Paopao Herbal Medicine Market
The day before school started was also the day when the Shen brothers and sisters went to the county town to sell medicinal herbs. Shen Roujiao packed her luggage early and came to the educated youth's yard.
"Master, these are for you." She took out two colorful towels from Shanghai Towel Factory No. 15 and a painting album by Xu Wei from her Jiefang schoolbag. They were all bought when she sold medicinal herbs last time.
Zhou Huaiyue took the towel. It had wide blue and orange stripes, dotted with red flowers and green leaves. It was very lively. He glanced at it with disdain, "How can I use it when it's so colorful?"
"This is the 989 series, it's very popular, and I managed to get two pieces. Master, don't be so picky."
After she said that, the towel felt really different, delicate, soft, comfortable and skin-friendly. Master Zhou put the towel on his right shoulder with a cold face, but he felt happy in his heart.
He opened the picture book, read a few pages carefully, raised his eyes and stared at Shen Roujiao, and said slowly and lazily: "Why Xu Wei, is it because I am also a dog?"
ah?
Seeing her open mouth and eyes filled with clear stupidity, Zhou Huaiyue knew that he was talking to a deaf person, as she really knew nothing about calligraphy and painting.
"Forget it. Are you leaving today?" He tucked the album under his arm and walked into the room. He placed the album on the desk and folded the floral towel in half and placed it beside the washbasin. He tore the black towel in the middle, folded it into a square, and pinned it to the gap between the iron bars of the window frame.
Haha, I'll get through it.
"I'll be back soon." Shen Roujiao followed to the door of the room, stood outside the door, and did not go in.
Zhou Huaiyue picked up a broom from the corner, bent down and swept the ground while saying, "Be careful on the road." He continued to work on his own without ever looking up at Shen Roujiao.
He is a man who never says goodbye.
Whenever this happened, he would always find something to do and would be too busy to say goodbye.
"Master, stop busying yourself. I'm not leaving yet." In her previous life, Shen Roujiao was just like Zhou Huaiyue, and was most afraid of the scene of parting.
Later, after shaking hands with the god of death again and again, she learned to say goodbye properly, because after saying goodbye to some people, they may never see each other again.
Zhou Huaiyue stopped what he was doing and looked at her. "Are you still busy?"
"Well, I want to ask Master for a gift." Shen Roujiao pointed at the wall full of paintings, her goal was clear.
"You choose." Master Zhou gave up his seat, and Shen Roujiao stepped into Zhou Huaiyue's room for the first time.
Next to the window, there is an oversized desk placed vertically with a layer of plastic cloth on the table top. On the far right is a stack of newspapers, next to it is rice paper for painting, several bottles of ink, and seven or eight brushes of different sizes in a metal pen holder. In the middle is a piece of gray-black military felt with many ink spots on it.
Further inside was a wooden cabinet, a single bed, and a quilt. On the opposite wall was a washstand, with a newly bought towel placed next to the basin.
"Is this one okay?" Shen Roujiao pointed to a freehand painting in the middle of the wall. She had also taken a liking to this painting the last time she looked in through the window.
The subject of the painting is a leaning wolfberry tree, which is full of red wolfberries. Under the tree are two thick and solid Taihu stones, with a few purple flowers in the shape of wheat ears scattered around the stones.
Before she knew about herbs, Shen Roujiao didn’t know what kind of flower this was; now that she knows some herbs, she knows that this purple flower is Prunella vulgaris. It can clear away heat, detoxify, and improve eyesight, but it is bitter and cold in nature.
Looking across the entire wall, the themes of each painting seem to be plants, but in fact they are all medicinal herbs. The paintings are freehand and detailed, with medicinal herbs as the subject matter.
Zhou Huaiyue used his passionate brush and ink to paint various medicinal herbs growing wildly in nature, which is the "Compendium of Materia Medica" of Chinese herbal medicine art, calligraphy and painting.
But there is not a single word on each picture.
Chinese painting emphasizes the presence of both calligraphy and painting, which complement each other. If there is only painting but no calligraphy, it always feels like something is missing, lacking some flavor.
"Okay." Zhou Huaiyue took the painting down from the wall, spread it flat on the table, took out a seal from the box in the corner, dipped it in red ink, and stamped the lower left corner of the picture.
"Zhuo, Yu. Is that Master's handwriting?" Shen Roujiao tried hard to identify the small seal script on the seal.
"This is my father's seal, which he gave to me." Master Zhou blew gently on the words on the seal, and soon they dried up.
"Master, can you write a few words here?" Shen Roujiao pointed to the blank space in the upper right corner of the screen, her eyes full of anticipation.
"No!" Zhou Huaiyue refused directly, with a tone that left no room for negotiation.
"Oh, okay." Shen Roujiao took the rolled-up painting from the master, walked out of the room, turned around at the door, and said to the people in the room: "I'll have to ask the master for help with digging medicinal herbs. When the medicinal herbs purchasing station is established in the future, the master will have a share."
"I'm leaving. Master, goodbye." It was a solemn and serious farewell, but Zhou Huaiyue sat at the desk the whole time and never raised his head.
…
There were two bicycles parked in the Shen family's yard. Shen Rushan borrowed one from somewhere.
This time there are a lot of medicinal herbs, and one car is not enough for Shen Tiancheng.
Father Shen held the baby's bag and kept telling his daughter to study hard and not to think about making money. The family was much better than before, and the brothers were very capable and could support the family, so she didn't have to worry about it anymore. The girl should study hard and go to a big city to work in the future.
