The Roman merchant sat down near the counter in the hall, and a fellow man came over and ordered them a drink.

The blonde and blue-eyed young man in the lead was casually chatting and laughing with the few people around him, looking at everything around him.

At this time, he suddenly saw our group of children on the stairs who were observing them, and immediately naughtily waved to us, laughing like an innocent teenager.

Then he turned to the interpreter beside him and gave a few words, and the somewhat obscene Rouran man hurriedly trotted over to us with a smile.

"Little friend! Come over here, our Lord Charlie has a gift for you! ”

At the staircase on the first floor, Rouran smiled at us and made an inviting gesture, raising his head and shouting loudly.

Now it's our turn to be embarrassed, and several children are pushing and shoving each other, and no one wants to go down.

In the end, I was a little older, and out of politeness to cooperate with the guests, and a strong curiosity, I finally stood up and ran downstairs.

When the young man named Charlie saw me coming, he stood up enthusiastically and gave me an encouraging hug.

Then he grabbed several dazzling orbs from the bag beside him, as if they were carved from jade.

While gesturing, he instructed Rouran to translate something in Roman.

"Little friend, our lord said that he would give you these glass balls, but you have to cooperate with him to do a magic, okay?" Rouran asked with a grin.

I nodded vigorously, the reflective orbs had piqued my great interest.

I wondered if I looked at the sun during the day, would it sparkle like the jade at home.

After receiving my promise, Charlie put the beads back on the table and took only one of them.

Then he solemnly grabbed one of my hands and put the beads in my palm.

"Hold on!" Rouran commanded with a wicked smile.

I quickly grabbed the beads hard, and the squeezing sensation of the glass ball in my hand quickly spread through my every pore.

Then Charlie made a traction gesture and made a delivery gesture into one of my ears. Finally he sat back in his chair and laughed mischievously.

At this time, the surrounding guests all gathered around, and the friends on the stairs couldn't resist the temptation, and came downstairs to crowd around me to watch the excitement.

"Kids, spread out your hands and take a look!"

I spread out my hands as I was told, and I was stunned.

It turned out that the pearl that was obviously holding in the palm of my hand flew away magically without knowing what was going on.

Just as I was about to ask for help from the man next to me, the Roman named Charlie stood up again and made a grasping gesture next to my other ear.

The mysteriously disappeared bead appeared between his three fingers, and Charlie happily patted me on the head, put the bead back in my hand, and then turned around and grabbed the glass bead on the table and distributed it to every child around me.

Then the beads were distributed, and Charlie happily sat back in his seat, took a few sips of the clay bowl containing the wine, and shrugged his shoulders while making a gesture that the prank game was over.

The people around the crowd immediately gave enthusiastic applause and cheers, which was much more fun than the juggling of the Sassanid artists at the Spring Suburb Buddha Festival.

Growing up in Rome, I realized that Uncle Charles' performances were nothing more than a trick used by wandering Hebrews in the streets around the Colosseum to earn a living.

At this time, my mother came from a distance and scolded me seriously: "Old Garden, don't mess around with the guests here!" Hurry up and take your younger siblings back to the study! ”

"Mrs. Khotan, these are all your sons?"

Seeing his mother, Charlie and his entourage quickly got up and bowed respectfully to their mother.

I can't remember when my mother's nickname "Mrs. Khotan" was first shouted by which merchant, and on the trade route that passed through Khotan to connect the Middle Earth and the Han Land and the countries of the Western Regions, the name of Mrs. Khotan, the proprietress of the "Qingfengze" inn, was known to everyone.

It is either from her mother's ancient warmth, or from her strength, or from the intimacy that she is born with as a woman.

All the merchants from all over the world who passed by the "Qingfengze" inn respected their mother.

"Yes, my three sons and nieces have disturbed you!" My mother lovingly put her hands on my shoulders and introduced with a smile.

"It doesn't matter! Your kids are smart and cute! Just like Madame you! Rouran was busy translating for the two of them.

