One day, when Zhang Laosan was wandering around the town, he saw a notice that read: Recruit orchard caretakers, ask for courage and carefulness, a monthly salary of two taels of silver, and the payment is Zhou Yuanwaifu.
After reading it, Zhang Laosan came to Zhou Yuanwaifu and told the housekeeper that he was here to apply.
The housekeeper said: "The orchard is ten acres, on the back mountain, mainly to prevent thieves and thieves, and to rest for two days a month." ”
Zhang Laosan nodded, and agreed.
Just as Zhang Laosan was about to leave, the housekeeper added: "Are you bold, if you quit halfway, I won't be able to find someone else, and I won't pay you when the time comes." ”
Zhang Laosan smiled and said: "I'm bold, you chose me right," After saying yes, Zhang Laosan went home and told his daughter-in-law Yue'e that he had found a good job taking care of the orchard.
Yue'e was also very happy and told him that there was a large temperature difference on the mountain, and that he should pay attention to the cold and keep warm in the morning and evening.
After arriving at the orchard, I saw a man standing in front of the door with a blanket roll, his face was like ashes, and when he saw Zhang Laosan coming, he said, "You are here, I will leave."
Zhang Laosan took the cover roll, went into the grass shed to lay it out, first inspected the orchard, and then returned to the grass shed to close his eyes and recuperate.
In the middle of the night, he felt a little hungry, so he boiled some millet porridge, drank a bowl and fell asleep.
When he was sleeping, he heard a noise outside, and Zhang Laosan thought that there was a thief, so he hid behind the door with a flat pole in his hand.
By the moonlight, looking out through the crack in the door, I saw a woman standing in the fruit grove, Zhang Laosan opened the door and said, who are you, you came to the orchard in the middle of the night to do something, the woman actually cried loudly.
Zhang Laosan took a closer look, only to find that it was a young woman, and her appearance was very good-looking.
The woman said, "I am passing by, and I have been separated from my parents and family, and I will come when I see that there is light in you."
In late autumn, the weather was already very cold, and seeing that the woman was wearing thin clothes, Zhang Laosan hurriedly let the woman into the house and made a pot of tea.
"I'm looking at the orchard, I just arrived today, it's the middle of the night, the weather is cold, you just spend the night here, wait for dawn before leaving." ”
The woman nodded gratefully, Zhang Laosan spread a straw mat and clothes on the ground and slept, and the woman lay on the bed.
Just when Zhang Laosan was about to fall asleep in a daze, he felt a hot panting sound in his ears, and Zhang Laosan opened his eyes to see that the woman was sticking to him.
Zhang Laosan jumped up suddenly, "What are you doing, girl, what do you mean?"
The woman said coquettishly: "Thank you for the life-saving grace of the eldest brother, if the eldest brother hadn't taken him in, he would have been eaten by the tiger and leopard." ”
"I have no other way to repay you, if the eldest brother does not dislike it, the little girl is willing to dedicate herself. ”
Zhang Laosan said: "Girl, you and I are poor people, why bother to belittle yourself." I didn't take you in return, but when you are away, everyone has difficulties. Sleep in peace, I'll show you the way tomorrow, and you'll go home." ”
The woman slept on the bed again with a red face when she heard it, and when it was almost dawn, Zhang Laosan fried the pancakes early, and the woman woke up when she smelled the fragrance.
Zhang Laosan wrapped the pancakes in paper, handed them to the woman and said, "I don't know where your family is, I'm a poor man, I don't have money and food to give you, only these pancakes to eat on the road." ”
The woman had already been moved to tears by this simple man, and knelt on the ground with an ordinary voice and said: "Big brother, I lied to you, in fact, I am not a human being, but a ghost who died in this orchard." ”
Zhang Laosan was taken aback when he heard this, he saw that the woman didn't mean to harm him, so he had the courage to talk to the woman.
A few years ago, a woman was raped by a farmer who was passing through an orchard, and she was imprisoned for several days before dying in the orchard.
The farmer buried the woman's body under the fruit tree in front of the straw shed, because the woman died horizontally and could not enter the six realms of reincarnation to rebirth, so her soul was trapped in the orchard all the time.
Therefore, the woman hated the people who had seen the orchard, and after the farmer who raped the woman, a dozen more farmers came, almost all of them died suddenly.
That's why Zhou Yuanwai set the salary so high, and this woman changed into a beautiful woman, as long as the farmer in the orchard fornicated with her, she would suck the farmer's essence and blood dry.
However, Zhang Laosan was upright, which made the woman very moved and admired, so she didn't want to hurt him.
After the woman finished crying, she said, "Big brother, as long as you are here, I will not bother you again in the future." ”
Just when the woman wanted to leave, Zhang Laosan said: "Wait a minute, acquaintance is fate, since you call me big brother, I can't leave you alone, you go back first, and leave the rest to me." ”
The woman worshipped and worshipped and disappeared, on the fifteenth day, Zhang Laosan came to the temple to offer incense, because Zhang Laosan had no children under his knees, and he had been burning incense and worshiping Buddha in the temple for many years.
The host of the temple was very familiar with Zhang Laosan, and after burning incense, he told the host about his experience of female ghosts. I want to ask for a super female ghost.
The host is a kind person, and he was also moved by Zhang Laosan's sincerity. So he led all the monks to chant the mantra of death for three days.
Since then, Zhang Laosan has never seen a female ghost again. After the fruits in the orchard were picked, no one would take care of them, and Zhang Laosan would go home.
Spring went to autumn, and after another year, Zhang Laosan's wife Yue'e was pregnant, and the night before giving birth, Zhang Laosan had a dream.
I dreamed of the woman in the orchard, and the woman knelt down to Zhang Laosan and said, "Thank you for the grace of the eldest brother's recreation, the king of Hades has agreed to my reincarnation, and the great kindness and virtue will definitely repay you in the next life." ”
Zhang Laosan was very relieved, and woke up laughing, and the next day, Yue'e gave birth to a big fat boy.
Zhang Laosan's son was born intelligent, he could read at the age of three, write poetry at the age of seven, and was extremely filial. In the end, he became a parent official praised by the people.
And Zhang Laosan lived to be ninety-nine years old and died without illness.
(Source: Records & Transmission)