The mountain is high but not steep. A thin layer of snow covers the stone steps. Faded colorful ribbons are tied to the dead branches along the way, and you can vaguely see the lively scene of tourists in the midsummer. The stream flowing out of the mountain has frozen into thin ice. In slightly flat areas, you can still find many long-handled spoons hanging on the stones.
Zhu Yanyin smiled: "Guess what these spoons are used for?"
Li Sui said: "Drink."
Zhu Yanyin was surprised: "You know this too?" When scholars get together, they drink to their heart's content. They often elect one person to sit on a stone, holding a long ladle to distribute wine to the four people. They drink from jade cups and sing to dispel their sorrows, and they won't stop until they are drunk. Could it be that there is a similar event in the martial arts world
Palace Master Li was actually just making a random guess, but he didn't expect that he would get it right. So he maintained a cool expression of "I'm so awesome" and responded indifferently.
Zhu Yanyin picked up a smaller one and said, "What about this one?"
Li Sui: “…” Is there any difference
Zhu Yanyin smiled and said, "This is for holding water. Some people like to use snow from mountaintops to grind ink when painting or writing. The water spoon is made into this shape to make it easier to pour water into the water bag."
Li casually asked: "What kind of water do you like?"
"I'm not picky, but I can try snow."
Li Sui took off the empty wine bag from his waist and filled it with half-melted snow water. Zhu Yanyin put the water scoop back to its original place and took a look at the inscription on the bamboo handle. The owner's surname was Xu. The writing style was vigorous and flamboyant, revealing a sense of drunkenness. It was a good word.
Li Sui sneered with disdain.
Zhu Yanyin immediately added, "Of course, I still like your handwriting better. Although it's a little sloppy, people in the martial arts world should be so unruly and powerful!" As he spoke, he gave a thumbs up with a sincere face. If you draw it on a piece of paper, you can immediately put it in front of any store to attract customers. The second son Zhu said it was good.
Li Sui picked him up with one hand: "Go down the mountain!"
Zhu Yanyin tried to twist his body, but I wanted to go higher.
"It's too cold." Li Sui said, "I'll bring you back next spring when the flowers bloom."
Zhu Yanyin grabbed his hair and said, "When spring comes and flowers bloom, we should go back to Jiangnan. Who would want to come to this desolate mountain?"
Li Sui raised the corner of his mouth and hugged the person tighter.
Zhu Yanyin thought, I talked about Jiangnan, and you didn’t refute it, which means you agreed.
Good.
The two did not stay in the mountains for too long. When they returned to the city, the shops on both sides of the street were still busy. A clerk was loudly soliciting customers. The shop had just received the best rouge fragrance. Give it to your sweetheart, and she will fall in love with it at first sight.
Li Sui glanced at the people around him: "What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing." Zhu Yanyin said happily, "I just remembered the cold soul you gave me."
Li Sui: “…”
Zhu Yanyin took out the small sachet from her waist and said, "Look!"
The second most powerful hidden weapon in the martial arts world, Jiang Shenglin gave it as a gift in the name of Li Sui in order to ask Zhu Yanyin to help him break the Tiangong knot. Of course, the gift giver and the person who gave it the name for it both forgot about it as soon as they turned around, but the recipient, Mr. Zhu, kept it in his sachet as if it were a treasure, and would take it out from time to time to appreciate it.
Li Sui remained calm and stroked his hair: "Yeah."
In fact, it stands to reason that as long as you can find the world's number one hidden weapon, you can defeat Han Po. But the problem is that the world's number one hidden weapon is not a thing, but a person, a killer, who comes and goes without a trace, and is not easy to catch. It seems that he has recently gone to Southeast Asia.
Without Lan Yan, there is no one who can give good advice, only Jiang Shenglin, who is half-baked.
Okay, it's better than nothing.
Miracle Doctor: "You want to give a gift to Master Zhu?"
Li Sui: “Yes.”
