Qingzhou City, the Tongfu Inn is deserted, there is no figure in the corridor and the patio, even the sister-in-law Niu who should have stayed in the back kitchen has broken her cooking smoke, and it is difficult to stand at the door of the inn to bask in the sun;

As soon as these people who begged for a living left, there were only some Jianghu Langzhong and some homeless scholars left in the Tongfu Inn, for them, it is better to have a shelter from the wind and rain than to live on the streets. Therefore, I spent the New Year at the Tongfu Inn, and I never felt that there was anything wrong.

For these poor people who stayed at the Tongfu Inn, New Year's Day, like other days, was nothing more than others deceiving themselves. The smiles of the pedestrians on the street were about to overflow, as if all their troubles could be eliminated on this day; it seemed that those peasants who sold the small vegetables of the peasant family would be able to live a self-sufficient life without paying the rent next year; those small merchants and peddlers could sell all their goods every time, and the guards at the state gate would not have any trouble; and the children walking on the road could grow up carefree all the time, and would not have any worries about getting rich because of their promotion in the future.

We still have to go through the road of the world that we should take; we have to turn back halfway through the hurdles of life; we have to bear a lot of hardships in this life; we must learn to give up in time what we can't get.

How can there be so many carp jumping over the dragon gate in this world, who can be Tian Shelang, ascend to Tianzitang at dusk, and return to their hometown on a high-headed horse, more of a decade of cold windows no one asks, and become famous in one fell swoop. How can there be so many heroes in this martial arts industry and lakes who punish evil and promote good, more for a pill, a silver ingot, and even slaughter people for the sake of face.

These poor people know that their lives are hopeless, and they live carefully in Qingzhou City, and they can only whisper when they encounter some unscrupulous people, as if this is the way to stabilize this life.

For those poor scholars lying in the Tongfu Inn, the New Year has never been different, today the door is closed, the candle is lit in the room, the head is hanging from the beam and the cone is piercing, when hungry they will nibble on a cold cake, when they are thirsty, they will drink a well water, and they will sing loudly when they read the emotional place: There are thousands of bells in the book, and there is a rice beam in the book. They were not impressed by those external objects at all, but they themselves understood that if they could not win fame in this capital examination, then the road after that would only become more and more difficult.

The wanderers who set up stalls at the corners of Qingzhou City to tell fortunes, Lang Zhong who sold dog skin plasters in all directions, and the wanderers who performed acrobatics in the downtown did not go out to beg for a livelihood at the moment, but curled up in their small rooms, took out boxes from under the bed or in the dark compartments, and counted how much money they had earned in the old years.

In previous years, when the old and the new were alternated, these poor people each gave some broken silver, made a pot of bad wine from the wine shop that was not closed, and then bought some cheap water and other food from the green treasure house, and got together in twos and threes, a pot of wine, a few dishes, and could talk for several hours, and then they went back to their rooms to sleep, and when they woke up, they were stunned and did not know where they were.

Today is no exception, a few acquaintances in the back kitchen of the Tongfu Inn, by heating some meals and spirits here, watching the night gradually pull up, lighting a candle, these people began to let go of the fatigue of the year, get a moment of joy.

The more he drank, the more enjoyable he became, and a Jianghu Langzhong unbuttoned his shirt and said: "When I was buying wine on the outer street of Baiyunguan today, I saw a man selling sugar gourds who wanted to assassinate Zhou Youliang. Although the man was extremely fast and had already stepped into the carriage, the groom who was driving the carriage did not know what his skill was, but he gave the man a whip gently, and the man fell to the ground, and when he looked closely, he was lifeless. ”

A poor scholar next to him, holding an old book in his left hand and a peanut in his right hand, pinched off the red afterbirth on the outside and put it in his mouth, stared at the old book in his hand and said slowly: "Jiang Langzhong, didn't you say that you bought wine at our Pingyangfang, why did you go to Baiyun Temple? I said that this year's New Year's wine is tasteless to drink, and it must be because of the water in it." ”

