Song You was awakened by the sound of gongs and drums outside.
When I opened my eyes in a daze, it was already the first day of the first lunar month of the seventh year of Mingde.
The banging outside continued.
Song You took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. The air was cold and the temperature was extremely low. In such weather, he should stay in bed for a while.
But he still lifted the quilt.
The calico cat huddled next to his thigh, lying down and burying her head deeply, her ears trembling slightly with the rhythm of the beating outside, especially the harsh sound of gongs and cymbals. It was obvious that she had also been awakened, but she was still I lay down and refused to get up. I thought I was very tired last night.
"..."
Song You couldn't help but leaned over, got close to Mao'er, and took a deep breath on her.
As expected, there was a warm smell of brine.
Turning his head again, he scanned the room and found that the small movable stove in the room had slightly changed its position. It had been moved to somewhere and then moved back again. A small pot was placed on the table. It was washed clean and could be used as long as possible. If you imagine what it went through last night, none of those things happened.
At this time——
The cat didn't know whether it was because the quilt left and the coldness replaced the warmth, or because he was confused by the Taoist's sniffing action on his body. He finally raised his head, bleary-eyed, and stared at him with a puzzled expression.
"fine……"
As soon as the Taoist loosened his hand, the quilt fell down, covering the calico cat tightly.
It's so cold in the northern morning.
Exhaling a breath, it was a rich whiteness. When the Taoist got out of bed, he quickly wrapped himself in paper fur, then came to the window, opened it and looked down.
Although the town is small and there are not many people, the New Year atmosphere is not dull at all.
The Taoist looked at the window for a long time.
When he looked back and turned around, he saw the cat on the bed had its head come out from under the quilt, and only one head came out. To be precise, only its facial features were exposed, and its chin was pressed against the mattress. One can imagine Judging from her body posture in the quilt, her eyes were half-closed, feeling sleepy, but she kept staring at the Taoist.
Seeing the Taoist looking over, she asked:
"Is today New Year's Day?"
"yes."
"Is it another year?"
"yes."
"Is it spring?"
"There are still a few days until the beginning of spring."
"When are we leaving?"
"It's too snowy in the north. Let's go after the snow melts."
"Are you going out?"
"Go out and buy some steamed buns." The Taoist said to her, "Does Sanhua Empress want to eat?"
"It seems like Sanhua Empress has just eaten it."
"..."
"The mice here are so small, only..."
When the calico cat was talking, the quilt shook for a while, and he stretched out a small paw in a white glove, as if he wanted to show the size of the northern mouse, but found that it couldn't be done with only one paw, and he had to use two paws. It felt inconvenient and unnecessary, so he shrank back and continued to stare at the Taoist:
"It's very small anyway, as big as Didi'er. Oh, it's about the same size as a pastry and round. Sanhua Empress can eat several of them in one meal, but Sanhua Empress made a lot of them last night and kept them all. Taoist priests these days There’s no need to ask Sanhua Empress to eat.”
"..."
The Taoist hesitated to speak, and in the end he only left one sentence: "Miss Sanhua, it was really hard last night."
"It's not hard."
"Then I'm out."
"You go out."
The calico cat still kept its posture, with only a cat face emerging from the quilt, its eyes staring at the Taoist.
The Taoist shook his head and went out and went downstairs.
The calico cat also retracted its head.
The store owner has been waiting downstairs for a long time.
"Sir, are you up?"
"get up."
“Prosperous New Year!”
"The store is also auspicious."
"Oh, by the way, sir, were you cooking the braised pork in the room last night?"
"No."
Song You could only answer truthfully.
Then he nodded to the store owner and went out to the street.
A swallow followed him in the sky.
The streets are really lively on the first day of the first lunar month. This kind of liveliness has little to do with prosperity or not. It is a rebound of the desolation and depression that has accumulated for a year. It will last at least until the first few days.
Except for the day of the Beginning of Spring, when the Taoist realized the spirit of the Beginning of Spring overnight, he still did not practice much. He only spent time and energy on studying food. When he was free, he would go out of the city and listen to books next door. In the first few days, I could meet the young man named Xu Qiu'an every day, but he refused when the Taoist asked him to sit with me again. In the next few days, maybe he started working again, and I couldn't meet him again.
The business of the inn is slowly getting better.
Song You lived here for a month.
The weather has warmed a lot, but the snow has not gone away outside the city.
Song You adheres to the concept of "the money he carries is Sanhua Empress's hard-earned money, so it must be saved". He negotiates with the store and continues to live here until the snow melts outside the city. The price is the same as the monthly subscription, but he will be charged for one day's stay. The price for a day is equivalent to cheaper.
The store owner is an honest person and agreed.
But during this period of time, this gentleman has made the store anxious and confused.
What’s anxious is that since New Year’s Eve, people have been coming to ask what was cooked in the inn that day and whether it can be eaten in the store. But although this gentleman has cooked braised pork twice these days, who can Do you think that pot of brine can be reused? Even if he wanted to learn secretly, there was no chance. That would make him anxious.
Later, there were several times when the fragrance came in the middle of the night. Once, the shop owner lit up a lantern and searched around the house in front of and behind the house, but could not find the source of the fragrance. He couldn't help but be puzzled.
Fortunately, every time after the incense comes in the middle of the night, there will be less brine in the big pot, and the water line will drop significantly. But now, the brine is almost running out, and this gentleman seems to be leaving. I wonder if I can see him preparing the brine again.
