This cell is also not large. When Usebo came in, there were already two people living inside. A slender old man, humble and gentle, with few words and a heavy heart; A strong man, vulgar and arrogant, wearing a treasury soldier's uniform. The old ones are called "Brother Bao", and the young ones are called "Master Nie". Brother Bao pressed a copy of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" under the straw mat, and every morning after the wind, he asked Master Nie: "Another paragraph?" Master Nie nodded, picked up the book and sat down against the light of the prison door, and read it twice. From his fluency and proficiency in reading, Usebo knew that this was a pedant with a book background. The prison forbidden head is also quite polite to this master Nie, and the food delivered from three meals a day is always a little more than that given to Wu Shibao, and it is a little more refined. Give Wu Shibao to eat stick noodles and old pickled radish, and give Master Nie's white flour flower rolls a meat and a vegetable. Wu Shibao couldn't get angry, so he asked the prison: "The same prison, how can there be two meals?" The prison sneered: "People pay for living in the store, and they pay for meals, why are they the same as you?" "Although Usebo didn't understand, he didn't want to ask again. As for Kubing, he didn't eat the food in prison at all, and someone brought him food from the big warehouse every day, not only sending meat and chicken, but even the hot chicken fat was covered with Shaoxing Huadiao and sent in as chicken soup. As soon as he opened the meal, Usebo turned his head out of the door, because the smell was so tempting, and he was afraid that he would accidentally show his greed and make people look down on him. The two men were treated one level higher than he was, and he became hostile from resentment, so he shrank himself in a corner all day long, and did not talk to them. This Kubing not only has a large amount of food, a large amount of alcohol, but also a large amount of smoke. Ordinary people use a smoking pot, no more than two fingers wide but no more than a fist, he uses a Xiu Yuwu pot, which is like a wine gourd, and the cigarette saucer is like a roast dish on the dinner table. Pour a small grave down, dip it with your thumb, wipe it from under your nostrils left and right, and draw a flower butterfly on your mouth. Usebo looked disgusted and greedy, because his addiction to smoking was not small. Recently, there has been no news inside and outside, and I am so worried that I can't eat, I can't sleep, I just want to smell smoke. The smoke smelled gone, but there were no new prisoners to live temporarily, and there were only three of them in the house, who wanted to open their mouths to exchange a handful of Ku Bing, but felt that they had lost their identity. So he pulled out the ear scoop and scraped the empty cigarette bottle vigorously, scraped a few times, knocked it, and a little smoke came out, and he carefully wiped it all into his nose and still couldn't smell it. Kubing not only smokes a lot of smoke and smells diligently, but also has a strong voice, smelling smoke and making a noise in his nostrils and throat together, and opening his mouth to the sky a few times when he sneezes. Snuff is similar to yawning, it is also contagious, and when you smell it there, your nose is uncomfortable here. So as soon as he smelled the cigarette, Usebo scraped the cigarette bottle. The more smoke falls, the less it falls, and then nothing is poured out at all. Wu Shibao refused to believe that the cigarette bottle was really dug so cleanly, hoping that there would always be a corner that had not been dug up, so he raised the cigarette bottle to the window and searched carefully with his eyes.

Usebo uses a citrine back pot with a light camel yellow, and the part of the inner wall that hangs smoke is dark brown. He looked at the window for a long time, and finally noticed that there was still a pea-sized piece of tobacco in the lower left corner, so he bent the head of the ear plucker and carefully reached into the spout of the pot. At this time, Master Nie, who had always been taciturn, suddenly stretched out his hand to stop him and said, "Don't dig it, if you dig it again, you will break the layout." Wu Shibao stopped his hand and looked at Master Nie directly: "What did you say?" Master Nie pointed to the cigarette bottle and said, "Take a look for yourself!" ”

