I cross the cold pond

The days before and after the summer solstice in Yanshui City are the busiest, and the summer temple fair has not yet completely cooled down, and preparations for the summer temple fair are already in full swing.Whenever this season, there are a lot of people in Yanshui City, and people from surrounding counties and towns and even some distant places will come to Yanshui City to pray for blessings.

Xu Ziru's home is a little bit farther from Yanshui City. When he lazily went to Zhang Butcher to buy meat in the morning, Zhang Butcher chopped up ribs with a knife in his hand and suggested to him that he must go shopping after the temple fair started.

"You can't see such a grand occasion anywhere." That's what Zhang Tuhu told him.

Xu Ziru lazily picked out a piece of meat cut for him by the butcher, and said perfunctorily: "Okay. You can bring me two more ribs, and I'll make soup when I go home."

The butcher put two ribs on the chopping board: "Are these two okay?"

Xu Ziru nodded, and asked again: "Hey, because of the temple fair recently, there are more people patrolling at night?"

The butcher nodded, and said loudly, "That must be true! Look at how many people have come to Yanshui City in the past few days. I heard from my brother-in-law's neighbor's second sister-in-law that the restaurant is fully booked!"

With a clear "oh", he paid for the meat and prepared to go home leisurely.

At the corner of the alley in front of the house, I met a scruffy old man sitting against the wall.Xu Ziru regarded him as a beggar driven to no one's place, ignored him, and walked towards home while thinking about things.

People walked past the old man, and the old man looked up.Xu Ziru felt that this face was familiar, but before he could react, the old man grabbed his clothes and grinned: "The poor tell fortunes, the rich burn incense. Now we are not as good as those bald donkeys in the temple. .”

"..." Xu Ziru glanced at his hand holding his clothes calmly.

The old man muttered again: "I came from the foot of Kunlun Mountain, and from a distance, I can see the demonic energy in this crowded city, which seems to be an ominous omen."

"..." Xu Ziru adjusted her clothes, knelt down in front of the old man, and asked with a smile, "Oh, what do you say?"

The old man smashed his mouth, let go of his hand holding Xu Ziru's clothes, and said hehe: "The old man sees that the bones of the little friend are strange, and he is a destined person."

Xu raised his eyebrows freely.

"Do you want to learn fortune-telling from the old man, little friend?" The old man asked with a smile.

Before Xu Ziru could respond, the old man stretched out two fingers, put them in front of Xu Ziru's eyes, smashed them and said, "Two liang of silver, including education and association."

He used up a complete set of liar procedures, and reached out to ask for money.

Xu Ziru and the old man who seemed to be a liar squatted face to face and had a discussion: "Master, I will give you two taels of silver for nothing. You have to let me see you." I will consider whether I should learn this fortune-telling or not?"

The old man wrinkled his face, and continued to exaggerate his identity: "You can't miss this opportunity, my little friend, I, Kunlun Immortal, go down the mountain only once in a hundred years."

Xu Ziru seemed to be amused by him, and he discussed again: "Then why don't you tell me, what should I do if the city is full of evil spirits? Now, if I leave Yanshui City overnight, can I save my life?" The old man still had a mysterious look on his face, so he joked, "You said you are a Kunlun fairy, so why don't you send us mortals down?"

The old man folded his arms around his chest and turned his face up, with a melancholy look of "this kid is hard to cheat".After a while, he suddenly raised his hand and pointed to the northwest: "Go northwest."

Xu Ziru nodded, thanked him, and got up to leave.

The old man was playing tricks: "Where are two taels of silver? What about two taels of silver? You have to tell me the truth, and you are waving your robe and want to leave?!"

Xu Ziru stood up and looked down at the old man, and smiled at the old man: "Old friend, money is not so easy to earn. For poor people like us, saving two taels of silver can last half a year."

The old man sat on the spot cursing, Xu Ziru turned a deaf ear, turned around and walked towards the northwest corner of Yanshui City.

