The nearest tavern to the Lingzi Building has been deserted all year round. You don’t need to think about it carefully to know why. The Lingzi Building has a very good business, and the prices of the drinks and dishes in the building are quite close to ordinary people. Except for those who are wealthy and have millions of dollars, they come here specially. In addition to the wealthy people who come here to visit the capital and buy things, ordinary people who come here to do business and stay in the hotel can also afford to spend money. Moreover, the variety of drinks is naturally better than that of this humble tavern. It is precisely for this reason that Ling Zilou controls almost all the eating and drinking business around the outskirts of the capital. No matter how much the price of drinks in this tavern drops again and again, there are only two or three down-and-out men coming to the door a day. After two bowls of wine, I still wanted to take advantage of the tavern. Occasionally I would order a side dish, but I would add vinegar and sauce to the side dish, and would not stop even if I was coughing repeatedly.
At the beginning of spring, visitors to Huixi, the capital, naturally do not want to delay such a good time. When the spring is gradually fading, who is not willing to take two steps to such a prosperous place, even those who are on official business in the court? Officials are also willing to come to the imperial city by carriage and horse to take a look at the most prosperous area in this spring season. Even if they are too short of money to take a step closer to the fence, they can take a look at the elegant and handsome young master of the capital from a distance, with several pigeon eggs hanging around his waist. The large and small transparent jade pendants can also be regarded as an honor. Thinking of yourself as the young and wealthy young master who likes to be romantic, in any case, it can be regarded as filling one's long-cherished wish when he was young.
Because of the large number of visitors, the business of this tavern seems to be coming back to life. However, the two waiters often take a peek, and the shopkeeper's expression is still changing day by day. Even if he is somewhat clear, I am afraid that this The tavern business is far from being said to be coming back from the dead. It is more like trying to survive or making a comeback. After all, it will not last long. After all, no matter who chooses, people who can come to the capital for business and sightseeing will never give up the dozens of varieties of drinks in Lingzilou and move here to try them just because they are cheaper than a few copper coins. Home-made rice wine mixed with water, or strong belly-burning Shao Daozi.
It was just after noon today. The two waiters with slumped heads saw away the two guests who looked very shabby. They wiped the table a little, then leaned under the old date tree in front of the tavern, looking listless. Talking about something here and there. The thirty-year-old waiter, who was missing half of his front teeth, curled his lips, looked at a carriage on the bluestone road in front of the door, and said with envy, "When will we brothers be able to ride in such a carriage, not to mention other things?" , if this thing comes true one day, I will first go to all the brothels in the city, at least I can see what kind of life the dignitaries and dignitaries live all day long. In my opinion, this is a waste of money. It's really boring to live this life for once, pretending to be a grandson and serving guests all day long, and not even getting a few cents of hard-earned money at the end of the month."
The waiter, who was no more than a crown tall, nodded, pushed up his sleeves, hunched his shoulders and grinned, "I saw this girl on the official road two days ago. It is said that she has lived around the capital for many years, and her ordinary beauty is definitely hard to catch my eye. , but that girl was born on the tip of my heart, riding a horse, carrying a sword, and wearing red brocade clothes. Just looking at her twice made my heart tremble, just like the person walking out of the painting. " At this point, the waiter with a shabby demeanor chuckled and took out his left sleeve to wipe away the two waterfalls under his nose. The waiter who was missing half of his front teeth happened to see it and scolded him unceremoniously, "With your virtue. , let alone getting what you want. If this girl knew that you were thinking about you all the time, her stomach might be churning for days. Listen to me, just because of your appearance, quietly steal a broken bowl with a missing corner and squat by the roadside. , maybe you can really meet the kind-hearted female Bodhisattva, and when she throws you a copper coin, you should take the opportunity to take a few more glances."
The young man thought about it for a while, and actually felt that what he said was true. He silently planned to wait for the shopkeeper to go out and steal a broken bowl. If he really could see the girl in red again, he would definitely need more this time. Take a few glances.
It's a pity that when I was young and my family was still well-off, I didn't listen to my parents' advice and didn't learn how to paint from that fairy-like old gentleman. Otherwise, I wouldn't know how to draw the girl's features now. Thinking of this, the waiter grinned to himself, pulled off two dead branches of the jujube tree, and thought stupidly, with his salary, when would he be able to afford pens, inks, paper, and inkstones? Ink is easy to find. Take the one in the tavern Every time he rinses the old pot, he can scrape off half a kilogram of ashes. I think he can replace it with some water. As for rice paper, with his monthly salary, he can't afford it, but Lingzilou has a lot of it behind him. If you roast the bamboo forest on a fire, you may be able to get something that looks like a bamboo slip, which can be used as rice paper. All you need is a writing brush and it doesn't cost much copper coins.
The other waiter frowned and looked at the man next to him foolishly. Even if he knew that this boy, who had lost most of his mind for some reason, must have thought of something good, he immediately did not hesitate to ask more questions and said, After returning home, he put his legs on the table to rest.
