Zhou Jun returned to the small courtyard where he lived and found Huayue practicing his sword diligently.
Standing at the entrance of the courtyard and looking towards her, I saw that the sword was loose, her hair was fluttering, the light was making shadows, and it was spinning swiftly. She looked a bit like the heroic figure of Gongsun Gongsun in the past.
Hua Yue caught a glimpse of Zhou Jun from the corner of her eye, with a happy expression on her face. She stopped her sword movement, walked to his side, and said, "I was still thinking, when will you come back today?"
Zhou Jun said with a smile: "I just went to the inner garden and talked with Kong You for a while... There is a guest tonight. I plan to cook some good dishes and entertain him in the yard."
Huayue's eyes lit up: "Are you going to make squirrel mandarin fish again? I haven't eaten that dish for a long time."
Zhou Jun was stunned and asked: "Hasn't Chun Niang had a fever?"
Huayue: "It has been burned, but it doesn't smell like that."
Zhou Jun nodded: "I'll change my clothes first, and then go to the dining room to have a look. If there are any flowers, I'll do it again."
When Hua Yue heard this, she was overjoyed. She hugged Zhou Jun's waist and cheered.
Zhou Jun smiled and was about to speak, but he smelled a refreshing fragrance in his nose and couldn't help but froze there.
Huayue noticed something strange about the other party and immediately understood what was going on. She quickly lowered her head and escaped from the yard.
Watching Huayue's leaving figure, Zhou Jun smiled and shook his head, entered the side room, changed into light clothes, and then went to the dining room.
When Chao Chunniang asked, she learned that the inner garden had been renovated recently and a lot of fish had been caught in the lake. Many of the fish, shrimps, crabs and snails had been brought here, and the few large jars could hardly be kept.
Zhou Jun picked out two large and small mandarin flowers, made squirrel mandarin fish, and ordered some vegetables and shochu from Chun Niang.
Then, Zhou Jun went to the gatehouse of Bieyuan and waited for Liu Zai to come back.
Not long after, the sun set in the west, and the elder man of the Fan family led Liu Zai and walked slowly from the ridge in the distance.
Zhou Jun took a closer look and saw that Liu Zai's official robe was covered in mud spots, and his face, neck and arms were also red from the sun, but his face showed a rare joy.
I heard Liu Zai laughing and saying: "The light of the mountains is pleasing to the birds, and the shadows of the pond are empty of the hearts of the people. This Bachuan is really a blessed land of immortality!"
Zhou Jun said: "If Yi Kuang likes it, he should come as a guest more often from now on. It's getting late now, why not go into the garden and have some food and wine?"
Liu Zai responded, looked in the direction of the gate of Bieyuan, cupped his hands towards Zhou Jun and said, "Sorry to bother you."
Taking Liu Zai towards the small courtyard where he lived, Zhou Jun saw Kong You waiting at the entrance of the courtyard from a distance, so he stopped and introduced him.
The three of them entered the courtyard again. Huayue had already set up tables and stools, and placed wind lanterns and other items.
Hua Yue took out the soju and placed some cups and chopsticks, while Zhou Jun and Kong You helped put the lunch box on the table.
Liu Zai looked on in surprise.
Through Shicai's introduction, he knew that Kong You was a slave and Hua Yue was a maid, but looking at Zhou Jun's words and deeds, there was no trace of his master's airs.
After the three of them were seated at the table, Hua Yue apologized, then entered the side room and went to have his meal.
The summer is hot, but at night, the small courtyard enjoys a cool breeze, supplemented by the bright moon and stars in the sky, which makes it indescribably comfortable.
Liu Zai once lived in seclusion in the mountains and was a broad-minded person. When he saw Zhou Jun with only half an arm, he simply took off his official robe, leaving only his middle coat.
First he had a glass of wine, and then Liu Zai took a bite of squirrel mandarin fish with chopsticks. As soon as he took his mouthful, he stayed there.
"What...what is this?"
Zhou Jun replied: "Hua Hua."
Liu Zai shook his head vigorously: "Erlang, please don't try to trick someone, this is not what Zhuihua is like."
Zhou Jun said with a smile: "The food in Bachuan Villa is very different from other places."
Liu Zai was dubious, so he took another mouthful of red and green shredded shreds, put it in his mouth, chewed it gently, and praised: "Wonderful!"
Zhou Jun: "That's belly silk."
Liu Zai was stunned for a long time, shook his head and sighed: "When I traveled to the north and south, many families ate hundreds of kinds of food, but none of them were as good as Bachuan."
Then, Liu Zai didn't bother to talk, and kept using his chopsticks, eating steamed cakes, stir-fried belly shreds, stir-fried diced chicken with eggs, stir-fried clover leaves, and several plates of stir-fried vegetables. He devoured them all.
When Liu Zai came to his senses, he had eaten more than half of the food on the table.
Looking at Zhou Jun a little shyly, Liu Zai said: "That's funny."
