Yangzhou.

"Yangzhou" is a name full of poetry and humanistic atmosphere since ancient times, or it itself is a magnificent and charming picture, which can be entered into the famous poems and recited through the ages:

"Fireworks in March down to Yangzhou!"

"Ten years of Yangzhou dream!"

The list goes on and on.

Approaching the end of the year, Yangzhou is becoming more and more lively, the streets and markets, the crowds are surging, and all kinds of voices converge into a river, and the hustle and bustle is above the obscure mid-air.

Today's weather is not good, it has been gloomy since the morning, and it looks like it is going to rain. The climate is also very cold, and the cold wind is howling, but it can't blow away the enthusiasm of the people to welcome the New Year. With happy smiles on their faces, they walked out of the house and began to buy various supplies such as New Year's goods.

Occasionally, naughty children have begun to make some firecrackers, which are set off, making a "crackling" sound to add to the lively atmosphere.

It's New Year's Day again......

Why do you say "again"?

In the eastern suburbs of Yangzhou, a large wharf was established on the bank of the Yangtze River, because of the prosperity of waterway trade merchants, the wharf situation is very busy all year round, like an engine, creating considerable wealth, becoming a major area in Yangzhou region.

There is a big ship that has returned to the shore, and it is the big ship of the Ximen family, a wealthy family in Yangzhou. News had already been sent back in advance, so dozens of porters were waiting on the docks, all of them with their hair simply tied up, and their bodies dressed in very thin clothes. And once they officially started to move goods, they all worked shirtless, and they were not afraid of the cold at all.

After an hour, the ship was finally anchored and began to disembark first.

Surrounded by a group of friends, Gu Wendao walked down the plank in high spirits. While walking, they also talked and laughed.

When they were down-to-earth, a group of people stood still, looked back and bowed their hands to the second son of Ximen who was still standing on the deck - the journey was lonely, and the other party appreciated it all the way, singing and feasting, and talking about poetry and right, which dispelled the loneliness.

As a literati, Gu Wendao can be regarded as a scholarly family in Pingzhou, and he does not worry about eating and drinking, but compared with the Ximen family in Yangzhou, he is undoubtedly small and not on the same level at all. The most important thing is that the second son of Ximen has a bold personality, spends a lot of money, plus he likes elegance, can get his appreciation, Gu Wendao has the meaning of meeting and hating late, and is cited as a confidant.

The only unpleasant thing is that at the beginning of the conversation, the second son of Ximen repeatedly mentioned Ye Junsheng in Jizhou, which was quite respectful, which made Gu Wendao unpleasant. Fortunately, the second son of Ximen was exquisite, knew the rule of "literati are light", and after sensing his unhappiness, he stopped mentioning Ye Junsheng, so as not to disappoint the fun.

So the guests of honor were entertained and had a joyful journey.

Now, when we arrive at our destination Yangzhou, it is time to say goodbye. Of course, after a few days, Gu Wendao will definitely come to Ximen's house in person and visit him.

The so-called "human favor" is nothing more than a back and forth. If there is no contact, let alone human affection, family affection will disappear and cease to exist.

"Distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors", this is the truth.

On the dock, there were already people waiting to greet Gu Wendao and his party, and there were three carriages parked, but it was Gu Wendao's relatives and friends who heard the news and sent someone to pick them up.

Seeing them get into the car and go away, the second son of Simon on the ship turned around and returned to the cabin, and began to sort out and pack up the bills for business and other affairs.

Not long after, Shopkeeper Wang knocked on the door and came in.

The second son of Ximen raised his head and asked indifferently, "The merchants on the ship, have they all finished getting off the ship?"

Shopkeeper Wang hurriedly replied: "There are thirty-eight people in total, all of them have disembarked...... Oh, there are two of them, that is, the Ye brothers and sisters from Jizhou, they went halfway. ”

For the two of them, the second son of Ximen certainly had an impression: that day, he thought that Ye Junsheng was too sharp and aggressive, which did not conform to the five major qualities of "gentleness, courtesy, and frugality" taught by the sage, so he ordered the money to be returned and expelled the Ye brothers and sisters from the ship.

There is a deeper reason for this approach, that is, to give Gu Wendao face, which can be regarded as an explanation, but as for the real situation, I don't know much.

The second son of Ximen suddenly asked, "Then Brother Ye, what is it called?"

"The surname is Ye, and the single name is 'Feng'. ”

Shopkeeper Wang remembered it clearly and replied immediately.

"Ye Feng?"

The second son of Ximen chewed on this name in his mouth, his brows furrowed slightly, and he muttered: "Why does this name feel a little familiar? It doesn't make sense, he is from Jizhou, and I haven't been to Jizhou......"

Shopkeeper Wang said with a smile: "Young master, the world is so big, people with the same name and surname abound, what is so strange." ”

In the Tianhua Dynasty, especially the Shilin class, it was inconvenient to call them by their names, and most of them were commensurate with their words. Over time, the popularity of the table word is much louder than the real name. It is not surprising that there are even cases where you can only remember the words of the table and cannot remember the name. Ye Junsheng's name came to Jiangnan, and many people only remembered his words.

