Liu Xianyang quickly ran back with a basket on his back, Chen Ping'an was watching the scene of sinking the well and transporting soil next to the well, Liu Xianyang kicked Chen Ping'an's buttocks, kicked the straw sandals boy almost a dog to eat shit, and when he looked back and saw that it was a tall boy, he didn't care. Liu Xianyang said with a big grin: "It's done, Master Ruan said let me honestly not run around here these days, dig wells during the day, strike iron at night, and after ten and a half years, I will be his first apprentice on this side of the town, what is the name of the disciple of the mountain." I got you a basket and helped you touch the stones, from the blacksmith shop to the side of the covered bridge, until I touched the side of the covered bridge, I said in advance, the green cow is back to the puddle in that place, I can't help you, Master Ruan said that I dare to cross the north and west of the covered bridge for half a step these days, and break my legs. ”

Liu Xianyang put his arm around the neck of the straw sandals boy and whispered: "Master Ruan said that the town will not lose things, and also said that those outsiders abide by a very strange rule, and they have done a fair trade businessman, and they have also become a cheater who has been abducted and deceived, and even a beggar who picks up rags, but he can't be a sneaky thief and thief. ”

Liu Xianyang suddenly threatened: "The surname is Chen, you can continue to live in my house, but don't wait for me to go back, you have already sold my family's treasure armor!"

Chen Ping'an punched Liu Xianyang's chest, so that the tall young man hurriedly let go, rubbed it vigorously a few times before relieving his breath, and scolded: "The little hairy monkey like a thin bamboo pole, how can he get so much strength! Could it be that he can walk a hundred miles of mountain road with Old Man Yao every three forks and five times, or chop wood and burn charcoal in the deep mountains for a few months, and he can increase his strength to death?"

Chen Ping'an smiled: "Anyway, I carry a basket of stones on my back, and I can run back to the town before you." ”

Liu Xianyang squinted his eyes and said, "Then who is holding his breath under the water for a long time?"

Approaching the riverside, Chen Ping'an bent down and rolled up his trousers, and said casually: "It's just a matter of breath, I won't do it." ”

Before entering the water, Chen Ping'an plucked a lot of spring grass by the stream and put it in the basket, and nagged that after picking up every 20 stones, he would have to lay some more grass. Liu Xianyang was so annoyed that he wanted to throw the basket behind him to Chen Ping'an, but the latter did not agree, saying that if he changed to carrying the basket by himself, according to Liu Xianyang's frizzy temperament, he would definitely throw stones directly into the basket, and he would feel distressed. Liu Xianyang almost picked on the spot, these colorful stones have always been worthless for thousands of years, why did you get to Chen Ping'an's side to become squeamish?

It's just that in the end, the tall boy is still reluctant to touch the rocks in the ground, and Chen Ping'an and one left and one right, planning to sweep the stream thoroughly. The stream here is still mostly knee-high, some slightly higher, the water level will reach the waist, occasionally there are small puddles that are as tall as people, and most of them are the footholds where the boulders gather, to these places, it is time for Liu Xianyang to show his skills, first take off the basket and hand it to the straw sandal boy squatting on the boulder, he dived to the bottom of the water in one breath, and took out the snake gallstone he wanted from the gaps in the behemoth's boulders, and even the layers of stones.

Of course, Chen Ping'an can also do it, but it will be very hard, and the time-consuming and labor-intensive will far exceed Liu Xianyang.

Before touching the covered bridge, the basket is full of seven or eight points, among which there is a dark green snake gall stone, Liu Xianyang touched the bottom of a deep pit three times, and finally found out, it is as big as the palm of the hand, mixed with golden stars, there are water ripple lines, the stone is fine, the hand is extremely heavy, when Chen Ping'an rubs it with his hand, there is a sense of shimmering splashing edge.

As long as you are not blind, you know that this stone is very unusual.

In the end, the two teenagers sat side by side on a boulder in the stream, Liu Xianyang propped his hands on the stone surface, looked at the slowly flowing stream, and asked, "Chen Ping'an, have you thought about leaving the town in the future?"

