Lingzhou City, Anmin Fang.

The docks are still busy day after day.

The river tide is surging, and the boats on the shore have naturally lowered their sails, but they still can't help but shake back and forth with the river, and the boat board is set between the ship and the trestle, and the men who load and unload the ship step on it and step on it, flickering and flickering.

The weather was too hot, most of them wore only a half-arm on their upper body, and only a half-arm on their lower body, and even more, many of them simply wore their upper bodies, and in the sun, on the tanned and glowing tendon flesh, beads of sweat kept rolling down, crackling and falling onto the board or trestle, and it had evaporated in an instant.

It's June, which is one of the hottest times of the year.

Walking west along the wharf area, in the Lingjiang embankment built of bluestone, there are also wide riverside avenues paved with bluestone, and there are wine flags and tea banners everywhere.

These are undoubtedly unruly roadside business, and these roadside wine shops and tea shops often do not sell any good things, are cheap wine, tea and the like, but just cater to the needs of the people on the dock - sweating in winter, afraid of cold, eat a corner of hot wine to bake, just put on clothes to go home, it is too hot in summer, come to Gudong Gudong to pour a pot of herbal tea, or be generous, come to a bowl of iced sour plum soup, feel refreshed and comfortable. And the point is, none of them are too expensive, and they are absolutely affordable.

At three o'clock in the morning, business has not yet begun for these small stalls by the river, and the shipwrights and stevedores are in a hurry to load and unload their goods.

At this moment, some river breeze is blowing slightly, bringing some coolness, and under the big willow tree on the river embankment, on an ordinary tea stall, there is a young guest slowly drinking tea.

He didn't want any refreshments, just sipped the cheap tea that was already half cold and not hot in small sips, and at the same time looked blankly at the river in front of him, and the whole person seemed to be in a state of distraction.

This person is none other than Zhou Ang.

After a while, the shopkeeper came over with a large teapot and asked with a smile, "Do you want some hot water?"

Zhou Ang, who was in a daze, turned his head, smiled, put down the teacup and lifted the lid, and said, "Thank you, shopkeeper." ”

The shopkeeper looked to be in his fifties, his face was full of wrinkles, but his hands did not tremble at all, he picked up the big pot and accurately filled Zhou Ang's teapot with hot water.

However, after pouring water for the only guest at the tea stall, the old shopkeeper did not go away, but put down the teapot casually, and asked with a smile: "The guests have come to drink tea and sit idle every day for seven or eight days, ......right? But who are you waiting for?"

Facing the old shopkeeper's active accosting, Zhou Ang smiled, but said: "I don't wait for anyone, just come and sit down and think about something." As he spoke, he raised his finger and pointed to another clumsy stool next to the small square table, and said with a smile: "The old man sits down and talks, and I invite you to a pot of tea." ”

The old shopkeeper waved his hand when he heard this, and said, "Where is the reason for opening a tea stall to ask guests to ask for tea?" Xiao Lao'er is a little idle at the moment, but he is willing to sit with the guests and chat. ”

Zhou Ang didn't insist when he heard this, he picked up an upside-down teacup from the tea tray on the small square table, carried the pot and poured a cup for the old shopkeeper, and said with a smile: "The old man has a high birthday this year?"

"Fifty-eight!" the old man smiled.

After a pause, he pointed to his tea stall, but he saw his son and daughter-in-law pushing a cart to transport the sour plum soup that had been made at home, but he didn't get up to help, but said: "My tea stall, starting from my grandfather, to me, is already the third generation, more than 60 years!"

"Wow! That's been a long time. ”

"Not really. When I was a child, only seven or eight years old, I had already learned to boil water and add firewood, a little older, I began to learn to add water to the guests to make tea, not a fine business, don't look at the guests talking loudly, but they are all kind people, some mistakes are not difficult with me as a child. ”

"That's right. ”

"It has been more than 20 years since I took over this tea stall from my father, and nothing has gone wrong. No, the children have grown up, and the grandson has already begun to work! I will marry my mother-in-law at the end of the year, and I will be able to hold my great-grandson!"

"The old man is so blessed! Four generations are in the same house!"

The old man laughed as he listened, and the folds on his face deepened.

Several teeth have been lost.

"The guests looked like people reading books. ”

"Oh, how so?"

"It's not the same when you look at it. You will never be a hard-working person. I don't have any other skills, I've been selling tea for 50 years, and I've seen too many people to count, and when it comes to knowing people, there are still some ways to know. ”

"Oh, old man, look at me, what do you say?"

"You...... It will be great things in the future!"

Zhou Ang suddenly laughed, "Oh?

I thought it was just the kind flattery of the old shopkeeper, but when I didn't think about it, the old man raised two fingers very seriously and said with a smile: "Two things." ”

"Huh, will you tell me one by one?"

"The first one, after all these years, I can't remember anything else, but I remember this clearly, but anyone who can sit on my tea stall is a morning or an afternoon, and they don't wait for anyone, and they have nothing to do, just sit and look at the river and think about things, and then they are all rich. ”

"And this?"

