dusk.
The setting sun is shining, and the mood of autumn is getting stronger.
The official road in the south of Luoyang City has long been deserted of pedestrians.
Until the sound of horse hooves sounds...
But I saw two horses riding together from a distance.
There were three people riding on those two horses: Sun Yixie, Huang Donglai, and Chunkong.
Because Sun Yixie had to carry a lot of heavy luggage and it was inconvenient to have a trident on his back, Chunkong, who was "hitting the wind horse", rode the same horse as Huang Donglai. Fortunately, this little monk was not fat, and he had very little luggage. Carrying such a person along for a short distance would not affect their itinerary.
For Chunkong, coming to Luoyang might not be a big deal. Even if he didn't find anyone willing to take him with him, it would only take a few days to walk there.
But for Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai, coming here is not easy.
Although Huang Donglai's journey from Sichuan to Hangzhou was longer a few months ago, he arrived in Jiangnan by high-speed rail bus. Along the way, he not only looked at the scenery on both sides of the official road, but also ate at the inn. Eating and sleeping, almost nothing interesting happened.
But the journey he and Sun Yixie took from Hangzhou to Luoyang was different. In less than a month, they met all kinds of strange people and strange things, and even forged several grievances; this... This is the feeling of "walking around the world".
…………
After entering the city, the two immediately felt the difference between Luoyang and other places.
The city was very lively.
Although the roads outside the city were already empty of pedestrians at this time, the main road inside the city was decorated with lights and colorful and crowded.
And the further you walk toward the center of the city, the more people gather; from vendors selling things, entertainers, to various shops that don’t close even after dark, and pedestrians who linger... It seems that the whole city is in a state of chaos. A kind of "nightlife" state that is very rare in Dashu.
According to previous years, only the three or four days before and after the Mid-Autumn Festival can such a scene occur in Luoyang City. Even in the year when the "Young Heroes Association" is held, it can be extended to about seven days at most.
But... this year, Master Shen of the Zhengyi Gate in Luoyang seemed to want to make this event grander and longer than before, so he had already heated up the atmosphere in the city more than ten days in advance.
Don't think this is an easy task. Just the lanterns and lanterns on both sides of the city's main roads are a huge expense; there are also "overtime pay" for the vendors and shops, so that the gangsters in the city can help maintain order. The "protection fee" for the government to give you the green light for nightlife, the "management fee" for your nightlife, etc., this night market like a celebration...money from the Justice Gate is not burned every day.
Of course, this kind of excitement is also great for them.
As mentioned before, it is not easy to run a sect with more than a hundred members. If you want this sect to host such a large-scale event that lasts for nearly half a month in addition to daily life, it will test your sect even more. of comprehensive strength.
In addition to having money, the coordination ability of the management within the sect, the scheduling ability of the middle level, and the execution ability of the grassroots are all very important.
When you do things neatly and gracefully, you are equivalent to showing your strength to your martial arts colleagues; and the things your sect accomplishes will also become intangible assets that you can use when dealing with other people in the future.
Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai are both people who like to cause trouble. They were attracted by this night market as soon as they entered the city. In addition, they finally arrived at their destination and could breathe a sigh of relief. Therefore, both of them seemed to be in high spirits. Most of the fatigue along the way has disappeared.
But Chunkong is different from them. He is a monk, and he pays attention to a pure heart and few desires. This time, if the Shaolin Temple had not received an invitation from the Justice Sect and asked Chunkong to come by name, Chunkong would not have thought of it at all. What kind of boy hero meeting are you going to join?
Therefore, Chunkong was completely uninterested in joining in the fun; after entering the city, he thanked Sun and Huang for their "favor of taking advantage of it", then said goodbye in a hurry, and ran to the White Horse Temple with his master's handwriting The "pending order" is gone.
Of course, it's okay that he's gone...
On the way from Songshan, Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai also chatted with him, and found that this guy was very serious; in their eyes, Chunchong was like a kid who used innocent flour and boredom. The dough is kneaded with water and fermented with Buddhist yeast... With this recipe, you can only make a bowl of Yangchun noodles called "Senior Monk".
As for the two of them, one is hot pot that makes you have diarrhea, and the other is seafood that makes you gout. They cannot urinate in the same pot as this monk.
It's better now that Chun Kong is gone. They are more comfortable and can go to the night market.
The two of them first went to the inn to check in, put down their luggage and trident, and then went onto the street. After walking for a while, they found a roadside stall and sat down, each with a bowl of donkey meat soup and steamed buns. , I was full for five minutes.
Then I walked on the street again, looking at the sideshow performers, the fake jewelry on the street stalls, admiring the traditional craftsmanship of the candy makers, and then took a deep breath of the food, powder, soil, grass, metal, horses, etc. in the air. The complex smell of manure, lamp oil and other smells mixed together...that's a beauty.
What's so beautiful about this, you ask?
All I can say is that this is called "smell the smell of people", or "smell the smell of the market."
This smell can hardly be smelled in our era, especially in big cities; perhaps some older people can still find some similar smell in their childhood or memories of their hometown, but young people... ...Most of them are still familiar with the smell of car exhaust and the dog poop left on the green belt by idiots who walk their dogs without a leash.
Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai continued shopping until three quarters past three o'clock (8:45 p.m.). By this time, the night market was coming to an end.
