It was raining, it was already late autumn.

The wind wrapped around the few leaves on the dry sweet-scented osmanthus tree in front of the courtyard, and the pattern of rain wet the soil and fell into the dilapidated house.

he heard people said: If Someone is going to die, a tree will die in their yard.

Zhang Fangyuan didn’t believe in these evils at first, until he saw with his own eyes the green and tall sweet-scented osmanthus tree outside the window, the leaves withered and yellowed in the autumn wind overnight, and the trunk became light and unstable.

The sweet-scented osmanthus tree was planted when he was 20 years old, and it he was more than 50 years old now. Over the years, no matter how dry it was in summer and how thick the snow was in winter, the yard was still full of sweet-scented osmanthus fragrance in autumn.

Such a tenacious sweet-scented osmanthus tree died without warning.

Over the years, there was only one old bachelor in Zhang’s house, who lived alone for decades, and now that the tree in front of the house was dead, the only person who was going to die was Zhang Fangyuan himself.

He was lying in the cold room under the rain in the late autumn night, his body was as limp as a puddle of soft mud, hunched in the black and iron-like bedding, and even taking a breath could take half of his strength.

There was no light in the room, and the only thing guarded the bed was the cold wind blowing in before the window paper was pasted. The rain fell and the sky darkened, making the room more and more lonely.

Ever since he was bedridden, his life had been muddled. When he was more energetic, he leaned on the wall to get up and cook a few bites of food. No one would come for ten days and a half months.

The consciousness had been blurred for so many days, but today was very strange. After night fell, he felt cold, and when he heard it was raining outside, his consciousness suddenly became clear, and he was able to distinguish between cold and heat. His heart was wide open, knowing that tonight was the last hour.

After waking up, he quietly listened to the sound of rain that filled the house. The dilapidated roof couldn’t cover the rain, and it leaked straight into the house, and the nearest ones dripped on the side of his bed. Insufficient strength, he could only lie on the bed like a hay and thought about his muddled life.

The Zhang family was not deserted, and it was lively in the past. He, Zhang Fangyuan, was not an orphan. Before the age of twelve, he was always a child with a father and a mother, as well as uncles and cousins. At that time, he lived a chic life. Today he went to the fields to catch fish, and tomorrow he went to the mountains to hunt birds. He also learned the butcher’s craft from the old widower in the village. He had a good hand at everything.

Because he was the fastest jumper and had a muscular body, the children in the village embraced him as the king of childrens, calling the wind and the rain, and if he said something no one in the village dared to say anything.

How proud he was at that time, he patted his chest and told his old lady that he would become a landlord in the village, earned thousands of taels, built a house, married three or five wives and had a bunch of childrens, so that the Zhang family would continue to prosper.

His mother always laughed at him for not knowing the heights of the sky and the depths of the earth, he was not practical and prudent at all, and he just talked empty words every day.

Zhang Fangyuan made a wish and wanted to prove it to his mother. How could he think that day hadn’t yet came, when his father came back drunk and had a big fight with his mother. His mother couldn’t help but jump into the river. He wanted to bite his old man to death, but before he could bite, his father told him the next day, only then did he realize that his mother stole a man, and he couldn’t be more angry.

Zhang Fangyuan took advantage of his old mother’s funerals, life turned upside down.

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Taking the money the family had saved for him to marry a wife, eating, drinking, and having fun, and befriending some worthless rich young masters in the city, being used as swordsmen, he still happily thought that he was so capable, but in the end he gave to his most trusted master and young master. He took the blame and went to prison, and came out sick and disabled and couldn’t find a job.

He thought he had spent his whole life recklessly and freely, but in the end he didn’t even have a person to retire to the end of his life. Uncles and cousins didn’t want to see him, so he was left out of the clan long ago. The reputation in the village was also muddy, and he had always been a useless old bachelor and a bum with no business.

After being ill for a long time, the enthusiastic villagers didn’t come to pay attention to major matters, and finally ended up alone and died in bed.

It was only at the end that he realized that this was an absurd waste of his life.

His eyes were straight open, with remorse in his heart, staring at the dead osmanthus tree outside the house, maybe he didn’t know when he lost his breath.

“Zhang Fangyuan, Zhang Fangyuan! Are you on the roof?”

“Zhang Fangyuan!”