How could the store not be anxious?
There is still one doubt -
On the first day he moved in, this gentleman said that he had two friends in the city, and he had seen them in the inn these days. One was an extremely beautiful little girl, and the other was a The extremely beautiful young man looked nothing like a normal person. As time went by, he found that these two people often could only go in and out, and they often came out without seeing them go in.
At the same time, when the gentleman goes out, he is often followed by a calico cat and a swallow-like bird.
The shop owner often talked about this with his wife at night.
I also talked quietly with my relatives.
All I know is that this gentleman is not an ordinary person, he should also be an expert practitioner with considerable abilities.
It's gradually coming to early February.
The Taoist walked out of the inn again, followed by a little girl on the left, wearing three-color clothes, and a young man on the right, wearing black and white clothes.
"Sir, are you going out again?"
The store owner greeted him, but couldn't help but look behind him.
"yes."
"Where are you going again?"
"Go for a walk outside the city. The snow seems to have started to melt these days. Let's go for a walk by the river." The Taoist smiled at him and said, "Maybe in a few days, it will be time to say goodbye to the store."
"The ice on the river is very unstable in February. Sir, please be careful. People fall off every year."
"Thanks for the tip."
The Taoist thanked him and walked out.
The store owner still stared at them.
I just thought that my eyes were hidden and I didn't expect to be discovered. However, the little girl who was following the man and carrying a sash turned back from time to time and also glanced at him curiously. Several relatives said that the little girl was probably a cat. Suddenly, the shopkeeper had no choice but to look away hurriedly and look away as if nothing had happened.
The Taoist left the city and walked to the river.
There is a river outside the city, called the Black Water River. It is said that the black bamboo in Mozhu County can grow as black as black jade by drinking the water from the Black Water River.
Every winter, the river freezes.
It is walkable throughout the winter.
Just one month after the beginning of spring, the ice surface quietly thinned and became dangerous.
Three figures soon arrived on the river.
It has become deserted these days. There are almost no people by the river. The little girl glanced around and took out a dagger from her bag. Then she was seen holding the dagger with the tip of the knife facing down against the ice barrier on the river. Kong drew a circle. It was silent and there was no sign of anything strange. A circular circle appeared on the ice, which was smoother than a saw.
The little girl paid more attention, and soon there was a hole in the ice.
Then the little girl put away the dagger and stopped moving. Instead, she squatted down and stared at the hole.
She had been here with the Taoist priest before.
It's so cold here that the entire river is covered in ice, and the fish feel uncomfortable suffocating underneath. Usually if a hole is opened, fish will swim over after a while. Sanhua Niangniang is very capable. They caught a lot of them last time. Not only did they eat enough for themselves, but they also sold a lot of them on the street and even gave one to the store as a gift.
Sanhua Empress likes the feeling of catching prey, and even more likes the feeling of catching prey and feeding it to Taoist priests. If she can still sell it for money, she couldn't love it more.
The wait was longer this time than last time.
Sanhua Empress turned her head and looked around from time to time, looking at the Taoist priests walking around on the ice and looking at the young swallow who was following her but not daring to get close, wondering if they had scared her fish.
Not long after, the fish came.
"!"
Empress Sanhua's expression calmed down a bit, and she also retreated a little, hiding behind the ice and glancing quietly into the water.
As soon as he stretched out his hand, there were sharp hooked nails on his white and tender hands. They were crystal clear and pink in the middle, as if they were carved from fine ice-type pink jade.
"brush!"
He stretched out his hand like lightning, fast and accurate.
"puff……"
There was only a slight sound of water and water splashing. When the little girl's hand left the water, she had already firmly caught a big fish. As she moved her hand, the fish fell on the ice.
It's so neat and tidy that no one can match it.
"Pa bang..."
The fish struggled and swung on the ice.
Sanhua Empress immediately turned her head——
The Taoist priest was facing away from him and looking into the distance. He didn't know what he was looking at. Really.
Sanhua Empress had no choice but to turn her head to the other side.
The Yanzi boy in black and white clothes stood a foot away from him, facing his side, looking at him.
Sanhua Empress stared at him closely.
"..."
Young Yanzi couldn't help but take half a step back.
Sanhua Empress continued to stare at him.
"..."
Young Yanzi felt even more uncomfortable.
"?"
Sanhua Empress frowned slightly.
"!"
Young Yanzi's expression was condensed, he was frightened for a while, his mind was racing, and then he remembered and said quickly:
"Miss Sanhua is amazing!"
"..."
The Sanhua Empress then took a long breath, showed a satisfied expression, retracted her gaze, and continued to look at the hole in the ice, waiting for the next unlucky fish to come to her door.
The young man Yanzi also came over quickly, holding some kind of vine grass in his hand, threaded the fish and put it next to it.
Then the little girl kept waving her hands and catching fish. As soon as the fish was caught out of the water, she threw it aside without looking at it. She just continued to stare at the mouth of the cave. Young Yanzi hurried over, carefully picked up the fish and tied it with a straw rope, not daring to get too close to her.
The Taoist still looked into the distance.
…
Golden Jasmine launches a plan to save expired monthly tickets——
It’s the end of the month again, and the monthly ticket in your hand is about to expire. It would be a waste not to vote, so why not vote for Jasmine! Every month, the babies hope to have a home, so come and save them!
(End of chapter)
