The morning light passed through the clouds and sprinkled all over the streets and alleys. The bamboo forest in the quiet courtyard swayed gently, and the yellowish bamboo leaves fluttered and fell like a small boat. The toad walked out of the toilet holding a mobile phone, stepped on the bamboo leaves and walked into the eaves. Hearing the sound of the door opening, he raised his face, and a big foot stepped out and reflected in his eyes, and then zoomed in!
With a snap, Old Sun rushed out of the room, holding the hem of his robe and hurried to the toilet. He slammed the toilet door shut with another bang. Under the eaves, the Toad Taoist was lying there with his long tongue hanging from his mouth, his limbs twitching slightly, and his toad eyes were staring at the fluorescent screen without blinking, showing someone teaching how to cook delicious food.
"Why hasn't Liangsheng come back yet... Didn't you say there were soup dumplings... "
The disciple that Toad was thinking about went out early at dawn. He basically went out for a stroll these days. Occasionally, Toad Taoist or Old Sun would follow him, but most of the time he was alone. If the weather was good, he would often go to the stone bridge by the river, watch others play chess and bask in the sun. Lu Liangsheng even felt that he was a bit like Lu Taigong of the past, living the life of an old man.
The morning sun shone on the eucalyptus trees by the river, and in the sound of the rustling, Lu Liangsheng could hear a group of old men gathered at the bridge not far away, shouting and playing chess. He simply took out "Boundless Mountains and Seas" and looked through it. He used his magic power to probe into the painting, trying to find out why it couldn't be opened. He subconsciously reached out to grab the water beside him, but unfortunately there was no tea.
… It’s time to conjure up a cup of tea.
Lu Liangsheng was just thinking about it. There were many people here, and there were no teahouses. It was a bit abrupt for him to drink tea suddenly. He moved his body and sat under the treetop with mottled light. He pulled out his magic power like a silk thread and slowly reached into the book, thinking carefully.
Know… Know…
Know…
The river breeze blew over my white shirt. The treetops swayed gently overhead, and the cicadas chirped in bursts. Suddenly, a voice came to my ear: "There are not many young people who can read books with peace of mind nowadays."
Lu Liangsheng maintained his magic power and looked to the side. An old man in a morning exercise jacket, with a clean-shaven face, stood there in high spirits, with a chessboard under his arm. He came over with a smile and glanced at the book in Lu Liangsheng's hand.
"Boundless Mountains and Seas? What kind of book is this? This is the first time I've seen it. Can you let me take a look?"
The scholar had seen the old man in front of him before. He often played chess with others at the bridge. He didn't know if he came late today and couldn't find any chess friends, so he came over because he saw the old man sitting here reading a book. However, since they were both book lovers, Lu Liangsheng naturally would not refuse. He retracted his magic power, cast a sleight of hand to cover the moving picture, straightened the corners of the book, and handed it over with both hands.
"Why not? If the old man likes it, just take it and have a look. It's just some ordinary paintings."
Seeing this subtle movement, the old man smiled even more. He quickly put down the chessboard, carefully took it with both hands, and gently stroked the cover. When he touched the cover, he felt a simple and ancient texture, and couldn't help but praise it.
"People nowadays say that the more exquisite and gorgeous the book cover is, the better the book is. It is rare to know that this is the favorite of people like me who love books."
I don't know if the old man understands painting. He turned the pages of the book, staring at the mountains, rivers, ferocious beasts, and market scenes outlined in blue ink without blinking. He read in silence for a while before closing the book and returning it to Lu Liangsheng.
"It's not a bad thing to like reading, but it's not very interesting to just look at paintings. You might as well find some ancient texts."
Lu Liangsheng just smiled. He was an ancient man. After all, he was tired of reading books from that time. He just wanted to read some modern literary works. Unfortunately, there was no bookstore nearby and the place where the books were kept was inside the school, so he was not allowed to enter.
"You must be joking, old man. I'm not a book lover. I just like reading. I wanted to go to the school library recently, but unfortunately the guard wouldn't let me in."
