Outside Lingwu, next to the end of the mountain.

On the ancient road of the crane return to the river, Chen Zhiming and Gu Wen went up the river, here Chen Zhiming came when he was a child, when he came with his father to collect medicine, and it was here that he met the white crane and the girl.

Gu Wen looked at Chen Zhiming who was carrying a bunch of things on his back, and then looked at his empty hands, obviously he was here to help him get things, but now he was empty-handed, so he always felt that he was here to find inspiration, Chen Zhiming didn't let her take those things from the beginning, she held them all by herself, if he hadn't often introduced these things to himself, otherwise he would have thought that he was being left aside.

Chen Zhiming was chatting with her, looking for something, Gu Wen was also puzzled, didn't she say that she was looking for inspiration? At this moment, Chen Zhiming seemed to have found what he was looking for, and hurriedly went over to put down the things on his back, only to see him take out a bowl from the cage, and a wooden pestle, and then take out the herbs collected in front of him, and after taking them out, Chen Zhiming put them all on the bowl and mashed them with a wooden pestle.

Looking at his confused operation, Gu Wen walked forward and asked what she was doing, Chen Zhiming asked her to sit down, and she would know in a while.

After a while, Chen Zhiming stopped the movement in his hand, looked at Gu Wen, and spoke; "Hmm...... You lift the hem of your skirt to your knees."

Although Gu Wen didn't know what he was going to do, she still did it, but her cheeks were a little crimson, after all, she had never shown her ankles in front of the opposite sex, but seeing Chen Zhiming's serious look, she still tucked her skirt to her knees.

Seeing her reddened and slightly swollen knees, Chen Zhiming applied the mashed medicinal mud on it, and said, "Your knee is already red and swollen, but I don't have any external herbs, so I took you on this road, my father used to come here to collect medicine, so I know that there must be medicinal materials I need on this road, you have been enduring the pain all the way, just to prevent me from discovering the abnormality, so if it hurts now, you can shout it" It wasn't until this moment that Gu Wen reacted that Chen Zhiming knew that he had an injury on his knee, She also understood why Chen Zhiming was strange all the way, and understood why he didn't let herself carry these heavy objects, she raised her head and looked at Chen Zhiming who was bandaging her knees with gauze, at this moment, her heart was complicated, but the most was moved, because since her father left, her mother has changed and become strange,

Since then, I have lost the care of my parents, and I can only beat and scold and punish every day.

Chen Zhiming was seriously wrapping gauze for her, and he didn't notice Gu Wen's strange appearance at all.

The water of the small river flowed loudly, some paper boats floated downstream, Gu Wen stared at Chen Zhiming in a daze, and after a while, Chen Zhiming finally got it right, he got up and clapped his hands; "Alright, finished, I'll go and find you two sticks to use as a crutch for you"

Just as he was about to turn around and leave, an extremely solemn voice came from behind him, "Thank you"

Chen Zhiming turned his head sideways to look at her and responded; "No thanks" then went to find a suitable stick. Looking at his distant back, Gu Wen smiled slightly, this smile, if Chen Zhiming saw it, it would be another excellent painting. At this moment, Gu Wen noticed the paper boat floating in the river, she slowly got up, walked to the river, and held the paper boat in her hand, "How can there be a paper boat in this kind of place?" Gu Wen looked puzzled, and at this moment, she saw Chen Zhiming who came back with two long trees. Chen Zhiming saw that she stood up by herself, hurriedly walked over and handed her the tree in his hand, scratched his head and said with some embarrassment, "I didn't find a good stick, only this one, I will use it first."

Gu Wen took the tree that was handed over, looking at the tree, she touched her nose, and said with a smile, "It's quite chic, this tree" said she handed the paper boat in her hand to Chen Zhiming, "This is what I found in the river just now, I don't know who put this paper boat in the water, and it has been floating down from the upstream"

Chen Zhiming looked at the paper boat in his hand, carefully checked, and suddenly found the handwriting on the inside side of the paper boat, after thinking about it, Chen Zhiming decided to disassemble it, when the paper boat was disassembled, there was a sentence written on the white paper, "The goose swims far away from the end of the mountain, and the crane returns to the end and waits for the goose to return"

"What does that mean?" Gu Wen asked.

