Chapter 17 Chapter Seventeen

I played until two o'clock at night before going to bed. Amidst the explosion of firecrackers from time to time, I couldn't sleep well all night.When I woke up in the morning, Taozi saw my face and said with a smile: "I don't want to sleep well these two days, people will always set off firecrackers." "Don't you all need to sleep?" "Spring Festival is the most leisure time of the year. There are not many entertainment activities in the countryside. When relatives and friends get together, they will play mahjong. They often play mahjong all night, and they get lucky. They go out and set off a firecracker to celebrate, and they get unlucky. , will also run out and set off a firecracker for transport."

I laughed: "This way of playing mahjong is good!" "Do you play mahjong?" "I know a little bit, but I don't feel the fun of mahjong at all. I prefer to play poker. When I graduated from university, I played in the dark, and the whole corridor was full of poker games." "Then let's slip away after dinner tonight. Grandma likes to watch the Spring Festival Gala, so my mother and uncle didn't play mahjong last night. They will definitely play mahjong tonight. If you are here, they will definitely ask you to play .” While talking, Jingjing and Miao Miao also got up, ran to me and bowed to say New Year greetings: "Auntie, Happy New Year."

I took out the red envelopes I had prepared and gave each of them: "I wish you all grow up quickly, study well, and stay healthy." Jingjing pursed her lips: "I don't want to grow up quickly! It's fun to be a child. It's fun to see my mother and my aunt working hard all day, cooking and working in the fields." After speaking, she ran to find the children Who has more New Year's money than anyone else. I stared at Taozi dumbfounded: "Are all children so smart nowadays? When I was young, I always looked forward to growing up quickly, thinking that growing up is the magic weapon to solve all troubles."

Taozi scratched her head: "I also have a generation gap with her. She always scolded me for being rude, saying that there must be no girls in school who like me." "Impossible!" I couldn't believe it, how could it not? He shook his head, with a hint of melancholy in his eyes: "No. I don't know how to clean myself up, and I only like to stay in the library and the experimental field. I don't know anything girls like." In the Mood for Love, which teenager does not have a spring?I sighed: "It's the story of He Shibi again, but there will always be someone who truly knows jade, and she will respect you, respect you, and love you."

Taozi blushed, and after a while, he whispered, "Thank you!" I laughed, and he suddenly asked, "Do you respect, respect, and love my uncle?" I said softly: "I said we are ordinary friends." He really understood what I meant, and looked at me sympathetically, with heavy regret in his eyes.I smiled, took the remaining red envelope, and waved it in front of his eyes: "My good nephew, I haven't paid New Year's greetings yet!" He laughed, stood up, and bowed to me: "I wish Aunt Su good health and a long life." I laughed and gave him the New Year's money: "You should wish me eternal youth and beauty."

Taozi asked, "Would you like to go and see the herbs I grow?" "it is good." He carried a hoe and a bag of things, and I pretended to follow behind him with a small hoe.Walking to the edge of the field on the hillside, he began to work in the field, thinking that he was applying chemical fertilizers, but when he looked carefully, he realized that what he had buried in the roots of the plants turned out to be white sugar. He saw me looking at him like a madman, and laughed: "My little recipe, Gastrodia elata likes sweetness, bury a little sugar in the roots of Gastrodia elata, and the grown Gastrodia elata will be big and good."

I can't understand the reason, but know that he is a market competition winner.He was in charge of digging holes in the field, and I hung the sugar bag on the hoe pole, pretending to be Daiyu, and buried the flowers. While singing "The Song of Burying Flowers", I sprinkled the sugar into the "flower mound" mournfully, and then buried it. He was leaning on a hoe and couldn't straighten up laughing. Lu Licheng walked out of the woods wearing long boots, carrying a basket, and holding a sickle.I was holding a handful of sugar, pretending to be a celestial girl, and scattered flowers. When I saw him, I stood up immediately, threw the sugar into the pit, and buried it quickly.

