As soon as my fourth aunt and I arrived in front of the yard, we smelled a sweet and sesame scent mixed with the fragrance of the noodles, which came out of the yard.

This is my own steamed sugar-sed sesame-filled mooncake, which is not comparable to the popular Cantonese mooncakes now. I swallowed and smiled and said, "Miss Fourth, let's go quickly, the mooncakes are coming out."

The fourth aunt also smiled happily and followed me into the yard.

"Sister Four, you're here just right. Have a pot of mooncakes. I'll ask Li Hui to add your favorite green and red silk to the filling. Eat a few more..."

At this time, tables and chairs were already placed in the yard, and a few delicious cold dishes were placed on the table. My mother was placing the white mooncakes that had just been out of the pot on the bamboo table to wait for the cold. My grandfather wore a slightly thin cotton coat and trousers, holding a purple clay pot in one hand and a mooncake in the other hand, eating a bite of cake and a sip of tea, and narrowing his eyes comfortably.

Judging from my grandfather's attitude, I am going to stay up late to enjoy the moon tonight.

Watching the moon is an activity that requires temperament. As the reform and opening up gradually deepens, the people have a better life and have TVs at home. On the Mid-Autumn Festival, they just watch a party. Few people like traditional activities like watching the moon.

But I don’t know that appreciating the moon is like enjoying it. In the misty moonlight, bathed in the silver light, the family looked up at the bright moon when they were silent and listened to the elders telling the old story of running to the moon. This itself is a kind of precipitation, a return, and a unique way of emotional communication.

What a rare feeling this is, but unfortunately it was ignored or even abandoned by many people. Fortunately, my family has always had the tradition of watching the moon, and my grandfather is even more enjoyable.

"Really? It's hard for the third brother to think about me..."

The fourth aunt was silent for a moment, walked to the table and took the mooncake and broke it apart, handed it to me half, and delivered it to her mouth. She shook her mouth gently: "It's this smell...it's like when I was a child..."

I noticed that my fourth aunt's face was a little flushed and her eyes were moist, which was obviously very touched.

"Miss Fourth, please sit down too."

I moved a bamboo rattan chair and asked my fourth aunt to sit down. Because I was afraid that she would be too excited, I took the initiative to change the topic and said, "Mom, why haven't my dad and Grandpa Fan arrived yet?"

Mr. Fan only had one son, and was sent to the Northwest labor reform farm for renovation because of a crime. Therefore, during the Mid-Autumn Festival in previous years, my father would invite him to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival. This time, my father and he came back temporarily, and I don’t know if they can catch up. After all, transportation is still very inconvenient in this era, and trains and cars are very tight.

"Don't worry, your dad has arrived in Chudu. He called from the train station just now and said he would be home soon."

My father won the championship this time, and the performance went very smoothly. He sent two or three thousand yuan to home every month. In order to facilitate contact, my mother gritted her teeth and installed a phone. In the whole alley, my family was the second one to install a phone, and the neighbors nearby were envious of it.

"That's it's almost home. Lihui, let me help you get the hot dishes..."

Although the relationship between the fourth aunt and grandfather has eased a lot, because she has not had any contact for many years, she is still a little unfamiliar with the brother and sister. The two of them smiled and nodded at you, and they were embarrassed, so they found an excuse to help their mother get food.

My mother smiled and said, "How can we let the elders do it?" The fourth aunt said that it was okay for the family. The two pushed and shoved each other, but in the end, my mother stopped refusing.

Grandpa smiled and looked at it for a long time, and suddenly said, "I heard that the boy eggs made by your fourth aunt are awesome. Xiaodong, you should eat more..."

"Grandpa, no, my fourth aunt can make this thing?"

"Well, don't look down on boys who boil eggs in urine, it also requires the heat to be mastered..."

“…”

I felt nauseous and almost spit out the mooncake I had just eaten.

***

When the first hot dish my mother cooked and the boy eggs of my fourth aunt were served on the table, my father and Grandpa Fan finally came back. The two were dusty, carrying large and small bags of luggage and gifts, like two migrant workers who had just entered the city.