"End Mountain...... Crane returns to ......" Chen Zhiming muttered in his mouth, inexplicably felt that these words were very familiar, as his gaze moved to the surface of the river, he remembered that the river in front of him seemed to be called Crane Gui "I see" He suddenly realized.

Gu Wen was confused when she heard this, and hurriedly asked, "What does this mean?" ”

Chen Zhiming put the cage on his back, turned his head and said, "This question may not be known until the end of this river, let's go."

The two of them walked upstream along the river.

When he walked halfway up, a stone flew from nowhere and hit Chen Zhiming's leg at once, and a huge force came from the stone to beat Chen Zhiming to his knees, and Gu Wen was also frightened by this sudden scene.

With a burst of crazy laughter, a person with tattered and messy hair appeared in front of the two, Chen Zhiming endured the pain and got up, protected Gu Wen behind him, and looked at the beggar-like person in front of him, this person was crazy, and he started laughing crazy again before he stood for a while, and suddenly his attention shifted to Chen Zhiming's waist, Chen Zhiming followed his line of sight and saw the piece of paper on his waist, which made Chen Zhiming nervous, cheering up twelve points, who expected that the person began to laugh crazy again after watching it for a while, and then ran into the woods, after hearing the laughter go away, both of them were relieved, Chen Zhiming also rolled up his trouser legs, and saw a red and swollen calf, Gu Wen saw his injury, and wanted to come forward to bandage him, but Chen Zhiming refused, he applied the leftover medicine mud before, and after bandaging it with gauze, he looked at Gu Wen, who was worrying on the side, and smiled and said, "Okay, it's okay, let's go on"

So the two of them walked up the river again. After the two left, two people appeared in the place where they had stayed before, one was unkempt and sloppy, and the other was dressed in white and held a shabby fan in his hand, they looked at the direction in which the two left, and said helplessly, "If you dare to run around if you are a big fart," the sloppy man put on a look of indifference, "I can't control it now, let's die, anyway, as long as I don't die in Lingwu, it's none of our business."

The man dressed in white looked at his inconsistent words and smiled, "That being said, don't you come out with you"

The sloppy man who was exposed hurriedly explained, "I'm just curious if he will die," and then he looked at the man in white and asked, "Say me, aren't you coming along?"

Hearing this, the man in white opened his shabby fan and said slowly, "I just owe him something, if he dies suddenly, I will find someone to go back, but only this time"

When the sloppy man heard him say this, he suddenly made a decision, he looked at the man in white, the two glanced at each other, saw the answer in each other's eyes, and said in unison, "Just once"

…………

At the end of the Hegui River, the two have come to the foot of the end of the mountain, through the ancient road in the forest, a sound of water came, the two followed the sound, only to see a huge waterfall in front of them, think that this is the source of the Hegui River, there are several white cranes on the waterfall are fluttering their wings, there is a hut under the waterfall, there is a small field next to it, the small field is full of medicinal herbs, there is a big feng shui wheel at the end of the medicine field is operating tirelessly, looking at it, like a fairyland, the two walked into it, feeling the beauty of it, at this moment, The door of the hut was opened, and an old woman with a hunched waist stepped out.

The old grandmother looked at the two people who suddenly appeared, I don't know if no one else has been here for too long or what the reason, the old grandmother was stunned for a few seconds, then looked at the two little guys in front of her, and asked with a kind face, "Which doll are you?" How can you run into this deep mountain alone, it's very dangerous, your elders? ”

Chen Zhiming didn't expect that there would be a grandmother living here, and he didn't know how to answer for a while, Gu Wen on the side stepped forward and replied when he saw this, "Grandma, we are from Lingwu County, and we came here to find inspiration to paint."

The old grandmother nodded, "That's it" Xu is old, when she saw Gu Wen with a branch, her cloudy eyes showed a look of charity, and said, "Is the little girl's leg injured?"

