Another day.
Zhao Ning woke up in a strange room, and the sky was barely bright. The strange old man outside the door called her to eat, but she hesitated but couldn't resist her hunger, so she answered.
She asked, "What do you call grandpa?"
The old man said, "My surname is Qin."
she asked, "It seems like I shouldn't be here."
"Yes." The old man replied with a familiar smile, "Grandpa picked it up."
She asked again, "Can I go see the place where I picked it up? I don't remember it."
The old man said, "Okay."
After the meal, before going out, the old man handed her a candy bar, wrapped well in oil paper.
His movements were so natural that before Zhao Ning could react, the candy man was already in his hand.
The old man walked out, followed by Zhao Ning in small steps. He looked at the candy in his hand for a long time before taking a careful lick. It was much sweeter than expected.
After walking a long way, we came to a waterfall. The waterfall was not high, and the water was clear. The water vapor spread on the face, bringing with it the unique coolness and comfort of the mountains.
The old man said, "You rushed down from above."
Zhao Ning looked at the height, surprised that she was lucky, but also a little doubtful.
I saw him walking to the waterfall and stepping on the river rocks, as if he was going to a hidden cave behind the waterfall curtain.
"Grandpa, be careful."
Zhao Ning walked over in a few steps, but the old man extended his hand and said, "Here, I will show you some interesting places."
She moved her fingertips without reaching out, but the old man grabbed her arm, and with a movement of her body, she entered the cave behind the waterfall. Perhaps the angle of entry was too tricky, but there was no trace of wetness on her body.
There was some confusion and fear in my heart, but in the blink of an eye, I was distracted by the bizarre sight in the cave.
This is a cave with many stalagmites formed naturally. Milky white stalactites are piled on the ground. Strange and crystal fine sand is spread on the ground. The brilliance spreads on the fine sand, reflecting the colorful colors in the cave.
Going deeper, there are faint spots of light floating.
Zhao Ning watched the old man walking in, and she followed him in small steps. As she got closer, she realized that there were groups of fireflies dancing around her but not getting close. Only when she reached out to touch them would there be a firefly. The insect rested obediently on her fingertips.
At the deepest point, the cave opened another three points, and the cave was covered with green moss. Groups of fireflies flickered. A small tree in the center of the cave shone with light, and three fruits fell on it. They were small and plump. .
The old man walked over, reached out and picked one, then handed it to her.
He picked another one himself, wiped it casually, and bit it casually.
"Eh..." Before Zhao Ning could stop him, he had already swallowed it and motioned for Zhao Ning to have a taste.
Zhao Ning tasted the fruit only when she returned to her room in the courtyard. It was sweet and delicious. After taking a bite, she felt that her physical and mental fatigue had been swept away.
At night, Zhao Ning leaned on the bedside and looked at the moonlight coming in through the cracks in the window. It seemed that the moon was close to full.
She climbed to the end of the bed again and looked through the gap to the other side of the room. She didn't know when the lights went out.
After hesitating for a long time, he leaned against the bedpost and closed his eyes without realizing it.
Soon, the window closed silently, and a silver glow spread in front of the bed, brighter than the moonlight. The old man walking out of the silver glow glanced at her and gave her a rare smile.
He then helped her lie down on the bed, covered her with a quilt, and tucked her in again.
Then he disappeared quietly.
Half an hour later, the person on the bed opened his eyes, but there was no hazyness in his eyes when he just woke up, as if he had never fallen asleep.
There was surprise, confusion and hesitation in her eyes.
After a long while, she walked barefoot to the small study at the other end of the room, and in the dim light, she wrote on the paper.
"You seem to have woken up here several times. But you probably don't remember it when you wake up. I don't know what happened, but the grandpa in the house is a very good person."
"This is the first day. Let's consider it the first day. Grandpa gave you a piece of candy and took you to see the wonders of the cave in the waterfall. There are strange fruits in the cave, which are sweet."
After writing this, she slowly dried the ink, carefully folded it and stuffed it into her sleeve pocket.
Zhao Ning went back to the bed and lay down, looking at the old bed curtains, she slowly closed her eyes again.
*
Another early morning.
Zhao Ning got up from the bed and shrank her feet for a moment. The unfamiliar environment made her hesitate.
She heard a noise outside, but didn't look. When the noise was far away, she opened the back window and climbed out.
Zhao Ning was running in the mountains and forests. She was extremely frightened. She had just returned from the mountains the night before. The Qingyun Gang dragged two drug boys into the punishment hall, and all the drug boys were pushed in to see.
The steward's eyes were as wide as copper bells, and he waved his whip and scolded, "Okay, you little brats, how dare you hide the medicinal materials and sell them?!"
All the medicine boys shrank their necks, hearing him roar, "You think you are capable and want to save money, but you can, the gang gives you a lot of money every month! How dare you sell medicinal materials?
