In the south of Qingnikou, near the Zihao border, there is a small tile house that has been neglected all year round. It was originally used as a place to feed horses for passing merchants and travelers. It is just two small houses and three or five benches. For the time being, merchants were allowed to rest here, asking for water to moisten their throats, or putting their horses in the stables to rest for a while and use some fodder. Unexpectedly, over the years, these two small houses have evolved into Eighty-nine tiled houses.
Whether it was food, drink, accommodation, or work such as raising horses, they were all taken care of by these eight or nine tiled houses. Sometimes they even ran errands and delivered letters, or escorted escort cars, but they seemed quite comfortable. On the contrary, Business is more prosperous than usual. The owner of this tiled house was not a quiet person in his early years. He had good physical strength and a few literary talents. He also worked outside the customs and even obtained the high position of the second leader in the village. However, he suddenly became Wash your hands in the golden basin and never get involved in the turbulent and chaotic Jianghu outside Zihao Pass. With a method that will never look back, you actually chop off your left arm that is good at wielding swords and guns. One sleeve is empty, just like this hidden in the world. In the tile-roofed house, the ears are deaf to worldly affairs.
Whenever others asked me why I came here, I was willing to be a little shopkeeper. This old shopkeeper, who was no longer young, just proudly waved his empty left sleeve and said, damn, even if I am missing a left arm. , from a martial artist to a businessman, he still does better than others.
However, as the number of tile-roofed houses increased, the shopkeeper, who had only one right arm, became increasingly unable to fulfill his duties. There were many people in the shop, but most of them only knew how to do rough jobs, or had practiced martial arts since childhood and were illiterate. Jianghu people are often unwilling to stay in the shop for a long time. For example, the business of settling accounts or cleaning up the layout is gradually becoming difficult for the shopkeeper who has grown older without realizing it. So in the first two years, the shopkeeper Inviting a rather young accountant can solve the urgent problem.
"Every year is coming faster. It seems like it was snowing just yesterday, and it's still snowing today. Last year, it must have been snowing today too?"
The shopkeeper, who shook off the snowflakes all over his body, still stuffed his sleeves with his clothes as usual. At least it looked like the left arm had never been broken. The man who broke his arm with a knife had to hold on for a whole day before he went to the doctor's office. The martial artist who lived in blood and water and almost lost his life obviously did not care about this matter at all like outsiders did. When he entered the house, he turned on the brazier until the sparks flew into the smoke. They all rushed up, then sat aside and picked up the hot wine to warm themselves up.
"It's true. It's been two years since I came to your place. I'm afraid it will take three years to turn around. But after calculation, two years can get twenty-four monthly stipends. No matter how you calculate it, it seems like ten consecutive years. We are barely able to repay the monthly salary, and we are all poor people. We dare not default on this money like this." The young accountant who kept writing on the brittle old rice paper did not even raise his head. It seemed that he was quite unreasonable to his family. The shopkeeper was helpless, but he still mentioned it casually, "Drink a small drink to warm up in the cold winter, it is not advisable to drink too much."
But the shopkeeper just waved his hand, raised his head and drank it all in one gulp.
Over the years, the accountant often reminded the shopkeeper not to drink too much, but the latter always turned a deaf ear and was never willing to listen to the accountant's words. Even at this age, he still refused to repent, and his hidden illness recurred several times. Finally, under the dissuasion of the doctor, he finally stopped. He was as wanton as usual, but he still drank a lot. According to his words, when people are in the arena, they should drink more and make more friends. When they are not in the arena, they should always rely on drinking to talk about old things many years ago, just like a swordsman washing his sword and sharpening it. .
It is obvious that the accountant does not look like a charlatan. He is very weak in humanities, has a thin and pale face, and likes to be quiet. He often has discrepancies in one or two accounts, so he will sit in this tiled house for a whole day without moving. But he is actually very skilled in calculations. When he first arrived, he straightened out the old accounts for this one-armed shopkeeper. It was precisely because there was an accounting room to manage money. Although the business outside the border customs was good and bad, it was not difficult to make ends meet, so this tile The size of the house is getting bigger every year. xь.
However, the young accountant did not ask for much money. He just arrived when he first arrived. He hung a wolf hair that was two palms long in front of the tile house and told the shopkeeper that if he made three turns of this pen, he would have to go out for a few days. It can be as long as half a month, or as short as three to five days. There is no need to ask where you are going, and there is no need to tell others. You will come back when you should come back. After all, the shopkeeper is very thoughtful, and the money he has owed for two or three years should be
Really not a minority.
It must have been that he remembered that he still had more than half of the money that he had not paid. The shopkeeper, who usually did not feel ashamed, coughed twice and put down the cup. You brought some good cooked rice, about ten dollars, but it cost a lot of money, so naturally it cannot be blamed on you. You and I have suffered a lot over the years. When the wind and snow were severe, there were only two or three It's a tile house, with wind on all sides, heavy snow outside and light snow inside, I feel like I'm living quite comfortably now just thinking about it."