In a daze, Zhang Fangyuan seemed to hear someone calling his name, followed by others. There was a loud knock on the door. He was a little annoyed that any junior in the village could still call him by his name, no matter what, he was of the grandpa’s generation. But the sound of knocking on the door and shouting was really loud, and he jumped up from the bed.

Only at this time did he realize that something was wrong, when did his body become so strong and light. He walked out of the house in disbelief, the cold wind was blowing outside, the grass withered, the yard was empty, and the sweet-scented osmanthus tree that had been with him for decades was gone.

“You’re in the house. The water in Xu’s house is boiling and I can’t see you coming. People are so anxious! Hurry up, take your things and go, the meat seller are still here, so why tell people to wait.”

Zhang Fangyuan looked at him. Familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar young face, he remembered that this kid was the fourth child of the Chen family, a neighbor of their family, who often followed him when he was young, but this kid fell to the bottom of the cliff and died. It was decades ago, why are you still standing here?

“Why are you so shocked!”

Zhang Fangyuan said, “Why are you calling me?”

“I see that you drank too much wine in the town yesterday and you are still not sober. Today Xu’s family slaughtered the pig, and you promised them to slaughter the pig early in the morning. Now you are still dawdling in the house. What do you think I called you for?”

Chen Si saw that the person in front of him was still wandering, and he went into the house and cleaned up all the pig butcher tools for him.

Zhang Fangyuan stared blankly at the familiar and unfamiliar environment around him, as if he had returned to more than 30 years ago, when he was nineteen years old, even the yard was still empty, and the sweet-scented osmanthus tree hadn’t been planted yet.

He ran around the house, and finally stopped by the well to look at his young face and his bulging chest muscles that were stretched by his clothes.

He rubbed his face, and later even pulled his face until he gasped in pain.

A surge of joy slowly rose from the soles of his feet, so rushing that he almost lost his footing.

“What are you doing there? It’s impossible to be enchanted.”

Zhang Fangyuan ignored Chen Si’s question, happily snatched the thing from his hand, and carefully touched the old set tools he had spent a lot of money on. Man, the handle was still clear wood, the knife was not dull, everything was still like new.

Chen Si was thinking about why this person looked weird today, when he was suddenly dragged up: “You are the one who need to return to your soul, hurry up, don’t make everyone wait.”

Chen Si was carried by Zhang Fangyuan, and he looked at the person in the front whose mouth was about to crack to the ear, felt weird and creepy.

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He couldn’t get up and down in his heart, and softened his tone: “Fangyuan, you should drink less in the future, I know you are not short of the money, but you go every day, the villagers who see you come and go will talk nonsense again. I think you are acting weird today, and besides, at our age, it’s time to discuss marriage. Who would dare to come to the door if the reputation outside is bad.”

Zhang Fangyuan really didn’t remember anyone saying such pertinent words to him before, he never listened to him in the past, but after all his life, hearing such admonition now, he couldn’t help being moved, he hooked Chen Si’s neck, he agreed: “Okay. I won’t go to the town to eat and drink.”

Chen Si knew that human nature was not so easy to change, and Zhang Fangyuan was also pitiful. He used to be a good young man, but his temper had deteriorated due to a great change in his family. Now he had the virtue of drinking and playing, and he couldn’t be persuaded to come back with a few words.

If he could really listen to the words, the uncle of the Zhang family wouldn’t close the door and be cold-faced when he met Zhang Fangyuan, and the aunt on the other side of Zhang’s mother’s natal house wouldn’t sigh and avoid him.

But when Chen Si saw Zhang Fangyuan’s sincere attitude, even knowing that he didn’t take his words into his heart, he still had a smile on his face: “That’s right, half of the pigs killed by Xu’s family today are sold. There are a lot of people who buy meat. The winter solstice was coming soon, and my mother also asked me to buy meat from the Xus family. Then I can bargain the price and buy two catties of meat and go back to make a festival.

Zhang Fangyuan said happily: The winter solstice has to eat mutton, warm.”

Chen Si sighed: “That stuff is so expensive, nearly twice the price of pork, how can I afford it.”

Zhang Fangyuan smiled: “I’ll get some back tomorrow, you come to my house to eat.”

Chen Si’s eyes shined brightly: “Really? Are you calling me?”

“What are you trying to do, food tastes bad when you eat it alone, and it tastes better when you eat it will many people.”

