When the pears are green

On the Mid-Autumn Festival, at 11:00 a.m., Wu Mingde drove a ox cart slowly out of Wuzhuang Village.

Song Li looked at the dawning sky, and a wave of coolness swept in. Song Li put on the thin blanket she had prepared in advance, and put another one on Song Yue and Wu Minghui who were lying on her legs.

When the ox cart passed by the fields, someone was already harvesting corn in the fields. Chirping sparrows were perched on the trees by the roadside, trying to eat a few grains of corn when the owner of the field was not paying attention.

When the ox cart passed through the village, white smoke came out of the chimneys of many houses, and occasionally the crying of children and the barking of dogs could be heard.

When the ox cart arrived at Heihe Town, the sun had already risen. The gentle sunlight shone on Song Li and the others. The girls huddled together and told each other interesting stories.

Li Yun'an and Wu Mingde sat side by side to the northwest of the girls, listening to their chattering. Li Yun'an whispered to Wu Mingde, "This kind of trip is fun, much more fun than the two of us sitting together as two taciturn people."

Wu Mingde glanced at Li Yun'an beside him and whispered to him, "Don't eavesdrop on what the girls say." Then he continued to drive the ox cart forward.

At the beginning of the morning, the ox cart arrived at the gate of the county town.

Because ox carts were not allowed to enter the city, Wu Mingde drove the ox cart to a place specially used for storing ox carts. Wu Mingde handed thirty cents to the manager and instructed him to give the ox water and feed.

Song Li saw Jiang Qingzhou standing by the city wall and hurriedly ran towards him.

Song Li looked at Jiang Qingzhou with a smile and asked softly, "Qingzhou, when did you come?"

Jiang Qingzhou smiled and said to Song Li: "I just arrived not long ago, is it cold on the road?"

Song Li shook her head and said, "We have prepared blankets, so it's not cold. Let's go over there and prepare to go into the city."

There were some vendors selling food on both sides of the city gate. Considering that everyone had not eaten breakfast, Wu Mingde asked everyone to eat before entering the city.

The group quickly finished their meal and lined up at the back of the queue to enter the city.

Song Li looked at the tall city wall in front of him curiously. The three big characters "Linhe County" were engraved right above the city gate. The city gate had "one gate and three holes". The middle gate was closed. The left one was for entering the city, and the right one was for exiting the city.

Song Li took out his pass and two cents and handed them to the soldier guarding the city. Because Song Li had no package on him, the soldier waved his hand and let Song Li in.

Song Li and the others were waiting for Wu Mingde and Li Yun'an who had not yet entered the city. They saw from a distance that Wu Mingde and Li Yun'an took out something similar to a waist badge and showed it to the soldiers, who politely let them in.

Wu Minghui walked over and asked Wu Mingde: "Third brother, what did you show them? They let you in without paying."

Wu Mingde smiled and replied, "It is the badge of our academy. The county magistrate attaches great importance to education and has specially ordered that students do not need to pay taxes when entering the city."

After listening to this, Wu Minghui smiled and took the badge from Wu Mingde's hand to show to Song Yue, Song Li and Lingling. Song Li carefully identified the words on it and found that it was "Hengqu Academy".

Song Yue took a look and asked Wu Minghui: "What does it say?"

Wu Minghui scratched her head and looked at Wu Mingde. Wu Mingde smiled and said to her, "It's Hengqu Academy. Our academy was originally called Linhe Academy. Our dean liked Mr. Hengqu's Hengqu Four Lines very much, so he changed the name of the academy to Hengqu Academy."

Wu Minghui and Song Yue nodded after hearing this, and Wu Minghui quickly returned the badge to Wu Mingde.

Li Yun'an looked at the people who were still lingering at the city gate. He walked over and said, "The city gate will be closed at the beginning of the evening. We must hurry."

After Li Yun'an finished speaking, he looked at the rising sun and continued, "You don't have the academy badge, so you can't enter the inner city. Let's go shopping in the outer city. I'll take Miss Song and Lingling to Heqing Street. There are more grocery stores there. We can see what the handkerchiefs sold in the city look like. Are Miss Song and Minghui willing to go with us?"

After hearing this, Wu Minghui smiled and said, "I'd like to go with Brother Yun'an, what about Sister Song?"

Song Li looked at Jiang Qingzhou hesitantly, and Jiang Qingzhou smiled and said, "Xiao Li, I'll go with you."

Song Yue knew that Song Li didn't like embroidering handkerchiefs, and Jiang Qingzhou, a man, would not like it even more. She didn't want Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou to waste an opportunity to go to the city just to accommodate her.

"Sister, Brother Dahu, you don't have to worry about me. I will definitely not get lost if I follow Master Li. Don't worry, Lingling and Minghui are here. You guys can go with Master Wu!" Song Yue said while hugging Song Li's arm and acting coquettishly.

