Thanks for the invitation: In ancient times, people shared children

There is a Shuanglong River here, and there is a river god in the Shuanglong River.

No one knows where the source of the river is, and no one knows when the legend of the river god appeared.

Anyway, everyone here knows that there is such a river, and more or less knows one or two stories about the river god.

The most widely circulated one is that a long time ago, there were two dragons who were too playful and made mistakes. They were punished by the Emperor of Heaven and were struck by thunder. They fell to the ground and could neither fly nor walk. The old dragon god took pity on them and sent down some rain.

The rain was heavy, and it didn't stop until the water was enough to submerge them and allow them to swim back to the sea. They were happy, but the rain was too heavy, and the water turned into a river, destroying countless crops and fields and drowning countless livestock and people.

The Emperor of Heaven became even angrier when he saw this. He executed the old dragon god, removed the dragon clan from the divine register, and demoted them to the demon clan. He then sent heavenly soldiers to capture the two dragons and locked them in the river, forcing them to do good deeds to atone for their sins. They could only leave when the water in the Twin Dragon River dried up.

From then on, there were two dragons in the Shuanglong River. At first, the people were very angry with them and ignored them. Until one year when there was a drought, they sent down rain to save people, but lost the chance to regain their freedom. Then everyone thought they had become good people.

Gradually, people began to make wishes to them, and almost all of them were answered. So people called them river gods, built temples and statues for them, and every family offered tablets to them. Today, the river gods are no longer effective, people no longer offer tablets to them, and many temples are abandoned, but there are still a few temples where incense is offered.

The custom of offering sacrifices to the river god still exists during festivals. When natural disasters or man-made disasters occur, the first person people pray to is still the river god.

It's like a habit.

For example, when Pei's father wanted to get rid of the troublesome child, the first thing he thought of was to offer sacrifices to the river god.

In their hearts, the river god is omnipotent and has great magical powers. They worship and offer sacrifices to him whenever they want, and maybe their wishes will come true.

After all, the river has never dried up, so the river god must still be there. Maybe he is just asleep, and when he wakes up he will hear their wishes.

Some people also worship Yinggu, but the incense offerings are much less than those to the River God. Everyone thinks that Yinggu has not been a Buddha for as long as the River God, her magical powers are not deep enough, and she has offended the River God. She only blesses women, so there is no point in worshipping her, and it may even make the River God angry.

Some people even say that if you worship Yinggu, you will always give birth to girls, so fewer people go to the mountain temple. Although everyone is still very nice to the nuns, it is mostly out of respect and kindness for the monks. Even if they don't believe in them, they don't want to offend them. If they don't worship Yinggu, they have to consider the face of other Buddhas.

The two elders of the Qian family were rare loyal pilgrims of Yinggu. They had no children in their early years, so they didn't care about the rumors. They went to the river god temple to pray for a boy and went to the mountain nunnery to pray for a girl. Later, when they were older, they gave birth to Qian Daniu and believed in the river god more.

But occasionally, she would come to the temple on the mountain to ask for blessings from Old Lady Qian, her niece, her grandnieces, or the maids and servants in the family.

Now they are quite happy to pray to the river god for their son. If the son is really given to them by the river god, then the river god can definitely cure him. If not, they have no other way. No matter what their son becomes, he is theirs and they will accept it.

As long as there is enough money, the three animals and six livestock for sacrifice can be prepared quickly.

There is a river god temple in Peijia Town, which is convenient to get to.

If we just go to the River God Temple, it will be inconvenient for the nuns who worship Yinggu to follow us.

Jinghui said goodbye to the two elders of the Qian family at the right time, and he had ready excuses.

When Pei Xiaohai heard the River God's displeasure, he pulled Jinghui aside and asked:

"I don't like the river god. I don't want to worship it. Master, how can we return to the nunnery?"

Little Pei had heard people say that he almost became a sacrifice, so it would be strange if he liked the river god.

