Baiqiong Tower is still the same as usual, nothing special.
Yesterday, the hungover young man slept until noon. He barely opened his eyelids, but still saw the continuous drizzle outside. He had never seen the usual sun. He just had some thoughts of getting up, and then he lay down again and hugged him. The other side of her body was warm and jade, and she was about to fall into a drowsy sleep again.
The women in the building have long been accustomed to this kind of life. Not many people get up early in the morning. Taking care of business is not easy. What's more, it is rainy and it is natural for them to stay in bed and rest. Therefore, there are no servants in the building. The faint sound of servants' footsteps was as quiet as an empty building. In ordinary business, most businesses are busiest during the day, but for example, Baiqiong Tower is busiest in the afternoon when it is about to turn into night. It is still early now, but it is deserted and deserted, with no one coming to the door.
Qiao Lan is the earliest woman to wake up in the building. She often wakes up earlier than the servants. Usually when the other women wake up and feel sleepy, Qiao Lan has already dressed up and pours tea by herself. Roll, but it is also jokingly called by others, saying that if you are born poor and hardworking, you will definitely not enjoy happiness. If you don't get enough sleep in the early morning, it is possible that you have to imitate the old farmers outside Xuanhua City outside Bafang Street, who get up early to get rid of insects. .
Even though she was still young, Qiao Lan was already tired of listening to the gossip and ridicule. In the end, it was no longer even going in one ear and out the other. She never heard a word in her ears, and she still woke up every morning. Get up, freshen up, and then unroll your clothes by yourself. This is always the case. But when Qiao Lan woke up today, she was not busy dressing up. Instead, she took out a plate of grass juice that was as red as blood from under the desk. After a moment of hesitation, she took a blunt knife for pressing clothes and stabbed it into the palm of her hand. .
There were no sharp weapons in the Baiqiong Tower. This was the oldest rule in the building. This was because there were a few women with extremely strong temperaments who could not bear to serve the guests in the building all day long. Moreover, they were always ashamed and angry. He took some silver-wrapped candle scissors from the house and inserted them into his own throat in the middle of the night. He listened to the boys who had been here for a long time and said that those rooms on the three floors that were always locked were In the home of those women who committed suicide, candles were cut into their throats, and blood was splashed all over the house, even on the window lattice. Now there are still dried blood stains that cannot be wiped away. Since then, there have been no sharp weapons in Baiqiong Tower. Even the candle scissors are made of white porcelain. It is just empty talk to think of killing yourself with this.
But it was clearly a clothes-pressing knife with no edge. After Qiao Lan stabbed the palm of his hand more than ten times, bright red blood actually dripped down. At that moment, he didn't care about anything else. He trembled with his palm and poured the blood into the plate of orchid grass. In the pulp, he stirred it carefully, then casually wrapped it in his palm with a piece of leisure clothes, unfolded the letter from home, carefully poured a few drops of bright red blood along with the orchid pulp on the letter, and stared at the letter. A very thin piece of rice paper bloomed with blood.
From the beginning to the end, Qiao Lan always resisted the idea of opening her mouth and never mentioned the letter from home. Even Ting Lan didn't know anything about it, and she borrowed medicinal materials to calm her nerves and nourish her body, and casually asked for it from the drugstore shopkeeper. I need some orchid grass so that I can clearly read the hidden handwriting in the family letter today.
When blood and red orchid pulp seeped into the family letter, Qiao Lan glanced at the handwriting in the family letter a few more times, and for some reason she clenched her lips and teeth, feeling very depressed for a moment.
"It would be great if this book was really sent from home."
The woman muttered something silently, lowered her eyelids, and sighed deeply.
It doesn't take a cup of tea to reveal the handwriting.
The handwriting is round and smooth, with heavy strokes and sharp edges, and is slender and long, just a few numbers.
Qiao Lan picked up the letter and hesitated for a long time.
"I can trust that young hero, but the people in Baiqiong Tower can't trust him, and the people in Bafang Street can't trust him even more. But since he comes from outside, he shouldn't lie for no reason. Besides, even if it's a trap set up by the poster, I can't find out who you are. The tone of the two of us is actually harmless." Qiao Lan put the letter on the table, lowered his voice, and said calmly, "The owner of Baiqiong Tower, even if he thinks about it, he never wants to care whether we are here or not, as long as It is enough to stay in the building and comfortably serve the guests who come to spend a lot of money. For such a person, I am afraid that based on your superficial thoughts, I have already figured it out."
But Ting Lan didn't speak for a long time. He hesitated and panicked for a while, and in the end he hesitated and said nothing.
Qiao Lan walked to the window lattice alone, lowered her head, raised the corners of her lips slightly, and smiled silently, but there was an unknown amount of bitterness in her smile.
"I talked to you about my family background a few days ago, but I didn't finish it. As for the sentence in the letter, there is no need to be so anxious to make up your mind. It's not too late to first listen to me explain my family background thoroughly, and then make your choice."
