Chapter 5 Qiu Dangu Little Fat Dun

In the valley west of the town, the peaks on the left side are lush and canopy, and there are countless laurel trees, camphor trees, peach trees, and bitter oaks. The peaks on the right are full of exotic flowers and plants, tea tree bellflower, and nightshade sophora. The whole valley is filled with bursts of floral and medicinal fragrances, which are refreshing and calming the mind.

There is a small village in the low-lying part of the valley, the stream in front of the village flows gurgling, along the stream is scattered and arranged some thatched huts of different heights, in the vegetable garden surrounded by a fence in front of the house and behind the house, a piece of pepper red and green onion, beans purple and melon yellow. The smoke swirling on the thatched grass roof floated in the valley, like clouds covering the fog, like a fairyland.

In the town of Wengua in the east of the valley, on the stone bridge in front of the Taoxi Restaurant, a swarthy and lean young man wearing a gray-brown linen shirt was sitting on a low bamboo bench with his eyes closed and his hands folded. On the blue cotton cloth spread in front of the guy, five silk sachets were placed side by side, blue, gray, purple, vermilion, embroidered with bamboo, plum, peach, pear chrysanthemum in turn. The embroidery is exquisite, not as if it came from the hands of ordinary people.

Bajin and the gun idiot were walking on the stone bridge, and the gun idiot patted the shoulder of the eight gold on his left, turned sideways and stretched out a hand to him, spread out the palm, and fixed himself in front of the small stall.

Bajin was stunned and looked at him, and asked with a blank face:

"Big... Brother Hai, what does this mean?"

The gun idiot replied expressionlessly:

"Take the money and buy sachets. ”

Bajin heard his tone of debt collection, and was about to ask the reason, when the charcoal-like young man smelled that the two in front of him wanted to buy a sachet, suddenly opened his eyes, and shouted loudly as if singing:

"The incense bag, the eyes are bright, the fragrance is turbid, and the insects are repellent and evil spirits are wardened! The elixir is in it, and the seven tricks are calming and calming. ”

Bajin heard that the peddler blew this sachet like a lotus flower, and couldn't help laughing twice:

"This hexagram town is really a treasure of genius, there was a little Taoist priest who gnawed chicken legs on the street, and now there is a charcoal boy who sells sachets. The place of enlightenment of this great immortal, not a single person who cultivates himself and cultivates his temperament has seen it, but it is full of people with exquisite and sharp teeth, and it is really the world is declining!"

The little vendor was not annoyed when he heard Bajin's words, so he took a purple sachet and stood up and handed it to Bajin and said:

"The guest officer praised falsely, the small one for a living, shouted a few words indiscriminately, and the sharp teeth can't talk about it, but the small one is this sachet, the best silk, the medicinal materials of the Dan Valley, the embroidery of the skillful workshop, this is the only one in the hexagram town, if the guest officer can look at it, the small one should feel honored, if it is not good, it doesn't matter, the small one also picks some bulk goods to walk the streets and alleys on weekdays, if there is a fate to meet one day, you must invite the two to drink a few glasses of turbid wine, and make two friends with this fate, and hope that the two guest officers will not be disgusted when they arrive. ”

Bajin listened to what he said sincerely, so he took the purple embroidered peach blossom sachet, and took a closer look, it was indeed a good satin, the peach blossom embroidered by the colored thread, lined with a few verdant leaves, the red stamens against the tender yellow tips, vivid. I sniffed it in front of my nose, and the fragrance of Sisi mugwort leaves was sandwiched with the medicinal fragrance of some orange leaves and bitter ginseng, which did have some calming effects.

The gun idiot looked at his old expert appearance, stretched out his hand to him and said:

"Don't smell it, give me the sachet, give him money. ”

Bajin wanted to tease him a few words, but seeing his serious expression, he handed him the sachet. I thought to myself, this uncle, I don't have the habit of wearing sachets on weekdays, is it to buy it and give it away? I will find an opportunity to ask him, even if it is to give it away, then buy it all, and the remaining few can be taken back to the owner and the two fat monkeys with eight silver and eight bronze, thinking of this, he said to the small vendor:

"This sachet is indeed genuine, see that you are also a sincere stall owner, sell me the rest of the sachet. ”

Hearing Bajin's words, the small vendor hurriedly rolled the four sachets with cotton cloth and tied them into a small cloth bag and handed them to Bajin and said:

"The guest officer is really a bold person, five sachets with a total of 500 Wen, you can take it. ”

Bajin took the cloth bag, touched a piece of broken silver from the placket of his coat and handed it to him, and the little vendor bowed down and took it with both hands, and Bajin saw that he had a tattoo on the palm of each hand, and he had pierced a small bowl on one side and five copper coins on the other. I couldn't help but smile and said:

"Next time, if you are fated to meet it, you must remember the few glasses of turbid wine you said."

