Chapter 14: Wu Ciyou's first date with an infatuated girl, Qing Houer's challenge
After seeing off Huang Zongxi and others, Wu Ciyou was still standing on the river bank, overlooking the lonely blue waves and the vast expanse of sky. He couldn't help sighing: how unpredictable the gatherings and separations in the world are! Just as he was thinking about his sadness, Li Yuliang, who came to see him off, suddenly laughed and said: "Brother Wu
, I can’t find my relatives in Anqing, and I have nowhere to go, brother, where do you plan to go?”
"Me, I originally planned to go back to Yangzhou to visit my family. According to Guang Guang, my father has not returned from traveling abroad and his health is good. There is no need to rush back. He still wants to stay in the north for some time." Wu Ciyou said thoughtfully,
"Since you can't find your relatives, why not travel together? This is not far from Yanzhou Prefecture. How about we go to pay homage to Confucius' home? If you want to work in Beijing, I have many friends. If you recommend me, you will be successful in a few years."
"That's good." Yu Liang pursed his lips and smiled, pointing to a large temple in the distance and said: "It's like a temple fair over there. Let's go and relax together after being bored in the inn for a few days?" Wu Ciyou
He looked up at the sky and saw that it was already past midnight. He nodded and said with a smile: "The snow by the river has melted, so there is nothing to see. It's good to go to the temple fair and have some food there, and then go back to the store after noon."
After saying that, the two of them got off the official road and headed west. They saw a crowd of black crows in the distance.
"Brother Wu," Li Yuliang asked suddenly as he walked, kicking the pebbles on the road playfully, "you are so talented and learned, and you have been the emperor's master, why don't you stay in the capital and be an official, running around and having fun?
"
Seeing Yu Liang's childishness, Wu Ciyou couldn't help but smile and said, "Do you know the story of Xu You washing his ears and Tao Qian escaping from the world? There were many such things in ancient times."
Yuliang thought of something again and asked playfully: "Don't you have a wife?"
"No." Wu Ciyou looked into the distance with a deep gaze, "However, it can be said that it has happened."
"How could that happen?"
"Yes." Wu Ciyou felt a faint pain in his heart when he asked him, and his face seemed to be covered with a layer of frost. He said coldly, "It is better to have a physical relationship but a different dream and a bed together, than to have a spiritual relationship and be separated by a mountain."
"Oh!" Yuliang suddenly clapped his hands and smiled, "Oh, I know."
"What do you know?" Wu Ciyou stopped and asked, staring at this young friend with his bright black pupils.
"They must be childhood sweethearts!" Yu Liang said, "It's a pity that without the orders of your parents and the advice of the matchmaker, you two have made a private lifelong engagement, one will not marry and the other will not marry - but is that true?"
These words were so heartbreaking that Wu Ciyou's eyes suddenly filled with tears, and he only nodded without speaking.
"Is she very beautiful?" Yu Liang lowered his head and asked again in thought.
"She's not ugly, but she's not a stunning beauty either." Wu Ciyou felt irritated and didn't want to continue talking about this topic, so he said: "It's hard to explain what's going on here - let's go to the temple fair."
The person worshiped in the big temple is neither a saint nor a Buddha, nor a Taoist nor a god, nor is it Guan Shengjun or Yue Wumu, but the Immortal Zhong Sanlang. Wu Ciyou has heard of this immortal family several times along the way. Where does it come from?
Even a learned and talented man like Wu Ciyou couldn't think of it for a while. He just felt that his followers were gathering at night and leaving in the morning, which was a bit sneaky, so he wrote it in the memorial to Kangxi. When Wu Ciyou looked carefully in front of the temple with his hands behind his back, he realized
I learned that this place turned out to be a dilapidated Shanshan Guild Hall, which was temporarily converted into a temple. The new black lacquer plaque read:
Blessings
There is also a newly written couplet on both sides, a very beautiful regular script, but written quite affectionately:
What enmity have you made? What crime have you committed? What wealth and life have you harmed? Forgive me for wearing your clothes upside down. Today you boast that you have the power.
