The vast mountains.

Lush forests.

This is an unknown mountain ridge at the remote area between Taihe County and Yongyun Prefectures.

The mountains are high and the valleys are deep, the roads are steep and tortuous, and there are few people to visit. Only the occasional roar of tigers and apes in the empty valleys spread slowly.

But in this remote place, there was a vague sound of chopping wood.

In the dense and vast forests, there was a woodcutter with gray hair and beards. The woodcutter's surname was He, but he had no name. Because he was ranked as Lao Liu, he all called him He Lao Liu.

Seeing that He Laoliu is over fifty years old, he looks old because of his excessive hard work, and looks like an old man in his sixties or seventies. His steps in the forest were a little staggering, because his right leg was bitten by a poisonous snake in the forest one year. He had not done his best to do his best in the herbs, so he was disabled and could not exert much force on his legs.

Even though there are many difficulties, He Laoliu still works hard to work and collect firewood.

But for half a day, the sound of chopping wood in the mountains and forests stopped. He had already packed the firewood and carried more than 200 kilograms of loads down the mountain.

The injury to his right leg made him difficult, but years of hard work still allowed him to overcome it. However, in this way, the burden on his left leg would be much heavier.

Before walking a distance, He Laoliu had to stop and rest.

The deep mountains and old forests are quiet and remote.

He Laoliu has been going to this mountain to chop firewood for many years. He is very familiar with every section of the road and has a place to rest. At this moment, he leaned a load of firewood against the tree by the roadside and sat on the rock under the tree to rest. The distance between this section of the road is still so long, and the weight of firewood is still so heavy, but he is more tired than before.

"well!"

"I'm still old, it's useless."

He Laoliu shook hands and fisted, hammered his sore legs, and wiped the sweat from his face.

"Old man--"

He Laoliu, who had just put down his hand, suddenly heard a voice coming in front of him. When he opened his eyes, he saw a simple young man standing a few steps away. He was so shocked that he shivered all over and fell off the stone.

"—Are you okay, old man?"

"Great, please spare me, please spare me!" He Laoliu was shocked and fell down suddenly and kowtowed. Just now, when he was wiping his sweat, there was still nothing in front of him. Why did there be more people in a blink of an eye? People often heard that there were ghosts in the deep mountains and forests, and they actually asked him to meet him!

"My king must not eat me! There are eight young sons in my family who are all supported by me. Please give me a way out of my life. I will definitely serve you in the future--"

"Old man, old man!"

The young man was amused and cried, but he also realized that He Laoliu was indeed frightened and hurriedly stepped forward to support him.

He Laoliu's arm was held by someone and couldn't worship him. He was scared and shivered again. The young man hurriedly said, "Old man, don't get me wrong. I'm not a mountain spirit, and I won't eat people. If you don't believe me, you can pinch my hand. Is it like you?"

He Laoliu still has doubts.

However, the old man recovered and felt something was wrong. If the savage mountain spirit would treat him so politely? He immediately plucked up the courage and pinched the young man's palm - hey, it was as good as an ordinary person, warm and soft, and even the calluses were touched.

"You, are you really not a ghost who can eat people in the mountains?"

The young man smiled and said, "It's really not!"

He Laoliu looked at him strangely, and was helped by him, and sat back again. He said, "Then how did you appear just now? I didn't see anyone, so I wiped my sweat. There were more people in a blink of an eye. Who is not afraid?"

The young man suddenly realized in his heart and had to explain again: "I'm fast, maybe you didn't see me coming. And old man, think about it, if I'm really a ghost, how could I get so much to do with you?"

He Lao Liu nodded with consent and said wonderingly: "Then, what did you, the young man, just asked me to do?"

The young man breathed a sigh of relief and finally came back. He said, "Old man, I actually want to ask you about the way. Which direction should I go to the nearest town here?"

"The closest to this wasteland is of course Taining Town. After crossing this mountain, you can walk more than ten miles to Taining Town - Young Master, where did you come from? Why do you think you are very good at it?"

"Old man, I came from a very far place, called Qingyun Mountain, maybe you haven't heard of it."

He Laoliu nodded in confusion: "Is it that I have never heard of it? Is it in Yunzhou or Yongzhou?"

The young man smiled and said, "None of them, Qingyun Mountain is in Zhongzhou."

"Wow!" He Laoliu was shocked. At the junction of Tai and other states, it was not surprising that he occasionally saw merchants traveling between the two states. But after these two states, other places seemed to exist in legends for them.

Zhongzhou?

Where is that place? Which direction is it?

He Laoliu didn't know.

But he knew one thing: "Young man, you can go so far, you are a capable person!"

The young man smiled shyly, showing the honest expression of the farmer's family who He Laoliu was quite familiar with, and immediately narrowed the distance between the two. He Laoliu chatted with him again, but the young man was not impatient and talked to him with a smile, which made He Laoliu feel good and he let go of his vague warning.

"Young Master, if you want to go to Taining, please lead the way."

"I'm going back to town anyway."

After resting for a while, although I was shocked and sweated, it was fine after recovering.

As He Laoliu said, he got up and went to carry the load of firewood.

Heavy Chaihe pressed against his shoulders, and He Laoliu took a breath, but when he looked at the young man, his expression became vivid again: "Let's go, come with me."

"Old man, please wait a moment."

