Ordinary people's rice bowl

Chapter 10 Reading Fun
In the early 80s, some villages close to the commune had already used electric lights. For Xiaowangzhuang, which was a little farther away from the commune, it was still a bit extravagant to use electric lights.Every evening, every family lights up homemade kerosene lamps. The dim light is three points weaker than candlelight, and it cannot compare with the current fluorescent lamps.It is this kind of light that has become the most powerful lighting tool for Mu Zhen's night reading.

Mu Zhen's family of five lived in one room. At night, they lit the homemade kerosene lamp on the table in front of the bed. His father occupied the middle of the desk and used the light to correct students' homework or prepare lessons. Mu Zhen leaned on one end of the table The advantage of being close to the bed, sitting on the edge of the bed, lying on the table, reading with relish the "Journey to the West" borrowed from Ma Sanye, this posture is also the most commonly used posture he usually learns, just facing It is no longer just a few textbooks in the school, so naturally she is more attentive. When relaxing in the field, Xiuhua will accompany him and his father to do some work with the light, but today, due to the tiredness of the day, he and the two The child lay down early to rest.

In the past, I only read some sporadic stories about Tang Monk’s learning from Buddhist scriptures from comic books, but I didn’t write them in such detail. Now, the beautiful words and twists and turns in the original book have deeply attracted Mu Zhen’s attention and affected every part of his life. Root nerves, every place written in the book is a fairyland with strange scenery and fantasy, with rounding peaks, overlapping mountains, lingering smoke, and fragrant flowers and fruits, which fascinates her and makes the young Mu Zhen feel like she is in the same place. , as if entering it, reading is as smooth as a fish in water.When he was reading the chapter where the three Monkey King brothers stole ginseng fruit on Longevity Hill, Lao Mu raised his wrist and looked at his watch, looked at Mu Zhen and said, "It's past ten o'clock, it's time to go to bed! I'll read it tomorrow!" Then he tidied up his student workbooks spread out on the table.

"Yeah!" Mu Zhen said while clipping a piece of paper between the pages of the book she was reading. During the day, Old Mu reminded Mu Zhen that when borrowing books, she must take good care of them first, so that they can be borrowed and returned easily.According to her father's wishes, Mu Zhen wrapped Ma Sanye's foreskin with newspapers, and never folded the pages to make marks when she closed the book.

The countryside at night still shows a rare tranquility, and the singing of outdoor insects seems to be in the ear, which makes people feel extremely happy.Mu Zhen, who forgot to appreciate the beautiful voice when she was concentrating on reading just now, is now lying on the bed, listening to the chirping of insects outside the window, and continuing her habit of using her brain to recollect what she saw and learned during the day. From the time when a stone monkey popped out of the rocks, to following Tang Seng as an apprentice to learn Buddhist scriptures, every story was replayed in my mind like a movie, and I fell asleep unconsciously.

Mu Zhen, who fell into a dream, entered a strange world in a trance, a place he seemed to have known before, in the mist, the Sun Walker in the album came towards him.

"Why is the Great Sage here?" Mu Zhen asked.

"I've been here for a long time, and now I'm fighting against the Buddha, and you have entered my territory." The Great Sage shouted.

"Entering your territory means entering your world. I have a few questions for you!"

"There is a problem when meeting, why is it so difficult, let's talk about it!"

"Journey to the West says that you are a stone monkey who jumped out of the stone. Is this true?"

"That's just what is written in the book. In fact, the universe is formed by the condensation of Qi. When the Qi is thick and heavy, it becomes a thing, and when the Qi is thin, it becomes light and indistinct. This principle should be understood. Therefore, in the past, the creation of heaven and earth came from Qi, which can be seen with the eyes. All qi is condensed into a god, and it is visible. Different condensed qi means different body. Nature goes round and round, and birth and birth are inseparable from the gathering of qi. Back then, I was born with the condensing of different qi. People say that I jumped out of the cracks in the rocks, but the location of the condensation is different!"

"It turned out to be like this. According to this, a person can really jump out of the cracks in the rock. The Great Sage is so supernatural, what are you doing after learning the scriptures?"

"Since I learned the scriptures, I have been conferred by the Tathagata Buddha as the Fighting and Conquering Buddha. I have been doing nothing, just eating and drinking in this territory, studying Buddhism, and socializing with each other from time to time. Up to now, I have only done some boring things!"

"Are you doing boring things now, are you happier than when you were the king of Huaguo Mountain?"

"There is no comparison. Back then in Huaguo Mountain, as the Monkey King, it can be said that he didn't have to worry about food and drink. He managed the monkeys and grandchildren of Huaguo Mountain. They were all friends of the same way. They were happy and happy. Now he is a Buddha. Although the name is justified, but I can’t help myself, I can’t find my place.”

"Then when you made troubles in the Heavenly Palace, you just wanted to be an official in the Heavenly Court. Now that you have become a Buddha, you can be regarded as a big official in the Heavenly Palace! Why can't you find your place?"

