The sky was gray, and there was a little snow, which melted on the ground and spread into a thin layer of wetness. The wind is not strong, but it is very cold, blowing on people like a knife.

There are few pedestrians in the Liuying Alley at this moment. Not long after Aoki walked out, he saw the lifespan in front of him at a glance. Standing under the old willow tree at the entrance of the alley, he was removing the reed mats around the tree trunks and putting them in his armpits. With a clean blanket.

Aoki opened the black umbrella, walked up, and stretched it on top of the life flower.

The flower of his life did not stop, and carefully wrapped the blanket on the tree trunk and said: "Hands."

Aoki reached out to help her hold the stall. Bi Shenghua freed his hands to tie the rope, first tied a slip knot, and then pulled it up and down carefully, trying not to break the mottled bark, check the position, loosen the knot, re-tighten it, and tie it into a dead knot. .

"It has rained a few times, and the reed mats that were tied before are rotten. Change to a blanket and let it have a good winter." She said to herself as she worked.

"It's just a tree, why treat it so well?" Aoki said.

Bishenghua circled the willow tree and felt satisfied. Then he stood still and said, "It looks like a wood, but I believe he has life. With life, you can feel the cold and warmth. God made him lonely and cold. , I keep him warm. I believe he knows in his heart, what do you think?"

Aoki said: "You have done so much for him, of course he knows it. In fact, you can tell what is in your heart, maybe he can hear it."

Bi Sheng Hua smiled and said: "He is a root of wood, even if I say, he will not answer me."

Aoki also smiled, but did not speak.

The snow gradually increased, and a layer of white was accumulated on the ground and the top of the umbrella. The wind gently shook the drooping, leafless willow branches, across the umbrella top, making a slurping sound, leaving a few faint traces on the snow particles.

The cold fills the world, and only the little side under the umbrella is warm. The heat exhaled between the two people's noses turned into a faint white mist, which was lost between faces.

"Remember the day you first came?" Bi Shenghua said, "You just stood under this tree for a day and a night."

"I remember, of course." Aoki said, "My memory of myself is from that day."

"You looked really embarrassed that day! Everyone thought you were a beggar, but no one was willing to give you alms, because there was an old bird on your head, and everyone thought it was unlucky." Lifetime Hua reached out and touched. There was a smile on the face of the wicker hanging from the umbrella, and it seemed to think of the distant past, "But only I know that you are not a beggar, because you are very clean. Even if you find all the people in Liuying Alley, I'm afraid I can't find anyone cleaner than you."

"I should thank you for taking me in."

"Oh, after so long, are you finally willing to say thank you?!"

"Wood can talk sometimes."

"Do you know why this street is called Liuying Alley?"

"Because there are willow trees planted here?" Aoki was not sure whether his answer was correct.

Regarding this issue, the oldest old man in Liuying Alley was also not clear, because it is said that this place was not called Liuying Alley before, but Sangshuying.

But the old people said that this willow tree is very old and very old, so old that no one knows how old it is and when it was planted here. All I know is that it is the first willow planted here, and the other willow trees on the street are planted with branches cut from it. Because of the low lifespan of willow trees, many of the newly-survived willow trees have already died. Now the government has begun to replace the dead willow trees with ginkgo biloba.

Bishenghua said: "This is the place where I was born. When I was young, my grandfather told me that this place was formerly called Mulberry Camp, and it was surrounded by farmers who raised sericulture and mulberry. There used to be an old mulberry tree that had lived for a thousand years. It’s used to grow its branches. Legend has it that as long as this mulberry tree is alive, the mulberry leaves here will not be eaten, and the silk will not be eaten."

Aoki looked around and asked, "Where is the old mulberry tree you mentioned?"

Bishenghua said: "It is where we stand. The mulberry tree was destroyed during the war. This willow tree was transplanted later and was placed in the place where the old mulberry tree was. My grandfather said that the roots of this willow tree are the same. The roots of the old mulberry tree have grown together, so this willow tree is not completely a willow tree. Look, is it a bit different from ordinary willow trees?"

Aoki took a closer look and found that the bark and branch branches of this tree were indeed different from those of ordinary willow trees, but the difference was very subtle, and he would probably not have noticed it if it weren't for the reminder of the life flower.

Bi Shenghua went on to say: "In the past, the entire Sangshu Camp was owned by Master Hua. At that time, Wuzhong had two riches, one was from Nanzhen Xia's family and the other was from Sangshuying Hua's family. Nanzhen Xia's family is the one you know. Father Xia’s ancestors, both families were destroyed by war. I heard that when the Japanese entered Wuzhong, the first thing they did was to find this thousand-year-old mulberry tree at the Sangshu Camp."

"Why do the Japanese look for this tree?"

"I was also curious back then and asked my grandfather, but my grandfather couldn't tell."

"Has the tree been destroyed by the Japanese?"

"No, before the Japanese entered Wuzhong, he personally lit a torch and burned the tree." Bi Shenghua said, "My grandfather said that when the old mulberry tree died, all the mulberry trees in a radius of more than a dozen miles died at the same time. NS."

"Why would he do this?" Aoki asked curiously, attracted by this story.

"The old mulberry tree was planted by the ancestors of the Hua family. The Hua family has lived here since it was planted. The Hua family lived here as long as the tree lived. They all said,'Don’t grow mulberries in front of the door, but behind the door. Not planting willows', but the Hua family is very strange. Not only did they plant a thousand-year-old mulberry tree in the front yard, they also planted an old willow tree in the back yard."

"Is this the one we see now?"

Lifetime Flower nodded and said: "The fire of the old man not only burned the old mulberry tree, but also turned the huge house into ashes. Only the old willow tree in the backyard survived because it was relying on a pond."

Aoki asked, "Then why did this willow tree be transplanted here again? Where was it originally?"

Bi Shenghua said: "The old man Hua probably anticipated the consequences of the war and the Japanese coming in. UU reading www.uukanshu.com had already ran out of family wealth and dismissed his servants. Only the old housekeeper of the Chinese family was reluctant to leave. Stayed. When the fire started, the old man ordered the old housekeeper to leave, confessing that after the fire was extinguished, he transplanted the willow tree in the backyard to the position of the mulberry tree in the front yard while the fire was extinguished, but the root system of the mulberry tree should not be damaged. ."

"Where is the Hua family? It's impossible for such a big family to be the only one, right?" Aoki asked.

"The Hua family has an oath, "If the mulberry tree survives, the Hua family survives, the mulberry tree perishes, and the family perishes." So they didn't run away. From their relatives to their children, they all died in the fire."

Aoki's heart tightened, "What about afterwards?"

Bishenghua said: "According to the master’s will, the old housekeeper asked someone to transplant the willow tree to the original mulberry tree position when the fire was just extinguished. After the fall of Wuzhong, the Japanese came to the mulberry camp, but no mulberry tree was found. , And because the Hua family died, they had to give up."

"Later, the old housekeeper built a hut on the site of the old house and lived in it. He believed that there must be a profound meaning to the old man who told him to do so, so he vowed to protect this willow tree for generations. He cuts some willow branches from the old willow tree every year. I skewered on the nearby land, and over time, it became the Liuying Alley."