Chen Ping'an replied: "I haven't thought about it for the time being, you have to have money when you go far away, and after leaving, what will happen to the house, and no one will help clean it up, what if it collapses one day? ”

Liu Xianyang said helplessly: "Why do you always think about so many useless things, it's boring, no wonder Song Jixin said that you are the life of a ghost hitting the wall, going around in such a big place, and you can't get out for the rest of your life." ”

Chen Ping'an turned his head and asked with a smile: "Do you remember what I told you last time, that is the tree." ”

Liu Xianyang said angrily: "There is a tree growing on the grave, and it is also worth making a fuss? Besides, it is also the grave of another ancestor of the Chen family, and it has nothing to do with you Chen Ping'an!"

Chen Ping'an sat cross-legged and sighed softly: "I don't know if there are many people with the surname Chen outside the town." ”

Liu Xianyang dismantled the stage and said: "I don't know outside the town, I only know that in the town, there are only three or two kittens and dogs surnamed Chen, and except for you, it seems that all of them are the sons of the four surnames and ten clans, and the identity of slaves and maids for generations, the funny thing is that these people are treated as cattle and horses in the house, bowing their heads and waists, but as long as they get out of those big houses, they immediately change their faces when they see everyone, and they like dogs to look down on people the most." So Old Man Yao is right, if you, Chen Ping'an, also go to them one day, then your Chen clan, who has not moved out of the town, will be wiped out. ”

According to Old Man Yao, the person surnamed Chen had two branches in the town at the earliest, but one of them moved out very early, and Chen Ping'an's branch was also prosperous before, but this "before" was too long, and even Old Man Yao couldn't tell if it was a few hundred years, five hundred years, eight hundred years, or a thousand years? Later, it was divided into several rooms, and the number of people became scarcer and scarcer, and the luck was probably taken away by the one who moved out, and the incense was often broken, so that many graves were gradually left unattended, and the mountains where most of the tombs were located were successively ordered by the superintendents sent by the imperial court to become a forbidden mountain.

Old man Yao took Chen Ping'an into the mountain for the last time, and when he passed by one of the mountains, he pointed to a place to show him, saying that it was the burial place of the ancestor of another branch of the Chen family, and the tomb was on that mountain, and the feng shui was very good. As for Chen Ping'an's branch, Old Man Yao said that the gods can't be found, and in the past few hundred years, the descendants of this branch surnamed Chen have no interest, and they are all ruined, except for not being slaves and maids for the four surnames and ten clans, which is useless.

Chen Ping'an once secretly went to find the grave of the ancestor of the Chen family, but when he arrived at the place, it was just weeds, and he saw many fox rabbits, but he didn't see the grave, among which there was a tree that the straw sandals boy couldn't recognize, not tall, much shorter than the old locust tree in the town.

Overgrown with weeds, infested with foxes and rabbits, lonely, and lonely.

Chen Ping'an shook his head and said: "Before my mother left, she asked me to swear that I could be a beggar for food, even if I starved to death, I was not allowed to give it to those big families." ”

Liu Xianyang blurted out: "Then before your mother died, didn't you swear that you would never go to Longyao as an apprentice?"

The straw sandals boy's face was gloomy, and he did not refute, nor did he become angry after being exposed.

Liu Xianyang felt a little guilty, and he was not the kind of temper who was willing to say the word "sorry" after doing something wrong, so he had to pretend that nothing had happened, got up and said: "Let's go, dig a well, by the way, I'll grind with Master Ruan again, and strive to let you come here as a short-term apprentice, and it will be easy to touch the stones when the time comes." ”

Chen Ping'an said: "Don't worry, wait for those two groups of people to leave the town with their hearts, and I will help you take care of your home during this time." ”

Liu Xianyang asked curiously: "Why do you say that I can escape by learning from Master Ruan?"

Chen Ping'an thought for a while, and said uncertainly: "It's like sudden rain, you have to find a roof to hide, right?"

Liu Xianyang turned his head to look at the sword furnace iron shop, "Who do you say Master Ruan, doesn't he look like a powerful person, can he suppress those two groups of people?"

Chen Ping'an comforted: "People can't be disguised. ”

Liu Xianyang turned his head and said, "You Chen Ping'an look like a poor person, so are you poor?"

