Siheyuan: tomb robbing? I am serious about hunting.

Chapter 1124 1th Floor

To enrich the warmth and sense of heritage of "Peach Blossoms Bloom Year After Year," I will focus on depicting the village's transformation over time, furthering the symbolic meaning of the old well, poplar trees, and peach blossoms. I will also add realistic scenes of Erzhu, Tao'er, and Xiulian interacting remotely, incorporating the intergenerational storytelling process, allowing the theme of "protection and redemption" to flow naturally through the ordinary years. The Old Well, Chapter 4: Peach Blossoms Bloom Year After Year. The days flow like the water in the old well, neither fast nor slow. The adobe houses of the Red Star Production Brigade gradually became brick and tile houses, the members' coarse cloth jackets were replaced with Dacron, and even white flour could occasionally be added to the corn porridge served at the dinner table. Only the old well at the village entrance remained unchanged: the bluestone rim had been worn smooth, the well rope had been replaced repeatedly, but the water remained as clear and sweet. Bending down to draw water, one could clearly see one's own reflection, even the gray hair at the temples. The number of people carrying water increased again. At dawn, a line formed around the well. The clang of wooden barrels and the creak of well ropes, mingled with the laughter of the villagers, became the village's earliest bustle of the day. However, no one dared squat by the well's edge to smoke at night anymore, and no one mentioned the events of the past—not that they had forgotten, but that they were etched in their hearts, an unspoken understanding. If a child got naughty and ran toward the well, an adult would quickly pull them back, whispering, "Don't make trouble. There's a girl by the well who loves cleanliness." Only Erzhu and Uncle Lao Gen knew that Xiulian had always been there. Every spring, the old poplar tree by the well would bloom a few peach blossoms—it was a white poplar, originally only bearing leaves, not fruit, let alone peach blossoms. But since Xiulian's departure, every March, clusters of pink flowers would emerge from the branches, blooming with extraordinary splendor, their petals still wet with dew, as if they had just been plucked and planted. Whenever Erzhu fetched water, he would bring a small cloth bag with him. He would pick up the peach blossoms that fell on the bluestone slabs, carefully wrap them up, and place them in a wooden box at home. The box, a gift from his uncle Lao Gen, contained not only the peach blossoms but also red embroidered shoes by Chuntao—every year, Chuntao would embroider a pair and place them next to the stone tablet by the well. The next morning, they would be gone, as if Xiulian had taken them away. One summer, a severe drought struck a neighboring village. The river dried up, its bed cracked like a spiderweb, and even the village's old well dried up. The village leader, accompanied by a dozen or so members, came sweating profusely to the Red Star Brigade, carrying empty buckets, to borrow water. Wang Tieniu led them toward the old well. As they reached it, the villagers cried out in delight. A few peach blossoms floated on the surface of the well's water. The delicate pink petals floated on the surface, gently swirling with the waves, as if they had been placed there on purpose. It was July, and the peach blossoms had long since faded, but the peach blossoms in the well were as fresh as if they had just been plucked from the trees. "Captain Wang, why are there peach blossoms in your well?" The captain of the neighboring village squatted by the well, pointing at the flowers on the water's surface with a look of curiosity. "How can there be peach blossoms at this time of year?" Wang Tieniu scratched his head and looked at Erzhu beside him. Erzhu smiled softly, "It's an old friend of ours who loves peach blossoms. She guards this well and our village. Maybe she saw you coming to borrow water and specially gave you peach blossoms as a treat." The people from the neighboring village seemed to understand, but didn't ask any more questions. They took wooden buckets and lowered them into the well. The well water "gurgled" and filled the buckets. They took a sip and found it much sweeter than the river water in their village, with a faint floral fragrance. That day, the people from the neighboring village carried dozens of buckets full of water back home, and before leaving, they bowed at the old well. Later, when the drought in the neighboring village was over, they specially sent a bag of freshly ground flour and erected a small stone tablet by the well with the word "gratitude" engraved on it. Wang Tieniu placed the stone tablet next to Xiulian's stone tablet, and the two stones were close together, as if whispering to each other. Uncle Lao Gen lived to be eighty years old. He was always in good health, and would walk around the well every day with a cane, look at the peach blossoms on the poplar trees, and touch the words on the stone tablet. But that winter, he suddenly fell ill and lay on the kang, without the strength to speak. Erzhu visited him every day, sat by the kang, and told him about the things happening by the well - the poplar trees had grown new leaves again, Chuntao's embroidered shoes had been taken away again, and people from the neighboring village had come to borrow water again. Uncle Lao Gen's eyes would light up as he listened. Before he died, he held Erzhu's hand and said in a broken voice: "Erzhu, Xiulian and I... have agreed that I will help her look after the village, and she will help me look after this tree... When I'm gone, you scatter my ashes... under the poplar tree. I want to be with her and watch the peach blossoms bloom every year..." Erzhu nodded with tears in his eyes. On the day Uncle Lao Gen passed away, a thick layer of peach petals fell on the poplar tree by the well, like a pink snow. The villagers scattered Uncle Lao Gen's ashes under the poplar tree. Chuntao even embroidered a pair of small red embroidered shoes and placed them next to the ashes - they were for Uncle Lao Gen, so that he could take the shoes to see Xiulian. After Uncle Lao Gen passed away, the peach blossoms on the poplar tree bloomed even more brilliantly. Every spring, the tree is full of pink flowers. When the wind blows, the petals fall on the bluestone slabs, on the stone tablets, and in the water buckets of the water carriers. The whole well is filled with the fragrance of flowers. The village children loved to play by the well, picking up peach blossoms from the ground and wearing them in their hair, running around the poplar trees, and singing the nursery rhyme Chuntao had taught them: "Peach blossoms bloom, peach blossoms fall, by the well there lives a kind sister, wearing red shoes, embroidering flowers, protecting our home..." Erzhu's daughter, Tao'er, grew up. She learned to embroider red shoes from Chuntao, and she learned quickly, her peach blossoms even more beautiful than Chuntao's. Every March, she would embroider a pair of her own and place them next to the stone tablet by the well. The next morning, they would disappear. Once, she deliberately slipped a small note into her shoes, reading, "Sister Xiulian, my name is Tao'er. My mother says your embroidered shoes are the most beautiful." The next morning, both the note and the shoes disappeared, but a fresh peach petal appeared on the stone tablet. At seventeen, Tao'er married Zhang Qiang, a young man from the village. Zhang Qiang was an honest man. After learning about Xiulian's story, whenever he went to fetch water, he would bring an empty bowl with him. He would fill it with well water and place it next to the stone tablet, saying, "Xiulian, you should have some sweet water too." The year Tao'er gave birth to her daughter, it was March, and the peach blossoms on the poplar trees were in full bloom. She named her "Nian Tao," meaning she missed the peach blossoms and Xiulian. When Nian Tao was five years old, it was an especially warm autumn. Tao'er took her to the well to fetch water. Nian Tao, with her pigtails, squatted on the edge, clinging to the stone slab to look down. Suddenly, she pointed into the well, clapped her hands, and laughed, "Mom, mom, look! There's an auntie in the well, wearing red shoes, with long hair, holding a peach blossom in her hand, and smiling at me!" Tao'er hurried over to peer into the well. Above the water, there was only blue sky and white clouds, and Nian Tao's small face. No auntie in red shoes was there. But she felt warm in her heart. She touched Nian Tao's head and said softly, "That's Aunt Xiulian. She is saying hello to Nian Tao. She is guarding this well and our home. If Nian Tao misses her in the future, she can come to the well to see the peach blossoms." Nian Tao nodded, not quite understanding.