Peach and plum spring breeze and a glass of wine

Chapter 44 Life is worse than death

The time has turned to late September, and the beginning of winter is just around the corner.

In the past few days, Yang Ge has launched copper pot mutton at Yuelai Inn. The novel way of eating and taste have attracted a large number of customers who are not short of money.

Business was so good that he was busy from noon to closing time every day, which made shopkeeper Liu smile from ear to ear, and his voice in the hall was in a cadence...

In Dawei, mutton is expensive and pork is cheap. One sheep costs as much as several fat pigs.

As the cost has increased, the price of copper-pot mutton is naturally not cheap. A plate of two taels costs thirty cents, which is almost as much as Yang Ge's monthly rent.

At this point, the inn can only break even on the mutton, and all the money it makes is the money for drinks and side dishes...

Naturally, such expensive mutton cannot be given to the chef, Master Lu, to practice his knife skills.

Yang Ge personally operated the knife and took the stance of practicing knife skills. Each piece was cut as thin as paper and transparent to the fire. With this cutting method, only two ounces of meat can fit into a large plate.

Although the portion size is still the same, it cost at least thirty copper coins. Looking at such a large plate of mutton makes you feel comfortable, right?

That day, Yang Ge was busy in the kitchen until dusk. Just as it was about to close, shopkeeper Liu suddenly walked into the kitchen quickly: "It's trouble, it's trouble, little brother, that black man is here again!"

Yang Ge was packing knives and chopping boards. Hearing this, he turned his head and glanced at Shopkeeper Liu. He saw the old man standing in front of the stove and pacing in a panic.

"Don't panic, some black guy is here?"

He stopped what he was doing and asked doubtfully.

Shopkeeper Liu: "The black man who gave you the martial arts book last time... Hey, the black man who closed our inn last time!"

The old man slapped his thigh with a sad look on his face.

"Oh, it's him..."

Yang Ge suddenly felt enlightened. After putting down the sharp knife in his hand and wiping his hands, he picked up the sharp knife and said, "Don't panic. We are open for business. People who come to the door are guests. We can receive them as we want... Well, call me Xiao Zhang comes in, brings him a copper pot and goes out, I will cut two more plates of mutton and go to greet him right away!"

The Xiao Zhang he mentioned was the new waiter who succeeded Wang Dali.

Seeing that Yang Ge looked calm and not at all panicked, shopkeeper Liu also calmed down a lot, nodded repeatedly and said: "Yes, yes, you are right, then let's go greet you first... Otherwise, I'll call your rich brother over." , let’s cut a pot of mutton later?”

Yang Ge smiled and teased: "Of course I have no problem with you wanting to entertain us two brothers. Don't worry about the rest. I can handle it!"

Shopkeeper Liu hesitantly walked around in front of the stove twice and whispered: "Is nothing going to happen?"

Yang Ge: "Are you still worried about me doing things?"

Shopkeeper Liu took a long breath and said in a deep voice: "Okay, then let's go outside and not go anywhere!"

Yang Ge smiled and nodded: "It's really nothing, I just came to have a meal, I think I scared you..."

Shopkeeper Liu said "Hey", turned around and walked out of the kitchen quickly.

Yang Ge lowered his head, moved the knife like flying, and cut off pieces of mutton.

Half a quarter of an hour later, Yang Ge walked into the front hall carrying two plates of mutton slices stacked high.

Shopkeeper Liu pointed to the private seats on the second floor.

Yang Ge nodded and walked steadily up to the second floor with two plates of mutton.

The second floor is empty again.

Another central position.

Jiang Kui was still wearing the tiger skin cloak he wore last time, sitting alone at the dinner table, staring at the steaming copper pot in front of him in trance... except for his long and wide black knife.

"You've never seen this way of eating, have you?"

Yang Ge took the initiative to say hello, with a smile on his face and a familiar tone, as if he was exchanging greetings with an old friend.

Jiang Kui looked sideways expressionlessly. After staring at him for two seconds, his eyes gradually softened: "It's indeed the first time I've seen him, but I don't know how it tastes."

Yang Ge came forward with two plates of mutton: "Keep it in order not to let you down."

Jiang Kui raised his head and looked at him: "At this time, there should be no guests coming, right?"

Yang Ge smiled and replied: "Normally, even if there are customers coming at this time, the shop will not accept them."

Jiang Kui smiled and said, "Two bites?"

Yang Ge: "How's your drinking capacity?"

Jiang Kui: "Ten drinks, it must be no problem!"

Yang Ge: "Then you have to pay for the meal first. It's a small thing for me to accompany you for two meals, but we can't let our shopkeeper wait for you until midnight, right?"

Jiang Kui nodded: "As it should be!"

He reached out and took out a fist-sized silver ingot from his pocket and placed it gently on the table: "Is it enough?"

