Fast forward to the next afternoon, and I bought some apples as a gift. Because I heard from my cousin, the master is relatively old, and if he buys cold and hot fruits, the old man will not feel comfortable eating them, and it will not be good. In the fruit, apples are flat, mild and do not irritate the stomach, so buying apples is the safest.

My cousin took me around town, and along the way I met a lot of people who greeted my cousin and asked me how many of my sons.

If I'm not mistaken, the youngest of my cousin's two sons went out to work as adults. Am I that old?

Along the way, my cousin took the trouble to explain to twenty or so people that I was his nephew, and that there were a few of our relatives, relatives who didn't know each other with me, and I couldn't help but sigh that the interpersonal contacts in the countryside were really terrible.

Seeing so many people greeting my cousin, I couldn't help but want to tease: "Yo, cousin, you are a big celebrity in the village." ”

The cousin did not have the slightest modesty, and said very naturally: "Of course, if there are any ghosts and ghosts in the eight villages of ten miles, they will be dealt with by me." If you don't look for me, you'll have to go to the one you learned from. Look at how nice I have been to you, and what a great person I have introduced. And among the people I introduced to you just now, who are related to us, you must remember, otherwise people will chew the root of your ears behind your back and say that you don't recognize your relatives at all. My cousin kindly reminded me

I listened to my cousin's words, and I felt that the interpersonal contacts in the countryside were tiring, but my cousin advised me to do better.

After chatting all the way, I finally came to the door of a small three-story building, which was surrounded by high walls, but the door was open, and when I looked through the door, I could vaguely see the statue of the god in the lobby. All in all, it looks very imposing.

I turned my head and asked my cousin, "Isn't it too arrogant to make such a grand place of feudal superstition?" The people in charge of the town are okay? ”

The cousin shrugged: "People buy the land, they can build it as they like, and don't you think it's magnificent?" This was designed and built by our company. There was a hint of pride in his words

In my heart, I thought: It turns out that you built it, and you did it to make the superstitious place so obvious.

After my cousin finished boasting about himself, he turned around to leave, and I hurriedly shouted: "Wow, cousin, are you here to go in with me?" ”

My cousin looked at me, shook his head, and walked away without looking back. When he left, he left a sentence: "If I go in too, won't the letter you bring will be in vain?" ”

Then don't write in the first place, I roared inwardly.

Forget it, I comforted myself that I had to rely on myself when I went out.

I stepped into this room by myself, and when I walked into it, I saw a large altar, which was as big as some small temple. At this time, a loud voice came from the right: "What are you doing?"

I heard the voice, but I saw an old man who did not match the loud voice. He was dressed as if he was in the last era, with a shaved head, lying on the Luohan bed, with several pillows behind him, half leaning on the head of the bed, a black cat lying in his arms, and a plate of melon seeds on the small table of the Luohan bed. There was a large stall of melon seed shells on the ground, and the old man and I looked at each other, silent, and only the sound of melon seed shells falling to the ground echoed in the room.

At this moment, my heart is extremely panicked, what should I say for the first time when I apprentice? What to say? I had thought about it, but when it was time to say it, my brain went blank.

The last time I saw my cousin, I had my father by my side, and I had a lot of confidence in my heart. But now that I'm alone, I don't have the guts to say anything. His mouth opened, but he didn't make a sound.

The old man may have seen my nervousness, and smiled very lovingly at me, and his tone was not as loud as before, but much gentle: "Is there something wrong?" ”

The old man's inquiry relieved my nervousness and embarrassment a little, and I hurriedly took out my cousin's letter of introduction and handed it over and said, "I'm here to apprentice!" This is what my cousin asked me to give to you. ”

"Apprentice? Cousin? The old man took the letter written by his cousin with a puzzled look, I didn't dare to sit down while standing, my heart was hesitant and uneasy, I hadn't read the content of the letter, I didn't know what was written, and I was more worried about what if the old man didn't agree?

The old man looked at it and laughed, I was confused by the second monk on the side, it seems that the old man is quite happy? old

The master smiled and put the letter away, and said, "That guy is still engaged in letter writing." After speaking, he looked up and said to me: "Little tangerine peel, what's going on with you, I already know." You just sit down. ”

I tensed up and sat down in a chair and asked, "What about my apprenticeship?" ”

The old man rubbed the cat's head, cocked his legs, smiled and squinted his eyes at me for a while, which made me feel a little panicked, he clapped his hands and said, "This is not in a hurry, your cousin said that the food you cook is Cantonese cuisine, why don't you stay at night and make it for me to taste?" ”

"Okay, no problem." I hurriedly agreed, but the old man didn't agree or refuse, and asked me to stay and cook, wanting to test me, or did he really just want to taste the food I cooked?