Song Li understood Song Yue's thoughts. She smiled and took out twenty copper coins from her purse and gave them to Song Yue, asking her to buy something she liked.

After Song Yue took the copper coin, she followed Li Yun'an and walked forward with Lingling and Wu Minghui, chatting and laughing.

Wu Mingde looked at Li Yunan and his group who were walking away, and then looked at Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou who were cuddling together. He felt that Li Yunan was deliberately making fun of him.

Song Li saw Wu Mingde's discomfort, and she smiled and said to him, "Mr. Wu, Qingzhou and I have never been to the county town. Please be our guide."

Wu Mingde smiled. As they walked, he said to Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou, "Linhe County got its name because it is close to the Heihe River. The county town is not very big, with about 6,000 people living in it. There are four main streets, all on the central axis of the county town, running through the east, west, south and north. From east to west, they are Haiyan Street and Heqing Street, and from south to north, they are Renshou Street and Nianfeng Street. The inner city is on the right side of Nianfeng Street, and the Anding River flows through the inner city into the Heihe River. There are some bookstores and storytellers on Nianfeng Street. I wonder if Miss Song and Brother Jiang are interested?"

Jiang Qingzhou looked at Song Li's excited expression, and said to Wu Mingde with a smile: "Then please trouble Master Wu to lead the way!"

After hearing this, Wu Mingde led Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou to continue walking forward. As they walked, he said, "We came in from the South Gate. This street is Renshou Street. Most vendors and civilians usually live on the east and west sides of Renshou Street. There are many shops at the intersection of the four streets. Go north and you will reach Nianfeng Street."

Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou followed Wu Mingde's steps and walked slowly forward. There were many sycamore trees planted on both sides of the road.

Song Li walked under the sycamore tree, sometimes looking at the blue sky, sometimes listening to a few words from Wu Mingde and Jiang Qingzhou. The thatched houses and adobe houses around her slowly turned into brick and tile houses, and then gradually became bustling shops.

Song Li looked at the people coming and going on the street. This was the first time she had seen so many people in this world, and it made her feel as if she were in another world.

Jiang Qingzhou looked at Song Li who was a little dazed, and asked hurriedly: "Xiao Li, what's wrong with you? Where do you feel uncomfortable?"

Song Li hurriedly shook her head and said, "Qingzhou, I'm fine. I just haven't seen so many people for a long time. I'm a little uncomfortable."

Song Li calmed down, she looked at Jiang Qingzhou who was worried and said: "Qingzhou, I'm fine. Let's keep going forward, don't let Master Wu wait anxiously."

When Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou caught up with Wu Mingde, Wu Mingde was stopping in front of a bookstore. Song Li looked up and saw five big characters "Wei Juemeng Bookstore" written on a large plaque.

When Wu Mingde saw Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou coming over, he smiled and said to them, "Miss Song, Brother Jiang, this bookstore can be said to be the most affordable in the entire Linhe County. Let's go in and take a look."

After Wu Mingde finished speaking, he led Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou in.

Song Li looked around the bookstore. It was not big, only about five or six square meters. There were three bookshelves against three walls, which were cluttered with books. There was also an orange cat sleeping on a pile of books. Apart from the books, there was almost no place to stand.

On the east wall of the bookstore is a picture of a Birch bird, and on the west wall opposite it is a picture of a dream-eating tapir.

Song Li looked back and forth for a few times. She guessed that the old man must have nightmares frequently. She smiled and flipped through a few books in front of her, some of which were printed and some were handwritten.

Song Li looked at the yellowed books bound with needle and thread. She touched them over and over again with her fingers. She felt much more familiar with them than when she was in school.

At this time, a voice beside me said, "Which book do you like, little girl? I can give you a discount."

Song Li turned around and saw an old man with gray hair and a hunched back standing beside her. Song Li smiled and said, "Old man, let me take a look first."

The old man looked at Song Li and said to her, "Little girl, take your time to read. I'll go sit down first. There aren't many girls who can read nowadays!"

After the old man finished speaking, he sat down on the rocking chair at the door of the bookstore, humming an incomprehensible song. Another calico cat jumped onto the old man, meowed a few times, and then curled up in the old man's arms.

Jiang Qingzhou came over and asked Song Li in a low voice: "Xiao Li, do you want to buy anything? I saw a few handwritten enlightenment books over there. Do you want to bring one to Xiao Xing and the others? It's good to know a few words."

After Jiang Qingzhou finished speaking, he took Song Li's hand and walked a few steps north. Song Li took a look and said softly, "It's the Three Character Classic and the Thousand Character Classic."

At this time, Wu Mingde also came over to take a look. He said, "I also learned these when I first went to school. These old hand-copied books should be very cheap."

Jiang Qingzhou picked out two relatively new books, walked up to the old man and asked, "Old man, how much are these two books for?"

The old man opened his eyes and looked for a moment, then said, "Give me five cents and I'll put it in the wooden box."