On Laba Festival, the whole world celebrates and horses go out to the river.
It was the first time that the Shamatte dark horse went on a long journey. In the cold wind, he ran wildly with great energy, with a tuft of side-parted black hair on his forehead covering his eyes swaying in the wind.
The long country road spreads irregularly under the horse's hooves...
"Hey, Zhu Ping'an, why are you sneaking around like that? Haha, you're like a lost dog."
At a fork in the road not far from the village, Li Shu, dressed in a red cloak, appeared quietly on horseback, with her clothes fluttering in the wind, her face slightly tilted up, her fair neck, a pair of big black eyes, and a face full of a weird look.
Following behind was the chubby little maid Huaer, who was chasing her mistress breathlessly, holding the hem of her skirt.
"Why are you sneaking around in broad daylight? Are you here to see me off?" Zhu Ping'an stopped his Shamatte dark horse, looked at the scheming girl Li Shu, and asked with a curled lip corner.
"You wish. Who sent you here? I was here for a horse ride. I saw a toad lying on the horse's back from a distance. I thought it looked familiar, so I came to take a look."
The scheming girl Li Shu rolled her eyes in disdain, denied it flatly, and said with a pout.
"Toad? Haha, are you wishing me success again?" Zhu Ping'an shook his head slightly and smiled.
"How shameless! You even said you won the first prize. I saw you sneaking away in disgrace. It's obvious that you were afraid of being laughed at by the villagers if you failed. The capital is where the world's talents gather. I think when you leave the capital, you will also sneak away in disgrace."
The scheming girl Li Shu had a pair of big, dark and shiny eyes as she looked down upon Zhu Ping'an, with a hint of sneer in her rosy lips.
"Then we'll see."
Zhu Ping'an clapped his hands and kicked off the journey to take the exam again.
At the fork in the road, the scheming girl Li Shu watched Zhu Ping'an's figure disappear in the distance before she turned her horse around and led the little maid Baozi back to Shanghe Village.
Kaoshan Town
Everyone who has been here knows that this place is surrounded by mountains, and at the foot of the mountains are many poor villages. Once you get off the official road, the mountain road is not so easy to walk on, with ups and downs, ravines and rocks, and irregular shapes. In this irregularity, people along the road repeat the dance of life, working at sunrise and resting at sunset.
The Shamatte Heima had just left home. Full of energy, he had already passed through the mountain town of Kaoshan Town at noon, passed through five or six villages in succession, and rested at the foot of a mountain with a stream.
Zhu Ping'an temporarily took the things off the back of the Shamatte horse and tied the horse to a tree trunk, letting the Shamatte black horse rest and eat some hay. Zhu Ping'an also found a sheltered place, leaned against a rock and took out the pancakes made by his mother Chen from his bag, and ate them with pickled vegetables.
The sun was not very bright, and dark clouds were gradually approaching. This river was covered with hay. In the distance, a shepherd boy was leading a big yellow dog and driving the sheep home for lunch. The big yellow dog was barking happily behind the sheep. The sheep, who had had enough of the dry grass, were shaking their bellies and were contentedly following their little master home in this cold winter land.
After eating two pancakes, Zhu Ping'an waited for Shamatte Black Horse to eat some hay, then put the things on the horse again and set out on the journey to the exam again.
In the cold winter, the small stones on the road were frozen and brittle. When the Shamatte black horse stepped on them with its horseshoe, the small stones made a crisp sound and broke. Then, the Shamatte black horse seemed to have found something interesting and specifically walked in places with broken stones just to listen to the sound. Zhu Ping'an on the horse was shaken by the Shamatte black horse.
To the extent that Zhu Ping'an had to pull the reins several times before he could correct the bad habits of this stupid horse, Shamatte.
It was the first time for Zhu Ping'an to go out alone. He arranged the trip by himself and had little experience. He didn't know the road conditions and the road ahead. He missed a mountain village in the evening, and then rode for seven or eight miles without seeing any people or villages.
Before I knew it, the setting sun had already set in the west, burning the mountain ridges as red as fire, and the dark clouds also changed color.
Looking around, there are mountains everywhere, no sign of life, only a mountain road stretching forward and disappearing in the distance.
The Shamatte Black Horse was also tired and had no strength to travel, so his speed slowed down a lot, which made Zhu Ping'an give up the plan of returning to the village behind Bali.
Zhu Ping'an was riding on a horse and looked around. There were many mountains. Just when he was disappointed, he saw a small house at the foot of the mountain about 50 meters away on the left side of the mountain road. He got off the horse, led the black horse down the mountain road, and walked towards the small house along an almost invisible path.
As we got closer, we could see that this house seemed to be a simple hut for mountain hunters to temporarily rest. It was made mainly of wood and thatch. It seemed somewhat similar to the shack where Tongsheng was kidnapped by the evil woman Ruonan on his way to the test, but this one seemed a little better.
"Excuse me, is anyone there?"
Zhu Ping'an was outside the door, bowed and asked loudly.
No one answered. Zhu Pingan asked loudly three times, but still no one answered. It was estimated that this shed had not been occupied for a while, and the hunters probably didn't come here often.
Zhu Ping'an led Shamatte Heima to the door, unbolted and pushed open the door. The inside was relatively clean, but it also looked like no one had lived there for some time.
Zhu Ping'an led the Shamatte black horse into the shed, tied it to a pillar, and then took the things off the horse's back and placed them on the straw bed in the shed. Zhu Ping'an then found a sickle in the shed, took it out of the shed, cut some hay with the sickle and carried it into the shed to serve as fodder for the Shamatte black horse, and did this three times.
The shanty had all the necessary daily necessities, including an iron pot with a ring, firewood, rice, oil and salt. Zhu Ping'an borrowed it temporarily, picked up some firewood and hay from outside, and took the iron pot to the stream not far behind the house. He broke a patch of ice with a stone, washed the iron pot with stream water, and then filled the pot with cold stream water and brought it into the shanty.
Cook rice, make fire, cook, and bake bread.
The fragrant millet porridge, along with the pickled cucumbers prepared by my mother Chen, was a real treat after a day of hard work. After eating and drinking, I poured the remaining millet porridge into a basin and brought it to the Shamatte Black Horse, so that it could drink some hot water.
Afterwards, Zhu Ping'an tidied the bed again, covered it with thick straw, spread the bedding he brought with him on the straw, and then closed and bolted the door of the shed from the inside.
After a whole day of running around, even though I was riding a horse, I was still very tired. Fortunately, my mother, Chen, had made a rabbit fur pad for the saddle so that my legs would not rub.
However, although he was tired, Zhu Ping'an did not rest immediately. Instead, as usual, he prepared to read for a while before going to bed.
A fire was built in the shed, and a mixture of thick and thin firewood was put in. The flames burned vigorously, providing both lighting and warmth.
Zhu Pingan sat in front of the fire, holding a book in his hand, reading it with great interest by the firelight. The firewood made a crackling sound, and the warm temperature made Zhu Pingan hum comfortably, and he changed to a comfortable position and continued reading.
After adding firewood twice, Zhu Ping'an put away his books and prepared to rest. He moved the straw far away from the fire and the firewood far away as well, eliminating all safety hazards before going to bed.
Lying on the bed, facing the window, you can see everything outside.
Dark clouds covered the moon, and there was no sign of human presence. It was so lonely that I couldn’t describe it. (To be continued.)