In the scorching summer, the scorching sun is like fire, and a large area of land in the north of Great Wei has not rained a drop since last year, and passers-by walking on the streets of Yingyang Town, the northern fortress, have an urge to stick out their tongues like dogs to dissipate heat. In order to deal with the attack that the four strong enemies may launch at any time, the Great Wei set up dozens of military towns of all sizes in various military important places, which were guarded by heavy troops for a long time.

The northern part of the Great Wei Dynasty is bounded by the Yinshan Mountain, and the Yinshan Mountain Range stretches for thousands of miles from east to west, and the mountains are steep. In the middle of the road, there is a dangerous road called the White Road, which is one of the few roads that can connect the north and south of Yinshan, and is named because its land is as white as gray. Yingyang is located at the southern end of this white road, and since the founding of the Great Wei Dynasty, it has been an important stronghold against the raids of Rouran. It is only in recent years that with the strength of the Great Wei and the weakening of Rouran, Yingyang has gradually lost its military importance.

Perhaps due to the drought, the already sparsely populated town of Yingyang is now less crowded with pedestrians, and even looks a little depressed. There is a calligraphy and painting shop at the corner of Zhendong Avenue, the shop is not big but it is very neat, and the walls on both sides are full of all kinds of calligraphy and paintings in an orderly manner. Two men walked into the shop one after the other. The first person surnamed Yuan Mingrui, about twenty years old, dressed as a Confucian student, with delicate facial features, the corners of his mouth slightly raised revealed a trace of unruliness, his steps were brisk, and he was quite excited. The person in the back is surnamed Hua Mingzidu, older than Yuan Rui, dressed as a martial artist, and it is not difficult to see from his wooden expression that his interest in calligraphy and painting is limited.

Yuan Rui has been looking left and right since he entered the shop, and from time to time he has commented on the calligraphy and paintings on the wall. After looking around, his gaze suddenly stopped moving, and remained on one of the pictures of a tiger, in which the tiger stopped on a cliff, looking up to the sky and roaring, very imposing. "Clever, really clever! With just a few brushstrokes, the king of the forest will show the spirit of the king of the forest who looks at the world, and this painting must be the treasure of this shop!" Yuan Rui couldn't help but admire.

As soon as the words fell, a contemptuous snort sounded beside him. Yuan Rui turned his head in accordance with the sound, and saw that there was a young man beside him at some point, this person had clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes, and white skin, but the strange thing was that there was a faint fragrance. "It turned out to be a girl!" Yuan Rui said secretly in his heart.

As Yuan Rui expected, the "young man" in front of him was a girl, named Sun Qian, who was admiring a lotus picture at this time, and heard that Yuan Rui spoke highly of the tiger picture, and couldn't help but speak out to show his opposition. The two looked at each other for a moment, and Sun Qian spoke: "The treasure of the town store? It's a joke, I don't know if you've seen this picture of a hundred lotuses, the lotus flowers in the painting are different shapes, and the shade of the brush and ink is just right, if you want to say the treasure of the town, how can it be more suitable than the tiger picture? ”

"I also saw that painting just now, and the painting skills are really good, because the lotus flowers in the painting are delicate, but the overall focus is not prominent enough. And how can there be a manly husband who doesn't like tigers and lotuses, haha!" Yuan Rui's words were obviously mocking her for dressing up as a man.

Sure enough, Sun Qian was so excited by his words that she stomped her feet, pointed at Yuan Rui and said: "I know that people like you are superficial, according to what you say, isn't there no one to draw flowers and birds?" ”

The more the two quarreled, the more fierce they became, Hanako was a little impatient, and she didn't understand what was so noisy about this little thing, but she didn't know anything about calligraphy and painting, and she couldn't intervene at all. Suddenly, he had an idea, and came between the two: "Don't fight, who is good and who is bad, don't you know the price of the two paintings by asking the shopkeeper?" ”

"Yes, butterflies! I like this approach. Yuan Rui called Hanako with the nickname "Butterfly" every time, although Hanako had protested a few times, but it was useless, Yuan Rui did not have the slightest intention of changing his words, and finally had no choice but to call him so.

