Qilipu was a very typical local rural area.
All the houses in the entire village stood side by side.
Most of the houses were very old quadrangles.
In the courtyard, the old people were leisurely taking care of the flowers and plants.
The cats and dogs that the old people raised were basking in the sun at the entrance of the courtyard.
Ling Ping'an walked past these courtyards with his pet in his arms.
The old people all raised their heads and looked at him with confusion in their eyes.
"Whose child is that?" They thought in their hearts, but not many of them really cared.
A long time ago, the rural areas of the Federal Empire had already become nursing homes.
When they were young, they went to work in the city. After retirement, they returned to their hometown in the countryside to grow flowers and grass. When they were free, they would play cards and fish with their old friends.
As for the land?
It had long been rented to those fruit and vegetable companies.
Therefore, in the traditional sense, the rural society of two hundred or three hundred years ago had long collapsed.
Until they saw Ling Ping'an walk to the entrance of an old courtyard in the village and skillfully take out the key to open the door.
The old people came to a sudden realization.
"The child of the Ling family..."
They began to whisper to each other.
The old people recalled the legends of the past. They were all things they had heard when they were young.
At that time, the elders always taught them, "Don't go to that courtyard to play, understand?"
"Don't go to the Ling family's courtyard if you have nothing to do..."
As for the reason, there were different opinions.
Some people said that the ancestors of the Ling family raised monsters that would eat people.
Some people also said that the Ling family knew magic. It was the kind of magic that if you offended him, he would fetch a basin of water in his courtyard at night. Then, he would mutter something and hit the basin with his palm. Then, you would get sick...
There were also people who said that the Ling family themselves were monsters.
Because someone had once seen with their own eyes that the woman of the Ling family was dressing up on the windowsill. She took a bloody human skin off her face and placed it on the table. She used an eyebrow pencil to draw her eyebrows and then glued it back.
In any case, the Ling family was a taboo in this village.
Other than a few families who were close to the Ling family, basically no one dared to approach them.
The old people looked at the young man wearing glasses and holding the kitten.
They thought about the legends they had heard when they were young.
At this moment, a child ran out of the house excitedly with a toy in his hand, "Grandpa... Grandpa..."
"Look at my invincible flying car..."
"Beep …"
The old man immediately turned around and looked at his grandson with a smile. "You're really amazing …"
The little guy was very curious. He looked at the place where his grandfather was looking and his eyes immediately lit up. "Grandpa … didn't you say that the courtyard is very dangerous and there are monsters? Didn't you tell us not to go play there?"
"How dare he go?"
The old man smiled and touched his grandson's head. "He … is from the Ling Family …"
The little guy looked at the stranger who was opening the door.
A cute kitten immediately attracted his attention.
"His cat is so beautiful!"
Only then did the old man notice the kitten squatting at the young man's feet.
Every strand of hair glistened under the sunlight, as if it was surrounded by colorful radiance.
The little kitten was very intelligent.
That pair of cat eyes, even under the sunlight, was as beautiful as a gem.
The old man was stunned.
The legends of his childhood resurfaced in his mind.
"The Ling Family raises monsters …"
"They know magic …"
"The people of the Ling Family are monsters themselves!"
He hurriedly pulled his grandson. "Good grandson, don't look, don't look …"
"Go home with Grandpa and watch cartoons …"
It was better to believe in such things than not!
No one would risk their descendants.
… …
Ling Ping 'an opened the door of the courtyard and walked in with his pet.
This was a typical courtyard in the countryside.
The lawn in the courtyard was clean and there were no weeds.
In the middle of the courtyard, there was a well. It was a very old well.
Ling Ping 'an walked over, opened the cover of the well, and looked at the water inside. It was crystal clear and very clean.
Next to the well was a pavilion.
He remembered that every time he came back when he was young, he would sit in the pavilion at night and look at the sky and count the stars.
That was one of the few hobbies he had when he was young.
As a person who was extremely insensitive to mathematics, he couldn't even imagine that he could have this hobby.
Sitting on the clean pavilion railing, he looked at the door of the ancestral house.
The brass-colored wooden door was tightly locked.
He walked over and opened the door. The hall was densely packed with God Lord Tablets.
This was also the purpose of most ancestral houses in the countryside now — to worship their ancestors!
Although Ling Ping 'an was an atheist.
