In August in the south, the plants and trees roasted by the scorching sun are a little wilted, and the green leaves are all bowed with their heads, looking half-dead. The mountain paths are overgrown with weeds, and there are hardly any human footprints to be seen. There is not even a bird, only the monotonous cicadas occasionally chirp a few times weakly, in order to show a little vitality.

It's a pretty big mountain. There is a small forest halfway up the mountain, and among the layers of green leaves, there is a quaint old house that is half-hidden and half-hidden.

The house looks a little old, but it is still well maintained, with blue bricks and white tiles, carved windows, a few exquisite bonsai in the yard, and a small pond. There are two stone lions standing at the gate, and two yellow-headed beast heads are hanging on the red lacquered gate, which seem to be touched by people from time to time, and look smooth and shiny. There is a very large plaque hanging above the gate, the word "Jiang Fu" is written very beautifully, although it is cursive, it looks solemn and solemn, not frivolous at all.

It was afternoon, and on the stone steps at the entrance of the house sat an old lady with gray hair, squinting in the sun. The old lady leaned her back against the scarlet gate, tilted her head, and little by little, as if she were about to fall asleep.

A seemingly exhausted man slowly walked down the mountain. This man looked about thirty years old, quite tall. He carried a large drawing board on his back and a travel bag on his shoulder. He wore a peaked cap on his head, but he kept reaching out to block the sun in front of him.

He stood at the edge of the woods, made his way, and walked straight in the direction of the house in the middle of the woods.

The trees in this forest are very luxuriant, and there are vines hanging among the green leaves. The man walked and looked around, but he still tripped over the imperceptible vines under his feet several times before finally reaching the gate of the house. When she saw the old lady at the door, she smiled slightly.

"This old woman!" The man approached the old lady and whispered.

The old lady didn't mean to wake up, she still had her head little by little, and she didn't notice anyone around her at all.

The man whispered several times, but the old lady still closed her eyes, her breathing gradually stabilized, and she fell asleep.

"Old woman!" The man saw that it was useless to shout quietly, so he simply shouted loudly into the old lady's ear.

The old lady remained unmoved, as if she was deaf.

The man hesitated, then cautiously stretched out a finger and gently touched the old woman's shoulder.

The old lady immediately fell to the side, and was about to fall to the ground. The frightened man immediately caught the old lady's fallen body with his other hand and slowly straightened her.

"Well...... the old lady was tossed like this, and she looked a little about to wake up. She smacked her lips and let out a muffled nasal sound, then opened her eyes with a small slit to identify the person in front of her.

The man immediately took two steps back, stood respectfully to the side, and let the old lady look him up and down.

"Who are you?" The old lady looked at it for a long time before she asked, "What are you doing here?" ”

"My name is Xia Beifeng, the summer of summer, and the north wind is the north wind that blows in winter. I'm an art teacher who came to sketch in the mountains, and I just accidentally got lost. The man smiled politely at the old lady, and after introducing himself, he asked, "Do you know how to go on the national highway?" ”

"What did you say?" Hearing this, the old lady glared at Xia Beifeng, and yelled at him loudly, "Are you old and confused?" No north wind blows in summer! ”

Of course, I know that the north wind usually doesn't blow in summer, so how do you grow your old ears!

Xia Beifeng took two steps back, kept a smile on his face, and patiently continued to explain to the old lady.

"I said I was lost, can you tell me how to get along the road?" He gestured as he spoke, trying to make the old lady understand what he was saying, "The national highway is a road...... There's a red sign, you know? ”

"Huh? We don't have a person named Guo Dao. The old lady continued to look at Xia Beifeng in confusion, and kept waving her hand at him, "No, no, there is no surname Guo, you hurry up and go, look elsewhere." ”

"Can you give me a drink?" Xia Beifeng squatted down slightly, looked at the old lady calmly, and told her loudly, "I have just walked a long way, I am a little thirsty, do you have any water in the house to give me a little." ”

