After a few sips of wine, the old man felt a little relaxed.
"Good wine, good wine. The old man has never had such a good wine in a while. Good sorghum wine."
As the old man spoke, he reached out and picked up the wine jar next to him and gave himself another glass: "Good wine."
Du Jie wanted to laugh a little, but he didn't expect to see such an old man who was addicted to alcohol when he returned to the northwest. He took the wine jar and prepared to pour himself a glass. Unexpectedly, he raised the jar and shook it, but there was nothing in the jar.
Seeing that the wine was gone, Du Jie called the waiter again, and the waiter hurriedly ran over with the jar. Before he could put it down, the old man next to him grabbed the jar, opened the lid, and didn't pour any more. Cup, directly face the jar and start drinking.
It was the first time Du Jie saw such a quiet person. Seeing him drinking so happily, he became a little greedy. He smashed his mouth and said: "Old man, please slow down, don't be anxious, leave your mouth for me, give it to me." Keep……"
Before he finished speaking, the old man took the jar away from his mouth and put it on the table. Then I remembered that this wine was invited by someone else. He looked at Du Jie with a frown and said: "Oh, people become confused when they get old and think they bought it. They forgot that it was the young master who invited it. It's such a good wine. Young Master, you can have a sip too. You ...Oh, no more." After saying this, the old man turned the jar upside down, and sure enough, not a drop of wine could flow out of the jar.
It was the first time Du Jie saw an alcoholic drinking like this. He was angry and annoyed. He would have known better that he would have taken another sip. However, it was not worth getting angry with an old man over a half jar of wine. He waved his hand and said, "Forget it, the old man can just enjoy his drink."
The old man licked his lips: "I'm happy. It's been a while since the old man drank like this. My family is poor. The last time I drank was... it was the last time."
When Du Jie saw that the old man started talking nonsense, he didn't care and was ready to eat and go on the road. Just as he was about to eat, he glanced at the position of his horse with the corner of his eye, but he was stunned, and then turned to ask the waiter
"Little brother, where is my green-maned horse?"
When the waiter heard what he said, he raised his hand and was about to point it out to him, but as soon as he stretched out his hand, he was stunned.
"I just tied it up, why did it suddenly disappear? Where did it go? Hey, I obviously tied it up. Where is the horse? I..."
The waiter ran around for a long time but couldn't find it. This horse was worth a lot of money, so the waiter couldn't even afford to lose his own wealth. He was so anxious that he jumped three times on the spot. Why did the horse that was tied there just now disappear all of a sudden?
Du Jie looked at the waiter's expression, and it didn't look like he was a thief. He had clearly seen his horse next to him just now, just because the old man was drinking. When I looked back, it was gone.
Du Jie knew that it would be useless to trouble the waiter, so he paid for the food and wine and prepared to move forward quickly. Maybe the horse would wander to the front on its own. Go ahead and look for it yourself, just in case you can find it.
The old man next to him was enthusiastic at this time: "Brother, what's wrong? Is the horse missing? It's hard to find it in the wilderness."
Du Jie became even more irritable after hearing his words. If he hadn't insisted on snatching the drink from me and kept staring at the green-maned horse from the corner of his eyes, he wouldn't have lost it like this.
Seeing that Du Jie ignored him, the old man continued to smile and said: "Where are you going, brother? I just invited me to drink. If you are on the way, I will give you a ride, old man." After saying that, he pointed to the side. A tethered bullock cart.
The bullock cart was covered with straw, and some bedding and daily necessities were placed on top. Du Jie saw that this was someone who had come a long way. Now that there was no green-maned horse, he didn't know how far he could go with just his own two legs. Being with this old man as a companion could be considered as someone to talk to. Thinking of this, Du Jie Jay said
"Old man, if I go west, I still have to walk dozens of miles?"
"Hey, don't you think this is a coincidence? Old man, I'm going west too. Let's take a walk, take my ox cart, and be a companion on the way. Second brother, please bring us two more jars of wine and two drawers of steamed buns. Take it with you to eat." After the old man said that, he went to drive his ox cart. Du Jie watched the old man go to fetch the cows, and he knew that he had to pay for the two jars of wine and two drawers of steamed buns himself. The old man's calculations were ringing.
The waiter hurriedly moved two jars of wine and several drawers of steamed buns. Du Jie wanted to give him money, but the waiter said he didn't want any money, so Du Jie gave up. Putting everything on the ox cart, the old man looked at the wine, smiled, and whipped the old ox: "Drive!"
The bullock cart was moving slowly, and the old man chatted with Du Jie while walking.
"Brother, are you coming from Yongzhou City? This place is close to the desert, and there are no other places to the west. What are you going to do?"
"Go find a friend," Du Jie kept chatting. After leaving the tea shop, there was a flat road. There was no sign of his green-maned horse as far as Du Jie could see. This horse has been following me all this time. It would be a pity to lose it like this.
