The setting sun disappeared behind the hills, and dirty old lanterns were hung under the eaves on both sides of the street.
Lu Liangsheng walked along the road leading his old donkey. The remote county in the north had many similarities with Fushui. The knight with a sword hanging from his neck reeked of alcohol and walked along the street carrying a bottle of wine. Passers-by took a look and hurried past.
The vendors packed up the tables, chairs and benches, picked up their loads and prepared to leave. The inn with banners flying was filled with the noise of people. The waiter brought in a table of dishes, walked to the door, pulled off the rag from his shoulder, welcomed two guests, and did not forget to shout a few times outside.
"Guests passing by, take a look and smell it. No one is home, the stove is cold, and the wife has gone back to her parents' home. No one cares. Why not come in and drink some fragrant rice wine and some hot corn rice, which is very comfortable. There are also tender lamb and juicy pork..."
Walking past the inn, Toad Taoist stretched out his upper body, looked at the inn, sniffed hard, and smacked his lips.
"Liangsheng, I think it's getting late now. The streets are so deserted that I won't wander around. Let's find an inn and rest early. We have to travel early tomorrow morning."
The inn was full of guests, and the aroma of wine and food wafted out. Lu Liangsheng's stomach growled twice, and he turned around with a smile to look at the toad on the donkey's head.
"Master, are you hungry too?"
On the donkey's head, Toad Taoist was looking at the plate of meat passed by Xiao Er in the inn. When he heard his disciple's words, he quickly turned his eyes away with a serious expression.
"Look at what the master is doing, how could the master be so unbearable?"
"Actually, I'm hungry too. I haven't had anything hot to eat on the way here. I'm a little greedy after smelling this. Let's stay here tonight. I can also get some wine."
Lu Liangsheng naturally would not point it out. He reached into his sleeve to take out silver and money, and even held on to the toad's webbed feet on the donkey's head. He stared at the dishes being served in the inn and spoke excitedly.
"Master wants to eat braised pork. It would be best if you could also cut a few ounces of tender mutton. It must be steamed. Hard-boiled eggs are also good... Slurp."
Without waiting for his apprentice's reply, Toad turned back anxiously. Lu Liangsheng's smile froze on his face. He took out a purse from his sleeve, and only a few copper coins slipped into his palm from the mouth of the purse.
"Master, we seem to be out of money."
Toad: “…”
When he left home, he had more than thirty taels of silver in his pocket. Lu Liangsheng thought it was enough to spend outside, so he didn't take any money when he went home once.
"I've been to Hegu County, the capital, Heliang Prefecture, and back to the capital. Now I'm going north to stay in hotels, eat, and buy wine. I've spent all my money..."
"Gu~"
The Toad Man stood up, smelled the aroma of food, and swallowed.
"Just use magic to make some silver and eat the meal first."
"You can't do business at a disadvantage."
The scholar was also hungry, but illusions were fake after all. He had never cheated for food and drink, and he didn't have the face to do it. He took out half a cake and stuffed it into the Toad Taoist priest's pocket. He led the old donkey to the eaves of the street not far from the inn, and then took out the four treasures of the study from the bookshelf.
"What are you going to do now?"
Watching his apprentice grind the ink, Toad Taoist held half a cake, chewing it while stretching his head to look.
I saw green ink flowing from the tip of the scholar's pen. After a moment, the old donkey suddenly moved aside. A small flag appeared out of thin air and stuck on the ground. A long table and three rows of calligraphy and painting racks rose from the ground one by one.
"alright."
When Lu Liangsheng put down his last stroke, the four characters "calligraphy and painting flourish" appeared on the banner.
"Instead of cheating and doing something that goes against your conscience, it is better to be self-reliant and feel at ease. Don't you think so, Master?"
He put the pens, ink, paper and inkstone on the long table, and took out a blank scroll from the bookshelf and put it on the table. He unfolded Nie Honglian's scroll and hung it in the most conspicuous position as a sign to attract customers.
"Hong Lian, don't mind it."
In the painting, the woman swinging on the swing blinked.
"As long as you don't really sell me out, that's all."
"snort."
The Toad Taoist was also very hungry, so he sat down against the leg of the table, bit the biscuit, closed his eyes, swallowed it hard, and glanced at the scroll.
"Even if I sell you out, you will come back on your own."
In the painting, Nie Honglian also hummed, swinging on the swing, and looking with her beautiful eyes at the scholar who was busy hanging the paintings.
"The young master is reluctant to do so."
"Don't talk, or you might scare the guests away."
After Lu Liangsheng finished everything, he sat down behind the long table. In his field of vision, the street lanterns were swaying, and it was deserted with few pedestrians. The night wind blew from the street, and a dead leaf swirled and floated past the stall.
"Uh... As people in the monastic life, aren't we a bit miserable?"
The toad held the remaining biscuit and opened one eye.
"Take out the word 'we'."
These words made Hong Lian laugh out loud in the painting. Lu Liangsheng covered his forehead with his hands while laughing, and habitually picked up the black-patterned gourd and shook it in his hand.
"Alas, there is no wine."
As he was lamenting, in the inn near the street, the warm yellow light was shining, and five people walked out arm in arm, staggering and talking and laughing.
"Brother Chongwen has a good alcohol tolerance, he is indeed a northern man!" "That's right, otherwise why would the four of us come to Wang Sheng for help."
"How can you call me Wang Sheng? From now on, the four of us will call you Brother Chongwen!"
"Haha, that's the reason... Brother Chongwen, let me get the lantern, I'll get it!"
