The early morning is full of vitality and foggy. When the first ray of sunshine shines into Xinghua Lane, the pink and white trees are covered with a layer of golden gauze, like a wedding dress inlaid with gold thread. For this reason, the whole sky and earth are covered with red makeup.
At the door of the house under the apricot tree, young men and women did not come in, but sat on the steps to the left and right.
The two people talked and listened quietly. Occasionally, passers-by would cast curious glances, and which familiar diners would smile playfully. At this time, the girl's cheeks were as ripe as red apricots. Food for thought.
But it's even more delicate than the pink and white apricot blossoms hanging out of the wall behind her to bring out the spring mood.
He briefly told the past events that even a person in the game didn’t know much about. Contrary to expectations in the middle of the night, the girl who had been selling apricot flowers in the alley for several years was not obsessed with the family that day. It was so miserable that several people left one after another, and even the sadness on their faces disappeared in a flash.
As if she could think of the two siblings making a fool of themselves at that time, the girl pursed her lips, revealing two light dimples, which were a little intoxicating.
"You and the second sister are hiding in the soup pot and leaving the city?"
When I first thought of this method that even I found a little disgusting, Ye Xiayou naturally scolded me, and Ye Sangen also smiled bitterly. It was just that the matter was as serious as what my sister said. In order to escape from the city and leave this place of right and wrong, out of sight, out of mind , I can only endure it for a while, but now I think of the way I used to escape, and in the middle of the night I curled my lips and said: "Otherwise, I would have been scolded a lot when I left the city."
"oh."
After a brief remark, Su Liubai did not continue and remained silent.
Then I thought that I had been talking just now, roughly talking about the events of the two nights three years ago. It seemed that I didn't know what to say anymore on the third night. For a while, this small world suddenly became a little quiet, a little... Awkward.
She is no longer as stubborn as she used to be when she had nothing to do, and she never cares about the big door and never leaves the house. Even when she is with Ye Xiayou, she can't stop gossiping about her daughter's secrets in her boudoir. Nowadays, it looks more like a girl who is just about to leave the palace, looking very coy. Occasionally, when pedestrians pass by, the girl lowers her head slightly, and the atmosphere is very subtle.
Su Liubai suddenly raised his head, "Why don't you continue talking?"
Ye San Geng was slightly stunned and just said "ah".
Turning around to look at Saburo Yejia, who no longer needed to be called Third Young Master, and could meet without any reason, Su Liubai smiled lightly, and his eyes were filled with smiles.
"I want to hear from the third brother where you and the second sister have been in the past three years."
It's not like saying "Second Sister" just now made Ye Sangeng have other thoughts, but the "Third Brother" now made Ye Sangeng feel like he had lost something in his heart.
It's a very strange feeling, just like my mother smiled and let go in her arms, but also like she can't find Zhuangyuan on the winding mountain. It also feels like I knew that my sister had been kidnapped not long ago and was helpless, and I'm not good at expressing emotions. Ye San, who was also not very good at understanding the complex, didn't know how to deal with this situation at this time.
He signaled that it was late at night and forced out a very ugly smile. Instead of following Su Liubai's instructions, he said as if he had nothing to say: "I went back to Panshan yesterday and I heard from my father that he accepted you as his daughter. Already?"
Without continuing to ask the question just now, Su Liubai nodded, "My godfather said that he didn't even have time to thank me when I sent you home."
At this point, the girl's eyes were obviously flushed and she looked away, "My godfather also took pity on me. He was afraid that I would be angry outside alone, so he took me in as his goddaughter and gave me this house to live in. I’ve hired someone to repair the house in the capital, and my godfather is a very nice person.”
"It's good." Ye Sangen rolled his eyes, "Isn't this exposing your scars?"
The daughter was thoughtful, so she naturally understood that this sentence was putting herself in her own shoes. Su Liubai pursed her lips and smiled softly, lowering her head and saying nothing.
Silence fell again.
"But it's good. My father and mother said back then that we would have ten children. The oldest sister is Ling, Linling, the eldest sister is One, Jiazi, the second sister is Yayou, I am the third child, and the fourth and fifth children are , I am convinced that your names happen to have the same number as six, isn’t this God’s will.”
