Spring

The gray sky was a little pale, and the cool breeze blew and fell light rain.

Winter turns to spring, and everything recovers, and heaven and earth gradually begin to regain their vitality.

In the distance, rows of old trees on the back of the mountains are pumping new branches and giving birth to green shoots, and the mountains and fields are black and white, and the old snow of last year has not completely faded.

The muddy trail winds down the rugged halfway up the mountainside, through the stream below the mountain on one side of the wasteland, and on the other end of the vast lawn at the foot of the mountain, where a dozen wilderness thatched huts crisscross the country with little smoke, probably at dinner time

As twilight arose, the hazy wilderness shone a faint blue, and the sky became more and more gloomy.

Under the wooden bridge by the mountain stream, two figures wrapped in robes came out, one after the other, running briskly from the muddy mountain road towards the direction of the village.

"Third brother, how is the third brother's harvest today?" shouted the fatter man who ran behind.

The man in front of him was tall and thin, shook the fish basket on his shoulder, and replied in a rough voice: "So-so, I finally caught a big fat crucian carp for a day after two hours." The heavy snow has closed the mountain for more than two months, and your third sister-in-law has never had a fishy smell in her mouth, so you can finally make up for it with fresh soup in the stew pot tonight!"

The fatter man was surprised: "Eh, that's not bad, I didn't expect the third brother to have a hand for catching fish..."

The tall and thin man called 'Third Brother' was still in a good mood, and said happily: "The crops are messed around, which is better than your ancestral craftsmanship!"

Catching fish is indeed different from other strength work, and the trick is quite a bit of a doorway, and the fatter men are fishermen in the village for three generations, so they naturally have a unique ability. He listened to the third brother's praise and said proudly: "That's... Eh, the third sister-in-law's body has been six months, right?"

When the tall and thin man heard this, he turned around and grinned and said, "There are still six days left, and your third sister-in-law is still six days away from seven months! Hahaha, it's almost fast, that little rabbit cub kicked Lao Tzu through the skin last night!

The tall and thin man urged him to slip in the mud under his feet, and his body tilted forward to plant, but the decline that was about to fall down suddenly hit something somehow, and he stumbled back two steps, and he stood firmly.

"Made!"

He blurted out a curse, his hands clasped tightly on the baby fish basket that was dangling on his shoulders and almost flew out. Thinking of today's hard work, I was even more angry and scolding, and when I looked up, I saw a skinny old man with a crumbling head spread in the sewage pit in front of me, and his clothes were ragged and full of mud.

The tall and thin man froze in place, dumbfounded.

"What's going on, what's going on?" the fat man behind him hurriedly ran forward.

The cold wind swept under the night rain, and the thin old man was weak and panting, and his shriveled chest was trembling and undulating. The rain soaked the whole body and wrapped it in tatters, and you could feel the chill soaked in cold from afar. He was shivering, and he wanted to roll over, trying to get up from the cold cesspool.

"Uncle, are you, are you okay?" the tall and thin man was no longer annoyed when he felt sorry for him, and bent down to reach out for help.

The fat man standing next to him had a tight gaze, sharp eyes and quick hands, and stopped him and said, "Third brother, I haven't seen him, I'm not from our village!"

Lao Suo hung his head, his loose white hair almost completely fell off, he struggled to get up tremblingly, his rickety body was clubbed with a short stick of dead wood, and he barely stood firm with his strength, and his contracture-dried left hand stretched out from the broken wool and patted the corner of his clothes stained with mud, and coughed lowly.

The tall and thin man pushed away the fatter man's hand, took a step forward and whispered apologetically: "Uncle, I didn't see that I bumped into you, did you fall, why don't you go to my house to take a look?"

The fatter man interjected: "Ahem, ahem, third brother... The third brother is not early..."

The tall and thin man wrung his brows and glared at him obliquely, and the fatter man opened his mouth and suffocated his words, only swallowing the second half of the sentence raw.

The thin old man tilted his head with difficulty, and said in a trembling voice: "Ahh It's okay, it's okay!"

Lao Suo is not tall, his body is not as close to the chest of a tall and thin man, and his voice is lonely, which makes people listen to the pitiful tightness of their hearts.

