In the teahouse, there are people playing strings, storytellers, and singers. The tea drinkers are chatting loudly, and the sound of yelling for tea and water delivery is probably a mess for ordinary people, and they can't hear anything clearly. But Mo Chen and Xiaodong were not ordinary people, these noisy and jumbled voices could be heard clearly in different layers, far and near, and each sound could be heard clearly.
The tune plucked from the strings was Sighing at the Three Watches, and the storyteller was telling a story about the generals attacking the city during the founding of the country. Some of the tea drinkers were locals, and some were from here, with mixed accents from north to south.
Xiaodong can't multi-task, and often concentrates on listening to one voice, ignoring other voices. But Mo Chen is different, he can hear everything he wants to hear without confusion.
There are all kinds of people in the teahouse, those who don’t have much money and love to sit downstairs, those who have a little spare money, those who have a bit of status sit upstairs, even those who have no money to come in and rest at the door, and drink two bowls of hot tea for one penny outside People are poor. These people had no money and didn't go to the teahouse for entertainment, but they were still cheerful, talking loudly, foaming at the mouth, and regardless of whether the people around them knew each other or not, they called themselves brothers and sisters. But after drinking the tea and wiping their mouths, they went their separate ways.
Xiaodong was peeling Luo Handou. The luohan beans were boiled to a high temperature, but the skin was too hard, and he would twist the skin off every time he ate it.
But Mo Chen pointed his fingers at him, signaling him to pay attention to what the idlers downstairs said.
"... Don't you think it's strange? That road was often used in the past, and the delivery of goods and food was smooth. Since the Chinese New Year, it has been blocked. After walking for a long time, I found that it was still in place. I didn't dare to move. Go forward, just turn around and come back. Some people don’t believe in evil, and they are still going around there when it’s getting dark, guess what?”
The person next to him asked, "What's going on?"
"People are gone."
"Dead?"
The man earlier said in a low voice, "either dead or gone. Later, someone went to look for it, and said that the goods were there, the cart was there, and even the horses that pulled the cart were found not far away. They were all fine. People disappear out of thin air. This is not to see people alive, but not to see dead bodies... "
"Hey, isn't this the legendary ghost hitting the wall?"
Xiaodong could hear clearly, but for a moment he didn't understand why the elder brother asked him to pay attention to what these people said. Ninety percent out of ten of this kind of mountain ghost stories are false, many of them are false rumors, and some are bragging, only the remaining insignificant 10% may be true, but it may not be all ghosts.
"A lot of things can be heard from these people's words." Mo Chen pointed him out: "The weather, local customs, and what they saw and heard on the road are often mentioned in this kind of chat. You can identify a lot of useful information from them."
"But... these people like to brag, can they believe what they say?"
"After a long time, you will be able to tell which ones are true and which ones are false." Mo Chen can teach his juniors a lot of things, but some things need to accumulate experience, which cannot be taught, and need to make a clear judgment by himself.
This last point is the most critical. Sitting in a teahouse for a while, as long as you have a little foundation and a little bit of hearing and eyesight, you can collect hundreds of pieces of news, large and small, if you put them all in your heart, your head will become a mess. Can't figure it out. At the beginning, it is definitely not clear which ones are useful and which ones are not, but after a long time, you will naturally know it.
"Is it true what they say about ghosts hitting the wall?"
"Probably not."
Since the elder brother said no, it must not be. As for why not, this Xiaodong didn't get to the bottom of it. The elder brother took him out for a walk, and taught him some ways to collect and distinguish news. He was in a very good mood at the moment, and he really didn't want to waste time around this ghost who didn't know the truth.
The teahouse is facing the street, and Xiaodong and the others are seated by the window, so people walking downstairs can see clearly.
Because Xiejiazhuang held a happy event, the two streets in the south city were filled with joy and became more lively than usual. Someone brought a big basket outside the gate of Xie's house, and there were white flour meat buns in it. As long as someone came over to say congratulations, they could get two meat buns. Such a good deed attracted many people. Although it is said that the meat buns are not worth much, they can't hold much, how many buns do they have to send out this day
It can be seen that Zhuangzhu Xie is looking forward to having a daughter, and he is so happy that he can't take care of his usual low-key and cautious.
"Eldest brother, are those two people our... fellows?"
Mo Chen had already seen the two people coming from the north, and nodded to confirm Xiaodong's judgment: "That's right. Did you see it?"
"Well, it can be seen that it is different from ordinary people."
What is different, he is not very clear. At first glance, the clothes are similar to ordinary people, and the half-worn clothes are not conspicuous. Taking a closer look, I feel that the eyes, expressions, and walking postures are a little different from ordinary people.
"They also went to Xiejiazhuang?"
"Probably so. Although Master Xie has given up on cultivating Taoism, and his sons are not good at appearance, there are always some old connections."
Xiaodong asked in a low voice, "Why did Master Xie give up cultivating Taoism?"
From Xiaodong's point of view, this matter is too strange. What people are striving for is longevity, to be able to transcend the pain of birth, old age, sickness and death in the world. Once on this path, very few people will voluntarily quit unless they die. Everyone is striving to move forward on this road, and of course there are some people who are not so concerned about gains and losses, such as Hu Zhenren, who in the eyes of others is a first-class person who "doesn't think about making progress". But if you want to give up the road and go back to be a mortal, then Xiaodong really hasn't heard much.
"Xie Zhuangzhu... Well, he didn't do it voluntarily, as long as you know it."
"Oh I see."
If it is not voluntary, then there are difficulties. If you want to change someone, you are forced to give up the way of cultivating Taoism and seeking immortality. Maybe you will never recover from it. Master Xie is still living such a good life, marrying a wife and having children, revitalizing the family business, and throwing a big banquet in order to win a daughter. The open-mindedness of the state of mind is really incomparable to ordinary people.
Moreover, Zhuangzhu Xie has a wide range of friends. From the many guests who came to congratulate Xiejiazhuang for this wedding, it can be seen that he is really popular.
Xiaodong felt that although Master had few friends, one of them counted as one, and they were all worthy of respect. Like that sword idiot Senior Liu, Master Hu of Tianji Mountain, City Lord Song of Beifu City, and this Lord Xie Zhuang, they are all extraordinary.
When they left the teahouse and returned to Xiejiazhuang, they felt a little strange when they arrived at the door.
The servants who were handing out steamed buns when they left were no longer at the door, and the door was no longer open, it was closed tightly, leaving only one side door open.
It's still too early for the sun to set, why... Could something happen in the village? (to be continued)