only in this mountain

The person who came was a thin middle-aged man, with hair neatly combed back, wearing gold-rimmed eyes, and a suit. He was well-mannered. At first glance, he looked a bit like a scholar from the Republic of China.

Jiang He met him a few times and knew that he was Zhang Yunde's great-uncle, Xiao Moru, the principal of Nanxing Primary School.The generations in this village are chaotic enough, Zhang Yunde is Zhang Huai's little eighth uncle, and Xiao Moru is Zhang Yunde's great-uncle, so isn't he Zhang Huai's great-grandfather...

When he was thinking about something useless, Xiao Moru opened his mouth: "I have heard Xiaode mentioning you all the time, saying that you graduated from an art major and have good painting skills. I wanted to appreciate your works. And because I was too busy to come, I happened to meet Zhang Huai today, so I stopped by." He had already looked at the furnishings in the house, and he had a panoramic view of the paintings on the wall, and turned to look at the person next to him. Zhang Huai said: "Xiao De is right, he is a more delicate and simple person."

Xiao Moru has taught in the county for more than 20 years. In his early years, he also adhered to the teaching philosophy of strict teachers and educated students. He encouraged children to study hard and abandon all entertainment activities. By chance, he participated in a teaching seminar held in the city and realized that teaching through In view of the importance of music, he has been committed to changing the traditional teaching methods in the past few years. He bought extra-curricular books and sports equipment for the children at his own expense, making the primary school curriculum in the village more colorful.This time, he didn't come to Jiang He just to look at his paintings on a whim, and to praise him a few more words. He wanted to ask Jiang He to go to school to teach children how to draw.

After explaining the purpose of coming, Jiang He waved his hands again and again to express that he was not good enough: "I don't have a teacher qualification certificate, and I don't have any experience. I'm afraid I won't be able to teach well."

Xiao Moru comforted him and said: "Don't be afraid, you just need to teach the basics and guide some children who are interested in that area to discover their interests and strengths. It doesn't matter if you don't have a teacher qualification certificate, you can use the identity of an external teacher. The children are very sensible. , I won’t embarrass you. How about it, arrange two classes a week, and you decide the time and salary, what do you think?”

Jiang He never thought that he could be a teacher. When he was in college, he gave a report and his legs would shake as soon as he went to the podium, and he would be so nervous that he would make mistakes when he read the script. It is unimaginable for him to lead students to class. He will mislead his children. ...

"Don't reject me in a hurry, you can think about it again. Xiaode told me the reason why you came here. No matter what young people pursue, they are worthy of approval, but they must also ensure that they have enough food and clothing. You are here Unaccompanied, Xiaode went to the city again, the weather is getting colder and colder, at least add two cotton coats and buy a few packs of charcoal."

The fact is not whether he is willing or not, but whether he can. He has always felt that his personality flaws are very serious. Not born with it, but unconfident but always with him, he sighed and didn't know what to say.

Zhang Huai sent Xiao Moru out. He intended to cook for Jiang He, so he returned to the courtyard after a while.Jiang He had already entered the main room, and was arranging his books and notebooks in front of the bookshelves. He was a little absent-minded, and didn't even notice that Zhang Huai had returned.

Jiang He's foot injury has healed, and he can come and go freely long ago, and he is not a delicate person.He had a premonition that as long as he didn't say that he didn't need Zhang Huai to help him anymore, Zhang Huai would always come over on time to cook for him.It's not about his narcissism or paranoia. If this continues, the two of them will inevitably develop in an uncontrollable direction.

After finishing the meal, Zhang Huai was about to leave. Jiang He stared at his back several times and tried to open his mouth but failed to say what he wanted to stay. He hadn't thought about it at all, and he didn't dare to think about it.

When Zhang Huai came back in the evening, Jiang He was already cooking for himself. Spinach, Chinese cabbage, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, green bamboo shoots, green bamboo shoot tips...the whole table was full of green vegetables. Be sure to treat him to a meal.

The vegetables are all picked in Xiongxiong's vegetable field, so naturally the two monsters were invited over.The yellow shirt was okay, he was always smiling and couldn't tell what was going on in his heart, while Xiong Xiong's expression was the same as that of the vegetables on the plate, and he couldn't stop muttering why there was no meat.Jiang He had no choice but to take out pork jerky and beef jerky that he had hidden away and gave him to eat.

Everyone had their own thoughts on the meal, watched them go out, and Jiang He tidied up the room. He wanted to go to bed early, but he couldn't fall asleep anyway.

In the morning of the next day, Jiang He released the chicken from the utility room, and just as he was setting up the drawing board for drawing, Xiao Moru unexpectedly came again.

"Don't be nervous, I just want to ask a question about painting. I went back yesterday to check the information and made a syllabus. For children with zero foundation, is the first thing to start learning painting? Draw the lines?"

