Chapter 3 Wilderness (two hits) With a bang, Li Xu felt all the blood in his body rush to his head, and it exploded, emitting countless golden stars, big, small, five-pointed, and cross, just like during the New Year
The moment when the bamboo joints exploded in the fire, it was short but colorful. He didn't dare to move or move the girl's arms away. He only dared to lie there quietly, trying his best to control the rise and fall of his chest even when he breathed.
Look no further, he desperately told himself in his heart, but he couldn't help but move his eyes slowly, scanning the top of the felt bag that was red by the flames, and slowly focused on the girl's face. It was a beautiful face, almost
It is the most beautiful and delicate skin he has ever seen in the world, long eyelashes, and a pair of delicate lips...
Li Xu looked at it, as if looking at a piece of precious southern white porcelain. He didn't dare to touch it, lest it would fall to the ground and smash to pieces. He didn't dare to think too much, because the girl was so beautiful.
A square object, as hard to desecrate as a lotus. He could feel a moist and hot impulse swelling deep in his soul, but he had no idea what he should do next.
I don’t know how long it took, an hour? A hundred years? Or just a moment? Finally, Li Xu mustered up the courage again. He gently lifted the girl’s arm with his hands, put it under the blanket, and then,
He stood up with the lightest, most subtle but extremely quick movements, and tiptoed out of the felt tent. It was too hot, and he needed a little cold air to calm himself.
On the grassland, starlight as big as water poured down from the sky close at hand, and it suddenly penetrated his gown. The autumn wind whistled in the wilderness, faintly mixed with the howling of wolves. This is the grassland.
Deep in the depths, it is not his own home. Li Xu’s mind is getting clearer and clearer.
All the drunkenness was blown away by the wind, and his rationality and feelings returned to his body. He felt countless goosebumps quickly appearing on his arms, but he did not have the courage to get into the felt tent again. He raised his eyes and looked into the distance. Li Xu saw that goods were being placed.
There were still lights on in several tents. Maybe he should go there to take care of the goods. He finally found a good reason and moved his legs as if to escape.
The tent curtain was gently opened, and the person inside heard the footsteps outside. It was Uncle Jiu who leaned out half of his body alertly. Li Xu was very happy to see the broad shoulders and broke into the tent regardless of the other person's surprised gaze.
But they found that Xu Dayan and Hao Laodao were also here. There was an iron pot on the ground, and the broth in the pot was steaming.
"Awakening from Wenrou Township so soon?" Xu Dayan asked mockingly when he saw Li Xu coming out.
"Me, me!" Li Xu didn't know what to say. He knew that his performance today was really bad, and he must have been classified by Xu Dayan as the same kind as Du Scaru, Wang Mazi and others. But what exactly did he do wrong?
?There doesn’t seem to be a single thing that can be blamed
"You won't tell me that you didn't do anything?" Xu Dayan saw Li Xu's embarrassed look and asked with a frown. At the banquet, he, Sun Jiu, and Hao Laodao were the only three people who persisted until the end when they discovered that a woman had entered.
After reading a lot of books when staying at his companion's tent, Xu Dayan, who adheres to the principles of a gentleman, resolutely chose to accompany Uncle Jiu to the night vigil.
"Me?" Li Xu's face turned dark purple again. Things between men and women were too complicated and wonderful for a boy in his early fourteens. He did not do anything, but as a man who gradually grew up,
, and he didn’t want to admit that he knew nothing about it.
"Are you still a young child?" This time, it was Hao Laodao's turn to get angry. He jumped up, touched Li Xu's legs narrowly, and then looked up to the sky and let out a scream like a wolf howling: "Oh my God!
I thought no one had practiced Boy Kung Fu for a long time! With you here, what else would the caravan ask swordsmen like us to do?"
Li Xu was so ashamed that he felt hot all over. He wished he could find a crack in the ground and crawl in. He turned around and tried to get out of the door, but Uncle Jiu pulled him back: "Ignore them, sit by the fire and drink a bowl of hangover soup."
The wind is too cold. Standing outside all night will definitely give you something to do with the cold!"
Li Xu couldn't get away, so he had to lean over and sit down next to Uncle Jiu. Xu Da saw that his face was full of embarrassment, but he became embarrassed. He suppressed the laughter in his stomach and turned his head away. Hao Laodao, however, refused to give up, and his eyes
Scanning Li Xu up and down, he wanted to see the similarities and differences between the muscles and bones of people who practice "Tongzi Kung" and others.
"Lao Dao, don't bully the child. He is a scholar and has a tender face!" Uncle Jiu stretched out his hand and pushed Hao Lao Dao, scolding him with a smile.
"Scholar, have you ever seen a scholar like no other? He said, food, sex, and sex are what I want, and bear's paws are what I want too!" Hao Laodao was full of nonsense and said that he failed to study when he was young, so he had nothing but
To wield a sword or a stick is to twist the words of the ancients for the most pleasure
"Then Uncle Lao Dao, why don't you choose a tent to have fun? Do you also practice boy's skills?" Xu Da couldn't see that Hao Lao Dao was making fun of the saint, and jumped up to avenge the injustice of the ancestor.
