Zhang Xiaozu took the white cloth and spread it in the palm of his hand. He saw three characters written on the white cloth. He didn't know much about literacy, but he happened to know these three characters, because these three characters were exactly his name: Zhang Xiaozu.
The handwriting is beautiful, I think it was written by a woman.
For some reason, seeing these three words, Zhang Xiaozhu's heart twitched suddenly, as if he was being held tightly by a big hand, painful and suffocating. He looked up at the old village chief eagerly. He knew that these three words
This character must be related to his biological parents.
The old village chief seemed to know what Zhang Xiaozhu was thinking, and nodded to him and said: "These three words were indeed left by your relatives, but they were not written on this white cloth, but on the ground with a stylus.
I felt that this was the only clue related to your identity, so I made a rubbing and traced it on this piece of white cloth. Now that you are an adult, I will leave it to you for personal care."
"Thank you, village chief, for your kindness." Zhang Xiaozhu kowtowed heavily and held the white cloth in his hands. His nose was sore and his eye circles were red. This was the first time in his life that he felt that his parents were real. .??.
The old village chief stroked his beard and continued: "I see the handwriting is beautiful and soft, so I guess it was left by your mother. You should keep it and don't get it dirty. It is the key to find relatives and ancestors in the future. As the saying goes
Tao, parents love their children, and they have far-reaching plans. Your parents abandoned you here, maybe they were forced to do so out of some helplessness, and it was the best choice they could make for you at the time. To say the least,
Even if they are not, you should not annoy them and hate them. Life is only for a few decades. You should live happily and live freely, and you should not live in resentment and hatred. Do you understand?"
"Thanks to the village chief for teaching me, I understand." Zhang Xiaozu nodded vigorously and remembered the old village chief's words in his heart. He folded the white cloth and tore off a piece of cloth from his body to wrap it up.
Then he put it in his arms and put it away.
"This is the first thing I want to tell you, and the second thing is next." The old village chief said, "Today you are an adult and you should take your first name. But your parents and elders are not here, so we can't make decisions for you.
, I want to ask your opinion, should I take it today or wait until you find your parents?"
"I will take it today." Zhang Xiaozhu said without hesitation, "Although my biological parents are not here, all my close relatives are here, so why can't I be the master? I hope the elders will give me a name."
"In that case, I will give you a name." The old village chief nodded and said, "Today you will be named Zhang Xiaopeng. The character is very useful. A soldier can take off his armor and go to the fields to farm. When he goes into battle, he can attack cities and destroy the ground, kill and capture the enemy.
King, you will be of great use."
"This little pawn is of great use." Zhang Xiaopou muttered softly, his eyes lit up, and he hurriedly kowtowed and thanked: "Thank you, elder, for the name."
"Haha, okay." The old village chief nodded with satisfaction. This was something he only thought of after thinking hard for several days and nights. Seeing that Zhang Xiaozu liked it, he was very happy and said: "The next thing is the third thing. You have
You have already taken the name, and it should be included in the family tree. When you are alive, you should have roots and a family, not just like a duckweed. Logically speaking, you should find your biological parents and recognize your ancestors. But the road to find relatives is endless, or one day
You can find it, or you can find it in ten years, or you may not even find it in your lifetime. What if you can't find it in your lifetime? You grew up in Liujia Village, and this is your home. I discussed it with the village elders, and we all agreed
I agree that you will join the Liujia Village family tree and form a branch of your own. What do you think?"
"Really - really?" Zhang Xiaozhu looked at the old village chief in disbelief, wondering if he had heard wrongly. The old village chief actually allowed him, an outsider, to enter Liujia Village, and he was still in his own lineage. It was just a dream.
generally.
But you must know that in this world of strict clans, rootless people are equivalent to savages jumping out of rocks. They will be despised and despised wherever they go, even if they are captured as slaves or even beaten to death in the street.
Someone will say a word for you, but for a person without roots to take root in the world, it can be said to be as difficult as climbing to the sky.
"Really." The old village chief nodded.
Bang bang bang——
Zhang Xiaopou kowtowed nine times and choked with emotion: "It's all arranged by the village chief and the village elders. It's such a kindness and virtue that Zhang Dayong will never forget it in his life."
"Okay, okay, I hope you will get married soon and flourish." The old village chief gave his blessing.
With tears in Zhang Xiaozhu's eyes, he suddenly hugged Niu Dawa, who was kneeling beside him, and shouted happily: "Daw, I have roots! I have roots! Haha——"
"Haha - you have roots! You have roots! Haha -" Da Wa was happy with him, laughed together, and roared together.
"I, Zhang Dayong, have roots!" Zhang Xiaopou looked up to the sky and roared, as if he wanted to tell the whole world.
