In the last two or three years, a group of people who call themselves "messengers of the moon" will come to the old hutong to preach the Dharma and preach the Dharma, because they will distribute some gifts along the way, which is very popular with the residents of the hutong.

From the previous months, the conditions for receiving gifts have become more demanding, and in addition to accompanying and reciting the "doctrine of the moon" that he preached, it is also necessary to wear a token of the moon: a cheap bracelet strung with a full moon carved into a thumb-sized stone, strung with thin hemp rope.

Li Qing wanted to praise Lao Ge's "shrewdness" and superb wool-picking skills as usual, but after thinking about it, since this world can accommodate transcendent people, why can't there really exist gods, thinking so, the meaning of the words changed again: "People like us who have no faith, don't join in this fun, lest the gods blame us." ”

Old man Ge touched his chin and said, "If I don't steal or rob, what can he blame me?" At last, his tone suddenly lowered, and he said, "God should bless those who can live without stealing or robbing their lives these days." I read the newspaper today and said that quite a few people died at the front again? ”

Li Qing nodded, he had heard that Old Man Ge had a son who was a soldier on the front line and worked for the Yugoslav Federation, but since he could remember, he had not seen this "son" come back, nor had he heard Old Man Ge himself say a word about his son.

Old man Ge was reading an expired newspaper, and Li Qing was also holding expired information.

"It's been two hundred years since I fought, and those northern barbarians haven't stopped!" Old man Ge put down his sleeves and said, "I don't know when our Yugoslav Alliance will be able to produce another Lu Jianqiu, and then insert the Four Dragons Banner on the head of Qingbei City!" ”

The contempt of "Northern Barbarian" is deeply ingrained in the older generation, just as the Northern Federation calls the people of the Southern Federation "Nanyi", since the separation of the North and the South, there are these two names, Lu Jianqiu is a legendary figure, it is said that he once planted the four dragon flags symbolizing the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia on the head of Qingbei City, the capital of the Northern Federation.

At this moment, a voice like a mantra suddenly sounded outside the window:

"Yuan Cheng Tiande, the lying jade rabbit is the beginning of the rise, the death is and the birth, the coral has branches and descends to the clear light, enter my door to sacrifice my month, and the glory has the end to survive."

One babbling, two gongs, and listening to the voice sing:

"Take refuge, take refuge, why don't the clouds convert? According to the anti-Xi, according to the anti-Xi, my way Yongchang! ”

As long as it is a mission, it is probably inseparable from a few clichés: as long as you join our religion and believe in our god, you can have no worries about food and clothing, and you will be safe and happy all your life.

"They're here, hurry up, I haven't used up the little soap I sent last time, and the quality is amazing!" Old man Ge immediately broke away from his short-lived heroic spirit, and pulled Li Qing to rush out.

"No, I'm going to go out, something's going on." Li Qing raised the lilac twenty yuan bill in his hand.

"Where did you make your fortune? What can it be? Lao Ge showed a look of surprise on his face, and then suddenly said: "Then you go, I don't know which girl can take a fancy to you, if you want to get married, remember to bring it back first and let me palm it." ”

After that, Lao Ge didn't care about Li Qing, rolled up his sleeves and went out of the door.

Li Qing smiled bitterly, cleaned up briefly, and followed out the door.

The alleys of the old alleys are actually very narrow, and when the rain is agitated, the whole place is filled with a faint smell of mildew, and the surging crowds and the sound of frustrated singing stir up this smell, and the water tai, which no one cared about in the past, is now full of people, compared to the pleasure of releasing oneself in the teachings and the advantage that can be taken by stretching out one's hand, for people living at the bottom of society, the trouble of washing clothes is naturally nothing.

Li Qing walked out along the alley, and he saw Lao Ge show off the cheap bracelet on his wrist in front of a young clergyman, and then reverently make a gesture of holding the moon in one hand, reciting a passage of "The Doctrine of the Moon" in crepe.

"After the crown is removed, we will bathe naked in the moonlight, and use the moonlight to weave our own city from the ruins."

Li Qing still remembered that Lao Ge said to him, saying that what he hated the most was these literary and crepe poems, in order to memorize this passage, Lao Ge must have exhausted his few literary and artistic talents, and after getting a small bottle of three-free soy sauce, the effort was rewarded, and Lao Ge and the praised gods were satisfied.

About 50 years ago, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which had been forbidden to proselytize, made a compromise with the faith and revoked the ban on missionary work that had been promulgated in the 14th year of the new calendar, in the hope that ordinary people, who were extremely dissatisfied with material life, could find their own home in the spiritual realm.

A middle-aged woman in a black robe with a somewhat collapsed nose stopped in front of Li Qing, and just now she sang the poem about refuge, she handed Li Qing a palm-sized manual, and said in a mysterious tone: "Worship the moon for eternity, you should also be a follower of the Holy Venerable." ”

The first four words, which seem to be the mantra of this group of clergy, resemble the widely known "Amitabha".