No matter what, you have to perform well. Just as I was thinking this, the old man accosted me: "Little Chenpi, I want to go to the toilet a little." ”

Hey, what does going to the toilet have to do with me? What should I do? Is there such a thing as a urinal? I looked around and didn't see anything, looking around blankly.

Since I couldn't think of an answer, it was better to ask directly, so I asked the old man, "Do you need me to do anything?" ”

The old man said directly: "Help me go to the toilet." ”

I can't figure it out anymore, is there a spell to help people go to the toilet? I continued to ask the old man, "How can I help you go to the toilet?" ”

The old man replied, "Of course, he helped me take out the wheelchair in the back room, and then carried me out of bed to the wheelchair, and then took me to the toilet." ”

I was shocked when I heard this, could it be that this old man, like my cousin, has problems with his legs and feet? Could it be that if you practice the spells of another sect, will you still have problems with your legs and feet? Then why did my cousin recommend it to me?

Thinking too much is nerve-wracking, and it's come to this point, and there's no way to give up. Let's hurry up and take the old man to the toilet to win favor.

I hurried to the back room and pushed the wheelchair out, and when I saw that I had come with the wheelchair, the old man stretched out his hands and feet like a baby, waiting for me to carry him up.

An old man makes baby-like movements, how weird and weird this scene is. But that's not the point I'm going to focus on, the point is, this old man who looks thin actually weighs so much. I held my breath to barely carry the old man into the wheelchair.

When I pushed the wheelchair to the toilet door, a new problem arose. Am I going to carry the old man to the toilet? What kind of torture is this, my whole body feels a little suffocated.

But at this moment, the old man suddenly stood up, and two brisk steps went into the toilet. Hey? Look at that sensitive movement, the old man's legs and feet should be fine, so what is the use of this wheelchair, and why do you want me to hold it.

After a while, the old man came out, and sat back in a wheelchair like no one. He looked at me and said, "What's wrong?" ”

I came back to my senses and quickly said, "It's okay, it's okay." He pushed up the wheelchair, so don't talk too much. The old man was still on the Luohan bed that I carried back.

The old man went back to the bed, leaned back on the cushion, grabbed the cat, and asked as he stroked, "You seem to have brought something here?" ”

I took the bag and said, "This is the apple I bought, do you want to eat it?" ”

The old man thought for a while and said, "It just so happens that I just finished knocking melon seeds in my mouth, and I want to eat some fruit to taste." ”

Under the guidance of the old man, I found the kitchen, washed and peeled the apples and handed them to the old man, who did not reach out to take them, but opened his mouth as a matter of course.

Seeing such a move, I smiled helplessly, took the apple in my hand and gave it to the old man's mouth.

After the old man turned the apple and nibbled it around, he waved his hand and said, "Don't get tired of eating, you can eat the rest." ”

I looked at the apple that had been gnawed around, it must have been covered with the old man's saliva, he wanted me to eat his saliva.

When my cousin came to me before, I'm not angry at all now, and I don't have any negative emotions at all. I can't help but sigh that my cousin really planned for me, and now I am very enlightened, and I think I am more suitable for Buddhism now than I am to join the religion.

It's not right to waste food, but I can't blame me for not wanting to. But if the old man tells me to eat it, I won't eat it, will I fail to apprentice?

Forget it, the master is like a father, just think this thing is my dad who ate it.

No, even if my dad ate it, it's disgusting.

No, Chen Yu. Eat it even if you are nauseous, and believe in yourself. You've done so much, and if you give up, you're giving up.

I finally put this saliva-stained apple in my mouth, and I was a little moved to tears. At the same time, I felt like I was missing something important.

What is it exactly? I can't tell the difference between face and dignity.

Am I growing? Father, mother

In the process of struggling back and forth with this apple in my heart, before I knew it, it was dark.

I don't know how long I've been thinking about it, and I don't know if my hesitant expression will affect the old man's evaluation of me if it falls in his eyes.

What if he thinks I'm disgusted with him? I must make a good dinner and win the old man's favor once again

Although I think so, the reality is cruel and pale.

The old man's stove at home is actually made of firewood, how is this thing used???

My cousin's house is a gas stove. Now it's about to be the 21st century, keep up with the times!

Just like the black-and-white TV you watched, get me a gas stove!

Isn't this a national highway that leads directly to the city, hurry up and catch the trend, old man!

After a bit of inner screaming, I calmed down. Said to yourself: Calm, calm, recall, as a post-80s generation, you must have also been exposed to the firewood stove.

Finally, I remembered that two years ago, when I went up to the mountain with my father to eat fast, the temple used a firewood stove. I tried it many times and finally started a fire.