Jiang Shenglin once again used the "It's nothing, this is all normal" method and said, "That's right, we have received a lot of care from the Zhu family along the way, you should give them something to show your gratitude."
He also enthusiastically analyzed that the key to gift-giving is to give the gift to the person who likes it. The second son of Zhu likes nothing more than swords and books. The sword points to the martial arts world. Although there are many rare items in the martial arts world, it takes time and effort to find them. It is better to start with books.
Li Sui asked without shame: "Books?"
Jiang Shenglin is tireless in teaching people: "Books cover a wide range of subjects, including music, chess, calligraphy, painting, the four treasures of the study, a good poem and good calligraphy. Scholars like only those few things. It just so happens that Hecheng is the hometown of the top scholar, so there must be good things hidden in the city!"
It sounds like it makes sense. Li Sui sent his disciples to inquire, and they all said that the most famous talent in the city lived in the north of the city. His name was Xu Yunzhong and he ran an inkstone shop.
In the bedroom next door, Zhu Xiaosui was also saying that the inkstone shop in the north of the city seemed to be quite famous, and the eldest young master loved inkstones the most, so why don't we go and take a look? If we find any good ones, we can buy them and send them back to Liucheng.
"Hecheng also produces good inkstones?"
"Hecheng doesn't produce it, but Boss Xu has a lot of connections and friends, so he can find goods from all over the country."
"...Alright." Zhu Yanyin stood up, "Then I'll go with Palace Master Li to take a look."
Zhu Xiaosui was heartbroken: "Young Master, why don't you take me with you when you go out?"
Zhu Yanyin was in a good mood, and Palace Master Li also wanted to buy an inkstone.
Zhu Xiaosui: No, I don’t believe it. The big devil in the world only needs to kill people, he doesn’t need an inkstone.
He was just about to argue when Li Sui came knocking on the door and invited him to go to the inkstone shop in the north of the city.
Zhu Yanyin sighed, what a tacit understanding this is, just wait, I will be here after changing my clothes.
Zhu Xiaosui leaned against the window with a resentful look on his face, watching his master and the big devil both leave.
I want to go back to Jiangnan.
The sun sets and the lights on both sides of the street come on.
Zhu Yanyin walked slowly, and Li Suibian walked slowly with him. When they passed by a snack stand, they would buy a piece of cake, and when they passed by a brocade shop, they would go in to take a look. When they wandered to the north of the city, most of the shops were closed. The dark wind blew the dead branches, and they had to ask the neighbors to find the right place - a gray-tiled house that was neither big nor small, hidden in the deepest part of the alley with many twists and turns. The name of the shop was lonely, called Gu Yungao.
When the waiter heard someone knocking on the door, he stuck his head out and said, "We're closed. Please come back tomorrow."
Zhu Yanyin said: "But we are leaving tomorrow."
The young man yawned and said, "Since we have to leave tomorrow, let's come back next time."
Li Sui took out a thick stack of banknotes.
The young man immediately perked up, like a spirited young man: "Don't say next time, I can't let the customers make a wasted trip." As he said this, he removed the door panels with a bang, lit all the candles, and offered to go to the backyard to get the good stuff that the boss had hidden away. It seemed that he wanted to hang all the profits for the year on the two people in front of him.
Zhu Yanyin was stunned by his smooth and flowing technique!
Li Sui picked up an inkstone and asked, "Do you like it?"
"If you give it to me, I'll like it." Zhu Yanyin replied, "But you haven't paid yet, so I can tell the truth. It's just an ordinary Duan inkstone, but it's made a little fancy. It's nothing special."
Li Suixiao: "I don't understand, go and choose it yourself."
"I don't want it myself, but I want to find some good stuff for my brother." Zhu Yanyin said, "Didn't the buddy go to the back to get the good stuff? Since Boss Xu here is the most talented person in Hecheng, he should have some rare things."
