The windows on the second floor were wide open, and the night breeze filled the room.
There is no moon outside the window, but the sky is full of stars.
These tiny pieces of starlight converge on the ground, and after your eyes adapt to the night light, you can use this to see things.
I can't see subtle movements on the ground or in the distance, but I can still see the outline of the city. The eaves and corners of the roof extend into the distance until they are indistinguishable from the night. There is a kind of silent beauty.
A clear voice came from behind:
"What are you looking at?"
"I heard that there are monsters in this city that harm people." Song You lay beside the window and said without looking back, "Ms. Sanhua went out for a walk last night. Did you see any monsters walking around at night?"
"I did not see it."
A shadow suddenly jumped up beside him.
The calico cat stood on the window sill, stretched its body, and said at the same time: "But there are many people walking on the road, and they make a squeaking sound when they walk."
"It's patrolling."
"Patrol~"
"Prætorian Guards."
"Private Guards~"
"It's the human army that protects this city."
"I haven't asked yet!"
"It doesn't matter."
"But Sanhua Empress was walking on the roof last night, and she felt that there were monsters far away, but they were too far away, and Sanhua Empress didn't dare to run over and have a look."
"Stay away from them."
"Are you looking for a monster?"
"just looking around."
"see it?"
"Of course not." Song You whispered, "Maybe it's because it's too poor here and the monsters don't want to come."
"Too poor~"
"Ms. Sanhua, what do you think I should buy a couch here? The couch is about this high. Put a coffee table in the middle, about this high." Song You gestured twice at the height by the window. The highest coffee table is probably only at the window. A little bit below, "This will make it easier for us to watch the scenery by the window in the future, and Sanhua Empress doesn't have to jump up to the window sill every time."
"Sanhua Empress will not fall."
"But the coffee table can lie down."
"Miss Sanhua saw someone sitting on that rocking chair, which seemed very fun."
"Miss Sanhua likes that kind of thing..."
Song You turned around and looked at the space upstairs in the dim light. He felt that it could fit comfortably.
"Does that cost a lot of money?"
“You’ll have to go see it to find out.”
The calico cat turned to look at him and got very close: "Are we out of money?"
"Another point."
"Is it just one o'clock?"
"Roughly the same."
“Can’t a person survive without money?”
"..."
This question actually made Song You think about it carefully.
It doesn’t seem right to say that people can’t survive without money. In this day and age, there are indeed many people in remote places who have little money all year round, or even no money at all. When they need salt, they just carry their things and go down the mountain to barter. The rest of the time, they are self-sufficient and live an extremely primitive life. life.
But if this sentence is wrong, it seems not very appropriate.
The heroes in the book are happy with their grudges, but sometimes they are stumped by a penny, and even most of them are running for money.
Except for a very small number of hermits in the mountains or orthodox ascetics, most of the masters of spiritual practice in people's minds still need money. The only difference is how much.
The reason why there is Fulong Temple on Yin Yang Mountain and that many generations of temple owners, many of them willful people, have not demolished it is not because Taoist temples can provide convenience for interacting with the world, and you can rely on it to collect some money when you are lazy. Can sesame oil money lead a life of eating and waiting to die?
Song Xing also needed money to travel around the world.
It's just that people in Jianghu are often free and easy. If they have money, they will get drunk all night. If they don't have money, they won't blame anyone for being hungry. Taoists have an indifferent nature. If they have money, they will live a better life. If they don't have money, life will be tight and it doesn't matter.
After thinking for a while, he just said:
"Roughly the same."
Xiaomao'er's brows suddenly wrinkled. He obviously had a cat face, but for a moment he could see a bit of sadness:
"Then what should we do?"
"Let's make money."
"How to make money?"
"Think of ways to."
"When Sanhua Empress went out for a walk during the day, she saw someone selling kittens on the road over there." Sanhua Cat raised its chin and pointed in a direction.
"Um?"
"You can sell Sanhua Empress."
"..."
Song You couldn't help but smile: "Empress Sanhua knows this is impossible."
"You sell Sanhua Empress. When you get the money and walk away, Sanhua Empress will run away secretly and come to find you."
"That's not right."
"Can you make money by catching mice?"
"have no idea."
Song You reached out and touched her head: "We just have less money, it's not that we have no money. Besides, we won't starve to death if we don't have money. Empress Sanhua doesn't need to worry about this."
"Won't you starve to death?"
"Won't."
"oh……"
"At no time can you make money by stealing or cheating. But Sanhua Empress is an upright cat, so I don't need to explain such a simple truth."
"Yes."
"Miss Sanhua is indeed upright."
"The woman next door was hanging on the wall and listening to us."
"It doesn't matter."
"She went back quietly again."
"It doesn't matter."
"She went to bed."
"Stop eavesdropping."
"It heard it itself..."
"Go to sleep."
Song You picked her up from the window sill.
The room was quiet for a moment, and then the voice of the calico cat came: "What are you doing? Put me down quickly..."
…
On the third day after arriving in Changjing, Song You got up earlier.
This time I met the heroine when she went out.
Still wearing thick gray and black clothes, which may be easier to carry weapons. When she met Song You when she closed the door, she laughed dryly, as if she was a little embarrassed:
"Haha, did you sleep well last night?"
