"Okay, Gengenye, don't act, this snake will definitely have a share." Zhang Tao said with a smile.

"That's... Thank you so much! Gengen stammered a little excitedly, but his inquiring eyes were still fixed on Zhang Tao, looking like he wanted to say something, obviously wondering how he had a share.

Zhang Tao was a little funny in his heart, this dead old man is too anxious! But thinking that people are a lot older, and it is indeed not good to make people anxious, Zhang Tao said: "Gengenye, this snake gall can be seen, leave it to you, you have to help me guard the Luozi Mountain opposite!" ”

"Good! Good! You can rest assured! Gengen said busily.

"The snake entrails are all handed over to you, and only you know how to do these things."

Gengen said a few more good things.

"What about this snake skin, you and my cousin are half and a half, I know that your broken erhu will be re-covered a long time ago."

"Okay, okay, it's pretty much the same, I didn't look away, you're a good boy with a lot of righteousness." Gengen's eyes shone with joy, and his mouth did not hesitate to praise him.

The erhu and flute are two instruments that can be made by yourself without spending money to buy them. They are generally popular in the countryside, and many people play a hand. In the countryside where there are almost no entertainment activities and are closed, playing the flute and pulling the erhu during the slack has also become a way for the villagers to relieve boredom, relieve fatigue and kill time.

Gengen has been alone in the mountains and forests for many years, and there is no one to talk to every day, if he doesn't find something to pass the time, then he won't suffocate people to death, and Erhu is his biggest hobby. His erhu is also self-made, and the little money he guards the forest farm must not be able to afford it.

Making erhu is quite simple, Zhang Tao made several when he was a child, and the music he pulled out was also decent. Anyway, this erhu is for self-entertainment, not an exam or a competition, who cares about the quality of the sound. The resonance box is hollowed out of wood or replaced directly with old bamboo roots, and a wooden stick is inserted on top of it to pull the strings. The bow is made by roasting and bending it on a fire with bamboo, and the bowstring is replaced by hemp rope, and of course, it would be best if you could find a horsetail. There are many rosins all over the mountains, so you can just dig them down from the pine trees and work a little harder. The most troublesome thing is the diaphragm, and the sound quality of the erhu has the most to do with it. Of course, the best membrane is snakeskin, but where is it so easy to find such a large snakeskin?

No, Gengen has been worried about this matter. The resonance membrane of his erhu was first covered with frog skin, and it soon rotted, and then it was put together with two small snakes, and now it has already rotted several holes. Therefore, the snakeskin in Zhang Tao's hand is very attractive to him.

"Naturally, I'll leave you some snake meat, but it's not too much. You know, this snake is not eaten by my family, so many relatives and friends, usually my family does not eat less, and now I inadvertently catch such a big snake that is difficult to encounter in a hundred years, so I naturally have to send some to others to try. After speaking, Zhang Tao added with some distress, "According to my mother's nature, I don't know if this snake is enough!" ”

"I understand this, the surrounding villages, you are the most popular, and the most hospitable, whoever has a happy event, or something delicious, will take it out and share it with the villagers." Gengen said sympatheticly.

After a pause, he asked again, "Isn't there a middle-aged man named Hong Qing in your village?" ”

"Yes! What about him? Zhang Tao asked suspiciously, and then he added, "He's still my uncle!" ”

"Hong Qing is actually your uncle!" Gengen said with some surprise. He looked at Zhang Tao with a hint of blame, you guy, Hong Qing is your uncle and he doesn't say it in one breath, and there are some hidden things, if I don't have a good relationship with your uncle and say anything unpleasant, then won't this snake meat matter be in vain?

Gengen secretly said that it was very dangerous, and continued to say: "Your uncle is quite good, and he is quite familiar with me. Sometimes he would go up to the mountains to do something or hunt, and he would always come to my house to sit. ”

"Yes, my uncle is an idle man, and he has something to say to everyone he sees." Zhang Tao echoed and said.

"I'll tell you a funny story. Last year, he shot a roe deer in the mountains, which weighed about four pounds. After he carried this roe deer to my house, he threw it on the ground and said, "Gengen, flatten this roe deer, you can make wine, oil and salt, and we will have a good meal today." I asked him in surprise, "If you don't take it home, are you willing to eat it here?" Guess what he said? ”

"How?" This was originally a self-question, but Zhang Tao and Xue'er, who were attracted by Gengen's words, both asked such a question.

Your uncle pointed to the roe deer on the ground, and said with some annoyance, if such a little thing is brought home, I can't eat it, and I may end up a lot of relatives and friends. Of course, I asked why, and he then explained, "What is there in my house?" Not long ago, I caught two bamboo chickens, which weighed less than two catties, and of course it was not easy to divide, so she set up a table at home and invited those relatives, friends and neighbors to taste it.