Jiang He did not learn to draw since he was a child. He only started to have professional teachers to teach him when he was in high school. Students in different schools are exposed to different things. The teacher chose a compromise teaching method, and the basic things were not. I didn't talk about it, I just mentioned it briefly, leaving a lot of time for them to practice and slowly comprehend.When Xiao Moru mentioned this, Jiang He was taken aback for a moment, recalling what the art teacher told them back then, he nodded slowly.

"What do you think of my drawing?" Xiao Moru handed Jiang He a notebook for writing lesson plans, and the blank space was filled with straight lines by Xiao Moru, each line piercing through the back of the paper, as if he was drawing along the edge of a ruler.

This kind of earnestness made Jiang He unable to bear to discourage him, so he just said, "Principal Xiao, do your hands hurt after you finish drawing these?"

Xiao Moru nodded solemnly: "The lead of the pencil has been broken several times."

Theoretical knowledge can be found on the Internet as much as he knows, otherwise he can go to buy books and read them. Jiang He is not a fool. It taught Xiao Moru how to practice arranging lines, and gave Xiao Moru's theoretical support with actual combat.

In the next few days, Xiao Moru reported to "Teacher Xiaojiang" on time just like the students in class, and even took the homework handed in by the students.

"Mr. Xiao Jiang, you can see that these children are studying very seriously, and some of them are progressing faster than me. After all, I am old and I am not a professional in this field. I can't help them if they want to study at a higher level. You See if you teach me is not very good, a student is teaching thirty students is also teaching, why not go to the school to help teach the children."

Jiang He didn't know why Xiao Moru fell in love with him, so it wouldn't be difficult to hire an art teacher: "It's not that I don't want to, I'm really not suitable, and I get nervous when there are too many people..."

"This is easy to handle. You can take only two or three students first, just like teaching me. Don't bring too much pressure. In fact, it's really nothing. I couldn't speak at the beginning of the class. I got used to it after a while. Enough."

"But……"

"Teacher Xiao Jiang, be more confident! Young people should be fearless!"

Jiang He wanted to refuse again, Xiao Moru folded his hands together and pleaded: "Mr. Xiao Jiang, just agree, you don't want me to bother you every day." Xiao Moru, who is about 50 years old, seems to be very serious A person who is actually a bit like an underage child in this matter.

Jiang He hesitated for a few minutes, and finally nodded: "I'll try it first. If it doesn't work, I'd better hire a professional art teacher."

"Mr. Xiaojiang is not a professional, who else is professional! I will go back to school immediately to prepare the contract, and bring it here for you to see in the afternoon!"

Xiao Moru rushed to school with a pile of student homework, fearing that Jiang He would regret it if he was a step too late. This way, he lost all his mature and stable demeanor, and looked more like an eleven or twelve-year-old boy.

Finally, the contract was finalized, the trial period was one month, two classes a week, and the monthly salary was 2000 yuan.

2000 yuan may not even be able to pay the rent in a bustling metropolis, but it is a lot of money in a small village in a remote area. Regardless of the price here, how can he enjoy it with only eight classes a month? Such generous treatment?

"It's not that we only want to arrange two classes. You also know that our education level here is lagging behind in all conditions in the city. We can only increase our efforts in class hours. In addition to art classes and physical education and music classes. All my life Although I'm only limited to this square inch of Qinan County, it doesn't mean I don't know anything about the outside world, so don't feel like you're taking advantage of it, there hasn't been a Party A who gave away profits for free throughout the ages."

"Ms. Xiaojiang is kind-hearted, and she must be a good and responsible teacher. I can rest assured that I will entrust the children to you!"

As an employer, he already said this, Jiang He couldn't say anything more, seeing Xiao Moru turning his head and smiling like a fox, he couldn't help feeling his scalp tingle.

Before becoming the art teacher of Nanxing Elementary School, Jiang He went to the town to get his hair cut first. He looked much more energetic. He also bought a new quilt and planned to return Zhang Huai's quilt to him. He went back to the village by car alone. Here, someone told him that Chen Yun’s small supermarket opened today with a [-]% discount on all products.Jiang He had nothing to buy, and he didn't want to join in the fun.

When sending the quilt to Zhang Huai's house, Zhang Huai happened to be away, and he didn't know whether he was helping Chen Yun or he was busy with something, so he just told Zhang Huai's grandfather and left in a desperate manner with the two idiots.

