Oh oh… Oh—
The morning light pushed away the outline of darkness, the crowing of roosters broke the morning silence, and the mountain village gradually became noisy. The busy autumn farming work had not been completed yet, and people carried farm tools and went to the fields with their families.
In the small fenced courtyard, the wooden doors of the three rooms creaked open one after another, and Lu Liangsheng, Lu Xiaoxian and Sun Yingxian walked out. They all stretched lazily, walked to the water tank, picked up a bowl of water, dipped the thin branches and leaves in it, put them between their lips, brushed them left and right for twenty or thirty times, drank a sip of water, and put the wrap in their mouth.
"Gurgle..."
Three faces fell down and spat out in unison.
In the kitchen, Li Jinhua had already cooked breakfast. The three of them, including Lu Laoshi who had just gotten up, sat under the eaves with their bowls in their hands, slurping the meat porridge.
Occasionally, Li Jinhua's voice could be heard from the kitchen.
"Then you have finished all the exams. Liangsheng, when do you think you are going to get married?"
Lu Liangsheng nearly spit out a mouthful of porridge. The Taoist priest next to him almost instinctively looked towards the room, then looked at the cypress tree in the yard. Fortunately, there was no cold wind.
"That was a close call. I shouldn't have heard it." He patted his chest while holding the chopsticks.
After swallowing the rice porridge, Lu Liangsheng quickly drank a few more mouthfuls and stuffed the empty bowl into Li Jinhua's hand.
"It's still early. On the second day of the second month, the dragon raises its head, and there is still a spring exam to be held."
After saying that, he pulled Sun Yingxian, who was still eating, and walked out. The latter quickly took two more bites, chewed with puffed cheeks, and turned back to wave at the woman.
Li Jinhua did not give up. She ran out from under the eaves and shouted to her son who had already gone over the fence:
"Then you can take a concubine first. Your father and I are waiting to have grandchildren!"
Lu Liangsheng didn't dare to respond. He walked around the village with the Taoist priest and saw Mr. Lu, who was leaning on a cane and going to the back of the private school to bask in the sun. He went up to him, greeted him, and took the old man's pulse to check his health.
"Taigong, you are in good health."
The old man opened his toothless mouth, laughed a few times while lying on the recliner, and nodded slowly.
"… I can't believe I'm still as good as ever, Liangsheng… How did the exam go?"
The scholar placed his hands back on his knees, and positioned the pear wood stick so that the old man could easily reach it. He reached out and rubbed the old man's calves, using his magic power to drive away some of the cold, and responded with a smile.
"It's OK... I don't think it will bring shame to the village. Grandpa, please sit for a while. I still need to go check out some other places."
Mr. Lu looked at this promising young man with a smile and raised his hand to wave at him.
"Go ahead. It's time for the kids to go to school. I'll just stay here and watch over them..."
Seeing that Mr. Lu's head began to nod as he spoke, Lu Liangsheng knew that as people get older, their spirit becomes weaker day by day. They can't sleep at night and doze off during the day. Sometimes they are talking to people and fall asleep the next second without knowing it.
"ha!"
"ha!"
Walking to other places in the village, the snoring of Lu Pan and others could be heard from afar. That place was right next to the cellar, where the wealth of the village was hidden. The eight people were taught the method of body-building, and they practiced almost every day, gathering together to train every day, and even in the middle of winter they didn't feel cold with their bare chests.
Lu Pan was the strongest and most agile among the eight people. Right in front of Lu Liangsheng, he lifted the stone lock weighing over 100 pounds with one hand and threw it two or three feet away.
This made Lu Liangsheng and the seven people over there applaud.
"I can throw it away at will." Sun Yingxian picked his nose.
"That's different. They haven't learned any magic, let alone practiced martial arts. It's not easy for them to have this much strength."
Soon, the two of them walked towards Qixia Mountain behind the village. The red rope tied to the tree three years ago was still there. They walked up and when they saw the old pine, Lu Liangsheng stepped forward and bowed devoutly.
The Taoist had lived in Lujia Village for a year and had seen this tree. He thought it was quite magical at first, but after a while, he could not see anything special about it.
He liked to stand on a rock near the old pine and watch the clouds rolling in the surrounding mountains.
The wind blew, and the pine leaves rustled along with the branches.
Lu Liangsheng walked to the Taoist priest, looked at the sea of clouds, and sat down cross-legged. The golden morning light shone on it, and the rolling clouds and mist looked like real waves.
