No matter what time the sky in Lanzhou is, it always looks pale and withered, and there is no energy, just like this small town at the junction of Qinglan - Hongyan Town, there are few pedestrians, cold and deserted, the wind is whining, there are fine pieces of yellow sand sandwiched in the wind and I don't know where to drift, and there are wounded soldiers who retreated to change guards said that they were floating from the front line of Qingzhou against foreign races, and there is the soul of the soldiers who died in battle returning home. The bald birds perched on the old trees in the street all drooped their heads and occasionally let out a few hoarse chirps, declaring their territory to the children staring under the trees.

"Sanya, don't look at the birds, come to the guests! Hurry up and greet!" Boss Li's sharp voice startled away the wild birds in the trees, and also interrupted Lian Chen's thoughts. Lian, the only dynasty of the human race, the surname of the Great Yan Dynasty, the royal nobles and a few meritorious generals can be given the surname, Chen, the Chen of Beichen, the state religion of the Great Yan Dynasty, and the believers are all over Kyushu. However, in the ancestral system of the Yan Dynasty, the word "Chen" is not visible in the names of members of the royal family, and the corresponding seems to have reached some kind of tacit understanding, and the word "practice" cannot be used in the titles of core figures such as the leaders and elders of the Beichen dynasties. The folk for the sake of respect and never use these two words as a name, like Sanya, who has both the words "practice" and "Chen" is really unique, not to mention that there is no one to come, it should be unprecedented.

But the world is so inexplicably wonderful, a small businessman Li Xiaoer, a small businessman from an ordinary family, twelve years ago, on an ordinary morning, yawning listlessly as usual, he opened the door of the store, and saw a little baby with a runny nose biting his fingers and falling asleep, with a red rope around his neck and a cloud jade lock, on which were engraved with two words that he couldn't understand.

Maybe it was the soju that fainted the night before, or maybe it was because he had no children under his knees and wanted to find a support for the rest of his life, in short, for the sake of the four-legged red gold ingots under the child's swaddling clothes - after all, this is enough for ordinary people to live a stable life for a lifetime - Li Xiaoer, who has been lonely all his life, adopted this child, and raised him with rice soup sticks and rough noodles steamed buns, otherwise there would be no Sanya today, and there would be no Boss Li today.

As for why Lian Chen became Sanya, this may only be due to Boss Li's lazy and confused heart that only knows how to settle accounts and drink all day long, and flirts with Widow Yang next door from time to time. And our protagonist Lian Chen or Sanya also learned his name from a down-and-out feng shui gentleman who passed through this border town when he was eight years old, and he still remembered that the sloppy and crazy fortune teller at that time, when he saw the jade lock that he stole from under the pillow of Boss Li with the help of the old cow's nose, it can be said that he was shocked, and he still remembered that Mr. Feng Shui trembled his hands, and at a speed that did not match his old body, he snatched the jade lock in Sanya's hand and looked at it carefully, as if he was so excited to see some rare treasure, and the reason why Sanya did not take out the burning stick hidden behind his back, It is also for the sake of this old man who grabbed something and did not run away at the first time, but looked up to the sky and cried and then laughed, and then cried and laughed and muttered something nonsense about "the sky has eyes" and "God and religion bless", after all, his burning stick is used to beat thieves and not bully a crazy bad old man, especially when this old man may still be the only person within a radius of a hundred miles who knows the strange words on the jade lock.

To be honest, Sanya has a feeling that this may be the only opportunity in his life to know his life experience or at least know his real name, since he can remember, he has been laughed at by Wang Liu and Ma San'er next door for several years because of the name Sanya, he really hates the name "Sanya", after all, he is also a handle, how can he use such a girl name as "Sanya"?

However, after the excitement, the old man immediately quieted down, glared at Sanya, as if he wanted to engrave Sanya's appearance in his eyes, and seemed to want to say something important, but the frowning brows betrayed his struggling heart, and our eight-year-old protagonist couldn't see anything, at most, he thought that the old man ate the overnight roast chicken he gave in exchange for "guidance" and ate his stomach?

In the end, as if he had made up his mind, the old man put his hands on Sanya's shoulders and said: "Child, your name is Lian Chen, and the word "Lian Chen" engraved on this jade lock is engraved in Xingwen, and your father is really ...... Forget it, it's not necessarily a good thing to tell you too much now" looked up at the pale yellow sky in Lanzhou, as if the sky would give him an answer, and then pondered for a while, and then said: "Child, are you willing to leave here with me?"

The sudden information smashed Sanya to his head, he originally just wanted to know his name with the mentality of trying it out, at least he would not be ridiculed by his friends for being a little lady in the future, but he didn't expect that behind this name there were many things he didn't expect, his name, his life experience, his father, because of this jade lock, because of this passing Taoist fortune teller, suddenly there was a day when the truth was about to be revealed, just as in his past eight years of dim and muddy life and waiting for death put a dazzling light into his heart。

He didn't know what kind of mood to be in to face such a thing, he didn't know whether to be excited, happy, or weeping, or all three? But he had a feeling that he didn't belong here, that he didn't belong to Hongyan Town, although he had known this old man for less than a day, although they didn't say more than ten words in total, and although the old man's tattered and dirty white robe didn't seem to come from the right way, this did not prevent him from trusting this old man, and in the eyes of this bad old man there was something called sincerity, and even a little kindness and pity.

