Chang Yu and Li Muxian could almost be said to have fled. They never expected that the storyteller in the tea shed was arranging his own affairs. Good guys, good things should never go out, and bad things can spread thousands of miles. The government and the public like to talk to each other.
His deeds were talked about with great enthusiasm, and there were all kinds of embellished versions of stories, some good and some bad would be magnified infinitely, and some were even exaggerated to the point of unparalleled martial arts. He couldn't imagine what it was like, and he didn't dare to listen to it.
The storyteller said in this paragraph, after all, it was really embarrassing to be escaped by Li Zicheng.
After leaving the tea shed, the two hurriedly walked into the town. At this time, it was almost noon and they saw a restaurant next to them. They got into it. Li Muxian lowered his head and whispered: "Why don't we beat the storyteller before it gets dark?"
pause".
"Look at how angry you are. They rely on this to make a living. They can say whatever they like. Besides, there are so many storytellers in the world. Can you stop this Yuyou's mouth?" Chang Yu smiled faintly and waved his hand to the waiter: "Get some."
food".
"What would you like to eat?" the waiter asked.
Li Muxian casually took out half a tael of silver and said, "According to this amount."
The waiter's eyes lit up and he smiled: "Master Tao is so rich, just wait." After taking the silver, he went straight to the kitchen. Chang Yu raised his eyebrows: "Isn't it too much for us to eat half a tael of silver?"
It’s a luxury.”
Li Muxian didn't think it was hot: "I came all the way from Wuchang with a bird in my mouth. Let's have a good meal today. I'll treat you as a guest."
"How about adding some hard vegetables?" Chang Yu joked, and Li Muchian chuckled: "It's not bad for the three melons and two dates, just order as you like, I'm afraid you won't be able to finish it."
"Good guy, you are very rich." Chang Yu curled his lips, and Li Muchian waved his hands quickly: "Don't dare to say this nonsense. The money for treating guests to dinner is not bad, but it is far from being rich." As he said this, he pretended to be panicked.
I read: "Walking around the world without revealing your wealth".
"Your mouth is getting poorer." Chang Yu shook his head and sighed, while Li Muchian chuckled: "How about calling me poor?"
While the two were joking, the waiters over there were already serving dishes one after another. There were fish, meat, shrimp, fresh fish and mountain delicacies. It was quite rich, and it immediately attracted the attention of other diners. After all, this was just an ordinary restaurant in the town.
, is not a restaurant, most of the people who come here to eat are porters, hawkers, and poor scholars who are short of money. A bowl of noodles and a bowl of soup with at most a side dish is enough, but I have never seen them so luxurious.
Look at what you have, and I will eat what we have. The two of them feasted happily. Li Muxian even called the waiter to ask if there was any wine. The waiter mysteriously said that there was, but it was a bit expensive.
Li Muxian looked at Chang Yu and saw that he was eating wildly with his head down, so he acquiesced, casually patted a piece of broken silver and said, "Give it to Master Dao."
"Okay, Taoist priest, please wait a moment." The waiter passed away, and other diners looked sideways. Some couldn't help but mutter: "How rich are the Taoist priests who travel around the world these days?"
"Hey, what these wandering Taoist priests do is defraud people to make a living, so they must be rich..."
The two of them could hear these mutterings, but they turned a deaf ear to them. You said yours and I ate mine, while the other diners were drooling as they watched.
"Two Taoist masters, are you listening to music?" At this moment, two people walked into the store, one old and one young. The old one was holding an erhu in his hand, and the younger girl, who was only six or seven years old, was unkempt and her appearance was unclear.
The two of them stood at the table. Li Muxian glanced at the old man and saw that the old man's eyes were turning white as if he were blind, so he said: "A blind man can also see the identity of the Taoist master."
"Not completely blind yet," the old man said with a smile on his face. Li Muchian waved his hand: "Master Tao is not in the mood today, go elsewhere."
"It doesn't hurt to listen to a piece of music. Master, since you are treating guests today, please be more generous and invite me to listen to a piece of music." Chang Yu said. Li Muchian glanced at him, doubtful. This master likes to listen to music but loves listening to music the most.
Playing and singing the pipa, I always thought the erhu was too boring, but today... But now that the master has spoken, how could he dare to refuse? He coughed lightly: "Today, the master is happy, so I'll let you do it."
As he spoke, he took a few coins and threw them on the table. The little girl quickly grabbed them. The old man asked: "What do the guests want to hear?"
"Just do whatever you want, whatever you know how to sing, whatever you are good at singing," Li Muchian said casually. The old man said hello, then played the erhu, and the little girl next to him cleared her throat and started singing.
The voice was neither crisp nor melodious, and he couldn't even hear the words she sang clearly. However, Chang Yu was entranced, and his thoughts immediately returned to Yuanbao Mountain outside the Pass, where he met Jianghu, who was once proud of him.
My friend Li Xingtian also met his grandfather and grandson there who were both singers. However, the old man who was a singer was really blind, and he was from the frontier army. The guy eating in his hand was a pipa, and his granddaughter was also playing music.
Three or four years old.