Yanshui City University, he went out to buy vegetables early in the morning, and when he was supposed to make lunch on weekdays, he didn't see anything worthy of attention in the northwest corner.

He raised his head and squinted his eyes to look at the direction of the sun, and was about to go back home, never to believe the nonsense told by fortune tellers on the road.

The gate of a mansion obliquely ahead opened, and a little girl with pink make-up and jade jumped out of the door. She was wearing a pink gauze skirt, holding the hem of her skirt with both hands, and jumped down from the door lightly. steps.

"Xianxian, walk slowly." A kind female voice behind her gently urged.

Xu Ziru was about to leave, but he paused when he heard this sound.I saw a woman with a gentle and kind face coming out from behind the gate, her eyes were gentle, and she was staring at the girl in front of her.

Only then did Xu Ziru raise his head to look at the mansion, and saw the word "He Zhai" written on the large plaque on the gate.

Xu Ziru raised his eyebrows, thinking that this is the real so-called "there is no place to find when you break through the iron shoes, and it doesn't take much effort to get it".Of course, he didn't seem to have time to "break through the iron shoes" to find He Zhen in Heshan Village, when he saw Mrs. He Zhen coming out of "He Zhai".

Xu Ziru clicked his tongue, he thought that since his luck was so good, then he should be very lucky in the following process of persuading He Zhen, taking the Nuwa stone, letting the brother come out of his dream smoothly, and using the Nuwa stone to fill the gap in the pole. good.

Xu Ziru was in a good mood, so he walked towards He Zhai with a smile on his face.

The little girl about ten years old jumped down the steps in front of the house, turned her head and said to the woman behind her with a smile, "Mother, hurry up."

Xu Ziru paused, and he stood there looking at this girl named "Xianxian" for a long time. This fairy's eyebrows and eyes are full of innocence, and she is a child who has never seemed to have received any harsh criticism.

Xu Ziru bent her eyes and watched for a while, Xianxian turned her head and saw him not far away, a little doubt appeared on her face, and then she frowned: "Hello."

Xu Ziru also frowned: "You are fine too."

Mrs. He just stepped down the steps and stood beside her with a gentle voice: "Don't be so impatient, Dad will say you don't look like a girl after seeing it."

Xianxian pouted and said, "Daddy won't talk about me. Daddy likes me the most. Daddy said let me be a free bird."

Mrs. He reached out and poked her forehead: "It's your father who spoils you."

Xu Ziru listened to this conversation with a smile on the side, and walked forward pretending to be hesitant: "That..."

Mrs. He turned her head to look at him, with a gentle and serene expression on her face, and she was also patient with the young man who stepped forward: "Hello?"

Xu Ziru saw his teeth but couldn't see his eyes and laughed: "Godmother, don't you remember me?"

Mrs. He obviously didn't recognize Xu Ziru, she was slightly taken aback: "You are..."

Xu Ziru put all the pork and pork ribs in his hand on the stone lion at the door. He stretched out his hand and compared: "Do you remember when I was in the Charity Hall when I was young? , and even clamored for a piece of jade pendant from godfather as a token." Xu Ziru stretched out his hand to compare the size of the jade pendant than that, and then touched his own body, "The jade pendant has been kept at home, but I didn't bring it with me."

Mrs. He blinked her eyes, seeming to have some impression.

Xu Ziru said again: "I was taken up the mountain by Tianji Gate, do you still remember?"

Mrs. He suddenly said "Oh": "I remember!" Then she also stretched out her hands to compare, as if feeling a little emotional, "You were only so old at that time, and you were very clever. Now you are so big and so tall!"

Xu Ziru smiled and any lady looked up and down.

Mrs. He asked again: "How did you come down the mountain?"

Xu Ziru stretched out his hand and touched the back of his head: "My academic qualifications are too bad haha, I haven't learned any skills after staying for a long time, I'm sorry to stay longer and come down the mountain."

