Chapter VIII: Rites of Passage
Looking at the familiar scenery outside the window, Ming Bufan felt a little trance in his heart, he was guessing what the fortune teller knew, and what agreement his father had with him, Ming Bufan heard it very clearly that day.
Ming Bufan recalled everything in the past ten years, ordinary can't be in ordinary days, but if you think about it carefully, there are many strange places, just like those thieves before, but there is a little panic in their expressions.
With the restoration of wisdom, he will not be as careless as before, ignoring many important things in the past.
Moreover, those thieves are all strong, they must be people who have been fighting with fierce beasts for a long time, and they do not return to their town at such a time, which means that something major has happened, so that they will abandon their town and wander away from the great wilderness and other towns.
Thinking about it carefully, but it only came to the conclusion that it was attacked by the desolate beasts in the town, because the desolate beast attacks are not very rare, and several towns are attacked every year, but why don't these survivors go back again, those desolate beasts will not stay forever, and it is okay to go back and rebuild the town.
But the reality is that I saw a group of them sneaking into the town, grabbing Ming Bufan to interrogate the man in the town, looking like they were going to loot the place and then leave him, this is the strangest place, but Ming Bufan still can't figure it out after thinking about it for a while, and he doesn't know much information.
Then he lifted the futon, got out of bed and walked out, today is his coming-of-age ceremony, his father will definitely not live so simple, he asked Qiao'er to cook for him before, but it was just to think about things alone.
Walking out of the door, although he had some premonitions, the sight that appeared in front of him still made him stunned.
The originally familiar courtyard has changed, with bamboo leaves and mulberry branches hanging everywhere, he knows that this is a must-have thing at the coming-of-age ceremony, but Ming Bufan didn't expect it to be so much.
Sighing softly, he was originally in his twenties, the years were in a hurry, although the memories of his previous life were sealed, but the memories of the past ten years were also a lot, and it was not wrong to say that he was close to forty in his thirties.
It's just that his father doesn't know this, most of them regard him as being born wise or something, and he doesn't know what kind of character the fortune teller is, this kind of is too incredible for Ming Bufan, who has memories of his previous life, but from the point of view that he can be reincarnated, it is not too unbelievable, after all, there are reincarnations, and the so-called immortals and the like are afraid that they also exist, but I don't know where the fortune teller is sacred, and what method or spell is used?
Looking back, the blue circle painted on the door of his father's room only had many colors receded, and the things on it were all blurred, but Ming Bufan still clearly remembered that it was the appearance of the earth.
also recalled the life at that time, although there was not much nostalgia, but there was no such thing as those scientific and technological products, now he can still live well, and the days of striking iron are mostly leisurely, although he is a little tired physically, but he also lives a fulfilling life.
eyelids, suddenly felt someone behind him, and when he looked back, it was Qiao'er who was about to hide quietly behind him.
Ming Bufan laughed:
"How old you are, you still play this kind of trick, and you're not afraid of being laughed at. ”
Stretched out his hand and pinched Qiao'er's face.
Qiao'er slapped away Ming Bufan's hand, stuck out her tongue, pouted and said:
"Hmph, you also said that I should cook, today is your coming-of-age ceremony, and you actually fooled me to go to the kitchen. ”
"Hahaha" Ming Bufan looked at Qiao'er's puffed face and laughed.
"!! you still laughing"
Qiao'er's face was flushed and she screamed, saying that she wanted to make him look good.
After lightly knocking a few punches on Ming Bufan's body, he also calmed down, pointed in one direction and said: "Father has started to put on a show, hurry up!!
Ming Bufan thought of this serious matter, answered, patted Qiao'er's head, and walked towards the front of the courtyard.
There were no houses in that direction, it was a river in the center of the town, and the coming-of-age ceremony was held on the banks of that river.
In the past moment, I haven't gone far, but I have seen the river that is not very wide, there are a lot of people on the bank, all of them are people in the town, most of the faces are familiar, and there are a few people who have not seen it, after all, some people are not from this town, and some people have been out of the town for a long time, and most of them have been attracted by this pomp.
Of course, I also saw the fortune teller for the first time, wearing a coarse linen dress and the people wearing robes around him were quite conspicuous, only to see a large table in the center of the bank, on which were placed all kinds of things, said to be used to worship the mother river, and those people were standing on both sides, only the father was standing in front of the table, and the fortune teller was not far from his father's side, his expression was flat, and he looked at Ming Bufan.
Ming Bufan glanced at his father who was standing in front of the table, Ming Bufan's father also felt the sight, looked back, and saw that Ming Bufan was still wearing that ordinary clothes, he immediately became angry, and scolded loudly: "Who told you to come over like this, why don't you go and change your clothes quickly!!"
Everyone looked at it when they heard it, Ming Bufan looked down, it was also a little inappropriate, now this dress is usually worn by iron, and it is a little simple, after all, there are many holes burned by Mars, nodded slightly, and turned around to go back to change clothes.
When he reappeared in the blink of an eye, he was already dressed in a simple brown cloth robe, with long hair scattered and draped behind his head, and his temperament was obviously much more mature, making everyone's eyes bright, a resolute teenager.
Ming Bufan walked slowly to the center, his expression was also flat, and then it was the topic, he had seen these steps a few years ago, and the steps were not unfamiliar, only to see his father read a statement and sprinkle a pot of wine on the table in the lake, but it made Ming Bufan slightly moved.
