mortal clerk

Chapter 3 We want to be a general
12 years are fleeting.

In the 14th year of Tiansheng in the Great Zhou Dynasty, the monarch of Yufu Kingdom, a vassal state in the southwest, disappeared while hunting in Dongjun.

And the hillside behind Li Village is full of spring scenery, green grass, fragrant flowers, and several buffaloes are gnawing on the green grass leisurely.On a boulder, several teenagers were lying crookedly, one of them was holding a timothy grass in his mouth, scratching his belly with his right hand, looking at the sky with clouds and clouds, blue swallows and birds rising and falling from time to time.This person is Li Qingniu, the only seedling of the Li family.

Suddenly, Li Qingniu stood up like a carp, looking at a group of aimless children basking in the sun, he couldn't help sighing.

"Brothers, we can't just stay in this small village every day like this!"

Wang Ergou, who was lying on the side, rubbed his eyes and looked at Li Qingniu who had a sudden convulsion.

"Brother Qingniu, isn't it good to herd cattle every day?"

"Er Gouzi, what's the point of herding cattle!"

"Of course it's good to herd cattle! You don't have to go to the fields, but you can dig out bird eggs, catch grasshoppers, roast sweet potatoes, and take a bath in the stream. What's wrong?"

The rest of the friends also agreed that herding cattle can not only be fun, but also the most leisurely guy in the family.

"Herding cattle, herding cattle, we have been herding cattle for several years, don't you think it's boring?".

At this time, the clever Wang Ergou mysteriously approached Li Qingniu's ear: "Brother Qingniu, have you thought of a new way to play? Don't you want to see Widow Zhang take a bath again?"

Li Qingniu pushed Wang Ergou away and snorted: "There is no new way to play. I asked you to worship me as a teacher and practice iron head skills, but knocked a hole in the head of the 'big guy'; Everyone wants to be a general, but they don’t listen to me; I went to the river to peek at Widow Zhang taking a bath, and I was punished by my father to kneel all night, so what is there to do now?”

Wang Ergou heard that there was really nothing new, so he could only resentfully said, "Then you don't want to herd cattle, what else can you do?"

After thinking about it carefully, Li Qingniu didn't have any specific goals, and said irritably, "I don't know what to do now, but I just don't want to herd cattle for a lifetime. What's the point of living in this village every day?"

"Brother Qingniu, do you want to take us to herd cattle in other villages?" Da Zhuang asked foolishly.

Li Qingniu spat out the grass in his mouth and shouted to everyone, as if he had made up his mind.

"What are you going to do? I've decided, I'm going to venture outside! To do something earth-shattering, at least I have to be a general or something!"

"However, I heard from my mother that it's too dangerous outside. There are thieves and monsters eating people everywhere. Besides, we don't have any money on us. I'm afraid we'll starve to death before we become soldiers." On the way."

"What are you afraid of? I, Li Qingniu, am an imposing man. I can still starve to death on the road? I've made up my mind. We can bring some food from home and go to Niuxi Town at the foot of the mountain. We'll make money when we get there. " Li Qingniu seemed to have a clear plan as he spoke, and turned around to look expectantly at Wang Ergou.

"What do you think! Ergou."

Wang Ergou looked at Li Qingniu as if he really wanted to go out to make a living, he thought about it, and looked at Li Qingniu.

"Brother Qingniu, I want to go out too, but..."

"But what, my lords, humming."

"But, my mother will definitely not agree to my going! Besides, we are still young, we will go after a few years when we become adults."

"Tsk tsk tsk, Er Gouzi, are you still young? Didn't your mother tell you a wife a few days ago. Could it be that you forget your friends after seeing sex, and only want to marry a new wife!"

The rest of the people booed one after another: "Wang Ergou, if you marry a woman, you will sleep with a woman and be controlled by a woman from now on, so you can't come out to play."

"Wang Ergou, I heard from the adults that if you marry a woman, you will have a baby. Don't you want to be a father?"

"Brother Ergou, you gave birth to a baby, is it called Wang Sangou? No, no, Sangou and Ergou are from the same generation, so let's call it Wang Xiaogou!"

……

Seeing that Li Qingniu told him about his mother-in-law, causing everyone to tease him, Wang Ergou couldn't help but blush and get angry.

"Who said I want to marry a woman, I don't want to marry a woman! I don't want to be controlled by women!"

Seeing this, Li Qingniu "consoled the old man", patted Wang Ergou on the shoulder, and the old god said: "Ergou, you are right, women will only influence us to do great things! How about it? Let's go with the elder brother and me." Go out and wander."

"Just go, who is afraid of whom!" Wang Ergou responded after being so provoked.

Li Qingniu then turned to the other people and began to fool around.

"Tree roots, do you still remember the cloth shoes I gave you last year? They were new shoes made by my mother. Brother, I saw you grazing cows in bare feet, so I gave them to you without saying a word. Da Zhuang, I gave you shoes last year. Did I give you half of the caramel that Second Dad brought from the town? Little one, um, you are too young, it would be a burden to follow us, so don't go."

Under Li Qingniu's "combination of kindness and power", several people also agreed, and agreed to meet under the big pagoda tree at the entrance of the village when the rooster crowed the next morning, and go out together.