"No, no!" The old lady continued to wave her hand to drive him away: "My family's water is not for outsiders to drink, you go elsewhere to find water, I won't give it to you." ”

Xia Beifeng sighed, straightened up, and seemed to have given up communicating with the old lady, and was about to turn around and leave. He looked up at the plaque with the word "Jiang Fu" on the door, and suddenly remembered something, turned his head to the old lady and asked:

"Old man...... Do you know that there is a person named Jiang Yunshan around here? ”

"There's no ginger, garlic, clouds, frost, all of them, you hurry up, don't block me from basking in the sun." The old lady saw that Xia Beifeng didn't listen to persuasion, and she was still standing at the door and didn't leave, so she simply reached out to push him. He kept saying that Xia Beifeng should get out of here quickly, and not be an eyesore here.

"Think about it again, a person named Jiang Yunshan should have been a very beautiful girl before." Xia Beifeng took two steps back, standing out of the reach of the old lady, still reluctantly trying to get the old lady to say something.

"I'm here to deliver the letter on behalf of someone, and I'm looking for someone named Jiang Yunshan. She's supposed to live here, don't you really know? ”

The old lady simply picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at Xia Beifeng.

Xia Beifeng took a step to the side, dodging the stone thrown by the old lady. Seeing that the old lady was staggered by the force of throwing the stone by herself, she couldn't help but step forward to help her.

The old lady was supported by Xia Beifeng, very unwilling. twisted his body from side to side, forcing Xia Beifeng to let go, and his mouth was still turning over and over to tell Xia Beifeng to go quickly.

"There is no one named Jiang Yunshan!" The old lady leaned into Xia Beifeng's ear and yelled at him loudly, "There is no surname Jiang here at all, there are no onions, ginger and garlic, you should go elsewhere to find your Guo Dao!" ”

Where is this? Xia Beifeng smiled bitterly and helped the old lady to prevent her from accidentally falling, looked up and glanced at the plaque above the gate, it was indeed written that Jiang Mansion was right.

The old lady gradually calmed down, and Xia Beifeng let go little by little. He saw that the old lady was already able to sit firmly on her own, and then he stepped aside with confidence, rummaged in his bag for a while, and took out two letters. The envelope looks old, and people can't help but worry about whether it will break if they are not careful.

"I'll show you this." Xia Beifeng handed the two letters in his hand to the old lady, and asked her to read the words on them, "I have a letter here, and the address should be here." If you take a closer look, it says Jiang Yunshan collected. ”

"Nope." The old lady didn't even look at it, and answered directly.

"Take a closer look." Xia Beifeng relaxed his tone, and said to the old lady almost pleadingly, "If you think it really doesn't work, just accept this letter, and I'll go back to pay it." ”

"Nope!" The old lady replied categorically, thought about it and said, "I don't want your, and I don't want to give me money." ”

Xia Beifeng stood there, looking at the old lady in embarrassment.

Seeing that Xia Beifeng still refused to leave, the old lady rolled her eyes, and seemed to have compromised.

"Then show me the letter."

Xia Beifeng immediately handed over the letter. The old lady took the letter, didn't read it, and was about to stuff it into her mouth. Xia Beifeng hurriedly snatched the letter back from her hand, and checked to see if the envelope had been damaged by the old lady.

A few rays of sunlight shone through the layers of leaves, shining on the old lady's face full of wrinkles and old age spots, showing that her face was becoming more and more mottled and old. She raised her head and squinted at the envelope in Xia Beifeng's hand, the envelope had the words "Jiang Yunshan received" written on it, and the words of those brushes were vigorous and powerful, and they were very attractive.

The old lady stared at the letter, her eyes changing several times, as if she was remembering something. Finding that Xia Beifeng noticed her, he immediately turned his head away, pretending that he didn't care about the letter at all. 's mouth still kept muttering about letting Xia Beifeng "go back and forth from where".

Xia Beifeng also pretended not to know at all, and made a gesture to stuff the letter back into his bag.

