Dusk.
The setting sun is shining, and the mood of autumn is getting stronger.
The official road in the south of Luoyang City has been empty of pedestrians for a long time.
Until the sound of horse hooves sounded...
I saw two horses riding side by side from a distance.
There were three people riding on those two horses: Sun Yixie, Huang Donglai, and Chunkong.
Because Sun Yixie had to carry a lot of heavy luggage and it was inconvenient to have a trident on his back, Chunkong, who was "hitting the wind horse", rode with Huang Donglai. Fortunately, this little monk was not fat, and he had very little luggage. Carrying such a person along for a short distance would not affect their itinerary.
For Chunkong, coming to Luoyang may not be a big deal. Even if he doesn't find anyone willing to take him with him, it won't take him a few days to walk there.
But for Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai, coming here is not easy.
Although Huang Donglai’s journey from Shuzhong to Hangzhou a few months ago was longer, at that time he arrived in Jiangnan by high-speed rail bus. Along the way, he only looked at the scenery on both sides of the official road. The scenery was just eating and sleeping in the inn, with almost nothing interesting happening.
The journey between him and Sun Yixie from Hangzhou to Luoyang was different. In less than a month, they met all kinds of strange people and strange things, and formed several friendships. Duan Enqiu; this... is the feeling of "walking in the world".
…………
After entering the city, the two immediately felt the difference between Luoyang and other places.
The city was very lively.
Although the roads outside the city were already empty of pedestrians at this time, the main road inside the city was decorated with lights and colorful and crowded with people.
And the further you go to the center of the city, the more people gather; from vendors selling things, performers, to various shops that don’t close even after dark, and pedestrians who linger. ...It seems that the whole city is in a state of "nightlife" that is very rare in Dashu.
Based on previous years, only the three or four days before and after the Mid-Autumn Festival could such a scene occur in Luoyang City. Even in the year when the "Young Heroes Association" was held, it would be extended to about seven days at most.
However... this year, Master Shen of the Zhengyi Gate in Luoyang seems to want to make this event grander and longer than before, so he has already heated up the people in the city more than ten days in advance. atmosphere.
Don’t think this is an easy task. Just the lanterns and lanterns on both sides of the city’s main roads are a huge expense; there are also the “overtime pay” for vendors and shops. The "protection fee" from the gangsters in the city to help maintain order, the "management fee" from the government to give you the green light for nightlife, etc., this night market like a celebration... money from the Justice Gate is not burned every day.
Of course, this kind of excitement is also good for them.
As mentioned earlier, it is not easy to run a sect with more than a hundred members. If you want this sect to undertake this kind of event that lasts for nearly half of the time in addition to daily life,Months of large-scale activities will further test the overall strength of your sect.
In addition to having money, the coordination ability of the management within the sect, the scheduling ability of the middle level, and the execution ability of the grassroots are all very important.
When you do things neatly and gracefully, you are equivalent to showing your strength to your martial arts colleagues; and the things your sect accomplishes will also become things you can use when dealing with other people in the future. Talk about intangible assets.
Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai are both people who like to cause trouble. They were attracted by this night market as soon as they entered the city. In addition, they finally arrived at their destination and could breathe a sigh of relief. Therefore, the two Everyone seemed to be in high spirits, as if most of the fatigue from the journey had disappeared.
But Chunkong is different from them. He is a monk, and he pays attention to a pure heart and few desires. This time, if the Shaolin Temple had not received an invitation from the Justice Sect and asked Chunkong to come by name, Chunkong would I never thought about joining any boy hero meeting.
Therefore, Chunkong was completely uninterested in joining in the fun; after entering the city, he thanked Sun and Huang for their "favour", and then said goodbye in a hurry, holding His master's handwriting went to the White Horse Temple to "register orders".
Of course, it’s okay that he’s gone...
On the way from Songshan, Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai also chatted with him, and found that this guy was very serious; in their eyes, Chunchong was like a kid. The dough was kneaded with naive flour and boring water, and was fermented with Buddhist yeast... A recipe like this could only produce a bowl of Yangchun noodles called "Senior Monk" in the end.
As for the two of them, one is a hot pot that makes you have diarrhea, and the other is a seafood that makes you gout. They cannot urinate in the same pot as this monk.
Chunkong is gone, which is better. They are more comfortable and can go to the night market.
The two first went to the inn to check in, put down their luggage and trident, and then went onto the street, strolled for a while, and then found a roadside stall to sit down, each with a bowl of donkey. The broth is served with the steamed buns, and I fill them up first.
Then we walked on the street, looking at the buskers, the fake jewelry on the street stalls, admiring the traditional craftsmanship of the candy makers, and then took a deep breath of the food, makeup, and sugar in the air. The complex smell of soil, grass, metal, horse manure, lamp oil and other smells mixed together...that's a beauty.
You have to ask, what’s so beautiful about this?
I can only say that this is called "smell the people's taste", or "smell the market atmosphere".
In our era, especially in big cities, you can hardly smell this smell anymore; perhaps some older people can still find some similar smells in their childhood or memories of their hometown. smell, but young people...most of them are still familiar with the smell of car exhaust and the smell of dog poop left on the green belt by idiots who walk their dogs without a leash.
Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai continued shopping until 3:00 pm (8:45 pm). By this time, the night market was coming to an end..
