Between the hills, a stream flows slowly. There are two trees beside the stream. A rope is pulled between the two trees, and the Taoist's clothes are hung on it. The Taoist is sitting in the shade of the tree, holding a book.
I was reading a book and was cooking millet porridge on the bonfire in front of me. Now the grassland is getting greener and greener, and a lot of wild vegetables are growing. The Taoist found some, washed them, shredded them, threw them into the pot, and cooked them with the porridge.
Calico cats fluttered around in the distance.
The figure disappears and appears in the grass.
Song You didn't know where he had gone.
He only knew that the stream was gurgling in his ears and the pot was bubbling. The sound was soothing. He lowered his head and concentrated on reading, thinking about the future route.
Yanzhou is already the northernmost state of Dayan. When you get here, if you go west, you will reach the Northwest, which can lead to the Western Regions. If you go east, you can lead to the northeast. In short, you will go along the northernmost border.
Naturally, I want to go east.
Yanzhou is narrow from north to south and long from east to west. There are grasslands, but not only grasslands, but also deserts, forests, mountains and plains. Walking along this northernmost border, heading east is Yuezhou.
Mr. Zhang, who listened to Yizhou's storyteller, said that there is a place in the north of Yuezhou that is full of green tung trees. Each tree is thousands of years old and towers into the clouds. If you go there during the summer solstice and winter solstice, you may see the phoenix.
Going further east is Zhaozhou.
This is the farthest east and north of Dayan. Like the Western Regions, it is the farthest place from Changjing.
When you arrive at Zhaozhou, you should walk a little south, down to Hanzhou, and then to the west is Guangzhou. Guangzhou is next to Hezhou. After a short walk back, you can return to Angzhou and Jingjing.
Feeling confident, Song You withdrew his gaze and looked into the distance.
The grassland in front of us is almost endless, and the hills have gentle curves. Looking around, we can't see any human habitation. Except for the blue sky and white clouds, the earth is all green, pure green. Places like this always make people think,
If we go forward, how long will it take to reach the end, and how long will it take to find a place with people?
There is also a bay-red horse running on the mountain line in the distance.
Only then did Song You realize that his bay-red horse was a Beiyuan horse. Most of the Beiyuan horses in Dayan should have come from Yanzhou, and maybe this was its hometown.
Thinking of this, there was a smile on my lips.
At the same time, there was also a murmur of movement around him.
Song You turned around and looked——
He saw a calico cat dragging a fat giant rat almost as big as her, struggling to walk towards him.
Seeing Song You looking at her, she immediately stopped, let go of the fat giant rat, and looked up at him.
"Eat the rabbit!"
Where is the rabbit here? It is clearly a mole.
It is pronounced Tuoba, and is also called groundhog.
The grassland is vast and there are many hares and marmots.
This fat and unique-looking animal shocked Sanhua Empress, a country bumpkin from Yizhou, when she first saw it. She couldn't tell whether it was a rabbit or a mouse. However, in the eyes of Sanhua cats, this kind of thing has always been something that can only be eaten and eaten.
The difference between not being able to eat is the truth. That night, she tasted one.
It tastes so good that I can't finish it in one meal.
People here really want to eat prairie dogs.
This animal is recorded in "Yu Di Ji Sheng" written by You Di of the Song Dynasty. It is said that it was born in the grass swamp behind the mountain.
The soup is tasteless. However, General Pu from Caotou Pass said a few days ago that this stuff is delicious and oily like lard. Northerners like to eat it. When they are short of food and grass, they will catch it and eat it. The fur can avoid water.
Song You hasn’t eaten it yet.
Now, although Empress Sanhua has brought one, just looking at it like that, she really couldn't stop talking about it for a while.
"Eat the rabbit!"
Seeing that he didn't speak, the calico cat urged him again.
Use your paw to press lightly on the groundhog.
"..." Song You was silent for a moment and then said to her, "This is a mole rat."
"Can't understand……"
"Also called groundhog."
"Rabbit dog! Rabbit!"
The calico cat stared straight at him.
"..."
Song You shook his head helplessly: "Sanhua Empress, eat it."
But the calico cat refused to let him go easily. He tilted his head and stared at him in confusion: "Why don't you eat?"
After I finished speaking, I didn’t forget to add: “It’s a rabbit.”
"I cooked porridge."
"Cooking porridge~"
The calico cat stood up and turned into a long vertical line. He turned to look at the pot, then lay down again, looked at Song You, and frowned slightly: "Why do you always eat grass?"
"It's porridge, wild vegetable porridge."
"The seeds of grass, and the grass."
"That's pretty much it."
"Eat meat."
The calico cat looked at him and kept touching the groundhog next to him with his paw:
"Rabbit meat."
"I don't want to eat this kind of rabbit." Song You said helplessly, "Besides, I have already cooked porridge, and the meat of this kind of rabbit is not suitable for cooking in porridge."
"What would fit?"
"What's appropriate..."
Song You really started to think about it. He suddenly caught sight of the creek beside him and said, "Fish and meat are suitable. Lady Sanhua, please help me catch it."
"But the fish are in the water..." The calico cat frowned immediately and said, "The calico cat doesn't even have fish to eat."
