Fang Zheng smiled and said, "Then I have to taste it."
Seeing that Fang Zheng didn't mind and was still in high spirits, Ji Xiang and Ji Han breathed a sigh of relief, as if they were afraid of neglecting Fang Zheng, their guest.
Fang Zheng was very satisfied with this. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter what the dish is, but the intention is the most important.
However, as soon as the ground tofu was in his mouth, Fang Zheng gave it a thumbs up. The taste was original, just fragrant with tofu. But it is this original fragrance that is difficult to taste in the outside world.
The staple food of the Laku people is rice, but Jihan made porridge in the morning. Fangzheng didn’t know what Jihan put in. The porridge was green and sticky, but it tasted delicious. Pair it with some sour radish tops. The radish is only about the size of your thumb and as white as jade. It tastes crunchy, sour and very appetizing.
Fang Zheng didn't eat any of the other dishes, especially the plate of chicken, which was full of chili peppers. Fang Zheng started to recite Amitabha silently just looking at it.
Jixiang saw Fangzheng's fearful look, pursed his lips and smiled: "Brother Chang Feng, in our Laku tribe, in fact, no dish can be separated from chili peppers. But I saw that you didn't eat chili peppers last night, so I made them. I ordered it without the chili pepper, but I didn’t expect you wouldn’t eat it…”
When Ji Han heard this, he was surprised and said: "Don't eat chili? How can you live without chili? I can't even eat this rice."
Fang Zheng said: "Chinese cuisine is both sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and salty, and people love all kinds of flavors. It's not surprising if you don't like spicy food. It seems that you Laku people can eat spicy food very well."
Ji Han chuckled and said: "Uncle Tie said that the Laku people's spicy food is the Han people's oil. That means that for the Laku people, the chili peppers are the same as the Han people's oil. If you don't add chili peppers, you can't eat."
After hearing this, Fang Zheng was amazed and at the same time felt proud of China's multi-ethnic culture. It seems that any nation has its own culture and can light up a corner of the world.
But when he heard the words "Uncle Iron", Fang Zheng thought of the bag of money and Li Xi again, and his original good mood was gone.
Fang Zheng didn't say anything, and the brother and sister didn't talk much. They ate their meal quickly. Fang Zheng packed up his things and went to find Uncle Tie after all.
"It's Chang Feng, why do you have time to sit here with me?" Uncle Tie was tinkering with his furnace early in the morning. Uncle Tie's surname was not Tie, but Li. Fang Zheng didn’t know the Laku family name either. The nickname Uncle Iron came from the fact that he was the only blacksmith in the village. However, as Uncle Tie got older and older, he could no longer swing the hammer. In addition, the farm tools sold outside were cheap and easy to use, so he stopped making money from selling iron tools.
But after working at a craft for a lifetime, Uncle Tie was still reluctant to put it down. He tinkered with the bellows and touched the hammer every day to pass the time.
Fang Zheng said: "Uncle Tie, I know Li Xi."
Uncle Tie was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said: "It turns out he is Xizi's friend! I just said that I see why you are so popular. Come on, come and sit down. Tell me how Xizi is doing outside. It's been a long time. I didn’t bring a letter home.”
While Uncle Tie was talking, a little girl ran out of the room. The little girl wore braids and was very cute. As soon as the little girl came, she hugged Uncle Tie's legs, and then looked at Fang Zheng with a little fear.
Fang Zheng smiled slightly at her, and she was so frightened that she hid behind Uncle Tie.
Then a woman walked out of the room. The woman smiled and said, "Girl, come back quickly. Don't disturb grandpa and the guests."
When the girl refused to leave, the woman ran over, smiled apologetically at Fang Zheng, picked up the girl and went to play next door.
Looking at the mother and daughter walking out, Fang Zheng's heart became even heavier. He knows that the Laku people here are different from the Laku people outside. The Laku people outside already have their own economic system. Whether it is tourism or other things, they can be on an equal footing with other ethnic groups.
But the Laku people here still live the life passed down by their ancestors. But with the exodus of young people, they can no longer continue hunting. Many families actually rely on clan members who go out to work to support their families.
In Uncle Tie's family, Li Xi was the pillar of the family. Now that the pillar of the family has fallen, this family...
"Did something happen to Xizi?" After all, Uncle Tie has been through this before. Although he is older, his brain is not old. Seeing that Fang Zheng didn't speak for a long time and looked hesitant, he had already guessed something. The smile on his face turned serious, with deep concern in his seriousness.
Fang Zheng nodded and said, "Well..."
Then Fang Zheng didn't know what he said. When he walked out of Uncle Tie's house, only Uncle Tie's bright eyes were left in his eyes. The sparkle disappeared in an instant, and what was left was bitterness! There were no tears, no loud crying, but the silent look in his eyes made Fang Zheng even more uncomfortable.
At this moment, Li Xi's wife came back with Niuzi in her arms, greeted Fang Zheng with a smile, and invited Fang Zheng to their house for dinner. Fang Zheng declined bitterly, and the other party looked confused.
But not long after, mournful cries came from Uncle Tie's house. The cries tore apart the tranquility of the Laku tribe, and made everyone's hearts ache.
"Brother Chang, Brother Li?" Ji Han ran into Fang Zheng's room and asked in disbelief.
Fang Zheng nodded.
Jihan and Jixiang's tears immediately flowed down. Jixiang cried: "How is it possible? Brother Li is such a good person, and he even gave me cake last year... wuwu... "
Fang Zheng said nothing. The tragedy had already happened. He was thinking about how to prevent this tragedy from happening again!
On this day, the entire village was completely silent...
Until nightfall, Fang Zheng suddenly heard the sound of the Lusheng coming from outside. The sound was so small that ordinary people could hardly hear it. But Fang Zheng's ears are so powerful that he can hear clearly.
Fang Zheng opened the door and went out, followed the direction of the sound, and walked into a bamboo forest. Fang Zheng saw an old man with white hair sitting there, blowing the reed to the northeast, as if calling for something...
Fang Zheng took a closer look and saw that the old man with white hair was Uncle Iron!
Uncle Iron, all of his hair turned white in one day! The wrinkles on his face are as if they were struck by a knife or an ax, they are so deep that it makes people feel distressed!
He closed his eyes and blew the reed. Fang Zheng could feel his pain and longing, but it was more of a call!
Fang Zheng subconsciously wanted to open a dream of Huangliang, so that Uncle Tie could see his son in his dream and fulfill his dream. But the moment he raised his hand, Fang Zheng let it go... A dream is a dream. If you can't let it go, there will be more pain after the dream.
Of course, Fangzheng could ask Li Xi to coax the old man through dreams... But what happens after that
The most important thing is that in the music of Lusheng, Fang Zheng not only heard the pain, but also a spirit, a brave, fearless and strong spirit!
(End of chapter)