When the pears are green

Jiang Qingzhou held down Song Li's hand as she was about to take out her purse. He took out five cents from his own purse and put them into the wooden box the old man mentioned.

After seeing this, the old man chuckled, then closed his eyes and continued to hum: "Bury me on the top of a high mountain, overlooking my hometown."

After Song Li heard clearly what the old man was humming, she was stunned. She asked the old man tentatively: "Old man, why do you only sing these two sentences?"

After Wu Mingde heard this, he said to Song Li, "Every time I come here, he hums these two lines."

After hearing what Wu Mingde said, the old man still closed his eyes, touched the cat in his arms and said, "I am old now, I have forgotten the rest, and I may never remember it again. You have never left your hometown, so you don't understand."

Jiang Qingzhou asked the old man in confusion: "Since you miss your hometown so much, why don't you go back home, or ask someone to take a letter to your family?"

The old man shook his head and said, "I can't go back, I can't go back anymore. It's such a long distance, I can't go back. Even if I have a letter, I can't deliver it to them. Maybe they have forgotten me. You guys go now. I've said too much. I'm a little tired."

Wu Mingde looked at the white-haired old man in front of him, turned around and walked under the sycamore tree, waiting for Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou.

Jiang Qingzhou reached out to pull Song Li, who was still in a daze. As Song Li passed by the old man's feet, she whispered to him, "I can't see my hometown, but I can never forget it."

After hearing this, the old man opened his eyes and stared at Song Li with his cloudy eyes. After a sigh, he said to Song Li, "Little girl, don't talk to others casually in the future. Go ahead. There is a storyteller in front, it's very lively, go forward and don't look back."

Song Li murmured "hmm" and then said to Jiang Qingzhou: "Qingzhou, let's go."

Jiang Qingzhou held Song Li's hand tightly and pulled her forward.

The old man looked at the young Song Li, then looked at his hands which were like dead wood. He hugged the cat in his arms and whispered, "I am really too lonely."

Wu Mingde looked at the silent Song Li and asked, "Miss Song, what's wrong with you?"

Song Li rubbed her cheek and said to Wu Mingde: "Nothing, the old man just said that there is someone reading a story in front, let's go and take a look!"

After hearing this, Wu Mingde smiled and said to Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou, "The storyteller is near our academy. I'll take you there. There are some food vendors around. Maybe you can meet Yun An and the others."

Song Li nodded and said to Wu Mingde, "Then I'll trouble you, Master Wu, to lead the way."

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, Wu Mingde turned around and pointed to the east side of Nianfeng Street and said to Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou, "This is it. The wonton shop there is delicious and very cheap. Let's go there. Look, Yun An and the others are over there."

After Wu Mingde finished speaking, he quickly crossed Nianfeng Street and walked towards the wonton shop.

Song Li and Jiang Qingzhou followed Wu Mingde closely. When they arrived at the wonton shop, Li Yunan and the others had already finished eating.

Li Yun'an looked at the three excited girls and said to them, "Mingde and the others haven't eaten yet. You wait for them here."

Wu Mingde, Jiang Qingzhou and Song Li sat down at an empty table to the right of Li Yunan and the others.

Song Li looked around curiously. She pointed at a green wall and asked Wu Mingde, "Mr. Wu, is the Hengqu Academy inside?"

Wu Mingde looked back and said to Song Li with a smile: "Miss Song, this is the outer wall of our academy."

Song Li then asked, "Mr. Wu, do you know the old gentleman in the Unconscious Dream Study?"

When Jiang Qingzhou heard Song Li asking Wu Mingde about the strange old man, he couldn't help but ponder carefully the lines of poetry that Song Li and the old man had said. What was the reason for the hometown in them?

At this time, the owner of the wonton stall brought the wontons. Wu Mingde looked at the wontons, and he was struggling whether to answer Song Li's question or fill his stomach first.

Li Yun'an also heard Song Li's question. He asked Wu Mingde to sit over there and he answered Song Li's question himself.

Li Yun'an smiled and said to Song Li, "I didn't expect Miss Song to be interested in the owner of the Unjuemeng Study. Aren't you afraid that Brother Jiang will be jealous?"

Song Li didn't expect Li Yun'an to say that. She glanced at Jiang Qingzhou who was eating wontons on her right and said with a smile, "Mr. Li, please don't talk nonsense. I just think he is very strange and a little withdrawn."

Li Yun'an smiled after hearing this, and then continued to say to Song Li: "Aloof? This word is very appropriate. No one around knows where he is from, and no one knows his name. He has been selling books there since Mingde and I went to study at the academy. He keeps company with his two cats all day long, and often hums a few lines of poetry."

Song Li listened attentively. The wontons in her bowl were almost cold, and she didn't even think about eating a bite.

Jiang Qingzhou looked at Song Li helplessly, remembering that she had said she was hungry before, Jiang Qingzhou picked up the spoon in Song Li's bowl, scooped a wonton and put it to Song Li's mouth.