There were a few pieces of paper scattered on the table, probably for the guests to try their hand at writing. Zhu Yanyin poured some water from the pot into the ink, glanced at the inscription on the pot handle, and smiled: "So the word 'Xu' we saw on the long ladle is the boss Xu here, but unfortunately he is sleeping-"
Before he could finish his words, the door creaked and a man in a loose robe came out. He had sleepy eyes, long hair hanging down, almond-shaped eyes, thin red lips, and a fair and handsome face. Even though it was obvious that he had just climbed out of bed and was dressed like a sloppy beggar, he was still a handsome man.
The jade lady cursed: "Who let you in?"
Zhu Yanyin quickly placed Li Sui behind him to prevent Boss Xu from flying out of the store in the next moment. You know, the devil is very fierce and unreasonable!
"Get out, get out." Xu Yunzhong chased people away like he was chasing away a fly.
This time Li Sui did not take out any banknotes, he took out a sword.
Zhu Yanyin grabbed his wrist and said, "Let's talk it over nicely. Don't kill anyone!"
Li Sui asked back: "Why can't we kill him?"
Zhu Yanyin looked embarrassed, as if he was stumped by the question.
Xu Yunzhong next to him was quite shocked. Is it necessary to think about such a question
He was alive and well, and didn't want to die for the time being. What else could a weak scholar do when he met two savages in the middle of the night? He could only swallow the humiliation and ask, "What inkstone do you want?"
As he was talking, the waiter rushed in with seven or eight boxes. When Xu Yunzhong saw them, his eyes almost popped out: "Xiao Liuzi, why did you take out all my private goods?"
The young man said confidently, "How many random things have you bought recently? Every time you get good stuff, you are reluctant to sell it. Seeing that the account is about to fall short of income, it is not easy to get two big losers... Dear guest, if we don't open the shop, do you still want to eat meat and drink wine next month? Or do you want to agree to Mr. Li and marry into his family as his son-in-law?"
This was much more ferocious than Zhu Xiaosui. He scolded the boss with a string of words, so fierce that he dared not complain any more. Xu Yunzhong sat down on a chair in the corner with a face full of resentment.
All the private goods were good stuff, and Zhu Yanyin wanted them all, but he didn't want to take away what others loved. As soon as he hesitated, the waiter saw his dilemma and said crisply, "Customers, please buy. My master still has half a warehouse of goods in the back. He is just sitting there pretending to be pitiful, you don't have to pay attention to him."
Xu Yunzhong: Cursing.
Zhu Yanyin thought this master and servant relationship was very interesting. He picked out a few good inkstones, and left half for Xu Yunzhong. When he was about to pay, Li Sui had already put a few banknotes on the table: "The extra money will be used as a deposit. When you have good goods in the future, leave them all to me."
The waiter smiled and said, "Yes, yes, I will definitely keep it for the guests."
Zhu Yanyin nudged him with his elbow and whispered, "I want to give it to my elder brother, how can I let you pay for it?"
Li Sui smiled: "I'll give it to you, and you can give it to anyone you like."
"You gave it to me, I can't bear to give it to others." Zhu Yanyin handed the inkstone to the waiter, "Forget it, I'll give it to you, big brother, when I have other good things in the future."
The waiter was still busy counting the silver. During this time, Zhu Yanyin picked up the pen and wrote two lines on the paper. Xu Yunzhong was still worried about the inkstone. He kept sighing and lowering his head without paying attention. However, Li Sui saw it clearly.
Lying drunkenly, I didn’t realize the day was ending, and sometimes I just looked at the lonely clouds rising high in the sky.
The waiter happily saw the two distinguished guests out the door, saying that he would deliver the inkstone to the inn early tomorrow morning.
The Zhu family’s motorcade had already stopped outside the alley.
Zhu Zhang had thought of countless ways along the way, how could he get his son away from Wanren Palace and sit in the safe luxury carriage back home, but he failed every time, and this time was no exception. Even if Li Sui didn't ride the Kicking Snow Black Horse and couldn't carry him away in a chic manner, the goal of "getting him away from Wanren Palace" was still not achieved, because Zhu Yanyin pulled Li Sui's sleeve and dragged him directly into the carriage.
