Because of the recent hot weather and dry climate, Lu Changgen has to take people to patrol the mountains every day, lest anyone who does not open his eyes will ignite the mountain fires and cause trouble in the village. Therefore, when Lu Zheng'an went, Lu Changgen had just led people into the mountain, and only Lu Yang was taking Lu Yingchun to do needlework.

Lu Yang refused to accept it when he saw Lu Zhengan carrying things to the door, but he couldn't resist Lu Zhengan, so he could only keep the things.

And Lu Yingchun was detained to learn to do needlework and was bored tight, and when he saw Lu Zhengan coming, his eyes lit up. It's just that before the whole person got up from the stool, he was swept back by Lu Yang.

"If you don't do your needlework well, what are you going to do?"

Hearing this, Lu Yingchun looked at Lu Yang with a dissatisfied expression and said: "Needlework can be done sooner or later, it is rare for my brother Zheng'an to come to our house once, and I am not allowed to talk to him." The mother who lost said all day long that I didn't talk about any courtesy, and you weren't much better than me. ”

Lu Yang was choked by Lu Yingchun for a while, and he was so angry that he didn't know what to say. "Eh, you girl, is your brother Zheng'an a guest? Do you still need to talk to him? It's almost halfway through May, and I haven't learned a single leaf. Today, you can't learn anymore, and you don't want to run out every day. ”

After that, Lu Yang glanced at Lu Yingchun fiercely, and saw that she was still unconvinced, so he shook the curtain and locked the person in the room. Looking back, seeing Lu Zheng'an standing aside looking at their two bickering with a smile on his face, Lu Yang's face couldn't help but feel hot.

shook his head, and said with a helpless expression: "Yingchun, this girl has been spoiled by her grandfather, and she runs outside all day long, just like a wild girl." ”

Although Lu Yang complained, his words were full of spoiling, and he was obviously not really dissatisfied with Lu Yingchun.

"Our Lu family has few girls, so naturally we have to be pampered. Yingchun is still young, and her aunt doesn't have to care about her too deliberately. ”

When Lu Yang heard that he was talking to Lu Yingchun again, he simply didn't answer Lu Zhengan's words, and instead focused on the things Lu Zhengan brought, and couldn't help but complain again.

"You've just made up your mind a few days ago, where do you have any money left over for those things. Uncle Changgen and I didn't do much, we just ran errands. If you are so polite, we will not dare to help you next time. ”

When the words fell, Lu Yang suddenly remembered that May 12 was Lu Zheng'an's birthday, but it was also the death day of Lu Zhengan's parents, and the expression on his face suddenly froze.

Since the death of his parents, Lu Zhengan's whole personality has changed drastically. Not to mention that on the day of May 12, incense and paper were burned for parents, even the birthday of the parents could not be mentioned.

When Old Man Lu was alive, he hid it from Lu Zhengan to see the grave of his son and daughter-in-law, and he didn't dare to let Lu Zhengan know.

Two years ago, when Mr. Lu was critically ill, Mr. Lu Changgen came to visit, and Mr. Lu knew that his time was numbered, so he privately entrusted this matter to Mr. and Mrs. Lu Changgen.

Lu Yang was also present at that time, and when the old man on the sickbed looked at Lu Zhengan in the courtyard, the pain and regret on his face were remembered by her in this life.

In the past few years, Lu Zhengan has always been silent and rarely interacts with people. It is with their house, and they will never come to the door unless they have to.

Lu Yang knew that Lu Zhengan had always been depressed about the death of his parents. At the same time, he also remembered the old man's entrustment, and every May 12, his family would help him go to the Lu family's tomb to pay respects.

As for birthdays, longevity noodles or something, he didn't dare to mention it in front of Lu Zhengan, for fear that Lu Zhengan's sadness would make him even more sad.

Seeing that Lu Zheng'an has changed a lot this year, and even his temperament is much more cheerful than before, and he has even found someone to live with, Lu Yang feels that he should be persuaded to let go of those things.

After all, it was not his fault what happened back then, and this shackle cannot be put around his neck for the rest of his life......

Lu Yang looked at the smiling Lu Zheng'an and hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "Zheng'an, tomorrow will be May 12, and you will be twenty years old in the blink of an eye." ”

Lu Zhengan thought that Lu Yang was lamenting that time passed quickly, but after looking at the expression on her face, Lu Zhengan realized that something seemed to be wrong. Just when Lu Zhengan wanted to ask Lu Yang what was wrong, what she said afterwards made Lu Zhengan react for a while.

"Think about it, your father and mother have been gone for more than ten years, why don't you take the time to visit them?"

