Chapter 23 Blue
Not long after Jiunian left, Qing Bai and the other two also left the cemetery and the woods.
Then, Qi Xiaopang was worried while crossing the wasteland. He just checked the time. Although they were playing with the little ghost in there, being frightened by various things, watching Li Canglan recalling her memories, and witnessing the deep love between sisters... in reality, only an hour had passed. If there had been such a yin and yang gap for him to prepare for the college entrance examination, he would not have worked so hard every day and gained 30 pounds. After finally getting into Peking University, he was crushed by his brother Qing in all aspects.
But now, he has to worry about how to explain to Grandpa Li... His granddaughter's eyes are swollen from crying. No matter how you look at it, these two adults who are traveling together for no apparent reason are extremely suspicious!
Did he have to say, "Uncle Li, your granddaughter ran into her sister while visiting her elder sister's grave!" The reunion of sisters was so moving, it made your granddaughter remember everything! And she's so moved she's still crying!
Although it has been slightly edited, it is all true.
But if they really told the truth, they would probably be swept out by Uncle Li with a broom, and not only lose their jobs, but also their reputation, and become the typical young people of Weiming New Village... the typical feudal superstitious and arrogant people.
Just thinking about it makes Qi Xiaopang's already not-small head grow even bigger. He is so worried!
But when he turned around, he saw that his brother Qing didn't seem to care at all about the foreseeable tragedy, and was even playing with his cell phone while walking!
"...Brother, do you think Uncle Li will misunderstand that we bullied Canglan?" Fat Qi whispered his concerns. He wanted Brother Qing to worry with him!
Qing Bai didn't even look up, but he accurately pointed out Qi Xiaopang's concerns: "Li Canglan has a mouth, he can speak for himself."
Qi Xiaopang: "..."
Yes, they can just keep silent and let Li Canglan speak.
So he walked out of the wasteland in silence, came to Li's house in silence, and knocked on the big iron gate that was required for a self-built house with a small courtyard in silence.
Unlike the old house they rented cheaply, the Li family's house, which was also a self-built house, was much more magnificent. It had its own entrance and two large trees with lush branches and leaves stood on both sides of the door, providing shade without being a nuisance. The back was covered with white walls and green tiles, with three floors, a front yard and a backyard, and a garden terrace, making it not much different from a villa.
There is no habit of closing the door in the village, especially when there are people at home. After all, the villagers here have been in the same village for dozens or even hundreds of years, and most of them are relatives. When they visit each other on a daily basis, they just say hello and enter, but Qi Xiaopang is still used to closing the door and knocking.
When he knocked on the door, Li Canglan had already run into the yard like a gust of wind. Grandpa Li was tending to the vegetable garden in the front yard. He had just said "Canglan is back?" when he was pounced on. The old man, who was over seventy years old but still energetic and strong, and could eat three bowls of rice a day and walk around the village without breathing, only had time to raise his rough hands still covered with mud, for fear of dirtying his granddaughter's skirt.
It turned out that Li Canglan had restrained himself in front of them before... Looking at the girl in front of him who was crying loudly while hugging her grandfather like a child without caring about her image, Qi Xiaopang was so embarrassed that he didn't know what to do with his hands. He had to turn around and look for his brother Qing, trying to create the illusion that he was very busy and didn't see or know anything.
You don't know until you see it... Qing Bai didn't even come in! He was standing outside the door under the tree, looking up at something with a serious expression.
Contemporary young people all know that there are three treasures to escape reality - mobile phones, headphones, and pretending to be busy.
When the first two are not convenient to use, the ants passing by on the roadside will become very interesting.
Qi Xiaopang reasonably suspected that his brother Qing was pretending, so he decided to pretend too.
When Li Canglan started crying, Uncle Li didn't care about the mud or the skirt anymore. He was so distressed that he kept asking, "What happened? Who made us Canglan suffer?" Li Canglan cried and choked up, saying something incoherently like "sister", "I remember", "I'm sorry"...
She couldn't speak a complete sentence, but she understood what she needed to understand. Uncle Li couldn't ask any more questions. His old but strong hands gently fell on Li Canglan's shoulders, patting her gently as if he was coaxing her to take a nap when she was a child.
While no one was paying attention to him, Fat Qi moved quickly to the bottom of the tree in small steps at lightning speed, then looked up at the tree seriously, just like his brother Qing... As he looked, he actually saw something.
It's obvious that these two trees are quite old. Their trunks are as thick as an adult's waist and nearly ten meters tall. Their branches and leaves are lush and green, providing shade. They cover most of the yard like two big green umbrellas. If you get close, you can smell an almost rich fragrance.
"Are these the two camphor trees?" Qi Xiaopang looked for a long time before recognizing them from the familiar leaves. He was a little surprised, but then he thought it was normal. After all, more than ten years have passed. The farmland has become wasteland, the riverbed has narrowed and become powerless, and the little girl has grown into a young lady. The two camphor trees should be this tall now.
"This is what 'the rustling courtyard' means!" Fat Qi exclaimed. "No wonder we didn't realize that the old house was Uncle Li's before. It turns out that when they rebuilt it, they turned it around and turned the backyard into the front yard!"
Qing Bai, who felt that the location of the old house in the crevice was somewhat familiar from the beginning, did not say anything and reached out to touch the trunk of the camphor tree.
"Li Canglan said earlier that she didn't throw the shovels and hoes that nearly fell on the camphor trees into the river more than ten years ago...but now both trees are growing so well," Fatty Qi speculated. "Does this mean that Uncle Li and his men didn't really want to cut them down back then?"
Because of an accident, only one of the Li family's two daughters was left, and Ruoshu was also the only one left. Looking at her every day, she felt lonely and sad.