The vendor nodded, arched his hand towards the two of them, and said:

"That's what I naturally remember, the small one is the business of this fate, how can there be a reason to cut off fate. Today's blessings are all sold out, so thank you here, and we'll see you another day. ”

After that, he took the blue and black low bamboo bench and got off the stone bridge, and walked in the direction of the town. Bajin waited for him to go away, and asked the gun idiot:

"That guy just now, how many tricks can he pick you up?"

The gun idiot gestured two fingers at him, and Bajin nodded and said:

"Then it's about to catch up with Bai Qi, the people who beg for money to help these five money vaults have such skills, it's really not easy. ”

Hearing that he was still talking to himself, the gun idiot patted him on the shoulder, pointed to the Taoxi Restaurant by the stone bridge, and said with a smile:

"Haha, Brother Hai, I can't complain about this, this sachet is what you want to buy yourself, and now it's a mistake, if the Taoxi Restaurant is closed, the peach kernel chicken you want to fill in your belly, I'm afraid there is no hope for the roast pig on the stove." You can try the roadside baked cakes, haha. ”

The gun idiot looked at him with a schadenfreude look, and he didn't bother to pay attention to him at the moment, and sped up his steps towards the Taoxi Restaurant.

Seeing him quicken his pace, Bajin couldn't help but feel funny, so he shouted behind him:

"Hey, don't go, do you have any money? I want to eat the overlord meal, you. ”

With that, he put the small cloth bag on his shoulder, straightened it out, and hurriedly chased after it.

At the door of the Taoxi Restaurant, a shopkeeper wearing a yellow linen shirt greeted him and said:

"The two guest officers are invited, drink tea or sharpen?"

Bajin waved his hand and said, "I also drink tea, and I also play sharp." ”

The shopkeeper bowed down and stretched out his hand, leading the two of them to the elegant seat by the stream, and when the two sat down at the table, he said:

"Look at the two guests with extraordinary temperament, it is most suitable to sit in this elegant seat by the stream to watch the scenery and taste tea, what kind of tea do you drink, what kind of dishes do you order?"

Seeing that he was earnest and thoughtful, Bajin must be a familiar shopkeeper, so he asked him:

"Shopkeeper, where does this peach stream go?"

The shopkeeper took the burlap on his shoulder and wiped the wine table and said:

"Back to the guest officer, this peach stream flows westward through Qiudan Valley, and when it leaves Qiudan Valley, it flows into the Jiudong River. ”

Bajin nodded and said:

"Isn't this town called the town of asking hexagrams, why didn't the divination Taoist priests see a few, but the vendors who set up stalls to sell goods saw a lot of them. ”

The shopkeeper patted his chest and said proudly:

"Guest officer, you are asking the right person, there are many divination Taoists in this town, and they all went to the Qiu Dan Valley a while ago. ”

Bajin asked again:

"How did you know that you had gone to the Valley of Asking for Dan?"

The shopkeeper grinned and said:

"Hehe, a few days ago I went to ask Dangu to send a roast pig to see. ”

Bajin heard the words of the shopkeeper, remembered the little Taoist priest who gnawed on the chicken leg before, and couldn't help laughing:

"Roast pig?

The shopkeeper also smiled, took the teapot on the table, poured a bowl of coarse tea into the tea bowl in front of the two of them:

"I don't know if the Taoist priest eats the roast pig or not, it was the blacksmith who came to the store a few days ago who asked me to send it, and the blacksmiths in the ten miles and eight villages of the hexagram town are afraid that they have all gone to the Qiu Dan Valley. I don't know what kind of immortals have been being built recently, and so many blacksmiths are needed. They bought more than half of the daily roast pig in the store. The two guest officers came in a hurry, there is still one left in the hexagram furnace today, do you want to cut it in half and give it to the two of them to taste? This hanging stove roast pig is the signature dish of our store, the skin is crispy and the meat is smooth, fat but not greasy, and it is a must with the osmanthus stuffed in our store. ”