Seeing Lu Licheng, Taozi rubbed his stomach and asked, "Uncle, does Aunt Su do the same in the office?" As soon as I said that, I saw Lu Licheng's reaction and understood the answer.He looked at me sympathetically, but when he saw me making faces at him, imitating Lu Licheng's woodcutter, he immediately laughed again.Lu Licheng had no idea what he was laughing at, ignored us, and took out a hot water bottle from the basket and handed it to me.I've been outside for a long time, and I felt a little cold, so I quickly took it and held it in my arms: "Are you planning to go to Zhongnan Mountain to be a woodcutter?"

He didn't answer but instead asked, "Are you going?" I thought about it, there is no computer, no internet, there will be someone playing mahjong in the house, if I don’t hang out with him, what else can I do? "it is good." Taozi ran to the edge of the field, looked into the basket with his head, and said with a smile, "I'm going too." Three people went up the mountain, and both of them came prepared, but I was wearing a pair of leather shoes that were completely unsuitable for mountain climbing. At first, I refused to ask Lu Licheng to help me, but after I fell twice, I obediently grabbed Lu Licheng's hand.

Taozi climbed the mountain and still had the energy to collect wood, but I only had the energy to take care of myself and not fall.Lu Licheng usually looked the same as me, but when he got to the mountain, his side as the son of the mountain was immediately revealed. I was panting from climbing, but his face didn't even change. "where are we going?" Taozi seems to know where Lu Licheng wants to go: "You will know when you arrive." I looked at the sky and said worriedly: "How far is it? This way, when we go down the mountain, I'm afraid it will be dark."

