"I'd like to trouble your wife to have a whole meal. If you want meat or wine, I'll leave after just one meal." Seeing my dad stunned, Old Man Jiang said to himself.
"Let's go? Where are we going?" My dad didn't react and asked subconsciously: "Where is Master Huijue?"
"He went back a few days ago." Old Man Jiang answered directly, but did not answer my dad's other question for the time being.
"Master Jiang is here?" My mother also came out at this time, holding the coat in her hand, but she suddenly saw what Old Jiang was wearing and was stunned. She even felt embarrassed to give away the coat.
Old Man Jiang didn't take it seriously and said, "Did you give me the coat?"
"Yeah." My mother was a little stunned.
"Then bring it here. Are you ready to give it away?" Faced with my parents' surprised attitude, Old Man Jiang felt much more at ease.
I have no choice but to eat meat and drink alcohol early in the morning. The only one who wants to eat meat and drink is weird people like Old Man Jiang. But my parents will never neglect Old Man Jiang. After all the hard work, it’s nine in the sky and it’s ten o’clock. , I made some dishes for Old Man Jiang.
Old Man Jiang picked up his chopsticks and started eating. He also drank wine with a "chirp" sound. He looked like he was eating deliciously. Even my father took my mother away, but he didn't care.
In the kitchen, my dad hurriedly said to my mother like he was complaining to a child: "Master Jiang said he was leaving!" At this time, my dad finally came to his senses, and in his heart he had already Unknowingly, I regarded Old Man Jiang as the patron saint of my family. When I heard that he was leaving, my dad felt unsure.
"Huh? Is he angry with us?" My mother also had no idea.
My dad gritted his teeth and thought for a long time before he said: "It's really pitiful for Old Man Jiang to be alone. To be honest, I've been thinking about it, why don't we adopt our son to him as his godson? It's not impossible to stay with him on the mountain. I don’t want Master Jiang to leave, I want to provide for him in his old age.”
"I think it's okay!" My mother was in full agreement with my dad's idea, and then she added: "But do you think Master Jiang is old like that? I'm afraid it won't be our turn to provide for him in his old age, right?"
The two discussed in the kitchen for a while, and then returned to the main room. Old Man Jiang was still eating and drinking, and from time to time he wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his woolen coat. My mother felt a twitch in her heart. How could she ruin her clothes like this? ah
He quickly got a cloth handkerchief and asked him to use it to wipe his mouth.
After drinking another glass of wine, Old Man Jiang sighed: "I have no other hobbies in my life. I just eat. What does it mean to fly in the sky, run on the ground, and swim in the water? I just want to climb trees." I don’t miss out on the delicious food. Eating delicious food all over the world is my biggest pursuit in this life.”
My dad responded from the side, sighing at Old Man Jiang's pursuit, and thinking about how to open the door to Old Man Jiang and keep him.
But Old Man Jiang put the cup down and said, "I'm here to say goodbye to your family. I'm leaving. Once I leave, I don't know if I will come back, let alone what day I will come back."
As soon as Old Man Jiang finished his words, my father became excited and immediately stood up and said: "Master Jiang, are you angry with our family? Don't leave. I have discussed it with my mother-in-law. The three boys will be here tomorrow." It’s okay to adopt me as your godson, go to the mountains to accompany you, and learn from you. If he dares not to support you until the end of his life, you see, I won’t compromise his legs! Don’t leave!”
Old Man Jiang looked at my parents with a somewhat moved look. He grabbed the wine bottle and wanted to pour himself a drink. My father quickly grabbed it and poured it for Old Man Jiang. He drank three glasses in a row before Old Man Jiang stopped. live.
He said: "The fate between me and your three boys is that of master and apprentice, not father and son. Fate is here when it comes. Unless you change your fate, you can't avoid it. We can't be master and apprentice now, but it's time." We’re just here, maybe we’re destined to be together, so why do you think I’m angry with you?”
