Chapter 53: Sleepless on a lonely pillow, friendly brothers
After making the decision, Jiang Ning still walked up the mountain, but this time she felt a little more heavy.
Jiang Ning came to the chestnut tree where she had been last time. More than ten days had passed, and the ground was indeed full of chestnuts with thorns.
This time, Jiang Ning had a dagger in her hand - she had snatched it from Hu Zi, and she was able to peel the shells much faster than last time. She only needed to step on the shell with her foot, and then insert the blade diagonally into the opening of the fruit, and pry it gently, and the brown chestnut inside would come out intact.
Jiang Ning spent two hours peeling all the chestnuts on the ground and putting them in the space, piling them in a small corner. Then she walked to the place where she caught rabbits last time, and there were two new big rabbits in the rabbit hole, and their fur looked a little mottled.
Jiang Ning used the space to get close to the rabbit hole and caught them easily.
After that, she picked mushrooms and fungus. Soon Jiang Ning discovered a small bamboo forest. At this time, bamboo shoots were emerging from the ground. They were fresh and tender. Jiang Ning broke off a few and stuffed them into the space without hesitation.
By the time Jiang Ning came down the mountain, smoke was rising from the village, and it was already time to have dinner.
Liu Ming'an should be back.
Jiang Ning thought about it and quickened her pace back home. She was still thinking about what to eat for dinner along the way, but there was no one at home.
Until Jiang Ning finished her meal and went to bed, Liu Ming'an still hadn't come back.
It seems that Liu Ming'an really got along with the two brothers, Jiang Ning thought, trying hard to ignore the feeling of loss in her heart.
Time passed by little by little, and Jiang Ning lay in bed, completely sleepless. In the past, Liu Mingan would hold her arm while she slept every day, and it had become a habit. Now that there was no one around her, she always felt it difficult to adapt, and her mind was full of wild thoughts.
Jiang Ning closed her eyes, trying to get rid of all the distracting thoughts and fall asleep. However, after another half an hour, she was still very awake.
No more sleep!
Jiang Ning opened her eyes in annoyance, lifted the quilt, put on her clothes, and got up from the bed. It was quiet all around, and it was already past midnight. She pushed open the door in the dark and sat under the eaves in a daze.
The wind blew at night, making Jiang Ning's hair messy. She grabbed her hair twice with her hands and tucked it behind her ears. Then she raised her face and looked at the gray-black sky.
It was almost the end of the month, and there was only a crescent moon and a few stars in the sky. Jiang Ning propped up her chin with one hand and looked up at the sky, watching the crescent moon set in the west as time went by.
What Jiang Ning didn't know was that while she was looking at the sky aimlessly, Liu Ming'an was also tossing and turning in a guest room of the Hong family on West Street in Lingshan Town.
It was late at night, and Liu Ming'an was sleeping on an unfamiliar bed, with a soft and warm mattress under him, a smooth and light quilt covering his body, and a faint smell of incense in the room. All of this was much more comfortable than the coarse cloth and linen in his home.
But Liu Ming'an just couldn't fall asleep. He turned over, looked at the carved window wood, and recalled the experience of this day.
Liu Ming'an had an appointment with Zhou Yi and Zhang Shun last time to meet at the bridge at 3:30 pm today. He arrived in the town just after 9:00 p.m., and first said hello to Aunt Hui, saying that he would not set up a stall today. Then, according to Jiang Ning's instructions, he went to the bank to exchange a gold ingot for silver and copper plates, and just like last time, he asked the store to send a piece of pork, a scallop and two chickens to his home the next day.
When Liu Ming'an finished all this and returned to the bridge, Zhou Yi and Zhang Shun were already waiting for him under the tree.
"Brother Liu!" Zhou Yi was the first to see Liu Ming'an in the crowd, and he shouted to him happily, waving his fan.
"Brother Zhou, Brother Zhang." Liu Ming'an walked over quickly and greeted the two with a smile.
"Hahaha... Brother Liu is very punctual!" Zhou Yi also laughed, then put his arm around Liu Ming'an's shoulders, half-embraced him and walked forward: "Come on, I've found a place, let's have a few drinks."
Liu Ming'an naturally didn't refuse, and let them take him away.
