At dusk, when Chen Ping'an returned to the town and passed by the east gate of the city, the slovenly man guarding the gate was still humming a tune and was singing "Not an inch of time is important, and all glory and wealth can be thrown away." Perhaps he was attracted by the straw-shoe boy.
Disturbed by the rapid footsteps, the man opened his eyes and just looked into the eyes of the young man who was trotting in. When the man saw that it was this debt collector, he was extremely disappointed and waved his hand angrily: "Go, go, your time is worth a fortune.
"Prosperity, wealth and honor are four words. If you can have even one word associated with them, burn high incense."
After Chen Ping'an ran past, he raised a palm high, spread his fingers, and shook it vigorously.
Obviously, he was reminding the janitor that there was a five-cent incense relationship between the two of them.
The man spat hard and cursed: "You're not a good bird either!"
The young man's figure quickly disappeared, and the man looked up at the clear blue sky, which was like a layer of beautiful glaze.
The man rubbed his stubble-covered chin and said, "Mr. Qi once said in a poem, what's that, a good thing, colored glaze?"
A bullock cart slowly drove out of the town. In the cart sat a well-known scholar in blue shirt. The cart driver was a middle-aged man with a dull expression.
The man immediately waved and laughed loudly and said: "Brother Yao, don't leave in a hurry. Brother, I have something to say. I only remember good things, glass and so on. I can't remember anything else. You are a learned boy.
Big, tell me!"
The high-spirited Zhao Yao held a luggage in his arms and said loudly: "The good things in the world are not strong, and the colorful clouds are easy to scatter and the glass is fragile!"
The man raised his thumb and said, "As expected of you, brother Yao. He is very knowledgeable. When you are ready to make a career in the future, don't forget to go back to your hometown to see me. If you can't, I can replace your husband and be a teacher for our small town children."
Very good."
Zhao Yao was stunned for a moment, then he clasped his fists and said with a smile: "I accept my good advice!"
When the man was happy, he took out an embroidered bag from his sleeve, flicked his wrist, and threw it to the scholar in green shirt. He grinned and said: "I have let you write so many Spring Festival couplets for so many years. The key is that you are also kind.
I never find it troublesome. I’m always good at judging people. I’ll give you some gadgets. Have a safe journey!”
Zhao Yao quickly caught the money bag and said, "See you later!"
The man nodded with a smile, waved his hand towards the young man's bullock cart, but murmured: "It's difficult."
The straw-shoe boy walked deeper into the town, while Zhao Yao's ox cart rushed to the world outside the town, passing each other.
The man sitting on the tree stump counted with his fingers, "The Sui boy carrying the golden carp in the bamboo basket, the son of the widow Gu from Ni Ping Lane, plus Brother Yao from Fulu Street, there are already three
La. But then there will be so many people rushing in, and I will be forced to just pick up rags? Otherwise, I can also take the opportunity to find a filial apprentice who can rub shoulders and backs? "
The man stretched out his hand to pull at his wrinkled, dark cheeks, and said with a smile, "It would be best if she is a beautiful female apprentice with a bright face and smooth skin. Well, I can tolerate a bad face, but my legs must be long!"
"
This famous bachelor man in the town held the back of his head with both hands and looked up at the sky, enjoying himself secretly. After thinking of these happy things, his sorrow suddenly disappeared, and he only felt that there was a huge world between heaven and earth.
beautiful.
————
Before Chen Pingan left Mubo Alley, he made an appointment with Liu Xianyang and the girl in black to meet directly at Liu Xianyang's house. When Chen Pingan ran to Liu Xianyang's house, the door was unlocked and he pushed the door open. When he arrived at the main hall, he saw
Liu Xianyang was cleaning and wiping the heirloom armor with a clean cotton towel.
The girl in black, Miss Ning, put on her light curtain hat again and carried a sword at her waist. The long sword with a snow-white scabbard was casually carried in her hand. For some reason, Chen Pingan always felt that Miss Ning seemed to dislike this sword.
.
The old object on the table that had been passed down from generation to generation in the Liu family was said to be a treasure armor. In Chen Pingan's opinion, it was really ugly and scary. The huge armor was covered with iron bars that looked like dead tree burrs, and there were five parallel and deep iron bars.
The scratch marks sloped downward from the left shoulder to the right waist.
Regarding this point, the two teenagers were puzzled. They really couldn't imagine what kind of huge mountain beast it was to create such a terrifying scene. Later, the imperial court banned many mountain peaks, and people were not allowed to enter the mountain to cut firewood and burn charcoal.
, Chen Ping'an and Liu Xianyang almost never go beyond the forbidden rules, and this is a large part of the reason.
Chen Pingan was a little strange. This pair of black charcoal-like iron armor was ugly, but Liu Xianyang really regarded it as a family heirloom. Even with Chen Pingan's friendship, he only showed it once in so many years, less than half of it.
The incense sticks were carefully moved back to the red lacquer box and worshiped.
However, seeing Liu Xianyang peeking at the girl in black from time to time, Chen Pingan felt a little relieved. Liu Xianyang has always been a virtuous person. He can't control his eyes when he sees a good-looking woman. But in fact, he doesn't really like to be moved, he just likes to show off.
To show off, for example, he used to bathe shirtless in the stream on the covered bridge in the summer. If a girl of the same age passed by carrying rice seedlings or leading an ox, Liu Xianyang would definitely come up with a three-axe and climb ashore first.
On the big bluestone beside him, he coughed loudly - Song Jixin commented on this as "telling the world", and finally stabbed him fiercely. Chen Pingan, who has good eyesight, could actually clearly see the eyes and faces of the girls in the distance.
So I have always wanted to tell Liu Xianyang the truth. Among those good-looking sisters, some rolled their eyes, some muttered and cursed, and most of them simply turned a blind eye. The only one who didn't light up and thought you were a hero.
