Chapter 34: I will listen to whatever Boss Wen says
Wu Ciyan had always been a vagrant, staying here for a few days and there for a few days, staying in inns when he had money and sleeping in dilapidated temples when he didn't. Now that someone was willing to take the initiative to entertain him, he naturally had no objection.
He stood there kicking stones, waiting for Wen Lanzhi.
Wen Lanzhi took her sword and ran over, panting slightly. "Let's go. Our tea shop is over there."
"Wait a moment." Wu Ci Yan said.
"Hmm?" Wen Lanzhi paused and tilted her head to look at him.
Wu Ciyan picked the leaves from her hair and said, "Okay, let's go."
Wen Lanzhi laughed and said, "Hehe, sir, what's your name?"
Wu Ciyan turned his head away and did not answer.
"My name is Wen Lanzhi." Wen Lanzhi took the initiative to show her kindness. "Let me tell you, the dim sum in the teahouse across from our tea shop is super delicious. I'll go buy some for you."
Wen Lanzhi kept chattering all the way: "My benefactor, why don't you stay here and let me take care of you for a few days."
Wen Lanzhi: "Where do you live, benefactor?"
Wu Ciyan: "No place to live."
Wen Lanzhi: "That's great, you can stay with us."
Wu Ciyan glanced at her.
Wen Lanzhi slapped her lips lightly and said angrily, "That's not what I meant. Benefactor, do you have anyone else at home? Are you married?"
Wu Ciyan: "No one left, no wife."
Wen Lanzhi: "That's great!"
Wu Ciyan: “…”
Wen Lanzhi: "Uh... I mean, it's a good thing you didn't get married, so our teahouse only has one more room."
Seeing that Wu Ciyan didn't pay much attention to her, she closed her mouth. After a while, she opened it again, "Benefactor, have I always called you benefactor?"
Wu Ciyan said coldly: "Or, you can also call me Master."
"Oh." Seeing that he had no intention of telling her name, Wen Lanzhi didn't ask.
Wen Lanzhi's teahouse is at the edge of Wencheng, a little further out. There are many people here, but most of them are foreigners on the go, carrying large and small bags. Even if they need to rest, they won't look for a teahouse like this, but go to the inn ahead.
Business...it's hard to say, sometimes good, sometimes bad.
As soon as I entered the door, I saw a child of about fifteen or sixteen years old greeting guests.
Wen Lanzhi said, "Young Master, please go sit in the guest room in the backyard first. I'll go get you some snacks."
She turned around, looked at the child who had just poured the tea, and said, "Xuezhi, I'm going out to buy some things. Please help me entertain the guests."
"Okay, Master." Xuezhi put down the tray and made a "please" gesture to Wu Ciyan, "Dear guest, you... uh, no! Master, why did you let him into the guest room? Master, Master?"
His master has disappeared.
"It's okay." Wu Ciyan waved his hand and said, "It's indeed a bit disturbing to live here. I'll leave first."
"No!" Xuezhi kicked the stool to the door, blocking it.
All the customers in the store looked over.
Wu Ciyan: “?”
Xuezhi said, "Master said you are a distinguished guest! We can't let Master's distinguished guests leave casually! I can prepare anything you need! But you can't leave!"
Wu Ci Yan: "..." Is this a treat or a robbery?
He was speechless for a moment, then walked towards the backyard. His current status did not make him suitable for causing trouble.
You'd say they live a good life, but this guest room is so simple with only a bed and a low table, and there's a big hole in the roof. Fortunately, it didn't rain, otherwise Wu Ci Yan wouldn't be able to lie down on the bed.
You say they live in poverty, but they can still find a guest room in this small house.
He asked curiously, "Do you usually have guests staying here?"
Xuezhi said: "No."
Wu Ciyan: "Then why decorate the guest room? It's better to put something else in it."
Xuezhi changed her arrogant attitude and patiently explained, "Master said that this house leaks, and firewood and clothes are afraid of moisture, so nothing will fit in it, so we have to..." He didn't finish his words. Perhaps he also found his words strange and couldn't continue.
Wu Ci Yan completed the second half of his sentence in his mind: Nothing else would be suitable, so we have to put the guests in, right?
He was very curious whether this master and disciple had any friends who did not break up after spending the night together.
