Her heartbeat was as fast as if she had seen a ghost, but she quickly reacted rationally and recognized that the person sitting next to her was a living person. It was just that the windows on both sides of the carport were down and there was no light inside, so she
Didn't see clearly.
"Sorry, I didn't know there was anyone here..."
"It's okay." The young man waved his hand and helped her move the baggage to the open space at her feet, "Since he is willing to pull you, we should be traveling together."
The young man had a plain voice, but his voice was a little soft. He could enunciate clearly and his Mandarin was very standard. The carriage swayed, and occasionally light and wind came in through the thick felt curtains. With this little light, she could clearly see the young man's appearance.
: Is he about the same age as me? Maybe two or three years older. He is wearing a simple white long coat and is a little gray. I don’t know if it’s because of the light or something.
It's too old, but it's washed very clean. It's tied with a sleeveless warm long coat. It's a slightly hard and heavy cloth. It's basically dark blue to nearly black in color. It's cheap but cost-effective. The clothes are a bit simple.
The decoration was embroidered with simple gold patterns and decorated with dark satin ribbons. The belt was very wide, with a metal ring for hanging the sword on it. But Ling Huan looked around and couldn't find the sword.
He is the kind of very decent person. This kind of person either pays attention to his appearance, or he must have a wife or mother who loves him deeply. But Ling Huan cannot judge his identity. Although he looks like a white-faced scholar, a scholar will not do that.
Such professional weapons are prepared; it is said that he is a martial arts practitioner, but his body is not strong enough.
Although he is too weak, he doesn't look like he can fight; it would be even more unreasonable to say he is a businessman. His luggage is so small that it is negligible and is placed on his lap. He does not look like a rich man.
Rather, he looks like the kind of ordinary person that you don't see very often and forget immediately after just one look.
"I'm so sorry, it's so dark here. I didn't know or expect anyone else."
"It's normal. I'm used to it." The young man smiled. "When I first arrived at the inn, no one noticed me even after shouting for a long time. Even when I got in the car, my uncle thought I didn't follow him."
"Uh haha... maybe your voice is a little soft." Ling Huan felt embarrassed and funny, and then asked, "Are you going to a neighboring city?"
"Go further, but through the neighboring town."
"Are you in a hurry too?"
"Yes. I'm a little anxious."
Then the two of them had nothing to say. It would take at least half an hour to drive the carriage from here, not to mention the wind and snow. The old horse of the coachman uncle did a good job and pulled steadily along the way, except for the occasional
The road bumped twice because she couldn't see clearly. Time passed too slowly. Ling Huan felt very sleepy, but she was pretending to be busy, so she hung there half asleep. She occasionally glanced at the young man secretly, but he was sitting upright all the time.
Expressionless.
She decided to talk to the young man to cheer her up: "Well..."
The young man looked at her.
"May I have your name."
"Thank you."
"Xie Zhe..."
She repeated it softly. It felt like a name that sounded ordinary and not too bad. Following the normal chatting steps, the young man should have asked her name in turn, but he didn't respond. After that,
She turned her head, looked straight ahead, and continued to keep a straight face, as silent as a wooden stake. She felt even more embarrassed.
Ling Huan really wanted to ask: Why didn't you ask me my name? Wouldn't it be meaningless for me to pick a topic?
But she held it in. The qualities of a lady did not allow her to be so "unreasonable", and she didn't think Xie Zhe was rude, she just felt that he was a little cold and... dull. So she took a deep breath and decided to report herself
Home door.
"My name... is Ye Lingyu."
"oh."
No more content.
It's better not to say anything.
Fortunately, Ye Lingyu did not regret this decision for too long. He seemed to have some qualifications as a normal person, so he turned around and asked:
"Is it a paper kite or a mandarin duck?"
"It's the phoenix's phoenix."
"Oh..." he thought thoughtfully, "it's rare to see this character used as a name."
"Well. A distant cousin of mine and I were born a few days apart. She and I used the same word. The advice was given by a fortune teller." In order to avoid a more rigid situation, Ling Huan decided to talk less about himself and transfer
Topic: "What is your Chinese character? It feels rare. Your parents must also be people who read a lot of poetry and books."
"No. My mother is a peasant woman, and my father is dead."
"..."
Ling Huan felt a lump in her throat. This time, she was careless and said the wrong thing. She didn't mean to expose people's wounds, but this was a situation that people who met for the first time would never expect. She felt that she couldn't be blamed. But indeed,
It was my fault that I made a mistake.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to..."
"It doesn't matter." Xie Zhe said calmly, "I haven't met my father either. It was my mother who raised me up."
"So that's it." Ling Huan nodded, "Then your name was given by your mother?"
"Um."
