In the small pavilion, Chen Jiu and the old man sat together, tasting wine with each other.
The old man was afraid that Chen Jiu would not be able to drink to his heart's content, so he brought out another bottle, and the two chatted over the wine.
From the words of the old man, Chen Jiu also learned the name of the old man, Cao Hua, and the guys in the Goulan all called him Lao Cao.
Lao Cao was an abandoned baby when he was young. He looked very ugly and was taken in by a girl in Goulan. Since then, he has been working as a servant in Goulan. He ran errands in Goulan when he was young and guarded the pavilion outside when he was old. There is only one tael of silver, not enough for drinking every month.
It may be that Xiaoting has been in the future for a long time, and Lao Cao talked a lot, so Chen Jiu drank a little wine and listened to him.
The two security guards in name began to drink and sing, chatting about the geometry of life.
Lao Cao was tired of talking, so he took a sip of his wine, showed his yellow teeth, smiled, and motioned to Chen Jiudao.
Chen Jiu was in high spirits now, he was not a person who could live at leisure, and the story he told must be full of bizarre twists and turns, so he brewed for a while and began to preach slowly.
"Abin's high school grades are not satisfactory..."
Suddenly there was a "dong dong" knock on the door outside.
"Old Cao, take this horse to the stable!"
When Lao Cao heard this, his body shook, he stood up immediately, ran outside in a hurry, nodded and bowed to the man outside who looked like a servant.
"I'll take it right away, take it to the stables, no problem!"
The young servant looked at Lao Cao and frowned, "You're drinking again, heh, your rotten wine tastes like horse urine, I really don't know what it's like, from now on, you might as well just go to the stables and have a sip Horse pee."
Lao Cao just lowered his head and led the horse, without answering.
The young servant shook his head, "I see that you come here as a security guard to provide for the elderly, and the ladies are very kind-hearted. If you ask me, I will give you a little silver every month, so that you don't die of hunger. Can I still get a tael of silver?!"
Lao Cao's head was even lower, and even his waist was bent down, making him look even more insignificant for a short person.
The boy also felt bored, so he glanced at Chen Jiu lightly, turned around and left.
Chen Jiu glanced at the young servant's back, quickly ran to the old man, and said softly, "Old Cao, let me help you."
The old man didn't look up, but just kept shaking his head, "No, no, I'll do it myself."
So the two of them strolled by the river like this, and came to the stable. Lao Cao was short, so it was difficult to lead the horse in, and he refused to let Chen Jiu help, so when the two of them finished and were about to return to the small pavilion, the sky outside was dark It's dark.
The two of them stayed by the riverside at dusk for a while longer.
The Huai River in the distance is shimmering under the sunlight at dusk, and occasionally there are waves, and the sound of the waves is refreshing.
Lao Cao stared blankly, not at the Huai River, but at the sunset.
When the real sunset and the sky and the earth were dark, Chen Jiu said in a low voice, "Let's go."
The two of them walked back to the small pavilion along the riverside. There were beds in the small pavilion, which was Lao Cao's sleeping place.
The old man said that he would give Chen Jiu to sleep in this bed. He kept watch at night, and he could sleep again during the day.
The old man was afraid that he would grab the quilt in the middle of the night, so he didn't cover much.
Chen Jiu was huddled with a man and couldn't sleep well.
In the end, the two of them didn't sleep well. In the morning, they had dark circles under their eyes, and their eyes were wide open.
After that, the old man went out to buy breakfast again, and asked Chen Jiu what he wanted to eat, but Chen Jiu just said whatever.
So when the old man came back, he took a few big meat buns and gave them all to Chen Jiu. He didn't eat any of them, saying that he was full.
When Chen Jiu was eating, he always felt awkward.
Afterwards, work was also easy. The two of them just sat in the pavilion, chatting with each other.
Some of the Goulan servants came here deliberately and asked Lao Cao to do some trivial things, but the old man just smiled obsequiously and did it with his head down.
Chen Jiu lay at the window of the kiosk, watching quietly.
At noon, Lao Cao, who was doing work, came back with a meal, and his face was bruised. He put two meals on the dilapidated table in the kiosk, grinned his old yellow teeth, and smiled at Chen Jiu. : "Eat, eat."
Chen Jiu was silent, nodded, and lowered his head to pick up the rice.
The old man only ate half of the meal, and the rest was mostly meat.
Chen Jiu looked at it and was quite puzzled.
At half past noon, an old yellow dog came out of the small pavilion. Watching it walk, its limbs were already inconvenient, and some pieces of fur had fallen off, which was a bit ugly.
Lao Cao dug all the food in the bowl to the ground, and smiled to see the old yellow dog finish all the food.
The old yellow dog stuck out its tongue, frantically wagging its tail, lingered for a long time, and finally ran away reluctantly amidst the old man's yelling.
The old man turned his head to look at Chen Jiushi again, smiling a little embarrassedly.
Chen Jiu blinked and said with a smile, "I also like dogs."
The old man was startled, and then his old yellow teeth grinned further.
Probably a little happy.
His two-day job is to sit in the pavilion and watch the passers-by. Every day, a Goulan boy will come to ask Lao Cao to do something, and every time Lao Cao comes back, he will probably have bruises or palm marks , are all on the face, the most conspicuous place.
The old man drank less and less. Half a decade later, Chen Jiu hardly saw the old man drink any more.
As for the reason, Chen Jiu didn't know it at first, until one night, when Chen Jiu woke up in the middle of the night, he quietly saw the old man counting copper coins carefully. In the pockets of old clothes.
Chen Jiu looked at it, but didn't speak. After closing his eyes, he didn't fall asleep again that night.
Another day, the boy in Goulan pushed open the door of the small pavilion and shouted roughly: "Old Cao, get out of here quickly, and move this thing to the warehouse!"
Shocked, the old man got up quickly, but was pressed down by a palm.
Chen Jiu looked at the boy and said softly, "I'll come."
The young boy froze for a moment, looked at Chen Jiu for a while, and snorted, "Come here, don't break this thing, or you won't be able to bear it when the score is settled!"
Chen Jiu didn't speak, just hugged the box of items, got up and walked to the warehouse.
Before the young servant left, he glared at the old man.
The old man trembled with fright, kept his head down, not daring to look at the young servant.
On the second day, the young boy came to the door again and asked Lao Cao to do something. Chen Jiu still stepped forward and did a good job according to the boy's instructions.
On the third day, the boy came to the door again, and Chen Jiu stood up directly. After asking what was the matter, he went to do things without saying a word, but after that, the young boy ordered Lao Cao to do another thing.
After Chen Jiu came back from his work, the old man was not in the pavilion. He sat quietly, lying on the window sill.
The old man came back at dusk, he kept his head hooked, walked into the pavilion, and only when he raised his head a little did he reveal the two long bruises on his old face.
Lao Cao bluntly said that his legs and feet were not good, and he fell twice.
Chen Jiu didn't answer.
On the fourth day, the young servant was beaten to death!