Xu Zhi and Xue Atan saw He Mengjiao sitting alone on the reef on the side, holding the reed flute and playing it repeatedly, looking very focused. Although the flute was noisy and melodious, Xu and Xue felt tired of listening to it for a long time, and they saw that they were trapped on the reef and had nothing to do, so they simply lay on the sand and closed their eyes to recuperate.

After a while, He Mengjiao's flute stopped abruptly, Xu Zhi and Xue Atan opened their eyes and saw a deflected boat floating on the river in the distance, and there was only one fisherman on the boat, singing fishing songs, holding the rudder, slowly and leisurely rowing towards the oasis. The three of them were overjoyed, and quickly opened their throats and shouted: "Boatman, help! Come and save us!"

The boatman stood on the bow of the boat and looked around, apparently hearing the cries for help from the three men, and the fisherman made sure he was in the direction and slowly approached the oasis. The three of them saw that the boatman was full of vicissitudes of life, his body was extremely thick and tall, he was wearing a cloak on his head, he was wearing a gray gown, and he was holding a penny in his hand, and he was coming to the wind, and the boat was very steady, and it was obviously an old fisherman who had gone through the wind and rain.

Xu Zhi and the other fishermen docked the boat, hurriedly bowed their hands, and said, "This big brother, there is a disturbance!", and then briefly told how he was shipwrecked on this barren reef.

After listening to this, the boatman nodded, and did not answer, but just glanced at He Mengjiao behind Xu Zhi and Xue Atan, and hesitated for a while before saying: "The three of them are in distress here, and they should be rescued, but the boat is small, I'm afraid it can't carry the three of you at one time!"

Xu Zhi saw that there were concerns in the boatman's words, and he was about to open his mouth to persuade him. Xue Atan hurriedly said: "I said big brother boat, you can't see death without saving it! Although your fishing boat is small, the wind and waves on the river are calm at this time, and there is no big problem even if you carry four or five people." Brother boat, as the saying goes, saving a life, is better than building a seventh-level floating slaughter, you often walk on the river, do more good deeds and you will have a safe life!"

The boatman has walked in the wind and rain all his life, and his favorite thing is Ji Yan Tianxiang, when he saw Xue Atan say this, it was not easy to refuse him, and he glanced at He Mengjiao again, and saw that she coughed softly, so he had to nod.

Seeing that the fisherman's face was a little softened, Xue Atan begged in a low voice: "Brother boat, have mercy on us! You see that this little girl behind us is thinly dressed and has not eaten for several days. If it goes on like this, she won't be able to support it. Brother ship, please save us ashore as soon as possible!"

After listening to Xue Atan's words, the boatman's face changed suddenly, and he said with some guilt: "I don't know, the three of you haven't eaten for several days, but you haven't eaten in the boat, so you can't save the emergency!

He Mengjiao was about to speak, but was interrupted by Xue Atan: "I live in Ruzhou, Jiangbei, Brother Chuan, please send us across the river." ”

The boatman hesitated a little, glanced at He Mengjiao again, and saw that she glared at Xue Atan fiercely.

At this time, Xu Zhi also said: "Yes, Brother Boat has you to send us across the river!", and saluted the boatman again.

Seeing that He Mengjiao didn't speak for a long time, the boatman had to let the three of them board the boat, swaying the oars hard, rowing the oars, and using two pillars of incense, to send the three to the ferry on the north bank of the river.

The three of them went ashore and thanked the boatman again, but the boatman only replied lightly: "It's easy to say! Saving people in emergency is what should be done in the future, and there is no need to say thanks!"

The boatman seemed to have something to say to He Mengjiao, he took a few steps closer, but seeing He Mengjiao shaking his hand at him again and again, the boatman had no choice but to stop talking, arched his hand, jumped on the boat, waved goodbye to the three of them.

Xue Atan saw that the boatman was going away, and said to Xu Zhi and He Mengjiao: "It's getting late now, we have lost our entanglement, and the younger brother wants to rush home to serve the old mother, if Brother Xu and Miss He don't dislike it, go home with me for a while, how about it?"

Xu Zhi saw that Xue Atan's words were very sincere, and it was inconvenient to refuse, so he first responded: "Okay, it's better to be respectful than to obey your fate, then trouble Brother Xue to lead the way!"

Xue Atan glanced at He Mengjiao, saw that she didn't speak all the way, knew that she was still blocking her breath with Xu Zhi, and asked again: "Miss He, what are you going to do?"

He Mengjiao was very embarrassed in her heart: if she agreed, she would walk with two men all the way in the middle of the night, and if the men and women were not kissed, they would be criticized by others and ruin their reputation; if they did not agree, they would be penniless, not only would they be hungry, but it would also be a great problem to stay at night.

