This is the first time Zheng Qing came to "Hui Zi Ji".
Huiziji is a market, very small in scale, with only one street.
The entire street is less than ten meters wide, roughly trapezoidal, and loops around for only two or three miles in length.
There are old shops on both sides of the street, and the doors are not neatly arranged. There is a drugstore with a half-opened door and no windows. Walking on the street, you can still see vendors setting up stalls in the slightly open areas on both sides, which makes it very exciting.
People feel that this market is poorly managed.
"Our Sanyou Bookstore has a branch here. You can take time to come over and take a look when I'm not around." Mr. Wu walked in front and casually told Zheng Qing.
Zheng Qing was humming, but his eyes were fixed on the products displayed by the vendors on both sides of the street.
A long-horned worm, a three-headed dog, a rabbit with a scorpion tail, and a mermaid lying in the bathtub seemed to have inadvertently entered the world of fairy tales. Zheng Qing opened his mouth, grabbed the corner of his husband's clothes, and stared blankly.
Looking at these bizarre pictures, I didn't feel much surprise in my heart, only very curious.
Mr. Wu was very satisfied with his performance. Even seeing a few enchanting girls on the street did not make the old man's smiling eyes open wider. He slowed down and warmed up as he walked.
Yan introduced the shops on both sides.
"This 'Authentic Materia Medica' shop mainly sells authentic herbal medicines. Shangdang's 100-year-old ginseng, Shangzhou Citrus aurantium, Sudi's Pleiades inner gold, and even some Sichuan ginger, Sichuan pepper, and licorice. I make soup on weekdays."
You can find all kinds of loose materials here."
"If you want to see a doctor and buy medicine, you have to go to the Huichun Hall. The current owner is Deng Xiaoxian. He just graduated from college. He originally wanted to go out and try his luck, but Mr. Deng brought him back. His medicine hall
It's right next to our bookstore, you can go take a look later."
"What this 'Grave Code Suoqiu' sells are piles of old papers that no one reads. They are all filled with tadpole inscriptions and oracle bone inscriptions, which are not interesting."
"You can come here occasionally to visit this 'Lv Xi Fang' store. It sells clothes. But the styles are quite old and not fashionable, so I guess you won't be interested either."
While talking, Mr. Wu occasionally bowed to several old men and exchanged greetings.
Zheng Qing stood beside him obediently, glancing at a two- or three-year-old baby not far away. The parents of that baby had gone somewhere, leaving only this little guy wearing a red bellyband and pigtails.
He was flying around with a two-foot-long toy wooden sword, making random noises.
"Why doesn't he ride a broom?" Zheng Qing, following behind his husband, touched his nose and looked at the little kid with envy.
"Because his mother will come over and beat him after a while. If he rides a broom, his mother will whip him with the broom." The gentleman said in a comforting tone: "I can't even walk, I just want to fly around, it's easy to get hurt."
Beaten."
Zheng Qing always felt that there was something in his words.
"Today is your twelfth birthday, and I always want to give you a gift." When he walked to the door of a shop, the husband stopped, touched Zheng Qing's head, and said with a smile: "Don't refuse, the elders give it to you, and you can't refuse it."
."
Zheng Qing grinned, unable to hide his inner joy, and had no intention of declining.
I don’t know what gift my husband will give me.
The group of small animals I saw before are quite good. The three-headed dog and the scorpion-tailed rabbit may be a bit dangerous, and they are definitely not allowed to be kept at home. The little mermaid is still possible. I can put a bathtub in the bedroom and work hard to give it to her every day.
Change the water.
The candy house sold at the stall I just passed by is also pretty good. The colorful garden house, flowers, trees, insects, fish, birds, and even the little people who run out from the house to play on the grass from time to time are all made of jelly beans, and they look extraordinary.
Delicious. However, this kind of gift is a consumable item and will probably disappear after the birthday.
There is also a wooden sword flying around under the feet of the little kid. Although it is too small to step on, there is a hamster at home, and it can be hung on it to fly.
Before Zheng Qing finished thinking, his husband had already come out of the store.
He spread his hand, handed it to Zheng Qing, and said with a smile: "This is your birthday gift."
There is a silver-white pocket watch in the palm of the gentleman's hand, with complex patterns engraved on it. When the button on the watch head is pressed lightly, the watch case will pop open, revealing the ticking hands inside.
Zheng Qing was surprised by the gift, but felt a little disappointed in his heart.
The husband pointed to his watch and said in a very solemn tone: "You have to remember that your most valuable asset is your time."
Zheng Qing raised his head, a little confused.
"Did you see my hand?" The gentleman turned over his palm, revealing the wrinkled back of his hand. The back of his hand was sallow in color, with dots of age spots on it, and it didn't look pretty.
"Can you imagine how smooth and elastic these skins used to be? Now, they're dry."
"Between life and death is not the great horror, but the great thrill and excitement. The real great terror is when you silently feel the passage of time and the aging of your body, but there is nothing you can do."
"When I was young, every time I saw the elderly, I would easily overlook them. I would carelessly look away from them and feel that they were far away from me."
"But as time ticks by, I realize with horror that aging is so close to me."
"I am not afraid of death, nor am I afraid of aging. I just occasionally worry about my own powerlessness. My inability to leave traces of myself to prove the meaning of my life."
***
After returning from Hui Zi Collection, Zheng Qing locked himself in his bedroom and practiced the talismans crazily all night. So much so that the two black circles under his eyes the next day shocked the whole family.
From this day on, while teaching Zheng Qing how to practice talismans, Mr. Wu taught Zheng Qing a set of guidance skills.
According to the old man's words, the innate deficiencies need to be strengthened.
The runes strengthen the foundation and guide to cultivate the energy.
Therefore, the first thing Zheng Qing did every morning was to practice the Guidance Technique. Then he would copy dozens of runes before breakfast, lunch break, and bedtime.
In this way, the days slide by like water.
The feeling of the last headache gradually faded away with the wash of time, so that it seemed like a dream. Zheng Qing himself was not sure whether he had experienced those difficult days.
Zheng Qing is eighteen years old this year.
Studying with Mr. Wu did not take up too much of Zheng Qing's time. According to Mr. Wu, haste makes waste in everything in the world, especially the road to seeking the Tao. He practiced the Guidance Technique no more than three times a day, and practiced the talismans no more than three times a day.
100. If it exceeds 100, it will lead to lack of energy and lead to old diseases.
As an educational family, although Zheng Qing was no longer required to study hard, ordinary people's study life was indispensable. Under the joint request of his family and husband, Zheng Qing completed elementary school, middle school, and even high school step by step.
He sadly discovered that he had really become the kind of person he had laughed at since childhood: from elementary school to high school, he had been wandering around the community.
University must be far away from home!
But no matter how far it is, it's not so far away that you don't even know it.
After digging out the admission notice in the bedroom, Zheng Qing returned to the living room.
Because at noon that day, when Zheng Qing's parents came home, they brought back a blond and blue-eyed guest.
From the brief conversation between his parents and this guest, Zheng Qing learned about the origin of this foreign friend.
He is that strange interviewer sent by First University.