The town is not big or small, more than 600 households, the gateway of the poor people in the town, Wang Gu'an mostly recognizes, as for the rich families with solid backgrounds, the threshold is high, and the mud-legged teenagers can not step in, some large households gather in the spacious alleys, Wang Gu'an has not even set foot in the streets, there are more large bluestone slabs, and on rainy days, they will never step on the mud and splash everywhere. Those bluestone slabs of excellent quality have been trampled and crushed by people and horses and vehicles for thousands of years, and have long been rubbed smooth as mirrors.
The four surnames of Lu, Li, Zhao, and Ye are the big surnames in the town, and the township school is the money of these families, and most of them have two or three big dragon kilns outside the city. The official residences of the successive kiln supervisors are on the same street as these families.
It's not a coincidence, the ten letters that Wang Gu'an wants to send today, almost all of them are well-known and generous households in the town, which is also very reasonable. In nine of the letters, Wang Gu'an actually went to two places, Fulu Street and Taoye Lane, when he stepped on the bluestone slab as big as a bed board for the first time, the young man was a little apprehensive, slowed down his pace, and was a little ashamed of himself, and couldn't help but feel that his straw sandals were dirty on the street.
The first letter sent by Wang Gu'an was from the Lu family, whose ancestors had received a jade gift from the emperor, and when the young man stood at the door, he became more and more cramped and uneasy.
Rich people are just paying a lot of attention, not to mention the big house of the Lu family, and there are two stone lions at the door, which are so tall and domineering. Ye Tang said that this thing can avoid evil and suppress evil, Wang Gu'an doesn't know what evil is at all, but he is very curious about the mouth of a lion who is as tall as a person, and there seems to be a round stone ball in his mouth, how is this carved? Wang Gu'an resisted the urge to touch the stone ball, walked up the steps, knocked on the bronze lion's door, and soon a young man opened the door and walked out, as soon as he heard that he was here to deliver a letter, the man was expressionless, twisted the corner of the envelope with two fingers, and after taking the letter, he turned around and walked quickly into the house, and closed the door with the painted statue of the God of Wealth.
After that, the young man's letter delivery process was also so unremarkable, there was an unrecognizable family on the corner of Taoye Lane, and the door was opened by a kind and kind short old man, after putting away the letter, he said with a smile: "Young man, hard work." Would you like to come in and take a sip of hot water? "
The boy smiled shyly, shook his head, and ran away.
The old man gently put the letter into his sleeve, did not hurry back to the house, looked up into the distance, and his vision was cloudy.
Finally, from high to low, from far to near, staring at the peach trees on both sides of the street, looking like an old man who was old and dim, he squeezed out a smile.
The old man turned and left.
It didn't take long for a cute little yellow finch to stop at the branch of the peach tree, its beak still pecking, and it neighed softly.
The last letter, which Wang Gu'an needed to send to the teacher who taught at the township school, passed by a fortune-telling stall, a young Taoist priest in an old Taoist robe, sitting behind a table with his waist straight, wearing a high crown like a blooming lotus flower.
After the young Taoist saw the young man running quickly, he hurriedly greeted: "Young man, don't miss it when you pass by, come and draw a lot, the poor Taoist will help you calculate a hexagram, and it can help you predict good fortune and evil." "
Wang Gu'an didn't stop, but turned his head and waved his hand.
The Taoist still didn't give up, leaned forward, and raised his voice, "Young man, in the past, the poor Dao used to sign for others, and he had to charge ten cents, but now I will make an exception and only charge you three cents!" Of course, if you draw a lottery, you might as well add an extra penny, if the fortune is the head, it is signed, then the poor road will only charge you five pennies, how? "
In the distance, Wang Gu'an's footsteps obviously paused, and the young Taoist had already quickly got up, struck while the iron was hot, and said loudly: "Early in the morning, young man, you are the first guest, and the poor Dao is simply a good person to the end, as long as you sit down and draw lots, it is not a secret, the poor Dao will write some yellow paper runes, which can help you pray for the blessings of your ancestors, accumulate yin virtue, and with the ability of the poor Dao, I dare not say that it must make people vote for a rich and expensive good tire, but if you want to say that there are one or two more blessings, you will try it after all." "
Wang Gu'an was stunned, turned back suspiciously, and sat on the bench in front of the stall.
A simple Taoist priest, a shabby young man, two poor eggs of all sizes, sit opposite each other.
The Taoist smiled and stretched out his hand, motioning for the young man to pick up the sticker.
Wang Gu'an hesitated, and suddenly said: "I don't draw lots, you only help me write a yellow paper rune, okay?" "
In Wang Gu'an's memory, it seems that this young Taoist who has traveled here has been in the town for at least five or six years, and his appearance has not changed much, and he is kind to everyone.
