Chapter 3 Chapter Three: The Hermit in Luofu Mountain

Four white horses dragged a carriage, and galloped for more than a hundred li to the front of Luofu Mountain.Wu Zixu came to visit Sun Wu. At this time, Wu Zixu was already a pedestrian in charge of Wu's pilgrimage, internal affairs and foreign affairs.As soon as someone heard that Sun Wu, a descendant of a famous family in Qi State, lived in seclusion in the vast smoke of Luofu Mountain, he sent someone to inquire.Knowing that this Sun Wu is the nephew of Sima Juju of the State of Qi, he came to the State of Wu from afar, lived in Luofu in seclusion, met and made friends with all strange people and celebrities, neither recommended himself to the king, nor made it public, as if he was waiting for something.

Wu Zixu knew very well that it is easy to win a thousand soldiers, but it is hard to find a general, and one who is a general or a prime minister is one who cannot be neglected, so he changed his clothes, went far away from Gusu City, crossed Wuxing County, and went to pay a visit.He wants to recruit talented people for Wu Guoxing, which means that he will catch all the wise men in the world.There was another person in the car, doctor Bo Pipi.Not long after he fled from Chu State to Wu State, he was also honored by Wu Zixu's recommendation.This uncle, his grandfather, Bo Zhouzhouli, lost his head because of his outspokenness and daring to advise. Compared with his grandfather, Bo Chu was smart and cheerful, good at judging the situation and protecting himself.He was slightly older than Wu Zixu, in his early thirties, with fine features and delicate features, and his face was as pale as powder.His elegance and handsomeness and the staunchness of the white-haired and red-faced Wu Zixu just set off each other.Not long after leaving Gusu City, Bo Pi Pi dozed off in the billowing dust.

When the car reaches Luofu Mountain, it cannot enter. Wu Zixu woke up Bo Pipi, and with an entourage, the three of them walked into the misty mist of Luofu Mountain on foot, lingered on the Yangchang Mountain Road for a long time, and passed through a bamboo forest.The paddy fields are deserted, and egrets fly low.There are geese walking on the ridge of the field, and buffaloes are enjoying the shade under the shade of willows. People hold leisurely smoke, adding to the tranquility of the countryside. Bo Pipi sighed and said, "It's really a place for immortals to live. When you come here, you will feel peaceful. Bo Pipi also wants to end up here."

Wu Zixu said: "I haven't seen Sun Wu, and I lost another Bo Pipi, what can I do? Besides, your doctor Bo Pipi will be willing to be lonely? I don't believe it." He took Bo Pipi's hand and hurried over the rice fields. Bo Pi: "It seems that this Sun Wu is an outsider. If you insist on pulling him into the world of mortals, I'm afraid it's just too hard for you." Wu Zixu didn't say a word, and hurried to catch up with the little boy who was herding the geese, and asked Mr. Sun Wu where he lived.The little boy pointed with a long bamboo pole: A gardenia forest, a gardenia flower!

Behind the gardenia forest, along the east foot of Luofu Mountain, is the Sun Wu Pavilion. Walking in the forest, Wu Zixu said: "Doctor Bopi, may I ask you, do you see this gardenia, gardenia, is there any meaning?" "Wu Zixu is the one who knows you!" "If you really say that, you and I have made a worthwhile trip." Sun Wu's building behind the gardenia grove disappointed the three of them. There was nothing unusual about it, but it had mud walls and thatched roofs, a bamboo fence and firewood gate, and a black dog was sleeping by the door. No sound, no action.In front of the bamboo fence is a large vegetable garden, where some vegetables, lettuce, eggplant, beans and the like are planted.A man in the garden was watering the garden. The man was about forty years old, with a smooth expression, and slowly tied a small wooden barrel with a rope, and brought water from the well one by one, and then watered the vegetables.

Wu Zixu hurried forward and made a long bow: "Wu Zixu is here to pay a visit to Mr. Changqing." The man smiled: "Don't dare, you have misunderstood the person. I am just Mr. Changqing's servant, Tian Di. It is unfortunate that the three of you came today, and Mr. is not here. You can choose what kind of food you want and how much you want. Do yourself a favor. Don't bother sir." Wu Zixu: "What? Can I take this dish casually?" "Sir, you have the right to see for yourself." Wu Zixu: "Oh, very interesting. Tian Di, there is one thing I don't understand. Does your husband know the truth of 'the ax is used to burn wood, and the orange is used to draw'?" It is labor-intensive and time-consuming, why is that?"