The tall and thin man lowered his body, leaned closer, and said in a loud voice of concern: "My husband is from another village, right? This is Xiaoshi Village in Qingtan Mountain, and it is also about sixty miles away from Surabaya Town in the north, which is the closest outside the mountain. Is my husband here to visit you? I say that I know each other, and I can help you show you the way. ”

"Qingtan Mountain... Koishi Village... Surabaya Town..."Lao Suo's voice trembled hoarsely and lightly, and he muttered to himself.

"Oh, yes, yes, it's the town of Surabaya, north... To the north... Thank you, thank you!" the thin old man hesitated, as if he was very afraid of life, timidly shrank his head and took a few steps back, staggering and almost falling.

The later it gets, the wind and rain are fierce, and the evening twilight sky is about to get dark.

The thin old man spoke a little quietly, and was covered by the sound of wind and rain, so he nodded in a toneless tone, and dodged timidly. The tall and thin man finally sighed helplessly, took off the fish basket on his shoulder and insisted on stuffing it into Lao Suo's hand, wiped the rain on his face and pointed to the east of the village, and finally said loudly: "There is a deserted old house in the east of the village that no one lives in, and the old man can stay there for a night, make a fire to warm his body, and the fish in this basket can also be roasted and eaten." If you still need anything at night, you can go to the village to find me, the door is facing the big willow tree is my house, you just knock on the door and call He Laosan. ”

"Good, good...... "Lao Suo bowed his head and thanked him a thousand times.

The tall and thin man was still not very relieved, and said: "Uncle, the road is slippery in the dark, you have to be careful!"

The tall and thin man strode forward seven or eight steps before he turned his gaze away from behind him, and out of the corner of his eye, a low figure suddenly swept to his side. Before he could see clearly, his arm was grabbed by the fatter man next to him, and he hurried towards the village.

The two ran until the entrance of the village, and the fat man relaxed a little.

The tall and thin man glanced away, and said noly: "Dog, what are you doing?"

The fatter man was angry and shouted: "Third brother, are you crazy! What do you give him fish and what do your third sister-in-law eat at night? Don't you remember that the last time Liu Qi went to the town to sell wild boars, he was to knock down a bad old man, and when he couldn't touch them, he was blackmailed, and the whole wild boar was taken in by the official family! If his wife hadn't gone back early that day, Liu Qi would have hanged himself in the house... That boar is a mountain boar that he has been frugal, and he has been raising it for three whole years, and he wants to marry his son's daughter-in-law!"

When the news spread throughout the village, he naturally knew that the tall and thin man's voice was weak, and he whispered: "But, but that old man is too pitiful..."

"Poor fart! The third brother is a rotten good man with a soft heart, who has never seen the world and knows the sinister. The fat man shook his head and sighed, took off the fish basket on his shoulder and reached down, and continued, "That's it, I said you don't understand... If there are still many fish in the basket, I will catch one for you first, otherwise you, an honest man, will accidentally say that you have leaked your mouth when you go back, so that the third sister-in-law will know that she must be angry with you again!"

"Huh, really?!"

The tall and thin man was taken aback, looked at the short and fat man in surprise, and grinned: "Dog, aren't you a thief on weekdays?"

Tonight, the third brother will dig out the fruit brew from the cellar, and I will take my mother-in-law to your house to eat wine in the evening. ”

"Hey, this calculation, it turns out that your kid is worried about my wine... Li Gouyu, I really think you should go to the town to do business!"

"Eh, hey, hey, I like to do business, and my mother-in-law is also talking about it, and I'll go to the town to take a look when the spring is warm. The third brother let's go, it's too late to go back, and the mother-in-law will have to scold people again, and won't let you go to the kang..."

"Okay, I'll go back and kill the fish, and then I'll dig up a jar of wine for you and cook it!"

"Hahaha, the third brother digs a few more altars, and if you don't get drunk tonight, you won't return..."

",... Lao Tzu's baby's future wedding wine can't be slandered by you!" The tall thin man pushed and kicked him, laughing and scolding a few times.

It's just that after speaking, I covered the eyelids of my left eye that suddenly jumped, and I was irritable and irritable at the bottom of my heart, and I always felt that something bad was about to happen.

He sighed and stopped thinking, and turned his head to look out of the village, the night was dark and rainy, and he couldn't see anything clearly on the path.