The county seat of Ba County is walled by the cliff, bending and undulating, showing convex and concave everywhere, turning shape, and the horizon is very narrow.

The road became narrower and narrower, and the sewage-ridden alley I had just walked was only about ten feet wide. Walking down the slope to a high place, I saw that the eaves were densely connected, and the following were all messy and mixed stilted buildings, Pan Er didn't expect Han Xiufeng to live in this place, and he couldn't help but feel a little lost.

When Han Xiufeng told the porter, there was a paper shop in front of him that also sold paper money, opposite was a shroud shop, and next door was a coffin shop, with two freshly painted coffins in it, eerie and creepy, Pan Er's heart was not only lost but also oozing panic!

"I received it so quickly, young shopkeeper, you came really fast." Zhu Ziniang went to go to the mother-in-law and future daughter-in-law of Zoumagang early in the morning, and Zhu Zi stayed at home to watch the store, and felt a little strange when she saw Pan Erzhen coming, but she still shouted: "Pick the luggage in, put it here." ”

"Brother Pan, enter the house." Han Xiufeng turned around.

Pan Er relieved himself, couldn't help but glance at the coffin shop again, and asked worriedly, "Fourth brother, do you live here?" ”

Han Xiufeng patted him on the shoulder, nodded and greeted the master of the coffin shop, and said with a smile: "Yes, I have lived in Zhuzi's house for seven or eight years, I don't believe you can ask the neighbors nearby." ”

Pan Er said with a bitter face: "I thought you lived in the yamen." ”

"Stay in the yamen." Han Xiufeng sent the two porters away and pulled Pan Er into the house.

"Aren't you on an errand in the yamen, why don't you live in the yamen?"

"Who said that I was an errand boy in the Yamen, I was in the Yamen to help out. Even if you are on an errand in the yamen, you don't need to live in the yamen. It's nothing if you don't go, it's all a matter when you go, just help do something, and the old man won't give money. I'm not a melon baby, why do I live there and ask for trouble. ”

General Pan Er asked suspiciously: "But if you don't live in the yamen, why do you help the yamen?" ”

Han Xiufeng lifted the pot and poured a bowl of tea, holding the tea bowl and said with a smile: "What official documents do you want to copy in the yamen, and Jingcheng will ask someone to bring me a letter." The official documents to be copied are sometimes picked up by the yamen, and sometimes the people who carry the letters will be asked to bring them over, and the copies are sent over to calculate the money according to the number of words. ”

Before coming, Pan Er always felt that Han Xiufeng had great ability, and he was full of confidence in whether Han Xiufeng could make up for the lack when he went to the capital, but all this in front of him and Han Xiufeng's words just now made him feel cold in his heart, looking at the mountains of yellow paper in the house and the paper people in the corner, he couldn't help but say: "Help the yamen do things, why doesn't the lord give money?" ”

"You mean the scribe?"

"Hmm."

Han Xiufeng drank a cup of tea and explained: "I heard that the scribes in the early years of Kangxi were paid, and later the southwest was restless, and the salaries of the scribes were cancelled after years of conquest and exhaustion of the treasury, but as long as they were registered, they were exempted from conscription. That's why it is said in the drama that sorghum is not planted in the lobby, and black beans are not planted in the second hall. ”

Pan Er was not interested in whether the scribe had food and silver, so he just asked casually, thinking that he would have to live in such an infiltrating place at night, and couldn't help muttering: "Even if you don't live in the yamen, you can't live here." ”

The pillar was not happy, stared at him and asked: "Young shopkeeper, this is my house, what's wrong with living here, and besides, I don't care if the fourth brother asks for the house money." ”

"yes, it's nice to live here." Han Xiufeng put down the tea bowl, pointed to the next door and said with a smile: "The other side of the gable is the coffin shop, the coffin coffin, the promotion and fortune, this is a good omen!" ”