The shopkeeper was a beautiful young woman, with empty eyes, as if she had lost her soul, and she was not as lively as other businessmen, and when she saw her customers, she came forward to greet them, but she listened to them quietly. At this time, seeing that the three of them suddenly looked at themselves, their expressions were full of expectation, and their white cheeks couldn't help but blush slightly, and they said with a little embarrassment: "Forgive me, three sons, I don't know much about calligraphy and painting, and all calligraphy and paintings here are sold for two taels of silver......." ”

"Huh?" Unexpectedly, the shopkeeper said such a thing, and the three of them opened their mouths wide and were speechless for a while. It was Yuan Rui who broke the silence first: "Shopkeeper, you can't generalize like this, if the boutique is at the same price as the inferior product, wouldn't it be very unfair to them, if the other works are sold for two taels, then this tiger roaring picture must be sold for at least five taels!" ”

Sun Qian is not to be outdone: "The tiger picture is not meticulous enough, and the lotus picture is not only different in the shape of the lotus flowers, but also the fish and shrimp in the water are also lifelike, the author has obviously spent a lot more than the tiger picture, if the tiger picture can be worth five taels, then the hundred lotus is worth ten taels!" ”

Yuan Rui was also angry when he heard it: "You still don't understand, the wonder of calligraphy and painting, focusing on its spirit rather than its shape, it doesn't depend on who spends more time." As he spoke, he took out a piece of silver and walked to the shopkeeper, "Here are twenty taels, this tiger roaring picture Ben Gongzi bought it!" ”

The shopkeeper was hesitating to take it, and Sun Qian also raised the price again: "The shopkeeper, I bought thirty taels of silver for the hundred lotus pictures, and I can't do it without a penny!" ”

The two of them in the shop were making a fuss, and suddenly heard someone outside the door say loudly: "Yo, shopkeeper Yang, business is good today, I heard the sound of bargaining from afar!" There is a bit of mockery, which makes people feel uncomfortable listening to it.

As the voice got closer and closer, two people came in at the door one after another, one of them was gorgeously dressed, with a full beard, and walked straight past the shopkeeper. The other was a bald man, who had been at a distance of four or five paces from him, and was supposed to be his bodyguard. I saw the beard stop in front of the glamorous shopkeeper, and asked with a smile, "How is it?" Shopkeeper Yang, the business is so good, has your man owed me 3,000 taels of silver? ”

The shopkeeper's face showed a look of horror, and he kept begging: "Master Lian, you have a few more days, the women have raised more than two hundred taels so far, and the women who owe you the money have always kept it in their hearts, and they will definitely repay it in full." ”

"Oh, that's going to be hard." The bearded man frowned deliberately, "The guard dogs in the mansion are still waiting for this money to improve the food, you should know that if they don't eat well, it will affect the security of the entire Yingyang, can you afford this responsibility?" ”

The shopkeeper did not answer his words, but still pleaded vigorously. The beard "pondered" for a moment: "Hey, look at you so pitiful, this master is not a ruthless and unrighteous person, so let's do it, I will give you another five days, if you haven't scraped together enough three thousand taels of silver after five days, then don't blame this master for taking you as a person to pay off the debt, hehe." After speaking, I couldn't help but look up and down at the shopkeeper's graceful figure.

Seeing that the shopkeeper was uncomfortable with him, and he didn't know what to do, Yuan Rui couldn't help but step forward and hug him: "This friend doesn't have to worry, just now, the shopkeeper Yang sold two paintings at a price of fifty taels and one pair, according to this situation, it shouldn't be a big problem to pay off the debt." Isn't that Childe?" As he spoke, he bumped Sun Qian with his elbow, hoping that she would help say a few words.

However, Yuan Rui's words seemed to hit the stone wall, and did not cause Sun Qian's response. Yuan Rui turned his head strangely, only to see Sun Qian's face pale, his teeth clenched into his lower lip, his eyes seemed to be about to erupt fire, staring at the bald guard, as if he didn't hear his words. Yuan Rui was bored, and muttered to himself: "Just now, he was energetic and energetic to raise the bar with me, why did he suddenly seem to have changed a person." ”

The bearded man laughed when he heard this: "What did you say? Fifty taels? Which fool bought it? ”

Yuan Rui shrugged, pointed at himself and then at Sun Qian: "Aren't you two fools!" ”

Hearing him say this, the bearded man's face sank suddenly: "Boy, you are not a local, I advise you not to meddle in your affairs, it's not worth losing your life for an irrelevant person!" ”

"In the territory of Great Wei......" Seeing that he was so arrogant, Yuan Rui was also a little angry, and was about to distinguish with him, but he was grabbed by the shopkeeper Yang, and shook his head to signal him not to continue.

"Count you as acquaintances, let's go!" The bearded man thought that Yuan Rui was frightened by himself, and led the bald guard out of the door, "Shopkeeper Yang, don't forget the five-day appointment, this is your last chance." ”

Seeing that the two of them were leaving, Sun Qian, who had been stunned just now, seemed to wake up from her sleep, suddenly showed a fierce light, suddenly pulled out a dagger from her sleeve, and stabbed at the back of the bald man's heart with an arrow.