"You think I don't want to? People think I'm ugly and won't come into my tent!" Hao Laodao pretended to be angry and said.
Everyone laughed, and the awkward feeling gradually faded. Li Xu breathed a sigh of relief, and secretly glanced at Hao Laodao. Seeing that the other party was no longer in trouble with him, he raised his head and asked Sun Jiu: "Uncle Jiu, when will we leave?"
Banquet, why do you come to watch the night in person?"
"It has only been less than half an hour. Everyone is thinking about romance and happiness, so they have no choice but to let me, an old man, and a gentleman like Big Eyes come to watch the night. But you, kid, have emptied three leather bags. Everyone bets that you will be drunk until tomorrow.
It’s noon, I didn’t expect to wake up so soon!” Sun Jiu shook his head and answered with a smile.
I drank so much that Li Xu himself was a little surprised that there was nothing else besides singing and dancing in the second half of the banquet. He didn't remember at all. As for how many bowls of wine he drank casually, he never counted them carefully in his memory.
I felt so drunk that I almost forgot all the unhappy things in Lin Ren's singing.
"I think they were probably so frightened that they woke up. Will the offspring enjoy the blessing? No matter what! What a shame!" Hao Laodao let out a series of long sighs sourly.
"He is calm and has the style of the ancients!" Xu Dayan loudly defended his friend and then regretted it. Talking about Liu Xiahui to a rough guy like Hao Laodao was a waste of knowledge.
"You have learned to be a hypocrite at such a young age!" Hao Laodao and Xu Dayan compared whose eyeballs were whiter, sneered and said when the other party refused to answer his question, he continued: "Look at Du Scaran, Wang
Mazi and the others haven’t even touched the wine, so they’ve been waiting for this moment!”
Thinking of Wang Mazi baring his big yellow teeth and hugging a flower-like girl, Li Xu felt his stomach churn and frowned, asking in a low voice: "Uncle Lao Dao, every, everyone in the tent..."
"What about each tent?" Hao Laodao was waiting for Li Xu's words, and deliberately lengthened his voice to tease him.
After thinking for a long time, Li Xu couldn't think of a suitable word, so he changed his words: "Does everyone have a share?"
"Do you think that the robbers are sharing the spoils, and everyone who sees it has a share!" Hao Laodao laughed, shook his head and showed off: "It is a custom in the Ministry of Finance that women over the age of thirteen without a husband can choose a man's tent and sneak into it at night.
It is the power bestowed upon them by the Eternal Life God. Even the clan leaders and elders cannot interfere. Hehe, some people have such wonderful thoughts today that they will probably spend the whole night rejoicing!"
"Immoral!" Xu Dayan cursed with a straight face. The education he had received since childhood was that women should behave in a dignified and dignified way. Even if they grow up and start a family, it is "the orders of their parents and the words of the matchmaker" who make the decision, not to mention taking the initiative to seduce men.
Even if he took the initiative to talk to the man, it would be a treasonous act. Although he also knew that the rich and powerful family was doing something different, completely different from what was said in the book, but it was all done behind the scenes, and no one could
Don’t dare to openly announce these “dirty things” to your mouth
"This is other people's customs. How can it be called immoral?" Hao Laodao deliberately argued with Xu Dayan.
Even though Xu Dayan was very articulate, he was speechless when he asked him: The customs of the Hu people have been very different from those of the Han people since ancient times. This is the territory of the Hu people. Indeed, you should not criticize other people's behavior based on your own Han people's point of view.
"So, what about after tonight?" Li Xu didn't have as many principles in his heart as Xu Dayan. After thinking for a while, Nana's questions prompted him to run away. Half of the reason why he ran away was because he didn't understand anything about men and women.
, the other half of the reason is that he doesn't know what kind of price someone will pay if he can't control it.
"After tonight, the sun will still rise from the east!" Hao Laodao's answer was like a charlatan's divination, full of mysteries.
"What if we have children?" Li Xu continued to ask men and women whether they would have children if they lived together. This was the only definite answer he could give about men and women.
"If you raise a child, the tribe will celebrate and increase the population. If the father of the child has a conscience and leaves some wealth for the child when he goes back and forth, the women will be very happy. If the father of the child has no conscience and disappears, they will not pester you.
!" Hao Laodao's eyes gradually deepened, and he said quietly: "If you are willing to stay, women will be happier here. It is only green and snowy for five months a year. Life without a man is not easy!"
A child without a father! Some sympathy surged in Li Xu's heart. In the countryside, any family without a father is often the target of bullying by gangsters and naughty boys. However, how many of the traders who come and go will stay? How many of them can?
Do you expect to have a conscience? Each of them has a large family to support in the Central Plains. To them, having a romantic night is just a way to relieve the fatigue of the journey.
"There's nothing we can do about it!" Uncle Jiu grabbed the leather bag, drank some sour horseradish, and explained with a sigh.
Accidentally, a few drops of wine fell into the charcoal basin, and a faint smoke slowly rose up and floated in the air, making everyone's face look hazy and unreal.
