Chen Ping'an carried water back to the courtyard of Liu Xianyang's house, poured it into the water tank of the stove room, and then ran to the door of the room and shouted: "Liu Xianyang, I will use your firewood, oil and salt, and I want to stew fish soup for Miss Ning to replenish her body, okay?"

After Liu Xianyang, who had fallen asleep and returned to sleep, was awakened, he roared angrily: "The surname is Chen! Are you annoying, Lao Tzu just dreamed that Zhigui smiled at me! Quickly compensate me for a childish Gui!"

Chen Ping'an shook his head, remembered something, and said apologetically: "I really met Zhigui at the iron lock well just now, but I was interrupted by Granny Ma and forgot to help you say a word." Later, when I go to deliver fish soup to Miss Ning, I promise to help you bring the words. ”

Liu Xianyang stiffened a carp, quickly put on his clothes, ran to the threshold outside the lobby of the main room and sat down, looking at the busy emaciated figure in the stove room, he smiled and said: "Wait a minute, I'll send fish soup with you, by the way, is Zhigui wearing that red pomegranate skirt today? Or is it the light green one? Alas, when I save another two hundred yuan, I can buy the silver powder box of more than 100 dragons, I know that she has been fancy it for a long time, but she is reluctant to buy it." It's all to blame Song Jixin's stinky and sour, really stingy, he dresses quite like a cat and a dog on Fulu Street, poor Zhigui doesn't have a few new clothes all year round, I am the young master of her family, I promise to let her buy whatever she likes, she is richer than the daughter of Fulu Street, and she will be the eldest lady of ten thousand gold!"

Chen Ping'an ignored Liu Xianyang's idiotic dreams, he really didn't understand why Liu Xianyang liked Zhigui, of course, he didn't look down on her background as a Song Jixing maidservant, nor did he think that Zhigui was not good-looking, but he always felt that she and Liu Xianyang didn't look like they were married.

Chen Ping'an asked curiously: "Why do you call her Zhigui and not Wang Zhu?"

Liu Xianyang grinned and said, "After knowing that you don't know how to write the word 'Zhigui', I don't care." ”

Chen Ping'an said helplessly: "What's the use of comparing you with me, comparing with Song Ji's salary, Zhigui is not my maid." ”

Liu Xianyang sneered and said: "That guy is not better than you in everything, for example, who has he called 'father' and 'mother' in his life? No, isn't this as good as you Chen Ping'an? No wonder Gu Cang's mother, as well as Granny Ma's mother-in-law and aunts, have poisonous mouths, Song Jixin's guy is not an innocent person, otherwise why don't you live in that superintendent office openly, but want to go to your mud bottle alley to live a hard life? This guy dares to like dogs to look down on people, so he deserves to pour dirty water on people and scold wild seeds. ”

Chen Ping'an stood up and walked to the door of the stove room, "Liu Xianyang, although Song Jixin and I are not friends at all, but you say that, ...... people"

Liu Xianyang hurriedly raised his hands, resolutely not letting Chen Ping'an continue to chatter, and said slyly: "I won't say it, okay? Chen Ping'an, who is your rotten temper that admits death? My grandfather has said that your father and mother are very good at talking, especially your mother, who speaks softly and likes to laugh, that temper is really speechless, my grandfather also said that in the early years, Granny Ma almost scolded all the people in the nearby alleys, but only saw your mother, not only did she not pick thorns, but also had some smiling faces. ”

Chen Ping'an smiled from ear to ear.

Liu Xianyang waved his hand to drive people away, "Hurry up and stew soup for your little daughter-in-law." ”

Chen Ping'an rolled his eyes, "You have the ability to say it in front of Miss Ning?"

Liu Xianyang smiled: "You are stupid, I am not stupid." ”

Soon after, Chen Ping'an took out a small clay pot, locked the door of the house, and walked to Mud Bottle Lane together. When he arrived at the gate of Chen Ping'an's Courtyard and saw him knocking on the door stupidly, Liu Xianyang knew that this guy had left all the keys to the house to the girl in black, and Liu Xianyang felt that this guy was really hopeless.

The girl in black does not wear a hat when she is at home, and when she opens the door, she shows a refreshing face, Liu Xianyang is a little afraid of this unsmiling girl in her heart, the tall boy doesn't even know the reason, if you want to say that she has a cold temperament, the childish gui next door is more than that, Liu Xianyang has the same courage to have a dead face, if it is said that the girl in black hangs a sword, it is not right, Liu Xianyang is against the children of Shangfu Lu Street, even if he chases and intercepts him several times, like a lost dog, but the young man has never been stunned from beginning to end.

But he was a little afraid of a foreign lady named Ning Yao.

