Everyone's steps were cautious, alert to possible situations that might arise in the pile of firewood, and they held long knives tightly in their hands, ready to chop at any time.
There were four of them, and two of them stood aside, staring at the firewood pile warily. In addition to the sound of the wind and snow at the scene, you could also clearly hear the crunching sound of the four people's feet stepping on the snow.
"Xiang Haofei, come out, we have seen you!"
The four people were not sure whether Xiang Haofei was hiding inside, so they stepped forward rashly and were afraid of being attacked by surprise, so they had to test it with words first, which was also a mental tactic.
However, after shouting for a long time and getting no response, everyone quietly relaxed. At this moment, one of them suddenly said, "Boss, I think I found Xiang Haofei's hiding place!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the man pointed directly in another direction.
If Xiao Chu were here at this time, he would definitely laugh until his stomach hurts, and would say, idiot, this is where we hide the raft, hahaha.
When the leader heard the words of his brother, he looked in the direction of his finger. He discovered the difference from the footprints there, because the footprints here were scattered, while there was only one line, directly
It extends out and leads to the bottom of the mountain.
The leader chuckled sinisterly, and then waved his hands to the brothers, beckoning them to move forward.
Although the three people said they were a little afraid of Xiang Haofei, how could they dare not obey the boss's orders? Besides, Xiang Haofei had been seriously injured, and they were much less afraid of him, so they immediately and cautiously moved toward that person.
Run in the direction.
After walking not far, the three of them discovered that the series of footprints led to a cave. However, it seemed that the size of the cave was not too big, but it was definitely more than enough to hide a person. Thinking of Xiang Haofei, it was very difficult.
Maybe they were hiding inside, and a few people couldn't help but feel excited. Catching Xiang Haofei would be a huge achievement!
"Xiang Haofei, we have discovered you! Come out quickly!" The leader shouted towards the inside.
However, they saw that there was no movement inside. Even so, the four of them did not go in rashly. After they fired darts three times into the cave and still found no movement, they decided to rush in and fight to the death!
However, when the first person rushed in, not long after, there was a scream from inside.
The other three people secretly thought that the brothers inside must have been attacked by Xiang Haofei! They quickly became vigilant and were ready for the next battle.
But a moment later, I heard a feeble voice from the brother inside, "Boss, come in, there is no one inside!"
However, everyone did not believe the words from the people inside. They just stared at the cave vigilantly, preparing for the next battle!
It turned out that these three guys were smart and thought that the brothers inside were threatened by Xiang Haotian, so they tricked them into killing them. Just when the leader was still happy with his judgment, they saw the brother inside the cave.
Slowly climbed out.
"Boss, antidote, I've been hit by your dart!" At this time, the man was already very weak, as if he might die at any time.
Before the leader could be shocked, he quickly took out the antidote from his arms and gave it to his brother, and then asked, "What's going on inside?"
After taking the antidote, the man immediately regained some strength and said to the leading man, "Head, I seemed to trip over something when I went in. I guess it was an object like wood. I touched it when I fell."
When he got on top of the darts we shot, he looked weak after being poisoned!"
Hearing his brother's explanation, the leading man was a little dumbfounded. Damn, brother, could you be any more stupid? However, then he became interested and wanted to see what was in the cave.
After a while, the four people lit torches and bravely walked towards the cave. Along the way, they didn't find anything special, except that the walls around the cave were covered with dry vines, but when they saw
When he reached the object on the ground, he felt dumbfounded for a moment. The thing that tripped his brother was actually a raft?
Holy shit, who is so wicked? Put the raft in here!
The man who had been poisoned earlier had mostly recovered. Now that he saw that the raft was the culprit that tripped him, he couldn't help but became furious. If this matter spread, wouldn't his reputation be ruined in one day?
Fortunately, I was smart and didn't wait here. Otherwise, the boss and the others wouldn't have dared to rush in, and wouldn't they have been poisoned to death by their own poison darts? If this was the way to die, wouldn't it be a bit cowardly?
The poisoned man secretly rejoiced, and then attributed all this to his wit. However, thinking of the raft that tripped him, he became angry and simply threw the torch directly on the raft.
After a while, the raft burst into flames, and the four of them had already exited the cave.
Xiao Cheng and the others never imagined that the 'chariot' that had been "fighting" with them for a long time would disappear in such a dramatic scene.
The four of them couldn't find any trace of Xiang Haotian for a long time, and they also made themselves and others disgraced, so they stopped looking and headed back towards the original road.
The figures of the few people gradually moved away, gradually submerged in the white snow in the sky. As the snowflakes danced, even the footprints left by the few people just now disappeared.
The twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month.
