Two sets of jet-black coffins were secretly put into a bowl of noodle shop overnight.
Yu Jinnian looked down at Bai Haitang lying in the coffin, and thought, what he was most worried about finally happened. Actors and scholars are inherently unequal. Bai Haitang has always been sensitive and considers herself inferior to others. Later, when she suffers from an unspeakable disease such as bayberry sore, she falls into an inextricable cowardly depression.
He was always worried that Bai Haitang would not be able to figure this out, and that he had gotten into his own horn. It's just that no one expected that in the end, Bai Haitang, who seemed to have resigned herself to everything, would choose such a path after all.
When Duan Ming was helping to carry the coffin in, he accidentally pricked his hand with a wooden thorn on the edge, and was forbidden by Yu Jinnian to touch Bai Haitang again, so he had to carry the unconscious Su Ting instead. Shi rolled down from Su Ting's waist.
It was a small medicine bottle.
A corner of the medicine bottle was broken, and it rolled to Yu Jinnian's feet and did not move. He picked it up and looked at it, and there was a small snow-white pill inside. Ji Hong took it, his expression also changed slightly.
Yu Jinnian has been a doctor for many years, so it can be seen that Ji Hong is in a high position and often comes into contact with this thing. Both of them knew that this white pill was not a panacea, but a deadly poison, arsenic.
Ji Hong said: "Did you take poison?"
Yu Jinnian sniffed the elixir carefully again, and Ji Hong was so frightened that he wanted to grab it, so he snatched the bottle away, and then heard the young man say: "It's not just arsenic, there are other medicinal materials, I'm afraid it's rumored in the market. Bai Dan, which cures bayberry sores, says that white arsenic can fight poison with poison."
Since ancient times, there have been many alchemy doctors and Taoists who advocate fighting poison with poison. The theory of arsenic driving plum blossoms has its own truth, but there may be famous doctors who know its true meaning, but most of them are mediocre people who dare to make alchemy without a half-knowledge. Mercury, alum, and cinnabar black mercury are used in medicine and turned into pills. If you are not careful, it is a product that seeks wealth and death, not to mention refining such a large dose of white arsenic into a pill.
Yu Jinnian spat angrily: "This thing is causing endless harm!"
He was about to throw away the elixir, but was stopped by Ji Hong. He didn't know what Ji Hong meant, and thought that the other party had his own way to deal with it, so he didn't bother, but took it out later. A few soft hand towels, soaked in water.
The appearance of dying from taking poison is not very good-looking, and arsenic poisoning is the ugliest kind. Bai Haitang loved beauty before he was alive, and he was ashamed to see people even with a sore on his face. Naturally, he shouldn't be dirty at this time Walk.
Yu Jinnian carefully and slowly wiped Bai Haitang's face, it took several towels to wipe it off because it was all the dirty blood from the broken pores, but even though his face was a little cleaner, his complexion was still unsightly. Good-looking, slightly bluish, obviously poisoned.
He threw the blood-stained towel into an unused porcelain basin, told Duan Mingduan to go out and burn it directly, while he washed his hands, went to ask Qing Huan for a box of white powder and rouge, and lightly cleaned Bai Haitang. , After the decoration is complete, it looks like it has fallen asleep peacefully, so it doesn't make people so uncomfortable.
Yu Jinnian lay beside the coffin, looked at it quietly for a while, and said in a low voice, "Oh, how dare you have such courage."
But it is ignorant and reckless courage, which is really the opposite, fighting the fire with a salary, running in the opposite direction. He remembered that when he was sick in the previous life, even though it was very painful, he never wanted to die because he still had concerns. But isn't there Bai Haitang, or is it because of Su Ting's concern that he made such a choice
Ji Hong couldn't bear it, he came over and squeezed Yu Jinnian's shoulder, and sighed softly: "Let Duan Ming guard here, go back and rest for a while, there will be trouble tomorrow."
"En." In response to the words, Yu Jinnian still stayed with Bai Haitang beside the coffin for a while, until his legs were numb, he stood up with Ji Hong's arm, and went back to the room with him to rest. Before leaving, he took out a white silk handkerchief from his sleeve, covered Bai Haitang's face, and said sadly: "Haitang, Haitang, if you haven't gone far, if you persuade Su Ting in your dream, don't let him He did something stupid too!"
Because there were two sets of coffins parked in the front hall, no one could sleep soundly that night.
Su Ting had a nightmare all night, but his body was heavy, he was extremely tired, and it was also extremely painful. Therefore, even if he replayed the scene of taking Bai Haitang's medicine over and over again in his dream, his dream would break his heart. , and never woke up.
It was like a torture, which tortured him until he was exhausted. At the top of the sun, Su Ting suddenly opened his eyes panting heavily.