"Yeah, there's no other way!" Hao Laodao picked up the charcoal with his eating tool and stared at the blue flames and said: "Every time there is a famine in the tribe, wars continue for a good pasture and a Wuding River (Seasonal River).
"
Li Xulu was stunned. He never expected that the last resort mentioned by Uncle Jiu was such a cruel reality. Xu Dayan, who was sitting opposite him, put away his disdain and replaced it with respect.
It is a last resort, just for the continuation of the tribe. This is the whole answer behind the seemingly absurd and ignorant behavior. The weak Xi tribe can survive in this ice and snow until now, relying on this innate tenacity.
Li Xu suddenly understood why Lin Ren's singing sounded so cheerful in the sunshine.
"Uncle Jiu!" After a moment of silence, Li Xu shouted in a low voice
"Say!" Sun Jiu fiddled with the charcoal fire and agreed word by word. The topic just now was too heavy, which made everyone's heart heavy. The women of the Xi tribe did not hesitate to pay any price for the survival of the tribe, while the men of the Central Plains fought for their families.
Continuing, the steps are also difficult. There are snowstorms, wars, and vendettas in the Mobei grassland. The villages in the Central Plains are burdened with emperors, corrupt officials, and evil officials. Under the sun, the growth of every living thing has to go through hardships. But every living thing, every family,
Will still survive tenaciously
"I, I plan to stay in this tribe for a while, no, I won't follow the caravan back south!" Li Xuheng made a decision and decided to tell Sun Jiu the truth. This decision was too difficult, so that his voice could not be heard.
Feeling a little stuttering
"Do you want to stay here and be your son-in-law? Ha! That's a good idea. I heard that the coppersmith Wang in the tribe is from the Central Plains. He married his wife more than ten years ago and has been here ever since!" Hao Laodao joked to the tribe members with a smile.
The story about Coppersmith Wang is that he listened to the tribal elders at the wine table in the afternoon and said that people admired him very much for his skill in making patterns on the handles of swords.
Li Xu shook his head, ignored Hao Laodao's ridicule, raised his voice slightly, and confessed to Sun Jiu: "My father, my father, he asked me to go out for him in order to avoid military service. According to Brother Zhao in the Yamen,
Next year the emperor will personally conquer Korea, and all men of suitable age in the border counties must enlist in the army regardless of their origins!"
"Your father has told me about this matter a long time ago. In fact, the government won't be so unreasonable. You are the only son in the family. You don't necessarily have to apply for the military service if you make a few money!" Sun Jiu raised his head from the firelight and whispered.
He said, "Okay, you stay here, just think that we have a land merchant in the tribe who can't sell the goods for a while, and there are people to help store them!"
Sun Jiu's old face, which had gone through many vicissitudes of life, reflected a faint red light under the firelight. He looked very kind. This made Li Xu feel warm in his heart, and his speech rhythm became smoother. "I, I should have talked to you earlier."
He said, it’s just that people on the road talk too much and people don’t like me in the first place….”
"They bully you because you look easy to bully!" Sun Jiu suddenly interrupted Li Xu, looked at the young man's aggrieved eyes, reached out and patted his shoulder: "Stay, you stay big-eyed
You will definitely not follow us back south. You two have to take care of each other here. In fact, Lao Zhang and Lao Du are not as bad as you think. They live a hard life, so they naturally value money!"
"Yeah!" Li Xu nodded lightly. He couldn't completely agree with Sun Jiu's views, but the old man was so kind that he couldn't contradict him.
"If you stay in Fengbu, you might as well find a coppersmith to learn his craft. Anyway, he won't go back to the Central Plains, and he won't be afraid of teaching his apprentices to starve to death!" Hao Laodao suddenly added. He often rolls on the tip of his knife. He sees problems better than everyone else.
Optimistic, when I heard that Li Xu was going to stay, I immediately thought of a way to make a living for him.
"Be more careful. People from Lin also have knowledge from people like Lin. You will never suffer a loss if you learn from it!" Sun Jiu warned with a smile. He had not been dating Li Xu for a long time, but the old man sincerely regarded the young man in front of him as his junior. They were about to leave.
, it is inevitable that life experiences will be instilled in him: "If you have many talents, you are not as big as you. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. You are born to do great things. No one has accumulated more blessings in his previous life, so work harder in this life."
, I will eventually find a good future..."
"Yes!" Li Xu nodded repeatedly. The old man looked very much like his uncle, whose temples were also dyed white by the difficult life. He also straightened his back in front of others and behind others. No matter whether he was rich or poor in his life, he should at least do something
A person like Uncle Jiu is upright, upright and strong
"I'll help you carry your goods back. If you make more money this time, everyone will definitely come again after the snow melts next year!" Sun Jiu looked at the young man who was reluctant to leave him, and warned him again, "If the conscription
If there is a rumor, you should go back to the Central Plains as soon as possible to warm up the felt bag here, after all, it is not our own home!"
Home, Li Xu's eyes suddenly became intense. The distant courtyard was extremely clear in his memory.