Ye Sangen, who broke the silence, obviously had nothing to say, but when the other party said softly "Hmm", everything became quiet again.
I don’t know what to talk about now, but I really can’t talk about the past three years of traveling with my sister. Why did I say that when a member of the Su family died unjustly and tragically, I and Ye Xiayou just left like that? Afterwards, I heard my father mention yesterday that whatever happened after returning home, I always felt that the things I did in the middle of the night were a bit unfinished.
He peeked at the girl who was just looking down at her toes. For the first time in the middle of the night, she felt that her mouth was really stupid.
He simply got up and was about to speak in the middle of the night. By coincidence, Su Liubai was about to speak. They looked at each other and smiled awkwardly, which was even more subtle.
Ye Sangen dodges slightly, "What are you going to say?"
Lowering his head and kneading the corners of his clothes again, Su Liubai's voice was as thin as a mosquito's fly, "No...it's nothing."
Looking at the girl whose ears were as red as the morning glow, she didn't care anymore at midnight and asked: "Do you know Ding Daigou?"
"who?"
Su Liubai's surprise was obviously because he was unfamiliar with this name.
Feeling that he was asking too much, Ye Sangen shook his head and said: "It's okay. I have to do something. Are you going home or back to the mountain?"
The girl, who was wearing a long goose-yellow skirt and was even more rosy, said softly: "I went to the mountains last night and came back this morning to pick up some apricot flowers for my godfather and sister Ling to make cakes."
Walking down the steps in the middle of the night, "Then you work first, I'll finish the work and take the second sister home."
"Um."
There was another wordless sound, and in the middle of the night, he turned to smile at the girl who was not looking at him, and walked away.
Listening to the footsteps walking away, the girl with a pair of shallow dimples on her cheeks looked up in the morning glow.
It's good that I can wait for you. It's best if you don't avoid me and talk to me.
…
…
The grass grows long and the orioles fly, the flowers and willows are bright, and the spring is full of joy. This is a great river and mountain.
On the official road outside Mingde Gate, there was a guard leading the way, holding a flag with the word "Zhao" in black on a yellow background. At this time, as we were approaching the capital, the nervous escort team obviously relaxed a lot, and along with the people rushing along the way, Pedestrians also slowed down.
Wearing a patched khaki cassock, with a large gourd as tall as a human being on his back, the monk with long hair and a monk's hat tilted to one side was fanning a cattail leaf fan that was so worn out that there were only a few leaves. In fact, there was really no cool breeze, and he followed suit at the end of the team, dazed and swaying.
Ignoring the dozen or twenty people in his company who were avoiding him like a monster, the long-haired monk muttered.
"One Zen, one Zen, how the hell did he enter such an empty door?"
"Others practice sticks and talk about Buddhism, but why do they turn into fortune-telling here?"
"Master, Master, you did something wrong and became a monk, which made me become a monk too."
"It's the fortune-telling monk who's the damn one."
The long-haired monk added angrily, and then took out a braised chicken from his arms that he had obtained for alms in Qiantou town this morning, and took a strong bite of the chicken head, chewing the bones until it was crunchy.
"Even if you are a Taoist priest, at least people can trust me when I tell fortunes."
He took off the gourd, which was almost as tall as a man, raised his head and drank wine. After a few sips, he still had more to drink.
Naturally, it is difficult to notice the colleagues who avoid him. The monk who does not abide by the rules and precepts to practice Buddhism takes several sips of wine without spilling a drop of wine to his mouth.
"Sigh, it's hard to be a monk, and it's hard to make any money."
"It's not like I stole a braised chicken and was chased away for half an hour!"
"Amitabha, scholars call it stealing, and monks call it borrowing."
"Sins, sins, sins, monks will pay them back, monks will pay them back."
The crazy monk was talking to himself. Occasionally, one or two fellow travelers who had slowed down would deliberately avoid him when they heard his vague soliloquy.
