The hustle and bustle of last night was still lingering on the streets in the capital city, and the lanterns and confetti left by the children playing were scattered all over the floor.
There was a rough guy who painted candy figures. He was unattractive and slovenly. He was burdened with supporting his family and was listless.
One day, the vendors who had just cleared away the pots and pans refilled the pots with water, added the lamb bones, and made a new soup.
Some shops removed their door panels with a clanging sound, revealing sleepy faces, looking at the deserted street, wondering whether to go back to sleep again.
There were two government officials in brown clothes, drowsy, arms around each other, patrolling the street step by step. There was a strange laugh that all men knew. It must have been that they worked hard several times last night.
There are old madams who tirelessly hope to make a fortune during the New Year, and they are still conscientiously soliciting business with Turtle Gong at the door.
There was also a watchman wearing coarse rags and a clapper, holding a big broom made of withered bamboo leaves, cleaning the streets that were not messy.
Everyone had their own business, but there was no sign of busyness, but there was still a lot of bustle.
The rough guy who drew the candy figures walked along, sighing as he looked at the streets that were definitely not as lively as they were at night.
The boss next to him was adding water to boil a pot to make mutton soup. He had developed a sharp eye over many years of business. Looking at this man who was making a living by boiling sugar, he was also trying to attract business. He asked very familiarly: "What's the matter, brother? Business is thin." ?”
The charming smile that seemed to be a natural gift for traders made the man who was also a candy painter frown and said, "What are you talking about so early in the morning? I've just started working in the stall."
Thinking that this man had been busy all night and was about to close the stall, the owner of the mutton soup hurriedly added: "Ouch, I thought about it, I thought about it, look at my mouth, come on, come on, why don't you come to my brother's place for a bowl of hot mutton soup?" , just warm yourself up early in the morning, and treat it as my brother inviting you."
It was originally just a courtesy from the owner of the mutton soup, but the man who painted the candy figure who didn't want to carry the burden actually put the burden aside, picked up a seat nearby without any politeness, and breathed into his hand. There was no hypocrisy. He rubbed his hands and said happily: "Then listen to my brother, have a bowl of mutton, don't put any offal, put more coriander, green onions and rice, and have a bowl of hot food."
The sheep soup boss who was looking for trouble was stunned. There were so many people he had seen doing business in the past few years. This was the first time he had seen such a shameless person. It was just that the words were spoken. He was running a small business with integrity. As soon as he spat, the owner of the mutton soup suddenly lost his energy. He must have been sleepy, so he said casually: "I just made a new soup. Brother, please wait patiently."
Happy to have free breakfast, the man who drew the candy figures huddled up in a ball and leaned towards the stove making sesame cakes, "It doesn't matter, I can wait."
The mutton soup boss muttered for a while, but it was all suppressed by the sound of the mutton soup boiling and gushing hot in the fire, but the stirring movements of his hands were obviously more vigorous.
Making mutton soup is a delicate job. Even if there is an old soup as a base, the oil will be released over high heat and the aroma will be released over low heat. The soup will be thickened over high heat. Even if the old soup is passed down for hundreds of years, if you want to make a rich and fragrant soup without any smell, the heat must be The most important thing is time, not only for making soup but also for making people.
The man who drew the candy man was quite patient. He even picked up a few sugar canes from the basket of the pole and handed them to the mutton soup boss and the proprietress who kept squeezing the soup on her face.
Just when the boss, who was annoyed because he gave away a bowl of mutton soup so early in the morning, angrily said "I won't eat it", the sweet man didn't take it seriously even if he heard it. He threw it into his mouth with a smile and spread his hands to the boss's wife. In front of him, the latter carefully took a look at his head of household. Seeing that he didn't pay attention, he was concentrating on adding his own secret herbal ingredients to the soup pot, and then he guiltily grabbed one and threw it into his mouth. Here, an intriguing joy appeared on the face that used to be pretty due to the vicissitudes of life.
Seeing that the color of the soup turned a rich milky white color, the boss threw the long spoon in his hand, lay down on the chair next to him, rolled over the bed, covered himself with a black quilt that had obviously been with him for many years, and said something "Serve him a bowl in half an hour." He closed his eyes and dreamed of Duke Zhou.
I don’t know whether it was because of her hospitality attitude that she was more apologetic, or because she was sincerely trying to attract the customers of this candy seller. It could be seen that the young lady boss looked at her husband who was snoring slightly and suppressed her voice. He said: "Brother, what happened to you when you were sighing just now? What troubles have you encountered?"
The man who sells the candy does not put the entire sweet cane in his mouth like the landlady does. Instead, he puts it in the palm of his hand and licks it. After eating the candy, he can breathe and warm his hands, which is the best of both worlds.
This man, who also had a weather-beaten look, leaned on the table where the landlady was making noodles. He curled up and tried his best to prevent the warmth accumulated in his body from dissipating quickly. He spread his hands and looked at the sky, "I encountered some troubles. It’s not really an annoyance. I have a good eldest brother in my family. My nephew—just think of me as a nephew, even though people don’t look down on us—gets into trouble. I want to help, but my eldest brother won’t let me do it. You think it’s weird? Not weird?"
Regarding this man's erratic words, the proprietress, who was half understanding and half confused, tried to persuade her from her own experience of human relations, "Is it because your eldest brother doesn't want you to worry about him because he's afraid of causing trouble to you?"
The man who sold the candy threw the cane sugar into his mouth and chewed it. "Oh, the devil knows what he is thinking."