Don’t fucking tell me, that’s the medicine you gathered yourself. Your ability to identify medicines was taught by our Qingyun Gang. Your ability to collect medicines was also taught by our Qingyun Gang. The places where the medicinal materials are available are also occupied by our Qingyun Gang. They are from my Qingyun Gang, and secretly selling medicinal materials is a fucking betrayal of the gang! "
As he spoke, he picked up two small purses, unfolded them, and dropped a few coins on the two medicine boys.
"Hit me!"
"No, don't, we don't dare!"
But no one listened to their cries and howls, only the sound of whipping continued.
Soon, the voices of the two medicine boys became quieter, and their bodies were covered in the color of rotting flesh and blood.
In less than half a cup of tea, the two medicine boys lost their breath on the spot.
"Did you see that?" The steward pointed at the two dead medicine boys, "This is what happened."
Zhao Ning ran as hard as she could. She didn't know if she had been taken to a strange place when she woke up, but the bloodshed last night frightened her.
There seemed to be a heavy rain last night and the mountain road was extremely muddy.
While she was running, her foot slipped and fell to the ground, and a small paper ball fell out of her sleeve. Zhao Ning got up, grabbed the half of the soaked paper ball and ran into the forest.
She didn't know how long she ran, until she lost all her strength, she stopped and sat down under a tree.
Feeling something in her palm, she slowly unfolded it.
But I saw that the large words on it were blurred.
Only a few vaguely legible handwritings were left.
"...He's a very, very good person."
"..."
"This is the tenth day. Grandpa took me to find my place. We passed through a dark narrow road in the mountains. It took a long time to see the light ahead. The moment we stepped into the light, we could see the mountains and forests, and the vastness of the world."
"..."
"It was the twenty-fourth day. After breakfast, I ran away secretly, but I saw the handwriting left behind. After hesitation, I went back. Grandpa saw me, smiled at me, and said that dinner happened to be ready. "
"..."
"...I don't know how many days this is, but I know that my memory has regressed a lot, because my height has become three inches shorter, and I can no longer reach the mark I drew on the wall on the eighth day."
"..."
"It seems that a season has passed. The mangroves in the courtyard no longer shed their leaves, and the mountain flowers outside the courtyard are in bloom. Grandpa said that the mangrove tree is called Sangming. The most beautiful Sangming is far away. It can pave the way. Full of red clouds and full of starlight.”
"...If you can't find the way, just go home."
"Home is where Sang Ming's leaves fall."
Chapter 250
Zhao Ning hid behind a tree in the forest outside the courtyard and secretly looked at the small courtyard. It was already dark, but there was no light in the house.
She thought it might be that grandpa who left.
But after a while, she heard footsteps behind her, turned her head, and saw an old man carrying a bundle looking at her.
Zhao Ning flinched and heard the old man's voice with a smile.
"Where did he run away? His face is all wet."
As the old man approached, Zhao Ning found that he was very tall. Even though he was slightly stooped, he still looked up at him slightly.
Zhao Ning watched him put his hand close to her cheek, tilted her head subconsciously, and saw him picking a piece of withered grass from her forehead and tapping her cheek from a distance.
"The muddy water is going to clump together."
Zhao Ning subconsciously reached out to wipe it, but only touched a little bit of sand, just a little.
She looked puzzled and saw the other person walking into the yard with a smile.
After entering the courtyard, he handed the bundle to Zhao Ning, who held it with a questioning look in his eyes.
"Go and change your clothes." He rolled up his sleeves, "When you've changed, come and watch the fire for grandpa."
Zhao Ning waited for him to take a few steps towards the kitchen. When she saw him, he suddenly turned his head and raised his jaw towards the room she escaped from during the day.
She turned around and went to the room, lowered her head and pulled out a small piece of clothing material from the untied hole in the baggage. It was a dress that was gradually dyed in cloud green.
In the room, she kept looking at the room that she had not looked at carefully since she left in a hurry during the day.
Until she saw the marks painted on the corner next to the bed. They were marks carved with hard objects. There were several marks, ranging from dense to scattered, recording her height changes in just a few months. She raised her head to the corner and compared her height again. , I found that my height seemed to have shrunk by more than an inch.
She seems to be really growing back.
Twelve-year-old Xiao Zhaoning had no way to answer herself. She could only imitate before and carved another mark on the top and drew a "twenty" next to it.
After doing all this, she took a half step back, then turned around and went to the study cubicle at the other end of the room. She re-copied the record that was mostly covered in mud and water, omitting what was unclear, and finally added today.
"...The memory of waking up today was fixed in a very bloody scene. I saw Ah Jiu and Xiao Gou'er being beaten to death by the steward. When I woke up, they were in a strange room. I was so scared that I chose to run away.
But when I was desperate, I saw a reminder written by myself in the past or future.
I wanted to see the colorful fallen leaves of the mangrove tree named Sangming, and I also wanted to see if that very good grandpa was the shadow in my heart.
...Grandpa bought me nice clothes..."