"Good."
"I seemed to hear someone talking next door last night. I didn't know if it was you talking or the neighbor on the other side. They both leaned closer to listen, and it seemed that it was you talking."
"It doesn't matter."
"..."
"Is the heroine going out?"
"Yes, yes, I went out to work."
"Walk slowly."
"Thank you."
The woman locked the door, turned around and left.
It was foggy in the morning, and the clothes on my body were gray and black, and it was soon difficult to see clearly.
I don’t know what to do so early.
What this heroine said the day before yesterday was very good. Everyone has their own things to do. Even old acquaintances should keep a certain distance. So Song You doesn't want to know what she is going to do. He just wants to wait for her. After walking far away, he looked back, returned to the house, and started cooking leisurely.
Make a pot of gruel.
Go out to the butcher shop on the east end of the street and buy some minced meat dumplings, one or two is enough. Buy some green vegetables. When they are chopped, the porridge will just be cooked into shape. Throw them all in, and you will have a pot of minced meat and vegetable porridge.
After eating, he asked his neighbors where they could sell old wooden furniture, and the Taoist and the cat walked in that direction.
Seems like I'm going the wrong way...
But it’s not a big problem. Wherever you go with your leisure time, there will be no detours.
Suddenly someone stopped him.
It was a middle-aged man with a long beard, wearing a Taoist robe, holding a fortune-telling flag in his hand, which was both a flag and a crutch. He said:
"Officer, I see you looking around, with restless eyes and bad luck. Your behavior may be unfavorable recently. If you are coming to Beijing to take the exam, why not take a life test? I am very good at pinching bones and reading words! I know what will happen next. , I will have confidence in my heart!"
Song You turned to look at him.
The calico cat also looked up at him.
The fortune-telling flag consists of a wooden staff and a flag, with only one word "jie" on it. This "jie" is similar to the word "jiu" on the wine flag, and is the signature of Dayan's fortune teller.
Song You looked at the clothes on his body again, then smiled and handed over his hands: "Brother Taoist, you are polite, I am actually a Taoist, not a candidate for Beijing, but I didn't wear a Taoist robe when I came out today."
"Why did the officer lie to me?"
"If the next sentence is true, Brother Tao, it's better to find business elsewhere."
"Just don't believe it..."
The fortune teller shook his head and left.
Along the way, I met several fortune tellers like this.
Fortune-telling and fortune-telling are actually very popular in Dayan now, to interpret dreams and ward off misfortunes, especially in an environment where the imperial court believes in Taoism and the imperial preceptor is famous for fortune-telling. There are countless fortune-tellers in Changjing.
In addition to the lowest-end "You Gua", there are also "Zi Gua" that set up stalls on the street or even set up sheds, and also hung a banner to interpret the characters. Everyone will know what this place is doing when they see it from a distance. The ones that did the best even had their own stores in busy sections, with long queues forming at the door, and scholar-bureaucrats often coming to ask for advice.
Yes, spring is almost here.
People in Dayan like to ask fortune tellers to tell their fortunes before taking exams, traveling far away, or doing important things. Now that many candidates are gathering in Changjing, they are afraid that fortune tellers from surrounding counties and even people who usually do other things will do this. They all dressed up as fortune tellers to earn money from out-of-town candidates.
The government has the broadest control over this kind of business. If you can't tell the truth from the false, you won't dare to offend.
This actually gave Song You some inspiration.
Keep looking for places that sell used furniture.
Occasionally I heard people discussing on the roadside that the minister of the Ministry of Industry was eaten by a monster at home not long ago, which shocked the government and the public. Especially since the monster has not been caught for so long, the common people are panicked, while the evil men and monsters in the dark seem to be inspired and become more and more excited.
And it’s almost spring.
The Taoist walked with the cat through the busy city and through the alleys. His steps were slow, and he seemed to despise time compared with the hurried pedestrians around him.
Walk, watch, and listen.
Listen to the story of Changjing City and see how the people in this land live.
It was not until the afternoon that I finally bought a comfortable couch, coffee table, cloth cushions, and a very old rocking chair, which I spent a lot of money on.
I also bought a few shop flags by the way.
When I got home, I took out my pen and ink, wrote the word "Tao" on a piece of paper, stuck it diagonally on the door, and drew it out. The other two long flags, with specific matters written on them, were hung on both sides of the gate.
exorcise evil spirits;
Get rid of rats and worries.
Song You looked at it again and again and was very satisfied.
So he lowered his head and said to Empress Sanhua: "If someone comes to the store to exorcise evil spirits and subjugate demons, that's my job. If someone comes to ask for help in catching mice, I will have to trouble Empress Sanhua."
"Meow?"
"have no idea……"
Song You smiled.
Whether it is helping people to resolve misfortunes, exorcising evil spirits, or catching mice and insects, they are all considered good deeds. As for how much money Sanhuamao can make, he doesn't know now, it only depends on the customers. The rich and generous may give more, while the poor and distressed may give less. If you earn more, you can eat better; if you earn less, you can eat worse.
But live in a different way and look at the world from a different angle.
(End of chapter)
