The joyful atmosphere of the Lantern Festival has not dissipated in the countryside. Zhang Shaofei and Liang Fuxing came down from Yunwu Mountain and went to the nursery to purchase some saplings. When they heard the sound of firecrackers and gongs and drums in the distance, Liang Fuxing suggested: "Yangshan Village will go to the king today." , how about we go take a look?"
Zhang Shaofei said with great interest: "Okay!"
Yangshan Village at the foot of Yunwu Mountain ushered in the grand festival of "Zou Dawang" on the 18th day of the first lunar month.
There are more than ten villages in Yangshan Village, and each village has an "authoritative king" passed down from their ancestors. These clay or wood carvings of the king are usually enshrined in the Dawang Temple at the head of the village. On the "King Walking Festival", villagers from each village hold colorful flags with the words "Good weather", "Guotai Minan" and other words, and carry the king of their village through the village with great pride, beating gongs and drums, and dancing lions in front of them. open circuit. Then came the villagers disguised as warriors, holding swords, guns, swords and halberds as guards, shouting loudly and majesticly. Along the way, the eight notes of the suona were played in unison, and the sound shook the sky. The "cracking" sound of firecrackers was deafening, and the exploding firecracker debris splashed everywhere like red rain. Villagers use this to drive away evil spirits and pray for happiness and good luck in the year.
After two young and strong young men carried the king around the village, the lion teams from each village gathered in the square in front of the king's temple. The martial arts masters danced with lions, flipping, falling, jumping, jumping high, worshiping... They used all their strength to perform, showing off their lion skills with many tricks and high difficulty.
Finally, there is a "green picking" competition. Compete to see which lion team can stack the human tower the highest and pick down the hanging "green" to compete for the crown of "high on top".
Villagers wearing new clothes crowded the square. Laughter, applause, cheers, gongs, drums, and firecrackers mixed together to form a festive symphony, which was very lively.
Zhang Shaofei also has the custom of walking the king in his hometown. Today, he is celebrating this rare festival in Yangshan Village. He feels particularly cordial and claps his hands happily.
A young man with fine features came to Liang Fuxing, pulled him aside, and talked to him about something.
After hearing this, Liang Fuxing pulled Zhang Shaofei out of the crowd of onlookers, pointed at the young man and introduced him to Zhang Shaofei: "A Fei, let me introduce you to a friend. This is Shi Deyi."
"Shi Deyi?" Zhang Shaofei felt that the name seemed a bit familiar and was thinking about it: "Shi De... Shi De..."
Liang Fuxing said bluntly: "Shi Deyi is the younger brother of Shi Deren who made a bet with me in Wei City about which was bigger, a Sydney pear or a longan."
Zhang Shaofei frowned when he heard Shi Deren's name.
Seeing Zhang Shaofei's expression, Liang Fuxing guessed what he was thinking and made it clear: "Although he and Shi Deren are biological brothers, their temperaments are completely different. He has a problem that cannot be solved. Knowing that you used your wisdom to solve it that day I got out of trouble, so I came to see if you could do him a favor."
Zhang Shaofei asked Shi Deyi, "What do you want me to do for you?"
"Alas!" Shi Deyi made a puff, knelt down in front of Zhang Shaofei, and sighed helplessly, "Knowing people, knowing faces, but not knowing hearts. This matter is related to my brother Deren."
"Ah, is this Shi Deren again?" Zhang Shaofei asked Shi Deyi, "What happened to you and your brother?"
"Listen to me." Shi Deyi looked at Zhang Shaofei and explained the cause and effect of this matter in detail.
It turned out that before Shi Deyi's father died, he divided the family property, two big houses, one for each of the two brothers. The four pots of silver he accumulated were divided into two parts, one for each son, so Shi Deyi also received two pots of silver. A few months ago, the old lady of the Shi family proposed to Shi Deyi, but a tornado blew over Shi Deyi's house and blew away many tiles. In order to make it easier to repair the house, Shi Deyi sealed the two jars of silver distributed by his father and gave them to his brother Shi Deren for temporary safekeeping until the house was repaired. After more than a month, Shi Deyi's house was repaired. He and his mother went to Shi Deren's place to retrieve the two clay pots of silver and prepare some betrothal gifts for the woman. But when he took the pot back, he felt that the pot was much lighter than before. He was suspicious and opened the seal. The snow-white silver inside was gone, and there was only a pile of stones as big as fists. Obviously, Shi Deren replaced Shi Deyi's two jars of silver with stones. Shi Deyi was so angry that he went to Shi Deren to argue with him and asked him to return the two jars of silver.
"Are you sure those two clay pots are filled with silver?" Zhang Shaofei further verified.
Shi Deyi sounded very sure: "How could I remember it wrong? My mother and my father put the money in with their own hands. It cannot be faked. My mother can testify to this."
"Since your mother personally testified, how can I deny it?" Zhang Shaofei asked again.
Shi Deyi spread his hands helplessly: "According to common sense, my brother should not be able to deny it. But the fallacy he raised makes me don't know how to refute him."
