Me and my Jianghu Tavern

He hoped that there would be more people in the tavern, it was too impersonal.

A person's tavern is a place to relieve sorrow, he does not want it to be a place to relieve sorrow, and his wine cannot relieve sorrow.

Human touch, fireworks, he opened a tavern, not heaven and earth, without people, it would be nothing.

Although it is next to the official road, it can be regarded as the wilderness here, but some people pass by from time to time, but only during the day.

The birds have long since disappeared, and the insects and beasts are still arguing with each other, it is already very late.

"Shopkeeper, storekeeper!"

suddenly

Zhang Ming heard shouts coming from downstairs, he was stunned, a little confused, is there still someone drinking at such a late hour?

This is outside the city, this is too bold.

"Here we come." Zhang Ming agreed, and walked downstairs, Xiao Qi also followed.

"Meow."

I don't know why, Xiaoqi's energy is particularly strong today, and he hasn't fallen asleep until now, probably because he was frightened during the day.

When he reached the stairs, Zhang Ming saw the person standing in front of the counter.

It was an old man with a cane in his hand, his clothes were torn, and he was wearing a straw sandal on his right foot, and the other one was gone.

Zhang Ming didn't ask the old man why he was out here so late, but instead asked, "Drink?"

With a simple smile on his face, the old man said, "The store is still open at such a late hour."

Zhang Ming walked to the counter in two steps and took a look at the old man.

"It's closing."

The old man nodded. Seeing that Zhang Ming stopped talking, he was a little speechless. After holding back for a long time, he asked, "How do you sell the wine, the store?"

Zhang Ming shook his head and persuaded: "Old man, you should go back quickly at this late hour, the wine here is not cheap."

The old man opened his mouth, hesitated to speak, blushed, and had tears in his eyes.

"What's the matter, old man?" Zhang Ming asked aloud.

"I..." The old man's hand holding the crutch trembled slightly, stretched out his callused right hand, and said, "Shopkeeper, can you take me in for one night, just one night, the old man will leave at dawn, and will never disturb the storekeeper. "

This old man is not like a local, he is in rags and clothes, like a beggar, but he is not as lazy as a beggar.

Zhang Ming was stunned, and he asked: "The old man doesn't look like a local, could it be that he fled here?"

"Yes, there was a flood in Xuzhou, and the fields at home were flooded." The old man nodded, with some sadness in his words.

He touched his pocket and took out a cloth bag from it.

I saw him opening the cloth bag layer by layer, and finally revealed the contents of the cloth bag.

Those are two copper coins.

The old man picked up the two copper coins and said: "If the shopkeeper doesn't mind, I still have some money here, and I will take it as a reward."

Zhang Ming felt sore, he could imagine the importance of these two copper coins to the old man, and he would not take them out if it was not a last resort.

After all, who would hide the two copper coins so well? Maybe this is also the old man's entire possessions.

Zhang Ming was in a bit of a dilemma. It wasn't that he didn't want to stay, but that the system had rules. After closing, all guests in the tavern had to leave, and if they didn't leave, they would be forcibly evicted.

He can't stay even if he wants to, which is not easy.

"Is it really not possible?" Zhang Ming sighed in his heart, but there is indeed another way.

"Old man, it's not that I won't keep you, it's just that there is a rule in my tavern, if you want to stay overnight..."

Zhang Ming changed his voice and continued: "However, does the old man have a place to go now? If there is no place to go, my tavern is short of a waiter, and I can live here on weekdays. I have two or two cases of money every month. What do you think? "

The old man was startled when he heard this, and the crutch in his hand fell to the ground, and quickly waved his hands and said, "You can't do it!!"

"Why can't it work?"

"The shopkeeper, the shopkeeper, the old man is just an old bone, he will miss your business, you can't do it."

The old man's eyes were slightly red, and he wanted to cry but couldn't.

At the end of the day, there were no tears, but the trembling voice could not be concealed.

He is a useless person, he understands very well in his heart, he just wants to survive and doesn't want to trouble others anymore.

Zhang Ming shook his head and said, "It's okay. There are usually no people in my tavern. It would be nice to have one person a day, so it's just a matter of walking."

"This..." The old man knelt down with trembling hands, kowtowed his head and said, "Good man, you are a great good man, but the old man's old body is too old to be reused, good man don't say any more."

"Old man, what are you doing, get up!" Zhang Ming was startled, and immediately went to help him up, but the old man stretched out his hand to stop him.

The old man groped for the crutches on the ground in the dim light, stood up with the crutches, wiped his nose, and said: "Don't talk about good people, old man, I will sleep at the door tonight, and don't mention the matter of Xiao Er again." gone."

"But……"

"Good man rest, the old man interrupted."

The old man turned around and left without giving Zhang Ming a chance to redeem himself. He leaned on a cane and walked to the door, found a pillar and sat down.

Zhang Ming followed behind him without saying a word for a long time.

He doesn't know what to say, because it's not good for him to say anything now, this is the old man's own decision.

Some people in this world are different. Compared with others, they know that people are warm and cold, and they understand what they should do. No matter how poor or poor they are, they don’t want to trouble others.

Take this old man for example, if Zhang Ming stayed with him for one night, maybe he would leave two copper coins.

But when Zhang Ming offered to give him a job, he refused decisively. No one else, but he didn't want to cause trouble for Zhang Ming.

