Chapter 75: Meeting by Chance is worse than Meeting by Chance (Two Chapters Combined into One)
It was already dusk, and Zhao Shiqing couldn't see the old man's face clearly because he was far away. Now that he was closer, he couldn't help but look at this old man who sounded like he had a lot of personality.
The old man was thin and shriveled, like a dead branch swaying in the wind. The Taoist robe that was washed white looked even looser. His bony shoulder blades showed sharp edges under the old robe, and his face, which was wrinkled like a dried date, made him look even more funny. Zhao Shiqing was reminded of the old monkey who was dressed like a human being at the temple fair.
As the old man was cursing, he suddenly realized that someone was looking at him. He turned around and met Zhao Shiqing's smiling face that could not help laughing.
"What are you laughing at, little girl?"
Zhao Shiqing was caught laughing, so he just smiled openly: "Old man, tell me, why is the name of this inn not good?"
The waiter beside him was extremely anxious and said quickly, "Girl, this old man is a lunatic. Don't bother with him."
Before he finished speaking, the old man cursed: "You are the lunatic, your whole family is lunatic, your family tree is full of lunatics!"
The waiter also got angry and said, "Just tell me what you want to say. Why bring up my ancestors?"
If I wasn't worried about scaring away the customers, I really wanted to slap him.
"Forget it, forget it. You're old, I won't bother with you."
The waiter looked at Zhao Shiqing again and said, "Miss, there are exactly two rooms now. Would you like me to clean them out for you first?"
Zhao Shiqing glanced at Niu Qiu, who immediately said to the waiter, "First, have someone feed our horses, and then take me to get a room."
The waiter was overjoyed and didn't bother to care about the old man and Zhao Shiqing. He asked someone to come and bring the horses, while accompanying Niu Qiu and Ling Bo in to arrange the rooms.
Looking at the waiter's back, the old man cursed: "You look down on people with your dog eyes."
Zhao Shiqing smiled and said, "Grandpa, you haven't told me why this inn has a bad name?"
The old man looked at Niu Qiu and Ling Bo who had already gone in, then looked at Zhao Shiqing: "Girl, aren't you two going in together? Why don't you follow us in?"
Zhao Shiqing: "I'm just waiting for you to tell me about the name of this inn, old man. I'll go in after you finish speaking."
Old man...what a thirsty child you are.
"Well, since you are so sincere, I will tell you about it."
The old man produced a folding fan like a magic trick, opened it with a snap, and fanned it a few times. Zhao Shiqing hurriedly took two steps back and wrapped his thick cloak tightly around himself.
The old man glanced at Zhao Shiqing, who was wrapped up thickly, then looked at his own thin clothes. He puffed out his shriveled chest proudly, and waved his big fan, making a whirring sound: "Young man, you are not in good physical condition!"
Zhao Shiqing stepped back again: "It's far worse than you."
Seeing that she was self-aware, the old man was very satisfied and finally closed the folding fan. Zhao Shiqing breathed a sigh of relief.
The old man raised the fan high. Zhao Shiqing subconsciously raised her legs, ready to find a place to hide from the wind, but she saw the fan in the old man's hand suddenly turned and pointed at the three big words "Cyclamen".
"Did you see that? This inn is actually called Xiankelai. Little girl, let me test you. Do you know what a fairy is?"
Zhao Shiqing: What I hate most in my life is “Let me test you”.
However, she is a polite little girl.
"An immortal is someone who has achieved sainthood in the flesh and perfected their virtues."
The old man showed admiration in his eyes, stroked his goatee, and nodded: "The little girl is quite knowledgeable."
Zhao Shiqing: So this is what knowledge is?
The folding fan in the old man's hand turned again, and just when Zhao Shiqing thought he was going to fan it again, the folding fan pointed at the entrance of the inn.
"Little girl, let me ask you, whose business is this inn?"
Zhao Shiqing: "As an innkeeper, of course we welcome guests from all over the world. We do business with guests coming from all over the country."
The old man's eyes flashed, "Then have these guests who come and go achieved sainthood in their flesh and perfected their virtues?"
Zhao Shiqing shook her head: "Of course not."
The old man raised the folding fan in his hand for the third time. Just when Zhao Shiqing thought he was going to point somewhere again, the old man's folding fan hit his palm. Maybe he didn't control the strength well, and the old man hurt himself and cried out "ouch".
But what is this pain compared to the truth?
The old man shook his head and said to Zhao Shiqing, "Since those who come here are not immortals who have achieved sainthood in the flesh and perfected their virtues, how can they be called immortal guests? If they are immortal guests, they are not afraid of the wind blowing their tongues away. So what's wrong with me asking them to change their names?"
Zhao Shiqing nodded repeatedly: "That's right, you are right, this inn should be renamed!"
