On February 2, the dragon raises its head.
In the twilight, in a quiet place called Niping Lane in a small town, there is a lonely and thin boy. At this time, he is following the custom, holding a candle in one hand and a peach branch in the other, shining on the beams, walls, wooden beds, etc., and knocking with the peach branch, trying to drive away snakes, scorpions, centipedes, etc., and muttering to himself, which is the old saying passed down from generation to generation in this town: On February 2, candles shine on the beams, peaches hit the walls, and snakes and insects have nowhere to hide in the world.
The boy's surname is Wang, his name is Gu'an, and his parents died early. The town's porcelain is extremely famous. Since the founding of this dynasty, it has taken on the important task of "supervising the burning of sacrificial vessels for the tombs in accordance with the imperial edict". There are court officials stationed here all year round to supervise the affairs of the official kiln. The helpless young man became a porcelain kiln craftsman very early. At first, he could only do some miscellaneous and rough work. He followed a half-time master with a bad temper and worked hard for several years. He just figured out a little bit of the door to porcelain firing. As a result, things are unpredictable. The town suddenly lost the amulet of the official kiln. Dozens of kilns shaped like sleeping dragons around the town were ordered to be closed and extinguished by the government overnight.
Wang Gu'an put down the newly broken peach branch, blew out the candle, walked out of the house, sat on the steps, looked up, and the starry sky was bright.
The young man still clearly remembers that the master who was only willing to accept him as a half-apprentice, whose surname was He, was found sitting on a small bamboo chair facing the kiln head in the early morning of late autumn last year, with his eyes closed.
However, there are only a few people who are as stubborn as the old man He.
The craftsmen in the small town who had only been able to make porcelain for generations did not dare to violate the rules of the official kiln for making tributes, nor did they dare to sell the porcelain in their collection to the people privately. They had to find other ways out. The 14-year-old Wang Gu'an was also kicked out. After returning to Niping Lane, he continued to guard the dilapidated old house. It was a bleak scene with almost nothing on the walls. Even if Wang Gu'an wanted to be a prodigal son, he had no way to start.
After being a wandering ghost for a while, the boy really couldn't find a way to make money. Relying on his meager savings, the boy barely filled his stomach. A few days ago, he heard that a foreign blacksmith named Ruan came to Qilong Lane a few streets away. He announced that he wanted to recruit seven or eight blacksmith apprentices. He would not pay wages, but would provide meals. Wang Gu'an hurried to try his luck, but he never thought that the old man just glanced at him and turned him away. At that time, Wang Gu'an wondered, is it possible that the job of blacksmithing is not about arm strength, but about face quality?
You should know that although Wang Gu'an looks weak, his strength should not be underestimated. This is the physical foundation that he has developed from his years of porcelain throwing. In addition, Wang Gu'an also followed the old man surnamed He and traveled all over the mountains and rivers within a hundred miles of the town, tasted the taste of various soils around, worked hard and was willing to do any dirty and tiring work without dragging his feet. Unfortunately, Lao He never liked Wang Gu'an. He disliked the young man for his lack of understanding and being a blockhead who was far inferior to his eldest apprentice Ji Chenru. It was no wonder that the old man was partial to him. The master led the way, and the practice was up to the individual. For example, the same boring throwing, Ji Chenru's skills in just half a year were equivalent to Wang Gu'an's three years of hard work.
Although he might not need this skill in his life, Wang Gu'an still closed his eyes as usual, imagined that there were bluestone slabs and wheelbarrows in front of him, and began to practice throwing. Practice makes perfect.
About every quarter of an hour, the boy would rest for a while and shake his wrists, repeating this cycle until he was completely exhausted. Wang Gu'an then stood up and walked in the yard while slowly stretching his muscles. No one had ever taught Wang Gu'an these things, he figured them out on his own.
The world was originally silent, Wang Gu'an heard a harsh and sarcastic laugh, stopped, and sure enough, saw the peer squatting on the wall, grinning, not hiding his contempt.
This person was Wang Gu'an's old neighbor, and it was said that he was the illegitimate son of the previous supervisor. The supervisor was afraid of being criticized by the Qingliu and impeached by the censors, so he finally returned to the capital alone to report on his work, and handed the child to the successor official with whom he had a close personal relationship to help take care of him. Now the town has inexplicably lost the qualification to fire the official kiln. The supervisor who is responsible for supervising the kiln affairs for the court is in a difficult situation. How can he care about the illegitimate children of his colleagues in the officialdom? He left some money and rushed to the capital to manage the relationship.
The neighbor boy who has become an abandoned child unknowingly still lives a leisurely life. He takes his personal maid to wander around the town all day long. He is idle all year round and has never worried about money.
The loess walls of every household in Niping Lane are very low. In fact, the neighbor boy does not need to tiptoe to see the scenery of the courtyard here, but every time he talks to Wang Gu'an, he likes to squat on the wall.