"Every time you sit under this old pine tree and watch the clouds rising and falling over there, do you feel that practicing here is much smoother than usual?"
The Taoist picked up a stone and threw it into the distance.
"I knew it earlier. People who practice cultivation pay attention to blessed places. Although I have never seen one, this place is not bad."
"Well, if I can't be an official in the future, I will just build a hut here."
Lu Liangsheng suddenly laughed, reached his hand out of his sleeve, and started drawing on the rock with a brush. With his other hand, he reached inside and placed a pot of fine wine and two wine glasses in front of the Taoist.
Fill a glass and pass it to the other person.
"Watching the sun rise and the sea of clouds rolling, how can I live without wine?"
The Taoist picked up the solid wine glass, took a sip, and a faint aroma of wine spread between his mouth and nose.
The sun rose above the clouds and shone over, streaking golden light across the swaying branches of the old pine trees. Spots of light fell on the big rocks. Two men, one blue and one gray, sat opposite each other, drinking and looking at the autumn mountains.
"Just another game of chess."
"Don't think about it. There are too many chess pieces. How can I draw them?"
"Then bring a plate next time."
Lu Liangsheng smiled and nodded, looking at the towering old pine on one side. Between the dense leaves, a sparkling light could be seen.
This return trip solved the pain of missing family members that he felt during his first trip far away, but after returning, there were also some things that made Lu Liangsheng laugh and cry.
For several days in a row, my mother has been urging me to get married as soon as possible. Even if I don't get married first, I should at least take a concubine to expand the Lu family.
However, Lu Liangsheng didn't have any idea in this regard, and he was ignorant about the relationship between men and women, not to mention that there was a jealous female ghost around him... For the sake of the other girl, he politely rejected his mother's kindness.
"I came back happily, but now I'm afraid I can't stay any longer..."
Lu Liangsheng heard his mother nagging about this matter outside again. He put down his book, sat down on the edge of the bed, and looked at the Toad Taoist priest in his short coat.
"Master, you are an experienced person, what suggestions do you have?"
The toad turned over lazily and scratched its belly with its webbed feet.
"As a teacher who is practicing Taoism, how can I know these things?"
Her gaze turned to the Taoist who was squatting in the corner holding a book of unknown origin. Noticing her gaze falling on her back, Sun Yingxian quickly turned around, closed the book quickly and put it in her arms.
"What are you looking at me for? I've never even met a matchmaker..."
At this time, a faint voice came from the portrait on the wall: "Then why not leave quickly."
"That's probably all we can do."
At the moment, Lu Liangsheng had no other choice. Another reason was that he said he wanted to visit the northwest and pass by the capital to see his mentor. The spring examination would be on the second day of February next year, so the time was quite urgent.
After making up his mind, at the end of August, he waited for the county official to come with the good news and celebrated with the whole village. That night, he proposed to his parents the idea of going to the capital.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Li Jinhua didn't even clean up the table and sat down next to her son. "How about we wait a little longer and leave after the New Year."
"Ahem..."
Lu Laoshi coughed at the door, and Lu Liangsheng waved to his mother: "It's only a few months away from the Spring Examination. I only know the direction of the capital, but I don't know how to get there. I will have to ask along the way... When I get to the capital, I will have to see my mentor and Lord Min. It's really not enough..."
Li Jinhua on the other side was not as worried as she was about her son's first long journey. She just sighed and went to his room to help him pack his luggage.
As soon as the woman left, Lu Laoshi hurried in.
"When you leave, remember to take the old donkey with you..."
Seeing Lu Liangsheng's puzzled look, the man rubbed his palms embarrassedly, glanced outside the house, and lowered his voice.
"Take it away so I can get a lighter one."
Well…
The scholar looked at his father's embarrassed expression and could only nod silently.
September 1st.
The sky was high and the clouds were light. After packing his luggage, Lu Liangsheng said goodbye to his parents, led the old donkey out of the village, turned around and waved goodbye to the people who were seeing him off.
On the roadside, Sun Yingxian was waiting while chewing on a leaf of grass. There were two bookshelves hanging behind the donkey. The door of the small pavilion was open. The Toad Taoist priest in a small jacket crossed his legs and shook his head along with the opera music being hummed by the scroll on the other side.
The old donkey followed the scholar, prancing briskly and neighing excitedly.
Huh, huh, huh…
Echoing in the mountains and fields.