How could a child walk towards North Street without seeing himself, and walk so fast? Why is it that it disappears while walking?

She couldn't figure it out. （）

She was so flustered that she asked no matter who she was, and she went in to see any store, but she still found nothing after searching for most of the county. She was so anxious that she was scurrying around like a headless fly, not so much that she was looking for the child, but that she wanted to bump into the child.

She walked from the bustling county center to a small shop near the outskirts of the county, and asked the shopkeeper if she had seen her child. She didn't really have much hope when she asked, and she knew that people would hate her, but there was no other way for her to do so.

When the shopkeeper drove her away, she didn't expect that there would be a personable gentleman to speak for her, and he also took the initiative to help find out where the child was.

When she heard the gentleman say that her child was nearby, she was overjoyed, as if she had seen the sun in the fog, and she hurried around the shop several times. But looking for it again, her heart is cold. There were no children in the area.

She was not reconciled, and came to the store again to inquire about the gentleman. The gentleman thought that the child would not be lost, and she did not know whether to believe him or not.

When she returned home, she couldn't sit still, so she went to the place where the child was lost and waited for the child to come back. She was sleepy, tired, hungry and cold, and she fell asleep while standing here. Her subconscious told herself that she couldn't fall, and that she was going to wait like a lighthouse for the nocturnal ship to return.

In the haze, she had a dream, and the dream was very short. She dreamed that the child was running from the other side of the street, opening his arms to hug her. She cried tears of joy and quickly opened her hands to hug her child. But after hugging her, the child turned around to shake her off, and made a sound that only girls have.

She opened her eyes in fright, and she saw Xiaomi.

Grandpa helped her to sit down on the stone steps next to her, and said, "I said something not very good, don't get excited." Now it seems that something could happen to your child. ”

She trembled with her hands, grabbed her father's hand tightly, and asked, "Didn't you say that my child must be okay this afternoon?" Why has it changed now? The strength of her hand became very strong, and her father's hand hurt. She also became a little angry, like her grandfather had promised her something very important, but now he didn't give it to her.

Xiaomi had this kind of prediction for a long time, so she didn't show much surprise when she heard her grandfather say this.

Daddy knew that Millet had made this prediction for a long time, and when the woman left, she said, "If you haven't found the child yet, remember to come to this store to find us." Grandpa also knew that Xiaomi was a little suspicious of the fierce man who led the five dogs in the store. Daddy had already paid attention to the man, and noticed that the dog seemed to be particularly interested in the woman. But before there was more definite evidence, Grandpa didn't dare to be self-pitying.

"What I said earlier is not lying to you. I can still be sure that your child is not lost and that it is not far away. But the situation was a little more complicated than I expected. Daddy said to her as gently as he could.

"Did you get caught by human traffickers, but the traffickers haven't left our county yet?" The woman said. In fact, she took this situation into account many times when she was looking for her child. It's just that some people won't admit it even if they guess that things should be like that.

"I think that's pretty much the case." Daddy said.

The woman said eagerly: "Sir, I can see that you are not an ordinary person!" Can you count that my child has not been lost and has not gone far, can you count where the traffickers are? Is it possible to get my child back? ”

"I do my best." Grandpa can't give a definite answer, there are too many unknown factors ahead.

Xiaomi next to him said loudly: "Don't worry! We'll definitely bring your kids back! ”

Grandpa glanced at Xiaomi. Xiaomi pouted, and did not have a trace of apologies for boasting about Haikou. The light of the red lanterns on both sides of the street hit Xiaomi's face, like a layer of rouge, making her childish face a little more rare mature charming.

Grandpa was stunned and hurriedly withdrew his gaze.

The woman turned her head to look at Millet with the same devotion as the worshippers in the temple looked at the statue of the Bodhisattva. She let go of her father with both hands, propped herself on the ground, and then leaned over and kowtowed to Xiaomi.

She was about to kowtow, but Grandpa and Xiaomi hurriedly stepped forward to support her.

She choked up.

Xiaomi comforted: "You go back and rest, we will help you find the child." ”

She swallowed several mouthfuls before finally speaking, "Can I go with you?" ”

Grandpa said, "You'd better go back first." I understand your feelings, but if you go with us to find it, not only will it not help us, but it will delay our time. If you want to help, tell us if your child likes to eat anything in particular? ”

"He, like his father, loves to eat rice cakes. Sir, tell me, did the traffickers cheat my child out of rice cakes? I have heard that some traffickers will use delicious food to deceive children, and put medicine in the food, and the child will not be sensible after eating, and he will follow that person involuntarily, and he will not look back when others call him. Is it? The woman said.