Fast forward almost two years, Li Xingtian, his close friend in the world, committed suicide in front of him. I wonder if the grandfather and grandson are doing well now. Did they find a stable place to make a living, or continue to wander around the world? Is the unknown granddaughter married?
…
For a moment, Chang Yu was full of thoughts and emotions. When he recovered, he found that the grandfather and grandson who played the erhu were gone.
gone?
"Well, I left right after singing. Why didn't you enjoy the song?" Only then did Li Muchian realize that something was wrong with Chang Yu.
Chang Yu smiled bitterly, reached out and took the wine bottle that Li Muxian reluctantly drank from, and let out another long sigh.
Li Muchian knew that the master had something on his mind, but he didn't dare to ask unless he said it. He stretched out his hand to greet the waiter before serving more wine, but Chang Yu stopped him: "It's hot in the weather, drink less alcohol and drink more tea."
The two of them left the restaurant with enough water and food. The midday sun was scorching the sun. Seeing Li Muchian's face was red and smelled of alcohol, Chang Yu suggested to find an inn to rest. Unexpectedly, the two of them searched the whole town.
I didn't find a suitable place to sleep.
Either it was full, or it was a Datong shop with a really bad environment, so I couldn’t stand it in winter. Chang Yu couldn’t stand the hot, stuffy smell and smell in this hot day, so the two of them squinted under a big tree in the town.
After a while, Li Muchian said: "Why don't you just go to Jiujiang City and open a guest house to sleep with him until the sky is dark? Why suffer here and treat guests in a poor way?"
Chang Yu couldn't help but laugh: "The Taoist priest is usually very busy, but why are you so generous today? He just invited you to eat and drink, and even asked for a hotel room. I haven't seen you make any big deals to make a fortune today."
Li Muxian sighed: "People, when you are happy, you have to spend money to please yourself, and when you are unhappy, you have to spend money to make yourself happy."
Chang Yu said oh and teased him: "Just now, the Taoist said he was happy to treat us to dinner, but now he has to spend money again. Could it be that he is unhappy? Is there anything annoying that I can tell you to make our family happy?"
Li Muxian shook his head and smiled bitterly: "My boss, please stop making fun of Pindao. You have your own unhappiness, and Pindao has his own sad things. Well, he is still a common man after all, and he cannot escape his seven emotions and six desires."
"Good fellow, the Taoist Priest is getting more and more pretentious as he talks. Could it be that he was drinking and listening to that depressing erhu just now, making you Taoist Priest... Hey, what do you think we are being pretentious about here? Let's go to Jiujiang City.
"Chang Yu stood up and stretched, looking at the scorching sun through the tree branches, "I'm just walking over there, I'm afraid we'll be dried out in the sun before we reach Jiujiang, so let's hire a car."
But I can’t hire one!
The two of them are standing under the shade of a tree. You look at me and I look at you.
Then Li Muxian left, and after a while he led two horses over. During this time, Chang Yu made two straw hats with tree branches. The two of them took the horses and walked along the official road along the river towards Jiujiang Shen. Due to the extremely hot weather,
Li Muxian drank too much, so the two men slowed down their horses instead of galloping.
Although the weather was hot and it was midday, there were many pedestrians on the official road, including those carrying burdens, those carrying bags, those pushing carts, and those driving carts. Everyone was sweating and dejected. Of course, there were also many people under the shade of the trees on the roadside.
Pedestrians taking a break in the shade.
"In just one year since the imperial court rested its troops, the people's livelihood has been greatly improved. Look at this busy traffic, which is a sign of a strong country and a peaceful people. You can imagine how spectacular the Ming Dynasty will be in the future." Li Muchian stroked his beard with a look of relief, Chang Yu frowned
Frowning: "I'm afraid you drank too much. Nowadays, it doesn't even mean that the country is peaceful and the people are safe, but you can talk about the country being strong and the people being safe."
"It's just a matter of time. I believe that day will come soon." He said, looking at Chang Yu with a firm look on his face: "With my boss here, why worry about the Ming Dynasty not forcing the people to be uneasy?"
"Good guy, this hat is worn too high." Chang Yu smiled bitterly and shook his head. He looked at a coolie passing by carrying a basket of 100 kilograms. He was panting heavily, his skin was dark and shriveled, and he was still acting habitually.
Yu smiled, which deeply touched his heart: "Taoist Priest, have you ever heard of a line in Yuan's poetry, "It's hard to prosper the people, and it's hard to die".
Li Muxian nodded: "I don't remember the poem from which dynasty or generation, but I have heard it. It means that the people who suffer the rise and fall of the world are the common people."
Chang Yu hummed: "So where does the peace and prosperity of the country come from? As ordinary people throughout the ages, they have been used as coolies in prosperous times and cannon fodder in troubled times."
Li Muxian thought for a while and said: "That's not necessarily true. After all, most people would rather be coolies in prosperous times than cannon fodder in troubled times. What the people want is peace and tranquility, so there is nothing wrong with a peaceful country and a peaceful people!"
"That's the truth." Chang Yu smiled and stopped talking, but Li Muchian was teetering on the edge, looking like he could fall off his horse at any time. After all, he drank too much and the weather was too hot. Seeing this, Chang Yu said: "It will cool down again."