Where did you wake up tonight? On the bank of willows, the dawn wind wanes and the moon falls.
There is a large lake in the imperial city of the Tang Dynasty, which was also the Mingyue Silver Lake in the Qin Dynasty. Qin Xiangyu, who went to the palace to visit his senior sister with a shy stomach, picked up a homeless poor guy on the way back to the inn.
Originally, according to her temperament, she would definitely not pick up a random person on the roadside and return to the inn.
Just because the Bodhisattva in the dream last night said that a child was about to give birth, he asked her to go around the world and do some good deeds to accumulate blessings for the child who was about to be born.
Therefore, Qin Xiangyu, who came out of the palace, rarely opened the curtain and looked at the lake.
What caught the eye was a man who was so hungry that he fell down under a tree by the lake like a prodigal son. The prodigal son had no tears because he was so hungry.
He had only three copper coins left on him.
But he hadn't eaten for five days, and the remaining three cents starved the hero to death. He didn't know where to go, so he had to lean under a tree by the lake to catch his breath.
Even though he was about to starve to death, he didn't shed any tears.
Qin Xiangyu's carriage stopped on the side of the road. Sitting in the carriage, he waved to the prodigal son and asked, "What is your name and why do you live here..."
The corners of the prodigal son's lips moved and he murmured back: "My name is Ah Jue, my home is far away..."
"Oh, are you willing to go home with me? I have an inn, and the inn seems to be short of a busboy. Are you willing?"
Qin Xiangyu asked gently, but the prodigal son named Ajue said "Whoosh!" and tears fell quietly.
While wiping the tears on her face with her sleeves, Ah Jue struggled to reply: "I do."
"Let's drink some water first, and then eat when we get back to the inn..." Qin Xiangyu took a kettle from the car and handed it to the prodigal son Ajue who was trembling with excitement.
Men don't shed tears lightly, but it's just not the time to feel sad.
On this day, the Hongchen Inn had a handyman named Ajue.
A prodigal son who lived in the Imperial City of the Tang Dynasty, and Ajue, who seemed honest and even a little dull.
So Qin Xiangjue returned to Hongchen Inn with Ajue, who he picked up from under the tree by the lake, and took him all the way to the courtyard of the kitchen behind the inn.
Looking at the man who was chopping firewood hard, he shouted: "Amu, I have found a helper for you. From now on, if the inn is too busy, let Ajue help."
With just one word, Qin Xiangyu threw the retrieved Ajue to Amu, who was also a handyman.
Thinking about it, in order to show that he was not a bad person, Qin Xiangyu looked at Ajue and smiled: "As long as you do well, you can get five silver coins a month."
After saying that, he turned and left. He had just returned from the palace and wanted to go back to No. 46 to have a good rest.
Amu looked at Ajue who looked a little embarrassed and smiled: "Don't be afraid, my name is Amu. I come from Suiye City in the Western Region. I used to work as a coolie in the city..."
As early as ten days ago, the old man No. 47 had introduced Amu, who often helped him with wine making, to Qin Xiangyu, and asked Amu to work as a handyman in the Hongchen Inn.
Qin Xiangyu naturally had to obey her master's words obediently. Fortunately, these days, she found that Amu from a foreign land was not bad.
The main reason is that he is not afraid of hardship. Whenever he is called for something important, Amu goes to help without saying a word.
Therefore, everyone in Hongchen Inn knows that Amu is the most talkative and obedient guy.
Amu moved a stool for Ajue to sit down and said, "Wait a moment, I will go to the kitchen to see if there is any leftover food. I won't let you starve."
Ah Jue touched her growling stomach and said, "Thank you."
Just like that, ten days later, Hongchen Inn had another waiter named Ah Jue.
Just like that, there was another bed in the utility room behind the firewood shed of Hongchen Inn, one for Amu and one for Ajue.
It was late at night, and Amu finally took a break after a busy day. He went to the kitchen to cook two side dishes, picked up a bottle of wine, and drank with the new arrival Ajue.
