Solstice Secrets

Holding the map, Zhuang Zhou asked the man in front of him uncertainly, "Here? Further north? More than 20 kilometers? That's not far..." After speaking, he realized that if he was driving, the sky would be 10 to [-] kilometers. It's only a matter of minutes, but this is a mountain, there are no roads or signposts, and it all depends on two legs.

Zhuang Zhou was instantly discouraged, "You can't walk by bicycle?"

The middle-aged man on the opposite side of the small stone table shook his head in embarrassment, "I can ride a bicycle when I first leave the village, but I can't do it any further. The forest is too dense, so I can't ride a bicycle, so I have to push it all the time."

Zhuang Zhou thought to himself, that is indeed more strenuous than walking on two legs.

"Why don't you just wait here for two days at ease," said the man who is said to be Ling Dongzhi's great cousin, patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "You have never been in the mountains before, and you will be in trouble if you get lost again."

Zhuang Zhou looked at Brown Tang and the three kittens who were staggering on the other side of the yard, and couldn't help sighing.After driving for several days, the spirits of the cats and dogs were a little sluggish.Especially brown sugar, although I have taken it out to play before, but it has never been in the car for several days like this time.If it wasn't for the company of a few cat companions, it probably would have given up a long time ago.

The uncle said again: "The schoolchildren made an appointment with the village before they left. If they haven't come back on the third day, the village will send someone to meet them. That's two days after tomorrow. You really want to go astray with them , isn’t it more troublesome?” The uncle thought for a while, afraid that the child would be idle and thinking wildly, so he pointed to the open space in the corner of the yard, “Before the winter solstice leaves, I will help the family to dig out this piece of land. It’s tall. If you’re free, just turn over the ground for him. The ground is a bit frozen, but it’s always covered with straw mats for insulation, so it shouldn’t be difficult to turn over.”

Zhuang Zhou, "..."

The eldest cousin knows the strategy of giving a sweet date with a stick. After arranging physical work, he began to appease with food. "This morning, Uncle Liu just delivered half a piece of lamb. The lamb he raised is very tender. Let's go tonight Lamb stew."

Zhuang Zhou said helplessly, "Okay. Thank you cousin."

The big cousin left cheerfully.

Zhuang Zhou began to think hard about the several farm tools in the corner. Which one should be used more efficiently when digging the ground?

On the other side of the small courtyard, Brown Tang fell asleep under the big tree, and several cats gathered together to bask in the sun.

Xiao Hui sincerely pushed the Miao Xian Bao from the car to the two old cats, "This is brought from the city, the two old sisters have a try."

The two old cats looked at it lazily, thinking that these little guys from outside were quite good.

Xiaohui pressed one paw on the ready-to-move little figure, and paid attention to whether the servant was rash, "We are here to find someone. Well, it can be regarded as leaving relatives. Did a young man come here two days ago? Tall and pretty?"

Old Cat A meowed and said, "It's the young man who can only talk to the old mouse. I've seen him, I've seen him. But he's not here now, he's gone into the mountains with the kids from the East Courtyard."

Old Cat B added: "They are going to Mopanling in the north, and it will take two or three days before they come back."

Xiao Yang asked impatiently, "Where is Mopanling? Is it easy to find?"

"It's easy to find." Old Cat A licked his paws. For a cat that roams around the mountains all day, it's easy to find anywhere. "There's a mountain temple there, where they spend the night."

Xiao Hui asked the route clearly, then turned to ask the two friends, "Shall we wait for him here, or chase after him?"

"Of course I'm chasing after him to see." Xiao Ganger hurriedly retorted, "What's the point of waiting here?"

The servant is also full of curiosity about the mountain tour, "Winter Solstice will definitely surprise you. For sure."

Xiao Hui was a little hesitant. It heard the man talking to Zhuang Zhou just now, "He said that the winter solstice will come back tomorrow night. We may go astray if we go find it ourselves."

"No." Xiao Mao'er replied with certainty, "I can smell the winter solstice. There is no mistake."

The servant nodded in agreement.The little one has the best nose of them all.At least it's much better than that silly dog ​​Brown Tang who only knows how to act like a baby.

"If we wait here, we won't be able to see him until tomorrow night," Xiao Mao'er walked around the yard impatiently, "If we look for it ourselves, we'll see him later."

Xiao Hui looked at it, then at the enthusiastic servant, "Do you both think so?"

The two little guys nodded together.

"Alright then." Xiao Hui flicked half of his tail, "Let's move together, don't get lost in the mountains."

With Zhuang Zhou making a mistake, the three kittens disappeared.Turning his head to look at Brown Tang, he didn't know who was still sleeping under the tree.

Impatiently, Zhuang Zhou dropped the shovel and searched around the courtyard, except for the two old cats under the big tree, he didn't see even a single cat hair.He suddenly felt that the scene in front of him seemed familiar. The last time he took these three goods to the hospital to visit patients, that's how they dumped him.They seem to have their own way of finding the midwinter solstice.Thinking of this, Zhuang Zhou was not so anxious, but rather annoyed that these little things were not loyal.At any rate, he took them all the way, but he slipped away without saying hello.

