Otherworldly Days

Chapter 209

A gust of wind blew, and the calligraphy and paintings on the booth flew up. Zheng Xiucai could hold down one side but couldn't hold down the other side.

At this moment, the sky suddenly turned dark, and it was about to rain. The pedestrians on the street were in a hurry, and no one would stop in their footsteps.

The hawkers nearby packed up their things in a hurry, and ran away with their loads.The poor scholar didn't even clean up the things on the stall, and the big raindrops fell, and the sky didn't give anyone time to take a breath, and then it rained cats and dogs.

All the people on the street ran away at once, and the scholar with the basket on his back followed at the end.

It is said that one who is useless is a scholar, and it is true!

The brother in the inn saw that it was raining heavily outside. He took the child inside the house, looked at the heavy rain outside the window, and waited anxiously for the return of Fu Lang, who was setting up a stall outside to do business. how.

"Knock, knock—" "Open the door, it's me."

Hearing the voice outside the door, Liang Yan hurried over, opened the door, and saw Fulang who came back, his clothes were all wet, and he felt distressed again, so he hurriedly let Fulang in, and said, " The rain is so heavy, why don't you find a place to stay and come back when the rain stops."

"It's okay, I have an umbrella." In fact, it was a broken umbrella that couldn't withstand the wind and rain at all. Zheng Xiucai used the umbrella in his hand to cover the calligraphy and paintings in the back basket, and he was drenched all over.He rushed back because he was afraid that the person in the inn would be waiting in a hurry and worried about him.

Seeing Father who came back, the child sitting on the bed yelled inarticulately, "Daddy—Daddy——" "Hey, Xiao Tongbao, Dad is back, are you here obediently listening to what Eminem says? ?" Zheng Shubo saw the child calling him, and went over to tease the child.Liang Yan came out with a piece of Fu Lang's clothes and a piece of cloth in her hand, handed it to Fu Lang, and said, "Hurry up and wipe off the water on your head, and change the clothes on your body."

What if they catch a cold in this weather, what should they do, they don't have much money in their pockets now.

Zheng Shubo took the towel and wiped his hair, took off his clothes in the room, put on clean clothes, and handed the ten copper coins in his pocket to Liang Yan, "This is the money for selling calligraphy and painting today." ’” he said.

Liang Yan held it in her hand, her eyes were a little red, and she said "hmm".

It was raining cats and dogs outside, and the black clouds came down, and the building suddenly became dark.There were still many tea-drinking guests in the building at this moment, so shopkeeper Fang hurriedly asked the staff to light up the surrounding lanterns.

There was a crackling thunder, and the dark clouds in the sky were split in two. The child was startled and cried. The servant over there hurriedly carried the child back to his wife. After a while, the crying disappeared. .

"Boy Nan, it's not a good day, why don't you go back two days later?" Shopkeeper Fang said to Cao Xiangnan seeing that it was not a good day.

"Well, I'll check it out later. If the rain doesn't stop at night, I have to postpone my return for two days." Cao Xiangnan also saw that it was a bad day. It's very unsafe, besides, they still take the waterway, and it's even more unsafe when it rains.

Even if he was rushing back, he still had to consider this safety issue.

I don’t know if it’s raining here in Nanyang, is it also raining over there? Looking outside that day, Cao Xiangnan thought of Qi Wanfeng who was at home who was far away in Cao’s village. There was a rustle of blowing things, and he called the children outside to come in, "Don't come out inside, we will collect the things outside." Sun Bailian hurriedly let a group of children go back to the house with their own things. , he ran towards his home, shouting, "I'm going home to collect my clothes."

There are still a lot of things drying in the yard, and a few men are neatly packing things.

When Cao Gang heard the voice, he glanced there, gave an order, chased after his wife, and ran back to the opposite house.

The heavy rain was like someone standing in the sky and pouring water down. This autumn rain was heavy.

The tea-drinking guests in the restaurant were trapped and unable to get out. Fortunately, the tea-drinking guests were not in a hurry to go back. They were frightened by this day at first, but they got used to it after a while. Old friends are slowly making tea and eating snacks.

"The taste of this drunken crab really gets better the more you eat it." Now the old gourmets love to come to Yipinzhai to eat. They didn't eat these small river crabs before, but after eating here once, they fell in love with them. Gadgets.

At the beginning, the drunk crabs were unsealed just after entering the jar, and the taste hadn’t even gone in yet. The more they were put in, the more delicious they tasted, and the more delicious they tasted.

"No, this little thing tastes better the more you chew it. My family also likes to eat this little thing. When I go back later, I will ask Lao Fang for two jars to take away." The regular customers here are not as polite as shopkeeper Fang, knowing that This small river crab is marinated in a small jar. It can be steamed or boiled in a pot. It is very convenient, just take it home.

"Lao Fang's spicy dishes are also good. It's getting cold and there's nothing to eat at home in winter. I have to say hello to Lao Fang in advance and bring some back to the house."

"Oh, yes, yes, Lao Zhou, you reminded me."

The old men who have eaten delicious food here in Yipinzhai will also take it home for the people in the family to eat.