The accountant, who was still writing non-stop, just smiled.
"As your business grows, your conscience may not increase."
The shopkeeper was about to laugh and curse a few words, but he noticed that the indigo-colored wolf-hair brush hanging on the beam spun three times in an instant, and then fell silent. He looked at the flying snow outside, which seemed to be up to his ankles, and thought of saying anything to stop it. , in the end, he still didn’t say anything. The young accountant sighed slightly, put on his shirt, and took a raincoat and bamboo hat from the side to keep out the snow. After a long time, he suddenly asked the shopkeeper.
"Why did you have to cut off one of your arms when it was time to wash your hands in the golden basin?"
Over the years, many people have asked the shopkeeper, but the latter always just smiled and refused to say much, or just said something casually to prevaricate, and never gave anyone an answer, and the young accountant never said anything. Don't ask too much, but when I suddenly asked about this matter today, the old shopkeeper couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly, and then he let out a heavy breath, and suddenly felt that it was quite funny.
"Some people say that what a person has done in the world must be paid back sooner or later. In the early years, there were not many innocent people who died under my sword and halberd. Many people who are not deeply involved in the world often say that falling in love with others is a bandit. It is inseparable from the so-called brotherly loyalty, but there are still a few people who have actually been to the village. Bandits have always been thieves, and they will not be transformed into villains just because of the widespread loyalty outside. , saying it was something involuntary. I'm quite suspicious. Based on your thinking, you should have guessed how I lost my left arm. Why are you asking about it today? "
The young accountant had a pale face, nodded slightly, and then walked into the wind and snow.
There is only one shopkeeper who is getting older and older. He lowers his eyebrows and no longer drinks. He just stares at the back of the young accountant until the latter disappears. Thinking back to those days, he called friends, ate meat and drank wine, and did not feel old. In the future, I will not realize that I am in jail.
Outside the old Qingnikou temple not far away, the masons who had obtained official positions were still unwilling to give up. They insisted that the Zhu brothers hand over the money today, otherwise they would be expelled from the old temple and their brother Zhu Wu would be left to behave in a low manner. Pleading, but still to no avail, they actually called for help and threw all the belongings of the old temple where the two lived in into the streets. Although it was still early in the day, many people came to watch, but most of them just watched indifferently. , firstly, he was afraid that the powerful mason would settle his accounts in the future, and he really did not dare to provoke the villain. Secondly, he was afraid that he would make the matter too big and cause some trouble. However, anyone from the government office who came here would be afraid of causing trouble again. Some troubles came, so even though Zhu Wu was very popular, no one spoke up for the two brothers who were in great embarrassment.
Everyone else stood by and watched, which was tantamount to emboldening the stonemason. He grabbed Zhu Wu's thin horse and said that he would invite the two men to the nearest Guanwai government office to discuss it. Either they would hand over the money honestly, or maybe they could be granted leniency. In a few days, or today, I will have people smash up this ruined temple and drive the two people out of Qingnikou.
The veins on Zhu Gui's forehead popped, while Zhu Wu begged and looked around, but no one came to rescue the two of them. He just said a few words of kindness, because the stonemason became more and more rampant and started to beat the skinny horse. Not holding the flower gun that he carried all year round in front of him, this made several people around him who had good personal relationships with the stonemason and were flirting with him all day long also started to tease him.
"I mean, Boss Zhu, I've been hearing what you two say all day long about how one stick separates the road between life and death. Why are you in trouble now? It's better to hand the money to the official, maybe you can be magnanimous and show your noble hand. Otherwise, I'm afraid... From now on, you two will have to drink the northwest wind to keep you full. In my opinion, this is a good deal."
Zhu Gui raised his head and looked at his brother. Zhu Wu was still begging in a low voice, but the thin horse was obviously unable to resist. Anyway, it was dragged by the heavy stonemason, causing it to stagger in its steps. It was already showing signs of aging. He's not strong, and he doesn't have much food in his belly. He's really being dragged.
Had to nearly fall.
Mostly, the two brothers only had these two old, skinny, and withered bad horses, which were the most valuable in the family. The two brothers rode these two bad horses to Qingni Kou, where they entertained and chased the prostitutes. They relied on these two old horses for all their belongings. support.
Soon the news came out from Qingnikou today.
In front of the old temple, the two brothers of the Zhu family, who made a living by performing arts, killed the notorious stonemason in the street, which attracted many people to applaud. However, many people were also curious. Zhu Gui was obviously better than others. The brother was outspoken and did not do anything in the city. However, according to the news, it was not Zhu Gui who made the first move, but Zhu Wu, the tall and thin man, who took off the head of the spear and stabbed the mason in the throat with a stick. xь.
I heard that the stick was so powerful and heavy that it penetrated the stonemason's throat without any loss of force. It was nailed three feet into the road, and was pulled out by Zhu Wu, who had always been unattractive and cowardly, without spending much energy at all.
