After a telephone conversation with Mr. Fang; My mother agreed to let me repeat a grade. The new second-grade director is surnamed Lin; She is also a Chinese teacher. In our rural primary schools, basically all the homeroom teachers are Chinese teachers, but the work of Chinese teachers is the easiest? I don't know. Mr. Lin's figure is indeed much wider than that of Mr. Fang; At first glance, the first thing that catches the eye is her neat mushroom head; And those two iconic dimples that reveal every time she laughs. Because I came after the registration time; It also happened to be the first day of school, so I went straight to the classroom after reporting to Mr. Lin. I'm a person who doesn't know how to make friends and doesn't want to make friends; It was also in this classroom that I really met the few good friends I have made so far, although everyone is now struggling for life; He has even become a father. But no matter where you are; will contact each other from time to time to tease each other. But in that interim; I also had twin siblings in the same class; I had a relationship with a classmate who was two or three years older than us. Now that I want to come; Although the environment was very difficult, it was the happiest part of my life so far.

I remember the winter break when I was in third grade; Uncle Gang, who lives on the fourth floor of my building, sold his house to my good friend Que Fukang's family. At that time, they had just finished decorating and were cleaning up the clutter in every room; I feel that I can become a neighbor from a good friend in the future, and I feel happy even thinking about it. Que Fukang also has a younger brother Que Fucong, who is one grade younger than him at school. The first few times we went to his house, because we didn't know each other, we didn't pay attention to each other, and then we got acquainted with each other; They all know each other and get into a bunch. So how good is the relationship? Every time, I spend most of my time at their house except for eating and sleeping; So every time I entered, they didn't have to knock on the door, pull the doorknob and go straight in. They knew I was coming, and they wouldn't lock the door again. It was the day after the Lantern Festival. Students are approaching the start of school; Workers are also about to leave their homes and return to work. dinner table; After a full meal, I put down the dishes and chopsticks as always, ready to run downstairs. I just wanted to get up, but my mother called me to me; Smiling and saying calmly: "Maotou! I'm going to take you to herd sheep this year, are you suffering hard? "Where to herd the sheep?" Don't read anymore? I asked my mother, looking at her in confusion. You don't want to read anyway; Then don't you buy a flock of sheep to herd them for you! "Actually, I knew it was my mother's joke; I didn't answer her. Just thinking that they ran outside at every turn the other day and didn't take me there; It's only now that I'm aware of it. No wonder my father went out to work before the Lantern Festival last year; And this year when it comes to this day, still at home.

After many days of investigation and comparison; The mother finally picked a batch of sheep breeds that looked better, and agreed with the seller on the delivery date; After paying the deposit, the first task is to build the sheepfold. Because there were not many people in charge of building the sheepfold at that time; There were only the mother and the two uncles who had asked for help; My father left within a few days because of the boss's urging. When there were really no people, even I had to be assigned to do some odd jobs. The design of the whole sheepfold is relatively simple; First of all, use a few thicker sand trees to support the bottom as a compartment; The planks on the compartment should not be nailed too densely, so that the compartment can be used to filter sheep manure. Inside the sheepfold is three small cubicles, which are specially made for the ewes who are about to give birth. lest the newborn sheep and the flock be locked together and easily trampled to death; Tied together, a total of three were made. The left side of the delivery room is also separated by a large space with wooden boards; Use it to store some hay. Sprinkle some on them every night before going to bed; It's convenient for them to enjoy in the middle of the night. Or some sheep that have been injured outside are kept inside alone, so that they will not be accidentally injured by other sheep. Next to the forage compartment is a compartment for the whole flock; It is also the largest compartment, and it is not a problem to keep about 20 sheep closed. The top of the circle is placed with special skin pieces of piece; Fix it with iron nails and fix it up and down. This is not only cost-effective but also very convenient; The only flaw is the noisy sound of raindrops hitting the iron plate on rainy days, especially at night. In the end, the mother nailed a door and staircase with the extra scraps of the wooden floor; Although the number of people who do the work is small; But everybody moves very fast. It's only been a week or so; The whole sheepfold is basically formed. And where my mother and I lived, it was on the edge of the sheepfold; A relative of what I call my grandfather used to divide the house, and the two brothers lived in a big house. He is on the left; The elder brother is on the right. But he moved to a new home he built a few years ago, and only his brother was still living in the original house. It just so happened that the neighborhood was relatively remote, and the nearby mountains were suitable for raising sheep; My grandfather's family was also more straightforward, and when he learned that we were going to raise sheep, he let us live there for free; During the sheepfold building, he would come to help in his spare time, and often invited us to his new home for dinner; Every time the vegetables are ripe, they will give us some. In fact, our two families are not particularly close relatives; But it is better than some close relatives who are verbally close.

The walls of this house are basically made of loess; The ground is also all earthy. If no one lives for a long time, weeds will grow, in order to clean up the inside and out; The mother also took great pains. The broom used to clean the spider silk was all covered, and the weeds were pulled out in a whole frame; Then cut the urea bag and nail it to the wall, on the one hand, it is used as wallpaper; On the other hand, it can prevent the loess on the wall from falling off. Finally, the furniture brought from home is also cleaned and arranged; The old house has been renovated by my mother's hands, and it really has a new look. After all the preparations have been made; The mother called and arranged for a large truck to send more than 20 sheep breeds selected. The loading location is in another village not far from our village; It didn't take long for us to see a truck full of goats coming towards us in the distance. Watch a herd of goats of all sizes being herded into the sheepfold in flocks; I was even more curious and excited, after all, it was the first time I had faced so many real-life goats. Look at it; It doesn't matter if it's the color or the size of the wool. Some have pure white short hairs; Some are speckled curls, and another is the exact color I can't say; It looks like a mixture of white and brown colors. The most eye-catching thing has to be the leader who walks at the front of the team; The body alone is more than half the size of other sheep; The hair on the whole body is also the longest and most curly, as well as the jaw that pokes the majestic beard, and its unique large horns that bend back like an argali, which has a proud posture and stands out from the crowd.