Mrs. He looked at him almost lovingly: "That's fine, where do you live now, what do you do, and you have a family?"

Xu Ziru smiled, pretending to be embarrassed, and didn't answer these three consecutive questions.

Mrs. He asked again: "Would you like to come in and have some tea?"

Xu Ziru asked: "Aren't godfathers and godmothers supposed to be in the Charity Hall? Why did they come back?"

Mrs. He said: "Mother is not feeling well. The master thought that he would have to serve her before she collapsed, so she came back." She smiled, "But Ling Dong will take care of things over there, and the children like him."

Xu Ziru nodded, and quickly got down to business: "Then is godfather at home? I haven't thanked him yet."

Mrs. He immediately wanted to lead Xu Ziru into the door: "He is here, he should be very happy to see you. He will always be very happy to see the children who left the charity hall come to him."

Mrs. He lifted the clothes and went up the steps, Xu Ziru followed up the steps, the fairy behind him muttered unhappy: "Mother, you promised to accompany me to make new clothes."

Mrs. He glanced back at her, and walked down a few more steps. She took Xianxian's hand and explained in a gentle voice: "My mother met an acquaintance, your father will be very happy to see this brother, don't you Do you hope daddy is happy, Xianxian?"

Xianxian pouted, Xu Ziru stood on the steps and looked at her, Xu Ziru said: "Is this the daughter of godfather and mother, how old is this year?"

Mrs. He smiled and said, "Yes, I'm so bad-tempered by your godfather."

Xu Ziru blinked at Xianxian: "Is this good? You take your brother to find your daddy. Dad is happy to see me. If you let your mommy take you to make new clothes, you will be happy too, okay?" ?”

Xianxian rolled her eyes and looked at Mrs. He happily: "Aniang, is it okay?!"

Mrs. He responded dotingly: "Okay, okay, really."

He Zhen deserves to be a wealthy family, Xu Ziru has never been in any rich man's mansion in his life, as soon as Pu entered the door, he couldn't help looking around like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden.

Mrs. He has a good temper, holding Xianxian with one hand, while calling the servant to inform He Zhen.

When Xu Ziru followed Mrs. He around several courtyards, He Zhen was already standing at the gate to greet her when he arrived at the destination.He saw the visitor walking over in three steps and two steps, held Xu Ziru's hand, and said happily, "Xiao Xu, right? We haven't seen each other for more than ten years since we parted from Shancun!"

Xu Ziru also shook his hand sincerely: "Godfather, I never expected to meet you here!"

The two of them held hands at the door and exchanged sincerely. Mrs. He was serving tea in the house. Seeing that the two were still standing at the door, she couldn't help laughing and said, "Let's come in and say, what kind of hospitality is standing at the door?" road?"

Xu Ziru blinked at the room when he heard the words: "Godmother, you are welcome, what kind of guest am I?"

He Zhen laughed heartily when he heard the words, and then led Xu Ziru into the room: "Yes, yes. Madam is right, you and I should sit down and talk in detail."

Xu Ziru and He Zhen sat in the room.He Zhen seemed to be really happy, and he really cared about the matter of freedom of mood. The two chatted back and forth on the tea table for a few pots of tea.

Xu Ziru couldn't help but glanced at Xianxian who was sitting alone next to him with an unhappy face.

He raised the topic: "Oh, by the way, isn't Xianxian going to make new clothes?"

Xianxian turned to look at him, his mouth so pouted that he could hang an oil pot on it.

Mrs. He smiled when she saw this: "You can't be so rude, Xianxian."

Xianxian was angry: "Aniang doesn't mean anything. She said that after accompanying her brother to find Dad, she would take me to make new clothes. Aniang is a liar!"

Mrs. He's face became embarrassing, and Xu Ziru said immediately before He Zhen could speak: "The godmother doesn't need to accompany me anymore. I live in Liunan Lane in Yanshui City, and I can visit you anytime in the future. As long as you don't think I'm here Just hit the autumn wind."