The biological clock of ancient people was still very healthy compared with that of people today. For most people at that time, the feeling of staying up until nine o'clock in the evening was similar to the feeling we feel when we stay up until midnight now - no matter how high the interest is, it would still be too late. You will start to yawn (of course, there are many modern people who are energetic all night and don’t feel sleepy until dawn, yes, I know you exist).
Therefore, at this time, the number of pedestrians gradually decreased, and the street vendors began to close their stalls one after another.
However, Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai's night outing is obviously not over yet, it can even be said that it has just begun...
Since both of them were from well-known families, how could they not know that in larger cities and towns, there would be "nightclubs" open all night long.
In Dashu, most of the "nightclubs" are brothels, the most famous of which is the "Xinghui Tower" located in Shanghai County along the Jiangnan coast; I heard that many court officials were even willing to risk being raped. Danger, who was dismissed from office, disguised himself and went there to have fun, which shows its extraordinary charm.
Sun Yixie has always wanted to go there, but unfortunately Master Sun is very strict with him and doesn't let him visit brothels at all, let alone Xinghui Tower, he can't even go to the brothels in Hangzhou.
The same goes for Huang Donglai: firstly, the Huangmen in Shuzhong is a famous family, and he is the only young master, so the discipline must be stricter; secondly, their generation has fallen into decline, and although they may not die of hunger, they don't have that much spare money. Spend money on a place like a brothel.
But it's different today. The two of them are far away from home in Luoyang, and no one cares about them.
They still had a lot of money left on them; they didn't really want to go whoring, but they had never visited one in this universe where it was legal to open a brothel for so many years, even out of curiosity. , they also want to go in and experience it.
So, when the time of Xu was about to end, these two fools found a building on the street that was still brightly lit and had a rather luxurious facade.
The two looked at each other with a sly smile, and happily stepped in together.
But as soon as they entered, they couldn't laugh anymore.
Because they immediately discovered that... they seemed to be in the wrong place.
I was looking at it on the street just now, and the signboard of this place said "No Return Building"; as for these three words... it depends on how you understand it. If you are thinking about finding a brothel, then the name looks good. It really looks like a kiln, but you have to think about it carefully. These three words are also suitable for use in a funeral parlor.
They looked inside again and saw that there was a light in the open door, which was very bright, and there was a screen blocking it; they thought this was normal... The screen, firstly, can block wind and dust, and secondly, it can cover the inside The shameful deeds of men and women.
In addition, just a few steps away from the door, you can hear the voices of many people talking inside. There are voices of both men and women, and there are a lot of people. It is not clear what is being said, but the tone seems to be quite similar. happy.
To sum up, at first glance at the door, it is indeed possible to misunderstand this place as a brothel.
Who knew, they came in and took a look - a serious restaurant, a place to eat.
Why is business so good? It's very simple. This is the best restaurant in Luoyang City. Not only is the food good, but it also only serves the evening market. It opens every day at midnight and stays open until midnight. All the rich and free people in the city who don't sleep at night are here. If you like to come here for late-night snacks, aren’t there a lot of people?
"Two guests." Soon, a middle-aged man dressed like a housekeeper from a wealthy family came up and said to Sun and Huang in a neither humble nor condescending manner, "It's windy at the door, please come and sit inside."
From the greeting upon entering, you can tell that this restaurant is different: when a guest comes, it is not the waiter who comes to greet him, but someone who is responsible for greeting the guest.
Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai took a look and saw that everyone had come over to say hello. Should we turn around and go out again? By the way, let me ask him how to get to the nearest brothel? This seems a bit embarrassing.
The two looked at each other and shrugged... let's just make do with it here.
There are not many seats in the lobby on the first floor of the No Return Building, and at this hour and three o'clock, there is still 90% occupancy rate; the aroma of the food on the table, the expressions of enjoying the food on the faces of the diners, and their joy The sound of chatter proves that this store is indeed good.
The greeter led Sun and Huang to an empty table in the corner, stopped and asked, "Two guests, is this place okay?"
Sun Yixie said to himself: This location is not very good. There is a pillar not far away, and it is not convenient to come and go to serve food.
He turned around and saw that there were only a few corner seats left in the lobby, so he casually asked: "Is there any empty seats upstairs?"
He... is just used to it.
Because when he was in Hangzhou, he went to some higher-end restaurants to treat guests to dinner, and they always had private rooms.
He doesn't know that the "upstairs" of the non-returning building is not something you can go up casually; here is the only lobby on the first floor where you can eat as long as you have money, but you have to be particular about going upstairs to eat... That's why there are so many people on the first floor.
"Oh..." The greeter was stunned for a moment, but soon showed a very professional smile, "Ah... there are still some empty seats upstairs." He paused, "Sir, you... Do you really want to go?”
"Is this true or false?" Sun Yixie didn't hear anything wrong with the other party's words, so he immediately replied, "Go ahead."
Huang Donglai also added: "Brother, hurry up, we are both hungry."
He was telling the truth. The snacks they had eaten on the street had been almost digested; besides, after coming in, they saw so many delicious foods and smelled the fragrance, which made their mouth water.
"Okay... okay." Seeing that both of them were very determined, the greeter stretched his arms, made a "please" gesture, and then said, "You two are invited, come this way." As he said, He led the two of them up the steps leading to the second floor.
This leads to the story - Sun Yixie fights with the old imperial cook with swords, and Huang Donglai fights with Xiao Dezu in writing.