Er Fool usually only plays at the door of his house and by the river. He rarely comes here in the village. Many dogs don’t know him. As he walks along the way, the dogs bark one after another. Er Fool moves carefully by rubbing his tail between his legs , or counterattack with bluff, only when you meet a beautiful little bitch will you have the courage to strike up a conversation.As an enlightened parent, even if the child falls in love early, he has to let it go, as long as he doesn't bring back a litter of puppies.The two puppies had an intimate and friendly conversation, and they didn't know whether they had confirmed their relationship. The little bitch reluctantly returned home under the urgent call of the owner. Jiang He called the second idiot's name, and the second idiot ran away unwillingly. to him.

"It praises me for being cute! If only I could play with it every day, I will give it all my bones!"

"Wake up, silly son, there will be no good results for Bai Fumei and Shorty Poor!"

As if knowing that Jiang He didn't say anything good, the two idiots threw themselves at Jiang He, "I'm going to bite you to death, you two-legged monster!"

Jiang He subconsciously dodged to the side, but unexpectedly, the second idiot jumped forward so suddenly that the hair on his back stood up.

"Bad Twolegs! Throw me into the river and beat me with a stick, kill you!"

Right in front of the second fool was a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, wearing thin clothes, dragging a bundle of firewood. Seeing the second fool yelling at himself aggressively, he took something from the pile of firewood and threw it at the second fool.The second idiot didn't dare to bite people, but he jumped up to bite the things thrown by people regardless, and then heard its heart-piercing howl.

Jiang He looked over and didn't know what to do for a moment. The boy threw over a half-sized hedgehog. The second idiot didn't look carefully when he was in a rage. The hedgehog was startled and struggled constantly, and the second idiot shook his head and couldn't get rid of it, rolling on the ground in pain.Jiang He was a little foolishly frightened, he didn't dare to go forward rashly, and when the second idiot finally got rid of the hedgehog, the idiot dog's mouth was already covered in blood.

People can't do things that offend their conscience, otherwise they will suffer retribution sooner or later, even if they don't get retribution on themselves, they will also affect the people and things around them. Is there still time for him to sneak back to get the quilt now?

If possible, Jiang He really didn't want to go to Zhang Huai again, ran away when he needed him, and returned his things to him when he didn't need him, and accepted his care with peace of mind. Kicking people away step by step, this kind of behavior of crossing rivers and destroying bridges is really disgusting.

So when Jiang He showed up at Zhang Huai's house with the second idiot who was dying, he kept his head down and didn't dare to look at Zhang Huai.

As usual, Zhang Huai carefully treated the wound on the mouth of the second idiot, and told Jiang He some things to pay attention to.Normally, he wouldn't start talking on his own about topics unrelated to the matter at hand. He might be guilty. Jiang He felt that Zhang Huai was still a little angry. He wanted to find something to calm down. good.

But Zhang Huai remembered something, and asked him: "Why did the second idiot want to bite the hedgehog? Did you take it up the mountain?"

Speaking of this, Jiang He couldn't help being filled with righteous indignation. At that time, he was only looking at the injuries of the second idiot, and he didn't pay attention to let the boy run away. He only remembered the general appearance: "It wasn't me, I didn't take it up the mountain, it was a child from the village, he was The person who threw Er Fool into the river last time, Er Fool recognized him and yelled at him, so he threw a hedgehog over."

The second idiot whimpered at the right time: "Bad boy, bad two-legged monster, bullying an honest dog... Woohoo, it hurts..."

Both hands rubbed the head of the second idiot at the same time, Zhang Huai's palm was pressed on the back of Jiang He's hand, Jiang He shook him off like an electric shock.Realizing that his reaction was too violent, Jiang He's ears turned red, and he lowered his head at a loss.

"Ayuan, what do you do with stewed pork legs after ordering this? When will lunch be ready?"

"The pork leg has been soaked, so it doesn't need to be stewed for too long... I must have been his son in my previous life, and I have been relieved of my worries in this life."

"What's the matter? Zhang Huai, what happened to you?"

"Running to other people's house twice in three days, my eyes are glued to the person's body, and I don't see how other people get excited with him, I'm afraid it's just a hot head..."

"Hey, why do you worry about children's affairs, they can do whatever they want."

Rural people don't pay attention to the fact that walls have ears when they speak. Zhang Huai's father and his grandfather's conversation was heard clearly by Jiang He. He was still at a loss when he heard that kind of words and couldn't help but sit down again, and quickly waved his hands and said: "I don't eat here."

Zhang Huai didn't deny anything, just said: "My dad has already cooked, so let's stay and eat before leaving."

There were only four people at the dinner table, and no one jumped out to prove that Jiang He's self-indulgence would be wrong. The food was no less rich than on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival. .

In fact, there is nothing unreasonable. Zhang Huai is almost 30 years old, and the children of his age in the village have long been able to make soy sauce. He has no intention of getting married, and his family does not urge him. He didn't mean anything malicious, and every time he went to his house, Zhang Huai's grandfather looked at him like the second idiot looked at braised pork.

