Chapter 4 Yellow Bird

If he had never been to Fulu Street or Taoye Alley, Chen Pingan might never realize the darkness and narrowness of Mud Bottle Alley in his life. However, instead of feeling lost, the boy in straw sandals finally felt at ease. The boy smiled and stretched out his hands, and his palms happened to touch the yellow mud wall twice. He remembered that about three or four years ago, Chen Pingan could only touch it with the fingertips of both hands. Mud wall.

When I walked in front of my house, I found the courtyard door wide open. The young man who thought he had been robbed quickly ran into the courtyard, only to see a tall young man sitting on the threshold, leaning against the locked door, looking bored. Yawning, after seeing Chen Pingan, he stood up as if his buttocks were burning, ran to Chen Pingan, grabbed Chen Pingan's arm, pulled him fiercely towards the house, and said in a low voice: "Hurry up and open the door, there is something important." Tell you!"

Chen Ping'an couldn't break free from this guy, so he had to pull him to open the door. The strong young man who was two years older than him quickly threw Chen away. Pingan, tiptoed onto Chen Pingan's wooden bed, pressed his ear against the wall, and heard the sound of the base of the wall next door.

Chen Pingan asked curiously: "Liu Xianyang, what are you doing?"

The tall young man turned a deaf ear to Chen Pingan's question. After about half a stick of incense, Liu Xianyang returned to normal and sat down. On the edge of the wooden bed, the expression on his face was complicated, both a little relieved and a little regretful.

Only then did Liu Xianyang realize that Chen Ping'an was doing something strange. He was squatting inside the door, leaning out, and burning a piece of yellow paper with a candle that was only about the size of his thumb. The ashes fell outside the threshold. It seemed that Chen Ping'an was still mumbling something, but he was a little far away, so Liu Xianyang couldn't hear it clearly.

Liu Xianyang is the closed disciple of old man Yao from a time-honored Long Kiln. As for Chen Ping'an, who has dull qualifications, the old man never really recognized this apprentice from the beginning to the end. In the local area, the apprentice did not worship his master tea. Or if the master has never drank that cup of tea, it means he has no master-disciple status. Chen Pingan and Liu Xianyang were not neighbors, and their ancestral homes were quite far apart. The reason why Liu Xianyang introduced Chen Pingan to Old Man Yao at that time was because he had an old grudge when he was a boy. Liu Xianyang was once a well-known naughty boy in the town. Before his grandfather passed away, there was still an elder in charge of the family. After his grandfather died of illness, the young man who was as tall as a young man at the age of twelve or thirteen became a troubled devil in the neighborhood. Later, for some unknown reason, Liu Xianyang After angering a group of Lu family children, they blocked him in Mud Bottle Alley and gave them a sound beating. They were all young men in their prime, and they never considered the severity of their attacks. Liu Xianyang was beaten quickly. He was vomiting blood continuously. The more than ten families living in Mu Ping Alley were mostly low-level craftsmen from Xiaolong Kiln who were begging for food. How could they dare to get involved in this muddy water.

At that time, Song Jixin was not afraid at all. Instead, he happily squatted on the wall and watched the excitement, fearing that the world would not be in chaos.

In the end, there was only a skinny child who sneaked out of the yard, ran to the alley, and shouted heartbreakingly to the street: "Dead people, dead people..."

On hearing the word "dead person", the children of the Lu family woke up in horror and saw the ground covered in blood.Liu Xianyang, a tall young man, was dying. The rich young men finally felt frightened for a while. After looking at each other, they ran away from the other end of Mud Bottle Alley.

