The yellowish autumn leaves swirled and floated to the streets of Gaoling County, and were then pressed to the ground by passing footsteps and cart shafts. The autumn sun was shining brightly. Lu Liangsheng led his old donkey over here, tilted his head to glance at a food shop not far away, patted the donkey's head, and told it to wait there.
At the door of the shop with flags hanging on the wall, a shop assistant was sifting preserved fruits and debris with a winnowing basket. When he saw a scholar in blue coming in, he greeted him with a smile.
"Sir, what would you like to buy? Come in and have a look, come in and have a look!"
He brought the person in with a dustpan, called out "Boss!" and went to put the things aside.
There is a large lacquered round table in the middle of the store, with several plates of preserved fruits and snacks arranged in an exquisite pattern, which is quite eye-catching. On both sides of the long teak racks, various snacks and cakes are arranged in patterns and labeled with simple names.
The waiter waiting on the side pointed at a snack that Lu Liangsheng had just looked at and turned over the paper hanging on one side.
"Sir, this is jujube paste pastry. It is made of oily dough and stuffed with black jujube paste. The chef put a lot of effort into making it. It is very chewy after being fried. Here is a sample. If you don't believe me, try it."
The waiter was quite enthusiastic, and Lu Liangsheng couldn't refuse. He took it, took a bite, and chewed it gently. It had the meaty taste of lard and the sweetness of dates. It was indeed chewy as he said.
"Pack a plate for me to take away."
"Okay!" The waiter quickly wrote it down, and without leaving, he led Lu Liangsheng to look at other desserts and preserved fruits. "From your accent, you seem to be from the south, right? You can try the famous bean curd in Gaoling County. Don't worry, the sugar in it is absolutely pure. There are also biscuits, and the filling inside is cheese. It was just made this morning, so it must be fresh."
"Okay, I'll give you one of each."
"Okay, one portion each of bean curd and biscuit."
The waiter shouted outside the door and went to the back hall. The shopkeeper came out to settle the bill with Lu Liangsheng. When weighing the small change, Lu Liangsheng asked some questions casually.
"Is there a family with the surname Cui in your county?"
The shopkeeper weighed the change, put the remaining money into a bag, and handed it to the scholar. He touched the tip of his beard with a smile on his plump round face.
"Sir, there are many people with the last name Cui in this county. How should I answer this?"
Lu Liangsheng nodded. That was true. There were at least dozens and at most hundreds of people with the same surname in the same city. What's more, it was not a rare surname. Just as he was about to take a few packets of snacks from the waiter coming out of the inner hall, he suddenly remembered what the City God Zhou Yu said that day about having a son in old age.
Then he asked the shopkeeper, "Is there a Cui family in the city who has a son in old age?"
As Cui had a son in his old age, the scope was naturally narrowed a lot. When the shopkeeper put down the account book and thought with a frown, a waiter carrying snacks came up and whispered.
"Shopkeeper, there is such a family, and they often come to our store to buy snacks."
As soon as he was reminded, the round-faced shopkeeper immediately remembered and nodded to Lu Liangsheng.
"Sir, there is indeed a family. They moved here from Gucheng County. They are well-off and often come to my shop to patronize it. Speaking of which, it is quite rare for Mr. Cui to have a son at the age of fifty."
"Boss, can you tell me where the Cui family is located in the city?"
"No, no, I'm a businessman and I can't tell the truth about my old customers. If you want to ask, please go somewhere else."
"Hehe, sorry to bother you then."
Lu Liangsheng was not angry. He thought it was a good thing that the businessman kept his customer's address secret. He took the snacks, bowed and left.
Gaoling County is close to Chang'an, with a prosperous population and a network of streets and alleys that is much larger than Fushui County. There are tall and low buildings with flags hanging on them, and the taverns and teahouses are bustling with people. I was walking along a long and busy street, leading my old donkey, when I saw a Taoist priest coming out of a brothel, waving to a brothel owner with a smile. When I saw Lu Liangsheng standing across the street, I hurried over.
