Seeing the clouds

Chapter 14 Chapter Thirteen Happy

Zhang Chuchu and Wang Xuechang said goodbye to Zhao Chen and returned to the inn room.After returning to the room and sitting down, Wang Xuechang asked: "The third brother's matter has been sorted out, what is the second brother's plan next?"

Zhang Chuchu replied: "I'm going to leave immediately."

Wang Xuechang was slightly surprised: "So fast?"

Zhang Chuchu nodded: "Although I can't bear to leave my eldest brother and my third brother, time is not waiting for me."

Wang Xuechang sighed and said with a smile: "That's fine, but does my second brother know the specific route to the Central Plains?"

Zhang Chuchu thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "We don't know yet."

Wang Xue sang: "Can I listen to my brother's words?"

Zhang Chuchu then smiled and said: "It would be best if the elder brother knew the direction and distance. It would also save me from going to the inn to ask the horseman, which would save a lot of time."

Wang Xue sang: "My second brother starts from Yumen Pass and walks [-] miles southeast to Jincheng. The first half of this section of the road is the most winding and winding, and it is not easy to ride a horse. The second half is much better. When we arrive at Jincheng County, Then the second brother can find a caravan or escort agency and go southeast, which is also four hundred miles away from Tianshui. Finally, starting from Tianshui, walk six hundred miles west to Chang'an."

Zhang Chuchu silently wrote it down in his mind.

Wang Xuechang continued: "As a brother, I have to stay for a few days until my father and my brother return from the customs. I can also take care of my third brother. I'm afraid I won't be able to accompany my second brother. Don't blame me. "

Zhang Chuchu then smiled and said: "Brother, I have received a lot of help from you in the past two days. It's too late for me to be grateful, so how can I blame you?"

"To the south and the north, we are afraid of the journey, so we must take care of ourselves." After Wang Xue sang, he suddenly grabbed Zhang Yue's right hand: "Second brother, if you encounter difficulties in the Central Plains, you must go to Wucheng in the south of the Yangtze River to find me."

Zhang Chuchu stretched out his left hand and patted the back of Wang Xuechang's hand to reassure him: "Brother, don't worry, am I like a stranger?"

Wang Xuechang naturally nodded, but looking at his sworn brother's face, he was filled with reluctance when he thought that the two were about to be separated: "Oh, looking northwest at Chang'an, there are mountains after mountains."

When Zhang Yue heard this, he felt a little strange. He had read books, so of course he knew that the second half of "looking northwest to Chang'an" meant "poor countless mountains".I couldn't figure it out for a moment, so I asked: "Brother, isn't the last part of this sentence pitiful for Wushan?"

Wang Xuechang stared at him and shook his head: "Mountain after mountain, one difficulty after another."

As soon as Wang Xue sang it, Zhang Yue understood it immediately.But he has long understood that there will be many difficulties and obstacles along the way, and he cannot stand still. Zhang Yue has never been one to give up despite difficulties.

Zhang Chuchu looked at Wang Xuechang with a complicated heart. After saying his last words "Brother, take care" in Yumen Pass, he packed his luggage and set off on the road.

Xiaocang Village is located in the northwest of Liangzhou Road and is a rare tea-producing place in Liangzhou.However, due to geographical reasons, only simple green tea is grown.

Although green tea tastes ordinary, it is cheap and can be afforded by ordinary people, so there is still an endless stream of people from surrounding counties coming to buy tea.

Li Chenxin's nickname is Li Ergou. The nickname Ergou sounds despicable, but the older generation always feels that with a despicable name, a child will have a hard life and be easy to support.

Li Chenxin is a native of Xiaocang Village.He is about eleven or twelve years old this year. Although he is not very old, he is recognized as a mature young man in the neighboring villages.The three generations of Li Chenxin's ancestors were all hard-working people, so the Li family has always been the largest tea farmer in Xiaocang Village, and it became even more so in his father's generation.

Li Chenxin's father, Li Dahao, was well-known for being an honest man, with a good temper and generous spirit. No one in the neighborhood knew how many people had received much help from him.When Li Dahao was in his early twenties, his parents also felt that it was time for him to get married and have children. As a result, the whole village became lively, with matchmakers talking about matchmaking and people coming to propose marriage.We even got several neighboring villages to participate, and finally we selected the daughter of the old Xu family from the neighboring village.

