C21 Qiuhe Stubborn Persistence

At the end of autumn and early winter, the four seasons did not clearly distinguish the Dai countryside and the weather was still hot and hard to bear. The autumn lotus looked up at a corner of the sky. The sky was clear and the clouds were high. There was not a single bird. The transparent silk clouds gradually dispersed in the sky at an infinite height, and there were no traces at all.

"It's so blue. " Qiu He looked at the background of the sky. Her pupils were like cat-eye gems, and she copied the azure color. The silk cloud seemed to flow on her eye membrane.

She had dreamt many times that she could fly in the air, towards the sun. To the place where there was light. All the restrictions that life brought to her no longer existed. The farm work in the tea fields and the housework in the house were all removed by her as if shackles had been removed. She knocked them down. In her dream, she suddenly felt incomparably relaxed. She had gotten rid of her grandfather and grandmother, and her life had never been so good. In reality, Only when she was dancing under the starry sky could she experience that freedom.

She wanted to fly. She felt that she wanted to have a pair of wings more than anyone else. When she fully devoted herself to her inner world, she would become exceptionally powerful.

However, when she woke up from her dream, she felt guilty again. How could she have the thought of getting rid of her grandparents? She was the only spiritual pillar in the family. She had the ability to leave and wanted freedom. But she couldn't. She was imprisoned by life, but she wasn't defeated by life yet. She wouldn't shrink back. Lying on the bamboo bed in the cabin, she opened her eyes in the darkness. She had thought of this before.

The tea village was quiet in the afternoon. No one was moving. Even the elementary school of the tea village could not hear the students reciting. They were all taking an afternoon nap. Only Qiuhe was moving. She withdrew her gaze from a corner of the horizon and walked towards the stream outside the village. She was currently returning from the tea field.

Compared to half a year ago, Qiuhe had yellow hair. Turn black. It could be seen that she had changed quite a bit. The leader was also growing, and his eyes were becoming brighter and brighter. Her eyes were as clear as an egg. Ripples were constantly flowing on the cat-like gemstone. God had given the girl a pair of eyes that made people not dare to look at each other. It was so lively that it seemed to have been given a life of its own.

Qiuhe cut her own hair. In order to make it easier for her to work, once her hair grew past her shoulders, she used scissors to cut her hair at the waist. The hair that was left behind was perfectly aligned to her chin and covered her ears. This was completely different from the way the Dai women were good at long hair or braids since they were young. Apart from that, she was suntanned even more.

She was also even more tired and thin.

She plucked some tea leaves. This was the last time she harvested tea in autumn. It should be counted as autumn tea. There was only this much in one basket. Look at the leaves. The tea's taste was not very good. The tea field that was managed by a little child of hers was indeed not as good as the other tea fields. This was mainly because her family did not have the money to buy fertilizer. She also did not have the money to buy herbicide or insect repellent.

Qiuhe looked at her palm, which was covered with grass and green liquid. For the whole summer and autumn, she had used her hands to weed over a hundred times, but the grass was still growing crazily. In the tea field after the rain, the weeds seemed to have woken up. In three days, the red soil would turn green.

"If only I could have a bottle of herbicide. My family's tea field has never sprayed any herbicide before. The land is the most fertile, so it is most willing to grow grass. The life force of grass is too tenacious. " Qiuhe often talked to herself, but no one listened to her. There were also very few people who talked to her. In the depths of her mind, there was an active body. In her inner world, she had countless words that she needed to talk to. She couldn't speak to herself in order to release the magnificent power within her. A vast and boundless world.

- - The wild fire never stopped burning, and the spring wind blew again.

As she walked, she turned around to look at the endless tea terraces. The tea terraces were like dark green waves, rushing to the top of the mountain. In a certain place, they were connected to the sky. She thought of the poem she had overheard outside of Da Tea Village Primary School. She only heard it once before she learned it.

When she passed by the entrance of Tea Village Primary School, Autumn Lotus saw the five-star red flag fluttering in the wind. She thought hesitantly. Should I stay here for a while? It's past noon. She wanted to hear what the kids in Big Tea Village primary school were learning. If she was lucky, she could still hear something valuable. But then she thought about it. She felt that it was better to forget about it. Those people didn't like her. They were born with ill intentions towards orphans. However, Qiuhe didn't want to lower herself to their level, she thought. . . She also had more important things to do, so why should she compromise? What if she fought with the little boy for the time that didn't belong to her?

She consoled herself that she and the little children were people from two different worlds. The little children would never understand the feeling of working under the hot sun, and they had no place to think about the joy of dancing under the starry sky.

It was a paradise for her alone.

