Besides, when Village Chief Wang returned home from the Xinzhou Yamen, he saw his sons Wang Jinfa and Le Zhihua happily picking and eating the Wanshou fruit from the Wanshou fruit tree in the compound. The feeling of intimacy was like a pair of lovers in love.
But Village Chief Wang was not happy because he still had an untreated heart problem. He thought of the wish he made before God: "If my son's serious illness can be cured, I will cover the hilltop opposite with silk and satin."
Now that his son's illness has been cured, he must "return to God" in return. This is the common thought of worshipers of gods, and it is also the simple and persistent sentiment of hard-working mountain people.
In the past few days, Village Chief Wang and several of his servants braved the scorching sun to go to the hilltop opposite. Taking a bamboo pole cut into a length of one foot as a ruler, they walked up and down the hilltop opposite, repeatedly measuring and measuring with The data was recorded in the books.
Village Chief Wang returned home, lit the oil lamp at night, and used an abacus to calculate the data recorded during the day. The more he calculated, the more surprised he became, and the more he calculated, the more chilled he became, and gloomy clouds of sadness emerged. The shame kept him awake all night.
Zhang Shaofei returned to Lejiazhai from Xinzhou Yamen and came to Wang Village Chief's house as usual to see how Wang Jinfa was recovering. It was discovered that Wang Jinfa's body had recovered, but Village Chief Wang did not speak as cheerfully as he did a few days ago. His face turned gloomy and asked: "Village Chief Wang, what's the matter with you? Are you also suffering from a serious illness?"
Village Chief Wang: "No... nothing..."
The more Village Chief Wang hesitated, the more he attracted Zhang Shaofei's attention: "If you have anything to say, just tell me. Maybe I can share your worries."
Village Chief Wang knew that Zhang Shaofei was a zealous and upright man, so he had to tell Zhang Shaofei in detail about his vow before God, and then said: "Looking at it from a distance, the mountain opposite doesn't seem that big, but these days I have I went to the top of the mountain with my servant to survey and measure it. It turned out to be several thousand acres in size. I calculated that if I wanted to cover the mountain with silk and satin, it would cost at least 100,000 pieces. Even if I sell the land, I can even sell the land. The big house was also sold, and I couldn't raise enough money to buy those silks and satins."
"Hey, from what you said, this is indeed quite difficult." Zhang Shaofei thought for a moment and comforted, "Since you made a wish to God that night, and now you really can't fulfill it, you might as well come back and burn incense to thank God. .”
"No, no!" Village Chief Wang waved his hands violently and said, "I made a wish before God, and I promised a thousand gold coins. If I break my promise, I will be struck by the thunder of heaven, and the descendants of my Wang family will also be punished and suffer disaster by the gods." He is kind-hearted. The mountain people have so much faith in the gods and are so persistent in the oaths they have sworn.
Zhang Shaofei asked in confusion: "Village Chief Wang, how could you be so confused and make such a big wish at that time?"
Village Chief Wang was filled with regret at this time and hit his head with his fist, with a look of helplessness on his face: "I can only blame myself for being eager to save my son that night and not thinking so much before blurting out and making such a big wish. .”
Zhang Shaofei saw that Village Chief Wang was so pious to God and his character was so stubborn. He pinched his chin with his hand and squinted his eyes, thinking that he wanted to "borrow some strength". Suddenly, a bright light flashed through his mind. He shouted excitedly: "Is there a way?" His voice was so loud that everyone present was startled by him.
Village Chief Wang stared directly at Zhang Shaofei: "What can you do?"
Zhang Shaofei analyzed: "Even if you really have the ability to raise enough money, you can buy back 100,000 pieces of silk and satin to cover the top of the mountain. This will alarm the neighbors from all over the country and praise Village Chief Wang for keeping your word and keeping your promise. But have you? Have you ever thought about the sequelae of this incident?"
Village Chief Wang blinked: "If I do good deeds, will there be any sequelae?"
"Yes," Zhang Shaofei said with certainty, "If you cover the hilltop opposite with those silks and satins, it will look spectacular at first. But those silks and satins are exposed to the broad daylight and withstand the sun and rain every day. If wet, they will not only fade in half a year, but also become rotten. By then, the mountains will be covered with rags, mold and smell, turning into mountains of garbage. When it rains, sewage will flow across the mountains. Who is going to clean up this situation? You Doing this is disrespectful to the god you made a wish to, and will cause him a lot of trouble in the future. Aren't you just counterproductive?"
"This..." Zhang Shaofei's words were like a sharp needle pricking the nerves of Village Chief Wang, making him horrified, "Ah, silk and satin are indeed very easy to rot when exposed to the sun and rain in the open air. How can I do this? Haven’t you thought clearly?”
Zhang Shaofei said confidently: "I have a way for you to respect the gods and save money at the same time, so you can get the best of both worlds."
Village Chief Wang didn’t believe it: “Is there such a thing as the best of both worlds?”
Zhang Shaofei's tone was mysterious: "So I thought of a substitute for you."
Village Chief Wang asked impatiently: "Substitute? What are you going to use as a substitute?"
Zhang Shaofei said loudly: "Plum blossoms!"
"Plum blossoms?" Village Chief Wang couldn't equate silk and satin with plum blossoms for a while, and said, "They are completely unrelated. How many plum blossoms do I need to buy to cover the hilltop opposite? "
Seeing Village Chief Wang's anxious expression, Zhang Shaofei expressed his thoughts: "Since it would cost too much to cover the hilltop with silk and satin, it would bankrupt your fortune, and it's not practical and attractive. I think you might as well cover it on the hilltop opposite. Plant plum trees everywhere."
Village Chief Wang still only thought to one side, puzzled: "How can we repay the gods by planting plum trees all over the place?"
Zhang Shaofei made a cross with his hands on his chest, and then expanded forward: "The plum blossoms are otherworldly, the color of the plum blossoms is gorgeous but not coquettish, the appearance of the plum blossoms is ancient but delicate, the fragrance of the plum blossoms is quiet and elegant, the plum trees are blooming One tree can bloom with thousands of flowers!"
Village Chief Wang also planted several plum trees in front of his door. He nodded and said, "When the plum trees bloom, the trees are full of flowers. What kind of plum trees should we plant here?"
Zhang Shaofei: "Green calyx plum."
Village Chief Wang: "Green calyx plum?"
Zhang Shaofei explained: "There are many varieties of plum blossoms. The north is suitable for planting red plums and yellow wintersweets, and our place is most suitable for growing green-calyx plums."
Village Chief Wang: "Green-calyx plum? As the name suggests, are its flowers green? Where can I find them?"
"No." Zhang Shaofei stretched out his hand and drew a big circle around, "The central calyx of the plum blossom is green, but its petals are white. There are many plum blossoms on Tianlu Mountain now. Oh, What you plant in front of your house is the green-calyx plum."
"Ah?!" Village Chief Wang's eyes were cleared of a layer of fog, and he couldn't help but laugh, "I only know that we have planted a lot of plum trees in Tianlu Mountain, but how do I know what kind it is? It turns out that I was in Riding a bull to find a bull.”
