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Huanglong Prefecture, Yunze County, Yanxia County, Qingwa Town.

Qingwa Town, which has a name similar to a water town in the south of the Yangtze River, is actually not very beautiful. The name comes from the fact that every household in the town uses the special green clay in the town to make tiles, so that later the Liang Dynasty ruled the world.

After that, the word "green tile" was used as the name of the place, but in fact there were no literati in the town, and there was no scenery in the south of the Yangtze River. A small stream that was so pitiful that it could hardly be called a stream often stopped flowing in summer and winter.

Most of the people in the town have never been to school. Apart from the famous kiln factory in the town, there is actually nothing that they can use.

At this afternoon, a large group of children who had had lunch ran out of their houses and ran and played in groups in the town. A burst of cheerful laughter came out, which made people feel happy when they heard it. A rickety old man,

The man with gray hair walked slowly from the end of the long street. The children who were running and playing here saw the old man coming, but stopped playing for fear of accidentally bumping into the old man. Originally, the old man was thin.

It looks like a weed in the autumn wind. It is not known when it will fall. If they collide like this, they may be completely dead.

In fact, the town is not big, and children run around in the town all day long. Almost everyone in the town is familiar with him, but looking at this old man, he just feels unfamiliar.

Only a few children know that the old man actually came to this town recently. According to the old people who have lived in the town for a long time, the old man is not actually an outsider. He is the owner of the dilapidated courtyard in the east of the town.

When they were young, their parents died early, and they had nothing to worry about, so they went out to make a living. However, this journey lasted for many years, so long that they didn’t know how long it was. Anyway, those people of the same generation as the old man had long since grown up.

I found the piles of loess in the mountains outside the town.

Now that the old man has returned to the town, the old people say that this is the return of fallen leaves to their roots.

The children watched the old man pass before continuing the game they had paused before.

The rickety old man came to the small wine shop at the end of the long street, handed out the wine gourd in his hand, and said with a smile: "Have a bottle."

After saying this, the old man asked again: "Where is your mother?"

Today, the wine shop is not the charming wine woman, but a girl who looks no older than eleven or twelve years old. The girl took the wine gourd and then said softly: "Mother is not feeling well today. I

Look after the store for her."

The old man nodded with a smile and said, "Although winter has passed, the days of early spring are also cold, so you need to wear more clothes."

The girl nodded, and while filling the old man with wine, she suddenly said: "My mother was still talking about it a few days ago. You have been using this wine gourd for many years. Mother said that the water in it is the same as wine. You don't know how to use it."

No need to spend money on drinks."

The old man chuckled, "That's right, you can deceive anything. It's just this mouth. Why are you deceiving it?"

The girl was just joking and nodded when the old man said this.

After pouring the wine, the girl handed the wine gourd to the old man and said, "Two more."

The old man took out an ordinary money bag from his arms, took out two Daliang Tongbao, and then took a few more. "I don't think I can come tomorrow. My little girl, could you please send me another pot?"

The girl only took two Daliang Tongbao in the old man's hand, and quickly said with a smile: "The town is not big, it won't take long for a trip. I guess my mother will be able to guard the shop tomorrow. If my mother doesn't get up, I will close the shop after

Deliver it to you?"

The old man smiled and nodded, "No need to worry, no need to worry, I can do it whenever I have time."

After saying this, the old man waved his hand and turned around to leave.

The girl suddenly asked: "The old man in the town said

You are also from the town, but you went out to work a few years ago, is that true?"

The old man then slowly turned around, looked at the girl, and said with a smile: "Yes, I went out for a walk, and in a blink of an eye I became old, but I still accomplished nothing. It's not easy to hang out outside!"

As if the conversation had started, the girl quickly asked: "Aren't you married and have children?"

The old man shook his head, "I have a daughter-in-law who has been gone for many years and is now married."

The girl frowned and said, "Then why don't you let your daughter accompany you back? You will always be alone."

The old man was very calm and said with a smile: "Little girl, you don't understand. A married girl is just thrown water. She is still his own girl. She has a husband and a new home. Besides, I don't want her to accompany me.

, how nice it is to be alone."

The girl was a little angry and said: "This makes no sense."

The old man smiled and said, "There are so many unreasonable things in the world."

The girl smiled and said: "But don't be sad, I will come to see you when I have time, chat and have company."