Tian Di smiled and said: "Don't talk about Mr. Sun, even a vulgar person like me knows that 'the ax is used to firewood, and the orange is used to draw'. You use an ax to chop firewood, and you use oranges to fetch water. Isn't oranges just Put up a wooden stake, put a long wooden pole across it, install a shaft, let go of the back, and the bucket will go into the well, and lightly press the back, and the wooden pole will be tilted, and the bucket will be lifted up. No? My husband said, if you save time by using tangerine, what can you do with the saved time? If you save energy, what is the use of the saved energy? My husband often makes a bucket of it with great interest. Carrying water to irrigate the garden."

Wu Zixu thought about the meaning of it and felt strange. But Bo Pi laughed, pulled Wu Zixu's sleeve, and said, "Doctor Wu, let's go." He whispered to Wu Zixu as he walked, "I think we'd better go back. It doesn't matter if Mr. Sun doesn't see you. This man saves trouble." Isn't it extremely pedantic for the guy at the time to use it?" The entourage also echoed: "The villain dares to say, I think this gentleman is looking for trouble for nothing, and is just wasting away." Wu Zixu glanced at his followers, who hurriedly backed away in fright.Zixu said, "Doctor Bopi, the more I am like this, the more I want to meet this strange man. Doctor Bopi must not know about the old white-haired Lu Shang fishing on the Weishui, right? Lu Fishing is not about fishing, and this gentleman is not about growing vegetables, so I'm afraid he has something to wait for."

"Master Wu, you are as good as you are." Wu Zixu turned around and asked Tian Di again: "Where did your husband go?" Tian Di said: "Mr.'s whereabouts are not certain on weekdays. However, I got up early today, and Mr. said he would come back after drinking. There will be thunderstorms in the afternoon." In the sky, there were really clouds running, gathering and dispersing, the sky was flickering, and the wind was blowing, bringing a cool feeling. Tian Di said again: "I can see that you are not ordinary people. If you really want to visit my husband, you can go to Liantang and ask."

Liantang?The lotus pond is on the left side of Sun Wu's building, with a radius of one or two miles, and the green leaves and pink lotus are flying and pitching in the wind, rustling.From a distance, I saw a woman picking lotus paddling a wooden basin back and forth in the pond, flickering, her bright eyes overflowing in the pond. Bo Pi suddenly regained his energy. Wu Zixu looked at Bo Pi and smiled. Bo Pi said, "Don't bother Mr. Wu, Bo Pi just go and ask." This Bo Pi was originally a child of everyone.Wen Ke debated eloquently, and Wu Yexiao fought bravely. Although he could not be called a top talent, he liked Wu Wang Helu very much because of his quick-wittedness and fickleness in dealing with people.He has a fair face, and his heart is unrestrained, and he often does things like cockfighting, messing with flowers and grass.Today, I have traveled more than a hundred miles in a bumpy car, and walked on mountain roads and fields for half a day, and I am already impatient.However, Wu Zixu didn't give up until he came to the Yellow River, and he was not easy to offend, and he didn't want to complain about being jealous, so he bit the bullet and gave up his life to accompany the gentleman, acting very easy-going, but secretly cursed Zixu for being troublesome.Suddenly seeing this otherworldly garden, where the wind and the lotus are held up, there is a woman with bright eyes shining, and I feel my heart beating.Like suddenly seeing a jasmine branch in a barren mountain, his eyes lit up, and all the boredom for half a day disappeared.I hurried to the side of the lotus pond, wanting to make fun of it, but for a while I couldn't see the lotus picking girl, and saw the round lotus, standing upright by the pond, feeling disappointed.Finally, when the lotus leaf moved, the lotus picking girl appeared again, and Bo Pi hurriedly greeted her with a smile.