He is greedy for all the profits, he is greedy for fame, and he has lost all justice and conscience. Look at him running rampant on the road, and it will rain on his head for a day!
The following paragraph is a line of fine characters:
Zhongxian doctor knew that Yanzhou Prefecture awarded Jinshi origin and Zheng Chunyou's inscription
Gu Dan, the first month of the ninth year of Kangxi's reign
Wu Ciyou smiled bitterly and shook his head. He stopped entering the temple and dragged Yuliang to the east of the temple. Li Yuliang didn't care about this. He said as he walked: "It's really lively here. The thirty-six lines are complete. It's better than the temple fair in our hometown in southern Shaanxi."
There will be several times more people!”
Wu Ciyou smiled but did not answer, and suddenly pointed at a group of people and said: "There is a riddle in the herbal medicine shop over there. Why don't we join in the fun and get two bottles of styrax wine to eat?" Yu Liang said with a smile: "If you lose, you have to buy it.
His licorice and Erhua tea are for cold weather. It’s a joke if we carry a lot of herbal tea back!” Wu Ciyou laughed and said, “Come with me, where will you lose?” With that, the two of them squeezed.
When I came over and looked up, a water sign said:
The lotus pond is short of water, everything is sleeping together, Zhaojun comes out of the fortress
Poems and books are a long-term companion, hometown and nostalgia, reunion after breaking the mirror
Reflect on my body three times, surrounded by fairy music, the lotus with two stems
A chaste woman with golden chrysanthemums everywhere, her hair dyed like ink
Xiang Yu rides his horse to the top of the crowd, Foolish Old Man moves the mountains
The other water signs are also densely written with riddles.
Wu Ciyou pondered for a while, then he ticked off the four flavors of "Zhaojun goes out of the fortress, poetry and books will always accompany him, I have to examine myself three times" and "The Foolish Old Man Moves Mountains", and said to the clerk: "'Zhaojun goes out of the fortress' is 'Wang Buliu Xing'; 'poems and books will always accompany me'".
'It's 'Rutabaga'..." When the shop clerk heard that he guessed correctly, he handed over two bottles of styrax wine. Wu Ciyou continued to guess, "...'examine myself three times' means 'defend oneself'; 'Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountain' means 'Polygala'
'."
He guessed it right in one breath, and the waiter had no choice but to take out two more bottles and said with a smile: "If everyone is like this sir, the shop will be closed in half a day!" Wu Ciyou turned his face when he heard that his words sounded like begging for mercy.
He smiled at Yuliang and said, "It's enough if you win the lottery. These two bottles are enough for my brother's lunch. The rest can be considered as a gift to his pharmacy——"
While they were talking and laughing, they heard people nearby shouting: "Hit, beat!" mixed with the cries and curses of children. When Wu Ciyou turned around to look, an unkempt boy of thirteen or fourteen years old emerged from the crowd.
He squeezed out, holding a piece of scallion pancake with both hands, tearing it and biting it fiercely. Behind him, a lanky man looked like a rolling pin, waving a fire stick, yelling and cursing and chasing...
"Old enemies!" Seeing Wu Ciyou's surprise, the pharmacy clerk explained, "Poor this kid, my father asked Zheng Chunpeng, the shopkeeper of this shop, to force him to death by extorting debts, and then sold his mother to Guangdong. Now boss Zheng's brother has released the prefect.
, Boss Zheng is the most popular person in Zhong Sanlang’s society here, and his power is getting more and more scary. But this kid is also naughty and stubborn, and he will be killed at the door of his shop in a few days." He sighed,
"He doesn't want to fly far away. Sooner or later he will die in front of Boss Zheng's shop..."
Wu Ciyou was stunned when he heard this. When he turned around, Li Yuliang disappeared. When he turned around, he saw that Yuliang had squeezed into the crowd, blocking the "rolling pin". He didn't care to talk to the waiter, and hurried over with a bottle of wine in one hand.
.