"The present and the past are not the same as in the past. Back then, there was a lot of trouble in the Tiangong, just because I didn't know about the Tiangong, and I didn't know exactly what kind of official I was. After all, I had never been to the Tiangong, and I didn't hear about the busyness of being an official. I just thought that the Tiangong was natural. To manage the world, compared with being the king of Huaguo Mountain, you have more power and more freedom. I didn't expect that the Jade Emperor would only let himself be a small official who raises horses to tease me. People look down on me, so I can't get over this hurdle in my heart. With my ability, I am a heavenly official respected by everyone, and I am respected everywhere. !"

"The Great Sage Equaling Heaven is indeed good, but the Jade Emperor was dissatisfied and launched a crusade against you."

"That's right! Originally Monkey King was just a title without any real meaning, but it was such a meaningless title that got me into trouble. Millions of Heavenly Soldiers and Generals who are idle, Going up to Huaguo Mountain, I was conquered by me, and so many monkeys and grandchildren were sacrificed on the mountain." The Great Sage became sad when he said this, and he shed a few tears, rubbed his eyes and continued: "The soldiers come to block, the water Come to the earth to cover up, when the heavenly soldiers and generals were about to conquer, I had nowhere to use my own abilities, so I just wanted to make trouble with him and see what I could do? So I used my own courage to fight against those who could not stand my own fight Heavenly soldiers and generals, as for the situation at that time, you have seen it in Wu Chengen's "Journey to the West". To be honest, I just wanted to fight him at the time, and see how capable he is with so many people in the heavenly court? I didn't think about why I didn't fight so hard at that time. Later, on the way to learn Buddhist scriptures, every time I encountered goblins from the heavens, they would beat me. Why didn't I meet any opponents when I was making troubles in the heavenly palace? Now I have entered the heavenly court for a long time. It didn't take a day before I realized that being a Buddha is different from being a monkey king. It is only necessary to use one or two points to help others. You can't use all of it, otherwise you will cause a lot of cumbersome things, and you don't know what to do! Just like the old gentleman Originally he used alchemy as his career, but he wanted to show off and made a plan to take me, and he never wanted me to smash his alchemy furnace, and he still feels ashamed to see me!" The Great Sage laughed out loud after saying that.

"After becoming a Buddha and understanding so many truths, is it still so difficult to be an official?"

"Haha, the way to be an official is that you have the shade of a big tree. You can't compare with me. Although you haven't entered the officialdom, you are famous outside. You can be courteous wherever you go. Now that you have become a Buddha, you have a master and Bajie The three juniors, Drifting, and Bailongma help each other, and they can report anything to avoid unnecessary troubles. In addition, on the way to learn the scriptures, it is better to practice more things than less things. It made me understand that many times, If you want to survive well, you don't rely on your skills, but your treasures and backstage. Like that pig brother, although he is lazy all the time and rests his mind every night, he still has nothing to worry about. side."

"What you said, if you figured it out before making a big fuss in Tiangong, would you still make a fuss?"

"Stop quarreling, stop quarreling, make trouble, many things are only understood in the midst of making trouble, so how can there be any reason to turn around? Isn't there an arrow in the world without turning back? Only when the bow is drawn can one know the arrow. The truth that hurts people. Haha, I never thought that at such a young age, you are not comparable to ordinary children. You will definitely do something in the future! Haha..."

The hearty laughter of the great sage infected Mu Zhen, and she laughed too: "Hehe, hehe, hehehe..."

The laughter was so loud that it woke up Lao Mu and Xiuhua.

"Zhen'er wake up, Zhen'er wake up!" Old Mu kept yelling.At the same time, she got up and came to Mu Zhen's bed and pushed him. Mu Zhen seemed to be startled and woke up from her dream, "What are you laughing at?"

This surprise made Mu Zhen only know a little bit about the things in the dream, and couldn't remember many details, but she just felt that the things in the dream were a little ridiculous.

The next morning, Lao Mu went to school after breakfast, Xiuhua and Mu Yan went to the field to do farm work, and Mu Zhen was still at home playing with her younger brother.Mu Zhen took the picture album and showed it to Mu Bao, while she read his "Journey to the West" with relish.The plot in the book gripped Mu Zhen's heart tightly. It was a silent world, and the piercing chirping of the tree had been thrown away by him, and the only thing in front of him were the vivid words and the bizarre artistic conception.

"Brother, where's your younger brother?" Mu Yan, who was going home to cook, tilted her head and looked at Mu Zhen and asked.Mu Zhen didn't answer, Mu Yan walked over and patted her brother on the shoulder, and asked again.

"Hmph, I'm looking at a picture album!" Mu Zhen replied without raising her head.

"Where can I read the album?"

"Hmph!" Mu Zhen raised her head and looked around the courtyard. She didn't see Mu Bao's figure, and suddenly remembered that she hadn't looked at her brother for a long time. "Are you still here just now? But where did you go now? "

"You asked me where I went, go find it!" Mu Yan tilted her head and looked at her brother, "I told you to watch my brother at home, but I lost it, how will you explain to my mother?" Mu Yan threatened.