“I’m afraid that in our village, you are the only one who can say it.”

Zhang Fangyuan smiled, he was indeed the only one in the village whose parents passed away and left some money, and he only needed to feed himself, which was naturally more free and easy than ordinary people.

Chen Si was very excited, and he talked more and more, mysteriously said: “I heard that the Xu family has invited a lot of people this time, not only to buy meat, but also matchmakers. I heard that they want to look the girl and talk about marriage.”

Zhang Fangyuan raised his eyebrows, he used to devote himself to the city and didn’t know much about the gossip in the village: “talk about marriage?”

“Are you confused? Xu Shaochun, the daughter of the Xu family, passed the age last year, but she hasn’t selected yet. I’m going to join in the fun.” Chen Si showed a man’s usual flirtatious smile : “What if I’m lucky? I was spotted by the girl.”

Zhang Fangyuan frowned, this Xu Shaochun was recognized as the village flower in their Jijiu Village, the girl was born with a juicy look, even the daughters raised by some wealthy families in the city could be compared, The matchmaker looked at it and said that she was a good child, and the men in the village were so confused that they couldn’t find her.

Now that the little girl had reached the age where she could marry, she would naturally become a favorite.

When it came to this matter , Zhang Fangyuan’s heart was also hot.

“Why hasn’t the kid from the Zhang family come here?”

“Didn’t the fourth child of the Chen family went to call him? I guess he overslept.”

“Okay, don’t fall into the river. I heard that a drunkard in a neighboring village fell into the river when he came back from the city after drinking too much. Fortunately, he was picked up by a passer-by, otherwise he would have died. It’s freezing cold, and the drunkard was still lying at home.”

“The Zhang family boy was also a prodigal. I think his father was also capable back then. He must have left a lot of money for him to pay for his future. He eat, drink, and have fun in the city every day.”

Two tables were set up in the courtyard of Xu’s family, surrounded by a few women and ge’ers who were cutting vegetables and peeling garlic, and men were sitting or standing beside them, eating dried Pumpkin Seeds, everyone was waiting for the butcher to come, so they talked about the famous people in the village.

” Drinking was nothing, he still goes to the flower house, and goes to the casino with the young master in the city. He has mixed up what should be done and what shouldn’t be done.”

“Do evil, but let the girl and He ge’er far away from him, this person was not a decent person, if one day he drinks too much and commits a crime.”

As soon as the words fell, Xu Changren, the host, shouted loudly: “Zhang Tuzi (butcher), you can count on it. Its over, the water for blanching the pigs hair in this pot has been boiled several times!

The fiery villagers in the yard were silent when they saw the burly and fierce young man striding in.

Zhang Fangyuan went into the courtyard and saw that the people in the courtyard were all looking at him. Just now he heard that this side was bustling outside, but when he came in, there was no sound. It was unclear who everyone was talking about.

People in the village loved to gossip, and it was not just a matter of a day or two. They thought he couldn’t hear these people always talking about his parents behind his back. So, he ran to the city to drink because he was depressed, and he didn’t go back to the village every three days. After that, everyone didn’t talk much about his parents, but started talking about his idleness, anyway, it didn’t stop.

After a lifetime of watching flowers, he turned around and faced them again. He suddenly felt that it was funny, and it was really not worth it for gossip.

“I’m sorry Uncle Xu, I was delayed on the road for a while, and the fat pig just dragged it out.”

Xu Changren, a man from the Xu family, didn’t see much guilt when he heard the words, and quickly called the man who came to press the pig to drag the animal out. The pig was so strong that the four men managed to control it.

Zhang Fangyuan took out the sharp knife with a silver and cold light, his eyes sharpened, and he lifted the knife with his hand. Even though he hadn’t done this business for many years, his movements were still very skillful.

After the pig was bled, the skin was scalded to remove the hair. The man carried the pig onto two long benches, and the shaved fat pig was cut into small pieces. The villagers who wanted to buy meat immediately surrounded them.

What kind of meat do you want, and how many catties do you want? Even if you didnt have a scales, Zhang Fangyuan could cut it to a similar weight.

Even if the villagers looked down on him, some people couldn’t help saying: “Zhang Tuzi’s hands and feet are really nimble!”

Zhang Fangyuan wiped the blade and said, “It’s all done through practice.”