It was Mrs. Sun Wu who picked the lotus. Silk girls are dignified and elegant, but they cannot really be described as beautiful.She belongs to the kind of introverted and unsmiling woman. She wears a coarse brocade skirt and paddles in a red wooden basin. She rolls up her sleeves high for fear of getting wet, revealing half of her white and tender arms. Bo Pi arched his hands and said, "This woman, can you answer me sooner?" But Silk Girl stopped paddling: "Can't you hear me?" "I'm Doctor Bo Pi." "I didn't ask you." "May I ask your name?" "What does that have to do with what you're asking?" Bo Pi stared blankly at the silk girl's white arm, reckoning that the silk girl's age was only seventeen or eighteen, she might already be a woman, but what kind of dignified is she pretending coldly?Then he asked again: "It must be - the lotus root in this pond must be white, tender and delicious?" The silk girl was very clever, and immediately replied, "The lotus root is owned by the owner, and the lotus root is sealed with the lotus root paste, so don't pick the lotus root rashly." Bo Pi: "Didn't you already go into the water?" "May I ask what the doctor is asking?" "Ah, let me ask you—it's cloudy and it's going to rain. I don't know if it will be sunny or not?" The silk girl said seriously: "What's the matter with you? You look like an upright gentleman, and you say that you are an official worshiping a doctor. You don't serve the king above the temple, but you come to this mountain and wilderness to talk nonsense. If you don't know a little bit of etiquette, it's really embarrassing. You should be able to see that the water droplets on the lotus leaves are not round, so hurry up and go your way." As she spoke, Silk Nu threw a section of lotus stem at Bo Pi's feet. Bo Pi was tongue-tied. Originally, I just wanted to relieve my depression, but unexpectedly this mountain village woman is so powerful. Wu Zixu came and picked up the lotus stem: "Oh, this lotus stem has thorns, Doctor Bopi, hurry up and apologize to him." The entourage secretly laughed. Silk Girl had already landed, carrying a bamboo basket filled with lotus pods, and headed home.The black dog lying in front of the fence immediately ran over, rubbed the silk girl's skirt affectionately, wagged its tail, and followed behind. Wu Zixu looked sullen, and looked at Bo Pi: "I'm afraid this is Sun Wu's wife! Your frivolity has ruined a big deal!" As he said that, Wu Zixu stepped forward quickly, stopped the silk girl, bowed deeply, and said, "Please forgive Doctor Bo Pi's offense just now, I am here to pay a visit to Mr. Sun Wu, can you tell us where Mr. Sun is now? when will you be back?" Silk girl ignored her, pushed open the firewood gate, and entered the yard. The black dog suddenly barked and blocked Wu Zixu's way. The entourage shouted from the side: "The woman has heard that, don't be negligent, this is the world-famous Master Wu Zixu Wu!" Seen from behind, the silk girl seemed to smile lightly, and dropped a lotus pod casually. Silk girl entered the room. Wu Zixu picked up the lotus pod and twisted it in his hands. "This is interesting again." Bo Pi: "Okay, okay, it's going to rain, let's go." Wu Zixu said coldly, "Doctor Bo Pi please go back first." It seemed that Wu Zixu was already angry with Bo Pi.Bo Pi had no choice but to endure. Wu Zixu thought about it, and turned the lotus pod again: "Lotus pod, lotus seeds! The lotus seeds are inside, which means that Mr. Sun has not traveled far." Bo Pi said: "I am afraid that the lotus seeds are still green, and the time is not enough. I am afraid that the core of the lotus seeds is also bitter..." "Bitterness can clear the heart and purify the fire!" Wu Zixu immediately wanted to push Chaimen. Unexpectedly, the black dog suddenly had lightning-like eyes, raised its front paws, and barked wildly. The entourage said eagerly, "After I get rid of this dog, I just go back and cook a pot of dog meat." "Presumptuous!" Wu Zixu yelled. The entourage, hey, lowered his head and dared not lift it up. Wu Zixu sat on the ground.Bo Pi had no choice but to sit on the ground. A gust of wind blows, the black clouds turn black, and the white rain dances.There are muffled thunder rolling in the sky, and lightning flashing.The rain came very hard, and the rain hit the lotus pond like the sound of gold and stone.The dense rain obliquely invaded the fence and swept across the fields, and white smoke was rising from the fields.After a while, the three of Wu Zixu were naked, and they were all drenched. The rainwater flowed down their heads and into their necks, and their clothes stuck to their bodies, making them very uncomfortable.Wu Zixu looked towards the vegetable field, and the servant who tended the garden had already gone back to his room to take shelter from the rain. Looking back, he saw that Bo Nu was watching the rain by the window, and suddenly closed the window, making a loud noise. Even the black dog escaped. Bo Pi mumbled, "What you have done and what you have suffered." I don't know whether he was blaming himself, or resenting the stubborn Wu Zixu. Wu Zixu sat motionless. Fortunately, it was showers.The rain drifted to the west foot of Luofu Mountain. Luofu Mountain is in the rain clouds, floating and flowing, if it is illusion, if it is real, if it is there, if it is not.The three of Wu Zixu and others experienced a burst of rain, and their stomachs were already rumbling. The setting sun is like blood. The sun is waving the sword from the gap in the clouds. This is the setting sun in the east and the rain in the west. It is said that there is no sunshine but there is sunshine. Tian Di came out of the room: "I really neglected the three of you. Our wife said that the husband is selling wine in Changxing Town. He thinks he has a good relationship with Yao Li. He won't be able to come back in an hour. Please go to the town to inquire about Yao Li, and then we can see you." Mr. Wu. Oh, yes, Mr. Wu left a message, if Mr. Wu Zixu comes to visit, please Mr. Wu take a look at the door of my house, and open the door a little. This is what Mr. Wu wants to say to Mr. Wu. Known." A crack in the door?Wu Zixu and Bo Pi couldn't figure out what it meant this time, and looked at each other in blank dismay.