Taozi said with a smile: "It will definitely be dark, but you don't have to be afraid. In the worst case, I will ask my uncle to carry you down." After climbing for more than an hour, I finally reached the top of the mountain.I found a flat stone, sat down immediately, my throat was smoky, and asked without any hope: "Do you have any water?" Lu Licheng walked to the eaves of the cliff and called me: "Su Man, come here." I shuffled slowly to his side, and was surprised to see a clear spring the size of a well mouth at his feet.He took out half of the bamboo tube, scooped up a tube of water, and handed it to me.I shook my head. Although it looked clean, I didn't have the guts to drink it casually. He took it by himself and drank it clean in one gulp.Taozi also came over to scoop up a tube, and poured it down.Lu Licheng scooped up another tube for me. I saw that they drank it all, and I was really thirsty, so I had to take it and drink it.The entrance is surprisingly cold and sweet. It happened to be sweaty after climbing the mountain, so I drank it in one breath. It was really happy! After drinking the water, look up and down at this place. The whole mountain wall is like an overturned concave character, and it is just at the leeward side, like a natural house. There is a clear spring in the concave character, and there are undulating mountains outside the concave character. . Taozi picked up rocks, and Lu Licheng built a bonfire. The two cooperated tacitly, obviously this was not the first time they did it. "Is this your secret stronghold?" Taozi pointed to Lu Licheng: "My uncle's back garden." After a while, a raging fire was born.Looking at the bonfire on the left, the clear spring on the right, and the undulating mountains and white clouds and mist at the foot, I feel that everything is too unreal. "If there is another pheasant roasting on the fire, I feel like we have traveled through time and space." Lu Licheng smiled and took out a chicken from the basket: "There is no pheasant, but there is a domestic chicken." I stared at him in surprise, and he did a trick again, taking out a few sweet potatoes from the basket, putting the potatoes by the fire, and finally a jar of sorghum wine. "Lu Licheng, I admire you so much." Taozi sighed: "My uncle still has a lot of ability! Just this, you are going to worship, if you show a few tricks, what should you do?" Lu Licheng is in charge of roasting chicken, Taozi is in charge of roasting sweet potatoes and potatoes, and I am in charge...wait for it! The three of them, each with a broken bamboo tube, toasted to the fire, and their whole bodies were warm after drinking the wine.I couldn't help laughing, raised my cup and said, "I think we are like the three knights in ancient times. We should make an alliance with the sky and worship the fire. We are called the 'Three Heroes on the Top of the Mountain'." Taozi's forehead was covered with black lines, and he asked Lu Licheng, "Is she already drunk?" Lu Licheng shook his head: "I still need a few cups." Taozi immediately added another glass of wine for me, and I was about to tell him that he wanted to drink too, "The wind blows fiercely in the field, ignoring people's pain, as if emptying everything..." Lin Yilian's singing suddenly When it rang, I was a little surprised that there was a signal here, but after thinking about it, this is the top of the mountain, and it is normal to have a signal. Lu Licheng frowned. I thought he didn't want to hear this song, so I hurriedly said, "I'll change the ringtone later." "Hey?" "It's me, what are you doing? Are you busy?" I looked at Lu Licheng and Taozi: "It's not busy, just wait for dinner." Malatang hesitated and hesitated for a long time without speaking.I waited quietly, and after a while, she hesitated and asked, "Did you quarrel with Lu Licheng?" I glanced at Lu Licheng: "What's wrong? Did you quarrel with Song Yi?" "No! No! But it's because there is no quarrel, so I feel so strange." "I do not understand." "I don't understand either. I feel like a psychopath now. I don't understand why Song Yi treats me so well." "Malatang, what's wrong with you?" "It wasn't like this when I was dating Lu Licheng. Lu Licheng was very nice to me, but I knew his limits. For example, if he wanted to meet an important client, he wouldn't say that he would suddenly meet with the client because I wanted to see him. Rescheduled, but Song Yi is not, Song Yi has no limit to me, I said I want to have dinner with him tonight, no matter what event he arranges, he will cancel it. Do you think Lu Licheng is so normal, or Song Yi is so normal?" My mobile phone leaked sound, and the top of the mountain was so quiet that I could almost hear Malatang's words clearly.Lu Licheng's face was a little embarrassed, and Taozi looked like he wanted to hear but was too embarrassed to listen. I asked Malatang: "Have you been drinking?" "I drank it, but I'm sober. Tell me, which one is normal?" Drunk people say they are sober, but if they are not drunk, Malatang should not dare to say these words at all. "It doesn't matter who is normal, you tell me first, do you want Song Yi to treat you badly?" "I don't know what to say, Song Yi is so kind to me! So good...do you understand? So