(From a young age, I enjoyed reading novels, but unfortunately paper books are not easy to carry and are easily damaged. Once a website closes or a computer is damaged, electronic books cannot be read. Fortunately, with the technology of blockchain, I no longer have to worry about this problem. Novels are for reference only, please support the original)
(2) Iron Egg
The title of this story is "Iron Egg," and it really starts with "egg."
According to the "Cihai" dictionary, the explanation of the word "egg" is very simple: "the eggs of birds, turtles, and snakes." This is a typical example of believing in books rather than having no books. Famous reference books like this always have such mistakes! Can't the eggs laid by platypuses (Ornithorhynchus Anatinus) be called eggs? They are neither birds nor snakes or turtles. The eggs produced by fish are structurally the same as eggs, just more specific, and can also be called eggs. Fish are not birds, turtles, or snakes. What about insect eggs? The word "egg" comes from the "insect" radical! If you really want to define "egg" in detail, it is quite complicated, and it has nothing to do with scientists and novelists.
I just focus on writing my story.
The story began after school, when Big Eyes, with a mischievous look, invited me to the big mulberry tree. Big Eyes is a special person in school. His appearance is not commendable, with a small head and long body, soft hands and feet, and somewhat androgynous (when he first entered school, he was "checked" by a group of people to confirm that he was male). But on his small head, there are a pair of big eyes with excellent vision. It is a natural ability. In a dark environment where ordinary people cannot see anything, he can see everything clearly. And his aiming ability is also very high. Although he is not "a hundred steps away," with his homemade slingshot, he can hit a willow branch from ten steps away without fail.
His homemade Yaji slingshot is a treasure for young people in the city. It has strong elasticity, durability, and seems to be particularly accurate when shooting at targets. In addition, the mud balls he made are round and hard. If they hit someone's head, it is extremely painful. He secretly punished Big Block, who was rude and arrogant, and made Big Block beg in public. Therefore, among classmates, Big Eyes is considered a hero.
Under the big mulberry tree, he raised his head, covered his forehead with his hand, and asked me, "Do you see it?"
I smiled bitterly, "See what?" This big mulberry tree is a scenic spot in the city. It is about four or five stories high, with lush branches and leaves. The mulberries it bears are large and sweet. I don't know when the seeds were planted, maybe hundreds of years ago. It was early summer, not the time for mulberries to ripen yet. When I looked up, all I could see was layers of dense branches and leaves. Big Eyes swallowed his saliva, showing his nervousness. He announced, "There is a magpie nest at the top of the tree."
I understood, "You can't climb up yourself, so you want me to get magpie eggs for you, right?" Big Eyes nodded vigorously, somewhat embarrassed. "I want magpie eggs to give to someone. I'll exchange one hundred mud balls and a jujube wood slingshot for two eggs." From his expression, I could tell that he wanted to get magpie eggs to give to a girl. I didn't expose him and immediately shook hands to make a promise. Tomorrow morning, we would exchange items. Magpies often build nests at the top of trees, and it is difficult to reach without extraordinary tree-climbing skills. Climbing trees is one of the necessary skills for outstanding boys. As for me, Wei Sili, I dare to claim that I am one of the top three in the city. If I want to be a little proud, I can even say that I am the best.
Actually, I had never seen a magpie nest before, but I remembered the location when Big Eyes pointed it out. Big Eyes had excellent vision, so if he said there was a nest, there definitely was. Getting magpie eggs requires skill. It must be done at dawn. One must climb the tree and watch the nest. At that time, the male and female magpies are both in the nest, and the eggs are under their bodies. If you act rashly, the magpies will destroy the eggs themselves to prevent them from falling into the hands of enemies. You must wait for the first light of dawn. The male magpie flies out to find food and quickly returns after eating. It replaces the female magpie, and during the split second when one flies back and the other leaves, there is only the eggs in the nest, no birds. This is the moment to quickly snatch the eggs. If you miss this opportunity, you have to wait until the next day!
