Chapter 120 Chapter 120 Taoist fortune telling
But Xu's father and mother were unwilling to do so no matter what. When Grandma Xu went on a hunger strike, Xu's father knelt beside her bed, weeping bitterly, "Mother, I already have no father. Are you going to make me motherless too? I already don't have my father's love, and I can't be without my mother's love anymore."
"But I'm just a burden to you, child. It's all mother's fault." Grandma Xu knew that her son was filial, and it was precisely because of his filial piety that she couldn't bear to become a burden to them.
Father Xu knelt down and took a step forward to hold Grandma Xu's hand. "Mom, you raised me with great difficulty when I was a child. You were able to support this family and raise me all by yourself. Now that I'm older, I can do everything you can do. If you're gone, I'll really be motherless."
At that time, the Xu family only had a few acres of land left. Even so, filial piety is the most important virtue. If Xu's father ignored her because Grandma Xu became like this, Xu's mother would have to wonder if she had followed the wrong person. She started crying and persuaded Grandma Xu for a long time before she was willing to eat.
But even in such a family, after the Taoist priest came to beg for food, Xu's father still filled a bowl with rice for the Taoist priest, and even put a small piece of brown sugar in it for the Taoist priest to eat with the food.
Ever since Grandpa Xu was conscripted and taken away without a trace when Xu's father was a child, Grandma Xu has become a bit of a Buddhist.
She told Xu's father that she wanted to accumulate some blessings and ask the Buddha to bless Grandpa Xu to live well outside. Even if the family could no longer be together, as long as everyone was well, even if they were far apart, it would be as if this person no longer existed in this world.
Influenced by Grandma Xu, Xu's father has been doing good deeds since he was a child. He thought that if his father were away, and if one day he was as destitute as the Taoist priest, he hoped that there would be someone like him who could give his father a bowl of rice or a bowl of water.
He hoped that if he treated others well, they would also lend a helping hand to his father.
At that time, Xu's father already had Xu Zhifeng, who was only one month old.
That's why Grandma Xu thought of going up the mountain to chop more firewood for the winter.
After all, the ancients did not have washing machines or spin dryers, and their families were poor. It was considered good if each person had two or three sets of cotton clothes to change into. If the clothes got wet, it would not dry even after a few days of drying in the winter.
Children have even less clothes to wear. Without diapers, they have to poop and pee at least a dozen times a day. Children grow very fast, so people in the village rarely buy too many clothes for them.
Therefore, many families will warm themselves by the fire in winter and use the fire to dry their clothes when they are not dry.
Xu's mother had to take care of two children and was unable to spare any time, and Xu's father had to go to town to find work. If Grandma Xu didn't do the wood-chopping job, no one else would do it.
After the Taoist priest finished his meal and drank a bowl of water, he heard a baby crying in the room and saw a woman lying in bed. The older child was thin and small. He could guess that this family had a hard time and did not live a rich life.
He ate a bowl of rice from someone else, patted his butt and left after he was full. However, his conscience couldn't let it go. After all, he was a man of status and a well-known person. If he hadn't gotten lost and spent all his money, he wouldn't have fallen into such a state. So he asked Xu's father, "Have you named your youngest son?"
"Not yet." Father Xu said embarrassedly, "My mother went up the mountain to chop wood the other day and accidentally fell off a cliff. She has been very busy recently and has not yet named the child."
Hearing this, the Taoist priest said, "If you wish, I can give the child a name as a way of repaying the kindness of the meal. Don't worry, I studied for a few years in my early years and I think I have some ability. I can't say I can win the title of top scholar, but I am more than qualified to give a name."
These days, it’s not easy to be a Taoist priest or a monk!
If you are illiterate and cannot even understand Taoist books and scriptures, how can you talk about chanting sutras and reciting Buddhist scriptures?
Regarding this, what could Father Xu not be willing to do? He quickly nodded and said, "If you are willing, then I will trouble you, Taoist Priest."
"When is your child's birthday?"
Xu's father told the other party the child's birthday, and the Taoist priest began to calculate it with his fingers.
