Due to the large number of dignitaries and dignitaries in Beijing, the service industry such as restaurants and Qing buildings has become prosperous. If the liquor syrup consumed by Jingshi every day is converted back into the grain needed for brewing, it is enough to cover the rations of several villages. Large and small restaurants are dotted, large or small, each with its own strengths.

"Burren No Return" is a very unremarkable place in these restaurants, with only two low bungalows and six or seven tables. The shopkeeper is already old, and his legs and feet are not good, so he is not diligent in greeting guests. Coupled with the simple decoration of the store and the remote location, there are not many customers to patronize.

Most of the drinkers who come here every day are elderly, and the tavern doesn't sell any dishes, and the drinkers don't have a demand for this. A pot of old wine for two people, plus a plate of salted beans, can consume a whole day. Each table usually has two guests, and the chessboard is set up from early in the morning, and the chess is played while drinking, and most of the games are played at sunset. If this game is not settled, the old shopkeeper will also seal the chess game and wait until the next day to fight again.

Some games can be won and lost, and some games become eternal endgames because the players have lost their appointments forever.

Since he was young, he has been running a tavern and a chess club, and he has experienced growth and aging with his customers, and most of them have become acquaintances with each other. Even the chess players have a fixed match, and after meeting, they will set up a chess game, and the food and drinks they need do not need to be ordered, and the shopkeeper will prepare them by himself. Even who sits at which table has a belonging, and there will be no messing up the seats.

After noon, the tavern was rarely visited. Occasionally, a daredevil, who had just entered the Beijing Division, broke in without knowing how important it was, shouting loudly like other taverns for the shopkeeper to serve wine and food, and then he would be met with the collective anger of a bunch of white-haired old men. Most of them withdrew with red faces and ashamed faces, thinking they had come to the wrong place. The shopkeeper is not good when he is old, every time at this time, he will lie on the counter and take a nap, if he is young, he will definitely be beaten if he does so, and now that he is old, no one can take care of him.

The curtain opened, and footsteps came in. The shopkeeper heard this, but he didn't even lift his eyelids. It must have been some daredevil, who was so hungry in the afternoon that he broke in at the sight of a façade. He didn't need what was provided here, he wanted to eat, and he didn't plan to sell it, so he couldn't let him spoil the atmosphere here, so he didn't plan to entertain it.

There was a soft knock on the counter, and the sound was soft, like the voice of a visitor. "Zhang Xiaoyi, it's time to get up and play chess."

This voice is both strange and inexplicably familiar, and the name Zhang Xiaoyi has not been shouted for several years. When the old shopkeeper opened his eyes, he saw an old man in plain clothes standing in front of him. The old man's face was full of wrinkles, his eyes were bloodshot, and his expression was very haggard, but he was very interested, and he looked at himself with a smile on his face, and his attitude was very kind.

The old shopkeeper tried to remember who came, but the old man had already preemptively said, "You old man has a bad memory." I'm Lu Dalang from Guangxi, twelve years ago, I had a game of chess with you that I didn't finish, and now I want to come to you to make up for it. That game of chess, is it no longer available? ”

The old shopkeeper thought for a while, and suddenly shouted: "Lu Dalang? How did you get old like this? You were younger than me back then, but now you are so old, but you don't recognize it. I'll keep your seat for you, I've never let anyone sit in all these years, just waiting for you to finish this endgame. I thought you were afraid of losing and running away, and you didn't want to have the courage to come. That game won't move until I'm dead, you wait, I'll go get it. ”

The old shopkeeper, who has always been slow-moving, seems to be dozens of years younger all of a sudden, and he carefully took out the chessboard at an astonishing speed. The chess pieces on it are black and white, and the walls are tight, like two armies fighting each other, and they are entering the port.

The mood of the two was very different from that day, and they did not fall when they touched the chess pieces, but fell into deep contemplation of the past.

"Back then, you just liked to play chess and delayed business, so you were beaten by your father a lot. Later, when your father died, no one beat you anymore, but no one could control you from playing chess anymore. If you weren't so greedy for chess, your business would have grown a long time ago, and maybe the restaurants on this street would have become your industry. ”

Zhang Xiaoyi smiled, twisted his beard and said, "That's my father's thoughts, I haven't thought about those things." In this life, how much you eat and how much you use is doomed, what to do with those things, whether life is brought or death, my father has been strong all his life, what will happen in the end? This street is still this street, each family's business is still each family's business, what is the use of fighting for a long time? It's still good for me to eat, drink, and play my chess every day, so that I don't starve to death on the streets. ”

