Bamboo Fragrance

Chapter 91 Survival
Since it was the first time for the two children to go to a larger town, they were very curious about everything on the way.So this way down, chattering, never stopped talking.

After finally making it into the night, they entered Fucheng and rested at the inn. They didn't want the two children to roll their eyes enthusiastically, but they couldn't look at them.

In the room, in order to prevent them from eating Li Diaozhu, Li Chong was asked to go outside and buy some hot buns.

He poured warm water and put it on the table, calling the two of them to eat quickly, but saw that the two of them were on the kang, as if they hadn't heard it at all, and continued to mutter about what they had seen and heard along the way.

Li Kongzhu rolled his eyes, walked over, grabbed the steamed stuffed buns on the two heads and asked, "Is it still noisy? Haven't you had enough trouble this way?" The noisy road, even the flowers and plants were regarded as exotic things by them. Thinking, if there was not a serious person like Li Chong who would drink a few words from time to time, I am afraid that the brains of several adults would be cracked by the noise along the way.

"Hey~~" The two boys laughed and hurriedly got off the kang.

Jiwa over there sat down and grabbed a meat bun and put it into his mouth, "Fucheng is so big. When I first entered the city, I saw that the soldiers guarding the gate were more powerful than those in our town! There are also people on the street. , it’s getting dark, and there are still people going shopping with the lights on.”

Li Jingzhe also nodded repeatedly while eating the steamed stuffed bun. After swallowing, he took a sip of warm water and looked eagerly at his elder sister who also sat over.

"Sister, do you think it's fun to be on the street tonight?"

"What do you want to do?" Li Kongzhu paused the hand holding the bun, and glanced at the two children indifferently, "Aren't you tired after a day's journey? With such energy, you can order water for yourself in a while." Go wash up."

The two children looked at each other, shrunk their necks, and smiled sarcastically.After quickly nibbling a few buns quietly, he obediently went to ask for hot water. After washing, he sat on the kang with the books he brought and began to read aloud while shaking his head.

Li Kongzhu saw that the two met Qu'er, so he continued to eat the buns unhurriedly.

After eating and washing, I saw that the two children on the kang had begun to nod their little heads and fell asleep.

Lay the kang and let them rest quickly.

And she covered the two children with a quilt, and after seeing that they were both asleep, she went to the window and opened half of the window.

Facing the cool wind blowing against her face at night, the woman looked down at the street twinkling with stars and at the pedestrians passing by occasionally.

Although there are not many pedestrians, most of them come and go in a hurry.I don't know if I am in a hurry to go home, or I have something important to do.Occasionally, a peddler carrying a load would pass by and stop the passers-by. After asking for a bowl of hot soup, after drinking it, he continued his hurried steps.

Li Kongzhu leaned his head on the edge of the window, staring at the hurried passers-by one by one in a daze, thinking of a man who didn't talk much, and murmured softly, "How many days have you been talking about! How many days?"

A small village somewhere on the Yasukuni border.

Zhao Junyi and the guard Cui Jiu who came with him, the man named Jian Ying, were hiding in a collapsed thatched hut that was abandoned by the village.

As night fell, the village did not quiet down strangely.

Hearing the muffled sound of wheels coming from a distance, Jian Ying took out the sheepskin map and exchanged glances with the people around him.

"There are too many suspicious points in this village. It is quiet during the day and noisy at night. I heard that it is also a poor village. But although the villagers are dressed in rags, they all have ruddy complexions." What's more, some men walk calmly , The pace is decisive, it is not like the ordinary people at all.

Zhao Junyi took the map and looked at it carefully under the moonlight.

It has been three days since I found this place, but during these three days, the two of them seemed to have walked into a dead end.It is obvious that there are inadequacies everywhere in the places that catch the eye, but it is impossible to grasp the actual inadequacies.

There is also the sound of the wheels at night, low and slow, it is clearly the sound of pressing the luggage, the sound is very close, but the place where the incident happened can not be found.

Looking at the carefully drawn map, Zhao Junyi frowned in thought, and lightly drew the outline with his fingers.

Walked back and forth for a while, finally fixed his eyes on one place, and tapped his fingers on it.

"My son?!" The person next to him also obviously sensed his abnormality, and couldn't help asking softly.

"here?!"

The man frowned lightly, and the sword shadow followed. It was a mountain range, and the center of the mountain range was the small village they were in.

"The meaning of the son..."

