tall and rhubarb

In the next month, except for going out to work in the yard at night when he got a short lottery, Gao Chang did almost nothing except practice. In order to break through the third floor, he had accumulated for a long time, and Gao Chang I also feel that the day of breakthrough is coming.

To describe the feeling of entering the fourth floor from the third floor, in eight words, it would be as light as a swallow's ears and clear eyesight.Gao Chang slowly opened his eyes. He could feel the energy slowly flowing in the air, just like water. The air also has its own strength and ripples, although it is difficult for ordinary people to feel it.

Gao Chang lightly propped himself up on the edge of the bed, flipped somersaults in the air, and landed lightly on the dilapidated floor of their house. The old wooden boards made a slight creaking sound, almost inaudible.This is just the beginning, Gao Chang is still unable to make good use of these energies and fluctuations, I believe that after a period of practice, his skills will be greatly improved, and the next time he encounters wild boars, he will not be like It was so embarrassing last time.

Next, Gao Chang is not in a hurry to enter the practice on the fourth floor. The past month of cross-legged meditation almost made him forget what eve is today, and it is time to relax his spirit and take a good rest for a few days.Having not been active in the yard for a long time, everyone thought he was still angry about those wild boars, and some people were whispering in private.

"Has Gao Chang's temperament gone yet?"

"Yeah, this time it seems that I was very angry, so I gave away seven wild boars for nothing."

"The fifth uncle didn't ask him to give it away. He said he would exchange it for food, but he insisted on not wanting it."

"Let's not say a few words. At that time, people asked our opinion, but if someone answered the question, the pig couldn't be sent out."

"Accept the call? How do you answer it?"

"At that time, if anyone dared to jump out, the people in those two yards could make you have a good life? They will definitely retaliate."

"Besides, who would bear the crime of ignoring death and selfishness?"

"You said that if there are more snakes outside, can our five piglets withstand it?"

"It's hard to say, anyway, let's keep an eye on it, don't feed it to death."

"No, it's all very good. I just went to see it, and I threw a few big fat worms down there, and they ate like hell."

Gao Chang pretended not to hear what these people said, and led Miao Zai out of the yard. He was busy practicing for a while, sometimes he would go to the yard to eat a few bites when he remembered, and sometimes he would just sit on the bed for a day or two .

Rhubarb is taking care of the cats, and they are tied to Dahuang’s legs with a wire all day long. When Gao Chang wakes up, the fur on Dahuang’s legs is almost worn out. Hold it in your own hands.Although this cat is small in size, it is not small in strength, and it is quite heavy in the hand. If you don't look at its size, it is easy to mistakenly think that you are pulling a large dog.

First go to the hall to draw lots. Every afternoon when the sun goes down, all those who have not yet drawn a short lottery in this round will gather in the hall to draw lots. After drawing lots, they will have dinner and make preparations.There were quite a lot of people in the hall, Gao Chang deliberately loosened the wires, and kept an eye on the movements of the cats to prevent injuries.

After all, this cat has been raised for so long, it is time to give it some freedom, and use another form to let it understand what things can be done and what things cannot be done, instead of just relying on a wire.Fortunately, Miaozai has lived in this yard for so long, and he is familiar with the people here, so he did not make any aggressive moves after the wires were loosened.

Gao Chang drew a short lot at once, and when he got it, he broke off the lower half with a "snap", shook it in front of everyone, and signaled that he would leave the yard tonight.After eating a bowl of rice, Gao Chang and the men went out of the yard. They were going out anyway, so it's better to hurry up and go out to work when it's still bright outside, and try to avoid getting in the dark.

Every time he came out a month ago, he always saw densely packed small bugs, but now there are already many big bugs outside, including a lot of grasshoppers and beetles.

Special attention should be paid to the stag beetle, which has a pair of jaws like crab claws. It used to be very powerful. When children catch this kind of insect to play, if they are accidentally pinched, they will cry. People dare to provoke them. I heard that a while ago, someone accidentally stepped on the grass where a stag beetle was staying, and the sole of the shoe was pinched by it.

There are also insects that need to be guarded against, which are ants. This thing was not considered by humans before, but now, they are almost invincible. Slow bugs, such as pine caterpillars that humans dare not challenge.In a sense, the existence of ants is very beneficial to human beings, but they also pose a threat.

In the past, ants could not bite through human skin to paralyze them, so they seldom pose a threat to human beings. Now it is different. They have become stronger and bigger. One bite can definitely break the skin, and then they will go to the Neurotoxins are injected into the human body, so we must pay attention not to be surrounded by ants, otherwise it is very dangerous.