After eating, Ah Jue sighed and asked A Mu, "Do you want to hear my story?"
Amu said: "I secretly went to the kitchen to cook, and even got scolded by the shopkeeper. Didn't I just want to hear you pour out your bitterness? Hurry up."
Ah Jue took a sip of wine and said with a wry smile: "We have to start with this bowl of wine."
I left home and wanted to learn how to make a living in the world. I didn’t want to meet a few enthusiastic friends just after I entered the imperial city and took me to a place to drink...
It was five days later when I sobered up.
When I paid the bill, I discovered that my baggage and money bag had been taken away, and I became a penniless pauper.
Only then did I know that this was a brothel, the famous Yingyue Tower in the Imperial City.
I owed money, but Sister Ma and a group of clerks from Yingyue Tower wouldn't let me leave. My home was too far away and I had no friends in the imperial city, so I had to stay in Yingyue Tower to do odd jobs to pay back the money.
Sister Ma said that as long as I work hard, I can earn one silver coin every day...
Amu took a sip of wine, thought for a while and said, "It is indeed a lot to earn one silver coin a day.
Ah Jue replied: "I think so too."
Then he added that Sister Ma told me that day: "You have to know what kind of place this is. It is impossible to raise idle people here."
Ah Jue nodded and replied: "I know, I can do anything."
Sister Ma then smiled with satisfaction, took Ah Jue into the kitchen, and filled him with a large bowl of broth, a piece of fat meat, and a large bowl of rice.
He patted Ah Jue on the shoulder and said, "When you work under me, you have to act like a person. Don't be afraid of any dirty work. Just do it to death. What are you afraid of at such a young age?"
A bowl of white rice and a bowl of broth drove away Ajue's panic, allowing him to temporarily feel at ease.
It wasn't until night that Ah Jue realized that she had to wash the feet of the girls in the building.
Some girls' feet were fine, but one girl had severe athlete's foot. At first, Ah Jue vomited while washing her feet, but she got an extra five copper coins for washing her feet, which were all rewarded by the girls.
Because these girls are very curious as to why Ah Jue comes to Yingyue Tower to work as a turtle boy.
Even if Ah Jue told them that he was not Mr. Turtle, but that he only owed wine money for his work, none of the girls believed him.
It wasn't until three days after the girls' athlete's foot infected him that Ah Jue got used to it and stopped vomiting while washing the girls' feet.
A girl asked him: "Do you have a name?"
Ah Jue shook his head: "No, my name is Ah Jue."
Sister Ma looked at the group of girls and said with a smile: "Don't eat Ajue until he has no bones left. He has to work for me for a month to pay for the drinks."
The girls giggled together: "This Ah Jue is really an interesting guy."
Amu sighed when he heard this and praised: "Ajue, you are more ruthless than me. You even dare to touch the smelly feet of girls. I am convinced by you and come have a drink."
After speaking, he picked up the bowl in front of him and took a sip of wine.
Ah Jue didn't speak, but silently took another sip of wine, and then spoke again: "That's not the most uncomfortable thing."
On the second day after starting work, Ah Jue learned that he would also be responsible for collecting night fragrance in the entire building.
You have to get up early every day, and there will be a carriage passing by outside Yingyue Building before dawn. At this time, Ajue will collect all the night fragrance in the building and give it to the passing carriage to take out of the city to be used as fertilizer for the farmland.
After that, I went back and cleaned all the wooden barrels. At first, Ah Jue also vomited after scrubbing.
Then when I was drinking porridge in the morning, I couldn't help but run over and vomit while drinking.
Sighing, Ah Jue said: "Usually I eat while vomiting."
Amu sighed sympathetically and said leisurely: "Yes, if you don't eat, you won't have the energy to work in the morning."
Ah Jue took a sip of wine, looked at the oil lamp on the table, and said with a wry smile: "It's not over yet, the girls in the building started teasing me again, which made me really uncomfortable."