Aunt Hui, who was busy greeting guests, looked up and saw this scene, and remembered the "two friends" that Liu Ming'an had just told him, and a slightly loving smile appeared on her face.
Liu Ming'an had always thought that the "place" Zhou Yi was talking about was Fusheng Restaurant, after all, Boss Hong was his uncle, but they took him around Fusheng Restaurant and walked all the way to East Street until they stopped in front of a delicate and fragrant building.
"This is it!" Zhou Yi opened his fan and waved it gently, looking like a romantic young man.
Liu Ming'an looked up at the three words "Hong Xing Lou" on the sign in disbelief.
"Brother Zhou, is this a brothel?" Seeing Zhou Yi about to step into the door with a beaded curtain and a light gauze, Liu Ming'an quickly pulled him back and said with a stammer.
Zhou Yi and Zhang Shun turned around and looked at Liu Ming'an with a slightly blushing face in surprise, and then smiled at each other.
"Brother Liu," Zhang Shun smiled before he spoke, having guessed what Liu Ming'an was thinking, and sighed, "You are a scholar, but you are so innocent and pure, so cute!"
"Brother Zhang, stop teasing me," Liu Ming'an said seriously, "This is not a good place to drink and chat, let's go somewhere else."
"Hahaha..." Zhou Yi laughed for a while, walked forward and explained, "Brother Liu, you misunderstood. We are not playboys and we don't do those things to pursue women. And we will not lead a pure-minded scholar like you astray. You must know very little about this place. You will know it when you follow us in."
Seeing that Liu Ming'an was skeptical, Zhang Shun also added, "Brother Liu, to be honest, I have been married for three years and have a lovely wife and young son. If this Hong Xinglou is really just a brothel for visiting prostitutes, let alone you, I will never set foot in it."
Zhang Shun spoke sincerely, and Liu Ming'an nodded to show his belief. The three of them finally stepped into the door of Hong Xinglou.
"Hey! Master Zhang, Master Zhou, you two are here again?"
As soon as he entered the door, Liu Ming'an heard a somewhat sharp female voice ringing in his ears. Looking in the direction of the voice, a woman dressed in gorgeous clothes was standing by the door with a smile on her face, holding a square pink silk handkerchief in her hand, and standing upright in the direction of the door.
"Hey! Is this young man your friend? He is very handsome and well-mannered. He looks like a scholar." The woman looked at Liu Ming'an without waiting for Zhou Yi and Zhang Shun to answer.
"Boss Chi has a good eye. My little brother is really a scholar." Zhou Yi continued. Then the two exchanged a few words.
While they were chatting, Liu Ming'an took a look at Hongxinglou.
The building is four stories high, and the decoration on this floor is very luxurious. There is a stage in the middle of the lobby, facing the main door, and chairs and stools are placed around the stage. However, it is broad daylight now, and there is no one on the stage or in the audience. There are only a few gray-clothed waiters wiping the tables and chairs.
What makes Liu Mingan feel strange is that there is a staircase on the left and right of Hongxing Building. On the left staircase, there is a wooden sign that says "Qingfeng" and on the right, it says "Mingyue".
At this time, the boss Chi shouted "Baozhu", which attracted Liu Ming'an's attention again.
A girl who looked about thirteen or fourteen years old ran over from the other side, first bowed to Liu Ming'an and the other two, and then whispered to the boss Chi "Aunt Yan".
"Good boy, take the young masters to the room and entertain them well." The boss Chi said in a much softer voice.
Baozhu nodded, walked to the three people, lowered her eyes and dared not look at them, and said timidly: "Three young masters, please follow me."
After that, Baozhu walked in front and led the three people to the stairs where "Qingfeng" was written.
Zhang Shun carefully noticed the confusion in Liu Ming'an's eyes, and explained to him as he went upstairs: "Hongxing Tower looks like a whole from the outside, but in fact it is composed of two completely symmetrical buildings inside. One is called 'Qingfeng' and the other is called 'Mingyue'. Mingyue Tower is what you thought was a brothel before, and there is no such shady business in Qingfeng Tower. The women here are prostitutes who only sell their skills but not their bodies, and they earn money by playing the piano and singing songs."
"So that's how it is! Thank you, Brother Zhang, for clearing up my confusion." Liu Ming'an replied.