The girl in black sat at the table and opened the jar, smelled the fragrance, narrowed her narrow eyes slightly, nodded and said softly, "Thank you." ”

Chen Ping'an's observation was meticulous, and he knew that this should mean that the indifferent girl was in a good mood.

Chen Ping'an first helped her cook a pot of porridge, asked her to pay attention to the heat by herself, and then said to Liu Xianyang: "You are waiting for Zhigui to go out? I have to deliver the letter." ”

Liu Xianyang was sitting on the threshold, pricking up his ears to listen to the movement over there, lest he hear a little sound of the fairy fighting, and the tall young man who was in a bad mood said impatiently: "You are busy with yours!"

Chen Ping'an left the yard and was about to run to the intersection of Mud Bottle Lane, when he suddenly found that the vision in front of him was dim, and when he looked up, it turned out to be a tall man wearing a snow-white robe.

Probably realizing that he was blocking the way of the narrow alley, the man smiled slightly and took the initiative to turn sideways to make way for Chen Ping'an.

Chen Ping'an was puzzled, sped up his steps and left Mud Bottle Alley, and when he looked back, the man had slowly walked into Mud Bottle Alley.

Even if he glanced at it before, Chen Ping'an saw that on the spotless snow-white robe, on the chest, back and back, there were faint gold threads, faintly, forming two patterns, as if there were living creatures wandering in the mountains and clouds, which was very wonderful. Chen Ping'an no longer thought deeply, just thought that he was a foreigner like Fu Nanhua, and he was going to come to Mud Bottle Lane to look for opportunities again. That day, after walking with Mr. Qi under the old locust tree, the straw sandals boy was not too worried, and always felt that as long as Mr. Qi was in the town, he would take 10,000 steps back and say, even if something really happened, he could still seek justice.

When Chen Ping'an trotted past Xinghua Lane, he saw the girl in Tsing Yi who he met last night was still sitting in a wonton shop over there, with a chopstick in one hand, erected on the table, and gently beaten, the whole slightly childish and fat round face, full of energy, her eyes were full of wontons boiling in the hot pot over there, and she didn't notice Chen Ping'an five or six steps away.

For the girl in Tsing Yi, the food is current, and the sky has fallen before you finish eating and then run away!

Chen Ping'an sincerely admired this strange girl, and did not disturb her, and continued to run to the east of the town with a smile.

Some people and things, even if they are the scenery on the side of the road, but as long as you look at them, they will still make people feel very beautiful.

When Chen Ping'an came to the east fence gate, the sloppy man stood on the stump of the tree, standing on tiptoe and looking east, as if waiting for an important person.

Chen Ping'an used to listen to the old man's chatter on the old locust tree, and said that when the current superintendent first entered the town, there was a big pomp and circumstance, and the elders of the ancestral hall of the four surnames and ten clans almost went out to "take over" at the east gate of the city , but waited under the sun for a few hours, and the last official manager ran to the east gate in a hurry, saying that the superintendent had just woken up from a nap in the backyard of the government office, and asked everyone to go directly to the government office to meet, so that the rich and noble old men were so angry that one Buddha was born and two Buddhas ascended to heaven, but it is said that after entering the gate of the government office, no one dared to let out a fart, and one smiled like a good grandson of others.

Chen Ping'an has always felt strange, how can those old people say as if they have seen it with their own eyes, every time they talk about the gossip of Fulu Street and Taoye Lane, it is more true than true, for example, when the second aunt and grandmother of the Lu family became friendly with the head of the nursing home, and when they broke the door of the house, even the second aunt and grandmother were in a panic, how to pack up their clothes to cover the large number of details, and they were not bad at all, and the person who told the story was just like the head of the nursing home himself.

Liu Xianyang swallowed his saliva every time he listened, and Song Jixin occasionally went, he would not take Zhigui with him, and he smiled more subtly than Liu Xianyang, but when he secretly coaxed with everyone, he worked very hard, and he was louder than reading the sage book twice in the morning and evening.

Chen Ping'an squatted next to the tree stump, patiently waiting for the town janitor.

The man scolded his mother, jumped off the stump, and after catching a glimpse of the straw sandals boy, he didn't speak, but went to the yellow mud thatched hut and got a stack of letters, six letters to the family, and only gave five copper coins of one penny.

Chen Ping'an roughly flipped through the address of the letter, and didn't say anything, because there were two letters that were next-door neighbors on Fulu Street, and Chen Ping'an was not willing to take advantage of it.

After Chen Ping'an thought about the order of sending the letters, he asked casually, "Wait for someone?"

The man glanced at the spacious avenue to the east, and said angrily: "Wait for the uncle!"

Chen Ping'an didn't want to stay as a punching bag, so he hurriedly ran away.