"That's nature. I'll give you a couple of examples!"

"Tell me?"

"Now everyone who runs boats on the river knows that he is a Li Xian Li Daguan, in fact, his original name was Li Huzi, and later he changed his name to Li Xian when he became developed. When he was young, he was extremely poor, but when he was the most miserable, he came to my tea stall to drink tea, and sat all day long, just like you, a guest, staring blankly at the river, and still he owes more than a dozen dollars for tea!

"More than a hundred boats, hundreds of thousands of people follow him to eat on the water, plus these people on the shore, there must be one or two thousand families, all of whom eat with him. ”

"That's a lot of money. Rich!"

"He's rich! He doesn't lack my little tea money, maybe I forgot, and I don't bother to ask him for it. Let's just go by like this, they're almost sixty people, what do you care about those little money?

"That's right. ...... What did you just say, two things? What about the second ......?"

Hearing this, the old shopkeeper raised two fingers again and said, "The second thing, although I don't know how to read the face, but the guest, you have a kind face." ”

"Oh, face goodness?"

"Hey...... A few years ago, there was also a scholar who sat on my stall drinking tea, and he told me that a person with a good face will never have a great deal of misfortune, even if he has no great success! Doom means bad luck! That is to say, this person, with a good face, means that a person with a good heart and a good heart will not make a big deal in his life, even if he does not have any great wealth in the end. He also said that people with good faces and good hearts will not have a chance, but once they have the opportunity, they will ride the wind. If he is good, he will be supported by others, and this wealth will come greatly!"

"Guest, do you think, these two things together, won't you want to be rich in the future?"

Zhou Ang smiled, nodded, and said sincerely: "Old man, thank you for your good words!"

The old man laughed.

Picking up the tea bowl and drinking the tea that had been cold, Zhou Ang wanted to get up and end this morning's daze, but suddenly remembered something, turned his head and poured himself another cup, and refilled some for the old man, and then asked with a smile: "Old man, you are often by the river, you have seen many people, and you are well informed." Do you know, what are the rare things in our Lingzhou City recently? ”

The old man thought for a moment when he heard this, and said, "It's not a big deal, right?" Oh, it is said that a notice was posted in the yamen a few days ago, and I am illiterate, but I just listened to the guests gossiping, saying that they had arrested a group of gangsters, and that gang of people specialized in killing children, but it was really a scourge of the eighteenth layer of hell!"

Zhou Ang nodded and said, "Well, I've heard about this too." But anything else?"

The old man thought about it again, and said, "There is another thing, in the last few days, there have been a number of boats coming from below, which is strange to say, what are those ships transporting? It is not rice, not tea, or silk, but there are actually tables, chairs, beds, stools, and some vases, and it is said that there is a whole boatload of all kinds of flowers and bamboo, all of which were dug up from the roots. Of course, it is said that there are also many cages, which should be filled with valuable goods. ”

Zhou Ang nodded slowly when he heard this.

Ninety-six miles to the southeast along the Lingjiang River, seventy-five miles to the west, Huizhou, from Huizhou to Zhanzhou, one hundred and seventy-one miles by waterway, along the way through three big cities, Lingzhou stuck in the middle, headed. For the locals of Lingzhou, it is customary to come from Huizhou in the upper reaches of the Lingjiang River, and those who come from the lower reaches of the Lingjiang River are called from the "bottom".

Therefore, the old shopkeeper said that the ship coming from "below" probably refers to Zhanzhou in the southeast.

"Oh, tables, chairs, vases, even flowers, bamboo, what's going to be done?"

"Move!"

"Moving? Who is this moving? Even the bamboo is going to be moved?"

"It is said that it is a big family surnamed Lu. The wealthy family has been coming by boat for several days! The Li Daguan on the river has sent out quite a few boats to help him move! It is said that dozens of big boats will be needed to empty his house. Gee...... Rich!"

This is news that Zhou Ang has not noticed before.

Maybe there should be a report on the eyeliner that the county Zhu Yamen has spread, but for the person in charge of the preliminary filtering information in the county Zhu Yamen, this kind of thing obviously does not need to be reported, and it is directly filtered out.

A rich man just moved.

But at this time, when he had nothing to do, Zhou Ang was a little curious, and couldn't help asking: "Does the old man know why this rich family surnamed Lu suddenly wants to move?

Zhou Ang asked this for no reason.

When people settle down and relocate, they will not move easily. What's more, as far as Zhou Ang knows, if this family is so rich that it takes dozens of boats to move their belongings, it is obviously no longer an ordinary rich family.

People like this generally live in the place of residence for many years, and the social network is often very finely and complexly and huge, once something happens, these relationship networks formed over the years will become an extremely important umbrella and buffer zone for their entire family - how can normal people be willing to give up such a comfortable place of ancestral home and move their families to other places?

Even if you become a big official in the court and run a big mansion in Chang Settlement, you will never move away from the ancestral house in your hometown - this is the root.