Compared with the shallow and vulgar name Wang Gu'an, the neighbor boy is much more elegant. His name is Ye Dan. Even the maid who depends on him has a literary name, Shi Hui.
The girl was standing on the other side of the courtyard wall. She had a pair of almond-shaped eyes and looked timid and weak.
A voice sounded from the other side of the courtyard gate, "Will you sell your maid?"
Ye Dan was stunned for a moment, and turned his head to look at the voice. It was a smiling young man in brocade clothes standing outside the courtyard, a completely unfamiliar face.
Next to the young man in brocade clothes stood a tall old man with a fair face and a kind expression. He squinted his eyes and looked at the young man and girl in the two adjacent courtyards.
The old man's eyes swept over Wang Gu'an without stopping, but he lingered on Ye Dan and the maid, and his smile gradually became stronger.
Ye Dan squinted and said, "Sell! Why not!"
The young man smiled and said, "Then you name a price."
The girl's eyes widened, her face full of incredulity, like a panicked young elk.
Ye Dan rolled his eyes, stretched out a finger, and shook it, "10,000 taels of silver!"
The young man in brocade clothes looked calm and nodded, "Okay."
Seeing that the young man didn't seem to be joking, Ye Dan quickly changed his words and said, "It's 10,000 taels of gold!"
The young man in brocade clothes raised his lips and said, "I'm just kidding you."
Ye Dan's face was gloomy.
The young man in brocade clothes no longer paid attention to Ye Dan, shifted his sight, and looked at Wang Gu'an, "Thanks to you today, I was able to buy that carp. After I bought it back, the more I looked at it, the happier I was. I thought I must thank you in person, so I asked Grandpa Wu to take me to see you overnight."
He threw a heavy embroidered bag to Wang Gu'an, smiled brightly and said, "This is a reward, you and I are even."
Wang Gu'an was about to speak, but the young man in brocade clothes had already turned and left.
Wang Gu'an frowned.
During the day, Wang Gu'an accidentally saw a middle-aged man walking on the street with a fish basket. He caught a palm-length golden carp. It jumped vigorously in the bamboo basket. Wang Gu'an only took a glance and felt very happy, so he asked if he could buy it for ten coins. The middle-aged man was just thinking about rewarding himself, but seeing that it was profitable, he raised the price and insisted on thirty coins. Wang Gu'an, who was short of money, didn't have so much spare money, and he really couldn't bear to part with the golden carp. He followed the middle-aged man with envy, trying to bargain the price down to fifteen coins, or even twenty coins. Just when the middle-aged man showed signs of giving in, the young man in brocade clothes and the tall old man happened to pass by. Without saying a word, they bought the carp and the fish basket for fifty coins. Wang Gu'an could only watch them walk away, helpless.
Staring at the backs of the grandfather and grandson walking farther and farther away, Ye Dan retracted his vicious eyes, jumped off the wall, and seemed to remember something, saying to Wang Gu'an: "Do you still remember the four-legged snake in the first month of the year?"
Wang Gu'an nodded.
How could he not remember it? It was as fresh as a memory.
According to the customs of this small town that have been passed down for hundreds of years, if a snake enters your house, it is a good omen, and the owner must never drive it away or kill it. On the first day of the first lunar month, Ye Dan was sitting on the doorstep basking in the sun, and then a little thing commonly known as a four-legged snake ran into the house right under his nose. Ye Dan grabbed it and threw it into the yard. Unexpectedly, the four-legged snake, which had been beaten to a pulp, became more and more courageous. Time and time again, it made Ye Dan, who never believed in ghosts and gods, very angry. In a rage, he threw it into Wang Gu'an's yard. Who would have thought that Ye Dan would see the four-legged snake curled up under his bed the next day.
Ye Dan noticed that the girl pulled his sleeve.
The boy and she had a tacit understanding, and subconsciously swallowed the words that were already on the tip of his tongue.
What he wanted to say was that the extremely ugly four-legged snake had a bulge on its forehead recently, as if it had horns on its head.
Ye Dan changed his words and said, "Shi Hui and I may leave here next month."
Wang Gu'an sighed, "Be careful on the road."
Ye Dan said half-truthfully, "There are some things I can't move away. Don't steal things recklessly when no one is at home."
Wang Gu'an shook his head.
Ye Dan suddenly laughed, pointed at Wang Gu'an with his finger, and said with a grin, "You are as timid as a mouse. No wonder there are no noble sons in poor families. Not to mention being poor and bullied in this life, maybe you can't escape in the next life."
Wang Gu'an remained silent.
The two returned to the room, Wang Gu'an closed the door, and lay on the hard wooden bed. The poor child closed his eyes and whispered softly: "Peace every year, peace every year, peace every year, peace every year, peace every year..."