Republic of China

Chapter 120 Unexpected Letter
It was the first day of the Lunar New Year in the 16th year of the Republic of China.

The sound of firecrackers continues in the streets and alleys of Taoguantun, Anshan. People visit relatives and friends carrying New Year gifts. Everywhere is filled with joy and a strong atmosphere of human fireworks.

The Sandwich Tea House is a little different from usual. It has been closed suddenly since the beginning of the twelfth lunar month. The neighbors don't know what happened. Many tea drinkers are used to coming here to chat and kill time in their free time. The sudden suspension of business makes them a little confused.

I think it will be at least fifteen years before we can open again, right?Unexpectedly, the teahouse suddenly opened for business on the first day of the junior high school. After hearing the news, some of the victims who had been 'advised' to transfer quickly came to visit with tribute incense and candles.

For example, Buddha Dingzhu brought his girlfriend Wang Sledgehammer to the store to pay New Year greetings.

The business in the store is still so booming, and groups of three and two sharing seats can be seen everywhere.

Zhao Sanyuan did not sit slumped at the counter as usual, and Kang Muang and Liu Mangfan did not sit in the hall to watch things in the first year of junior high school.

The three of them looked very bad. They were sitting around the Eight Immortals table next to the niche dedicated to the gods, drinking tea and eating melon seeds. The four characters "Good Virtue Lasts Forever" on the golden plaque shone brightly.

Especially Zhao Sanyuan, he was sitting in a very bad state on the Taishi chair, as if he had been in a brothel for ten days and a half, and his body had been completely hollowed out.

Ordinary visitors may not understand why they are here.

But Fo Ding Zhu had seen a few people's true abilities, and guessed that they must have gone out and done some big things during the period when they closed the store, but it was just a secret that ordinary people didn't know.

"Happy New Year uncles, Uncle Sanyuan~"

After Wang Dachui bowed extremely perfunctorily for a year, he playfully threw himself into Zhao Sanyuan's arms. After finding the best position, he ate melon seeds together, which was so skillful that it made people feel heartbroken.

"Oh, slow down, slow down, I am very sick now." Zhao Sanyuan was hit and coughed repeatedly, but he did not take Wang Dachui away. "It's the Chinese New Year, have you offered incense to your mother?"

"It must have happened. Didn't I say that I made a paper cheongsam for my mother? I even dreamed about my mother after burning it last night. She kept praising me for my craftsmanship."

Zhao Sanyuan looked disgusted and didn't believe it at all, "Just brag. Later, your mother will definitely have to tell you that what you did was nothing."

After saying that, he took out the red envelope he had prepared in advance and stuffed it into Wang Dachui's little cotton-padded jacket, which made her praise her generosity again and again.

In fact, Wang Dachui Niang was in a state of despair and had no chance of reincarnation. Naturally, she could not entrust her dream to anyone.

But some secrets are better kept as secrets forever.

"The car I borrowed earlier had some scratches. Please don't mind, District Chief Wang." Kang Muang returned the favor with a smile.

Buddha Dingzhu had a heroic look on his face, "What's the point of scratching? It's lucky to be able to help three brothers. I'll just find someone to help with some paint later. By the way, Brother Kang, did you suffer a loss outside this time?" ? I see that Brother Liu and Brother Sanyuan don’t have any color in their faces.”

Kang Muang smiled bitterly and sighed, "It's a long story, but it's just very dangerous."

It's not a big deal if you suffer a loss.

Dealing with Dou Hai's gang of Guandao demons was a close call, and he was able to recover easily after suffering serious injuries. That is to say, Liu Mangfan's Da Lixian was the most seriously injured, and he will probably have to recuperate for a while.

The danger lies in traveling to the underworld, where there is almost no chance of death, and one has truly experienced the test of life and death.

If it weren’t for Gao Shou’s soul-burning shot, if there wasn’t Lao Liu’s Ksitigarbha lantern array, if there wasn’t the debt of gratitude from Old Monument King, if there wasn’t the unintentional donkey Lao Tongling, if there wasn’t Lao Kang’s desperate fight, , if it weren’t for the mysterious old lady of Yaowang Valley’s alternative Thirteen Needles of the Ghost Gate, if there weren’t these keys to turning disaster into good luck, I’m afraid the Sandwich Tea House would have had to organize several funerals at this year’s end.