This was his skill. skill for work, otherwise, with his temper, no one would ask him to butch pigs again.

Although Zhang Fangyuan could estimate the weight, Liu Xianglan, the plump lady of the Xu family,was still worried. After all, she had worked so hard to raise the pig for more than half a year. Came out with the scale: “Everyone who wants meat, come to the scale!”

“Miss Xu, it’s really good for you to raise this animal, and the meat was too fat.”

Liu Xianglan felt proud when she heard this: “That’s not true. Our livestock used a lot of pig food to feed them fat and strong twice a day.”

After working for more than half an hour, most of the owner’s pigs were sold. Pork was fat, everyone was greedy for the oily taste, and the pork was sold very well in the village.

Liu Xianglan was satisfied with the amount of money in her pocket. After the meat was sold, the women and ge’ers were busy with the work in the kitchen, and the men who came to help had nothing to do, so they gathered around and played dice with small bets. It was almost the Chinese New Year in winter, and there was another meal of meat to eat, everyone liked to go and play for a while.

“Fang Yuan, do you want play?”

Zhang Fangyuan waved his hand: “I’ll go to the latrine, you play first ”

He got into the house. Xu’s family was considered a high-ranking family in the village. They didn’t have many rooms, but the house passed down from their ancestors was larger and different in structure from Zhang’s.

” He ge’er, cook the meat quickly, and put away the ingredients for the vegetables. When it’s ready, go to the stove to light the fire and rest for a while. You’ve been busy for a long time, let the second sister come.”

Zhang Fangyuan heard the soft and tender voice. He laughed, it was all done, what else did you need to do? Hearing the sound, he couldn’t help but tilted his head to see which girl could talk like this, but when he looked up, he saw two young people in the room, a girl and a ge’er.

Without stepping forward to ask, he immediately knew who the two were.

It was said that the Xu family had no sons, the oldest died when he was young, and now there was only one girl and ge’er .The second girl, Xu Shaochun,was fair and juicy, and she was a well-known village flower, but the youngest, Xu He,was slow, thin, and poorly made.

People in the village always talked too much after dinner. How could the same parents gave birth to two very different children? Compared with his sister, He ge’er was even more inconspicuous.

Zhang Fangyuan looked at the little girl who was standing by the stove while pinching her waist, her pearls and jade were round, her face was white and rosy, her black eyes matched with red cherry lips, she was wearing a delicate royal blue velvet winter coat, she was alive and well like the proud daughter of a rich family, it was no wonder that Chen Si almost swallowed when he mentioned it, but she really had a good appearance.

On the other hand, the little ge’er who was working on the stove by the side was dressed in a cross-neck linen dress that was stitched together in small steps, wrapped a bony body, with a scorched yellow face with no flesh, and two protruding eyes that were extraordinarily large. But he didn’t look very bright, the circles around his eyes were black and blue, his whole body was very gray, like a short and thin little monkey, he was really different from his sister.

“The heart and lungs stewed with radishes were so fragrant. I’ve already prepared the soup. You just need to stir-fry the vegetables.”

The little ge’er’s tone was light, and his voice was mixed with the hoarseness of the winter, neither like The girl delicate and soft, not like ge’er clear and beautiful voice, but more like a wild gull that occasionally croaked while foraging on the river beach.

Wearing an apron, he was cooking with a spatula in front of the stove, but he was quick to put salt and ingredients into the pot, the smell of cooking filled the small stove.

Zhang Fangyuan rubbed his chin, the food was really delicious, it could catch up with the best restaurants in the city.

“Zhang Tuzi!”

a sudden call came, and Xu Shaochun, who was in the room was in shock, picked up a crock pot nearby.

Zhang Fangyuan turned his head and saw Liu Xianglan hurriedly approaching, he said unhurriedly: “Madam Xu, let me find the latrine.”

“It’s on the left, just go along the eaves and turn around the corner.”

“Okay ”

Zhang Fangyuan walked to the place she said, and Liu Xianglan got into the kitchen when she saw that the person had gone far away.

Xu Shaochun breathed a sigh of relief, put down the earthen pot, and went forward to hold Liu Xianglan’s arm: “You scared me so much.”

Liu Xianglan scolded: “You have to be careful to avoid this man, he go to the city to drink all day long. Just kidding around, I think he came here to see you on purpose, and even pretended to be looking for a latrine. You girl has such a big heart, so you didn’t pay attention.”