Chen Ping'an grinned and had nothing to say.

Liu Xianyang stood up and asked, "Do you want to help you carry it to the covered bridge?"

Chen Ping'an shook his head and said, "No, it's not heavy." ”

"Remember to give me back the basket next time. ”

After Liu Xianyang said this, he jumped off the boulder directly and walked quickly in the stream, splashing countless splashes.

Chen Ping'an picked up the basket, carefully got off the boulder, and after going ashore, he slowly walked towards the side of the covered bridge.

After Chen Ping'an walked a distance, he heard a sound of footsteps behind him, and turned his head to look, it was Liu Xianyang.

In the warm sunshine of early spring, the tall boy snatched the basket of the straw sandals boy, carried it himself, turned his head and sneered: "From a distance, I see you carrying the basket on your back, just like a little grasshopper carrying a big stone, it's really pitiful, so I will be kind and help you carry it to the side of the covered bridge." ”

In the spring breeze, the two teenagers walked together.

"The surname is Chen, if I succeed in learning art in the future, I must go out to have a look, marry a daughter-in-law who is better looking than Zhigui, drink the most expensive wine, live in the largest house, and ride the fastest horse!"

"I'm going to see mountains as high as the sky, and rivers that are innumerable bigger than our streams. ”

"In short, I, Liu Xianyang, will never stay here and wait for death for the rest of my life. ”

In the spring breeze, the tall boy looks forward to the future, and the straw sandals boy chews the grass roots, one speaks and the other listens.

————

Chen Ping'an carried a basket of stones back to the courtyard of Liu Xianyang's house, still picking out the few stones he liked the most, taking them to the side house, and the rest still stayed in the stove room. After locking the door of the house and the courtyard gate, he ran to Mud Bottle Alley, and when he arrived at his yard, he saw the girl in black sitting in the yard basking in the sun.

There was a constant chopping sound in the courtyard next door, which was very strange, although Song Jixin said that he lived a life without a father and no mother in the eyes of outsiders, but he has been without food and clothing for so many years, and even has a lot of money at hand, I dare not say that he is better than the young master in the house with the four surnames, and it is indeed not bad compared to the children of the ten clans. In fact, Song Jixin has never really done dirty and tired work and physical work, the pickles are too smelly, Song Jixin does not allow the maid Zhigui to do it, and he is too tired to chop wood, so Song Jixin directly buys bundles of burning matches and bags of high-quality charcoal every year.

When Chen Ping'an brought the medicinal soup to the girl in black, the yard next door was still chopping wood intermittently, Chen Ping'an couldn't help but walk to the courtyard wall when Miss Ning was drinking the medicine, and looked on tiptoe, and found that Zhigui was carrying a kitchen knife, slashing and killing "one person" , It is an embryo made of wood, Chen Ping'an has burned porcelain for many years, he has seen a lot of good things, and there are countless trees that have been cut, so you can see the approximate depth at a glance, the wood is as lustrous as jade, it must be a very old object, and the puppet is covered with dense red and black spots, and the puppet has been chopped by Zhigui and chopped, and it has been split into many pieces.

The girl suddenly turned her head and found Chen Ping'an, her face was covered with sweat and stains, she raised her arm, wiped her face, and said with a forced smile: "You're back, I wanted to borrow a firewood knife from you, but the guest of your house didn't want to open the door for me." ”

Chen Ping'an was stunned for a moment, "I'll get you a firewood knife, don't use too much force at first, the firewood knife is not as slippery as a kitchen knife, don't hurt yourself." ”

The girl sat on the small bench, exhausted, and waved her hand, "I know, hurry up and get it." ”

Chen Ping'an retrieved the firewood knife, and the girl was already standing on the side of the courtyard wall, and asked with a smile, "Do you know what that thing is?"

Chen Ping'an shook his head and said, "I don't know." ”

Child-gyu didn't give an answer, turned around and continued to sit on the small bench, slashing hard.