But on the surface, it seems that there is no danger, but there is an irreversible price paid.

Liu Mangfan was completely deaf in one ear and could not recover through treatment or medication.

At that time, he wanted to protect Ksitigarbha's large square lantern array, and at the same time he wanted to activate Lao Ma Shitu Ling to send Lao Kang's thoughts into three illusions. He helped Zhao Sanyuan and others change their lives against the will of heaven and successfully escape the underworld. In the end, he sacrificed his whole life. The price of an ear corresponds to the mutilation.

However, Lao Liu felt that he was very lucky. He had saved his life by not being overdrawn on the spot.

"Lao Liu, get some coal and burn more stoves." Zhao Sanyuan felt a little cold, and then bumped Lao Liu beside him with his elbow.

Unexpectedly, old Liu Teng stood up and looked around.

"Which beautiful girl is not wearing pants?"

"I told you to light another stove to keep yourself warm."

"Have you ever seen any hothead naked on the street?"

"Okay, just sit down and I'll go."

"Good Le~"

Zhao Sanyuan reluctantly placed Wang Dachui in his arms on the Taishi chair.

It's somewhat unjustifiable to say that Lao Liu should be beaten up. If someone is deaf in one ear, it is because of his own deafness.

If I don't say beat him, he's really fucking annoying.

There is no other way, just stay away from him for now.

I walked slowly and leisurely through the teahouse to the backyard. My body hadn't recovered yet, so I didn't have much energy to walk.

Not just myself, everyone who has been to the underworld is the same. Rabbit and Lao Gao are not much better.

But these two people had already left early.

When I just returned to the teahouse, I met a task force from Dachongjiu, whose purpose was to find the missing Gao Shou and Shangguan Baitu.

Not only Gaoshou, but almost all the backbone of Da Chongjiu were ambushed in a premeditated manner, causing serious losses.

The task force had little hope and made plans to collect the bodies. However, the two of them survived, and they couldn't help but look at the three people in the teahouse with admiration.

Before leaving, several people talked secretly for an hour.

There are speculations that it is too exaggerated that Yiguandao can do such a big thing. Behind the scenes, it has either secretly annexed other cult forces, or there is a more powerful force supporting Yiguandao.

Anyway, no matter which one it is, Yiguandao is already a huge problem.

But it's not all bad.

Da Chongjiu misjudged the power of Guandao and lost six Taiyin, four Lao Yang, and more than half of Shaoyin and Shaoyang.

Did Yiguandao not underestimate Da Chongjiu?
This time of ambush and counter-ambush, Guandao was even worse. It was said that the upper-level San Cai and Dian Masters were almost dead, and most of the elite altar leaders drawn from various places never returned.

It is foreseeable that it will be difficult for Yiguandao to cause any major disturbances in the future.

Of course, Dachongjiu also needed to find as many "talents" as possible to join, so when Gao Shou left, he left behind two Suzaku Shaoyang waist cards, one from Shangguan Baitu, and one from Shangguan Baitu. of.

Lao Gao means that it doesn't matter if you join or not. Anyway, there are a lot of free cards in the yamen now, so it's good to be a 'temporary worker'.

Zhao Sanyuan did not refuse like before. He accepted it happily and reminded Lao Gao that leaving aside Shaoyang Shaoyin in Dachongjiu for now, the whereabouts of Lao Yang Taiyin are the top secrets of the top secrets. Yiguandao can accurately grasp the whereabouts of everyone, as long as There may be a possibility.

Inside ghost.

A very high level mole.

But what to do is Da Chongjiu's business and has nothing to do with the sandwich teahouse.

As for the whereabouts of Changxingzi's body, without any clues, we can only put it aside for the time being.

Except for the disputes in hidden corners.

The war on the surface has also come to an end.

Guo Songling, who ate the Zhang family's meal and smashed the Zhang family's bowl, was defeated. He and his wife disguised themselves and tried to run back to the pass, but they were caught by the Feng army in a vegetable kiln of a farmer's house in Xinmin, and they were both shot.

This defection war did not last long, but it consumed countless elite soldiers and severely damaged their vitality.

