It's September in the blink of an eye, and the coolness of the autumn wind is icy, making people shrink and want to find a warm place to rest.
By chance, there was a thatched-roof restaurant next to the official road.
There is only one person running the small thatched house alone, who is both the shopkeeper and the waiter.
Because it relies on official roads, there are quite a lot of people coming and going on weekdays. Today, perhaps due to the strong wind, there are fewer visitors. There has not been a single customer since the opening in the morning.
The boss is a scholar in his twenties, with a short beard and a scarf. He is not in a hurry when there are no customers. He sits alone at the table and reads a book, which is quite leisurely.
At this moment, I saw a strange man riding a donkey backwards walking down the official road.
The man's clothes were shabby, but very clean. Although he was holding a bamboo stick in his hand, he looked carefree and content, and he didn't look like a beggar.
The boss saw this man and didn't think that a poor man dressed like this would stop drinking. He didn't care and continued to study.
But by chance, the man arrived in front of the thatched shop, got off his donkey, used a bamboo stick to explore the way, and walked in.
The visitor was a guest. As a scholar, the boss did not have the attitude of ordinary scholars who put their eyes above their heads. He put down his book, stood up and asked:
"Does the guest want to rest or drink?"
"Is there still a place to rest here?"
The man said, finding a place to sit down.
The boss looked at it and found that he seemed to be a blind man, which felt a little strange.
It is really strange that a blind man was riding a donkey alone and was not robbed.
“There are a lot of guests coming and going, and there are always people who are tired and want to take a rest. It doesn’t matter if you don’t buy a drink, you can take a rest here.
But if there are too many visitors, I hope to make room for other guests. "
The boss didn't think the man had money to buy alcohol.
But the man smiled and took out seven copper plates, placed them on the table, took off the gourd from his waist, pointed at the gourd and said:
"Just fill up my gourd."
Seeing that the gourd was not big, the boss smiled and said:
"Yes, to be honest, my wine is not considered good wine. It only costs five cents to put such a small gourd. The guests pay more."
The man did not take back the copper coins and said with a smile:
"The extra bento is a sign of the boss's sincerity."
When the boss heard this, he smiled and still only charged five cents, leaving two cents on the table.
Then, he took the gourd, put a colander on the mouth of the gourd, and started pouring the wine with a ladle.
For this small gourd, the boss added a spoonful of wine and planned to fill it up at once.
As a result, after a spoonful of wine was poured down, the gourd was not full, and it did not even become heavier in the hand.
The boss felt a little strange. He shook the gourd and heard no sound of water inside.
Did it leak?
The boss checked the gourd and found no loopholes.
Feeling strange, the boss poured another spoonful of wine into it.
It's still not full, and it even feels like it's not full.
The boss didn't believe in evil, so he poured spoonful after spoonful of wine into it.
But this small gourd was like a bottomless pit. The boss poured a whole jar of wine into it, but there was no reaction at all.
"How could this be?"
The boss looked confused and looked at the customer with the gourd.
"Guest, there's something wrong with your gourd!"
"This gourd has been with me for many years, so what's the problem? Could it be that the boss deceived me and refused to give me a drink, so he lied to me?"
The strange guest seemed a little angry.
Seeing this, the boss glanced at the empty wine jar, gritted his teeth, opened another jar, and started to add wine.
Soon, the jar of wine was empty, but the gourd in his hand was still light and showed no sign of being overflowing.
The boss was confused and poured the gourd mouth down, but not a drop of wine could be poured out.
"Really not?"
This is the first time the boss has encountered such a thing in his life, and it feels weird.
"The saint does not speak of strange powers and delusions. It must be an illusion."
After reciting a few lines from Confucian sage classics, the boss opened another jar...
Looking at the empty wine jar again, the boss looked in disbelief.
There is something wrong with this gourd, absolutely!
After thinking about it, the boss put the gourd back next to the weirdo and put another jar of wine on the table.
"Guest, there's something wrong with your gourd. I'm convinced. I'll give you this jar of wine for free."
