Since Zhiqiu "talked" with the old shopkeeper under the ginkgo tree that night, the whole person has become in a trance, often not knowing what he is doing, and beginning to wonder if it is a mistake to be the disciple of this old man. I heard the old man say that the thirteen disciples he received before were all dead, so when will it be my turn?

Thinking of being accepted as a disciple by a bookstore shopkeeper for some reason, and having to start over to learn to read and write, Zhiqiu couldn't help but sigh with emotion. Although he didn't have the habit of looking down on people, he used to be at home, and the teacher that the old man found for him was also at the level of Guozijian's secretary.

As for why it wasn't the son of the country who supervised the sacrificial wine to teach, in the words of the old man, it was simply not to deal with the sacrificial wine, and it was not pleasing to the eye. Otherwise, I would have come over to teach.

So Zhiqiu's life in the past few days is really not too comfortable. Every morning, I have to get up at a slight dawn, go to the next street to buy three or two steamed buns, eat a few bites, and then hurry to the small bookstore. Every time he felt that he must have arrived earlier than the old shopkeeper, he found that the old shopkeeper had already moved a chair and sat at the door.

And since the old shopkeeper accepted Zhiqiu as a closed disciple, he has become more and more strict with Zhiqiu. I got two wooden blocks out of nowhere and made them into wooden boards, which are called "ring rulers". Whenever Zhiqiu is late or not serious about writing and reading, the little boy will always suffer like that.

Zhiqiu's body is thin, with fine skin and tender meat, and he has never suffered from that. Besides, when he was studying in that mansion in the capital in the past, which teacher dared to beat him? Even when the teacher of the great prince came, he did not dare to beat him. So Zhiqiu has had some scars on his body recently, one blue and one purple, which makes him feel a little distressed.

However, Zhiqiu's spirit was in a trance, but fortunately, he didn't say anything to embarrass the old shopkeeper. This is Gusu, naturally not as good as the capital, and I have been in Gusuzhou for more than three years, and I know how to judge the current situation, which is certain.

After all, people are under the eaves and have to bow their heads. Not to mention that the shopkeeper really got him some beef every day, just because the shopkeeper still paid him on time every month, Zhiqiu was embarrassed to say a few words. As for the pain of the flesh, he thought about it, and thought that this was the price in exchange for the meat.

Zhiqiu was also observing, during this time, he found that the old shopkeeper taught him to read and read, and he did not start from the most basic literacy, but directly taught him sentence by sentence, what "great ambition is not talented, great talent is not learned", and "endure humiliation and dirt, often fearful". The old shopkeeper wrote down these words while reading them, and then asked Zhiqiu to read them along, writing as he read them. Even if it's finished, it's not finished, and you still have to understand the meaning. The old shopkeeper would explain the meaning of each word one by one, and then the meaning of the whole sentence, and occasionally the source of the words if he had a free day that day.

The boy also learned happily, and compared to what he thought he thought was simply writing and recognizing, listening to stories, and listening to the big truths, he felt that this was not bad. Anyway, since he left the capital, it seems that he hasn't heard others speak in his ear for more than three years, and his mother used to love to talk about it, but Zhiqiu didn't want to listen to it, and then he liked to listen to the middle-aged Confucian at home, but the Confucian seemed to rarely show up in the house, staying in the room all day, staying at home, and the old man was unwilling to let Zhiqiu go to him. It was only occasionally that the middle-aged Confucian would come out to breathe, and Zhiqiu would meet him.

The old shopkeeper holds a ring ruler in one hand and a teapot in the other. Whenever he read a magnificent verse, he took two sips, moistened his voice, and then read it out loud. Only then did Zhiqiu feel that the old shopkeeper was like a scholar.

"Little Zhiqiu, what do you think I look like when I read these poems?" the old shopkeeper took another sip of tea and said to Zhiqiu.

Zhiqiu didn't lie this time, and said from the bottom of his heart: "Like a Dapeng spreading its wings and flying high, like a wild horse that has escaped, it is magnificent, just like the young Cao poet." ”

The old shopkeeper laughed twice after hearing this, and his mood was naturally very happy, and he asked Zhiqiu again: "Oh, the first Cao poet on the Taoist list, he is not very old now, he must be much younger than me." How can you compare me with him?"

Zhiqiu smiled and replied: "Shopkeeper, Cao Shishi is now the first on the Taoist list, this flying omnipotence, I compare you with others, you must be taking advantage." Anyway, I'm just complimenting you!"

The shopkeeper drank a pot of tea and didn't speak. Then he raised the empty teapot and gestured to Zhiqiu, who understood and took the teapot to the bookstore to fetch water.

Is the model of this generation of scholars Cao Shishi? Just that drunkard? Anyway, the teenagers are ignorant and haven't seen it, but they have seen it, and with the drunkard's ability, they can also coax the youth league to turn around.

He closed his eyes, as if reminiscing about a past.