When I'm sleepy in spring and tired in autumn, after lunch, I always want to take a rest. This has always been the case. At most, the shopkeeper will see him and curse him with a few unpleasant words, but for this man who has accomplished nothing in his thirties and has never married a family. Said it didn't matter at all.
But at this time, someone came to the door.
The person who came here was quite old, smelling of alcohol, and his clothes were quite neat. However, the strange thing was that there was a yellow bird standing on his shoulder. Looking left and right, he looked very energetic. He was full of alcohol and had a red face. The drunk man stood alone, but he looked out of place and quite strange.
The shopkeeper couldn't care less about anything else. When he saw a guest coming, he immediately stepped forward from behind the desk. He asked with a flattering smile what the guest wanted to use. He also glared at the middle-aged man who had already taken a rest and motioned to the back. The man stepped forward to say hello, but his eyes hurt from the glare. The man still ignored him and had no choice but to shout outside the house, "Pang Qingfeng, did you eat something bad at noon? I didn't see the guest coming to the door. Is it possible?" You want me to say hello to you? If you don’t come into the house to say hello, you won’t be able to get any more monthly money. You are born with a stupid head, and if you don’t work harder, I will kick you out of the tavern and run to the street to drink Zephyr.”
Pang Qingfeng was holding a dead branch and squatting outside the tavern to paint. He just managed to draw a woman's face. Before adding facial features, he heard the shopkeeper yelling, so he quickly inserted the dead branch on the ground and ran back to the tavern. Among them, people rushed over and saluted repeatedly, and couldn't stop apologizing, which made the person carrying the yellow bird on his shoulder a little confused. He ordered two pots of rice wine and three plates of side dishes, and then stared at the honest young man in front of him. His eyebrows were raised slightly.
The visitor had a decent face, but he was drunk at the moment, and his expression was a bit casual. At this moment, he unabashedly looked at the young man who was clumsily wiping the table in front of him. His eyes were even weirder, but he pretended to say casually, "I mean, waiter, you This wine smells very bad, it is clearly home-brewed rice wine, but there is no rice aroma at all, maybe it has been mixed with a lot of water."
The owner of the tavern just left and went to the back room to order the side dishes. Pang Qingfeng was a little more thoughtful. He stood up and looked around, then smiled honestly, "I'm afraid you will suffer a loss if you come back to this place for the first time. The shopkeeper has a dark mind, and usually mixes a jar of rice wine with half a ladle of water. It is said that he will not get drunk after drinking too much, but he has to mix two or three ladles. If the profit of the tavern is too low these days, he will have to mix five ladles of water. It's definitely not as good as others. Next time you come back to the capital, please don't forget to go to Lingzilou. I heard others say the price is cheap, but don't spend money on me."
Not far away, a man resting with his feet on the table twitched his mouth without any trace.
There is such an honest and silly waiter who seems to be born with a lack of strength. When a customer comes to the door, instead of saying something nice, he will push the customer elsewhere. I guess if he wants to increase his monthly salary, he will have to wait until he is over fifty years old. After his legs and feet became weak, the stingy shopkeeper could show his kindness and give out two more copper coins every month. But the man didn't say anything, and allowed Pang Qingfeng to speak, with a look on his face that said it had nothing to do with him, and he squinted his eyes and dozed off.
The drunk man was also stunned by these words. He leaned against the back of the squeaky chair, raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Thank you little brother, but don't worry, our money is not brought by the tide. , want to steal our money, wishful thinking. But since it is the little brother who is willing to give me some advice, I am not that ignorant person. I just saw you painting with dead branches outside. You seem to have some skills. I'll lend it to you. Just pick up a good brush and start drawing at will, and you will be at ease. It will save you decades of hard work in painting. I should thank you little brother for your generous words today, how about it?"
Pang Qingfeng never thought that such a good thing could really happen, but the man didn't seem to care. He took out a good pen with bright white hair and put it in his hand without any explanation. He wanted to shirk it, but then he realized that He could not speak, his body was stiff and he could hardly move. The drunk man winked at the young man, then poured himself a drink. With these three dishes of side dishes, he drank the wine, got up and ran away.
It is true that the tavern shopkeeper did not steal any money. When he noticed that the drunkard was leaving, the usually slow-moving shopkeeper immediately rushed out of the house and chased the drunkard for nearly half a mile. It's the drunkard who has never been able to catch a drunkard with extraordinarily nimble legs and feet.
But in this case, Pang Qingfeng was the one who suffered. He asked the shopkeeper to scold Guangjing for three pillars of incense, deducted more than ten pence a month, but still couldn't get over it, and punished Pang Qingfeng by not being allowed to enter the house tonight, and he should be on duty at night.
The man with half his front teeth gloated over his misfortune and made fun of him a few times, but it didn't seem to matter if he fell into Pang Qingfeng No. 2 Middle School.
After all, someone gave me an excellent writing brush. Maybe in a few days, I will be able to draw all the beautiful girls on the bamboo slips. I rested outside the door all night, and I happened to use the dead branches to make strokes first to avoid making mistakes. .