After Zhang Xiaozhu calmed down from the excitement, the old village chief held a wicker in his hand and circled Zhang Xiaozhu and Niu Dawa. The wicker hit them lightly and said while hitting them: "You two have grown up today. You should remember your parents' birth and upbringing."
The words of kindness and filial piety come first. You should shoulder responsibilities and have the courage to take on responsibilities. You should be fearless of difficulties and have the courage to fight. You should benefit others and benefit the world and make contributions. You should be worthy of being happy in your heart for the rest of your life. I do not ask you to do good deeds every day, but you are born as a human being and you must do good deeds.
"
"Remember the teachings of the elders!" Zhang Xiaozhu and Niu Dawa kowtowed.
"Okay, get up." The old village chief said.
The two stood up, saluted, and returned to the crowd with adult excitement.
The old village chief knocked on the ground with his cane, suppressed his smile, and returned to the seriousness he had when offering sacrifices to the sky. Everyone knew what the village chief was going to say next, and couldn't help but become quiet. The sudden change in the atmosphere made the children who were still unaware of their troubles
I looked at my parents in bewilderment, only to receive their silence gestures.
"Don't hunt in the spring, don't cut down in the summer, nourish the mountains and forests, and raise children and grandchildren. Our ancestors' instructions have been passed down from generation to generation. For more than six hundred years, we dare not violate them. We never imagined that they would be destroyed in our hands. Alas--" the old villager sighed.
He let out a cry of great sorrow and sadness, but then he smiled with relief and said: "Admonitions are dead, people are alive. If you follow the admonitions, you will die, if you adapt, you will live. I expect our ancestors will understand and forgive us. Okay,
Without further ado, let’s get straight to the point. The drought has taken hold, and the government doesn’t care whether we live or die. If we want to survive, we have to find our own way. We, Liujia Village, have made a living by farming and hunting for generations. Now that we can no longer farm, all we can do is hunt.
There is only one road. So if we want to survive, we have no choice but to go hunting in the mountains. Every family’s food tank has bottomed out and has even been eaten, so there is no need to wait. We need to select a hunting team today and go into the mountains tomorrow.”
"Old village chief, just go ahead and call the names. No one will frown if they are called."
"Yeah. Drawing lots is too troublesome."
The villagers in Liujia Village are all friendly and united. The more difficult it is, the more they can stick together without distinguishing each other.
The old village chief waved his hand and said: "It is unfair to act arbitrarily, so let's draw lots. Of course, there are some people who cannot participate in the draw. Those who are the only children in the family, those whose wives are pregnant, those who have not yet had children, minors, and those who are young
Those who are over fifty years old, as well as those who are weak and sick. I know the basics of every household, and no one can get away with it."
Those who didn't follow the rules but had secret agendas immediately started complaining.
The old village chief ignored these people and waved to one person. The man came forward with a wooden box in his arms. The box was placed on the ground. There was a round hole as big as a fist directly above it. Along the round hole, you could see many small things inside.
Paper ball.
"I have calculated that there are sixty-three people who meet the requirements——"
"Grandpa, village chief, are you counting me out? Are you counting me out?"
As soon as the old village chief opened his mouth, he was interrupted by Niu Dawa yelling. He had just held the completion ceremony today and was afraid that the old village chief would forget it.
"Forget it, forget it." The old village chief glared at Niu Dawa angrily, and then continued: "There are sixty-three paper balls in the box, and thirty paper balls have 'one' written on them.
Enter the hunting party of 'one'."
"Ah? Old village chief, did you make a mistake? Why did you choose only thirty people to go into the mountain?" Someone asked in surprise. Logically speaking, the more the better.
The old village chief frowned and said: "What is terrible in the year of disaster is not the natural disasters, but the people's hearts. If all our strong laborers have gone into the mountains, what if bandits and bandits come to the village to plunder? There is only one village left.
The old, weak, women and children are being bullied and slaughtered. I heard that the south is in chaos, and everyone is hungry and red-eyed, grabbing food everywhere. If the officials let it go, they will be here soon. So, stay here
At home, the burden on your shoulders is much heavier than that of people going into the mountains. Furthermore, going into the mountains requires a lot of physical effort, and you need a full meal to have the strength to hunt. And we don’t have much food, and it’s not enough to support more people.
Go hunting in the mountains.”
"Stop talking nonsense, just listen to the old village chief." Niu Yao, Niu Dawa's father, shouted loudly. After that, he walked to the box, reached in and grabbed a paper ball, unfolded it, and suddenly smiled and said:
"Haha, yes, I am lucky."
"You bitch, who asked you to arrest me first? You took mine." A man with an open chest yelled. After cursing, he kicked over the one on the right who met the lottery conditions, and knocked down the one on the left with one arm.
With the conditions of drawing lots, he killed the two competitors with lightning speed, then rushed to the box with lightning speed, reached into the box and took out three paper balls, and threw them at the two who were still confused on the ground.
Humanity said: "Brother, I will help you two catch him."