"Well, that's right. ”

After speaking, I didn't want to dwell on this unimportant topic anymore, so I revealed it on the spot and continued to calculate the accounts.

Half paid, after the liquidation, he raised his head and ordered: "It's time to unload." ”

"Yes, young master. ”

......

Yangzhou is very large, and the layout of most cities is similar, and it is divided into an inner city and an outer city. As the name suggests, the inner city is naturally the most prosperous and developed area, while the outer city is relatively far behind. Circles of houses are scattered, which looks a little messy.

The streets that run between the houses are also small, and many places are not enough to be called streets, but they are almost the same as alleys.

Alleys are dotted like spider webs.

In the alleyway, people come and go, and from time to time there are merchants carrying burdens, shaking rattles in their hands and shouting. Then there is often a group of children behind them, chasing and playing, their eyes showing undisguised greed, staring at the candy on the burden...... There are also elderly people, who move out of small benches or bamboo beds, put them in front of their homes, lie down and sit on them, look at the people passing in front of them, and occasionally look at the sky, muttering in their mouths, waiting for time to pass away...... The whole scene is a picture of ordinary life, boring, but real. Don't say Yangzhou, it's almost the same in all the cities in the world.

Perhaps, this is the true state of all living beings.

As soon as there was a babbling sound, the wooden door of one of the houses in the outer city was opened, and Ye Junsheng, who was wearing cotton clothes, walked out.

The cotton clothes on the body are not thick and appear light. It's just that when others see it, they can't help but worry about whether this scholar with clear eyebrows will be cold. But after looking at it, it doesn't take much to see that he is from a poor background, and he is probably a down-and-out scholar.

The Tianhua Dynasty respected Confucianism, and the status of scholars was high. But in essence, not all readers can enjoy respect. To put it bluntly, only scholars who have achieved fame have status. has no fame, a white ding, if the family background is not good, it is not uncommon to be ridiculed by others.

For example, Ye Junsheng, who was not admitted to Xiucai, was called a bookworm in Pengcheng, and in the eyes of many people, he was a complete waste at that time.

Therefore, in a narrow sense, only those who have achieved fame are considered real readers. As for children, they are just people who have read books and know some words.

Ye Junsheng's clothes are shabby and simple, and he haunts the houses in the outer city with very poor conditions, and those who are interested can figure it out at a glance: he is a poor scholar who reads poetry and books hard and dreams of high school. Similar people abound in the Tianhua Dynasty, and they can't be counted.

However, they couldn't figure it out, Ye Junsheng wore so little, in fact, it was not cold at all. Just kidding, isn't it a genuine warlock? Although he hasn't cultivated to the point where he can't be invaded by cold and heat, his resistance to heat and cold is far beyond ordinary people.

In the cold weather of winter, it is enough to wear a cotton coat.

"Brother, are you going to go out and sell words now?"

After a moment, Ye Junmei leaned out of the room and asked. There was an extra circle of clothes on her body, and a big cotton jacket was tightly wrapped around her body, hiding her slender and bewitching figure.

Ye Junsheng carried a pair of books on his back, looked back and smiled: "Well, yes." ”

The girl also smiled, smiling like a flower, and said playfully: "Then I will cook at home and wait for you to come back to eat." ”

I don't know how many times I have said such words in daily life, but Ye Junsheng never gets tired of hearing them, and there is still a warm warmth circulating in his heart: it feels so good that someone is waiting to eat at home...... With a wave of his hand, he strode out along the alleyway, but he was about to go to the inner city to sell words.

Selling words, how many familiar words, reworking on the old business, recalling the past experiences, don't have a feeling in your heart. It's not that he wants to relive the story, but he has very little savings at present, and he really wants to open source it and make a living. The money for renting a place in the outer city came from the income from the sale of the carriage. In addition to this and that, it cost another sum, and the last thing left was only more than 30 yuan, which was very shabby.

These are all the cash of the Ye family.

It's like going around in a big circle, as if returning to the original point of lack of food and clothing.

The biggest difference is that people are different. Ye Junsheng is no longer the Ye Junsheng of the past, if he really wants to get silver, there are many means and methods. However, for some ways that are not visible and damaging to the state of mind, such as stealing chickens and dogs, taking forcible grabbing, etc., how can they easily get involved and innocently contaminate cause and effect?

After thinking about it, it is most appropriate to go back to the old job. With the previous experience, I am even more familiar with the road and full of confidence.

Inside the book, three characters have been written, and you only need to enter the inner city to take it to the calligraphy and painting shop to sell. If you sell it, you can buy some good meat and use it for dinner to improve your meal. In addition, you have to save some, after all, come to Yangzhou in advance, the days to be spent are not short, and the expenses are not small.

At the very least, it's a must to have a good year. Now, if you don't have a good time for years, and you live more and more, you will go back more and more, it will be really in vain.

(To be continued)