The weirdo laughed when he heard this and said:
"You are an honest boss. You wasted so much wine. Not only did you not charge me more, you actually gave me extra wine."
"I always make the most promises. I agreed to buy you a full gourd of wine. Now that I can't do it, how can I have the dignity to ask for money for the wine?"
"The boss is so upright, he should be a scholar. My name is Yang Luming. I wonder if I can ask my respect."
The weirdo calls himself Yang Luming, but he is actually Ye Ming.
"My surname is Song, and my name is Cheng. I have a well-spoken character."
The boss gave his name.
"Brother Guanyan Hou is a man of great fortune. It's really unfair to open a tavern here."
Ye Ming asked with a smile,
"Yang has a big house here, thousands of acres of fertile land, and several lovely wives and concubines. He wants to give it to Brother Yanhou. What does Brother Yanhou mean?"
Song Cheng was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said:
"Brother Yang is very good at joking. If Brother Yang doesn't enjoy this benefit himself, he gives it to me instead. How can there be such a logic in the world?"
Ye Ming opened the mud seal, poured a bowl of wine, took a sip, and said with a smile:
"Of course I have conditions."
"Brother Yang, what are your conditions?"
"Brother Yanhou will follow me for a period of time, waiting in front of me and on horseback. When the time comes, Brother Yanhou can get all the benefits I mentioned before, how about that?"
When Song Cheng heard this, he smiled and waved his hands, then randomly found an excuse to refuse:
"No, I still can't bear to part with these turbid wines of my own. Brother Yang had better give this heaven-shaking wealth to others!"
Ye Ming smiled and said: "No one else has such a blessing. Even if you get it, your family will be destroyed. Only Brother Yanhou can bear it."
Song Cheng thought Ye Ming's words were ridiculous and didn't agree. He moved the empty wine jar and put it back on the shelf.
At this time, Ye Ming stood up and said:
"Brother Yanhou is reluctant to part with these fine wines and doesn't want to leave. This matter can be easily solved."
Hearing this, Song Cheng looked at Ye Ming's gourd. Could it be that he planned to use this gourd to hold wine?
Just when he was having reasonable doubts, he saw Ye Ming step forward and hit the intact wine jar with the bamboo stick in his hand.
The wine jar shattered with the sound, and the wine spilled all over the floor.
Ye Ming's movement seemed slow but was actually fast. He raised his hand and smashed all the wine jars on the shelf. The ground was full of wine and wine jar fragments.
Song Cheng was shocked and quickly stepped forward to stop:
"What are you doing? Stop it, stop it!"
Unfortunately, he couldn't stop Ye Ming at all. Not only were all the wine jars on the shelves smashed, Ye Ming also stepped into the back room and smashed the inventory inside.
"You, how can this be unreasonable! Why are you doing this? I gave you a drink out of kindness, but you repaid me with kindness like this. How is it that you repay me with hatred?"
Song Cheng was anxious and angry, unable to stop Ye Ming, so he accused him.
After breaking all the wine jars, Ye Ming smiled and said:
"Brother Yanhou, now that your wine is gone, you should have no worries anymore. Are you willing to go with me?"
When Song Cheng heard this, he was very angry:
"You act like this and you still expect me to go with you and serve you? Don't even think about it!"
"Then how can Brother Yanhou be willing to go with me?"
"This hut is my home, and I'm not going anywhere!"
Song Cheng snorted, knowing that he was no match for this weirdo, and put his hands behind his back angrily, showing the proud demeanor of a scholar.
Ye Ming smiled when he heard this and said, "It's easy!"
As he said that, he poured the lamp oil in the thatched house into the house, opened the fire box and threw it into the lamp oil.
Song Cheng, who looked like he would rather die than surrender, was shocked when he noticed Ye Ming's behavior.
But by the time he wanted to stop it, it was already too late, the fire had already started.
Oddly enough, his turbid wine is not strong. In fact, it can be used as a fire extinguisher. Coupled with today's temperature, it stands to reason that even if someone sets a fire, it will not be able to burn it.