"Begonia!" He yelled and sat up, only to realize that he seemed to be in a long and narrow box. When he realized what it was, he turned his head and saw another coffin lined up next to it.
A bowl of noodle shop was not opened, and the few people got up early and couldn't eat anything, so they each ate a bowl of porridge. Qing Huan took a rag and silently wiped the tables and chairs. Leaning on Ji Hong's body to take a nap. Ji Hong stroked his hair time after time, which made every bone of Yu Jinnian tired and unable to lift his energy. However, he was startled by Su Ting's cry, and he had to open his eyes.
No one moved, they just watched Su Ting turn over from the coffin where he had slept all night, and fell to the ground, then got up to look at Bai Haitang, he seemed to be awake, neither yelling nor yelling, I just knelt beside the coffin and watched quietly for a long time.
"Su Ting..."
Yu Jinnian was a little worried. He just got up and walked in front of him, when he suddenly heard him smile, and he didn't know who he was talking to: "He's so pretty, isn't he? He sewed this wedding dress himself for me to wear. look."
Su Ting stretched out his hand, wanting to touch Bai Haitang's face, but his fingertips only touched a patch of ice.
He withdrew his hand and began to cry silently.
Whether penniless or working as a coolie, Su Ting never thought of giving up, even if he knew that Bai Haitang's illness might not get better, even if he guessed it was bayberry sore, so what. He doesn't need to sleep in the same bed, he doesn't want anything, as long as the two of them love each other and raise their eyebrows, isn't that okay? Su Ting leaned his head against the edge of the coffin, as if his body had no strength to support him, and murmured: "Why does he take this medicine..."
Tomorrow's days gradually settled down, and obviously everything would be fine, he and Haitang just went to see the lanterns, crossed the three bridges together to get rid of all kinds of illnesses, and even drank together to watch the moon, how did they suddenly-
In fact, Su Ting understood it in his heart, but it was precisely because he understood that it was even more unacceptable.
It's not me who can't hold on, but Haitang. Bai Haitang wanted him to give up too, and wanted to see him get married and have a family full of children and grandchildren.
He carried Haitang all the way last night, telling himself not to cry in front of Haitang, but now he couldn't bear it any longer. He looked up at Yu Jinnian, his tears seemed to burst a dam, his lips trembled and asked: " Why, why can't he wait a little longer? I will save money, treat his illness, buy him a big house, buy a lot of servants to line up and call him 'Madam Su'. Even if his illness will be cured in this life No, I'll take care of him for the rest of his life...why can't he trust me just once?"
"How did he know that without him, I would marry someone else and have a child? Why should he decide for me?!" Unable to yell out, and unable to swallow, Su Ting stared so hard that his voice was hoarse .
Speaking of which, Su Ting is about the same age as Min Mao, but the difference in circumstances makes the two people very different. Yu Jinnian's pretense of being steady on weekdays almost made Yu Jinnian forget the fact that he hadn't actually reached the championship. Yu Jinnian couldn't help but think of Su Ting being caught among a group of ghosts exorcising Nuo on the twenty-fourth day before the year. A little shy.
Without Bai Haitang, Su Ting seemed to be shattered in an instant. He questioned Yu Jinnian, but Yu Jinnian couldn't answer, and the person who could really answer him could never open his eyes again. All he could do was to get closer and let Su Ting come in and cry.
After a while, the sobbing gradually subsided. Yu Jinnian patted Su Ting's back as if coaxing a baby. Seeing that he seemed to be exhausted from crying and passed out, he waved his hand and called Duan Ming to come over. There is a floor bunk in the front hall, and Fu Suting goes to sleep there.
Because the knife and bell on his waist jingled while walking, Yu Jinnian was afraid of disturbing Su Ting, so he had to take down the machete and put it on the cabinet.
The New Year's Eve is not yet over, but the vegetables in a bowl of noodle shop are almost eaten. Yu Jinnian flipped through the storage and found that they were all bacon and salted fish. He guessed that Su Ting was not in the mood to indulge in fish and meat, so he only cut one A small piece of bacon, ready to chop up later and cook a bacon porridge. Qing Huan came in to help wash the dried shrimps, and endured until the japonica rice was put into the pot, and the bacon and dried dried shrimps floated up and down in the rice soup, then she looked at Yu Jinnian hesitantly and said, "Brother Nian, how long will the coffin... how long will it last? We're just a restaurant, and it's always in the front hall, isn't it... "
"Oh, I know." Yu Jinnian made white rice flour and glutinous rice flour, sighed and said, "You have seen Su Ting's appearance too... let's talk about it when he wakes up." He boiled brown sugar water to make a brown sugar muffin , People say that sweets make people feel better, I hope it is true.
