The morning mist wraps around the mountains, and the not-so-tall Luoxia Mountain appears lush and vibrant under the radiant sunlight.

  At the foot of Luoxia Mountain, there is a small village where simple villagers work from dawn to dusk and have lived on this land for generations.

  Most of the villagers in this small village are surnamed Qin, and they are basically descendants of the same ancestor. Therefore, this small village is called Qin Family Village. Due to its location at the foot of a mountain, it is relatively isolated from the outside world, so the villagers are very poor. However, generation after generation has lived here, even in poverty, did not hinder them from living an ordinary life of men farming and women weaving.

  At this time, a loud reading voice broke the tranquility of the small village.

  There is a courtyard at the village head, and the courtyard wall is made of yellow mud. Under the flushing of rainwater, there are cracks on it like spider webs.

  The three-entry and two-winged house is full of marks left by the years, showing the remoteness of time. The lively childrens voices are coming from this very house.

  Inside the house, about twenty children sat neatly, with the oldest being only eleven or twelve years old, and the youngest being only eight or nine years old. Regardless of their age, they all held a copy of "Di Zi Gui" in their hands, shaking their heads and reciting it loudly.

  "When speaking, sincerity comes first. Deception and falsehood are unacceptable. Its better to say little than to speak excessively. Only be truthful, do not be deceitful or cunning..."

  The old man sitting in the front wore a green long gown, one hand holding a volume of books, and the other hand stroking his white beard. The old mans name was Zhou Xin, who was framed by someone when he was studying in the county town, and in a fit of anger, he returned to the small village and became a husband. This wait is more than 30 years.

  Mr. Zhou taught at the Qinjia Village Free School, which was jointly funded by the whole village. As long as you were a villager of suitable age, you could attend school without paying expensive tuition fees, just some textbook fees. This free school gave poor families an opportunity to read books and was a good deed that benefited the entire village.

  At this time, Old Master Zhou Xin did not notice that among these children, there was an eleven-year-old girl with a sheep horn braid, who looked ordinary and had a string of crystal water droplets at the corner of her mouth, dozing off like a chick pecking at rice.

  "San Yaotou, its daylight." The little boy sitting next to her suddenly stepped on the little girls ankle, with a mischievous and cunning smile on his face.

  "What? Its daylight?" The little girl immediately woke up, stood up straight and yawned: "Time to go pound rice and cook."

  The children in the house burst out laughing, and it was only then that the little girl came to her senses. She looked at the serious face of the old man and felt a sudden jolt: "Oh no, Im going to get my palm slapped again."

  "Come here." Lao Fuzi said slowly.

  The little girl walked quietly in front of the old man with her head down and eyes lowered, while other children around her were making faces at her.

  "Qin Lingyun, where was I just explaining?"

  A little girl had just somnambulized too much, and met with Lord Zhou. Where did she know what the old master was talking about? She could only honestly answer: "The disciple does not know."

  Although women did not take imperial examinations and could not change their fate through reading books, the stubborn old husband still demanded strictness.

  "After you go back, copy this passage one hundred times." The old teacher scowled and waved his hand to let Qin Lingyun return to her seat, and the clear reading sound started again.

  Qin Lingyun lowered her head and glanced at the little boy beside her, stuck out her tongue, and secretly rejoiced that this time she was not hit on the palm by the ruler.

  Making him copy the texts as punishment was already a great mercy. Usually, when Lao Fuzi encountered children who made mistakes, he would pick up the half-foot-long ruler from the front desk and hit their palms five times in a row, causing their small hands to swell immediately.

  Qin Lingyun didnt have much interest in reading, she was reciting the words perfunctorily, and her mind once again conjured up the dream she had just had. In the dream, she was treading on clouds and mist in mid-air, wearing a beautiful skirt, looking as lovely as a fairy from the ninth heaven. The real feeling of flying in the air still lingered in her mind, making her savor it endlessly.

  "In three more days, the immortals on top of Luoxia Mountain will come to the village to select their disciples. If I can be selected at that time and really become an immortal, I want to conjure up many, many golden ingots, so that my parents and elder brothers and sisters can all live a good life."

  Qin Lingyuns father, Qin Dahutu, and mother, Huangshi, were ordinary villagers in Qinqu Village. They were illiterate and had not seen much of the world, relying solely on farming at the foot of a mountain to make a living. Their life was very poor, and even in good harvest years, they could only afford to eat full meals occasionally. If the harvest was bad, they would often go hungry for one meal and then have enough food for the next.

  Qin Lingyun was the third in her family and also the youngest daughter. She had an older brother and sister ahead of her. Her brother, Qin Daniu, was strong and robust, now a young man of over twenty years old, who had married a girl from a neighboring village.

  Sister Qin Lingsu is only three years older than Qin Lingyun and is now waiting for marriage at home, helping with the farm work.

  When the class was over, it was already noon. Qin Lingyun touched her hungry little belly and skipped alone towards home. On the west side of the village, she saw three thatched cottages built in front of a small pond. In front of the house, there was also a low yellow mud wall surrounding the courtyard. A 14 or 15-year-old girl was bent over inside the yard, tidying up the fishing net.