Looking at the big city that was already in front of him, the long-haired monk became even more angry. He held the wine gourd and vented his resentment towards the braised chicken.
"Oh, I think I have been relying on fortune telling to make a living these days, and no one believes me. What a bad idea."
"Oh, I've only been eating and drinking for a few years. How come the world has changed so much? It's beyond the monk's expectation."
"It's not easy to mess around."
The long-haired monk looked up to the sky and sighed, but he was chewing chicken in his mouth, his tongue was wide open, and he couldn't understand what he was saying.
As if he had thought of something, even while eating such delicious food, the monk with long hair actually drooled.
"hey-hey."
He raised his hand to wipe the corners of his mouth with his sleeve. His actions and expressions startled the people who were closer to him.
Taking a sip of wine, as if to suppress his greed, the long-haired monk sighed and said with a sad face: "Old monk, I gave up the best egg fried rice and ran all the way just to give you a piece of cake. Face, I hope you can give me face too."
The long-haired monk swallowed his saliva and said bitterly: "I have offended all the rice cooks. If you can't survive here, I will make your Saint Temple poor!"
The great monk of Yizen Temple, who has been passed down from generation to generation and whose enlightenment of Zen has lasted a lifetime, drooled again.
Two flowers bloomed. At the same time, a hundred miles southeast, in Qingni Station.
"Mom, why don't you eat? - Mom, eat."
The girl with thick braids screamed loudly at the end, which startled the charming woman opposite. She yelled regardless of the occasion: "What do you call a damn girl? I'm not deaf yet!" "
"Then why don't you eat."
"I'm not hungry."
"Mom, do you miss the great monk again?"
"Think of it! You've been eating me for seven or eight years, and you just threw away a few ingots of silver before leaving? I have to pay the price for the egg fried rice I made, so why shouldn't he give it to me?"
"Mom, that's fifty taels of official silver."
"Not even Guan Yin! I take care of his food and drink three times a day and let him have a shelter from the wind and rain in the hotel. How can fifty taels be enough? One hundred taels is not enough!"
"Mom, you are going too far. The great monk washes vegetables and dishes, carries water and washes the rice every day. Even the long-term workers can't do things like him."
"That's what he wants!"
"You're really a bit..."
"Shut up! I am your mother. If you don't turn your elbow toward me, he is your father!"
"Look at the way my mother has been distracted these days. I think she is fast."
In the far corner of the post house, a charming woman wearing a collar and a scarf raised her hand and gave the little girl with a long braid next to her a slap in the face, which caused her to say "Ouch". ".
"If you give me such nonsense again, I will sew your mouth shut." Then he slammed the table and angrily shouted, "Eat!"
The movement at this table disturbed some caravans or passers-by who were traveling around and looked sideways, with displeasure on their faces. Several Hu merchants with deep eyes and high noses who looked different from the people from the Central Plains were already scolding this person in blunt Zhou Mandarin. Noise regardless of time or place.
It's just that in such a large post house, where the first level of the Dazhou Official Post is located, it is busiest at noon. The postmaster He Sanjin, the ninth-grade sesame official, drags his chubby body and can't sit still. He still doesn't understand what's going on. What's going on over there? The charming woman has already responded to these dissatisfactions.
This proprietress, who shared Xu Garden with the prince and his wife who became an official in the dynasty on the edge of Slender West Lake in Yangzhou. Even the emperor had to pay the price for food and only sold a portion of egg fried rice. Her eyebrows were raised, she stood up and kicked her legs. While stepping on the bench, he reached back and took out a round-headed civil and military chopping knife from the cowhide bag on his waist that had never been taken off. The uneven patterns on the blade's surface were glowing with sparkling light.
The nail hit the table in front of him with a "ding" sound.
The little girl with long braids lowered her head and hurriedly picked up the rice, although the steamed rice here was not as delicious as the one at home.
This widow is so angry, "Shut up!"
There was silence in the post house for an instant, and after nearly two breaths, only the sound of clinking bowls and chopsticks was left.
She suddenly smiled.
"My dear daughter, if you really have a cheap monk father, it would be great to come."