Seeing that Lu Zheng'an's face was gradually sinking, Lu Yang was afraid that his words would make him unhappy, so he hurriedly continued: "If you really don't have time, forget it, your father and mother were open-minded people during their lifetimes, and they won't care about this." ”

After that, Lu Yang's expression was extremely embarrassed, and he turned his head sideways and wanted to slap himself.

Lu Yang didn't expect to get a response from Lu Zheng'an, and just when she wanted to find something else to talk about the matter, she only heard Lu Zhengan say: "I know, auntie, I'll go in a few days." ”

Although Lu Zhengan's tone couldn't hear any emotion, it made Lu Yang's eyes redden. Nodding vigorously, he choked up, "Okay, okay, just know it." ”

Since crossing here, Lu Zhengan has not found any impression related to them from his memory about the original parents. I only know that my parents died when I was very young, and I have been living with my grandfather.

Lu Zhengan only thought that when his original parents died, he was still young and couldn't remember anything. However, judging from the expressions and words of the Lu family's aunt, I am afraid that the death of the original parents is related to the original Lu Zhengan. And those memories of the original parents are afraid that they were also deliberately sealed by the original Lu Zhengan.

With these questions in mind, Lu Zhengan went all the way home. After lingering in front of Mr. Lu's door for a long time, Lu Zhengan finally opened the room where Mr. Lu lived before his death.

The furnishings of the room are very simple, except for a wooden bed, and the most is the books that have been yellowed. In addition to this, there is an old wooden box with paint peeled at the foot of the bed.

Although the box was not locked, Lu Zhengan never opened it. It's just that Lu Yang's words today made him suddenly think of his original parents, and the curiosity in his heart was a little irrepressible.

However, before opening the box, Lu Zhengan still mentally built himself up for a long time. After all, when it comes to other people's privacy, even if he has now become Lu Zhengan, he still can't pass this hurdle in his heart when he goes through other people's boxes like this.

When the box was opened, it was filled with some clothes. Lu Zhengan just took a general look, and when he saw that there was nothing else inside, he closed the box again.

Lu Zheng'an, who had no clue, stood in the room for a while, and when he saw that he really couldn't find anything useful, he had no choice but to give up first.

……

Now the corn seedlings in the field have just emerged, and before it is time to extinguish the stubble, the second crop of beans and eggplants in the vegetable garden behind them has begun to flood again.

In the countryside, every household has its own vegetable garden, and there is no shortage of vegetables to eat, and Lu Zhengan has nowhere to send it even if he wants to. If you take it to the market, you won't be able to sell it for a few dollars, and maybe you'll have to buy a few tea money......

Looking at the two full baskets in front of him, Lu Zhengan sighed helplessly, and had to slice the eggplant according to the method previously mentioned by Song Huaishu, blanch the beans, and dry them all.

Fortunately, with the two cauldrons in front of the door, Lu Zheng'an was able to boil water and blanch vegetables much faster. However, the shelves for drying things in the warehouse had been completely occupied by dried peaches, so Lu Zheng'an, who had no choice but to find bundles of fine hemp rope and set up a "maze array" in the yard, and it took an afternoon to dry all the beans and eggplants.

Although it was almost unitary by this time, the weather was still as hot as a fire. After sitting behind the door and resting for a while, Lu Zhengan took a handkerchief and went to a nearby stream to cool himself down.

The water from this stream next to Lu Zheng'an's house is the water from a mountain spring flowing from the mountains. The water quality is clear and sweet, far from being comparable to the well water under the mountain.

Sitting down on a stone by the stream, Lu Zhengan soaked his legs in the stream and watched the fish and shrimp next to him swim leisurely past him, and his whole person relaxed a lot.

At the right time, the cool mountain breeze blew, Lu Zheng'an sighed pleasantly, leaned against the stone behind him, and looked at the bamboo forest on the bank of the stream that was stirred by the mountain breeze and the bursts of birdsong coming from the forest.

Thinking of Song Huaishu, who was far away in the town, Lu Zhengan felt that he could bring him here to sit next time he came back. With Song Huaishu's character, he must like it very much.

Thinking about it so beautifully, Lu Zheng'an, who was leaning on the stone, only felt that his eyelids were gradually becoming heavy. He yawned, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

However, Lu Zhengan, who had always been awake until dawn, actually had a dream this time.

In his dream, he stood at the door of the Lu family's courtyard and saw a little boy of four or five years old not far away, who was bowing his head and playing with the wood carving in his hand.

Just when Lu Zhengan wanted to step forward, he heard a thunderous roar in his ears. And that

The little boy looked up at the dark sky above him and glanced in the direction of the doorway.

Lu Zhengan looked at the appearance of the little boy and only felt that he was extremely familiar, as if he had seen himself when he was a child.