Out of nowhere, a cool breeze blew, and the leaves rattled.

The old lady suddenly turned her head and stared thoughtfully at the envelope in Xia Beifeng's hand for a while. Only then did he tentatively ask, "Where did you get this letter?" ”

"Oh, an elder in my family passed away some time ago. We found two letters as we sorted through his belongings. Xia Beifeng replied casually: "Two letters." One was written by someone else to the elder in my family, and the other was written by the elder in reply, but I don't know why it wasn't sent. Our family thought that the letter was so well preserved, and it was probably a very important thing, so we wanted to try to find the person who received the letter, and we also calculated the elder's wish. ”

The old lady listened to Xia Beifeng's words, her eyes flashed slightly, and she stared at the envelope tightly.

"Alas! It's been so many years, and I don't know if the person receiving the letter is still there. Xia Beifeng sighed, looked at the old lady who was obviously excited curiously, smiled and asked again: "What, look at what you mean by being old, do you remember something?" ”

"I know her!" The old lady shouted at Xia Beifeng eagerly, and after realizing that she was a little out of shape, she smiled apologetically at Xia Beifeng before slowly continuing: "Jiang Yunshan is the eldest lady of my Jiang family. When I was a teenager, I worked as a maid in this family and served her for a while. Now that so many years have passed, my old brain is a little confused, and I can't remember things. I didn't recognize it when you asked it just now, but now I remember. Child, what do you want to ask? ”

The old lady's speech at this time was indeed not as inverted and vague as just now. He no longer squints at people, and he doesn't look like the virtue that he was about to fall at any time at the beginning, and the whole person looks much sober. Sitting on the steps, his waist seemed to be much straighter

"Is she still alive now?" Xia Beifeng hurriedly approached the old lady and asked carefully about Jiang Yunshan: "Or is she no longer there?" Tell me as much as you can remember. ”

"She's gone." The old lady sighed, wiped the corners of her eyes, and said in a trembling voice: "The eldest lady is really a good person, but it's a pity that she died in her twenties." ”

"That's a shame." Xia Beifeng also sighed regretfully and was silent for a while. He quietly watched the old lady miss the past, and did not say a word, taking it as a mourning for the dead.

Even though he didn't know anything about this person at all.

After a while, Xia Beifeng saw that the old lady's mood calmed down a little. I didn't know where to grab a handful of melon seeds and put them on the steps beside the old lady.

"Can you tell me where this Miss Jiang is buried?" Xia Beifeng sat beside the old lady as he spoke, and said to her very sincerely, "Since the person can't be found anymore." Then I will go to the grave tomorrow and burn this letter to her. This is also a wish of the elders, and we can rest assured as juniors. You eat melon seeds. ”

"The place where she is buried is quite far from here, and I am afraid that I will not be able to walk for a while. The night road in the mountains is dangerous, so you can stay here for the night. The old lady looked at Xia Beifeng sitting beside her, carefully moved to the side, widened the distance between the two, picked up a melon seed and looked at it carefully.

"You won't be able to find your way anyway. Just stay for one night, I'll find someone to take you to worship the eldest lady tomorrow morning, and then take you to find the national highway. You're not in a hurry, are you? ”

"Of course there's no hurry. I originally came out to sketch, and wherever I went, it didn't matter. Xia Beifeng saw that the old lady carefully observed the melon seeds in her hand for a while, and finally put it in her mouth, and carefully knocked open the melon seed skin. Immediately, he grabbed another handful of melon seeds and put them on the steps.

"Can you tell me what kind of person that Miss Jiang is?"

The old lady tasted a melon seed, seemed to be in a good mood, and grinned.

"We're both fine, and it's far from dinner time." The old lady's mouth moved quickly, swallowed the small melon seeds, and took a few melon seeds in the palm of her hand.

"Then I'll tell you about the eldest lady. You have to listen well. ”

Xia Beifeng immediately straightened his sitting posture and put on an expression of deferential listening. By the way, I began to swallow melon seeds, ready to listen to the story.