At the foot of Maoshan Mountain, there is a village.
This village is not big, with only about a hundred households. Except for the occasional traveler who comes to buy herbal medicine and leather goods, the mountain people rarely see outsiders.
But things have changed recently. The deserted village has become more and more lively.
First, some strange old Taoists came to build some kind of Taoist temple on the mountain, and they struggled for many days.
After the Taoist temple was built, the number of visitors stopped, and guests began to come one after another. They said they were attending some kind of mountain opening ceremony, and they settled in the village one after another. The village is too small to live in, and some people even go camping in the mountains.
Although they were generous in their actions and no one caused trouble, the mountain people were isolated from the outside world all year round and still had some subconscious resistance.
But the strangest person is a young man who didn't know when he arrived.
Wearing the same mountain folk clothes as them, they set up a shed in a corner of the village, where they cooked and sold porridge.
Everyone thinks they are from the mountains, or even from the village. Because that young man made them very friendly and didn't feel strange to outsiders at all.
But even if they knew each other, no one knew him. No one could tell the young man's name, or even whose family he belonged to.
But after only two days, no one discussed it anymore.
Because in the minds of all the mountain people, this young man seemed to have lived in the village for many years. Since I have lived here for many years, I am definitely not an outsider.
The strange young man is naturally Su Qing.
"The heavens bring joy to the festival, and the earth's spirits bring blessings. Yan Chixia chose the fifth day of the fifth lunar month to open the mountain, which is a good day."
Su Qing glanced at the mountain, then turned back and continued to cook the porridge in the pot.
There is a large bluestone next to the cauldron, with two stacks of bowls and chopsticks placed on it. There are also two simple tables and four long wooden benches. There is a sign standing outside, with the words "A bowl of porridge" crookedly written on it.
If someone walked into the shed and sat down, Su Qing would directly bring a bowl of porridge over to them.
The founding of Maoshan Mountain involves many things, and every guest who comes to watch the ceremony can get a piece of fate. But whether you can really grasp it depends on the customer's choice.
"Hey, is there a porridge shed here?"
"A bowl of porridge? The name is interesting."
Two people came over, one fat and one thin, dressed like people in the world.
"Let's go taste it."
"What's so delicious about porridge? It's better to go hunting for game in the mountains."
"I've been eating meat these days. It's a change of taste. And if the chief hall master comes here these days, it's hard for us to leave."
"makes sense."
The two briefly exchanged a few words and walked into the shed. After sitting down, Su Qing put two bowls of porridge on the table without waiting to speak.
"Haha, you are very nimble with your hands and feet. Little brother, are you from the mountains?"
The fat man has a bold personality and greets everyone carelessly.
Su Qing didn't speak to him, put down the porridge and walked away.
"Hey, it's another boring gourd." The fat man shook his head.
"The mountain people here are isolated from the world, and they don't seem to like to talk much." The thin man had already drank the porridge, "Try it quickly, this porridge tastes really good."
"What's so good about broken porridge? I wouldn't be bothered to drink it if I wasn't with you." The fat man disagreed.
It looks like ordinary rice porridge without any supplements. The fat man picked it up and took a sip. He was about to say something when he suddenly froze. He quickly took another sip, and his eyes suddenly lit up.
"Hey, it's interesting. This smell..."
Looking at the clear soup and clear water, it is extremely sweet and rich. Moreover, the porridge is obviously hot, but there is an indescribable refreshing feeling after entering the mouth. It seemed like every pore was open, as if he had drank ice water on a hot day.
The fat man picked up the porridge bowl and slurped it up, finishing the porridge in two mouthfuls.
"Brother, your porridge tastes so good." The fat man touched his mouth and said, "Have another bowl."
"One bowl for each person." Su Qing spoke.
"So you can talk... but there's no one who only sells one bowl of porridge." The fat man was very dissatisfied, especially when he saw the thin man tasting the taste and slowly drinking it, he felt even more greedy, "Stop talking nonsense, have another bowl. Just give you money."
"One bowl for each person." Su Qing insisted.
"Hey, you're such a stubborn person, why don't you give me more money? Brother, I'm from Yum Sheng Tang, why don't you give me this little face..."
The fat man was arguing with Su Qing there, and two more people came outside.
One man and one woman, also dressed as Jianghu people. A young swordsman and a woman in purple. He obviously knew the fat and thin duo and said hello jokingly.
"Yeah, Baishengtang is really overbearing. They are arguing here over a mouthful of porridge. Don't forget that this is not the Qing Dynasty. People in the mountains may not know your names."
"Hey, no matter how overbearing you are, it doesn't work. So does your uncle's name work? Tell me. There is nothing good to eat in this village, and it is rare to find something that suits your taste. This little brother is so stubborn that he won't sell anything. My second bowl.”
"This place is isolated from the world, and my uncle Guan Zheng has been hiding for many years. I'm afraid it will be useless. But since you said so, you have to try this porridge no matter what. Junior brother, let's have two bowls and see what it is. Let the heroes of Baishengtang be so greedy."