Her rusty and stagnant movements, as well as all kinds of thankless wrong postures, saw that Chen Ping'an was very anxious, but since people didn't ask for help, Chen Ping'an didn't pretend to be sentimental, turned his head and looked, and found that Miss Ning was no longer in the yard, Chen Ping'an remembered something, walked quickly to the house, put something on the table, and put it opposite the girl in black.

It was a snake gallstone, just enough to hold in the palm of one hand, like a piece of frozen and solidified honey, with a delicate texture and a very positive color.

Ning Yao was a little strange.

Chen Ping'an smiled: "Miss Ning, I'll give it to you." ”

The girl in black who couldn't leave the knife suddenly asked, "What is your favorite piece?"

Chen Ping'an was a little embarrassed, "This ...... It's probably fourth, the best three, I've already hidden. ”

Then she took the stone, twisted it with her fingers, and held it above her head, so that the light entered the room through the window and reflected on it.

She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, taking a closer look at the subtle lines of the stone.

She looked at the stone.

The boy looked at her.

————

In the middle of the night, a teenager sneaked into Mud Bottle Alley, like a wild cat walking at night, silently, and quietly came to the courtyard of Gu Cang's house, he found the big water tank placed in the corner of the yard, and after squatting, he found that the snake gall stones that were originally stacked neatly had been rummaged through, as if this person knew the value of the stone earlier than Chen Ping'an. Gu Cang is the only freak in the town who likes to collect snake gallstones, and no matter how many he finds in the stream, he only takes one home at a time, and the child only chooses the most pleasing stone, and over time, he saves fifty or sixty stones, which he uses to cover the gap at the bottom of the water tank.

After Chen Ping'an removed many snake gallstones that had dried up, he was relieved to see that there were no excavation marks at the bottom of the water tank.

He began to dig little by little with his right hand, and finally when he touched the butter paper, his heart shook and slowed down.

Finally, he took out the object wrapped in butter paper, which looked like a book.

After hiding in his arms, Chen Ping'an filled the soil back again, and then carefully looked at those snake gallstones, the remaining stones were "dead", compared to Chen Ping'an's two new stones picked up from the creek, whether it was color, texture or weight, they were completely different, these stones in front of him were like lifeless old men, and those that Chen Ping'an picked up were like newborn babies, full of vitality.

Chen Ping'an thought about it and planned to leave Mud Bottle Lane from the direction of his house.

When he walked to the door of Song Jixin's house, he heard a squeak, the door opened, and Chen Ping'an had to pretend to knock on his door and shouted, "Miss Ning, are you sleeping, I'll come back and get something." ”

The lights in the house soon turned on, and the girl in black opened the courtyard door for Chen Ping'an.

Next door, the maid Zhigui walked out of the house slowly, and when she arrived at the yard, she saw Chen Ping'an's shadow, holding a large yellowed book in her arms, she shook her head and shook, as if she happened to catch a pair of dog men and women.

She walked alone in Mud Bottle Alley, bouncing around.

Her golden eyes looked particularly cold and sacred in the night alley.

Let the slender and graceful girl be like a dragon wandering in a narrow stone crevice, as if as long as she walks out of the alley, she will walk the river dragon.

————

Although Ning Yao let Chen Ping'an enter the courtyard and even the house, her face was very ugly, she sat at the table, one arm was leaning against the scabbard, and her fingers lightly tapped the handle of the knife.

After Chen Ping'an made sure that Zhigui had walked into the alley, he explained embarrassedly: "I went to Gu Cang's house to get something, but she was just about to go out, so I had to come here to hide, Miss Ning, don't think about it." ”

"What is it?" she asked.

Chen Ping'an hesitated for a moment and took out the butter paper bag, "I don't know now." ”

She turned around and said, "You open it yourself first, and then decide if you want to let me know." ”

Chen Ping'an nodded, sat across from her desk, opened the layers of butter paper, and mud crumbs kept rolling down the table, and finally revealed an ancient book.

There are only two words on the cover of the ancient book, and Chen Ping'an only knows one of them, mountain.

He put the ancient book on the table, turned around, pushed it towards the girl in black, and asked curiously, "Miss Ning, what do you read this word?"

The girl turned around again, glanced down, and said, "Shake." ”

The title of the book is Shaking Mountain.