After carrying Ye Ming out of Chen Shusheng's house, it was okay at first and there was no problem carrying him. But after a while, Song Cheng felt that the person on his back was getting heavier and heavier.
Song Cheng gritted his teeth and insisted on carrying Ye Ming forward. Within a few steps, he was already sweating profusely.
Song Cheng, who was swaying step by step, barely supported himself and moved forward. Feeling that he could still hold on, he just walked forward with Ye Ming on his back.
During the next stretch of the journey, Song Cheng felt that he could no longer hold on. Every time he could no longer hold on, he would feel that Ye Ming became a little lighter and could barely hold on, but he did not feel relaxed at all.
As he kept moving forward like this, Song Cheng felt like he had sweated three liters, and his clothes were soaked with sweat.
I don’t know how I managed to get to the city gate. At this time, the sky was already spitting out white fish belly, and the city gate had just opened.
Not long after leaving the city, I heard Ye Ming behind me sighing comfortably:
“Comfortable~~~”
After stretching on Song Cheng's back, he seemed to notice his own condition and patted Song Cheng's shoulder strangely:
"Old Song, what's going on? Aren't we at your friend's house?"
"Don't you like to set off early, Mr. Yang? I think it's almost dark, and you haven't woken up yet, so I thought of setting off on my back, so as not to delay the trip."
Song Cheng gasped, thinking that he could finally put the person down.
Who knows Ye Ming said:
"That's it. I originally wanted to stay in the city for one more day. Since you're in such a hurry, Old Song, let's continue while I sleep a little longer."
With that said, he lay on Song Cheng's back and continued to sleep.
Song Cheng had trouble saying that he was so tired that he was about to collapse, but he didn't dare to put Ye Ming down for fear of hurting Ye Ming.
Just persevering, after walking for a long distance, the autumn wind picked up, dark clouds came over me, and it seemed like it was going to rain.
Seeing this, Song Cheng burst into tears with excitement, finally having a reasonable reason to let Ye Ming come down.
"Mr. Yang, Mr. Yang, wake up, wake up, it's going to rain. We have to find a place to take shelter."
This time Ye Ming was awakened. Hearing this, he smiled and said:
"There is an abandoned mountain temple over there. Old Song, just carry me there!"
"Hey, okay~~"
Song Cheng finally came to an end, holding his breath and carrying Ye Ming to the abandoned mountain temple.
However, the last section of the road was uphill, and Song Cheng, whose physical strength was almost at its limit, had to exert all his strength to feed Ye Ming before carrying Ye Ming on his back.
Donkey Gen carried Lei Ling on his back, and together they hid in the mountain temple leisurely.
"Yang, Mr. Yang, we're here, we're at the place."
Song Cheng was out of breath, as if he might die at any time.
Ye Ming smiled, got off his back, and knocked on the old door panel of the mountain temple with a bamboo stick:
"Take this off and lie down comfortably."
Song Cheng, whose whole body was sore and weak, just wanted to lie down and have a good rest, but he didn't dare to ignore Ye Ming's instructions. He forced himself to force himself and reluctantly removed the door panel. He couldn't hold on anymore and collapsed on the ground, gasping for air.
At this time, the continuous autumn rain started to fall outside. Song Cheng, who was extremely thirsty, wanted to drink some rainwater, but because of his face, he was embarrassed and could only endure it.
Ye Ming was lying on his side on the door panel, looking like he was enjoying himself.
The rain outside was pounding on the grass, trees and rocks, and there were leaks in the dilapidated mountain temple. The water kept dripping on the ground, which created a different kind of artistic conception.
Song Cheng didn't care to listen to the sound of rain. He sat on the ground for a long time and finally felt relieved.
I feel I have some strength, but I have been carrying Ye Ming on my back until now in the middle of the night, feeling empty and unbearably hungry.
Fortunately, he was careful this time and took out a piece of cake from his arms. This was something he had specially left last night to prevent him from getting hungry on the way.