When the old man heard this, he smiled and said, "Then who knows! Xu has offended people and can't live in the local area?"

Speaking of this, he smiled, "This is what we don't know! Let's just watch the fun! Everyone says, look, if you are so rich, you still have to move, this must have offended someone!"

Zhou Ang nodded slowly when he heard this, but he didn't speak.

At this time, although the old shopkeeper has been sitting here and talking, but his eyes have been staring at the movement on the other side of the dock, seeing that some boats seem to have been unloaded, and a group of sweaty strong men are gathered together, as if to raise money, the old man quickly stood up, picked up the big kettle, and said with a smile: "Guests drink slowly, the little old man is going to be busy!"

Zhou Ang smiled and nodded, "Okay!"

The old man said that he went back to work, and after a while, sure enough, some men came here with great strides while wiping their sweat, and a few of them passed by other stalls without looking at them, and went straight to this side - after a long time, they often already have a regular stall for drinking tea, soup and drinking.

Zhou Ang drank the tea in the cup in one gulp, then got up, went over to calculate the tea money, deliberately gave a few more words, and said with a smile: "I said that I want to invite you to a pot of tea, how can it not be counted?"

The old shopkeeper thanked him with a smile and finally accepted the money.

............

When he walked all the way back to the county Zhu Yamen, Zhou Ang felt that his mood was much better.

In the past few days, he will go to the old shopkeeper's tea stall by the river every day to drink tea in a daze, which is still very effective.

So far, what can be done?

They said they were gone, and they walked cleanly.

If it weren't for the bronze mirror always in his arms, Zhou Ang couldn't help but suspect that the past month or so was just his big dream.

Now, Master is gone, Uncle Zheng Huan is gone, and Ao Chun is gone, but life has to go on!

It's just that in the future, if you encounter any difficulties like the previous month, you can go to ask Uncle Zheng for advice as soon as possible, and you will definitely be able to get his guidance.

But I have learned the skills of my hands, and the guidance that Uncle Zheng once gave is something that no one can take away, and that is already my own ability.

Really good at it.

So he thought: Although there is no one to guide him, no matter what happens in the future, he will have to rely on himself, but at least, as a cultivator, and an official cultivator, as long as he doesn't deliberately run to cause trouble, it should be easier to be an official in such a small place as Lingzhou, to support his mother, and live in peace from now on!

If you don't have any ambitions, isn't that the best thing to pursue in life?

What I have been looking for in my previous life is nothing more than that.

To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that there are too few development opportunities in small places and too low wages, I really want to go back to a small county town to buy a house, and my wife and children are hot on the kang......

And now, this goal has actually been achieved by itself.

The big courtyard with two entrances in the prefecture-level city, put aside in the modern society, can you afford it?

Now, there is a lack of a wife.

Well, although I don't have any ambitions, if I can shelter the local people within my ability, I still have to do it, but this is not for any mission or task such as a guardian, but for the sake of my own ability and conscience.

As for the Guardian or something, just listen to it......

I'm just getting started!

I'm only at the ninth order!

Moreover, before leaving, the master also said that he did not ask himself to do anything, just let himself do what he wanted. He even said that he can barely be regarded as the guardian, but he doesn't force himself to do it, but within the scope of his ability, try to do some right things, and protect the people he wants to protect, which is already very good.

This should still be possible on your own.

............

When he packed up his mood and rushed to the county Zhu Yamen, there was still some time before the noon meeting in the Yamen, so Zhou Ang went straight to his "office", saw Fang Jun and a few others pushing Pai Gow, and deliberately stood aside to watch the battle for a while, and then went over to chat with Wei Ci for a few words, and then returned to his seat and sat down.

Wait for lunch.

The rice in the mountain gate can't be rubbed, but the rice on the Yamen's side can still be rubbed at any time.

Recently, there have been no cases in Lingzhou City that require official cultivators, it seems that the weather is too hot, and even the bad guys are reluctant to go out and do evil.

Although everyone still has to be on duty and go out to inspect the inspection, they are inevitably a little cowardly and have no spirit.

Because of this, Zhou Ang's recent taciturn and heavy heart are not very conspicuous.

After eating at noon, he returned to his seat, but he was too lazy to drink any more tea, Zhou Ang remembered something, so he simply got up and found the office of the clerks over there.

At the door, he saw that his Chen Jing Shibo was copying something at the desk, he only stood slightly, saw Chen Jing noticed his existence, nodded at him, and then came out to wait.

A moment later, Chen Jing had already come out, and the two were standing under the porch and talking.

Zhou Ang asked him: "Shibo is very knowledgeable, I think about this question, I can only ask you again for an idea." I wanted to find some history books from this dynasty or the previous dynasty to read, but unfortunately I couldn't find them, and I didn't know where they were. Shi Bo might give me some advice?"

"History books?" Chen Jing thought seriously for a while and shook his head, "Chang'an must have it, but not to mention the long distance, our identity can't go to Guozijian, and we can't borrow it! As for our Lingzhou County, I really haven't heard of it...... Oh, yes, I remembered!"

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