"The night is deep. If you didn't go upstairs to rest, why did you come downstairs and wander around?"
Mr. Xun just happened to get the chess records. Before he could find the boundary where the moonlight was the brightest, he heard the woman behind him asking a cold question. For some reason, this young woman always had trouble with him. In her words, she seemed to regard the young master of the Xun family as such a despicable playboy.
It's no wonder that the woman thought too much. Instead of sleeping peacefully upstairs in the middle of the night, she crept downstairs. It happened that there was only a weak woman and two girls in this inn. It was not considered a dignified act to leave them alone.
Helpless, Xun Yuantuo had no choice but to plead guilty: "Girl, please don't blame me. My bones are weak, and I have lived in comfort for a long time. It will be difficult to withstand the coldness of the bamboo mat for a while. If I sleep like this one night, I'm afraid it will be difficult to get up again tomorrow." , I thought it would be better to take a good look at the chess records under the moonlight, and wait until the weather gets warmer tomorrow before resting."
This woman's appearance is acceptable, and her body is well-proportioned. If it were any other high-ranking prostitute or rich playboy, she would probably want to look at her more while talking. Although there are groups of delicate flowers at home, the flowers at home are always not as attractive as the wild flowers outside. Even if there is no such thing as crossing the pond, it is still good to feast your eyes.
However, Mr. Xun was always serious and had no intention of looking around the woman. His eyes were open and clear.
"That's all, that young man can do as he pleases." After saying that, the woman walked to the wall of the inn, climbed up the wall without much effort, picked up the needle and thread of the old shirt in her hand, and used the bright moonlight to mend her clothes.
Poor people are always reluctant to pay for lamp oil, so the rich moonlight becomes a perfect substitute for oil lamps. There are often women sewing clothes under the moonlight, or children studying their homework under the moonlight. This is a sight that can be seen almost everywhere among the people of the Nine Kingdoms. The literati are different. Regardless of their family background, they will always try to read books under the moon several times. Firstly, it is for the sake of elegance, and secondly, it is to find the taste of studying hard when they were young. The two are very different, but they reach the same goal by different paths.
Xun Yuantuo was no exception. He was naturally very happy on his first trip away from home, but he was still a little too young and too immature to show off. Watching the chess records under the moonlight, how could I not try this new thing myself?
However, it was moonlight after all, there were many shadows in the courtyard, and the few remaining corners were unclear. It was okay to barely see my feet, but it was indeed very difficult to read and observe music.
"If it's really hard to see clearly, just go up to the wall yourself." The woman sitting on the top of the wall watched Mr. Xun walking around the courtyard like a headless fly. The grudge in her heart somehow disappeared, and she couldn't help but feel a little funny. .
The latter's eyes lit up after hearing this, and after thanking him, he hurriedly walked to the corner of the other side. It took a lot of effort to climb to the top of the wall and sit down, ready to take a closer look at the chess record.
Xun Yuantuo has been learning chess from his teacher for several months, and his chess skills have improved even further. Even Zhou Kefa was not shy about praising him, saying that his chess skills can compete with those of ordinary chess masters, and he can win or lose within 50%. But what puzzles this young master is that no matter how much his chess skills increase, the master's chess moves always keep him at one end. If he advances one foot, Mr. Zhou will advance one foot and one inch; if he advances one inch, Mr. Zhou will advance one inch and two inches. The power of chess is like a vast ocean with endless mountains and cliffs. Even if you practice hard every day, you cannot surpass it.
I am afraid that only intelligent people like Xun Yuantuo who are obsessed with chess can keep moving forward under such heavy pressure. If it were anyone else, they would probably throw away the chess records and never touch them for the rest of their lives. After all, the person sitting across from me is flipping through a drawing book while making moves, which is overwhelming. Not most people can calmly turn a blind eye to this feeling of frustration.
Before Xun Yuantuo reads the chess records, he must first go through the recent chess games in his mind and look for the losing moves that he feels are inappropriate, and then read them again, trying to find the shortcomings of this move. Not to mention anything else, this photographic memory alone is enough to be called a world-famous talent. What's more, Xun Yuantuo didn't just remember the final situation, but the order of each step taken by both parties was engraved in his heart. Compared with photographic memory, it is infinitely better.
The name "monster" has always been not in vain.
When Mr. Xun was memorizing chess, he was most afraid of being disturbed by others. Unexpectedly, just as the chess game started to be reviewed in her mind, the woman spoke softly, disrupting the chess game in her mind.
"My young master, where are you two going on this trip?"
Xun Yuantuo opened his eyes and looked at the woman two feet away with confusion. The woman was extremely skillful in her skills. In a short time, she had finished sewing the clothes, placed them on her knees and hugged her, looking at the young master with interest.
"It's not up to me to decide where to go." Xun Yuantuo, whose train of thought was interrupted, pointed to the second floor. Since he couldn't continue, he might as well have a good chat with this woman. He had not forgotten what his master had told him today. Besides, he scolded the two girls in the evening, and he still felt a little guilty.
"I really didn't expect that a kid from a rich family like you would be able to study abroad. But if you think about it carefully, your master is more like a scholar." The woman said narrowly, "I didn't know that your master would be so useless at first glance. How can a poor scholar with power and wealth accept you as his apprentice?"
"Yes, I was also wondering at the beginning why a man from an aristocratic family like me was chosen in the market. Logically speaking, how could a poor teacher be tempted to accept a son from an aristocratic family as his disciple? I thought that the master was the same as those who wanted to please others. , there are no two hypocrites who want to use this to get higher, but after getting along with him for a long time, your knowledge and character are indeed more than a head above anyone else I have seen."
Xun Yuantuo closed the chess book and stared at the second floor in a daze.
"May I ask why this inn is so limited with only three of you, mother and daughter?"
The woman lowered her eyes and took a long time to answer slowly.
"It's not that there have always been no men in Sanparaan. My husband is the messenger appointed by the government. A few years ago, a family of four always lived here. Although my husband's salary is meager, it is not a problem to provide food, rice, oil and salt."
"But in the second year after I gave birth to two daughters, he was summoned by the government to go to the capital to have an affair, and he never came back." The woman took a deep breath and exhaled softly.
"If something unexpected happened on the road, I would accept it and spend all my wealth to find his body and bury it, but I won't see anyone alive or dead. Everything on the road is a post road, and no matter how big or small the official position is, it is the imperial court." How could thieves rob the little post envoys who have no money or power among the specially appointed officials? The territory of Shang Qi is considered peaceful, and there has been no news of thieves for many years. How could there be no news at all for no reason? "
"I always felt that he was not dead, so I volunteered and told the government that I would be the messenger here. Although I don't know how to ride, I can still serve the meals for the messengers coming and going."
"What about the salary and the furnishings in the house..." Xun Yuantuo had been frowning since just now, and stopped abruptly in the middle of the question.
"You should be clear that there is no such thing as a woman being a messenger. Since I am staying here and not leaving, of course I have broken the rules. It was okay at first, but I just refused to pay for an excuse. Later, rogues came to pick fights and cause trouble, and even They robbed my husband of his own possessions and pawned them as money, but no one paid any attention to the report. How could I not know who was behind it?"
"After all, I was the one who broke the rules. If someone from above investigates, it will definitely embarrass the senior officials in the government. So I, my mother, and my daughter are probably treated like a thorn in their side."
The woman's voice trembled slightly, and she almost shed tears.
"You don't have to wait here, but where can you find the spare money to buy a house?"
"In the final analysis, I was just lucky and thinking that one day I could wait for him to come back."
