dusk.
The setting sun shines, and the autumn is getting stronger.
There were no pedestrians on the official road south of Luoyang City very early.
Until the sound of horse hooves...
But I saw two horses riding from a distance.
Three people rode on the two horses: Sun Yixie, Huang Donglai, and Chunkong.
Because Sun Yixie carries a lot of luggage and is inconvenient to have a trident behind her, Chunkong, who "carries a downwind horse", rode on the same ride with Huang Donglai. Fortunately, this little monk is not fat, and he brings very little luggage. Taking such a person on the short distance will not affect their itinerary.
For Chunkong, coming to Luoyang may not be a big deal. Even if he doesn't find someone who is willing to take him, it will not take a few days to walk over.
But for Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai, it is not easy to come here.
Although the journey from Shuzhong to Hangzhou a few months ago was longer, he arrived in Jiangnan by high-speed rail gang car. Along the way, he not only looked at the scenery on both sides of the official road, but also ate, slept and slept in the inn, and almost encountered nothing interesting.
The journey he and Sun Yixie came from Hangzhou to Luoyang was different. In just less than a month, they encountered various strange people and strange things and formed several grudges; this... is the feeling of "going around the world".
…………
After entering the city, the two immediately felt the difference between Luoyang and other places.
The city was very lively.
Although there were already pedestrians on the road outside the city at this time, there were lights and colorful people on the main road in the city.
And the more you go to the heart of the city, the more people gather; from hawkers selling things, artists selling arts, various shops that don’t close when it gets dark, and those pedestrians who linger... it seems that the whole city is in a very rare "nightlife" state in the big city.
In previous years, Luoyang City had such a situation after three or four days around the Mid-Autumn Festival. Even if it was held in the year of the "Young Heroes Club", it would be extended to about seven days at most.
However... this year, Master Shen from Luoyang Zhengyi Sect seemed to want to hold this grand and lasting event more than before, so it had already heated up the atmosphere in the city by more than ten days in advance.
Don’t think this is an easy task. Just the lanterns and lanterns on both sides of the main roads in the city are a huge expense; there are also the "overtime pay" for the vendors and shops, the "protection fee" for the gangsters in the city to help maintain order, the "reservation fee" for the government to give your nightlife green lights, etc., this celebration-like night market... is burning the money from the Justice Gate all day long.
Of course, such a lively atmosphere also gives them face.
As mentioned earlier, it is not easy to operate a sect with more than 100 members. If you still want this sect to host such a large-scale event that lasts for nearly half a month in addition to daily life, it will test the overall strength of your sect.
In addition to having money, the coordination ability of the management within the sect, the scheduling ability of the middle-level, and the execution ability of the grassroots are all very important.
If you do things neatly and gloriously, it is equivalent to showing your strength to your fellow martial arts members; and the thing done by your sect will become an intangible asset that you can give out when dealing with other people in the future.
Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai are both people who like to make trouble. They were attracted by the night market as soon as they entered the city. In addition, they finally arrived at their destination and could breathe a sigh of relief. Therefore, both of them seemed to be in high spirits, as if most of the hard work along the way had been gone.
But Chunkong is different from them. They are monks, and they are pure-minded and have few desires and less trouble. If Shaolin Temple had not received an invitation from the Zhengyi Sect and called Chunkong to come, Chunkong would have never thought about attending a Youth Hero Club.
Therefore, Chunkong was completely uninterested in this fun thing; after entering the city, he thanked Sun and Huang for their "for their favor", and then hurriedly said goodbye, and ran to White Horse Temple with his master's handbook.
Of course, he left...it's fine.
On the way from Songshan, Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai also chatted with him, but found that this guy was very serious. In their eyes, Chunkong was like a dough made with innocent flour and boring water, and he also fermented it with yeast like Buddhism... In the end, he could only make a bowl of Yangchun noodles called "Empression".
And the two of them, one is the hot pot that makes you diarrhea, and the other is the seafood that makes you gout. They can't even pee in the same pot as this monk.
Chunkong left, it was better, they were more comfortable and could go to the night market to roam.
The two of them first went to the inn to check in, put down their luggage and trident, then went on the street and strolled for a while, then found a roadside stall to sit down, each person with a bowl of donkey soup, and then took the steamed buns and first filled them.
Then I walked on the street, looked at the juggling arts, looked at the fake jewelry on the street stalls, admired the traditional craftsman of sugar-pinching people, and took a deep breath of the complex smells mixed with food, powder, soil, forage, metal, horse manure, lamp oil and other smells in the air... It was so beautiful.
You want to ask what's so beautiful about this?
I can only say that this is called "smelling people's taste" or "smelling the atmosphere of the market".
This smell is basically no longer smelled in our era, especially in big cities; perhaps some older people can still find some similar smells in their childhood or memories of their hometown, but young people... are mostly familiar with the smell of dog shit left on the green belt by car exhaust and the idiots who don't hold their dogs when walking their dogs.
Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai kept visiting until the third hour of Xu (8:45 pm). At this moment, the night market was approaching the end.
