(Preface: In the previous article, Shi Ye’s introduction to the alchemy ceremony, he mentioned a sentence in Laozi, "Heaven and earth are not kind, treat all things as straw dogs!", and Feng Junzi also explained it a little. But in Laozi, there is another sentence that follows: "The sage is not kind, treats the people as straw dogs!" How can I explain this sentence? What does Laozi call "inaction" mean here?)

Yang Xiaokang seemed not as old as them, so they actually called him Brother Yang. Sister Ziying, and A Xiu stopped talking, and they all looked at this "Brother Yang". Yang Xiaokang replied with a plain expression: "This is a restaurant run by my friend. Today I am here to treat my friend to dinner. You guys go out quickly and don't make trouble here."

The leading guy among the group said, "It turns out that it's the place you are protecting, Brother Yang, you misunderstand, a little misunderstanding. Sorry, if you offend me, let's leave now." As he said that, the group turned around and left.

Yang Xiaokang said again: "Stop and wait."

"What else is there for Brother Yang?"

Yang Xiaokang: "You have driven all the guests away, but you haven't checked the bill yet! You have to leave after you settle the bill, and don't make trouble here in the future."

"I understand, it's just a misunderstanding! Is two hundred yuan enough?"

A Xiu suddenly spoke: "It doesn't take two hundred, it's 425 cents in total." A Xiu didn't take it seriously at all, and the accounts are still clear.

Someone put down fifty dollars, and the group of people finally left. A Xiu shouted from behind, "Wait, I'll find you seven five dollars!" Sister Ziying hit her: "A Xiu, forget it!... Ono, you haven't introduced your classmate yet."

"This is Yang Xiaokang, our classmate." I can only introduce so much. I really don't know the others. Feng Junzi did not misunderstand. Yang Xiaokang is not simple. But who is he? The gangster boss in Wucheng? He is not alike at this age!

Sister Ziying: "Yang Xiaokang, thank you, please sit down... I can't let you treat you today, I must thank you very much. What Axiu said just now is not bad, the dishes I cook are not worse than those in Tianxiang Restaurant, you must try them."

Yang Xiaokang wanted to refuse, but Sister Ziying gently pressed his shoulder and he sat down honestly. As soon as Yang Xiaokang sat down, another voice came from outside: "Ono, is Ono here?"

It was so lively today, why did people keep coming to you? I knew who the sound was when I heard it. The one who called me Ono, besides Sister Ziying, is my parents and elders in the village. Why did my father enter the city today?

I called "Dad" and hurried out to greet me, but one of them ran faster than us. He rushed out of the door, came to my father, held one of his arms and said, "Uncle Shi, why are you here? Are you going to the city to see Ono?"

"Ono, whose daughter is this? Why haven't I seen it before?" Ah Xiu's intimacy made my father confused.

At this time, Sister Ziying walked out: "This is my cousin Ah Xiu, and Ishino's classmate. I just heard Ishino call him dad, and I knew you were Uncle Shi."

My father looked at Ah Xiu and said, "What a handsome daughter... Boss Han, Shi Ye celebrates his birthday tomorrow. His grandpa Jin's big boyfriend happened to bring a pheasant back. Grandpa Jin asked me to send it here to make a pheasant noodle soup for the child."

It turned out that tomorrow is my 19th birthday. My father didn't mention it and I forgot it. When I heard this, I felt a little wet. I took my father's hand full of calluses and sat down. Ah Xiu took the cup and Sister Ziying poured tea. At this time, Yang Xiaokang came over and said hello: "Hello, uncle."

Father: "Whose kid is this?"

"This is a classmate in our class, Yang Xiaokang."

Sister Ziying said again: "Yang Xiaokang, don't leave at noon today. Shino's father has arrived. There is wild game in the mountains. I made it at noon today. Let's eat it together."

Seeing this, Yang Xiaokang was not easy to refuse, so he sat down. Sister Ziying and Axiu went to the kitchen to clean up the food. Yang Xiaokang and I sat down to chat with my father. I pointed to a cart parked outside the door and asked, "Dad, what's going on with that cart of dates? We don't plant jujube trees at home? Did you bring it to me?"

My father wiped the sweat from his forehead: "I brought it to you, not ours, but the dates planted by Grandpa Jin. I went to the city to sell them. It happened that the festival was also celebrated in the city... Later, you will ask Boss Han and Xiao Yang to pack a bag. The golden dates planted by Grandpa Jin can't buy them now!"

