Mei Youqian put away the calligraphy and paintings scattered on the ground, re-rolled them, and put them in a cloth pocket that he carried with him.

Because there wasn't much, Mei Youqian quickly cleaned up, straightened up, looked up at the bright sky, and estimated that it should be just after noon, if he went home now and took advantage of the sunshine to reframe these calligraphy and paintings, he should be able to consume a little less lamp oil at night.

Mei Youqian said that he would move, put away the paper and pen and ink inkstone on the case, first moved this case to a corner against the wall, and picked up the small wooden pieces from the ground that cushioned the corner of the table and put it in his pocket.

Mei Youqian walked through the streets and alleys, and after a while, he came to the end of a remote alley, where there was a small mansion, although it was very dilapidated at first glance, but this was the only place for him Mei Youqian to stay in Lijiazhuang.

Mei Youqian stretched out his hand to push open the creaking wooden door, and when he raised his eyes, he saw his daughter-in-law sitting in the yard sewing something.

Mei Youqian's daughter-in-law heard the door of the courtyard ring, and also stopped what she was doing, and looked at Mei Youqian who walked in suspiciously.

Mei Youqian looked at his daughter-in-law's puzzled eyes, buckled her head in embarrassment, and sneered: "Daughter-in-law, I'm back." ”

"Why did you come back so early today?" Mei Youqian's daughter-in-law glanced at him, then lowered her head and continued the needlework in her hand, and said unhappily, "What's the matter, you are picking up the silver today?"

"No, it's just that something happened and I need to go home. Mei Youqian leaned on a wooden stool with the small pocket on his back and put it down, and he also sat on the stool, watching his daughter-in-law's hands deftly patch a shabby piece of clothing.

"When you come back, you can get whatever you want, and if you take it, hurry up. Mei Youqian's daughter-in-law saw him sitting in a daze, stopped what she was doing, and said unhappily, "Let me tell you, the rice jar at home has bottomed out, if you don't get some money back, our family will only have to drink the northwest wind." ”

"Money, uh, money, I'll figure it out. Mei Youqian heard his daughter-in-law mention money, so he had to lower his head and couldn't say anything.

"I tell you, if you can't get the money back, don't blame me for stealing someone. ”

"Don't, don't, daughter-in-law, if I try to find a way, I will definitely have money. ”

"Don't say this kind of cliché to fool the old lady, you just say that you can get the money back in a long time. ”

"Ming... Tonight!" Mei Youqian wanted to say tomorrow, but when he saw his daughter-in-law's unkind eyes, he had to bite the bullet and say tonight.

"Why don't you go quickly. Mei Youqian's daughter-in-law kicked him, and said unforgivingly, "If you can't get the money back tonight, I will steal people tomorrow, otherwise I will starve to death with you." ”

"Hey, daughter-in-law, don't worry, I'll go out to earn money. Mei Youqian was kicked, but he was not angry, he stood up with a smile, bent down and retreated, and walked out of the courtyard.

As soon as Mei Youqian closed the courtyard door, the smile on his face just now immediately disappeared, and his face drooped, with a sad look on his face.

With a long sigh, he walked out of the alley and walked out into the street, and his heart was even more bitter when he saw the people coming and going on the street.

As the saying goes, a rich man is difficult to be a man without money.

Mei Youqian wandered aimlessly on the street, his eyes kept glancing at the ground, thinking in his heart, why didn't anyone's money fall on the ground, don't say too much, come to a ten-penny, go buy some rice noodles, go home and hand it over to his daughter-in-law, not only can he pay a errand, maybe he can make do with it for two days.

Mei Youqian was thinking about it, but he felt that the light in front of him was dim, as if someone was stopping in front of him, so he hurriedly stopped, looked up, and saw that it was his old acquaintance.

"Hey, big brother, I didn't expect to meet you here. ”

Mei Youqian's eldest brother is called Ou Haoqiong, one of Mei Youqian's only few good friends, although he has no culture, but his family background is not bad, he is also generous, and he often helps his poor brother.