He Zhen immediately retorted: "Then why? Even if you come to live with me, I still welcome you."

Xu Ziru smiled: "If I offend Xian Xian, I dare not come again."

He Zhen also laughed when he heard the words: "The little girl has an arrogant temper, I'm laughing at you."

Xu Ziru said: "How could it be? When I saw Xianxian, I thought it was lively and cute."

Xu Ziru spoke eloquently, and finally Mrs. He left with Xianxian. Before leaving, Xianxian looked back and showed Xu Ziru a brilliant smile.

This smile was seen by He Zhen, the father who only had one daughter shook his head and sighed: "Oh, I'm really too spoiled."

Xu Ziru, however, completely changed his face after the other two in the room left.Silently, he took a sip of tea from the teacup on the table, moistened his throat, and replied flatly, "You really should be pampered."

He Zhen didn't hear the wrong tone in his tone for a moment, so he stood up and said, "It's lunch time, I'll let the kitchen prepare some food and wine. Xianxian must be arguing to eat outside, she can pick her mouth, favorite Let's leave them alone if we eat pastries from Fuguilou."

Xu Ziru remained silent.

He Zhen got up and walked towards the door: "Yes, I forgot. He Sui went out early in the morning for something, and now he should be back at this time." He turned around and asked freely, "He Sui, do you remember? The nickname is Anxi. But You were still young when you were in the Charity Hall, so it's normal if you don't remember..."

He hasn't finished speaking yet.

Xu Ziru put down his teacup, and said coldly, "He Zhen, does it make sense?"

He Zhen frowned and looked at him suspiciously.

Xu Ziru laughed mockingly: "Imagine a gentle and kind wife, a lively and lovely daughter. Is this your wish?"

He Zhen stared at Xu Ziru for a long time, his forehead inexplicably began to seep sweat, he steadied his voice and said, "Who are you, and what are you talking about?"

Xu Ziru sneered: "You lived a happy life in your dream, do you think it should be, He Zhen?"

He Zhen turned around and closed the open door. He stood at the door with his chest heaving slightly: "What are you talking about?"

Xu Ziru raised his eyebrows: "Didn't you take the Nuwa stone, what pillow?"

He Zhen denied, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Xu Ziru laughed twice: "Do you really think that there is such a thing as rebirth in this world? Do you really think that you can make up for all the wrong things you have done?" After he finished speaking, he couldn't hold back his ridicule, "In a dream? "

Sweat dripped down He Zhen's forehead, and he remained silent with a stiff face.

Xu Ziru was still lazily sitting on the chair, but the words that came out of his mouth were like sharp swords suddenly poisoned: "He Zhen, you are really ridiculous. Because of one mistake, you have made countless mistakes. What is the godmother? Who, your first wife? Your fiancée? Or the woman you abandoned, raped, and driven crazy after going out with you and being hijacked by bandits? Is she really this character? This is what you think in your heart Conceived, right? There is also Xianxian, she is so cute, and her personality is really innocent and romantic. Who is she? Is it the child born after the fiancée you gave up was raped?" Xu Ziru said, shaking his head here, tsk She clicked her lips, and her tone was even a little frivolous, "I don't know if you have seen her face in real life, she can hardly distinguish her facial features."

After Xu Ziru finished speaking, he paused, took a sip of tea leisurely, and continued to sneer: "Is this the life you imagined? In your despicable life, take these two miserable women Come to match you and make yourself happy. Can you still sit in this place majestically and enjoy happiness? Ask yourself, do you deserve it?"

He Zhen's face turned pale: "Who the hell are you?"

Xu Ziru clicked his lips, and he raised his voice: "I am an innocent person killed by you. If you didn't have such unbearable delusions in your heart, how could I appear in this place?"