Zhang Ming has always admired such a person, but this is the first time he has seen him, which makes him a little confused as to how he can help.

At the same time, he was also thinking about whether it was out of pity or admiration, which was different.

"You are right here, old man. I'll warm you up with a jug of wine."

The old man cupped his hands and refused: "Good man, rest, the old man is fine."

Zhang Ming didn't care, he went to get the wine when he turned around. Of course, he paid for it, because it's not easy to get the wine for others.

After spending all his belongings, he exchanged half a jug of wine, ran upstairs and got the quilt down again.

Zhang Ming put the quilt beside the old man, put the wine aside, and didn't say a word during the whole process.

"Good man, you...not this..." Seeing this, the old man wanted to return it, but his legs and feet were so bad that he couldn't walk fast at all.

"Closed!"

"boom!"

Zhang Ming walked quickly, had already entered the tavern, and closed the door first.

"Good man, good man, you, old man..." The old man hugged the quilt, he didn't know how to express his emotions, so he just said:

"Old man, there is nothing to repay."

Zhang Ming heard that there was no movement outside, and then went upstairs.

Xiaoqi followed Zhang Ming from the beginning to the end, it didn't understand what happened.

It only knows that it is a lazy cat, and it doesn't need to care about anything, and it doesn't need to do anything, and it has been like this since it met Zhang Ming.

Zhang Ming sighed. He looked at the waning moon outside the window and remained silent for a long time.

Today is the sixth day of the tavern's opening.

Today there are four guests in total, one woman, one quack, one child, and one old man.

Today's tavern finally has some human touch.

"What do you think, Xiao Qi?"

"Meow?"

Xiao Qi stared with big eyes, it didn't understand.

Chapter 16: The Rainy Season

The old man looked at the official tavern, his cloudy eyes were full of the wind and frost of old age.

In Dashui, Xuzhou, the old man was from a poor family and had no heirs. He only earned two taels of money by begging along the way.

I don't know how long it took to arrive at Jian'an City. It's not bad to be alive in this troubled world.

The old man sat down slowly with his crutches, and the thick quilt covered his legs. The warmth he hadn't seen for a long time made him feel at ease.

How long has it been since I had a good sleep, the old man can't remember.

There was still a jug of wine on the edge of the steps, but the old man didn't move. Although he used to like drinking very much, he knew that this wine was not what he should drink.

The old man patted the walking stick on the ground lightly, like patting his long-time friend. Wrapped in a thick quilt, with a smile on his face, he fell into a deep sleep.

…………

early morning

The smoke rises from the kitchen, and the slight drizzle falls like a needle. If you want to come, this is the misty rain in the south of the Yangtze River.

The rain fell on the gutters along the tiles of the tavern, and Zhang Ming woke up.

Glancing at the window sill, seeing light rain, he frowned, got up and ran downstairs immediately.

"Squeak."

Pushing open the door of the tavern, Zhang Ming looked towards the steps beside him.

"Leaving?" Zhang Ming was taken aback.

The pot of wine was still placed on the steps, and the quilts were neatly stacked on the steps beside them. On the quilts were two copper coins, which belonged to the old man.

Zhang Ming sighed, picked up the quilt on the steps, and looked at the empty official road.

It was misty and rainy outside, and the morning breeze was a bit biting, but people's hearts were very hot.

Zhang Ming suddenly felt a little lost in his heart, and always felt that what he had only seemed to be lost again.

The old man left behind two copper coins, which Zhang Ming held in his hands, and went upstairs with the quilt in his arms.

"Am I missing your two copper coins?"

Zhang Ming pouted, and put the two copper coins under the edge of the bed, making sure they were safe before going downstairs again.

This morning was as quiet as ever, and Zhang Ming always felt that something was wrong, as if something was missing.

"Where's Xiaoqi?" Zhang Ming blinked, and he said what was missing, the big white cat was gone.

It stands to reason that Xiaoqi is so lazy now that he shouldn't run around, but he didn't see him this morning. Besides, it was still raining outside. Cats are most afraid of water. Where can it run.

"boom……"

Suddenly Zhang Ming heard some noises coming from the warehouse where the wine was stored, and he ran in immediately.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw a white cat with its belly turned upside down lying on the ground, and there was an opened wine jar beside it.

"..."

Zhang Ming was speechless, was he leading wolves into the house?He didn't understand why a cat came to steal wine to drink, what was the reason for this, and what did he pick up?

Xiao Qi turned her belly, and there was a faint snoring sound from her mouth, and she smelled of alcohol.

"You cat is also greedy for wine?" Zhang Ming curled his lips, not bothering Xiao Qi, he tidied up the room, and looked at the wine making equipment on the side.

There is an extra bar next to it, and the vat is filled with wine-making materials, which are the materials for making plum blossom wine.

Zhang Ming knew this wine when he got it, but he didn't get it all the time. It happened that there was no one there this morning, so maybe he could brew it and try it.

"Wine to dispel the cold should be very suitable for drinking recently."

Zhang Ming thought, this season is the rainy season, the next few days may be very cold, this is the right time to drink plum wine.

He did what he said, picked up Xiao Qi on the ground and threw it outside, so as not to get in his way, Zhang Ming started to brew plum wine.

The materials used for each type of wine are different, but the materials issued by the system are high-grade. It is said that to obtain a kind of wine, in fact, the materials and brewing process are given, and you still have to brew it yourself.

…………