Gu Wen nodded

The old grandmother beckoned, "Girl, come here, come to my mother-in-law, my mother-in-law has medicine, I can treat you" said the old grandmother got up and walked to the house.

Gu Wen looked at Chen Zhiming beside her, the latter nodded, and the two walked to the front of the house together and sat down at the stone table in front of the house.

At this time, the old grandmother walked out with a medicine box, Chen Zhiming looked at the old woman who was more clumsy by the weight of the medicine box, got up and went to take the medicine box, and the old woman looked at him gratefully.

Coming to the table, Gu Wen rolled up the corners of her skirt, revealing her knees that had been simply bandaged, the old grandmother slowly untied it, and saw the medicine mud applied to it, "Well, yes, I also know that these flavors of medicine are mashed and applied to the wound" Gu Wen explained that this was done by Chen Zhiming, and the old grandmother glanced at him approvingly, and then the old grandmother treated Gu Wen again, and even the gauze was much better than Chen Zhiming, after processing, the old grandmother asked the two if they were hungry, and the two shook their heads, but the rumbling stomach betrayed the two, So the old grandmother went to cook for the two of them again, and the two also rushed to help.

After a period of busy work, a hearty meal was ready, and the two looked at the table of food, although they did not really help, but they were still full of a sense of accomplishment.

While eating, Gu Wen looked at the old woman and asked, "Grandma, are you living alone here?" ”

Hearing her ask this, the old woman looked stunned, as if no one had asked her this question for a long time, and suddenly when asked, she didn't know how to answer.

Seeing that the old woman was stunned, Gu Wen thought that she had said the wrong thing, and quickly explained, "Grandma, I just ask casually, you don't have to pay attention to me"

Then the old woman spoke; "Alas, it's been a long time since anyone asked me this question, a long time ago, there was my wife here, then my wife left, and after a long time, my children also left me"

Gu Wen thought that the old woman was leaving the world, and then her face was full of apologies, and she said guiltily, "Grandma, I didn't mean to ask about these things, I ......"

The old woman knew that she had misunderstood, and then continued; "It's okay, it's been so many years, I don't know if they are alive or dead, but whether they live or die, it's just my wife and I are alone day after day."

The old woman said, but her words were full of helplessness, Chen Zhiming looked at the old woman with a melancholy face, and asked in a low voice, "Grandma, listening to you say this, is it your husband and children who abandoned you here?" ”

Gu Wen patted him lightly, shook her head and signaled that he shouldn't ask that, Chen Zhiming also realized that he shouldn't ask this, but the old woman didn't care about it, and the old woman then said, "Abandonment, what is more distressing in this world than abandonment is commitment, when you wait for a lifetime for a promise, at that moment you will feel that abandonment will only make you sad for a while, and some promises can make you miserable for a lifetime" The old woman said halfway, glanced at the two little guys in front of her, and suddenly felt that she was old and confused, So he asked; "Mother-in-law didn't scare you, I'm also old, and no one has talked to me for too long, so I talk a lot"

Chen Zhiming and the two hurriedly waved their hands; "Grandma, it's okay, if you don't mind, can you tell us your story? Just coax us two little children."

When the old woman heard this, she smiled kindly, and her eyes were full of relief; "Then the mother-in-law will nag and tell you a story that is far, far away"