The rain lasted for a whole morning, and at noon the rain outside was a little lighter. Those who eat in the building see that it is still raining outside, and those who are not in a hurry can order three or five small dishes and a pot of good wine, and have a good time with old friends. Keep chattering here.

On a rainy day, the business was reduced by half compared to usual. The shopkeeper Fang sighed when he saw this day, and he was so worried.

Cao Xiangnan couldn't help laughing, it's going to rain today, what else can people do?

I originally planned to go back to Fenshui to buy things today, but I was blocked by this day. I don’t know if it will be sunny tomorrow. This kind of weather is really hard to say. I really want to refuse to go back in two days, so I originally planned to The scheduled return date was pushed back again, and he told everyone about it.

"That's good too. You can leave when the weather clears up tomorrow. Don't worry about it for a day or two." Sun Ji said after hearing this.

"Well, I know. I want to ask you, do you plan to stay in Nanyang, or go home first?" Cao Xiangnan asked about Sun Ji's return to Fenshui. Winter is coming after autumn, wait a minute After the snow, this road is not easy to walk. I am afraid that I will not be able to go back until next year.

"If you stay in Nanyang, you have the advantage of staying here. When you go back to Caojia Village, you have to go back. After the academy is built, I plan to organize the people in the village to read and write in winter. Sun Jing and Sun Bing are the only ones. C can read a few words, and when they go back, they can learn to read first."

"However, if you continue to stay here, there are also advantages to staying here. If you can read and write, you can find a gentleman here to learn. But if you stay here, I'm afraid you won't be able to go home during the Chinese New Year. I'm afraid that people in your family will miss it."

Because when it’s winter and it’s snowing outside, the crops in the fields can’t be grown, and the labor can’t be carried out. Most people stay at home and go to sleep when they’re full, and eat when they’re full.Cao Xiangnan planned to organize the people in his hands to go to the academy to study and read first. During the long winter, there would be at least several months. If he learned three big characters a day, there would be hundreds of them in three months. It was better than letting go. It's good to waste it in vain.

There are quite a few people working under him now, but there are relatively few literate people, and most of them are illiterate, and they can't even find someone to calculate accounts for him.Cao Xiangnan planned to use the winter time to recharge and study the people in his hands.

"So let's see what happens then. You can discuss it with Sun Bing first, and then you can tell me after you have made up your mind." Cao Xiangnan told Sun Ji his thoughts, and in the end this person made the decision.

He also has a plan for next year, and he roughly mentioned it to Sun Ji, and Sun Ji also knew about it.

"Okay, I'll talk to them later and ask them what they mean." Sun Ji nodded and said.

It was only in the evening that the rain stopped, and Cao Xiangnan remembered that he wanted to go to Zheng Shubo today to ask him if he would like to be a teacher in Fenshui, but it was getting dark by now. I just thought it would be better to go there tomorrow.

"Fuck... If you don't have money, what kind of inn do you want to learn from people? Think of us as a shantang here. Get out, go outside if you don't have money." A back basket was thrown out of the inn, and a pile of calligraphy and paintings fell to the ground.

"Shopkeeper, can you allow a few more days, Xiaosheng will get rich if he sells these calligraphy and paintings." Zheng Xiucai was protecting his daughter-in-law and child in his arms, seeing other people's advice, with a look of embarrassment, all the calligraphy and paintings fell to the ground , This is his lifeblood, he hurried over to pick it up.

They had to pay for the rent for the three days before, and they had to pay for the food in the inn every day. On this day, they couldn't even pay the rent, so they were kicked out of the inn.

"Damn, how much are those rags of yours worth!" He doesn't pay on credit here, if he has money, he will live in the house, but if he has no money?Sorry, fuck him!

"You..." Zheng Xiucai blushed angrily, but there was nothing she could do.

"Wow... Daddy, Daddy..." The child in his arms was frightened and cried loudly. Liang Yan, a brother, hugged the child in his arms, his eyes were red, and he coaxed the child.Seeing Fu Lang squatting there picking up things, he hurriedly carried the child over to help pick things up.

The people around outside pointed and said that the shopkeeper of the inn was not humane, and the poor scholar brought his wife and children and didn't even have a place to live, but there was no one who offered to help.

"Brother Zheng." Cao Xiangnan didn't see Zheng Shubo setting up a stall outside, remembering that he said he was staying at Yunlai Inn, so he looked for him, but he didn't expect to see him being kicked out with his wife and children.

"Brother Cao." Zheng Shubo picked up all the things into the back basket. Some calligraphy and paintings were all muddy today after being drenched by the rain yesterday, and he was reluctant to throw them away.Seeing someone coming, and thinking of showing his embarrassed appearance to his friends, his face became even more embarrassing.

Seeing that the shopkeeper standing at the door was so arrogant, Cao Xiangnan glanced over, and couldn't go to this kind of person to argue, then looked at Zheng Shubo, and he said, "Brother Zheng, I happen to have something to ask you, this is not the place to talk, Let's get out of here first."

"Well, okay." Zheng Shubo glanced at his wife and children beside him, and nodded.

A group of people left the broken inn, and the people standing there watching the theater dispersed.