Xu Zhi knew the concerns in He Mengjiao's heart, and said to Xue Atan with a smile: "I heard that Brother Xue's family also has a mother, why don't you let Miss He spend the night with your mother!"

Xue Atan hurriedly said: "This is the best!

When He Mengjiao saw Xu Zhi say this, she naturally understood his intentions, so she had to say, "Then there will be a disturbance to Brother Xue!"

The three of them went all the way to the north, they entered the boundary of Ruzhou, which is surrounded by mountains, the three of them climbed over several mountains, passed through a few dense woods, crossed a few streams, and the moon was dark and the wind was high along the way, He Mengjiao was a little scared, took out the reed flute and kept playing, the flute was particularly loud in the silent mountain forest, waking up the sleeping birds, and there were bursts of terrifying cries. Xu Zhi and Xue Atan were in a hurry, and they didn't care about the mournful cries of these night birds.

In the middle of the night, the three of them finally came to the foot of a group of high mountains, and Xue Atan introduced to Xu Zhi and He Mengjiao: "This mountain is called Clam Mountain, which is the highest peak here for us, and our Xuejia Village is in the ravine not far ahead. ”

Xu Zhi smiled and said: "Brother Xue, I don't know how to thank you, we have worked hard all the way in the past few days, and we have finally arrived at your house, and we can sleep peacefully!"

He Mengjiao was so tired that she couldn't drag her feet at this time, she saw that Xu Zhi was still so optimistic, she was angry in her heart, and scolded: "Phew, this girl has been unlucky enough these days, she finally met an enemy, she can't kill it, she can't hide it, and she has to walk with him all the way!"

Xue Atan saw He Mengjiao talking like this, and knew that her anger had disappeared a lot, but she still refused to let go of Xu Zhi, so she had to smile at Xu Zhi, and said to He Mengjiao: "Miss He, you can't talk about bad luck, we also have good things along the way, and we have good things to do, if we hadn't boarded the oasis and met a kind boatman, we would have been buried at the bottom of the river and fed the big fish!"

He Mengjiao saw that she couldn't say anything about Xue Atan, so she had to block her breath and was unwilling to continue to move forward. Xue Atan and Xu Zhi persuaded her for a long time, and He Mengjiao pursed her lips and reluctantly agreed to follow Xue Atan and Xu Zhi into the village.

At night, Xuejia Village was exceptionally quiet, and only a few yellow dogs could be heard barking hurriedly. Xue Atan's home, at the very edge of the village, was two huts made of thatch, branches, mud and stones, built against a hill, with no door panels, only a curtain of straw mats. Before the three of them entered the door, a yellow dog came out of it and barked desperately at the three of them, Xue Atan quickly drank the puppy, lifted the door curtain, and barked: "Mother, Ah Niu is back!", after speaking, Xu Zhi and He Mengjiao entered the house.

The room was dark, Xue Atan fumbled, found the flint, and lit the dim oil lamp. Xu Zhi and He Mengjiao saw that the house was very simple, except for a clay kang, on which a pot was set up as a stove, and there were no other daily necessities, and there was a gray-haired mother-in-law lying on the bed in the innermost room, coughing constantly, and asked in a low voice: "Is Ah Niu back?

Xue Atan hurriedly stepped forward, knelt down on the side of the bed, took her mother's hand, let her touch her face, and said, "Mother, you are not dreaming, Ah Niu is really back!"

Aunt Xue opened her eyes with difficulty, looked at Xue Atan, and looked at Xu Zhi and He Mengjiao behind him in surprise, and said with tears in her eyes: "Ah Niu, you shouldn't have taken the lead in resisting the government's taxation last time, everyone said that you were arrested by the government and have been thrown into prison, and some people said that you have been executed by the government, my mother just didn't believe it, but I always saw you covered in blood in my dreams, shouting injustice to my mother, and my mother was afraid!"

Xue Atan saw that his mother felt sorry for him, and he also shed tears, and said: "Mother, don't worry, isn't your son alive and well? You see that my son has also brought two friends to see you!", after speaking, he introduced Xu Zhi and He Mengjiao to his mother.

Aunt Xue saw that Xu Zhi looked dignified, He Mengjiao was also like a flower, and seeing that the two of them did not look like crooked ways, she was finally relieved a lot, struggling on the bed, to sit up, and said tremblingly: "The old body is not in good health, and I wronged two friends to come to the house with Ah Niu to suffer!"

Xu Zhi and He Mengjiao hurriedly saluted Xue's mother, and said in a loud voice: "Let my aunt bother, we are Ah Niu's friends, you are just like our own mother, the younger generation will not dislike the poor family, and will try their best to take care of the aunt." ”

Xue Atan saw Xu Zhi and He Mengjiao talking like this, and was very grateful in his heart, and said: "Mother, my son went to Caizhou for a few days, bought you some rice, and grabbed a few medicines, but accidentally, the rice was forgotten in the inn, but I brought the medicine closely." After speaking, he took out the medicine wrapped in layers of oiled paper from his shirt.