This car of dates is a golden date planted by Grandpa Jin. I wonder how many people have heard of this kind of date now? The most planted area now are golden candied dates and large red dates native to Shandong. The dates are generally red after ripening. However, golden dates are different. They are light green when they mature on the trees. They are picked, placed in bamboo flats, and covered with a mat. After a week, they turn golden yellow and emit a unique fragrance. Not only is they crisp and refreshing, they can also be used as medicine. This kind of date is a specialty of Wucheng in history, but now it is becoming less and less common because its yield is too low and it is too troublesome to pick. Most fruit farmers have changed to other crops with more economic value. Only the orchards contracted by Grandpa Jin in our village have this kind of date, and only a few hundred kilograms a year has been collected. My father brought a cart to the city today.

It was soon time to eat, and the dishes were set up on a table in the noodle restaurant. Ah Xiu and I didn’t think anything, but Yang Xiaokang praised the food made by Sister Ziying. Only half of the pheasant was made, and Sister Ziying said she would leave half for me to give me birthday noodles. My father didn’t eat much, but he ate two big bowls of noodles. This was how people who do physical work were like this.

During the meal, I asked my father how the dates were sold. My father sighed and said, "In previous years, I went to the market on Tofu Street to park the car and sell it. I started charging management fees two years ago. I had to pay for selling dates there, but it was nothing to pay. After all, I used other people's places. But this year, I traveled in Wucheng for a whole morning and couldn't find a place to sell dates."

"What's going on? Didn't I go to the city to sell dates in the past? How could Wucheng be so big that there is no place to sell it?"

Father: "On Tofu Street, there are a few people wearing red hoops on their arms, saying they are the market administrators above. They said the documents just posted this year were about building the city appearance and not allowing them to set up stalls casually. I asked them where they could sell dates, but they didn't tell me. Later, someone passed by told me that I could go to the farmers' market east of Fenghuang Bridge. I took a cart to the farmers' market, but there were stalls in that place, and I had no stalls? I sold them on the open space of the market. I thought that someone charged the management fee and I paid it. The management fee didn't come, but a few boys came over and said that it was their place and they didn't let me sell it."

"What happened later?"

My father sighed again: "I didn't argue with them, so I took the car and left again. I think Wucheng is so big that I can always find a place to sell dates. Haven't it been sold in previous years? Later, I found a roadside and just put the car down. I came to two people wearing yellow hoops on their arms, and they were also an administrator. I had to confiscate my scale and say that the place would not be allowed to set up stalls. After all, I let me go. As soon as I saw the sun, I came to Boss Han. That morning, I didn't sell a pound of dates... Alas..."

After hearing this, Yang Xiaokang interrupted: "Then how do fruit farmers in your village sell fruits?"

Father: "The supply and marketing cooperative collects part of it and then gives it to the big shopping mall in Wucheng, but the price is very low, and the number is quite good. There are also fruit dealers in the city who have contacted them at designated locations, and they go directly to the orchard to pull it. For example, Grandpa Jin's golden dates have only a few hundred kilograms of varieties, and they cannot be approved. In previous years, our family helped him sell it himself in the city."

At this time, the noodle restaurant had another customer, and someone asked: "Who is the car of golden dates outside the door? Will it be sold? Scale two pounds for me, I haven't eaten it for many years."

When my father heard someone wanted to buy dates, he quickly got up and went outside to weigh the dates. I held him down and asked him to rest. He walked outside the door to sell dates for him. Someone had never seen golden dates and asked the buyer. After hearing that, he was also very interested. After eating, he had sold dozens of kilograms. Although there were many dates sold, a truck of dates cost 400 kilograms. After lunch, there were not many people in the noodle restaurant. It was impossible to sit here and sell them all.

After dinner, my father looked very anxious and was eager to go out to find a place to sell dates. Sister Ziying walked over and said, "Uncle Shi, don't need to sell it anymore. Sell this truck of dates to me."

Father: "If you want to eat it, take it. Grandpa Jin won't care about it. But how can you eat this car of dates? Isn't this asking for your money for nothing? I'd better go to the city to sell it."

I stood up and said, "Dad, you rest, I'll go sell dates in the afternoon."