My parents responded quickly. Thinking about it, this makes sense, just like Widow Zhou met Old Man Jiang, and then held the thread and asked Old Man Jiang to help her own family, and then helped his family. This is a story. The fate of the field cannot be separated.
"I want to leave. That is a responsibility in everyone's life. It is not a question of whether you want it or not, but a question of what you have to do. I don't like it but I can't escape it, so I have to leave. I Let nature take its course. What will happen to the three boys and me in the future? Let it be whatever happens. Whether we are destined to be masters and disciples in this life, or whether we are destined to be masters and disciples in this life, or we are just happy for nothing, I am waiting for it."
Old Man Jiang's words were too vague. My parents heard it as specious, but they also understood what Old Man Jiang meant. They couldn't keep him if he wanted to leave.
Taoism pays attention to nature, and nature pays attention to adapting to it, so the word fate is of course the most valued by those who practice Taoism. It is not enough to have fate. You must have a share to make things happen, otherwise it is just a void. It's just fate, just like many people who pass by in a hurry in life, have intersections, and can only disappear in the sea of people.
Once you see through it, you will feel helpless. It’s just fate but no destiny.
After Old Man Jiang said this, he stopped mentioning this matter. No matter what my parents said, they no longer responded.
It wasn't until the food and wine were finished that he took out a pen and a small notebook from his pocket.
First of all, what he wrote was a string of phone numbers, which was still a new thing at that time. When my dad started to hold it, he didn’t understand what the string of numbers was.
"This is the phone number." Old Man Jiang explained.
My dad immediately remembered the time he visited an office in the countryside. That time he accompanied a village cadre, just because the village cadre came from above at that time. He had just arrived here and the roads were unfamiliar, so he just found a villager. Leading the way, I caught my dad.
There, my dad saw a black phone. That was the only time my dad saw a phone in his life. It was mysterious in his eyes. It was said that orders from above were basically transmitted through this thing.
"My giving the tiger claws to the third boy is, to a certain extent, an act that defies nature. After all, the third boy is doomed to have a lot of misfortunes in his life. With the tiger claws, he may not have to bear what should have happened to him and endured. However, the cycle of heaven will bring retribution, and if the retribution is not on him, I'm afraid it will harm your family. If in the days to come, your family encounters any problems that cannot be solved, you can make this call and say Find Jiang Lizhun."
At this time, my dad knew that Old Man Jiang’s real name was Jiang Lizhun, but he still looked embarrassed: “I don’t know how to use a phone. Where can I find a phone here?”
"You idiot, you are not smart now, are you? You bring some good wine and meat to ask someone for help, and you are afraid that you can't use the phone? Others will teach you how to use it! Do you need me to teach you all this?" Old Man Jiang My son pointed at my father's nose and scolded me, and the image of the old ruffian came out again. My father kept scolding me and didn't dare to answer.
Next, Old Man Jiang wrote another name on the paper, handed it to my dad, and said, "When you come to me, tell me this name and say you are this person's father, remember?"
My dad opened the piece of paper and looked at it. He could barely recognize the character on the front, but he couldn't recognize the character on the back. After all, my dad was only at the level of a literacy class.
It's very simple. Who can't recognize a word? The one in front is my father's last name. Can he not recognize it
"Master Jiang? Who is Chen Hanyi? Why am I his father?" My father is also quite stunned sometimes.
"Chen Chengyi! Why can't you be his father? Your third son was not born to you? This is the name I gave your son. Why do you think you are so stupid?" Old Man Jiang was furious. He rolled his eyes, explained, slapped the table, picked up his snakeskin bag, and walked out.
My parents wanted to stop him but didn't dare. Just like that, on this late winter morning, they watched Old Man Jiang drift away, leaving behind a figure that looked like a senior official and never looked back.
Old Man Jiang left, and life in my family returned to peace. Life in the mountain village was always so pleasant, and time just passed by with firewood, rice, oil and salt. In the blink of an eye, it was already seven years later. .