So the demon sent God, and he heard himself say, "Yes." The old man was not surprised to hear such an answer, but he seemed to think of something, and confirmed again: "This jade lock is really yours?" Sanya felt a little angry, thinking that my Sanya is also a bully among the children in Hongyan Town, and I dare to laugh at my people who are beaten by me and cry dad and call mother, can we lie to you a bad old man?

I just wanted to say something, choked the old man a few words, but suddenly saw the old man in front of him change his expression, the original rickety body suddenly straightened up, and even became majestic and tall, awe-inspiring and inviolable, a force of heaven and earth pressed down, the wind whined, the street with yellow sand flying immediately quieted down, and the big yellow dog on the side of the road also stopped sticking out his tongue, this power seemed to be able to stand still time. Fortunately, Sanya herself didn't feel the slightest pressure, but she felt a little sorry for ignoring this old man, and finally she could only pretend to be relaxed and said: "Of course it's mine, the boss said that I was born and wore it around my neck." As soon as he finished speaking, the momentum on the old man's body also disappeared, and the majestic and tall figure just now suddenly disappeared, and became the bad old man who was lying on his back.

The old man's eyes were full of surprise, and then there was a hint of clarity in his eyes, and when he got such an answer, the old man didn't ask any more, nor did he enter the inn to talk to Boss Li, but just patted Lian Chen's shoulder and said: "You wait for the old man here, at least three months, more than a year, the old man will come here to pick you up and go to Zhongzhou." As he spoke, he solemnly handed over the jade lock to Lian Chen, and advised: "This jade lock must not be easily shown to others, you must take good care of it, and don't easily tell others your name, remember to remember." After saying that, the old man turned around and left, without looking back again, Lian Chen could only watch the old man's stiff back leave, it was the resolute momentum of the old man who infected him, and when he remembered to ask who his father was, the old man had disappeared at the end of the street, as if he had never come.

Since then, when Lian Chen is idle every day, he will go to the old tree at the door of the inn to look at the west side of the street, the direction the old man left, that is the way to Qingzhou, or think about whether the old man's one-year appointment counts, after all, four years have passed since then, but he has never seen the old man's rickety figure, maybe he forgot about him, after all, a kid from a remote town in the north who was born in poor mountains and bad waters, how dare he dare to hope for the prosperity of the imperial capital of Zhongzhou? .

"Hey~ Sanya! I said that you little rabbit cub are rubbing under this old tree all day long? Don't you entertain guests?" Seeing that the boss shouted again, and ran over with bamboo sticks, Sanya had to interrupt today's "homework", and ran back to the inn with a smoke, and by the way, he looked at the so-called guests standing at the door.

Facing a middle-aged scribe, plain in a white shirt, wearing a scarf, next to him stood a little girl with a light veil, green clothes like blue, looking like a father and daughter, such a pair of elegant combinations are not rare in the south, but it is very rare in the north, after all, the north is rough, in the blood and fire is not allowed to be a little elegant. They didn't go directly to the door, but turned their heads to look at this interesting scene of the shopkeeper chasing the shopkeeper.

Sanya could only make a grimace at them, while burrowing sideways through the crack in the door beside them, standing in the door first, putting on a standard flattering smile of the shopkeeper's style, bending down and bowing his hand to make a gesture of please, winking at the little girl by the way, thanking her for helping her just now and making a way for herself, so that she could escape the catastrophe. After all, it is rare to see such a delicate girl in the north, although she is covered with a light veil, but it does not prevent others from appreciating her beauty at all, and it also adds a bit of mysterious beauty, the curved willow eyebrows are like distant mountains and green daisies, and the almond-like eyes are like two morning stars, watery, as if even this dry northern land is going to be moistened, the exposed skin seems to be able to pinch out the water, white and tender, no matter what, it should be better than the freckles of the fat girl next door, the fat girl is actually not fat, and from time to time help Sanya throw stones at those who dare to laugh at him as a little lady, after all, Sanya is too delicate, in the words of the fat girl, Sanya is the little daughter-in-law of her Huang family, who dares to laugh at him is just a fat girl with her. Although he was happy that the fat girl was willing to help him get ahead, Sanya still couldn't accept the fat girl's freckles in her heart, and it was even worse to ask him to be the fat girl's little daughter-in-law. Thinking of this, and then looking at the little girl in the pothos skirt, I felt that she was getting better and better-looking, and even faintly with a hint of fairy spirit, although I muttered in my heart how could such a person come to this small town to drink the northwest wind, but the hospitality that should be there is not at all dare to slack off, otherwise Boss Li's bamboo strip should be in "close contact" with his buttocks, and while thinking like this, he led the father and daughter to the window seat. Seeing that Lian Chen was so well-behaved, Boss Li also dropped the bamboo strip and ignored it anymore.

At this time, I heard the girl secretly laughing, and whispered to the scribe: "Dad, is this the child that Elder Fan said?"