Bajin thought about it in his heart, Taoist priest, blacksmith, interesting, it seems that the owner of the pavilion is not bad. Hurry up and finish your meal and go to the Dangu to take a look. After thinking about it, he picked up the bowl of tea in front of him and took a sip and said:

"Today, I came to this Taoxi Restaurant to eat the roast pig in your store, you don't need to cut it in half, just put it up whole, and then come to a plate of peach kernel chicken, vinegar belly slices, stir-fry a seasonal side dish, a pot of osmanthus stuffed, this coarse tea is replaced by a pot of smoked tea, the action is sharper, my eldest brother is so hungry that his chest is close to his back. ”

The shopkeeper put the burlap on his shoulder, lifted the pot of coarse tea and arched his hand:

"Okay, I'll go and arrange it for the two guest officers right away. ”

With that, he shouted loudly to the back kitchen:

"Seat by the stream, a roast pig on the stove, a plate of peach chicken, a plate of vinegar belly slices, a plate of seasonal side dishes, and a pot of osmanthus stuffed. ”

The gun idiot heard Xiao Er's shouting, swallowed his saliva:

The peach chicken is crispy and soft, and the vinegar belly slices are smooth and springy.

Seasonal side dishes relieve oiliness, and osmanthus is stuffed to find immortals.

Bajin heard him actually chant a limerick poem, and laughed:

"Hahaha, today's trip is an eye-opener, I never thought that you, a martial idiot, would have such a face, this is wearing a sachet and chanting poetry, what a vassal and elegant literati. ”

Hearing his sneering, the gun idiot took off the dragon spear wrapped in linen on his back and put it on the stool beside him and said:

"Do you have to wear it yourself when you buy a sachet? This poetry is not only for literati and scholars. When the mood comes, he will chant casually, no matter whether he is elegant or not. You should close your mouth, you haven't stopped all the way, drink a few more bowls of tea to moisten it, don't choke on eating roast pig. ”

Bajin listened to his retort as if pouring beans from a bamboo tube, which was really interesting. I thought, this gun idiot, he knows how to chase me to compete on weekdays, and today is a rare opportunity, but he has to tease him, so he asked him:

"The sachet is not worn by yourself, it must be a gift, you will not give it to the man in this museum, could it be given to your sweetheart? Aunt Wang who feeds pigs in the backyard? Your taste is too unique, haha, if you marry her, you will have a roast pig to eat this meal, and it is also a good family affair. When I go back, I will help you report to the owner of the pavilion, and you will definitely marry Aunt Wang in a beautiful manner, but you can't wronged others. ”

The gun idiot listened to his nonsense, didn't bother to answer his words, took a chopstick in the bamboo tube on the table, clamped it with two fingers, and shook his wrist outward, only to hear the bamboo chopsticks "whoosh, boom", directly penetrated a thick tree by the stream outside the window, and fell into the stream.

Bajin saw that he showed his hand, thinking that he was too lazy to explain, so he shook his head and said:

"Okay, okay, every time I am too lazy to speak, I use this trick, either throwing stones or flying leaves, I don't use any strength, there is nothing to look at. I actually think that you are a crazy person and have a sweetheart, and I am so stupid, ashamed, ashamed. ”

The gun idiot took a pair of bamboo chopsticks from the bamboo tube again, and Bajin thought that he was going to fly chopsticks through the tree, and was about to stop it, but he saw that the shopkeeper was coming towards this table with the roast pig, so he smiled and said:

"Haha, I see, eat quickly, eat quickly, do things quickly after eating, I have to go back to my life today, don't miss the hour." ”

After the shopkeeper put down the roast pig, he turned around and picked up the pot of smoked tea and a pot of osmanthus brew on the table and said:

"The two guest officers use it slowly, and the remaining dishes will come immediately, if you can't finish this roast pig, you can cut it into thin slices and wrap it in oil paper later. If there is anything you need to call the small ones, you can do it. ”

Bajin carried the wine jug and filled half a bowl of wine in front of the gun idiot and himself, and said:

"After eating, my eldest brother eats a lot of food, and he eats quickly, so let's serve the remaining dishes quickly. If there is no food in the middle of this meal, the silver will be less. ”

The shopkeeper bowed down and smiled:

"The guest officer is right, the small one will be urged immediately, and you two will use it slowly. ”

With that, he ran towards the back kitchen.