"He is a child." Yuliang bent down and picked up the young boy, and turned to the "rolling pin" and said, "Such a brutal beating is too much for adults. What if someone is killed?" People originally stood in a circle,
Watching the fight from a distance, I saw someone coming out to complain, and more people gathered around. Wu Ci easily squeezed in, pulled the child to him, and smiled and persuaded the "rolling pin": "How much can he eat from you?"
You can beat things like this? You can't kill someone without hitting the ground, so you can't go too far!" As he was speaking, the kid in his arms slipped out, jumped up and pushed his head against it, hitting the "rolling pin"
On the belly, he actually knocked him on his back. The hairy boy chewed the oil cake in his mouth and spit on the rolling pin. He cursed: "You can't kill Qinghouer, Qinghouer.
As long as the monkey lives for one day, your old Zheng family will no longer want to live here peacefully!"
The "rolling pin" was so angry that he stood up, raised the fire stick and threw it at the green monkey. The green monkey yelled: "Oh my god!" He was lying on the ground with his mouth chewing mud. When he got up, his face was full of tears.
He was bleeding, jumping on his feet and crying and cursing: "I'll fuck you, Huang Lao's fourth and eighth generation ancestors! Did you sell your fucking pussy to Zheng Chunpeng? Are you the son of the Zheng family? You beat me, you beat me! I can't beat you to death."
"Master, I am Zheng Chunpeng's father..." The dirty, thick, meaty and vegetarian ones were all put out, and the people around him burst into laughter.
"I told you to be tough!" "Rolling Pin" sneered and hit him again with the stick, but Li Yuliang grabbed him and said coldly: "You can't hit me again!"
"What can't you do?" Huang Laosi gritted his teeth and said, "Go over there! Killing this naughty beast is just like killing a dog!" As he said that, he drew a fire stick, but he made two bucks, and the iron fire stick looked like a dog.
It felt like a root had taken root in Yuliang's hand, and he couldn't pull it anymore, and his face suddenly turned red.
"I said you can't fight, so you can't fight!" Yu Liang said with a smile, "I don't believe he is worse than a dog. How valuable can you be? Aren't you just a dirty waiter?" said
With a smooth hand, Huang Laosi staggered back five or six steps before he stood still.
"Ho! Something strange happened in Anqing Mansion today!" Someone suddenly shouted from outside the circle. As he spoke, the spectators had already walked out of the alley, and a muscular man in his thirties broke in with four waiters.
He stared at Yu Liang and scolded Huang Laosi: "You are so fucking talented! You can't even deal with these two little bastards - come on! Take this green monkey to the back of the store, report back to Master Zheng Xiang in the evening, and then retaliate.
!”
"With you?" Yu Liang teased with a smile, "It seems that this store in Anqing Mansion is also owned by your family?" He started to take action. Wu Ciyou didn't want to cause trouble, so he pulled Yu Liang from behind and said: "
Why bother!" Then he asked Huang Laosi: "This child ate your cake, and I will pay for it. How much should it be?"
"One piece of cake a day!" Huang Laosi was already timid at first, but now that he had help, he became more stubborn again. He looked at Li Yuliang and said, "Three years - twelve!"
"Fuck you!" Green Monkey yelled, jumping on his feet and about to jump out, but was held down by Yu Liang.
"Ten taels is ten taels." Seeing that this group of people were bent on causing trouble, Wu Ciyou was afraid that Yu Liang and Qing Hou'er would suffer a big loss, so he took out two and a half taels of silver from his waist and threw it on the ground, and pulled Qing Hou'er away with one hand.
He grabbed Li Yuliang with one hand and said, "Let's go find a place to eat."
Li Yuliang pondered for a moment, looked at Wu Ciyou and said with a smile: "There's no need to be angry with them, let's go!" Hearing the sarcastic remarks and laughter coming from behind, the arrogant Wu Ciyou was so angry that his hands were cold and his face was ashen. He looked at Li Yuliang
At this time, he smiled as if nothing happened, but clenched his teeth tightly.