  Qin Lingyun had a small backpack on her back, raised her little hand and shouted: "Sister, Im back!"

  That girl is Qin Lingyuns sister, Qin Lingsu. The two pleasant-sounding names, Qin Lingsu and Qin Lingyun, were not given by their uncultured parents, but by Old Master Zhou Xinfu.

  Qin Lingsus small face was sun-kissed to a dark red, her skin a healthy wheat color. She wore a coarse linen shirt, with a head of black hair tied back at the nape of her neck with a red cord. Hearing Qin Lingyuns shout, she washed her hands, which were covered in fish smell, briefly in the basin, then stood up straight and called out: "Third sister, I was just waiting for you to come back to eat."

  Qin Lingyun jumped all the way to Qin Lingsus front, gazing at the few palm-sized crucian carps swimming in the large wooden basin, pointing with her small hand and muttering: "One, two, three... seven..."

  "There are seven fish, sis, will we have fish for lunch?"

  Qin Lingsu shook her head and sighed, "The fish in the pond are getting fewer and fewer. The big net has been cast for a month now, but only seven fish have been caught. We cant even afford to cook at home, so were counting on selling these few fish in town to exchange for some grain."

  Qin Lingyun responded with a clever "oh", this year since the beginning of spring, droughts have been happening one after another, and the crops in the fields have almost no harvest. Many times they couldnt even open the pot, luckily big brother caught some wild rabbits on Luoxia Mountain, sister caught some fish in the pond, and father Qin Dahu worked hard outside, barely making it through half a year. Now winter is approaching soon, and at home, they need to stock up more grain.

  Thinking of her familys situation, Qin Lingyun hoped even more that she would be chosen by the immortal of Luoxia Mountain.

  The Luoxia mountain range is connected by dozens of peaks, among which the largest Luoxia main peak has clouds and mist, where immortals have built large palaces. Every five years, some immortals will come down from the mountain to the mortal villages and cities at the foot of the mountain to select disciples.

  Ten years ago, a man named Qin Ming was chosen in Qinjia Village. Then, every month, people would send large sums of silver to his home, and from then on, his family quickly became rich and moved out of Qinjia Village to live in the city.

  Later, every household in Qins village would boast about Qin Ming when educating their own children, and then ask their children to learn from Qin Ming. One day, they will be chosen by the immortal too, and the whole family will live a good life.

  Every five years, the cycle repeats itself. Now, its time for the immortal to choose his disciple again. In three days, the immortal will arrive as scheduled. Qin Lingyuns heart is filled with anticipation, often dreaming of becoming an immortal herself. The other children in Qin Village have similar thoughts.

  Three days passed in the blink of an eye, but Qin Lingyun felt that time was passing too slowly. She wished she could open her eyes, close them again, and then open them once more to find that time had already arrived. But when the day finally came for the immortal to choose his disciple, she felt a little uneasy.

  In the early morning, Qin Lingyun washed and dressed up neatly, braiding two small pigtails on her hair. She also put on a floral dress that she usually only wore during Chinese New Year.

  In her room, on a half-old simple wooden table, there were her things, Qin Lingyun took out an old small copper mirror from among them. This was her treasure and she wouldnt easily take it out because the small copper mirror was a gift brought by her father Qin Dahu from the market last New Years Eve.

  Holding a small copper mirror in front of me, I print out a somewhat unclear face from the ancient copper-colored mirror surface, with dark red skin, thick eyebrows, and a slightly chubby baby face.

  "No matter how I dress up, Im still an ugly girl." Qin Lingyun bit her lip lightly, stamped her foot, puffed out her chest and put down the copper mirror, walking out of the room.

  She wasnt angry with others, but rather annoyed with herself. All along, she had been ridiculed as an ugly duckling, and she envied Qin Xiaoyun from the east, who was about her age but looked delicate and fair-skinned, earning praise from everyone as a beautiful young woman.

  "Hmph, whats so great about that? When I become an immortal, I can change my appearance at will and be a thousand times, ten thousand times more beautiful than Qin Xiaoyun."

  Qin Lingyun walked out of the door and into the main hall, where Qin Dahu, Huang Shi, her brother Qin Daniu and his wife, as well as her sister Qin Lingsu were all waiting outside.

  Qin Dahut was only in his early forties, but his back had already begun to hunch over. This years drought had left the crops barren and unharvestable, and for the sake of supporting his family, he had no choice but to work as a laborer in town, exhausting himself to the point where he looked like an old man.

  Seeing Qin Lingyun come out, Qin Dahu smiled and tapped the tobacco pouch on the table, took a fierce puff, and only then said: "San Ya, after meeting the immortal, be honest and respectful, dont be naughty."

  "Dont worry, Dad." Qin Lingyun mischievously shook Qin Dahus hand.

  A family walked together towards the widest field in the east, along the way they met many villagers going to the east, familiar with each other, and set off together after a greeting.

  As they approached the eastern venue, they could hear the noise from a distance. The eastern venue was already packed with people.