There are basically no vegetables to pick in the field now, because there are too many insects, and they no longer sow seeds in their yard. They plan to wait until the number of insects is under control before considering sowing.A few men picked wild vegetables along the stream. At least wild vegetables did not need to be sown. Old wild vegetables used to sow their own seeds, and some of them propagated by rhizomes.

There are many uncultivated fields on both sides of the stream. The most common wild vegetables here are some purslane and mustard, as well as some plantain and Zheer root. If you are lucky, you can also pass through last year’s sweet potato fields. Get some sweet potato vines.

All kinds of insects grow very vigorously under the blue sun. Fortunately, the plants are also very prosperous, so they can always find something to eat. At present, there is no need to worry about starving to death. In addition to plants, some insects can also be eaten. , the most popular is the grasshopper.

People used to have the habit of eating grasshoppers, and now it is even more impossible to let go of these delicacies. After being baptized by the blue sunlight, the grasshoppers are bigger and more meaty than before.The men always carry nets with them. They first tap the grass with bamboo sticks, and when the grasshoppers fly out in shock, several nets are put together. Generally, more than ten can be harvested at a time, and a small bottle can be caught after repeated several times. It seems that the number is quite a lot, but compared to the densely packed heads in their yard, one point is less.

Recently, many small frogs have hatched on the edge of the stream, and they are jumping and hunting in the fields on both sides of the stream.Everyone in the village knows how delicious frog meat is, but in the current situation, no one can lay their minds on them. All the bugs in the world are waiting for them to eat.

When the food was almost collected and it was already dark, everyone lit the torches and walked to the village, sometimes meeting people from the other two courtyards.The people in their village have been integrated several times, and now people have gathered together, and almost everyone lives in these three courtyards.

The other two yards, like Gao Chang's yard, sent men out every day in turn to look for food.People from these three courtyards met when they were looking for food, and usually a group of people would choose to change places. In order to find more food, they seldom get together.And when they meet again when they come back, these people will walk together generously, and then chat by the way, talking about the situation in their own yards.

Gao Chang and the others quickly returned to their yard, but the men were not in a hurry to return to the yard. Instead, they hung the food they had found on the bucket and let the people inside pull them back, and then wandered around the edge of the bamboo forest.In addition to the poisonous snake Zhuyeqing, the bamboo forest is also rich in a beetle called the bamboo weevil. Most of these insects are yellow-green. They like to eat bamboo shoots. They are very delicious when handcuffed, with a milky aroma and rich nutrition.

Most people only dared to hang around outside the bamboo forest, but Gao Chang entered the bamboo forest without even thinking about it. The bamboo weevils outside the bamboo forest had already been caught. Although new insects would still come in every day, the number was still the same. Nothing compares to the depths of the bamboo forest.

Gao Chang was digging bamboo shoots while catching bamboo weevils, Rhubarb followed silently, and Miao Zai was very active. Sometimes Gao Chang was preempted by him before he could catch the bamboo weevils he saw.There were some strange fluctuations in the air, Gao Chang stopped the movements of his hands and listened intently, before he had time to distinguish the position of the opponent, Rhubarb jumped up and took a small green snake in his mouth.

It can be seen that Rhubarb has also been working hard on his practice recently. According to what Rhubarb told Gao Chang before, the descendants of Inugami basically have no natural enemies. As long as they do not reveal their identities, they can easily survive in human society, so most of them They are not very keen on cultivation, and some even herd cattle to eat grass, so that the cultivation in their bodies will grow slowly with age. Anyway, they have a very long life, and cultivation seems to be a thing that does not need to be anxious.The descendant of Inugami before Rhubarb, the laziest guy among them, spanned 300 years from enlightenment to incarnation.

Gao Chang still hopes that Rhubarb can give some thought to his practice, because he is not sure whether he can live to be three hundred years old. Anyway, before he dies, he has to see what his so-called partner looks like.

"Good skill." Gao Chang generously praised him.

"Hmph." Rhubarb snorted from his nose, then spat out the little snake to the ground, crushing its head flat with one kick.

"Meow!" Meowboy wanted to eat that snake.

"This snake is too small, let Meowzai eat it." Gao Chang said to Dahuang in a negotiating tone. He could see that Dahuang was not in a good mood today. If he did this, he would give his prey to Meowzai. If you do, you might jump your feet.

"The more you catch, the more you will get." Sure enough, Rhubarb didn't buy him.

