Wang Gu'an carried water back to Ji Chenru's yard, poured it into the water tank in the kitchen, and then ran to the door and shouted: "Ji Chenru, I'll use your firewood, oil and salt to make fish soup for Miss Ning to nourish her body, okay?"
Ji Chenru, who was sleeping soundly, was awakened and roared: "Wang! Are you annoying? I just dreamed that Shi Hui smiled at me! Pay me a Shi Hui!"
Wang Gu'an shook his head, remembered something, and apologized: "I really met Shi Hui at the Tiesuo Well just now, but I was interrupted by Granny Ma and forgot to send you a message. When I go to send fish soup to Miss Ning later, I promise to help you pass on the message."
Ji Chenru jumped up, put on his clothes quickly, ran to the threshold outside the main hall and sat down. Looking at the busy thin figure in the kitchen, he laughed and said, "I'll go with you to deliver the fish soup later. By the way, is Shi Hui wearing that bright red pomegranate skirt today? Or the light green one? Oh, when I save another two hundred coins, I can buy that Baiyu Nianlong silver powder box. I know she has been eyeing it for a long time, but she just can't bear to buy it. It's all because of Ye Dan, that stinky poor guy. He is so stingy that he dresses like a cat or a dog in Fulu Street. Poor Shi Hui has few new clothes all year round. If I were her young master, I would definitely let her buy whatever she likes. She would be richer than the rich girls in Fulu Street and become a millionaire!"
Wang Gu'an ignored Ji Chenru's dream. He really didn't understand why Ji Chenru liked Shi Hui. Of course, it wasn't that he looked down on her background as Ye Dan's maid, nor did he think Shi Hui was ugly. He just felt that she and Ji Chenru didn't seem to be destined to be together.
Wang Gu'an asked curiously, "Why do you call her Shi Hui instead of Wang Zhu?"
Ji Chenru grinned and said, "I don't care anymore after I found out that you don't know how to write the word 'Shi Hui'."
Wang Gu'an said helplessly, "What's the point of comparing with me? Compare with Ye Dan. Shi Hui is not my maid."
Ji Chenru sneered, "That guy is not better than you in every way. For example, has he ever called anyone 'father' or 'mother' in his life? No, isn't that worse than you, Wang Gu'an? No wonder Gu Can's mother and Ma Po Po's wives are so vicious. Ye Dan is not a clean family. Otherwise, why doesn't he live in the government office of the supervisory government, but live a hard life in your Niping Lane? This guy dares to look down on others, so he deserves to be smeared and called a bastard."
Wang Gu'an stood up and walked to the door of the kitchen, "Ji Chenru, although Ye Dan and I are not friends at all, but you say that about him..."
Ji Chenru hurriedly raised his hands, determined not to let Wang Gu'an continue to talk, and said cunningly: "I won't say anything, okay? Wang Gu'an, who do you take your stubborn temper from? My grandfather said that your parents are easy to talk to, especially your mother, who speaks softly and likes to laugh. Her temper is really good. My grandfather also said that in the early years, Granny Ma scolded almost everyone in the nearby alleys, but when she saw your mother, she not only did not find fault, but also smiled a little."
Wang Gu'an laughed so hard that he couldn't close his mouth.
Ji Chenru waved his hand to drive him away, "Hurry up and make soup for your young wife."
Wang Gu'an rolled his eyes, "If you have the guts, say that in front of Miss Ning?"
Ji Chenru smiled and said, "You are stupid, but I am not."
Not long after, Wang Gu'an brought out a small pottery jar, and the two locked the door and yard, and walked towards Niping Lane together. When they arrived at the gate of Wang Gu'an's yard, they saw him knocking on the door stupidly. Ji Chenru realized that this guy had left all the house keys to the girl in black. Ji Chenru felt that this guy was really hopeless.
The girl in black didn't wear a veil when she was at home. When she opened the door, she showed a clear and refreshing face. Ji Chenru was a little afraid of this serious girl in his heart. The tall boy didn't even know the reason. If you say that Shi Hui next door is cold, Ji Chenru is just as brave and shameless. If you say that it's because the girl in black is wearing a sword, it's not right. Ji Chenru faced the rich and powerful children of Fulu Street. Even if he was chased and intercepted several times and fled like a stray dog, the boy was actually not afraid from beginning to end.
But he was a little afraid of the foreign girl named Ning He.
After the girl in black sat at the table and opened the jar, she smelled the fragrance, narrowed her narrow eyes slightly, nodded and said softly: "Thank you."
Wang Gu'an observed meticulously and knew that this should mean that the cold girl was in a good mood.