In the same way that all the sheep go into the fold; The mother checked the number of sheep one last time, and after confirming that it was correct, she paid the rest of the balance to the seller. The seller didn't stay long after explaining a bunch of common sense about sheep herding, so he said hello and drove away. From that day on, my mother and I had such a group of friends in our lives. At noon that day, my grandfather still called us to his house for dinner; Mother originally shirked, and she didn't want to always trouble her grandfather, and there are still more people today. But under the repeated insistence of the little grandfather, we are still respectful and not as good as obeying our fate. The house he lives in now is actually not far from the original house, only 100 meters away; However, in the more populous area of the village at that time, he also had a set of wedding houses prepared for his son. Don't look at him and his wife, they are usually very frugal in food, clothing, housing and transportation, but their family's economic conditions are not bad. When I think of their kindness to me and my mother, and when I think of what I did that day; I can't help but feel so guilty and shameless. At the lunch table, the little grandmother also took great pains to prepare a large table of sumptuous dishes; Looking at our arrival, it is also a smile to greet us. I've had a bad habit since I was a kid; No matter who you go to, you should take a stroll around the house; I didn't even let go of other people's rooms, but fortunately, it has been completely changed now. At that time, according to the small talk between my mother and my grandfather, they also had a grandson who was attending preschool in the county seat; I usually live with my parents in a rented house in the county, and I only come back to board for a period of time during the winter and summer vacations. And while I was groping around in their room, I happened to see the toys that his grandson had left behind; If you don't say hello, you can start playing. The one I liked the most in the pile of toys was the toy telescope; Although the magnification is not large, and the view into the distance is still a little blurry. But because he was a child, he was rendered by anti-Japanese dramas; I also look forward to being able to observe the "enemy situation" with glasses like them. After thinking about it, don't you just want to herd sheep; You can also watch the flock from afar with your glasses. In a thought, a crooked mind was moved; Sneakily looked outside the door for a while, and when he saw that no one noticed it, he tiptoed and hid his toy glasses in his pocket; In fact, the size of the telescope is not small, and the pockets are full; As soon as you sit down, your original form will be revealed. And I didn't spend a lot of time at my grandfather's house at noon that day, maybe they didn't care about my pockets; Or maybe they've seen it but haven't told it. But even now I am ashamed; But I haven't seen him since the end of the sheep herding days; I don't know if he and his little grandmother are okay now, if they can meet them again; I will take the initiative to bring up this matter and sincerely apologize to the second elder. Don't take the good as small, don't take the evil as small.

Although the life of sheep herding is slowly stepping into the track; But I had trouble going to school because the distance from the school was not short, and it took me at least an hour to walk just by walking. The most common means of transportation for students who are far away is bicycles, and a few students are picked up by their fathers on motorcycles. Although I had just learned to ride a bicycle at that time; But I never looked for a chance to buy one. But luckily, the twin brothers and sisters Jiang Sen and Jiang Peilin, who were in the same class as me, also lived in that area; But they were at the entrance of the village, and I was in the village. Their family has an old bicycle left over from before, which can be used to commute to and from school, and I am alone walking to school; All of my classmates were willing to take me to school, but Jiang Peilin had to sit on the bicycle of another female classmate who lived nearby and was also in the same class in order to take care of me. But because I live still some distance from his house, I still have to get up half an hour early to go. There is another classmate named Zhou Zhihang, who is older than us and is in the first class, and it is said that he accidentally broke his hand when he went up the mountain to drag the bamboo; Injuries that have been raised at home for more than half a year; In the second half of the year, I couldn't keep up with the following courses, so I simply rested at home for a year; In the new semester, he was assigned to our class, but I really admired him, who was the same age as us but had to do the work of adults, which was in response to the saying: The children of the poor are in charge of the family early. A group of buddies and a few bicycles just repeat the round trip day after day; Our relationship also grows day by day. But because I was a straightforward and ignorant character in my childhood; It caused them a lot of trouble. One of the stories that I remember is still fresh in my memory, I remember that it was on the way back from school; My friends would go to the girl's house to hang out for a while together, because of the impact of repeating a grade on me, I always like to finish my homework first before chasing them; In the end, she was left with me and her grandmother in the house. At first, my grandmother only asked me about some family matters; I don't know when the conversation turned to studying, and my grandmother asked us if we had any exams recently, and I naturally answered truthfully. When she asked about her daughter's grades, I thought to myself that she was still the number one in the language this time anyway; Even if she said it, grandma must still be happy, so she didn't hesitate to tell the truth. Who knew that their family had such high expectations for her language scores, and getting 84 points out of 100 would be considered a violation of the rules. Hearing this, Grandma began to scold, got up and called her back, and made her kneel as soon as she entered the door. Said fiercely: "I'm embarrassed to go out to play after scoring more than 80 points in the exam?" I know you're great, it's been a long time since you've been beaten. "Looking at the scene in front of me, I was stunned; I didn't expect things to turn out like this, and the companions who came were also puzzled; In order to alleviate the embarrassment, we consciously left. Then, when my friends learned the reason for the incident, they warned me not to mention it in front of their parents, and they left without giving me a good face. So much so that they wouldn't be talking to me those days; Since then, I have come to understand what it means to be sophisticated.

