"No, I'll stay home on Sundays. I'll pick you up." Just kidding, I don't want to stay on the mountain all day long, and only Old Man Jiang and I can walk the road up the mountain into the bamboo forest. My family When they come, we have to pick them up. Fortunately, the mountains are empty, so you can definitely hear them if they shout.
"Go home? Sanwa'er, have you completed the tasks your master gave you this week? Can you go home?" Su Rou looked unwilling, "Damn it, what kind of brother do you think this is?" For the sake of food, I am willing to suffer!
But when Su Rou mentioned this, I became "decadent" again. I really haven't completed my tasks this week. I can't go home, so I have to wait for my family to come see me.
Old Man Jiang, this 'old liar', used to say that he could go home to live on the weekends, but now he comes up with a task and cannot go home until he completes it...
As we spoke, the crispy pork was almost home. I said goodbye to him and started walking up the mountain with a 'heavy' heart.
Speaking of which, Old Man Jiang lived not far from the village, and I was familiar with walking. In about half an hour, I returned to the hut on the mountain. I walked all the way without blushing or out of breath.
"You're back?" Old Man Jiang smiled, holding his purple clay pot and taking a sip of tea, looking so carefree.
"I'm back." The corresponding feeling was my weakness.
"Just in time, I'm hungry. I'm waiting for you to make a fire to cook. The winter bamboo shoots in the bamboo forest are just in time. You go and get some. We'll fry some young bamboo shoots to eat in the evening. In addition, there is a piece of wild rabbit meat left from yesterday. , I'll put it..." Old Man Jiang ordered repeatedly.
"Master, I still have to do my homework." In fact, protesting is invalid, but I just want to protest.
"You also need to cook when you do your homework. Remember to use the blowing method I taught you when making a fire, and use the 'wrist movement method' I taught you when cooking. If you dare to be lazy, practice monkey posture for me tonight. No, it's in the shape of an ape." Old Man Jiang groaned angrily, as if he had suffered a great injustice.
It was night, and a round of cold moonlight shone on the open space in front of the small bamboo house. The surroundings were extremely quiet, except for the occasional cry of an unknown animal.
Winter nights are always windy and very cold, but I'm still sweating even though I'm wearing a singlet and pants.
'Bang' Another apple core was accurately pinned to my body. I gasped for air and yelled with some dissatisfaction: "Master, you threw me eight times tonight."
"It's no use throwing it at you eighty times. I've told you so many times that the Wu Qin Xi in Zhongzhong is not just about practicing its form, but about using the correct breathing method and paying attention to the flow of one breath that is cohesive and not scattered, so as to achieve health preservation. The role of physical fitness. Just like martial arts training in the martial arts, they also pay attention to containing the inner Qi but not revealing it. Once the Qi is dispersed, the strength will be dispersed. If you are breathing heavily, are you playing monkey? Or are you tired of chasing the chicken. "Old Man Jiang was originally sitting on the corridor in front of the bamboo building watching me practice boxing. When I retorted, he became angry and jumped in front of me as I spoke.
"We have to do movements again, and we have to do such strange breathing movements, such as three long and one short, exhaling and drinking in coordination, and breathing by exchanging mouth and nose. Master, isn't the breath coming out in one breath?" I wiped He sweated a lot and squatted on the ground a little shamelessly.
I was really tired, cooking, doing homework, and copying the "Tao Te Ching" that I hadn't finished in the morning. After that, I still had to practice this several times. Even my strong body couldn't bear it.
Old Man Jiang wanted to say something more, but when he saw me yawning, he still didn't say anything.
After being silent for a while, Old Man Jiang took out a dirty handkerchief from nowhere and threw it to me: "Wipe your sweat, come in, drink soup, and take a bath."
"Is there any soup?" I never thought I would be treated like this.
"Oh, if you don't practice boxing if you are poor, even martial arts practitioners will lose their health before they reach fifty years old, let alone those who practice Taoism! Those who practice Taoism pay more attention to health preservation. If you just practice without replenishing your health, your body will not be healthy. After absorbing nutrients, what's the use of practicing Qi and body? Unless you reach a higher level, but that's a legend." Old Man Jiang said a few words seriously, then picked me up and took me to the kitchen.
The so-called kitchen is just a part of the back corridor of the small bamboo house. There is a shed on top and several simple small stoves below.
At this time, there was an earthen pot placed on one of the small stoves. The earthen pot was steaming and making a gurgling sound inside, and an inexplicable aroma wafted in the air.
It was a light meaty aroma mixed with a medicinal aroma, which made me swallow hard after being tired for half the night and already hungry.
"Look at you like that." Old Man Jiang looked funny and couldn't help but say something in the old Beijing dialect. Ever since I went up the mountain, Old Man Jiang began to teach me how to speak Mandarin. In my daily conversations, I often exchanged Sichuan dialect and Beijing dialect. Come.
He told me: "You will have to travel far and wide in the future. It is always good to know Mandarin. You will also need to learn some dialects from various places in the future."
Old Man Jiang was kind and kind, and I enjoyed it happily, looking at the fragrant earthen pot and just giggling.
"It's an advantage for you, kid. You are my apprentice, otherwise I wouldn't take out these treasures. It's a little bit, a little bit less. I can't control you at 15 years old. I have to think of a way." Old Man Jiang I opened the earthen pot, and a richer aroma hit my face.
I was so greedy that my stomach growled, so I didn't listen carefully to what Old Man Jiang said. I just asked, "Master, don't you want to drink?"
"It's no use if I drink it, it's a waste! Some things are determined by numerology..." Old Man Jiang's tone suddenly became sad, which inexplicably made me feel sad too.
I can't explain why, but when Old Man Jiang said this, I felt panicked.
