Ten days before the turn of the day, the first cold wind of autumn came.

It assembles in the ice fields behind the Eternal Forest, hovers over the boundless dense forest, crosses the silent Strait of Death, and lands on Poseidon Island. The long trek did not diminish its power, and the fierce wind ripped the cables of the ships in the harbor, causing the smoke to creak and creak all night in the town.

Sha Ting was woken up in the middle of the night by the cold wind blowing through the gap in the attic, she changed the pillow to the other end of the small bed, and barely slept for a while. When it was dawn, she woke up again, and through the blurred window next to the bed, she saw a dark shadow moving outside.

It may be that the honeysuckle vines that covered the back house wall were torn off by the strong wind. Sha Ting thought to herself. It's going to rain tomorrow.

She emerged from the bed, grabbed the wool cloak and wool trousers at the head of the bed before the heat dissipated. There was a brand new pair of lace-up shoes under the bed, and she picked them up, rubbing the soft leather, and then gently lowered them to the foot of the bed. He neatly put on his old cloth boots and tugged the excessively long hems of his woolen pants into the cuffs of his boots with a few rubs. With a trumpeted rattan basket tied around her waist, she climbed down the ladder and tiptoed through the antechamber to open the door in the glimmer of the morning light. The cold wind that poured in made her shiver, and she flashed through the crack in the door quickly. After standing still under the eaves of the window for a moment, and making sure that the occupants were still asleep, she turned and set out on the path that led to Cedar Mountain.

Overnight, the dirt trail was covered with leaves. Other broken leaves swirl in the wind, dancing like ghosts. Sha Ting clasped her cloak all the way to her chin, tightened her hood, and walked briskly towards the entrance of the mountain road.

The faint blue morning light could not penetrate the woods, and the winding mountain road was almost completely darkened. But Sha Ting is not worried, this is the path she has been accustomed to walking for more than ten years, and she doesn't even have to look down at her feet.

It may not be an exaggeration to say that Sha Ting is walking on the wildest mountain road on the five islands of Shenriku. Poseidon Island is the most desolate and barren of the five islands, and the town of Smoke on the northeast corner of the narrow Poseidon Island is a remote town that few outsiders will set foot in, and the Cedar Mountain behind this town is even more inaccessible.

In spring and autumn, there is a lot of rain in Smoke Town. Heavy rain and light rain, endless, non-stop. The mountain road is full of mud, and after two steps, you will be covered in dirt. Winter is even worse, the screaming cold wind blows from the other side of the strait, the wind through the woods is as sharp as a knife, no matter how much you wear, it is useless, walking on the mountain road "knife wind" from time to time will give you a blow, cut the skin, show flesh and blood.

But the summer here is nice.

Some of Sha Ting's earliest memories are related to the summer here.

From the gentle slopes of Cedar Mountain, many gingers grow. In the summer between June and September, ginger produces small snow-white flowers and palm-shaped leaves that give off a cool aroma, and many people love the tea of Gunpowder made from the leaves of this plant. When I was very young, my mother would take my brother and carry Sha Ting on her back to collect ginger leaves on Cedar Mountain.

At that time, her family owned a small pharmacy, and her mother would make a salve from ginger leaves, which was the most popular item in the store, so they needed to collect a lot of these leaves in the summer. Mother and son often spend the afternoon in the woods on Cedar Mountain. Mom spread out a soft blanket on the forest meadow and put Satene on it, and her brother would lie beside her from time to time to tease her.

There are many fragments of Sha Ting's infant and toddler looking up at the forest sky, all of which are wrapped in a faint sweet taste.

After the age of two, the family's small pharmacy was doing very well for a while, and my mother had to stay in the store to take care of the business. In the early morning of summer, my brother would take Sha Ting alone to pick ginger leaves. He was afraid that his young sister would be scared if she was left alone in the glade, so he kept singing loudly.

"Unless flowers don't fall from the branches, unless the grass doesn't wither on the earth, unless you fall in love with me; Unless the sun rises in the west, unless the stars twinkle in the daytime, unless you fall in love with the ordinary me. ”

The tactful lyrics are not something that my seven-year-old brother can understand, but my mother often sings this song on weekdays, and he learned it unintentionally. The song echoed through the valley and the woods, and little Sha Ting leaned against the big medicine basket and listened, humming, helping to smooth out the dew-laden leaves.

Once, Dad went up the mountain to get the leaves. Satie remembers his indescribable joy when he saw his little daughter sitting on the grass, spreading the leaves one by one and babbling and singing love songs. He picked her up, took the unfilled basket on his shoulder, and ran with the greatest pace towards his home down the hill, using his hard stubble to tie Shating's tender face as he ran, and sang the song aloud. His sonorous singing voice was echoed by his daughter's immature voice.

"God forbid!" The mother saw her husband's daughter in his arms rushing down the hill with a reckless stride and running out of the house in a panic, "Wota, you're going to break the child's neck!" She shouted.

Dad rushed up to her and excitedly shouted, "This kid is so smart! She's like me! She'll collect the leaves and sing our song! He grabbed Satine's little hand and shook it from side to side. Quick, sing it to Mom!

Sha Ting giggled and sang in response. Under the summer sun, her mother's bright smiling face is Sha Ting's precious treasure.