Bamboo Shadow Reflecting Shutong

The sky gradually turned from dark to deep black; the gathered dark clouds pressed more heavily on the ground, covering the vast fields and tiny villages.In the dusk of deep winter, it disappears before it can show its face.

Snowing.The catkin-like snowflakes float carelessly, one after another, the wind twists the snow, and in an instant the world is covered with whiteness that cannot be wiped off by the snow, and the wind and snow cover the entire field.

However, the two people who are as small as dust floating in this big world cannot appreciate such a scenery.

Those were two half-grown children, and one of them should be older.Her face was full of childishness and youthfulness that the wind and snow could not hide.

They struggled in this wind and snow, and they didn't know what force was supporting them to walk tirelessly. Even though they didn't know where to stop, they couldn't stop there.

If you stop, you may sleep with this snow forever.

"Cough cough...cough." The intermittently concealed cough finally broke the silence between the two. Even if an adult trekked in the snow, he would be tired and affected by the wind and cold.Not to mention they were kids.

They are still children, but the world does not allow them to be children.

"Xiao Ba, can you continue walking?" The boy who was walking ahead to open the way stopped and turned around to ask.

This is a face covered by wind and snow, but it is easy to judge from the appearance that he is at the age of slack, but the facial features and figure have not grown due to lack of nutrition, but the pair of eyes are bright and warm. Like this whole body, only this pair of eyes has not lost the innocence that belongs to childhood.

Those who walked behind were younger and looked thinner.He shook his head, because he lacked strength, his voice was so low that he could barely hear: "I'm okay...cough..." He probably didn't finish speaking, but was covered by a violent cough.

Of course, the person in front would not believe this kind of nonsense that a discerning person could recognize. He groped and groped in the worn-out robe, and finally found a piece of torn pie crust in a corner of a pocket. , quickly stuffed it into the hand of the person behind, and walked a little faster: "Eat, I remember that there is a mountain temple near here, let's go there to rest."

The boy named Xiao Ba was startled, he already had a pancake crust in his hand, he was about to speak when someone cut off his beard first.

"Don't worry, I'm not hungry, I'm done answering." He looked sideways at the child, saw that he was still cautious but couldn't wait to eat, and he was relieved.

He met this child in the middle of his exile. He didn't expect that the child had nowhere to go, so he just followed him.Because he was a little older, he naturally became the eldest brother heroically and took on the burden of taking care of others.Coming and going in the wind and rain, the two begged along the street, or ate wild grass roots, and were very lucky not to be poisoned or starved to death, so they lived together until it snowed.

But the winter was too long, so long that he felt almost endless. He lived in fear, thinking that he would die if he ran out of food one day, but he couldn't express this emotion.

He couldn't let the two of them panic at the same time, and have this kind of fear at the same time.

...He had to talk about his hopes every day. Although he knew that most of them were just random words, he still had to learn to believe and deceive himself.

For example, the temple just now was just made up by him.

In fact, if you think about it, you know that a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy who has not yet drawn a ticket says that he has been here, and he has been there, who would believe it?

Of course it was someone younger than him, who would be a needle if given a mallet...

However, what the young man didn't expect was that this time, the blind cat actually met the dead mouse, and they actually met the temple.

Although he was very excited, he still had an expression on his face that if you look at it, I would say that there is a temple here, and entered the temple calmly.

There are still incense and tributes in this temple!This is really a pleasant surprise, at least there will be several meals without worrying about eating, he thought about it, and finally showed a little smile.

They ate up all the fruits on the table, and then they had nothing to do, and the two looked at each other in a daze.

At this time, the older one seemed to suddenly remember something, slapped his forehead, and said, "Wait a minute, Xiaoba, do you have a name?"

The skinny child flinched and shook his head.

"What did you say your last name was?"

The child touched his neck and took out a long-lived lock hung on a rope with the word "Yang" written on it.

The young man murmured something in a low voice, frowning for a while, and stretching it for a while, and said: "The moon is missing and the tree is hanging, and the first silence is broken..."

Xiao Ba raised his head, his eyes were full of confusion, and he didn't know the relationship between the name and the poem recitation.

"Who...that's all, your name is Shutong, okay?"