Wang Gu'an first cooked a pot of porridge for her, and asked her to watch the heat herself, then said to Ji Chenru: "You waited for Shi Hui to go out by yourself? I have to deliver the letter."
Ji Chenru was sitting on the doorstep, listening to the noise over there with his ears erect, fearing that he would hear the sound of gods fighting. The tall boy, who was in a bad mood, said impatiently: "You do your thing!"
When Wang Gu'an left the yard and was about to run to the intersection of Niping Lane, he suddenly found that the vision in front of him was dim. He looked up and saw a tall man in a snow-white robe. He put one hand behind his back and the other hand on the white jade belt on his abdomen, looking into the distance.
Probably realizing that he was blocking the way to the narrow alley, the man smiled slightly and took the initiative to step aside to make way for Wang Gu'an.
Wang Gu'an was full of doubts and quickened his pace to leave Niping Lane. Looking back, the man had slowly walked into Niping Lane.
Even if it was just a glimpse before, Wang Gu'an also saw that on the spotless snow-white robe, there were sparse gold threads embroidered on the chest and back, which vaguely formed two patterns, as if there were living creatures wandering in the sea of fog and clouds, which was very wonderful. Wang Gu'an no longer thought deeply, just thought that it was a foreigner like Fu Nanhua, who was coming to Niping Lane to look for opportunities again. After walking with Mr. Liu under the old locust tree that day, the boy in straw sandals was no longer too worried. He always felt that as long as Mr. Liu was in the town, even if something really happened, he could at least get justice.
When Wang Gu'an trotted past Xinghua Lane, he saw the blue-clothed girl he met last night, still sitting in a wonton shop over there, holding a chopstick in each hand, standing upright on the table, tapping gently, her whole round face with a slightly childish and plump face, was full of energy, her eyes were full of wontons cooking in the hot pot over there, and she didn't notice Wang Gu'an five or six steps away at all.
For the girl in blue, the food was in front of her, and she would eat it all before running away even if the sky fell!
Wang Gu'an sincerely admired this strange girl, and did not disturb her, smiling and continued to run to the east of the town.
Some people and things, even if they are roadside scenery, will still make people feel beautiful as long as they take a look.
When Wang Gu'an came to the east fence gate, the sloppy man stood on the tree stump, tiptoed and looked to the east, as if waiting for an important person.
Wang Gu'an used to listen to the old people chatting at the old locust tree. They said that when the current supervisor entered the town for the first time, there was a big show. The elders of the ancestral temples of the four surnames and ten clans almost came out in full force to "welcome him" at the east gate of the city. However, they waited for several hours under the scorching sun. Finally, an official rushed to the east gate and said that the supervisor had just woken up from a nap in the backyard of the government office, so they should go directly to the government office to meet. The rich and powerful gentlemen were so angry that they were furious. However, it is said that after entering the gate of the government office, no one dared to fart, and everyone smiled more than the other like someone else's obedient grandson.
Wang Gu'an always felt strange. How could those old people tell stories as if they had seen them with their own eyes? Every time they talked about gossips in Fulu Street and Taoye Lane, they sounded more real than the truth. For example, when they talked about the second aunt of the Lu family and the guard coach becoming lovers and someone broke into their room, they even told a lot of details about how the second aunt, in a panic, gathered her clothes to cover her plump breasts. The storyteller was just like the guard coach himself.
Ji Chenru swallowed his saliva every time he heard it. Ye Dan would go there occasionally, but he would not bring Shi Hui with him. He laughed more subtly than Ji Chenru, but when he secretly cheered with the others, he was particularly hardworking, louder than reading the sage books twice a day.
Wang Gu'an squatted beside the tree stump, patiently waiting for the town gatekeeper.
The man cursed his mother, jumped off the tree stump, and after catching a glimpse of the young man in straw sandals, he did not say anything. He went to the yellow mud hut and got a pile of letters. He only gave five copper coins of one penny for six family letters.
Wang Gu'an roughly flipped through the addresses of the letters and said nothing, because two of the letters were from the neighbors next door on Fulu Street, and Wang Gu'an didn't want to take advantage of them. Of course, if the man was kind enough to give him six coins at first, Wang Gu'an would never push the money away.
After Wang Gu'an thought about the order of delivering the letters, he casually asked, "Waiting for someone?"
The man glanced at the wide avenue in the east and said angrily, "Waiting for you!"
Wang Gu'an didn't want to stay and be a punching bag, so he ran away quickly.
The man laughed angrily, "Oh, you still have some vision."