Due to my unintentional negligence, I had to go to school alone on those days. In fact, Johnson didn't say anything about not carrying me, and they just gave me a wake-up call that day. But I've been thin-skinned since I was a child; Although I knew that I had made a mistake, I was embarrassed to go to them for review. They were equally surprised by my sudden estrangement; But each other is in the way of face, and no one speaks first. But by chance, I got my first bicycle. I remembered that it was a Saturday and Sunday, after driving the sheep to the foot of the mountain to feed; In my spare time, my mother decided to take me on a motorcycle to visit my grandmother, whom I hadn't seen for a few days, after all, the last time I went to my grandmother's house was when I visited her after the New Year. Later, because of the preparation of the sheep, the mother has been unable to pull away. Last year, my grandmother had already moved from her old house to a new house in another village; Because my aunt and two uncles live there. As I grew older, my grandmother had more and more problems; Coming to this new place is a response. When our car drove up to my grandmother's house; Grandma is scattering toys in the living room while her grandchildren are playing, both of whom belong to the younger uncle; If memory serves, my sister was four years old and my brother was three years old. The little aunt is a lazy and idle person; I only want to see her at the dinner table with three meals a day. The rest of the time is either at the mahjong table or wandering the streets. My uncle usually works on the construction site; Basically, they leave early and return late, and they rarely have time to rest. Therefore, the two children's food, clothing, housing and transportation are basically taken care of by their grandmother; I think it's not so much about taking my grandmother to the new house to enjoy the blessings, but about hiring a full-time nanny for my aunt. But the old man is always a kind of tireless happiness in front of the next generation. I don't know when my grandmother's ears began, and the worse they became; We can only hear her if we call closer. The white hair on his head almost covered the few black hairs that remained; The blue floral shirt that has been with her for many years is reluctant to throw away even if it adds a few new patches. saw us come and visit her; She would always sigh with surprise and joy: "Yay? I said, who is it? It's still me and Ni! "I didn't talk to my grandmother for a long time like my mother, so I just said a few words of greeting and went to play.

The little uncle's house and the place where the grandmother lived are connected, because the two planting foundations here were divided by the grandfather before his death, and one was planted for the younger uncle; Yizhi gave it to Brother Qiao's father. But because the second uncle is no longer there, the younger uncle helped Brother Qiao Nazhi to build the house together. When Brother Qiao was working outside, his grandmother took care of it at home. As soon as I went out, I saw my uncle sitting at the door outside his living room; The cigarette in his mouth is naturally not less, and I didn't expect to bump into the days when he rested; Usually it's a dragon, and we both don't like to talk. I don't start calling people when I see him, and he only asks a few simple questions once in a while. I am worried that I have nowhere to go without playmates; I only heard the sound of frolicking in the room where my uncle was resting, and my curiosity drove me to see what the sister and brother were doing. After half a road; But he was distracted by the bicycle parked under the stairs to the second floor. That bike wasn't too big and was more suitable for people with short stature; It looks rusty and covered with a layer of dust, and I don't know how long it has been parked. The body is mostly black, and the chain has a thick layer of rust. After standing there and looking at it for a while, I couldn't help but want to step forward and take a look. He simply patted the ash on it with his hand; I pedaled lightly with my foot and tried to see if the chain could still be used. Surprisingly, the whole car has not lost all its features, except that it is too old. The heart was suddenly ecstatic; Hurriedly pushed the bicycle out of the door and asked my uncle about the origin of the bicycle. From my uncle's statement, I learned that the car was left by my cousin, their eldest daughter, who was in junior high school. Because after my cousin graduated from junior high school; I went to the county seat to study at the health school, and the bicycle was always parked there and no one used it. It piqued my desire to own this bike. With apprehension; I wanted to give it a try and asked Uncle Xiang if he could give me this bike to and from school. Unexpectedly, my uncle agreed without hesitation: "If you want to ride, take it and ride it, no one will ride it if you leave it here anyway, you have to go to the car shop to change a chain; Or let him use the oil you don't want to brush off the rust. "I was overjoyed to tell my mother the news; The mother refused at first because she was afraid of owing favors. But at my insistence and at my uncle's persuasion; The mother finally agreed. Then I ran to the well in front of my house with a bucket to fetch a bucket of water, and carefully wiped the dust from the car like a treasure. Accompanied by his mother, he came to the car shop and asked the owner to help him check the chain; The shopkeeper said that the chain was in good condition, but the rust was too thick; Just lubricate it with engine oil to remove rust. When the car is completely handled; The moment I rode on it and pedaled through the streets and alleys, I felt a sense of freedom that I had not felt for a long time; I smiled excitedly and couldn't close my mouth, as if the sun was chasing me alone. In the evening, I rode my beloved bicycle back to where I lived; My mother's car followed me slowly. The afterglow of the twilight dyes the Yellow River; People come and go, and this scene is thick.

drizzling all night; It was early in the morning and the sky was clear. Because of the curiosity of our friends about the origin of this bicycle, we also reconciled. Although bad days are indispensable, good things always come; On this day, I got up early as usual to get ready for school, and was just about to step on the pedal when my mother stopped me. told me that before I came back from school, I remembered to go to my aunt who was shopping for groceries to get something; Didn't tell me what it was? Just say go and know. And it is because of this thing that the head has experienced it; I couldn't help but change some of my minds; It still makes me unforgettable, and I will never forget it. As the bell rings for the end of school; The noise also gradually became louder. I followed my mother's instructions, and after a polite greeting at my aunt's vegetable stall, I asked about what my mother had explained; My aunt nodded, went into the back room, took out a urea belt with something in it, and handed it to me. I politely took it; It feels heavy, and the things inside seem to be moving. I was even more surprised, but I still put the bag in the basket at the front of the car, and when I drove out of the field of view of the vegetable stall, I finally couldn't bear to open it and take a look. Open the mouth of the bag and look at it; The stuff inside is really amazing and delightful. All you see is two freshly weaned pups; Seeing someone watching it; He raised his head and looked at me with an ignorant look, and his eyes were very pleasing. No wonder the mother was reluctant to reveal it in advance; Eighty percent of them were afraid that they would not want to go to class after I found out. She knew that I was very fond of dogs, and she wanted to get one for a long time, but the place where we lived before was a resettlement house; It's also inconvenient to raise. It just so happens that the place where I live this time has the conditions for raising dogs; Not only will we have an extra playmate in the future, but they can also help us herd sheep together; Isn't that a lot of money! Thinking of these images, I can't wait to go back home; Let the pups out for a frolick. I didn't even care about my superior partners; The pedals under your feet quickly reversed as if you were stepping on Hot Wheels, and galloped back at high speed.