Loyal old butler: "..."
Li Sui leaned back in the spacious chair and opened his arms to him.
Mr. Zhu held himself back for a bit. Wasn't this a bad idea? It seemed like I was throwing myself at him eagerly.
Li Sui said: "You seem tired just now, come and have some sleep."
Zhu Yanyin: "Okay, okay."
Once there is a legitimate reason, it is no longer called throwing oneself into someone's arms, but a reasonable demand. Zhu Yanyin leaned comfortably against Li Sui's chest, feeling very safe - it was hard not to feel safe against the chest of a super fierce demon.
The carriage was shaking, and people fell asleep as they shook.
Li Sui used the back of his fingers to smooth away his loose hair and gently kissed his forehead.
In the inkstone shop, Xu Yunzhong kept expressing his opinions, repeating how hard it was for him to get those inkstones. The shop assistant felt a headache after hearing this, so he packed up and dismissed him perfunctorily: "Boss, if you really don't want to sell your treasures, then go write a few words, we can also sell them for money."
Xu Yunzhong didn't want to write, because he felt that if he wrote too much, he would be worthless. This shows that the second son of Zhu was actually one of the scholars with few problems. He had clothes to wear and food to eat, and was very solid. If his dear elder brother deducted his monthly salary, he would not have a problem writing a few pieces of calligraphy, let alone hundreds of pieces.
After the boy wrapped the inkstone, he went to put up the door panel.
Xu Yunzhong stood idly in front of the counter. He caught a glimpse of two lines of poetry written on the paper from the corner of his eye and was obviously stunned. He was not stunned by the poem, because Li Qi's seven-character poem just fits the name of the store "Gu Yun Gao". It is not uncommon for every customer to recite a few lines. He was stunned by the words, which were elegant and freehand, graceful and graceful, and iron-like and silver-like.
"Has anyone come to Crane City recently?"
"Yes, there are many people in the martial arts world. They heard that he was going to the Northeast Snow City. There was also the second son of the Zhu family in the south of the Yangtze River. Many people lined up to see him. Everyone was talking about it after dinner. Only you, the boss, have been drunk for more than a month and are almost cut off from the world."
Xu Yunzhong suddenly realized: "So it was him. No wonder I was wondering where he got this amazing handwriting."
It seems like a pity that we didn’t chat more just now.
The boy moved the last door panel and was about to put it up when another customer arrived.
"Sorry, we're closed."
The man who came was a man in his twenties or thirties, with an ordinary face and slightly droopy eyes. "I have something to ask the boss here."
Xu Yunzhong glanced at him, showing no interest: "Are you also a member of the Jianghu?"
The man stepped into the door: "Yes."
The young man was anxious: "Hey, I haven't let you in yet."
He reached out to stop him, but failed. The man walked straight to Xu Yunzhong. He had a strange silver mask hanging around his waist, which constantly reflected the flickering candlelight. There were three slits on it, which looked funny.
…
The Zhu family's carriage stopped in front of the inn.
Zhu Zhang lifted the thick curtain and wanted to help Zhu Yanyin out of the car, but he saw his own son leaning in Palace Master Li's arms, sleeping soundly. Maybe he felt a little cold, so he put his hand into the other person's clothes.
The old butler was stunned: This is really rude!
Li Sui Chong made a gesture to Zhu Zhang to keep quiet, gently held Zhu Yanyin's wrist, put his arm in place, then picked him up horizontally and led him out of the carriage.
Zhu Yanyin woke up when the cool wind outside blew, and asked in a hoarse voice: "Inn?"
"Well." Li Sui said, "You continue to sleep."
"I'm not going to sleep anymore. I haven't washed up yet." The young man from a wealthy family is so refined and particular.
Li Sui was amused by his confused look: "Then I'll take you back to your room."
Zhu Xiaosui had already prepared some hot water. Zhu Yanyin sat on the bed, soaking his feet while asking, "Is there anything else in our luggage that we can give as a gift?"