But after that, instead of being grateful to the child who saved his life, Liu Xianyang came here every now and then to tease and play. The orphan was also stubborn. No matter how much Liu Xianyang bullied him, he just refused to cry and let the boy get better. Angry and resentful. But one year later, Liu Xianyang saw that the little orphan surnamed Chen was probably unable to withstand the winter. Finally, his conscience realized that the young man who had already studied under Long Kiln took the orphan to the village next to Baoxi River. After going to the Dragon Kiln on the way out of the town and heading west, Liu Xianyang still hasn't figured out the dozens of miles of mountain road in the snowy weather. The little guy who looks like charcoal has two legs as thin as a bamboo pole. How did you get to Longyao? However, although Old Yaotou still kept Chen Ping'an in the end, he treated the two very differently. He beat and scolded his close disciple Liu Xianyang, but the blind man could also feel the good intentions in it. For example, he struck hard once , so that blood oozed from Liu Xianyang's forehead. The rough-skinned young man didn't think it was anything, but the old Yaotou who was the master regretted it very much. This boring gourd old man who was used to being dignified in front of his apprentices couldn't say anything because of his face. What, I ended up walking around in circles in my house for most of the night, still worried about Liu Xianyang, so I finally had to call Chen Pingan and gave Liu Xianyang a bottle of ointment.

Chen Pingan has always envied Liu Xianyang for so many years.

It’s not that I envy Liu Xianyang for his talent, strength, and popularity. I just envied Liu Xianyang for not being afraid of anything. He was careless wherever he went, and he never felt that living alone was a bad thing. No matter where Liu Xianyang went or who he got along with, he would soon be able to hook up with each other, call each other brothers, drink and fistfight. Because his grandfather was in poor health, Liu Xianyang became self-reliant at an early age and became a king-like existence. He was skillful in catching snakes, fish and digging out bird's nests. He used wooden bows, fishing rods and slingshots to catch birds in cages. Liu Xianyang seemed to be able to do everything, especially in the When it comes to catching loaches and eels in the countryside, the young man is undoubtedly the best in the town. In fact, when Liu Xianyang dropped out of the rural school, Mr. Qi went to Liu Xianyang's grandfather on the sickbed and said that he could not charge a penny, but Liu Xianyang refused to agree, saying that he only wanted to make money and did not want to study. /p>

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The husband said that he could pay to hire Liu Yangxian to be his book boy, but Liu Xianyang still refused to nod. In fact, Liu Xianyang lived a good life, even though old man Yao died and the dragon kiln was banned. Within a few days, he was spotted by the blacksmith of Qilong Lane and started building huts and stoves in the south of the town. He was very busy.

Liu Xianyang watched Chen Pingan blow out the candle and put it on the table, and asked in a low voice: "Have you ever heard any weird noises in the morning, like..."

Liu Xianyang hesitated for a moment and blushed slightly for the first time, "It's like a cat meowing in spring."

Chen Pingan asked: "Is it Song Jixin who meows like a cat, or Zhigui? ”

Liu Xianyang rolled his eyes and stopped playing the piano to the cow. He placed his hands on the bed board, slowly bent his elbows, then straightened his arms, lifted his butt off the bed board, and lifted his feet off the ground. His butt was hanging in the air. , curled his lips and said sarcastically: "What Zhigui, his name is clearly Wang Zhu. People with the surname Song have liked to show off since they were young. I don't know where I saw the word 'Zhigui', so I used it randomly without caring about the two words." Do you mean it well? Wang Zhutan had such a young master, he really had done evil in his previous life, otherwise he wouldn't have come to Song Jixin to suffer the consequences. "

Chen Pingan did not agree with the tall boy's statement.

Liu Xianyang, who had always maintained that posture, snorted coldly: "You really don't understand? Why did you help that girl Wang Zhu carry a bucket once, and then she never talked to you again? I'm sure it's Song Jixin, the little guy who knocks over the vinegar bottle and threatens Wang Zhu not to flirt with you, or else he'll have to deal with the family, not only will her legs be broken, but she'll also be thrown into the clay bottle alley..."< /p>

Chen Pingan couldn't listen anymore and interrupted Liu Xianyang, "Song Jixin was not bad to her. "

Liu Xianyang became angry and said: "Do you know what is good and what is bad? "

Chen Pingan's eyes were clear and he said softly: "Sometimes she was working in the yard. Song Jixin occasionally sat on the bench and read his copy of the local county chronicle. When she read Song Jixin, Laugh often. "

Liu Xianyang's eyes were dull.

Suddenly, the thin wooden bed could not support Liu Xianyang's weight and broke into two halves. The tall boy sat down on the ground.

Chen Ping'an squatted on the ground, holding his head with both hands, sighing, and had a headache.