Jianying looked at him suspiciously.But I heard him say, "This village is located in an extremely precipitous place. When you and I came in, we also walked through many narrow paths to get there. If you want to transport supplies in and out, you can come and go freely..."

"Secret way!" Jian Ying was startled!Su You screamed again and again in his heart, no wonder, no wonder he couldn't find a place to make his voice.

If it really runs through the ground at both ends!No matter how hard they search, I'm afraid they will find nothing.

No wonder it was chosen to build the village here, no wonder it was done at night.Not to mention that the terrain is steep and difficult for outsiders to enter, transporting goods at night is the best time to travel.

"For such a big project, I'm afraid the two have been colluding secretly for many years." Zhao Junyi rolled up the blueprint, squinting his eyes and grinning endlessly.

To run through the entire mountain range and hide from all the hidden guards is not something that will happen overnight.

As for the two of them wanting so much iron ore to forge weapons, whether they conspired together to rebel, or what, this is not something he should worry about.

Now that he has found the reason, as long as he finds the correct position and draws the figure, then this exploration will temporarily come to an end.

Thinking about leaving a letter for a few days before returning, now that she hasn't returned for such a long time, I don't know if the woman will be worried?
After hearing his words, Jian Ying didn't answer further, only asked: "Are you going to search now?"

"Naturally!" Zhao Junyi, who had been called back to his senses by him, frowned lightly, then nodded indifferently the next second, "Now that there is no one in the village, it is the best time to search."

Jian Ying, who had received the order, looked at him in the dark.

In the next moment, the two of them quickly flashed out of the hut at the same time, and flew towards the branch that could best hide their figure in the dark night, like ghosts, rising and falling without making a sound...

Li Kongzhu pulled the two children up early in the morning, and after washing, he led them out to join Hui Niang and the others.

After a group of people had breakfast, they drove to the foot of Lingyun Mountain again.

Compared with a few days ago, at the foot of the mountain now, there is another face.

When I came back up, there was a vast expanse of snow on both sides of the plank road, and the tall branches on both sides also looked depressed.

But now they are standing at the stone steps where they raised their feet.On both sides of the plank road, they have already put on new spring clothes. The tender green buds are matched with the green grass tips protruding from the soil. The green appearance gives people a sense of prosperity.

"Let's just say it first, I don't care if my legs hurt if I walk halfway, or if I don't go. I won't be able to climb up then, but I will throw you halfway." Li Kongzhu looked at the two excitedly. No kid, I feel like I have a headache.

Originally planning to let Li Chong stay in the city to take him two, she and Hui Niang rented a car to come to Lingyun Temple again.I don't want the two children to quit, so they have to pester them to come together.

Thinking of how tired she and Hui Niang were when they went to Lingyun Temple last time, she couldn't help but raised her mouth again. "I'm tired, but no one cares?!"

Jiwa and Li Jingzhe looked at each other, and then laughed loudly and shouted: "I know!" Before the words were finished, the man ran up the mountain one step ahead of them.

Hui Niang hurriedly called from behind, "Slow down, don't run too fast, or you will run out of energy halfway."

The two children answered yes, but their pace was unprecedentedly fast.Obviously, they ignored her warning and filtered it out.

Li Kongzhu shook his head, "Forget it, let them go. Let's go too!"

Hui Niang nodded, greeted her man, and walked up slowly with her.

When we got to the gate of the mountain, it was still the same as last time.The two women were out of breath and hunched over from exhaustion.Looking at the two children again, it was obvious that nothing happened at all.

Li Diaozhu and Hui Niang looked at each other, sighed and said: "It seems that you are still energetic!"

"You guys are too slow. Brother Jingzhe and I have been waiting for you for a long time." Jiwa pouted, if he wasn't afraid of being scolded for walking too far, he would still want to wander elsewhere.

Glancing at the two children angrily, Li Jingzhe came over to help her hand consciously, but said cheerfully, "Sister, let's go, this temple is so big, I want to go in and have a look."

"..." The speechless Li Kongzhu patted the back of his head helplessly before walking towards the mountain gate.

It was still the Zhike monk who received them last time.Li Diaozhu took the lead in bowing to him, "Master, we want to listen to the host's lecture."

"Amitabha!" The Zhike monk sang the Buddha's name over and over again, "The host once said that the female almsgiver is a person who has a predestined relationship with Buddhism. If you come to your temple again, please donate more sesame oil money."