Wu Shibao raised his cigarette bottle and shone it again at the window, when the big man also poked his head out from behind him and shouted, "Hey, wonderful! Bamboo orchid diagram. I didn't expect you to have a pair of skillful hands to paint in a cigarette bottle! After saying that, he laughed with Master Nie. When Usebo mentioned this, he found that the horizontal and vertical paths he scraped in the pot with the ear picking spoon were inadvertently combined into a small painting: the lower left side is like a mound of bluegrass, and the right side is like a few bamboos. Nature is only an approximation and not accurate. He couldn't help but laugh too. On a whim, Master Nie asked the cigarette bottle to come over, untied the comb and ear scoop from the placket, bent the top of the ear scoop slightly, stretched it into the bottle, and scraped it decisively and skillfully a few times and handed it back to Wu Shibao.

Seeing this, Wu Shibao took Master Nie's ear spoon and inscribed a poem of Banqiao in block letters on the other side of the pot, and signed the code name of "Changbai Old Home". Although it was the first time to try to write, he could still see it, and after writing, he handed the cigarette bottle to Master Nie, who stared at Wu Shibao with both eyes, and nodded again and again.

Wu Shibao made a gesture and said: "I don't know that the old gentleman is a big man, disrespectful and disrespectful. ”

Master Nie hurriedly returned the salute and said, "Carving insect skills, just talk about food and clothing." However, the old man has no teacher and is born different, which is enviable. ”

At this time, Ku Bing handed over the cigarette saucer and said, "If you want to be addicted, come and order this." Don't dig that pot again, lest you dig up the painting again. ”

Usebo stretched out his thumb and forefinger, dug hard, pressed into his nostrils, and sneezed twice, then said with a smile: "For several days, these two sneezes have been trying to hit but they haven't come out." Ku Bing said: "It's been a few days, I've been waiting for you to reach out to me to find cigarettes, but you just don't appreciate your face, are you not literate, afraid that I will ask you to read the Three Kingdoms?" Usebo said: "I don't know it, I'm sorry, you want me to let me, I have already smelled it." Ku Bing said: "You are the banner master, how dare you make a mistake?" After talking, the three of them became more acquainted.

Wu Shibao took a few pinches of snuff as if he were revenge, and a spicy and fragrant breath went straight to his brain, and he sneezed twice, and his mood became more cheerful, so he asked Ku Bing what the crime was. The Ku Bing said that he had stolen the silver from the Kuli, and asked the court officer to catch it. Usebo said: "I heard that when you go to work in the warehouse, you have to strip off your whole body, go to the warehouse to change into the clothes of the palace, and when you leave the warehouse, you also strip naked, how can you bring out this silver?" ”

Ku Bing said: "There is an opening in a person's body, and where the mouth is big, there is a plug. Anyway, you can't use your mouth, because when you leave the warehouse, you have to shout in front of the court officials. ”

When Usebo heard this, his face was a little hot, and he muttered in a low voice, "How much can you bring?" Is it worth it to go to jail for such a small profit? ”

Ku Bing said: "It's really not easy. Of the ten taels of silver, I only carried four ingots, and when I walked in front of the cousin, I happened to fart, so I fell out of a piece. This is a financial road left by our ancestors to our banner people, and the sensible official should have passed it with a twist of his face, who would have thought that this hall official was a new wasteland! Fuss, sent me in. ”

"Is it sentenced?"

"I'm going to be beheaded."

"Oops!"

"Don't be afraid, you can't die. It costs thousands of silver to make up a treasury soldier, which is more expensive than buying a prefect! Don't be allowed to hold silver in **, who is going to do this? The officials know how to drown the cats here. ”

When asked about Master Nie, it was even more surprising. He's not in jail, he's borrowed. He is a craftsman who paints interior paintings and burns "Gu Yuexuan". A while ago, he ingeniously burned a set of cigarette bottles, a total of 18 pieces, each of which was made of 18 beats and one beat of the words. This set of things was bought by Zai Jiuye. The more the ninth master looked at it, the more he loved it, and asked Master Nie to have an interview. Master Nie was ordered to meet him in the mansion, he was about to go out, and asked the people to settle Master Nie to stay first, and talk about it later. All this was quite ordinary, but the last two sentences of the ninth master were bad, he said: "Find a strict place for him to live, save others from finding him to let him burn another set, my this is worthless." "Where's it? The prison is the tightest. The lobby of the Criminal Department had a friendship with the Ninth Master, and the subordinates saved Master Nie in the prison. It's been two months, and the Ninth Master hasn't had time to talk to him.