As soon as I got home, I happily opened the mouth of the bag; Let the mother see the cute thing in the bag. The mother was very satisfied and let me release the two puppies to see if they were male or female; The size of these two little things is not much different, just one male and one female. The male one is only yellow; There was a strand of black hair attached to the line from the neck to the buttocks. The female's one is white with brown spots, striking the heart-shaped spot on the back of her head; It adds a bit of cuteness. Not only are they very different in color; Even the temperament is very different. The little male dog is cautious by nature, and every time I want to touch it, he will stare at my hand sideways; trembling and screaming, it looks like no one is close. Then the little was very well-behaved, not only very quiet, but also took the initiative to wag her tail and let me touch it. After a closer look; My mother told me that I could only keep one and send the other one to my grandfather. Because it was discussed before, the little grandfather wanted a male; The mother wants a mother's. Listening to my mother's words, I was somewhat disappointed; mistakenly thought that these two dogs were for our family, after all, we have so many sheep in our family; How can you have a dog? After thinking about it, I decided to send this relatively well-behaved flower dog to my little grandfather. One is because I prefer dogs with darker coats; It looks more domineering, and the second is that I prefer to have a male dog; There's no specific reason for that, maybe it's because I'm a boy too! At my repeated insistence; Mother and grandfather finally compromised. looked at the still vigilant puppy in front of him; I didn't know what to do for a while, and every time I was about to reach out, it would scream in resistance. However, I am still very patient with small animals, since the action of raising my hand is particularly sensitive to it; He lowered his hand and tried to get closer to its body. Who knew that he had just touched it with his hand for the first time; It barked sensitively again. I'll hide my hand behind my back and wait for it to calm down before repeating what I just did. With each attempt, the number of strokes will gradually increase, and its attitude will gradually calm down. Until he raised his hand to touch it, he did not react strongly at all. My heart rejoices; Because it finally accepted me preliminarily.

Mother said; If you want this puppy to know from an early age that you can't bite a sheep, you have to take it to the sheepfold three times; Familiarize yourself with the taste. I don't know if this method really works or if this dog has spirituality; After I carried it to the sheepfold a few times, I never bit it again in the days that followed, and even knew to cooperate with my mother to gather the sheep. Hey! It's also half a sheepdog. Then I came up with a name for it, because when I was a child, I especially liked animals like dragons, tigers, lions and bears; Mighty and domineering. Since it's the first dog in my family; Then let's name it with a dragon first; At this point, the name Xiaolong was born. a noon time; Xiaolong and I went from looking at each other to being completely mixed together. The dragon's tail is what sets it apart the most; While the direction of a normal dog's tail is either to the left or right, the tail of a small dragon is centered and curled up like a lollipop. Ever since the little dragon came to this home; Every day at school, I look forward to coming home from school early to play with it. Although it may be a little intimidating when it first arrives in a new environment; But after recognizing people, it shows its extraordinary spirituality. Every time I was ready to go to school, it would follow me all the way to Johnson's house, and I was driven back by me. Stay until I get out of school; As long as I press the reversing bell, I call it with a whistle in my mouth that specifically calls it. It will immediately straighten up and look in the direction of the whistle; As soon as it appears in its field of vision, it will come from a long distance towards a gust of wind. bouncing back and forth beside me; It's like I haven't seen it for a long time, and it hasn't stopped day after day. Food is placed on chopsticks, no matter how close to it, it will not catch your mouth; Just staring intently, when the food leaves the chopsticks and soars in the air, it can lock the food and jump up with its front foot to catch it accurately with its mouth. Because the place where I live is relatively secluded; It's a long way from the vegetable stall, and you can only eat chicken shells or eggs once a week. Most of the time it's one or two vegetarian dishes; Xiaolong is never a picky eater, and eats whatever he throws. As long as the cabbage, radish, taro, and cucumber are thrown down, he will immediately catch them with his mouth; I couldn't get enough of licking my tongue to the side of my mouth. When it was the dragon's turn to eat; Sometimes there would be more leftovers, and my mother would mix some rice on the leftovers plate; If you eat cleanly, you will eat with vegetable soup or water for washing dishes; Pour it to eat. But no matter what the food is, it eats with relish. It understands the conditions of its own home; But it's also very clever. At that time, I was under the same roof; The resident on the other side of the house, I also call it my grandfather. They raise a lot of chickens to meet egg self-sufficiency; Every time Xiaolong wants to open meat, he goes to the chicken coop to dig eggs. After listening to the little grandmother's complaints, I learned that it had become a habitual offender and was hungry; Skillful, take out an egg and run away, several times the little grandmother didn't catch it. So much so that the dogs around the village were relatively thin at that time; Only the little dragon looks strong and strong.

Speaking of the growth of the little dragon; There was another thing that was both funny and scary at the time, and it can be regarded as a big disaster for this little thing. It was still about half a month after it was brought back; Because I always like to take it to the nearby mountains to play. Slowly, it became more familiar with this piece; I always used to play around the neighborhood by myself when I was in school. Late that night; My mother and I had already fallen asleep. Someone suddenly shouted outside the room: "Dongjiao! Winter Jiao! Your dog has fallen into a pit! "Fortunately, my mother was not asleep, and when I opened the door, I saw that it was my grandfather, who was not far from us. I saw him wearing an overcoat and a shovel in his hand; On the shovel sat a dog trembling with dung on its body. for he was covered with excrement; The mother looked at it for a long time before she recognized it as Xiaolong. The old toilets in our country weren't what they are now; With the function of flushing. It is nothing more than simply making a wooden house, digging a big hole in the ground of the wooden house, and then putting a large porcelain jar underneath; Put a few wooden sticks on top of the porcelain jar as support, leaving a gap in the middle of the pit. But I thought it was always dangerous to have such a design; I only use a few pieces of wood to support my body, and it is dangerous if the wood rots, and it is difficult for me to pull it out when I go to the toilet inside; So I'd rather find a secluded place at the foot of a mountain. looked at the stinky little dragon in front of him; The mother didn't know what to say, but let out a snort with disgust. I learned from my little grandfather's mouth; He was also awakened by a shrill dog barking shortly after falling asleep in the middle of the night, and at first thought it was two puppies fighting; The bite hurts. But the sound continued for a long time; The little grandfather was also very puzzled, and when he got up, he looked for the direction of the sound and found the thatched house. When the little grandfather found out about him; Excrement had reached its neck; Then I hurriedly found a shovel and fished it up for a while. If it was a little later, it is estimated that Xiaolong would have died so inexplicably.