There were not many scholars in the Dayan Dynasty, so most of those who could read and write did so in order to pass imperial examinations or inherit the family business. Few people learned to read and write specifically to become Taoist priests.
For this reason, Taoist priests are naturally rare.
The Taoist priest saw the other person's thumb tapping the knuckles of his index, middle, and ring fingers quickly, in what seemed to be a random pattern to Father Xu. Suddenly, his face was overjoyed. "Oh my, so the place Tianji pointed to is right here! Oh, I said I was right. Even if I took the wrong path at first, I still found the right direction in the end. Not bad, not bad. All my hard work paid off!"
"Master, what's wrong with you?" Father Xu didn't know why the Taoist priest suddenly became so happy, but he had a vague feeling that this was a good thing.
As expected, the Taoist priest laughed and said, "Your son, for the first ten years, was a miserable man, bullied and humiliated. But after the age of seventeen, he met a noble man and was supported by him. He will surely become a wealthy and noble man in the future. You should treat him well. Although you only have this little boy, he alone is better than many others. His name is Xu Zhifeng. Zhi means great kindness, and Feng means unstoppable and upright. Your son, after all the hardships, has finally achieved success, and with the support of a noble man, he will achieve outstanding results in the future. Even with wealth and honor, he can still maintain a pure heart. The two words Zhifeng are very good."
Mr. Xu has not received much education, so if this person spoke in a more profound way, he probably wouldn't understand.
Fortunately, the Taoist priest was not the kind of person who liked to quibble with words. Every word he said was easy to understand, and Xu's father and even Xu's mother in the room understood it.
Xu's mother also thought that the word Zhifeng was very good, at least it sounded much better than Xushui, Xuyu, Xu Gousheng, Xu Er and other names that Xu's father had thought of.
The whole family was overjoyed, not because they were happy that their son would become rich and successful in the future as the Taoist said, but because they were happy that the man spoke so nicely. To them, these words were obviously a blessing for their son.
When you have young children at home, who wouldn’t like to hear such nice words from a stranger who comes to your home?
Anyway, they were happy to hear it, and because they didn't know the scholar's ability, they didn't take it seriously. No matter what their son's future would be like, whether he was rich or not, or whether he was successful or not, it didn't stop them from loving their child.
But the Xu family didn't know that the Taoist priest in front of them, whose hair looked messy and even had grass and dead leaves in it, and who looked no different from a beggar, was not an ordinary Taoist priest. He was a person whom even the emperor had to respect.
If this young Taoist priest had not observed the celestial phenomena at night and calculated with his fingers where the noble person of the Great Yan Dynasty would appear, he would not have taken the trouble to go there in person.
Before leaving, the Taoist priest felt very embarrassed and finally borrowed two cents from Xu's father to take a bullock cart to the town. He had no choice but to walk out of the mountains with his shoes worn out. Even after eating and drinking enough, his feet still hurt so much that he really didn't have the strength to walk to the town.
Father Xu was happy, but he gritted his teeth and gave the Taoist priest two cents.
The Xu family was in such a financial situation, yet they were able to give him two cents. This shows how much these two cents meant.
The Taoist priest was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes. He immediately said, "I will remember your kindness and will definitely repay you in the future."
Hearing this, Father Xu just smiled and didn't take it seriously. After all, once this Taoist priest left, how long would it take for him to come back?
But Xu's father and mother didn't know what it meant for a prophecy to come true.
When Xu Zhifeng grew up, he was indeed smart and clever. The Xu family even planned to sell more eggs to send the child to school.
At this time, they completely forgot what the Taoist said. Before Xu Zhifeng was seventeen years old, he suffered humiliation, hardship and fatigue. With such a fate, could he be the fate of a scholar?
Until he was six years old, Xu Zhifeng changed. He became dumb and stupid. He was dirty every day and his body was covered with bruises. Only then did Xu's father and mother vaguely remember what the Taoist priest had said.
But they didn't believe it at the time and completely forgot to ask the Taoist priest if Xu Zhifeng had any explanation.