Liu Xianyang scratched his head, stood up, and didn't say any words of guilt, but lightly kicked Chen. Ping An, grinned and said: "Okay, it's just a small broken bed. I'm here today to bring you some great news. It's worth more than your broken bed!" "

Chen Pingan raised his head.

Liu Xianyang said proudly: "After my master Ruan left the town, he suddenly said that he wanted to dig a few holes by the stream in the south. Jing, it turned out that we were short of manpower and needed to call for help, so I mentioned you casually and said that I had a short winter melon with decent strength. Master Ruan also agreed and asked you to go there by yourself in the next two days. "

Chen Pingan stood up suddenly and was about to say thank you.

Liu Xianyang raised a palm, "Stop it, stop it! Thank you for your kindness! Just keep it in mind! "

Chen Ping'an bared his teeth.

Liu Xianyang looked around. There was a fishing rod leaning against the corner, a pair of slingshots lying by the window, and wooden bows hanging on the wall. The tall young man wanted to speak. He stopped again, and finally held back his words.

He strode across the threshold, his boots obviously deliberately bypassing the ashes of the talismans.

Chen Pingan looked at the tall figure. .

Liu Xianyang suddenly turned around and faced Chen Ping'an at the threshold. The tall young man sat on his waist, keeping his feet on the ground, and rushed forward after a few steps.He punched hard, then drew back his fist and straightened his waist, laughing loudly: "Master Ruan told me privately that I only need to practice this punch for one year before I can kill someone!"

Liu Xianyang seemed to Feeling that it was not enough, he made a weird kicking movement and said with a smile: "This is called a good leg that will go into the crotch. It will kick the donkey to death and suffocate the donkey!"

Finally, Liu Xianyang stretched out his thumb and pointed at himself. Chest, proudly said: "When Master Ruan taught me boxing, I had some thoughts and experiences, so I chatted with him. For example, my understanding of Old Yao's unique skill of making porcelain, 'Tiao-dao', Master Ruan praised me." I am a once-in-a-century martial arts prodigy. From now on, just follow me and you will be a hot drinker!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Liu Xianyang saw that the maid next door had entered the room, and she suddenly disappeared. In the interest of playing the role of a hero,

he said casually to Chen Ping'an: "By the way, when I passed the old locust tree just now, there was an old man who called himself a 'storyteller' and was playing around there. He also said that he had accumulated a lot of interesting stories about strange people that he wanted to tell us about. You can go and take a look when you have time."

Chen Pingan nodded.

Liu Xianyang strode away from Mud Bottle Alley.

There are many theories circulating in the town about this lonely and unruly young man, but the young man likes to claim that his ancestors were generals who led troops in wars, so his family has the treasure that has been passed down from generation to generation. First.

It was said to be Baojia. Chen Pingan had seen it once with his own eyes. In fact, it looked ugly, like a wart on a human body or a scar on an old tree.

However, Liu Xianyang’s peers did not say that. They only said that Liu Xianyang’s ancestors were deserters who fled to the small town and became a son-in-law.

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I was lucky enough to escape the pursuit of the government. It was said with certainty, as if he had seen with his own eyes how Liu Xianyang's ancestors escaped from the battlefield and how they wandered all the way to this small town.

Chen Pingan thought for a while, squatted next to the threshold, lowered his head and blew away the ashes.

I don’t know when Song Jixin stood on the side of the courtyard wall, followed by his maid Zhigui, and he shouted: "Would you like to play with us at the locust tree?"

Chen Ping'an raised his head and said, "I'm not going."

Song Jixin twitched his lips and said, "It's boring."

He turned to his maid and smiled: "Zhigui , let’s go! I’ll buy you a whole jar of peach blossom powder.”

She said shyly: “A small cricket jar is enough.”

Song Jixin. He clasped his hands behind his back, held his head high, and strode forward, "I, the Song family, have been living with bells ringing, food dishes, and hairpins hanging for generations. How can we be petty and petty? Isn't it insulting to the family tradition?!"

Chen Ping'an sat on the doorstep. Go up and rub his forehead. This Song Ji Xin actually doesn't feel bad when he doesn't say those weird words and nonsense. But at times like this, if Liu Xianyang is present, he will definitely say that he really wants to go to Song Ji Xin. A brick hit the back of his head.