The biological clock of ancient people was still very healthy compared with that of today. For most people at that time, the feeling of staying up until nine o'clock in the evening was similar to the feeling we feel when staying up until midnight now - —No matter how high your mood is, you will start to yawn (of course, there are also many modern people who are energetic all night and don’t feel sleepy until dawn, yes, I know you exist).
Therefore, at this time, the number of pedestrians gradually decreased, and the street vendors began to close their stalls one after another.
However, Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai's night outing is obviously not over yet, it can even be said that it has just begun...
How could they not know that both of them are from famous families? In all larger cities and towns, there will be "nightclubs" that are open all night.
In Dashu, most of the "nightclubs" are brothels, the most famous of which is the "Xinghui Tower" located in Shanghai County along the Jiangnan coast; I heard that there are many imperial brothels Officials are even willing to risk being dismissed from office by dressing up and going there to have fun, which shows its extraordinary charm.
Sun Yixie has always wanted to go there, but unfortunately Master Sun is very strict with him and does not allow him to visit brothels at all, let alone Xinghui Tower, even the brothel in Hangzhou. There is no way to go.
The same goes for Huang Donglai: firstly, the Huangmen in Shuzhong is a famous family, and he is the only young master, so the discipline must be stricter; secondly, their generation has fallen into decline, and although they may not die of hunger, But there is not much spare money to squander in places like brothels.
But it is different today. The two of them are far away from home in Luoyang, and no one cares about them.
They still have a lot of money left; it’s not that they really want to go whoring, it’s just that they have never been to a brothel in this universe where they can legally open a brothel for so many years. Even if they are out of curiosity, they want to go in and see something.
So, at the end of the day, these two fools found a building on the street that was still brightly lit and had a rather luxurious facade.
The two looked at each other with a smile, and walked in together happily.
But as soon as they entered, they couldn't laugh anymore.
Because they immediately discovered that... they seemed to be in the wrong place.
I was looking at it on the street just now, and the signboard here said "No Return Building"; these three words... It depends on how you understand it, you have to be thinking about finding a brothel, The name really looks like a kiln, but if you think about it carefully, these three words are also suitable for a funeral parlor.
They looked inside again and saw that there was a light in the open door, which was very bright, and there was a screen blocking it; they thought this was normal... The screen, firstly, can block wind and dust. , secondly, it can cover up the shameful activities of the men and women inside.
In addition, a few steps away from the door, you can hear the voices of many people talking inside; these voices include both men and women, and there are many people. It is difficult to hear what is being said. , just listening to the tone seems to be quite happy.
GeneralAs mentioned above, at first glance at the door, it is indeed possible to misunderstand this place as a brothel.
Who knows, they came in and took a look - a serious restaurant, a place to eat.
Why is business so good? It's very simple. This is the best restaurant in Luoyang City. Not only is the food good, but it also only serves the evening market. It opens every day at midnight and stays open until midnight. All the rich and free people in the city who don't sleep at night are here. If you like to come here for late-night snacks, aren’t there a lot of people?
"Two guests." Soon, a middle-aged man dressed like a housekeeper from a wealthy family came up and said to Sun and Huang in a neither humble nor condescending manner, "It's very windy at the door. Come and sit inside.”
You can see the difference of this restaurant with just the greeting after entering the door: when the guests come, it is not the waiter who comes to greet them, but a dedicated waiter. The person responsible for welcoming guests.
Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai took a look and saw that everyone had come over to say hello. Should we turn around and go out again? By the way, let me ask him how to get to the nearest brothel? This seems a bit embarrassing.
The two looked at each other and shrugged... Let's just make do with it here.
There are not many seats in the lobby on the first floor of Fugui Building, and at this hour and three o'clock, there is still 90% occupancy rate; the aroma of the food on the table, the enjoyment on the faces of the diners The expressions on the food's faces and their cheerful chatter all indicate that this store is indeed a good one.
The greeter led Sun and Huang to an empty table in the corner, stopped and asked: "Two guests, is this place okay?"
Sun Yixie said to himself: This location is not very good. There is a pillar not far away, and it is not convenient to come and go to serve food.
He turned around and saw that there were only a few corner seats left in the lobby, so he casually asked: "Are there any empty seats upstairs?"
He... is just used to it.
Because when he was in Hangzhou, he went to some higher-end restaurants to treat guests to dinner, and they always had private rooms.
He doesn’t know that the “upstairs” of the non-returning building cannot be climbed casually; here is the only lobby on the first floor where anyone with money can eat, but if you have to go upstairs You have to be particular about eating here...that's why there are so many people on the first floor.
"Oh..." The greeter was stunned for a moment, but soon showed a very professional smile, "Ah...there are still some empty seats upstairs." He paused. , "Sir, are you...really going to go?"
"Is this true or false?" Sun Yixie didn't hear anything wrong with the other party's words, so he immediately answered, "Go."
Huang Donglai also added: "Brother, hurry up, we are both hungry."
He is also telling the truth. They were there before The snacks eaten on the street have been digested for a long time; besides, after coming in, I saw so many delicious foods and smelled the fragrance, which made my mouth water.
"Okay...Okay." Seeing that both of them had a certain attitude, the welcoming guest stretched his arms and said "Please" gesture and then said, "You two are invited, come this way. "As he said that, he led the two of them up the steps leading to the second floor.
This led to the scene - Sun Yixie fought with the old imperial chef with a sword, and Huang Donglai fought with Xiao Dezu in writing.