"Yes, there are plenty." Zhu Xiaosui handed him the mouthwash salt, "Sir, I will arrange who you want to send."
"It's Mr. Xu from the inkstone shop in the north of the city. I bought a lot of good things from him tonight. You can also pick out some rare ones and return them to him tomorrow morning."
Zhu Xiaosui nodded: "Then I'll go now."
Next door, Jiang Shenglin was also asking Li Sui, I heard that Boss Xu is very handsome, and because there are so many people trying to be matchmakers for him, even the threshold of his house is covered with iron to prevent it from being trampled down. Is this true
Li Sui threw the towel back onto the shelf and asked coldly, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
Jiang Shenglin was puzzled. You are going to buy an inkstone, so why should I describe the shop owner's appearance to you in detail in advance
Li Sui pushed the door open and went out, just in time to run into Zhu Xiaosui who was instructing the servants to prepare many good gifts to be given to Boss Xu of Gu Yungao tomorrow.
"… "
After soaking her feet, Zhu Yanyin stretched comfortably and planned to have a good sleep, but when she turned around, she saw someone standing beside the bed.
This time I didn’t utter “ah” because my mouth was covered in time.
Mr. Zhu was still in shock and asked through his fingers, "Where did you come from?"
Li Sui pointed to the window.
Zhu Yanyin: Okay, you martial arts masters come and go without a trace, you don’t need a reason.
He asked very sincerely if he could go through the door next time. It was very scary and my guards would not stop him.
Li Sui said: "I just saw your servant preparing a gift for Xu Yunzhong."
Zhu Yanyin pulled him to sit on the bedside: "Yes, I ordered it."
Li Sui was unhappy: "Why?"
Zhu Yanyin was stunned by the question. Why? Because I stole a lot of good things from others and I felt guilty about it.
"You also left him two lines of poetry."
“… That’s the name of his shop. I just wrote it down when I remembered it. But at first, when I saw the words he wrote on the bamboo handle, I thought he was a middle-aged man in his fifties. I didn’t expect him to be so young and handsome.”
"You think he's good-looking?"
"Um."
Li Sui grabbed his face ferociously.
Zhu Yanyin realized it later: "Wait a minute, I'll ask for a chance to answer again!"
Li Sui's fingers loosened slightly.
Zhu Yanyin immediately seized the opportunity: "You are so beautiful, how can Xu Gong compare to you."
Li Sui's expression froze.
Zhu Yanyin leaned against him and asked with a smile, "Are you jealous?"
"I don't."
"You have."
"No."
"have."
"… "
"You did. Your ears are red."
Li Sui instinctively raised his hand to touch her, but stopped halfway. Before Zhu Yanyin could deceive him again, he was already pressed between the pillow and the quilt.
Zhu Xiaosui and Zhang Shu have both gone to bed, and no one will come in to disturb them. The candlelight at the bedside flickered, and the light in their eyes flickered along with it. Zhu Yanyin lay on his back on the bed, his legs hanging down, and he felt that his posture was not very graceful. Just as he was about to hesitate and change it, he had already lifted his chin.
"wait-"
He couldn't wait any longer. Li Sui clasped his fingers, lowered his head and blocked all the remaining words.
The kiss was gentle and lingering, not at all as thrilling as in the storybooks. There was no gleaming swords and heavy snow. There was only the entangled breaths and the burning sensation on the ears, and the obvious poor technique of Mr. Zhu. He was so nervous that he even forgot to breathe from time to time. If Li Sui had not patted him on the back, he would have suffocated himself to death.
Li Sui placed his fingertips on his lips and smiled softly.
Zhu Yanyin became more and more confused by his laughter. "You are so charming, so don't laugh so casually. We writers don't have much self-control. We are thinking about Yan Ruyu even when reading a book."
Li Sui asked in his ear: "Should I stay with you tonight?"
I wish Yanyin is still sane. Isn’t it too fast to sleep together now
"OK?"
"Then don't let Uncle Zhang find out."