Ghost Story of Liaozhai

Hu Dacheng is from Hunan.His mother believed in Buddhism. Every time Hu Dacheng came back from his private school, he had to pass by the Avalokitesvara Temple. Following his mother's instructions, he often entered the temple and kowtowed to the Avalokitesvara.

This day, Hu Dacheng went to the Guanyin Temple to offer incense as usual, and saw a young girl in the temple, twelve or thirteen years old, holding a child in her hand, playing with herself.Although the girl is young, she has an outstanding appearance.That year, Hu Dacheng was 14 years old. When he saw the girl for the first time, he felt good about it. He immediately asked her name. ?” The girl blushed slightly, shook her head and said, “No.”

Hu Dacheng said: "I'll be your husband, okay?" The girl smiled and said: "I can't make the decision." While speaking, she secretly looked at Hu Mou, her eyebrows were expressing affection, and she was quite moved.Then Hu Dacheng left, and the girl chased her all the way out, saying: "Cui Ercheng is on good terms with my father, and if I ask him to be a matchmaker, everything will be done." Hu Dacheng said: "Okay." Seeing that the girl is affectionate and intelligent, he loves her more and more.

After going back, I mentioned this matter to my mother and expressed my heart.The mother had only one son, Hu Dacheng, and she doted on her very much. She immediately begged Cui Ercheng to be a matchmaker. Jiao painter asked for a high price and asked for a lot of dowry. , Painter Jiao agreed.

Hu Dacheng had an uncle, old and childless, who was an official in Hubei. During his tenure, his wife died. His mother sent Hu Dacheng to Hubei for a funeral. He stayed there for more than a month and was about to return. His uncle fell ill and died soon.Hu Dacheng stayed in Hubei and never had a chance to go home.

At this moment, bandits occupied Hunan, and Hu Dacheng and his family lost their news and fled among the people, alone and wandering.On this day, an old woman came to the village, forty-nine years old, lingering and lingering, refusing to leave, claiming: "I am in trouble, I can't go home, and I am going to sell myself." Someone asked her how much she would bid, and the old woman said: " I don't disdain to be a slave, and I don't want to marry someone else as a wife, if anyone agrees to recognize me as a mother, I will go back with him, regardless of the price." Everyone laughed when they heard this.

Hu Dacheng looked intently, and saw that the old woman's eyes were kind, and her appearance was somewhat similar to that of his mother. It touched his feelings, and he felt great compassion. He thought to himself: "I am alone, and there is no one who sews clothes around me." Thinking of this, the old woman immediately Please go home, worship her as your mother, and serve her wholeheartedly.The old woman was overjoyed and worked hard every day to cook and weave Hu Dacheng's shoes, treating him as if she were her son. < Ren, it's time to get married and have children.Within two or three days, I will find a wife for you. Hu Dacheng cried: "Baby has a wife, but it is difficult to meet because of the barrier between the north and the south." "The old woman said: "In times of great chaos, personnel changes, repeated in a flash, how can you wait for your wife?" "

Hu Dacheng said: "Let's not break the promise of marriage. Who is willing to marry his daughter to me, a wandering prodigal like me?" Where did you get it.At dusk that day, the old woman said to Hu Dacheng: "Light on the lamp and sit for a while, don't go to sleep. I'll go and see if the new wife has arrived?" She went out.

In the blink of an eye, the old woman didn't come back. Hu Dacheng felt suspicious, and suddenly heard a noise coming from outside the door. When he went out to check, he saw a woman sitting in the courtyard, disheveled and sobbing.Hu Dacheng was taken aback, and asked: "Who is it?" The woman remained silent for a long time before she said: "Young Master Zhou, I will not agree to marrying the slave family as your wife by force, and I swear to the death."

Hu Dacheng was shocked, thinking "Mr. Zhou, who is that?" He was confused and had no clue.The woman said: "Young Master Zhou, I have made a covenant with Hu Dacheng, and I will not marry him in this life. Now Young Master Hu is going to Hubei, and there is no news. My parents force me to marry you. I can move my body, but my will cannot be taken away." Hu Dacheng heard the words Weeping, he said: "I am Hu Dacheng, are you a water chestnut?" The woman shed her tears in astonishment, and did not believe it.

Hu Dacheng invited her into the room, looked carefully under the light, it was indeed the reunion of old friends, water chestnut smiled through tears, hesitantly said: "This is not a dream." Hu Dacheng embraced her in his arms, said with a smile: "Of course it is not a dream." People say goodbye to each other. It turns out that when the bandits and bandits made chaos, the land of hundreds of miles in Hunan was deserted, and Jiao Painter and his family fled to Changsha.During the turbulent years, life was poor, Jiao Painter was forced to make ends meet, married his daughter to Zhou Shusheng as his wife, and accepted a huge betrothal gift.Naturally, Lingjiao refused, so her parents pushed her into the car forcibly. The road was bumpy halfway, and Lingjiao fell to the ground. At this moment, four people walked up to them, carrying a soft sedan chair, and said, "We are the Zhou family's welcoming team. , please get on the sedan chair." Without any explanation, he helped the water chestnut into the sedan chair, walked like flying, and came to the courtyard in the blink of an eye.

Hu Dacheng asked: "Did you see my mother when you came to the courtyard?"

Lingjiao said: "I only saw an old lady, she told me, 'this is your husband's house, go in quickly, don't cry. Your mother-in-law will come soon.' After saying this, she left Go. I wonder if this old lady is your foster mother?"

Hu Dacheng nodded and said: "It's her." He thought: "The four bearers before were naturally ordered by my adoptive mother to go to meet the relatives. But how could she know water chestnut? Jiao's family married a daughter, and the only route was myself. Clearly, how did the stepmother know to go to the roadside to intercept? Moreover, Changsha is no less than hundreds of miles away from here. How could the four bearers arrive in Hubei in an instant? In this way, my stepmother is not an ordinary person, but Is it a god?" Thinking of this, he suddenly realized, and immediately knelt down with water chestnut to burn incense, thanked the old woman, prayed devoutly, and looked forward to reuniting with his mother and family reunion.

However, during the bandit rebellion, my mother hid in the mountain stream together with women from the same village.That night, there were rumors that bandits were about to search the mountain, and my mother was terrified and fled in panic.While running, a boy came up to him, holding a white horse in his hand, and said: "Old lady, I have been ordered to come pick you up, please get on the horse."

The mother had no time to ask, and with the support of the boy, she got on the horseback.The white horse galloped like the wind, and in an instant, it came to Dongting Lake.After a while, the white horse went ashore and continued to run wildly. In a short breath, it came to a village. The boy pointed to a house and said, "You can live here."

Mother was about to say thank you, when she turned her head and saw that the white horse transformed into a roaring golden lion with a back more than ten feet high.The boy stepped on the golden retriever and roared, then floated away.The mother reached out and knocked on the door, and the master came out to check and asked, "Who is it?" The voice was familiar, and it was very kind to my ears.The mother looked up and saw that the owner was none other than her son Hu Dacheng.

When the mother and son met, they hugged each other and cried, and the water chestnut was startled. The family reunion was overjoyed.

Both the mother and the son suspected that the old woman was the Guanyin master, because Hu Dacheng often went to the Guanyin temple to offer incense, which moved the gods.This is what people often say, good things get good things.

Since then, the family of three settled down in Hubei, farming fields and building houses, enjoying themselves happily.