, who is the patriarch, will not show favoritism, and that his father will get him, his brother, and nephew to the ancestral hall and accept the punishment of the clan rules in front of everyone.

Li Degui walked on the mountain road with a heavy heart, complaining to his brother in his heart: "Why don't you go back?" And let me go to see my father? ”

Complaining is complaining, and the two "ebony" that can be found for thousands of years make him secretly happy. A kind of harvest joy urged him to walk quickly to his home with a happy face. Just now, he was walking on the mountain road under the ancestral hall when he heard the mountain song of his cousin father and son, and an idea came to him. He crossed the mountain song with them, walked into the courtyard of the ancestral hall, and was about to ask his cousin to intercede with his father for him and his brother Li Degui, but he didn't expect that when he mentioned that he went to Jinxiba, not only his cousin, but even his sister-in-law Li Chen also complained about him.

"Big brother, what should I do?" Li Degui was worried that he would be reprimanded by his father when he returned home, so he begged Li Dequan to say: "Although we were wrong, what we took out were indeed two fine 'ebony'!" You go back with me, and help us ask Dad for a favor, as long as Dad agrees to bring those two 'ebony' back, he can punish us whatever he wants." ”

"Old man Quan, you just have to go! Help my brother ask for a favor! Li Chen stood next to him, and without waiting for Li Dequan to speak, he urged him to come.

"Okay! I'm going to ask my dad for a favor! Li Dequan stared at his wife, looked back at Li Degui, took his granddaughter from Li Degui's hands, and said to her: "Qiu girl, grandpa went down the mountain to do something, you are good and obedient in the house, don't run around, wait for grandpa to come back and eat 'Chinese New Year's Eve dinner with you."

The granddaughter puffed out a pair of big eyes, hooked her grandfather's neck with both hands, nodded sensibly, and said to Li Dequan in a milky voice: "Grandpa, you have to come back early!" Accompany the autumn woman to eat 'quack'! ”

Eating "quack" is a local saying, and eating "quack" is eating "meat". The people on the ridge of the Li family are poor, even if the whole family has labor like Li Dequan, and he is the owner of the ancestral hall, it is rare to eat meat a few times a year.

Listening to his granddaughter's sweet request, Li Dequan put his mouth on it, kissed her on her red face, hugged her back to Li Chen, and happily said to his granddaughter: "Grandpa has gone down the mountain, and he will be back in a while!"

"Yes! This is our good big brother! Li Degui stood next to him and shouted happily.

"Grandpa go slowly!" Seeing her grandfather get up and leave, her granddaughter stretched out a hand and waved at Li Dequan, and her sweet voice echoed in the sky above the ancestral hall.

Li Dequan and Li Degui walked out of the Li family ancestral hall, went down a mountain pass, passed through the black pine forest in front of the black stone cliff, and could see the Li family village deep in the mountains from afar.

The people of Li Jiashan are all cronies and soldiers brought out by Li Zhong from Jiahe Prefecture, Hubei Province, most of them are surnamed Li, and there are also some people with other surnames, after generation after generation, they have basically become relatives of the Li family or the Li family. More than 200 years have passed since the failure of the "White Lotus Uprising" in the Jiajing period, and the dozens of people at that time have grown to more than 400 households and thousands of people, scattered living in the mountains within a radius of nearly 100 miles. Li Degui's family lives in the dustpan dam in the east, where the population is relatively concentrated, and more than 50 families are scattered on a gentle dam in the middle of the canyon. Standing on a high place and looking down, except for the cultivated land and the whitewashed and black-tiled stilted buildings, it is a bare piece, but it is not as good as looking up the mountain from Jinxiba, there is a lush green everywhere. Maybe it's because there are more people living here, and it's time to cut down all the trees in the wasteland. Perhaps it is close to the border between Shaanxi and Gandhi, and due to the geographical location and climate, it is not suitable for the growth of tall trees. However, the desert is a little barren, but it also seems to have a broad vision, rough and bright, revealing a Shaanxi and Gansu scenery, which has a special interest.

Today is Chinese New Year's Eve, it is almost dusk, and wisps of cooking smoke are rising from the roofs of houses with the sound of pots and pans clattering. A gust of mountain wind blew, carrying the fragrance of bacon straight to Li Degui's nostrils.

Li Degui couldn't help but roar a mountain song on a whim: "The sun sets and is red on all sides, and my brother carries a hoe down the hillside; I wanted to find my sister to say something, but I panicked when the words came to my mouth. ”

The two hunting dogs fed by Li Degui's family are the most humane, and when they heard Li Degui's mountain song, they ran up one after the other, and threw themselves into the arms of Li Degui and Li Dequan to spread joy. Li Degui hugged their heads, and Li Dequan also patted them on the back. The "Panther", as black as satin, walked in front without saying a word to lead the way. The hound, whose fur was shiny yellow and shiny, and whose name was "Saihu", followed them and wagged his tail happily. The cheering of the "Race Tiger" attracted bursts of "Wangwang" dog barking all over the mountain.

Li Zaihao, the patriarch of Li Jiashan, sat in his yard, holding a long smoke pot, puffing out his cheeks, and smoking dry cigarettes. He was far away from the hillside when he saw his son and nephew Li Dequanhe coming out of the black pine forest and coming home. For more than 20 days, the heart that Lee Jae-ho had been hanging on finally fell back into his chest. The second son came back, accompanied by their cousin, their most trusted eldest nephew Li Dequan, and Li Zaihao didn't need to ask, he knew that the two sons and a nephew who had disappeared in the past few days had gone out to make trouble.

However, Lee Jae-ho watched his son walk on the road and sang mountain songs, and he also knew that the boss and grandson would not be in any danger. Lee Jae-ho was happy in his heart, but he didn't say anything, and he still put on a majestic face as a father.