In the study, the young scholar sweeping the dust and dust is no longer there.
In just six days, the bookshelf was covered with dust, and the edges of the books were slightly yellowed, giving off a somewhat outdated look.
Originally, there would be some poor and cold-blooded young girls during the day, but amid the laughter, they came to the study room to learn how to pray.
But these days, the study has been so deserted that it reveals a bit of loneliness, as quiet as a tomb.
Mr. Meng may be old and a little tired. Without Ji Ting's help, he is too lazy to clean even the spider webs under the corner of the house.
In the early morning, winter snow started again.
There were very few pedestrians on the street. When someone hurried past the study, they would cast a suspicious look at Yun Rong and Bai Lian.
They didn't dare to look more. After a quick glance, they looked back, lowered their heads and continued on their way.
Balian came to Mr. Meng who was pruning branches and leaves in front of the window sill and politely said softly: "Mr. Meng, I've been annoying you these past few days."
The old gentleman seems to be somewhat deaf. After all, for an old man who even has age spots on the back of his hands, it is normal for him to be blind and deaf.
He continued to hum a tune, his withered old hands pruning the flowers and grass were a little unsteady and trembling.
Accidentally, the not-so-sharp scissors scratched a piece of flesh on his fingertips, and dark red, somewhat black, sticky blood seeped out from the wound.
Before the blood could drip into the flowers and soil, the old man tremblingly guarded his fingers and sucked twice.
Balian didn't care whether the old man could hear him clearly or not. He took out a banknote from his arms and put it on the window sill. He said, "I've been bothering you for a long time these days. Although Ji Ting doesn't charge rent, after all,
Mr. Meng, you are the owner of this shop."
Mr. Meng's eyes were dim and he squinted at the brand new banknote on the window sill, with a layer of dead greenness in his cloudy eyes.
He rolled his eyes, opened his wrinkled eyelids a little, looked at Balian and shook his head.
The old man shook his head, but accepted the brand new banknote without saying a word.
Balian was not in a good mood today and had no desire to continue reading. He said to Master Fourth Sword, who was still squatting in a small corner: "Miss Yunrong, I want to go back early today, how about you?"
As the Fourth Sword Master who reads and waits every day, he would not leave this study so early.
Balian quickly left the study, but did not return to the inn immediately. He went to the Bashu Noodles shop opened by an old woman across the street, ordered two bowls of hot, non-spicy noodle soup, and returned to the study.
A copy was placed at Yun Rong's feet, but did not receive any response from her.
Balian smiled and gave another portion of hot noodle soup to Mr. Meng.
It was a cold winter, and he knew that the old man's hands and feet were stiff, so he opened the food box for him, arranged chopsticks and spoons, and carefully said: "Sir, it's cold, you must eat on time, otherwise you will feel uncomfortable with a cold stomach."
Mr. Meng's hunched figure sitting in front of the window lattice looked a little cold, but his originally cloudy eyes became much clearer under the fumigation of the hot noodle soup.
He didn't touch the bowl of hot noodle soup in front of him, as if he couldn't hear Balian's words. He stared quietly into the void with no expression on his face and hummed an incomprehensible tune.
Just when Balian left the study for the second time, the old man's voice behind him sounded slowly, like sand flowing in an ancient river: "It's been a long time since a child bought me hot, fresh noodles.
."
He has opened this bookstore for forty years. Every day, every year, young people who cannot afford to go to school come to his place to read and study.
Those teenagers don't have money, so they usually stay in the crowd, bullying them into being old and stupid, and reading these books for nothing.
It's just that some books of sages are too mysterious and obscure to be interpreted.
Seeing that these children from a bitter cold background lived in difficult conditions, he not only had no complaints about them reading books for free, but also patiently explained to them the mysteries of the classics.
Seeing that he was kind-hearted, the children gradually saved some extra coins from their homes. Everyone collected money for a bowl of noodles and brought a bowl of hot noodle soup to the old man every morning.
A thousand books cannot bring about a moment of happiness, but a meal can bring about a lifelong feeling, and a humble gift can turn into happiness.
As time goes by, young people gradually become accustomed to accepting the kindness of the elderly.
Thanks to the old man's selflessness and his spare time in teaching, most of these poor young men entered the academy and became knowledgeable students. In spite of their hard work, they were considered successful.
Those who are successful and famous fill the border towns with glitz.
Who would have thought that there was an old man teaching and reading at night in the old city.
For the students of the border town colleges, although their life is far better than that of ordinary people in the border towns, it is still far inferior to that of a sweeper in the inner city.
They knew that the old man came from Baimu Academy in the inner city, and even though he was full of glory, he did not want to humiliate himself by coming here again.
Anyway, the elderly should have no less than them.
The few remaining people were disappointed after failing the exams. They watched the prosperous rural people gradually become famous and were protected by the university, but they themselves were still miserable and poor.
In contrast, the feeling of disparity made me feel a little bit of blame and complaint towards the old man.
They are all obviously taught by you. They obviously save their own rations and spend the same amount of money to buy hot soup noodles for the elderly every day.
Why can others achieve success while I suffer from hunger and cold?
You are partial and you teach with hidden things.
These young people who feel that their fate is unfair and that the elderly are unfair are unwilling to save money to buy soup noodles every day.
However, some young people who sincerely study and are eager to repay the elderly are so poor that they can only buy a few green onions because they are single and unable to do so.
Over time, it was no longer possible to see a bowl of hot noodle soup served by the lively young man Lang in this old study.
Balian walked out of the study, and from the other side of the window, there was the sound of soft slurping and eating noodles.
The old man's humming and murmuring tune finally stopped.
Just after leaving the study, at the corner, Fang Geyu was dressed in a pure white crane-feather cloak, holding a sword and standing against the wall. His voice was as arrogant as before: "You still run here every day."
Bailian said: "I won't come tomorrow."
Fang Geyu was quiet for a moment, and then said: "Three nights ago, Meng Chengzhi was killed under the Imperial Monument in the inner city after being hit by a crime."
Bai Lian didn't look surprised at all, he just gave a faint hum, and then asked calmly: "Apology? Is it because of Ji Ting's disappearance?"
"Yes and no."
The heavy snow blows and the wind blows on people's faces with a biting chill.
Fang Geyu got under his glass umbrella and said calmly: "The reason is that Lan Youdie submitted a warrant for arrest. She has a personal maid beside her who has been missing for three months. A few days ago, she went to the old well of Shanzhai in the inner city.
Her body was found.
Later, in the border towns, young boys and girls always disappeared, and the three brothers and sisters of the Ji Ting family were among them. The first to disappear was the second sister of the Ji family, then the third sister, and finally Ji Ting.
Lan Youdie followed this clue and found Meng Chengzhi's head. On that night three days ago, Meng Chengzhi was cornered by three thousand defenders in the inner city. He confessed and was killed.
"Above the Imperial Monument." If you like The Long Night Walk, please bookmark it: (www.sodu777.net) The Long Night Walk search and reading novel website has the fastest update speed on the entire Internet.