Dream Guide

The sky was gray, and there was light snow, which melted on the ground and spread into a thin layer of wetness. The wind was not strong, but it was very cold, and it felt like a knife cutting people.

There were very few pedestrians in Liuying Alley at the moment. Not long after Qingmu walked out, he saw Lifespan Flower in front of him at a glance. He was standing under the old willow tree at the entrance of the alley, taking down the reed mat surrounding the tree trunk and holding it under his arm. Wearing a clean blanket.

Aoki opened the black umbrella, walked up to it, and held it open above the head of the flower.

Life Flower didn't stop, carefully wrapped the blanket around the tree trunk, and said, "Help me."

Aoki stretched out his hand to help her hold the stall. Bi Shenghua freed up her hands to tie the rope, first tied a slip knot, and then carefully pulled it up and down, trying not to break the mottled bark, to see if the position was suitable, loosened the knot, tied it tight again, and then tied it into a tight knot. .

"It rained a few times, and the reed mats tied before were rotten. Replace it with blankets so that it can have a good winter." She said to herself while working.

"It's just a tree, why should it be so nice to it?" Aoki said.

Life Flower circled the willow tree and felt satisfied, then stood still and said: "It looks like a piece of wood, but I believe it is alive. If it is alive, you can feel the cold and warmth. God made him lonely and cold. , I keep him warm. I believe he knows it in his heart, what do you think?"

Aoki said: "You have done so much for him, of course he knows it. In fact, you can just say what is in your heart, maybe he can hear it."

Bishenghua smiled and said: "He is just a piece of wood. Even if I say it, he will not answer me."

Aoki also smiled, but did not speak.

The snow gradually became heavier, and a layer of white accumulated on the ground and on the top of the umbrella. The wind gently swayed the drooping leafless willow branches, crossing the top of the umbrella, making a swishing sound, leaving a few faint traces on the snow particles.

Coldness filled the world, and only the small area under the umbrella was warm. The hot breath exhaled between the two people's noses turned into a faint white mist, blurring and dispersing between the faces.

"Do you still remember the day you first came here?" Bishenghua said, "You stood under this tree for a whole day and a night."

"I remember, of course I remember." Aoki said, "My memory of myself started from that day."

"You looked really embarrassed that day! Everyone thought you were a beggar, but no one was willing to give you alms because there was an old bird sitting on your head, and everyone thought it was unlucky." Bishenghua reached out and touched the bird. The wicker hanging outside the umbrella showed a smile on his face, as if he was remembering the distant past, "But only I know that you are not a beggar, because you are very clean. Even if we find everyone in Liuying Lane, I’m afraid I can’t find anyone cleaner than you.”

"I should thank you for taking me in."

"Ha, after so long, are you finally willing to say thank you?!"

"Wood can sometimes talk."

"Do you know why this street is called Liuying Lane?"

"Because there are willow trees here?" Aoki was not sure whether his answer was correct.

Regarding this issue, the oldest man in Liuying Lane could not explain clearly, because it is said that this place was not called Liuying Lane before, but was called Mulberry Camp.

But the old people said that this willow tree is very old, so old that no one knows how old it is and when it was planted here. All I know is that it is the first willow planted here, and the other willow trees on the street are all planted with branches cut off from it. Because willow trees have a short lifespan, many of the newly revived willow trees have died. Now the government has begun to replace dead willow trees with ginkgo trees.

Bishenghua said: "This is the place where I was born. When I was a child, I heard my grandfather say that this place used to be called Mulberry Camp, and it was surrounded by farmers who raised silkworms and planted mulberries. There used to be an old mulberry tree here that had lived for a thousand years, and the mulberry seedlings around it were all It is planted with its branches. Legend has it that as long as this mulberry tree is alive, there will be endless mulberry leaves to eat and silk to take out."

Aoki looked around and asked, "Where is the old mulberry tree you mentioned?"

Bi Shenghua said: "It's right where we are standing. The mulberry tree was destroyed during the war. This willow tree was transplanted later and was placed where the old mulberry tree was. My grandfather said that the roots of this willow tree are The roots of the old mulberry tree have grown together, so this willow tree is not completely a willow tree. Look at it, is it a little different from ordinary willow trees? "

Aoki looked carefully and found that the bark and branch branches of this tree were indeed different from ordinary willow trees. However, the difference was very subtle. If Lifespan Flower hadn't reminded him, he probably wouldn't have noticed it.

Bishenghua continued: "In the past, the entire land in Mulberry Camp belonged to Mr. Hua's family. At that time, there were two rich people in Wuzhong, one was the Xia family in Nanzhen, and the other was the Hua family in Mulberry Camp. The Xia family in Nanzhen is the one you know. Mr. Xia’s ancestors, both families were destroyed in the war. I heard that when the Japanese entered Wuzhong, the first thing they did was to go to Mulberry Camp to find this thousand-year-old mulberry tree."

“Why are the Japanese looking for this tree?”

"I was also curious back then and asked my grandfather, but my grandfather couldn't explain clearly."

"Was the tree destroyed by the Japanese?"

"No, Mr. Hua personally lit a fire and burned the tree before the Japanese entered Wuzhong." Bishenghua said, "My grandfather said that when the old mulberry tree died, all the mulberry trees within a dozen miles died at the same time. ”

"Why did he do this?" Aoki was attracted by the story and asked curiously.

"The old mulberry tree was planted by the ancestors of the Hua family. The Hua family has been living here since it was planted. As long as the tree lives, the Hua family will live here. They say, 'If you don't plant mulberries in front of the door, you will plant it behind the door. "Don't plant willows,' but the Hua family is very strange. Not only did they plant a thousand-year-old mulberry tree in the front yard, but they also planted an old willow tree in the backyard."

"Is this the one we see now?"

Life Flower nodded and said, "Mr. Hua's fire not only burned the old mulberry tree, but also turned the entire house into ashes. Only the old willow tree in the backyard survived because it relied on a pond."

Aoki asked: "Then why was this willow tree transplanted here again? Where was it originally?"

Bi Shenghua said: "Mr. Hua probably expected the war situation and the consequences after the Japanese came in, so he dispersed all his wealth and dismissed his servants. Only the old housekeeper of the Hua family was reluctant to leave and stayed. After the fire started, At that time, the old man ordered the old housekeeper to leave and told him to wait for the fire to go out and transplant the willow tree in the backyard to the position of the mulberry tree in the front yard while the soil was scorched, but not to damage the root system of the mulberry tree. "

"Where are the members of the Hua family? In such a big family, it's impossible for the old man to be the only one, right?" Qingmu asked.

"The Hua family has an oath, 'If the mulberry tree survives, the Hua family will survive; if the mulberry tree dies, the family will be destroyed.' So none of them ran away. From the family members to the children, everyone died in the fire."

Aoki's heart tightened, "What happened next?"

Bi Shenghua said: "The old housekeeper followed the master's will and found someone to transplant the willow tree to the original position of the mulberry tree when the fire was just extinguished. After the fall of Wuzhong, the Japanese came to the Mulberry Camp and couldn't find a single mulberry tree. , and because all the Hua family members were dead, we had no choice but to give up."

"Later, the old housekeeper built a hut on the original site of the old house and lived there. He believed that Mr. Hua had a deep meaning in asking him to do this, so he swore to protect the willow tree from generation to generation. He cut some willow branches from the old willow tree every year They worked on the nearby land, and over time, this became what became Liuying Alley."