Embers of the Huntress

In late February, the mountain tops of Long Xing Shan Dong Ling are still covered with snow, and the area around the foot of the mountain has already shown signs of spring recovery, with mottled new green everywhere.The more that can not be named wild flowers wild, the more withered late, woke up early.Tong Sui followed the memory to a sunny lot, still separated by a distance, will see a small piece of tender green onion seedlings, some of which only emerged from the brown soil skin, some of which has grown a thumb to long.Small onion is not wild, is Tong Sui deliberately planted. The first few years of war, Tong Sui followed his family for the first time to escape into the depths of the East Ridge is still concerned about fear, and so a year ran five or six times, Tong Sui, although still afraid, but also one after another to give birth to a number of small thoughts. Dry food is often prepared at home, once encountered military chaos, the whole family loaded with dry food to pick up the bag can immediately move. But just eat dry food is also difficult, Tong Sui will take advantage of the peace of time, in advance in the mountains everywhere sprinkled with some fruits and vegetables seeds, such as pinching a handful of directly rolled into the cake to increase the flavor of small onions, such as crisp and tasty zucchini. Tong family is a hunter's family, on the children is the same method of raising, Tong Sui and a good boy, her mother sent her to private school to read and recognize words, she learned more than the boys are serious, her father took her to the mountains to lay traps to teach her to pull the bow and arrow, Tong Sui also learned to have a style, single bow and arrow accuracy, she is not losing the two older brothers half a point. Follow the father and brother run more, East Ridge has become Tong Sui's another home, she deliberately small onions, cucumber planted on the beaten track, summer and fall when you need to use, she secretly ran over to pick, not only will not be found by the stragglers, bandits, but also to help the family to improve the food. Last year, the war was considered to have been pacified, and it is said that it will last for at least a year, so this year, there is no need to rely on this small onion. The family's small onions to wait until they grow up to eat, can not afford to be greedy, Tong Sui decided to dig some back from the mountains, eat some fresh in the afternoon. Specializing in picking the thumb to dig, green onion body, the ground can also dig out a section of water tender onion white, collectively dug more than twenty plants, enough to do a plate of small onion omelette. Putting the hoe into the basket, Tong Sui got up and walked towards the rendezvous point he had arranged with Second Brother. “Ah Man, the rabbit! Going your way!” Tong Gui's loud shouts came from the distance, the sibling's tacit understanding allowed Tong Sui to put down the basket at the first opportunity, quickly draw a wooden arrow from the arrow pouch behind his back and nocked it on the string, and with a sweep of his line of sight across the open woodland in early spring, he soon spotted the gray rabbit that had been chased by Tong Gui and fled in haste. In the short time that the gray rabbit turned and scurried to the south, Tong Sui shot an arrow, hitting the gray rabbit squarely in the neck. “Good Ah Man, after vegging out for so long, you finally have meat to eat again!” Tong Gui ran over with great strides, pulled out the wooden arrow from the gray rabbit's neck and casually wiped it and threw it into the arrow bag, then picked up the gray rabbit that was still twitching and bouncing its legs and tied it up at his waist. Tong Gui looked up when he was done. His eyes were bright with joy, Tong Sui was infected by it and smiled too. Near noon, the bright sunshine warmly sprinkled down, Tong Gui eyes sister, although wearing a gray cloth clothes, although carrying a bow and arrow basket, the white and soft face but not half the countryside, but more like the city door does not go out of the door of the lady in the girl, everywhere penetrating a good quiet, arrows, ah baskets, ah are her temporary help people take. This kind of sister is good-looking, but also look very easy to be bullied. Thinking of the Xiao family tomorrow will come over to pay the bride, Tong Gui eyes of joy a scattered, to his sister sighed: “This may be our brother and sister together for the last time into the mountains it.” Tong Sui wanted to comfort her brother, but the wedding date was getting closer and closer, and the family's wedding clothes had not yet been embroidered, so it was really not good for her to run to the mountains again. As for after the marriage, even if she could go home to visit during the New Year's festivals, it would be impossible for her to leave her long-lost family behind and go into the mountains. “Second brother, look.” Tong Sui approached her brother and raised the basket in her hand. Tong Gui saw a small pile of green onions on the right side of the bottom of the basket, and indeed smiled again, rubbing the top of his sister's head with his big hand, “You're the one who's greedy.” Because of her gluttony, no matter how hard it was for Zi, she would always find a way to make herself eat that little bit better. “Let's go.” The siblings descended the mountain side by side. Peach Blossom Gully is a small village, a total of more than fifty families, because of the undulating terrain at the foot of the mountain, the people in the village are also picking the gently sloping lot to build their houses, a few high and a few short, scattered and sparse, unlike those villages in the flat area, where families are building houses next to each other, in neat rows and rows. Down the hill by the river, there are still some women washing clothes, a mortar and pestle pounding on the clothes. Tong Sui glanced over and saw that his mother was not there, so he withdrew his gaze. Those women also saw the Tong family siblings, and when the siblings were far away, they all talked and discussed. “Spirit Water Village is more than twenty miles away from our Peach Blossom Gully, the old man of the Xiao family used to be a thousand households, which is considered a hereditary military official's son, although now he is not an official, that is also a thin camel is bigger than a horse, why did he come all the way to our side to pick a daughter-in-law for his grandson?” “What's so strange about this? Although our village is remote, A-Man is good-looking and his reputation has been spreading for a long time; men are lustful and all want to marry a beautiful daughter-in-law.” “Not only that, but Matchmaker Fang has told us that Master Xiao first heard that A-Man is especially good at running, and that's why he asked her about the Tong family.” “Haha, Ah Man can indeed run ah, that year I personally saw a team of small soldiers chasing Ah Man into the mountains, more than ten of them, even the shadow of Ah Man did not fish.” “Then again, I thought A-Man would marry the son of scholar Song, a childhood sweetheart and a talented woman, what a perfect match.” “Two times in a row, the imperial examinations have been abolished, talent is useless, not as good as a body of strength is really, the Xiao family so many men, each practicing martial arts, listen to the heart is solid.” “That's right, the emperor can be pulled down the dragon chair beheading, not to mention us little people, who can let me live a few more days I will marry who!”