"Hey, where did this kid go? If you find him, you have to beat him! Why did you run away without a trace?" Saying this, he closed the book, not daring to think about the first half of the plot in the book, Shouting loudly in the courtyard: "Mu Bao, Mu Bao, where are you hiding?"

"You can't come back even if you call, go find it!"

"Where to look for it, if you know where to look for it, that's good!"

Mu Yan looked at her brother's anxious look, and said solemnly: "My brother went to the ground by himself. Fortunately, it was our grandpa who met him, otherwise I really don't know where to go. You just stay at home and watch him run away!" Mu Yan said it very mysteriously on purpose.

Mu Zhen's mind was all on studying, so naturally she didn't pay much attention to her younger brother's affairs. As for her younger brother who ran out of the yard privately, how could he know?

During lunch, Xiuhua's nagging was unavoidable. Mu Zhen rolled her eyes at her younger brother, and silently picked the rice grains in the bowl without making a sound.

Just after lunch, Mu Zhen carefully removed the book cover she had added on the outside of "Journey to the West". While her parents were at home, she took a short walk to the house of Ma Sanye in the village to change the book.Seeing that the gate was open, Mu Zhen walked directly into the courtyard.Ma Sanye is taking the small pot on the table and preparing to make tea.

"Have you eaten yet? Third Grandpa."

"It's over! Have you eaten yet?" Mr. Ma looked at Mu Zhen who was standing at the door panting with a smile on his face. Under Mr. Ma's gaze, Mu Zhen felt that Mr. Ma became amiable.

"I've finished reading this book, and I want to change to the middle part." As he spoke, he took two steps forward, came to Mr. Ma, and handed him the book in his hand.

"Okay!" Ma Sanye said, took the book, sifted through the pages, stood up and walked to the bed in the inner room.

"Reading so fast, you have to swallow the whole book and digest it slowly." Ma Sanye said while pulling out the bookcase from under the bed.

"I haven't done anything these days, I just read books, that's why I read so fast!"

As Mu Zhen spoke, she walked up to Mr. Ma, and looked at the bookcase that Mr. Ma had pulled out. On the top of the box was still the cover wrapped in kraft paper. On the cover, the words "Journey to the West" were written with a brush. , it seems that Mr. Ma has already prepared for himself to borrow and return.

Ma Sanye handed the book to Mu Zhen, and said earnestly: "Be careful to use your brain properly, you read so fast, I want to test you!"

Mu Zhen was taken aback for a moment, she was not at all mentally prepared for Ma Sanye's question to test herself.

Ma Sanye seemed to see Mu Zhen's thoughts, and said slowly: "Reading must be essential, and you can't just read wonderful stories without understanding the author's thoughts from it! No matter how good a book is, the author will always have it when he writes it." A certain purpose and idea."

Hearing what Ma Sanye said, Mu Zhen naturally thought of what happened in the dream, calmed down a little, and said, "Third Grandpa, the Monkey King in this book was just born, and he just wanted to be famous, learn from his teacher, make trouble in the heavenly palace, and proclaim himself Qi. The great sages of heaven all broke through the shackles and wanted to become famous in one fell swoop, which led to the disaster that crushed the Great Five Elements Mountain. Later, on the way to learn scriptures with Tang Seng, although he had super skills such as 72 transformations and tendon clouds, he was always in front of many monsters. Either be controlled by others, or ask the gods to help destroy the monsters, the reason is that those monsters either seek the mercy of the Tang monk, or have magical treasures, or have the backing of the sky, even if Monkey King has the ability, he can't do anything against them!"

Hearing what Mu Zhen said, Ma Sanye felt that the child in front of him had a unique understanding of the knowledge in the book, even surpassing the thoughts of adults. It seems that this child's reading is not limited to the book, but has read outside the book up.

"The child understands the truth! You are great!" Ma Sanye praised.

Mu Zhen felt a little embarrassed when she heard Ma Sanye's words, and changed the topic and said, "I will definitely remember your words, don't swallow the jujube when you read, digest it slowly!"

Seeing the seriousness of the child in front of him, Ma Sanye nodded and said, "Okay, okay, okay!"

"Third Grandpa is fine, I'm leaving." Mu Zhen was naturally happy when she heard Ma Sanye's affirmation of her, and left without hesitation.

"Go!" Ma Sanye waved his hand and warned: "Slow down on the road, don't run so fast!"

"Okay!" After Mu Zhen finished speaking, she turned around and went out the door, bouncing and running towards the house.

As soon as Mu Zhen entered the house with the book in hand, Xiuhua made arrangements for Mu Zhen: "Take care of your brother this afternoon, and don't let him run out alone again."

"En!" Mu Zhen nodded in agreement.

Looking at the back of Xiuhua going out, Mu Zhen turned her head and took her younger brother's hand: "You can't run around, play with me in the yard!"

"What are you playing?" Mu Bao tilted his head to look at Mu Zhen and responded.

"I'll tell you the story of Monkey King." Mu Zhen said without thinking.

"Okay, I like to hear it!" Mu Bao danced and danced.

Every day, one of the two brothers loves to talk, the other is willing to listen, and they cooperate very tacitly.

(End of this chapter)