"Yo, second brother, why are you lowering your head, is it not possible to 'swim Qian' on this ground. Ou Haoqiong, who was dressed in a royal blue tattooed boy's dress, pretended to shake the Xiangfei bamboo fan in his hand and teased Mei Youqian.

When he saw his brother's face, he knew that he must be having a hard time again, and he still couldn't pull his face to accept the help of his brothers, but fortunately, every time the money was directly given to his daughter-in-law and son, and he gave it to him directly, he could always find a way to return it to you.

"Big brother, don't talk nonsense. Mei Youqian's performance was completely different from facing Zhu Erye, he covered his blushing face with his sleeve and said with a strong mouth. "It's just... Just look at whether there is garbage on the ground, pick it up and throw it into the trash can, and take care of the environment, everyone is responsible. ”

"Okay, okay, second brother, who is with whom, let's go, call the third brother, why don't you find a place to drink." As he spoke, Ou Haoqiong put one hand on Mei Youqian's shoulder, and the other pushed him forward.

Mei Youqian originally wanted to refuse, but since last night, the water and rice have not been touched, and the hunger in his stomach is unbearable, and when he has eaten almost in a while, he will pack a copy and go home to his daughter-in-law, so he can be scolded a little, so he agreed, and walked with him to the third brother's house.

Mei Youqian's third brother is called Qiu Facai, and his family is running a silk cloth village in Lijiazhuang, and his family background is worse than that of his eldest brother Ou Haoqiong, but compared to himself, it is much better, and he can only compare with them with his own full stomach.

As Mei Youqian walked, he remembered the day he met them for the first time.

I still remember that it was autumn, in a forest outside Lijiazhuang, Ou Haoqiong and Qiu Facai were preparing to become brothers, who knew that the autumn wind was bleak, not only rolled up the dust and dead leaves on the ground, flew everywhere, but also blew out the incense wax they lit three times, and he was just reluctant to spend money to buy firewood and go to the forest to pick up some dead branches.

It's such a coincidence, I just happened to meet them, the wind actually stopped, I don't know what Qiu Facai was thinking at the time, he actually said that the incense wax was blown out three times, just to ask them to wait for the third person, and then he pulled him to worship, Mei Youqian was also stunned at the time, and he worshipped them in a daze and drank blood wine.

As if to prove Qiu Facai's words, until the end of their sworn service, the incense wax that was ordered for the fourth time was not blown out by the wind, which made Ou Haoqiong and Qiu Facai confirm that Mei Youqian was indeed destined for them.

The three of them sat all the time, waiting for the incense wax to burn out and the fire to be completely extinguished, before returning hand in hand.

From that day on, Ou Haoqiong, Mei Youqian, and Qiu Facai officially became brothers of the opposite sex, not to mention, this one is quite a match, that is, only Mei Youqian, who is really "no money".

However, Mei Youqian always had a sentence in his heart, from that day on, he wanted to ask them, but he was afraid that he would be beaten if he said it, so he had to hold back and not talk about it.

That's what it is.

"Why do we order the incense wax used for white things when we pray?"

Mei Youqian's stunned kung fu was dragged by Ou Haoqiong to the door of the Qiu family's silk village.

Ou Haoqiong said to the guy on duty, and after a while, he heard the voice of Qiu Facai coming from inside.

"Hey, eldest brother, second brother, why did you remember to come to me to play, the younger brother has lost his welcome, and he asked the brothers to atone for their sins. ”

"You, you, you don't have many words in your stomach, and you still have a lot of words. Ou Haoqiong stretched out his hand and patted Mei Youqian, "The brothers haven't gotten together for a while, no, I met the second brother and came to you." ”

"Drink. Qiu Facai elongated his voice, "Where to drink~"

"Hey, third brother, eldest brother, I'll arrange it, don't you worry, go to Tujia Restaurant to drink, and make sure you're satisfied." Ou Haoqiong stretched out his hand and grabbed Qiu Facai's sleeve, and walked out as he spoke, "I can tell you, I heard that Tu Yile, the owner of Tujia Restaurant, recently went to other places and brought back a few jars of good flower carvings, you have to give me a leisurely mouth tonight, don't drink it the same as last time." ”

"Oh, hey, big brother, you don't know if I drink, little brother can save it. "Qiu Facai heard that there was good wine again, and his saliva was about to flow out, and his speech became crepe.

