Jazzy Lofi 🌱 Female Vocals & Fuzz Guitar for Study & Sleep — Learning by Ear · Ep.21

🏮 Game World Peace — Three days up the mountain and not one plant is the right one, but the old man's muttering turns out to be worth more than the herbs — until Xiao Lu finds what she was sent for in a crack by his own doorstep. 🎵 Music: AI generated · 🎬 Visual: AI generated · All work belongs to Game World Peace. All rights reserved. Tracks: 00:00:00 Not It, Not That Either 00:02:36 A Handful of Almosts 00:06:17 Nothing Thrown Away 00:10:04 Names Said Out of Habit 00:13:50 Sit Close, Say Nothing 00:17:18 Picking Herbs, Stealing Lessons 00:20:15 Only a Jar Label 00:23:57 Farther Than the Day Before 00:27:57 Two Rules in My Pocket 00:31:05 Not This One, Not That One 00:34:35 The Crack Beside the Step 00:38:17 Tomorrow, Chew 🔁 Set list loops ×5 — 3+ hours of music ────────────────────────────── 📖 Xiaolu's Travels — Ep.21: "Learning by Ear" 〔小路遊記 EP.21・腳邊之草〕 那天我當然沒能在天黑前回去。「山裡」兩個字聽著簡單，真一頭鑽進去才知道，滿山的草遠看全長得一個樣，風一吹全在點頭，誰也不肯多告訴我一句。滿山的草我掐了聞、聞了掐，每一種乍看都像「就是它」，一天下來指甲縫全是綠的。天擦黑時，我抱著一大捧「看起來很像」的草一路小跑回藥圃，心裡還挺得意——這麼多株，總有一株矇得中吧？ 老頭坐在門檻上，就著最後一點天光，一株一株接過去。捏捏莖，指甲掐一下葉子，湊到鼻尖聞，快得像在數銅錢。「不是。」「不是。」「也不是。」我不死心，從最底下抽出一株：「這株呢？這株莖真的是方的！」他接過去掐一下、聞一下，還了給我：「不辛。」一整捧草，一株都沒中。我臉都綠了，杵在那兒連話都接不上來。 可他一株也沒扔。全收進手邊那只舊竹匾，一株株擺平，嘴裡照舊念念有詞。這回我蹲得近，第一次聽清了他在念什麼——「益母，婦人血。」「艾，灸，止血。」「白芷，止痛。」一株一句，快得像在點名。他不是在教我，一眼都沒往我這邊看；他只是在整理自己的東西，順口把每一株的名字和用處念一遍。是我蹲在旁邊，一句一句偷聽下來的。 那晚躺下時，我腦子裡全是那幾個名字，怕睡一覺就忘光了，索性一遍一遍默背，翻來覆去睡不著，心裡冒出一個主意，越想越覺得自己聰明。 第二天我採得比前一天還凶——認不認得的，只要沾點邊就往布囊裡塞，塞到袋口都合不上。回來把草往他腳邊一堆，自己蹲到旁邊，一聲不吭。黃金萬兩湊在我耳邊嘀咕：「妳這是去採藥，還是去偷師？」「有差嗎？」我頭也不抬。「……真有出息。」他哼了一聲，還是順手把散開的草攏成一把塞回我手裡。 老頭照舊一株株看，照舊一句「不是」。可他念的名字，我一個沒漏。念到後來我摸出了門道：他手裡的「不是」也分兩種——一種莖捏起來四四方方，揉開卻寡淡沒味；一種聞著又香又衝，莖卻是圓滾滾的。他要的那株，兩樣都得占。我學著他的樣子掐一株聞聞——香是香，莖卻是圓的；再掐一株——方是方了，揉開只有草味。我偷偷把手邊的草分成兩堆，一堆一堆比過去，越比後脖子越熱：原來我這兩天抱回來的，連門都還沒摸著。 收草收到一半，他忽然起身，取了一小塊木牌，用刀尖劃了幾道，順手釘在藥架旁的牆上。我當是給哪個罐子做的記號，沒多問。 仙仙照樣自己跑到他腳邊繞了兩圈，就著那只缺角碗喝了兩口水，最後索性趴在他鞋邊睡著了。老頭連腳都沒挪一下。 第三天我學乖了，出門前先在心裡把兩條規矩過一遍：莖是方的，揉開有辛味，差一樣都不撿。這一趟我走得比前兩天都遠，翻過兩道坡，黃金萬兩在後頭喊：「腿是妳自己的，省著點用！」回來時腿都不像自己的了，布囊裡只剩小小一把——可這一把，每一株都合規矩。 我癱在藥房門口的石階上喘氣，一邊解草鞋帶子。低頭的時候，眼角瞥見石階縫裡冒出一叢矮矮的草，長得毫不起眼，還被踩歪了半邊。也不知道我哪根筋不對，隨手掐了一下——莖，四方的。指尖一揉，一股衝勁十足的辛味直往鼻子裡鑽。我整個人僵在那兒，連喘氣都忘了。我就近掐了三株捧在手心，還傻乎乎地回頭望了一眼那座白爬了三天的山。 三天。滿山的路。我進進出出從它身上跨過去多少回，一次都沒低頭看過。我先是氣得想把自己腦袋敲開看看裡頭到底裝了什麼，接著沒忍住，一個人坐在石階上笑出聲來，笑到眼淚都快掉下來，笑得仙仙都跑過來看我是不是壞掉了。 老頭從屋裡出來，看見我蹲在那叢草前面，看見我手裡那三株，什麼也沒說。既沒說「早就長在門口了」，也沒說「誰叫妳走那麼遠」。