It's the tenth day of the Lunar New Year. I don't know if it's because people don't want to leave their hometowns, or because this cold season is not suitable for going out, or because they are all waiting at home to celebrate the Lantern Festival with their families and have not officially entered work.
From the moment Xiao Chen entered this inn, no one came in to stay. In fact, not a single stranger passed by on the street outside.
The other lieutenants had already followed Xiao Chen's previous instructions, wandering around the inn casually, occasionally teasing the children playing on the street, and observing the location of Tianyi Inn and the collective layout of the neighbors.
Inside the inn, except for Xiao Chen, Duan Tianming, and shopkeeper Xu who were sitting quietly together, and the charcoal burning in a huge stove, there was no other life.
Shopkeeper Xu stood up and walked slowly to the side of the guqin. He stretched out his left hand and gently touched the dark guqin, as if it was not a guqin but a living thing, as if it was his relative.
Xiao Chen didn't speak, his eyes followed Shopkeeper Xu's walking.
This is just an old guqin, an instrument used by men who have lost their fighting spirit to play music. Why is Shopkeeper Xu, who makes a living by opening an inn and has nothing to do with these elegant schools, so emotional?
Xiao Chen looked confused, and Duan Tianming was also a little confused.
After thinking for a moment, shopkeeper Xu reached out and carefully picked up the guqin, brought it to the two of them, and placed it on the table.
"Master Ouyang's appearance today is not only related to my Tianyi Inn, but also closely related to this guqin." Shopkeeper Xu said, and put his hand on the guqin again, facing the leftmost piece due to long-term use.
And on the slightly faded area that had been rubbed, I stretched out a finger and slid it gently, as if searching for something deep in my memory.
"Is this Mr. Ouyang's piano?" Xiao Chen asked calmly with no expression on his face.
He has lived on the streets since he was a child, and then lived a life of hunting or arresting criminals in Jinyiwei. Regarding the thing of love, what remains in his memory is the roast chicken that Wang San threw to him on New Year's Eve, and the "old guy" his master.
The month that I spent with myself.
For Shopkeeper Xu, this guqin may be like the oblate hip flask that his master left for him. This is the guqin played by Ouyang Xiaoke. Who is its real owner? Let Xu
Is the shopkeeper so out of sorts?
"My father bought this from a teacher for three taels of silver when my sister was five years old." Shopkeeper Xu's eyes were already red.
Xiao Chen didn't say anything. What he needed to do at this moment was listen.
Duan Tianming stood up, took a tea bowl from the counter, picked up the kettle from the stove, filled the tea bowl, and placed it in front of Shopkeeper Xu.
"Our Xu family has always made a living by running inns. My parents ran the inn, and my sister and I grew up playing in the inn. Compared with other families in the city, the Xu family's life was pretty good. When I was ten years old, I
He was sent to a private school not far away, and his five-year-old sister also wanted to go with him."
"In our Ming Dynasty, wherever a girl went to a private school, her mother would buy silk thread and teach her sister how to make her hands red." When he said this, shopkeeper Xu seemed to have remembered something happy, his red and swollen eyes were shining, and his face was full of smiles.
A smile.
"My younger sister didn't want to make hand scarf, so she piled all the silk threads bought by her mother next to her mother. She just wanted to go to a private school to study. After struggling for more than half a month, her father couldn't resist her and had to compromise. But women can't go to a private school to study.
My father bought the guqin that he had treasured for many years from his private school teacher and gave it to his sister. When he was not busy, his father would also teach his sister how to read."
Shopkeeper Xu put his left hand on the guqin and his face was full of happiness: "My sister seems to be very talented in music. She hugged the guqin bought by her father and couldn't put it down. From then on, she practiced the piano during the day and kept the guqin beside her at night.
Fall asleep."
"Since then, the sound of guqin on this street has never stopped."
"When my sister was fifteen, I was seventeen. My father was bedridden due to a cold and passed away soon after. I went home from school and supported the only property of the family, which was this Tianyi Inn. Not even a day passed.
Years ago, my mother also passed away due to excessive grief."
"The originally happy family has become full of sadness because of the death of my parents. I run the Tianyi Inn, and my sister sometimes helps take care of it. But the smile on her face has become less since her parents passed away.
The guqin gradually stopped playing. I played it occasionally and listened to the increasingly sad sound. I wanted her to get married early and start a new life to dilute the longing for her parents."
"However, my sister rejected my suggestion and told me that she would never get married in this life. I had no choice but to let her stay at home."
"That day, Mr. Ouyang, who had failed in the examination room, was passing by outside. He heard his sister's sad piano music full of longing, so he opened the door and walked in. He didn't leave until the piano music fell for a long time and stopped ringing."
"From then on, Mr. Ouyang came here every day just to listen to the piano. For several days in a row, my sister never played the piano again. Mr. Ouyang couldn't wait for the sound of the piano that he admired so much, so he came to ask me why."
"At that time, I was also coveting the other person's family background, so I introduced the two of them to meet. Although Mr. Ouyang was unsuccessful, his literary talent and extraordinary conversation made my sister admire him. My sister's talent and knowledge of the guqin also impressed me.
Mr. Ouyang feels like he regrets meeting you too late."
"From then on, Mr. Ouyang came to the inn every day, either to help me or accompany my sister to play the piano and compose music. Listening to my sister's piano music becoming more and more cheerful, I also felt sincerely happy. I thought in my heart, the two of them
If we can be together, my sister will have a good home."
"Finally one day, Master Ouyang told me that he wanted to propose marriage to me and that he wanted to marry his sister back home. Although I was already optimistic about them, when I stopped saying this, I couldn't help but shed tears. I happily told
Mr. Ouyang, as long as he marries his sister home in an honest and upright manner, I don’t want any gift, I don’t want anything, and I can even give him the Tianyi Inn as my sister’s dowry."
"Master Ouyang was very happy after hearing what I said. He told me that he would go home and tell his parents and arrange for a matchmaker to come to the inn to propose marriage."
"In the days that followed, I started looking for someone to sew my sister's trousseau. Even in those days, I provided free food and lodging to the guests who came to stay in the hotel. Because I was happy and I wanted everyone to share my joy.
"
"However, three days have passed, and there is still no matchmaker from the Ouyang family. Even Mr. Ouyang has disappeared."
"On the morning of the fourth day, before the inn opened, there was a rough knock on the door. I hurriedly put on my clothes and ran out to open the door."
"Outside the door is the angry head of the Ouyang family and a dozen servants holding sticks."
Shopkeeper Xu stopped, and the right hand on the guqin trembled rapidly.
