Lin Manliu was frightened by the sound of the woman dressed as a scholar. After pondering for a moment, he looked at her in confusion and said, "Although the girl looks like a man, her voice is still that of a woman...".
After hearing this, the female scholar turned to look at her horse and muttered: "Okay... I also give me a bowl of tea."
Her horse was tied to the tree stump together with Xiao Huang, a boy in a short shirt. The horse was taking a few steps closer to Xiao Huang from time to time, and then retreated to its original position.
"Isn't that right? You two gentlemen, please be patient. I'll go to the back room to get some food." The old man said with a smile. Then he poured a bowl of tea for the female scholar, got up and walked into the inn room.
The female scholar took the poured tea, put the bowl in front of her, looked at the tea leaves floating in the bowl, and murmured softly: "How much do you believe in the ghosts in the valley? ".
Lin Manliu had been looking at his Xiao Huang just now, for fear that the female scholar's horse would bully Xiao Huang. Suddenly he heard the other party ask, and the boy in short shirt was stunned at first. Could it be that this woman had heard what the old man had told him before? arrive?
Why didn't he notice this person approaching at all before... Lin Manliu didn't answer immediately, but looked at the woman disguised as a man in front of him with vigilance. The female scholar noticed the young man's sudden gaze, and then said : "For foreigners who come here, if they are not lost, they must want to explore the scenery in the valley. You don't have to be so cautious."
But what this woman didn't know was that the boy in a short shirt happened to be the former... Because he didn't know where this place was, he accidentally entered the Buried Sword Valley area.
"Of course I don't believe the story of ghosts, but such strange things are worth watching." Lin Manliu didn't know the details of the other party, so he had to follow the female scholar's words. On normal days, this person would be The old man talked about the magical valley, and when the young man in short shirt set out on his journey, he would definitely make a detour and stay away from it.
"Go together?" the female scholar asked immediately after the young man said that it was worth going.
"I only have a one-time relationship with the girl, right?" Lin Manliu said in confusion.
"It was fate that we met at the right time. I, Brother Guan, are not a vulgar person. As long as we work together once, we will become familiar with him." The female scholar said, waving the folding fan with one hand and shaking it gently in front of him.
"If people only look at their appearance, they can know their good and evil. How could there be so many insidious and cunning people in the world..." Lin Manliu said as he lifted the teapot, added some tea to the bowl, and handed it over. Scholar Xiang flicked her wrist as she spoke, and the tea leaves that were still floating on the water immediately fell silent to the bottom of the bowl and never rose again.
"Good job, brother!" the female scholar said while looking at the tea bowl, and immediately raised her folding fan to the top of her head. However, as she raised the folding fan lightly, a breeze seemed to blow between the two of them, blowing the tea in the bowl, which had already fallen. The sinking tea leaves began to slowly rise again.
There was a secret comparison between the two, and after Lin Manliu's probing, they instantly made a judgment. The boy in a short shirt laughed softly, and the female scholar reacted belatedly.
"What Xiongtai said is indeed true. I originally thought that Xiongtai was a sword-wielding knight in the rivers and lakes, but I didn't expect that Xiongtai would behave like this to test me, a poor scholar." The female scholar said and stopped. He folded his fan and started waving his palms again. Seeing that the boy in short shirt didn't reply, he sighed again and started to peek at the boy in front of him.
But after Lin Manliu tested him, he no longer meant to talk to him. From what he had done just now, it can be seen that the other party must be above him. Although the gap is not big, there may be something hidden. If he is with This unknown scholar disguised himself as a woman and had a conversation with him, which might affect his normal travel in the future.
The female scholar seemed a little annoyed that the boy in the short shirt did not reply. She snorted and stood up to leave. However, Lin Manliu was still holding a tea bowl at the table and did not even look at the woman who was leaving. The female scholar had already He approached his horse and stopped for a moment.
She turned to look at Lin Manliu again: "Brother, are you really not heading to the valley?"
"I lost my way on the long journey. I was just passing by." The boy in a short shirt finally said after drinking all the tea. Lin Manliu thought to himself that since he had explained it like this, this person should not continue to entangle him here.
Unfortunately, it backfired in the end. Instead of leaving, the female scholar sat back to her original position. She looked at the boy in a short shirt and said, "I forgot to mention my name. It's really rude. I'm Ning Ke. I don't know how to call you." While speaking, she also said to Lin Manliu He bowed his hands and bowed.
Lin Manliu still held a tea bowl in his hand, looked at her expressionlessly and said three words: "Liu Manlin."
The female scholar nodded and prepared to get up again and turn around to walk towards the horse. She began to mutter: "Oh...my brother's name is 'Lin Manliu'".
The teacup in Lin Manliu's hand moved slightly, but only for a while.
"Hey, I guessed it right. Who doesn't have a fake name when going out? It's just that Brother Lin's name is really easy to guess..." The female scholar suddenly turned her head to look at the boy in a short shirt, with a proud look on her face. proud.