good that I'm going to collapse! From the time I met him to the present, he never said a 'no' to me, no matter what No matter how unreasonable I ask, he will agree. I feel like a lunatic these days. I keep testing his limits. I let him jump into the sea with his clothes on; I let him say to me in the street, 'I Love you'; at three o'clock in the morning, I asked him to go out and buy me small wontons, and when he searched the streets to buy them for me, I didn't eat a single bite, saying that I was not hungry at all; I even acted like a shrew on the street today I quarreled with him, but he didn't say a word, and he wasn't angry at all." "You...why did you do this?" I was puzzled, he treats you well, you like him, shouldn't you two be happy? "I don't know, I don't know... Manman, do you understand? He treats me like a courtier treats the queen. I think even if I stab him to death with a knife, he won't object. I just hope he can get angry, He can say 'no' to me. He is in love with me, not my slave. He has the right to be angry and unhappy, and has the right to say 'no' to me. Love is not atonement, he didn't in his previous life Owe me, we're equal... Do you understand? Do you understand?" "I get it, I get it." Malatang suddenly burst into tears, crying and shouting: "No, you don't understand! He is my dream all the time. I have been praying to God to let me meet him again. God finally fulfilled my dream and let me He was so good to me. But what did I do? You know? When I heard him say 'I love you', I felt a little bit happier, but more sad. I think I'm crazy! I hate myself! " I said sternly: "Malatang, you are not crazy!" Malatang's crying became softer, and he whimpered and asked, "Am I really not a lunatic?" "Of course you are not." "In the beginning, I was just having fun, just trying to do some weird things, trying to deliberately make him angry. Slowly, I became more and more panicked, and I did more and more things, but he didn't get angry, no matter what I did , he won't be angry. If I tell others, they will definitely call me 'I don't know the blessings in the blessing'. Such an excellent man treats you so well, what else do you want? Every time after the incident, I will be very sad. Pain, I never thought of hurting Song Yi, and I told myself that I must never do so, but when I saw how kind he was to me, I couldn't help but explode again. I thought I was crazy. Manman, what should I do?" "Listen, you are not crazy, nor are you crazy! However, you must stop your behavior of trying to 'provoke' Song Yi, and talk to him calmly when you calm down. If you can't control your emotions now If you have a bad temper, don’t stay in the same hotel with him, go to the beach alone, go underwater diving, go fishing in the sea, the sea will calm your mood.” Malatang blew his nose: "Well, good!" "Hey! It's okay, go and have a good meal, take a hot bath, find someone to give you a massage. Relax, sleep well, everything will be solved." "Yeah." Malatang hesitated for a moment, and asked: "Manman, you and Song Yi are colleagues, do you think he is the kind of bad-tempered good guy?" He threw the basketball hard, his black eyes, his swollen face... I tried to speak calmly: "He never got angry in the office, Lu Licheng often reprimanded his subordinates, but Song Yi never did. " "Oh!" Malatang seemed to be feeling better, "Then I won't see him for a few days. I'll be alone for a while, and then find a chance to have a good talk with him." Malatang hung up the phone, but I was upset.Song Yi, it shouldn't be like this. No matter how strong his love is, it will still be full of masculinity. The woman he loves is his woman. He will protect her and pamper her, but she will never be his queen.What exactly went wrong? "Aunt Su, Aunt Su!" Taozi waved her hands in front of my eyes. "Ah? What's the matter?" Taozi said with a good temper: "Don't give up your own evening because of your friend's affairs." I froze for a moment and said, "You're right." Many people understand the truth, but how many people can really do it? Taozi told several jokes, trying to restore the previous atmosphere, but all failed, he suddenly slapped his head, took out an old bamboo flute from the bamboo basket, and said with a smile: "This thing seems to be able to play. "He brought it to his lips, tested the sound, and blew it. The tune he had never heard before was probably the one played by the local children when they herded cattle. It was simple and lively. After he finished playing, I deliberately applauded loudly to show that I was very involved. Taozi smiled and said to Lu Licheng: "Uncle, play a tune for me." Lu Licheng took the bamboo flute and played it. A series of flower sounds in the night, even the fire seemed to be dancing with the notes.Taozi coughed softly, and began to sing: Don't sing Leng Qiuqiu in folk songs, if you don't make sesame seeds, you can't get oil, if you replace sesame seeds with oil, you can change rapeseed, if you get rapeseed oil, sister combs her hair, if you don't sing, you can't be romantic.The tune of the folk song roared, and spread to the city of Beijing with the wind. The emperor heard that he had left his throne, and the empress was moved when she heard it. go to the ground.No