As a heavy snowfall comes quietly, the small fishing village is covered in snow, which is particularly enchanting. As soon as the sky turns white, there are already diligent people cleaning up the snow in front of their door. From time to time, they have to sigh,
“It’s snowing, it’s snowing, the auspicious snow heralds a good year!”
And this day is the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month. In the tradition of Bactria, there has always been a saying of "On the twenty-seventh day, the New Year's chickens are slaughtered." On this day, every household has to slaughter its own poultry and also go to the market.
Go to the market to purchase ingredients for the New Year's Eve. Since thousands of households will buy Spring Festival supplies, markets all over Daxia will be especially prosperous on this day.
At this time, someone was already busy in the Xiao family's courtyard. That person was Xiao Chu's uncle, Xiao Changfu. He would do the chicken killing every year. The three sisters-in-law of the Xiao family were doing it on the side.
, some made fires and boiled water, and they were very busy.
However, Xiao Changan and his son were not in the yard. At this time, the three of them were already on their way to the county. Although it was snowing, the road from the fishing village to the county could still be barely discerned.
Xiao Changan was already very familiar with the road, so he walked at the front and was quite familiar with finding the way.
Originally, Xiao Changan didn't want to take Xiao Chu there. According to him, it was the New Year Literary Exchange Meeting for exchanges between scholars. The little guy didn't study, so he just took him there to watch the fun.
However, what made Xiao Changan feel strange was that his eldest son Xiao Cheng uncharacteristically agreed with Xiao Chu to go with them. Later, Liu family tried his best to persuade Xiao Changan to agree to go to the county with Xiao Chu.
Liu's idea was to let Xiao Chu see more of the world at literary exchange meetings to broaden his son's horizons, so that his son could have a great future.
Xiao Changan was helpless, okay, just take him with you, but before going out, he made a three-part agreement with Xiao Chu.
Xiao Chu was not allowed to talk too much at the literary exchange meeting, nor was he allowed to ask random questions. Also, he was not allowed to run around and had to stay with them all the time.
Xiao Chu understood this very well. After all, when Xiao Changan was studying at home, Xiao Chu often asked him some weird questions, which often left him speechless. If he suddenly asked him at a literary exchange meeting,
If no one can answer a question, wouldn't the scene be very embarrassing?
In response to Xiao Changan's words, Xiao Chu naturally nodded, not to mention anything else. Although he was a child, he still had no problem in not talking nonsense. After all, he was a person with a mental age of nearly thirty.
After a long journey, Xiao Changan and the others arrived at the county. The event was held at Tingyu Tower in the county. This restaurant is the largest restaurant in the county. The owner of the restaurant is also a person who likes to write and write, so
The decoration style in the restaurant has the meaning of a unique small pavilion, and this decoration style is more suitable for scholars to come here to taste fine wine, recite poems and paintings, and meet friends through literature.
Xiao Changan and three other people passed by the market, and saw that the market was more lively today, and there were already crowds of people just around the edges. However, when Xiao Changan passed by some small stalls, he could still hear some stall owners chatting among themselves.
The content of the prodigy talks about how this prodigy is so awesome.
"Dad, listen, I didn't lie to you!" Xiao Cheng heard what everyone was talking about and hurriedly said to Xiao Chang'an.
Xiao Changan couldn't help but feel surprised when he heard the stall owner talking about the child prodigy. The first time he heard Xiao Cheng's story, he wasn't so shocked. He didn't expect to hear what everyone said today would shock Xiao Changan again.
Open your mouth straight.
"I don't know who is able to cultivate such a prodigy. It's really amazing."
Xiao Changan sighed, still lamenting that the child prodigy's family had raised him properly.
Xiao Chu snickered on the side and thought to himself, if you knew that the child prodigy they were talking about was me, I wouldn't scare you half to death!
Then Xiao Chu dragged them and said that the three of them walked quickly towards the far side of the market. If someone recognized him here, he would not be able to hide his affairs, and maybe something would happen.
What a surprise.
"Father, let's go quickly. The New Year Literary Exchange Meeting will start soon!" Xiao Chu saw that Xiao Changan still wanted to listen for a while, so he grabbed his hand and urged him quickly.
Only then did Xiao Changan remember the New Year Literary Exchange Meeting, so he stopped delaying and the three of them headed straight towards Tingyu Tower.
Tingyulou, people are coming and going. Today’s New Year Literature Exchange Meeting is jointly organized by the three major private schools in the county. There are many people participating. Basically, the top scholars in the county and students from private schools will come to participate.
Even some famous Confucian scholars in the county came to participate in this grand event, and the scene was extremely lively.