"Oh, that's true." Amu laughed upon hearing this.
Liu'er from Yingyue Tower waited for Ah Jue to wash her feet one night, then secretly pinched his face and said, "Come to my room tonight. I have no guests tonight."
Ah Jue was startled: "Please let me go, girl, I don't dare."
Liu'er was so angry that she cursed: "You still like me whether you are a man or not..."
Ah Jue shook his head and said with a wry smile: "I'm not a man. I just want to make money quickly to pay off the debt so that I can leave Yingyue Tower."
Liu'er was so angry that she pinched him again and said with a smile: "You are such a fool. There are delicious food and drinks in Yingyue Tower, and there are free girls for you to choose from. You actually want to leave early."
Ah Jue nodded: "I really just want to make enough money and leave here."
Liu'er didn't give up, grabbed Ah Jue's hand and stuffed it into her chest. Ah Jue screamed in fright, and ran out without even taking the reward for washing her feet.
This made Liu'er laugh so hard from behind that she shouted loudly: "Ah Jue, you are such a useless fool."
From that night on, the women in the building called Ah Jue a useless fool.
Who doesn't know that Liu'er is one of the best girls in Yingyue Tower? The officials in the city don't have fifty silver coins, so they can't even touch her.
Unexpectedly, Liu'er asked A Jue to pay for her name and sleep with him for free, which frightened A Jue and ran out.
After this, in addition to washing feet, chopping firewood, and pouring night fragrance, the girls will ask Ah Jue to do more things.
"You fool Ah Jue didn't come over to pour hot tea for the girls."
"Fool Ah Jue, hurry up and buy me a pack of claws and come back. I'll give you two cents for your travel expenses."
"Fool Ah Jue, hurry up and buy two jugs of wine and come back. The guest has drunk all the wine and is rushing in front!"
"The firewood is all burned out, Ah Jue, hurry up and chop the firewood!"
He had to be busy from dawn to late at night before Ah Jue could go back to the utility room behind the kitchen to rest. He would have to get up before dawn to pour night fragrance.
Amu put two pieces of meat into Ajue's bowl and laughed and said, "You are indeed a fool. Those girls like you very much, why don't you satisfy them?"
Ah Jue sighed and continued: "Later, they asked me to wash their clothes for them. It costs two cents to wash a dress. There is still a lot to wash..."
You can't use force yet, if you accidentally damage it, you will have to be beaten.
From then on, Ah Jue never rested all day long.
If it weren't for the fact that the most indispensable thing in the building was food and wine, otherwise Ah Jue would have starved to death and died of exhaustion in the backyard before she could pay off the money she owed.
Until one night, the little fox in Yingyue Tower got into the utility room of Ah Jue.
Looking at Ah Jue who was lying on the bed like a dead dog, he asked, "Why did you come to Yingyue Tower? This is a place for eating people."
Ah Jue replied feebly: "I owe Sister Ma money for her wine, and I have earned enough money to pay her back."
The little fox was a famous girl in Yingyue Tower. He came up and touched Ah Jue's forehead and said, "You are so young and you can go to other places. It's better than here."
The little fox was very gentle tonight, as gentle as a little girl next door.
Ah Jue was so tired that she didn't even have the strength to raise her head, so she had to reply: "Why do you want to see me?"
The little fox said quietly: "Don't be afraid, Jue, I know you must have sad past, you can tell me."
Upon hearing this, Ah Jue struggled to turn around and turned her back to the little fox: "I'm fine."
The little fox sighed and said unwillingly: "I don't know any woman who has hurt you so cruelly, causing you to live on the street."
Ah Jue's mouth moved but she didn't say anything, as if she was thinking about her own thoughts.
The little fox ignored Ah Jue's indifference and continued: "If you hadn't been heartbroken by a woman, how could you have become like this..."
Ah Jue sighed and muttered: "Because I am an alcoholic."