Hui Niang at the side heard this and "Puchi!", and laughed out loud.

After watching all the Bodhisattvas in the hall, the two children over there volunteered to run over and shouted, "(Elder Sister) Third Aunt, the merit box is here."

"I want to donate too, so give me a few copper coins too!" Jiwa tugged at her sleeve, looked up at her and begged.

Li Kongzhu almost wanted to kill him head on, that dead old man, how dare he still remember her money even now.

Embarrassed, he laughed a few times, took out the purse and handed it to the two children, "Go, donate, it's all for you, donate it quickly."

She had a twitching and painful look on her face, which made Hui Niang who was beside her couldn't help but start laughing, covering her mouth.

The Zhike monk looked at the purses the two children were holding, sang a Buddhist name, and stretched out his hand to signal for the two children to donate.

Li Jingzhe had a happy face just now, but when she saw her elder sister's sore face, she hesitated again, "Elder sister~"

"Go donate, go donate, hurry up and donate!" Li Kongzhu closed his eyes and waved his hands to leave her alone. He was afraid that if the two children hesitated again, she would regret it, so he turned around quickly and decided to move forward After a few steps.

Hui Niang had had enough laughing at the side, so she clutched her aching stomach and pushed the two children to go quickly, "Go and donate, after the donation is over, your eldest sister will be fine."

nonsense!Li Kongzhu rolled his eyes, but his ears were more pointed than the civet.

After hearing the two children drop the lotus bud, and there was a crisp thumping sound from the box, Li Kongzhu's heart almost expressed the pain with a drop of blood.

"It's over, it's over, 50 taels is gone!" Muttering to himself, shaking his head, Li Kongzhu felt that the old man must have been specially sent by heaven to fight her.

You know, she will use the money in her purse to buy peach branches.I didn't intend to worship Buddha at first, I thought about meeting the old man first, but I didn't think about it...

Could it be that the old man can really tell fortunes by pinching his fingers?
"Amitabha!" Seeing that the silver had been put into the box, the Zhike monk sang again.

Walking over, he said to Li Kongzhu: "Benefactor, host the trip..."

"What!" Before he finished speaking, Li Kongzhu was startled.Seeing that she was interrupted by herself, the Zhike monk didn't continue, but politely waited for her to finish first.

Li Diaozhu was so angry that his heart was itching, and after laughing a lot, he said: "Could it be that the master made a special trip to wait for me to donate all the silver, and said so on purpose?"

"Monks don't tell lies! The donor has misunderstood."

Misunderstand?

50 taels, just buy a misunderstanding?The old man is no longer there, so is it possible that she will come back another day?Come back another day, do I have to ask her to donate more money?

Seeing her doubts, the Zhike monk comforted her with a smile, "Don't worry, the benefactor, the host will explain when he leaves. If the benefactor is willing to part with the things outside his body, the temple will fulfill his request."

"Really?"

"Amitabha, a monk..."

"Yes, yes, I understand!" Li Kongzhu nodded again and again, and then bowed his head again, "I have just offended you, and if you are rude, please don't blame me, Master!"

"The benefactor is too modest!" The Zhike monk also saluted.

When there was no misunderstanding between the two sides, Li Kongzhu said about asking for peach branches.

Although the Zhike monk was surprised, he didn't ask too many questions.

When I led a group of people to the peach forest, I saw that the flowers had bloomed to the fullest, showing a withered appearance.

Li Kongzhu looked at that branch, the peach branch that was heavily wrapped in flower buds, searching for the only knowledge in his mind, and then remembered that the connection in the previous life seemed to be without this flowering thing, as if... it had to sprout. ?
Li Kongzhu thought with some uncertainty, and felt a little discouraged in his heart, if this is the case, then what should we do!
You must know that now is the best time to survive. If you wait any longer, it will be even more difficult to survive when the weather is hot.

"Master, are all the peach trees in the peach forest blooming? Are there any that have withered and grown leaves?" Although it was a little unlikely, I couldn't help but ask.

"The benefactor doesn't want this blooming branch?"

"I'm afraid it's not appropriate." She didn't know if she could survive, and she had a vague impression of a connection in her mind. Although she didn't know it clearly, she still knew about the need for a bud bag.

Seeing her shaking her head, the Zhike monk pondered for a while, "There is a hundred-year-old peach tree on the half-mountain road in the back mountain. It is only because it is far away from the hot spring water that it has not been affected by it. Now it will start to sprout. I don't know why. Can the benefactor want it?"