"Found it, here's the address."
"Brothel?"
"Hey, in this place of fireworks, you know all the news as long as you spend money."
The Taoist said "huh" and wrote down the address of Cui's family on a piece of paper. Cui took it, looked at it and said, "Let's go together?"
Sun Yingxian shrugged her shoulders, put her hands behind her head, turned around and walked towards the busy street, waving her hands behind her head.
"No, there's nothing interesting about that old scholar. Even if he was reincarnated as a child, it would be even more boring. I'll just go around and have a look."
"Don't go to the brothel."
After instructing the Taoist, Lu Liangsheng headed in another direction, passing through the prosperous long street. The noise gradually died down. According to the address the Taoist had inquired about, the direction he was heading in was a row of independent courtyards. His mentor was reincarnated into the Cui family. In this life, his father, Cui Rang, was a kind and charitable man, but unfortunately he had no children until he was fifty years old. Later, he prayed on Mount Tai, and his wife became pregnant. Although there were some exaggerations in it, it didn't matter. As long as the mentor was really in this family, it was enough.
Walking along the blue brick paved street, a few old pine branches and leaves poke out from the long courtyard wall. The autumn sunlight shines through the gaps between the trees, dappling on the blue brick stone steps in front of the courtyard gate, making it look quiet and quaint.
'This is it.'
Lu Liangsheng looked up at the gate, which read "Cui's House". Without knocking, he let go of the reins and walked straight through the closed gate in a blur.
The old man as the concierge was sitting on a bench behind the door, shaking his head and humming an opera. A gust of wind blew and he shuddered. He felt his eyes blurred, as if something had passed by. He looked around, but nothing was unusual.
"How strange! I clearly felt like there was something..."
Frowning and muttering to himself, he walked back into the gatehouse. Along the path outside leading to the front yard, Lu Liangsheng was also looking at the house. There were old potted trees, a feng shui screen, and across the front yard, there were also pavilions and small buildings. The whole house looked extremely exquisite.
"Young Master..."
Hearing the maid's voice, Lu Liangsheng stopped. Not far away there was a crescent door. Two maids were jogging and holding kites. Behind them was a child of about four or five years old. She had a small bun and a beautiful face. She was chasing the kite that was floating in the sky but not flying high, and was laughing beautifully.
The little man chasing behind suddenly stopped, as if he felt someone was watching him, and turned his head to look at the crescent gate.
A scholar in a green and white robe stood there, with a gentle look in his eyes and a slow smile on his lips. He walked in and sat down on the stone steps under the eaves.
"Who are you?" The child blinked in confusion. He knew all the servants and relatives in the courtyard, but had never seen this strange scholar. "Are you the gentleman my father invited?"
Under the eaves, Lu Liangsheng smiled and shook his head, just sitting on the stone steps looking at the child, just like when his mentor was standing under the camphor tree in the small courtyard in Fushui County, holding a book and looking at him.
"What's your name?" Lu Liangsheng suddenly asked as the wind rustled through the branches in the yard.
"Why should I tell you?"
The child was like a little adult, with his arms crossed over his chest and his chin raised: "You speak first, then I will speak."
"Me?"
Lu Liangsheng smiled and then replied: "My name is Lu Liangsheng. I came from the south and passed by here to visit an old friend."
"My name is Cui Jue!"
The child was not afraid of him. On the contrary, he felt an inexplicable sense of closeness. He walked over to the other side openly and asked, "Did you see your old friend?"
"I saw him, and he's doing well."
In the distance, the two maids flying kites saw that the young master had not caught up with them. They turned around and saw him standing under the eaves, as if talking to someone. The two maids' faces turned pale immediately. As far as they could see, there was no figure under the eaves at all.
"Young Master, who are you talking to..."
"It can't be..."
The two maids turned their necks with difficulty, looked at each other tremblingly, and took a few cautious steps closer with bitter faces.
"Young Master..."