The best way out that the older generation thinks of for their children is to go to big cities to work and live. As long as they don't stay in the countryside and work hard in the fields, they are successful.
Without waiting for the guys who were setting up stalls early in the morning to come back, they set off with the herbs.
After pedaling for more than half an hour, suddenly, a series of bicycle bells rang from the back, and two cars side by side moved side by side.
But the ringing continued, getting louder and louder.
Shen Roujiao, who was sitting in the back seat of the car, was lost in thought as to why her master was unwilling to write even a single word on the painting.
Is it because he doesn't want to, or can't? Or is there something else going on?
What a pity, such a good painting, but lacks good calligraphy. If I write a paragraph for him, will the master scold me?
"Ding-ling-ling, ding-ling-ling...Who is it? Are you annoyed or not? Are you annoyed or not?" Shen Roujiao was almost angry because of the ringing sound, and she yelled impatiently at the car behind.
"Master?" She couldn't believe her eyes. On the bicycle behind her, Zhou Huaiyue, wearing a white shirt and a straw hat, was waving at her.
"Stop! Master, you are really Master." Shen Roujiao patted Shen Tiancheng's shoulder heavily and asked him to stop.
"Who?" The brakes were pushed all the way down and both bicycles stopped.
Shen Tiancheng looked back and saw Zhou Huaiyue with his feet on the ground, riding a Phoenix brand bicycle. "Are you seeing me off, or?"
"Zhou Huaiyue, where did you get this bicycle?" Shen Rushan had already come over and was studying his mount carefully.
While studying it, I was thinking, this guy is quite amazing. I haven't heard that he has any friends, so how could he borrow such a good bicycle? Could he have stolen it?
"This belongs to the village chief." He patted the handlebars, speaking with some pride.
"So, this is the condition you set?" Shen Roujiao asked suspiciously.
"Yes. You can ride the village chief's bicycle at will." This is what Zhou Huaiyue said in the village chief's ear at the time, word for word.
"This car is the village chief's treasure. How could he let you ride it? Could it be that he likes you and wants you to be his son-in-law?" Shen Rushan joked with a playful smile on his face, but he felt very sad in his heart.
Cai Feng, the daughter of the village chief, is pretty and lovely. She graduated from high school and teaches in the brigade primary school. She is a goddess with temperament.
Shen Rushan has liked her since he was a child and has secretly been in love with her for many years. However, due to his height, hair, and physical condition, he was very inferior and never revealed his feelings. Only Shen Tiancheng knew his secret.
"It's really the village chief's car." Shen Tiancheng saw the red ribbon hanging on the back seat of the car.
Zhou Huaiyue's pride was wiped out by Shen Rushan's words, and he looked unhappy. "The village chief was willing to lend me the car because of the medicinal materials. It has nothing to do with anything else."
"Master, Sister Caifeng is very good. She is the most beautiful girl in our village. You are so lucky." Shen Roujiao, who smelled gossip, came up and flattered the master, but was glared at and shut up by Zhou Huaiyue and Shen Rushan.
Compared to Shen Roujiao who didn't know what was going on, Shen Tiancheng who knew everything almost laughed out loud. He glanced at Zhou Huaiyue and asked, "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to run around the market with you guys, and I'm going to set up a medicinal materials purchasing station in the future. I have some good intentions."
Wow!
Master Zhou is so ambitious that he takes action before anything is even planned.
Shen Tiancheng looked at Zhou Huaiyue who was serious, and asked with a smile: "Really?" Unexpectedly, this kid is not only cunning, but also good at making up stories.
"Wow, Master, you are so awesome." Shen Roujiao, who had just failed in her flattery attempt, tried again and again but still failed to win Zhou Huaiyue's favor.
…
Three bicycles arrived at the county town just in time for lunch. Shen Roujiao took a few people to eat noodles at a small shop near her school.
After finishing the noodles, Shen Roujiao put her bag in the school dormitory and followed them to the south entrance of the alley to sell medicinal herbs.
Boss Chen was eating. When he saw them, he immediately put down his chopsticks and said, "Quick, quick, quick, come in and sit down."
Shen Roujiao stepped forward and said, "Boss Chen, here's some stinky tofu that we fried this morning. Please try it." She took out a well-wrapped small lunch box from her Jiefang bag.
She must fulfill her promise to Boss Chen last time.
"Oh, I had totally forgotten about this. You still remembered it. That's so thoughtful." At that time, I just said it casually and didn't take it to heart at all. However, I didn't expect that the little girl would remember it.
People are most likely to be brought closer together through small things like these.
The more important the relationship, the more effort you need to put into small things. Get closer each time, without causing dislike or vigilance, and slowly the distance will get closer and closer.
"Who are these two?" Boss Chen met Shen Rushan and Zhou Huaiyue for the first time.
"Oh, this is my elder brother Da Wa, and this is my master." Shen Roujiao introduced them to Boss Chen enthusiastically.
"Oh, you are the medicinal herbs dictionary that the brother and sister praise so much, Master Zhou!" Boss Chen stepped forward and extended his hand to Zhou Huaiyue.
"Hello." His hand was held tightly by Boss Chen.
Uh!
When Zhou Huaiyue tried to pull his hand back, Boss Chen suddenly came closer and whispered, "Master Zhou, I would like to ask you to help me look at some herbs!"
ah?