Xuezhi went out to entertain the guests. Wen Lanzhi came back with some snacks, put them on Wu Ciyan's table, and brought him a jar of wine.
Wu Ciyan asked, "Why don't you pour me a cup of tea?"
Wen Lanzhi said, "The tea in our tea shop is not good."
Wu Ciyan raised his left eyebrow.
Afraid he wouldn't believe her, Wen Lanzhi continued to explain, "These are all teas I picked in the mountains. I brewed them randomly based on my own thinking. I don't even like to drink them myself. If they tasted good, I wouldn't sell them for just two cents."
She rummaged through boxes and cupboards and found a wine glass. "Hey, I haven't used it in a while. I usually drink from the jar. Let me tell you, I bought this wine from the Chenjiu Shop. It's the most famous shop on our street. I can't even bear to drink it myself..."
As she spoke, she kept glancing at the box Wu Ciyan had opened, which contained two rows of snacks neatly arranged inside.
Wen Lanzhi sniffed, put down the wine, and said, "I'm going out to help. Please enjoy your meal."
In fact, there was nothing much to help with because there was no business at all. Xuezhi was able to take care of things by herself and still had time to use the abacus.
He would adjust his abacus every time he collected the tea money. Business was good today, but still not very busy. He had been in this shop for two years and had never seen it particularly crowded.
Wen Lanzhi has run a shop here for almost ten years, and she has never seen it be particularly busy.
Xuezhi asked quietly, "Master, where did you pick him up?"
Wen Lanzhi said, "It's in the mountain where I often go to collect herbs."
Xuezhi said, "If you accept him as your apprentice, I will have to be your senior brother."
"That won't happen." Wen Lanzhi helped him calculate, winked at him, and said, "His skills may not be inferior to mine. Besides, I plan to develop him into your master's father-in-law."
Xuezhi leaned over to listen, and Wen Lanzhi muttered, "I've asked, and he's homeless, with no one at home, so as long as he agrees, there's no problem. From now on, our tea shop will have another laborer."
Xuezhi told her seriously, "Master, we already have a bit of a labor surplus in our shop."
"Oh, it will be fine." Wen Lanzhi touched his arm and said optimistically.
At night, the two locked the door and secretly counted money in front of it, "one, two, three, four..."
"Master, please stop counting. I've counted. There are twelve guests today, and that's twenty-four cents." Xuezhi urged.
"Okay." Wen Lanzhi counted again, counted out twelve coins, and handed it to him.
Tap, tap, tap, the sound of footsteps.
Both of them raised their heads from their palms at the same time and looked at each other.
Tap, tap, tap, the footsteps continue.
In order to save money, the two people only lit one candle, and it was pitch black around them and they couldn't see anything.
Every time a footstep sounded, the candle would flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker, flicker...
Especially weird.
Wen Lanzhi raised her sword, identifying the direction of the sound, intending to strike the opponent with a sword by surprise.
"Ouch!" Her mouth was covered, and the hand covering her face was icy cold, which frightened her and made her shiver.
Xuezhi opened her mouth wide, but no sound came out.
Wu Ci Yan made a gesture to silence the two of them.
Wen Lanzhi breathed a sigh of relief. "It's you, my benefactor. Why are you running around here so late at night and scaring us?"
Wu Ciyan let go of her, took two steps back to keep his distance, and said, "It wasn't me."
"What do you mean it's not you..." Before Wen Lanzhi finished speaking, the voice sounded again.
Ta-da-da, ta-da-da.
This time it's faster.
Xuezhi pointed at Wu Ciyan and asked, "Did you bring him here?"
Wen Lanzhi tutted and slapped Xuezhi's hand away, "How can you be so rude?"
Xuezhi's eyes rolled around as she stared at the ceiling, no longer saying a word.
Wen Lanzhi knew that he was angry.
In fact, Wen Lanzhi also suspected Wu Ci Yan, but even if it was Wu Ci Yan who brought them here, it didn't matter. She didn't mind fighting when there were no customers.
Wu Ciyan said, "I didn't lead them here, and they weren't coming for us."
He pointed to the wall on the left; the footsteps were indeed coming from there.