wonder men and women in ancient times used folk songs to express their love. Taozi is such an honest person, and he completely changes when he sings folk songs. The sound of the flute slowed down, Taozi looked at me, and the singing also slowed down: I quickly waved my hands and shook my head: "I don't know how to sing folk songs, I've never sung them, and I've only ever heard of Third Sister Liu." Taozi said: "Sing whatever you want, no one stipulates that folk songs should be sung, the original meaning of singing is to entertain oneself and others." I frowned and thought hard, Lu Licheng's flute sounded again, and the tune was so familiar, Taozi immediately clapped and shouted: "Let's sing this one!" I coincided with a few tunes, and with Lu Licheng's accompaniment, I began to sing: It was only after I sang this that I understood Lu Licheng's intentions and looked up at him.He stared down at the bonfire, playing the flute intently, as if he felt that I was looking at him, and he also looked up at me.The flames jumped, and we looked at each other across the fire. We couldn't see the emotions in each other's eyes clearly, but only saw the bonfire reflected in the black eyes. The sound of the singing gradually faded, and the sound of the flute also slowly disappeared.Taozi wanted to applaud, but neither of us said a word, and dared not speak.I said to Lu Licheng, "Thank you!" He smiled faintly, took the chicken off, wrapped it in a piece of wet rice dumpling leaf, and tore off a chicken wing: "Who wants to taste the first piece?" I was very confident in his cooking skills, so I immediately reached out to get it. Unexpectedly, Tao Zi also went to get it, and the two of them just took one side. Taozi explained: "I like to eat chicken wings." "Nonsense! Who doesn't like to eat?" "I'm a junior, you have to let me order." "I'm still an elder! You have to be filial to me." Taozi looked at Lu Licheng, and I also looked at Lu Licheng. Lu Licheng said helplessly, "I am very honored by the childish behavior of the two of you! Two chicken wings, one for each of you, ladies first." Taozi let go, I won a big victory, and took the chicken wings triumphantly.This is a domestic chicken, and it is roasted with dead pine and cypress branches. The taste does not disappoint, the skin is crispy, but the meat inside is fresh and tender, and the teeth are full of rosin.Soon, one of my chicken wings was finished, and I grabbed another chicken leg, and ate while drinking. The stamina of the sorghum wine increased, and I felt a little hot on my body. When I walked out of the cave, the wind outside was so strong that I was shaking.A day full of stars, within reach, no wonder Li Bai would have the idea of ​​"pick the stars with your hands".I stretched out my hands towards the sky, but unfortunately I still couldn't pick them up. Lu Licheng said behind me: "Don't go to the edge of the cliff anymore. Some rocks look solid, but they have been eroded and loosened by wind and rain." I looked back at him, pointed to my heart and said, "It's like a human heart, it looks fine here, but it's actually broken." He didn't speak, but his eyes were brighter than the cold stars in the sky. I ran back to the campfire and drank with Taozi.Taozi has a song and a bottle of wine, and I want to have a song and a bottle of wine too, otherwise I won’t be able to eat or drink anything.In fact, I know he did it on purpose, he is using his way to make me happy. He sang folk songs, I sang pop songs, and the two of them mixed together, pouring down the wine like water. The mountain wind outside was blowing, as if it was trying to hollow out people's hearts. Those things and people were everywhere... Before the jar of wine was finished, I was already lying on the ground drunk, leaning on Lu Licheng as a pillow .Taozi and Lu Licheng were still drinking and chatting. When Lu Licheng was talking, he looked down from time to time and adjusted his posture according to my posture.My hand always dishonestly wanted to touch the sweet potatoes in the bonfire. When I moved, sparks would splash. He stopped it a few times but failed, so he simply held my hand directly. I could only listen to them honestly, and at first I could keep up with their train of thought. I heard Taozi tell Lu Licheng about his graduation plan and ask for Lu Licheng's opinion.He plans to take advantage of the country's current preferential policies for college graduates to start their own businesses, register a brand, and specialize in potted plants. He plans to take part of the initial funds himself, and part of the public financing in the village.Later, their words gradually became fragmented and blurred, and only two figures cast on the mountain wall were seen, jumping in the bonfire. In a daze, I heard Lin Yilian's singing. "The wind blows fiercely in the field, ignoring people's pain, as if emptying everything..." At the beginning, I foolishly followed the sound of the music, humming: "Wait for a turn of the mind, wait for a surge of emotion , when I meet you in another life, who can remain indifferent, like the sky that remains unchanged for all generations..." Suddenly, I realized that it was my mobile phone ringing.I cover my ears tightly, I don't want to