But when there is a fire at night, the fire spreads quickly. It feels like oil has been poured on the thatch in the middle of summer. The fire is very exaggerated.
Ye Ming walked out of the thatched hut in a leisurely manner, and then held the only jar of wine on the table in his arms, with a relaxed look on his face.
Song Cheng saw that the fire was too strong and had no time to put it out. He was hit twice by the thick smoke, choked with tears and coughed repeatedly. He had no choice but to cover his face with his sleeves and ran out of the thatched house.
As soon as people came out, the thatched house behind them collapsed.
Song Cheng looked back and could only see a pile of burning ruins, while Ye Ming leisurely held the wine jar and took a sip of wine.
"You evil person, you are so unreasonable. I treat you kindly, but you act so viciously. Come, follow me to see the official, see the official!"
Song Cheng, filled with grief and anger, stepped forward, grabbed Ye Ming's sleeve, and wanted to pull him to see the official, but he couldn't pull Ye Ming at all.
Ye Ming asked with a smile: "Meet the official? This thatched house of yours on the side of the official road has probably never been officially settled by the government. I'm afraid it doesn't even have a formal house deed. What's the use of dragging me to see the official?"
Song Cheng said angrily: "Nonsense, although my hut is simple, it has been officially registered with the government. How can it be that there is no house deed?"
Ye Ming pointed at the thatched house that had been burned into ruins and said with a smile:
"It was urgent just now. You must have been too late to take away the house deed. It can be seen that the house deed must have been burned."
When Song Cheng heard this, a look of pride appeared on his face:
"I disappoint you. I always carry something as important as the house deed."
As he said that, he proudly took out a house deed from his arms. He was about to show it off, but Ye Ming moved too quickly and took it directly into his hand.
Not even getting it into his hand, he kneaded it into a ball and stuffed it into the mouth of the donkey on the side.
The donkey was an honest man and would eat whatever he was given. He stuffed the house deed into his mouth, chewed it, and then ate it.
"The deed, my deed!"
By the time Song Cheng reached out to save his house deed, it was too late. The house deed had already been swallowed by the donkey root.
"you you!"
Song Cheng was trembling with anger, pointing at Ye Ming, trembling continuously.
Ye Ming said with an easy-going smile:
“Now, you have no evidence.
Not only was there no evidence, there was no wine or hut.
Now you and I have nothing.
No, I have one more donkey and one more cat than you. "
When Lei Ling, who was lying on a tree not far away, heard this, she rolled her eyes at Ye Ming and stopped looking at him.
"Why are you like this? What grudge do you and I have that you forced me to do this?"
Song Cheng gritted his teeth and stared at Ye Ming with a look that wanted to eat Ye Ming alive.
Ye Ming didn't care, just smiled and said:
"You and I have no grievances, it's all because I want to give you a great blessing."
"Blessed fate... destroying people's houses and cutting off people's livelihood, what kind of blessing is this!"
Song Cheng squatted on the ground dejectedly, lowering his head, feeling very sad.
"The old ones won't go away, and the new ones won't come. You have no choice now. Why don't you try to trust Yang for once?"
Ye Ming patted his shoulder, poured a bowl of wine and handed it to Song Cheng.
Song Cheng looked at the wine Ye Ming handed him, saw Ye Ming's sincere smile without any malice, and thought about how he was now homeless and had nowhere to go. He sighed, took the wine from Ye Ming, drank it all in one gulp, and drank it all in one gulp. The bowl was thrown to the ground and shattered.
"Okay, then I'll believe you once!"
Ye Ming looked at the broken bowl and said quietly:
"That was the last bowl in your house, and now it's broken by your own hands. You really have nothing."
Song Cheng:......
Ye Ming drank all the wine in the wine jar in his arms, threw the wine jar away, rode upside down on the back of the donkey, and smiled at Song Cheng:
"Let's go, Lao Song."
Song Cheng sighed and followed Ye Ming dejectedly.
Wait, what did he just call himself?
Lao Song?
He was called "Brother Yanhou" before, but now he is called "Old Song"! ?
...