Usebo said, "How many more of you will go out like this?" ”

Master Nie said, "Who knows when the Ninth Master will think of me?" ”

Since then, Usebo and these two have made friends. Sitting in the cell every day, Wu Shibao simply asked Master Nie to teach him the technique of painting on the inner wall of the smoking bottle. Master Nie knew that he was a family of banner people, and would not make a living from it, so as not to rob him of his job, so he happily made some pointers on some basic techniques, this Wu Shibao is talented and smart, and washed the four walls of the cigarette bottle with water, and the Ku Bing asked someone to get ink, so he used the hairpin to dip the ink painting, and after painting once, he asked Master Nie to make comments and guidance, and then washed away the old painting, and painted it again from scratch, and slowly had kung fu. Just as he was about to delve further, Usebo suddenly fell ill because of the depression in his heart and poor diet. The library soldiers paid for the prison to find a doctor to prescribe medicine; The matter of decoction and water delivery fell on Master Nie's shoulders. Usebo vomited and diarrhea, and the two washed and wiped it clean, without disgust. Although Wu Shibao has been an idler since he was a child, he has fallen to this point, one of them is sentenced to death, and the other is full of grievances, and he still serves him like this, and he can't help but lose his true feelings. When he was a little better, he said, "How can I repay you for your kindness to me?" Master Nie said: "Friends in distress, what do you talk about or not?" Do a little thing for you, and forget my own sorrows, and it will be a better day. Ku Bing sighed and said, "Uncle, I want to thank you!" A few days ago, I often thought that if my declaration came true, and when I arrived in the underworld, Lord Yama asked me what I had done before I was alive, what did I say? I used to be a cow and a horse, stealing money from others; In the past two years, I have been a cow and a horse, stealing silver for myself, there are not many of me in the three rooms of this yang world, there is not much of me, and I don't even cry when I die! Who do you say I am running for? Uncle Wu's illness, I have done a lot for you, and I feel that life is much more enjoyable. If I'm going to die, I dare say that there is someone in this world who still talks to me twice, don't you say? This is not something that money can buy. As he spoke, Ku Bing wiped his tears. Master Nie hurriedly said: "He is a patient, it's okay to cry a nose; You talk and laugh on weekdays, what's wrong today? Ku Bing said: "I usually laugh to make myself happy, I am afraid that I will worry about it as soon as I calm down." I haven't laughed for the past two days, but I'm at ease! Usebo said, "Your group of fellow soldiers treat you well, and you shouldn't feel lonely and cold." Ku Bing said: "They are afraid that they will bite them all out when I pass through the hall, and they will gag my mouth!" Take care of me for their own sake, how can there be true friendship? If I can get out, I won't do that immoral thing. Or give Master Nie a hand, or be a porter for your Uncle Wu, you can accept me as a companion. I have money, and I don't need your pay. All you have to do is treat me like a buddy and brother. ”

