The sky was slightly bright, and Chen Pingan had already gotten up before the rooster crowed. The thin bedding could not trap the heat, and Chen Pingan also developed the habit of getting up early and going to bed late when he was a porcelain apprentice. Chen Pingan opened the door and came to the small yard with soft soil. After taking a deep breath, he stretched and walked out of the yard. He turned around and saw a slender figure, bending over and holding a bucket of water in both hands. The person holding the door to her courtyard with her shoulder was none other than Song Jixin's maid. She must have just returned from fetching water from the iron-locked well on the Xinghua Lane side.
Chen Pingan withdrew his gaze, walked through the streets and alleys, and trotted all the way to the east of the town. Mud Bottle Alley was on the west side of the town. At the easternmost city gate, there was a person responsible for the entry and exit of business travelers and night patrols in the town. , he also usually collects and delivers some letters home from outside. The next thing Chen Ping'an has to do is to deliver those letters to the people in the town. The reward is one copper coin per letter, which he finally begged for. As for how to make money, Chen Ping'an has made an appointment there to take over the business of this stall after Erlong raised its head in February.
In Song Jixin’s words, he was born poor. Even if he was lucky enough to enter the family, Chen Pingan would not be able to keep him. Song Jixin often said some obscure words, which were probably copied from books, but Chen Pingan could not understand them well. For example, two days ago, he talked about something about spring cold killing young people, and Chen Pingan didn't understand it at all. As for after surviving the winter every year, there will be a period of time after spring when it becomes even colder. The young man has experienced it firsthand. Song Jixin said that it is called spring cold. It is as powerful as a carbine on the battlefield, so many people will die in these closed doors. .
The town is not surrounded by a city wall. After all, there are very few thieves and bandits, let alone bandits. Therefore, it is a city gate in name, but in fact it is just a row of old and rickety fences. There is only one way to give way to pedestrians. Wherever vehicles pass, it becomes the face of this town.
When Chen Ping'an was jogging past Xinghua Lane, he saw many women and children gathered near the iron lock well, and the water well's windlass kept squeaking.
After walking around another street, Chen Ping'an heard the familiar sound of reading not far away. There was a rural school there, which was jointly opened by several wealthy families in the town. The teacher was As a foreigner, when Chen Pingan was young, he often ran to hide outside the window, squatting secretly and pricking his ears. Although that gentleman was extremely strict when teaching, he did not scold or stop children like Chen Ping'an who were "study and learning". Later, Chen Ping'an went to be an apprentice in a dragon kiln outside the town and never went there again. School.
Further forward, Chen Pingan passed by a stone archway. Because the archway building has twelve stone pillars, the locals like to call it the Crab Archway. The real name of this archway is Song Jixin and Liu Yang Xian's statement is very different. Song Jixin swore that in an old book called the local county annals, it was called the Great Scholar's Square. It was the royal memorial arch given by the emperor to commemorate the cultural and military achievements of a high-ranking official in history. . Liu Yangxian, a country bumpkin like Chen Pingan, said that this is Crab Fang. We have been calling it Crab Fang for hundreds of years, so there is no reason to call it some nonsense like Da Shi Fang. LiuYang Xian also asked Song Jixin a question, "How big is the official hat of a bachelor? Is it bigger than the mouth of an iron lock well?" Song Jixin's face turned red.
At this time, Chen Ping'an ran around the twelve-legged archway. There were four big characters on each side. The fonts were weird and looked different. They were "do your duty", "hope to speak naturally", "Don't ask for help" and "Angrily bullfight". I heard from Song Jixin that except for certain four characters, the other three stone carvings on the plaque had been daubed or tampered with. Chen Ping'an was ignorant about these and never thought about it deeply. Of course, even if the young man wanted to get to the bottom of it, it would be in vain
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He even asked Song Ji to collect salary I don’t know what kind of book the local county chronicles that I often talk about are actually.
Not far after passing the archway, I soon saw an old locust tree with lush branches. Under the tree, there was a trunk that was moved here by someone who didn’t know who. After a little chop, There are two bluestone slabs under the front and rear ends, and this section of the tree is used as a simple bench. Every summer, people in small towns like to enjoy the cool here. For wealthy families, the elders will fish out a basket of ice-cold fruits from the well. After the children have eaten and drank enough, they form gangs and hang out under the trees. Playing and playing in the shade.
Chen Ping'an was used to going up mountains and rivers. He ran to the gate of the fence and stopped at the door of the lonely yellow mud house. His heart was not beating and he was out of breath.
There are not many outsiders coming and going in the town. Logically speaking, now that the money tree of official kiln firing has fallen, there will be no new faces. When Old Man Yao was still alive, he once got drunk and told his disciples Chen Ping'an and Liu Xianyang that what we were doing was the only official kiln business in the world, and it was royal porcelain for His Majesty the Emperor and the Empress. No matter how rich you are, no matter how powerful your official position is, if you dare to touch it, you will be beheaded. Old Man Yao's spirit that day was particularly different.
Today Chen Pingan looked outside the fence and found many people waiting to open the city gate. There were no less than seven or eight people, including men, women, old and young.