When Li Qing shifted the focus of his gaze from Lao Ge to the middle-aged woman, at that moment, he saw a broken gray moon in the void behind the middle-aged woman.

It was a waning moon that had died.

This...... Li Qing tried his best to restrain himself so that he didn't show surprise, but his narrowed pupils still betrayed his emotions.

His refusal was taken as a tacit acquiescence of "interest," and the middle-aged woman opened the manual, which contained some drawings of the Moon Worship Deity's universal love for all beings—a form that was clearly more conducive to the spread of doctrine than to words in an age of low literacy.

"You're a member of the Holy Venerable, aren't you?"

As soon as the middle-aged woman's voice fell, the dead moon behind her quickly disappeared.

"No, I'm sorry." Li Qing hid his consternation, bluntly rejected the middle-aged woman's invitation, walked past her, and walked straight out of the alley.

The bar Li Qing was going to was located on Changmen Street, which was some distance from the old alley, and in order not to miss today's opportunity, he chose to take a horse-drawn carriage to rush over.

I heard that in larger cities, public carriages have become more popular, and although they are much inferior to single-person carriages in terms of privacy and comfort, their obvious price advantage is enough to cover this shortcoming.

After ten minutes or so, the sound of horses' hooves on the gravel road came from far and near, and an empty carriage appeared in Li Qing's field of vision.

The coachman didn't seem to expect that he would be able to carry guests on this old alley street, which is known for its poverty and miserliness, and Li Qing shouted a few times before the carriage stopped in a series of bells.

Li Qing walked into the carriage: "Go to Changmen Street." As if thinking of something, he added: "Take from Liucang Avenue, don't take a detour." ”

Liucang Avenue is the most prosperous area in Ningpu, and the fare from Liucang to the factory gate is only one yuan and five to six jiao, and if you go to other places, the price may be two yuan up.

The coachman didn't say anything, said "um", and concentrated on catching the car.

Li Qing lay in the cushion and closed his eyes to recuperate, his ears changed from silence to noise to silence, the bell rang repeatedly, and the driver finally reminded him that it was time to get out of the car and settle the bill.

After getting out of the carriage, without asking, Li Qing saw at a glance the slogan wall with big red characters written on it: "Laziness turns people into ghosts, diligence turns ghosts into people", and on the right side of the slogan are several young men and women with red faces, who symbolize youth and a better future.

The No. 6 bar in Houhai that Li Qing was looking for was on the street diagonally opposite this billboard, and when he saw the ambiguous stand, he knew that he had found the right place.

Pushing open the door, the strong smell of alcohol and the noise came to the face, it was not yet seven o'clock, but there were already many customers in Houhai No. 6, who numbed themselves with alcohol, passed the time, and by the way, searched for their true selves in the blowing, and one or two of them had apparently achieved the ultimate goal mentioned above, and were drunk by young escorts who were not yet twenty years old.

This is a good place to buy and sell information, and after losing his source of livelihood, this place can be said to have saved Li Qing's life.

Bypassing the crowded drinkers and coming to the front of the bar, the bartender had changed his face, but Li Qing did not change his habits, and ordered a glass of the cheapest ale in the bartender's numb and perhaps slightly expectant introduction, which naturally unsurprisingly gained disdainful eyes.

Li Qing came here to wait for someone, and according to what he knew about that person, he usually came here alone after nine o'clock to seek recreation, but that person seemed to be very busy with work and had a good position in the company he worked for, so he could not come every day.

For those who want to meet him, it undoubtedly takes a certain amount of luck.

The waiting time was the most boring, Li Qing took a sip of the ale, and the young but experienced escort girls would not waste their time with him after seeing what he was wearing and the appearance of the contents of the glass, so for a full forty minutes, except for explaining to the impatient bartender the purpose of his visit, Li Qing did not say anything else.

But there are always exceptions.

"Sir, do you need me to have a drink with you?"

A somewhat timid voice sounded in Li Qing's ears, as soon as he raised his head, a thin face suddenly came into view, the girl in front of him was in the most youthful stage, even if she was hungry and cold, her skin was still full of luster and elasticity.

Her eyes were very deep, which complemented the pair of brown pupils, and this also pointed out her identity: a mixed-race child born from the accidental union of the low-level people in the north and south, Li Qing is inconvenient to make too many impolite guesses about the experience of his parents.

In the border bar where everyone is in danger, everyone's sympathy is pitiful, Li Qing is about to send the girl away, the door of the bar is pushed open again, and a group of men and women rush in, one of the men and women, like the stars and the moon, are surrounded in the middle, as if they are the heroes and heroines of this group of people.