But today the kitten didn't know what was wrong, it was making a lot of noise, and it wouldn't stop howling, and then even the fur on its body stood up, it seemed that it was out of breath.Gao Chang thought for a while, and then untied the wire around his neck. Anyway, his head is like a radar now. If the kitten doesn’t come back, he should be able to get it back. Will help, probably, Gao Chang took a look at Da Huang, not sure.

I caught a large bag of weevils in the bamboo forest, and dug up a sack of bamboo shoots. The bamboo shoots were taken back to feed the pigs. Although food is scarce now, few people in the village eat bamboo shoots. According to their locals , Bamboo shoots and water spinach are not things that can be eaten more, especially for men who are weak and need to do heavy work.

Seeing that it was time to go back, Miaozai was still missing. Gao Chang opened his throat and yelled a few words, but to no avail. Rhubarb caught several bamboo leaf greens along the way, some big and some small, all of which were smashed by it For the head, Gao Chang tied them up with a pair of rattan and held them in his hands. They were heavy, probably weighing five or six catties.

Gao Chang concentrated on feeling the ripples in the bamboo forest, and tried his best to find the whereabouts of the cat. He was still very unfamiliar with this task. After standing there for a while, he finally found the direction of the kitten. It seemed to be outside the bamboo forest, in their yard. behind.

He dumped a sack of bamboo shoots into the pig trench nearby, and then held a torch in one hand and a bunch of dead snakes in the other. When Gao Chang came to the back of their yard, he saw Miaozai squatting on the ground triumphantly and licking his paws. My stomach, which is usually dry and shriveled, is round now.

Asking the people in the yard to put down the ladder, Gao Chang didn't tie the wires to Miaozai, and went into the yard with a cat and a dog. The men who went out with him have already returned, and most of them are taking a bath at the moment.Under the light of the bonfire, the bunch of green bamboo leaves in Gao Chang's hand looked particularly frightening, and several women couldn't help crying out.

"Gao Chang, this kitten caught all these snakes?" The sharp-eyed person quickly noticed that this little wild cat, which Gao Chang tied to wires every day, is not tied up now, probably because it stood up. achievement.

"No, these were caught by Rhubarb." Gao Chang said and patted Rhubarb's head.

"Can dogs catch snakes? I've heard that cats can catch snakes and eat them."

"It caught it, but it ate it all up." Gao Chang sat by the fire and pointed to the kitten's round belly with his toes.

"There are so many snakes in the bamboo forest!" Finally someone got to the point.

"You guys don't catch bamboo weevils in the future, it's so dangerous!"

"It's okay, the cat and the dog probably searched all over the bamboo forest. Usually we have never encountered a single snake near the bamboo forest."

The one who said this was naturally a man. Most of the men in this yard have families and children. It’s fine if adults can’t eat good food. If children can’t keep up with nutrition, it will affect their growth in the future.And which father doesn't want his doll to eat something good?Zheng Guoxi, who lives next door to Gao Chang, is a young man in his twenties, and Uncle Ashan still treats him like a child. He grows wild fruits and catches weevils. He has all the children in the village.

"Don't be confused, this snake is very poisonous now, if you dare to do anything, what will your wives and children do?" It was Old Ninth Uncle who was speaking. This old man was very popular in the village because he could treat people Respect, now that there is no hospital, we all have to rely on him, so in this yard and even in the whole village, his status is very high.

"Well, hehe, then I won't arrest you in the future." The men were convinced by the old ninth uncle, taking a shower and getting dressed happily. In the past, when death was mentioned, most of them would be so afraid that their legs would go limp. Now that I face death face to face all day long, I feel that it is not as scary as before.

Some people in the yard were worried that the future would be even more difficult, so they wanted to take advantage of the peaceful time to save more food, pick some wild vegetables and catch some grasshoppers.Chen Yuzhen, who was in charge of cooking in the yard, asked her man, Zheng Guofeng, to go out and get more food for storage. Her man was not happy at first, so Chen Yuzhen went out by herself. Zheng Guobang's wife, Lin Jianhong, was in charge of all the cooking in the village for a few days. The craftsmanship is far worse than Chen Yuzhen's. There is nothing good about it, and if there is no good craftsmanship, the food is really unedible, and the complaints in the yard became louder in a few days.

Everyone couldn't persuade Chen Yuzhen, so everyone scolded Zheng Guofeng, saying that he is a big man, how could he just watch his wife take risks outside the yard?

