Lan Congxiao

At the end of spring, the flowers fall all over the ground, passing by on horseback, causing a burst of flying, and the sky is full of fragrance.

A young man was riding a steed through the lush forest. His long hair was neatly tied up, his eyebrows were handsome, his silver silk white clothes fluttered in the wind, and a green and transparent jade pendant around his waist slammed and jingled a few times. , galloping past.

"Call..."

Stopping by the small lake for a while, the young man took a wine jug from his horse, opened the cork, a faint fragrance of peach blossom wine wafted out, and then resealed it.

"This spring, the peach blossoms are blooming very well, so the brewed wine is also fragrant." A young man next to him got off his horse and led the horse for the boy.

"I bring one to Master every year. This year the flowers are blooming so well. This time it's a blessing." The glass bottle body, the liquid inside is shaking slightly. "Thinking about it, I haven't visited his old man for half a year."

"It's only half a year. The future is long. Don't be in a hurry. After passing through this forest, you will soon arrive at Mr. Ge's small building. This time, you can stay for a while, so that the master and apprentice can have a good gathering." The young man let go of the reins. , Mounted the horse again, and the two ran towards the depths of the bamboo forest.

But when he approached the bamboo forest, the young man frowned slightly, got off his horse and took a few steps forward, his expression became more and more ugly.The man followed behind, not knowing why.

"Sir, what's the matter?"

The young man walked around the bamboo forest, turned around and walked inside on foot.

Xiaozhu was still as quiet as ever, only the feeling of depression caused by the breeze blowing down the bamboo leaves remained.

There is only one family in the bamboo forest, which is the house built by Master Ge when he was young, and he has lived here for a long time since he was old, and he does not easily associate with outsiders.If the weather is good, he will go fishing by the lake, and on weekdays, he will grow some melons, fruits and vegetables on the small vegetable patch behind the house, so that he can be self-sufficient.

"Master, Qiuzhu is back." The young man walked into the small building and opened the door. The furnishings inside remained the same, the teacher's wife's spirit card was still placed on the desk, but the incense burner was still burning, but He found it very strange that there was not the slightest smell of wine. For many years, the master had been sticking to the incense three times a day, and had a glass of wine. He had the habit of taking a sip of wine on weekdays. He was very sensitive to the smell of wine, obviously it had been a while .

Qiu Zhu placed the peach blossom wine next to his wife's spiritual tablet, lit incense and worshiped, "Qiu Zhu came back late, this year's newly brewed wine, teacher, please taste it too." He sprinkled a small cup of peach blossom wine on the ground in front of the spiritual tablet, The exquisite porcelain cup was placed next to the incense burner, and it was counted as a taste of the newly released fragrant wine for the wife.

"My lord, I searched around, but Mr. Ge doesn't seem to be here." The young man walked in from the outside. Qiu Zhu sat by the table and stroked the table. "Probably went out, let's wait a little longer."

The two waited in the house for about an hour. Qiu Zhu heard footsteps outside, and listened quietly, but found that it was not his master. Hearing the footsteps, he was still young, and it was a child. Xiaozhu is located in the depths of the bamboo forest, and outsiders rarely come here on weekdays, let alone a child.

It was indeed a child who appeared. Qiu Zhu looked out the door. It was a boy about ten years old, with a handsome appearance, bright eyes and white teeth, carrying a half-length bamboo basket with a lot of fruits in it. , with fine sweat on his forehead.As soon as the child ran into the hut, he saw the two strangers. He was so frightened that he sat down on the ground, and a few apples fell from the bamboo basket.

"Where is the child?" The young man stood up and was about to catch the child, but the child deftly dodged, "Who are you?"

Qiu Zhu stood aside, quietly looking at the child in front of him, he was very agile, with a small body, and carrying such a heavy basket of fruits on his back, he managed to dodge so quickly.

Looking carefully, the clothes on the boy are the clothes that Qiu Zhu wore when he was a child, and there are candle characters embroidered by his wife on it.

"Child, do you live here?" Being able to wear his old clothes is what the master allows. It seems that in the past six months, new guests have come to the small building.

The child remained silent, staring at them vigilantly, hiding beside the desk, turned around and saw a bottle of peach blossom wine on the desk, the faint fragrance of peach blossoms still lingered in the room.

"Peach Blossom Brewing...Lin Qiuzhu..." The child called out Qiuzhu's name, which made the two of them a little surprised. Their originally dim eyes suddenly became brighter. "Lin Qiuzhu!"

"It's true that I am Lin Qiuzhu, but you have to tell me, where did the old man go, master?" Qiuzhu took a few steps closer, but the child didn't dodge any more. "Why are you left here alone?"

"Uncle?" The child came out from the edge of the desk, bent down to pick up the apple that fell on the ground, "Uncle said you haven't come back to see him for a long time,"

"So you've stayed here for a long time." It was the first time Qiu Zhu saw an outsider living in Xiaozhu, and it seemed that the time was quite long.

"I'll take you to see Uncle." He put the fruits in the corner, picked out a few of the best ones and put them in his arms, patted the dust on his clothes, then turned and walked out.

The two followed the child. The distance was not long. The boy stopped after walking for a while. In front of him was a simple tomb with only simple soil piled up, surrounded by a circle of smooth and round stones, and standing in front of it was a wooden grave. A card without a word engraved on it.

The boy wiped the fruit in his arms carefully, then placed it in front of the tomb, knelt down and kowtowed a few times.

"Come here quickly..." He called Qiu Zhu, but Qiu Zhu's footsteps stopped at the same place, "There was no grave here before, where did it come from?"

"Uncle, come here quickly..." The boy didn't seem to have thought about Qiu Zhu, who had been brought to the master's grave before she knew the truth. "Come here quickly!" He frowned his handsome eyes Mei, got up from the ground, going to pull him.

Qiu Zhu dodged when the child stretched out his hand, and walked around him with a wave of his sleeve, approaching the grave.

"Who the hell are you, and who is buried here?" The young man behind suddenly yelled at the child, and the child hid beside Qiu Zhu in a jerk, tugging at the hem of his clothes.

In the end, there were only the two of them left in front of the tomb. Qiu Zhu sat on the ground, and the child sat beside him quietly, watching Qiu Zhu carve words on the wooden sign with a knife.

"I don't know how to write, so I'm waiting for you to come back." After a long silence, he looked at Qiu Zhu, who remained silent, as if he hadn't gotten over the truth of his master's sudden death.

"Uncle was sick. Two months ago, after falling asleep, I couldn't wake up." He said very carefully, and Qiu Zhu didn't respond, so he just narrated by himself.

"He said you would come back, so I'm waiting for you here just to tell you that Uncle is gone, otherwise I'm afraid you won't find him."

After talking a lot, the child became quiet when he saw that Qiu Zhu didn't give any answer.