In the scorching summer, the sun is like fire.

The clear river flowed slowly, glistening blindly in the sunlight.

The thousand-year-old ginkgo tree by the river, which is dozens of feet high, is already luxuriant. The tall canopy of the trees is verdant and green, and the branches stretch horizontally, holding up the sky and clouds.

In the shade of a tree, three little boys were playing around the shiny boulder under the tree.

"Bai Qingyun, how about we have a competition?"

Bai Qingyun had just turned nine years old that year. On that stormy night nine years ago, at the moment when a thunderclap and a flash of lightning sent him into this world, his mother died of postpartum hemorrhage, and his father died in a life-and-death struggle with the tiger, and it was his grandfather Bai Douwen who carried him all the time.

His name was also given by his grandfather. His grandfather often sent love to the landscape, intoxicated by nature, one day looking at the green mountains and white clouds, suddenly inspired, named Qingyun, milk name Yun'er.

It was Gan Yu who proposed the competition.

Gan Yu and Bai Qingyun were born at the same time in the same year, month, and day. Coincidentally, his family lives next to another clear spring in the "sister spring" of Shuangquan Village. On that stormy night nine years ago, another flash of the same thunderbolt slashed straight down from the black fish white eyes of the Taiji Cloud Atlas, stirring up the spring water in the other clear spring seven or eight feet high, and a weeping willow next to the spring immediately turned into charcoal, and at that moment he fell to the ground.

"Than what?" Bai Qingyun asked.

"Let's go up the tree and see who can climb faster and higher. Gan Yu pointed to the canopy of the tree.

"I'll be the referee. Lu Hailong looked at the tall trees, and in his heart he was defeated first, and offered to be the referee.

Lu Hailong is the son of Lu Hengping, the chief housekeeper of the Bai family's compound, and is one year older than Bai Qingyun and Gan Yu.

"Three people on it together. We don't want referees. Gan Yu still stubbornly insisted on his own ideas.

"Bai Qingyun, you two compare, I don't want to go. Lu Hailong looked at Bai Qingyun with a pleading gaze.

It stands to reason that Lu Hailong and Gan Yu should both call Bai Qingyun "Young Master", just because the three of them go to school together all day long, play together, and call him smooth, and Master Bai never cares, so he often calls him by his name.

"Just let him be the referee. Let's compare. Bai Qingyun looked at Lu Hailong's fat appearance, he usually had some difficulty walking, and he would definitely not be able to climb such a tall tree, so he said flexibly.

"Okay, ready to go. Gan Yu took off his shoes, rolled up his cuffs, and foamed at the palm of his two hands.

"You two stand on the line. Lu Hailong drew a line on the ground with a branch at a distance from the root of the tree, waited for Bai Qingyun and Gan Yu to stand in front of the line, and then suddenly ordered: "Ready...... on!"

At the sound of an order, Bai Qingyun and Gan Yu struggled straight to the bottom of the tree.

This thousand-year-old ginkgo tree has a thick trunk and needs to be embraced by three adults. Gan Yu clasped the gray-brown rough bark with both hands, and his two feet tightly hooked the trunk, and his hands and feet continued to alternately change and move upward, and the movements were very coherent.

Bai Qingyun did not choose to climb the trunk of the tree and jump up, but first climbed the boulder, got up and grabbed the branch, climbed the branch with all his might, jumped and grabbed a branch again, and then turned over again, as fast as an ape.

Lu Hailong cheered loudly under the tree, shouting and cheering, nervous and happy.

The two of them climbed faster and higher, and their bodies were soon hidden by the dense foliage.

Bai Qingyun was the first to reach the upper part of the center of the canopy, more than half a body taller than Ganyu, but Lu Hailong couldn't see it.

The trees are full of bunches of green ginkgo fruits. People here know that ginkgo biloba cannot be eaten raw, especially if it is not ripe and poisonous.

Bai Qingyun was full of ambition and began to look left and right. Suddenly, he noticed a nest made in the middle of a branch, and a pair of small birds were waiting to be fed.

"Hey, I found a nest and two birds!"

"Quickly take the bird off!" Lu Hailong shouted with his head up.

The branch is the thickness of a small wrist and is long, slanting out towards the river. Bai Qingyun climbed over very carefully, tried it, and couldn't reach it.

"I can't reach it!" Bai Qingyun replied downward.

"I'll help you. Gan Yu had already climbed up and stood behind Bai Qingyun.

Gan Yu grabbed the branch above his head with his left hand, pulled Bai Qingyun's left hand with his right hand, and sent his arm forward. Bai Qingyun slid another step forward along the branch, leaning forward as far as he could, and stretching his right hand forward as far as he could.