"After my father got sick in his family, people from Baiqiong House came to visit me and planned to pay me some money to buy me into Baiqiong House. At first, my father did not agree and even almost started fighting with the visitor. But in the end, every day or two, he had to return home with a bruised nose and a swollen face. His original livelihood was robbed for no reason and no money came in for several days. Seeing that his family members were already suffering from serious illnesses and it was difficult to get up, they had to rely on their own money. I traveled all over the village to find good doctors, and finally I came alone to the old shopkeeper in Niuyi Lane, Xuanhua City, to ask for a pulse diagnosis."
"Shopkeeper Sun resisted for a long time, but in the end he couldn't help my father's begging, so he still followed my father home to visit the doctor." The woman's words became colder and colder, and in the end she actually smiled gloomily, leaning alone by the window and looking out of the building. Under the drifting rain, after taking a few breaths, he continued, "Then I saw some clues. It was not an emergency, but someone had given me a strange poison. Even the shopkeeper Sun, who was extremely skilled in medicine, was helpless. There are prescriptions that are said to be antidotes, but one of the main ingredients is already rarely found in the world, and it would cost no less than several thousand taels of silver to get it."
"But in the end, the family didn't get rid of the strange poison, and only my father was left. Since he sent me to Baiqiong Tower, he never rescued his wife and me with money, and indulged in a gambling house. One day, after all, He lost all his money, was severely beaten by thugs, and fell into the water. By the time the rest of the village saw him, his body was already swollen with water."
This time Tinglan also fell silent, covering her face with both hands and her shoulders trembling slightly.
"You are more lucky than me. You are innocent and ignorant of the world. You have never thought about the twists and turns. But I am different. I heard a few words when I went out a few days ago, and yesterday When I asked for Tinglancao, shopkeeper Sun brought me a message."
"Shopkeeper Sun said that in fact, he could cure the disease, but the general trend was irresistible. He couldn't provoke the man standing behind Baiqiong Tower, so he had no choice but to abandon his desire to be a doctor and feel guilty for the rest of his life. , then at a time when his body was still strong, he found a successor to teach him all his skills. However, he himself was already tired of being in this city, and just wanted to return to his old age, live in seclusion in the mountains, and no longer be involved in this worldly world. There are all kinds of things that go against your will. Although I know it is a last resort, I really want to ask, if you always ignore the world and go into seclusion on your own, is it possible that you can sleep peacefully every day?"
"But what can I say? I'm stronger than others, I can't help myself, I'm a fellow traveler, so how can I blame others?"
Qiao Lan turned around, ignoring the blood gradually flowing out of her palms, and looked at Ting Lan, who was still full of sorrow, and smiled softly, but in her smile, there was bitterness and sourness mixed with sadness and determination. Mixed together, there was a weird expression that was beyond Tinglan's expectation. It probably couldn't be called a smile.
"Before you look at the sun, you have to think carefully and remember not to mention this matter to anyone. People in the building can't believe it. It's best not to even listen to my words." Qiao Lan wiped away the tears that had quietly flowed down his face. , his face was extremely taut, and he said solemnly, "Since it is that Young Master Yun who wants you and me to choose a path on our own, then no matter how extravagant my words are, you need to calm down and think about it. What are the thoughts in my mind? Even though these women in the building are sometimes vulgar and sometimes even disgraceful, in the Baiqiong Tower, they are really not considered inferior choices."
"In the world outside, I think there are more hardships than here on Bafang Street. You may be reduced to being unable to eat, and you may have to suffer a lot. In the end, you will still be lost in the crowd, just like most of the people in the world. If you really get there, wait When everything is at your wits end, you may realize that Baiqiong Tower is not good, but it’s not that bad.”
The woman wiped away the tears on her cheeks and soon changed her expression to her original look, as if her color had not changed at all just now. She spoke softly to Ting Lan, who still had tears in her eyes, "Remember to wipe away the tears on your face." Some things have to be endured. I have told you before that suffering is often greater than happiness in the world. After a while, most people will face the suffering in the world and swallow it in their stomachs. Only then will they swallow it in their stomachs. It’s common sense in the world. Sister Tinglan is actually a better person than me. No matter what, there is still a father in the family, although we can’t see each other often, but in the end, we still find our way back. He always misses his daughter’s father, so there is no need to put himself in danger. You may not necessarily want to escape from this cage."
After saying that, Qiao Lan walked straight out of the house, leaving Ting Lan alone. She wiped the tears from her face, picked up the blood-stained letter from home on the table, and read it word for word.
After finishing reading, the girl looked up in panic and heard that the building was still silent. Then she dared to raise her sleeves and wipe away the tears that were flowing out again, but no matter how she wiped them away, they could not be wiped away.
But I don’t know if I feel sorry for Qiao Lan or the grieving old father in the letter.