This Ku Bing's speech was very different from the past, and the two of them couldn't help but ask about his history. I only knew that the family that raised the treasury soldiers, there was a kind of beggar orphan who was less than ten years old who was bought with money, and he was trained to carry silver taels with the valley road since he was a child. First, use egg sesame oil to stuff into the valley road, and gradually replace it with stone balls and iron balls, increase from a few dollars to a few two, from one to a few, and whip the stick if there is a slight resistance. It was as cruel and vicious as a fisherman domesticating an osprey. When he reached the age of enlistment, after the main family made up for the vacancy, he had to carry silver ingots naked during the day, and after work, the main family followed at the door, and as soon as he went out, he locked it with iron chains, pushed it into the car and pulled it home, and did not open the lock until he was sent back to work at the door of the warehouse the next day. In the year of Gengzi, the master called the rebels to kill, and he escaped this difficulty in the library before he became a free man. He was homeless and unemployed, so he rented two wings of the Ma family's incense wax shop to live, and the stolen silver was stored in the incense wax shop. The shopkeeper of the incense wax shop is a good person, and promised to help him start a family when he saves up to a whole number. Before anyone said it, he didn't expect to commit something. Usebo said, "You should be careful." Ku Bing said: "It is also common to show white like this." If someone else commits a crime, a family member or the main family pays to dredge up the run, and they are released after a few days. But I only relied on a few treasury soldiers to pay bribes for me, and I didn't chase as fast as others, and I still haven't had a trustworthy son. ”

Since then, the three of them have become closer. A few days later, the cell boss suddenly spread the word that someone had come to visit Ussepo. Usebo was happy and scared at the same time. I was happy that I finally had a breath with the outside again, and I saw my family again; What I'm afraid of is that I haven't seen my family for more than half a year, and I'm afraid that something big will happen to my family! When he arrived at the meeting place, Wu Shibao saw that it was not the eldest grandmother, nor was it Liu's grandmother, but Shouming, and he was shocked again! Hurriedly asked: "Shou Ye, how dare you work!" ”

"Friend, what should I do?"

"Why didn't your brother and sister come, what happened at home?"

"It's fine!" Shou Ming was stunned after speaking. Wu Shibao was so sensitive that he didn't ask anything, but Shou Ming hurriedly said: "I'm here to sue you, I found out, your lawsuit is all played by Xu Huanzhang's kid." But you offended him for my sake, and I can't stand on the shore. Don't worry, I'm going to have to get you out of here. Now that the lobby of the Criminal Department has changed, several people who Xu Huanzhang has contacts have left. I'm active, and you'll have a letter here in a few days. I tell you a word, you went to the court to tell the truth, and said that King Duan did recommend you to the Tiger God Camp, but you didn't go. As for the words added by the singing hall, they are temporary lotteries, and they are forgotten after singing, which really has nothing to do with the Boxers. You push it clean with a word, and I'll do the rest, and you don't care about it! ”

Usebo returned to his cell and told Shou Ming's words to the two fellow victims, who both congratulated him. It happened that someone brought wine to Kubing that night, and the three of them had a good drink. After drinking, Master Nie sat upright, pulled the two of them to his side, and said, "Let's get along, it's also fate." Now that Uncle Wu is gone, it is difficult to predict when he will see him again. I'm already a person who is over the age of six, the day is precarious, and the days are numbered, so I have a few heartfelt words to state to the two. ”

When the two of them heard him say solemnly, they listened with bated breath.

Master Nie said that although he can draw pots inside, the housekeeper's skill is not this, but the firing of "Gu Yuexuan". "Gu Yuexuan" was invented by Hu Xuezhou, a scribe from Suzhou during the Qianlong period. Hu Xuezhou's ancestors were officials for several generations and collected some porcelain. Hu Xuezhou failed to pass the exam several times, and he had no intention of making a name for himself, so he entertained himself by identifying and appreciating porcelain. Over time, he developed from appreciating other people's works to creating new varieties by himself. He combined Western enamel glaze with traditional Chinese materials and inlaid bronze wares to create such a delicate product as thin as paper, sound like a rock, moist as jade, and bright as a mirror. When you make a payment, you separate your surname and inscribe it as "Gu Yuexuan". People also call this product "Gu Yuexuan". Qianlong toured the south, and the local officials of Suzhou paid tribute with the utensils he made, which won the emperor's appreciation, and issued an edict to transfer Hu Xuezhou to the inner government of the capital for the royal firing utensils. These utensils were rewarded by the emperor to the princes and important ministers, and then they flowed into the people of Beijing. For a while, the nine cities were in an uproar, and the value was invaluable, and how many people tried to imitate it, all because they did not know the essentials, they could not succeed. Hu Xuezhou's life was passed on singlely, so this technique has never been passed on to foreign surnames. The Hu family does the work, and also uses helpers to do chores, but they only do rough work, and at the critical moment, not only do they have to send the hired workers away, but even the people of their own family have to avoid it, and the producer locks the door tightly and operates in the house alone.