But the next moment, Old Man Jiang glared and shouted: "Why don't you go get the bowl? Do you want me to pour it?"
I quickly went to get a bowl, and Old Man Jiang cherished the soup in the earthen pot and gave me a full bowl with the soup ingredients.
Under the oil lamp, I saw that the soup was slightly black, but it couldn't hide its clear and lovely look. I recognized the meat as bird meat, but I didn't know what kind of bird it was. There were some medicinal residues in the soup, and I didn't even know. What is it.
"This meat is wild pigeon meat. Eat it quickly. It's so delicious that you can even swallow it on your tongue. The recipe for making the soup belongs to my second brother..." Old Man Jiang closed his mouth as he spoke, and his expression changed. Very strange.
I didn't care about the heat and took a sip of the soup. It was really delicious, but I was still very curious when I heard the second brother. My master also has a second brother
"Who is the second brother?"
"What second brother? I'm still your second uncle." Old Man Jiang yelled with eyes wide open: "Give me all the soup in this can and finish the meat. I'll make the soup. You can help me after you finish." Boil water! If you dare not wash the dishes, hum..."
!
Having a full stomach and then soaking in the fragrant soup, at that time, I thought it was the happiest thing in life. I will never forget that scene. I soaked in the big bathtub from time to time. Playing in the water, Old Man Jiang smoked a pipe of dry cigarette beside him.
Old man Jiang rarely smokes dry cigarettes. That is to say, I will smoke a pipe when I take a bath in the fragrant soup, which is usually very occasionally. Since I usually take medicinal food before taking a bath in the fragrant soup, so as long as I take a bath in the fragrant soup, I am very likely to** They would all fall asleep, only to be picked up by Old Man Jiang, wiped twice randomly, and then thrown onto the bed.
Every night, what I look forward to most is that moment, such a warm moment after a tiring and fulfilling day.
In the blink of an eye, another year passed. I turned nine years old, entered the third grade of elementary school, and stayed in the mountains for a year and a half.
In the past year and a half, I have not learned the 'mysterious' skills of Old Man Jiang. I have learned a lot of other things that in my eyes are miscellaneous, such as reciting the Tao Te Ching, Wu Qin Xi, and Tai Chi. Etc., etc.
It was another ordinary winter morning. I climbed out of bed at 5 o'clock as usual. After washing, I came to the corridor of Zhulou Xiaozhu.
Facing the empty and quiet bamboo forest, I took a deep breath and started tapping my teeth. This is a must-do homework in the morning.
The tongue touches the upper palate, and the left teeth buckle. When it reaches the right teeth, it changes to tapping. This cycle is completed after thirty-six times.
Then, I started to stir the gums up and down with my tongue until my mouth was full of saliva, and then I swallowed it in three mouthfuls. Every time I swallowed, there was a thunderous sound. Of course, I swallowed very hard. Old Man Jiang said that it must be Swallow the fluid to the Dantian. If you can't do it at first, you can try to imagine that it is flowing into the Dantian.
After finishing this trivial tooth and tongue work, I rubbed my hands vigorously to warm them up. While my palms were still hot, I completely covered my ears, held my ten fingers on the back of my head, and then pressed my middle finger with my index finger. The tips of his index fingers flicked on the back of his head fifty times each.
Of course, Old Man Jiang has mentioned a few acupuncture points, but most of them are on the bones at the back of the head, and the effects are about the same. If I can be lazy, I will be lazy.
These skills are very troublesome, but I have to do them every morning if I can't run away. Sometimes I just want to do it half-heartedly. Every time like this, Old Man Jiang will suddenly appear behind me. Next, It's definitely punishment.
After doing this, I would go to the kitchen to boil water and wash the rice, and then wake up Old Man Jiang. He said that as my morning 'homework' increases, as long as I burn the water, wash the rice, and then pick up the rice. He made the breakfast that came down.
After waking up Old Man Jiang, I would jog three times around the bamboo forest, then stop in a small pool and start practicing the Sixteen-Ingot Golden Technique. I would lift it up as soon as I inhaled it, and the breath would return to my navel. I would swallow it as soon as I lifted it, and water and fire would meet. , these simple sixteen characters, I have not yet fully mastered them even though I have practiced them.
But Old Man Jiang said that this formula has many benefits, especially good for the body and health, so he told me to stick to it.
After finishing this, it was almost six o'clock in the morning. School started at eight o'clock. I had to leave an hour and a half to walk. This time was not enough in the past, but now I find that my pace is getting faster and faster. One and a half hours is not enough. You can walk to school.
At 6:10 it is time to eat. Before eating, Old Man Jiang will often do Tai Chi with me for ten minutes. Of course, his movements are smooth and smooth, with a natural Taoist charm in them, and I use Old Man Jiang to In his words, it is: "It's just an empty show, and it has no rhyme, let alone momentum."
Today's breakfast was very rich. In addition to the usual thick porridge, 2 boiled eggs, and 2 side dishes, there was also steaming big steamed buns, which are usually steamed buns.
"What are you looking at? You were already asleep when I was making the fillings for the buns last night. If I hadn't been thinking about your birthday, I wouldn't have eaten this bun for you." Old Man Jiang scolded me, but stuffed the bun into my hand. Inside.
I was startled, and then I remembered that today is my birthday and I am already nine years old.
"Master, do you still remember my birthday?" I took a bite of the bun and said in my heart that I was not impressed. That would be a lie.
"Why don't you remember? Other birthdays are fine. Your child should celebrate when he turns nine. Come back early today and give you something. When you turn ten, I should tell you something. ." Old Man Jiang said, but he didn't explain to me why I should celebrate on the 9th.
I drank my rice porridge while snoring, and kept saying yes. I didn’t know what Old Man Jiang wanted to give me.