Zhou Jun waved his hand and said: "If Yi Kuang likes it, you can come to Bachuan as a guest during your ten-day break. I'll inform the kitchen in advance and what you want to eat will be prepared for you in advance."
Kong You on the side just stared at the plate of squirrel mandarin fish and kept eating. After hearing Zhou Jun's words, he glanced at Liu Zai one more time, and then continued to eat the fish.
It didn't take long for the food on the table to be eaten clean.
The three people at the table were chatting in the courtyard while enjoying the cool breeze.
Liu Zai heard the faint sound of music and drama at the pavilion in the outer garden, so he stood up and took a look outside the wall.
Zhou Jun said to him: "There is a theater troupe in the garden. Every few days, they set up a stage and perform some excellent operas, songs and dances."
Liu Zai sighed as he listened: "Here in Bachuan, we are living a life like a fairy."
After hearing the word "immortal", Zhou Jun remembered something and said to Liu Zai: "A certain view of "Laozi" contains: The opposite is the movement of Tao, and the weak is the use of Tao. All things are born from existence, and existence is born from nothingness."
Liu Zai nodded and said: "What this means is that good and bad are mutually reinforcing and destroying each other, strength and weakness are yin and yang, everything has its own way, and there is no connection between existence and non-existence."
Zhou Jun asked again: "I once thought, if a slight change suddenly occurs in the destiny of the universe, and it suddenly grows stronger in the creation of positive and negative, strong and weak yin and yang, can I change my destiny and recreate the world?
Woolen cloth?"
Liu Zai was stunned when he heard this, and asked: "What do you mean by this?"
Zhou Jun thought for a while and then said: "Qianren Snow Peak, a drop of rainwater that shouldn't have appeared fell into the snow, carrying the snow particles and falling downwards."
"First it was a clot, then it was a nodule, then it was a trap, and finally it turned into an avalanche, and finally it swept everything."
After hearing this, Liu Zai frowned and said, "I am teaching the Dharma, and Erlang's explanation of extension is unprecedented in ancient times."
Kong You suddenly became interested and said: "There is a destiny in heaven, and destiny is natural. If a variable occurs for no reason, the creation of the universe will naturally be affected."
"But whether the impact is large or small is worthy of discussion."
Liu Zai thought about it carefully and said to Zhou Jun: "As Kong Bohong said, there is only one variable in life, and this is 'Yin'. Just having 'Yin' does not mean that the world will be reversed. You need to think more about another thing.
‘Potential’.”
Zhou Jun was stunned: "Position?"
Liu Zai: "All things in heaven and earth, as well as people in the world, all have potential."
"Heavy rain accumulates in rivers and surges over the banks; underground fires have been stored underground for a long time, waiting to explode."
"These are general trends."
"Moreover, the variables in Erlang's words just now, if this "influence" is small, even if you have the intention to go against the will of heaven and change your fate and recreate the world, it will be in vain."
Zhou Jun was stunned when he heard this.
Liu Zai added: "The river embankment was hit by the flood and was about to collapse. Even if there is a 'drainage' to repair the holes in the embankment, the result of the embankment bursting will still be inevitable in the end."
Kong You also said: "Erlang just used Xueluo as an example to end the avalanche. In fact, he was also taking advantage of the situation."
"That drop of rainwater is for 'drawing'. If it falls on flat dry land, it will disappear without a trace in a moment."
"The Qianren Snow Mountain is high and steep; and the white snow, which accumulates over the years, is the 'potential' to trigger an avalanche."
Zhou Jun thought for a long time and then asked: "Then what's the point of taking advantage of the situation?"
Liu Zai didn't quite understand Zhou Jun's intention in asking this question.
But Kong You on the side could vaguely guess some of Zhou Jun's thoughts.
Kong You said to Zhou Jun: "It is difficult and easy to take advantage of the situation. The rain falls on the top of the mountain and collapses. It is easy to take advantage of the situation. But the flood surges and the river bank overturns. If you want to take advantage of the situation to stop it, it is easy."
Going upstream is as difficult as climbing to the sky."
When Zhou Jun heard this, his face became heavy and he finally nodded.
Kong You picked up the wine glass, looked at Zhou Jun's expression, drank a glass of wine first, and then said: "Erlang, the variables are against the sky and can turn things around. If you only focus on the "potential" but ignore the "induction", it will be
It’s not upside down anymore.”
Zhou Jun looked up at Kong You with confusion on his face.
Kong You put down his wine glass and said with a smile: "I just said that the floods surged and the river embankments overturned. If Yin is just thinking about how to repair the river embankments, it will naturally not be able to stop the general trend."
"But if we 'drain', we should think differently and open a new channel beside the river to divert the torrent. Wouldn't it be like changing the day and rebuilding the world?"
When Zhou Jun heard this, he was shocked. When he looked at Kong You again, he found that the latter was slightly drunk, as if the words he just said were just unintentional words.
