The moon and stars are scarce, the sky is clear, and it is the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The moon is the roundest and brightest on this night of the year, and the moonlight is also the most beautiful. Looking at the land of Yan Zhao, whether it is a big city or a small village, whether it is the blue brick and gray tile houses lined up on both sides of the street, or the earthen thatched houses scattered around Qianmo, all of them are brightly lit, as if the sky full of stars has descended to the world. Every household puts melons and fruits, moon cakes and other foods, in the courtyard, a family, regardless of men, women and children, while admiring the moon while eating moon cakes, it is "a round in the sky to hold out, the world of surnames look up", a beautiful picture of happiness.

And this beauty of family reunion is not shared by everyone in the world. In the territory of Hebei, more than 40 miles northwest of Pingding Prefecture, next to the orangutan beach, in a ruined temple, there are several ragged and beggar-like men sitting around a cluster of swaying bonfires, the flames are swaying, the dim light and shadow are reflected on the dilapidated ruins and broken walls in all directions, and under the dark background outside the temple, it is quite lonely.

At first, everyone was silent, but after a cup of tea, a few companions entered the temple one after another, and found a vacant seat to sit on the ground.

I saw an old man in brown with five cloth bags on his back, about sixty years old, with a thin face and white beard, slowly stood up, glanced at the beggars present, seemed to be counting the number of people, and then approached the fire, arched his hand to the left and right, and said loudly: "Brothers, we are all homeless and stinky beggars, most of us have been orphans since childhood, have no relatives, and cannot taste the joy of family reunions. But since joining the beggar gang, we have been of one heart and one mind, advancing and retreating, sharing blessings and difficulties, although we are not brothers, but we are better than brothers. On the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is natural that only our brothers will get together!"

A few beggars nodded yes again and again, and the old man continued: "The little old man is not talented, but he is older, so he has received the love of many brothers, relying on the old and selling the old, to preside over our Mid-Autumn Festival." In fact, Xiao Lao'er is only a five-bag disciple, and it is really arrogant to be the main person in front of Brother Chen. As he spoke, he made a gesture to a middle-aged black-clothed bearded man on his left.

The man smiled slightly, and hurriedly bowed his hand and saluted: "Lao He, where are you talking about this, everyone wholeheartedly supports you to do this main thing, but it is not just because you are old! Who doesn't know that your old man read books for a few years when he was young, and his knowledge and resourcefulness are much higher than those of us who don't know a big word. Although you are a five-bag disciple at the moment, maybe Ming'er will be a six- or seven-bag disciple, and it is not impossible to become the helmsman of our Hebei branch in a few days. ”

Seeing these six bags of disciple Chen Sanduo say this, the old man hurriedly waved at him again, and said apologetically: "Torture the little old man! Torture the little old man!" Chen Sanduo didn't stop talking, but immediately put on an indifferent look and said: "Alas! Lao He, what I said just now is really from my heart, don't get me wrong." Your Uncle He's name is homophonic to 'He Lose', Zhimou is indeed not lost to anyone in our Hebei rudder, if it weren't for the late joining of the gang, plus the bad luck, he would have been in a high position in the rudder a long time ago. ”

But it turned out that the old man's surname was He, and his name was uncle. The man in black paused slightly, and then said: "I Chen Sanduo is also a person as his name suggests, with a lot of lice on his body, many holes in his clothes, and a lot of words in his mouth. As soon as these words came out, several beggars laughed, and Lao He couldn't help but laugh.

Looking through the flickering firelight, I saw that the man's black clothes were indeed more tattered than the rest of the beggars, revealing black muscles, full of dirt, or snot, phlegm-like filth, presumably a paradise for lice and fleas, and naturally it was also smelly. If ordinary people see his sloppy appearance and smell his smell, they will avoid it. And the beggar brothers took him as an example of the beggar, and felt very kind. Maybe it's because of this that he is more popular in the gang than He Shumou, who is quite intelligent but neatly dressed all day long, and has to occupy a higher position!

The man surnamed Chen also laughed with everyone, and said while laughing: "So, I'm not a person who does big things, and I don't care who has a high status and a low status in the gang." No matter what five, six, or seven bags it is, I am just a wine bag and rice bag, and if I have wine to drink and food to eat, it is better than what he taught by the Sun and Moon God, 'a bucket of paste, for thousands of generations'. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the beggars laughed again. It turned out that Chen Sanduo was illiterate, but from time to time he heard someone mention in his ear the two eight-character scriptures of the Sun and Moon God Sect, "Thousands of years, unify the rivers and lakes", and he also remembered it in his heart. It's just that I don't remember it very well, and I remember "thousands of years" as "thousands of generations", and "unification of rivers and lakes" has also become "a bucket of paste", and the order of the two sentences has been adjusted back and forth.

When Uncle He heard him talk about the Sun and Moon Divine Sect, his brows couldn't help frowning slightly, but then he stretched out again, and said with a smile: "Exactly, exactly, what Brother Chen said! If you don't eat or drink, then any chivalrous deeds and grievances are farts. Come on, Xiao Lao'er asked for a lot of pastries and fruits from Wang Yuanwai's house in Pingding County today, and everyone shared and ate them. Xiaomi, Ah Qi, come and help distribute it. ”

As he spoke, he took out two gray cloth bags about two feet square from behind him, opened them, and handed them to the two young beggars beside him, from which they took out a lot of jujube cakes, moon cakes, and dried persimmons and distributed them to the beggars. The beggars who got the pastries thanked Lao He one after another, and one of the three bags of disciples even praised: "People who have read books are different, and they can get so many good things in one day." We illiterate fellows can't get so much for three or five years!"

Chen Sanduo took a piece of moon cake, thanked Lao He, turned to the group of beggars around him and said, "Such a good day, such a sweet snack, how can you do without a little wine?" Before he finished speaking, he took out a few yellow gourds from behind him and threw them at everyone. He Shumou took a gourd and said to Chen Sanduo: "Thank you, brother!" and then pulled the stopper from the mouth of the gourd, and the aroma of wine came out, mellow and beautiful. The wine did not touch his lips, and Lao He was already drunk, and he couldn't help but praise: "Although Brother Chen is illiterate, didn't he also get such a good wine? ”

Chen Sanduo smiled, opened the wine gourd in his hand, took a sip of wine, and explained to Lao He: "Old brother, you are too high-minded, this wine is indeed not for my little brother." ”

"Oh, how did that come about?" asked several beggars, including He Shumou, in unison.

"Was it stolen or robbed?" thought to a beggar, but it was inconvenient to ask.

"If you buy it with the money you begged for, then these gourds of good wine are the weight of a big jar, I don't know how much it will cost, then I owe Brother Chen a lot of money!" Old He Xin said, "But Brother Chen can't get much copper money at a time, if you want to buy a big jar of wine, you have to save money for a long time." But he doesn't look like a guy who will save a lot of money over the years!"

The man surnamed Chen snorted, smiled slyly at the Sifang brothers, and sold Guanzi: "Brothers, don't doubt my character, although I am a beggar, I don't do anything like stealing chickens and touching dogs." Seeing that everyone nodded yes, he continued: "We are beggars, we have a cheap life, when we are lucky, when we meet a kind person, we can accompany you with a smile and say a few good words, and you will be rewarded with a few steamed buns, a few pieces of cake, and a full meal." But when you are unlucky, you can't get a decent thing to fill your stomach for a few days, and when you are even more unlucky, you have to be beaten and scolded, alas!"

When everyone came back to their senses, Chen Sanduo continued: "It's not easy to beg for food, but it's even more difficult to beg for wine! Hearing this, everyone was even more sad. Speaking of this, he wanted to continue to think about the bittersweet thoughts, and was about to speak, but he saw a trace of doubt flashing in He Shumou's eyes and rushed forward and asked: "Brother Chen, Ming people don't say secret words, those who are here are their own brothers, what is not good to tell everyone openly." If you don't listen to your brother, explain the origin of this wine, the little old man can only look at this gourd and be greedy!" he said, shaking the wine gourd in his hand.

"Well said, well said. Seeing that everyone's faces showed the same suspicious and impatient looks as Lao He, Chen Sanduo said helplessly, "Actually, the origin of this wine, if you are a disciple with more than six bags in the gang, you will know it." After speaking, his face was colorful. Except for him, there was no disciple with more than six bags present, so everyone was the only one looking at me, and I was looking at you, and the puzzled look on his face became even stronger.

"Let's be honest, this wine was given to us by our rich and good neighbors to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, and every disciple in the gang with more than six bags has a big altar!"

A question immediately came to everyone's minds: "Who is this good neighbor with money?"

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