But since I didn't master the heat, the taste of dinner is hard to describe. In order to comfort me, the old man barely finished eating.

It's embarrassing, what should I do? Will the old man let me stop coming tomorrow? And what about my life?!

Just as I was about to be judged, the old man spoke: "Come to lunch tomorrow, and I will teach you how to use the stove." ”

The old man didn't make it clear that he wouldn't let me come, what he meant by letting me come, it should be that I was already half an apprentice, and it seemed that I was going to work harder.

In the blink of an eye, another month passed, and I found out that the old man lived alone. After I came, I don't know if I had a companion, but the old man was very happy and didn't have anything to be strict with me.

Although there are old men, there are also many bad problems of the elderly, such as the paper that wipes the saliva is casually thrown on the table, and it is really troublesome to clean up. And when eating, I don't stop coughing, and I spray all over the table. I have bad teeth, and I still want to eat fish, so I have to pick out the thorns little by little.

But ah, when I took care of the old man, it also reminded me of how I felt when I took care of my younger brother before, and I felt quite happy?

"I'm here, old man." I shouted and entered the door as usual, but the atmosphere was different today

The old man did not receive me with a smile, but looked at me quite deeply and said, "Here you are." ”

I asked with some curiosity, "What is the old man pretending to be deep?" ”

The old man looked at me for a while, called me over, sat on the Luohan bed, took my hand, and said, "I know the reason why you came to me, boy. If you want to be cured, I can help you, you don't need to come down to my door. ”

I was a little stunned, if this was two months ago, the old man said that I would be very happy, but after these two months, I am not very happy.

It's not because after these two months, I like metaphysics. It's that I have prepared so much for the sake of apprenticeship and endured so much shame. Doesn't I learn something?

I hurriedly replied, "I'm here to apprentice, old man." ”

The old man smiled and said: "I know that you are a good boy, I deliberately did a lot of things that would make people feel annoying and disgusting, when you took care of me, you didn't dislike it, but some of it became happy." Although your personality is a bit like a. ”

I couldn't laugh or cry, whether this was praising me or belittling me.

"So, if you learn this, you will have to deal with these things for the rest of your life, and you won't be able to come back to the ordinary life you want. Didn't you always say that you want to live an ordinary life and live a life? ”

Hearing these words, I couldn't help but fall silent, indeed I said so to my cousin, and always behaved like this.

But if I really want to get through the day, wouldn't it be nice to obey my mother?

This is what my cousin asked me before, and when he asked me, my answer was that because I couldn't study, it would be a waste of time to study, and it would be better to work early.

As for why I can't continue to learn, because I have no interest, why I have no interest. Because every day at two o'clock on the line - school and home. Even after graduation, the future is still two points and one line - work and home.

I felt that my life had ended from the beginning, and I could see the end at a glance, so I began to resist reading and came here.

Do I really want to live an ordinary life? No, probably not, I'm adventurous and magical, like any other kid my age, and I expect something different.

But I've long understood that I'm ordinary, ordinary, and nothing different from anyone else.

There is no talent to be good at, no hobbies, everything is given by parents. I haven't done what I really want to do.

Although I didn't really want to do this thing in the first place, I realized that I was definitely interested in getting into this trouble.

When I saw my cousin surprised at how I learned, I was actually very proud. I'm also starting to get interested in these things, I've done so much just for this, I've come to this point, how can I give up now.

I made my mind clear and firmly said to the old man: "I want to apprentice, I want to cultivate." ”

After hearing this, the old man raised his eyebrows and smiled helplessly: "I announced to the outside before that I would not accept apprentices." I can't slap myself in the face. ”

I didn't know what to say after listening to it.

The old man continued: "However, I didn't say that I wouldn't pass it on to my family? ”

I was puzzled and asked the old man, "What do you mean?" ”

The old man pointed to the ground: "Now kneel down and kowtow to me three times, recognize me as a godfather, you are my grandson, I can teach you." ”

I have some hesitation, I have never knelt in my life, and I can't accept it when I am asked to kneel.

At this time, the effect of tempering came out, and I thought of my cousin's words, people should be cheeky in doing things. I reminisced back to the old days, when my father told me that sometimes people have to be shameless in doing things, otherwise some things will not be done.

And I decided that if I wanted to practice this, I had to practice it.

Thinking of this, I immediately knelt down and kowtowed three times, shouting, "Grandpa." ”

At this time, I felt that I had let go of everything, and after going through trials and tribulations, I was reborn, and I was renewed. I felt like I had lost something, but gained something new – and that was shamelessness.

If I were now two months ago, I wouldn't have had a hard time with my mother. Maybe that's how people grow up.

No, maybe it's just me just becoming shameless.