Without waiting for her grandfather to answer, she said, "When I went to look for him from the stall where I made the little candy man, I saw his back." But no matter how much I shouted and chased him, he wouldn't look back. Sir, do you think this is strange? The traffickers must have tempted him with rice cakes, and the rice cakes must have put medicine on them, so he followed without looking back! ”

Grandpa had seen relevant statements from the ancient books of Zhiyi before he came to Zichuan. This is a kind of art of ambiguity, which deceives people's souls and makes people feel like they are dreaming.

The original words in the ancient book are: "The art of ambiguity, not the same way, or cast the bait, the food of the silk, then people are confused, and they go to each other, the common name is 'playing the fluff', and the Jiangnan is called 'pulling the flocculent'." Children are ignorant and suffer from it. It means that there are many ways to do the art of ambiguity, one of which is to use delicious food as bait to lure you to eat, and you will be delirious and follow him involuntarily. Children are not sensible and are often deceived and victimized.

The situation that this woman said was indeed very similar to "beating the sloppy."

The original words in the ancient book do not end here, and there are two sentences at the end: "There are also those who have become animals, and their names are 'animal creatures.'" This technique is still rare in the north of the river, and there are many in the south of the river. This means that in addition to the former, there is also a technique that can turn people into animals, called "making animals", which are rare in the north of the Yangtze River, but are common in the south of the Yellow River.

Zichuan is just south of the Yellow River.

In this way, the person who led the dog in the store is even more suspicious. He may be very good at the art of ambiguity, and he can do both the art of beating and making animals. He first lured the poor woman's child away with delicacies, then turned the child into a dog, and then led him to the more remote place.

This, coupled with the abnormal behavior of the dog when the woman appeared, confirms this.

Perhaps the child who had turned into a dog had seen his mother regretted eating the food given by a stranger, and tried to get the woman's attention by barking and biting and asking her to take him back. But she didn't recognize the dog.

How could she recognize a dog as her child? This is where the art of "animal making" comes in. Even if the deceived person meets his relatives and asks for help from them, the relatives will not pay attention to him. If traffickers harm people in this way, there is simply no way for the victims to escape.

In order not to make the woman worry too much, Grandpa did not say what was in his heart, but just comforted her vigorously, telling her not to worry, not to think wildly.

Millet persuaded her to go back, but she still refused. She said, "I can't do you much, I'll just wait here until you come back." ”

Grandpa knew that even if he persuaded her to go back now, she would still come here and wait after they left, so he simply stopped persuading her and let her wait here. That way, her heart will be more comfortable.

"Let's go." Grandpa pulled up Xiaomi, "Let her wait here." ”

Grandpa remembered the situation that Xiaomi deliberately let Silkier cut his hand on the night he met the weak king, and remembered what Xiaomi said later. The reason why a loved one does something for you that seems completely meaningless is because he is the person closest to you. He can't just sit idly by, he has to do something.

Many years later, my grandfather's great-grandson took the college entrance examination, and my mother knelt in front of the land temple in the village for two days and two nights. Dad called her stupid. But I knew from the bottom of my heart why my mother did this.

Many years later, when my grandfather told me about my father's past, I also thought that Xiaomi must have regarded her father as the closest person, so he deliberately let Flutter cut her hand.

Grandpa pulled Millet out of the street.

When she turned a corner and couldn't see the woman, Xiaomi couldn't wait to ask, "Ma Xiucai, do you know where her child is?" Is it the dog leashed by the guy who lives in our store? ”

Daddy didn't speak, and his steps were getting faster and faster.

Xiaomi walked for a while, found that it was the way back to the store, and said happily: "I'll just say it." That person is not an ordinary person! We're not going to collect grudges tonight? ”

Grandpa seemed to be thinking about something, frowned, and did not answer Xiaomi.

Xiaomi was not angry, and while following her father quickly, she looked up to see the moon in the night sky.

Back in the store, my father woke up the shopkeeper who was sleeping on the counter and asked, "Man, do you have any rice cakes, bring me two!" ”

The shopkeeper raised his sleepy eyes and looked at his father, turned around and entered through the small door behind the counter. After a while, he took out two pieces of rice cakes and handed them to his father.

Grandpa took the rice cake and didn't pay for it, and the shopkeeper fell asleep on the counter again.

"Is there any wine?" Grandpa patted the shopkeeper on the back.

The shopkeeper raised his hand and pointed to the outside of the counter. There was wine from the big jars and the small jars.

Grandpa hugged two small jars of wine, and saw that the second child of the store had no intention of collecting money, so he planned to calculate it with the room fee the next day.

Xiaomi was surprised: "Ma Xiucai, aren't you not drinking?" ”

Daddy said, "Yes." You go to their kitchen and get some reeds, and they want to be hollow and longer. "At noon, my father noticed that a firewood messenger brought reeds and was carried into the kitchen.

Xiaomi quickly got into the small door where Xiao Er entered and exited the store just now. Soon she came out with a handful of reeds.