This Tingyu Tower is divided into three floors. The first and second floors are for ordinary people to drink and eat, while the third floor is specially prepared for the wealthy children of the county. It requires a certain amount of money to go up.
The venue for the New Year Literary Exchange Meeting is on the second floor, because the space here is relatively spacious, suitable for such large gatherings, and it also facilitates mutual exchanges between scholars.
The three of them arrived in front of Tingyu Tower. Xiao Changan looked at the scene of people coming and going in the restaurant, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh and said, "What a great literary exchange event, full of distinguished guests, and many successful friends. This trip is worthwhile."
Then the three of them went straight to the second floor, and no one blocked them along the way. When the child guarding the gate saw Xiao Changan dressed as a scholar, he knew that he must be a scholar. The two children behind him should be someone from the county.
They were students in a private school, so they let the three of them in directly.
When they arrived on the second floor, many people were already seated inside. Xiao Changan and his two sons were about to find a place to sit down, but they heard a voice from behind, which was called him.
"Brother Chang'an?"
Xiao Changan heard someone calling him, so he turned around to look for the voice, and saw a scholar in Tsing Yi who was about the same age as himself sitting in the innermost position.
Xiao Changan knew that man, he was his former classmate Zhang Jingnian.
"Brother Jingnian?"
Xiao Changan stepped forward and cupped his hands towards Zhang Jingnian.
"Brother Chang'an, we said goodbye back then and didn't want to see each other again today. It's so sad that time has passed by!" Zhang Jingnian cupped his hands and said.
"Brother Jingnian, you're fine!" Xiao Changan said politely.
Zhang Jinnian nodded towards Xiao Changan, looked Xiao Changan up and down, and when he saw Xiao Changan's voice, a strange look appeared on his face, and he asked, "Where is Brother Changan's job?"
“Concentrate on your studies!”
"Have you ever been a scholar?"
"Never!"
When the man heard that Xiao Changan had not been selected as a scholar, he immediately showed a look of disdain. Then he rolled his sleeves and said, "Oh, that's it. The literary meeting will start soon. Please find a place to sit down."
Xiao Chu, who was on the side, could clearly hear the change in Zhang Jing's tone before and after. At the same time, he also noticed the disdainful look on the man's face. He curled his lips and sighed in his heart: Isn't this guy too realistic? When I heard that Xiao Changan didn't
Being a scholar, his attitude immediately became cold. But it's normal to think about it. This Jingnian is all dressed in high-grade silk and satin. Looking at the three of them, they are all dressed in coarse linen. It is natural for them to be despised by others.
"Hey, everything is low-grade, but reading is good!" Xiao Chu sighed in his heart. Previously, the guy was so enthusiastic about his relationship with Xiao Changan, but after hearing that he had not been selected as a scholar, he immediately changed his attitude. How obvious is the contrast between before and after?
Xiao Chu once again confirmed that scholars in ancient times were also divided into three, six or nine grades. A single word could make a huge difference between a poor family and a wealthy family.
"Sure enough, studying was the only way out in ancient times!" Xiao Chu sighed secretly in his heart again.
Xiao Changan also clearly noticed the change in Zhang Jinnian's attitude. Although the two had a friendship as classmates, their family backgrounds were too different, so it was normal for others to look down on him.
After hearing what Zhang Jinnian said, Xiao Changan's face turned red, and then he wanted to pull the two children away from them.
But just when Xiao Changan was about to leave, he heard Xiao Chu speak from behind.
"Senior Jingqian, have you been selected as a scholar?" Xiao Chu looked up at Zhang Jingnian and asked him with a smile.
Xiao Chu didn't want to speak at first, but after all, Xiao Changan was his father in name. Seeing him being bullied like this, he felt like a coward, so he simply opened his mouth to help him find a place.
Hearing this, Zhang Jingnian was a little surprised. At such a young age, this kid actually dared to speak to him. But when he heard him ask him if he had ever been selected as a scholar, his expression changed slightly. The matter of being a scholar, was it?
He has been suffering from a heart problem for many years. No matter how hard he tries, he just fails, and his family gets angry with him. Even if he tries his best, nothing works.
"Huh!" Zhang Jinnian snorted.
Xiao Chu smiled faintly, not answering is better than answering, it seems that he missed the mark.
Everyone around them also understood the meaning of that snort. It turned out that this Jingnian was also not a scholar. They were both children. How could they laugh at each other? It was like laughing at the fifty steps!
"It turns out that this senior didn't win either!" Xiao Chu deliberately emphasized the word "senior", and everyone around him could hear clearly.
But what surprised everyone was that this child was obviously only five or six years old, so why was he acting calmer than some adults?