It was just enough time. After my dad and Grandpa Fan finished washing up, the Mid-Autumn Festival family dinner began.

It was the first time my dad and Grandpa Fan met my fourth aunt. I noticed that when my grandfather introduced my fourth aunt, although she did not wear the four-dimensional Taoist robe today, Grandpa Fan still looked at her a few more times, with a meaningful look.

Who is Grandpa Fan? I didn’t say that I woke me up again and again, and it seemed that I could still see that my fourth aunt was not an ordinary person?

I muttered in my heart. But if Grandpa Fan doesn't say it, I don't want to ask. He doesn't want to say such things, and it's useless if I ask.

After a few glasses of wine, the adults started chatting about the vast sky. The main topic was still focused on my father and his friends' performance this time.

Walking in the middle is different from performing locally. Whenever you go, you have to contact the local theater and hold an audition first. If the audition is successful, the local audience will be willing to buy it. Even if they find a meal, if they fail, they have to leave and go to the next stop.

This is similar to leaving the ground, and it is also based on ability to make a living, and there is no father to cheat.

My father and his group are quite capable, so they went smoothly. When they were in Jiayuguan, they were praised by the local government. When they were interviewed by reporters, they made a big splash. So my father was very proud and talked about his glorious deeds. For example, when he returned to the audience seven times in a local theater, he was very proud and gave me some advice on the world.

I have to say that my father is talented, but he is also arrogant. Otherwise, why are he always excluded in the folk art troupe and unable to achieve his ambitions? So whenever he talks about the fun, he will be hit by his mother without any mercy.

Of course, I know my mom is doing it for his own good.

Halfway through the family dinner, the bright moon was already high, and the wisps of moonlight shone on the body, making people feel refreshed. It seemed that even the foot-walking mosquitoes that still insisted on fighting on the front line during the Mid-Autumn Festival were not so annoying.

Grandpa coughed, raised his head and looked at the moon.

Every year when he makes this move, we know we're going to start talking. My mother starts and says, "Dad, tell me a story about running for the month..."

"Well, that's OK, I know you're all waiting to listen. What I'm going to say this year is that Chang'e should regret stealing the elixir..."

I almost got happy. It was this one again? I could even recite it. Isn’t it just a story that Chang’e stole the immortal medicine and ran to the moon to reflect on? But I also know that grandpa’s story is not important, what is important is the atmosphere...

As my grandfather told me, everyone gradually immersed in this legendary story. Although the story was old, it still had touching power with the scenery in front of me. My mother looked back at my father and leaned her body against him...

"I'll make some fun, let's talk about it..."

Seeing that my grandfather had finished speaking, Grandpa Fan also cleared his throat and started telling a story.

Unlike his grandfather, Grandpa Fan is worthy of being a professional storyteller. The stories he tells every year are different from last year, so it is even more exciting.

What he said this year was a passage that was transformed from the Legend of Swordsman of Shushan. It was said that the founding of the Emei Palace was on the Mid-Autumn Festival. The little immortals gathered together and showed their magical powers. In front of Ningbi Cliff, they used forbidden techniques to evolve the magical story of the stars in the sky and the bright moon in the sky.

As Grandpa Fan told the story, the beautiful scenery that the Emei immortals used the forbidden technique seemed to be around. Not to mention my father and I, even the fourth aunt was a little moved.

I was envious and just muttered in my heart: "Forbidden Technique? In the Legend of Shushan Sword Heroes, no matter whether it is good or evil, it seems that they can do this. I don't know what kind of Taoist art this is, it seems that it is not mentioned in the Taoist sect?"

"San brother, Brother Fan, you are so good at telling me, but I can't tell stories..."

The fourth aunt smiled and said, "Let me do this, I'll change a trick, just to get together with Brother Fan's story to make everyone happy."

"Oh? Then it depends on your fourth sister..."

Grandpa laughed and took the lead in applauding.

I also looked at my fourth aunt curiously, wanting to see how she changed this trick.

I saw the fourth aunt take out something similar to a firework from her arms, but she threw it away without igniting it.

"Shit..."