By the next morning; With a worried face, I looked at the sloppy little dragon all over his body, and even had toilet paper hanging on his body, and when he saw me coming out of the room, he immediately wagged his tail and walked towards me; But the smell from my body made my brows furrow, and I retched several times. After listening to my mother's account of what had happened; It's also incredible. But when it saw me retreating, it came to me with more enthusiasm. But in such a particular case, the enthusiasm; Naturally, I couldn't accept it. Until now, I have not figured out why it went to the hut; Then fall into the pit. Could it be ...... Hungry? Over the next few days; We didn't know how to clean it up, so we had to let it bask in the sun on its own; When the body is dried and the smell is not so heavy, I will wash it well. Not only were there no modern toilets at the time; Even bathing is a big problem, and it's relatively simple in summer; But in winter, you can only boil a pot of water in advance with a firewood pot for cooking, and pour it into the bathtub to wash. The tub we use is not a particularly high bucket type, and it barely reaches the stomach after sitting down; Therefore, even if you sit in the bathtub in winter, you can still feel the biting cold. Every time I take a shower, I can't guarantee that the dirt is washed off. Mother has watched Xiaolong bask for so many days, and it's almost the same; Just use the water left over from my bath to clean up Xiaolong. Maybe it's because Xiaolong has a psychological shadow because of the sense of submersion last time; As soon as the mother carried it into the water, she screamed heartbreakingly; want to break free from the bathtub; The splashing mother was covered in water, and in the end she could only force it to help wash off the excrement on her body. Since the water in the bathtub is reused, there is no temperature when bathing Xiaolong. I don't know if it was frightened by what happened just now or if it was cold after taking a shower, my mother took it out and put it aside; It stood motionless, trembling violently. But fortunately, this little thing is clever enough to know that he is hiding under the ashes of the wood pot; After the firewood was burned, he filtered out the residual heat in the ashes to dry himself, but he didn't notice that there was a piece of charcoal hidden in the ashes that had not been burned; Scalded off a poke of hair in the middle of his tail. Wait for that piece of hair to grow out; But the other hairs next to his tail were of a different color, and I don't know why; But it has become a mark to identify the identity of the little dragon.

in my image; There is another thing about Xiaolong, which makes me both moved and impressed by its spirituality. That afternoon; The mother drove the sheep back into the pen as usual, but hurried again to the mountain. I asked my mother curiously; The mother explained as she walked that she had lost three sheep and did not come back, and it was estimated that she had been separated; I was going to run into the mountains to look for her, so I washed myself and waited for her in my room. But it was nearly evening, but before I could say anything to dissuade him; My mother's figure had already run into the distance, and only me and Xiaolong were left waiting outside the house. I don't know how long it was; I watched the sky go from sunset to complete darkness, but my mother did not return; It also made me panic and at a loss, and to my surprise, the usually playful little dragon was now squatting motionless beside me and looking into the distance. What surprised me even more was Xiaolong's subsequent actions; I saw that it suddenly got up and slowly walked in the direction of its mother's sheep hunting. When walking to the fork in the road in front of the house; It suddenly stopped and turned its head to look at me, though it looked down on its expression; But it always felt like it was trying to convey something to me. After looking at each other for a moment; It turned around and sped up and headed straight in my mother's direction, and in a moment it disappeared from my view. Without the company of the little dragon; The more scared I am when I sit alone outside the door, as long as I am in the dark, I will always unconsciously try to scare myself. Under some self-substitution; He hid in the room timidly and turned up the sound of the TV to the maximum to embolden himself. Not to mention that it worked really well, it didn't take long for my energy to be completely absorbed by the cartoon; Slowly became sleepy, and finally sat directly on the bench and fell asleep.

When I woke up again, I was awakened by my mother's shouts outside the door. I hurried out of the room, and stood outside the door looking at my mother, who was a little tired, coming to me; In front of him were three lost sheep. The return of my mother instantly filled my heart with joy; It also filled me with a sense of security. And the guy next to my mother who was talking with his mouth open; It's what makes me feel the most. My mother told me that she was still looking for sheep in the mountains. I watched something from afar and ran towards me silently. The mother was also worried about some wild beast she had encountered; When I took a closer look, it was only Xiaolong who came. At that time, my mother's location was not close to the foot of the mountain, and I had no idea that Xiaolong would actually be able to find her mother. In the end, it was the mother who followed the footsteps of the little dragon and finally found the sheep. It's strange to say; No one has trained it since it came to us, but it understands our needs and expresses its intentions. Now when I think of this, I can't help but sigh: Xiaolong, Xiaolong! You are a dog, but you are not a dog; Some dogs are not dogs at first, but they are dogs!

