The mountain wind carried the light cold of frost and dew, blowing away the autumn moon, blowing away the morning mist, playfully whistling, tearing open the gray-white sky in the east, and ushering in the first ray of dawn of the cottage.

On the small mountainside, in the middle of the sparse trees, a few pieces of rubble were put together to form a small platform three feet high, and a figure sat on a stone slab, facing the gradually brightening morning light, and slowly got up, looking no more than a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy.

"Woo-".

"Woo-".

The long sound of the horn came from the foot of the mountain, completely breaking the silence of the mountain.

Hearing the sound of the horn, the young man grabbed the six-foot wooden gun inserted on the side of the stone platform, and took a step away from the small stone platform, and his figure shuttled quickly between the trees, piercing left and right like agile cheetahs, and put away the traps scattered in the grass, streams, and crevices of mountains and rocks.

Walking out of the woods, the boy carried a string of rough traps in his left hand, a wooden spear was carried across his shoulder, and the prey he had captured was tied together with a leather rope and picked up at the head of the spear.

The endless mountains end at the end of the mountain, and a large river flows from west to east according to the mountain topography in the north. The width between the mountains and the water is no more than three or two miles, and the mud pools are dotted with dense reeds, as if they open their arms to welcome the stream flowing from the valley.

The mountain is called Changshan because of its length, the water is called Qingshui because of its clear stool, the valley is naturally called Changqing Valley, and the cottage at the mouth of the valley can only be named Changqing Village.

Changqing village is close to the mountains and rivers, along the banks of the creek there are more than a dozen families of sixty or seventy people, relying on the mountain to eat the mountain and relying on the water to draft, the villagers live by fishing and hunting, the half-old children go up the mountain to chop firewood, the old man who is old and weak is fishing along the river, the women plant some fruit trees and vegetables in front of the house and behind the house, build a few thatched houses to shelter from the wind and rain, and the daily day is also worry-free.

"Woo-woo".

"Woo-woo".

The sound of the horn sounded again, and the boy ran all the way down the path, and when he ran under the tree, before he could put down what he was holding, six or seven half-grown children were already surrounded by him, chattering and noisy.

"Haha, Brother Takagaki, I'll arrive earlier than you today!"

Seeing this, the child who was half a head taller than him behind him chased two steps and clasped the shoulders of the little black face with both hands, made a stumble under his feet, and leaned on the little black face in a panic, and the little black face did not watch out for a conspiracy, and sat down on the ground with a plop, causing the other children to laugh.

"Boar skin, was he beaten again last night? ”

The tall boy put down the little black face, helped Gao Yuan untie the prey carried by the wooden gun with his hands and feet, took out a long snake and held it in his hand and turned it around a few times, so frightened that the little black face who had just gotten up and a few young children scattered in all directions, standing more than a dozen steps away and gritting his teeth and scolding.

"Dead leopard, there is a kind of putting down the long worm and going head-on!"

"Very good, there is still time to play, swim one more round trip, get out!"

On the purple-red face, a scar was drawn from the forehead to the cheek, the blind left eye wore a black blindfold, and the one-eyed glared at the children viciously.

When Takagaki heard the sound, he ran along the path by the stream towards the river, and some bold children turned their heads and grimaced as they ran.

The children ran away, and the blind old man Scar smiled on his face, pulled out the boning knife from the leather leggings, limped one leg to the prey under the tree, decapitated, skinned, deboned, and cramped, and the old man was very skillfully busy, and several old men came to help.

The old people are not the aborigines of the cottage, and the length of time they come to the cottage is also different, but they will not leave when they come, swallow their last breath, the men in the mountains make a thin coffin with wooden planks, and bury them in the tombs on the hillside in the distance, but whenever an old man dies, there will always be a boat to send the newcomer over, and there are always five disabled people living in the courtyard.

Every three months, the government's sailing ships dock at the ancient ferry port outside the village, moving bags of rice and noodles, cans of cooking oil and bags of salt, and more clothes and pills in spring and autumn. At this time, the children in the cottage are the happiest days, the old people leave barely enough daily necessities, and let the children move back to their respective homes. At first, the mountain people were reluctant to take the old man's things, so they secretly sent them back, until the old man dragged his disabled body and delivered them in person, so he had no choice but to accept them.

In the sand next to the ferry, a group of children are wet and practicing boxing, there is an old man in his sixties standing next to the boat, holding a wooden stick in one hand, holding a wine gourd in the other, taking a sip of wine and knocking the boat with a wooden stick, the children then let out a uniform shout, or punching or kicking meticulously, the angle of action is not enough, the old man's wooden stick falls on his body like an eye, and the guidance will not be discounted.

After running more than ten miles and swimming two times in the river, the children were so tired that their hands and legs were weak, and they wanted to fall asleep on the beach, but under the threat of the old man's wooden stick, they gritted their teeth and held on to the end. If you don't practice sneaking home, you have a leather whip that has been soaked in water, and after a whip, you don't want to get up for seven or eight days.