But like most people, he still respected his ancestors.
Therefore, he walked forward and picked up a lighter on the altar table. Then, he took out incense candles from under the altar table, inserted them into the incense burner, and lit them one by one.
Then, he lifted his head and looked at the Master God Tablets that were placed on the table.
These Divine Lord tablets were all his direct ancestors.
From the first generation to his parents, it had been more than two hundred years since the Ling Family of Guangnan. There were almost nine generations.
The plaque of the first generation ancestor was enshrined in the center.
Then, the descendants of each generation were arranged in a special way from generation to generation.
The father was on the left, and the son was on the right.
This was the order of Zhao Mu!
When he was young, Ling Ping 'an didn't understand. He only felt that this kind of order was very interesting.
But when he grew up, he knew that this was a very ancient Zhao Mu system.
This kind of order made father and son always different, while grandfather and grandson always in the same row.
In the past, only the Emperor's family could use it.
But now …
Whoever liked to use it could use it …
Looking at these Divine Lord tablets that had been wiped clean, Ling Ping 'an bowed slightly and said, "My ancestors won't blame me for not coming back to worship for a long time, right …"
He poured cups of wine for the cups on the altar table.
Then, he continued, "It's not that I don't want to come back to see my ancestors … but … I'm too lazy …"
In front of his ancestors, he was very honest.
Although he knew that everything would disappear when people died.
But the influence of tradition was still very strong.
Materialists only opposed feudal superstition. They still respected traditional morals and values.
He took the cups of wine and poured them on the ground as an apology to his ancestors.
Suddenly, his eyes saw something under the altar table.
He squatted down, tilted his head, and looked over. He found that it was a card stuck on the altar table.
It seemed to be made of the same material as the card he found in the family tree in the cupboard last time.
Ling Ping 'an reached out curiously and gently lifted it. The card fell into his hand.
He picked it up and blew the dust on the card.
Then, he saw lines of words written in ink.
Looking at these words, Ling Ping 'an scratched his head, "Was this left behind by my parents?"
"But why is it so strange?"
Because this card was still an article from the Tao Te Ching.
Chapter 14 of the Tao Te Ching.
"What you can't see is called Yi; what you can't hear is called Xi; what you can't get is called Wei..."
Compared to the last time, the article copied on this card was even more mysterious.
As a liberal arts student, Ling Ping 'an naturally knew that the 14th chapter of the Tao Te Ching was a thorough philosophical article.
Simply put, this was a philosophical article that guided people to understand the universe and nature, so that they could get closer to the universe and nature.
The general meaning was that the universe was indescribable and unrecognizable. Then what should he do? Follow its rules and adapt according to its operation.
But …
Ling Ping 'an didn't understand why his parents or that ancestor would put such a card under the altar table and in the family tree.
"There must be something they want to tell their descendants..." Ling Ping 'an held the card in his hand and thought.
But …
What did they want to say?
Tell their descendants to read the Tao Te Ching?
Or did they want to use the Tao Te Ching to express some metaphor?
Ling Ping 'an scratched his head, not quite understanding.
He played with the card in his hand, thought for a moment, and put it back.
Turning around, he looked at the well-behaved pet that had been following behind him all this while.
Ever since this little guy entered the ancestral house, he had become very obedient.
Ling Ping 'an picked it up, rubbed its head, and said, "Let's go, let's go pick strawberries..."
When he came to the countryside, Ling Ping 'an liked to pick strawberries.
Not only because it was cheap, but also because he could eat it for free!
The rule in the countryside was that you could taste strawberries after picking them.
How much you could eat was your ability!
Especially for a local farmer like Ling Ping 'an, even the price was very cost-effective.
Others might cost 30, 40, or even 50 yuan per catty.
But for Ling Ping 'an, it was a few yuan per catty.
This was the welfare of farmers.
Because the land of those orchards was the ancestral land of the local villagers.
Many of them were even the ancestral property of the Ling family!
Now, it was only rented to the fruit company to plant.
But the property rights were still under Ling Ping 'an's name.
There would still be tens of thousands of yuan in rent every year!
But the Ling family had ancestral teachings to donate all of this money.
Carrying the kitten, Ling Ping 'an walked out of the door and closed it.
Before he reached the courtyard door, he met an old man in his fifties.