Zhang Shaofei said with great interest: "Then, what fallacy did your brother cite?"
Shi Deyi waved his hands and said angrily: "My brother said that when I gave him those two clay pots, they were indeed filled with silver. But he didn't know how the silver inside turned into stone."
Zhang Shaofei looked at Shi Deyi and said surprisingly: "Silver can turn into stone. This is a strange thing that I have never heard of!"
Shi Deyi nodded and said: "When I questioned my brother that day, he pointed to the sun and white clouds in the sky and answered, saying that things in the world are changing all the time. The sun in the morning is in the east, and in the evening it becomes invisible. We have gone to the west. The white clouds in the sky are fine now, but they will be blown away and disappear when the wind comes."
From Shi Deyi's narration, Zhang Shaofei thought of Liang Fuxing's bet not long ago, and was quite moved: "This Shi Deren is full of tricks, and a lot of lies will come out of his mouth."
Shi Deyi: "So, people from all over the country are usually afraid of dealing with him."
Zhang Shaofei: "Since you know that your brother is such a person, why didn't you be more vigilant at that time?"
Shi Deyi beat his head regretfully: "At that time, even the door of my house collapsed. During the repair period, my mother asked me to take the two pots of silver to my brother's house for safekeeping, so that it would be safer at night. I thought I He and Deren are the same flesh and blood, and his mother was present to testify. I never expected that he would do such a despicable act."
Zhang Shaofei: "Won't your mother come forward to seek justice for you?"
Shi Deyi was very helpless when he spoke: "My mother knew that these silvers were related to my life-long affairs, so she scolded my brother Deren in person and asked him to return the two jars of silver to me. But my brother and his wife both denied it. , saying that they had never touched the contents of the jars and returned the two jars to me intact."
"Ah, you don't recognize your relatives, and you value money more than flesh and blood. It's really too much." After listening to Shi Deyi's story, Zhang Shaofei thought for a moment and asked: "The last time we were in Wei City, there was a highly respected person. Mayor Mo? Why don't you ask him to come forward?"
"I also went to see Mayor Mo Wen'an at home. After hearing my story, he immediately went to my house and blamed my brother, telling him to put his brother's brotherhood first. But my brother and sister-in-law didn't listen. He denied that they had not defrauded the silver, and pointed to the two clay pots, saying that he did not know how the silver turned into stone." When Shi Deyi recounted this, he shook his head helplessly, "Mr. Mo went out of the gate to speak privately. Tell me, he can't subdue Shi Deren."
Zhang Shaofei: "This is really no wonder Mayor Mo."
Shi Deyi: "I heard someone said that the last time Asingbo and my brother made a bet in the market, my brother won four hundred bushels of grain through a trick, and almost lost everything. Fortunately, you came up with a good idea for Asingbo and helped him." The crisis has been solved, so this time I come to you to ask for your favor."
Liang Fuxing said to Zhang Shaofei: "Deyi is an honest man, Ah Fei, if you can help, please help him."
Shi Deyi said with a pleading voice: "I originally planned to keep these two pots of silver for three purposes. One is to solve my life-long affairs, the other is to support my mother, and the third is to open a small grocery store. In this way, my life will be better in the future." There is also a fundamental source.”
Zhang Shaofei: "It seems that those two pots of silver are indeed very important to you."
Shi Deyi pleaded: "You must help me no matter what, get back the two jars of silver from my brother. I will definitely reward you heavily."
Zhang Shaofei waved his hand: "Since I can help you, you must not ask for any reward."
Originally, Zhang Shaofei was hiding in the mountains and taking refuge now and should not be exposed to the public. However, he always has a kind and compassionate heart that is good to others and eliminates disasters for others. In addition, he acted in the "hiding the truth" Sha Danju, the blind fool deceived the court warriors who were chasing him back to Chang'an, Sha Danju, The blind man also claimed that he would lead the pursuit of him to Guangxi, Jiangxi and other places. It was estimated that the new killer would not come back so soon, and it would not be appropriate to send his mother back to her home in Taizhen Village too quickly. Therefore, Zhang Shaofei went to Shi Deyi Said: "Well, let me go to your home now, have a chat with your mother, see the situation on the ground, and see if I can come up with a good solution."
"Okay, come with me." After Shi Deyi said this, he took Zhang Shaofei to his home in the village.
The old lady of the Shi family is over seventy years old, with white hair, deep wrinkles, and several missing teeth.
She burst into tears when she told Zhang Shaofei: "Oh, I never thought that I would give birth to such a disdainful child as Deren, who is so greedy for profit and forgets justice. Ah Fei, please do a good job and help Deyi recover those two jars of silver. Otherwise Deyi No matter how I live my life in the future, I will never die in peace."
Zhang Shaofei comforted him: "Old man, don't be sad. You are most afraid that being too angry will damage your body. I am here to discuss with you and see if there is a way to get Shi Deren to spit out the money he swallowed."
