"The moonlight shines, oh, it shines on the earth. Shrimp boy, please go to sleep quickly. Tomorrow, grandma will plant rice seedlings, and grandpa will drive the cows to the hills. The harvest will be good, and the warehouse will be filled. The old and young will be happy~~ ~" A long and distant old song came from the Qilan Lake, full of self-sufficient joy in the tranquility.
The night sky was cloudless and white, the stars diffused their dazzling light, and the bright moon hung high in the center. On a moonlit night on Jinlan Lake, two small boats were slowly sailing facing each other on the lake. It can be seen by the moonlight that the man at the helm of one of the boats is a hale old man, and this song was sung by him.
The boat traveling in the opposite direction slowly approached it. A young man in white walked out of the cabin, stopped at the bow of the boat, clasped his hands to the old man and asked warmly, "Old boatman, this ballad you sang is so nice. I don't know." What's your name? Maybe I can tell Xiaoke about it?"
"Haha~" the slender old man stopped the boat and replied, "Young master, that's ridiculous. This ballad was made up by the little old man himself. It's so vulgar that it makes the Fang family laugh! As for the name of the song, the little old man made it up by himself. I couldn't think of any good poems and poems, so I took the first prize and called it 'Moonlight Light'."
"'Moonlight'?" The young man in white muttered softly, and then said to the old man, "Old boatman, are you going fishing?"
The old man singing laughed and said, "Haha, it's already ugly time. I have closed the net this morning and caught a few Dalanhu quail and a few season flower mandarin fish. I am going back!"
"Oh, just right! Xiao Ke has heard for a long time that the Huquan and Jihua Mandarin fish here are delicious and boneless, elegant and sweet, and he is just thinking about buying a few to eat! Old boatman, can you give me a few?" the young man in white said happily. .
The lake is wide and spans three counties. Many people nearby rely on the lake to make a living, among which ferrying, fishing, and weeding are the most common. These livelihoods are all without capital, and what ordinary people lack most is strength, so ferries, fishing catches, and straw sandals are all very cheap. The old man was wearing ragged clothes, so he thought his family was not rich. When he heard that there was a customer buying fish, he said happily, "What's wrong? They are all in the water tank, and I can't see clearly now. How about I pick out the fattest fish for you?" of?"
"No need to bother, Xiao Ke has quite a few friends with us. If you don't want to leave me, you can give me as many as you want. How about that?" The young man in white laughed loudly. Under the moonlight, I saw him standing at the head of the boat. He was dressed in white clothes that were better than snow. His eyebrows were like sculptures and his face was like a crown of jade. The breeze blew, and his hair and clothes were swaying lightly in the wind, giving him a handsome and handsome appearance.
"Young master, you are so handsome and kind-hearted! I am fishing just to get some money, so why don't you want to give it up? There are nine tails of Jilan Lake turtle and six tails of Jihua mandarin fish, both weighing one and a half to two kilograms. Jin, um, it's just one penny of silver, okay?" The old man touched his beard, made an estimate, and calculated the cost of the goods at 60% of the market price.
The young man in white clasped his hands and said with a smile, "It's best this way. There is a water tank at the back of the boat, so just go ahead and catch the fish."
The old man turned the boat around so that it was aligned with the boat in the same direction as the young man in white. He fixed the boat with an anchor hook and caught fifteen fish one by one in another water tank.
"Old boatman, I'll give you some silver right now!" Seeing the old man finish the fish, the young man in white took out a piece of silver the size of a fingernail from his pocket and said to him.
The old man washed his hand in the lake and wiped it dry on his clothes. He was about to reach out to pick up the money. When he came closer, he was stunned and said seriously, "Oh, this is not easy to handle! You little broken silver man said There are also three or four dollars, but I, the little old man, can't change it!" His wrinkled face was twisted and trembling slightly, and his brows were furrowed, showing that he was extremely embarrassed.
"Haha, old boatman, you are worrying too much! Xiao Ke has been playing in Jinlan Lake for four days, and has talked a lot with the fishermen here. He knows that these lake bream and season flower mandarin fish are not easy to come by. Usually the big lake croaker is only Twelve or three liang, your nine-tailed lake catfish weighs more than a pound. There are even fewer mandarin fish this season, making it harder to catch. The old boatman offered a price of one penny, so how could Xiaoke dare to take advantage? ? Please accept it!" The young man in white said with a hearty smile, and then held the silver grains in his hand and sent them to the old man.