Wen Lanzhi stretched out her ear, tilted her head, listened carefully, and kindly explained to Xuezhi who had poor hearing.
Hoarse——
"There was the sound of a chair being dragged."
Click, click!
"Break something. Corn on the cob?"
Wu Ciyan chuckled, "He's a vegetarian ghost."
Wen Lanzhi ignored him. After a while, she said, "It seems like he's eating... but there's no movement now. Is he done? So fast!"
Wu Ciyan said, "It seems the corn should be quite sweet."
Wen Lanzhi patted her ears, retracted them, and jumped across the tea table, saying, "Let's go and take a look."
"Hey—Master!" Xuezhi quickly grabbed her and said, "If you go now, what if the ghost isn't there? Won't we become the murderer?"
Wen Lanzhi looked at Wu Ci Yan who was standing next to her.
Wu Ciyan leaned on the counter and spread his hands, saying, "Don't look at me. I don't know martial arts, and going there would only cause trouble. If Boss Wen wants to go, he can go. I won't interfere."
Wen Lanzhi thought for a moment and said, "Let's go and take a look. What if there are ghosts eating people? Let's find a few more people to serve as witnesses."
Xuezhi said, "Ghosts eat people, and they've finished eating by now, so maybe they're still not full."
"Let's climb over the roof." Wen Lanzhi said, "If everyone is dead, we'll climb back down and pretend we knew nothing. We'll report to the police tomorrow. If they haven't finished eating yet, we'll bring the rest out."
She looked at Wu Ciyan, "Are you going?"
Wu Ciyan said, "I know a little bit about climbing over the wall."
"That's perfect." Wen Lanzhi arranged, "Xuezhi and I know martial arts, but we can't climb over the wall. You can climb over the wall, but you can't martial arts. Then you stay up there and we'll climb down together."
After hearing these words, Wu Ciyan turned sideways and scratched his forehead. "Okay, that's a good idea."
"Okay!" Wen Lanzhi ordered, "Xuezhi, go with me to get the ladder. Benefactor, please go to the top of the wall and wait for us."
Wu Ciyan didn't really want to help them, but they had already set out to get the ladder.
Okay, sleep in someone else's bed and do some hard labor for them.
Wen Lanzhi was the first to climb the ladder, with Xuezhi supporting her from below. When she was almost at the top, Wu Ciyan supported her arm. His hands were very cold, and every time they touched Wen Lanzhi, she couldn't stop shivering.
Seeing that she was about to fall, Wu Ciyan reached out with his other hand and pulled her directly to the top of the wall. He only let go of her hand after seeing that she was sitting firmly.
"Huh..." Wen Lanzhi took a long breath, "I'm so tired."
"Yeah." Wu Ciyan agreed, "You actually climbed up, that's awesome."
Wen Lanzhi: “…”
Wu Ciyan saw her standing there for a long time without moving, and asked, "Want to rest for a while?"
Wen Lanzhi said, "No need." She turned her head and moved the ladder to the other side.
Wu Ci Yan jumped down from the wall and helped her hold the ladder steadily.
"Hey! What are you doing!" The shouting scared Wen Lanzhi so much that she missed her step and almost fell off the ladder.
She turned around and saw a man emerge from the room near the teahouse. He was completely intact, with no missing limbs. His eyes widened, and with a hint of shock in his voice, he shouted, "What are you doing? Stealing!"
Wen Lanzhi breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that he was fine. She said, "We heard... uh..." next door.
"The sound of cracking corn." Wu Ci Yan added for her.
"Right, right, right!" Wen Lanzhi just finished responding, and suddenly realized that something was wrong, "No, no, no!"
"Master!" Xuezhi's voice came from next door.
The busier it got, the more chaotic it became. Wen Lanzhi didn't know which one to comfort first.
She stood on the ladder, turned sideways to look at the man below, and said, "Has anyone in your family died?"
"Someone in your family has died!" the man said as he was about to kick the ladder, but was stopped by Wu Ci Yan.
Wen Lanzhi quickly climbed up the ladder again using both her hands and feet, sat on the wall, and said embarrassedly, "I'm sorry, I thought your yard was haunted. I'm glad you're okay, I'm glad you're okay."
"Your yard is haunted!" The man jumped up angrily, turned around, picked up a basket and smashed it at him.