And they are all strangers. When local people come in and out of the town, whether they are going to make porcelain or do crops, they rarely go through the east gate. The reason is very simple. The road at the east gate of the town extends. Going out, there are no dragon kilns and fields.
At this time, Chen Pingan and the foreigners looked at each other across a wooden fence.
At that moment, the boy wearing the self-made straw sandals was just a little envious of the thick clothes on those people. They must be very warm and able to withstand the cold.
Those people outside the door were obviously divided into several groups, not one group, but they all looked at the thin young man inside the door. Most of them had indifferent expressions. Occasionally one or two people had already looked past the young man's figure. Looking further into the town.
Chen Pingan was a little surprised. Don't these people know that the imperial court has banned all dragon kilns? Or do they think they have an opportunity just because they know the truth?
There was a young man wearing a strange high crown, with a slender figure and a green jade pendant hanging around his waist. He seemed to be impatient with waiting and walked out alone.He wanted to push open the unlocked gate, but just when his fingers were about to touch the wooden door, he suddenly stopped, slowly retracted his hand, put his hands behind his back, and looked at the door with a smile. The boy in straw sandals didn't speak, he just laughed.
Out of the corner of his eye, Chen Pingan accidentally noticed that the people behind the young man seemed to be disappointed, playful, frowning, and sarcastic, with subtle and different emotions.
At this moment, a middle-aged man with messy hair suddenly opened the door and cursed Chen Ping'an: "Little bastard, have you fallen in love with money? You came here to wake up so early. Are you rushing to reincarnate to meet your damn parents?"
Chen Ping'an rolled his eyes. The young man didn't take these harsh words seriously. This book is set in a rural place. If you get annoyed after being scolded a few times, you can just find a well and jump into it, which saves you trouble and trouble. Secondly, this middle-aged bachelor who is the gatekeeper is himself a frequent target of ridicule and ridicule by the people in the town, especially those bold and aggressive women. Not to mention scolding him, there are many who beat him. In addition, this person also likes to brag to children wearing crotchless pants, such as how I had a great fight at the city gate and beat five or six people
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The big man was looking for teeth all over the ground, and the ground was covered with blood. The entire two-foot-wide road in front of the city gate was almost like a muddy road on a rainy day!
Angrily said to Chen Ping'an: "We'll talk about your crap later."
No one in the town took this guy seriously.
But whether outsiders can enter the town, men hold the power of life and death.
As he walked towards the wooden gate, he reached for his crotch.
After opening the door, this man with his back to Chen Pingan would collect a small embroidery bag from others, put it into his cuff, and then release them one by one.
Chen Pingan gave way to the road very early. The eight people were roughly divided into five groups and walked towards the town. In addition to the young man wearing a high crown and a green pendant hanging from his waist, two seven-year-olds also passed by one after another. An eight-year-old child, the boy is wearing a festive red robe, and the girl is as pink and tender as fine porcelain.
The boy was half a head shorter than Chen Pingan. When the child passed by him, he opened his mouth. Although he did not make any sound, there was an obvious mouth shape. He should have said two words. The words are full of provocation.
The middle-aged woman holding the boy coughed slightly, and the child calmed down a little.
The little girl behind the woman and boy was led by a burly old man with frosty hair. She turned to Chen Pingan and said a lot of words, not forgetting to point out the boy in front of her. Point and point.
Chen Pingan couldn't understand what the girl was saying, but he guessed that she was complaining.
The burly old man glanced sideways at the straw-shoe boy.
Just being glanced at intentionally or unintentionally, Chen Pingan took a step back purely subconsciously.
See like a mousecat.
After seeing this scene, the little girl who was chattering like a little oriole suddenly lost interest in fanning the flames. She turned her head and stopped looking at Chen Pingan, as if she would be dirty if she looked at Chen Pingan again. her eyes.
The young Chen Ping'an has indeed never seen the world, but that doesn't mean he can't understand faces.
When the group of people left, the man watching the door smiled and asked: "Do you want to know what they said?"
Chen Pingan nodded and said: "I think so."
p>The middle-aged bachelor was happy and said with a smile: "I compliment you on your good looks. They are all good words."
Chen Pingan twitched the corner of his mouth, thinking, do you think I am stupid?
The man saw through the young man's thoughts and smiled even more happily, "If you are not stupid, I can let you deliver the letter?"
Chen Pingan did not dare to refute, for fear of offending this guy, The copper coins that are about to arrive are about to fly away.
The man turned his head, looked at those people, stretched out his hand to rub Hu Li's bruised chin, and whispered: "That woman just now, her legs can pinch someone to death."
Chen Pingan hesitated for a moment and asked curiously: "That lady has practiced martial arts?"
The man was stunned, looked down at the young man, and said seriously: "You kid, you are really stupid."
The young man was confused.
He asked Chen Pingan to wait, and strode towards the house. When he came back, he had a pile of envelopes in his hand, not thick or thin, about ten copies. After handing them to Chen Pingan, the man asked: "Foolish people are blessed, and good people are rewarded. Do you believe it?"
Chen Ping'an held the letter in one hand and opened his palm with the other, blinking, "We agreed that a letter would cost a penny. "
The man became angry and slapped the five copper coins he had prepared in advance on the young man's palm. He waved his hand and said boldly: "I owe you the remaining five cents!"
(End of this chapter)