The biological clocks of the ancients were very healthy compared to those of modern people. For most people at that time, the feeling of staying up to nine o'clock in the evening was similar to the feeling of staying up to midnight now. Even if we are in high spirits, we will start yawning (of course, there are also many modern people who are very energetic all night and do not get sleepy until dawn. Yes, I know you exist).
Therefore, at this time, fewer pedestrians were gradually increasing, and vendors on the roadside began to close their stalls one after another.
However, the night trip between Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai is obviously not over yet, and it can even be said to have just begun...
Both of them are descendants of famous families, how could they not know that in any larger state city, there will be "night venues" that open all night.
In Dazhong, most of the "night venues" are brothels, the most famous of which is the "Xinghui Tower" located in Shanghai County, a coastal area in the south of the Yangtze River. I heard that many officials of the court were even willing to disguise themselves and go there for fun at the risk of being dismissed, which shows that their charm is extraordinary.
Sun Yixie has always wanted to come here once, but unfortunately Mr. Sun is very strict with him in this regard and does not allow him to visit the kilns at all. Not to mention Xinghui Tower, he can't even go to the brothels in Hangzhou.
Huang Donglai was similar: First, the Huangmen in Shu was a famous family, and he was the young master, so the discipline was naturally stricter; second, their generation had already lost their families, and although they could not starve to death, they did not have so much spare money to spend in places like brothels.
But today is different. The two are far away from Luoyang, far away from home, and no one cares about it.
There is still a lot of money left on them; they don’t want to go for a job, but they have come to this universe where brothels can be legally opened for so many years, and they have never visited one. Even out of curiosity, they want to go in and see it.
So, when the Xu hour was about to end, these two fools found a building on the street that was still brightly lit and had a luxurious facade.
The two of them looked at each other with a smile, and happily walked in together.
But as soon as they entered, they couldn't laugh.
Because they immediately discovered... they seemed to have come to the wrong place.
I just looked on the street and said that the sign here said "Buguilou"; these three words... depend on how you understand it. If you want to find a kiln, then this name looks like a kiln, but you have to think about it carefully. These three words are also suitable for use in funeral homes.
They looked in and saw the lights in the open door, which were very bright and there was a screen blocking it; they thought it was normal... The screen, one was to block the wind and dust, and the other was to cover the shameful activities of men and women inside.
In addition, you can hear a lot of people talking inside by a few steps away from the gate; the voices are all from men and women, and there are many people, so you can't hear what you are saying, but you just feel happy when you listen to the tone.
To sum up, at a glance at the door, it is indeed possible to misunderstand this place as a brothel.
Who knew that they came in and saw the serious restaurant and the place to eat.
Why is the business so good? It's very simple. This is the best restaurant in Luoyang City. It not only has good food, but also only serves in the evening market. It only opens every day at the hour of the New Year and is open until midnight. Those in the city who don't sleep at night, rich and leisure all like to come here for midnight. Isn't there too many people?
"Two guest officials." Soon, a middle-aged man dressed in a dress similar to a wealthy housekeeper came up and said to Sun and Huang without being humble or arrogant, "The wind is strong at the door, come and sit inside."
With just a greeting after entering the door, you can see that the restaurant is unique: when the guests come, they are not the waiter who comes to greet them, but there are people who are specifically responsible for the welcome.
When Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai saw that they all came to greet him, we turned our heads and went out again. By the way, we asked him how to get to the brothel nearest here? This seemed a bit embarrassing.
The two looked at each other and shrugged... Let's just let it go.
There are not many seats in the lobby on the first floor of the Buguilou, and at this 3rd hour, there is still a 90% occupancy rate; the fragrance of food on the table, the expressions of enjoying the food on the faces of diners, and their pleasant conversations all show that this store is indeed good.
The welcome guest led Sun Huang and the others to an empty table in the corner, and stopped and asked, "Two guests, can you ask here?"
Sun Yixie said in his heart: This location is not very good. There is a pillar not far away, so it is not convenient to serve the dishes.
He turned his head and saw that there were only a few corners left in the lobby, so he asked casually: "Is there an empty seat on this building?"
He...just got used to it.
Because when he was in Hangzhou, he went to some restaurants with higher grades to treat guests and always included private rooms.
He didn't know that the "upstairs" of the building were not allowed to go up casually; there was only the first floor lobby where you could eat as long as you have money, and there were some specialties to go upstairs... so there were so many people on the first floor.
"Oh..." The welcome guest was stunned for a moment, but soon showed a very professional smile, "Ha...there are some empty seats upstairs." He paused, "Customer, do you really want to go?"
"What's the real thing about this?" Sun Yixie didn't hear anything wrong with the other party's words, and immediately replied, "Go."
Huang Donglai also replied: "Brother, hurry up, we are both hungry."
This is the truth. The snacks they had eaten on the street had already been almost digested; and after coming in, they saw so many delicious foods, and when they smelled the fragrance, their saliva was almost over.
"Okay... OK." Seeing that both of them were quite sure, the welcome guest stretched his arms, made an "invitation" gesture, and continued, "You two are invited, come here." As he said that, he led the two to the steps leading to the second floor.
Chapter completed!