Yang Ge shook his head: "It's much more, this money is enough for you to eat in the shop for a month!"

Jiang Kui smiled and waved his hand: "Deposit it in your account. With the money saved, maybe I can come back for a bite..."

Yang Ge looked at him and felt that he was much gentler than when he came back.

He replied: "Sure, the shop is already a time-honored brand in Luting County, and it will definitely not close down in three to five years!"

Jiang Kui just laughed.

Yang Ge took the silver ingot and turned around and went downstairs.

After a while, Yang Ge, who had dismissed the old shopkeeper, came upstairs with two jars of wine.

At the right time, the copper pot was boiling and steaming.

"The water is boiling and the meat is ready!"

Yang Ge put down the two jars of wine, picked up the bowl in front of Jiang Kui and mixed the ingredients for him.

Jiang Kui leaned on the back of his chair, watching him working with unfocused eyes, and suddenly said: "Thank you!"

Yang Ge paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Who did you listen to?"

He knew what Jiang Kui was talking about.

But Jiang Kui's source of information will determine what he can say.

Jiang Kui whispered two words from his mouth: "Shen Fa."

Yang Ge sneered silently, put the mixing bowl back in front of Jiang Kui, and sighed: "I knew it must be the big speaker!"

Jiang Kui glanced at him unexpectedly and grinned silently: "You don't have the attitude that a subordinate should have!"

Yang Ge picked up a piece of mutton with chopsticks and put it into the boiling copper pot. After rinsing it, he put it into Jiang Kui's bowl. After stirring the ingredients, he made a "please" gesture: "Try it! "

Jiang Kui still picked up the chopsticks, picked up the mutton, put it into his big mouth, chewed it twice, and immediately gave a thumbs up: "Fresh, so fresh!"

Yang Ge sat across from him, picked up his rice bowl and mixed some ingredients for himself: "You three have made me miserable!"

Jiang Kui chuckled: "Why don't I just come to the door to apologize?"

Yang Ge: "You want to know what words your two brothers asked me to bring you?"

Jiang Kui: "No wonder Shen Qianhu keeps saying that you are a rare smart person!"

Yang Ge picked up the chopsticks used to stir the ingredients, put them into his mouth to taste, then picked up the vinegar bottle and added a little bit in: "You... Mr. Lei asked me to tell you that he knows, He said he would wait for you when he came home, so that you could live and breathe well and come home alive!"

Jiang Kui was silent for a moment after hearing this. He reached out and grabbed the wine jar next to him, slapped it away roughly and took a big sip. He breathed the wine and said, "Tell me carefully, tell me carefully!"

Yang Ge thought for a while and told Jiang Kui what happened that day when Lei Heng and Liu Meng came to his door in as much detail as possible.

While talking, he didn't forget to rinse the mutton and put it into his bowl... After working for a long time, he was really hungry.

Jiang Kui listened very carefully, but he kept drinking and didn't move the chopsticks in front of him.

After Yang Ge finished speaking, he suddenly smiled strangely and said: "You are very lucky!"

Yang Ge: "Is this not bad?"

After Jiang Kui drank a large gulp of wine, he chuckled and said, "If you hadn't used the Luanfeng Kick that day, you would have died on the spot!"

Yang Ge finally realized his conscience and picked a chopstick of mutton from his bowl: "What do you mean?"

Jiang Kui still didn't move his chopsticks. He leaned back on the chair, closed his eyes and murmured to himself: "Lao Wu has a fierce temper and a small temper. He really came to kill me. Boss is more lenient, but Lao Wu wants to kill people. He won't stop you, they only suppressed their murderous intentions after seeing you using your legs..."

Yang Ge resisted the urge to complain about this guy's nonsense literature, rinsed the mutton and shook his head: "I don't understand."

Jiang Kui picked up the wine vat again and took a sip, stroking the corner of his mouth and saying slowly: "Do you want to hear how we brothers broke up?"

Yang Ge: "If you want to say something, I will listen!"

Jiang Kui said "Hey", his eyes gradually became empty, and after a while he shook his head and said: "Forget it, I don't want to talk anymore!"

Yang Ge waited for a long time with the mutton between his hands, and finally this was what he was waiting for. He couldn't help but said: "It's boring for you to arouse people's curiosity and not say anything anymore. Aren't you sincerely teasing me?" ?”

Jiang Kui laughed silently, took a few more sips of wine from the wine jar, and then asked feebly: "Do you know something about the battle at Lushan?"

"Know something!"

Yang Ge added some more mutton to his bowl: "Don't just drink, eat at least two bites of vegetables!"

As he spoke, he took the initiative to open the mud seal of another bottle of wine, poured out a bowl and drank it in one sip... Well, it was a bit sweet, easier to drink than white wine, and stronger than beer.