After saying that, the three paper balls were opened together. The first one was zero, and he threw it to one of them. The second one was also zero, and he threw it to another person. The third one finally came out with a one, and he suddenly laughed wildly.
.
This man's name is Li Dashan, he is rough and bold, and Niu Yao, Niu Dawa's father, are the two most experienced hunters among the middle-aged men in the village.
The old village chief was so angry that he blew his beard and glared. He hit Li Dashan hard with the cane and asked him to put the paper ball back into the box and smoke it again. Li Dashan hugged his head in pain and ran away, and simply swallowed the paper ball into his stomach, letting the old man
The village chief was helpless.
coax--
As soon as this case started, everything was in chaos. They were yelling and yelling and throwing fists and kicks, just like a group of barbarians.
Niu Dawa received eight punches and nine kicks, and was even grabbed in the crotch by some turtle boy. The pain made his face turn green. In the end, he could not get within one step of the box. But he was lucky and picked it up on the ground.
He picked up a paper ball, opened it, and saw that it was a man. He immediately yelled to identify himself, and then imitated Li Dashan and swallowed the paper ball into his stomach.
"Good brother, just stay at home and take care of the village, and I will go into the mountains to catch a bear for you to eat." Niu Dawa covered his crotch with one hand and patted Zhang Xiaopou's shoulder to comfort him.
Zhang Xiaopeng did not meet the conditions for drawing lots, and he did not dare to violate the rules set by the old village chief, so he could only stand aside and watch.
"I want to go into the mountain." Zhang Xiaopou finally couldn't bear the restlessness in his heart. He shook off Niu Dawa's hand on his shoulder, strode up to the old village chief, and said firmly: "Grandpa, village chief, I want to go to the mountain."
Go into the mountains. As you know, I am born with great strength, so going into the mountains will be of great use."
The old village chief didn't even look at him, he shook his head and said: "You are a single seedling, and you are responsible for carrying on the family line, so you are not allowed to go into the mountain. Besides, as I just said, it is even more useful to stay at home to resist bandits."
Zhang Xiaozu curled his lips. He had never heard of bandits causing trouble nearby since he was a child, and felt that the old village chief was alarmist. Seeing that the old village chief had a straight face and showed no intention of giving in, Zhang Xiaozu could only be shameless and hugged the old village chief.
He stretched his arms coquettishly and begged: "Grandpa, village chief, please, please let me go into the mountain."
All the children in the village know that this is a surefire way to deal with the village chief's grandfather. As long as he does not make a principled mistake, he can always get the old village chief's forgiveness. Zhang Xiaopou used this trick a lot when he was a child, but he has grown up over the years.
I was too embarrassed to use it again. At this time, I repeated my old skills. Although my cheeks were hot with shame, my skill was still the same as before. After shaking my arms for a few times, the old village chief surrendered.
"Stop, stop, stop, my old bones can't withstand your tossing like this. If I shake it any more, it will fall apart." The old village chief shouted angrily, used a walking stick to pull Zhang Xiaopeng one step away, and laughed and cursed:
"You brat, are you ashamed? You're already marrying a wife and starting a family, and you're still trying to imitate other people's crotchless tricks. What's the matter, is it possible that after you marry your wife, you'll still let your wife hold her in her arms to pee? Haha————
"
Zhang Xiaozhu's face turned red and he was so embarrassed that he wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl in. However, this was a critical moment of the struggle and he could not run away in the face of the battle. He simply acted shamelessly and pretended not to hear anything. He said: "In front of you, Mr. Niu."
My uncle is a child, let alone me. Anyway, I don’t care. If you don’t agree with me going into the mountains, I will stick to you all day long.”
The old village chief did not pick a fight with him, but pointed at the crowd with his walking stick and said: "Looking at Xizi's happy look, he must have grabbed a spot to enter the mountain. His baby was less than a hundred days old, and on the day of the full moon wine,
I went to see the baby. The baby was crying loudly and full of energy. He will be a strong and capable person when he grows up. I just heard that the baby caught wind and cold yesterday, had a cough and fever, and spent the whole night. He will go into the mountains tomorrow.
My baby is sick, and I wonder if Xizi can hunt with peace of mind?"
"Huh! As a father, you must have the responsibility and responsibility of being a father. How can you leave the child alone when he is sick? I will tell him to go." Zhang Xiaozhu suppressed his laughter and pretended.
"Be careful and don't let him lose face." The old village chief warned in a low voice. However, his instructions seemed to come a little slowly. When he opened his mouth, Zhang Xiaozu had already rushed into the crowd and stood in front of Li Rongxi. Without saying a word, he followed his instructions.
He punched Li Rongxi in the face, and then took advantage of Li Rongxi's dazed state to grab the paper lot in his hand and ran away.
The old village chief gritted his teeth and said, "Young people today are very angry."