Nan Dao looked at the young man in white walking down the trail, thought for a moment, and said, "I don't know how to do it yet, but I can learn."
When the young man in white heard this, he immediately became happy. He put his sword into the scabbard behind him, ran over and pulled Nan Dao into the garden.
"That's great, that's great." The young man held an umbrella with one hand and hugged Nan Dao affectionately with the other. "It doesn't matter if you don't know. I can teach you. Let me tell you, playing cards is really fun."
Nan Dao was trapped in the young man's arms and stumbled around. After struggling for a while, he couldn't get free, so he had to keep pulling on the young man's back.
"Okay, okay, but senior brother, can you please let me go a little bit? I'm going to spill my wine."
When the young man heard this, he let go of Nan Dao, smiled sheepishly, and said, "I'm so excited, I'm sorry."
Nan Dao took the wine flask in his hand, licked the bit that spilled from the spout, and then opened the lid and took a look. The wine in the pot was almost empty, so he sighed.
The young man stood by the road and looked at Nandao. He rubbed his hands and said impatiently: "Okay, let's find a place to play cards quickly."
Nan Dao hesitated for a moment and said, "Um, can I..."
Before he finished speaking, he was dragged away by the young man.
"By the way, my name is Zhang Xiaoyu. You can call me Senior Brother Zhang, Brother Zhang, Old Zhang and Xiao Zhang. But don't call me Senior Brother Yu. This name sounds unlucky."
Zhang Xiaoyu gave instructions to Nan Dao as he walked.
"Okay, Senior Brother Zhang, but why can't we call him Senior Brother Yu?"
"Because fish sounds like stupidity, and fish sounds like someone is being exploited, which is unlucky at the poker table."
Zhang Xiaoyu said very seriously.
Nan Dao nodded and said, "I have learned a lesson."
Nan Dao was dragged into the garden by Zhang Xiaoyu. When he walked out of the woods, the first thing he saw was a pool with fish and water plants leisurely sinking to the bottom of the pool. Then there was a red corridor with hanging hangings along the edge. There are many lanterns, and there is a pavilion near the water in the cloister. The corridor leads to the distance, and then there are various rockeries and trees, and some small red buildings can be seen in the distance.
The two walked up the corridor and then entered the pavilion. Nan Dao discovered that there was a square table in the pavilion with some mahjong on it and half of the uneaten sugar-oiled cakes on the edge of the table. Zhang Xiaoyu pulled Nan Dao to sit down at the table, then picked up the sugar-oiled cake and put it in his mouth. He rolled up his sleeves and looked at Nan Dao in high spirits.
"Sit down, let's play for a while first."
Nan Dao put the wine bottle on the table, looked at Zhang Xiaoyu at the opposite table hesitantly, and said, "Um...Senior Brother Zhang, can two people also play?"
Zhang Xiaoyu definitely nodded and said: "Two people have their own way of playing. When the other brothers wake up later, we will play as four people. Come on, I will shuffle the cards first and then teach you the rules."
Nan Dao touched his already deflated money bag under the table, hesitated a little, and said, "Okay, Senior Brother Zhang."
"Crash."
...
The spring rain is coming, and I don’t know how long it will continue to rain.
There was some silence in the pavilion.
Zhang Xiaoyu had already stepped on the stool, with his hair disheveled and staring at Nan Dao with red eyes.
Nan Dao looked at the Yaoji he was holding in his hand, hesitated again and said, "I seem to have lost my mind again..."
Zhang Xiaoyu pushed the cards, slumped down on the chair, let out a long sigh, threw his money bag over, and said feebly: "I must have played all night last night. I am too tired. Today It doesn’t count, today doesn’t count…”
Nan Dao smiled and took the money bag over, poured out the money inside, gathered it aside, licked his lips, looked at Zhang Xiaoyu and said, "Senior brother, are you still here?"
Zhang Xiaoyu waved his hand and said in a helpless voice, "Let's take a break first. Let's take a break."
There were some conversations in the forest in the distance. Nan Dao turned his head and saw a few figures walking faintly on the rockery path over there.
"Are the other senior brothers here?"
Nan Dao turned around and was about to ask Zhang Xiaoyu, but saw the latter secretly picking up his pile of money.
"Brother, what are you doing?"
Zhang Xiaoyu retracted his hand, hit him twice, and said nonchalantly: "I want to help you count, haha, count...really...just count... .”
"..."
"Hey, Zhang Xiaoyu, did you lose money again?"
"Hahaha, looking at his sad face, he probably lost everything again."
Before the senior brothers arrived, the sound had already entered the pavilion.
"I'm not, I don't have it. I just saw that this little brother was a little short of money and wanted to show some kindness."
Zhang Xiaoyu stood up, looked at the visitor and said.
"Tsk, tsk, one day the sword from Mojianya comes, the entire Sword Sect will be gone, only your Zhang Xiaoyu mouth will still be there."
Zhang Xiaoyu glanced at Nan Dao, rolled his eyes, but suddenly said with a smile: "I suddenly remembered that I found a part-time job as a waiter in the city a few days ago, and I have to go check it out quickly. Senior brothers, please go first Let’s play with this little brother.”
Before he finished speaking, Zhang Xiaoyu had already slipped out of the pavilion, not even asking for an umbrella.
"..."
The three senior brothers looked at the figure escaping in embarrassment speechlessly, and then turned to look at Nan Dao in the pavilion.
Nan Dao looked at the three of them with bright eyes, saluted to them and asked, "Senior brothers, are you playing cards?"
The senior brothers looked at Nan Dao's appearance, looked at each other, and looked at each other in confusion.