The next morning, just after dawn, Wu Ciyou got up and walked to Yuliang's room. Seeing the green monkey sleeping deeply outside, he called Yuliang through the curtain: "Get up, we should hit the road today."
After two calls, Yu Liang didn't agree. Just as he was about to go in, he saw Yu Liang coming in from outside and said with a smile: "On the way? Where to go?" Wu Ciyou said: "Yanzhou Prefecture, didn't you make a good point yesterday?"
"Let's delay it for another day," Yu Liang said with a smile. "I accidentally asked someone to sweep my stick yesterday. My arm hurts very much. Today I want to see the doctor." Wu Ciyou said with a smile: "What doctor are you looking at? I am well versed in medicine."
, can't I just let you take a look?" Yu Liang said: "It's just a bruise, just grab some medicine, fry it and eat it."
"Okay." Wu Ciyou said, "I'll get some medicine for you. Just wait. I'll be back in less than an hour." Li Yuliang stroked his right arm with his hand, looking a little unbearable in pain. He sucked in the air-conditioning and said, "Then I'll give it to you, brother."
Already."
With that said, Wu Ciyou left. Here Yuliang pushed Qinghou'er: "Get up!"
The green monkey rubbed his eyes and sat up, staring in confusion: "It's still early!" Yuliang said with a smile: "Wild monkey! Yesterday's fight was in vain? There is no future! Follow me!" The green monkey said with a smile.
He got up, put on the new clothes Wu Ciyou bought for him, raised his trousers with his elbows, wiped his face and said, "Let's go, you still bother them!"
The Zhong Sanlang Temple Fair lasted for three days, and this was the last day. Because of the strong wind and cold weather, there were far fewer people in front of the Shanshan Guild Hall than yesterday. The Zheng family shop was already preparing to demolish the sheds - these sheds were brought from the old shop.
, it was temporarily put up with oilcloth. Once the temple fair was over, it had to be dismantled and taken back to the old store in the city. Huang Laosi was helping the guys load the car at the back. When he saw another customer coming from the front store, he hurriedly came out with a smile on his face.
He yelled: "Here comes the old guest -" Halfway through the shout, he suddenly stopped as if he had been slapped - he saw clearly the two guests who came, one of whom had been seeing each other every day for more than two years.
An old acquaintance of mine, a young pilgrim who was fighting a grievance yesterday! He was startled for a moment, threw the towel over his shoulder, and offered his hand: "Please... sit here! I want... to use something!"
"What's so good about this shabby place and a shabby shop!" Li Yuliang crossed his legs and sat down, smiling and said to the green monkey, "Let's deal with the eight appetizers first - the phoenix's nest, the bad goose's paws
, palace-baked deer tripe, ice-flowered white fungus bird's nest, fried deer legs, chrysanthemum rabbit shreds,*, plus a chicken tongue soup, okay?"
Although Green Monkey had heard of some of these vegetables, he had never seen any of them. He hesitated and replied: "Since I ordered it, it must be good. Let's add 'A living person without blood on his brain' to the meal!" Yu said.
Liang, however, had never heard of the name of this dish. He was very interested and asked Huang Laosi: "What kind of dish is this?"
Huang Laosi has already heard sparks flying around. As for these dishes, they can be prepared in the city for a few days. But now, except for dozens of live chickens, which can barely make a bowl of chicken tongue soup, the rest
Unexpectedly, they couldn't do anything! Seeing that these two enemies came to the store to talk nonsense with their foreheads looking for trouble, but they couldn't get angry, when Yuliang asked, he swallowed hard and replied: "It's a bit unlucky for your guest to come here.
The meeting at the temple was over today, and the dishes ordered by the guest officials had all been sent back to the city, so they had to make do with it - if you talk about this 'living person without blood on his brain', the ingredients were very ordinary: thin and tender tofu brains.
The dough is painted magenta on the outside and wrapped in egg white balls...it's all just the same thing, but it doesn't mean much."
"I think it's very interesting!" Li Yuliang said with a smile, "Well, it's not difficult for you. I'll bring you a drawer of pine needle dumplings and two roast chickens!"