The old man nodded, "I said at the beginning, you Zhang Xiaoyi is a blessed person, and sure enough, the old man is not mistaken." You are born to enjoy a blessed life, and you don't have to worry about it for the rest of your life. What about your son? He doesn't come to study with you? ”

Zhang Xiaoyi shook his head, "Don't mention him, something that doesn't fight for anger!" I can't look down on this small wine shop and chess club, go out to run business with people, and I don't necessarily come back once a year, and I don't bother to pay attention to him! As soon as I die, this business will be gone, and a bunch of old guys will have to find their own place if they want to play chess and drink this unmixed rice wine! There's no way, I can't take care of it, and I don't want to take care of it, so let him go. What about your son? ”

The old man smiled: "You are not as good as me in this regard, my son is more obedient than your son, and he is willing to learn from me." ”

"Isn't that still someone else's shopkeeper? Lu Dalang, when we played chess together every day, my father didn't scold me when he saw me playing chess with you, saying that you were noble and that you could get rid of it when you played chess, but now I don't see anything. However, there are so many people, only you have the most appetite to play chess. After so many years, you said that you were the shopkeeper for others, and you were promoted, so that you were in charge of more business, and you had less time to play chess, and then you didn't see anyone. After all these years, still doing it? You're about the same age as me, and look at you, you're thirty years older than me. You only have one life, don't fight so hard. Take a break, and don't always carry the burden on your shoulders. ”

The old man said, "You are very right. My life is not as good as yours, I always couldn't think about it before, and I always felt that after receiving the great favor of two generations of owners, I should repay this old bone to the master. The big shopkeeper has something to do when he comes home, and I want to keep an eye on the business for him......"

Zhang Xiaoyi decisively interrupted him. "Confused! When the shopkeeper comes home with something, he will arrange things properly, what does it have to do with you? You took his errand, didn't you say you wanted him not to come back? This will offend people. Besides, you're so old, it's too late to be lazy yourself, why don't you have anything to do, it's stupid. ”

The old man was stunned for a moment, and then suddenly laughed, and laughed very heartily. Lifted the pot and poured himself a glass of wine and drank it, "yes, it's really stupid." It's just that everyone in my family is afraid of me, and no one dares to say to your face the mistakes of this bad old man. It made me suffer a lot before I realized that I had woken up. I've figured it out, yes, it's time to enjoy it. So, I'm coming to you today, I'm going to finish this game of chess from 12 years ago, and I'm going to leave Beijing in a few days. ”

Zhang Xiaoyi looked at him, "Out of Beijing?" Back to Guangxi? You're still an old fool. Although I haven't been to that place in Guangxi, I've heard people say that what's so good about the dangerous mountains and bad waters? This world is not as good as Beijing, you will stay for a few days to enjoy Qingfu and go back to Guangxi. If you go back, your son will go back with you, isn't it a mistake for his future? ”

"The leaves fall back to their roots. No matter how far a person goes, he must never forget where his roots are. I haven't been back for many years, and my parents in my hometown are almost no longer recognizable to me, and I almost forget what to say about my hometown. It's time to go back and see so that people don't forget me. The things that should be put in the Jingshi have also been put down, only your game of chess is left, and there is still rice wine that you don't mix with water here. When the winner is decided today, and the wine tastes good, it's time for me to go home. ”

Zhang Xiaoyi was stunned for a moment, "Are you really leaving?" ”

"It's time to go, serving two generations of owners, it's also right to have your conscience. The current owner doesn't like me, so I can't stay and dislike people, and it's not interesting to be a bad old man who annoys people. The children and grandchildren stayed in Jingshi to continue to help the owner watch the storefront, and I, an old immortal, it's time to go back to my hometown to enjoy the blessings. Guangxi is not as bad as you think, Guilin has beautiful mountains and rivers, I can fish and play the piano every day, but it is not easy to play chess again, it is difficult to find a chess partner like you. Besides, I won't be able to drink such authentic old wine as yours again. ”

"You wait, I'll come when I go."

Zhang Xiaoyi turned around and went back to the inner room, and after a long while, he saw him take a small wine jar out of it and put it on the table.