I have understood this trick since I was six years old. It is easy for me to go for magpie eggs before dawn because of my strict training in Chinese martial arts. However, spending the whole night with Zhuxiangxiang on the big mulberry tree is a different story. It would be a delightful experience, a thousand wishes come true, but it is also a dilemma. I often say a sentence when I record my many strange experiences later on: "I have received strict training in Chinese martial arts." This strict training officially began when I was nine years old. Every midnight, my master would come on time for training. Therefore, going to get magpie eggs before dawn is very easy for me. I don't need to sleep anymore. However, spending the whole night with Zhuxiangxiang is a different story. When my master comes after sunset, he won't be able to find me!
The training in martial arts is very strict. If you miss a day, you will be punished. I dare not even think about what kind of punishment I would receive. But after the sun set, I made a decision! No matter what kind of punishment it would be, it wouldn't be as severe as losing my life! When it was dark, I arrived at the big tree. I was looking around when a cluster of leaves fell from the tree and hit my head. I used my skills to quickly climb up the tree. Zhuxiangxiang was already sitting steadily on a horizontal branch. I pretended to be natural and sat close to her. In fact, the half of my body that was close to her felt a bit stiff. Zhuxiangxiang didn't say anything either. She pointed down and we quickly climbed down the tree and went around to the back of the house, under the window. We heard two people walking hurriedly and arriving in front of the blacksmith's shop. Before they knocked on the door, the door opened. It was Iron Egg who opened the door. After the two people entered, Zhuxiangxiang pulled my hand and we quickly climbed down the tree and went to the window at the back of the house. We heard someone asking in a hoarse voice, "Are you the only survivor?" Iron Egg answered, "Yes, look at the scars on my horse saber. I pretended to be dead among the pile of dead bodies and escaped!" The person asked again, "Do you know the location where the treasures were hidden?" Iron Egg replied, "I know, but it's useless. The locks were made by dozens of blacksmiths over half a year. They are extremely strong and cannot be blown open with explosives. Even if they were blown open, the treasures would turn to ashes. You need the two large keys!" The person chuckled, "Do you think we are? We are the survivors of the cavalry squadron. We found the two keys on the dead squadron leader. When you were on a mission in the mountains, we were guarding outside, so we didn't know the location of the treasure!" Iron Egg became anxious, "Take a good look at who I am." The light from the oil lamp shining through the window brightened, and two people exclaimed. Then, there were two bone-chilling sounds of bones breaking. Zhuxiangxiang and I looked at each other and touched our necks at the same time, indicating that we recognized the sound of neck bones breaking. Someone had killed the two Japanese soldiers who had escaped. At that moment, the window suddenly opened, and Iron Egg stuck his head out. He said in a deep voice, "Come in!" It turned out that they had known that we were eavesdropping outside the window. Zhuxiangxiang pulled my hand and jumped in through the window. She happened to see Iron Egg searching the bodies of the two dead men and found a seven to eight-inch-long key from each of them. Iron Egg looked serious. "The Japanese army looted treasures from ten counties and hid them in the deep mountains. They took the blacksmiths to make extremely strong locks, which cannot be opened without the keys. After the cavalry squadron was annihilated, only two soldiers escaped, but they couldn't find the keys. It is certain that these two escapees took the keys with them. After so long, they haven't opened the treasure yet, so we pretended to be the only survivors to lure them in." I exclaimed, "The treasure belongs to you!" Zhuxiangxiang also said loudly, "Why should it belong to you?" Iron Egg pointed to Iron Uncle, "He is the commander who annihilated the Japanese cavalry squadron, and I am his messenger. When the chief of staff of the Japanese army was seriously injured and dying, he told us the location of the treasure!" Zhuxiangxiang and I showed our respect, and Iron Egg shook hands with us. When we were about to part ways, he reiterated, "I want to be a general, a famous and prestigious general!" Many years later, Iron Egg did become a famous and prestigious general.
When a group of young people are together, it is unpredictable who will become what in the future, but they will definitely become something. That's life. By the way, how did Zhuxiangxiang know that all of this would happen and waited on the tree? I wanted to ask her several times, but this beautiful girl is very good at keeping secrets. I couldn't ask her. And that night, when my master couldn't find me, what kind of punishment did I receive? Ah, let's not mention it. In short, women are trouble!
But I don't regret it at all, not at all!