The wild boar skin and the leopard's head have the deepest experience of sneaking away, and they say bad things about Lao Tzu behind their backs: I didn't practice boxing well when I was a child, and I was beaten many times, but now I am angry with my son.

The drunk old man taught the army a long fist, one move and one style to pay attention to go all out, the two armies face the line of life and death, one punch can't defeat the enemy, and the next moment it is you who will be killed or injured. The children in the mountains have seen or heard about the process of their elders fighting with wild beasts, and they have become more ruthless in their fists.

In the morning, they practiced boxing together, fought separately in the evening, and took turns making sandbags in pairs.

Takagaki boxing has no opponent among his partners, but he is most afraid of sparring in the afternoon, and he is the most seriously injured each time. The method of the drunken old man is very simple: you have no opponent alone, that is okay, you can fight two alone, and you can't defeat you, go to three. As a result, it often evolved into either Takagaki single-handedly picking up a group, or a group single-handedly picking him out.

The drunken old man gave the order, and the children cheered at the smoke wafting from the cottage, and the starving ghosts ran home like reincarnations.

"Xiaoyuanzi, the firewood is enough to burn until next year. The drunken old man took out a set of dry clothes from the cabin and threw it to Takagaki.

After changing his clothes, Gao Yuan explained in a low voice: "Drunk grandpa, the puppy's father was bitten by a wolf on the leg, and the firewood for the winter is not enough." ”

"They're gossiping behind their backs, aren't you angry?"

Grandpa Gun said that the target would go all the way, and the gossip would naturally disappear behind him. After speaking, Gao Yuan added: "They have the grace to save my life, what is the gossip." ”

The grandfather and grandson walked back to the small courtyard next to the tree, Gao Yuan picked up the bowl, the blind old man stopped him, and took out two boiled bird eggs from under the steamer with a smile: "Eat quickly." Staring at Gao Yuan before he finished eating, the best meat and the best dish, the old man was like cooking for Gao Yuan, and the other old men smiled at the corners of their mouths.

In the woods at noon, Takagaki walked to the dead tree that he had found, and the branches were cut down yesterday for the puppy to pull back, leaving only the bare old bowl thick trunk.

The wood knife is cut flat, leaving an inch-deep crack, and the wood of the dead tree is tight enough, which is a good wood for burning in winter. Knife after knife, the knife slashed along the crack, Takagaki slowly moved around the trunk of the tree, his right arm was sore, the wood knife was changed to his left hand, and both hands took turns holding the knife. The wood knife kept swinging, and the circle cut by the knife on the tree pole became deeper and deeper, and the dead tree more than a foot high was crumbling.

People in the mountains cut trees with axes, the axe is heavy and powerful, saving time and effort, someone used to see Gao Yuan cutting trees with a firewood knife, ran to the small courtyard to persuade, the blind old man explained: "He is practicing knives." "In the future, no one will have much to do, and some friends will learn from it, and they will not be able to hold on for a few days to pick up the axe again.

As the sun set in the west, the shouting of the woods ceased, and on the hillside, the trunks of trees more than a foot long were nowhere to be seen, and a pile of two-foot-long logs remained. Lean a log vertically against the stone, step on it with your left foot, and chop it down with a shout with a firewood knife in your right hand, and after a dozen knives, the log is cut in half and separated. Grab a piece casually, cut down vertically with a firewood knife, and the wooden block became two halves in three or two, and grabbed a piece again, the knife flashed, and it was divided into two again.

In the middle of the day, all the logs have become inches thick wooden strips, Gao Yuan is tired and sweaty, but the corners of his mouth are sitting on the stone with a smile to breathe, and when his breathing is stable, he grabs the wicker basket and fills the basket with the cut wooden strips, which weighs seventy or eighty pounds full, and he still walks vigorously when he carries it.

After the meal, boxing sparring, a meal of punching and kicking, relieving the breath to go to the woods under the trap, looking for prey footprints, analyzing the rules of activities, meticulous work is very time-consuming, waiting for the last clip to be arranged, the night shrouds the mountains and forests.

In the depths of the valley, a pool of stones on the edge of the pond is scattered into piles, Gao Yuan picked up a piece and walked back, and put it down a hundred steps away from the entrance of the village.

"Xiao Yuanzi, when I'm done, I'll go to your grandfather gun, he has something. ”

The old man's words did not fall, and there was an old man beside Gao Yuan, who couldn't see his face clearly, but he saw his long hair dancing wildly.

"Good boy, this piece has one hundred and fifty pounds, begging for a beating?"

"It's a bit heavy. Gao Yuan shook his sour arm, and the old man's knuckles knocked on his head: "More than 100 catties doesn't count." ”

"Grandpa Shi, you rest, I won't be lazy. ”

"Get out!" the old man kicked in, Takagaki turned his body to dodge, and ran quickly to the valley, moving stones every night, and the stones became heavier as he aged, and he could only complete the daily task if he moved enough hundred.

Day after day, year after year, the simple and boring life begins at the age of six, and two months later turns six.