There is a small mountain town called "Tea Castle" near the official road in Yongshun Mansion, there is a small stream at the foot of the mountain, and there is a small white tower by the stream, and a single family lives under the tower.

Xu Hao didn't dare to choose to stay in the village, for fear of being remembered by the amorous young Miao girl, whether to marry or not is a big problem, not to mention the gloomy grass Gu woman who is hidden.

The stream flowed down through the mountain stream, and about three miles into the great river. If you cross the creek and enter the city, it is only a mile away, otherwise you will have to walk a long way.

It is said that it is a stream, but it is actually about 20 zhang wide, obviously the stream in the population of Xiangxi is not much the same as Xu Hao imagined, the quiet water surface is so deep that it cannot be probed to the bottom, but it is still clear and transparent, you can see the swimming fish in the clear water at a glance, the agate like stones, and the fish seem to be floating in the air.

Because the stream rises and falls every year, the government has not yet built a solid stone arch bridge due to financial resources, and for many years, a square-headed ferry has been arranged.

The ferry, which can carry 20 people across the river with people and livestock at a time, is fixed to the rocks on this side, and the movable iron rings are hung on it during the transition, and the people on the boat are dragged to let the ferry slowly swim across the opposite bank.

The old man of the family under the white tower who manages the ferry, is considered to be half a public servant, and the government stipulates that no ferry money is charged, and seven buckets of rice and four hundred yuan are received every year, which is already an enviable salary.

There was a girl in the old man's house, a big yellow dog. After Xu Hao stayed overnight, he learned that this sixty-year-old man had been guarding this stream since he was twenty years old and had worked for forty years, that is, he was the first generation of civil servants after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and he could have a stable job, which made the old man very grateful to the imperial court and respected the late Emperor Taizu very much.

It stands to reason that when he is old, he should have rested, but the old man never thought about retiring and faithfully fulfilling his responsibilities.

The girl is fourteen years old this year, and her mother is the only daughter of the old man. Fifteen years ago, I got along with the sergeant in Tunbian, when the old man was very happy, as a Han person, he naturally wanted to marry his daughter to a Han person, although the military household was not welcomed in the Central Plains, and the status was not high, but in Xiangxi and other border areas, he had a stable income and a relatively good status.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long, as a soldier died in a battle to suppress bandits, and after the grieving mother gave birth to a daughter, she went to the stream and ate a lot of cold water and died. The sad old man raised his granddaughter alone and gave him a nice and ordinary name, "Cuicui".

Cuicui grows in the green mountains and green waters, the skin becomes black, and the eyes are as clear as crystal. Innocent and lively and vigilant and careful, he is like a rabbit when he moves, like a boy, and he is very well-behaved when he is quiet, and he never worries. Never breathe.

Usually, when a stranger pays attention to her on the ferry, she also looks at the stranger with a pair of eyes, with an aura that she can escape at any time, and when she understands that the other party has no malicious intent. I calmly played by the water again.

Xu Hao has rich experience in getting along with girls, and quickly became familiar with Cuicui, of course, provided that he first revealed his identity to the old man. Prove yourself definitely not going to bother, well, absolutely!

Windy and sunny weather. Someone was about to transition, the old man was tired and lay down on the big stone in Linxi and fell asleep, Xu Hao and Cuicui didn't let him get up, the two of them jumped off the boat, Xu Hao grabbed the iron ring, Cuicui commanded his unskilled movements, and sent the guests over.

When no one was around, Xu Hao threw a piece of wood from a high place into the water, and the yellow dog jumped down quickly and swam back to the wood. Cuicui especially likes to listen to Xu Hao tell her stories about the outside world, and always listens attentively, looking yearning.

The tea castle is built by the water and the mountain, on the side near the mountain, the city wall is like a long snake, and on the water side, there is room for the river outside the city to build a wharf, and a small caravan boat is berthed in the bay.

The boat carried away locally produced goods such as tung oil, green salt, cotton, cotton, yarn, cloth and miscellaneous goods, as well as the favorite seafood of the mountain people. A river street gradually formed on the side of the wharf, and most of the houses were half built on land and half on the water, all of which were stilted buildings.

In the spring, the river swelled, and the people on the river street used a long bamboo ladder, one end of which was set up at the eaves of the house, and the other end was set up on the city wall.

If the water is particularly fierce in a certain year, there will definitely be some houses on stilts along the river that will be washed away by the flood, and at this time everyone is looking at the city, and the people who have lost their homes are also staring, as if they have nothing to say to the ruthless God.

When the water rises, I look at the river that suddenly becomes wider, and the water is mighty, and there are houses, cattle and sheep, big trees, pots and pans, and so on. If you find a woman or child on a small sampan floating down the river crying for help, these men who have no house will immediately go out with their oars, float downstream to find a way to tie the sampan with a long rope, and then work together to save the person ashore.

What Xiangxi brings to Xu Hao is not only picturesque and mysterious, but also people's simplicity and ordinariness, and the most beautiful things are hidden in the ordinary.

There are many high mountains on both sides, and there are fine bamboos in the mountains that can be used to make paper, and the color is deep and green all year round. Cuicui said to Xu Hao that people near the water like to plant peach trees and apricot trees, here in Yongshun, where there are peach blossoms in spring, there must be people, and where there are people who can go to sell wine, there is no one in Xiangxi who does not drink.

