Ming'er and I left Luocheng at the beginning of the year, looking around at a loss, not knowing where to go. Ming'er mentioned that she still had distant relatives to vote for in Qingcheng Tea Mountain, and Sizhi repeatedly decided to go with her, and since then she has been incognito for the rest of her life.

Ming'er's family name is Ji, and his distant uncle Ji Yongfu is now cultivating tea in the remote area of the mountain behind Qingcheng. The family is still well-off, and I heard Ming'er say that Uncle Ji and his wife have a pair of daughters, the eldest daughter Chunying is fourteen years old, and the younger daughter Chunyan is twelve years old.

With twists and turns along the way, I finally arrived in Qingcheng to find Uncle Ming'er, and Uncle Ji heard that Ming'er's parents were deceased, and he was already in tears. took pity on the two of us who were lonely, called Aunt Ji and her two daughters, hurriedly cleaned up the backyard hut, and took us in.

The Ji family made a living from the tea plantation, and Ming'er and I lived the life of tea pickers since then. In my spare time, I still couldn't help but take out the poetry collection and a few rhyme books that Bao Yuan gave me and read them from time to time, but whenever this happened, Ming'er would shake her head and sigh and walk away, but Miss Chunyan of the Ji family was very interested in asking questions on the side, and I taught her two sisters to read and write.

Far from the bustle, the life of the farmhouse is dull and peaceful. During the day, I went to the tea garden with Ming'er and Uncle Ji, Aunt Ji and the sisters of the Ji family to work, and at night there was a bean lamp in the hut. Uncle Ji and Aunt Ji treated me like a daughter, and gradually those painful pasts faded away a lot in the daily work, but when I occasionally lost my mind, I would think of the person who was far away in Luocheng, and the heartache would be accompanied by insomnia at night and force me to a more desperate road.

It was only noon when the night came, and the heavy curtain was silent.

Deep musk smoke is long, and light makeup is left when lying down.

I still regretted myself back then, and the past is memorable.

The flowers fall and the moon is bright, and the brocade knows the cold.

It was another sleepless night, it was already winter, the wind was cold outside, I was tired and cowered in the bed, leaning on the curtain, chanting "Bodhisattva Man", and I was already full of tears when I returned to my senses.

"Sister, why are you crying sadly?" Ming'er, who was sleeping beside me, asked me gently.

When I heard this, I hurriedly wiped away my tears and said, "I just read a good word, and I cried with joy." Stretched out his hand to help her tuck the quilt and said, "Why haven't you slept yet, be careful of catching a cold when it's cold." ”

"Sister, don't lie to me again, and don't lie to yourself again." Ming'er frowned and looked at me and said, "My sister's body is thinner and thinner day by day, and Anzhi is not caused by thinking too much. I really don't understand, why do you want to hide in this poor country when you don't let go of a good princess? If you say that you are annoyed with the emperor and complain that the queen mother treats you like that, then you should die, stop thinking about the affectionate person, and live a good life. But I see you every day I am depressed, and I don't have any more energy at all. Ming'er doesn't have a good knowledge like her sister, but Ming'er recognizes a reason, and the people she likes should be together, but, sister, why are you torturing yourself like this? ”

yes, why am I the way I am? Looking at Ming'er, he smiled miserably for a long time, and sighed: "If I want, I feel sorry for you, and I have to ask the heavens." ”

Uncle Ji and Aunt Ji saw that I was getting thinner and thinner, only when I first arrived in the water and soil, I was more concerned about taking care of it, adding vegetables and rice every day, which made me very uneasy, so I simply recognized the two elders as godfathers and godmothers, and were commensurate with the Chunying and Chunyan sisters. In the past, although in the music square, but the wind does not blow every day, the sun is not sunny, and the ladies in the deep house are the same, now go up the mountain to work every day, but also to help do some pulp washing and sewing things, the original white and tender ten fingers are getting rougher, and in the winter actually gave birth to chilblains, a pair of hands are red and swollen like a few small radish. Ming'er brought me plasters every day to help me apply, and I would always cry secretly, but I couldn't see it.

In the past few days, because my hands are red and swollen, Uncle Ji didn't let me go to the tea garden with everyone to shoot branches, leaving me and Aunt Ji to prepare meals at home. I sat by the stove and lit a fire, choking on the smoke and coughing, Aunt Ji, who was chopping vegetables, hurriedly came to see me, and said distressedly: "Evil, evil!" How can a good jade-like girl endure this hardship. As he spoke, he pulled me aside and held my hand and said, "Rui'er, there are many people in the family on weekdays, and it is inconvenient for me to ask you, today you tell the truth to your godmother, you are a young lady who escaped from a rich and noble family." ”

I was stunned when I heard this, and hurriedly said: "Godmother, why do you ask like this, when I first came, I had already made it clear to the second elder that my family was originally a businessman in Qingcheng County, and later my parents were killed when they encountered robbers when they went out to do goods, and I was bullied by the clan to sell my family property into Lefang, not a lady who escaped from a rich family." Saying that, he wept and said, "Godmother looks at Rui'er and is stupid, and she doesn't want to take me in anymore." ”

"Silly boy, don't guess, my godmother likes you from the bottom of my heart." Aunt Ji was full of distress, took me in her arms, and comforted: "Godmother saw that you were sad every day, and she asked Ming'er and she squeaked and refused to tell the truth, so I couldn't help but ask you today." Rui'er was born with such a good appearance, and can read and write, not like an ordinary girl, I used to live in Qingcheng County with my father and mother before I got married, and I also heard that the young lady of the rich family ran away from the marriage because she was dissatisfied with the marriage arranged by the family, so ......"