However, it has nothing to do with ordinary people. Similar internal conflicts have been common in the past ten or two decades, and they have long been accustomed to it.

"Brother Sanyuan, I've found you." Zheng Xuesong walked over quickly, smiling broadly, carrying a leg of lamb and two geese.

The new butcher of the old Zheng family no longer looks like a frail scholar, but looks very capable.

"As long as people are here, the old hens you sent last time didn't even have time to eat, so I struggled to build a chicken basket to feed them."

"You have done a lot of favor to our family, how can you come empty-handed? What's more, this is the first day of the new year. If you come empty-handed, my father will break my legs."

Zheng Xuesong happily sent the leg of lamb and the goose into the kitchen. When he came out, he found that a new shed had been built under the tree in the yard, and an old donkey was playing with Zhao Sanyuan inside. "Brother Sanyuan, if you want to grind mills, why bother buying a donkey yourself? As long as you send someone to my house to speak, I will definitely give you a strong head and body."

When Zhao Sanyuan mentioned this, he remembered the agreement he had made with the old donkey, and patted the old donkey's ears.

"Don't talk nonsense. I can't bear to let it grind. So, take it back to your house and get some female donkeys to let it relax."

"what?"

Zheng Xuesong, who is honest by nature, was stunned on the spot.

How is this donkey related to Brother Sanyuan?
It's enough to eat and drink well enough to stop working, and let the donkeys roam the brothels.
"Ah, what?" Zhao Sanyuan said earnestly: "To put it simply, my brother Lu saved my life. Without him, I might have died."

Zheng Xuesong suddenly became alert and his chest beat loudly.

"Brother, don't worry! I will definitely take good care of it, let alone the female donkey. I will train a few more mares and mules. I won't bring any of the same kind for half a month. I must make clear arrangements for my donkey brother."

Zhao Sanyuan was quite satisfied.

A drop of water repays kindness with a gushing spring, even if it is a donkey.

It’s just that I’m a bit old, and I don’t know how many days of happiness I can enjoy in Lao Zheng’s house.

"By the way, I heard from a few tea drinkers that you want to change careers?"

"I haven't had time to tell Brother Sanyuan about this. Actually, it's not a career change. I just want to try some other business. If the new business is more profitable, I won't need to slaughter animals to support my family. Yes, I talked to Brother Kang when I came here, and he meant that I can definitely do it, and I will definitely make money."

Zheng Xuesong has a great business acumen.

Since the commander-in-chief took charge outside the pass, the situation has generally been stable. Although horse bandits are still rampant in various places and there are many injustices in the corners, compared with the dire straits inside the pass, the quality of life of the people outside the pass is quite acceptable. As long as they step out With hard work, fewer and fewer people will starve to death, and more and more families will have some spare money.

With money in your pocket, all you need to change is food, clothing, housing and transportation.

So Zheng Xuesong wants to do some food processing and seasoning business, such as soy sauce, vinegar, bean paste, etc., and also bring in some food processing, and then find a way to buy canning technology.

Zhao Sanyuan guessed Zheng Xuesong's inner thoughts.

"You want me to help you come up with a name for the factory, right?"

"I can't hide anything from my brothers. My father said that the names I gave me are all girlish."

Naming a factory or shop is almost the same as naming a person.

If you choose the words well, you will get twice the result with half the effort and make a lot of money.

The choice is not good, I can only say that benevolence is in the eye of the beholder and wisdom is in the eye of the wise.

I believe many friends have deep feelings about this.

Zhao Sanyuan pondered, "Both you and your father, Lao Zheng, are destined to die, and you have no relatives. You are the helpless type. Well, you have to take into account the nature of the food field."

"How about we call it Wei Bang? Both the two characters and the five elements belong to water. The word "wei" sounds and looks like it is related to food. Bang is homophonic to help, which means that even if the relatives are helpless, they can come from all directions to help."

Zheng Xuesong was overjoyed.

I really like this name when I hear it.

Sure enough, we came to the right place to ask Brother Sanyuan for a name.

"Okay, let's call it Weibang Restaurant. District Chief Wang happens to be in the teahouse. I'll go find him and report it right away!"