On weekends; I would herd the sheep up the hill with my mother. It's close to noon; My mother was about to go home early to prepare lunch, so she told me to take care of the sheep; lest any sheep be left out of the herd. In the midst of picturesque mountains and forests; Listen to the chirping of birds through the bamboo forest, and the sound of the breeze blowing the leaves to make people feel comfortable; Even the air you inhale has a fresh fragrance. It's no wonder that Li Bai will make such a poem as "Questions and Answers in the Mountains". Asked Yu what he meant to live in Bishan, laughing and not answering. The peach blossoms are gone, and there is no heaven and earth and no world. "Now that I want to come; That's true. The route of grazing for goats is basically decided by the curly-haired goats; It is also counted as the finest, and wherever it goes, it only eats a few small bites of the most tender piece of grass in front of it, and does not finish it; Just bite half and cut half, and leave the rest to the sheep that follow behind to scavenge slowly. At first glance, I thought: yes~ You beast knows how to pick up tricks, what about those newly weaned lambs in the back? So the more I thought about it, the more angry I became; Picking up a rock from the ground, it flew to its buttocks. The big sheep was only concerned with grazing; I didn't realize that I hit it, but I stomped my feet and ran to the front. Xiaolong is also my most proud helper, every time a few sheep eat grass and eat too attentively and start to deviate from the group; The dragons would run over and yell at them and follow them back to the group, and some of the ewes were not afraid of it; Always use the horns to attack the little dragon, but every time the little dragon can easily dodge and make a look of eagerness. The ewes were in vain; He immediately got up and returned to the team. Actually, when the big sheep first came; I longed to ride on its back; Experience the "shepherd boy returns to the back of the bull, and the piccolo blows without a cavity." "I have forgotten the author of this poem; But I probably remember that there was such a poem, and I don't know if it was written correctly; If only it were possible; Every day when you return from grazing, you can ride and return, which feels like a different mood. Anyway, cows and sheep are about the same; When I was seven or eight years old, I experienced first-hand what it's like to ride a bull. It was a cow from my aunt's house; My aunt's eldest son is also my cousin, and everyone calls her his nickname, Lai Wang; After listening to it too much, I just shouted like this, he didn't like to study much since he was a child, and he dropped out of school early in junior high school because he insisted on not going to school. Uncle saw that he was so young; No one wanted to go out to work, and he was so honest by nature, so he bought him a cow to put in desperation. It's really in response to the words of the older generation: If you don't study well, you will go to herd cattle after you don't study well! Look at the back of a cow that is taller than my head; Originally, he didn't plan to go up, but Lai Wang repeatedly instigated and comforted him; Or carried me on the back of the cow. Don't say it! The back of the ox is broad and tough; It's like sitting on a stool covered with rubber, and the scalper walks very slowly; It didn't take long for me to get used to the feeling of sitting on it. But after riding up with Lai Wang; The rhythm changes. He said he wanted to give me some stimulation; Seeing him raise the ox high, he whipped the ox on the butt a few times. The cow's reaction suddenly became strong; began to run at a high speed, and the back of the cow became bumpy as a result. I was so frightened that I instinctively clung to the cow's neck. In fact, I could have been safe in this way, but Lai Wang sat in the back and didn't seem to grasp it; The moment he was turned upside down, probably out of instinct, he grabbed the corner of my clothes; Drag me down. As a result, he fell on the loess without any problems, and the inside of my left hand fell heavily on a sharp stone as it fell, and I felt a sharp pain at that time; When I raised my hand, I saw a very deep and large wound, and blood was constantly coming out; Even their own flesh can be seen. Lai Wang was also scared when he saw this, no; I hurriedly plucked the leaves on the side of the road and pressed them against my wounds. He also shouted "stop the bleeding and stop the bleeding." "I was so confused that I didn't hear it clearly, and I thought he was making me eat blood. Now that I want to come; The leaves on the side of the road are all ash, I'm afraid that the bleeding has not stopped and I have a wound infection!

Subsequently; Lai Wang took me all the way home to find my aunt to get the window sticker. My aunt looked at my left hand, which was more than half covered by blood, and learned what had happened after some inquiry; Immediately realized the seriousness of the matter. While scolding Lai Wang, he dragged me to the clinic on the street, and finally stopped the bleeding under the treatment of the doctor; Because the wound was too deep, I had a few more stitches. Maybe I was completely stunned at the time, and I didn't cry once after the whole thing; If it were a normal day, I would have cried 800 times. And now I look at the great goats grazing beside me; I want to experience the style of that time again. The goat stands out from the flock; But it's still nowhere near as good as an ox, and I'm a little taller than the last time I rode a bull. After thinking for a moment that there was nothing wrong with it; He jumped onto the sheep's back. Who would have thought that the feeling when actually riding on the back of a sheep is completely different from that on the back of a cow, and it is estimated that the reason why the big goats are usually picky eaters; For a long time, the body shape has been a little out. It just feels like hanging on a steel pipe on the back of this sheep. And the moment the big goat rode on me; As if convulsive, my whole body jerked me off my body; At that time, the flock was just going downhill at the foot of a mountain, but I was about to fall and grabbed the bamboo next to me, otherwise I would have rolled to the bottom. The big sheep came to his senses; He also looked at me with a face, and the look seemed to think that it was a pity that I didn't fall. Since then; I was afraid to ride a bull.

Towards the end of the evening; My mother and I were driving the sheep home, and we happened to meet an old farmer who had returned home from herding cattle at the same time. a total of four cows; Two large and two small, two black and the other two orange. in front of the calves that meet; The big sheep is a little bigger than the calf behind him. In the face of the leading behemoth, the momentum of the big goat was completely lost for a moment; Resignedly, he retracted his tail and trotted around the bull. Look at this scene; I thought to myself: Hey! You brute, where is your energy just now?

