On the autumn night of the twenty-ninth year of Shenwu, the main peak of Jiao Mountain at the foot of Xijing Mountain.

The reckless mountains are endless, and the thin autumn rain is like a needle, swaying in the ancient city of Zhongfang, which is lit up all night. In a small alley in the ancient city, muddy and dark, a little girl held a sugar gourd stick in her hand, jumped home, and recited a nursery rhyme in her mouth:

The wind is blowing, the weather is cold,

Blowing off the leaves one by one, urging the swallows to return to the south.

This is a nursery rhyme that her mother taught her, which hides the name given to her by her father, surnamed Sun, and named Yanliang. Today, it is the beginning of autumn, but it is a good day for her family, her father went to the court to be a big official, told her to stay at home and listen to her uncles, her mother is in labor, and she wants to add a little brother or little sister to her. She heard others say that when she gave birth to her little sister, she asked the Bodhisattva to bless her, so that her mother would not suffer much.

The little girl, fearing that she would cause trouble to the adults, quietly climbed under the wall, listening to the hoarse roar of her mother in the delivery room, scared and curious.

She remembered to go to worship the Bodhisattva, this was told to her by the big sister of the teacher's family, she would go to the teacher's house next door with her mother every month, where there was a sugar gourd sold by a small seller, which was much more delicious than her father's cooking. Uncle Shi will not be like his father, scolding his mother with a straight face, always smiling and handing tea and water to his mother, and not forgetting to stuff her small pocket with peanuts and candies on the table before leaving.

She quietly went out, and the rain gradually thickened.

The family is in a mess, no one cares about this little girl, Sun Yanliang sneaked to the corner of the street, looking down at the mighty mountains, and a long river flowing slowly, her family originally lived in the mountains, and many families lived in the mountains, forming a large town.

There was a strange uncle in the town, who lived in the mud alley on the corner of the street, and she had been to that place once, it was very dilapidated and desolate, and a small courtyard surrounded by a loess wall was the uncle's home. This uncle gets drunk every day, and when he bumps into himself on the street, he looks at it stupidly, and sometimes he looks stupid, but the little girl is embarrassed, and just wants to run away, this strange uncle will not know where to take out a string of sugar gourds, gently push into his hand, touch her head, and say with a smile: "Xiao Yan Liang, Xiao Nian Niang, Xiao Yan Liang, Xiao Nian Niang......

There is also a strange uncle in the family, who was brought home by his father last time, and when he came, he had a cold face and didn't say a word. Turning a blind eye to everyone, she once thought about getting a sugar gourd to lead him to talk, and as soon as she stepped into the door of the room where no one had ever entered, she heard Daddy's deep voice: "What are you doing here, get out." She pouted and said, "I'd like to see this weird uncle." Daddy couldn't help but say that he lifted her to her mother's room and threw her outside, Xiao Yanliang hid outside the house, and soon heard the quarrel between Daddy and Mother in the inner room, and then the sound of jars smashing......

She was a little scared now, and she really wanted to go to the corner to find that strange uncle, but when she thought of the long knife on the waist of this sloppy strange uncle, and the smell of drunkenness, she thought about it.

Turn the corner of the street, step on an upward staircase, at the end of the long staircase, is the temple that the town people often go to - Enji Temple, there are many Bodhisattvas in the temple, she can't call a name, only Uncle Sun Can can clearly say the name of each Bodhisattva, Uncle Sun Can is really powerful.

She didn't know which one was to bless her mother, so she simply knelt down and worshiped each one.

After worshipping her, she seemed to remember that every time she and Uncle Sun Can came to see the Bodhisattva, she would bring something to eat and play, many long sticks like wooden sticks, which would smoke when lit, and were inserted in the incense burner, and there were piles of yellow paper, printed with red Taoism; There were also plates of small fruits, which were placed on the table. She didn't have anything, Sun Yanliang thought so, she quickly ran home again, and brought her favorite sugar gourd from home.

The best thing in the world is sugar gourd.

After climbing in front of the Buddha statue and kowtowing, Sun Yanliang took off a string of sugar gourds in his hand, and finally reached the offering table with his feet, looking difficult but solemn, and obediently put down one.

In front of each Buddha statue, she placed one.

She murmured: "The Bodhisattva ate the sugar gourd, the little brother should be obedient, come out of the mother's belly." ”

Xiao Yanliang still wanted to keep one for himself, but in the end he found that the Bodhisattvas were not enough, and the last sugar gourd was pinched in his hand, biting his lip, and it seemed that he was making a big determination in the next step.

"Forget it, it's the mother's body that matters."

She put the last sugar gourd on the offering table, and said to the Buddha statue: "Grandpa Bodhisattva, you eat my sugar gourd, you must bless my mother to give birth to a little brother, the next time I and Uncle Sun Can come, I must bring a lot of small wooden sticks and small yellow paper, all for you, I have been looking for a long time today and have not found it, not that I didn't bring it." ”

He comforted the Buddha statues who did not have sugar gourds: "Grandpa Bodhisattva, Xiao Yanliang will definitely bring you a lot of sugar gourds next time, so that you can eat to your heart's content." Sugar gourds are the best to eat. ”

After worshipping the Bodhisattva, she suddenly felt that her mother's illness would definitely be cured, and it was Xiao Yanliang's credit to release the little brother from her mother's belly.

She reluctantly glanced at the sugar gourd on the table, looked at the sugar skewer in her hand, and begged: "Grandpa Bodhisattva, Xiao Yanliang has given you all the best sugar gourds in the world, you must bless your mother." ”

Only then did he walk out of the temple and hop home.