The wife of Mr. Xu from the next village left early, leaving behind only a daughter named Xu Ying.Fortunately, God is not weak. Xu Ying follows her mother. She is beautiful, gentle and virtuous. She can work in the hall and in the kitchen. The most important thing is that she is really filial to Lao Xu.

There is such a precious daughter in the family, and no one would be willing to marry her off as a father. If his daughter is bullied outside, how can the father be worthy of her own mother who has passed away long ago and not die of grief at home?
But no matter how much Lao Xu persists, how can he be worthy of the matchmaker's marriage proposal?After all, his daughter couldn't stay with him for the rest of his life. Sooner or later, he would get married. And he heard that Li Dahao was good in every aspect, so he decided to get married.

Ever since, Xu Ying married into the Li family in Xiaocang Village.Li Dahao and Xu Ying are indeed a good match, one is honest and generous, the other is gentle and virtuous.As long as anyone who lives in this area has a conscience and sees these two people, he will sincerely praise "a match made in heaven."

It's a pity that God sometimes just doesn't open its eyes. Not long after Li Chenxin was born, Li Dahao died of illness, leaving a small teahouse and a large tea field to Xu Ying and Li Chenxin.

From then on, Xu Ying went to the fields to plant and pick tea instead of Li Dahao.But Xu Ying is a woman after all, and she is too busy working in both a tea house and a tea field, but her parents-in-law are not willing to let their only good grandson go to the fields to suffer hardship at a young age.So when the tea planting or tea picking season came, Xu Ying and her hired workers went to work in the fields. The teahouse was run by Li Chenxin alone, except for part of the time where neighbors helped out.

Li Chenxin inherited his father's generosity. Whether it was a pedestrian passing by for a rest or an acquaintance coming to drink tea, he would always ask for two or three spoons of tea. Sometimes when a lonely homeless man or refugee passed by, Li Chenxin would even ask for tea leaves and tea. They were given free tea and snacks, so the Li family’s teahouse was always lively.

On this morning, there was no one in the teahouse. Li Chenxin had a lazy temper. Thinking that her mother had gone to the tea fields, she wanted to be lazy and lie on an armchair outside the teahouse door to bask in the sun.

After lying down for a while, he heard his big dog barking "Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo many. Noise me."

Dogs are the most humane animals. After hearing what Li Chenxin said, they barked louder and even ran to Li Chenxin's feet to bite his cloth trousers.Li Chenxin was a little impatient. He finally took a break from the busy work, but the stupid dog came to disturb him, so he kicked his feet and signaled Dahuang to go aside.

The big dog also understood this kick, and lay quietly aside without barking or biting.

Just when Li Chenxin was basking in the sun comfortably, closing her eyes and thinking about the girl next door who seemed to be beautiful again recently.Suddenly someone hit Li Chenxin on the forehead. Although the force was not strong, Li Chenxin was only an eleven or twelve-year-old child after all. The pain was excruciating at that time. He opened his eyes angrily and was about to open his mouth to curse, but when he saw It was my gentle and beautiful mother who wilted on the spot.

This kid Li Chenxin is not afraid of anything but Xu Ying, who is recognized by everyone as a gentle and good-tempered person. At this time, he is being caught by his mother for being lazy, and his voice is no longer confident.

"Mom...mother."

Although Xu Ying has an eleven- or twelve-year-old son like Li Chenxin, if she hadn't been dressed like a married woman, she would have been just like those unmarried girls, both young and good-looking.When Xu Ying arrived at the tea field, the two waiters felt sorry for their boss. Anyway, there was nothing going on in the tea field, so they asked her to come back and rest.Xu Ying didn't give up and came back. But as soon as she came back, she saw her son lying down and lazing around. She walked over and wanted to educate him.In fact, she was not angry in her heart. Chen Xin was already very sensible, but after all, his father left early. If she didn't care about him anymore, he would be bad-tempered in the future, which would be difficult to control.

Xu Ying then smiled and said: "Chen Xin, mother left for a while and you lay down on me. How about it? Isn't the sun very comfortable?"

Li Chenxin didn't even think about it, and immediately apologized to Xu Ying: "Mom, didn't I realize that no one wanted to lie down in the teahouse? I was bitten by an insect last night and didn't sleep well. I was wrong. Don't be angry."