When the two little birds saw Bai Qingyun's outstretched fingers, not only did they not dodge, but they scrambled to catch up with them while shouting.

At the moment when Bai Qingyun and Gan Yu held hands, a strange feeling suddenly spread throughout Gan Yu's body. Gan Yu thought angrily, "Why are his hands soft and smooth, why are my hands stiff and rough, why are his hands so white and clean, why are my hands always scarred, why did he do something wrong, why did he hit the board on my body? It's all because of that hateful Mr. Fang." No, it's him, it's Bai Qingyun's bad coward, if he doesn't do bad things, can I be punished?" Thinking about it, an uncontrollable anger and resentment rushed straight to his head.

Bai Qingyun, Gan Yu and Lu Hailong are all studying in the private school run by Master Bai's own family, and they have been studying for three years, and Gan Yu and Lu Hailong are free companions.

Mr. Fang is a teacher invited by Master Bai, who is over sixty years old, has gray hair, and wears a brocade robe all year round. He is full of poetry and books, and he is a well-known old talent in ten miles and eight towns.

Children are naughty by nature and often play around together, which is normal. But every time they fight, Bai Qingyun and Lu Hailong always work together to bully Gan Yu. Not only that, if Bai Qingyun made trouble in the classroom and did bad things, Mr. Fang would be punished with a ring ruler, and Gan Yu was always a scapegoat. The reason is very simple, Bai Qingyun is the beloved grandson of the owner, Lu Hailong is the son of the housekeeper, Mr. Fang's diet and daily life are completely dependent on the care of the housekeeper Lu, and Gan Yu is a child of a poor family, free to read, so Mr. Fang never punishes softly, and does not ask about the merits, indiscriminately, and catching Gan Yu is a fierce beating, which is intended to "kill chickens and make an example of monkeys".

Once, Mr. Fang asked a question in class, Lu Hailong took the initiative to get up and answer first, and when he finished answering and was about to sit down, Bai Qingyun quietly pulled out Lu Hailong's stool, Lu Hailong didn't notice it, he habitually sat down, his buttocks suddenly sat empty, instinctively grabbed the table, and even fell to the ground with the table, and the ink stained his body, while Bai Qingyun and Gan Yu couldn't stop laughing.

When Lu Hailong saw that his clothes were dyed, he cried loudly, wiping his tears while crying, and his ink-stained hands made himself into a big flower face again. Bai Qingyun and Gan Yu were even more smiling, out of breath.

"Still laughing, after such a big disaster, can you still laugh?" Mr. Fang was finally angry. He roared, rushed over with a ring ruler in his hand, and grabbed Gan Yu's hand and jerked it violently.

"I didn't do it!" Gan Yu argued.

"Didn't you do it, did I do it?" Mr. Fang was even more angry.

The more Gan Yu argued, the more hard Mr. Fang pumped, until Gan Yu's two lines of tears flowed down.

That punishment made my palms swollen and painful, and I couldn't hold a pen and write for many days.

One morning reading, while Mr. was away, the three of them began to "make trouble in the Heavenly Palace". When they were playing and playing, they happened to be caught by Mr. Fang, and they had to be beaten with three precepts. However, the gentleman searched everywhere and couldn't find where the ring ruler was, so he shouted and asked, "Who took the ring ruler?"

"Me. Bai Qingyun stood up and said. It turned out that during their frolic, Bai Qingyun accidentally discovered Mr.'s ring ruler and quietly hid it.

"Bring it!" exclaimed the gentleman.

Bai Qingyun ran over and slowly pulled out the ring ruler from his sleeve, Mr. was reaching out to pick it up, suddenly, Bai Qingyun hit Mr. in the palm of his hand, Mr. reached out to grab it, and there was another bamboo board on the back of his hand.

Mr. Fang felt that Sven was swept away, and he was so angry that he blew his beard and glared.

Bai Qingyun saw that the situation was not good, turned around and ran, Mr. Fang was furious and chased after him. So, the old and the young chased after me and circled around the school desk.

Bai Qingyun ran and ran, and actually laughed, making Gan Yu and Lu Hailong also laugh with him. The more angry the gentleman became, the more stubborn and persistent he was.

Bai Qingyun couldn't see the end well, so he ran over and threw the ring ruler on Gan Yu's desk, trying to engage in a relay race. Gan Yu couldn't react for a while, and looked at the ring ruler in front of him blankly, not knowing what to do.

Mr. Fang rushed over, picked up the ring ruler, and shone it on Gan Yu's head, and there was a random beating. Gan Yu instinctively protected his head with his hand, and the back of his hand was beaten to the pain, and he hurriedly took his hand away in pain, and his head was buzzed again. The gentleman scolded angrily while whipping, and he yelled in pain, but no one could help him.

