At the end of the Qing Dynasty, there was an inconspicuous small place called Quyun, and there was a family in the town that was famous, just because the master of the family was very good at the art of Qingwu, and the rich people who moved to the house and fixed the grave hundreds of miles away would also hand a post to visit.

At the beginning of February, the town began to rain intermittently, and the long-suppressed chill spread again, and the humidity mixed with the cold air drifted away, and the neat white tiles and gray houses became extraordinarily quiet.

The teahouse had just opened, and the clerk yawned and opened the door, and there were still a few people inside who were busy scrubbing the table and washing the floor. As soon as the door opened, a person walked in the back foot, and the clerk still did not know, and only after a few steps did he realize it, and looked back.

The visitor was dressed in a dark cardigan, embroidered with dark stripes on satin fabric, and his face was deeply wrinkled, and he looked to be at least sixty years old. His eyes were down, and he wore a black wrench on the thumb of his right hand.

The clerk's face turned fast.

"Shen Ye came so early, do you want to have some morning tea?" said in his mouth, but scolded in his heart: How did you meet such a bad star in the morning.

The man slowly put away the wet oil-paper umbrella, dusted off the water-stained clothes, and said in a deep voice: "Where is the shopkeeper Song?" "The voice sounded full of energy, not like the twilight of life.

His eyes rolled, and the clerk said with a smile: "Today, the owner said that he wanted to check the accounts, and the shopkeeper went early in the morning, and there was no letter when he would be able to come back." ”

Master Shen nodded, looked around, and immediately collected the sneaky gaze of the cadres.

"It's just the beginning of the month, and you have to check the accounts again?" He asked, "I should have checked it at the end of the month."

The owner of the teahouse is the Zhou family, a well-known local wealthy family, and he is not afraid of what the neighbors will say, so he only lowered his voice and said: "It's not that Old Man Zhou is sick, the old lady is afraid that it will be too late, and she will settle the account first." ”

"Oh, that's it." Master Shen knew that he had seen Master Zhou during the New Year's Festival, and he did look like he had not been in the world for a long time, and it was not easy to survive to this day, but it was estimated that it was this month.

Seeing it this way is also a wake-up call for him.

The clerk tucked the rag on his shoulder and looked at his face carefully, "Do you want to sit down and eat some tea first?" ”

Master Shen shook his head, it was not a matter of a few hours for the Zhou family to liquidate the small amount of family property, and it didn't matter if he was careful.

"Well, just tell him I've been here." He said, turned to look at the drizzling rain outside the door, and was just about to hold an umbrella, then turned back and said, "Let him come to me in person." ”

After speaking, he walked out with an umbrella.

The clerk leaned to the door and watched carefully, until Master Shen got off the boat on the waterway, and then rubbed the water vapor on his body with a rag and walked back to the hall.

A newcomer to the side of the floor washing guy stepped forward to inquire: "I haven't seen this master before." ”

The previous clerk squinted his eyes and looked disgusted.

"Haven't you heard that Qu Yun has a person who can read feng shui? If there are any ghosts and monsters in his house, it should be useful to find him. He said, "A few years ago, Wuzhong Chen's family had an accident and specially invited him to go. ”

The newcomer was surprised: "That's amazing." ”

The clerk's disgust became heavier, and he said with a calm face: "This kind of person is as far away as possible, what age do you see him?" ”

The newcomer remembered that Master Shen's face was full of wrinkles and all-white braids just now, how to say that he was also a year old, but the tone in his words was quite strange, and he didn't dare to guess for a while.

"I can't guess." He leaned in to probe.

The rain was pouring outside the door, and the sky was gloomy in the morning. The clerk squinted at him for a long time, slapped him on the back of the head, and scolded: "Early in the morning, I said that I didn't have these things, hurry up and wash the floor, and you will suffer when the shopkeeper comes back!" ”

As he spoke, he walked to the small kitchen inside, and swept the rag onto his body for fear of getting bad luck.

The newcomer was confused, and when he saw that the other guys were all busy with the things at hand, they also hurried to the door to clean up the little rain left by Master Shen.

As he spoke, Master Shen had already turned a few forks in the waterway, and the Shen Mansion could be seen from afar. It was an old man of the Shen family who supported the boat, and it turned out that he had also supported the boat for the old lady who went, so the Shen family called Uncle Qiao.

Master Shen stood at the bow of the boat with an umbrella, his face gloomy.