"Why do I feel like he said what we said?"
The thinner senior brother touched the top of his head and said something strange.
"I don't know, why does his outfit look familiar?"
The rather tall senior brother said so, looking at Nandao up and down.
Brother Mustache shook his sleeves and said, "Never mind it, let's play cards first."
"Yes, yes, let's play cards first." The three of them nodded in agreement.
Half an hour later.
"I still have to deliver food to the Chengnan vegetable market."
"Ah, yes, yes, I have to go ferry people across the river too."
"You guys wait for me, I also want to find some work."
The three of them abandoned their umbrellas and left.
Nan Dao stayed in the pavilion, looking blankly at the pile of money in front of him, a little at a loss.
You can still hear the voices of the senior brothers in the distance: "Is he really a wicked sect? How can anyone be so foolhardy?"
"Could he be a con man?"
"Didn't you count?"
"I didn't count."
"..."
Nan Dao looked around and asked loudly: "Is there anyone else? Is there any other senior who wants to play cards?"
There was silence everywhere except for the patter of spring rain.
Seeing no one answered, Nan Dao glanced at the already full purse again, thought for a moment, raised his hand and swept all the mahjong to the ground, then picked up the tablecloth, picked up the purse, tied it in a knot and slung it over his shoulder.
After wrapping up the money, Nan Dao went to get the wine bottle and planned to take a sip. He just touched the wine bottle to his mouth and raised his head and waited for a long time, but not a drop of wine fell.
The South Island has been waiting for a long time.
Then he put down the wine bottle and looked at the spring rain in silence.
Yes, I don’t know when I finished the wine.
Nan Dao opened the lid, took out a few pieces of discolored peach blossoms inside, and chewed them in his mouth.
After swallowing those bitter peach blossoms, Nan Dao stood up, covered the wine bottle, and walked out of the pavilion.
Where is the peach tree?
Nan Dao stood in the rain with an umbrella and looked around.
However, I didn't see anything, so I had to look for it while walking.
The Jianzong Garden is naturally surrounded by rockeries, clear streams, small bridges, and countless corridors and paths.
Nan Dao was scurrying around inside like a headless fly.
I could clearly hear the faint sound of playing cards everywhere, but I couldn't find anything.
After searching for a long time, Nan Dao stopped beside a rockery out of breath, picked up the wine bottle and sucked in the few drops of wine that slowly accumulated.
"This flower is so beautiful!"
A childish voice came from behind Nan Dao. Nan Dao turned around and saw a little girl wearing a floral skirt standing behind him, holding a small yellow umbrella and standing on tiptoe to touch his shoulder.
Nan Dao looked at his shoulder. He didn't know when a three-inch peach branch had grown there, and a peach blossom was trembling in bloom.
After watching in silence for a while, Nan Dao knelt down and let the little girl stroke the peach blossom on his shoulder.
When the little girl's fingers touched the petals, Nan Dao also felt a gentle touch on her shoulders.
"How come you have a peach blossom on your shoulder? Are you a peach demon?"
The little girl looked at Nan Dao and asked curiously.
Nan Dao smiled and shook his head and said, "No, it's because I owe a certain peach tree my life, so it bloomed its peach blossoms on me."
The little girl seemed to understand somewhat, and seemed a little disappointed, but she still nodded and said, "That's right, but it's really beautiful."
Nan Dao turned to look at his shoulder, then reached out to pick off the peach blossom, held the flower in front of the little girl, and said, "Then I'll give it to you."
The little girl did not take the peach blossom, but frowned, looked at the blood slowly seeping out from the three-inch peach branch on Nan Dao's shoulder, and asked softly: "Don't you feel pain?"
Nan Dao smiled slightly and said, "It doesn't hurt."
"But it's bleeding, why doesn't it hurt?"
"Because it has endured ten years of pain for me, and now it's time for me to bear its pain. This is what I deserve."
The little girl didn't say anything else. She took the peach blossom and held it in her hand. She looked at it carefully for a long time. Then she raised her head and looked at Nan Dao and said, "Is your name Nan Dao?"
Nan Dao squatted there and was stunned for a moment, looked at the little girl and said, "How do you know?"
The little girl tilted her head and thought for a while, then said: "They told me that if there is a man with a black umbrella walking around in the garden today, then take him to a pond. They said that man's name is Nan island."
Nan Dao nodded and said, "Yes, my name is Nan Dao."
The little girl said: "My name is Cong Xin. I have been looking for you for a long time today, but they didn't say that you would have peach blossoms on your shoulders."
"...I was dragged to play cards by Senior Brother Zhang."
"Zhang Xiaoyu, he still owes me twenty-nine cents!" When the little girl Cong Xin heard what Nan Dao said, she puffed up her mouth and said angrily.
"..." Nan Dao was speechless.
"Okay, I found you, let's go quickly." Cong Xin held the peach blossoms in her hands, held an umbrella and walked to a nearby path.
Nan Dao stood up and followed.
The two walked slowly in the Spring Rain Garden, and after crossing a dozen small bridges, they finally stopped at a pool.
The spring rain has not stopped, but there is no rain in this place.
Different from the place where I played cards with the senior brothers before, there is no corridor here. There is a bluestone paved path beside the pool, which surrounds the pool to the other end. There are many rockeries on both sides, grass everywhere, a wide view, and no other roads. .
At the end of the trail, there is a small bridge with gurgling water under it.
There is a peach tree at the head of the bridge, with peach blossoms in full bloom.
There is a man in white under the tree, sleeping on the guardrail of the bridge.
