"Hey, Brother Xiaoyi, there's a fork in the road ahead here!

Tong Lu asked loudly. An Xiaoyi grabbed the reins and thought for a moment,

"The car mark on the left is shallow, and there should be fewer people walking, but for some reason, I want to take this fork in the road. ”

Bai Qing poked his head out of the curtain,

"There must be people on the road, and besides, we are not in a hurry to hurry, this official road is annoying, let's try to take the small road instead. ”

Tong Lu clapped his hands and laughed,

"Let's go, we're getting more and more tacit, haha, haha!"

An Xiaoyi flicked the reins, and the carriage slowly moved forward. The road grew narrower and narrower, until it was covered with grass, with only a few car marks indicating the way forward. After a while, a courtyard was faintly visible not far ahead, and when I got closer, I saw that the courtyard was extremely spacious, and there was a carriage parked at the gate of the courtyard, which looked very sturdy, without a canopy, and should be used for pulling goods. The door of the courtyard was ajar, and there were several voices inside, as if they were moving something. Xiao Yi tied the horse, and the three of them came to the gate of the courtyard together, Tong Lugang wanted to look inside, the door was wide open, and an old man with a white beard stood at the door, pointing at the middle of the courtyard. At first glance, when I saw Xiao Yi and the three of them, I was stunned for a moment, and then continued to guide and do my work.

Two people walked out of the courtyard one after another, each holding a large jar of wine, how could this jar be filled with fifty catties. The two of them are also good workers, and it is very easy to hold the altar, and the one who is the leader has gray hair, seems to be forty years old, and looks a little similar to the old man at the door, but I am afraid that it is the biological brother. The one who hugged the wine altar did not have a beard, and looked slightly younger in comparison. The two put down the wine jar, glanced at Xiao Yi and the three of them, and entered the courtyard again. After a while, they each came out with a wine jar, and so on, a total of eight jars of wine were brought out, and then they were loaded and tied to the car.

"Hehe, sweet old man, our old lady is just like this, you do your best, but your benefits are indispensable! ”

The sweet old man nodded, took the money, and was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth. The man who gave the money looked treacherous, glanced at Xiao Yi with contempt, passed by the three of them, walked to his carriage, and bounced his butt to the saddle of the carriage in a very incongruous manner. The wine-carrying Xiao Si led the horse, and the master and servant slowly left.

"Hello, Uncle Sweet, let's pass by here, can we spend the night?"

The two of them stood on the opposite side, more like their own brothers. The white-bearded old man should be in a good mood,

"Come on, come in, come in and put down your luggage, you have to have a drink with us today!"

Xiao Yi and the three of them were dumbfounded, and Bai Qing said hesitantly,

"You two are father and son?"

The old man with the white beard laughed,

"Haha, my son is naturally old-looking, and he looks like my younger brother. Some people say he's as old as me, and some people say he's older than me, haha! I don't agree with that, but it's right to say I'm as young as him!

Xiao Yi and the three of them all laughed out loud, and Xiao Yi preemptively said,

"Uncle Sweet, Brother Sweet, I'm so disturbed today!"

The sweet brother laughed innocently, and he was used to people's cynicism, and it was estimated that few people had called him Brother Sweet, and Xiao Yi's sentence made him extremely useful. The huts were scattered in the courtyard, and Xiao Tian picked two for the three of them to live in. Out of the room, Lao Tian had already set up the dishes and chopsticks, and warmly greeted the three of them over. The three of them came to the table and saw that the table was full of wine and food, which was very rich, and there was a large cauldron next to it, and the firewood crackled under the pot.

"We don't have much else, but we have a lot of fish, and this fish is still good to eat while cooking. Well, these were made this morning, and the pickled fish, each with its own flavor. Sweet old man, I don't have any other skills, but this pickled fish brewing kung fu is okay. ”

When Tong Lu heard this, he laughed,

"You are too modest, in my opinion, you can have such a big family to buy this drink, I'm afraid it's not just improvised, we can have this blessing today, it's really a blessing from cultivation!"

The sweet old man twisted his beard in his hands, a little proud,

"Come, come, try my wine. ”

The little sweet movement was quick, and hurriedly brought the wine up, and several people sat around the big pot and raised the bowl together. Tong Lu took a sip and exclaimed,

"Uncle Tian, your wine is really sweet, we are well-informed, but we have never drunk such nectar. It's really an eye-opener, an eye-opener!"

When the sweet old man heard this, he grinned, and the wine he had just drunk flowed down the gap between the fallen front teeth. Bai Qing took a big sip and asked in surprise,

"Uncle Tian, this wine has a name, it doesn't seem to be too intoxicating, and it is suitable for most people to drink!"