"Senior Sister Yi, the mountains are full of wild game. I just want to eat something light..."
The senior sister and brother walked into the porridge shed, and Su Qing brought two bowls as usual.
The two of them ate much more politely, tasting the food bit by bit with a spoon. Everyone looked surprised after taking a spoonful of it.
"Huh? This porridge is a little special."
"It looks very bland, but it tastes really different."
After tasting a few more mouthfuls, the woman suddenly realized. "I understand, it's medicinal porridge."
The young swordsman was curious. "Medicated porridge?"
The thin man also sniffed carefully and shook his head as well. "I don't taste the medicine."
"That's because the porridge maker is good at his craftsmanship." The woman walked up to Su Qing with the porridge in her hands.
"Seller, you must have added a lot of mountain herbs here. Although there are no medicinal leaves, the flavor has already been integrated into the porridge. If I guessed correctly, there must be skullcap, coptis, phellodendron...well, gardenia is also there..."
The woman took a few sips and then mentioned the name of the medicine while winking at Su Qing.
"It's just white porridge." Su Qing said.
The woman's expression froze.
The fat man and the thin man couldn't help laughing, and the young swordsman coughed twice.
"Okay, let's go." The thin man also finished his porridge, stood up and said to Su Qing, "How much is it? Let's pay."
"Watch it." Su Qing said.
Several people were startled.
The thin man asked: "What do you mean?"
Su Qing said: "You can give me as much money as you think the porridge is worth. If you think it's not worth it, you can give me nothing."
The fat man and the thin man looked at each other, and they felt more and more that the porridge seller was a weirdo.
"Your porridge is delicious, but if I don't enjoy it, it's worthless." The fat man said deliberately, "So, I won't give you any money."
Su Qing nodded. "Can."
The thin man smiled, took out a piece of silver and handed it to Su Qing. "The most expensive porridge I have ever eaten was in Qingguo. A bowl of eight-treasure porridge cost one silver penny, while ordinary rice porridge only cost one or two cents. Your porridge is not inferior to that eight-treasure porridge. Mine cost about three cents. Count me and my friend two cents. Human.”
Su Qing didn't answer and said: "Each person will be counted separately, and you cannot pay on your behalf."
"You..." The thin man said helplessly, "Okay, then it's mine, it doesn't matter how you calculate it."
Only then did Su Qing reach out and take the silver.
The thin man turned around and left. The fat man followed and took a few steps and threw a piece of silver over. It landed on the table with four pieces of money.
"I'm not full, but I'm not freeloading either." The fat man cursed, "The porridge is delicious, but you have a thick head. You deserve to be poor in the mountains for the rest of your life."
Su Qing put away the money.
The woman was still embarrassed. She rolled her eyes at Su Qing and said to the young swordsman: "Junior brother, this porridge is not delicious. Let's go."
"I think it's okay." The young swordsman was still drinking.
The woman stamped her feet angrily, wanting to throw the porridge bowl away. But smelling the smell of porridge, I felt a little reluctant to part with it. Secretly, he turned his back and drank the porridge.
After the young swordsman finished drinking, the woman couldn't wait to leave.
"Senior sister, I haven't paid you yet." The young swordsman said hurriedly.
"This porridge seller is too evil. He deliberately uses his tricks to defraud money. He deceives people in the world, so he uses words to provoke him." The woman said, "Junior brother, you are not deeply involved in the world and have too little experience in the world. Don't be deceived."
The woman couldn't help but forcefully pulled the young swordsman away.
Su Qing didn't say anything and just cleaned up the dishes. After a while, the young swordsman turned back.
"I'm really sorry, my senior sister is a bit willful." The young swordsman took out a silver coin and put it on the table, clasping his fists and bowing to apologize, "She just made an unbridled offence, and I am here to apologize to you on her behalf."
"If you're apologizing, please take back the silver." Su Qing just continued to put away the dishes with her head down, "I'll give you whatever the porridge is worth. She thinks it's cheating, so the porridge is worthless."
"A chef's dedication to food is no less than a warrior's dedication to martial arts." The young swordsman seemed a little moved. He thought about it seriously and took off his sword.
"The white porridge is indeed delicious, but using only money would tarnish the craftsmanship. This knife is something I carry with me, so I give it to you as a gift."
Su Qing raised his head, glanced at the young man, and reached out to take his saber.
"If you go to Maoshan in the future, remember to buy a stick of incense."
…
There are those who sell porridge, but they are not good merchants. Let the guests eat first and measure themselves. I feel the geometry of the porridge and how much it is. A thousand pieces of gold can be given, a penny can be given, or nothing can be given. People may think that they are trustworthy, or they may think that they are crazy, or they may think that they have business skills. I never thought that it would be the fate of immortality.
"Nine Continent Strange Stories"