Yu Jinnian carefully poured the brown sugar water into the rice noodles, stirred and sifted it meticulously, but he didn't know that Su Ting had woken up. He didn't fall asleep either, but he was extremely tired and wanted to escape. At this moment, he opened his eyes and looked at the beam above his head, and couldn't help but think of Bai Haitang, thinking about those questions he didn't have time to ask Bai Haitang.
Su Ting sat up, turned around and saw the scimitar on the cabinet, he walked over in a daze, grabbed the handle of the knife, and slowly pulled it out.
There was a cold light, and suddenly someone behind him said: "Want to die?"
He was startled, and the knife slipped out and hit his feet. Ji Hong walked out slowly from the shadow, bent down to pick up the knife, wiped it clean with the lapel of his clothes, put the knife back into its sheath, and said, "This The knife is an auspicious knife, which bears the fate of marriage, and should not be used to see blood."
Su Ting: "..."
"Do you know why there are two sets of coffins?" Ji Hong asked, Su Ting looked up at him without saying a word. He smiled, took out the medicine bottle from his sleeve, and shook it in front of Su Ting's eyes: "It's easy to die for love, why don't you think about what you want to tell him first, so as not to be poor in the future. Just say... sorry, I live I can't go on anymore, I won't accomplish anything in my life, so I'm willing to rot in the ground with you."
He put the medicine bottle in the empty coffin and was about to leave when Su Ting said weakly, "I don't know what's the point of being alive."
Ji Hongdao: "Since it's boring, the world is hell, so why bother to seek death? Su Ting, look for it slowly. If one day, you find the meaning of living, you will be qualified to die. If you spend your whole life looking for No, wait until the end of life, then go down and tell him—you see, living is really meaningless.”
Yu Jinnian came out with bacon porridge and brown sugar sponge cake, and heard this sentence too. If you don't want to live, you don't need to die. When you want to live, you will naturally stop thinking about death. After all, death is impossible. This is not consolation, but complete sophistry.
But it seemed that Su Ting was taken aback by this absurd statement.
He was worrying about how to persuade Su Ting, but he didn't expect Ji Hong to open his mouth and calm him down.
After all, he was young, fresh green onions were no match for old ginger.
Su Ting ate a bowl of porridge, ate a brown sugar muffin, climbed into the coffin and fell asleep, and fell asleep completely upside down. In the dead of night, Yu Jinnian had just closed his eyes when he heard a loud noise in the front hall. He was so frightened that he hurriedly got up and rushed out to have a look, only to see that the store door was wide open and a coffin lid was pushed down on the ground.
Yu Jinnian ran to Bai Haitang's coffin and took a look inside: "It's gone!"
Not long after, Duan Ming came back from the outside and said: "Young master told me that if Mr. Su makes any moves, there is no need to stop him. I didn't stop him, but followed from a distance. He said he wanted to take Bai Haitang home... call me Do not follow."
Yu Jinnian was a little worried, and wanted to go to the back alley of the theater to have a look.
Ji Hongdao: "Give him some time, he has to choose by himself after all, that is his good fortune."
—
The next day, in the name of buying vegetables, Yu Jinnian sneaked to the back alley of the theater to take a look, and found that the small courtyard was empty, only chickens and ducklings were left screaming, and there was unfinished rice in the pot. , the bedding on the bed was not folded, and there were bamboo strips on the table that were used to tie lanterns during the Lantern Festival. There are many more gadgets in the room than when Yu Jinnian first came here, which should have been added later.
It is still very barren, but it can be seen that there is some smoke and fire in life.
Su Ting has gone and there is no news.
The two coffins were useless, so Duan Ming chopped them for firewood, cleaned up a bowl of noodle shop, and reopened it. The diners saw that their complexions were a little rosier than before, and their faces were all beaming. The children of rich families After eating too much oil and water, he naturally cared about the poor people who opened shops like them, and even gave a few extra coins as rewards.
Min Xuefei started to prepare for his return to Beijing. He was very skilled in everything, and he rarely came to a noodle shop to find Yu Jinnian. Min Mao was always pestering Ji Hong, wishing to follow him into the room and meet him, Ji San The older brothers ate and lived together, so that when Yu Jin wanted to make out with Ji Hong at night, he had to check to see if there was anyone squatting outside the window.
At the end of the first lunar month, some nobles in the city invited the Taoist priests from the Sanxing Temple in the neighboring prefecture to do a feast, and the horses and horses were like dragons, and they entered the city mightily. It was lively for a while, and all the restaurants and restaurants in the city were also busy.