I wanted to eat it directly, but after taking a look at Ye Ming, I still chose to take the cake to Ye Ming. When I was about to tear off half of it and hand it to Ye Ming, I didn't prevent Ye Ming from taking the whole cake away.
"Thank you, Old Song."
After saying something casually, he started to eat, and turned over with his back to Song Cheng, giving him a sneaky feeling.
Seeing this, Song Cheng hesitated and wanted to share a little bit, but in the end he couldn't open his mouth. He smelled his fingers that still smelled like flour, took a lick, and sat aside obediently, suffering from hunger.
It rained for a long time and didn't stop until the afternoon. When the rain stopped, Song Cheng quickly woke up Ye Ming, who was sleeping on his side:
"Mr. Yang, the rain has stopped and we can set off."
Ye Ming agreed with a smile, got on the donkey and walked out of the mountain temple. Song Cheng followed with a bit of fuss.
After leaving for a while, Song Cheng was a little speechless.
It turns out that there is a village less than two miles away from the mountain temple. They have wasted so much time in the mountain temple.
Seeing the village, Song Cheng became a little excited:
"Mr. Yang, I will give you a shout, and we are going to open a fortune-telling business."
"Fortune-telling? What kind of fortune-telling? It's not a good time to tell fortunes today, let's take a rest."
Ye Ming said something and rode into the village leisurely on the back of a donkey.
"What about our food and drink?"
Song Cheng asked quickly.
He really couldn't stand it any longer.
Ye Ming waved his hand and said:
"Each of us will find a way to solve it."
After saying that, Ye Ming rode a donkey to the door of a villager, knocked on the door, and didn't know what he said to that family. The family happily invited Ye Ming in.
Seeing this, Song Cheng was quite helpless. He was unbearably hungry and had no other choice. He wandered around the village and looked around, and found a family of persimmon cakes hanging under the eaves of the yard.
Song Cheng swallowed, his reason told him that he shouldn't do this, but his thirst for food had almost made him lose his mind.
Taking advantage of the fact that the man was not at home and the woman was weaving in the room, Song Cheng climbed over the yard fence, tiptoed under the eaves wall, reached out and grabbed a bunch of persimmon cakes, turned around and ran away.
Song Cheng, who had done this for the first time, was obviously very inexperienced. He was too hasty when he went out and made a lot of noise on the fence.
The woman weaving in the house was a country shrew. When she heard the commotion, she looked outside and saw that someone was stealing her persimmon cakes. She was furious, picked up a wooden stick and chased him out.
When Song Cheng saw this, he hurriedly ran away with the persimmon cake in his arms. He was chased and beaten by the fierce woman and received several blows on his body.
Fortunately, she was a woman with bound feet after all, so she couldn't catch up with Song Cheng, a man without bound feet, and let him escape.
The woman kept scolding me from behind, and the scolding was very unpleasant.
Song Cheng was so ashamed when he heard the woman's curses that he ran out of the village and hid in a broken thatched shed outside the village.
Although he was beaten, he finally got something to eat, and Song Cheng wolfed it down.
When he ate the last persimmon cake, Song Cheng stopped and put it away.
After filling his stomach and thinking about what happened just now, Song Cheng felt his face was burning. As a scholar with integrity, he had fallen to this point...
He didn't dare to go back to the village now, so he could only stay here and sneak around to find Ye Ming early tomorrow morning.
Not long after dark, another person came to the hut.
It was a beggar who looked like a young man, holding a stick and a bowl filled with thick steamed buns.
The beggar boy was surprised to see Song Cheng nesting here, and he became alert with a stick.
Song Cheng was also surprised. When he saw that this hut seemed to be often occupied by people, he immediately understood that this place belonged to this beggar boy.
But it was obviously impossible for him to give up here at this time. Song Cheng moved his body, made some space, and motioned for the beggar boy to sit together.
The beggar boy had seen many people. Looking at the scarf on Song Cheng's head, he knew that he was a scholar. Seeing that the other person did not seem to have any ill intentions, he sat down next to Song Cheng.
Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere was a bit awkward.
Seeing that Song Cheng didn't respond, the beggar boy ignored him and picked up the thick-wheat buns in the bowl and started eating.
Song Cheng on the side couldn't help but pursed his lips when he saw how sweet he was eating.
Those persimmon cakes are not as good as food after all. Although they can satisfy your hunger, you will get hungry quickly.
The beggar boy noticed Song Cheng's eyes, turned his back to him and started eating.
Seeing this, Song Cheng felt embarrassed and turned away, no longer looking at the beggar boy.
The beggar boy took a few bites and noticed Song Cheng's embarrassment. He looked at the remaining half of the steamed bun, hesitated for a while, tore off half of it and handed it to Song Cheng.
"Here you go, eat!"
Song Cheng looked at the beggar boy in surprise, moved his fingers, took the steamed bun, and started eating.
The atmosphere between the two seemed to have relaxed a lot, and as the steamed buns were finished, some kind of trust seemed to be established between the two.
Song Cheng thought for a while, took out the remaining persimmon cake from his arms, broke it in half, and handed half to the beggar boy.
The beggar boy took it and ate half of the persimmon cake.
The two of them suddenly looked at each other and smiled, and there was no longer that strange feeling.
The autumn night was cool, and it was a bit cold in the middle of the night. The two thinly-clad people hugged each other to keep warm, and slept happily in the thatched hut.
When the sky turned white, the beggar boy woke up first:
"I have to go to the city to beg for food."
After saying this, the beggar boy left.
Watching the beggar boy go away, Song Cheng straightened his clothes, straightened his hat, held his head high, and softly chanted:
“When greed arises, the intention is wrong, and it is difficult to do good deeds when the mind is trapped in the land and house.
The thatched cottage has the feeling of knowing the true self, and a single thought can destroy the width of the world. "
After chanting, most of them walked towards the village...
A woman and a man in the village were laying out persimmon cakes to dry in their yard.
When the woman saw Song Cheng appearing outside her fence, she immediately grabbed the man next to her and shouted:
"Master, it was this thief who stole our persimmon cakes yesterday and stole a whole bunch!"
Hearing this, the man came out with a hoe and went straight to Song Cheng.
Seeing this, Song Cheng didn't panic, let alone run away. He just waited for the man to come to him.
The man originally wanted to give Song Cheng a beating, but seeing that he was a scholar and looked so confident, he couldn't help but mutter, and his momentum gradually weakened.
"Xiucai, did you steal something from my house yesterday?"
the man questioned.
Song Cheng cupped his hands and replied:
"That's right. Yesterday, Song was obsessed with something and made a mistake in his errands, which led to him doing this. I'm here to apologize today."
"Apologise? People in our village don't talk about that. You just need to return the food."
Seeing Song Cheng's sincere attitude, the man didn't feel too embarrassed.
After hearing this, Song Cheng took off his coat.
"To be honest, Mr. Song is now penniless. Do you think you can use this dress to compensate?"
The woman also followed up, took the clothes, touched the material, and said to the man:
"Master, the material of his clothes is good. He can make clothes for our two little ones."
When the man heard this, his expression softened and he didn't care about the matter anymore. He generously gave Song Cheng a few more persimmon cakes for him to eat on the way.
Song Cheng did not refuse and happily accepted.
At this time, Ye Ming came out of yesterday's house in the village, stretched out, and rode on the donkey. Lei Ling also jumped on the donkey's back and came towards Song Cheng.
"Old Song, how did you sleep last night?"
Ye Ming took off the gourd from his waist, took a sip of wine, and asked with a smile.
When Song Cheng heard this, although he didn't have his coat, he still felt a bit majestic and said in a neither humble nor arrogant tone:
“After a good sleep, I wake up feeling refreshed and look at the world in front of me. It’s completely new and completely different!”
"Really? Now that we've slept well, let's continue setting off."
"Set off!"
...