"Shutong..." The child bit the two words, the corners of his mouth curled up, and he nodded, "It sounds good."

So, in this temple, the naming ceremony ended in such a hurry, but Yang Shutong was still inexplicably happy. He lowered his head and recited these two words silently, and then asked: "Then, which "Shu" is it, which one is it?" Tong "Huh?"

"You come with me."

The young man was thankful that he hadn't returned all the things he learned in the private school to his husband, although he almost showed his feet just now, so who, who and what...

He thought of the days when he was studying. He didn't like those boring old poems, but he had some good ideas about digging out bird's nests and climbing tall trees.

Until... when, one day when he came home, an old slave in the house kept telling him to run, run, but where and why he ran, he still didn't understand.

Then he couldn't play truant anymore, because there was no school to go to. He saw with his own eyes that the most stern and dignified teacher was caught and whipped a few times. He felt that although the teacher was strict, there was nothing wrong with him.

But there are thousands of things in the world, where is right or wrong that can be summed up in one word.

Who sees, who sees what?No one told him the answer.

He didn't know what it was like, he wanted to smile, but he showed an expression that couldn't be called a wry smile, then waved to Yang Shutong and walked outside.

He broke off a branch and wrote on that poor branch in the depths covered by snow, writing the word Shutong stroke by stroke. He was so focused that Yang Shutong was also bewildered. motionless.

"Shu...Tong..., what do you mean?" Yang Shutong whispered the name again, he couldn't read characters yet, he could only use the gap in the middle to identify which was which, and waved his hand in the air to write, asking road.

"A kind of plant." Because of the side of the tree, he continued to pretend to be knowledgeable, and just answered casually.

"Oh..." Yang Shutong continued to copy the word, and after a while, he suddenly raised his head, "Brother Qin, I don't know what your name is yet."

The boy glanced at him and said nothing.In a short while, a character of yun was completed.

"This word reads "yun"" he said in a relaxed tone, "it means bamboo."

Yang Shutong said "Yun" for a long time, then he thought of something and laughed inexplicably.

Qin Yun was a little puzzled: "What are you laughing at?"

"Then my elder brother and I are both plants!" Yang Shutong explained, and then asked: "You...why did your parents give you this name?" Halfway through the sentence, he knew he had made a slip of the tongue, and his voice murmured. The end note is almost inaudible.

They haven't called the words father and mother for a long, long time.

However, the expected silence did not come as expected. Qin Yun scratched his nose and said nonchalantly, "They...probably want me to be a gentleman. They all say that bamboo is hollow and straight outside..."

He couldn't pretend anymore, so he turned and went back to the house.

Life and death or something, listening to other people's stories is only four words, but I have tasted it myself, but it is full of mixed flavors, full of thoughts shackled in my mind, and I can't describe it.

Qin Yun heard a low sob, which was his own.

He shouldn't cry, even if there were ten thousand reasons to cry, he wiped his tears with the back of his hand, but it had the opposite effect.

What a shame, he thought.

But who can bear it, besides... he is still a child.

No one will see him as a child anymore.

At some point, a little child stood beside him silently. After a while, he seemed to muster up the courage to speak, and asked carefully, "Brother Qin, what happened, can you... tell me?"

Yes, maybe he also needs some talk and company.

He no longer put on airs like a big brother, and just whispered out Qin Yun's sorrow one by one in this way—it was the sad and ridiculous truth that he faced without any hindrance in the midst of the wolf smoke.

……

After he finished telling this long story, it was as if he had let out a mouthful of foul air. The scars were scabbed over, and it was no longer a pain that could affect the whole body.When he came back to his senses, the little thing had already fallen asleep lying on the table, but he still held his head up, making a gesture of listening attentively.

Qin Yun was inexplicably amused, packed out the straw mat, moved Yang Shutong onto it with great effort, and then lay down by himself, but he didn't fall asleep right away.

Why should I tell him this?Qin Yun thought, he shouldn't know these ugly truths, he should be protected.

He sat up again, leaned towards Yang Shutong, looked at his sleeping state, and said the words in his heart: "Xiao Ba..." He was not used to his new name, "Trust me, As long as I'm here, no one can hurt you."