The sweet old man swallowed his drink and whispered,

"This wine is called sweetheart, and it is the same name as my son. This sweetness, it's the sweetness of 'sweet and sour', and it's also my surname. ”

Tong Lu's jaw is elder,

"Ah, there is still this surname, I thought it was a farming field!

The sweet old man was very proud and said with a smile,

"That's nature, in this Caohai Town, there are so many of our 'sweet' surnames. Oh, yes, this wine is not intoxicating? That's a big mistake! It's not as good as that strong wine, but it's easy to make people greedy, and it can often make people drunk unconscious!"

Tong Lu drank a bowl and poured another bowl himself, not polite at all,

"Uncle Tian, those two people should be from a big family just now, are they specially for custom-made drinks here?"

The sweet old man was a little helpless, and said slowly,

The old lady likes to drink my 'sweetheart', so she has to let my father and son brew it for her, how can I make so much wine on weekdays, and it is not for them to provide food and money, and then come to the door to collect it. When I think about it, even if I can earn a salary and eat and drink every day, I can't offend people, so why not do it! Today, this money is really given, haha, I am really old, and I can still have this blessing!"

The water in the pot was boiling, Xiao Tian poured a few pieces of pickled fish into the pot, added a plate of fresh fish, and said with a smile,

"It's going to be eaten soon, but we have to taste it when he's tender, so we can eat it as we like." And my father, you are lucky to be very picky on weekdays, and you just happened to meet him and got a benefit! Hehe, even I will be naked!"

After Xiao Tian finished smiling, the sweet old man kicked him in the back, and he was not angry, he stood up and patted it with his hand, and went to pour wine and eat it by himself. Xiao Yi saw that the father and son were so interesting, and he also toasted the two frequently, and after a while, he drank the sweet old man to the ground. After carrying the old man back to the house with Xiao Tian, the two returned to the courtyard, and the four young people drank and talked happily, so happy. This Xiao Tian drank wine and talked a lot, betraying his father cleanly, which made Xiao Yi and the three of them laugh. Xiao Yi looked up slightly, he patted Xiao Tian on the shoulder and asked,

"Brother Tian, how old are you, no matter how we look at it, we ......"

didn't wait for Xiao Yi to finish speaking, that Xiao Tian laughed and said,

"It's four out of twenty, and it's also troublesome, and no girl can take a fancy to me, so I have to follow the old man to make wine. ”

"Don't say that, in my opinion, although you look old, you also have the strength of your arms, and you are not roundabout, and you are smart and clever, and you speak so pleasingly, there will definitely be women who are willing to marry you!" Xiao Yi looked at him with a lewd smile and said,

"Now that the business is big and I have money, are you afraid that you won't be able to find your daughter-in-law?!"

Xiao Tian giggled,

"Then borrow your auspicious words!"

The two of them came closer, said something unashamed, and then laughed together.

The moon was only half lit, but it also illuminated the courtyard transparently, and the four of them lay on the grass in the courtyard, looking at the stars, and whispering some gossip. It didn't take long for the other three to fall asleep, and the mosquitoes and insects of this summer day could not disturb the quiet dream in the slightest. After a while, the snoring gradually started, Xiao Yi carried the three of them back to the house, and he looked at the stars in the sky more, he was thinking, the starry sky in this world is so similar, but it seems to be slightly different, I don't know if the people he is thinking about are healthy and everything is going well.

On the second day, it wasn't until the third pole on that day that Tong Lu Baiqing got up, Xiao Yi had already started the formation, prepared a meal for everyone, a whole big table, and there were fishing goods from the morning. Sweetheart squatted not far away, smiling and watching him busy, it didn't matter if he smiled, the whole person was ten years old. Tong Lu Baiqing hurriedly cleaned himself up, and then came to take a look. Tong Lu looked around for a while, and then asked,

"Why hasn't Uncle Tian gotten up yet?haha, I'm old, I can't stand that little bit of alcohol!"

Xiao Yi glanced at him and sneered,

"Who can be as heartless as you, Uncle Tian left the boat before dawn, Brother Tian said that he would not return until at least noon, so we don't have to wait for him. ”

There are many people, and this meal has to be more fragrant, compared to weekdays, Bai Qing can be regarded as overeating. However, this grass saury is really good, all of them are one to two taels, fry lightly with that fresh vegetable oil, wait until the face is browned, sprinkle some fine salt at will, bite off half of it in one bite, the fish bones are very soft, and then mixed with the fragrant glutinous fish roe, the taste is extremely rich.