Xu Ying said: "No one can be lazy after drinking tea? Besides, it's autumn, where do insects come from at night? If you lie again, mother will be really angry."

Li Chenxin's face suddenly looked like a bitter gourd. She quickly jumped up from the chair and ran into the teahouse. As she ran, she said, "Mom, I'll get some water and wipe the table right now. I was wrong. Don’t be angry.”

Xu Ying saw her son disappearing all of a sudden, and shook her head, a little funny.

It is said that every family has its own sutras that are difficult to recite, but every family also has its own happy and satisfying things. For example, the old Li family in Xiaocang Village. For Xu Ying, the happiest thing is to watch her son Li Chenxin He is becoming more and more sensible and becomes more and more like the backbone of the family.

Xu Ying thought that she was worthy of her dead husband, so she went to work in the teahouse.

Although Li Chenxin has a lazy temperament and seems a bit out of place with the hard-working three generations of the old Li family at first glance, when it comes to work, his hands and feet are really nimble and he does not delay. After a while, he fetched water from the backyard and set up the teahouse table. The chairs, as long as they were suitable for people to sit on and use, were carefully polished.

But as soon as the work was done, Li Chenxin had nothing to do again, but this time her mother was still in the backyard, so she couldn't be lazy, so she had to sit in the teahouse, supporting her head with her hands, staring at the door in a daze, thinking about what if the apricot next door It would be great if my son could walk in front of the teahouse.

When he looked, Xing'er next door had actually walked into the teahouse, but there was also a scholar in white robe following behind her.

Li Chenxin was so focused on Xing'er that he didn't even pay attention to the scholar beside Xing'er. He stood up suddenly, and before he could speak, he heard Xing'er say to the white-robed scholar: "Brother Li, that's right. Here it is." Immediately afterwards, Xing'er turned to Li Chenxin and said: "Er Gou, this brother Li wants to have a drink of tea, please entertain him."

Li Chenxin was immediately intoxicated by Xing'er's sweet voice. Without thinking, she danced enthusiastically and said, "Okay, okay, Myolie, brother Li, sit over here."

As a result, Xing'er didn't accept Li Chenxin's kindness and said to the white-robed scholar: "Brother Li, I won't drink this tea. If I don't have anything else to do, I'll go back first."

The scholar in white robe nodded, smiled and said "Thank you, Myolie", and Myolie turned around and walked out of the teahouse.

When Li Chenxin saw this scene, there was only one word in his body: sad!He stared at Xing'er's returning figure and froze there.

The white-robed scholar walked up to Li Chenxin and saw that Li Chenxin was standing motionless like a piece of wood. He was a little puzzled: He was still alive and kicking just now, why was there no movement in just a few breaths?
The scholar in white robe asked tentatively: "Two dog brothers?"

When Li Chenxin heard the scholar's voice, she suddenly thought of the white-robed scholar next to her. She turned her head and looked at the scholar. This was the first time Li Chenxin looked at the scholar directly.I saw this scholar - wearing a simple white cloth crown on his head, and wearing white cloth clothes from his neck to his feet. He carried an old book box behind him, and a knife hung on his left waist. Even Li Chenxin, who had never seen anything in the world. , seeing this carved scabbard, you can also know that the knife in the scabbard must be extraordinary.Looking at the scholar's face, he is indeed handsome, with sharp eyebrows and starry eyes, and a smile that can make people feel close to him at a glance.

This white-robed scholar is naturally Zhang Yue.

Zhang Chuchu saw that Li Chenxin turned around but still ignored him, so he whispered again: "Brothers Ergou?" Li Chenxin finally realized that he should reply: "Bah, bah, bah, this young man, my name is Li Chenxin."

Zhang Yue was surprised: "Just now, why did Miss Xing'er call you Ergou?"

Li Chenxin was a little helpless: "Ahem, Ergou is my nickname."

Zhang Yue started laughing after hearing this. When Li Chenxin saw this, he became even more helpless: "Young Master, please don't laugh. This is the nickname my grandpa gave me. There's nothing I can do about it."

