In the thatched hut, not only Gu Congsheng and Gu Changsheng lived, but also raised a small turtle, which was green all over. There is also a cowshed next to the hut, in which lives an old cow, the shape of the old cow is erect, the old eyes are cloudy, one of the two horns has been broken from it, but the cow's hair is black and shiny.

The green turtle was picked up by the cold pool of the mountain stream when Gu Changming was eight years old, there is a mountain stream next to the hill behind the village, there is a small waterhole in it, the waterhole is not very deep, about eight feet deep, that is, the water in it is cold all the year round, maybe it is more appropriate to say that it is cold, but it is not frozen in winter.

Gu Congsheng likes to wash and drink with Hantan water, but Changsheng feels that the Hantan water is too cold, but Gu Changsheng often goes there to fetch water for his brother.

The little green turtle was picked up when Changsheng fetched water for Gu Congsheng, who was eight years old at the time, took the little green turtle back to the hut and happily said that he wanted to stew soup for his brother, but was stopped by Gu Congsheng, who had just returned from collecting medicine. Maybe it's because Gu Congsheng saw that the little turtle was covered in green and felt strange, maybe he couldn't bear it.

Since then, you can often see Gu Congsheng reading with a book in one hand and a turtle in the other, or sitting on a bamboo chair reading with a turtle on his lap.

And Gu Changsheng likes to tease the green turtle more, but the green turtle seems to have a little spirituality, and he has been very lazy about this person who once almost put himself in the pot, so angry that Gu Changsheng threatened to stew it many times.

So far, five years have passed, Gu Changsheng is thirteen years old, Gu Congsheng is eighteen years old, and the green turtle is still the same size as when he picked it up, the size of a palm, but the color is a little greener. After a long life, I went to the Hantan to search several times, and even salvaged the Hantan, but I didn't find any other turtles, not even a small fish.

As for the old cow, it was bought from the town when Gu Congsheng was ten years old.

Since his younger brother recovered from his illness, Gu Congsheng rarely went into the mountains to collect medicine, but picked some common medicinal materials in the mountains around the village, and went to the town to buy them for the hospital when he was in the market, exchanged for some copper coins, and then bought a few books at the bookstall in the town, bought some of his brother's favorite osmanthus cakes, and then bought some food, plus he also planted some land, and also made a small medicine garden behind the thatched house, so he and his brother did not worry about food and clothing.

Gu Congsheng sold medicinal materials, carrying dozens of copper coins to pick books on the bookshelf, the owner of the bookstall is a down-and-out old scholar, after decades of exams but did not get the first place, and spent all the family's savings, simply returned to the town to set up a bookstall, took out the collection of books at home to sell, and wrote family letters for others by the way.

Although the old scholar has not been admitted to the exam for nearly a lifetime, he still respects reading very much, and Gu Congsheng can always hear the old man say something about it every time he goes, and say some sage words.

The old man said that he set up a bookstall here in the hope that future generations of readers could learn from the books he sold, and that he would be able to become a great Confucian who would govern the country and level the world in the future, which could be regarded as making up for his own regrets.

For this, Gu Congsheng believes, because the old man's books are sold very cheaply, and there are not many readers in the town, so he can't make much money by selling books, and the old people rely on to make a living are more to write family letters for others or be invited by the big families in the town to teach children, so every time he buys a book, Gu Congsheng will give a few more money, saying that he should be grateful for the words of the sage who listened to the old man's mouth. The old man did not refuse, and accepted it with a smile.

When Gu Congsheng was fourteen years old, the old scholar died, and the old scholar left a stack of books for Gu Congsheng in the medical hall.

The message said that he was also a lonely old man, and there were no descendants, and there was only a broken house and a stack of books left in his hometown.

That time, Gu Congsheng just came to the bookshelf, and saw a group of people on the street in front of the bookstall, Gu Congsheng didn't care, still lowered his head to pick up books on the bookstall, and then heard a low mooing sound.

Gu Congsheng also stepped forward, it turned out that someone was buying cattle, and no one was willing to sell the sturdy cultivated cattle in general, only to see a skinny old black cow, with a broken horn on his head, a pair of cloudy old eyes, and a lot of scars on his stomach, all over his body were scars left by whipping, and he looked sick. Seeing that most of the people have dispersed, this kind of cow must be an old and sick cow, and seeing that it will not live long, it will not dare to buy it back and eat meat.

So in the end, Gu Congsheng bought it for sixty yuan, and some well-wishers reminded Gu Congsheng that this cow was useless, but Gu Congsheng still bought it with a smile. Gu Congsheng carefully drove away the mosquitoes and flies on the wound while walking, and in this way, there was an extra cowshed next to the thatched hut this year, and Gu Congsheng's family had an old cow.

Gu Congsheng brought back the old cow, collected some medicinal herbs and put them on the old cow, and survived after a month of careful care.

But he still has cloudy old eyes and is skinny. Now eight years have passed, and the old cow is still alive, not dying of old age or disease.

After the old cow is well, he can also help Congsheng plough the land, but the villagers can't make it move it no matter what, only Gu Congsheng is more docile every time he uses it to plow the land, and Gu Changsheng often takes the old cow to eat grass and prepare forage for the old cow.

If Gu Changsheng has time, he will drive the old cow to the hill behind the village to graze, the hill is not high, the mountain is just a few green pines scattered in the east and west, but the weeds are everywhere, in autumn, the withered yellow of the mountain, but the old cow is not picky eater. However, in winter, Changsheng rarely goes to the hill to graze the cattle, the cold wind on the hill is too strong, and sometimes there will be white snow, so the old cow can only eat the dry grass cut in autumn, and the old cow is also relatively docile to the ancient longevity.

When Gu Congsheng was thirteen years old, the villagers would sometimes see that when Gu Congsheng took the old cow to plough the land in the field, or when he was studying alone in the courtyard in front of the thatched house, Congsheng was talking to himself about something, and after a long time, the peasants laughed at Gu Congsheng saying the sage to the cow, and Gu Congsheng was not annoyed, and said to the farmers with a smile that he was asking something, which caused the farmers to laugh, but he didn't expect Gu Congsheng to joke.

As for the blue turtle more often on the table in the thatched hut, Gu Congsheng's hands, from the saint's legs, will occasionally be put upside down on the table by Changsheng, spinning like a spinning top, and only in the thatched hut, in front of Gu Congsheng, when teasing the green turtle, Gu Changsheng will show a child's heart, maybe he has no father and mother since he was a child, maybe he has had a serious illness, although Gu Changsheng loves to laugh since he was a child, he is always silent, and his smile always gives people an inexplicable sadness.

Maybe it's because it's because it's beyond the maturity of its peers, or maybe it's because it doesn't like to talk, and Changsheng has almost no playmates in the village, and since he picked up the green turtle, the green turtle has become a long-lived playmate.

In this way, the old cow has been beside the hut for eight years, and the green turtle has lived in the hut for five years.

Now, Gu Congsheng is eighteen years old, and Gu Changsheng is thirteen years old.