"What do you want to do?" Lin Manliu also understood at this moment that this person would never let him go easily.
"Brother Lin, you can call me Mr. Ning first. After all, the way I dress now, I look a lot like those teachers in the school. I don't think much about it. I just traveled here and was really bored. I happened to meet Brother Lin again. , I invited Brother Lin to join me in the valley." Ning Ke said, opening the folding fan in front of him and shaking it gently.
While the two were talking, the old man finally brought out some pastries from the back room, walked up to the two of them unhurriedly, and placed the pastries on the table.
The old man laughed and said: "I missed some things at the inn. I only bought some cakes when I went to the market a few days ago. I originally thought I would try them when I had nothing to do. Today's bustle will make it easier for you two little kids. ".
Lin Manliu nodded to the old man to thank him, but did not rush to grab the pastry on the plate. Ning Ke reached out with one hand, twisted a piece of pastry in his hand, and then smiled at the old man and said: "Thank you, old man!".
After Ning Ke finished speaking, he put the pastry into his mouth. The old man also smiled and twisted a piece into his mouth. He looked at the boy in a short shirt who had not made any move with a smile and said: "Little boy, this time it's you. Not happy."
"I'm sorry, I'm rude," Lin Manliu said apologetically. After saying that, he also picked up a piece of pastry and put it into his mouth. When he ate it, it seemed to have a familiar taste, like the golden cake he had eaten twice. The pastries are crispy, but the pastries in front of me are ordinary steamed cakes.
"It tastes great," Lin Manliu said after eating.
"It tastes good!" the old man said with a smile. After saying that, he carried the teapot and walked towards the backyard. On the way, he said to himself that he was going to get more tea to boil. Maybe it can be boiled today. When some guests said something like this, their figures moved further and further away.
"When are you leaving?" Ning Ke picked up another piece of pastry and put it into his mouth.
"...Leave some for the old man, and say goodbye to him later." Lin Manliu looked at the female scholar who was still eating the cakes that the old man took out, and replied casually, because if he didn't agree, maybe the female scholar in front of him would I will definitely find other ways to entangle myself.
"I know, I know, let's go to the valley together soon, Brother Lin," Ning Ke said with a smirk on his face.
"I will go with you, but if danger occurs, I will only protect my own safety and may escape at any time." Lin Manliu looked at Ning Ke and said.
"What do you mean? Husband and wife are birds of the same forest. They fly separately when disaster strikes. I understand, I understand." Ning Ke closed his eyes and nodded.
Lin Manliu was speechless at the words used by the female scholar in front of him, so he stopped answering.
"If you are in danger, Brother Lin, just take care of yourself. As long as you don't do anything to stab someone in the back, we don't owe each other anything." Ning Ke felt that this young man in a short shirt was really boring, so he could only wave his hand and said.
Lin Manliu hummed, and the old man also walked out of the backyard, staggeringly carrying the full pot of cold water. The boy in a short shirt stood up and went over, took the teapot from the old man's hand, and carried it to the fire. On top of that, he used the rag beside him to wipe the dust on the stage of the inn store, and neatly tidied up the scattered tea bowls and chopsticks.
The old man just sat on the chair to rest, looking at the young man's back, his eyes narrowed into thin lines, the corners of his mouth raised, and he smiled.
"Old man, we have something to do and are ready to leave first. The tea will be boiled in a while." After Lin Manliu finished his work, he turned to the old man and said, patting his hands on both sides of his thighs to clean the dust on his hands.
"Old man, we are going to go shopping, so I won't chat here with you all the time." Ning Ke also stood up and said.
"Nothing, nothing, just you two little kids, I'll take a rest here," the old man said with a loud smile.
Then the two untied the rope from the tree stump, each led their own horses, and walked towards the road Ning Ke came from. There was no sound in the villages along the way, but when Lin Manliu came, he could see many places. There was smoke rising... After the two of them walked out of the village, they got on their horses together on the rural road. Ning Ke asked at this moment: "Just now, what did you discover?"
"Although the shop floor is covered with dust, there is indeed no ashes between the tea bowls, and several tea bowls have been wiped clean." Lin Manliu said slowly while looking at the road ahead.
"What else?" Ning Ke continued to ask.
"The neighboring towns here are very far away. It is extremely difficult to find a town where you can go to the market within a hundred miles. It is not easy for the old man just to move around and go to the market." Lin Manliu continued to answer.
"What else?" Ning Ke began to smile approvingly on his face.
"Then there are the charcoal for boiling water... When I was at home, I only dared to add half of the charcoal during the holidays. After using it, I would cover it and wait for the next time I boiled water to turn the charcoal again. The charcoal in the furnace was actually full. No matter whether it was pouring tea, adding water or boiling water, he never bothered to take care of the charcoal, alas." Lin Manliu said, and began to sigh to himself, because here he was even more regretful. That charcoal fire.
After Ning Ke fastened the folding fan to his waist, he clapped his hands several times and said, "Brother Lin, I admire you."
