In a remote mountain village, under a withering old elm tree, an old man with a white beard sat on a flat stone, touching his beard with one hand and holding a cup of tea in the other.

Beside him, there were children under the age of ten, all from the village. The adults of their family went down to the field, so they left the child in the care of the old man.

The old man is not a native of the village, it is said that he was injured and passed out of the village 30 years ago, and was accidentally rescued by the old head of the village.

With the departure of the old village chief, no one knew his background anymore, and after he recovered from his injury, he often helped the villagers to work, and over time the simple villagers accepted him and no longer asked about his origins.

"Grandpa Flowerbeard, tell me the story of the fairy again!"

A five-year-old boy kept shaking the old man's hand, blinking and staring at him with big eyes.

As soon as the words ended, a boy about ten years old with his back to them stopped what he was doing and looked back at the little boy with disdain.

"Hmph! It's all a trick to deceive people, what kind of gods are there in this world! The so-called immortals are all made up by adults to deceive children, and you still believe it!"

"Hehe, Xiao Chen, if you don't believe it, it doesn't mean that the gods don't exist! Those distant legends have been handed down for thousands of years and have a certain basis, and not all of them are groundless. ”

The old man looked at the ten-year-old boy kindly and touched the head of the child next to him.

"Hmph, it's a lie, just these little boys believe your words, anyway, I don't believe it. Unless an immortal is standing in front of me right now, do you think it's possible?"

The little boy replied to him without looking back, and began to continue the work in hand. He was carrying a pile of mud and pinching one clay figure after another.

The old man was silent for a while, and then he didn't say anything more to him, but instead told the story to the children beside him.

The name of this child playing with mud is Ye Chen, and he is the son of Jiang Yingyue, a widow who sells tofu at the head of the village.

They fled here ten years ago, when Ye Chen was just a baby who had just reached the end of his month. When the villagers saw that she was pitiful, they built them a house.

Regarding the inquiries of the villagers, Jiang Yingyue only said that they were ordinary people, and it was only because of the famine outside and the rebellion of the rogues that they came here by mistake, as for Ye Chen's biological father, Jiang Yingyue said that he died in the famine.

Because Jiang Yingyue is skillful and grinds good tofu, she opened a tofu workshop in the village, and the neighbors look at her pitiful and like to buy her tofu. Over time, she demolished the original wooden house and built a new one.

When it was time for lunch, the adults of each family came back and brought their children back one after another. After a while, only Ye Chen was left.

"Xiao Chen, your mother must be very busy at this point, I'll send you back!"

The old man smiled and patted the dust on his body, stood up and was about to send Ye Chen back.

"Stop, you don't have to send me, I can go back alone. ”

Ye Chen immediately stopped him, picked up a few clay figurines and ran away.

"What's wrong with this stinky boy?

The old man looked at Ye Chen's distant back, turned around and walked towards the thatched hut behind the old elm tree.

"Hmph, you big liar, I was really young, you gave it to me just to eat, right?"

Ye Chen glanced back at him, trotted all the way, and came to the door after a while. At a glance, I saw my mother who was busy in front of the tofu stall.

Now is the time to make lunch, and it is also the busiest time of the day for Jiang Yingyue. She didn't have time to pick up Ye Chen, the old man had sent Ye Chen back before.

"I came back to Mother. Ye Chen called lightly and rushed into the house.

Jiang Yingyue just glanced at him lightly, and then busily began to weigh tofu for the guests.

When the tofu was almost sold, Jiang Yingyue tidied up the board before entering the house.

"Fortunately, I left a small piece of tofu, otherwise I wouldn't know what to eat at noon today!"

Jiang Yingyue carried a small piece of tofu and walked towards the stove room with a muttering to herself. As soon as she entered the stove room, she felt that Ye Chen's face was a little wrong, and she poked her head out to look at Ye Chen who was sitting on the stool.

"Xiao Chen, where is your grandfather Hua? didn't he send you today?"

"Nope. I grew up, so I didn't want him to send it. Ye Chen pouted.

Jiang Yingyue put the tofu in the stove room when she heard this, came out and touched Ye Chen's head, and said, "What's the matter?

"No, I didn't argue with him. ”

"Then what's wrong with you, I feel that you are a little unhappy?" Jiang Yingyue asked with concern.

"He talks to those little fart kids all day about heroes, fairies, and whatever, it's unrealistic, and I don't feel comfortable listening to it. ”

"Hehe, just for this little thing, I thought you were fighting with other children?" Jiang Yingyue hid her face and laughed when she heard this.

"I'll tell you! What your grandfather Hua said is not a lie, this world is big! You are still young, and when you grow up in the future, you will know that your grandfather Hua is not lying to you. ”

"Really, is there really a savior and a god in this world?" Ye Chen raised his small head and asked extremely seriously.