She saw that I was silent, and then said: "Good boy, don't be sad, since you now recognize that my old couple are godparents, you will naturally have a godfather and godmother to call the shots for you in the future, Rui'er is so smart and dexterous, and a rare good appearance, when your godfather comes back, let him pay attention to it, and he will definitely find a good family for you, and he will never wronged you......"

"Godmother, Rui'er doesn't marry, Rui'er will serve the second elder for the rest of her life." I was shocked when I heard this, and I hurriedly refused.

"Hehehe, silly boy, how can there be a girl who doesn't marry when she's older." Aunt Ji looked at me with a smile, only when I was shy, and said, "As the saying goes, the life of the parents, the words of the matchmaker." When the girl is older, she will eventually marry someone to rely on, you can rest assured, the godmother will definitely find a good family for Rui'er. After saying that, no matter how much I refused, he clapped my hand and turned around to chop vegetables and cook. And my originally sad heart has added layers of troubles and hidden worries since then, grandma, this wave of unsettled waves has risen again and again, you tell me, what should Rui'er do?

In the blink of an eye, winter turned to spring, and the camellia trees also pulled out tender green sprouts, and my hands also returned to their original state, and I followed the sisters of the Ji family up the mountain to pick tea every day. Before the Ming Dynasty, the new tea is the raw material for making bamboo leaf green tea, and the new shoots should be selected, and the spores with a new young leaf and a pointed head should be just picked, so as to make the appearance moist and tight and even, flat and smooth, in the shape of bamboo leaves, one flag and one gun, and it is a delicate bamboo leaf green tea. And I heard Uncle Ji say that it will be the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar in the near future, and this day is the annual tea picking festival in Qingcheng Tea Mountain. Every time this festival, each tea farmer will send new tea to the Jiutianzhang Temple in the back mountain, just because the master of the view, Li Ruochong, has some close ties with the imperial court, and it is said that he has also received the holy car. Every year, he presides over this tea picking festival, and selects the best tea leaves from the new tea of the tea mountain that year, so as to make "Taoist green bamboo" and send it to the palace as a royal offering. The tea produced by the Ji family is also well-known in this ten miles of tea mountain, and the whole family is looking forward to this annual event after a hard year.

Since then, I have also been selfish in picking tea, knowing that I can't let him go after all, if I can't see each other again in this life, then it is a comfort to be able to get the tea he drinks every day from my own hands. Thinking of this, I had some support in my heart, and my spirit gradually improved, and occasionally I hummed some tea mountain tunes with the Ji family sisters while picking tea.

Seven or eight days later is the tea picking festival, these days Uncle Ji, Aunt Ji and Chunying are busy making tea at home, I take Ming'er and Chunyan to the mountain to pick tea, half a day has been Uncle Ji confessed to the number of tea is enough, down the mountain Chunyan said that the firewood at home is almost exhausted, and the tea is the most critical process, because these days I am busy and I don't care about going up the mountain to pick up some. When I heard her say this, I couldn't help but feel anxious, so I had to arrange for Ming'er to take Chunyan to send the tea back first, and go up the mountain alone to collect firewood.

Uncle Ji's tea garden is in the mountain behind Qingcheng, not far from the dense mountain forest, I shuttled through the forest, picked up some dead branches and broken trees, and was picking up only to hear a simple voice behind me: "Which girl are you, why can't you even pick up firewood?" "When I turned around, I was a strong young man dressed as a woodcutter, with a black and red face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, looking at me curiously.

I smiled a little and didn't answer, but gathered the firewood I had gathered and planned to tie it back with a vine. But the vines were so hard and rough that my hands were so hard that they couldn't tie up the firewood. When I was sweating profusely, I saw a pair of big hands stretching out, and in three or two strokes the firewood was tied up solidly, and I was about to thank him, but the young man had carried the firewood on his back, and said, "Look at you so thin, how can you carry this, I will help you send it back." Seeing that I hesitated, Xu Shi smiled and said: "Don't be afraid of me, there is no one in these ten miles and eight villages who doesn't know my Ah Niu, you just have to say where you live, and I will help you send the firewood over first." Seeing that he was a kind man, I thanked him and told him where to send the firewood. After listening, he nodded, and Bigfoot walked out, and when he left, he didn't forget to turn around and say, "Girl, go back quickly, it's not safe in the mountains any later." ”

When I returned to Ji's house, I saw that the bundle of firewood had been placed in the yard, and Chunying saw me pursing her mouth and laughing, and even Chunyan followed suit. My second monk was confused, pulled Ming'er, and asked, "What are they laughing at?" ”

"Sister Rui'er, I knew that when you went to collect firewood, someone took the initiative to tell my father that he would pack the firewood in our family in the future, and my sister and I would not have to work hard to go up the mountain every other day." Chunyan's voice was like that little swallow, and her chirping was very cheerful.