"It's also saved, if you can write these two words, I won't drink tonight, I'll leave it all to you. Ou Haoqiong glanced at Qiu Facai obliquely, and teased with a smile.

Qiu Facai buttoned his head, and he was also cheeky, and said with a smile: "Oh, how can the younger brother be embarrassed to let the eldest brother not drink, of course I can't write the younger brother." ”

"Hahaha!" Ou Haoqiong looked up to the sky and laughed, and Mei Youqian, who was following behind, couldn't help laughing.

The three of them walked together, and in the laughter and laughter along the way, they arrived at a restaurant at the end of this street, which was the Tujia restaurant that Ou Haoqiong said just now.

Tujia restaurant has been open in Lijiazhuang for a few years, the shop is the kind of very standard small second floor, because the house is relatively old, the area is not very large, who knows that they are not well decorated, the place is small, after the decoration it seems smaller, the dishes are general, limited to eating, but his wine is really delicious, so the guests who come every day are always in an endless stream.

The owner of the Tujia restaurant is a short and fat man, and the big name is funny when he says it, called Tu Yile, and the nickname is even more interesting, originally because he was short and fat, round like a wine barrel, everyone was going to call him Tu wine barrel, but found that this boss didn't drink a drop of wine, so everyone changed to call him Tu Jiu Tube.

After Ou Haoqiong sat upstairs with Mei Youqian and Qiu Facai, he first shouted two dishes that tasted better than those that could be eaten from a bunch of dishes like Tujia Restaurant, and then ordered a jar of Huadiao wine.

For this meal, everyone chatted first, and when they didn't talk about it, they ate two bites of food, but the dish was too unpalatable, so everyone scolded while eating, and praised the wine for drinking, and then inexplicably found a topic again, and then chatted.

After that, the three of them kept chatting, eating vegetables, scolding the cook, drinking, and then chatting until it was dark, and the three of them couldn't speak clearly, so they drank this jar and a full ten catties of Huadiao wine.

The three of them helped each other downstairs, dragged Ou Haoqiong to the counter to keep an account, and then went out of the store.

The three of them were at the door of the store, and their drowsy brains were a little more sobered by the cold night wind, and they shook each other's feet and said goodbye, agreeing to drink again next time.

Mei Youqian smiled and walked two steps against the wall, only then did he suddenly remember what he had forgotten, and his heart was broken, he originally said that he was going to bring food to his daughter-in-law at home, but he forgot about it, and the dishes in this Tujia restaurant were also unpalatable, so he couldn't take the dishes here home than to scold them without scolding.

And the most important thing is what to do with the money, I said that I would bring the money home tonight, but where to get the money now.

Mei Youqian was thinking about it in his heart, when he saw that not far in front of him, there was a young man dressed in moon-white brocade, carrying a burden in his hand, walking slowly with his head down.

Of course, Mei Youqian didn't recognize the material of the clothes, he only knew that under the not-so-bright light of the lanterns on the street, the clothes were shining like a treasure.

In fact, he had something on his mind tonight, he drank a lot more than usual, and his eyes were spent, although Yuebaijin had a certain reflective effect, it would never be as good as he saw.

Mei Youqian was a little dazed, and he only felt that this kind of burden carried by the young man must be a good thing, not to mention the things inside, even if this burden is taken home, the daughter-in-law must be satisfied.

But he didn't expect that the person who could wear such clothes was something he could offend?

After Mei Youqian made up his mind, he didn't know why, in his body, which was weak just now due to alcohol anesthesia, a force inexplicably emerged.

Mei Youqian, who was waiting, reacted again, and he was already running wildly with the package in his arms.