Jiang Kui still didn't move his chopsticks and said to himself: "In that wretched place outside the pass, human life is like weeds. If God is not happy, he will take human life. If the Tatars are not happy, they will also take human life. If the border troops are not happy, they will give it to their mother." It’s going to take people’s lives…”

"My brothers didn't even think about doing anything big. We just wanted to find a good place where we can't accept God's control. We can drink and eat meat and kill anyone who doesn't like it!"

"We have fought against the Tatars. Didn't they rely on the speed of their sabers to kill people like cutting grass?"

"Our knives are faster than theirs, and killing them is like cutting grass!"

"We have also worked in the imperial court. They are a bunch of useless trash. If we can't win the war, forget it. We don't even have any face!"

"Why is your mother secretly paying tribute to the Tatars? I will fuck his grandma!"

"Now that I think about it, those days were so damn happy..."

"When you wake up, ride a fast horse and go out to kill people!"

"Go home, eat wine and meat, and fall asleep!"

"I don't think about anything."

"Afraid of no one!"

"I haven't figured it out until now. How come there are so many people who are willing to follow us, scumbags like us who don't understand it ourselves..."

"The Tatars bully them and the border troops bully them, so why don't we bully them?"

"The Tatars are robbing them and the border troops are robbing them, so why don't we rob them?"

"Why are they so bloodless?"

"He made clothes for us, raised chickens and ducks, cooked and washed clothes. Even though he was scared to death, he still insisted on carrying broken wooden sticks with us to fight the Tatars..."

"They don't even care about what they are like. We, the Yanyun Five Ghosts, need their protection?"

The more Jiang Kui spoke, the hoarse his voice became, and the more he spoke, the more broken his spirit became.

He grinned widely, trying hard to smile, but instead he smiled like an evil spirit eating children.

These words have been held in his mind for too long.

I have been suppressing my illness and becoming a demon!

"It's all their fault..."

"If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be robbing the Tatars of food and grass!"

"If it weren't for them, would the Tatars be able to surround five of our brothers?"

"It's okay for all of them to be stupid on a daily basis. How come they can still be stupid when they are passing a test?"

"Didn't you notice that the Tatars came with 30,000 troops?"

"I'm fighting for your mother's life!"

"You died cleanly..."

"Don't f*cking bother us!"

"We owe you everything in our previous lives!"

"Ten or twenty thousand people, ten or twenty thousand people!!!"

"It was all gone overnight..."

"My elder brother dragged me to break out of the encirclement. I fell down on the horse and saw a mountain of corpses and black smoke..."

"You won't believe it. At that time, I saw those who made my clothes, raised chickens and ducks for me, washed and cooked for me, and called me the second boss and my second grandpa, floating there. On top of the black smoke, they were crying and shouting for me to leave..."

"But where am I going?"

"We picked you up one by one and brought them back to the mountain!"

"If you don't leave, where will I go?"

"But how did I survive?"

Jiang Kui hugged the wine jar, lying on his back on the chair, yelling hoarsely. The water stains on his face could not be distinguished from wine or tears.

Yang Ge stayed with him quietly, drinking sips with him.

But he didn't know why, but the wine that he thought was a little sweet just now felt bitter and astringent in his mouth.

He was a little out of breath from drinking, as if a huge stone was pressing on his chest.

After a while, Jiang Kui wiped away the water stains on his face and sat up, showing an ugly smile, and said softly: "Lao Wu blames me and hates me. I know that so many people have died. He doesn't find anyone to hate. He can't survive. The boss is here and I'm gone. He can only hate me..."

"The boss is determined to persuade the fifth child, but he figured he also wanted to come and see me, so he came with the fifth child. When he saw you, he felt that there was no need to see me again..."

Yang Ge silently picked up the wine bowl and touched it with Jiang Kui.

Although Jiang Kui's words were fragmentary and confused.

But he still understood.

The Luanfeng Kick was Lao Si’s special skill, and Lao Si died in the battle at Lushan.

When Lei Heng and Liu Meng saw Luan Feng's legs on his body, they knew that Jiang Kui had never let go of them...

Perhaps this is the friendship between men, which looks as clear as water and tasteless.

Only when you taste it carefully can you feel the intensity...

Jiang Kui picked up the wine vat and drank one with Yang Ge.

Yang Ge filled a bowl for himself, and after hesitating for a moment, he still asked in a low voice: "I still don't understand, why did you want to break up the company in the first place?"

He really couldn't understand that with the love and justice shown by Lei Heng, it was impossible for him not to think about revenge.

Since everyone wants revenge, why should they break up?

Jiang Kui raised the wine vat, touched it with him, and said softly: "I just thought about it and understood a truth."

Yang Ge: "What's the point?"

Jiang Kui took a big sip of wine and wrote lightly: "If you don't want to live like this anymore, you have to change your way of death."

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