A Xiu also ran over and said, "Okay, okay, Brother Shino and I go to sell dates together."

The father shook his head and said, "How can you two students do this? Or I'll go."

At this time, Yang Xiaokang stood up and said, "Don't argue. Uncle Shi, you always take a break after dinner. I will take Shi Ye to a place to sell dates, and I will guarantee that I will go back."

Father: "Do you know what market can sell things? Then I'll go."

Yang Xiaokang smiled: "It's not suitable for you to grow old in that place. Besides, you were tired after pulling the cart all morning, so let Shi Ye go." As he said that, he pulled me out of the door without saying a word.

...

Yang Xiaokang was pushing a mountain bike, and I followed him on the streets of Wucheng with a cart. I wonder where he was going to lead me. I saw him walking along the main road, and he turned a corner in front of the municipal party committee and government, and walked around the courtyard and came to the back door.

Behind the municipal party committee compound is a large community, which is also the living area of ​​the family members of the municipal party committee and government staff. The greening inside is very good, but I have never been in. Because there are people standing guard at the door, wearing military uniforms and armed belts on their waists, I saw that the style was something that I could not get close to.

But Yang Xiaokang asked me to park my car at the gate of this living area. According to experience, the guard would come over to drive me away soon, but strangely, Yang Xiaokang walked into the guard room and said a few words, moved two stools out, and handed me one to sit down and sell dates. We were sitting in front of the cart, and I was a little nervous.

On Sunday, the crowds came and went at the entrance of the courtyard. The two of us sat here like door gods, which quickly attracted everyone's attention. Most of these people knew Yang Xiaokang and came over and said with a smile: "Xiaokang, what are you doing here?"

Yang Xiaokang answered very simply: "Sell dates!"

"Then weigh two pounds for me."

Yang Xiaokang said to me: "Shiye, call it dates quickly."

I quickly stood up and weighed two kilograms of dates. The man paid ten yuan. Before I could find the money, Yang Xiaokang said, "It just so happens that I don't need to look for it."

I remember that my father sold two yuan per kilogram in the store, which was already high among the prices of various fruits in Wucheng at that time. Unexpectedly, Yang Xiaokang sold five yuan per kilogram when he spoke, and the person who bought the dates was still smiling, as if he had picked up a huge bargain.

There was the first one and the second one. Soon a group of people gathered up to pay for dates, just like robbing some treasures. Yang Xiaokang collected money and I loaded the dates, and a truckload of dates was quickly put. These people bought dates very strange. Most of them weighed two kilograms and gave a ten-yuan bill. It was not troublesome at all. I didn’t even see Yang Xiaokang looking for money. What’s more interesting is that some people came over to say hello to Yang Xiaokang, saying that they heard that Xiaokang was selling dates outside at home. After tasting a few of them, they thought the taste was too good, so they came over to buy a few more kilograms, and some people bought them ten kilograms. I was almost overworked.

People who come and go are all state cadres in offices when they look at their clothes. In the past, I have also sold things, medicinal materials, mountain goods, etc. in the market. Most of these people are very picky and have been picking them all over the place. However, today it is very strange. They don’t even look at the things they buy, nor are they afraid of rotten or bugs in the dates. They don’t even look at the scales if they weigh them accurately, just buy dates and go home.

I was so busy that I heard a loud voice saying, "This is a golden date specialty of Wucheng. I haven't seen it for more than ten years. I have been a little helping with it, so I'll give me five kilograms!"

This is the first time I have encountered a pay-per-selected person. Others buy two pounds, four pounds, and ten pounds. I don’t have to find the money for the money. I looked up and saw that I knew the person who came. He was an old acquaintance. He was a man with a long hair and a young face. He was the old man who taught me Tai Chi and Wuqin opera in the stadium every morning. When I saw that it was Mr. Gao, I quickly called out: "Hello, Mr. Gao!... Do you know this is a golden date? How can I accept your old money? I just want to try a few pounds to leave."

The old man also recognized me: "So it's Xiao Shi Tou? I haven't seen you for a long time. You haven't gone to practice Tai Chi since the summer vacation. We old people miss you quite a bit... Are you here to sell dates today? Why did you come here to sell it here? Oh, Xiao Kang brought you here, you two children are interesting... I'm also a little interested today. Xiao Shi Tou, give me the scale, and Xiao Kang and I will help you sell it together."