When Li Chenxin said this, Zhang Yue couldn't laugh at him anymore. He took off the Yugong belt from his waist and put it on the table. He moved the bench beside him and sat down. He looked at Li Chenxin and said, "You can't call me a young master. My surname is also Li." , if you are interested, just call me Brother Li."

Li Chenxin also sat down. After hearing what Zhang Chuo said, he was delighted: "My eldest brother is also named Li? Maybe we were a family 500 years ago!"

Zhang Chuchu also smiled and said: "I really can't say for sure."

After going back and forth like this, the two of them immediately became familiar with each other. Li Chenxin was already young and mature, and he talked endlessly.Fortunately, Zhang Yue was also generous and had no objections. He would answer whatever Li Chenxin asked him.

"Looking at Brother Li's outfit, is he going to Beijing to take the exam?"

"Yes, after studying for more than ten years, I want to try my luck. Not to mention being named on the gold list, as long as I can get an official position, I will bring honor to my ancestors."

"Where do you come from, big brother?"

"Jade Gate Pass."

Li Chenxin thought about it: "Yumen Pass is not close to Xiaocang Village. Isn't it hard for me to travel on the road?"

Zhang Yue smiled and said, "You can only become a master by enduring hardships."

Li Chenxin thought for a while and said: "My mother also said something similar. She said: 'A good piece of tea must be roasted and boiled, from floating to sinking, from rolling to relaxing, and endured many hardships before it can be fragrant. The same is true for human beings." in this way'."

After Zhang Chuchu listened, he stretched out his hand and gave a thumbs up to Li Chenxin and said in appreciation: "Auntie has a lot of knowledge."

Li Chenxin scratched her head in embarrassment and said with a smile: "Neighbors and friends often say that my mother has a college education, but I can't feel it. Maybe it's because my father passed away early, and I grew up listening to my mother's reasoning. If there are too many, it will naturally feel ordinary.”

When Zhang Yue heard that Li Chenxin lost his father at a young age, he couldn't bear it and comforted him: "It's not easy for your mother to be alone for so many years. You can't feel it because you are still young."

In fact, Li Chenxin is annoyed the most when people say he is still young, but Brother Li is handsome and speaks kindly, so how can he have any reason to be angry?What's more, if it weren't for him, I might not be able to see Xing'er today.So he wanted to change the topic, and with a movement of his eyes, he shifted his gaze to Yugong's knife.

Li Chenxin pointed at Yu Gong and looked at Zhang Chuedue and said, "Brother Li, you went to Beijing to take the exam and you brought a knife with you?"

Zhang Chu said: "This sword is an heirloom of our family. My father was very worried when I went to Beijing to take the exam, so he left the sword for me to defend myself."

Li Chenxin asked curiously: "Then can you do it?"

Zhang Yue said with a smile: "My ancestors were born in martial arts. Although I am a scholar, I can still learn a little bit."

Li Chenxin looked at the knife, then at Zhang Yue, and then at the knife. In her entire life, she had never seen any knight-errant, let alone any famous sword or sword.He immediately became interested in Yu Gong, but he heard that knights in the martial arts world were not willing to let others touch their weapons, so he was embarrassed to speak, and his expression was a bit struggling.

Seeing his appearance, Zhang Yue asked with concern: "What's wrong?"

Li Chenxin was still embarrassed to speak at the beginning, but after thinking about it, she felt that Zhang Yue was probably a generous person and would not blame him.He struggled until the end, and said in a low voice: "Brother Li, your knife is so beautiful, can I touch it?"

Zhang Yue saw that he had been squirming for a long time, and it was because of such a trivial matter, and he burst out laughing: "What's wrong with this? But the knife is a bit heavy, so be careful."

After saying that, he stretched out his right hand to hold Yu Gong and moved it in front of Li Chenxin. Li Chenxin carefully stretched out his hand and gently touched the scabbard. The cold touch of the scabbard was transmitted to his heart and spleen through his fingertips, and there was an indescribable feeling. strange feeling.

When Li Chenxin touched the entire scabbard, Zhang Yue asked, "Want to pull it out and take a look?"

Upon hearing this, Li Chenxin waved her hands quickly: "No, no, no, I'm very satisfied. Thank you, Brother Li!"

So Zhang Chuo put Yu Gong back in his place again, but Li Chenxin still looked at Yu Gong meticulously. Zhang Chuo looked at him with a strange look on his face and asked, "What's wrong?"