"Looking for friends? Are you going to the military camp?" The old man looked Du Jie up and down and asked suddenly
"Oh? How did the old man see this?" Du Jie was a little curious and turned to look at the old man.
"The west side of Yongzhou City is uninhabited. Even if there are a few families, they can't get along with people dressed like this. The old man thinks that the little brother is riding a tall horse. Maybe he is someone from the military camp?"
"Haha, the old man has good eyesight. I happened to go to the military camp for something, but unfortunately I lost my horse. What are you going to do if you go west?" Du Jie nodded. The old man observed carefully and couldn't help but be curious about the old man's origins.
"Me? Old man, I will also go to the military camp to find my son. His mother is gone." As he spoke, he patted a jar next to him with his hand.
Du Jie was a little curious: "This is..."
The old man touched the jar and said, "I brought his mother's ashes here."
At first I thought it was old wine, but the old man kept grabbing it and was reluctant to drink it. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be ashes.
"I can't stay at home anymore. I plan to go to the military camp. I will find a job in the camp when the time comes. Even if I boil water for cooking, I will die in front of my son."
Du Jie saw the old man's miserable words and couldn't help but comfort him: "Now that the war has ended, it's not bad to stay in the army. How long has it been since the old man saw his son?"
The old man rolled his eyelids and thought: "It must have been almost ten years, and that kid didn't know how to ask someone to write more letters to his family. When his mother died, she was still holding his letter from four years ago. Hey, I know him It’s hard to save all the military pay and ask someone to take it home, but there is no letter from him, alas!”
Du Jie went to the northwest with his grandfather and did not return home for five years. He was used to seeing separations between life and death. It often happened that parents could not see their sons before they died. He had no other choice but to pity the old man.
The old man was open-minded. After talking for a while, he asked Du Jie: "Brother, are you from the camp? You don't look like a soldier. You should be an officer, right?"
Du Jie shook his head and nodded again: "I used to work in the army, but I stopped working in the army a few years ago. This time I have something to do and go back to see my friends."
After the old man listened, his two wind ears flickered twice, and he said with a smile: "That little brother also has a few friends who are officials in the army. The old man came all the way from the Central Plains. Can I please tell me a few words when the time comes? In other words, let the military camp take me in. I know I’m old, but I’m not picky, I don’t need military pay, as long as I have food to eat.”
Logically speaking, at this old man's age, it is absolutely impossible for the military camp to use him. He might fall ill in the military camp one day and have to support him. But he couldn't bear to have Du Jie reject him like this. He thought that if it didn't work out, he would ask Marshal Peng to let them go back to the Central Plains. It would be much better than staying in this remote northwest.
The two of them were chatting without saying a word, when they suddenly saw dust flying in the distance, as if a group of people were galloping past. Du Jie thought that it was not far from the military camp, and he was afraid that the patrolling guards would happen to pass by. Overjoyed, he stood on the carriage and waved vigorously into the distance.
The group of people in the distance had no intention of coming over, but when they saw someone waving here, the people on the other side lingered for a moment, and then two people separated from them and came galloping towards them. The others kept walking.
When the two men slowly came closer, Du Jie could see clearly that they were not wearing armor, and they had swords in their crotches. One of them had a thin neck, but a huge head. The body swings with the wind. Du Jie looked worried, fearing that the horse would break his neck.
The other person has a short stature, short and fat, but his head is not big, and it flows smoothly from the neck to the head.
Neither of them looked like soldiers.
Just when Du Jie was still thinking about who this person was, the two men rode up to the oxcart. The thin-necked head smiled and said to the short winter melon: "You said that the damn ghost can't be persuaded, the boss was originally I'm not in the mood to scrape this mess. I didn't expect him to call our brothers over."
Short Donggua glanced at the old man. He looked like an old farmer and didn't care. However, seeing Du Jie's extraordinary clothes, he shouted at him: "Boy! You two are unlucky. Just stand there and don't move. I'll finish it off by myself." You guys, I’ll save you the trouble.”
When Du Jie heard this, he was stunned. They were actually bandits. In the northwest, when did bandits appear, and this place is so close to the military camp, so unscrupulous. The bandits are too courageous.
After hearing this, the old man fell off the bullock cart with a plop, and then fell to the ground and cried loudly: "God, why is my life so miserable? I have been gone for three months, and I can see my son right before my eyes." , I don’t want to die! God... please open your eyes!"
I cried heartbreakingly, and the short winter melon was upset when I heard it.
"Shut up!"
The old man couldn't hear what he said, and he cried loudly on the ground with snot and tears.
Seeing that the old man didn't listen to her words, Xiao Donggua took out the simple knife from her crotch.
"I'll make you cry all you want!"
After saying that, he threw the knife at the old man.
The old man seemed to be frightened. When he saw the knife flying towards his door in an arc, he just shouted: "Ah!"
He even forgot to hide. Just when the old man was still a foot away from Pu Dao, Pu Dao was knocked away by a gun with a "clang" sound. The thin-necked man raised his eyes and looked to the opposite side.