As a result, a table of meals was prepared, and nearly three tables of guests came. Two bamboo chickens are definitely not enough, and the family can only entertain these dozens of guests by killing two more chickens. The family endured the hospitality, and was pushed aside, and they didn't even get a piece of chicken bone. That's not all, there are a lot of gossips behind their backs that haven't eaten, saying that they look at people with two eyes, and if there is something delicious, they will hide and eat, etc., anyway, whoever hears it will not be able to stand it. You say, in this case, I brought this little roe home, I can't eat it, I can't separate it, isn't that asking for trouble for myself? ”

After speaking, Gengen laughed first, and he said while laughing: "I can't imagine that there are such interesting people and things in the world!" ”

Xue'er also covered her mouth and smiled, Zhang Tao didn't think there was anything funny about it. He said indifferently, "I heard my mother tell me about this, and then my uncle and aunt had a fight because of it. Actually, it's not just my family, almost everyone in my Chong is like this, if there are any good things in the family, don't take them out and share them with others, it's quite uncomfortable. If it is known, it will simply become the biggest scandal in Chongli, and in the future, the family will not be able to raise their heads among the villagers, needless to say, they will be blamed and alienated by the villagers. ”

"Ouch, such a small thing can have such serious consequences!" Cher said in disbelief.

Zhang Tao said proudly: "Let me tell you, this is precisely the most simple and noble quality of the countryman. Do you have them in the city? Are there those who are in high positions, rich and powerful? Of course, that can't be. ”

Speaking of this, his voice was a little excited, and his expression was also a little indignant and dissatisfied. He continued: "The government uses all kinds of public opinion tools every day, puffing up its mouthpiece, shouting and shouting everywhere, but the social atmosphere and morality are still unsatisfactory and the overall decline is accelerating, and the people of the country are now struggling with their ego desires, their spirits are confused, their beliefs are lost, fame and fortune have become the only pursuit, and conscience, humanity, and virtue have become more and more distant from us. ”

Xue'er looked at Zhang Tao a little confused, why did he have so many feelings? What things were pulled by him and dragged to the national and social levels. Is it that complicated? Why don't you feel this way at all?

Gengen was limited by his education, and he was neither interested in nor incomprehensible to Zhang Tao's words. In his heart, you say it all the time, he has his own standards for everything, and conscience will be the only judge in everything. And in his eyes now, naturally only the snake meat on Zhang Tao's shoulder is the most important and practical.

Yes! Zhang Tao's two listeners, one has no worries about food and clothing, and never knows what sorrow is, just like flowers living in a greenhouse; A man who lives in a mountain forest that is almost isolated from the world, the mountain forest is his home, his world, and poverty and fatigue weigh on his heart like a mountain, his days are destined to be like an old ox panting, living every day until he is ashamed to grow old, die of exhaustion, and finally rot into a pile of bones, mixed into the soil of the mountain forest.

Where do they think about things that are not reliable? Zhang Tao obviously also thought that his words were indeed playing the piano to the cow, so he stopped talking interestingly and did not continue.

The three of them fell into a brief silence. Gengen's eyes were still shining, and there seemed to be a fragrant smell of snake meat from his glowing eyes, which made Zhang Tao swallow a lot of saliva unconsciously.

After a while, they came to a fork in the road, going up to the top of the hill and to the left to the home of the root guard forest farm.

"Gengenye, you go to the mountain and help me call my classmates down! I'll go straight to your house to peel snakes. Zhang Tao said.

Gengen answered, and walked happily up the mountain, where is Lisuo Jin like an old man with rheumatoid arthritis in his legs?

"Brother Tao, people are a lot older, why are you still making people anxious?" Cher said lightly and angrily.

Zhang Tao snorted coldly and said: "This dead old man, but he is a stingy ghost, when I was a child, I was almost a mortal enemy with him!" ”

"What's going on? You seem to have a good relationship. Xue'er asked in confusion as she looked at Gengen's back.

"It's a long story, there's a peach tree in front of the house he lives in, and you'll be able to see it. It is the tallest and oldest peach tree in the vicinity, estimated to be much older than Gengen. The peaches produced by such an old peach tree are not old at all, but are big and sweet. At that time, in our eyes, this peach was just like the fairy peach of the Queen Mother of Heaven. It's naturally a huge attraction for us kids. So every time the peach season comes, I will take the children in the village to gather under the peach tree to watch the peaches grow, hoping that one or two peaches will grow up to belong to them. At that time, I was thinking about the peaches of this tree all day long. Speaking of this, Zhang Tao swallowed his saliva again, as if he was reminiscing about the sweetness of peaches.

"Look at the gluttony you said, is it so delicious?" Cher said funny.

"You don't understand this, one is that it was a famine year, and everyone's stomachs were empty. Second, this peach is really delicious, and the peaches in the peach tree in the village cannot be compared with it at all, it is sour and astringent, and it is difficult to swallow at all. The third is that children's minds are playful. ”

After a pause, Zhang Tao continued: "But Gengen, this dead old man, guards this peach tree all day long like guarding his life. Even if a peach falls from the tree, we are not allowed to pick it up. We begged him as if we were begging for milk, and we stole things from home to exchange them with him, and we didn't want to get half a peach from him. As soon as the peaches were ripe, he heard from others, so he picked all the peaches and sent them to some leader. This made us kids angry, do you think it's easy for us to help him guard the peach tree for so long? We help him water this peach tree almost every day! ”