In the twelfth lunar month of winter, the fog in the town has not completely faded away. The streets on both sides are extremely deserted. Not even a person can be seen. Only the Lin's Baozi Shop in Green Willow Lane opened early in the morning.
Outside the town, a thin boy with dry wood on his shoulders and sharp eyebrows and starry eyes stood there, straightening his nose and deeply smelling the fragrance wafting in the air, and couldn't help but swallow.
The boy's name is Luo Yuan. He lives at the foot of a mountain five miles away from the town and makes a living by collecting firewood.
With a smile on his face, he rubbed his hands and kept moving his eyes, "It smells good! I just don't know who will win today's meat buns?"
After saying that, he trotted all the way, not caring about the stone road as hard as ice under his feet, and went straight to Lin's bun shop.
Outside Lin's steamed bun shop, a tall, middle-aged man with a clay-like face was leaning on the steamer with his hands, warming himself with the heat radiating from the steamer.
Even though he is as strong as an ox, he is tall and thick, giving people a feeling that he is inaccessible, but his name is just the opposite, Lin Xiaojie.
Lin Xiaojie has taken care of his bedridden mother for many years. Every day when the rooster crows, he puts buns in the steamer for fear that his mother will starve. This happens all year round. He is a well-known filial son in the small town. Never initiated a conflict with anyone.
The fog in the town gradually dissipated, and pedestrians could be vaguely seen walking in the distance.
At this moment, a loud voice came from behind Lin Xiaojie's head.
"Hey! The firewood is here. Bring me five buns quickly."
Lin Xiaojie turned his head and looked at Luo Yuan, who was sitting on the steps with his hands clasped together and breathing hot air. He paused, frowned and asked: "It used to be six, how come it has become five these days?"
Luo Yuan stood up and said angrily: "Why do you care so much? I didn't eat your food in vain. Hurry up and give me a stone tattoo, Baozi!"
The stone is dark in color, about the size of a thumb, round and spherical, entwined with wavy lines, and is the currency of the small town.
Lin Xiaojie took out five tattoo stones from his cuffs. Luo Yuan immediately stretched out his palms that were red from the cold, snatched the stones away, and put them into his pocket.
Lin Xiaojie looked helpless, holding a basket of steamed buns in both hands, leaning forward, holding it in front of Luo Yuan, grinning: "Take it, take it."
Luo Yuan looked at the buns of equal sizes and secretly thought that among the ten buns, he didn't know whether there were meat buns or not. He raised his head and glanced at Lin Xiaojie, and said naturally: "Just give me five of them."
Lin Xiaojie nodded slowly and put down the basket. Just as he was about to reach out to grab it, a voice of regret sounded: "Oh, they say that Lin's bun shop has meat buns, but I haven't tasted one after all, so I don't know if it's true or not."
Lin Xiaojie turned to look at Luo Yuan and saw him scratching his ears with his little finger, looking as if nothing had happened.
After feeling Lin Xiaojie's slightly dissatisfied look, Luo Yuan said without changing his expression: "It's useless for you to look at me. What I just said was the truth and I didn't lie."
Lin Xiaojie opened his mouth slightly and was about to retort when an arrogant shout spread throughout the alley.
"filial son Lin, bring me a meat bun, hurry up, this is making me starving."
The two of them turned their heads following the sound, and saw a middle-aged man wearing straw sandals, with his toes exposed, and his clothes in tatters, with loose curly hair, striding to the end of the alley. This man was an idle man in the town. A Han and a bully are called Ten Thousand Salaries.
With a salary of ten thousand, he has been idle all year round and has no real job, but he is never short of grain stones in his hands. He can eat meat and drink fine wine every day. He is a hidden rich man in the small town.
The idle man likes to tease honest people the most. Children and people in small towns have almost been bullied by him.
A ray of sunshine shone on the ground of the town, and there were gradually more pedestrians in the alley.
When You Wanxin entered the alley, he immediately raised his face, put one hand on his lower back, and slapped his abdomen with the other, looking arrogant.
Lin Xiaojie turned his head and stared at Luo Yuan, ignoring him.
You Wanxin stopped and stood fifty steps away from Lin's bun shop. He grinned and asked, "filial son Lin, is this what you do as a businessman?"
Luo Yuan grabbed five buns and put them in his arms, standing aside and watching the show.
Lin Xiaojie put the basket back into the steamer and said casually: "The buns are right here, just come and get them yourself."
You Wanxin took out two grained stones from his arms, threw them at his feet, and said slowly: "Bring me the buns, these two grained stones are yours."
Lin Xiaojie took a deep breath, smiled and shook his head, unmoved.
Luo Yuan glanced at the two patterned stones on the ground, and then looked back.
Youwanxin chuckled and said slightly angrily: "Are you deaf? I asked you to bring it to me, so you have to bring it to me. What is my identity? You asked me to go there by myself, huh?!"
Lin Xiaojie had no expression on his face and was busy packing the basket without even looking at the idle man.
The young man covered his mouth with his hands, forcing himself to hold back the ecstasy in his heart and not laugh out loud.
Pedestrians in the alley took a detour when they saw Wanwan Salian. No one wanted to offend this evil star.