"I want it!" Li Kongzhu was overjoyed, he immediately took him and led him to look.

After waiting for the half-hillside on the back, looking at the century-old peach tree with crooked neck standing on the middle of the mountain, Li Kongzhu hurriedly ran to break off the branches and looked again and again. Seeing buds sprouting, he was also ready to start budding , just nodded.

Then he asked the Zhike monk, "Is this peach tree bearing the same fruit as the peach forest on the top of the mountain?"

"It's the same." Zhigu monk bowed, "The derivation of the small peach forest over there comes from the fruit of this century-old peach tree. This tree can be called the ancestor."

"That's good!" Li Kongzhu loosened the branches, discussed picking with him again, and asked him if they could come to pick in the morning.

You must know that if you pick it now, you will have to spend the night here at night, and you will have to delay another day when you return to Huancheng. She doesn't want to delay too much, and she must be more careful to keep it fresh.

Zhike monk said that there is no problem.

After the two made an appointment, Li Kongzhu went back to the top of the mountain to join everyone.At lunch time, he stayed in the temple and had a fast meal.

After Xiaxiang came down to Deshan, Li Kongzhu wanted to go to the nearest farmhouse to stay overnight, "In this way, after I finish picking early in the morning, I can go back to the city directly and go to the east gate, and save the trouble of going back and forth."

Hui Niang and the others agreed with her words.

Afterwards, several people went to the vicinity and found a relatively middle-class family.After asking for two rooms, he drove back to the city and returned the rooms.

During this time, Li Kongzhu took the two children to the street for a stroll.

At that time, because there were too many walks up and down the mountain, no matter how energetic the two children were, they were a little overwhelmed.Because of this, a few people didn't go to the big conference, and the two children couldn't stand it and wanted to go back to sleep.

Li Kongzhu couldn't be happier, he took the gift box he bought, and drove the two of them back to join Hui Niang and the others, then headed towards the rented houses outside the city...

When it was almost dawn the next day, Li Kongzhu and his three adults headed towards the temple on the mountain.

It was not yet the time, and the main gate of the mountain gate had not yet opened, so a few people came to the agreed corner gate and knocked on the door.

After the door opened, after entering, it was still the zhike monk leading several people to the back of the hillside.

But before that, Li Kongzhu asked for some clean scissors.

When he came to the tree, Li Diaozhu thought that the buds on one branch would be enough for several trees.There are only ten or twenty trees in the woods on two acres of land, so there are not many peach branches.

After the pruning was finished, several people saluted and thanked the Zhike monk, and carefully carried the peach branches down the mountain.

After returning to the residence, I asked the owner for some straw mats, sprinkled water on them, and covered them carefully to keep the ventilation. Then the group returned to the city and left for Dongmen's house.

When we arrived at Zhaojia Village, it was already midnight.Afraid of further delay, Li Chong took out ten taels of silver to bribe the guarding soldiers and let them go for a special time.

At the entrance of the village, Li Kongzhu jumped out of the car, took out the key and handed it to Hui Niang, telling them to go back first.

But she took Jiwa and gifts and walked towards Chen Baisheng's house.

Knocking on the door, Wang asked who it was with doubts. When the door opened and saw them, she screamed in shock, "My God, why are you back at this time? The city gate is not closed?!"

"Grandma, Uncle Li Chong gave us money, so we can come back so late!" Jiwa, who was still sleepy on the road, but now energetic, rushed to answer this question for Li Kongzhu.

Li Kongzhu smiled and nodded, "That's right."

"They're all back, why are you in such a hurry?" Mrs. Wang wanted to let her into the house.

Li Kongzhu shook his head, said that there were guests at home, so he left home.

Seeing Li Diaozhu walking away, Mrs. Wang hurriedly closed the door, and finally asked her grandson what they did in Fucheng.

"I didn't do anything! I went to a big temple and went shopping! Oh, by the way, the third aunt also picked a lot of peach branches from the temple." Jiwa hurried into the house and didn't see her father. He ran towards the house where they were resting. "Master, Lord, I'm back."

Mrs. Wang murmured in the back, the peach branch you want?Why do you want that thing?

When I regained my senses, I wanted to ask my grandson again, but I saw that this kid had already gone to their house, pestered his grandfather, and started chatting more happily.

Li Diaozhu returns to his home and sees Hui Niang is helping to cook the kang, while Li Chong and Jing Zhe over there are holding the peach branches on the cart and don't know what to do.