…………

I, surnamed Jin, was born in a scholarly family, one year, when I was holding a book club with the elders of the family, I met a group of horse thieves, they burned and looted, all kinds of evil, in the chaos, I was also separated from the elders of the family, on the way to escape, I was discovered, just when they were about to catch me, a young knight suddenly appeared, saved me, but although the young knight martial arts are very high, but where can I stop the continuous siege of horse thieves, it didn't take long for him to be injured, in desperation, he could only let me go first, After I stayed and broke off, I remember clearly, he said to me at the time, let me keep running, don't look back, so I kept running and running, running and running, I was tired and fainted, when I woke up, I found myself under a waterfall, and the young knight was lying aside, when I looked at him, he was covered in injuries, but at that time I didn't know medical skills, I stayed at home all the year round I couldn't even the most basic bandage, I was very annoyed, how could I be so useless, but I finally bandaged him, But because he didn't know how to bandage him to wake up, he woke up and dealt with his own wounds, and I watched from the sidelines, but he was too injured to walk, so I could only take care of him, but that was also the first time I learned to take care of people, and the two of us also secretly had feelings, more than a month later, most of his injuries were healed, so we left there, and then went around the rivers and lakes for more than half a year, and then he sent me home, and also took the opportunity to show my father and mother his heart to me, But the result was that he was turned away, the reason is that he is a scholar and I am a scholar, they disagreed, but told him that unless he won the champion and won the official position, but he was a person who practiced martial arts, let him go to study and take the scientific examination, isn't it difficult for him, but what I didn't expect was that he would really abandon martial arts for me, spring to autumn, it has been more than ten years in the blink of an eye, he really got the literary champion that year, but I didn't know at the time, I secretly ran out in order to find him, looking for his traces everywhere in the rivers and lakes, But accidentally broke the conspiracy of the enemy spies and was captured, on the way I held that slim hope and tried my best to leave a message, and he did not disappoint me, he went to look for me and learned that I went to the rivers and lakes to find him many years ago, he re-entered the rivers and lakes, finally, he found the traces I left, and learned of the conspiracy of the enemy country, so he reported to the emperor, when the news was confirmed by the spies, he applied to the emperor to lead the army to conquer the enemy country, but everyone thinks that he is a new science and culture champion, no power to restrain the chicken, how can he use a spear to lead the army to fight, So he asked the emperor for a chance to compete in command, that year he abandoned the pen from Rong, defeated the heroes of the world, but also directly led the troops to capture several checkpoints and cities in the enemy country within ten days, and finally the enemy country compensated countless gold, silver and jewelry, he also successfully rescued me, and finally the two countries ceased war, ending with a complete victory for our country.

After that battle, he resigned from his official position and took me to the original waterfall, where we were determined for life, but the good times were always short-lived, one day, he suddenly sat in front of the waterfall in a daze, he didn't say a word for a whole day, and the next day he left only one sentence that he was going to leave home, I knew that his character would not change when he made a decision, and I was already pregnant with his child, for the sake of the child I could only bear to see him go, After that, I wholeheartedly raised me and his children, in order not to let him follow his father's old path, I only taught him to read and write since he was a child, even the knife in the kitchen I never let him touch, but even so, can not keep him, sure enough, it is father and son, one day he saw a flock of geese flying away, and flew away, that day, he said to see what the world looks like, to see where the geese come from, he said that he will come back when the next goose returns, I dare not leave, afraid that he will not find me when he comes back, So every month he folded a small paper boat and let it float down the river, the river was so long and so big, he would always see it......

After the old woman finished speaking, she exhaled a long breath, because she was old, and it was the first time in so many years that she had said so many words, so she didn't slow down for a long time.

Gu Wen came back to her senses and hurriedly went to help the old woman calm down, at this time it was almost dark, and on this day, Chen Zhiming's painting had an old woman, and this beautiful valley like a fairyland, before leaving, Chen Zhiming left a painting, the old woman told him that if he saw his son in the future, he must go home quickly, and said that I, an old woman, can't wait for many years, the old woman said that his son is tall, with long hair fluttering, and his name is "Song Mochen"

He also said that if Chen Zhiming could still remember her after many years, he must come to see her, she didn't want to be unable to sleep one day, and there was no one around her to collect the body.

Chen Zhiming knew that the old woman had been waiting for her husband and son all her life, and had been waiting until her gray hair was gray, maybe she would not wait for someone to wait for in her life, so after seeing the two of them, she told the two of them about her past, and she was afraid that she would not be able to sleep one day, at least so, there would be people who would remember her and remember her story, so she promised her, Chen Zhiming wrote an inscription on the painting

promised that in the future, he would definitely come back to see her.

In the twilight, the old woman bent her waist and watched the two leave with a smile, just as she saw her son and husband like she did back then.