It was her powerful inner world that allowed her to possess astonishing self-healing abilities. She could ignore discrimination, disgust, and disgust from her peers. She could even look directly at the malicious gazes of others. It was so quiet that it was as if the earth had stopped moving. She felt that a "adult" should not be calculative with a child. Even though she was just an unremarkable orphan.

Qiuhe was not an orphan either. Her grandparents told her that when she was still a baby, her parents would not return when she was less than three years old. Qiu He asked how she had died, but her grandparents didn't answer. After that, Qiu He never asked again.

But as she grew older, she slowly understood the truth about her parents leaving her without saying goodbye.

She hid this matter in the bottom of her heart and covered it up with a pile of small stones. She didn't go to her grandparents to verify her guess, because she knew that what she heard must be the truth.

That complete male peacock tail feather explained everything. She did not shed a single tear because of the rumors of her parents. That taut string was deeply pressed in her heart. Sometimes, she could even hear the sound of the string being pulled too tightly, and the sound of silk being torn could be heard.

In her impression, there were only a few memory fragments of her parents. It would often appear in her mind. Those were a few memory fragments of the Dai family's Peacock Dance. As for the appearance of the parents. . . In her memory, it was a blur. After being sensible, Qiuhe herself also started to dance the peacock dance. Furthermore, she treated the traditional Peacock Dance as her greatest enjoyment.

She would always dance in a silent environment, intoxicated by her own self-indulgence. In her mind, her father and mother's blurry figure and the green feather that was stuck in the frame of the mirror kept flashing. Because no one was beating an elephant's foot drum for her. All the sounds she felt came from the depths of her heart. She remembered that Ah Liang had produced a small Elephant-Foot Drum and promised to celebrate the opening ceremony. He was playing Elephant-Foot Drum as a accompaniment for her. But in the end, it was left unsettled.

Qiu He did not feel disappointed when she went back on her word like this. It could be said that she did not have any hope at all.

She quickly passed by Da Tea Village Primary School and no one noticed her inconspicuous figure. She picked up the basket and passed by the entrance of her house. She passed by a small monastery at the foot of the mountain. She headed straight for Big Tea Mountain.

She had persisted in climbing the mountain for a period of time. She followed the mountain path from the foot of the mountain to halfway up the Great Tea Mountain. She went back to the triangular route to drive away animals that might cause a disturbance to the green peacock. The Green Peacock liked a cool environment. They lived in groups and enjoyed silence. Any disturbance. It will affect their habitat and reproduction. Dai Village was once known as the "Peacock Village," and the green peacock was the auspicious bird of the people of Dai Village. Qiuhe stubbornly believed that. . . As long as the environment was suitable for the green peacock to live in, they would eventually fly back. Perhaps they had never left Dai Village before, but they were so scared that they did not dare to come out.

After walking around the waist of the mountain, Qiuhe walked towards the depths of the Great Tea Mountain. She still walked back in a triangle and walked through every bush. She knew that she was doing this for nothing, because the Great Tea Mountain was really too big. It surrounded the entire Dai village, and even the entire Mengla County. And outside of the tea mountain, There were even more lofty mountains, each more majestic than the last. Each of them was more steep than the last. This was the reason why the people of Dai could not walk out of the mountains.

No one could walk through the mountains, and no one had ever been to the depths of the Great Tea Mountain. However, Qiuhe believed that. . . She had already embarked on this path, and she wouldn't stop until the very last moment. She had faintly heard that melodious voice with a final note. It was so melodious that it sounded like the cry of a migrating wild goose, the one leading the flight. It was also similar to the cry of a domestic cat. That was not the cry of a pheasant, nor was it the cry of a bird. She had to find an answer, Either let her see the animal that made the sound with her own eyes, or let her walk further. Otherwise, she would never be willing to give up.

Even if she were to walk around the mountains near Da Tea Village, it would take at least three years. Qiuhe felt that her time was worthless, just mediocre. She was willing to spend three more years. She would do her best to walk as many roads as possible. If she couldn't walk anymore, she probably wouldn't have any more hope. If this mountain could really swallow a person. . . She hoped to swallow her too.

After the afternoon, Qiuhe had already climbed halfway up the mountain. She drank a mouthful of the water that she brought along with her and entered the dense forest on the Big Tea Mountain. The straight cedar forest stretched as far as the eye could see. The sunlight above her head could only squeeze in through the gaps in the tall canopy and fall on the ground that was piled with thick leaves. There was only a little bit of light left. Autumn Lotus stood in the forest, surrounded by trees and trees. It was as if she had entered a four-dimensional space, the surrounding trees stood tall. From every angle and direction, they were neatly lined up in the endless darkness.