The man laughed angrily: "Yo, I'm still a little eye-catching." ”

The man glanced at the sky, the rolling thunder was long gone, and the low-hanging clouds, which seemed to be almost pressing down on the eaves, had gradually dispersed.

The man sat on the stump of the tree and sighed: "The gods fight, and the mortals suffer." ”

————

Six letters, one of the four surnames of Lu, Li, Zhao and Song on the side of Fulu Street, one each, and two in Taoye Lane, one of them is very coincidental, it is still the family letter of the kind old man before, and it is even more coincidental that the person who opened the door to receive the letter, or the old man, after seeing that it was Chen Ping'an, the old man recognized the straw sandals boy, and joked: "Child, really don't come in to drink saliva?"

Chen Ping'an smiled shyly and shook his head.

The old man didn't feel surprised, but just took out a handful of copper coins from his sleeve, handed it to Chen Ping'an, and explained with a smile: "There are good things in the family today, this bit of happy money, those who see it have a share, it's just an auspicious picture, not much, just a dozen dollars, so you can rest assured to take it." ”

Chen Ping'an took the copper coin and said with a smile: "Thank you, Grandpa Wei!"

The old man nodded, and suddenly said: "Child, recently, when you are fine, you can often go to sit under the locust tree, and if you see locust leaves, locust branches or something on the ground, take them home and put them, it can prevent ants, insects and centipedes, how good, you don't need to spend money." ”

Chen Ping'an bowed to the old man at the foot of the steps and thanked him.

The old man smiled, "Go, go, the plan of the year lies in the spring, and it must be a good thing for young people to move their muscles and bones more." ”

The boy ran away from Peach Leaf Lane on the bluestone street.

The old man stood at the door of the house for a long time, looking at the peach trees on both sides, and a graceful young maid came to the old man's side and whispered, "Ancestor, what are you looking at? It's cold outside, don't freeze." ”

The maid had served the old man for some years, and knew that the old ancestor was a bodhisattva, and the girl had no fear of the old man, so she smiled and asked playfully: "Old ancestor, don't you think of the girl you met when you were a teenager?"

The white-haired old man smiled: "Taoya, you are the same as the young man who sent the letter, and you are also a 'person with a heart'." ”

The maid was praised and smiled coquettishly.

The old man suddenly smiled and said, "In the past two days, a distant relative is going to visit the door, and when the time comes, you will follow the children in the family and leave the town together." ”

The maid was stunned, her eyes turned red all of a sudden, and she cried: "Ancestor, I don't want to leave here." ”

The old man, who had always been very good at speaking, waved his hand, "I'll look at the scenery of the alley for a while, you go back first, peach buds, be obedient, otherwise I will be angry." ”

The maid had to leave timidly, turning back three times in one step.

The peach leaves in Peach Leaf Lane are lush, and there are no peach blossoms yet.

The old man exhaled lightly, crossed the threshold, walked down the steps, walked to the nearest peach tree, stood under the tree, and said sadly: "The peach is dying, scorching its glory." I'll never see you again. ”

The old man glanced back at his house and muttered: "The town is blessed, it is not in line with the avenue, it was changed by the saints at the beginning, and enjoyed the atmosphere of the whole three thousand years. You children, if you don't leave here quickly, will you follow us old and decayed porcelain that is already broken, and wait for death together? You know, death is big or small, thousands of people in our town, this death is a big death, and there is no afterlife. ”

"So, now, while God is still turning a blind eye, one more person can go. ”

The old man stretched out his dry palm and held the peach branch, "There are people with hearts, I hope it can really live up to it." ”

I don't know when, the grandmother of the young man Lang Zhao Xuan, the old woman on crutches has approached here, "The old man who is about to enter the ground, and he is so naïve, like an old lady smearing rouge, it is really hateful." This catastrophe can be changed in the slightest bit by your kindness?"

The old man's eyes were a little dazed, looking at the old woman who was also full of snow-white hair, and said inexplicably, "You're here." ”

The old woman was stunned for a moment, and then immediately became angry, and hit her with a cane, "The old thief embryo who is not ashamed, he is a lot old, and he still dares to talk about flowers?!"

The crutches rained down on him, and the old man had to flee, but laughed.

The old woman stood under the peach tree, still angry, regretting that she should not have been soft-hearted, and the ghost sent the god to take this trip to Peach Leaf Lane.

Finally, the old woman raised her head and looked at the peach leaves that had pulled out the buds.

The old woman walked back to Fulu Street step by step, and the crutches struck again and again on the bluestone slab.

A peaceful town that has been prosperous for thousands of years, I never thought that in the end, it was all poor people who had no afterlife.

Is there really no silver lining?

————

The stream is getting shallower, the well water is getting colder, the old locust is getting older, the iron locks are rusty, and the big clouds are hanging low.

This year, there are no peach blossoms in the peach leaves.