As he spoke, Mr. Gao snatched the scale in my hand without saying anything and stood there to sell dates. I was fine. Yang Xiaokang was obviously very familiar with Mr. Gao. He asked Mr. Gao while collecting the money: "Grandpa Gao, you are very familiar with your scale rod. Have you sold vegetables before?"

Mr. Gao said proudly: "I remember when I was fighting guerrillas with the Japanese, I put on a makeup and went to the city to sell dates for information. At that time, I sold a truck of golden dates. Alas, it's been fifty or sixty years... At that time, I was only the size of you."

For some reason, I suddenly asked: "Old man, did the Japanese not care when you went to the city to sell dates? Did they ask you to sell them?"

Mr. Gao was asked inexplicably by me: "Ghosts? Why don't the Japanese sell dates?"

Yang Xiaokang quietly kicked me, signaling me not to say such things again. I also tactfully shut up and sat there watching them, one of the old and one of them continued to sell dates. A truck of dates was 400 kilograms, and there was not much left soon. It seemed that Yang Xiaokang did not lie to me. At this speed, I came out of the noodle restaurant and really went back.

At this time, the crowd surrounding the cart suddenly separated a gap by themselves. A middle-aged man in a double-breasted suit walked in and said as he walked, "Xiaokang! What are you doing here? I heard that you were selling dates at the door, and what medicine was wrong? It's not embarrassing!"

The middle-aged man looked angry. I saw that his face was vaguely similar to Yang Xiaokang, and he seemed to have seen it somewhere. After thinking about it, I suddenly remembered it! I have seen it on TV. This face often appears in Wucheng Newspapers. He is the top leader of Wucheng, the local supreme leader, and the secretary of Wucheng Municipal Party Committee Yang Datong.

Looking at Yang Datong and Yang Xiaokang's facial features, I understood everything in an instant. Yang Xiaokang is not a gangster boss, but the only son of the Secretary of the Wucheng Municipal Committee. Secretary Yang only has such a son, and Secretary Yang's father-in-law, Yang Xiaokang's grandfather, is said to be older than Secretary Yang's official position and an important leader in the province. No wonder those princes dare not provoke Yang Xiaokang, and Yang Xiaokang came here to sell dates, and even the guards would take the initiative to send stools.

Seeing Secretary Yang's face was angry, others didn't care about Yang Xiaokang, but he had to take care of his son. However, Secretary Yang's anger suddenly disappeared in an instant and turned into a warm smile. This change was faster than reading a book, because he saw Mr. Gao: "Old Secretary, are you here too? Are you always selling dates?...Xiaokang, collect money well, don't point the wrong one!...Old Secretary, who are you selling dates for?"

Mr. Gao glanced at him and laughed: "Help an old friend sell dates, Xiaokang is really good..."

Hearing this, I suddenly knew who this old man Gao was! If I remember correctly, his name should be Gao Feijin. Before liberation, he was a famous combat hero in the Wucheng area. After liberation, he served as a commissioner of the Wucheng Prefectural Committee Office for a long time. Later, the Wucheng area was changed to Wucheng. Gao Feijin was the first secretary of the municipal party committee and has now retired. The only one who named Gao and Yang Datong called him the old secretary was the legendary old man Gao Feijingao. I used to know that this old man was Gao, but I didn't expect that he was Gao Feijin I had heard of him long ago.

The old and young man stood by me to sell dates. If it was spread, even a truck would be sold out this afternoon. However, while I was grateful, I felt a little sad. I thought of my father's experience of wandering around in this city with 400 kilograms of golden dates this morning. Mr. Gao and Yang Xiaokang are both good people, and they are taking the initiative to help me. However, I hope that the world does not need such help. Gao Feijin and Yang Xiaokang are both Feng Junzi's guidance to me to get to know each other. It seems that he has known their identities for a long time.

Why did Feng Junzi do this? I'm afraid it's not to teach me to cling to the powerful? Is it really like Sister Ziying once said that practitioners may have to experience everything in this world? But if people in the world who want to cling to the powerful have such seemingly unintentional scheming, that's quite terrible! Is this a kind of supernatural power? Supernatural powers may not be sought from the Tao, and Feng Junzi taught me a lesson.

...