Today, a few juniors from your family heard the reputation of Yiwan Noodle Restaurant, but they didn’t think their shop was small, so they yelled and booked Yiwan Noodle Restaurant, and they brought their own servants and maids. , glass lung, soup made of gold and jade, order golden milk crisps... Yu Jinnian was so busy that he didn't even have a chance to catch his breath. Fortunately, no matter how tricky they were, they were just a few young boys who wanted to show off their wealth and status.
If it is said that the real wealthy family is currently nesting in the kitchen to help him light the fire!
After being busy for a while, Yu Jinnian was still able to go to the front, pretending to tidy up the counter, but actually listening to the actresses singing.
The singers at the banquet had soft and clear voices, soft and mellow, and they sang comfortably. A carriage stopped outside the shop while they were speaking, and a graceful figure stepped down from the curtain with delicate hands. Yu Jinnian glanced at it from a distance, and his eyes almost fell out of his sockets. If the other party hadn't approached and saw his true face clearly, Yu Jinnian almost thought he saw Bai Haitang.
It's just that she's much younger, and compared to Bai Haitang, she's a little more charming and less clear, her eyes are naturally charming, completely different from Bai Haitang's eyes, which are shimmering and affectionate.
When he came back to his senses, Yu Jinnian fiddled with his abacus, and heard the group of young masters shouting, "Xiao Lanxiang!"
"Come here, give my brother a few clear ears." One of them laughed, "This is the most popular actress in the city, Xiao Lanxiang, but it's hard to get a lot of money! This voice is so soft that it can squeeze out water."
"Hey, who was that pillar of yours before? I heard it once, and it was really lingering for three days..." The other person said, waving his fan, picking Xiao Lanxiang's chin, and asked casually, "Where did he go?"
Xiao Lanxiang sat beside her, holding a pipa with her blushing face, pursing her thin lips and saying "I don't know".
Gently kneading with fingertips and slowly twisting, the sound of the pipa is lingling, he opened his mouth and sang lovesickness without revealing, and he will never lose his bosom friend.
On the stage, there are branches and graves together, and off the stage, socializing according to the custom, how many people can hear the news. A white crabapple was gone, and it disappeared in a blink of an eye. There was a sound of gongs on the stage, and there were so many peonies and peonies of various colors. One by one, they rushed to bloom and thank each other. Remember them all.
It's the most joyful to act on the spot, but those who really pay attention are pierced through the heart and disappeared.
The day when the firewood for the coffin was completely burned was the second day of February, and Qianlong ascended to the sky.
Yu Jinnian opened the store door, and saw a long-lost figure standing in front of the door. I don't know how long this person stood there, his shoulders were already wet with dew. In February, the morning wind was still chilly, and he was alone, his face pale with cold, in plain clothes and thin clothes. Yu Jinnian hurriedly went back to the room to get a thin blanket, and went out to put it on the other party.
Half a month later, he seemed to be more depressed, the corners of his eyes were slightly red, and he was carrying a bamboo stick on his back.
Up to now, Yu Jinnian couldn't say anything, but he was relieved to see him back, and asked, "You're back? It's so cold, why don't you go home first."
"Everywhere is home." Su Ting said.
Everywhere is home, which means that there is no home anywhere.
Su Ting took off the bamboo stick on his back with caress, and took out a porcelain jar from it, it was very small and couldn't hold much. He was holding the thing, his expression was as usual, but the circles of his eyes were redder, perhaps because no one had told him for too long, when he looked up at Yu Jinnian, there was a lot of sadness and grievance in his eyes that he didn't know. It means... burn him. He will never go down with his illness again. I also took him around. I took him to see a few places he wanted to go but failed. The plum blossoms on Quwu Mountain are blooming very well."
Therefore, what is contained in the porcelain jar is the remaining bones of the white crabapple.
Su Ting said again: "I originally wanted to keep a small piece for thinking about it, but I was afraid that without a piece, Haitang would not be able to reincarnate. If he wanders around and becomes a ghost, I will be punished."
"No." Yu Jinnian felt his eyes a little sore, "No, keep it if you want. You... you come in for some breakfast?"
Su Ting shook his head, and said a little embarrassedly: "I'm still standing here, it's unlucky to go in."
Yu Jinnian didn't care about such things at first, but in the end he dragged Su Ting in. Today, February 2nd, it's time to eat Longxu noodles. Yu Jinnian made some yesterday and left them to dry. Today, I took a handful and boiled them in boiling soup.
Back in the front hall, Su Ting was still sitting at the table holding his porcelain pot, as if he was thinking about something, until the smell of scallion oil rushed into his nose, he moved his eyes.
Yu Jinnian pushed the noodle bowl towards him, and handed over the chopsticks: "Let's eat first, have you decided what to do in the future?"
"Little genius doctor." Su Ting mustered up his courage and said, "Can I learn medical skills from you..."