At this time, it was almost noon, there were only a few scattered guests in the restaurant, and a man in a black robe was sitting in the corner drinking alone, and his eyes glanced at the table of Bajin from time to time. The shopkeeper went to the back kitchen to urge, and several dishes on the Bajin table were served one after another. The two of them ate the dishes on the table cleanly, asked for a pot of osmanthus stuffed, and after the meal was full of wine, they paid for the food, thanked the shopkeeper, and went out of the restaurant towards Qiudan Valley.

The two of them walked along the stream for about five miles, and then they saw the valley standing beside the stream, and the gunman pointed to the mountain peak on the left and whispered:

"The one on the left, go to the bottom of the hill first, and I'll lure him away. ”

Bajin nodded, and the two walked towards the lush peaks on the left, and when they reached the foot of the mountain, they saw that on the rocky meadow, a little fat dun wearing a reddish-brown linen shirt, took out a few stones from the small cloth bag pinned to his waist with one hand and threw them over his head, and the other hand waved a rough wooden knife in the air and slashed a few times, only to hear bang, bang, bang three times, before the stone landed, it hit the blade, the knife slashed, the knife momentum was neat, and there was no delay. Bajin glanced at the gun idiot, stepped forward and squatted down and asked with a smile:

"Little doll, how old are you?

The little fat dun stopped and looked at the eight gold in front of him, grabbed a stone from the small cloth bag and said:

"I'll tell you after this last split. ”

After saying that, he threw the stone over his head, and Bajin looked up and saw that there were five of them, and he could only hear four bangs, bangs, bangs, bangs. The little chubby dun shook his head and said:

"Five is still too reluctant, and I still have to practice. ”

After that, he put the wooden knife aside, untied the small cloth bag around his waist, squatted on the ground and began to pick up small stones, and said as he picked up:

"You two uncles are not from this village, I know all the people in this village. I don't know how old I am, maybe eight or nine. The reason for practicing knives here is that there are a few stink bugs in the village who saw that my father-in-law and stepmother had passed away due to illness, so they always bullied me, and when I could split five stones, I would have a wooden knife for each person, and each person would split a big bag of heads. Let them also get a taste of what it's like to be bullied. ”

Bajin was indignant when he heard him, and he was an orphan again, and he suddenly felt sympathy in his heart. took a closer look at this little chubby dun, his forehead was full and round, his eyes were clear, and his eyebrows were full of heroism, he was a well-behaved little doll. Then he asked:

"What about your biological parents?"

Little Chubby Dun got up and looked around:

"Maybe it's like the bag of stones just now, it must not be in this piece, I don't look for them, they won't come to look for me, the stones are ruthless and rootless, and I can't recognize those few just now. Even if you find it, there may not be a few of these newly picked up that are pleasing to the eye. ”

Hearing him speak so thoroughly at a young age, Bajin seemed to have seen through the mortal world, and couldn't help but feel sour in his heart, and then asked:

"How long have you been practicing knives, and isn't there anyone else in this village to take care of you?"

The little chubby dun replied:

"I've been practicing for five or six days, there aren't many people in this village, my stepfather and stepmother are already old, and they don't have much to do with the villagers, but those five stink bugs take good care of me and often come to destroy my vegetable garden. When I practice this trick, they won't dare to bully me. ”

The gun idiot stood by and listened all the time, and didn't talk. took a palm-sized stone and walked to the little fat pier and squatted down, holding it secretly in his hand, and a palm-sized stone clicked and scattered into a neat pebble. The gun idiot piled the stones in front of the little fat dun and smiled, took one of them and threw it to the left side, only to hear a loud click, and a camphor tree with a thick waist on the left side was broken. The gunman clapped his hands, got up, pointed at the peak, and headed that way.

Bajin waved his hand impatiently, and when he was far away, he said to the little fat dun:

"This uncle has eaten too many roast pigs, he is a madman, he knows how to eat meat and drink wine all day long, he is going to go to the mountains now to get some game and drink at night, and he will come back and teach you how to split five stones, how about it?"

The little fat dun put the pile of stones in front of him and put them in a small cloth bag, nodded and said:

"This uncle is very powerful, there is no game on this mountain, only blacksmiths and Taoist priests, if you are lucky, you can meet a hare, go to my house first, there are still some greens in the vegetable garden, we can also go to this forest to pick some mushrooms." When he comes back, I will fry some side dishes for you to eat, you teach me to split stones, and I will invite you to eat, and we don't owe each other. ”

Bajin looked at him like a little adult who would repay his kindness, and couldn't help but feel funny, nodded, and followed the little fat dun in the direction of the village.