他只是「……嗯」了一聲，接過去，一株一株擺進竹匾裡。 那晚我才想明白：他那天說的是「山裡」——他沒說錯，山裡確實有。錯的是我一聽見「山裡」兩個字，就再也沒往自己腳邊看過一眼。這三天我沒學會怎麼走山路，倒是不知不覺記住了十幾種草的名字、脾氣和用處，還學會了一件更要緊的事——先把眼睛用足了，再用腿。 臨睡前，老頭從竹匾裡挑出一片葉子遞過來，只丟下三個字：「明天，嚼。」我捏著那片葉子看了半天——這到底是明天的課，還是明天的毒啊？ 就讓這三天白走的山路，陪你也把腳步放慢一點吧——有些答案從來不在遠處，只在你還沒低頭看過的地方。 I didn't make it back before dark. "Up there" sounds simple until you're in it — every plant looks alike. I came home at dusk with an armful of near-misses. He took them one at a time, pinching, nicking, sniffing. "Not it." "Not that either." He didn't throw a single one away. He laid them in an old bamboo tray, muttering as always — but this time I was close enough to catch it: "Motherwort. For women's blood." "Mugwort. Moxa, stops bleeding." He wasn't teaching me and never looked over; he was tidying his own things, and I was near enough to steal each name. The second day I came back with twice as much and sat beside him, silent. "Are you gathering herbs," Wanliang muttered, "or stealing lessons?" — then tidied my pile. By the third round I had the shape of it: his "not it" came in two kinds — square in the stem but scentless, or sharp and fragrant on a round one. The one he wanted had to be both. He scratched a small wooden tag and nailed it by the shelves; I took it for a jar label. The third day I walked farther than ever and came home with a handful that followed both rules. Then, undoing my sandals on the step, I saw a low clump in the crack beside it. Square stem. One rub, and that smell went straight up my nose. Three days of walking, and I'd stepped over it every day without once looking down. I sat there laughing till my eyes watered. He came out, saw the three stems in my hand, and said nothing. Just: "…Mm." He'd said the mountain, and he wasn't wrong — I was the one who never looked at my own feet. In three days I never learned the mountain, but a dozen plant names had moved into my head — and something better: eyes first, legs after. Before bed he handed me a leaf. "Tomorrow. Chew." I sat holding it, wondering whether tomorrow's lesson was a lesson or a poison. So let these three wasted days slow your steps too — some answers were never far away, only somewhere you never looked down. ────────────────────────────── #lofijazz #jazzylofi #fuzzguitar #femalevocals #downtempo #chilllounge #chinesemythology #herbalism #medicineculture #learning #comedy #wholesome #shanhaijing