"Ulduar! Send a jar of Qin wine to the guests at this table! The mother turned back and shouted to a fellow not far away.

"Okay! Madam! ”

In the blink of an eye, Ulduar had already run over with the jar in his arms.

"Our store has just entered a batch of Qin wine from Middle Earth, please taste it, please use it slowly!"

After the mother bowed slightly to the guests, she walked out of the living room lobby with our children.

"Thank you, ma'am! Thank you, ma'am! Charlie and the others thanked him repeatedly.

The guests in the hall all looked at his mother with respect, and Charlie didn't understand why these high-rollers who had traveled the world respected a weak woman so much.

He had only received a warning from Roman merchants who had been to Middle-earth, that Madame Khotan, on the shore of the "Clear Wind", was a figure not to be offended or to be blasphemed.

If he had seen his mother pray for the corpses of the ownerless merchants, and provide free meals for the passing caravans, he might have understood why.

And now, his politeness to his mother is more out of his affection for beautiful women in foreign countries and curiosity about the legends of the rivers and lakes.

Children are the best bribes, and Charlie won the trust and favor of our children with a few small glass balls and a small trick.

For the next few days, we stopped climbing trees, and after the morning classes in the college, we would go to Charlie's residence in the backyard.

The funny Charlie no longer plays tricks, but sits cross-legged on the bunk and tells us all the anecdotes he has seen during his travels to various countries.

Charlie's eyebrows fluttered, and the skills of translating Rouran are limited after all, and the paraphrase is definitely not as wonderful as the original text.

But we, a group of children who have never seen the big world, still sit on the stone floor one by one, deeply attracted by the content of the story, and are fascinated.

One year Charlie recounts that he traveled across the sea with his family's caravan on a huge wooden sailing ship to a southern vassal country called Egypt.

On the banks of a large river called the Nile, there are hundreds of towering mausoleums built of stone bars, which are said to have been built for themselves by the kings and pharaohs of ancient Egypt.

And on the side of each mausoleum, there is a huge monster with a sphinx face, sitting there as the tomb keeper of the pharaoh.

The child was already a little creepy, and I timidly asked, "Are those monsters fierce?" Cannibalism, right? ”

After hearing Rouranren's translation, Charlie was stunned at first, and then burst into laughter.

"Don't eat people, don't eat people! These monsters are so kind that you can ride them on their backs! I once rode on the back of a monster that carried me around the royal cemetery many times! ”

Listening to Charlie's nonsense, several Romans around him were already laughing and leaning back.

But I couldn't figure out why these adults were laughing, I should be trembling with fear.

During the time when Charlie lived in "Qingfuze", he told us a lot of stories, which is one of the most wonderful ones, and we will never forget it.

In return, every free afternoon, I would act as a guide and take these Romans to hunt in the royal hunting grounds at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains.

At this time, it is the season of winter transition on the mountain, and every day there will be countless yellow sheep and beasts hitting Kunlun Mountain and coming down from this hunting ground in front of you.

They were accompanied by shepherds who drove their flocks of sheep, cattle and camels to their winter pastures.

Every year at this time, I would come here with my grandfather and grandfather and hunt dozens of yellow sheep.

During this time, Grandpa and his family went to Wusun Kingdom to purchase a batch of high-quality horses for customers in Handi, and they have not returned yet.

If they're all at home, there's no place for me as a little guide.

When returning with their prey in the evening, Charles and his retinue would set up a bonfire on the edge of the desert not far from the inn

Prey such as yellow sheep and Suzuka are gutted and fur stripped and grilled directly over a campfire.

The enticing fragrance can be smelled from afar.

In addition to our greedy and greedy little cat, the guests invited to the open-air barbecue included those who can sing and dance.

Of course, there are also some uninvited tenants.

Everyone is a family in the rivers and lakes, and there are not so many politeness.

Regardless of whether you speak the language or not, as long as you have a smile and a greeting on your face, you will become friends who can take care of each other.

Now that they have become friends, of course, when they have wine and meat, they can't favor one over the other.