Unexpectedly, when this thing came into the air, it was blown by the sky wind, and it was spontaneously ignited without fire and exploded. Countless small silver dots immediately appeared in the air. They were originally scattered into a ball, but they seemed to be spiritual. They gradually gathered together and turned into a bright CD, hanging in the sky like this.

For a moment, two bright moons appeared above my yard.

"It's true that it's the same as Mingyue. OK, the fourth aunt is such a good method!"

Grandpa Fan's eyes lit up, and he shouted first.

I couldn't help but look at my fourth aunt again. This was not an ordinary firework just now. It was clearly because of the two talismans related to "wind" and "fire" that were born from each other, which made this effect have.

Although these two types of talismans have deviated from the manuscripts of the ancestors and have almost become tricks, I can still see that.

Grandpa Fan must have seen the mystery...

***

After twelve o'clock, my grandfather began to show his fatigue, and my father, who was running all the way, yawned, and the family dinner ended in a warm and weary atmosphere.

Of course, there is no reason for the separation of flesh and blood during the Mid-Autumn Festival. I kept my fourth aunt openly and asked her to spend the night at home tonight and go back tomorrow. Of course, the fourth aunt did not object, so my mother cleaned up the small east house that was originally used to put down the miscellaneous items and asked her to stay there.

Since my Yin Shen was injured, although my body was as good as ever, my spirit was not as good as before. I had been so sleepy that I cried with tears in my eyes and yawned all over the sky. While my mother was busy, I got into the hut and stopped washing my face and feet. I pulled the quilt and fell asleep.

I don’t know how long I slept, but suddenly I felt my nose blocked and my breathing was not smooth. When I opened my eyes, I saw that the bedside lamp was turned on. Grandpa Fan sat by my bed with a smile, pinching my nose with his hands.

When I saw it, I was sleeping urgently, and the door was not locked; when I looked at the alarm clock, it was already past one o'clock in the morning...

Grandpa Fan, don’t you play with me like this...

I said with a bitter face: "Master Fan, it's already over 100 yuan. What are you doing?"

"You kid, you haven't seen each other for so long, why don't you talk to Grandpa Fan for a while?"

"Are you still talking?"

I shook my head with sleepy eyes: "Tomorrow, I'm so sleepy."

"Not you chatting?" Grandpa Fan shook his head: "You kid, then okay, tomorrow."

As he said that, he stood up and left, muttering: "Oh, the kids nowadays don't know what's wrong. I was fine when I left, why did I say that if I was not energetic, I would be out of energy? I can't even stay up all night..."

I was suddenly stunned, it wasn't right, it was obvious that there was something in my words. Grandpa Fan has always been a steady person. Will he come to chat with me in the middle of the night without any trouble?

Oh! Could it be that Grandpa Fan saw that my Yin God was injured?

I have been used to the life of ordinary people during this period. I am so happy today that I have put this most important thing behind my mind. Only then did I wake up like a dream!

"Master Fan, I'm not sleepy now, let's talk..."

I looked at him excitedly, and the sleepy bug had long disappeared.

"Haha, the boy can teach you. Xiaodong, come with me..."

***

Mr. Fan and I opened the yard gate and walked outside. At this moment, the bright moon was hanging in the sky, and he and I walked silently on the ground of silver frost, which was very poetic and picturesque.

After leaving the alley, I turned left and came to the Kui River. We found a bench to sit down. The breeze was blowing beside us, and the bright moon was reflected in the river. The more I looked at Grandpa Fan, the more I felt that this old man had a bit of a fairy-like meaning, which was very similar to the Bodhi ancestor who met Sun Wukong in the middle of the night in "Journey to the West" and taught the seventy-two transformations.

I was guessing in my heart how Grandpa Fan would start. This time I was probably going to be straight to the point, right? I asked me directly how Yin Shen was injured, and then pointed out a clear path for me. In this way, I could also ask which school he was and what level he had cultivated.

From then on, in addition to Uncle Wang Liang, I have another fellow Taoist who can share secrets, which is very happy to think about.

"Xiaodong, long time no see, grandpa said Duan Shu to you, right?"
To be continued...