Sheng Tang: What is Liu Jianjun going to do today?

Chapter 9 Liu Laosan
It makes no sense!

He specifically chose a barren mountain and picked trees that seemed to have no edible value, so how did he become a tree thief?

Without thinking twice, Li Xian tucked the axe into his waistband and hurriedly ran down the mountain.

Just as I turned a corner on the mountain road, I saw a burly man holding a machete, rushing up the mountain road with a fierce expression, and we met face to face.

Li Xian: "..."

Strong, muscular man: "Wooden man?"

Li Xian swore that at this moment, he absolutely loved the name "Wooden Man".

At the very least, it means that the person in front of me knows me and will not easily use force against me.

“You…you are…” Li Xian stammered.

"I'm Gou'er's uncle! Second uncle! We met the night before last! Don't you remember?" The burly man laughed as he tucked his machete behind his back. "Was it you who was cutting down the tree just now? Gou'er told you to?"

Although the strong man's speech still carried a Sichuan accent, Li Xian could still understand the gist of it.

The person in front of me must be Liu Jianjun's second uncle, Liu Laosan.

Li Xian smiled awkwardly: "I was the one cutting down the tree just now. I didn't know that the trees in this forest belonged to someone... I, I only cut down that one!"

Li Xian turned his head, pointed to the tree he had just cut down, and tentatively asked, "Or... I'll compensate you?"

From this angle, the tree had only been cut with a gash a little over an inch deep. Li Xian even suspected that if the tree were left unattended, it might still survive.

But Li Xian's words did not elicit a response from Liu Laosan. Instead, Liu Laosan asked with a puzzled look, "Isn't Gou'er with you?"

Li Xian looked puzzled.

Liu Laosan explained, "This mountain belongs to Gou'er's house. Gou'er disappeared this morning, and I thought he went to your house again. So when I saw you cutting down trees, I thought Gou'er had asked you to do it. But you don't know, Gou'er isn't even there!"

Li Xian suddenly realized and hurriedly said, "Liu Jianjun isn't with me... Did he leave this morning?"

Liu Laosan nodded: "That's strange. He used to either come to your house to hang out or do whatever he wanted in his sheds. Why haven't we seen him here lately?"

Liu Laosan's words stunned Li Xian for a moment.

Did Liu Jianjun used to go to his own yard often?
its not right.

When I first came to Liujiazhuang, Liu Jianjun did come a few times, but he stopped coming after that. The last time he visited was the day before yesterday when I hanged myself!

But Li Xian suppressed this doubt.

He could sense Liu Jianjun's goodwill.

So, changing the subject, he asked, "Sheds? Are you referring to the sheds down the mountain?"

He recalled the strange sheds he had just seen. If this mountain belonged to Liu Jianjun, then the fields below the mountain should also be his.

"That's right! Tell me, who would do something so idle as to build sheds for crops? Only he could come up with such an idea! His second aunt finally managed to arrange a marriage for him with the village head's niece, but he still doesn't like her! You're close to him, so why don't you help persuade him?"

Liu Laosan's words were full of disappointment and frustration.

Li Xian thought to himself that the village head's niece that Liu Laosan mentioned must be the Tiger Girl that Liu Jianjun mentioned.

At this moment, Liu Laosan seemed to realize that he had talked too much. He smiled awkwardly and said, "Oh! You were just about to cut down a tree, weren't you? Which one?"

Li Xian nodded subconsciously.

"Alright, I'll help you stuff it in!" With that, Liu Laosan, without waiting for Li Xian's reply, pulled out his machete and walked to the tree. As he chopped, he said, "The fir trees on this mountain all belong to Gou'er's family. We usually just dig up some fir leaves to start a fire, or in the summer we hunt for fir mushrooms..."

Before he could finish speaking, the tree fell down.

Li Xian's mouth was agape, but he didn't have time to utter a sound. He wanted to say that the tree belonged to Liu Jianjun, and that it wouldn't be right to cut it down without telling him.

