14. Leave at noon
As the sun sets in the west, the remaining light illuminates the walls of Longshan Mountain red.
The Yunlong Temple built against the mountain is surrounded by shadows of trees.
The old man with his hair in a bun was wearing a navy blue Taoist robe. He rode his electric bicycle to the entrance of the Taoist temple. He turned around and picked up a plastic bucket from the electric bicycle. He carried a long package on his back and walked into the temple.
"Apprentice, apprentice!"
He had a smile on his face and shouted as he walked.
An old man who looks to be in his 70s or 80s can still walk as fast as he can while carrying a heavy plastic bucket.
After passing through the aisle and bypassing the Sanqing Main Hall, the old man saw green smoke coming out of the chimney of the stove house in the backyard.
The young Taoist priest with ashes in his hands came out of the kitchen with a smile on his face. He took the plastic bucket from the old man's hand, stretched his head to look at it and said, "My rice is almost ready to be steamed.
How many fish did you catch today? "
At a glance, he saw several big fish rolling back and forth in the clear water.
The young Taoist priest's expression changed. It was obvious that the master had caught a lot of fish, but he became unhappy: "Why did you catch so many fish again?
Pickled fish on Monday, boiled fish on Tuesday, braised fish on Wednesday, stewed fish with soy sauce on Thursday, big fish stewed with vermicelli on Friday... This is the second week, and the fish caught last week are still in the tank and have not been eaten! "
For a fisherman, catching fish every day is naturally a great pleasure in life.
But for his family, this is never a good thing.
Anyone who eats fish three times a day will not be able to bear it for three days.
"Hey, if you can't finish eating, just put them in the tank and keep them." The old Taoist priest said with a smile, "If that doesn't work, I'll give a few to the villagers down the mountain."
"Give it away." The young Taoist priest shook his head and poured the fish into the large water tank in the courtyard. He said as he poured it, "I sent some big crucian carps to Uncle Zhang's family the day before yesterday. He brought them here yesterday. A bucket of white fish.
I gave Uncle Wang's family a big silver carp, and he gave it to Huang Lading.
I……"
The old Taoist priest wiped the non-existent sweat on his forehead, suddenly raised his nose and said suddenly: "The rice is burnt!"
Upon hearing this, the young Taoist priest quickly put down the bucket and rushed back to the kitchen.
Seeing that he was gone, the old Taoist took a deep breath and went back to his bedroom to change his clothes, hands behind his back.
At this time, the young Taoist priest had moved a small square table into the courtyard and set up a bench.
A bowl of rice, two salted fish, a plate of mixed vegetables, and a tomato and egg soup were brought to the table.
He first served the master with white rice that was slightly softer in the center of the basin, then scooped out a bowl of rice for himself. He sat opposite the master, picked up a chopstick of mixed vegetables and stuffed it into his mouth along with the white rice.
The old Taoist priest also picked up a chopstick of mixed vegetables and chewed them slowly. He and his apprentice had a tacit agreement not to touch the two salted fish.
After ladling half a bowl of soup for his disciple, the old Taoist asked, "Yunqing, is there anyone coming to the temple today to offer incense?"
"Yes!" The Taoist priest named 'Xie Yunqing' responded without hesitation, "Some people say that they often have nightmares at night and feel that there is something dirty in their house.
Isn’t this superstitious!
I persuaded him to go to the psychiatry department of the hospital, but he came here to beg me to sell him a few Taoist artifacts. I couldn't help him, so I lent him the imperial bell that you had never used.
I agreed with him that I would send it back when he is done using it. "
The hands of the old Taoist priest shaking the food.
He raised his eyes and looked at his apprentice: "You just gave my imperial bell to someone else?!"
"That's right." Xie Yunqing didn't know why. He picked up the rice quickly and said vaguely, "Is there any problem?"
"hiss--"
The old Taoist priest was so hung up that he almost stopped breathing. His eyes were a little dark, but his tone was very soothing: "It's nothing, it's nothing.
Since others are in need, it doesn’t matter if you lend them to others..."
"Don't worry, that person doesn't look like someone who borrows money and never returns it." Xie Yunqing said with a smile, "He is in the same group as you, Master. They are both fishing enthusiasts!"
Hearing that his apprentice had left the other party's contact information, the old Taoist priest felt better.
I heard the disciple continue: "That man is quite humorous. He told me, a Taoist priest, that our Taoist temple has bad feng shui and is gloomy. He asked us to go down the mountain and live there for a while."
"That is indeed quite humorous, hahaha..." The old Taoist priest laughed out loud, swallowed the soup in his throat, blushed and asked his disciple, "What is that man's name? Do you have any impression?"
"Remember!"
"The name is easy to remember, it's Su Wu, it's the afternoon when noon has arrived!"
"Su Wu...it's the afternoon of noon, am I right?"
"yes."
"It's time to eat. Master, why are you going back to the house!"
…
In the simple bedroom, Tai Chi and Bagua pictures were hung on the wall opposite the door.
Under it are an offering table, a shrine, and a futon.
Several magical instruments were placed on the offering table.
The old Taoist priest hurried into the room, climbed onto the bed, and opened a large wooden box placed against the wall at the foot of the bed.
He took out the new clothes that were neatly folded inside, one by one.
He pulled out a Taoist scripture from the bottom of the box.
His calloused fingers flipped through the yellowed Taoist scriptures and finally found a note tucked into the book.
There are sixteen prophecies written in red letters on it: Rise when encountering mountains, rise when encountering dragons, retreat when encountering noon, obtain gold and become silent.
"Retreat at noon, retreat at noon..."
"It turned out that I was supposed to be here. The time has come..."
The old Taoist priest murmured to himself, a premonition suddenly arising in his heart.
At this time, Xie Yunqing followed him into the room. Looking at his master who was half sitting on the bed, he suddenly felt that his master seemed much better.
He felt deep uneasiness in his heart, and cautiously asked the old Taoist priest: "Master, has something happened?"
"Nothing's wrong." The old Taoist priest clenched the note into a ball, turned around and smiled at his apprentice, "Yunqing, let's go down the mountain and stay for a while while the sky is still bright."
…
The morning light was fading, and the adults and aunties at the Mingzhou City Antique Market had already set up their stalls early.
The stalls have everything from clay figurines and polished stone pieces from prehistoric civilizations, to bronzes and tiger seals from the Zhou, Qin and Han dynasties, to modern old cameras, old watches, and old potato chips (expired and not recommended for consumption).
"How much is this?"
Su Wu picked up a terracotta warrior and horse from the stall and weighed it in his hands.
"This is 80,000!" The old stall owner quoted a price without thinking.
"twenty!"
"Sell it or not?"
The old man scratched his head and hesitated when he heard the price that was very different from his own quotation: "Twenty, that's too little. Look at this workmanship, this is a pure antique from the Qin Dynasty...
You add ten more!
Hey, don't go!
You can also add five yuan, three yuan, three yuan..."
Su Wu dropped the pottery figurine and got into the crowd without looking back.
I was afraid that if I was slow, I would be grabbed by the stall owner and forced to buy the old antique from the 'Qin Dynasty' for twenty yuan.
Can real terracotta warriors and horses appear in the antique market?
Can you still buy it for twenty yuan?
Even if you buy a genuine product, do you want to take this thing to jail for appreciation?
He just tried to follow the online guide and quoted a price with the stall owner. He didn't expect it to go so smoothly. The item of 80,000 yuan was directly cut off by 79,980 yuan.