Li Chenxin said somewhat seriously: "Brother Li, I want to practice martial arts."

Zhang Chuchu was a little surprised: "Practice martial arts? Practicing martial arts is very difficult."

Li Chenxin said: "Didn't Brother Li say that only by enduring hardship can one become a master?"

Zhang Yue's expression became serious after hearing this: "Are you serious?"

Just when Li Chenxin opened his mouth to speak, a graceful figure walked out of the teahouse. Seeing a white-robed scholar sitting in his teahouse, sitting at the same table as his son, he curiously said: "Chenxin, Are there any guests?”

As soon as the gentle voice came, Zhang Yue and Li Chenxin immediately turned their heads to look at Xu Ying who came out of the back room.As soon as Zhang Yue saw that the woman was dressed as a woman, he immediately knew that she must be Li Chenxin's mother.It's just that Zhang Yue didn't expect that Li Chenxin, who was eleven or twelve years old, would have such a young and beautiful mother.

When Li Chenxin heard his mother ask him, he replied: "Brother Li went to Beijing to take the exam. He passed by our Xiaocang Village and went into the teahouse to have a drink of tea and rest."

Xu Ying looked at scholar Zhang Yue's attire, and saw that the entire table was empty except for the sword. Her lazy son must have forgotten to pour the water, which was a little funny.She pulled up the green hair hanging from her forehead and said softly: "Chen Xin, you said Mr. Li came to our house to drink tea. Why did I see there wasn't even a bowl on the table?"

But such a simple action by Xu Ying deeply reflected in Zhang Yue's heart. After all, Zhang Yue was just a young boy who had not experienced anything romantic in more than ten years. He was suddenly moved. .But Zhang Yuyi thought that he and Li Chenxin were brothers, and the person who came was Li Chenxin's mother. It was really disgraceful for him to have such thoughts, so he immediately turned his head back with embarrassment.

Fortunately, Zhang Yue's expression was not noticed by Xu Ying and Li Chenxin. Li Chenxin, on the other hand, patted his head when he heard what his mother said. He had been chatting with Brother Li for so long and even returned the bowl of tea. Not on.

Li Chenxin stood up quickly, not caring to apologize to Zhang Chuo, and immediately ran to pour tea for Zhang Chuo.

When Xu Ying saw this scene, she immediately walked to Zhang Yue's side and apologized to Zhang Yue softly: "Master, I'm really sorry. My Chen Xin often does this. If there is any neglect, please don't blame me."

When Zhang Yuyi heard Xu Ying's words, he immediately felt like a spring breeze. He quickly stood up, waved his hands, and said, not daring to look into Xu Ying's eyes, "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter."

Xu Ying apologized again, and Zhang Yue had no choice but to return the favor.Xu Ying saw that the handsome young master seemed to have no intention of blaming him, so she left and went out.

Zhang Chuo looked at Xu Ying's graceful back when she went out, and finally breathed a long sigh of relief. At this time, Li Chenxin came back and poured tea for Zhang Chui with a clean bowl. While pouring it, he said sheepishly: "Brother Li, it was mine just now." It's your fault. You can drink as much tea as you want today, which is my compensation for you."

When Zhang Yue heard this, he was happy: "How many bowls of tea can I drink?"

Li Chenxin scratched his head and laughed sheepishly.

Zhang Chuchu took a sip of tea to quench his thirst, turned to Li Chenxin and said, "I want to discuss something with you."

When Li Chenxin heard that Brother Li had something to discuss with him, he quickly replied: "Brother Li, please tell me."

Zhang Yuyi thought of the scene just now and said with some embarrassment: "I praised your mother for being knowledgeable before, but when I saw your mother just now, I couldn't say this. I have to call you my great nephew. If I have wronged you, , I hope you won’t be angry.”

Li Chenxin's reaction was beyond Zhang Chuo's expectation: "What's the point? It's just one less eldest brother and more uncles. It doesn't matter!"

Zhang Yue didn't know that Li Chenxin understood immediately that Zhang Yue was praising her mother's youth. How could he be angry? It was too late to be happy.

Because for Li Chenxin, the greatest happiness in the world is when someone praises her mother in front of his son. This happiness is even happier than when she sees Xinghua from the house next door.

(End of this chapter)