Hearing the maid's gentle call, Cui Jue turned her little face towards the two of them and asked, "What's the matter?"
"Who... who are you talking to?"
"An older brother." Cui Yu didn't know the age of Lu Liangsheng in front of him, so he raised his little finger to the opposite eaves, "Isn't this him?"
But the two maids could not see any figure in the place he pointed to, and the ground was empty and dark. They were even more certain that the young master had seen something unclean. One of them hurriedly ran towards the Crescent Gate, probably to call the master and the mistress.
"Hey, sister, where are you going?"
Cui Jue called out to the maid who had run away, and when he turned back to talk to the scholar, he found that there was no one under the eaves, only two baskets of beautifully packaged snacks placed there.
"Did you see where that scholar went?"
Behind him, another maid was shaking her head tremblingly. She had only seen the young master talking there alone from beginning to end. Soon, Cui Rang and Liu, who had heard the news, came running, picked up the child and looked around. Seeing that their son was fine, they were relieved and scolded the two maids, telling them that this matter must not be spread.
…
The sun was shining brightly on the street outside. Lu Liangsheng walked through the bustling long street, leading the old donkey out of the city gate and waiting for the Taoist priest outside. He was basking in the sunset, slightly lost in thought.
In the bookshelf compartment, Toad Taoist looked at his disciple who was standing there in a trance and snorted.
"You didn't even bother to show your concern for me."
He threw the booklet in his hand aside, rolled his eyes twice, and suddenly covered his white belly with his hands. He cried out "Ouch" and lay down on his side. Lu Liangsheng, who heard the noise outside, came to his senses, squatted down and looked into the small door. He saw his master rolling on the quilt, covering his belly.
"Master, what's wrong with you?"
"Master, I'm fine, but my stomach suddenly hurts badly." The Toad Taoist opened his eyes slightly and glanced at his disciple outside the door, then continued to turn in one direction.
Seeing his expression and appearance, Lu Liangsheng smiled and reached out to gently rub his white belly.
"Master, how about this?"
The Taoist Toad hummed twice in comfort, and his anger about his disciple leaving him out to visit the reincarnation of the old scholar subsided a lot. He smacked his lips and moved his flippers.
"It's okay. It's okay."
He sat up straight and picked up the tome he had thrown away. "Go out. I still have to finish this Ancient Food Relics. Hmm... Let me think about what else I have eaten..."
As he listened to the conversation, Lu Liangsheng smiled and shook his head. His master was becoming more and more like an old child. His previous thoughts were disrupted, so he stopped thinking and waited for a while until the Taoist came back with some dry food.
He hurriedly put the dry food on the bookshelf and urged Lu Liangsheng to hurry on.
"Hurry up, hurry up, this is enough for us to eat until we get back to Qixia Mountain."
"In such a hurry to go back?"
"Because there are still people waiting..." Sun Yingxian stopped talking, and when her eyes met Lu Liangsheng's, she quickly changed the subject and turned away.
"This is my business, I won't reveal it for now!"
Lu Liangsheng knew what he was thinking and was about to give him some instructions when his body suddenly stiffened and a warm feeling instantly spread throughout his body. He could only see pedestrians talking around him and the Taoist opening and closing his lips but no sound came out.
The whole world seemed to be quiet.
However, a voice came from the direction of Chang'an, majestic and upright.
"Imperial title, Lu Liangsheng of Qixia Mountain, ** Demon Spirit Revealed True Person!"
His robes were puffing up without wind, and a breeze suddenly blew it apart at his side. Sun Yingxian, who had been waving at him, seemed to be hit by something, and stumbled back, covering her head.
Even the toad in the bookshelf pushed open the small door of the compartment, but was pushed back invisibly, stumbling towards the gourd behind it.
Outside the door, I saw a disciple with fluttering hair and robes, surrounded by a thin golden aura.
The Toad Taoist widened his eyes and couldn't help but swear.
"Who the hell gave Liangsheng the title?!"