Ling Ping 'an looked at him and immediately greeted him with a smile, "Uncle Wang..."
The other party raised his head and saw Ling Ping 'an. He immediately smiled and couldn't help but bend down, "Young master, you're back..."
Ling Ping 'an immediately waved his hand, "Uncle Wang... you can't do that..."
As he said that, he helped the old man up.
This old man was a distant relative who helped Ling Ping 'an take care of and take care of this ancestral house.
Although he was a distant relative, he was actually not very close.
According to Ling Ping 'an's parents, Uncle Wang's family once had a daughter who was a concubine for the ancestors of the Ling family about 200 years ago.
At that time, it was still the era of Gaozong.
Women were not liberated, and men and women were not equal.
At that time, concubines were legal.
In the later period of Gaozong's rule, with the fall of the Women and Children's Rights Protection Act, the dregs of the old era were also swept into the trash heap of history.
However, the trash heap belonged to the trash heap.
Some things could still survive even if they fell into the cesspool.
Just like now, the law clearly forbade bigamy.
But many girls still liked to be rich people's concubines.
There was nothing they could do. Money was too fragrant!
In the old era, there were still dregs like masters and servants.
A long time ago, Uncle Wang's family was a servant of the Ling family. It was also because of this that they offered a daughter to the ancestors of the Ling family as a concubine (at that time, this was a very glorious thing!).
Two hundred years had passed, but his family still followed the tradition of the past.
They always called him Young Master and Young Master...
This was also the reason why Ling Ping 'an didn't really want to return to Qilipu.
Here, other than Uncle Wang's family, there were a few other families. They were all former servants or former subordinates of the Ling family.
He was a young man of the new era.
The concept of equality was very strong!
He really didn't like being called 'Young Master' or 'Young Master'.
Especially when the other party was an elder!
However, the old man chuckled and said, "Young Master, I can... I can..."
The Ling family was very special, especially the Young Master.
This was a secret.
A secret that couldn't be told!
"Young Master, are you coming back to stay this time?" The old man asked.
"I'm not staying..." Ling Ping 'an quickly waved his hand. If he really stayed here for the night, Ling Ping' an knew that it would be very lively at night.
A lot of people would come to pay their respects.
Other than the Wang family and Zhang family in the village.
The Hu family and Lu family in the neighboring mountain would also come.
"Oh right..." Ling Ping 'an asked, "Uncle Wang, where's Uncle Zhang?"
"Old Zhang went to the vineyard early this morning to pick grapes for you..." The old man said with a smile.
When Ling Ping 'an heard this, he could only sigh.
"I already said, there's no need to go through so much trouble..." Ling Ping 'an shook his head.
This feeling of being a fellow villager really moved him.
It was a pity that he had nothing to repay these simple villagers.
He read until he was lonely.
He opened a bookstore and it was a miserable one!
Even writing books wasn't very satisfactory...
It was just that his gaming skills were not bad!
But he didn't want to play professionally...
So, he was very ashamed! Every time he came back, he would be ashamed to face the elders of Jiangdong!
This was also the reason why he always dreamed of becoming a Federal Book Giant or the Sixth White of the Central Plains.
He was just using those two excuses that even he didn't believe to deceive him and comfort him.
Therefore, in front of the old man, Ling Ping 'an felt like he was sitting on pins and needles.
He quickly found an excuse, "Uncle Wang, I won't chat with you anymore..."
"I have to go to the fields to pick some strawberries to eat..."
As he said that, he hugged his cat and left in a hurry.
The old man stood behind him and watched Ling Ping 'an leave with a slight bow.
"Young master..." the old man looked at Ling Ping 'an's figure and said softly, "When... can you lead us back to the ancestral land?"
It had been two hundred years.
When could he return to the ancestral land?
The fox died on the hill, on behalf of Ma Yifeng.
For two hundred years, he and the souls of his ancestors had been dreaming of returning to their hometown.
And now, all of this hope fell on this young master.
Because he was the only person who could lead his clansmen back to their hometown.
Turning around, the old man saw a figure not far away.
That person walked over.
It was a white-haired old woman.
"Young master just left..." the old man said.
The old woman nodded. She knew that as soon as the young master returned, she sensed it.
"The cat that the young master brought back..." the old woman said, "is very unusual!"
The old man nodded, "I know..."
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