After running a few steps and then quickly turning back, Zheng Xuesong took out all the silver coins he had in his pocket and put them into Zhao Sanyuan's pocket. There were almost a dozen yuan.

"Brother, you said that rules are very important. You can't get this name in vain. If it's not enough, I'll go back and get the money right away."

"It won't take so much—"

Zheng Xuesong was afraid that Zhao Sanyuan would be polite, so he ran back and said perfunctorily: "Oh, it's for the child, don't be polite!"

Zhao Sanyuan couldn't laugh or cry.

But he did not reject Zheng Xuesong's kindness.

This kind of money is equivalent to a kind of hexagram gold. Giving more or less depends on the owner's wishes.

When it comes to Gua Jin, many friends have a misunderstanding, thinking that it is very easy to make this money, and there is no lottery price list so you can ask for the price at will.

Yes, no.

A master who truly practices uprightly and sits upright will have three hexagrams that he does not receive.

A person whose life is approaching.

A person who replaces wealth with things.

A person who hangs begging on a pole.

If you decide to do divination for these three types of people, you will usually not receive divination money. Of course, some people choose to accept it. After all, the forest is big and there are all kinds of lynx and wild animals.

If you encounter someone who is greedy for wealth, is a bully, villain, or has a sinister heart, you can choose to increase the share of hexagram gold.

unwilling?
If you don't like it, just get out. I really think I love serving garbage with big karma.

If someone takes the initiative to tell your horoscope for you without asking for money, then you should be careful.

This person is either a complete rookie who comes to practice with you, who can calculate accurately without telling you, and won't reveal too much; or he is an amateur who just likes to play around with you, and he won't be able to tell much useful information.

Speaking of this, we can extend it a bit.

People who go to fortune-telling are mostly introduced by friends. They basically do their homework in advance and know that the master is somewhat famous, but just because others are satisfied does not mean that everyone will be satisfied.

If the master has finished approving the horoscopes, and you feel that it is not right, or that the inaccuracies are completely nonsense, please be careful not to take away the stool and leave, at least leave some incense money.

Do good and not evil.

You are there to solve problems, not to make enemies.

To put it bluntly, even if the master is really inaccurate and it's not because you didn't know it, it doesn't mean that he is not strong in other areas.

Of course, if you are a pure materialist fighter, just treat the above paragraph as fart.

The world is most in need of people who are tough-talking and wiping tears behind their backs.

Zhao Sanyuan was feeding the old donkey, thinking that he would take time to cook something for Tang Shui in the underworld in the evening. He specially made two Japanese paper girls at the paper shop, and also made two more kimonos. He didn't know if Tang Shui would like it. .

"Brother Donkey, Brother Donkey, you are good at everything. Before, Lao Kang only asked you to borrow a bell, why are you kicking me with your feet? You need to change your temper in the future. If you don't look at others, look at me. I have always been convinced by reason. The people are kind and gentle.”

The old donkey shook his head, still baring his teeth at Zhao Sanyuan in a silly way.

At this time, Kang Muang walked quickly from the front hall.

Zhao Sanyuan asked in confusion: "What's the matter? Are you so anxious? Is Lao Liu deaf in the other ear?"

"You hope he will do well." Kang Mu held up the envelope in his hand, "There is a letter from Fengtian City. Lao Li asked us to go to Juliu River to pay homage to the fallen soldiers."

Zhao Sanyuan knew very well about Li Dongzhi.

Even though he is the second-in-command of the Secretary for Construction, he is only in charge of engineering matters, but real people in the industry know that engineering is always inseparable from metaphysics. For example, which project starts without opening an altar to worship the local ghosts and gods? I respect you as a materialistic man of the new era, and I wish you a safe journey.

But having said that, the matter of saving the fallen soldiers has nothing to do with the Secretary of State, and it has nothing to do with Lao Li. Why is it his turn to blame this group?

To put it bluntly, even if Lao Li was responsible for this job, Zhao Sanyuan did not believe that he would outsource this job to an acquaintance.

Who loves to go out during the Chinese New Year?
"It's not just about salvation, there must be something else going on here."

Kang Muang scratched the back of his head and said with a naive smile: "I can't hide anything from you. In the letter, Lao Li also said that he has a friend who is having trouble with his family, and he asked us to stop by and find out."

(End of this chapter)