Song Li felt the spoon at her lips and instinctively ate the wontons.

Li Yun'an, who originally felt a little hungry, felt that he had eaten too much after seeing this scene.

When Song Li saw that Li Yun'an stopped talking, she realized belatedly that it was Jiang Qingzhou who was feeding her, and her face immediately blushed with shame.

Song Li reached out and took the spoon from Jiang Qingzhou's hand, leaned over the bowl, and started eating with big mouthfuls.

Jiang Qingzhou looked at Song Li who was eating voraciously and said quickly, "Xiao Li, don't eat too fast, or you'll choke."

Song Li, who was originally shy, looked up and said to Jiang Qingzhou after hearing what Jiang Qingzhou said: "Qingzhou, don't say anything more."

Jiang Qingzhou looked at Song Li's rosy cheeks and thought of the peaches he had eaten. He smiled and stopped talking.

After Song Li finished eating, Wu Mingde was sitting opposite her. Wu Mingde continued, "Our headmaster once said that the old man said he came from a faraway place, but no one knew where exactly. The headmaster also said that the old man had never married and had been looking for a way home. He said someone was waiting for him at home. Unfortunately, the headmaster said that the old man never found his way home. Where is that way?"

After Jiang Qingzhou heard this, he looked at Song Li again. He wondered if Song Li was also looking for a way back home like the old man. If she found it, would Song Li leave? Was there anyone waiting for her in her hometown?

Song Li didn't say anything. Perhaps the old gentleman thought this was just a dream. No wonder there was a picture of a dream-eating tapir in the bookstore. He should be waiting for the day when the dream-eating tapir and the burch bird swallowed up this dream so that he could go home.

The sound of gongs and drums came from next door, and the room suddenly became lively.

Song Yue squeezed through the crowd and pulled Song Li's sleeve excitedly, saying, "Sister, the storytelling is about to begin. Master Li and the others have already gone. Let's go over there quickly!"

Wu Mingde and Jiang Qingzhou stood up, and the four of them walked over quickly. There weren't many people around, so the four of them quickly came to the side of Li Yunan and the other two.

Song Li saw a storyteller in a white gown standing under a pavilion. On the right was a wooden table with some snacks, a porcelain cup with a white background and blue flowers, and a green kettle on it.

The storyteller was waving a paper fan with the words "telling all the world's affairs" written on it. On his left stood a boy who was beating a drum.

People around were discussing what the storyteller would say today.

"Yashan, he would say it on the first and fifteenth day of every month."

"Nonsense, I talked about Yang Taizhen's matter on the first day of last month. I like to hear this."

"Then ask him to say Yang Taizhen later."

People around were talking about it at once, but Song Li remained silent as he pondered in his heart when exactly history had reached its fork in the road.

"Cough cough cough" the storyteller pretended to cough, and the surroundings immediately became quiet.

The storyteller took a sip of water and began to speak: "When Lu Junshi saw that he was doomed to fail, he first drove his wife and children into the sea, and then asked the young emperor..."

As soon as the storyteller opened his mouth, someone whistled and said, "Sir, change the story. Today is Mid-Autumn Festival. Tell a happy story."

"Yeah, the last Yang Tai was really nice, let's talk about this." Someone agreed.

More and more people agreed with him. The storyteller pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, "Then let's continue with Yang Taizhen's story. Do you want to hear about the story from when she married Prince Shou and became his concubine, or from when she entered the Taoist temple?"

"Start from the Taoist temple." A loud male voice shouted.

The storyteller agreed with a smile.

A middle-aged man standing next to Song Li and the others sighed, "After Yashan, it's the story of our dynasty's Emperor Gao Xie Yan. A bunch of ignorant children who just like to listen to stories about women's bedrooms."

It turns out that history entered a forking point after Yashan.

More and more people crowded in, and Song Li and the others were pushed aside, so she simply went to the periphery. Jiang Qingzhou also came out and waited with Song Li for the storytelling to end.

After two quarters of an hour, there was a burst of applause and the storytelling ended.

"Does it sound good?" Song Li asked a few people.

Several people nodded and whispered to Song Li what they had heard.

At this time, a bell rang from all directions. Li Yun'an said to everyone, "It's the afternoon. The city gates will be closed in one hour. Let's go back!"

Not long after Song Li and her group walked out of the city gate, the bell rang again, and with a creaky sound, the heavy city gate slowly closed in front of them.

Wu Mingde pulled the ox cart over, and everyone got on the cart and slowly walked towards Heihe Town.

Jiang Qingzhou and Song Li sat at the back of the car. Jiang Qingzhou asked Song Li, "Xiao Li, do you want to go back to your hometown?"

Song Li looked at Jiang Qingzhou who was a little uneasy, secretly held his hand and said: "I can't go back. If he can't find the way, I can't find it either."

The Mid-Autumn full moon slowly rose, and the silver moonlight sprinkled on the ox cart, illuminating the way home for Song Li and her friends.