This was easy to handle. Huang Laosi endured his anger and said "yes", and brought it up in a blink of an eye. Just as he was about to leave, he heard Yu Liang say: "Come back! Look, the buns are as cold as ice cubes
"Like, the chicken is also cold, is this for people to eat?" As he spoke, he knocked the plate loudly with his chopsticks, causing several customers over there to look in this direction.
Huang Laosi touched it with his hands and found that the buns were not cold and the roasted chicken was also steaming slightly. He knew that the two of them were entertaining themselves, but the clerk in the store didn't come back when he went to deliver the ingredients, and the store manager was not there either. Yesterday, he experienced rain again.
Liang's physical strength did not want to break out at this time, so he suppressed his temper and said with a smile: "Since the guest feels it is cold, I will bring you a plate of ready-made dumplings and two freshly steamed ducks. Although it is a little cheap, it is still hot.
Yes, how about changing to these two?" "That's it!" Li Yuliang waved his hands impatiently, "Hurry up, hurry up! We are in a hurry!" Huang Laosi was relieved and trotted to clean up Qi Chu, using a
A tray of bars was brought over.
Li Yuliang said he was "in a hurry", but when the meal came, he was no longer in a hurry. While eating slowly, he and Qinghouer talked non-stop, asking for soup with rice, jealousy and ginger.
, from time to time, he would wipe his hands and face with a hot towel, and said that there were bones in the dumpling stuffing that would scratch his teeth... All kinds of questions came up one after another, and he also made some sarcastic remarks, which made the old man Huang so angry that he was going to the city.
The clerk and the store manager came, and they quietly went in to discuss how to deal with these two unruly customers.
After finishing the meal, Li Yuliang smiled and stood up, stretched out and asked the green monkey: "Have you eaten yet?" The green monkey pulled the tablecloth and wiped his glossy mouth, ughed and said, "I'm full.
It’s not much better than fucking scallion pancakes!” Yu Liang waved his hand and said, “Let’s go!”
"Hey...hey!" When Huang Laosi saw the two of them getting up and leaving, without even saying hello, he walked around the door first, blocked it with his hands and said, "Where's the money? Don't you know how to pay?"
"What's the reason?" Yuliang seemed a little confused, "What did we men eat from you?"
“Steamed duck and dumplings!”
"Huh?" Yu Liang said with a playful laugh, "We exchanged the roast chicken and pine needle buns for that!"
"What about the pine needle buns and roast chicken money?"
"We didn't eat these two things, how can we pay for it?" Yuliang pretended to be surprised, turned to the green monkey and smiled. The green monkey made a grimace and cursed at Huang Laosi: "Skinny yellow dog! Man
I didn’t eat your roasted chicken buns, what kind of money do you want?”
Huang Laosi tilted his neck and thought for a long time, but he couldn't find the words to explain the matter clearly. He sneered and said: "You hungry bastard, today I am here to do my job!" Before he finished his words,
There was just a "snap" sound, and Huang Laosi was slapped on the face, which made him spin in a circle. Just as he stood still, he was slapped again on this side of the face, and a big tooth was already beaten.
Falling, blood flowed out from the corner of his mouth. Huang Laosi howled like a killing pig: "Come out! Block the door and don't leave these two thieves!"
The guys behind him heard this noise, some were wielding fire scissors, some were waving fire sticks, some were holding shovels, and they rushed out in a swarm, shouting, there were more than twenty people. A few diners inside noticed that the limelight was not right,
I was so frightened that I didn't even eat, so I pushed outside. There was a lot of shouting and banging, and hundreds of idle people gathered outside the store to watch the excitement.
"Qinghou'er, get out!" Yu Liang saw that all the guests had left, he sneered and mentioned Qinghou'er and threw it from the row of soup pots in front of the door. Qinghou'er was in a daze, but he was already standing firmly.
They were outside the store. When the idlers saw that Yuliang was a weak man but a delicate white-faced scholar, he had such skills, they couldn't help but cheer loudly and shouted: "What a martial art!" Then they stretched their necks and looked inside. (