The man known as Jiang Langzhong was in charge of buying wine for the New Year's Day this year. Hearing that the scholar said that he had pit some money, he also smiled and said: "Peng nerd, what do you know, a new wine shop has opened on Baiyunguan Outer Street in recent days, and before closing today, the store has to sell out the wine at a fast rate before going home for the New Year, so I took advantage of this gap to make a pot of wine, which is a lot more than in previous years." If you like to drink water, then I will fetch you some well water. ”

A vendor next to him sat cross-legged in clothes carrying goods, and this person lived alone in Qingzhou City for several years. Although there was no livelihood moving goods at this time, he still stayed in the Tongfu Inn, and there was nowhere else to go. At this moment, I picked up the wine jug and poured a bowl of wine, and simmered it with pickled pepper and chicken offal, a little spicy throat, and couldn't help coughing a few times.

Peng Nerd stared at the old book in his left hand, and said without looking back: "Ji Man, you tuberculosis ghost stay away from me, I have to go to the capital to catch the exam, but don't die of tuberculosis halfway." ”

Ji Man smiled, coughed a little softer, picked up a few peanuts and put them directly into his mouth and asked: "Your Bailu Academy is really strange, even a vulgar person like you accepts it, and what do you say is instructive, your mouth is as stinky and hard as a stone in a pit." In the eyes of those of us who move goods, you don't move any amount of money you give. ”

Jiang Langzhong said to himself at this moment: "This week, Youliang has done all kinds of evil in Qingzhou City, and it is normal to meet one or two people who are looking for revenge, but I never thought that I would find revenge in the New Year, if it was the good man who sold sugar gourds, it would ......be one step faster."

Jiang Langzhong set up a stall in the elegant workshop in Qingzhou City, selling some dog skin plasters, and was blackmailed by Zhou Youliang's men many times, so he was worried all year round, and he couldn't earn a few silver dollars. Otherwise, this year's New Year will definitely go to Lvbaoju to eat alone, how can you fight with these poor people, a whole roast chicken is not enough.

Peng Nerd pulled out the chicken leg with his right hand, took a bite hard, and then said with satisfaction: "When this state guard goes to that place, he must be going to Baiyun Temple to burn the head pillar incense, but that person recognized the wrong carriage and mistook the state guard for Zhou Youliang." You don't want to think about it, the state guard next to him must be a famous master in the martial arts rivers and lakes, how can we ordinary people know about it. After Peng Nerd finished speaking, he took a few more bites on the chicken legs, and after a while, only chicken bones remained. Then he put his right hand in his mouth and licked it, wiped it on his thigh, and quickly flipped through the old book he was holding on the left, only to see that there were a lot of oil stains on the old book.

Ji Man glanced at the roast chicken, hurriedly tore off the other chicken leg, took a few bites and said: "I heard from the brothers of the goods gang that Qiu Meng, who was under Zhou Youliang, was killed in Jinyi Lane, and a sword was stuck in his head. It is said that this person came to seek revenge on Zhou Youliang, so he killed his subordinates first. Zhou Youliang is greedy for life and afraid of death, and he hasn't even gone to places such as food and residence these days, if he didn't want to accompany the state guard to go out, he would definitely not show up easily. ”

Jiang Langzhong listened to it wonderfully, and hurriedly asked: "This Qiu Meng is one of the number one people in Qingzhou City, I can't imagine that he died so easily, who killed him, this week Youliang can figure it out?"

Ji Man drank a bowl of spirits, stuffed his mouth with chicken, and said vaguely: "I don't know, I heard that it is an old man and a young man, and the hunting people in Qingzhou City are looking for it, saying that there are people who know the deeds of these two people, and they are greatly rewarded." ”

Jiang Langzhong heard that it was an old man and a young man, and suddenly remembered to look ahead.

Peng Nerd also put down the old book in his hand and followed Jiang Langzhong in the same direction.

Lao Dao and Qin Chuan were eating hot pot and sweating profusely......