The seventh generation grandson of the Hu family is named Hu Shushi, and he has a son and a daughter. By this time, his family had already accumulated some wealth. When the boy was six years old, he invited a gentleman to open a family restaurant, and in order not to let his son be too lonely, he recruited his cousin Nie Xiaoxuan, who had lost his parents, to accompany him. It also means to help the orphaned. This Nie Xiaoxuan is very smart and diligent, outside of class, he loves calligraphy and painting, landscapes, grasses and insects, has no teacher, and has more progress than the Hu family boys. Hu Shushi instructed him when he had time, and at the age of twelve, he taught him the technique of interior painting, which was regarded as a way for him to earn a living on his own. Later, the family was dispersed, and Nie did not leave, helping the Hu family with chores and running errands, which was counted as compensation for his food and lodging in the past few years.

Xianfeng ten years, Hu Jiashao is 20 years old, is about to learn the "Gu Yuexuan" skills with his father, caught up with the British and French forces to attack Beijing, when he went to Tianjin to collect accounts, in Hexi encountered a chaotic army, called the foreign devil horse team to step on the injury, returned home less than a month after vomiting blood and died. The daughter of the Hu family, who was born with smallpox when she was a child, broke her appearance, and she didn't say anything about being a family member at twenty-seven or eight, and presided over housework for her father. Hu Shushi was nearly sixty years old, and when he was hit by this blow, he suddenly withered. He saw that his days were numbered, and he was worried that his daughter would not be able to settle for the rest of her life, and he didn't want his family heirloom to be wiped out by his generation, so he recruited Nie Xiaoxuan and asked him if he would like to inherit his own portal. If you wish, you must apprentice and join the teacher to do it together. Nie Xiaoxuan has long been obsessed with the "Gu Yuexuan" stunt, but he doesn't dare to learn it; I have known my cousin since I was a child, and I don't have any bad feelings, so I naturally kowtow and thank you. So he invited the chief of his clan, made a covenant on an auspicious day, performed a bowing ceremony, and entered the family at the same time. But Hu Shushi was still not at ease, afraid of changes in the future, so he divided the skills of making "Gu Yuexuan" into two halves, taught Nie Xiaoxuan the ingredients and drawings, and passed on the kiln to his daughter, telling them to swear not to communicate with each other, in order to make the two cooperate forever, and whoever left whom, the half of the technology was useless.

Speaking of this, Master Nie took Wu Shibao's hand and said, "I didn't expect that thirty years later, my woman would follow my brother-in-law's old path and die under the fire of the Eight-Nation Alliance. Fortunately, she passed on her craft to my daughter before that, and my father and daughter worked together to burn a few mustaches and eighteen pat vessels. Now that I'm here, what if something happens? Originally, I also wanted to learn from my master's method, choose a young man who is both a son-in-law and an apprentice, and pass on the skills to him. I'm afraid I won't have a chance. ”

Ku Bing said: "Listen to that, the ninth master has no ill intentions towards you, why do you think about things so desperately?" ”

Master Nie said: "There is a case for everything, in case something happens, this craft is absolutely in my generation, and I won't become a sinner?" At present, the most important thing is to find someone to take over my craft, and I will have nothing to worry about life and death. Although the world is big, all I can see is the two of you, so I have to ask which of you to fulfill my wish and give me a chance to look after death. ”

Ku Bing said: "I am a rough man, I can do it with effort and money, but I can't do this." I can't read big characters, and I can't draw straight strokes, so how can I learn to draw? ”

Master Nie set his eyes on Wu Shibao.