There are 300 military families stationed in the city, who have already integrated into the local area in the past 20 years, except for the daily beating of trumpets to let people know that there are still troops stationed here, as if the official army does not exist.

It is one thing to sign up for the army to defend the country and to sign up for the army, there is no choice when you are born, it is another thing to be a big soldier for a lifetime, you have to farm to support your family, you have to practice to fight, and you have to pay a rent, and you have to be a cow and a horse for officers, how can your combat effectiveness not be low?

Every country had to spend money to support its army, so the reason why the imperial court was worried that the huge military spending would overwhelm the treasury was not valid at all.

In the afternoon, Cuicui took Xu Hao into the city to hang out. In the winter daytime, clothes and dried vegetables are dried in front of the doors of each house, and natural net pockets made of rattan are filled with chestnuts and hazelnuts and hung under the eaves.

There weren't too many men outside, and the women wore hard blue cloth clothes, with white cloth aprons hanging on their chests, bending over to talk and do things at the same time, and the small town was always so quiet.

The people here like to stand in front of the door very much, looking at the river and the scenery in the river, the plain and monotonous life, the women are most concerned about the boat, the familiar boat people do not bring the commissioned gold and silver jewelry, or two piglets and a nest of chickens, or two zhang cloth, or a jar of good soy sauce.

After walking around, the bouncing Cuicui pulled Xu Hao to go to River Street for dinner, compared to the year-round calm in the city, it is very lively, gathering business travelers from all over the world.

The streets are full of grocery stores, oil shops, salt stacks, flower clothes villages, sandalwood trucks used to sell boats, bamboo cables, pot shops, and all kinds of livelihoods, some of which Xu Hao has never seen or heard of.

Entering a small restaurant, there is fried yellowed carp tofu on the long table, but unfortunately there is no red and red pepper shreds, which are served in a shallow bowl, with an attractive aroma, and a large number of red chopsticks are inserted in the big bamboo tube next to the bowl.

Xu Hao and Cuicui walked over and sat down, each took out a pair of chopsticks in their hands, and a woman with grease powder came over and asked, "Childe, Miss, do you want sweet wine?" Want shochu? ”

Xu Hao didn't understand the importance here, so he saw Cuicui's consistent reaction from a local man, and pretended to be very angry: "Eat sweet wine? It's not a child, and he asks people to eat sweet wine! ”

The woman smiled and turned around, scooped out the cold soju from the large urn, poured it into an earthen bowl, and placed it on the long table.

The locals around are very curious about Xu Hao's identity, obviously not a passing businessman, more like a rich scholar, but there are unwritten rules on River Street, and no one will casually inquire about the details of others.

Cuicui tasted a sip of soju, then stuck out her tongue and didn't dare to drink it anymore, Xu Hao only drank a bowl, tasted a meal of carp tofu with corn, and paid the bill.

As soon as he returned to the ferry, he saw an argument between the old man and a young man who sold leather paper, and the young man insisted on paying, but the old man refused as always.

The boat came ashore, and the young man jumped onto the dock, threw a copper coin into the cabin, and hurried away with a smile on his face.

The old man had to pull the boat to let others ashore, and he couldn't chase after him, so he hurriedly shouted at Cuicui: "Help me pull the young man who sells leather paper, and don't let him go!" “

Cuicui didn't know what was going on, so she really took the big yellow dog to stop people, and the young man smiled when he saw this: "Don't stop me." ”

Xu Hao watched this scene with a smile, and someone told Sù Cuicui what was going on.

Cuicui understood, and as a result, she pulled the young man's clothes and didn't let go, and said repeatedly: "Don't go, don't go." ”

In order to show that he agreed with his master, the big yellow dog barked, and the big guys laughed, and no one could go.

The old man panted and chased after him, forced the copper coin into the palm of the young man's hand, and put two salted fish of his own, rubbed his hands together and said with a smile: "Let's go, you should go on your way." ”

"Humph!" The young man seemed annoyed, muttered and turned away.

Cuicui said, "Grandpa, I thought that person stole your things." ”

The old man said: "He gave me a lot of money, so I don't want it, sue him for not asking for money, and he still quarrels with me, unreasonable!" ”

Cuicui asked, "Did you pay him back all the money?" ”

The old man shook his head with a smile, very cunning and spirited, took out a Hongxi Tongbao from his belt, gave it to Cuicui, and said: "He got our family's salted fish, so naturally I can't suffer." ”

Suddenly, there was a sound of suona blowing in the distance, Cuicui jumped up, and shouted excitedly: "Come to greet the kiss, come to greet the kiss!" ”

The old man said to Xu Hao: "Today is the marriage of the young master of the Yongshun Teng squire's family, and he is the new bride of the Song family in the mountain city, fifteen years old. ”

seemed to explain to Xu Hao, but it was actually said to Cuicui, and Cuicui also understood the meaning of her grandfather's words, but she ignored it and ran to the hillside with the big yellow dog.

Xu Hao said: "Uncle, it's not good for a girl to be too young to get married, and her body hasn't grown yet. ”

The older the person, the more stubborn he became, but fortunately, Xu Hao's status was precious, and the old man didn't dare to argue, but sighed, "Childe, I'm already old." (To be continued......)