The old man raised the folding fan in his hand again. Just when Zhao Shiqing thought he was going to hit himself again, the old man's folding fan hit her shoulder.
Zhao Shiqing dodged and the folding fan brushed past her shoulder and missed.
The old man didn't care and said to Zhao Shiqing, "Come, come, my friend, I will allow you to go in with me and ask the inn owner to change the three words "Xiankelai"."
Zhao Shiqing: I think you put too much salt in your food, you are just bored!
"Hehe, good medicine tastes bitter, and honest advice is unpleasant to the ears. The owner of this inn will definitely not listen to my advice. However, I do have an idea."
Old man: "What's your idea? Tell me quickly."
Zhao Shiqing blinked her eyes and said, "If you buy this inn, no one will dare to stop you, let alone change the name. Even if you tear it down, no one will dare to stop you."
After she said that, she wanted to leave, thinking that Lingbo had already ventilated and cleaned up the room.
But when she turned around, she saw the old man standing there thoughtfully. No way, did the old man also think that what she said made sense?
Suddenly, the old man looked at her and said, "Good idea, this is really a good idea, but I am short of money and cannot afford to buy this inn. Little girl, I see the pearls on your head, the cape on your body, and the three tall horses you just led. They are obviously worth a lot of money. And you are a sensible and insightful person. How about this? You buy this inn, and I will personally write a plaque for you. I guarantee that you will be flocked to the inn and it will be famous all over the world. What do you think?"
Zhao Shiqing looked at him warily. He understood, understood everything. This old man pretended to be crazy and stupid, but he was actually a liar. Maybe he was in cahoots with this inn. This inn was a black shop!
Black shops are good, but I’ve never stayed in one before.
Zhao Shiqing gave the old man a thumbs up: "Old man, you are great, really great."
After she finished speaking, she turned and went into the inn. From behind her, she heard the old man shouting, "Don't leave! Didn't you agree to buy this inn?"
It turned out that the only culprit was the old man, and the inn was not a shady place.
Not only was it not shady, but the rooms and food in this inn were all to Zhao Shiqing's liking.
After a good sleep, Zhao Shiqing and the other two checked out of the hotel early the next morning, left the county town and went to the village below.
They went to two villages, and just as the legend said, the sound of weaving could be heard everywhere in the village. Zhao Shiqing sat on a large bluestone in the village, closed his eyes, and listened to the weaving sounds that came one after another.
Loach knew nothing and looked around. He grew up in the capital and now that he came here, everything he saw was new to him.
Ling Bo's attention was all on Zhao Shiqing. She looked at Zhao Shiqing with concern. Others didn't know, but she knew. She knew the purpose of Zhao Shiqing's coming to Wu.
Ling Bo was sold by her relatives, so she never thought there was anything good about finding her relatives. But that day, she saw with her own eyes that Zhao Shiqing had tears in her eyes when she walked out of Suining Palace.
At that moment, she thought that the second young lady was different from her. The second young lady must not have been abandoned by her relatives. Her relatives must be looking for her. The second young lady's biological mother would definitely not treat the second young lady like Princess Nie.
So when Zhao Shiqing said she wanted to come to Wu, Lingbo supported her.
The second young lady is so smart. She suspects that she is from Wu, so she must be.
Ling Bo looked at Zhao Shiqing who was sitting on the bluestone with her eyes closed in concentration. She desperately hoped that the sound of weaving would remind Zhao Shiqing of her childhood.
Time passed like flowing water, and after an unknown amount of time, Zhao Shiqing finally opened his eyes.
"Second Miss, have you remembered?" Ling Bo asked with concern.
A hint of disappointment flashed across Zhao Shiqing's eyes, and she slowly shook her head: "No, nothing."
......
The three of them came with high hopes but left disappointed. When they returned to Bailu County, they were the last group to enter the city before the city gates closed.
Seeing that Zhao Shiqing was not in high spirits, Niuqiu said with a smile, "Yesterday I heard from the waiter at the inn that there is a street in Bailu County that caters to merchants from other places. There are snack stalls all over the street, and they stay open until very late, some even all night long."
Ling Bo became interested: "Is there no curfew here?"
There is a curfew in Liangdu and in the capital, but along the way, I have also encountered places without curfews, but they are all small places, such as Zhaoting Town. Bailu County is very large and prosperous, and cannot be compared with those remote towns.
Loach smiled and said, "I specifically asked about it. There is no curfew. Those cloth merchants who came from far away all live in the county town. The reason why the government does not have a curfew is to let the people make money from them."
Of course Lingbo knew what loach meant. The second young lady loved to play and eat. When the second young lady was in a good mood, everyone would be truly happy.