"What's going on?" I looked at the spring warbler and was really confused.

Chunying grinned and said: "Brother Niu just sent firewood, and told my father that our family doesn't have a strong laborer, and he will pack the firewood at home in the future, don't let the girls go up the mountain to collect firewood." As he spoke, he pursed his lips and looked at me, and said with a smile: "He also said that such a thin girl will be blown away by a gust of wind, and she can't carry firewood at all." Hehe...... Sister Rui'er, I see, maybe it's Brother Aniu, I've taken a fancy to you......"

"Ying'er, don't talk nonsense." Before I could speak, Aunt Ji raised her hand and slapped Chunying, and said: "How can a person like your sister Rui'er marry a mountain village husband, I am busy stir-frying tea in the room and can't be free, or I have to say that Ah Niu will let him die early." Saying that, he turned around and took my hand and said: "Rui'er, don't listen to your sister's nonsense, and don't answer those people who don't care, I told your godfather last time that I wanted to find a good family for you, and your godfather also paid attention, saying that the son of the tea merchant Wang in Qingcheng County is very compatible with Rui'er, and in a few days the son will come to our house with his father to see the new tea, do you want to meet ......" After speaking, he looked at me with a smile.

"Godmother, Rui'er doesn't marry." My heart seemed to be rubbed by seventeen or eighteen hands, it was sour and swollen, and I didn't care about anything, so I left Aunt Ji and the sisters of the Ji family and ran out.

Ming'er chased after me and shouted, grabbed me and said urgently: "Sister, where are you going?" Don't you want Ming'er anymore? ”

"Ming'er......" I turned around and hugged Ming'er and cried silently, and I couldn't say a word when I was choked.

Ming'er hugged me and said in her ear: "Sister, my uncle and aunt have no malicious intentions, and they are also sincere for the good of my sister, but how do they know that my sister came to this Qingcheng Tea Mountain to avoid love." Said and sighed: "I know my sister's temperament, you even Meng Gongzi, no, the emperor refused, how could you easily marry those secular men, but sister, why don't you understand, we women have not been able to be masters since ancient times, this is fate." After a long time, he said: "Sister, you are so smart and beautiful, are you really willing to marry a layman for the rest of your life?" ”

I thought I was strong, I thought I understood, but now I'm so helpless, I can't even see that the situation is stronger than others. In ancient times, I was a woman like duckweed, and anyone could decide my fate and my future, but I couldn't do anything about it. I thought I could run away and hide, but how could I escape fate, hide from fate? Oh my God, why should I be a woman, why should I leave my soul and come to this ancient world to be a woman who can't help it?

Ming'er persuaded me for a long time before helping me back to Ji's house, Aunt Ji thought it was Ah Niu's matter that made me unhappy, and she couldn't stop counting it when she had dinner, and told Uncle Ji that if Ah Niu came tomorrow, he was not allowed to ask for his firewood, let alone let him enter the door. I was lazy and didn't have much appetite, so after a few bites of food, I said that I was not feeling well and went back to the house. When I entered the door and saw the "Flower Collection" on the table, the tears couldn't stop flowing, and Ming'er's words sounded in my ears: Sister, are you really willing to marry a layman for the rest of your life?

Bao Yuan, Bao Yuan, the man in white who stands in the shadow of the Prancing Horse Heaven and Earth, the man who holds the transverse flute under the frost flower is like the sun god Dongjun, the domineering, gentle, and occasionally childlike man...... But I fled, hid, and departed...... Am I wrong? I couldn't sleep all night, and my spirit became worse and worse.

Since then, I have refused to go out easily, and I no longer go up to the mountains to pick tea, but only help with some things at home, and I have become less and less talkative. Aunt Ji didn't seem surprised when I was just trying to avoid those mountain villagers. It's just that the day before yesterday, when the tea merchant in Qingcheng County brought her son to pick tea, she insisted that I serve tea to the guests, and I couldn't go out to see the prince. The man was born white and clean, but he was just mixed with the prodigal spirit of blindly squirrel, which made people very uncomfortable to watch.

Afterwards, Aunt Ji also asked me enthusiastically a few times, and I only didn't know how to diverge the conversation, Aunt Ji was helpless and the tea picking festival was approaching, and the family was busy, so I had to put it aside for the time being.