The old man looked at the handsome scholar, gentle and polite, and did not respond. He took the chessboard and waved it: "The ancients said that a gentleman knows the six arts. Why don't you play a game with me?"
Uh... Lu Liangsheng still didn't understand some aspects of chess at this time. It was different from the chess he played back then.
He stared at the chessboard for a moment, then looked at the sky and declined for the time being.
"It's getting late today. I have to go back, or someone will go hungry."
This time it was the old man's turn to be stunned, but he didn't say anything more. He looked at the young man who stood up and said goodbye with a book in his hand, frowning slightly. Could it be that he was from a poor family, or had a patient at home who needed care
Subconsciously, I turned my eyes and looked in the direction of the school. This kid loves books and wants to go to the library. Is it to fulfill his love of reading? Or is it to study
Lu Liangsheng, who had left, naturally had no idea what the old man who was constantly imagining was thinking. On the way back, when he returned to Ningtian Lane, he knew there was a breakfast shop nearby. He had eaten there once before and the taste was not bad. When he went there, there were already more than ten people queuing in front of the shop waiting to buy soup dumplings. Most of them were people who worked nearby, and there were also elderly people queuing up to bring some back to their families.
When it was time for Lu Liangsheng, the shop owner saw him and called out with a smile, "Handsome Lu is here." There were only two baskets left, so he packed them together and also took three bowls of porridge together. When counting the money, he found two yuan was missing, but the shop owner didn't want them and just tied the bag and handed it to Lu Liangsheng.
"Take it. No need to look for it. I knew you would come. I prepared these for you."
"Okay, I won't be pretentious. I just wish the master a prosperous business."
Lu Liangsheng took the bag, thanked him, and walked into the alley. The chef was busy collecting the empty cages with a smile. A customer inside smiled and said, "Can we take a little less?"
Others followed suit.
"Yes, everyone else can get a discount, and we have been customers for at least ten years."
"Master, do you think he's handsome and want to find a boyfriend for your daughter?"
"Hey, having food can't stop you from eating, and my daughter won't have trouble finding a husband." The shopkeeper put down the empty cage and turned around to smile at them, "But if you dare to live in the Wu family's yard, I won't make money from you."
"That guy just now is the new one who moved in? He's really brave."
"I also heard from my wife at home that she saw a young man coming out of the yard that day. Tsk tsk... He was cheated by the agent again. I don't know how long he can hold on."
"What do ghosts look like?"
"The Wu family's daughter-in-law looks like that. But hanging is definitely not a good look."
Although they seemed to be chatting and joking in a relaxed manner, several diners in the restaurant had unhappy expressions on their faces, especially after they heard faintly the shrill cry of a ghost a few days ago. The ghost shouted a few words, then finished his food in silence, paid and left in a hurry.
…
"Master! Lao Sun, come over and eat your buns."
Lu Liangsheng greeted the neighbors nearby, pushed open the gate and went in, shouted into the house, closed the gate, walked into the house and put the breakfast on the round table, shouted again into the bedroom, and Toad Taoist rushed out hurriedly, jumped onto the round table, rummaged through the bags, and threw his cell phone over.
"Master, you don't want to play anymore?" Lu Liangsheng took the phone.
Over there, the Toad Taoist bit open a soup dumpling, gulped down a mouthful, burped comfortably, then slowly tore off the dough and put it into his mouth, chewing and saying:
"Someone just sent you a message, asking for a favor."
Lu Liangsheng looked at the phone in his hand and frowned.
"The one called Gao Tianqiu?"
"If not him, who else could it be? I can hear the old toad yelling from across the toilet." Outside the house, in the toilet on the other side, the Taoist came out with a calm face, put his cell phone in his pocket, went to the well to wash his hands, shook off the water stains, wiped his body casually, walked over, picked up a bun and put it into his mouth.
"They asked you to help them. Bring someone over this afternoon to identify the situation."