He Zhen's lips trembled for a moment: "What nonsense are you talking about. I love my wife, pity my wife and respect my wife, and have a well-behaved and lovely daughter with her. I treat my daughter very well, and I don't want her to be wronged in this world. "

Xu Ziru sneered: "It's ridiculous. Who do you think you're making up for? Your fiancée who went crazy and committed suicide by falling into a well, or your fiancée gave birth to an abandoned child?"

He Zhen was silent.

Xu Ziru said: "You are just making up for yourself. A gentle and kind wife, a lively and lovely daughter. What a beautiful dream, who wants to wake up?"

He Zhen remained silent.

Xu Ziru smiled and said: "He Zhen, what a kind person. You saved people for most of your life, for what? Gave a good name, and attracted Nvwashi to come to you and help you complete this absurd spring and autumn dream? "

He Zhen hurriedly denied: "You are talking nonsense! I save people because I see others suffering, so I help them."

Xu Ziru clicked his tongue twice, and stretched out his hand to applaud: "My God, how great it is."

He Zhen was short of breath.

Xu Ziru said: "Then you take away the Nuwa stone, enter the dreamland of the Three Treasures, and harm monsters appear in your He family's mansion. Even harm the lives of people, how should you deal with yourself?"

He Zhen shook his head: "Impossible."

Xu Ziru smiled: "I'm standing in front of you now, do you still say it's impossible?"

He Zhen's lips trembled for a moment: "I don't understand what you're talking about."

Xu Ziru sneered and shook his head, his words were still full of teasing: "In the past, people told me that you would never wake up a person who pretended to be asleep. I didn't understand the meaning of these words at that time, but now I understand it." It's clear."

He Zhen took a deep breath for a moment, he straightened his clothes, and his body was in a posture of raising his hand to see off the guest.

Xu Ziru put down the water glass, tapped his fingers on the table, and after pondering for a moment, he persuaded in a deep voice: "You hold the Nuwa stone, and you can be guided out of your dreams when you are in bliss. You have to make a choice, why not?"

He Zhen coldly dropped his voice to see off the guests, and he was no longer as enthusiastic and happy as when they first met: "He Zhaimiao is small, please leave quickly."

Xu Ziru stood up from the chair, and he walked to He Zhen step by step, staring at He Zhen's eyes, and said word by word: "Of course, there is another way to make you dream."

He Zhen was stared at by Xu Ziru's pair of pitch-black eyes as if he was fixed in place, and it was difficult to move even a little bit, he swallowed.

Xu Ziru smiled slightly at He Zhen, and threatened: "Dreams can also occur when you are extremely hated, extremely sad, and resentful."

Xu Ziru smiled and bent his eyes: "If it's necessary, you still insist on doing this." He paused, his eyes showing a fierce look, "I don't mind, in front of you..."

"Kill the hundreds of members of your He family, one by one." Xu Ziru smiled.

"Crampling." Xu Ziru added slowly, "Then you must be in extreme pain and hatred, right?"

After Xu Ziru said this, He Zhen fiercely drove him out of the room. He stood at the door and clicked his tongue, then raised his steps and walked towards the door.

There are a few strings of pendant toys that seem to be made by children hanging at the entrance of the corridor, and they are scattered and shaken by the wind.

Xu Ziru lazily walked to the gate, touched his head and realized that he forgot to take the meat he bought, he went to the gate and turned around, he wanted to ask the boy who closed the door behind, but when the door was closed, he saw someone hurriedly approaching.

After a while, the closed door opened, and an adult man in his twenties appeared behind the door. Xu Ziru saw him familiar, but couldn't remember clearly.The man held a paper bag in his hand and handed it to Xu Ziru: "I almost forgot this, or I would have left it in our kitchen for dinner."

It happened to be the meat that Xu Ziru forgot to take away, Xu Ziru hurriedly reached out to take it, and thanked him with a smile.

The man also smiled slightly: "You're welcome."