"Second Miss, since we won't be able to sleep if we return to the inn so early, why don't we go stroll down that street?"
Zhao Shiqing was indeed in the mood. She hadn't held much hope originally, she was just a little disappointed.
"Well, we are from outside the area too, so of course we have to go to places that only outsiders go to."
What’s the point of going out if you don’t get ripped off?
The three people asked as they walked, and soon found the famous street in Bailu County where tourists were cheated.
Before I got close, I could hear the vendors' cries from afar.
"White sugar cake, sweet white sugar cake."
"You can eat sugar openers without going to the capital."
"Exploding lanterns, the unique Liangdi blasting lanterns!"
"Beiyan Roasted Lamb Leg, everyone who passes by, come and try it, Beiyan Roasted Lamb Leg."
......
Zhao Shiqing looked at Ling Bo and asked, "Is exploding lanterns a unique skill of Liangdi?"
Ling Bo: "I haven't heard of it. I have eaten fried meatballs, but the ones made by Aunt Wang in the village are terrible. She doesn't like to use oil, so the meatballs are all mushy."
Loach: "I've lived in the capital for sixteen years, and I've never heard of a sugar opener."
......
So Zhao Shiqing and Ling Bo, two girls who grew up in Liangdi, tasted Liangdi's specialty, fried lanterns, in Wudi. Well, it's similar to fried meatballs, but I don't know why it's called fried lanterns.
Loach went to eat sugar-fried chestnuts in the capital, which turned out to be sugar-roasted chestnuts. Because chestnuts were not produced in Wu, these chestnuts were precious things after being transported from afar, so sugar-roasted chestnuts, no, sugar-fried chestnuts were very expensive.
Although it was not as expected, the three of them were in high spirits. They bought whatever they saw, ate while walking, and even bought a pound of fried fish for Xiao Yao.
"Hey, Miss Second, look, isn't that the crazy old man from yesterday?"
Zhao Shiqing took a look and found that it was true.
"What a crazy old man! He's an old liar and a big con man. He tried to trick me into buying an inn yesterday. No, we're breaking the big taboo for outsiders."
Loach asked hurriedly: "What's the big taboo?"
Zhao Shiqing: "Don't show off your wealth. Eat quickly. Don't let this old liar see that we bought so many delicious foods."
The three of them hurriedly stuffed the food in their hands into their mouths, but it was too late. The old liar had already seen them, or to be more precise, he had seen Zhao Shiqing.
"Ah, my friend, I'm surprised to see you here. It's better to meet by chance than to meet by chance. Let's go sit at the stall over there and talk about scriptures and philosophy. What do you think?"
Zhao Shiqing: "Do you have money to treat us?"
Old man: "To be honest, my friend, I am short of money..."
Zhao Shiqing pointed to her head and asked, "Do you think my head is big?"
Old man: "Why?"
Zhao Shiqing: "Do you think I'm that easy to fool?"
Old man...
Zhao Shiqing turned and left. Ling Bo whispered, "This old man might not really want to cheat money. He might really be in trouble."
Zhao Shiqing asked, "How did you figure that out?"
Ling Bo said, "Second Miss, didn't you notice the shoes on the old man's feet? They are obviously worth a lot of money, but they are just worn out."
When Zhao Shiqing heard this, he turned around to look, but the old man had disappeared into the crowd and could no longer be seen.
Ling Bo said, "The old man's shoes may look ordinary, but the material of the uppers is more expensive than silk. Jin Tingchun sells them for ten taels a pair."
Jintingchun is the largest and most expensive clothing store in Liangdu. Of course, it also sells shoes.
A pair of shoes costs ten taels, and even the young men and women from wealthy families cannot buy as many as they want.
Loach: "Sister Lingbo, you are not mistaken, right? That old man, his robe has been washed so badly that the color can't be seen. Do you think he can wear shoes that cost ten taels a pair?"
Ling Bo snorted: "You underestimate me!"
Zhao Shiqing had no doubt that Ling Bo would not make a mistake when it came to jewelry, clothes, shoes and socks.
"Did this old man encounter a thief?"
Loach quickly waved his hands: "I didn't steal it, I have turned over a new leaf."
Zhao Shiqing: "You have a guilty conscience etched into your bones."
Having said that, Zhao Shiqing has decided that if she meets the old man again tonight, she will definitely buy him a few meat buns.
Some people just can't stand the nagging. Zhao Shiqing and the other two walked from the south end to the north end of the street, and then from the north end to the south end. When they were about to return to the inn, they heard a quarrel.
"You old man, how can you be so ungrateful? I've seen you wandering around here for quite some time, and I felt sorry for you, so I kindly offered you some meat buns, but you gave them to a beggar. You're deliberately trying to disgust me, aren't you?"
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