The land at the corner of the courtyard was not very big, and Zhuang Zhou spent a whole day turning the land over.Later, the farm work became drier and smoother, so I thought that when I returned to Binhai, I would turn over my own yard, put some fertilizer on it, and plant some flowers and plants in spring, preferably those that can bloom, and then Build a scaffold so that Ling Dongzhi can sit under the scaffold and draw.There are also cats, cats and dogs by his side, that picture is very beautiful when you think about it.

The mutton in the evening was delicious and delicious. Zhuangzhou had something on his mind, and even the most delicious food was a little tasteless.Brown Sugar has recovered from the shock of being abandoned by his cat companions as soon as he woke up, and he gnawed on the mutton bones until his mouth was full of oil.

The uncle continued to comfort Zhuang Zhou, "They will be back tomorrow night, don't worry."

Zhuang Zhou nodded expressionlessly, "Don't worry."

"The land in my yard will be turned over in the next two days, and you just give me a helping hand." The uncle glanced at Zhuang Zhou's face, "It's different from here. There is a greenhouse in my yard, and the ground is not frozen. .It’s easier to flip than here. It’s guaranteed to be flipped in a whole day.”

Zhuang Zhou, "..."

The uncle continued to lure, "There is still a wild boar leg frozen in the cellar of my house. I asked your aunt to burn it for us to eat at night. Those of you who live in the city have never eaten such a delicious thing."

Zhuang Zhou, "..."

Well, well, all the uncle did was to appease him.But why did he still feel aggrieved in his heart? !

This kind of feeling that my heart is on fire and I can't sit still, isn't it called passing the day like a year?

Zhuangzhou finished digging the vegetable plot of Ling Dongzhi's aunt's house, and then finished digging the vegetable plot of his cousin's house. After a meal of stewed mutton, a meal of braised wild boar legs and two meals of stretched noodles, the evening of the second day was finally peaceful. Shan is coming.

Zhuang Zhou followed several men in the village and guarded at the head of the village, while sharing the cigarettes he brought, he looked anxiously towards the end of the path.The native dogs in the village barked from far and near, and the uncle smiled and said, "Here we come."

Zhuangzhou followed the villagers to greet him, and sure enough, he saw a group of people coming towards the corner of the mountain road after not walking too far.The leader is a middle-aged scholar, followed by a group of young people.All of them were crying.

Zhuang Zhou's eyes scanned the crowd, and his heart skipped a beat.

The big cousin was also stunned, and shouted at the top of his voice, "Where's the person?!"

The first night Lingdong Solstice spent in Shanshen Temple did not sleep well.Even in his dreams, the sense that there was something or someone hiding nearby still haunted him.While making him uneasy, he also felt a little inexplicable expectation.He once asked the little mouse named Eggy, and the little mouse said there was no one.He was relieved to go back to sleep. Thinking about it now, he himself felt very peaceful during that time, maybe the person who was spying on them was really not around at that time.

He didn't sleep well, and when he woke up in the morning, Ling Dong ate breakfast weakly with two swollen eyes.He didn't pay attention when the students were divided into groups. He didn't realize that he was assigned to the fourth group by Professor Kong to act as a living locker when everyone started to go out. , and the two of them have to be responsible for collecting samples, and the physical work can only be left to him, a layman.

The fourth team is responsible for collecting nearby tree species and rock specimens.Ling Dongzhi didn't see the red-billed bird on Zeng Juan's mobile phone nearby, but everyone in the village said that there was such a bird in the mountains, and Professor Kong also said that the rare bird likes to live in this kind of woodland the most.

In addition to his own backpack, Ling Dongzhi also had two students' backpacks on his back.But that didn't stop him from taking pictures with his camera.The students will stay in one place for a while, which is enough time for him to take pictures of the scenery he likes.

The distance between the various teams is not too far.There is no mobile phone signal in the mountains, only walkie-talkie contact.Ling Dongzhi couldn't understand their technical terms, so he walked away a little, intending to take some photos of the distant mountains.

The gray-brown dead branches, the snow-covered peaks in the distance and the blue sky above his head present a completely unpolluted original ecological beauty in his lens.

Ling Dongzhi switched the camera to video mode and placed it on the slightly raised soil slope under the tree.He took two steps back and waved his hand towards the camera. He had seen it just now, and from this angle, he could record the snow peak in the distance.But if he is too close to the camera, maybe only two legs can be recorded.

Ling Dongzhi tried to back up in the bushes half a person's height, backed up a few steps and felt that the distance was almost there, just as he was about to show a smiling face at the camera, he felt his feet slip, and he fell backwards.Here is a downward slope, blocked by bushes, and it is impossible to see from a distance.Ling Dongzhi rolled down like a beer barrel, and the scenery in front of him was spinning. When he finally stopped, he felt a cloud of gold stars flying in front of him, and his mind was filled with chirping birds.

Ling Dongzhi staggered and sat up while supporting the short tree, and the blurred scenery in front of him gradually became clear.

Ling Dongzhi gasped, feeling for a moment that he was hallucinating.In the dust kicked up as he hit it, several shotguns were pointed at his head.