Maybe my mother borrowed too much luck from God for me and my brother; And doing anything important now is like paying off a debt; Or maybe the mother is not prepared for emergencies before she prepares to herd the sheep. Although the area where we live is a grazing place; But there are also quite a lot of mosquitoes in the vicinity, and the most troublesome for my mother are cowflies and cattle ticks. Sheep are not like cows that can use their tails to drive away insects, and long-term bites by cow flies will cause coughing and poor spirits; The condition of diarrhea. As for how cattle ticks parasitize sheep, I don't really understand; But my mother and I were often able to tear quite a few from them, and each one was bulging with food; A pinch burst open full of blood. What's even more nerve-wracking is that the disease seems to be contagious; More and more sheep are showing similar symptoms. Until the first sheep dies; The mother went to the county town alone to consult the veterinarian about the treatment of the disease. Because he could not go to the scene for diagnosis in person, he could only simply prescribe some medicine and a needle through the description from his mother's mouth; Explain the mother to inject the seriously ill sheep every two days according to the method and dosage he explained to see the effect. To prevent other diseases that can arise at any time; My mother also told my brother to go to the bookstore and buy two books for her on the treatment of sheep diseases. However, this is only for people who have a certain veterinary foundation to understand; Most of the methods described in it are not understood by my mother. And after the drugs bought were injected into the sick sheep; I didn't notice any significant improvement. During this period, my mother also tried to raise in different places, the first time was to build a bamboo sheepfold not far from the previous mother-in-law's house; I think I stayed there for more than a month; There are more mosquito species than the original place, and they are much larger. Even the big goat was suffering from an infectious disease at that time, and the mother wanted to give it an injection; It took a lot of effort with the eldest uncle to barely suppress it, but fortunately, in the end, the big goat was cured. Mother didn't see this position as working; So he took the sheep to an old house next to his uncle's house, which was said to have been the old house where his grandmother had lived decades ago; It has been abandoned for a long time. And then I stayed here for almost a month; There is hardly any improvement in the trend. Especially some newborn lambs; Because of his poor physique, he soon contracted the disease; And the case fatality rate is extremely high. Looking at the lambs that had been born with great difficulty, several of them died of illness; The wrinkles on the mother's face seem to have spawned a lot there.

After several tosses and turns; Eventually, the mother chose to return to the sheepfold where she had started herding her sheep. It was the end of the following year; My mother was looking forward to selling as many heads as she could during this time. But fortunately, basically every household will prepare all kinds of meat during the Chinese New Year; The sales of mutton can't be said to be too bad, but it's not very good; It can only be said that it is decent. It didn't take long for the beginning of spring; After many discussions between the mother and the father, in order to avoid more losses; In the end, it was decided to sell all the remaining sheep. The mother also made a comprehensive calculation of the expenses and income of the sheep herding for more than a year, and then the general ledger was not surprisingly at a loss. Because there are not a few sheep that die of illness during this period; I can't sell it. If you don't die of infectious diseases, you can take it back and eat it; Or cook it and feed it to the little dragon. If it is an infectious disease; If you are greedy, you will definitely suffer a big loss. This experience of raising sheep can be regarded as a lesson from God to our family, wary of what we do before anything; Be as prepared as possible. Although this truth; Everybody understands, but people keep making mistakes. Maybe this is the emotion that comes from being born; To err is human.

As for the story of me and Xiaolong; It came suddenly and ended suddenly, in the days that Xiaolong lived with us, in fact, it was lost twice. Remember the first time; It was because a family in the village who was familiar with their mother moved into a new house, and it was relatively simple to set up a banquet in the countryside at that time. It is to borrow all the tables from house to house in the neighborhood; All in front of the house and living room; Eat at a large table. Then ask the family that received the invitation to send a representative to help; Our family is naturally represented by our mother. So I got on my motorcycle early and drove me to the outer village. The little dragon seemed to know what we were going to do; Watching our car follow as soon as it started, it was not too tiring to follow all the way. But this trip was worth it; The bones thrown on the ground made the little dragon feel like he had come to heaven, and he ate it until his stomach couldn't fit like a ball. As soon as I was done that evening, my mother took me home; Xiaolong was playing with the other dogs not far from me, and immediately followed us as we prepared to go home. At this point, in fact, Xiaolong is not lost; It's just that at that time, there seemed to be more than one family in the outer village setting up a banquet for a happy event, and I remember running to the outer village for four or five days in a row; There is a feast to eat every day, either to get married or to enter a new house. But Xiaolong and I are naturally very beautiful; You can eat the delicacies of the mountains and the sea every day, so why not? On the last day of the feast; It was already completely dark, and my mother was ready to drive back as usual; And I searched around again and again, but I didn't see the shadow of the little dragon. Thinking that it must be playing with another group of dogs; I wanted to run into the alley to find it. But my mother told me not to worry; Xiaolong has been out for so many days, he must remember the way back; Maybe they're waiting for us at home now. It is not unreasonable to think of my mother's words, under my mother's repeated urgings; So I went home with my mother with a nervous heart. As soon as the front foot hits the ground; I searched everywhere for the shadow of the little dragon, and kept blowing my whistle to call it, but after a long time, there was no response. I started to panic; I thought it must have been lost. clamoring to ride a bicycle to the outer village to look for it; But his mother stopped him and said, "It's so late! I can't see the road, where can I find it? Xiaolong will come back when he is tired of playing; You'll be able to see it tomorrow morning. "Seeing that my mother was already on the verge of anger; I still chose to compromise; I also hope that it will return safely.

The next day at dawn; I thought that the little dragon was wagging its tail and jumping towards me, so I quickly put on my clothes; Push open the door and look for the figure of the little dragon. But the truth backfired; It was still empty outside, nothing. But my mother didn't let me go alone to find Xiaolong on the grounds that I was doing my homework; In desperation, I could only pray that the little dragon would be able to show his previous spirituality; Get it back for yourself. It can go by for three or four days in a row; Still nowhere to be seen, the little dragon returning home. I finally couldn't wait; No matter what my mother says, I'm going to go to the outer village. Perhaps my mother also thought it would be a pity if the tengu was lost; So he decided to ride with me. to the outer village; We basically looked at every alley and every pile of dogs, but in the end we still didn't find the shadow of the dragon. with a feeling of low disappointment; I finally decided to accept the fact that the little dragon was lost. For many days to come; Because I couldn't see the little dragon, I looked sullen. But just as I was about to adapt, it was as if God had played a joke on us; That must have been about two weeks after the dragon was lost! My little grandfather, who lives next door to us, has just returned from his new home in a foreign village; I rushed to find my mother and me; In a tone that did not dare to be determined, he said: "Maotou! When I went to my new home today, I saw a dog that looked like a dragon. The tail was as big as a dragon's tail, and I called it; And wagging your tail at me here. "Hear this; I was as excited as if joy had fallen from heaven, because it showed that there was a great chance that the little dragon was still alive. After asking the little grandfather where the little dragon was and saw the little dragon; My mother and I immediately drove there.