That night, Li Qingniu, who deliberately chose to sleep in the cowshed to watch the cows, tossed and turned, both excited and worried.Thinking that I will achieve a great career soon, and then I will take my brothers to ride a tall horse, which is very beautiful. I also think that I will just leave like this, what should I do if my father, mother and grandma can't find me?If you really encounter thieves who rob houses and monsters and ghosts that eat people, can you run away?
After thinking for a long time, I still decided to leave a letter to my parents, but then I remembered that I only read a few words when my second uncle came back, and my parents couldn't read. How should I write this letter?There was a flash of inspiration in the depression, and there was.So he sneakily picked up a half-burnt tree branch from the stove, and drew it on his earthen wall.

There are three paintings, the first one is a stickman coming down from a mountain with a bag on his back, the second one is a stickman riding a horse and killing all directions, the third one is a stickman returning to the mountain, followed by Many people and horses, carrying all kinds of gold, silver and jewels.It's simple and clear, and you can understand it at a glance.

When Li Qingniu groped his way to the big locust tree at the entrance of the village, it was still dark, and the night in the mountain was a bit cold, so he had to lie down in the tree hole of the big locust tree and wait for his brothers to come, and fell asleep in a daze. caught.

When he woke up, the sun was shining on his buttocks, and there was no one around him.I couldn't help cursing in my heart: "They're all unscrupulous bastards. They agreed to go out together, but none of them came!"

After scolding, I thought, if I go back now, I will definitely be ridiculed by these ungrateful things, but if I go alone, there will be no one on the road
While struggling, I saw the big man running towards the big locust tree panting.When Li Qingniu saw the big guy, he shouted happily: "Big guy, you are the most loyal!"

Unexpectedly, the big man panted and said: "Brother Qingniu, it's not good, your father came after you and said he caught you and wanted to break your legs!"

"What, my dad? How does he know I'm here. You traitors!"

Li Qingniu didn't have time to find out who made the accusation, but Li Laosan who ran over carried him back like a chicken.

The next day, Li Qingniu, who was beaten up by Li Laosan, seemed to have temporarily given up the idea of ​​going out for a while under the force of Li Laosan's power, and obediently knelt down at home to reflect.But I thought in my heart that the great opportunity to leave now has been missed, and it will not be so easy to go out again.

While hesitating, I remembered that the only person in the whole village who had gone out and seen the big world was the second dad of the clan.

The second dad works in a restaurant in Niuxi Town under the mountain. He is considered a famous person in the village, and he has said many times that he wants to let himself go out to gain insights.In a few days, it will be the day for ancestor worship in the mountain village, and it seems that this matter can be accomplished.So I didn't clamor to go out to make a living. Instead, I learned to cook at home every day and helped my parents with some farm work.

Li Laosan ate a pot of black paste made by Li Qingniu, and said that the food was wasted, but he was still inexplicably moved.After all, this old man, who usually indulges his temper to make troubles, did not expect to be much more sensible when he hit him once.Secretly made up his mind: This baby will fight more in the future!
Three days later, Li Laoer really returned to the village with some cloth, caramel, and common utensils.

Old Li's family is thin. Although Li Lao Er and Li Lao San are not biological brothers, they have a very good relationship. Therefore, the brothers met with extraordinary enthusiasm.

Li Qingniu also behaved well-behaved and sensible, serving tea with him.

"Second Dad, you must be thirsty all the way up the mountain. This is the spring water in the back mountain. I will fetch it early in the morning, and I will wait for Second Dad when you come back."

The second Li thought that this kid was so well-behaved that he must have come to ask for candy, so he hurriedly found a bag of candy from the goods he brought and handed it to him.

"You kid, you're so diligent, I'm afraid you miss your second dad's candy!"

Li Qingniu looked at Tang, held back his saliva and refused.

"Second dad, now that I'm grown up, I don't like sweets."

"Oh, I haven't seen you this year, but our little cow is much more sensible."

When Li Laosan heard his second brother praise Li Qingniu, his old face blushed, as if he had discovered the secret of educating Li Qingniu.

"This kid is still short of a beating!"

"What do you mean, third child, you hit the child again?"

"Second brother, this kid ran away from home a few days ago, and I caught him and beat him up. He has become sensible and learned how to cook."

Seeing this, Li Qingniu knew that the opportunity had come, so he hurriedly pulled Li Lao Er aggrievedly.

"Second dad, I'm not fooling around. I just want to go out and start a career like my second dad. However, my dad beat me without saying anything, and now my head still hurts from time to time!" After finishing speaking, he touched his forehead , pretending to have a headache recurrence.

Li Laoer knew that this kid was just pretending, but seeing this pitiful look made him feel distressed.So he pretended to scold Li Laosan.

"It's not a bad thing for this little cow to go out to see the world. Even if you don't want to, you can't beat him. Our old Li's family is small, what should we do if we get hurt?"

Li Laosan never thought that Li Qingniu would sue at this time, he got up and wanted to deal with this kid again, but was stopped by Li Laoer.

"Third son, what this kid said is right. There is nothing wrong with going out to see the world. You can't let him stay in such a small village for the rest of your life."

Li Laosan showed a little fear and uneasiness, and said painfully: "Second brother, the outside is in chaos these days, and the village is safest with thieves everywhere." "

Seeing this, Li Laoer knew that he had remembered the past again, so he quickly dismissed Li Qingniu.

"Second, it's been more than 30 years, not to mention that the world is much more peaceful now, we can't always live in the past."

"Second brother, every time I think of the scene of that night, I am very scared, so I have been afraid to tell him about the outside world these years. But in the past two years, the baby has grown up, and he is the same as us back then, always Thinking about going out for a walk..."

Seeing this, Li Laoer gradually recalled the past more than 30 years ago.

　Good luck depends on misfortune, and misfortune depends on blessing.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)