The man looked at the sky, and the rolling thunder had long ceased. The low-hanging clouds that seemed to be almost pressing down on the eaves had gradually dissipated.
The man sat down on the tree stump and sighed, "When the gods fight, the mortals suffer."
————
There were six letters, one for each of the four major surnames of Lu, Li, Zhao and Ye on Fulu Street, and two in Taoye Lane. One of them happened to be a letter from the kind old man. What was even more coincidental was that the person who opened the door to receive the letter was also an old man. When he saw that it was Wang Gu'an, the old man recognized the boy in straw sandals and joked, "Kid, are you really not going to come in for a drink of water?"
Wang Gu'an smiled shyly and shook his head.
The old man was not surprised. He just took out a handful of copper coins from his sleeve and handed them to Wang Gu'an, smiling and explaining: "There is a good thing happening at home today. This little bit of money is for everyone to see. It's just for good luck. It's not much, just a dozen coins, so you can take it with confidence."
Wang Gu'an took the copper coins and smiled and said, "Thank you, Grandpa Wei!"
The old man nodded and suddenly said, "Child, recently, when you have nothing to do, you can often sit under the locust tree. If you see locust leaves and branches on the ground, take them home and put them there. They can prevent ants, insects and centipedes. How good, and you don't have to spend money."
Wang Gu'an bowed to the old man at the bottom of the steps to thank him.
The old man smiled happily, "Go, go, a year's plan begins in spring, and it is definitely a good thing for young people to exercise more."
The young man ran away from Taoye Lane on the bluestone street.
The old man stood at the door for a long time, looking at the peach trees on both sides. A graceful young maid came to the old man and whispered: "Grandfather, what are you looking at? It's cold outside, don't get cold."
The maid had served the old man for some years and knew that the old man was a kind-hearted person. The girl was respectful and fearless to the old man, so she smiled and asked playfully: "Grandfather, are you thinking of the girl you met when you were young? That girl was standing under the peach tree at that time?"
The white-haired old man smiled and said: "Taoya, you are also a 'caring person' like the boy who delivered the letter."
The maid was praised and smiled innocently.
The old man suddenly smiled and said, "A distant relative will come to visit in the next two days. When the time comes, Taoya, you will follow the children at home and leave the town together."
The maid was stunned for a moment, her eyes suddenly red, and she cried, "Grandpa, I don't want to leave here."
The old man, who was always very talkative, waved his hand, "I will look at the scenery of the alley for a while, you go back first, Taoya, be obedient, otherwise I will be angry."
The maid had to leave timidly, looking back every three steps.
The peach leaves in Taoye Lane are lush, but there are no peach blossoms yet.
The old man exhaled lightly, stepped over the threshold, walked down the steps, walked to the nearest peach tree, stood under the tree, and said sadly: "The peach trees are young and bright. I will never see them again."
The old man looked back at his house and murmured: "The town is unique and not in line with the Tao. It was changed by the saints and enjoyed great fortune for three thousand years. Most of the people who left the town in the past dynasties have spread all over the East Aquarius Continent, but God is so smart, so it's time to settle accounts and collect rewards from us. You kids, if you don't leave here quickly, are you going to follow us, the old and broken porcelain, and wait to die together? You know, death is big or small. For thousands of people in our town, this death is a big death, and there is no afterlife."
"So, now while God is still turning a blind eye, the more people who can leave, the better."
The old man stretched out his dry palm and held the peach branch, "He who has a heart has a heart, I hope that God will not let him down."
At some point, the grandmother of the young scholar Zhao Yao, an old woman with a cane, had already approached this side, "You are almost dead, but you are still so naive, like an old woman putting on rouge, you are really disgusting. This catastrophe, can your kindness change the slightest?"
The old man's eyes were a little dazed, looking at the old woman with the same white hair, and said inexplicably, "You are here."
The old woman was stunned at first, and then immediately became angry and hit him with a cane, "You shameless old thief, you are so old, and you still dare to talk nonsense?!"
The cane rained down on him, and the old man had to flee in panic, but laughed.
The old woman stood under the peach tree, still very angry, regretting that she should not be soft-hearted and walked to Taoye Lane by chance.
Finally, the old woman raised her head and looked at the peach leaves that had sprouted.
The old woman walked back to Fulu Street step by step, her cane knocking on the bluestone slabs again and again.
A peaceful town that had been prosperous for a thousand years, but never thought that in the end, all of them were poor people without an afterlife.
Is there really no hope?
————
The stream water is getting shallower, the well water is getting colder, the old locust tree is getting older, the iron lock is rusting, and the clouds are hanging low.
This year, the peach leaves will not see peach blossoms.