After eating, Sweetheart went to prepare the fishing boat, and when everyone ate, they had already discussed that they would go to the sea of grass to play in the water. Xiao Yi and the three of them gathered in a whispered conversation,

"Qingqing, Lu Lu, let's help Brother Sweetheart find a daughter-in-law, he is a good person, but he just looks old. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the sweetheart called out from the back of the house, and the three of them laughed and high-fived, and turned the house just in time to meet the sweetheart who ushered in. Sweetheart holds several straw hats in her hand, all of which are made of fine grass of the same size in the sea of grass. One person took one, Xiao Yi carefully observed, this straw hat is much rougher than the ones seen on weekdays, this water grass is wide, and this man's hands are not very fine, blocking the sun is okay, if it rains, it seems that it is powerless to block the rain. The three of them put on big hats and followed their sweethearts to the grassy seaside.

The grass here is extremely strong, and the water is more than one person high, and you can't see the sea behind you at all. Sweetheart came to the grass wall, and gently brushed away a few strands of long grass with her hand, and not far away, the sea of grass was in full view. The boat was behind the grass, and the four of them got on the boat together, and the boat struggled and moved gently through the waterway. The grass on both sides rises and falls with the waves, which is also a unique scenery. The sun was raging, and the deep grass was unusually hot, but it didn't last long, and when I came to the open place, I felt refreshed physically and mentally. Xiao Yi handed the burden to Bai Qing, took off his coat and jumped into the water. Like a fish, he dived and floated again, keeping pace with the boat.

"Wow, look, this lotus flower is so beautiful!" Bai Qing exclaimed excitedly.

Xiao Yitong Lu looked in the direction she was looking, and the lotus leaves in the sky were dotted with countless reds. Some of these lotus flowers are budding and ready to bloom, some have long passed the flowering season and are ready to wither, and more are blooming with enchanting life. The closer the boat, the more boats will be seen, large and small, of all kinds. Sweetheart's face was full of wrinkles, and he stood up straight and smiled,

"Just in time for this flowering season, you really should have this blessing. Having said that, if it weren't for the early arrival of spring and summer this year, it might not be possible, so it's better to rush early than to be in time, just like when I met my dad counting money last year. Haha, haha!"

Xiao Yi got up from the water and asked with a smile,

"Brother sweetheart, this sea of grass is not big, but there are a lot of tourists, it seems that the surrounding villages and towns are also extremely prosperous?"

Sweetheart smiled and replied,

"Caohai Town has a lot of population, because on this official road, the traffic is very convenient, and there are a lot of merchants, plus this annual lotus festival, it is also famous in this area, so although this town is small, there is no shortage of all kinds of livelihood, even the brothel of the dart bureau is also there. Fortunately on weekdays, this lotus festival is of course very lively, and many surrounding vendors will also take the opportunity to come and make a few bucks, and when the business is good, only in this lotus blooming month, you can earn a year's hard money on weekdays!"

When Xiao Yi heard about this lotus festival, he was also interested,

"I don't know when this lotus festival is, we won't just catch up!"

Sweetheart touched the white stubble and smiled,

"Every year there will be a deviation, just because it depends on the specific time of the flowers, generally speaking, in the second half of the Dragon Boat Festival, a full month, this grass sea lotus festival is the most popular place in this area. This year, the flowers bloomed early, you see, before the Dragon Boat Festival, this lotus festival has started early. ”

"Oh, we're just in time for the Lotus Festival, so there's something fun!" Bai Qing clapped his hands and laughed.

Sweetheart smiled and said,

"This lotus festival is not only that, in addition to this cruise to enjoy the flowers, there are more activities in Caohai Town, such as blind dates for men and women, food and wine tasting, book reviews and juggling, etc., and there are fireworks at night, but I want to dazzle you! If you're interested, I'll give you a ride, have a good time and come back, anyway, Caohai Town is so big, it won't take long to finish. ”

Xiao Yi gave Tong Lu Baiqing a look, the two of them understood, and they shouted vigorously to ask Sweetheart to take them to the town to play, but Sweetheart couldn't resist it, so she had to agree. The boat drifted among the lotus flowers for a while, and then turned in the direction of Caohai Town.

This lotus festival has become a unique business card of Caohai Town, and merchants have to make a good profit at this time. If there is a rented boat, the fisherman's boat will be decorated, subleased to the poor scholar, although the cost is not high, in general, you can also make a lot of money, of course, for large families, there will be someone to take care of the luxury boat, which can support a lot of craftsmen. Some people will make some traditional food, set up a small stall around this Haizi, and at the end of the day, they can also earn a half-month ration. There are also some craftsmen, such as poets, painters, carvers, craftsmen, etc., who do not need to shout at all, and if they are lucky, and meet a master who spares no money, then the livelihood of the year will be lost. In short, this lotus festival has completely changed this remote town and changed the people here. Xiao Yi thought to himself, the wine brewed by the sweet old man of the Wang family was not all prepared for himself.