Qing Bai lowered his head to glance at the roots of the tree and said softly, "We're not cutting down trees, we're digging for wine."
After hearing what Qing Bai said, Qi Xiaopang suddenly understood. No wonder he had always felt something was wrong. Who would use a shovel or a hoe to cut down trees? If they had to use something, they should have used an axe or a machete, but...
"Dig wine? What kind of wine? Why dig wine?"
Qing Baitai pointed at the base of the camphor tree and said, "Those families who have daughters and plant camphor trees in their yards usually bury a jar of wine under the tree..."
"I know that!" Fat Qi, finally coming across a point of knowledge, quickly answered, "Then we dig it out on the day of our daughter's wedding, and that wine is called daughter's red wine! Right?"
Qing Bai neither nodded nor shook his head, but added softly, "If my daughter dies young, it will be Hua Diao."
There should only be a jar of wine left under the tree now.
I can't bear to cut down the tree, but I'd better dig out the wine called Huadiao, otherwise the wine will get older and the wound will get deeper.
Just as he finished speaking, a person walked out of the door. Qing Baiqi and Xiaopang turned around and were all surprised.
It was Uncle Li who came out, but the old man who always had a loud and energetic voice seemed to have aged ten years in an instant. His usually straight body was slightly hunched, and his eyes and nose were red. Fortunately, his expression was relaxed, as if he had put down a heavy burden.
He stood in front of Qing Baiqi Xiaopang, opened his mouth, but only sighed. After a long silence, he slowly spoke again: "Lan Lan has already told us... Thank you for bringing her back."
Qing Bai keenly noticed that Uncle Li, who had always called Li Canglan "Canglan", had changed his tone. At this moment, he finally had a resemblance to the faceless old man who was rummaging through boxes and drawers looking for someone in his memory illusion.
Although he didn't know what Li Canglan had said to them, Qi Xiaopang still responded politely, "No need to thank me, no need to thank me. This is what we teachers should do..."
Although he was also the one who was 'brought back'.
Uncle Li wiped his nose, then stuffed two baskets filled with big, red tomatoes into Qing Baiqi's hands and said in a nasal voice, "They're all grown here, no pesticides. They're delicious whether candied or scrambled with eggs! Take some and enjoy them for fun, and come back to pick more when you're done! Don't be polite with me, there are plenty in the fields!"
"Thank you, Uncle Li!" Qi Xiaopang happily accepted the old man's kindness and made jokes to cheer him up. "Don't worry! We are not polite people!"
Qing Bai also lowered his eyes and took the basket, and then he saw a semicircular scar on the palm of the old man's wrinkled and withered hand.
...like the mark left by some small animal with good teeth that refused to let go.
Uncle Li wiped his nose again and said in a tired voice: "And Cang Cang... Thank you so much..."
His original name was Li Cangcang.
The reeds are lush and the river water is blue... so blue.
On the way back, Qing Bai opened his mobile phone again and clicked on the chat page with Boss Hong without hesitation.
Rider Qing Bai: Does your store sell paper clothes?
The red boss replied immediately - selling.
Qing Bai looked at the affirmative word "sell" and felt a little funny for some reason. The response speed for business and questions was indeed different.
Just talking about paper clothes, Qing Bai couldn't help but think of the familiar texture when his fingers accidentally hooked the sleeve of the clothes nine years ago...
Qing Bai thought for a moment, then raised his fingers to type.
Rider Qing Bai: Can the style be customized?
The owner of the incense and candle shop, Hong: What style?
Judging from his tone, it seems that he can make anything out of paper as long as it is not a dragon robe.
Rider Qing Bai: The skirt for little girls should be blue.
Boss Hong replied with a string of ellipsis.
Qing Bai guessed it meant "that's it," but an ordinary blue dress was nothing to the Red Boss, who claimed to make money from his craft. His serious questioning seemed a bit distrustful.
So Qing Bai decided to increase the difficulty.
Rider Qing Bai: Then let’s wear the same skirt as Elsa.
After thinking about it, Qing Bai added another sentence.
Rider Qing Bai: I want Anna’s too.
The little girl can also change her clothes and dress up as whoever she wants when she feels like it.
This time, the other party didn't reply immediately. Thinking back to the ancient decoration of the incense and candle shop and the red boss's clothes when they first met, Qing Bai secretly guessed that the red boss on the other side of the screen might be searching for who Elsa and Anna were...
A few minutes later, Boss Hong replied in the affirmative.
Mr. Hong, the owner of the incense and candle shop: The things are simple and can be made in half a day. Do you want to come to the store to pick them up or take them from the incense and candle shop?
The word "捎" should mean to burn.
After the little girl disappeared from their sight, no one knew whether she stayed in the crevice or went downstairs. He had never done such things before and didn't know the trick. Boss Hong was in this business and must have some connections. Maybe if he brought the goods, the goods would arrive faster.
Rider Qing Bai: Then I’ll have to trouble Boss Hong.
Mr. Hong, the owner of the incense and candle shop: No problem, our incense and candle shop offers free shipping nationwide.
Qing Bai was shocked by the words "free shipping".
The owner of the incense and candle shop: What name should I sign?
Qing Bai paused, thought for a moment, and then continued typing.
Rider Qing Bai: Li Cangcang.
After the paper skirt matter was settled, Qing Bai was just trying to take the opportunity to inquire about the familiar fabric on Jiu Nian's body when Boss Hong sent him a photo - the familiar magical conch.
Qing Bai: “…”
Okay, no need to ask.
Jiu Nian must be related to the incense and candle shop...at least the material of the clothes is from the same source as the work clothes that Boss Hong gave him.
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