"This is what I prepared to drink myself, and I will give it to you, and drink it slowly on the way. You and I are about the same age, and if you drink too much and too quickly, it's not a good thing. Zhang Xiaoyi looked at the old man, "Although I don't know what you do, I know that you are not a simple person. I've never had anyone here collect taxes, and no one has ever come to trouble, and most of them have something to do with you. But I don't want to ask, just know that you are my chess buddy, and that's enough. I don't have anything to give you, only this jar of wine is a thought. ”

"Nian Xiang......" The old man touched the wine jar and sighed leisurely: "I have been a shopkeeper for the proprietor all my life, except for the salary, I never take a penny, even if other shopkeepers take the usual practice, I have never taken a penny, today, I am an exception." Okay, I'll take the wine, and I'll finish the game. ”

He threw his son and took the initiative to admit defeat. Zhang Xiaoyi looked at the chessboard and said, "This ...... You didn't lose this chess, and I still haven't seen the winner. ”

The old man smiled and said, "So you can't do chess, I can already see that you have lost." People don't take their muscles and bones as their ability, I'm old, and my energy is not as good as that of teenagers, and if I go down, my thinking will be chaotic, and I will inevitably lose. Even if you're an old man, you're old and weak, and it's not interesting for two old men to play chess. It's gone, it's time to go. The victory and defeat have been divided, the wish has been fulfilled, and it is no longer interesting to stay. ”

The old man lifted the wine jar and left the tavern, Zhang Xiaoyi sent it far away, but saw that at the corner of the street, a small sedan chair with two people was waiting there, and two sturdy servants opened the sedan curtain to let the old man sit in, and then carried the sedan chair. The old man seemed to be waving goodbye to Zhang Xiaoyi in the sedan chair, but Zhang Xiaoyi, who was blind, didn't see it very clearly.

He could see that this Lu Dalang didn't seem to be as simple as an ordinary shopkeeper, but what did it matter, he just needed to know that he was the chess friend who grew old with him.

"Lu Dalang, you are right to quit your job, you are obviously about the same age as me, and now that you are old like this, you are tired at first glance. Don't quit your job again, beware of dying of exhaustion in the store. No matter how much money you make, it's useless, it's better to enjoy it in time, let's go, go early and have a good morning. ”

Zhang Xiaoyi muttered silently, turned around and returned to the store, silently blessing this friend who didn't know his real name in his heart.

Outside the gate of Lu Tiaoyang's mansion, the benches were full of guests waiting to be received. Among them, there are not only officials from other places who have entered Beijing, but also some of them are Confucians, or relatives and friends who have had some friendship with Lu Tiaoyang. No matter how private a person is, as long as the position is reached, there will always be some old friends who he doesn't like but have to be perfunctory.

Even if they knew that Lu Ge Lao had to work until midnight every day and didn't have time to meet him, these people would still wait here. As long as there is an opportunity, you can't give it up. Lu Tiaoyang returned home very early today, and the housekeeper hurriedly waited for the master to get off the sedan chair, and handed over those greeting stickers, but Lu Tiaoyang shook his head and said, "I don't see one." ”

The loyal housekeeper who knew his own master was the first time he found that Lu Tiaoyang had such a tough moment, and he was stunned and said, "Don't see one?" ”

"I've already seen the people I should see." Lu Tiaoyang pointed to the jar of wine in his hand, "I don't want to see any of these people outside." I don't know how to eat these days, I can't sleep, and I have to go back to get a good night's sleep. No matter who comes, don't disturb my good dreams. ”

Since being the first assistant, Lu Tiaoyang, who has not rested for many days, finally had a good night's sleep today, in his dream he dreamed of Zhang Siwei, Zhang Juzheng, and Feng Bao also dreamed of the deceased Sejong and Muzong. He didn't blame anyone, or complain to anyone, all the paths were chosen by himself, and there was nothing to complain about, but he retreated bravely from the rapids, which may be the best destination.

When I woke up, it was dark outside, and the three watch drums were playing in the distance. Lu Tiaoyang showed a smile on his face, and said to himself: "Seventy ghosts are neighbors in life, and I already feel that the scenery belongs to others. Don't wait for the imperial court to send a master, and seek a spring stone to raise your leisure as soon as possible. ”

Got up and went down to the ground, spread the music with a dim oil lamp, picked up the pen, and wrote quickly.

Early the next morning, Lu Tiaoyang did not go to court, but ordered his family to send his own recital to the General Administration Department, and before noon, the news had spread throughout the officialdom of Beijing: Lu Ge Lao was begging for rest and asked for a minister. On the same day, the Criminal Division gave Hou Shouyong two concerts in the matter, one was to impeach Lu Tiaoyang for being lazy in official business, so he was not worthy of the position. The second is to ask the Son of Heaven to issue an edict to win affection, and summon Zhang Juzheng to enter the cabinet on an errand, if he does not obey, he will be judged as disloyal!