It was too late to regret. Xu's father and mother could only hope that the seventeen years would pass quickly and that Xu Zhifeng would meet his benefactor soon.
When Xu Zhifeng was a child, he heard his parents and grandmother say this more than once, telling him not to lose heart and to keep living strong, as he would surely have a day when all the hardship would pay off.
But the book says, "A Master does not speak of strange things, supernatural powers, disorderly things," which means that people should not be controlled by these supernatural forces. Besides, if there really are gods in this world, why don't they protect the Xu family?
If gods really exist, why do good people not live long, while evildoers can linger for thousands of years?
Xu Zhifeng didn't believe that he had a noble person in his life, but when he saw Xu Yunfan, Xu Zhifeng suddenly felt that maybe he was wrong.
Xu Yunfan didn't know what Xu Zhifeng was so stunned about, so he waved his hand up and down in front of him, "What's wrong? Are you in a daze? No, I'm talking to you, and you can still be distracted and in a daze?"
Is this turning a deaf ear to his words or ignoring his existence?
Xu Yunfan didn't feel angry, but rather found it funny. "Stop being in a daze. Where are you going?"
Xu Zhifeng came to his senses and pointed to the river not far ahead, then pointed to the smelly mud on his body, indicating that he wanted to go wash it.
The river over there is a bit remote, with half-human-high weeds growing on both sides, so few people pass by there.
Xu Yunfan understood again. He had only paid attention to the other person's hands and face before, but now he found that the other person's chest and even the front of his clothes were dirty. If he bumped into him, wouldn't he also be dirty?
Because Xu Yunfan was half a head taller than Xu Zhifeng, Xu Yunfan looked down at his chest and sure enough, there was a patch of mud on his clothes.
No one knew where the mud on Xu Zhifeng came from. It smelled like dead fish and the stench of mud that had been deposited for a long time.
Xu Yunfan looked at his dirty clothes, stunned for a moment, then foolishly pulled them up and smelled them. Then he stretched his neck and opened his mouth: "Ugh!"
Xu Zhifeng: “…”
Xu Zhifeng was dumbfounded. This little guy didn't look like a fool, so why did he do such a stupid thing?
You know it stinks, but you still smell it?
This guy might have some problems with his brain!
In the not-too-deep river, two shirtless young men stood there, with their trouser legs rolled up to their knees, scrubbing the clothes in their hands in a serious manner.
Xu Yunfan watched Qin Run wash clothes. Whether he washed them clean or not was another matter, but his posture and movements were in place and he did it in a professional manner. His hands were busy, and his mouth was also busy. "Why don't you speak? I know you're not mute, but is it that you hurt your throat? They all say you're stupid, but I don't think you are!"
Xu Zhifeng was stunned again. Is this person always so direct in asking questions?
Don’t you consider the feelings of the person being asked?
Xu Zhifeng didn't know how to answer for a moment. There was no formal sign language here, and what he "said" was too complicated. Xu Yunfan might not understand it. After all, as his parents, sometimes he expressed himself a little more complicatedly. After watching and guessing for a long time, Xu's father and mother still didn't understand what he wanted to express.
Seeing that the clothes in his hands were almost washed, Xu Yunfan wrung them out vigorously and spread them on the stones to dry for a while. With his lean upper body naked and his chin slightly raised, he looked so confident and arrogant that others did not find his seemingly arrogant look annoying at all. Instead, they found him a bit funny.
"You can tell me in sign language that I am different from other people in one way or another. Do you know what that difference is?"
Xu Zhifeng: “…”
Xu Zhifeng discovered that today might be the day in the past seventeen years when he wanted to remain silent the most, and it happened to be caused by the same person.
Without waiting for Xu Zhifeng to shake his head, Xu Yunfan answered his own question: "Seeing you remain indifferent and silent, I guess you don't know. Let me tell you, I am different from others in one aspect. That is me. Not only am I good-looking, but I am also very smart."
Xu Zhifeng: “…”
I've never seen anyone so overconfident.
This excessive self-confidence has reached the point of being a bit shameless.
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