The young man stopped him and took the load from his shoulder when He Laoliu was confused. "It's still a long way to climb over this mountain. If you are not convenient for your legs and feet, I will help you carry the load."

He Laoliu was suddenly at a loss. The young man in front of him looked honest and simple. But his clothes were different from those of the common local farmers. He was obviously not the poorest public. Carrying firewood was a hard work. He was afraid that the burden would weigh on him, and he also felt that he could not bear the hardship!

And for no reason, He Laoliu was not happy with his help.

"Hey, hey, young man!"

"You let go, you can't do this heavy work-"

But immediately, He Laoliu saw that Qing was well-versed in carriage and took on the burden and walked steadily.

After walking forward, he turned around and said, "Old man, let's go together."

He Laoliu hurriedly caught up, but still felt it was inappropriate: "Young man, please put it down. Don't look at the old man who is old and has poor legs and feet, but it's okay to just carry this burden back and forth!"

"Old man, you should save some effort to follow closely." The young man smiled and said, "The journey is so long, I can't let me wait for you to carry the load slowly, right?"

He Laoliu knew that although he was not polite, he actually said this intentionally because he was afraid that he would have a burden. He understood it very well. So he chased him and said, "Oh, how can this be done?"

The two of them climbed over to the post, went down to the foot of the mountain, and rested under a tree.

After all, He Laoliu was old and was a little tired after walking. Although the young man was not tired, he still asked to take a rest for a while. Seeing the young man sitting there without blushing or breathing, He Laoliu felt a lot of emotion and sighed: "It's really old. I think when I was young, the old man picked such a little firewood and ran for a complete trip without breathing!"

The young man smiled and said nothing.

His situation is different from that of ordinary people. Even when he was young, the old man would definitely not be as good as him.

"Oh, yes!" He Laoliu patted his head and shouted, "Old man, I'm so rude. I haven't asked the young man yet, what's your name?"

The young man didn't care and replied with a smile: "Old man, my name is Zhang Xiaofan."

"Zhang Xiaofan? Hahaha, it's a good name, kind!" He Laoliu was afraid that the young man would say a name that he couldn't understand at first, but he didn't expect that his name was so simple, and he felt kind of warmth.

"The old man has poor legs and feet, so why do he have to go so far to collect firewood?"

He Laoliu sighed when he heard this and said, "Because only the wood on this mountain is dense and resistant to burning and the fireworks are strong, wealthy people like this kind of firewood, which can be sold at a good price."

"Well." Zhang Xiaofan nodded, and didn't say much.

Since he went down the mountain, he traveled around aimlessly. Seeing the hardship of this woodcutter's life, he empathized with it, and it was not surprising that he helped one or two.

The two of them took a break and set off again.

After a while, a small town appeared at the end of the open road ahead. A stone tablet was erected outside the town, with the three words "Taining Town". Zhang Xiaofan patiently accompanied He Laoliu into the town and sent the bundle of firewood to a manor with him. Just as he was about to say goodbye and leave, He Laoliu pulled him and refused to let him go.

"Young man!"

"You helped the old man a lot today, how could you just leave?"

"After a walk, you can also sit at the old man's house, at least have a meal and drink a bowl of thick wine!"

Zhang Xiaofan couldn't refuse, so he had to go with him.

He Laoliu was simple in nature. Although he was struggling, he still gritted his teeth and bought two taels of braised pork for the guests. Zhang Xiaofan knew his family background while talking and talking along the way. Although He Laoliu was old, his family was still as he said, raising seven or eight young children.

In order to support those children, He Laoliu worked hard but could only make ends meet.

Zhang Xiaofan couldn't bear to spend money on his own, so he paid for a lot of meat, fruits, vegetables, etc., even pastries, dried fruits and other snacks. He Laoliu felt distressed and repeatedly dissuaded before giving up.

Then the two of them carried large and small bags of things and headed to the remote corner outside the west side of the town.

He Laoliu said that his home was not there at the beginning. However, two kids were disobedient and caused a cold. In order to raise money to treat the disease, they had to sell their ancestral house and exchange it for the most remote house.

"Actually, here's pretty good, look--"

"The two acres of land outside are the old man's, just close to home, so it's convenient to take care of!"

In front of Zhang Xiaofan, there were several old thatched huts behind a dilapidated yard, which was He Laoliu's current residence. There were many children in the yard, the older ones were only eleven or twelve years old, the younger ones were three or four years old, five or six years old, boys and girls all worked on some work under the leadership of the older ones.

When He Laoliu limped back with something, the child in the yard immediately ran over when he saw him, shouting, "Dad is back! It's Dad is back!"

"Wow!"

"Dad brought a lot of things today!"

"Don't squeeze, don't squeeze, I'll help my dad carry things!"

"Dad, I'm hungry..."

He Laoliu smiled kindly and kindly, touched this one, pulled another, and the love in his eyes almost filled with it. At that moment, his cautiousness and fatigue disappeared. He was like a standing wall, sheltering the wind and rain of young children.

No matter how dull Zhang Xiaofan is, he can see that the children are obviously not from the same family.

Those should be orphans he adopted.

Thinking of He Laoliu's limping and looking slightly hunched along the way, Zhang Xiaofan suddenly felt a little confused and touched, and the hunched figure also became taller. He originally planned to visit He Laoliu's house, so he left immediately. But now he has changed his mind and plans to stay here for a while.
Chapter completed!