"Hey, old man, let's drink another one before leaving? Maybe the next time we meet, one of us will be in the underworld and the other will be in the yang, how will we drink then?"

"This is simple, fill your precious gourd with Kunlun, and when I die, you can take it up and pour it on my grave. If I don't even have a grave, you can pour two drops on the ground when you hear of my death. ”

"Oh, how are you so sure you're going to die before me?"

"You don't know my fortune telling?"

.......

Zhiqiu came over quickly with the teapot, and looked at the old man lying on the chair with his eyes closed, as if he was asleep. He was overjoyed and tiptoed away.

He looked at the weather today and felt that the sun was just right, so he jumped to walk the street. Zhiqiu suddenly remembered that he hadn't seen the young man with the red brand on his face for a long time, and he had a good relationship with Zhiqiu in the fourth household on Yushui Street, although... It seems that he often brings people to "visit" him, but it is all petty fighting.

Sometimes the friendship between men is really played.

I don't know when Zhiqiu took out two sugar gourds from his arms, one on the left and one on the left and one on the right, and it didn't take long to arrive at Yushui Street. He went to the door of the fourth house and found that the couplet had fallen to the ground. Zhiqiu muttered about why no one cared, and at the same time went back to his house to get the paste and prepare to glue it. When he went home and brought the paste up, he saw the red-branded young man he hadn't seen for a long time.

The young man looked at Zhiqiu and was obviously very excited, he said loudly: "Yo! Brother Qiu, I haven't seen you for a long time! Why have you lost some weight?" After Zhiqiu saw it, the smile on his face was clearly visible, and he also put the paste in his hand on the ground, ready to go over and give the imprinted boy a warm hug.

But this branded young man obviously had no tacit understanding, and when he saw Zhiqiu coming over with his hands open, he was stunned for a moment, and there was no reaction, and then he smiled: "Yo, Brother Qiu, haven't you seen you for a few months, when did you become so hypocritical?"

Zhiqiu put down his hand embarrassedly and said, "I haven't seen you kid for so long, I thought you were coaxed away by a girl, Aunt Hong, I didn't see it, where have you been during this time?"

Not to be outdone, the imprinted boy laughed: "Anyway, I wasn't coaxed away by Miss Yun." ”

Zhiqiu rolled his eyes and gave the young man, it was really a pot that didn't mention which pot to open.

"To be serious, my mother and I went to Huizhou during this time. The imprinted boy suddenly said in a serious voice.

Zhiqiu said casually: "Why are you moving?"

The imprint boy squatted down to pick up the paste, and replied softly, "Maybe." ”

Zhiqiu suddenly restrained his playful expression and said in a straight voice, "Because of the imprint on your face?"

"Yes and no, anyway, the reasons are a bit complicated. ”

Zhiqiu didn't ask anymore, but he wasn't in a good mood. After a while, he patted the imprinted boy on the shoulder and said, "Anyway, take care, like you said, we are not hypocritical, besides, isn't this still not gone?"

The boy nodded, gluing the couplet on the wall with paste.

The imprinted boy turned around and saw that Zhiqiu wanted to leave, so he said, "Why don't you go in and have two drinks?" Zhiqiu waved his hand and said no, and then returned home.

The young man, whose real name was Xu Jing, sighed and entered the house, knowing that Zhiqiu was a little angry.

Brother Qiu, there are some things that we really can't control.

Zhiqiu also sighed when he turned to leave, after three years of getting along, only he and Xi An'an on Yushui Street did not taunt him coldly. I haven't seen each other for a long time, and meeting is a happy event, but I never thought that I would meet and leave again.

The young man doesn't know the taste of sorrow, but he knows that Qiu has a taste in his heart. When he left the capital and came to Gusuzhou, he felt sad for the first time, and the second time was when the wind was strong that night, he looked at the moon and remembered Miss Yun, and the third time was that today I heard that Xu Jing and Aunt Hong were going to move.

Maybe there will be a fourth, a fifth, many, many more times in the future.

Zhiqiu lay on the roof and looked into the distance, and he realized that he seemed to have grown up.

Just not far away, a plainly dressed woman saw the scene and didn't make a sound, until Zhiqiu left, she entered the house, and saw that the branded boy was in a daze, so she whispered: "Why don't you just say that it has something to do with him?"

The boy shook his head and smiled wryly. "Mother, how can there be such a reason in the world?"

The woman looked at him and shook her head. "But then you won't be happy. ”

The boy touched his red brand again, revealing an incomparably bright smile.

But in this way, he will at least be less unhappy. ”

The woman waved her hand and gently tapped the boy's head, and whispered, "Fool, but you will be more unhappy." ”

Xu Jing gently lay in the woman's arms and muttered, "What's the matter?"

There are some things that it is best to not be able to explain.

The woman didn't say anything, just looked down at her son.

The friendship of thirteen or fourteen years old seems to be a little more precious.