He hummed like this, feeling that the conversation was about to end again. Ling Huan thought to herself that maybe he didn't like chatting. In fact, she herself was not a talkative person, but she just didn't dare to fall asleep in the car. It was too cold.
It's easy to catch a cold. If you get sick on the way, the gain will outweigh the loss. Just when she was thinking about whether there was anything else she could say, Xie Zhe spoke again:
"She said there were traces of my father in my name."
"Eh?" She tilted her head, her eyes sparkling with curiosity, "How do you say this?"
"She said that my father was also from a farmer's family. Later, in order to supplement the family income, he became a soldier and received subsidies. More than 20 years ago, when the border was not peaceful, he took the initiative to go to the front line to serve the country. But he didn't know that my mother was pregnant with me at the time.
I didn't know until I received the letter on the way, but already
He couldn't come back. Later, his leg was broken and he couldn't fight, so he wanted to get money and come back to accompany his mother to give birth. But... because he didn't treat it well, the wound became infected and he developed a high fever on the way. It was snowing on the day my mother gave birth to me, so she finally rushed
All that came was the obituary brought by courier."
"..."
He talked to himself for a while, and then he realized that Ling Huan's eyes were straight, as if he would cry at any time. He was stunned, he didn't expect a girl to react so much, and he shut up for a moment, not knowing what to do.
"It's okay. If you're not happy, just stop talking! I don't have to listen..." Ling Huan waved his hand quickly.
"Ah, it's nothing...my mother is actually illiterate. As for the literate people, she guessed it if she refused to read to her. The next day, she went out with my newborn me in her arms. The snow stopped, but the door
There were ruts on the ground in front of me made by messengers driving all night, so she gave me this name. Probably, this was the most literate moment in her life."
When talking about this matter, Xie Zhe was relatively relaxed, while Ling Huan's heart felt as heavy as a stone. She felt that she shouldn't ask, weren't the two of them in a worse mood now? She shook her head repeatedly and sighed.
"But your father is so awesome. Loyalty to the emperor and patriotism is something that many ordinary people cannot do."
"Well. Anyway...my mother won't let me become a soldier."
"Then what are you doing now?"
“Catch ghosts and exorcise them.”
"..."
Xie Zhe felt that Ye Lingyu had moved a little farther away, but he didn't know if it was an illusion.
"I find that many people are biased against this industry."
"No, it's nothing." Ling Huan did not admit it, "In this industry, we should be respected by others..."
Xie Zhe said casually: "That's what it is said, but the truth is also very easy to think about. For something as sacred and solemn as a funeral, people respect both the mage and the coffin bearers. But if it wasn't for the high esteem
You said that you put makeup on the dead, dress the dead, and carry the coffin..."
Ye Lingquan hesitated again, but she felt it made sense. Moreover, this young man seemed to have some ideas and was not as alienated as she had felt before - even though it was only a few words.
"Then, your mother is not afraid of you because of this business..."
"That's all. Our mother and son once received help from an expert... She was not taboo about these things, but rather liked them. Therefore, it did not hinder my choice. I took this path, and it was also the expert who
He was...a monk. He and I convinced my mother and told her that fighting is for the common people; exorcising ghosts and doing evil deeds is also for ordinary people. In this way, I no longer need to be a soldier.
I can also inherit my father’s legacy.”
Ling Huan nodded: "That's quite good."
They had nothing to say anymore. However, there was no need for Ling Huan to think about what to say. The carriage suddenly stopped. She thought to herself, why is it so fast? The coachman suddenly opened the windshield and said to the two of them:
"Girl, I can't leave."
"What?"
"The snow will get heavier as we go forward. I will only charge half of your money and you have to go back."
"But you can't just-"
The driver waved his hand and pointed to the side of the road.
"There is still half way to the foot of the mountain. There is a small inn here. I won't compete with you for a guest room, and I don't have any spare money. When the road is clear the next day, you can borrow carriages and horses from here, or
Just stop a car traveling the same way."
"But... okay, okay, thank you."
Ling Huan got out of the car first, and Xie Zhe handed the package to her to catch, and then got off. The wind and snow were indeed getting worse, so heavy that everything in front of him was gray, and there was only a faint outline of the small inn in front of him. The carriage was about to turn around.
After leaving, suddenly a chubby middle-aged man came out and immediately called the driver to stop, saying that he was going back to the city. This made the uncle very happy.
The two of them stood alone in front of this pitifully small inn, looking at each other. Xie Zhe saw that Ye Lingquan had wrapped her snow awning tightly, so he urged her to get in quickly. Otherwise, she looked so dazed that she didn't know what to do.
How much snow to eat.
Since one person just left, let's not say there is still another room.
With this in mind, they pushed the door open and walked into the store. Unexpectedly, as soon as they stepped through the door with their left foot, they heard a shout from the front desk:
