Someone once wrote a book, in which there is a couplet that is quite meaningful: "In October, the border is plugged, the sassy frost frightens the journey; on the Sandong River, the long snow and cold fishermen."

Yesterday was the beginning of winter, and today is October.

The cold snap, which has been in the sea of snow for a long time, has been raging like a tiger out of the cage in October, looking for the object of its attack everywhere.

This cold snap from the far north carried dry cold air, and it slashed into the territory of the Western Ming Kingdom like a sharp knife, and the first thing to bear the brunt of was the waste hill.

"It's not mountains, it's snow. "When the early risers open the doors and windows, they see the angular frost icicles.

Distant mountains, rivers, barren grasses, wild lands.

Whether to the sky or to the earth, as far as the eye can see, it is a world of frost.

There is a difference between frost and snow, snow falls from the sky, frost is not.

Due to the sudden arrival of cold air, the temperature drops sharply, and the water vapor on the ground condenses into Xiaoice crystals, which adhere to the ground or grass blades to form frost.

And where there is water, the temperature drops below freezing under the influence of a cold snap, so there is ice.

If the ground is covered with a layer of frost and then heavy snowfall, a small part of the snow will melt away after a little time after the snow, and then a layer of frost will be spread at night, which is called "tung oil condensation" in the local area of Ximingguo.

This "tung oil condensation" is very difficult to melt.

Nie Xiao swooped out of bed, wrapped in a quilt and climbed to the platform on the top floor of the beacon tower.

He was used to the cold like this, but he couldn't enjoy the scenery enough.

There was a wind blowing, and Nie Xiao sneezed several times in a row: "Fuck, this is going to freeze Lao Tzu to death!"

Nie Xiao Dong ran downstairs, kicked Xiao Xi up with a few kicks, and the two of them packed up and went to get food for the winter.

When the cold snap from the northwest entered the Ximing Kingdom, another "cold snap" from Dagu Mountain also hit the Ximing Kingdom.

This cold snap hit the major casinos in Ximing Kingdom.

First, Dingyuan was killed by this group of five, and then Huaishui was also powerless.

According to their walking route, the next step is the ruined mound.

With the lessons learned from the first two places, the major casinos in Wasteland Hill have joined forces early to prepare for the battle.

All the masters in the major casinos gathered in the "Jinjin Gambling House" to make full preparations, just waiting for the enemy to throw themselves into the net.

The West Market is the only goods distribution center in the waste hill, and the goods carried by merchants from all over the country are traded here, and there are also many merchants who bring all kinds of goods to various places, in short, the exchange of goods here is very huge.

As a result, this is also the place where the labor force is concentrated.

Xiao Xi said that he was a scholar, and he couldn't pick up his shoulders or lift his hands, and said that it was really humiliating to read a belly of sage books to do these hard work.

But no matter how much he struggled, he still couldn't escape Nie Xiao's clutches.

If you want to say that the biggest part of gamblers is not actually the people who live at the top, but those who are ordinary as dust.

"Jinjin Gambling House" is located in the west of the largest flow of people on the street, like the old man who scatters money and is like a thief.

The four gilded rafter pen characters of "Jinjin Gambling House" were written by Song Baozhen, a former calligrapher.

The four characters did not follow the established law of "the book is thin everywhere", but walked a broad and thick road.

The formation of this school can be traced back to a great calligrapher who was respected as "Yan Gong" more than 400 years ago. It was he who pioneered and walked out of another path that was different from the "handsome and elegant, thin and tall bones" that was popular in the world at that time. He has created a strong and heavy, large opening and closing calligraphy to show people on the front.

At the beginning of the book, the reviews were one-sided. Some great calligraphers who had been famous for a long time at that time criticized him for his dirty pen and ink, and his pen was thick and spineless. Some calligraphers also said that his glyph was too big to be beautiful, and it was really ugly. Some people even say that he is not familiar with ancient laws, and he is just for the sake of fame.

In fact, this master surnamed Yan is upright and upright, and he is in a high position. He doesn't have to get the word "fame" from calligraphy, and all his books are his own family temple tablets, and they are never publicized.

However, many people who saw this monument fell in love with his words, and then quietly extended it to practice, and after a long time, more people learned it, and naturally it reached the ears of some calligraphers.

No matter how the orthodox book circles at that time criticized, he never gave up on the study of this kind of book that could show "generosity, strength and heaviness".

From the age of 20 to 40, from the age of 40 to the age of 60, until the death of this Yan Gong at the age of eighty-three, he has always been constantly improving, improving, and enriching this style of writing, and has always injected vitality into it.

It wasn't until he was in his sixties that he suddenly turned around.

Because at that time, a war broke out in the country where Yan Gong lived, and the contributions and sacrifices made by Yan Gong and his family for the country were like a blow to those so-called "calligraphers" and "critics" who were pampered.

It was also in the era of war that people finally learned to appreciate this kind of "generosity, strength and weight".

Yan Gong never said that he was a "calligrapher" in his life, but his time spent practicing calligraphy, and his study and thinking about the calligraphy of the ancients far exceeded that of many "calligraphers" at that time.

Of course, not to mention many "critics" who specialize in commenting on other people's works or current affairs, are all guys who "have not watched the ruler and looked down on the yin", but they follow the trend and talk nonsense.

Later, more and more people learned Yangong font, and more and more people praised it.

and praise not only his word, but also his people.

Later, people used a sentence to describe Yan Gong and his calligraphy - "Words are like people, and gentlemen do it." People also called this special font "Yan Gongshu".

Legend has it that there was a story about the plaque of Song Baozhen's book at that time.

Song Baozhen, a native of Baidian in Lanshui Country, studied calligraphy from the famous Wang Ze since childhood. Sixty and no fame, no face in the township, so the westward migration of the poor style of Ximing, has to be reused, the goose died.

There were few scholars in the Western Ming Kingdom, and although Song Baozhen was not very knowledgeable, he wrote well, and he was valued as soon as he came.

How do you show how much you value him?

At that time, the officials of the waste hill thought of a good way and asked the military to come forward and ask him to write an inscription for the gold gambling house.

This idea is good, but it hurts Song Baozhen.

Enter the third floor of the gold gambling house, there are four zhang to be high, in order to reflect its grandeur when building, the plaque is actually made of whole wood, directly inlaid on the top floor.

Since the plaque can't be taken down, the only way to send people up is to find a way.

The sergeant found a wooden plank, tied it with a rope for Song Baozhen to stand on, and lowered him from the top of the building to the plaque.

The old man in his sixties was more than four feet in the air, and he was so frightened that his legs were weak, and he finally finished writing four big characters, but when he looked down, he almost fainted from fright.

In this way, he died within two days of returning home.

Jinjin gambling house is a military background, so no one has dared to make trouble here for so many years. The management of the casino is also close to militarization, and it is strictly punished for the "old thousand", so it must rely on gambling skills and luck to enter the gold gambling house.

The closer the time got to the evening, the colder the temperature became, and Nie Xiao and Xiaoxi finally couldn't stand the ghost weather and hid in the gold gambling house to warm up.

The most played in the gambling house is the dice, the dice play is very simple, you can shake the dice to buy the size, or you can shake the two people to compare the points, quite popular with gamblers.

The second is to play odds and doubles, pai gow, four-door square treasures, spread over, etc., and even some elegant games of chess and pitching pots.

"I see that your sack is not less resistant, do you want to play two?" Xiao Xi looked at Nie Xiao, his eyes flickering.

When it comes to playing, who wouldn't want to play?

The key is that Nie laughs at him and can't afford to play, he can't play a game like this, he has won ten bets and ten losses, and he has never won since he was born, so he is really lucky.

From guessing odds and evens when he was a child, to playing pai gow and rolling the dice later, he never won once by luck.

No, he began to pay attention from the moment he entered the door, but whoever he stood next to, whoever lost, and now he has changed twenty-seven in a row, all of them.

The tall and heavy wooden door of the gambling house was suddenly opened, and a thin man in black, not very tall, in the middle, was brought out by the four stars next to him.

For a while, the noisy casino suddenly fell silent.

Needless to say, looking at their walking posture, I can't wait to engrave the words "Big Lonely Mountain Gambler" on their foreheads.

What kind of place is Dagu Mountain, it's a bandit's nest!

Nie Xiao thought that the people who came out of the bandits' den should all look fierce and vicious!

The four people next to him are fully worthy of the name of "Big Lonely Mountain", and the person in the middle looks a little strange.

Looking at the complexion on his face, it is not an exaggeration to say that he is as fair and pink as a woman, and his facial features are also very marked, that is, the two eyebrows and two mustaches are too thick.

How to say it, just two words - "giant ugly".

It stands to reason that there are not no men with good skin, but it should be difficult to grow in a place like Dagu Mountain, if that person is a woman, an egg as big as an Adam's apple is not a joke.

Nie Xiao had to say twice, "Strange, strange." ”

Xiao Xi couldn't help but pat him on the head: "Why do you kid keep staring at people, the next to people has looked at you several times." I can tell you, if there is a fight later, don't blame me for not being righteous, I can't afford to provoke the people of Dagushan. ”

"What's wrong with two looks, can he still gouge out my eyeballs?"

The thick-haired man seemed to hear him, and said to him silently with his lips, "I'll gouge out your eyeballs." ”

Nie Xiao was stunned for a moment, and the man made sure he understood, so he looked away from Nie Xiao.

The decoration of the lobby on the ground floor can only be described as "more money and no land", which looks magnificent but also rustic.

Let's just say that the chandelier in the center is originally in the style of a bronze nine-headed phoenix, and the color is green and simple, so it has to be plated with a layer of gold, which is nondescript.

Originally, at the top of the stairs upstairs, there was a woodcarving of Maitreya with a big belly and a big smile with an open mouth, which was two people high. But then he was in the way, and several gamblers teamed up to carry him to a dark corner on the side.

There are also some precious flowers and plants that were finally purchased from the south, planted in pots fired by Hede kilns, but later they were broken and broken, and no one cared about the dead ones.

Many things that should not appear in a place like a gambling house, as long as it can show that the owner's family has money, they will buy it and pile it up here.

The lights in the lobby are designed so that everyone can see the number of dice on the table from different angles. Many round holes the size of a head were carved out in the top of the wall to ventilate the air.

The layout of the second floor is relatively simpler, and the rooms are divided one by one, and the reception is for those who are truly famous, such as retired officials of the Western Ming Kingdom, or former merchants.

The third floor is the residence of the "Jin Ye" who is in charge of the gambling house. Jin Ye's full name is Wang Dajin, in his fifties, his face is red and slightly fat, he is not tall, and he often holds a cigarette three or four inches long in his hand.

As for his background, I only know that he used to be a soldier of the Western Ming Dynasty.

There are eight large gambling tables around the lobby, each table is surrounded by eight to fifteen people, and there are dealers who are responsible for shaking the dice.

When the door was closed again, the atmosphere slowly recovered.

Jin Ye, who was sitting on a recliner, knocked on the table in front of him with a cigarette stick, spit out a puff of smoke and said, "Are you sure it's these five people?"

The round-faced man in front of him said, "I'm sure, I've seen a few of them in Huaishui with my own eyes." ”

Jin Ye said to a man dressed in white beside him: "Let Lao Yu prepare for them." ”

The man in white answered, bowed and left.

Jin Ye took a puff of cigarette and looked at the sky outside the window that had completely darkened, "It's so cold this day, I hope to freeze a few big lonely mountain gamblers to death!"