Wen Lanzhi dodged to the side and was about to apologize a few more times, but Wu Ciyan had already flown over, put his arms around her waist and took her away.
"Ladder..." Wen Lanzhi muttered to the wall, as if she had lost something precious. "We only have one."
The man next door was still cursing loudly, so loudly that it disturbed the neighbors. The neighbor who lived on his left also started cursing loudly. The man suddenly turned his attention and started cursing with the other side.
As he was cursing, Wu Ci Yan suddenly flew down from the wall again.
The man jumped back and said nervously, "What the hell! Are you fighting?"
"I'm sorry." After saying that, Wu Ci Yan took the ladder and went back.
Man: "...You are sick! You are a family of thieves! You are motherless!" He directed his firepower at Wen Lanzhi again.
The ladder was back, and Wen Lanzhi lovingly touched the place where she had stepped on it, "Don't throw it away. This time, it's all thanks to my benefactor. Thank you very much."
Xuezhi said, "Master, you're still thanking him. He mistook the sound of people walking for a ghost eating people. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have come this far."
Wu Ciyan raised an eyebrow, having no objection to such an accusation, "Who knows."
Wen Lanzhi turned neither to Xuezhi nor to Wu Ciyan. She simply put the ladder back in place silently and said, "Go to bed. It's too late."
Wen Lanzhi disagreed with Xuezhi's point of view. The footsteps were obviously wrong. She heard it before Wu Ci Yan came, and she was sure that the sound of corn being cracked was definitely not corn. She supported Wu Ci Yan.
But if I say it now, it would be too embarrassing for Xuezhi, after all, she is just a young disciple.
After Wen Lanzhi waited for Xuezhi to return to her room, she followed Wu Ciyan to his guest room.
The snacks on the table were still untouched.
Wu Ciyan turned around and looked at her.
Wen Lanzhi looked left, right, down, and up, and said, "The moonlight is so beautiful tonight."
Wu Ciyan also looked up and said, "Yes, I can see the stars from my room."
Wen Lanzhi: "...I'm so sorry, sir, we are short of rooms in our courtyard. Why don't you switch with me?"
Wu Ciyan said: "No, I like looking at the stars."
He walked to the table, poured two glasses of wine, pushed the snacks towards Wen Lanzhi, and said, "The moonlight is beautiful, sit down and have a drink."
"Okay." Wen Lanzhi sat down and took a piece of dessert. "Are these desserts not to your liking? Why don't you eat any of them?"
Wu Ciyan said: "I really don't like it very much, it's too sweet."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Wen Lanzhi take a bite.
One sip after another, and then another sip of wine.
She said, "Well, I think it's delicious."
She touched her flat purse and said, "Sir, I still have some savings. You can't keep living in a leaky house. Tomorrow, I'll go to the mountains to chop some wood and ask the neighbors for help to patch up your roof."
Wu Ciyan took a sip of wine and said, "No need, I'll only stay for two days and then I'll leave."
Wen Lanzhi paused holding the wine, "Why?"
Wu Ciyan pondered for a moment and said, "I like to wander around and don't like to stay in the same place."
He can't stay in the same place all the time.
Wen Lanzhi didn't think for long and said bluntly: "Then take me with you."
She said, "I've been in this teahouse for a long, long time, ten years. I couldn't have a more boring life than this. Benefactor, you don't know martial arts, but I do. I'll follow you and protect you. And you saved me, so I should repay you."
Wu Ciyan choked, as if he was shocked by Wen Lanzhi's straightforward tone. He said, "Following me will not end well."
"I'll eat rotten fruit too." Wen Lanzhi waved her hand casually and said, "It doesn't matter where I go. If we get rich in the future, I'll take Xuezhi with me."
"I'm not used to having people around me." Wu Ciyan refused clearly, "Miss, you'd better stay here and accompany your disciple. If you leave with me, your disciple will probably hate me."
"Xuezhi is not that kind of person." Wen Lanzhi muttered, "He's a very good person. I picked him up two years ago, and he has been working for me since then. There was a time when we were so poor that we could only eat wild vegetables, but he followed me. He said that I saved his life, so he followed me to repay me. No matter poverty or anything else, he will never abandon me."
