Chapter 54
The Ganzhou Riverside was still very lively when I came here. Under a willow tree, several men and women were playing the piano and singing. The sound of the piano was melodious, like a clear moon and a gentle breeze. No wonder Confucius listened to the "Shao Music" of Qi. It was so beautiful that he was still savoring it several months later and didn't even know the taste of meat.
Lin Shuge stopped and listened, but there was no movement for a long time. Xie Chen called him and then Lin Shuge reacted.
"Brother, if you want to listen, I can play it for you."
Lin Shuge turned around and said, "Can you play the piano?" Do you have any other surprises that I don't know about?
"Brother, do you want to listen? My piano skills were taught by my mother." Xie Chen said softly.
Mrs. Xie was famous for her piano skills when she was young in Yandu. Xie Chen was very active when he was young and could never concentrate on learning the piano, so he was often punished.
Lin Shuge thought to himself: I would like to, but I don’t have a zither at hand.
Being really curious, he pulled the reluctant Xie Chen over there.
When several people saw a stranger coming, a young man in green became uneasy and looked over here. He moved his hand and played a wrong note, causing the other man to look back.
Lin Shuge looked at this scene and chuckled. Isn't this just "When the song is wrong, Zhou Lang looks back."
After the song, the young man in green asked fiercely, "Why did you laugh when you first arrived?"
"I just heard the young master's piano playing and was immersed in it. I hope you won't blame me."
"You were laughing because I played the wrong note." The young man snorted coldly.
Another man scolded, "Qing Yuan, don't be rude." He looked at Lin Shuge, "My brother is rude, please don't blame me, sir."
"We are students from Bitong Academy. We are here to have fun today. Do you know any music theory?
Lin Shuge smiled and said, "I blame you for disturbing you, but it seems that Bitong Academy is not closed today?" It seems that they skipped classes to come out and have fun.
The man touched the piano somewhat awkwardly, and his fingers touched the strings, making a "clang" sound.
The young man in green was not convinced, "You didn't answer my brother's question just now. Do you understand music theory? If you do, why don't you play a song for me?" Let's see if you can make any mistakes. You are not a layman, are you? Why do you come here to disturb them playing the piano?
Before Lin Shuge could speak, Xie Chen said coldly, "My brother is not able to play today, how about I play a song for him?"
Everyone then noticed Xie Chen standing behind Lin Shuge. Seeing his stern face, he looked like someone who was not easy to mess with. The young man in green was timid but said, "Then you come and play. I will laugh at you even if you make a mistake."
"Brother, please listen carefully later." Xie Chen reminded.
Lin Shuge smiled but said nothing, waiting quietly for Xie Chen to play the piano.
He was seen sitting in front of the zither, stroking the strings to test the sound, and then plucking the strings. The sound of the zither poured down like flowing water. At first, it sounded vast and mighty, like the towering mountains, or the cold and solemn winter night, with the bright moon in one's arms. The Gong and Shang notes were clear and the Zheng notes were low and plaintive. It was indeed "the strings were made of silk from the gardeners, and the emblems were made of jade from Mount Zhongshan."
When the song ended, everyone seemed to have just woken up from their dream. The young man said with some embarrassment: "My skills are inferior to others. I have to admit defeat."
He looked embarrassed, with all kinds of emotions interweaving on his face. Finally, he said awkwardly, "Will you accept a disciple?"
"No," Xie Chen stood up and walked to Lin Shuge's side, "Brother, am I playing well?"
Lin Shuge was amazed by Xie Chen today and said happily, "Of course it's good. He is like Boya and Ji Kang in the world."
Xie Chen was a little confused. The story of Boya was well known to everyone, but who was Ji Kang?
Before he could even ask, a loud shout rang out from not far away, "He Qingran, He Qingyuan, and the rest of you, you're so good, you're skipping classes and running out here to play."
The man was wearing clothes unique to Bitong Academy, with flowing beard, but his face was filled with anger.
The young man, He Qingyuan, was trembling with fear, like a cat seeing a mouse, and bowed and said, "Master Li."
He Qingran and several other men and women also saluted immediately. They were like chicks caught by an eagle, lowering their heads and not daring to speak.
Master Li looked at the only two people in the group who did not move, and saw that it was okay. Wasn’t this County Magistrate Lin?
He hurried forward and saluted, "Greetings, Lord County Magistrate." He then looked at Xie Chen who stood up from the zither. Seeing the closeness between the two, he thought it must be the guard chief, "Greetings, Guard Chief."
Several students were already terrified after being caught skipping classes, and now when they heard the identities of Lin Shuge and the other man, they were all scared pale, especially He Qingyuan, who looked at his brother as if asking for help.
Madam Li saw the expressions of the crowd and said, "I found that many students were missing from class today, so I came here in person to catch them. If they have done anything inappropriate, the county magistrate is magnanimous and please don't bother with them." ”
Lin Shuge said, "What's wrong with that? We were just competing in piano skills. These young men are really good at playing the piano. I just passed by here and was fascinated by what they were doing, so I wanted to get to know them."
Master Li bowed and said yes, then winked at a few students. The students hurriedly saluted Lin Shuge and the other man, then followed Master Li away.
Seeing that there was no one around, Lin Shuge said to Xie Chen, "Let's go. There's nothing fun to watch."
Xie Chen was a little bothered, "Brother, who is Ji Kang?"
