Ghost Story of Liaozhai

Le Yunhe and Xia Pingzi are from the same hometown when they were young, and they are classmates when they grow up.Xia Pingzi was young and intelligent, and became famous at the age of ten. Le Yunhe humbly asked him for advice, and Xia Pingzi also taught him with all his money.Although the two were talented, their official careers were poor. They took part in the imperial examinations many times and failed repeatedly.

No matter what, Xia Pingzi died of illness, and his family was too poor to be buried. Le Yunhe took it upon himself to take care of the funeral for his friend.Xia Pingzi passed away, leaving a pair of orphans and widows unattended, and Le Yunhe often helps out.For every liter of rice obtained, half of it must be given to Xia's mother and son, so that they can survive.Knowing this, the scholar-officials scrambled to spread the virtue of Lesheng.

Lesheng's family property is small, and he has to take care of his wife and children on behalf of Xiasheng, so life is difficult.He often sighed: "Brother Pingzi is as talented as the ocean, and he is still busy and buried, let alone me! Life is rich and noble, and you have to make timely choices. After all, you have to hang around every year, and you will be responsible for this life. After all, it is not a solution. Dogs and horses die, and the corpse can still fill the gully. Worse than a beast? It’s better to make a plan early.” So he abandoned his studies and went into business, buying and selling for half a year, and his family was well-off.

One day, Le Sheng passed by Jinling and was resting in a hostel. He saw a tall man with bulging muscles and bones, wandering in the shop, with a gloomy expression and a sad face.Le Sheng asked: "Brother, do you want some food? I'll treat you." Hearing this, the man didn't respond.Le Sheng pushed the food in front of him to him, the man grabbed the food with his hands and ate it in no time.Le Sheng ordered several more meals, and the man ate them all in the blink of an eye.

Seeing his huge appetite, Le Sheng shouted: "Boss, cut a ham, do you have steamed cakes? Give me a hundred." When the banquet was served, the man gobbled it up, and ate pork steamed cakes in a flash clean.He patted his stomach and thanked him: "In three years, I have never eaten so full." Le Sheng said: "You are a strong man, why do you wander here?" In his hometown, the man said: "There is no house on the land, no boat on the water, live at the head of the village, and sleep in the wilderness at night." Hearing this, Le Sheng was secretly surprised, ready to go, and the man followed behind, reluctant to leave.

Le Sheng said: "I'm leaving, there is no need to send it away."

The man said: "You are in great trouble, and I can't bear to see death without help." Le Sheng was more surprised, so he walked with him.On the way, he invited him to have a meal, but the man declined, "You're welcome, I only eat a few times a year."

When crossing the river the next day, there was a storm, the boat capsized, and both of them fell into the water.Er Erfeng was settled, the man carried Le Sheng on his back, stepped out of the waves, put him into a passenger ship, and sailed away through the waves. After a while, he returned with a small boat in his hand, helped Le Sheng into the boat, and told him to sit still and not move. , jumped into the middle of the river again, held the cargo with both arms, and threw it into the boat, and then jumped into the water repeatedly to retrieve the cargo, counting in and counting out, and the boat was full of cargo.Le Sheng thanked: "I am grateful for your help. As for the cargo sinking into the river, I really didn't dare to expect to get it back. Thank you, thank you." After checking the cargo, there was nothing missing. Ren resigned and said goodbye, Le Sheng struggled to persuade him to stay, and the two were in the same boat.

Le Sheng smiled and said: "In this disaster, only one golden hairpin was lost. Fortunately, fortunately." There is no need to put yourself in danger for a hairpin." Before finishing speaking, the man jumped into the water and disappeared.Le Sheng was stunned for a long time, and suddenly saw the man come out with a smile, returned the golden hairpin, and said, "Fortunately, I did not disgrace my life."

When the pedestrians on the river saw this, they were all astonished.