Wu Shibao pondered for a long time before he said, "This matter is too important and serious, and I dare not admit it." In the past 30 years, I have done a lot of troublesome things and willful things, but I have never done such serious things, and I don't know if I can do it. I don't dare to accept such a heavy trust. ”

Master Nie said, "I know that you have a family property, you don't have to worry about food and clothing, and you don't look down on the vulgar things that make a living by labor. But let me ask you, people live a lifetime to eat ready-made clothes ready-made, the sky pays everything and me, I have nothing to pay for the sky, when the time comes, can you feel at ease? ”

"I didn't think about that."

"For example, the world is like an inn, and life is like a passerby. Most of the food we eat is left by the previous guests, and from us onwards, you and I will live and live, everyone will take something, no one will add anything, and over time, what we leave to future generations will not become a pile of rubble? On the contrary, if you plant a tree and I plant a grass, the store will become more and more prosperous and richer. Later generations are not in vain to call us our ancestors. Generations have been like this, isn't there more love in this world? ”

Ku Bing said on the side: "It's really yours, even I understand something." Uncle Wu, haven't you understood this Zen machine yet? ”

Usebo was still a little difficult to make up his mind, and said, "How can you learn such a wonderful skill in a short period of time?" ”

"You can write, you can draw, and you're familiar with my way of drawing, so it's twice as effective. The important thing is to learn the recipe of the glaze. Here's a set of tips on how to turn red and what turns green. It has been passed down orally from generation to generation, and it is the most precious. There are a lot of capable people who imitate 'Gu Yuexuan' in the market, and some have imitated it very much, but there is a trick they can't imitate, the type and color of the glaze, my ancestors can produce thirteen colors, fakes in the market, three colors, five colors, and seven colors are very few! I am passing this on to you now, because I am risking my life, and I am sending it to my daughter. I am begging you to learn art, I dare not boast of being a teacher, we are friends, and friends are also one of the five Lun, I think you will not have my trust. ”

Wu Shibao saw Master Nie's face full of sincerity, remembered the kindness of others to help him when he was sick, and felt that it would be obviously too ruthless to refuse. He thought for a while, then suddenly stood up, tidied up his clothes, and bowed down to Master Nie. Master Nie hurriedly stopped and said, "What is this for?" ”

Wu Sebo said: "Since we are doing serious things, let's be solemn." ”

Master Nie said: "I am a substitute teacher, and I will never dare to be a teacher for Uncle Wu." Since then, the two have officially received the glaze painting skills of "Gu Yuexuan".

Wu Shibao studied with Nie Xiaoxuan for less than a month, and it was rumored that Wu Shibao had gone to the church. I don't know what spell Shou Ming used, what tricks and feet did the book office, the new Shangshu tried the old case, and as soon as he turned over the volume, the first one was the case file of Wu Shibao. The reason written on the inscription is that King Duan sent him to the Tiger God Camp on an errand and could not disobey the order. Shang Shu said: "This Tiger God Battalion is also one of the culprits in recruiting the Eight-Nation Alliance, doesn't he have nothing to do with him if he doesn't take office?" "This Shangshu has always not read this volume, so he summoned Ushibo to come to the court. Wu Shibao has been instructed by Shou Ming, and he no longer cries his father and mother when he comes to the court, but only calls for wrongdoing. When asked above, he answered truthfully. Xin Shangshu was full, sighed and said, "The Eight Banners family is imprisoned and imprisoned at will? It's really unpredictable! Put! He also instructed the secretary office to sort out a brief document on the case, and he wanted to refer to the previous one.

Wu Shibao only kowtowed three times, ending his career behind bars for one year and eight months.

When Wu Shibao was released from prison, Nie Xiaoxuan took out a tissue paper bag from his waist. When it opens, it looks like a pair of gold-filled bracelets. He asked Usebo to use this as a token to meet his daughter Liu Niang, and Liu Niang would believe him.