"Did the young master come back yesterday?" He asked.

Job, who was in the stern of the boat, listened and pushed the hat unhurriedly.

"The young master shouldn't have come back, Mrs. made fish soup yesterday and put it in the kitchen for a night, if the young master comes back, it is estimated that he will not be able to keep it." Job replied.

Master Shen frowned, "What about Ah Liu, have you seen the fourth master?" ”

Jobber hung his head.

"I haven't come back yet, I heard that the fourth master has been hanging a sign, and Ah Liu is afraid that he has nowhere to see him." Ah Liu is Qiao Bo's youngest son, and the implication in his words is very obvious.

In a few days, February 20 will arrive at Qingming, which may be unintentional to ordinary people, but the blessings and misfortunes of the Shen family are still unknown, and now the situation is tense, and the little devil refuses to listen to what he said on weekdays.

I couldn't help but sigh when I thought about it, and the fire in my heart was churning again.

"I'll send a post to the fourth master later, tomorrow at the spring equinox, don't come back if the young master doesn't come back!" Master Shen said in a daze, "Tell me how much the whole family has done for him over the years, why don't you have any count in your heart, when are you still fooling around outside!" ”

Qiao Bo nodded hurriedly and persuaded: "The young master is still young, you and your wife are aware of the young master's efforts, but you are young and playful, it will be fine in a few years." ”

Master Shen's face was still not good, and the boat in front of him was about to dock, so he didn't speak again.

Get off the boat and walk a few steps to the Shen family's compound, which is not very big, the ordinary Sanjin courtyard, which has been dilapidated a lot in the past few hundred years, originally stood at the door with two people, and the family situation gradually declined, and the other was sent away last year.

After entering the courtyard, Mr. Shen went to the main house without stopping, and when he entered the door, his wife Lin was leaning on the collapse to watch the account, and when he came back, he only glanced at it lightly and put the account book on the case.

"Come back so soon, can things be done?" Lin looks no more than forty years old, well-maintained, and his gentle voice is in line with the gentle temperament of a southern woman.

When Master Shen handed the umbrella to the girl Qing in the Lin family's house, he walked into the room, his brows still furrowed.

"Shopkeeper Song is not here, it was not done." Deep voice.

Lin waited for him to sit down on the chair behind the desk, and poured another glass of water and put it in his hand.

"When can't this little thing be done?" Half of it was persuasion, she had already felt the temperament of her husband who had lived together for more than 20 years, and knew that there was something else that annoyed him.

Master Shen shook his head and sighed, "Master Zhou has not been doing well lately, I'm afraid it's been a matter of the past few days." ”

Lin was a little surprised and asked, "Master Zhou?" Aren't you still tough during the New Year? "The Shen family has a rule to worship their ancestors in the New Year, and when they came back from outside the town early in the morning, they passed by the Zhou family, and Master Zhou was personally going to the door to see off the guests, and his complexion looked pretty good.

Picked up the teacup and drank it all, but Master Shen shook his head.

"Not really." He said, "It's just that it looks good, and it's not easy to live past a month." ”

He could see clearly that Master Zhou was dead and his luck was exhausted, but it was not yet time for the attack.

The Lin family knows the skills of their master, but they are the most likely to be punished by God when they do this business, and some things really can't be said easily. It's just that Master Zhou is also a well-known good man in Quyun, and he can't help but feel a little sorry in his heart.

"Mrs. Zhou is really not easy, seeing that her husband is gone, and now her son is leaving." Speaking of this, Lin Shiqi said: "Master Zhou is one year younger than me, why can't he do it?" ”

Master Shen suddenly turned pale.

"Good is rewarded with good, evil is rewarded with evil, the Zhou family has done good and accumulated virtue over the years just to avoid disaster, but unfortunately, the debt of human life has to be repaid by human life." He said, "Master Zhou's early death can be regarded as breaking off past grievances, and future generations can have no worries in the future." ”

Lin was surprised and thought of the scene when Old Lady Zhou died.

"Didn't you say it was a long time ago?" She asked.

Master Shen pondered for a moment.

"I don't count this kind of thing, who can blame me for the evil I did?" He said, "If the grievances are too deep, you have to pay them back from generation to generation until they are finished." ”

Lin felt that this was really bad, and suddenly remembered the post that she gave her privately a few days ago.

"My aunt has a cousin, her brother-in-law died at an early age, and now she wants to remarry, so she specially asked me to ask you if this thing can be done?" Lin took out a neatly folded piece of red paper from his cuff.