This sea of grass is long from north to south, and the east and west directions are not far from each other, and this grass sea town is on the east side of the sea of grass. As soon as he landed on the shore, Sweetheart was pulled by a person. Xiao Yi looked at the man, dressed in coarse cloth scholar clothes, his hair was tied high, he should have dressed up deliberately, and a plain woman stood beside him, looking a little shy between her gestures. When Xiao Yi heard this, he learned that the poor scholar was going to rent Sweetheart's boat, and he was about to discuss the cost with Sweetheart. The sweetheart is good, and he doesn't say much, and he only charges a little bet in one bite

gold, too, is free of that rent. Xiao Yi smiled and walked away, only to listen to the scholar's strong thanks, and what to say, "Xie will never forget the kindness of the uncle", he thought, I don't know how many times this big word has been said, this is all serious, that can make people laugh off their big teeth, and this uncle also offended everyone. The scholar let the woman into the boat, bowed deeply, and then turned and slid the oars. Xiao Yi and the four of them only thought it was funny, so they ignored him.

Caohai Town is not far from the edge of Caohai, several streets in the town are paved by the bluestone slabs, the stone slabs in front of each house are responsible for each family, although there are many pedestrians, this street is extremely clean and tidy. The shouts of vendors and vendors were heard endlessly, and the loudest shouts were in the attic in the northeast corner of the town. Xiao Yi and the four of them walked and watched, and they were also very happy to eat all kinds of snacks, and when they heard the movement over there, they also slowly walked towards that side.

When I got closer, it turned out that it was a young lady who threw a hydrangea and chose a husband, which made Xiao Yile bad. The three of them are thinking about helping their sweetheart find a daughter-in-law, and this opportunity is really rare. With Xiao Yi's skills, it is not easy to grab a hydrangea, and it is everyone's mind to hand it directly to the sweetheart, which is really effortless. The three of them squeezed to the front together, and they were also scolded by a lot of white eyes.

This is a small attic on the second floor, and most of the men downstairs are doing good things to join in the fun, and I am afraid that the real need is less than one-tenth. After a while, two pretty little girls in green came to the fence and praised the young lady who was about to throw a hydrangea, nothing more than the white skin and beauty, the innocence of the family background, etc., Xiao Yi had a headache when he heard it, and he couldn't stand the coaxing of everyone's meat, and the two little girls were also ashamed to blush, and in the end, they couldn't do it, and only halfway through the speech, the young lady stepped forward and showed her face. Everyone suddenly became lively when they saw it, this young lady was wearing gorgeous clothes, like a lady, but her face was too fat, she couldn't see her neck, and her limbs were also different from ordinary people, I was afraid that she could withstand three or five sweethearts. Xiao Yi couldn't help but smile and asked,

"Look at this young lady's figure, her family background should be good, but she is a little obese, Brother Sweetheart, what do you think?!"

Sweetheart smiled bitterly,

"I'm afraid that people don't want to follow me even if they pick up the hydrangea! Now it seems that it's good to be a woman, as long as she can inherit the family for me. ”

Xiao Yi swallowed a mouthful of saliva, looked at Tong Lu and Bai Qing beside him, and the two of them winked at him, and Xiao Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, Brother Sweetheart, then I'll grab this hydrangea for you!"

The little girl ring rang the gong, and the fat lady looked very excited, and looked down for a while, and the hydrangea shot out, and it was about to fly into the distance. Xiao Yi didn't see it well, the black stick flew up instantly, and flew straight up the hydrangea, and when it fell, Xiao Yi caught the black stick with one hand, and flicked it lightly with the other hand, and the hydrangea flew into the sweetheart's arms obediently. Sweetheart was at a loss for a while, and for a while, the people around were full of voices, and everyone was even happier than if they had hydrangea. Sweetheart looked upstairs tremblingly, and the fat lady looked at him angrily, as if she was unusually dissatisfied with the result. Sweetheart was a little discouraged and wanted to throw the hydrangea back again. Xiao Yi saw that it was not good, and quickly stopped him,

"Brother Sweetheart, what are you?"

Sweetheart smiled helplessly,

"People don't like me, leave it to someone more suitable. ”

Xiao Yi was a little angry and replied,

"Isn't this hydrangea all resigned to fate, you have to listen to me today!"

Xiao Yi held down his sweetheart and looked up. I saw that the fat lady was so angry that she stomped her feet, called the two pretty girls aside, and then walked away angrily. One of the maids went in to ask for instructions, and when he returned, he announced loudly,

"Because the woman is unwilling, this round of embroidery is invalid, and the son who received the hydrangea ,...... , Well, this uncle please go downstairs to collect liquidated damages. ”

Xiao Yi and the three of them opened their mouths in shock, not knowing what to say. Sweetheart put down the hydrangea and said softly,

"Let's go, it's time for us to go home. ”