This was the true primitive forest that the Dai people had never entered. It was filled with the smell of rotten leaves. The girl was stunned on the spot. For a moment, she actually backed away. She understood that if she wanted to go deeper, she had to think of a way to make a mark. Otherwise, she would really be swallowed by the mountain.

If that happened, her grandparents would lose their pillar of support, and her grandparents would also miss her.

She began to think of Ah Liang, the only child in the village who was willing to talk to her. A few days ago, he had also started to wander around the mountain all day long. But he did not believe that there was a green peacock on Big Tea Mountain. However, Qiuhe did not understand why he had to do the same thing as her. Perhaps at this moment, with his courage, he would be able to walk into the depths without hesitation. But he wasn't there.

In the end, Qiuhe still chose to go deeper. She used the tea leaves in the basket to leave a mark on the tree trunk.

The bird's chirping was unusually lively, echoing in the forest.

After walking for an unknown period of time, the fir forest in front of them became sparse. More sunlight fell onto the ground. Qiuhe licked her dry lips, and suddenly. . . A familiar cry shook her heart. Then, she saw a few blue-green chicken species in the mottled light that looked like sunlight shining down from a sieve. They were dragging long tail feathers. . .

In an instant, Qiuhe felt her blood flow backwards in her body. The basket of tea leaves fell to the ground. Her tired body started to tremble. She held onto the tree trunk beside her, and her legs could no longer move.

She felt as if she had received a huge impact, and the muscles at the corner of her mouth couldn't help but twitch. Her eye membrane was immediately covered by water mist.

Then, the Green Peacock's cries rose and fell for a while. It was the same sound she had heard before.

Qiu He's gaze gradually became gentle as she swallowed her saliva. Her small body became heavier and heavier. She was quite tired as she leaned against the tree trunk and slid down, squatting there. She took a deep breath, but she felt satisfied. Now, she could confidently say that her persistence and effort were completely worth it.

At this moment, no one could understand her happiness.

The Green Peacock's discovery was like in her world. A light lit up. In the eyes of Autumn Lotus, there was no light in the suffering of life. If one wanted to persist, they had to rely on the additional faint light. And the light was not within reach. He needed to find it. Find the green peacock, or dance under the starlight. These were the light spots that were hard to come by in her lightless life. Over time, it became her belief.

The green peacock were naturally vigilant. They pecked and glanced at each other. She did not dare to make a sound in order to avoid startling these pampered fellows. Now that she had discovered them, it was enough to prove that the environment of Dai Village was suitable for their survival. The decision of Qiuhe to travel around the Great Tea Mountain could be put aside for the time being.

Qiuhe focused her attention on the peacock's movements and tried her best to remember all their appearances and characteristics. There were a total of five of them. Some of them had gorgeous tail feathers, some had shorter tail feathers, and some had crown feathers on their heads. There were even two smaller ones, which should be hatchlings.

This was undoubtedly a family of green peacocks that lived in groups. As long as there was a group of them that lived here, there might be another group.

A few years ago, Dai Village was determined to have no more wild green peacocks. They might have left for a short period of time. Or perhaps they were in the deeper parts of the Great Tea Mountain, making it hard for people to track them. Ten years ago. . . A few young people in Dai Village spontaneously gathered together, wanting to contribute to Peacock's habitat. In order to chase the wild boar out of the Green Peacock's habitat. They entered the depths of the Great Tea Mountain.

Qiuhe heard that they entered the mountain and never came back. Ten years later, a little girl like her was actually doing the same thing as those young people. Was this a coincidence or was it fate's arrangement?

She was obviously lucky to see the Green Peacock playing freely in the depths of the Tea Mountain. She witnessed the fact that the Green Peacock was in the depths of the Great Tea Mountain. This was the result of her countless trips up the mountain. Perhaps it was because she scared away the other animals. The Green Peacock had a peaceful home. But she did not dare to take the credit alone. Without those people from ten years ago chasing away wild boars, Maybe the Green Peacock wouldn't have stayed until now, or maybe it wouldn't have returned to its hometown. However, those people could no longer see the gratifying scene today. They could no longer hear the cries of the Green Peacock.

Their wishes were fulfilled ten years after they left and never returned.

Qiuhe did not want to recall the past ten years, but she already knew that was the truth. Even though she buried it in her heart and didn't want to admit it, It was just a lie, she was an orphan! She could no longer tighten it by an inch. She heard a thump in her heart. It sounded like a screw or a spring breaking apart.

She looked at the deep fir woods and finally started to cry.