Come to the front of the intersection of the outer village; It is a long alley; Both sides of the alley are lined with self-built houses of the villagers. Every house is in close proximity; Straight to the end, there are about seven or eight rows. The interval between each row of houses is also about the width of a house; It is used as a playground for drying and playing. According to the little grandfather, he saw the little dragon at the door of a house in the third row on the left. But when we arrived, we didn't find a single dog; Then I looked around, and I could only see the villagers comings and goings. But I didn't give up; Because thinking about the words of my little grandfather; I had a strong premonition in my heart; I'm sure I'll find it this time. So he trotted into the alley on the left side of the third row; Door-to-door probes went in to find out. The emperor lives up to his wishes; Finally, under the dining table in front of the living room of the penultimate house, which was about to come to an end, there was a big yellow dog with a yellow and black back, looking sleepy and ready to rest under the sun; That lollipop-like tail, I can't be mistaken. I symbolically stretched my head in; He shouted softly: "Little Dragon! The yellow dog's drooping ears suddenly rose when he heard the sound; The squinted eyes also opened for a moment, and he suddenly stood up and looked at me blankly. Seeing the situation, I called its name again; And blow a whistle that specifically calls it. The whistle stimulated its whole body like a stimulant, and immediately ran to me in an arrow; The butt drove the tail to shake violently, and kept making a muffling sound; Jumped up and touched me. The joy at that time belonged only to me and Xiaolong; Only me and Xiaolong can feel that unique joy. Mother watched me and the little dragon hug each other; also showed a relieved expression, but still deliberately pretended to be ruthless and said: "You dog is so stupid? After playing outside for so many days, you don't know where you left home? "The owner of the house heard the movement of the living room; also heard the sound and hurried, to be exact, the little master; Looks tall and thin; Not much older than me. After getting to know each other the whole thing; Seeing Xiaolong's behavior towards me at this time, he was also willing to return the dog to us. He learned that the little dragon had run into his table on the second night after he was lost, begging for food; They saw that no one in the neighborhood had adopted the dog, and we thanked him from time to time. Just as we were about to leave with the little dragon; He always seemed to have a sentence to say, but he was a little embarrassed; We didn't say it until we left. "This dog thief is very good, last time my brother and I bought two braised chicken legs to prepare for dinner in the evening; I didn't look at it, so I was dragged away and eaten. "The implication is that they want us to compensate them for the money of these two chicken legs. But at that time, my mind could not understand the meaning of this sentence; Just immersed in the joy of reunion with Xiaolong. In fact, there is nothing wrong with him asking for the money back for the chicken legs; Even the cost of feeding and drinking Xiaolong these days should be more or less compensated to them. But even though I didn't understand what they meant, my mother probably understood; But it was just a joke and left. I don't know if my mother is reluctant to pay for it, or if they think they are just joking with her. But because of the foreshadowing of this incident; Let me know that I can't escape what I should pay, and it also warns me not to be greedy for small profits now.

In the days after the return of the little dragon; I cherish my life with it even more, and I feel that every minute is not boring. I don't want him to disappear from my sight, and so does it. But accidents always happen unexpectedly, and it takes about a month after the return of the little dragon; It was a normal day from sunrise to dusk. In the middle of the night, my mother and I went back to bed as usual to get ready to rest, and the winter nights in the countryside were always so quiet; It didn't take long for me to fall asleep. Dogs in rural areas usually keep their nests outside the door because they play the role of caretakers. Little Dragons are no exception; But in my eyes, such a normal thing is the beginning of the second separation with Xiaolong; And this farewell turned out to be a farewell.

Early the next morning; As usual, I walked out of the door and looked into the distance, ready to turn on my brain. I thought the little dragon would come to me with its big tail wagging its big tail, but no matter how much I whistled, I couldn't see its shadow. That's what makes me suspicious; So I ran to ask my mother, who had just returned from herding, if she had seen Xiaolong, and her answer was the same as mine. I just thought about looking for it; But I don't know where to start, the last time I knew where I lost it; This time, he disappeared out of thin air at the door of his own house, and there was no clue at all. So with apprehension; I waited from morning to evening, but to no avail. The next few days; Although I am always depressed, all I can do is wait. In the days that followed, my mother and I visited almost all the surrounding villages, and we didn't miss every dog pack. But God didn't give us a chance to meet again; Maybe this is the consequence of punishing us for not knowing how to cherish it! I don't know if my mother watched me sullen all day; It wasn't the way to go long, trying to cheer me up by accepting the reality, or if she did hear what happened that night. Mother said she didn't sleep soundly that night; It was only when he heard the sound of chains outside, and the little dragon was quiet after just a few screams; The mother thought it was a hunter who had gone up to the mountains to hunt, and she didn't care, but the next day the little dragon disappeared. To this day, I always think of the time I spent with my mother and Xiaolong; It is nostalgic but secretly sad. But it was the happiest day I've ever had; Even though he was very poor at the time, his life was colorful. From time to time, I sighed: Little dragon, little dragon! How did you fall into the toilet again this time; But this time, no matter how much I try to get you, I can't see you.

Nowadays, due to the special situation at home, we are not raising a dog either. And during the time I was in college and working, I was able to meet a lot of abandoned puppies in various environments. I always felt that it was another reunion that God had deliberately arranged for us; But I can't afford to take care of them, but I can't bear to leave them behind. I had to pick them up and do my best to find a good owner for them, but I was always determined to have a big yellow dog; Also call it a little dragon. And I'm sure it will be as good at the right time as the first time I saw the dragon; Meet me at the right opportunity.