Master Shen took it and opened it to see.

"Lin Shuyu's daughter? I've seen it. He said.

Lin sighed lightly, "It's also a poor child, who lives in the west of Quyun, her husband died three years ago, and now she is only twenty-five years old, and she usually doesn't like to go out, but somehow she fell in love with a grocery seller." ”

The Lin family had never mentioned such a thing before, and Master Shen counted it together, but his heart was sudden.

"Does she have a mole on her face?" He asked, frowning.

Lin shook his head.

Master Shen breathed a sigh of relief and pressed the red paper under the paperweight.

"I'll know in the evening when I do the math." He turned to ask, "I heard from Qiao Bo that Shuyi hasn't come back yet?" ”

When Lin heard this, his face was quite sad.

"I left in the third year of junior high school, and now I don't want to come back." She sighed, "I'm not as good as his master who learns drama." ”

Master Shen wanted to urge her to write to the fourth master, maybe the little devil could come back earlier, but it was difficult to speak when she heard Lin's words. It was he who sent his son to sing despite the jokes of the neighbors, but he refused to come back after playing wild outside, and to put it bluntly, he still did his own thing.

"I personally sent the post over, and it's time to come back this time." Master Shen took Lin's hand and stroked it, which was considered comfort.

———————————

The light rain of Quyun did not stop, but Xingzhen, which was dozens of miles to the west, was the beginning of the shower.

There are not many waterways in Xingzhen, but the popularity is more prosperous than that of Quyun, the most famous archway in the town is the four-year-old red troupe, the four-year-old red has not been on stage for many years, but the red and white things in ten miles and eight towns have to hand him a post to invite the play.

This four-year-old red is the fourth master.

The fourth master has settled in Xingzhen for more than ten years, and the troupe is located in a small courtyard, which is bought by the fourth master when he first arrives at this time with the reward money for singing for half his life, and there is a theater next to it, and there are famous actors under the fourth master singing at the beginning of the month, the middle of the month and the end of the month.

In his early years, he sang in the capital, learned the Beijing dialect, and there are very few people who sing well in this side, so it is particularly valuable, and there are countless people who come to admire.

The children gather the most outside the small courtyard of the sesame size, there is a plaque on the lintel, engraved with the big character "Red Courtyard", the courtyard door is often closed, you can see the children learning drama inside from the crack of the door, the new ones are not very old, neatly lined up in a row leaning against the corner of the wall while reciting the play while practicing, the older ones are rehearsing in the middle, occasionally there are powerful horns singing a few words, a group of children are very happy.

It rained for days and was a lot lazy in the troupe, and as soon as the rain stopped, they were all driven out to practice, and there was a big round drum in the middle of the courtyard, and a man in red was singing the "Jade Hairpin" of Kunqu Opera on the drum.

"The shadow of the pink wall is heavy, the curtain is wrapped in the wind of the lotus water hall, and the piano is played to the moonlight. The fragrance is golden, and the people are in the first palace of Penglai. ”

"Miao often has days of redundant and mundane things, and I haven't got this ice string straightened out. Tonight, the moon is bright and the wind is quiet, and the water hall is cool. ”

The man in red danced with water sleeves, and the green silk that was over his waist was scattered at will, which was originally the red dress of "Drunken Yang Concubine", but it was not abrupt at the moment. After a few words of singing, everyone applauded, and it was not only children who came and went to see the excitement, and those who couldn't afford tickets gathered outside the door to listen to a few words were also enjoyable.

"The Story of the Jade Hairpin" has not been handed down in its entirety, these sentences are famous in "Qin Pick", everyone sounds good, but there is a reprimand from one person in the room.

"The tone is stiff, the movements are rigid, the learning is not good, and the shame is conspicuous." The serious sixteen words were batched, and the red-clothed man on the drum was stunned for a moment.

The child outside the door covered his mouth and snickered, and the white and delicate face of the man in red showed a little grievance, and he rolled up his sleeves and said stiffly: "How can it be so bad." ”

The pretty appearance of the man in red, but the exit is the clear voice of the young man, which is really amazing.

The people in the room said: "I want to sing Kunqu Opera if I haven't learned Peking Opera well, it seems that you have been very idle these days, you can't finish "Drunken Yang Concubine" today, and you don't have to eat tomorrow." ”

is so ruthless, only the four-year-old is red.