Chen Pingan leaned against the door of the house, thinking about tomorrowThe situation will probably be like today, and the situation the day after tomorrow will be like tomorrow, and so on, so Chen Ping'an will continue like this in his life, until he is almost like Old Man Yao in the end.

A person eats dirt for a lifetime, and dirt eats a person once.

When you close your eyes for the last time and open them again, it may be the next life.

The young man looked down at the straw sandals on his feet and suddenly laughed.

The feeling of stepping on the bluestone is different from that of stepping on the muddy beach.

————

When Liu Xianyang left the alley and passed the fortune-telling stall, the young Taoist said: "Come on, come on, poor Taoist, I see your complexion is like burning oil cooking on fire. It’s definitely not a good sign, but don’t be afraid. I have a way to help you get rid of misfortune..."

Liu Xianyang was a little surprised. He remembered that this Taoist priest used to interpret fortunes for people, not to mention whether they were accurate or not. Accurate, but this person has never actively solicited business, almost all of them are willing to take the bait. Is it possible that now that the Dragon Kiln is closed by the imperial government, the Taoist priest will also be unlucky and unable to uncover the pot, so he would rather kill it than misplace it? Liu Xianyang laughed and scolded: "Your method is to destroy money and eliminate disasters, right? Get out of here, you want to swindle money out of my pocket, for the rest of your life!"

The young Taoist was not angry at all, and was angry with the tall boy. He shouted loudly: "I hope PepsiCo will be prosperous this year, but who knows that there will be disaster in my life. If there is no disaster, I will not recite the gods. If you want to be safe, you should burn incense... You should burn incense..."

Liu Xianyang turned around abruptly and walked as fast as He ran towards the fortune-telling stall, gearing up and shouting: "Let's burn incense, right? I'll burn your stall first!"

The Taoist was obviously very frightened. After getting up, he didn't care about the stall anymore and ran away with his head in his arms. .

Liu Xianyang stood next to the stall, looked at the Taoist's embarrassed figure, laughed loudly, caught a glimpse of the bamboo stick on the table, casually stretched out his hand to push it down, the bamboo sticks slid out of the bamboo stick, and finally appeared on the table. Fan shape.

Liu Xianyang pointed at the Taoist who was stopping in the distance, "I'll beat you every time I see you in the future!"

The young Taoist clasped his fists and bowed, begging for mercy.

Liu Xianyang just gave up.

The young Taoist waited until the tall boy had walked away before he dared to sit down again and sighed, "The world is hard and people's hearts are old, making it difficult for poor Taoists to make ends meet."

That's it. At this moment, the Taoist's eyes lit up, he quickly closed his eyes and said loudly: "The pond is full - full of frogs making chaotic noises, which hurts people's stomachs. The fame of this place is that the water is like duckweed, and it is only suitable to travel in all directions if the wind blows!"

The boy and girl obviously heard what the Taoist said, but unfortunately they had no intention of stopping.

The Taoist opened his eyes slightly, and saw that he was about to miss the business again, so he slapped his hand on the table and raised his voice, "The number one scholar is a son of the human world, and the prime minister is just a human being. Learn the names of people from heaven. Move the city, be proud of it!"

Song Jixin and his maid Zhigui just continued to move forward.

The Taoist was discouraged and muttered in a low voice: "I can't live this life."

The young man showed no signs.He turned his head and threw a copper coin from a distance to the young Taoist. He smiled brightly and said, "I'd like to lend you some good words!" It is the smallest amount of a penny.

However.

The young Taoist gently placed the copper coin on the table.

In the blink of an eye, a yellow bird quickly dropped to the table, lowered its head, and pecked at the copper coin. Then it held it in its mouth and looked up at the young Taoist. The oriole's eyes are lively, just like human beings.

The Taoist said softly: "Go, it is not suitable to stay here for a long time."

The oriole disappeared in a flash.

The young Taoist looked around, and finally his eyes rested on the tall archway in the distance, which happened to be facing the four-character plaque "Angry Bullfighting" and said with emotion: "What a pity."

(End of this chapter)