At that moment, a middle-aged man with a scroll in his hand stepped out of the room. When the other party saw the child still squatting in the yard, he smiled slightly, and then immediately shouted: "Zheng'an, it's about to rain, come in." ”

When Lu Zhengan heard that the child turned out to be the young Lu Zhengan, he was stunned. Before he could react, he saw the child holding the wood carving and shaking his head stubbornly, "No, my father and mother said that they would go to the mountains to help me catch a colorful rabbit as a birthday gift, and I will wait here for them to come back." ”

After speaking, Lu Zhengan only felt that the sky had suddenly turned dark, and the pouring rain was pouring down in an instant. Lu Zhengan watched the little boy being carried into the room by his grandfather, and when he tried to follow, the picture in front of him changed again.

At this time, it was still the small courtyard of the Lu family, but this time it was full of people, all of whom looked in the direction of the hall and silently wiped their tears.

Lu Zheng'an hurried to the front of the hall and saw the young Lu Zheng'an holding the wooden carving and leaning on his grandfather's lap, looking blankly at the two corpses on the stretcher on the ground.

At this moment, Lu Zhengan only felt a sudden sharp pain in his chest, which made it difficult for him to even breathe.

Just when Lu Zhengan was struggling with the placket of his chest, he only felt a pain in his leg. When I opened my eyes again, I was lying by the stream, and the sharp pain in my leg was just a kick to the stone next to me when I struggled......

Lu Zhengan wiped the cold sweat that rushed out of his head, and recalled the situation he had seen in his dream, and Lu Zhengan suddenly understood why he had forgotten how his parents had died, and he was even more reluctant to celebrate his birthday.

……

By the time Lu Zhengan had recovered his strength and returned home, it was already completely dark. He ate something hastily and lay down on the bed.

It's just that Lu Zheng'an, who has always slept upside down, didn't sleep well this time. The previous dreams often flashed through his mind, causing him to be dizzy and distraught.

Finally got up until the end of the day, Lu Zhengan simply didn't sleep, got up and came to Old Man Lu's room again.

When the candles lit up the room, Lu Zheng'an saw in a trance the old man with a gray beard, holding his young grandson and singing a nursery rhyme that he didn't know his name.

Immediately, Lu Zhengan hurriedly shook his head and drove the picture out of his mind, raised his feet and came to the bookshelf again, and found the place where Old Man Lu used to sit with the picture in his memory.

When Lu Zhengan walked to the bookshelf, the ghost made a miracle touch the bookshelf in the third row. At the back of the book was a gap the size of an adult's fist, and Lu Zhengan reached in and touched it, and sure enough, he found a small cloth bag inside.

Seeing this, Lu Zheng moved with peace of mind and hurriedly took out the cloth bag. Patting off the thick layer of dust on it, Lu Zhengan carefully unfolded the cloth bag, and found that inside was the wood carving toy that Lu Zhengan often held when he was a child in his dream, and the longevity lock engraved with a unicorn pattern.

The longevity lock should be silver, but because of the time, the surface is a little gray and inconspicuous. It's just that the three bells hanging under the longevity lock seem to be engraved with some words. Because the candle flame was not bright, Lu Zhengan got closer and saw that the words on the three bells were 'Ji Yutong'.

Lu Zhengan originally thought that this was prepared by his parents for the young Lu Zhengan, but when he saw the words engraved on the longevity lock, he denied this speculation.

The name 'Yutong' is obviously feminine, and Lu Zheng'an's name was taken by Mr. Lu as soon as he was born, and this longevity lock was naturally not given to him.

However, Mr. Lu will put this longevity lock together with the wood carving toy, and it is obvious that both of these things have something to do with Lu Zhengan. It's just that Lu Zhengan couldn't figure out what the relationship was for a while.

Then Lu Zhengan took a closer look at the woodcarved toy and found that the carving of the woodcarved toy was not very exquisite. At first glance, it was the original father who brought it to coax the child to play, and it should be the only two more commemorative things left by the original parents to Lu Zhengan.

It's just that the young Lu Zheng'an died unexpectedly in a torrential rain when his parents went up the mountain for his birthday, which left a serious wound in his heart, and he never wanted to see these two things again. Even all the memories related to my parents have been sealed to the deepest part of my heart......

However, Mr. Lu loved his son so much that he was reluctant to discard the two things left by his son and daughter-in-law, so he secretly hid them. When no one was around, they took it out and looked at it, so it has been left until now.

Lu Zhengan took these two things back to his room, lay on the bed and observed them repeatedly, but he didn't know when he fell asleep. By the time he woke up again, it was already dark outside, and the cubs in the pen were quacking with hunger.