Sun Yanliang was in a very happy mood, and sang the children's rhyme that her mother taught her, the drizzle was silky, slippery, and crawled all over her little face, much like the sugar shreds pulled out of the sugar gourd, she licked her lips, and seemed to have eaten the sugar gourd on the table.

went down the hill and went to the corner of the street, but under the eaves next to him lay the strange uncle with a knife, the pungent smell of wine hit, Sun Yanliang knew that this uncle was unconscious again, and there was no one around, she walked to her, pushed the sloppy man, and said, "Uncle Cao, it's raining, you go home quickly." ”

The person with the knife was surnamed Cao, and he was not drunk, but woke up with a push. When I opened my thick eyebrows and big eyes, I saw that it was a five-year-old girl, touched my head, and said with a smile: "Xiao Nianniang, it's raining so hard, why are you still running outside, and your uncle will send you home?" ”

The girl smiled and showed a mouthful of tiger teeth, and said, "I'm going to ask for a bodhisattva for my mother, and the bodhisattva will give birth to younger brothers and sisters if the bodhisattva eats my sugar gourd." ”

The man surnamed Cao suddenly understood, and echoed: "Yes, the sugar gourd is so delicious, the Bodhisattva will definitely bless it." Bless the mother, bless the Sun family, and bless Xiao Nianniang. ”

Sun Yanliang immediately corrected: "I just need the Bodhisattva to bless my mother." ”

"Okay, well, bless my mother, bless my mother." Uncle Cao laughed and coughed repeatedly, suddenly remembered something, and asked, "Xiao Yanliang, do you want your mother to give you a little brother or a little sister?" ”

The girl lowered her head, the question seemed difficult to her. Is it better for my younger brother, or is it better for my younger sister, my younger brother won't rob me of sugar gourds to eat or my sister won't rob me of sugar gourds to eat, she thought for a long time and said, "My mother said that it was a younger brother, so I also want a little brother." ”

Uncle Cao pretended to be surprised and said, "What if my brother robs you of your sugar gourd?" ”

Sun Yanliang pouted and said, "I won't give it." ”

Uncle Cao smiled evilly: "Then your mother will be unhappy, what should you do if your mother is unhappy?" ”

Sun Yanliang hurriedly said: "I don't want my mother to be unhappy, I ...... Don't want to. She lowered her head again, made up her mind for a child, and said solemnly: "I will give him the sugar gourds, and I will tell him not to upset his mother, and if his mother wants me to give him all the sugar gourds, I will give it to him." ”

Uncle Cao leaned back with a smile and said, "Xiao Nianniang, you are really Nianniang, if your brother robs you of sugar gourd in the future, you can come to your uncle, and your uncle will buy it for you." ”

Sun Yanliang turned from worry to joy and said happily: "Really? ”

Uncle Cao was very sure and said, "Really! ”

"Pull Hook?"

"Pull Hook!"

The two little fingers are hooked, and the thumbs are turned up and next to each other.

The white little hands and the big black hands swing up and down, "the hook is not allowed to ......change for a hundred years"

The surname of the man with the knife is Cao, the name is a letter, and the word is Jin. No father and no mother, he is alone at home, when he was a child, he gave sheep to others for a living, and by chance he got an old man's guidance, taking advantage of the gap between herding sheep to be self-taught, practicing a set of knife skills, once also went down the mountain to break through the world, and then returned to the mountain, hiding in the thatched hut all day long drinking and living, the older people in the town all advised the younger generation, do not provoke him, although Cao Xin has no relatives and no reason, but also lived a stable life.

He stood up, took out an oil-paper umbrella from behind him, opened it, took Sun Yanliang's little hand, and said, "Let's go, Uncle Cao will send you home." ”

Sun Yanliang replied: "Uh-huh. ”

In the cool evening, there are few pedestrians on the streets. Cao Xin led Sun Yanliang and walked towards the huge Sun family's mansion at the end of the street.

There are six peaks on Xijing Mountain, Jiao Mountain, Henglan two peaks are the most famous, Henglan is the peak, there are immortals, and the world is lucky; Jiaoshan is the accompanying peak, there are businessmen under it, and the palm is supreme wealth. The ancestors of the Sun family hung the pot before the world, and then the business became bigger and bigger, and there were more and more types, met an immortal in the western mountain, talked about the dragon's head luck, and said that the water was a dry dragon in Kanyuxue, of which the West Mirror Mountain was the dragon's head, and then subdivided Henglan was the dragon's horn, and Jiaoshan was the dragon's eye, the ancestors of the Sun family left a heart's eye, and built a courtyard here, did not think about the efforts of several generations, and achieved the world's first family, and there were more and more scholars who came to rely on them, moved and moved to the house, and finally formed a small town in Jiaoshan.

The house stretches endlessly, two huge stone lions on the gate, and there are triple plaques on the door, which are "Hongguang Fuju", "Great Sage Budo" and "Wuhua Tianbao".

Cao Xin joined hands with Sun Yanliang and walked to the front of the mansion, and suddenly there were many more people.

Cao Xin suddenly felt that something was wrong, there were many soldiers in armor in front of the mansion, a vermilion sedan chair, two people standing with umbrellas, and behind them were three wooden top shelves, two of which were already full of human heads, totaling more than thirty or forty. Behind them were countless prisoners, bound in chains, dejected, and some weeping.