answer!I don't want to hear about Song Yi! "Aunt Su, your phone number!" I plug my ears harder, I can't hear, I can't hear anything! Lu Licheng took out the phone from my down jacket pocket and answered it for me: "Yes, it's her. Su Man is drunk, what can you tell me..." Lu Licheng walked out of the cave, and after a while, Lu Licheng hung up the phone, turned back and said to Taozi: "Put out the bonfire, let's go down the mountain." I saw Taozi put out the fire, let go of my ears, and yelled in confusion: "I haven't finished the wine yet, why don't you drink it?" Lu Licheng bent over, carried me on his back, and said softly, "We are all sleepy, go back to sleep first, and come play tomorrow." I was really drunk too, so I lay on his back, closed my eyes and said, "Well, let's play again tomorrow." Feeling asleep and waking up, I don't know exactly what happened, I just feel that Lu Licheng seems to be on the phone all the time.Later, he finally stopped calling, and sat by my bed, looking at me all the time.When it was still dark, he woke me up. I closed my eyes and said impatiently: "It's rare for you to wake up one day earlier and feel nervous when you wake up. What time is it?" "It's past four o'clock in the morning, get up quickly and have breakfast, and fly back to Beijing in the afternoon." "What?" I glared at him, "Why?" "I have something urgent to go back to Beijing to deal with. If you don't want to leave, then I'll go back by myself." After speaking, he turned around and left. I hurriedly put on my clothes, and ran downstairs with a "dongdong", Lu Licheng's sister-in-law had already prepared breakfast.After I washed up, I had a sumptuous breakfast with Lu Licheng and Taozi. While eating, I complained: "Did you make a mistake? Chinese New Year! The stock market is closed!" He said flatly: "New York and London are working normally, and many of our customers are also working normally." One sentence blocked all my complaints, so I could only concentrate on eating. After breakfast, Lu Licheng looked at me and said, "I've already packed the big luggage, you pack your belongings." I asked, "Is your mother up? Are you going to say goodbye to your mother?" "There is still a chance in the future. Let's forget it this time." After packing up the things and coming downstairs, Taozi had already driven the car into the yard, and Lu Licheng's mother and elder brother got up.I was really embarrassed, so I could only say to his mother over and over again: "Goodbye! Thank you!" His mother grabbed my hand, talked to me, and specially called Lu Licheng over. She said something and Lu Licheng translated it. "I didn't entertain you well this time, next time, I will definitely come to play again." "Our family Licheng has a bad temper, but he has a good heart. Sometimes, if you let him go a little bit, he will know in his heart that he is wrong." "If he makes you wronged, come and tell me, and I will scold him for you." I was embarrassed to hear it, but when I saw Lu Licheng's face when he was translating, I almost fell down laughing, looked at him arrogantly, and said to his mother: "I will." After getting into the car, his mother went to the window and told me "I must come again", I could only nod over and over again: "Yes, yes." After the car drove out, I looked at the gradually shrinking farmyard with nostalgia, and asked angrily: "Which super client of yours is it?" Lu Licheng said: "Isn't my super client your super client? Try to take a good rest during the journey. When you arrive in Beijing, you will have no time to sleep." The hangover was still there, and I did feel a little dizzy, so I closed my eyes and began to doze off, but I muttered in a low voice: "I will resign after the New Year, your super client is not my super client." I rushed all the way back to Beijing, it was already night, and I was about to leave the airport with my luggage, but Lu Licheng said: "Now Helen is at the security office of your home, you call the security guard and ask the security guard to take her to your house and get your passport. come out." "Why? Are we flying to New York and London?" "You call first, and when you're done, I'll talk to you slowly." After I got off the phone, I said, "Now tell me! Where are we going?" He stared at me and said, "Let's go to Hanoi, Vietnam." I stared blankly at him for three seconds, then frantically opened my handbag and looked for my phone.His hands were shaking all the time, the handbag fell to the ground, and things were scattered all over the floor.I knelt on the ground to pick up my phone, but it was so slippery I couldn't even hold it. Lu Licheng knelt down and held my shoulder tightly: "There was a car accident, and your parents are still in a coma in the hospital. You can't mess up. If you get messed up, who else can they rely on?" My body was shaking, and I just nodded, "I can't be messed up, I can't be messed up!" Tears welled up silently, and I looked up at him and asked, "They will definitely be fine, right?" He hugged me: "It will be fine!" His arms are full of strength, and my heart is a little more at ease. In the lobby of the airport, people came and went, they all looked at Lu Licheng and me who were kneeling in the messy ground with pale faces.