Chapter 12
Time flies, and summer vacation is here in the blink of an eye.
Summer vacation was incredibly hot, but as a kid, I always wanted to go out and play no matter how hot it was. Maybe it had something to do with my personality; I was naturally playful, but everyone in my village was afraid of me, so even if I wanted to play, I had no chance.
Now that I have two good friends, Maomao and Zhang Song, my true nature has gradually been revealed. I follow them everywhere like a tomboy.
After the three of us made an appointment to go to Xiaoliang, we had been discussing this matter for almost a month and talked about it every day at school.
Xiaolianghou is located northwest of our village and north of Xigou. However, the three villages are separated by mountains, so you have to take the mountain road to travel back and forth.
This is the geographical environment here. The mountains are not very high, but they are connected to each other. There may be a village in front of you after you pass this mountain.
The mountain from our village to Xiaoliang is quite high for us children, and it takes about half an hour to climb over it.
The mountain road was very narrow, only wide enough for one person to pass through. On the east side of the mountain were bare rocks, while on the west side was a particularly dense pine forest.
The three of us walked along the rocky path to the top of the mountain, and then walked down for another two or three minutes and entered the pine forest.
"It's quite cool in this forest!" Zhang Song said with a smile.
The vast pine forest is so cold inside, even when it's hot outside. The moment you enter the pine forest, it's like suddenly opening the refrigerator door on a hot summer day, and the coolness penetrates your skin and reaches your bones.
Although it was cool in the pine forest, I didn't want to stay any longer: "Let's go."
When Zhang Song heard me say this, he quickened his pace to catch up with me, and Maomao walked at the back.
As for why I'm reluctant to spend time in the pine forest, it's because, according to Yin-Yang theory, pine trees are considered extremely yin, easily attracting spirits. Furthermore, pine trees are widely planted near graves and cemeteries, often associated with death. This might not seem like a big deal to others, but I'm naturally sensitive to yin objects. While they might feel cool, I find it chilly.
After leaving the pine forest, what comes into view is a large orchard, which is the purpose of our visit today.
There are apple trees, pear trees, etc. in the orchard, which are full of fruits. These apples and pears can be eaten when they are green. They are not sour at all. The juice will flow down your mouth when you take a bite.
"Little sister, you stay up there and watch over the people, we'll go down and pick the fruits." After saying that, Zhang Song and Maomao jumped into the orchard.
I was helping to keep watch from upstairs, looking left and right, and would panic at the slightest sign of movement. After all, they were here to steal, and it would be terrible if they were caught.
I don’t know why, but I always feel that stolen fruits are sweeter than bought ones.
I watched Zhang Song and Maomao picking fruits from the tree and putting them in their vests. Soon they had picked a lot of fruits.
"Who!" A loud shout suddenly came from the orchard.
Maomao was startled, lost his grip, and fell from the pear tree. He wasn't the only one who was frightened; I was also startled and almost fell into the orchard. Zhang Song jumped down from the tree and tried to run, but the man grabbed him by the vest.
The three of us were caught.
The man was wearing a straw hat and a short coarse cloth jacket. He had dark skin and looked very energetic. He seemed to be in his forties or fifties.
He dragged Zhang Song to the front of the shack. The three of us lowered our heads, not daring to look at him.
"Why do you three look so unfamiliar? Who are you?"
"We are from Xiaolanyu." Zhang Song and Maomao didn't say anything, so I said it with a stiff upper lip.
"All the people from Xiaolanyu have come here to steal!" He said in a very stern tone.
My heart is pounding.
"Uncle, we just saw that these pears were growing so well that we couldn't help but want to pick a few to taste."
He glanced at me and knew I was lying, but he didn't call me out.
"If you want to eat them, just tell me directly. Why climb up and pick them yourself? It's not like I'm reluctant to give you a few pears. Look at how you've ruined the crops."
I looked in the direction he pointed. There were short plants planted under the trees. I didn't recognize them, and many of them had been trampled by Zhang Song and Maomao.
"Uncle, we know we were wrong," I said.
"Next time if you want to eat, just tell me directly and don't steal it anymore."
"Yeah!" the three of us said in unison.
As he was speaking, a burst of laughter came from afar, and the sound did not sound like that of a normal person.
The three of us looked towards the sound, and within a few breaths, a man in tattered clothes and with disheveled hair walked into the pine forest from the mountain road.
"Oh." The uncle in front of him also saw the man, and a trace of regret appeared on his face.
I felt there must be a story behind this, so I asked, "Uncle, who is he?"
The uncle didn't answer me, he patted the stone on the ground. The stone looked shiny and smooth, so he must have sat on it specially.
Sure enough, he sat down on a rock and gave us the pears that Zhang Song and Maomao had picked. He said, "You three should hurry home. Go back by the main road, not the mountain path."
We took the pear embarrassedly.
"Thank you, uncle!"
Seeing that he didn't make things difficult for us, we felt as if we had been granted amnesty. We didn't dare to stay any longer and ran away in disgrace.
When we got to the mountain road, Zhang Song and Maomao started running, I don't know who started it first. As a girl, there was no way I could keep up with them. After a while, I couldn't run anymore. I held my thighs with my hands and stopped on the road, panting.
Seeing this, Maomao stopped and shouted to the front, "Zhang Song, stop running. I can't keep up."
After hearing what Maomao said, Zhang Song came back, and the two of them accompanied me to rest on the path.
The same laughter from before came again, but this time it was in the pine forest, and it sounded a bit creepy.
The three of us looked at each other. Zhang Song was very brave. He said, "Why don't we go and take a look? Maybe there are some secrets that no one else has discovered?"
It was always like this when I was a child. When I saw something curious, I would wonder if it contained secrets that others didn’t know about. Or I would run to a remote place, wondering if there were treasures hidden there.
I was very curious now, but a trace of worry flashed through my mind because I felt that the pine forest was not clean.
Maomao usually listens to us and doesn't have any opinions. He just follows us in whatever we do.
Seeing my hesitation, Zhang Song said firmly, "What are you afraid of? Let's go and see!"
I thought to myself, yes, what's so scary about it in broad daylight, so we hit it off immediately.
"Let's go!" I said.
So, the three of us followed the sound into the pine forest, completely forgetting what the uncle had just said to us.
We tiptoed along, following the occasional laughter, and after walking through the pine forest for about twenty minutes, we finally caught up with the man.
We hid behind the trees, deep in the woods, and the pine trees grew thick enough to block our bodies.
The man was now kneeling in front of a pine tree, crying and laughing, and saying a few words from time to time.
I didn't understand what was going on and thought he must be a lunatic.
We thought he had some mysterious secrets, but now it seems we were overthinking it.
Just when I was about to leave, I don’t know if it was because I was dazzled, but I saw the pine tree in front of him turned into a beautiful woman, smiling in front of him.
She seemed to have noticed us and turned her head to look at me straight!
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