"You'll find out when you're older. ”

Jiang Yingyue touched his head with a smile when she heard this, then turned around and walked towards the stove room.

As soon as she entered the door, Jiang Yingyue, who was originally smiling, suddenly sank her face, and a tear immediately crossed her cheek.

"The savior hero and the immortal, is there? If there really was, my Ye family would not have suffered a great disaster, right?

Jiang Yingyue whispered, she quickly wiped away her tears, raised her head and stopped it from flowing.

Ye Chen didn't wait long, Jiang Yingyue brought out a plate of roasted tofu with a bright red color from the stove, and then she brought out a plate of fried meat with bamboo shoots. Ye Chen consciously went to the stove room to serve dinner.

After sitting down, Ye Chen didn't wait for Jiang Yingyue to move his chopsticks, and he began to gobble up and eat.

"Slow down, no one will rob you. Jiang Yingyue looked at him dotingly.

"Mother, the tofu you made is delicious. ”

Ye Chen kept shaving rice while praising him, and after a while, a bowl of rice was eaten clean by him.

"You love tofu, I make it for you every day, can't you get tired of it?"

"How can you get tired of eating it! Such delicious tofu is not enough to eat for a lifetime!"

Ye Chen smiled back to his mother, and in a blink of an eye, he went to the stove room to serve a bowl of rice.

"After dinner, you should go to your bearded grandfather, I will go to collect some soybeans, otherwise there will be no tofu to sell in a few days." ”

"Is it okay not to go?" Ye Chen looked up at Jiang Yingyue when he heard this, hoping to get permission.

"I'm grown up, and it's okay for me to stay at home alone, and I don't need to be looked after. Besides, I went there to listen to his stories all day long, and they were all four or five-year-old kids, and they didn't even have a playmate. ”

"No, you're still young, and you won't be able to stay home alone for another two years. ”

Jiang Yingyue rejected him directly, Ye Chen's personality was a little arrogant and withdrawn, Jiang Yingyue hoped that he would become more cheerful by playing with those children.

"Just go. Ye Chen pursed his lips, as if he had been wronged.

After eating, Jiang Yingyue closed the door, she walked with Ye Chen for a while, and then parted at a fork.

At this time, a lot of children gathered under the old elm tree, some of them were grabbing stones, some were chasing and fighting, and a few of them were about the same age as Ye Chen, and they were playing with the mud like him.

Ye Chen walked towards the children who were about his age, and found that one of them was occupying his place, he quickly rushed over and pulled the child away, and the child stumbled, sat on the ground, and cried.

"Song Jie, what are you doing, why are you taking my place?"

Ye Chen questioned, ignoring the cry of the child named Song Jie. Here, everyone who plays with mud has his own small territory, which no one else is allowed to occupy, and it is his fault that he grabs his place.

The child, named Song Jie, cried and rolled around on the ground after falling to the ground, without giving up.

After a while, the children who were chasing and frolicking also stopped, and looked at Song Jie who was splashing on the ground.

Hearing the child's cry, the old man walked out from behind the old elm tree and walked straight towards Ye Chen.

"Grandpa, Grandpa Flower......"

One by one, the children greeted him, but the old man ignored him, and kept staring at Ye Chen.

"It's him...... He was the one who took my place first. Ye Chen was a little scared, and pointed to Song Jie on the ground to argue.

"Ye Chen is right, Grandpa Flowerbeard, it was Song Jie who took Ye Chen's position first, and he pulled him away. Seeing this, a little boy on the side also whispered to defend Ye Chen.

"Come, slow down, I'll help you up. ”

The old man ignored Ye Chen and the child, but picked up Song Jie, who was sprinkled, and cleaned the dust off his body for him.

"Ye Chen, if you dare to pull me, I will beat you. ”

Song Jie was still unwilling after being helped up, relying on the old man now next to him, he was about to rush over and beat Ye Chen.

"Fooling around ......"

The old man scolded and grabbed him at once.

"When you play here, listen to me, and don't fight, don't play dangerous games, or I won't allow your parents to send you to me." ”

The old man had a straight face, and the younger children were shocked that they didn't dare to move, and even a few younger girls had tears rolling in their eyes, but they didn't dare to cry because they were afraid.

The old man also noticed that his voice was a little louder. hurriedly went to comfort the little girls, and left Ye Chen and them here.

The kid named Song Jie glared at Ye Chen viciously, still a little unwilling, but under the pressure of the old man, he didn't dare to make a move.

Seeing that the old man didn't care about them anymore, Ye Chen turned around and grabbed a handful of mud and pinched it himself.