The old man smiled and nodded without refusing.

After that, the old man wandered around, sipping wine along the way. The town was not big, and before long he had arrived in front of the small courtyard on the east side of the town. The paint on the wooden door was badly peeled. In fact, when he came back, the lock on the door was all gone.

It rusted to death long ago, and he didn't replace the door after that, and he didn't necessarily lock the door at night, so he just lived like that.

Walking into the yard, the old man lay down on a deck chair in the yard, and the wine gourd was placed on the table beside him.

The old man squinted his eyes, as if he was reminiscing about his life.

But not long after, a paper kite floated in from outside the yard and fell in front of the old man.

The old man opened his eyes slightly and saw a child outside the courtyard gate looking nervously inside.

The old man didn't get up, but quickly squinted his eyes again, not planning to say anything.

The child standing at the door struggled for a long time, and finally knocked gently and asked softly: "Can I come in to pick up something?"

The old man hummed softly.

The child then boldly walked into the yard that had been deserted for a long time.

The child breathed a sigh of relief when he looked at the small courtyard that was now considered clean and different from the previous desolation. No one had lived in this courtyard all year round before, and there were weeds everywhere in the courtyard. Later, I don’t know who made the rumor,

It was said that this yard was haunted, so the children were told to stay away from it. Originally, even if the yard now had an owner again, the children were unwilling to come near it, but the paper kite was made for him by his mother herself. If he lost it,

Oh, he feels so heartbroken.

Arriving in front of the old man, the child tiptoed to pick up the kite and turned to leave. But after thinking about it, he turned around and bowed deeply to the old man, whispering: "Thank you."

The old man slowly opened his eyes, looked at the child, and said with a smile, "It's nothing."

After hearing this, the child suddenly felt a lot more at ease, and gained the courage to ask the same question as the girl in the wine shop before.

The old man nodded, "I have indeed been to many places. At the farthest point, I saw the Great Wall."

After hearing this, the child suddenly became energetic and asked hopefully: "Then have you seen that general?"

Looking at the child's expectant eyes, the old man shook his head and said, "No."

The child's eyes were suddenly filled with disappointment.

The old man asked curiously: "What, do you know that general?"

The child shook his head and said softly: "How is that possible? He is a general. How can I know him? It's just that my father often said that he is the greatest hero in the world. I also want to meet him."

The old man said casually: "Who is a great hero? He is just a bad old man."

The child was a little angry, "The general is guarding the Great Wall for us, how can you say this to him?"

The old man was a little stunned and said nothing.

The child reacted quickly and apologized again with a red face.

The old man didn't care and said, "All great heroes must be old. He has lived for so many years and is already an old man."

The child shook his head, still unwilling to accept this statement.

The old man didn't hesitate too much. He just picked up the wine gourd and took a sip. Then he saw the child staring at the wine gourd in his hand and said with interest: "Take a sip?"

The child swallowed, but still shook his head.

His father wouldn't let him drink, not even rice wine during the Chinese New Year.

The old man sneered: "What are you afraid of? Just take a sip if you want. It's just a beating. What's there to be afraid of?"

Irritated by the old man's words, the child took the wine gourd, raised his head and took a big gulp, but soon he choked and his face turned red.

The old man laughed.

The child glanced at him and quickly took another sip in anger. This time he barely swallowed it, but his face turned red all of a sudden.

After drinking, the child opened up his chatterbox and asked: "You have traveled so far and seen many amazing people, right?"

The old man asked: "Who is so amazing?"

"The kind that can fly?"

The children are also a little unsure.

The old man laughed and said, "I've seen a lot of them."

The child immediately became interested and pestered the old man to tell him a story.

The old man shook his head, "My story doesn't sound good."

The child thought for a while and asked: "Then do you know the story of the general? I heard from my father that he is also from Huanglong Prefecture."

The old man nodded this time, and then slowly started to talk about the story of the general. However, he was not a good storyteller, so he just told it in a straightforward manner. However, when he told those stories, they were still very magnificent, and the children would feel happy from time to time.

Full of yearning, the old man looked at the child and said with a smile, "I stayed on the Great Wall for many years. Then I felt homesick, so I went home."

The child was surprised and said: "If he is not on the Great Wall, then who will guard it? Dad said the monsters over there are cannibals."
To be continued...