It is said that Zheng Guofeng looked the best when he was young. According to the words of the village wives, the monk Tang in Journey to the West did not look as good as him.Zheng Guofeng's father fell in love with the capable Chen Yuzhen, and he didn't care that this girl was four years older than his son, and she was still very strong, so he decided to make this marriage for the two of them. Thinking of himself as a flower stuck in cow dung.But this was going on and on, and I don't know when it started to change. Zheng Guofeng and Chen Yuzhen lived a serious life, although he still complained a lot.

This time, he felt that he was wronged. Why does this woman have to drag him if she wants to go crazy?There are so many bugs outside now, won't everything be fine when spring is over, I have to rush out to find food at this time.A woman's family followed a group of men to the field at night, and the husband didn't say anything, but everyone was talking about him. Isn't it because the woman can cook two dishes?

But complaints are nothing but complaints. Zheng Guofeng later took over the outfit from Chen Yuzhen, and went out of the yard every night. If he got a short lottery, the things he brought back were considered public, and if he got a long lottery, the things he brought back were considered his own. tall.

Those bugs outside are not all bluffing. After he went out for a few days, red bumps appeared on his face and neck one by one. Every day after taking a bath in the yard, Chen Yuzhen had to wash the pre-boiled pimples first. The herbal juice was brought over for him to smear on.While Chen Yuzhen wiped it, Zheng Guofeng yelled: "Alas, alas, lightly lightly, the skin is broken!"

The man in the yard couldn't help but want to curse a few words after hearing this: "Why are you so pretentious when you're in your fifties or sixties? You don't repair yourself!"

"Who is fifty or sixty? He's only 49." Zheng Guofeng took the time to say something back and forth, and then continued to tilt his neck to ask his wife to apply the medicine: "Wipe on the back too..."

While watching the interaction between the old couple, Gao Chang sat on the edge of the brazier and roasted the snake. Sprinkling some salt and pepper on the snake meat, it was so fragrant.

Most of the people living in their yard are big families, and there are noisy and laughing people every day, like Uncle Ashan and Uncle Ashan, as well as Chen Yuzhen and Zheng Guofeng, the two families have a good life Tasteful.

Chen Yuzhen and Zheng Guofeng only have one daughter, she is already in her twenties, she is white and fat, she is almost spoiled by her father, she will give her whatever she wants.The year before last, she broke up with her boyfriend, and she has been living at home. When her mother received a job, she went to help out. She refused to go out to find a job, nor did she go on a blind date. People in the village often gossiped, and their family lived as usual. own day.

Sometimes Gao Chang couldn’t help being envious, especially when he was young, he and his grandma were the only ones in the family. At that time, grandma had to do both farm work and housework, and had no time to take care of him. Gao Chang filled the village when he was young. Wandering around, because the hat of life is hard, and it is not very flattering.

Children in the village always have all kinds of small toys, such as rattle drums, small frogs, and spinning top water guns made by their father, but Gao Chang has never had one.

What impressed him the most was this man named Zheng Guofeng, because his daughter said that she wanted to play pick sticks, made of bamboo, and different from the children in the village.He just sawed a few bamboo joints of the same length, broke them into pieces, and then sharpened them with a small knife and sanded them. This man was really good-looking when he was young. Gao Chang still remembered how he looked when he was sitting at the door of his house peeling bamboo sticks.

Two days later, he made a pair of thin and smooth pick sticks, which were really different. The children grabbed them with their hands and stood them in the middle of the table, and then suddenly pulled their hands. These bamboo picks , they will fall on the table one after another, making a series of crackling sounds, which is very pleasant to hear.

In fact, Gao Chang really didn't want to admit it. When he was a child, he also had some stupid ideas, such as how great it would be if this guy was his father.Turning his face again to look at the old man who was baring his teeth and asking his wife to apply the medicine, Gao Chang couldn't help but smile, his vision was really bad when he was a child.

The snake meat was almost cooked, Gao Changchuan took a bite, it was really tender and fragrant, and handed the remaining half piece to Rhubarb.Now his life is better, but when everyone is hungry, he has a whole cellar of stockpiles. Rhubarb is still a good snake catcher. The most important thing is that he will not eat snakes by himself after catching snakes. .

A few children from the village surrounded them, but they didn't dare to approach them. They squatted not far away and swallowed their saliva. Gao Chang was in a good mood today, and one of them gave them a piece of snake meat. These children were not born in good years. Parents who love them, but lack enough food to satisfy their hunger, may not even have to eat bamboo weevils in the future.