The truck of dates was sold out in less than two hours. In the end, I didn't sell some left. I packed a bag for Mr. Gao and Yang Xiaokang, so I must let them take it back and taste it. The two did not refuse, and smiled and said that this was the income from working for me. They took the dates home. They returned to the noodle shop and handed the remaining bag of dates to Axiu and gave the money to his father.

A truck of dates, plus the ones sold at noon, sold for a total of 1,800 yuan. My father was very surprised to see that I sold them so quickly, and was stunned when he saw me selling them for so much money. He kept asking me if I was a scam, why did I sell them for so much money? I explained for a long time before he left with confidence. I thought Grandpa Jin would be happy now, even if I thanked him for the pheasant he gave me.

After my father left, Sister Ziying sat opposite me, looked at me with a smile and said, "Ono, are you tired?"

"I'm not tired, don't forget that I'm a practitioner, what's this car of dates! What's really tired is my father. I have too few places for filial piety as my son."

Sister Ziying: "Tomorrow is your birthday, how do you plan to celebrate it?"

"Just just pass it simply, Sister Ziying, can you help me with a bowl of longevity noodles?"

Sister Ziying: "That's the only requirement? No, how can it be that simple? I just discussed with Axiu that we will close for one day tomorrow. Can we go out for autumn outings together? I'll prepare to eat tonight and go out for a picnic tomorrow."

At this time, A Xiu brought a plate of washed golden dates and came over: "Wash it, Brother Shiye, eat it quickly, it tastes good, and there is a smell of medicine!... It's so good to go out to play tomorrow, you can't refuse to agree."

“Picnic? Where to go?”

Sister Ziying looked at me, her face seemed a little red: "How about going to Feijin Peak? That's where I grew up and haven't been back for a long time. Can I take you to see it? Even if I accompany me to my parents' home."

Sister Ziying said this to the point, how could I not agree? But the tone in her words was a bit...

I heard Ah Xiu clapping his hands and saying, "Okay, let's go to Feijinfeng, that's a good place!"

...

"How is the way of heaven? There are many people who swallow hatred. I draw the piano and do my life to make a song of Wucheng. The song says: The wind is so strong that the city is cold, the well is dead, and the hills are in ruins. Thousands of years have passed, and what do you say?" This is a famous line from "Wucheng Fu" written by Bao Zhao, a great talent in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. According to legend, 1,600 years ago, Bao Zhao, a Ph.D. and a Zhongshu Sheikh, was climbed to Feijin Peak, and looked at Wucheng in the chaotic times. He was inspired and became a famous fu for all time. (Xu Gongzi's note: Book friends have always left messages asking where Wucheng is in "Shenyou"? Here is an introduction to its source and allusions, so you don't have to look for it in the realistic map.)

The poet Li Bai was greatly influenced by the Southern Dynasty literati Xie Tiao, Bao Zhao and others. He once wrote a poem "The birds fly high, and the lonely clouds go to leisure alone", but I don't know if it has anything to do with the Feijin Peak in Wucheng. Feijin Peak is the highest mountain among the six peaks of Jiulian Mountain in Wucheng. There is a Feijin Rock on the top of the main peak, and the giant rocks on the left and right extend like a phoenix spreading its wings, and it is about to soar into the air. The middle of the huge rocks is very flat, like the back of a black bird, which can accommodate several people sitting opposite each other. Sitting on the Feijin Rock, the peaks and mountains are all in autumn, and you can see the dense crowds of Wucheng from afar.

I sat on Feijin Rock and looked into Wucheng. Sister Ziying sat beside me, leaning slightly against my shoulder. Ah Xiu stood far away to the highest point of Feijin Rock spreading her wings, like a fairy in the wind, looking at the world from afar. This girl probably forgot that she was wearing a skirt and stood so high! From my perspective, she just turned her head and saw the scenery under the skirt in the mountain wind. I accidentally looked up and accidentally saw pink under her under her white thighs. Her face turned red, and she turned her head and looked away.

Sister Ziying probably noticed it. She looked at A Xiu, then pointed to Wucheng and said softly: "For five hundred years, I have often seen people flying all over the rocks like A Xiu now. I often wonder what the prosperous place in the world would be like? Over the past five hundred years, I have seen countless wars, countless separations of life and death, countless care and love, countless warmth and coldness of human feelings... I am both scared and envious. I really want to experience all this one day, but I don't know what will be waiting for me?"
To be continued...