The two returned home, sleeping and eating together.That person only ate once every ten or so days, and every time he ate, he devoured countless dishes.One day, the man came to say goodbye again, and suddenly he heard thunder roaring outside the window, the sky was dark and rainy, Le Sheng said: "I don't know what the shape of the cloud is? What is the thunder? It would be great if I could walk in the sky. "The man laughed and said, "Do you want to swim in the clouds?" Not long after, Le Sheng was sleepy and took a nap on the couch.After waking up, I felt that my body was shaking, I was not on the couch, I opened my eyes and looked around, but I was in the clouds, the white clouds all over my body were like fluff, I was startled, my mind was in a coma, like seasickness.Stepping on white clouds is like stepping on cotton.Look up at the stars, close at hand.Suspecting it was a dream, he looked intently, the stars twinkling above his head, inlaid in the sky, like lotus seeds hidden in the canopy.The big star is like an urn, the middle star is like a bottle, and the small star is like a spittoon. If you shake it with your hands, the big star is unmovable, and the small star is shaken, and it seems that you can pick it off.

Le Sheng was overjoyed, took off a small star and hid it in his sleeve.Pushing away the clouds and mist and looking down, one can only see the vast sea of ​​clouds and the underground city like beans.Self-contemplation: If you stumble and fall, where is your life?Er'er saw Erlong Yaojiao coming in his car, the dragon's tail flicked lightly, crackling like a whip.

There is a vessel on the cart with a diameter of several feet, filled with clear water. Dozens of people each hold cups and bowls, put their hands into the vessels, fill them with water, and sprinkle them all over the clouds. The strong man is also among them.Everyone suddenly found Le Sheng and blamed him in unison.The strong man explained: "This is my friend." He handed him a porcelain bowl and said, "Take it to sprinkle water."

At that time, there was a severe drought among the people. Le Sheng took the porcelain bowl, filled it with a large bowl of water, pushed away the clouds, looked for the direction of his hometown, and sprinkled it to his heart's content.

Not long after, the strong man said to Le Sheng: "I am Lei Cao. I was punished for three years by mistake for driving in the rain. Now the time limit has expired. From now on, you and I will never see each other again." Instructed: "Grab the rope and slide down, and I will send you home." Le Sheng shook his head and said, "This is too dangerous, I dare not." The strong man comforted: "It's okay, just climb, don't be afraid."

Le Sheng had no choice but to grab the rope and slide down. The descent was fast, and his feet were firmly on the ground in an instant.Looking around, I was outside the village.The rope gradually retracted into the clouds and was no longer seen.

At that time, the fields were dry for a long time, and it rained several inches from ten miles away. Only in Lesheng's hometown, the rain was heavy and the ditches were full.At that moment, Le Sheng returned home, put his hands into his sleeves, and the star was still there.Take it out and put it on the desk, the stars are as dark as stones, and at night, they shine brightly, reflecting the walls.Le Sheng was overjoyed, and treasured and treasured the treasure well.Every time there are good guests visiting and drinking, Le Sheng will take out the stars to play with, staring at them directly, full of auspiciousness and dazzling splendor.

One night, Le's wife combed her hair against the stars, and suddenly saw the stars shrunk like fireflies, flowing and flying across. The wife felt strange, and suddenly the stars flew into her mouth, and she swallowed after coughing.The wife ran away in astonishment, and hurriedly told her husband about it.When Le Sheng heard this, he was also amazed.

That night when Le Sheng went to bed, he saw Xia Pingzi coming to him in his dream, and said: "I am a little star in the sky, and Mr. Meng took care of his wife and children. I will never forget it. This time, I was brought back from the sky by Brother Le. It can be said that it is destined. Today is The heir of the king, in order to repay the great virtue." Le Sheng was thirty and childless, and he was very happy to have a dream.

Soon after, his wife was pregnant. When she gave birth, the house was full of brilliance, stars were everywhere, and the birth was joyous. In memory of her friend, she named her son "Xing'er".

Xing'er is very smart, and became a Jinshi at the age of 16.