This is the first time Zheng Qing came to "Hui Zi Ji".
Huiziji is a market, very small, with only one street.
The entire street is less than ten meters wide, roughly trapezoidal, and loops around for only two or three miles in length.
There are old shops on both sides of the street, and the doors and courtyards are not neat. One pharmacy even has its door ajar, and the windows are not even opened. Walking on the street, you can still see vendors setting up stalls in the slightly open areas on both sides, which makes people feel that this market is neglected.
"Our Sanyou Bookstore has a branch here. You can take time to come over and take a look when I'm not around." Mr. Wu walked in front and casually told Zheng Qing.
Zheng Qing hummed, but his eyes were fixed on the products displayed by the vendors on both sides of the street.
The long horned worm, the three-headed dog, the rabbit with a scorpion tail, and the mermaid lying in the bathtub seemed to have inadvertently entered the world of fairy tales. Zheng Qing opened his mouth and grabbed The gentleman looked blankly at these bizarre scenes on his clothes. He didn't feel much surprise in his heart, only very curious.
Mr. Wu was very satisfied with his performance. Even seeing a few enchanting girls on the street did not make the old man's smiling eyes open wider. He slowed down his pace and introduced the shops on both sides in a warm tone as he walked.
“This authentic herbal shop mainly sells authentic herbal medicines. Shangdang’s Baixu Old Ginseng, Shangzhou Citrus Aurantii, Sudi’s Pleiades Inner Gold, and even some Sichuan ginger, Sichuan pepper, and licorice. You can find all kinds of ingredients for making soups and powders here."
"If you want to see a doctor and buy medicine, you have to go to Huichun Hall. The current hall owner is Deng Xiaoxian, who has just graduated from college. How long ago, I wanted to go out for a while, but Mr. Deng sneaked back. His medicine hall is next to our bookstore. You can go and see this tomb later."
" What Suoqiu sells are piles of old papers that no one reads. They are filled with tadpole and oracle-bone inscriptions, which are not interesting."
"You can come here occasionally to sell clothes. It’s just that the styles are relatively old and not fashionable, so I guess you won’t be interested in them.” As he spoke, Mr. Wu bowed to several old men from time to time and exchanged greetings.
Zheng Qing stood beside him obediently, glancing at a two or three-year-old baby not far away. The parents of the baby boy disappeared somewhere, leaving behind only this little guy wearing a red bellyband and pigtails, flying around on a two-foot-long toy wooden sword, screaming wildly.
"Why doesn't he ride a broom?" Following behind his husband, Zheng Qing touched his nose and looked at the little kid with envy.
"Because his mother will come over and beat him after a while. If he rides a broom, his mother will whip him with a broom." The gentleman said in a comforting tone, "I can't even walk, I just want to fly here." If you fly away, you will easily get beaten."
Zheng Qing always felt that there was something in his words.
"Today is your twelfth birthday, I always want to give you a gift. Walking to the door of a shop, the gentleman stopped, touched Zheng Qing's head, and said with a smile, "Don't refuse, the elders give it to you, and you can't refuse it." ”
Zheng Qing grinned, unable to hide his inner joy, and had no intention of declining.
I wonder what gift the husband will give.
Before The group of small animals I saw were pretty good. The three-headed dog and the scorpion-tailed rabbit might be a bit dangerous, and they are definitely not allowed to be kept at home. The little mermaid is still possible. I can put a bathtub in the bedroom and change it for her every day if I work hard. Water.
The candy house sold at the stall I just passed by is also good, with colorful garden houses, flowers, trees, insects, fish, birds, and even little people running from the house to play on the grass. It's made of jelly beans and looks extremely delicious. However, this kind of gift is a consumable item and will probably disappear after the birthday.
There is also the little kid flying around under his feet. Although the wooden sword was too small for him to step on, he still had a hamster at home, which he could hang on and fly.
Before Zheng Qing finished thinking, his husband had already come out of the shop.
He spread his hand, handed it to Zheng Qing, and said with a smile, "This is your birthday gift. ”
The gentleman holds a silver-white pocket watch in his hand, engraved with complicated patterns. Press the button on the front of the watch lightly, and the watch case will pop open, revealing the ticking clock inside. Watch hands.
Zheng Qing was surprised by the gift, but felt a little disappointed in his heart.
The gentleman pointed at the watch and said in a solemn tone, "You must remember that it is your most precious possession. It's your time. ”
Zheng Qing raised his head, a little confused.
“Did you see my hand?” The gentleman turned over his palm, revealing the wrinkled back of his hand. The back of his hand was waxy yellow in color, and there were There are sporadic age spots, and they don’t look pretty.
“Can you imagine how smooth and elastic these skins used to be? Now, they are dry. ”
“Between life and death is not the great terror, but the great thrill and excitement. The real horror is that you silently feel the passage of time and the aging of your body, but there is nothing you can do about it. ”
“When I was young, every time I saw old people, I would easily overlook them. Carelessly, they feel that they are far away from themselves. "
"But as time ticks by, I realize with horror that aging is so close to me. ”
“I am not afraid of death, nor am I afraid of aging. I only occasionally worry about my own inability. I am unable to leave any traces of myself to prove the meaning of my life. ”
After returning from Hui Zi Collection, Zheng Qing locked himself in the bedroom and practiced the talismans crazily all night. So much so that the next day he had two black circles under his eyes that frightened the whole family.
From this day on, while teaching Zheng Qing to practice talismans, Mr. Wu taught Zheng Qing a set of guidance techniques.
According to the old gentleman. , Innate deficiencies need to be strengthened.
The runes strengthen the foundation and guide the cultivation of energy.
So, the first thing Zheng Qing did every morning was to practice the Guidance Technique. Then I would copy dozens of runes before breakfast, lunch break, and bedtime.
In this way, the days slide past the world like running water.
The feeling of the last headache gradually faded away with the wash of time, so that it seemed like a dream. Zheng Qing himself was not sure whether he had experienced those difficult days.
Zheng Qing is eighteen years old this year.
Studying with Mr. Wu did not occupy much of Zheng Qing’s time. According to Mr. Wang, in everything in the world, haste makes waste, and this is especially true in the path of seeking the Tao. The guidance technique can only be practiced three times a day, and the talismans can only be practiced three hundred times a day. If it exceeds, you will lack energy and cause old diseases.
As an educational family, although the family no longer requires Zheng Qing to study hard, it is indispensable for ordinary people's study life. At the joint request of her family and husband, Zheng Qing completed elementary school, middle school, and even high school step by step.
He sadly discovered that he had really become the kind of person he had laughed at since childhood, wandering around the community from elementary school to high school.
University must be far away from home
But no matter how far it is, it is not so far away that you don’t even know it.
After digging out the admission notice in the bedroom, Zheng Qing returned to the living room.
Because at noon that day, when Zheng Qing’s parents came home, they brought back a blond and blue-eyed guest.
From the brief conversation between his parents and this guest, Zheng Qing learned about the origin of this foreign friend.
He is the strange interviewer sent by First University.