"Actually, I've always felt..." She lowered her head, "He would be better off if he left me and this tea shop."
Wu Ciyan didn't want to get involved in their family affairs and said, "I don't want to listen. You and your disciples can do whatever you want. If you want to stay, stay. If you want to leave, leave. But don't follow me."
He grabbed Wen Lanzhi's wrist and pushed her out, "I want to sleep."
His fingers touched Wen Lanzhi's skin, and even through the fabric of her clothes, he could feel the bone-chilling cold. Compared to this temperature, Wen Lanzhi's normal body temperature seemed scalding hot. He was so cold that after a long time, Wen Lanzhi's skin was frozen to the point of pain. She asked worriedly, "Are you sick?"
Wu Ci Yan was a little annoyed and said, "What kind of disease is it? Aren't all monsters like this?" Especially snakes. They don't like heat and like to stick to cool things, so their bodies will also be made cold.
Wen Lanzhi asked, "Why not use magic to make your skin look like a normal person's?"
"If you don't touch me, how do you know that my temperature is different from other people's." Wu Ci Yan pushed her out and closed the door.
This scene happened to be seen by Xuezhi who came out to pour water.
"Hey!" He stood up for the injustice and rolled up his sleeves to go up and argue.
Wen Lanzhi stopped him and said, "Oh, it's okay, it's okay."
On her way back to her room, she suddenly realized that the cursing next door had stopped.
She tilted her head in confusion. They were neighbors, and although they were not close friends, they knew each other and had helped each other in the past. But the man's behavior today seemed as if he didn't know her.
She sighed. It was because she was too bad at talking. She was on the ladder and had no place to put her feet. She was too anxious.
The next day, the tea stall opened as normal. Wen Lanzhi was still thinking about whether to go to the next door to apologize. After all, they were neighbors, and it would not be good to make too much of a fuss.
As soon as she pushed open the door, she saw a group of people gathered at the door. She took a big step back and looked carefully. She found that although this group of people were gathered here, their eyes were all looking towards the next room.
Wen Lanzhi took two steps forward puzzled and asked, "What's going on?"
The person she photographed said, "Someone died next door. It seems to be haunted."
"Ah?" Wen Lanzhi turned her head to look, but the place was surrounded by people and she couldn't see anything.
Wen Lanzhi heard someone calling her, "Lanzhi, are you okay?"
Wen Lanzhi turned around and saw Mrs. Zhang from the opposite door coming towards her.
Wen Lanzhi said: "I'm fine, what happened here?"
Mrs. Zhang said, "I heard it too. Last night, for some reason, the family next door and the butcher got into an argument. Many people heard it. This morning, the butcher sent someone to knock on the door, wanting to argue. When they broke the door open, they found the whole family dead. On the chopping board, only a head and half a leg were left."
Wen Lanzhi knew the family next door. She had once borrowed food from them when she was broke. Although they weren't close friends, they were nice people. It was because of their kindness that she wanted to visit them.
There was a family of three next door. They were also poor and had a child. Once when they were chatting about family matters, Wen Lanzhi asked them if they wanted to have another child to keep their child company.
The child's mother said, "We are so poor that we really can't afford it. Last year during the Chinese New Year, we couldn't afford to buy meat. It doesn't matter whether we adults eat it or not, but we can't let the child suffer, so..." She lowered her head and sighed.
Although she didn't say anything else, Wen Lanzhi understood that she must have pawned something precious.
Even though their family was in such a state, they were still willing to lend food to Wen Lanzhi. Wen Lanzhi always kept this in mind and sent some to her neighbors every time she bought some food.
Wen Lanzhi heard the haunting this time, but still did not intervene in time.
She thanked Mrs. Zhang and went back to tell Xuezhi and Wu Ciyan about it.
Xuezhi said, "Master, they did lend us food, but you've always given them some of the leftovers at the end of every month. We've already paid them back more than ten times over. I don't know if this haunting will interfere with our tea shop, so let's just ignore it."
After he finished speaking, he looked at Wu Ci Yan.
Wu Ciyan sneered and said the same thing, "Don't look at me. I don't know the family next door, and I don't know martial arts. I'm lucky enough not to cause trouble. Boss Wen can intervene if he wants. I won't interfere."
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