Of course, later Liu Xianyang fell in love with Zhigui, Song Jixin's maid, and fell deeply into it for no reason. After that, the tall boy seemed to have no other beautiful woman in his eyes. Even at this moment, he was showing off with the girl in black.
, and more importantly, I hope that the arrogant and indifferent girl will not underestimate him, and don’t think that with a knife and a sword, he can drag me like the king of heaven. This family heirloom of Liu Xianyang is the only one in this small town.
The girl in the curtain hat waited for Chen Ping'an, looked around, and finally placed the long sword horizontally on an old cabinet painted with golden flowers. The paint was mottled and cracked. In order to make room for the long sword, she moved many bottles and jars away
I found a pattern inlaid on the back wall of the cabinet, a golden laurel tree, when the full moon was in the sky.
The girl turned around and said: "Put the sword here, don't touch it, otherwise you will be responsible for the consequences. I am not kidding."
Liu Xianyang was busy wiping the armor, lowering his head to breathe from time to time, and gently rubbing it with his arms. He was really enjoying it.
Chen Pingan promised: "Definitely."
The girl said to Liu Xianyang: "This cabinet is not valuable, but don't sell this inlaid pattern of golden osmanthus and moon hanging at a low price."
Liu Xianyang said without raising his head: "I haven't liked that thing since I was a child. If you like it, girl, just scrape it off yourself."
Of course the girl in black did this act of burning the harp and boiling the crane. She was just curious and asked: "What is the material of this pattern?"
Liu Xianyang glanced back and said, "It's an object that's hundreds of years old. I didn't know. Even my grandfather couldn't tell me one, two, three, or four."
Chen Pingan said softly: "They should be stones picked up from the creek beach. They come in many colors, but Liu Xianyang's elders must have only chosen golden ones, crushed them first and then glued them together. Let's put these stones together."
The stone planted is called snake gallstone."
The girl in black asked: "Stones? Are there many in the stream?"
Chen Ping'an smiled and said: "Miss Ning, if you want, I can pick up a large basket for you in a day. No one here wants to see this. Gu Can likes it and often picks it up by himself."
The girl in black sighed and looked deeply at the poor boy in Mud Bottle Alley, "You are a pauper who lives on a mountain of gold and silver."
Chen Ping'an was surprised and said: "This kind of stone is out there, how valuable is it?"
She held up her hat and said: "The price depends on whose hands it falls. In addition, even if it falls into the hands of a knowledgeable person, it depends on luck. If you are lucky, one will be enough.
If you're not lucky, even if you pile up a mountain of stones, it won't work. But no matter what, it is valuable, and very valuable. I just don't know if it can be taken out of the town. This is very important."
Liu Xianyang interjected, "This stone is a bit weird. Once it is taken out of the stream, the color will fade when exposed to wind and sun. Especially after it rains or snows, the color will fade even more. In addition,
Outside, there’s nothing else.”
The girl regretted and said: "As expected."
Chen Ping'an hesitated for a moment, "How about I go pick up a big basket and come back tomorrow and give it a try? What if there are exceptions?"
The girl shook her head and said: "It makes no sense to me."
Liu Xianyang had already moved the treasure armor back into the house and hid it. He was leaning against the door and said with a smile: "Chen Ping'an is a big money fan. Maybe he will go to the creek to touch stones tonight."
The girl said, "Let's go."
When she walked to the door, she turned around and asked, "I will keep the hairpin and the prescription safe for you. But you still need to go to Mud Bottle Alley tomorrow to help boil the medicine."
Chen Pingan nodded and said: "No problem."
She thought for a while, with a serious look on her face, and reminded: "The most powerful of the foreigners who entered the town around the same time as me is probably the old man from Zhengyang Mountain. This trip was specially made to escort the little girl. What will happen next?"
It was the Sui eunuch who injured me, and then Liu Zhimao who took Gu Can away. Don’t underestimate the woman who hides the knife in her smile. So as long as you meet that old guy in Zhengyang Mountain, try not to argue, but once you get into trouble,
If there is a conflict, just delay it, don't fight with others, don't take any chances, you must delay it until I show up."
Liu Xianyang whispered: "In our territory, these foreigners who are unfamiliar with the place really dare to kill people?"
Chen Pingan glanced at him, nodded and said, "Dare."
Liu Xianyang swallowed.
Chen Ping'an suddenly asked: "Do you still remember what Mr. Lu, the fortune teller who set up the stall, told you?"
Liu Xianyang's head felt heavy for a while. After trying hard to recall, he scratched his head and said: "I don't remember this clearly. I only know that it was some unpleasant words. Anyway, they said there was a big disaster, burning incense and so on. It was a mess. I just thought he was him at that time.
It’s nonsense, trying to deceive people and make money..."
Chen Pingan turned to look at the girl in black.
The girl said fiercely: "He can't remember the signature, how can I interpret it for him? He really thinks I'm a god!"
Chen Ping'an was a little confused and couldn't figure out why Miss Ning was so angry suddenly.
The girl strode out of the house.
It was much more vigorous and vigorous than when I came here, slowly and leisurely.
The girl with the sword was walking in the spacious alley, wondering if she should go back and find some books to read?
When the girl thought about walking around in the future, beheading her with a flying sword, and then writing a few impassioned impromptu poems, she felt really handsome even if there was no one around!
————
Just when the girl was full of longing, a familiar figure flew past her.
"Miss Ning, see you tomorrow."
When the voice fell to the ground, the figure was almost at the end of the alley.
The boy in straw sandals, carrying a basket on his back, walked as fast as he could.
The girl was stunned and murmured to herself: "Is there really such a money-crazy person?"