The first volume debuts Chapter 1 Taoyuan Village
"What a strange thing! I've never seen it before." A slightly plump, honest-looking boy, about twelve or thirteen years old, pointed at the crystal clear river water and said in amazement.
I saw a creature with a green shell on its back in the river, swimming slowly on its four short legs.
"Sanniu, this thing seems to be a turtle. I heard that it tastes very delicious when stewed into soup." There were three young men of similar age next to the fat man. Among them, the handsome young man in blue cloth answered after a little thought.
Plop!
After hearing the words of the young man in blue, the three people, including the little fat man, suddenly made a very consistent move and jumped directly into the river.
"There is only one river in our Taoyuan Village. This is the first time we see a turtle. We can finally try some new game." The three young men's eyes lit up. They suddenly rushed towards the turtle and spoke excitedly.
The four of them were people who fished and caught shrimps in the river all year round and were very good at swimming. For them, jumping into the river was as easy and comfortable as entering their own bathtub.
The three people who jumped into the river didn't care about getting their clothes wet. They were more worried that the turtle would escape. They cooperated very well and immediately dispersed to surround it.
"Yeah, we're tired of eating fish, shrimp and hares." Another boy echoed, staring at the turtle with saliva already overflowing from the corners of his mouth.
Obviously, these are a few greedy foodies. They are good at catching fish and shrimps in the river, catching rabbits in the mountains, and climbing trees to dig out bird nests.
That's why, after hearing that turtles are extremely delicious, the three of them immediately jumped into the river to catch one.
"Ergou, Sanniu, Tiedan, don't get too close to the turtle's head when you catch it, otherwise it will be very painful to get bitten!" The young man in blue stood alone on the shore and reminded with a chuckle.
Although it was the first time he had seen a turtle, the boy in blue had already known about it from his father's bookshelf, so he was able to recognize it immediately.
Hearing the words of the young man in blue, the three young men in the river became alert immediately and quickly grabbed the turtle's tail and easily captured it.
A moment later, the fat boy Sanniu had caught the turtle and brought it ashore, and the other two teenagers also caught a large crucian carp.
The three of them have mastered the skill of catching fish in the river and they never fail every time they go into the water.
After putting the turtle and the caught crucian carp into the wooden barrel they brought, the four young men in blue clothes lay down on the big rocks by the river and started to sunbathe, drying their wet clothes.
This huge stone is two meters wide and its surface is flat and smooth. It is the "stone bed" that the four people often visit.
Although it was a sunbath, the sunlight from above was not too bright as it was blocked a lot by the tall mountain walls and leaves.
The sky above this place is not open. Instead, it is blocked by tall mountain walls on all sides, with only a three-hundred-foot-wide hole in the middle.
Moreover, most of the surrounding mountain walls are quite smooth, and it is extremely difficult even if you want to climb up, but there are many large trees growing tenaciously from the mountain walls.
These big trees are already quite old and are growing very lushly, so their crowns are quite wide, covering almost half of the hole above.
Because nearly half of the area is covered by the tree canopy, this place becomes extremely secretive. Even birds and animals flying high in the sky rarely notice this place.
Due to the terrain, the spring water from the mountain pours down from the eastern mountain wall, forming a waterfall and then turning into a small river.
When it rains, the flow of the waterfall will increase significantly, making the flow of the stream become turbulent.
After turning a corner along the mountain wall, the stream flows out from the cracks in the rocks in the middle of the southern mountain without flooding the area.
In this hidden place with peculiar terrain, there is a small village, and the four young men are the younger generations of the village.
This place is surrounded by mountains on all sides and is located in a mountain range. The four young men once climbed to the top of the mountain with great effort, but there were still mountains behind the mountains and they could not even see the end.
The four curious teenagers not only did not see the outside world, but were also severely reprimanded by the village elders and parents, and were punished by not being allowed to go out for three days.
The elders and parents in the village had already warned them that the outside world was very dangerous and that they must never leave the village. They did not expect that they would climb to the top of the steep mountain, so they were naturally very angry.
For these four active people, not being able to go out for three days is a huge torture.
The four young men did not know that in this small village, there was a natural cave under the mountain on the west side, which made it quite easy to walk out of the village and into the outside world.
However, the cave has been blocked by a large stone moved by the villagers to prevent children from the village from accidentally entering, and to prevent outsiders from accidentally entering.
Because of this, this village is extremely secretive and completely isolated from the outside world. The villagers live a self-sufficient life and named it Taoyuan Village.
That's why these four teenagers had never seen a turtle until they were in their teens.
This time, the turtle accidentally swam in from under the rocks when the weather was dry and the river level was low.
Although the area here is not large, the entire Taoyuan Village has only forty households and two hundred people, so it does not seem crowded.
Near the mountain peak, there is a large shaded area provided by lush tree canopies, and it was chosen by the villagers as their residence, where dozens of wooden houses were built.
The area in the middle of the village has no plants blocking the sun and is used by villagers to grow crops.
Precisely because of its isolation, the villagers of Taoyuan Village are extremely harmonious and always help each other enthusiastically. Disputes are rare, and fights only occur among children.
The simple villagers generally believed that it would be easier to raise a child with a rough name, so the names of the four boys were quite strange. Three of them were named Ergou, Sandiu, and Tiedan.
Only the boy in blue had a nicer name, Xiaofeng. When his father gave him this nickname, the old people in the village who insisted on rough names objected.
Although all the villagers called him Xiaofeng, the boy in blue's father had already given him a full name, Li Xuanfeng.
Among the naughty four, the other three listen to Xiaofeng very much because he can always come up with more and better ideas.
The reason why they were called the Naughty Four was that the four of them had caused a lot of trouble in the village and had long been well-known figures in the village.
The last time was half a month ago, when the four of us, led by Xiaofeng, wore straw raincoats and straw hats with hay hanging on them, and went to dig out beehives. I still remember it vividly.
Although their straw hats were hung with hay, they still couldn't completely block the crazy revengeful swarm of bees, and soon the four people's faces were bitten and left with many red and swollen areas.
In pain, the four people ran away quickly, but the swarm of bees still chased them, making them cry out in pain continuously.
In the panic, Xiaofeng had an idea and thought that he could hide from the swarm of bees by diving into the water. He immediately ran to the river with his three companions.
As a result, there was chaos all along the way. The villagers who were on the run were bitten by the crazy swarm of bees, and many of them cursed angrily: "You little bastards!"
After running for a while, Xiaofeng and his three companions came to the river, and immediately jumped into the water without hesitation, finally avoiding the stings of the swarm of bees .
At this time, the villagers working nearby had already lit the hay and quickly smoked away the crazy revengeful swarm of bees.
After seeing that the surface had returned to calm, Xiaofeng and his three companions emerged from the water. They went ashore under the angry gazes of many villagers with red envelopes on their faces. They lowered their heads and dared not say a word, knowing that they had caused quite a bit of trouble.
What made the villagers laugh and cry was that Sanniu, whose head was as hard as a pig due to the stings, was still holding the beehive in his hand. He was chased by the swarm of bees all the way, but he was reluctant to throw it away. No wonder he was chased all the way.
Seeing this scene, the villagers on the shore couldn't help but sigh that the courage of these four teenagers when they were greedy was really hard to estimate.
In silence, Xiaofeng had a lot of complaints in his heart: Dad told me that there is extremely sweet honey in the beehive, but why didn’t he tell me that bees are afraid of fire? Otherwise, I wouldn’t be in such a mess.
But his father had warned him that bee swarms were extremely dangerous, but he still chose to take the risk just to taste the honey.
In the end, the four of them were taken home by their parents and scolded. What made them even more angry was that they didn't get to eat the honey in the end. According to the decision of the old village chief, the honey was compensated to the villagers who suffered.
So a few days later, Xiaofeng and his three friends, whose redness and swelling from being stung by bees had just healed, found a beehive on a big tree again.
Knowing that bees are afraid of fireworks, this time, under the leadership of Xiaofeng, the four people lit hay and successfully smoked the bees away. They easily removed the hive and happily enjoyed the honey.
"It's so sweet! Xiaofeng knows so much. This honey is really delicious." While enjoying the meal, Sanniu and the others did not forget to praise Xiaofeng.
After tasting the sweetness of honey, Xiaofeng and the other three agreed that being bitten like pig heads last time was worth it.
…
Lying on the stone bed, looking up at the blue sky in the hole above, Xiaofeng's eyes were already filled with thought.
Why do the elders in the village say that the outside world is dangerous and forbid them to leave? Do they have to stay in the village for the rest of their lives?
Xiaofeng was extremely curious about the world outside Taoyuan Village. He had learned a little about it from his father's bookshelf, and it seemed to be much more exciting than Taoyuan Village.
Although Xiaofeng had great fun searching for wild game around the village with his four companions, he could not suppress his curiosity about the world outside the village.
Looking at the blue sky above, Xiaofeng secretly decided in his heart that when he grows up, he must go out of the village to see the world and broaden his horizons.
However, Xiaofeng had no intention of leaving Taoyuan Village forever. He just decided to be extremely careful to see the world outside the village, and finally return to the village to live.
Although he is extremely curious about the outside world, Xiaofeng still fully trusts his father's decision.
Since even my father, who has a wide range of horizons, chooses to stay in the village, it means that life in the village is the best, and even if he goes out to have a look in the future, he will come back.
But at this time, Xiaofeng would never have thought that he would leave Taoyuan Village soon, but he regretted his thought very much and missed the life in the village very much!