It was the snake wine that my father had been reluctant to drink for five years, but he poured it into the river water so simply that he didn't blink an eyebrow.
Ming Bufan pursed his lips, slowly stepped forward, picked up two things from the table, a gray turban and a thin rope, and glanced back at Qiao'er standing in the crowd, but the latter was smiling and blushing.
The father turned around, he had to tie Ming Bufan's hair, this is a farewell ceremony, the son said goodbye to his father's independent life, his father's face was full of seriousness, and Ming Bufan was also silent, his eyes were also extremely serious, and the person behind him was his father.
In a blink of an eye, Ming Bufan's long hair was tied up, like a small tower, standing on top of his head, so that this coming-of-age ceremony was half completed, and it can already be said that he Ming Bufan has become an adult, can marry a wife and have children, and can become a family of his own.
Ming Bufan stood quietly, the father behind him patted him lightly on the shoulder, turned around and walked away, and then he didn't need his appearance, his father's exit was also one of the steps, the meaning is independence, and perhaps it also shows that his father will leave first.
Ming Bufan looked at the back of his father's departure, his heart was a little churning, once upon a time, he was an orphan, but now, he is no longer an orphan, he has a father, turned around, walked to the table, picked up another pot of wine, this is also his father's treasure, better than the bottle in front, slowly poured many glasses, but these fathers can not taste half a point.
After a while, he saw that the table was full, picked up one of the cups, raised his head and drank it, looked at the crowd around him, and said:
"Today, you have to come, there are not many words of kindness, only this glass of wine can become a tribute, please drink it!!!"
This is the most important part of the coming-of-age ceremony, which is called returning the wine, if the more wine is drunk on the table, it symbolizes the better the luck of the person at the coming-of-age ceremony.
After that, I saw that the fortune teller first stepped forward and picked up a glass of wine: "Today, I, Chen Xiu, drink and return the wine here, and wish it to be extraordinary in the future!!."
Then he drank the wine cleanly, put down the wine glass and left, Ming Bufan bowed to the departing figure, he didn't realize the deep meaning of that sentence.
Then another person came up, and it was also an old man, who was the only elder in the town, and it could also be said that he was the mayor of the town, although the town did not say anything about the mayor at all, but this old man was the first person to live here, and then he could have this town, and it was also by relying on the original old man, so people also acquiesced to being the head of a town.
I saw the old man step forward and hold a glass of wine tremblingly: "Ming boy, I watched you grow up, so I won't say much, just wish you peace in the future." ”
After that, he drank the wine and turned to leave.
Then everyone stepped forward one by one, took the wine glass and drank it down, said blessings, and then left, some were really good for the memory, and some were for the mellow wine.
Until the sky was dusk and the sun was setting, the rite of passage was complete, everyone was gone, and the table was empty, except for his sister Qiao'er and a boy who was slightly younger than him.
"Big Brother Tie..... Oh....... It should be Brother Fan, congratulations on becoming an adult."
I saw that the slightly younger boy ran up and said with a smile, his face was quite handsome, and there was an extraordinary aura between his eyebrows, which Ming Bufan couldn't see from other teenagers.
"It's okay to call me Brother Tie, I don't think the name Mingtie is unpleasant. ”
Ming Bufan laughed, he knew this quite handsome young man in front of him, he heard himself say that there is a small town called Qingshan in the north, five years ago there was a famine and his family came to live in this town, Ming Bufan didn't know what Qingshan town was, but over the years, he had been in contact with him for a long time, and he was also familiar with it.
"Guo Hongfei, don't you remember that you went back to your Qingshan Town, how did you come back this time...."
"Brother Tie, leave him alone, it's just an annoying guy, now it's time for us to go back to dinner..."
Before Ming Bufan could finish speaking, Qiao'er, who had already run over, interrupted, and grabbed Ming Bufan's right hand to drag him away.
"Eh..... Sister Qiao'er, why are you about to leave when you look at me, I'm not a monster, do you need to avoid me like this?"
When Guo Hongfei heard this, he immediately smiled bitterly.
Ming Bufan knew that this kid used to like Qiao'er, and he confessed a few times when he was so young, too, after all, Qiao'er is so handsome, not to mention that she has to fall into the country and the city, at least she has to find all the surrounding towns, and she can't find it in that mulberry bamboo city, so naturally many teenagers are devoted to her.
After being rejected by Qiao'er many times, he still insisted, but this also made Qiao'er a little annoying him.
Ming Bufan smiled slightly, remembering Guo Hongfei's exaggerated expression when he first saw Qiao's child, and continued: "What's wrong with coming here this time, is it that you have suffered another catastrophe there?"
When Guo Hongfei heard this, his pupils shrank slightly, and then he laughed: "What's the big disaster, this time I accompanied a few adults in the family to help with something like this, since Sister Qiao'er hates me so much, and it's getting late, I'll leave first, and I'll come back tomorrow." ”
"It's okay, I'll go back too, after all, it's not very safe at night. Ming Bufan said with a smile, he saw that there seemed to be a few people waiting for Guo Hongfei in the distance, but they were just looking carefully, but they also disappeared.
Ming Bufan didn't take it to heart, just packed up his things and walked towards the way home, followed by Qiao'er, only to see Qiao'er say softly: "Pretending to be a good person, if you really let go of the constraints, you will definitely be a scumbag, and I hate this kind of person the most." ”
Ming Bufan thought it was funny again.
"At your age, you still know how to read people's hearts?"
patted Qiao'er's head casually, and walked to the front with a smile.