Among the four, the man with a light blue scarf on his head had a dignified and elegant appearance. The lantern in his hand that was used to light the way was snatched away by the four people. He wiped his sleeves with some satisfaction and said with a smile:
"The names of the Four Beauties of Southern Township are well-known to me here. Fortunately, my family has quite a bit of land. You four can study here with peace of mind. Take the imperial examinations here next year and don't go back to the Southern Dynasty."
The four of them were suddenly excited.
"Brother Chongwen, you are generous and magnanimous." "Yes, we also have a scholar named 'When in trouble, Lu Lang will help', but he is definitely not as generous and hospitable as Brother Chongwen."
"That Lu Lang is just an emergency helper, Brother Chongwen is like a gurgling spring, quenching our thirst."
Wang Chongwen waved his hands repeatedly after hearing the heavy praise: "I don't deserve such praise." But he couldn't stop smiling.
At this time, the scholar holding the lantern suddenly saw a stall on the street in front of him. He thought it was selling noodles and dog meat for midnight snacks, but when he got closer, he found that it seemed to be selling calligraphy and paintings.
"Brothers, look over there, there are still paintings and calligraphy for sale."
"Haha, it's a good time to go over and taste it."
Wang Chongwen was flattered by the four people and was very excited. He swung his sleeves and walked towards the stall. Sure enough, the simple hanging racks were full of paintings and calligraphy: ferocious beasts, flying birds in the mountains and forests, and there were also many blank scrolls.
The most eye-catching painting was of a beautiful woman sitting on a swing, which made his eyes light up and he couldn't help but give it a thumbs up.
"The painting is great! But it's hard to get people to buy the paintings and calligraphy when I set up a stall to sell them at night."
Behind the long table, Lu Liangsheng saw that there were business opportunities coming, and raised his hands: "You five are here now, feel free to look around, or ask me to paint a picture for you."
He glanced at the five people and saw four scholars standing beside them. He couldn't help but smile and roughly recognized who they were.
However, it was raining and foggy that day, and with umbrellas held, the four scholars felt that Lu Liangsheng looked somewhat familiar, but they could not recognize him as the person who had traveled on the boat with them that day.
Among the four scholars, one of them actually saw the donkey with its bald tail swinging not far away.
"I seem to have seen this donkey somewhere before."
In front of the painting stall, Wang Chongwen stared at Hong Lian's words for a while, then tilted his head and asked:
"How do you sell this painting?"
“This painting is not for sale, and cannot be sold.”
Seeing the scholar's doubts, Lu Liangsheng waved his hand, took down the Honglian scroll, and whispered, "To solicit business."
Hearing this, Wang Chongwen's doubts were immediately dispelled, and he did not force the purchase. Looking at the young man in front of him, who was wearing a dirty and old scholar's robe, he could not help but ask:
"You have good calligraphy and beautiful paintings, but your family has fallen into poverty and you have to sell calligraphy and paintings on the street to make a living? Why don't you come to my house and set up a bed, so that you can study for a good position in peace."
Lu Liangsheng put away the scroll and refused with a smile.
"That's not necessary. Just pick another one."
"That's fine, but if you want your family to prosper, you still have to pass the imperial examinations." Wang Chongwen stopped persuading him. He passed the painting of the ferocious beast and picked up a painting of a bird returning to the forest.
"How much is this one?"
"Sixty-two coins."
It was the price of a room and a meal at the inn over there, but the four scholars over there started shouting:
"This painting of yours is really expensive." "Brother Chongwen, I think you'd better not buy it."
"This scholar is crazy because of poverty."
Lu Liangsheng did not refute, but looked at Wang Chongwen opposite him. There was something on the other's forehead that was invisible to ordinary people, a wisp of black air swirling around. According to the art of observing qi learned in "Qing Huai Bugeng", this was a sign of disaster.
"My dear brother, if you like it, just buy it. You will know later whether it is worth the price or not."
"Superstition, how can we, who are studying, believe it..."
The four scholars wanted to say more but were interrupted by Wang Chongwen. He took out a purse from his sleeve, roughly counted out the copper coins and put them on the table, then took the scroll in his hand.
"That's it, bye!"
Lu Liangsheng watched the five people leave, weighed the string of copper coins on the table in his hand, and then was stunned.
"Seventy cents?"
Looking at the figure that had already disappeared into the distance at the end of the street, he began to laugh.
"If you receive more benefits from others, you should repay their kindness. Well, Master, let's go and take you to have a good meal!"
Under the table, Taoist Toad looked at the string of copper coins in his hand, and the corners of his mouth twitched.
"I have already finished eating the teacher's cake, then you speak."
Hiccup~~
…
Woof woof woof!
Woof woof!
The streets were dark and the sound of dogs barking could be heard in the distance. The five people holding lanterns turned a corner and the surroundings became remote.
"Brother Chongwen, that guy is obviously pretending." "Yeah, a painting is too expensive, it's a rip-off."
"Why don't we just go back and return the painting?"
Wang Chongwen waved his hand nonchalantly, walked among the four people, and looked ahead.
"A scholar who is willing to sacrifice his reputation to sell his calligraphy and paintings on the street must be extremely poor. You and I are both scholars, so it is only right for us to help him."
The four of them immediately cupped their hands.
"Brother Chongwen is right." "Your kindness is a role model for us!"
The moonlight was cold and sprinkled on the street. There was a thin mist and the barking of dogs could be heard faintly in the distance. In the direction where the five people had gone, a slender figure, holding a bundle, was stumbling towards them from afar.