Aunt Xue complained: "Ah Niu! It's not that my mother said you, you are also a big boss, and you can't always be lost in doing things." ”

After Aunt Xue finished speaking, she saw that Xue Atan and the three of them were all hungry and tired, and asked, "Ah Niu, did you go home in the middle of the night and eat?" There is still some brown rice at home, Tan'er, you can take it out first to entertain your friends!"

Xue Atan listened to his mother's words, and was very moved in his heart, and responded: "The three of us are not hungry, we will eat later, we will help you boil the medicine first, you take this medicine, and your body will get better soon." ”

Seeing that her son was so filial, Mother Xue stopped talking, just leaned sideways and stared at him silently.

He Mengjiao hurriedly came over to help, she saw that Xue Atan had caught some ginseng, deer antler, and cinnamon, and hurriedly asked, "What kind of illness does my aunt have?

Xue Atan said with a smile: "My mother actually doesn't have any serious illness, it's just that last time I took the lead in making trouble, my mother was beaten by officers and soldiers, and she was seriously injured, and she lay at home for nearly a month and couldn't get out of bed." ”

He Mengjiao asked: "That aunt is suffering from deep injuries, you should grab some medicine to invigorate blood and dispel blood stasis?

Xu Zhi saw Xue Atan's clue on the side, and said with a smile: "Brother Xue, you must be afraid that the government wants you, so you secretly went to the pharmacy to catch the medicine, and you didn't understand your aunt's illness, so you grabbed some tonic medicine and came back." ”

Xue Atan said with a smile: "Brother Xu, you guess eight or nine is not far from ten, it's like this, the person who grabbed the medicine asked me what medicine I wanted, and I said that I needed some tonics, life-saving tonics, and I couldn't tell if he asked me again, he looked at me, and then grabbed these medicines for me and came back." ”

He Mengjiao scolded: "The world is still divided into rich and poor, can't medicine be divided into kings and ministers? Taking the wrong medicine will not only delay the disease, but sometimes it will also be fatal." ”

Xue Atan saw that He Mengjiao's words were serious, and retorted: "He Mengjiao, you are a girl, how come you know medical skills, we still underestimate you on the road?"

He Mengjiao's face was full of displeasure: "Brother Xue, you are too underestimated, right! This girl has lived in the Shennong Mountains of Enzhou since she was a child, and our people can't say that they have tasted all the herbs, but they can distinguish the cold and heat and the use of medicinal materials when they are born." ”

When Aunt Xue saw He Mengjiao, a girl, she was not only beautiful and beautiful, but also very careful, and saw that she was very estranged from Xu Zhi and very close to her son, and she was secretly happy in her heart, and couldn't help but say:

"Ah Niu, you are a solid eye, you can't speak, my mother also believes what Miss He said, you have to learn from her in the future!"

When Xue Atan saw her mother talking like this, she stopped arguing with He Mengjiao, and He Mengjiao blushed even more when she heard it.

He Mengjiao asked: "Xue Atan, you should have medicinal materials like Tian Qi and safflower here, these are excellent medicines for blood and pain, or tomorrow we will go up the mountain to pick some and come back to treat my aunt!"

Xue Atan said: "There is a colorful butterfly valley in our clam mountain, where there are all kinds of flowers and plants, we can go there tomorrow to have a look!"

Xu Zhi also said: "Then we will go to Caidie Valley tomorrow, Brother Xue will lead the way, Miss He knows medicine, and I will be responsible for carrying the medicine back!", He Mengjiao saw Xu Zhi talking like this, and it was inconvenient to fight with him in front of Aunt Xue, so she had to say yes.

When Aunt Xue heard this, her heart was warm, and she was a little worried: "Auntie understands your filial piety, but the Clam Mountain is very vicious, the mountains are high and the forests are dense, and there are many wild beasts that will hurt people." Auntie's body is still alive, so don't go!"

He Mengjiao said with a smile: "Don't hide it from my aunt, I and this Brother Xu will know some martial arts, just a tiger, a leopard or something, we can easily deal with it, auntie, you can rest assured, the three of us are walking together, and it is broad daylight, it should be fine!"

When Aunt Xue saw He Mengjiao say this, she couldn't stop her anymore, so she had to tell her to be careful again and again, and told Xue Atan to protect her well.

Xu Zhi and He Mengjiao saw that Aunt Xue agreed, and cooked a pot of porridge with Xue Atan, Xu Zhi gave Aunt Xue some food first, and the three of them also ate some, and finally relieved the hunger in their stomachs.

After the three of them finished dinner, Xu Zhi and Xue Atan slept on the floor outside, while He Mengjiao slept with Aunt Xue, and the four of them didn't say anything all night.