Therefore, if it is a New Year's holiday, purely to please a good fortune, the people of the town can spend ten cents, and they can accept it, but if they really encounter troubles, no one will be willing to come here to be the wrongdoer. If this Taoist priest is a complete liar, he has wronged others, the town is so big, if he really can only pretend to be a ghost and deceive him, he would have been kicked out a long time ago. Therefore, the skill of this young Taoist is definitely not in physiognomy and unsigning. However, there are some minor illnesses and disasters, and many people drink a bowl of talisman water from the Taoist, and they can be cured quickly, which is quite effective.
The young Taoist shook his head and said: "Poor Dao acts, Tong Su is not bullied, and he said that he would understand the signing and writing characters together, and charge you five cents." "
Wang Gu'an retorted in a low voice: "It's three pennies." "
The Taoist laughed and said, "If you draw out the lottery, it's not five cents." "
Wang Gu'an made up his mind, reached out to take the stick, and suddenly raised his head and asked, "How does the Taoist know that I happen to have five cents on me?" "
The Taoist is sitting in danger, "The poor Taoist looks at the blessings of the people, and the amount of wealth and fortune, which has always been very accurate." "
Wang Gu'an thought for a moment and picked up the sticker.
The Taoist smiled and said: "Young man, don't be nervous, there are times in life when you have to have it, and there is no time in life when you don't force it, and looking at impermanence with a normal mind is the first-class perfect law." "
Wang Gu'an put the sign holder back on the table, looked solemn, and asked: "Dao Chief, I will give you all the five cents, and I won't draw lots, just ask Dao Chang to write the yellow paper rune better than usual, okay?" "
The Taoist smiled as usual, thought for a while, and nodded: "Yes." "
On the table, the pen, ink and inkstone have long been prepared, and the Taoist carefully asked Wang Gu'an's father's name and birthdate, took out a piece of yellow rune paper, and quickly finished writing, all in one go.
As for what was written, Wang Gu'an was at a loss.
Putting down the pen and lifting the rune paper, the young Taoist blew the ink, "After taking it home, the person stands inside the threshold and burns the yellow paper outside the threshold." "
The young man solemnly took the talisman paper, carefully treasured it, and did not forget to put the five copper coins on the table and bow in thanks.
The young Taoist waved his hand and motioned for the young man to go about his own business.
Wang Gu'an spread his legs and ran to deliver the last letter.
The Taoist leaned back in his chair, glanced at the copper coins, and bent down to reach out and hold them in front of him.
At this moment, a small and delicate yellow finch flew from a high altitude to the table, pecked a copper coin, and soon lost interest and flapped its wings away.
"The yellow finch began to want to bring flowers, but the peach blossoms planted by the Jun family have not bloomed."
After the Taoist leisurely read this poem, he waved his sleeves lightly in a pretended chic manner, and sighed: "Eight feet in life, don't ask for a zhang." "
With this wave of the sleeve, two bamboo sticks slipped from the sleeves and fell to the ground, the Taoist sighed, quickly picked them up, and then sneakily looked around, and found that no one paid attention to this side for the time being, so he was relieved and hid the two bamboo sticks into the loose cuffs again.
The young Taoist coughed, straightened his face, and continued to wait for the next guest.
He sighed a little, sure enough, it was easier to make women's money.
In fact, there are two bamboo sticks hidden in the sleeves of young Taoists, one is the top sign and the other is the bottom sign, both of which are used to make a lot of money.
Not enough for outsiders either.
The young man naturally didn't know these mysteries, and walked lightly all the way to the outside of the village school building, where the bamboo forest was lush and green.
Wang Gu'an slowed down, and the mellow voice of a middle-aged man sounded in the room, "The sunrise is shining, and the lamb is like a wet." "
Then there was a neat and crisp sound of immature voice, "The sunrise is bright, and the lamb is like a wet." "
Wang Gu'an looked up, the sun was rising in the east, and it was brilliant.
The boy was stunned.
When he came back to his senses, the Mengxue child was shaking his head and skillfully reciting an article according to his husband's request: "At the time of shock, heaven and earth are born, and all things are glorious." Lie down at night and walk early, walk widely in the court, and the gentleman walks slowly, so as to be ..."
Wang Gu'an stood at the door of the school, wanting to speak and stopping.
The middle-aged Confucian with slightly frosty temples turned his head to look at him and walked out of the room gently.
Wang Gu'an handed the letter out with both hands and said respectfully: "This is a letter from Mr. "
After the tall man in a green shirt took the envelope, he said softly: "When you have nothing to do in the future, you can come here more often." "
Wang Gu'an was a little embarrassed, after all, he might not really have time to come here to listen to this gentleman's teaching, and the young man was unwilling to deceive him.
The man smiled and said empathetically: "It's okay, the truth is all in the book, but being a person is outside the book." You go get busy. "
Wang Gu'an breathed a sigh of relief and left.
When the boy had gone far away, the ghost turned his head to look back.
I saw that the gentleman was always standing at the door, his figure bathed in the sun, looking from afar, like a god.