When Li Diaozhu saw this pinch of plant ash, he poured water into the place where each branch had been cut, moistened it, and then stained it with some plant ash, then let it be placed on the straw that was still on the cart, and ventilated.

In the evening, a few people simply drank a mouthful of porridge to fill their stomachs, and then went to the two houses to rest without mentioning it.

In the early morning of the next day, Li Kongzhu led Li Chong and his wife to his own field, and cut off all the peach branches in the field.

Finally, when I came back, I cut off all the buds on the peach branch I wanted to return.The branches with buds are peeled on both sides and cut into flat pointed shapes.

After cutting enough for a day, I took it to the peach forest, found a thicker branch and cut it, and then directly connected the cut buds to it.

There was no transparent film, so we had to find another airtight tarpaulin instead.When wrapping it up again, Li Diaozhu added some nourishing soil that she thought was inside.

This whole process lasted a total of two days before it was finished.

At that time, many people in the village had heard the letter. When they ran to the mountain to confirm, they saw that the buds were planted there. Apart from being incredible, some people laughed at her, saying that she was crazy about money. up.

A kind person even came to persuade her to stop making jokes and quickly pull out the bud, otherwise, when the time comes, they would like to help say a few good words, but they don't know what to do.

Among them, Mrs. Wang was the most persuasive one.

When I saw her come over to help cook again, I started nagging and taught her: "I've heard Jiwa say that you donated a lot of sesame oil money to get so much money." A few twigs. What are you doing? Can the thing connected to the top live? I’ve never heard of it at such an old age.”

Li Kongzhu, who was helping to make buns at that time, just smiled and said nothing.

Seeing her like this, Mrs. Wang couldn't help sighing, "Auntie speaks bluntly and doesn't sound good, but it's all for your own good. Others are jealous of the money you earn. But I followed suit anyway. Two days, knowing that it’s not an easy job, and earning it is difficult, so it’s such a waste, isn’t it a pity after all?”

"That's the reason." Li Kongzhu put the wrapped buns on the curtain, seeing the other two cooks staring back at her.I couldn't help but pursed my lips and laughed, and said: "I just read a few pages in the book, and when I saw such a method, I felt itchy in my heart, and couldn't help but want to try it."

"Writing a book can you believe it?" Mrs. Lin hummed, but she thought in her heart that she had to go back and talk to her daughter-in-law and son about it, so she couldn't get involved.This obviously crazy thing about throwing money can't follow suit.Their family managed to make some money. If they just disappeared like this, they would not be able to find it without crying.

While thinking about it, Lin couldn't help but persuade, "They're all idiots who haven't worked before, they're just talking nonsense."

Mrs. Wang nodded in agreement, and I will talk about it later.Li Diaozhu smiled and shook his head, "Auntie, I've already connected it, just try it, and forget it if you don't live."

Seeing her stubbornness, the others had no choice but to look at each other helplessly, but they couldn't say anything more and shut their mouths...

On the third day after the connection, Huancheng ushered in the first spring rain after the beginning of spring.

Li Chong and his wife went to buy land for planting again these few days, and Li Diaozhu also went up the mountain every day these few days, observing the situation of the budding plant all the time.

Fortunately, these days passed, and the buds not only did not die, but also turned back to green.

Li Kongzhu looked at each of them one by one, and saw that most of them survived well, so he knew that his method was successful.

In order to find someone to share with, she went to the town in the rain, found Hui Niang, and told her about it.

When Hui Niang heard this, she couldn't restrain her excitement and dragged her back to the village from the town in the rain.

When I got to the mountain, I read them one by one, and my hands were shaking with excitement, "It really works, it really works." As he said, he couldn't help but touch that piece of paper again. Tiny buds.

Li Kongzhu also had a proud expression on his face, and when he dragged her back, he told her about his plans for the surrounding mountains.

"I want to take advantage of the fact that no one has discovered it yet and the land is still cheap, so I will buy all the surrounding areas. After this year is over, we can fully cultivate it next year."

"Yeah!" Hui Niang nodded again and again, feeling very good.

Seeing her like that, he held her hand and told her to go quickly without wanting to stop for a moment.I was afraid that if it was a moment later, someone would find that Ya'er was alive.

Seeing that Li Kongzhu couldn't resist her, he had no choice but to lead her again against the rain and head towards the place where Chen Baisheng lived.

(End of this chapter)