But being so straightforward is bound to attract attention.

"Hush, little master, don't say things like that. The river god will be angry if he hears it."

Ma Yaopo gave some advice.

Little Pei didn't want to hear it. This river god was so easily angered, why hadn't he died of anger yet?

She wanted to ask, but Master Jingchi looked at her...

Little Pei didn't say anything.

In the end, they left. The second son of the Qian family said that when Qian Daniu recovered, he would take him to the mountain to express his gratitude.

I don’t know when it will come.

Xiaohong pulled Pei Xiaohai aside and gave her the cloth tiger she had dropped.

It was a pity that she still remembered this ugly thing, so Pei Xiaohai didn't plan to take it.

She thanked her with mixed feelings. Out of curiosity, she took a look at the two Qian Daniu who were being carried to the River God Temple before leaving.

One is more like dead.

A... a little double vision?

Pei Xiaohai rubbed her eyes and looked again. Qian Daniu, who looked like a mandrill, suddenly looked at her, and her ugly face scared her.

But in just a moment, he withdrew his gaze, as if he had just looked over accidentally, and the double image disappeared.

The bump on my head hurts when I touch it.

She was indeed smashed.

Pei Xiaohai was in a depressed mood, but she felt sleepy and fell asleep on the way.

The master was tired, so it was Master Jingchi who carried her back.

Little Pei slept for a long time and was still groggy when he woke up.

Cheng Tianbao rarely ran around, but stayed by her side like a vigil, waiting for her to wake up. As soon as Pei Xiaohai opened her eyes, he couldn't wait to put the thing in his hand in front of her:

"Look, someone made me a cloth tiger. Isn't it much prettier than yours?"

A silly, multicolored tiger with furry, raised white circles around its eyes.

Pei Xiaohai: "It's whistled, and it looks like a monkey's butt."

Cheng Tianbao:!

The brightly colored butt of the mandrill emerges in my memory.

Cheng Tianbao yelled, "What are you doing so early in the morning? Can't you just praise it? I'm going to be upset."

Pei Xiaohai: "Who cares about you? Get out. I need to get dressed. You're a man, and you're not allowed to enter my room. You're shameless."

Cheng Tianbao felt like he had punched shit. The rage of helplessness enveloped him. He roared angrily, "I'm still a child. I was still a child when I died!"

Pei Xiaohai: "Who asked you?"

She frowned in confusion: "Does your head hurt too?"

What does that mean? Does she think I'm crazy?

Cheng Tianbao burst into tears: "I don't want to talk to you anymore, you are the fool."

Pei Xiaohai rarely showed concern for him, but was scolded. She also got angry: "You are stupid, you are a big fool."

"You're still scolding me?! You're scolding me again? You can scold me again!"

Pei Xiaohai was stunned for a moment, then immediately said harshly: "You are a really, really, really big fool!"

Cheng Tianbao burst into tears, and the three old nuns in the courtyard felt cold.

Jinghui pushed the door open and asked her, "Child, did you quarrel with Tianbao again?"

Pei Xiaohai said confidently: "I didn't. He asked me to scold him, and he cried. He is unreasonable."

Cheng Tianbao was almost irritated by her bad kid who complained first. He wiped his tears and said, "I, I don't want to be with you anymore. I want to leave this sad place. I won't let you play with my rag tiger either."

Little Pei was stunned, his mind blank. He instinctively said, "It's not good, it's not good. I can't play anyway. Your tiger is dead, but mine is still alive!"

Jinghui couldn't hear what Cheng Tianbao said, but she could feel that the quarrel was a bit serious. She was about to stop them, but Pei Xiaohai had already put on his clothes.

Jinghui: "Is Tianbao still there?"

"He's gone. I'm done with him," Pei Xiaohai rubbed his eyes, stubborn as a domineering donkey, and said seriously, "Master, you are not allowed to mention his name again!"

Jinghui: ...Or, let’s call Jingchi.