Chai Yan didn't mind the old man's attitude and silently took out a piece of silver.
The old man was just about to collect the money, but when he saw Chai Yan handing over the money, he retracted his hand, shook his head and said, "How do you find this?"
Chai Yan said: "Then there is no need to look for it..."
The old man paused, looked at Chai Yan for a while, and asked, "You really don't need to look for it?"
"No! Just accept it. I'm sorry to bother you because it's a Chinese New Year." Chai Yan said with a smile.
The old man had something to say first: "Well, you said you didn't need to look for it, so don't ask for it again tomorrow!"
"No." Chai Yan was very sure.
The old man grabbed the silver coin from Chai Yan's hand, held it under the oil lamp, looked at it and bit it, and then put it into his waist after making sure it was genuine.
Then, the old man turned around and said, "Come with me..."
After saying that, the old man picked up the oil lamp and walked inside, with Chai Yan and Yuan slowly following behind.
When they came to a room inside, the old man said: "Young man, seeing that you are not a bad person, I will give you the best room to live in..."
While the old man was talking, he went to light the oil lamp on the table in the room.
With the dim light, Chai Yan looked at everything in the room, and a helpless smile appeared on his lips the next moment...
My God, this is also called the best house?
Except for a narrow bed, a table, and two benches, there was no decent furniture in the room. No wonder there was only twenty coins per person.
Yuan Yuan felt embarrassed looking at the narrow bed in the room, so he quietly pulled Chai Yan and whispered: "I want another room..."
The house was so big that it was difficult for the old man not to hear him. Before Chai Yan could speak, he said: "There are no other houses, they are all full!"
"Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, how is that possible?" Yuan didn't believe it.
The old man's face darkened and he said: "I have three rooms in total. In this one, the old man has one, and one is already occupied. If you don't believe it, just go and see for yourself!"
"Ah?" Yuanyuan was stunned. Apart from the house where the old man lived, there were only two rooms for guests to stay in. This inn was too small...
Chai Yan suddenly remembered the donkey in the shed behind the house. It seemed that it belonged to the guest.
Chai Yan said to Yuan: "Madam, you sleep on the bed and I'll make the floor. Anyway, it's just for one night, it doesn't matter..."
Yuan shook his head resolutely: "No, it's so cold, how can I sleep on the ground..."
When Chai Yan saw that Yuan was feeling sorry for him, he felt a warm current in his heart. He looked at Yuan's cheeks and felt red, feeling uncomfortable.
When the old man heard Chai Yan calling the other party his wife, he wondered at that time: "It turns out that you are a young couple, so why do you need to sleep in two more rooms? The bed is a bit small, but you can still sleep in a squeeze!"
Yuan Yuan felt ashamed instantly. She really couldn't refute this. Who told Chai Yan to always call him a "lady"...
"Yes, yes, the store owner is right, we...we will squeeze in a while...just squeeze in..."
Chai Yan was obviously suppressing a smile when he spoke, and Yuan Yuan felt even more embarrassed and flustered when he saw it.
"Ouch!"
Chai Yan suddenly felt a pain in his waist. It turned out that Yuan Yuan pinched Chai Yan hard out of embarrassment.
The old man was too lazy to deal with the matter between the young couple, so he walked out with an oil lamp and said: "If nothing happens, you two should rest early..."
Before leaving, the old man suddenly said: "If you quarrel at the head of the bed, you'll have to fight at the end of the bed!"
After the old man left, Chai Yan closed the creaking door and said, "Madam, our clothes are all wet. Change quickly, so as not to catch a cold..."
Before he finished speaking, Chai Yan took out dry clothes from his luggage and prepared to change them.
When Yuanyuan saw Chai Yan starting to take off his coat, he immediately turned away with his face turned crimson, his heartbeat quickened and he said nervously: "You...what are you doing?"
Chai Yan turned around and smiled immediately: "Madam, what is there to be ashamed of? I am your husband-in-law and no one else..."
Yuan Yuan remained motionless, his back still facing Chai Yan.
After a while of making thin sounds, Chai Yan said: "Madam, turn around, I've changed it...".
Yuan hesitated for a moment, looked back and then turned around.
"Madam, you should change quickly, it will be very troublesome if you catch a cold!" Chai Yan said seriously.
Yuan Yuan did not dare to look at Chai Yan, so he turned his head and looked away and whispered: "You...you go out first..."
"Why are you going out? We are an old married couple..."
Chai Yan suddenly lowered his voice and said: "Besides, it's not like my husband has never seen it before..."
"You! You...if you say, me, me, me...I will be really angry!"
Yuan bit her lower lip in shame and annoyance, looking like she was about to get angry.
"Okay, okay, I won't say anything, I'll go out, I'll go out right away..."
Chai Yan chose to stop, and while nodding in agreement, he raised his hands, deliberately pretending to surrender and opened the door and left the room.
As soon as I walked out, the door behind me was indeed closed, and then there was the sound of a door latch being inserted.
"Oh, I'm so thin-skinned..."
Chai Yan shook his head and smiled, then turned and headed towards the outhouse.
When the old man saw Chai Yan coming out, he just raised his head and continued to work on his business without any intention of talking to or greeting him.
Chai Yan felt a little embarrassed, so he took the initiative and said: "Old man, it's really not easy for you to open a store during the Chinese New Year..."
The old man didn't even look back: "I am a carefree old man, and it doesn't matter whether I am celebrating the Chinese New Year or not..."
After hearing this reply, Chai Yan stopped asking further questions. It is not easy for a lonely old man to open a shop alone, so as not to touch other people's sadness by talking too much.
Chai Yan walked to the table in the center of the room and sat down quietly, then poured a bowl of water and drank it slowly.
While I was drinking, a hurried voice came from the room at the other end: "Shop, shop, it's not good, the roof is leaking, it's leaking... Come in and have a look!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a young man in his late twenties dressed as a scholar ran out, looking very anxious.
Chai Yan looked at it secretly and thought that this was another resident.
"It's just rain, what's the big deal..."
The old man said it nonchalantly and raised his hand to point to the backyard: "You just have to find something to catch it, you have to scream..."
After saying that, the old man left the scholar aside and continued to work on his own.
"It leaked on the bed, and a big piece of it got wet in the middle of the mattress. How can I sleep at night?" the scholar complained.
--------------------------
PS: I hope you can recommend this book to your relatives and friends. I am very grateful!