“Mother knows that person’s character was not good, why were you still let him came here?”

“I didn’t call him, it was your father who called to kill the pigs, since the old butcher died, he was the only butcher in our village. If you don’t call him to kill the pigs, Your father said it would be too much trouble to do it.

Liu Xianglan said nothing, and then glanced at Xu He who hadn’t said a word: How is the cooking? Oh, it smells so good.

When it came to the food, even her mother praised him, and couldn’t help but said: “The meat and vegetables are delicious. He ge’er’s craftsmanship was good, but the taste was too strong.”

“Mother wants me to learn in this kitchen. It’s a pity that the new clothes my mother made for me in the city were full of smells.”

“You silly girl, I know you don’t like smoky things, but there were many people outside today, so take out something to meet the guests.”

The mother and daughter talked for a while, then remembered that there was another person in the side stove, turned to Xu He and said, “He ge’er, don’t go out until the dishes here ready, it’s too late to set and serve. Let someone does it, you go back to the house to eat. Its not that your mother wont let you go out, there are a lot of gossips from the village here today, and they will have to use you to talk to Shaochun.

Xu He didnt even lift his eyelids, just nodding his head, no matter if it was someone else’s business or his own business, he always arranged like this anyway. The villagers couldn’t eat a few good meals throughout the year. Today, there were some meat dishes. Itwas more comfortable to eat two big spoonfuls of vegetables in the room.

Zhang Fangyuan came back from the hut and played a few dice with the men in the village. He was lucky. He won several times in a row, and those who lost were not very happy. The dice was withdrawn.

Everyone started setting up and ate lively again.

“The fried pork liver was so tender, it’s really delicious.”

Chen Si took a sip of wine and praised the fried pork liver with sliced scallions, and all the men at the table moved their chopsticks when they heard this.

“It’s really tender, it takes long to do it.”

At this moment, Liu Xianglan heard the news and pointed at the daughter in the room with her chin while she was refilling the wine: “The child fried it, it’s not good, everyone, don’t joke about her.”

Zhang Fangyuan ate with a sullen head, and couldn’t help but look up at Liu Xianglan, who was full of smiles. Just now, this dish was clearly fried by Xu He, who was out of the way. How could it be Xu Shaochun’s cooking? .

“I’ve heard that the second girl of Xu’s family, has such a good skill. Whoever gets married will be a great blessing.”

Immediately, several women also joined in, and Liu Xianglan smiled from ear to ear. He said directly: “Everyone knows how to joke.”

Zhang Fangyuan saw that she didn’t tell the truth, and threw a few pieces of radish into his mouth. This Xu family was really interesting. He raised his neck and shamelessly yelled at Liu Xianglan: “Madam Xu, if you don’t call your girl and ge’er out to eat on such a good day, they’ve been busy around the stove all morning, and you’re still hiding it at this time.”

“Hahahahaha, Zhang Fangyuan can say that by opening his mouth.”

The men at the table picked up Zhang Fangyuan and joked again.

Without letting her mother shout, Xu Shaochun actually walked out in response to the chatter and laughter of a group of men, and She said that she would pour wine for the elders who came to eat. Seeing Xu Shaochun who came out with a rosy face, all the men at the table stopped serving the food, she was really filial and reasonable.

Zhang Fangyuan raised the corners of his mouth, took advantage of this spare time, and picked pork lung slices from the big bowl by himself. The Xu family’s cooking skills were good, but after digging and searching, there were not many pieces of meat in a large pot of radish lung slice soup.

When the man at the table turned his eyes away from Xu Shaochun, Zhang Fangyuan ate up all the meat.

After the meal, Zhang Fangyuan, as a butcher, not only got a meal, but also a piece of pork as a reward from the host.

Xu Changren was quite generous, and gave Zhang Fangyuan two catties of fat and thin pork. After he took the things, he didn’t keep much, and he was about to leave.

The ones left on this side were all those who had the idea of the second daughter of the Xu family. If he hadn’ t bumped into the two children of the Xu family in kitchen today, seeing Xu Shaochun’s good looks, plus her mother’s bragging, he would definitely fascinated.

He shook his head, people needed to look more.

He didn’t go home directly with the meat, but turned his head and went to another place first.