"Young shopkeeper, your family is a pawnshop, rich and rich, I think my family is unlucky, I don't want to live here, you can go to the guest house. I know the shopkeeper of the Yuelai store, or I will send you over, if you want to be comfortable, if you are willing to spend money, you can also ask for a room. The pillar paused, and then smiled slyly: "Next to the Yuelai store is Yihong Courtyard, and the girls in it are more beautiful than the other, and if you can't sleep at night, you can go to Yihong Courtyard to play." ”

Pan Er really wanted to go to the Yihong Courtyard that the pillar said to see and understand, but it costs money to go to that kind of place, and it costs a lot of money, so it's just a matter of thinking. He settled down, gritted his teeth and said: "I will live wherever the fourth brother lives, you are not afraid, I have nothing to be afraid of." ”

Zhu Zi forced a smile and said, "Who said we are not afraid, we are sometimes afraid." I heard the door clanging last night, and there was no wind outside, so why did the door clang for no reason? My fourth brother and I were so scared that we didn't dare to squeak, and we didn't sleep well all night! If you don't have a shopkeeper, you have to think about it. ”

"You're scaring me!"

"Whether it's a scare or not, you'll know if you stay overnight."

"Zhuzi, stop joking with Brother Pan." Han Xiufeng beckoned him to sit down, poured him a cup of tea, and said with a smile: "Brother Pan, it's not terrible to be dead in these years, it's the living that are terrible." Besides, we didn't do anything wrong, and we weren't afraid of ghosts knocking on the door. ”

"You little, you know you're scaring me." Pan Er picked up the bowl and drank a large sip of tea to suppress the shock, looked at the wooden ladder behind Han Xiufeng and asked, "Fourth brother, live above at night, is there a vacant bed, I can make a bunk on the floor if there is no vacant bed." ”

"There was a bed and there was a futon. You're tired from a long day's journey, so let's have supper early, finish early and go to bed early. ”

When it came to eating supper, Pan Er immediately ran over and turned out a cloth bag, and said as if offering treasure: "Fourth brother, there are a few pot helmets here, and they are brought on the road as dry food." I'm afraid I'll let you wait if I go slowly, so I'll eat one, and the rest will be overnight, and if you don't eat today, you won't be able to eat tomorrow. ”

"Okay."

As soon as Han Xiufeng's words fell, a woman and child walked over from the shroud shop opposite the door with a few cotton clothes, her little feet couldn't walk fast, and she shouted as she walked: "Four babies, Layue's clothes are ready, for fear of delaying your business, I scolded the person who played cotton." dragged on, a few catties of cotton wool for a few days, how could he make a living like that. ”

Han Xiufeng hurriedly got up to greet him: "Siniang, I'm bothering you, come, come in and have a cup of tea." ”

The pillar also pulled out the stool: "Siniang, you sit." ”

"I don't sit down, and I don't drink tea." Siniang put the clothes on the square table and picked up the top padded jacket: "Siwazi, try it, see if it fits, I'll take it back and change it if it doesn't fit." It's easy to change now, and when you get to the capital, if you don't know the place, who do you find to help you sew and mend it. ”

"It's okay to try, thank you Siniang."

Han Xiufeng took the padded jacket, put it on and stretched his lower arms, it was a bit big, but this was what the cold winter Layue wore, and it had to be a shirt inside, and it would fit when the time came.

Fiercely praised Siniang's good craftsmanship, and accompanied Siniang for a while to pull the pillar mother to visit relatives in Magang, pulling and pulling the sun down, Siniang saw that it was not early, and thought of going back to do supper, so she couldn't go back to the shop door panel.

Pan Er couldn't interject just now, and as soon as Siniang left, he couldn't help asking: "Fourth brother, did you let her make cotton clothes or shrouds, why do I look a bit like shrouds!" ”

Han Xiufeng has lived in Zhuzi's house for seven or eight years, and he has no taboos, and said lightly: "When you are alive, you should wear cotton clothes, and when you die, you will wear them as longevity clothes." But by then I would definitely not be able to wear it for myself, and I would have to bother the pillar to help me put it on. ”