The taste of being beaten for others is not only painful in your head and hands, but also in your heart. Gradually, Gan Yu's slamming blow to the head and head was no longer dodging, nor was he covered with his hands to protect it. He raised his head, puffed up his chest, pursed his mouth, gritted his teeth, and looked at Bai Qingyun with fixed eyes, burying the seeds of hatred deep in his heart.

At this time, taking advantage of the fact that the two little birds fluttered their wings to meet them, Bai Qingyun grabbed the situation and caught one very lightly.

"Caught, I've caught one!"

Just when Bai Qingyun was elated, Gan Yu suddenly became malicious and suddenly let go of his hand. Bai Qingyun lost his center of gravity, and planted his head down, and in a panic, he instinctively grabbed the branch under his feet. The branch swayed up and down violently, shaking off the nest, and the two little birds fluttered and fell diagonally to the surface of the river.

Gan Yu's feet also happened to be stepping on this branch that made a bird's nest, and with the sharp swing of the branch, his feet slipped, and his body flashed backwards, accompanied by a long exclamation, and fell into the river with a "poof".

There is a large blue stone on top of the water in the river, which is clearly visible through the river. Ganyu's body happened to fall on the stone, and then sank again.

"Help! Someone's falling into the river!" Lu Hailong anxiously shouted at an ox cart pulling wheat straw on the road by the river, and probed into the river as he shouted.

Fortunately, the water flow in the river was gentle, and the villagers who rushed to hear the news quickly rescued Gan Yu to the shore.

Fortunately, after Gan Yu spit out two mouthfuls of water, he opened his smart eyes again.

The villagers were about to leave the place with the injured Gan Yu in their arms, when they heard someone shouting "help" again. They looked up at the sound, only to see Bai Qingyun still hanging in the air, holding on to the branch that was leaning out of the side with both hands, and people couldn't help laughing.

According to the diagnosis of the village doctor, Ganyu fell on a big stone in the river, causing a contusion in his waist and a fracture in his right leg.

On the afternoon of the second day after Gan Yu was injured, his mother, Guo Yuejuan, moved a small stool and sat under the thousand-year-old ginkgo tree by the river, facing the gate of the Bai family's compound from afar, and began to curse the street.

She thought that her son Gan Yu was injured by Bai Qingyun pushing him down a tree, although Gan Yu did not say so.

In fact, she could have walked into this compound to discuss with Bai Douwen in person, but she didn't want to go in because she was kicked out by Bai Qingyun's mother.

Ten years ago, she worked as a maid in this compound, and Bai Qingyun's mother forcibly kicked her out of the house on suspicion that she was having an affair with her husband. In order to properly handle this matter, Bai Douwen took the initiative to marry her to Gan Ben, an old bachelor in the village.

The reason why Bai Douwen chose Gan Yu to come to the Bai family compound to accompany Bai Qingyun to study for free also stems from this.

Guo Yuejuan is no longer the well-behaved girl she was when she was a maid in the Bai family's courtyard, and years of poor life have made her a well-known shrew in the village. Today, she carried a stool in her hand, and ran over crying as if she was mourning, sat under the ginkgo tree, pulled out the hairpin on her head, shook her hair in two or three, and scolded while crying in an extremely sad and angry tone.

In the crying and scolding, every word and every sentence of her is stretched in a very long tone, with a certain rhythm, dragging a meandering trill, especially scolding to the sad place, and it will be accompanied by extremely exaggerated movements, beating her chest and legs with both hands, shaking her liver and lungs and crying loudly, it sounds like someone has died in the family.

She first scolded "Pulsatilla" (referring to Bai Douwen) for teaching her son and spoiling her grandson, and then scolded Bai Qingyun for bullying others, often beating her son Gan Yu's body to "thousands of purples and thousands of reds", and then scolded Bai Qingyun for being a disaster star and killing her parents. She cursed in her scolding, mixed with unbearable village dialects, and the trouble was so dark that the road was sparsely populated.

Neighbors and passers-by gathered more and more, and stood there from a distance to watch the bustle, and talked a lot, saying anything.

Guo Yuejuan's crying made Bai Dou Wen so anxious that he was in the living room of his house, not knowing what to do. Several family members were angry and wanted to go out to clean up the mother-in-law, but they were immediately stopped by Master Bai.

There will always be a way. That night, Bai Douwen asked Yin Chunhua, the head of the village, to visit the injured Gan Yu at Guo Yuejuan's house, apologized to Gan Ben and his wife, and gave him 200 taels of silver and some clothes. The matter has been put to rest for the time being.