Is the folk customs here actually so tough?Is it really not surprising that a gay son is born in the family...

"Won't Xiaohe's dog grow up? Why do you think it's been half a year and still so young?" Grandpa Zhang has already called Jiang He from Xiaojiang to the more affectionate Xiaohe, which sounds like his mother calling him.

"I don't know, maybe it's this breed of dog. It's better to be smaller. If you go crazy, you won't be able to pull it back." Put the random thoughts in your head aside, if you don't listen carefully, you will not understand what Grandpa Zhang is talking about.

"The male dog is more wild when it grows up. When Zhang Huai pries it off, it won't run around like crazy, and it won't bite people."

Prying off probably means castration, the poor second idiot has just met a beautiful little bitch, is he just saying goodbye to her first love like this...

"If I remember correctly, your dog belongs to Aunt Xiaode's family. The dog in that family is a mix of big dogs and small dogs, so it doesn't grow up. The dog is crazy when it is in heat, so it's better to pry it off." Zhang Yunyuan He nodded to express his approval of his father's decision.

Jiang He missed the opportunity to speak before Zhang Yunyuan, and now he only dares to talk about it and dare not refute. He has always been afraid of Zhang Yunyuan, is it true that all sons-in-law will be like this when facing their father-in-law... Ah, bah, Where did he think, and secretly spurned himself, Jiang He bowed his head and ate silently with red ears.

"The second idiot is still a puppy, let's talk about the neutering later." After all, it was a bit inappropriate to talk about that kind of topic at a dinner table full of males. Zhang Huai summed it up in one sentence, saving the second idiot's first love for the time being.

The so-called stupid dogs have stupid blessings.

But a fool will not have a good life.

At night, Jiang He tossed and turned in his bed, unable to sleep, not because of worries, but because of the cold.The town is small, and the channels for buying goods in stores must be relatively ordinary. The newly bought silk quilt looks thick, and it is light and weightless to cover his body. He covered both quilts with all his thick clothes on his body, but still His hands and feet were cold from the cold night air.

"Did it suddenly drop in temperature?" He took out his phone and looked at the weather, and sure enough, the temperature dropped suddenly tonight, dropping to three or four degrees.

When I was in S city, I still wore short sleeves at the end of October, and it was already winter here.

"Are the windows open?" He got up to check the doors and windows, and he took out the only temperature in the bed, and when he returned to the bed, it was almost like an ice hole again.

So he put all the thick clothes on his body again, boiled hot water to re-soak his feet, found a glass bottle of hot water and put it under the bed, and then slowly fell asleep relying on the temperature of the hot water.

Asleep Jiang He had a dream, dreaming that Zhang Huai was going to marry him wearing the bright red wedding dress of the past, there was no such thing as worshiping heaven and earth to deal with relatives and friends, only him sitting on the bed with a red hijab on his head timidly waiting for him to lift it off, Zhang Huai hugged him and kissed his face, and said you go a little further, he didn't understand what it meant so he didn't want to. Beach something cold.

The lid of the glass bottle came loose at some point, and the whole bottle of water spilled on the bed.

As soon as he got up and hung the quilt on the clothesline, Xiao Moru came, staring at the imprints on the sheets and the quilt, he chuckled: "Mr. Xiao Jiang was too 'passionate' last night and couldn't hold back?"

Jiang He blushed and explained: "It's nothing, I put a bottle of hot water in the quilt last night, and the lid was not tight enough to spill all the water."

This made it even more ridiculous. Xiao Moru shook the quilt twice and asked, "Is Teacher Xiao Jiang afraid of the cold?" Seeing Jiang He nodding, he said again: "You should exercise more, get up in the morning for a jog or something, exercise your hands and feet during the day It’s warm and it’s not cold at night.”

Zhang Huai appeared at the door when the two were talking, and he naturally saw the sheets on the clothesline and the strangely shaped water spots, but he didn't laugh at Jiang He like Xiao Moru did: "Is it too cold last night?"

His tone was the same as usual, but Jiang He felt ashamed to death, besides, he just had a dream with him last night called Chunmeng, so he didn't have the nerve to face him at the moment, so he could only lower his head and make a buzzing sound like a mosquito: "Yeah. .”

"It's going to be the beginning of winter." Zhang Huai didn't say anything more. Zhang Huai originally came to see the second idiot. Seeing that the idiot dog was still sleeping listlessly in the den, unwilling to move, he knew that biting the hedgehog by mistake had really hurt its self-esteem. He whispered some comforting words to it.

The strange thing is that Jiang He could clearly understand Er Fool's words, but Er Fool didn't respond to his instructions most of the time, and no matter what Zhang Huai said to it, it seemed to understand it very well. He put his head under Zhang Huai's palm.