The old man hesitated for a while, trembled, but stretched out his hands to take the silver grains. He lowered his head and thought for a while, then said, "Young master, your accent sounds like a foreigner. Can you stay here for a while? I can't take advantage of you for nothing. In the past few days, my family has been How about I make a few more trips to catch more fish and bring them to you to offset the extra money?"
"Old boatman, old man, how did you take advantage of me? If you are really sorry, I have some food and wine here, and I am eating and drinking alone. How about you come to keep me company and chat with me?" The young man in white and He discussed and saw that the old man was looking at the rough man holding his oar in his boat, he seemed to have doubts, so he smiled and said, "He is Xiao Ke's servant. He is very stiff and old-fashioned, and he refuses to talk to him even if he says good things." I'll eat with you." Seeing that the old man was a little moved, he added, "Xiao Ke has liked to travel around the mountains and rivers since he was a child, and is very interested in the local customs and local delicacies. I think the old boatman is an expert here, why don't you come and talk to me?"
The old man clasped his hands and said with a smile, "Haha, I'm greedy!" The young man in white made an invitation gesture and led him up. An old man and a young man sat down on both sides of the small table in the middle cabin. The old man looked around and felt quite restrained.
"Old boatman, I have a jar of wine here. If you don't mind the cold wine and the soup, let's have some wine and food! Let's talk while we talk." The young man in white lifted a clay pot jar from the side of the low table with his left hand, and took it from under the table with his right hand. A pottery bowl and a pair of bamboo chopsticks, he placed the bowl in front of the old man, filled it with wine, and then poured another bowl into his own bowl. For a while, the cabin was filled with fragrance and the smell of alcohol. The young man in white picked up the wine bowl and said to the old man, "Old man, we are destined to meet each other. You and I met by chance in the lake in the middle of the night, and we are in the same cabin. We have been separated for thousands of years. Why don't you drink a full bowl?"
The old man tremblingly picked up the wine bowl and said with a smile, "This is very good!" The two bowls clinked together and each drank it down.
"This wine is so good!" After a bowl of fine wine was consumed, the old man looked intoxicated, wiped the corners of his mouth and sighed.
"Haha, good wine must be accompanied by good guests to be interesting. At first, I was eating alone, which was really boring!" The young man in white said with a smile, "Old man, although the food is cold, just eat some. On an empty stomach. Drinking can be harmful to your health!" After saying this, he picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of the food to eat.
The old man picked up his chopsticks and said with a smile, "My life is very rough, but the food and wine are very good!" After saying that, he picked up a piece of pig ear from the dish in front of him and started eating.
The two were eating, drinking and chatting. From the time of prosperity to poverty, the fertile fields, the use of oxen, mules and plows, and the customs of the people and the government, the two of them had questions and answers, and the more they chatted, the wider they became.
"Oh, it's getting so bright, the old lady at home has to worry! Young Master, the old man is disturbing me, can we just say goodbye?" The two people walked out of the cabin, and the old fisherman realized that it was already getting late, so he said.
"I'd like to thank you for being with me. I have something to do, so please help yourself!" The young man in white bowed. The old fisherman thanked him with his hands, walked to his boat, paddled away. The rugged man holding the boat for the young man in white now walked from the stern of the boat to the bow and stood half way behind him.
"Mu Jie, why does Dahua have such a rich and vast territory and such a large number of hard-working people, but the people's livelihood under its rule is so difficult?" The young man in white said sadly, "I miss my country, which is located in a remote area of southern Xinjiang with many mountains. There is little water and miasma everywhere, and the seas turn over and the earth is flooded with natural disasters. Why do the people of our country have to live in this wild land for generations? Do they have to work many times the hard work in exchange for a family to support themselves?" After the young man in white finished speaking, tears flashed in his eyes. .
"Young Master, the entire Jue Kingdom has been waiting for hundreds of years, and the achievement is just around the corner! Mu Ji is willing to go through fire and water for the Young Master, and work to the death!" After hearing the emotion of the young master in white, the rugged man in white became very emotional, with tears in his eyes, and knelt down on one knee and said .
The young man in white stood on the bow of the boat and looked at the boat going away quietly, saying nothing for a long time.
"The moonlight shines, oh, it shines on the earth. Shrimp boy, please go to sleep quickly. Tomorrow, grandma will plant rice seedlings, and grandpa will drive the cows to the hills. The harvest will be good, and the warehouse will be filled. The old and young will be happy~~ ~" A long and distant old song came from the Qilan Lake, full of self-sufficient joy in the tranquility. The old man bowed his boat and left slowly, disappearing at the end of the lake in the morning mist.