When Youwan Salin saw that he was still silent, he didn't take it too seriously. He stepped on the grained stone and walked over with his head held high. He threw two grained stones into the cage, picked up a bun, and started eating.
Lin Xiaojie handed a patterned stone to Xian Han and said in a deep voice: "Take your dirty money and get out of here!"
Luo Yuan's face was full of shock, and he secretly thought that the honest and honest filial son also lost his temper sometimes, and the other person was a bully that everyone in the town feared.
Youwanxin pretended not to hear, and while eating steamed buns, his feet involuntarily walked towards the end of the alley.
Lin Xiaojie picked up a patterned stone and threw it at the idle man's back.
Youwanxin paused slightly, stretched out his hand to scratch the hit back, and continued walking forward without caring, until he reached the wall at the end of the alley. The idle man turned around and walked towards the small alley to the north behind Green Willow Alley.
Luo Yuan's face changed drastically. He still couldn't believe that the filial son not only cursed but also hit others. What he couldn't believe even more was that the bully just left like this without looking back? !
Although the small grained stone does not hurt people, there is always a slight pain. The young man stood there blankly, with a complicated expression on his face, extremely puzzled.
When pedestrians on the street saw this scene, they all showed expressions of disbelief and gave Lin Xiaojie a thumbs up.
The idle man put the last bite of the bun into his mouth. He casually glanced at Wenqing Alley from the corner of his eye and saw a petite figure sneaking out of the door of the school.
You Wanxin's eyes shone brightly, as if he had seen his "prey" today. He swallowed the bun in his mouth, pressed his body close to the earth wall, followed with slow steps and cautiously.
The teacher in the school is named Wu Yuanxiao. He is wearing a lavender green shirt, a Confucian scarf hat, his boots are spotless, and his face is fair.
The scholar holds the yellowed book page in one hand and puts the other hand behind his back, facing the apprentice, looking elegant and easy-going.
"A monk gathers energy and flows, and can open mountains and break the sky with one punch!" Wu Yuanxiao said sonorously and forcefully.
After the scholar finished speaking, a group of immature children's voices rang out.
The young man under the eaves of the school was sitting on a stone with his back against the earthen wall. He pricked up his ears and listened carefully to the readings in the room.
"Can you break a mountain with one punch?" The young man instinctively stretched out his right hand, which was wrapped in black cloth and airtight, and then retracted it. He made a fist with his left hand and punched the wall.
The young man looked at the untouched earthen wall, scratched his head, and secretly thought that my fist was not strong enough, or that I used the wrong method. Sir, you shouldn't lie to others, right?
The young man shook his head helplessly and put his little arms on his knees, wondering what he was thinking.
At this moment, Xianhan "touched" into the door of the book school. He looked at the young man who was bowing his head in thought, bent down, and got closer, for fear of disturbing him.
Green Willow Lane
Luo Yuan sat on the stone steps, with his arms on his knees, his chin supported by his hands, his head tilted, his eyes staring at the filial son unblinkingly, looking very confused.
After Lin Xiaojie beat the idle man, his face showed no emotion. He was still busy selling buns, not caring that he would secretly retaliate against him.
This point gave the young man a headache even more. He had clearly caused a big disaster, but he still acted like nothing happened.
Finally, Luo Yuan stood up, slapped the dust on his butt a few times, immediately stood up on his heels, leaned sideways on Lin Xiaojie's arm, and whispered: "That idle man is the bully in the town."
Lin Xiaojie turned around, put his hands on his shoulders, and the boy landed on his heels.
His legs were slightly bent, and his shoulders were as level as possible with the young man. He put one hand lightly on Luo Yuan's shoulder, raised the other hand into a fist, and said sternly: "I don't care who he is, if he annoys me, I'll punch him. He would have to lose two front teeth."
The young man looked blank and swallowed, secretly thinking that this filial son was also a ruthless person.
Seeing his dull expression, Lin Xiaojie immediately smiled, scratched the back of his head, and said awkwardly: "Although, I don't know if I can beat him, but a man must be fearless, even if he risks being pushed to the ground, he will never beat him." Don’t bow your head.”
"Whether you can fight or not is one thing, but whether you dare to fight or not is another."
Luo Yuan's blood boiled all over after hearing this, and he had an unstoppable momentum.
Lin Xiaojie chuckled, moved all the cages back into the house, suddenly turned to look at Luo Yuan, and asked seriously: "By the way, why didn't you see that little guy Ziyang? Didn't he come with you?"
"He is probably still asleep." Luo Yuan said casually, and looked up at the sun hanging high in the sky. It was so dazzling that it was difficult for him to open his eyes.
He raised his hand to block the sun, and his face suddenly changed. He seemed to have thought of something important. He didn't even have time to answer the filial son's question, so he ran away because he knew that the idle man was walking towards the street where the book school was.
Although he didn't know whether his stupid brother went to the school today, he must go to see what happened. Even if he faced bullies and got beaten up by Fatty, he would never back down.
It's just a few teeth lost, what's the big deal.
After the boy left, Lin Xiaojie moved all the baskets into the house and sat on the bench for a while. When he was about to get up and go see his mother, he heard a long sigh coming from the house behind him.
His butt was hanging on the bench. He never sat down or stood up. He just kept doing this. After a few breaths, he sat down quietly.