But the next moment, Liu Laosan's words reassured him a little: "It's alright! I'm his second uncle, what's a little tree cutting down? By the way, why are you cutting down the tree?"

It seems that "mind reading" is a skill that everyone in the Liu family possesses.

"To make peach charms," ​​Li Xian answered honestly.

"Oh! Then you should cut down the peach trees! What's the point of cutting down the fir trees?" Liu Laosan waved his hand and said, "But not many people in the village grow peach trees... Let me tell you, instead of making peach charms, you should do what we do and paste a pair of Spring Festival couplets on the front door. Those things look more festive than peach charms!"

"Spring Festival couplets?" Li Xian looked puzzled.

“Yes! All that dog did was put two red papers on the door and write… write… that’s it! Come with me, you’ll see!” With that, Liu Laosan grabbed Li Xian’s hand and started walking down the mountain without waiting for Li Xian to speak.

It seems he forgot what was written on the Spring Festival couplet.

Li Xian felt a little embarrassed. He really couldn't accept a stranger grabbing his hand right away, but considering that Liu Laosan was Liu Jianjun's second uncle, he couldn't refuse. So he could only pretend to care about the fir tree and turn his head to call out, "Tree, that tree!"

"Just leave it there, no one will steal it!"

Liu Laosan didn't even turn his head.

……

Li Xian followed Liu Laosan down the mountain, and after walking less than half a mile, they arrived at the gate of a courtyard surrounded by a fence.

The courtyard looks quite large, with three wooden houses inside. Two of the houses are slightly larger and are located in the east and north corners, while the other small house is right behind the one in the north, so it should be part of a set.

Between the three houses is a courtyard with a well, a small vegetable garden, and a Chinese toon tree.

It's no different from an ordinary farmhouse.

Li Xian was immediately drawn to the two red paper strips at the entrance of the courtyard.

The red paper looked to be over five feet long and less than a foot wide, and it was written on it:

"May your door be blessed with a hundred fortunes and may your home be filled with a thousand auspicious omens."

The moment Li Xian saw this thing, he felt that it was much better than the peach charm.

"Is this what Spring Festival couplets are?" Li Xian asked curiously.

At this moment, Liu Laosan obviously remembered the content of the Spring Festival couplets and said happily, "That's right! Gou'er said that these are couplets that are pasted up during the Spring Festival, so they are called Spring Festival couplets, which means festive!"

As he spoke, Liu Laosan walked over to the Spring Festival couplets, pointed to the characters on them, and read aloud, "Look, the sound of firecrackers... the sound..."

When he got to this part, Liu Laosan paused because he noticed that the two "sound" characters on the Spring Festival couplet looked different.

So he scanned the couplet from top to bottom again and finally found the problem. He immediately moved his finger to the bottom of the couplet and pointed to each character upwards, his tone full of confidence: "The sound of firecrackers bids farewell to the old year!"

Then he walked to the couplet next to him and read it from bottom to top: "The east wind gently blows, changing the peach charms!"

Finally, he turned around and chuckled, "The wind probably blew the couplets off, and my wife put them back upside down! That's what happens when you can't read, don't be so naive!"

Before Li Xian could speak, he suddenly heard a woman's voice shouting from the courtyard: "Liu Laosan! You come in here right now!"

Then, the courtyard gate was pushed open, and a middle-aged woman rushed out, grabbing Liu Laosan's ear: "Huh? Which one is that silly woman?! You're like a dog that's been climbing on the roof and tearing off the tiles if you don't discipline her for three days!"
"I can't read? Huh? I can't read, but you can? Do you even know how to read?!"

With his ear grabbed by the woman, Liu Laosan turned his body to the side, repeatedly pushing his head towards her while groaning, "Ouch, ouch... Outsiders! There are outsiders!"

……

(End of this chapter)