Lin Shuge was secretly annoyed, but he could only evade the question by saying, "I saw a strange man in a book, who is very good at playing the zither and has a generous personality."
"Brother, what book did you read it from? I am also familiar with the classics, so why have I never seen this person?" Xie Chen had been puzzled before. It seemed that Lin Shuge mentioned many people or things that he had never heard of, such as some punishments, the farm tools this time, and people he had never heard of.
"It's... a book of supernatural stories, all of which talk about gods and extraordinary people, maybe people from other worlds." What book could it be? Of course it must be "Book of Jin", but there was no Jin Dynasty in this era, and it was impossible to explain them one by one, so he could only talk about supernatural things.
Xie Chen saw Lin Shuge rubbing his fingers unconsciously. This was a very subtle movement of his, which meant that he was lying.
His emotions moved slightly. His brother was hiding something from him. He looked at Lin Shuge again and thought, it’s okay. His brother will tell him one day.
"Zhongxuan, I'm so hungry, are you hungry?"
Xie Chen replied, "I'm hungry too, brother, let's go back."
"good."
…
The spring breeze brought warmth, and catkins and flowers were everywhere. When Lin Shuge went out, he was touched by catkins and sneezed. Xie Chen was packing his luggage, so he came over and put one hand on Lin Shuge's forehead and the other on his own forehead, and asked, "Brother, did you catch a cold?"
Lin Shuge dodged sideways and said, "No, just catkins."
He opened the thing in his hand and showed it to him, "This package contains some medicine for injuries. I have labeled it with various usages." He then took out something wrapped in red cloth and said, "Take this ginseng. It can save your life at a critical moment."
Xie Chen declined, and Lin Shuge said, "Just in case, I'd rather you never have to use it."
He opened another package and said, "These cakes and snacks are for the journey. There is no place to rest from here to the Endless Tunnel."
Xie Chen took it with a smile and said obediently, "Okay."
The two of them packed up all their things, and Lin Shuge walked him to the door. Willow trees were swaying by the roadside, and the afterglow of the setting sun was shining on the ground, making it look golden.
He warned earnestly, "Swords have no eyes, be careful and don't force anything. I have told the two craftsmen to wait for you outside the city, and you can go together then."
Xie Chen looked at him quietly, his eyes full of reluctance and attachment. The time they had spent together was short, and they had not really parted yet, but his longing for him was already like willow catkins by the roadside, flying towards him.
"I know, brother."
He put all his things on the horse, looked back at Lin Shuge, and couldn't help it, so he went forward and hugged him tightly, "Brother, I'm leaving."
Lin Shuge reached out and touched him, "Well, remember to write to me."
Xie Chen loosened his hand and nodded, as if he had made up his mind. He turned around and mounted his horse, "Brother, take care." Then he galloped away.
Lin Shuge watched his back until it disappeared before slowly going back.
After Xie Chen left, he was the only one left at home. Looking at the empty house, Lin Shuge felt depressed and had to get up and find something to do.
I finished cleaning several rooms inside and out and cooked before it got dark. He finished his meal in silence, and cleaned up in silence, and his mood became a little better.
Lying on the bed, he couldn't help but have a lot of thoughts. One moment he thought it was too dangerous for Xie Chen to face the vicious Huns. The next moment he thought if Xie Chen was injured on the battlefield, he would not be able to get there in time.
The consequence of thinking too much was that I had nightmares all night after falling asleep. Although I couldn't remember it clearly when I woke up in the morning, I only vaguely remembered that there was a battle between two armies, and Dayan was at a disadvantage.
The battlefield was covered in blood, crows were cawing, and bones were exposed in the wilderness.
He shook his head, threw away all distracting thoughts, and muttered to himself: Dreams are the opposite of what they seem, dreams are the opposite of what they seem.
He didn't sleep well at night and was not in good spirits the whole day. Even when County Magistrate Li asked him to discuss school matters, he was a little listless.
"Shuge, I've seen the list of merchants you reported. You must have a way to limit the number of places. It's true that scarcity makes things valuable. Merchants are scrambling to get them."
After all, if the merchant's name is engraved in front of the school stele, it can be seen by people of the present time and future generations. Although merchants cannot achieve success in their careers and obtain fame and honor, and realize the "three immortalities" praised by everyone, at least the stele is buried in front of the door and will not decay early due to wind and rain.
Lin Shuge yawned, "Sir, how is the construction of the school going?"
"It's almost finished. The Xiangli Gu you mentioned is a talented person. Why didn't we dig him out earlier?" County Magistrate Li said with regret.
Lin Shuge yawned again, "Sir, since there is nothing else, I will take my leave first." There was still a lot of official business to do.
County Magistrate Li came over happily and patted him on the shoulder, "Young man, you should be more restrained, have a good rest at night, and don't go out fooling around."
Lin Shuge was speechless and rolled his eyes in his heart, "Sir, if you are too free, I have some official business here that I need you to take care of."
When Magistrate Li heard this, he immediately picked up the official document on the table and pretended to read it.
"Sir, I'll take my leave." He walked over, turned over the document that Magistrate Li had knocked over, then turned and walked out of the main hall.
Before he reached the official residence, an officer came to report that a foreign merchant wanted to see him.
Lin Shuge was puzzled. Where did these foreign merchants come from?
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