"The Three Flower Empress has great magical powers."
"!"
The calico cat stared at him with a concentrated expression.
"Sanhua Empress not only has great magical powers, but she is also smart and witty." Song You struck while the iron was hot, "Thinking about such a trivial matter as catching fish, Sanhua Empress cannot be troubled."
"!!"
The calico cat's expression became condensed again.
After staring at him for a long time, he turned to look at the creek next to him. He hesitated for a moment and decided to put down the prairie dog and run to the creek to catch fish for him.
Song You looked at it and felt it was funny.
Finally I had some free time, so I simply lay down with my back against a tree trunk, taking my time in the most comfortable position, watching the white clouds in the sky move by, and the shadows of the clouds on the mountains moving with them.
I don’t know how long it took, but another voice came from the distance:
"Taoist! Fish!"
When I turned around, I saw the little girl running back with one hand raised high.
When she ran to him, she immediately lowered her raised hand and stretched it out towards him. In her small hand, she actually held a fish.
She happened to hold a small fish that was less than two fingers wide. I don’t know how she caught it. I could only see a few water droplets splashing on her face. Some of them fell on her forehead and stuck to her hair.
It fell on her eyes, causing her eyes to half-squint and blink from time to time.
He seemed to have a serious face, but also seemed to have no expression. He just stretched out his hand towards Song You, opened one eye and squinted the other, and observed him quietly.
"Thank you, Miss Sanhua."
Song You took the fish from her hand.
"You're welcome."
The little girl then wiped the splashed water on her forehead, eyes and face with the palm of her hand. After wiping it, she put it to her mouth and drank the water.
"Sanhua Empress is indeed very powerful."
"!"
The little girl's expression suddenly became concentrated again, staring straight at him.
Seeing this, Song You quickly added: "But this is enough."
"That's enough..."
"enough."
Song You had no choice but to get up, take out the knife from his quilt bag, take the fish, cut it open and clean it by the stream, throw it directly into the millet porridge, and then sit back and ignore it.
The little girl followed him all the way, like a little follower. After he sat down again, she asked:
"Do you like to eat fish?"
"Fish is nutritious."
“Nutritious~”
"It's just good for your health and rich in protein."
“Protein Cure!”
"Eating it is good for your health."
"It's good for your health!" After the little girl said it, she immediately turned around and walked towards the stream again, "Miss Sanhua, go catch some more!"
"Don't bother."
The little girl ignored him and continued walking to the creek. Only her stubborn and clear murmur came:
"The Three Flower Empress has great magical powers..."
"..."
Song You could only shake his head helplessly.
The little girl worked hard for a long time and caught three fish.
About the same size as the first one.
Because the porridge was almost ready when he caught it, Song You cut it open and washed it, then he randomly found a bunch of small wooden sticks and put them by the fire to bake.
Porridge was poured into a small pot. He took a bowl for himself and gave Sanhua Empress a symbolic portion. He wanted to give her half of the fish, but she sternly refused, so Song You had to put it all in his bowl and face the blue sky.
Breathing in the wind on the grasslands and wilderness, I felt extremely free.
After finishing the porridge, the fish is almost ready.
Song You picked it up and looked at the calico cat: "It's time for each of us to have one of these two, right?"
"Miss Sanhua is not a human being."
"One person and one cat."
"Miss Sanhua, I don't want it."
"Why?"
"Empress Sanhua has rats! Rats are also nutritious and rich in protein!"
"Huh? Not a rabbit?"
"..."
The little girl choked immediately, stared at him blankly, and then said: "It's a rabbit dog..."
"That's fine, then I'll take care of you, Empress Sanhua."
"Thank you, Miss Sanhua."
"Thank you, Miss Sanhua."
"You're welcome."
A bowl of porridge with wild vegetables and small fish, plus two grilled fishes, is really nutritious.
Song You wasn't in a hurry to leave after eating. The laundry hadn't been dried yet, so he lay back casually.
For a moment, the tip of my nose was filled with the fragrance of green grass, and my eyes were filled with blue sky and white clouds. With my mind wide open, it was as if the monsters of Hezhou, the plague, and the monster king of the snowfield had never existed. It was obvious that I had just walked through that devastated land, but in my heart
But it doesn't make it dark.
Just like the Sanhua Empress.
And if you think about it carefully, although this grassland is vast and sparsely populated, where can you go?
In this way, my heart became calm.
I could only hear the sound of water in the distance from time to time. It was Sanhua Empress who had finished eating the prairie dog and was catching fish for him again. Without looking, I could imagine her walking along the waterside and quietly observing the swimming fish.
It is said that there are three kinds of happiness in life.
One is to obtain direct benefits, which is material and physical happiness. The other is to feel happy because you have done the right thing, which is moral happiness.
There is another kind that is very special. It neither benefits you nor involves morality. For example, you are lying on the endless prairie, but you don’t feel at a loss and don’t know where you are going. You have peace of mind and are surrounded by the wind on the prairie.
Blowing, being basked in the spring sun, feeling comfortable, and having an indescribable spiritual happiness.
The first two are easy to obtain, while the latter are rare.
Song You smiled unconsciously.
Just close your eyes and sleep.
…
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