Seeing the landlady skillfully placing pancakes on the stove, the man paused for a moment and then said: "You said the same goes for my eldest brother. We have known each other for thirty years. In these thirty years, I have gone from doing nothing to now making a living." I relied on him to organize the business. My parents left early. If he hadn't helped me, and the weather was like this, I would have frozen to death on the street. Until now, if it weren't for him, who would know who I am? Ah, but there is something going on in his family, and he never lets me interfere. If I secretly do a favor, you don’t know, so scold me."
After opening up the conversation, the man began to talk a little, "A few years ago, my eldest brother went south to do a big business. I was looking for help. It wasn't that I wanted to make some money off of him, but I just wanted to help him. I didn’t want to be scolded by him. Two days ago, his family kicked out the children because of their marriage. I thought about opening up to him and said, you said that marrying a wife to a daughter is all the child’s own business. , It’s unthinkable for adults to follow me and worry about it. They won’t let me in through the door of my house, and they scolded me through the door, saying that I only eat carrots and don’t worry about it.”
The man sighed, "The nephew has encountered something unpleasant again in the past two days. Before I said anything, he scolded me again, saying he was warning me not to worry so much. Do you think he is sick? ?”
Naturally, the proprietress who heard Yunshan's mist couldn't answer directly, so she could only echo, "It's quite strange."
The man began to sigh again and said to himself, "I don't know what happened to that naughty boy."
But the landlady suddenly remembered something and said: "The day before yesterday, I also met a strange man. He was a boy and a half, twenty years old. He watched the shadow puppet show there all night, and was given money piece by piece. Come and have a drink. For a bowl of mutton soup, he thought that I, an old woman, talked too much and didn’t speak directly. Instead, he said in a roundabout way that my spit dropped into his bowl and made the soup salty. If he hadn’t seen that he gave me a lot of money, I wouldn’t have let him. .”
The man who picked up another piece of cane sugar and threw it into his mouth said teasingly: "Sister-in-law, please don't say anything while you ladle out the soup. I can't eat salty food."
"Go aside."
The lady boss took a rolling pin and wanted to hit her, but the man selling the candy quickly begged for mercy.
There are always these trivial things in the streets and alleys.
The landlady tasted the sweetness in her mouth, but she generously cut more mutton, and the coriander, green onion, and rice were just right. She also gave away a sesame seed cake for free, so the man thanked her profusely.
The landlady was a talkative person, and she couldn't stop talking. She was busy working with her hands across the table, and she didn't waste time talking. She started chattering again while the man was enjoying his meal.
"If you ask me, you can do whatever you have to do. That's your eldest brother, who treats you so well, and his nephew is also your nephew. The family can't write two surnames. You don't care whether he scolds you or not. What do you want to do? Just do it. What can you do if you think too hard? If you regret it later, won’t you hate yourself even more for just staring at it and doing nothing? Don’t you think so, brother?”
The man didn't raise his head at all, just wolfed down the sesame cake, drank the last sip of soup, and without looking at the landlady, suddenly said: "Why do you think my eldest brother doesn't let me take care of it?"
After stacking the fragrant and hot sesame cakes neatly, the landlady said with a smile: "To put it bluntly, as the eldest brother, the eldest brother is the father. How can a father be willing to let his son worry about it, instead of just quietly taking care of things himself?" Just do it and save the children from worrying about it."
The man curled his lips, got up, picked up the burden and left.
The proprietress put the sesame cakes in her hands and put them away. She put this piece of broken silver beside the bowl. When she looked up again, there was no sign of the man carrying the burden.
The streets are still deserted, with watchmen sweeping the streets, government servants pretending to be powerful, and madams showing off their coquettishness.
The man who sold the candy was humming a little tune as he left the city. He rented a carriage at the city gate. It had no carriage and was an ordinary cart for hauling goods. Then he drove the horse along the city wall southward, all the way to Montenegro.
On the hill, there was only a mess left after the fight. The few young people he was familiar with and still knew lay unconscious on the ground one by one. He sighed again.
“Don’t overestimate your own capabilities.”
He carried the five people into the car one by one with each hand, quite easily, and couldn't stop talking about it.
"Hey, you are asking around in the world. Let me, Zhu Yu, take you home. It would be so damn honorable."
…
…
Liquanfang, the eldest princess's mansion in the capital.
Bai Jiahui, who was leaning against the stove to warm his hands, looked at the gray sky, with an indescribable and strange smile on his slightly rosy face, which was profound and pointed.
"The sky is going to change."
…
…
In the capital city, the houses next to the Su family's house were empty and there was no one left.
A slovenly and slightly unkempt man pushed open the door in the middle of the night.
Unable to rest at ease all night, Ye Xia turned around.
"How is Miss Su?"
Without waiting for Ye Haoyun to speak, Ye Sangen shook the herbal medicine bag in his hand and said, "I went to Baicao Garden on the way. I came back a little late. I'll fry some for her to drink later."
Ye Xiayou stepped forward and looked at his brother carefully, with unconcealable worry in his eyes.
"It's okay, I can't die."
Ye San was even more dismissive.
"How can a few of them beat me? I'm very powerful, right?"
After all, he couldn't suppress it, and a mouthful of frightening blood foam came out as he spoke.
He just stumbled and leaned against the wall, and then slowly sat down on the ground as if he had lost time.
Taking a breath of cold air, Ye Sangen looked at her sister with tears welling up in her eyes, but she blamed her: "Why are you crying? I'm just tired. I need to take a rest first."
Ye Xiaer held her sleeve and wiped the blood stains on the corner of her mouth in the middle of the night. This was the first time she had seen her brother injured so seriously. How could she not panic?
"Sister, don't forget to wait until Miss Su wakes up and tell her that I'll give her a sigh of relief. Don't blame me for losing my temper after drinking, okay?"
"Besides, I really don't want to see her, I'm so embarrassed."
"Sister, I'm sleepy. I'll take a nap first."