When Lu Zheng'an woke up, he saw the carved wooden toys and the longevity lock next to his pillow, and carefully put them away with the previous cloth bag and stuffed them into the pen holder that no one touched. I got up and waited for the little ones outside, and then I began to wash up and prepare for breakfast.

Because he remembered yesterday's dream in his heart, Lu Zhengan thought about going to the town to buy some ingots and candles to worship at the tomb of his original father. Thinking of Song Huaishu, whom he had not seen for a few days, after breakfast, Lu Zhengan cleaned himself up and went down the mountain with a basket on his back.

……

The town's market was still deserted, so Lu Zhengan searched two streets and inquired with others before he found an incense and candle shop in an alley. Because Lu Zhengan wanted to go to see Song Huaishu first, it was really impolite to take these things with him, so he planned to come back to buy them when he returned home.

After buying two envelopes of dim sum, Lu Zhengan simply went to the vegetable market street to buy half a basket of eggs, and asked the owner of the meat stall to cut two pieces of fine pork belly and half a fan of pork ribs.

In the countryside, most people buy meat to satisfy their cravings, and the fat and thin pork belly is the first choice, but the corresponding price is also a couple of pennies higher than that of other parts. Ribs with less bone and meat are bought by a lot fewer people. The owner of the butcher stall would sell it to the restaurant at a low price to make the broth.

The owner of the butcher stall was very impressed by Lu Zhengan's previous fish sales. Seeing Lu Zhengan coming, he hurriedly opened his mouth to greet him.

When I heard Lu Zhengan say that he wanted to buy pork ribs, I originally wanted to persuade him a few words. But when I thought about it, some people also bought these bones with little flesh, so I was naturally happy. When it was time to settle the bill, not only did he take the initiative to give up a few pennies, but he also carefully tied it with a rope before handing it to Lu Zhengan, and at the same time warmly beckoned him to put it next to his stall when he came to sell fish again.

The other party's enthusiastic attitude made Lu Zhengan a little crying and laughing, and after paying the money, he said hello to him and walked to Song Huai's house.

And Song Huaishu remembered Lu Zhengan's birthday in his heart, and when he was worried about choosing what birthday gift to give, he realized that he didn't know much about Lu Zhengan's preferences. Thinking of the other party's thoughtfulness and care, Song Huaishu felt quite guilty.

However, it was not easy for Lu Zheng'an to give his birthday gift himself, and when Song Huaishu was thinking about whether to ask his mother what to give, he suddenly heard Lu Zhengan's voice coming from the courtyard. For a while, Song Huaishu thought that he was hallucinating.

It wasn't until the sound of his mother talking to Lu Zhengan came that Song Huaishu realized that the voice he heard Lu Zhengan was not his hallucination.

Hurriedly covering up the list he had just written down in a book, Song Huaishu was about to get up when he heard his mother's voice calling his name. Song Huaishu answered, looked down and saw that the hem of his clothes was a little wrinkled, and hurriedly stretched out his hand to smash it vigorously before striding out.

"What are you doing in the house, boy? You only came out after shouting a few times. ”

"I just tidied up the table, and I couldn't spare my hands for a while." After saying that, Song Huaishu turned his head and glanced at Lu Zheng'an, who was next to him, and smiled at the bent eyebrows.

Listening to Song Lan's strange voice, Lu Zhengan looked at Song Huaishu with a smile and said, "Auntie, I'm not a guest, don't be so polite." Let's put this thing in the kitchen first. ”

Sure enough, with Lu Zheng'an's interruption, Song Lan's clan no longer complained about Song Huaishu. on the contrary, he took what Lu Zhengan brought and began to get weird.

Lu Zhengan listened with a smile on the side, and then when she turned to go to the kitchen, she looked sideways at Song Huaishu, who looked helpless, and reached out and touched his head.

Just when Lu Zhengan wanted to speak, he heard Song Lan shouting in the kitchen: "Huaishu, hurry up and get Zheng'an a cup of herbal tea, and by the way, cut the watermelon that your father bought in the morning and eat it." On such a hot day, Zheng'an must have been thirsty when he came over. ”

Hearing this, Song Huaishu raised his voice in response and beckoned Lu Zhengan to go into the house. At the same time, when he glanced back, he saw his son-in-law's mother-in-law in the kitchen who had come to the door and was busy with her work, and couldn't help but say to Lu Zheng'an: "Since the matter between the two of us has been decided, my mother-in-law seems to have changed as a person, and she has to nag two words about everything. My father was a little afraid of her, and stayed in the shop every day for the past few days, refusing to come back until he had dinner. ”

Lu Zhengan also found that after coming over these two times, Song Lan's spiritual leader seemed to be much better than before, and even his complexion was much better.

Hearing Song Huaishu say this now, Lu Zhengan immediately understood the reason for the change in Song Lan's clan.