Second Piano Concerto

Tan Shuo picked up a few chopsticks of rice in one breath, chewing happily with his cheeks puffed out, but when he looked up, he saw the young man who had just visited the rice noodle shop standing in the yard and looking at him with an expression of disbelief on his face.

"Hehe, so you live here." Tan Shuo greeted with a smile, his words were a little fuzzy because his mouth was full of things.

At this time, Zhuzhu, the proprietress of the inn, also pushed open the fence door and came in. She was holding a basket full of dirty clothes, and there were two brushes on top of the clothes.She saw Qin Haiou, then looked at Tan Shuo, was stunned for two seconds, then suddenly grabbed a brush and threw it at Tan Shuo.She threw it fast and hard, but her aim was not very good, and the brush flew straight between the man and the dog.Neither the person nor the dog knew who she was going to hit, so they dodged to the sides at the same time, and the brush finally hit the wall behind.

"What, what's the matter?" Tan Shuo stood up holding the rice bowl, not knowing what kind of anger she was getting.

Zhuzhu stared at him, pointed to Qin Haiou who was beside him: "That's lunch for Xiao Qin!"

Zhuzhu and her lover Yuan Ye run the Longxi Inn.Because of Qin Haibei's relationship, the couple are very concerned about Qin Haiou's board and lodging.But recently, the branch of the inn started to be renovated during the off-season, and the two of them were so busy running around every day that they couldn't take care of it.Qin Haiou went out for a stroll in the morning today, but he hadn’t returned at lunch time, Zhuzhu was in a hurry to go out, so he left him two bowls of rice and some vegetables in a basin, and told the housekeeper and left.Tan Shuo and Zhuzhu have a good relationship, and they often come here for dinner. The inn clerk does not treat him as an outsider. It is a natural scenery for him to appear in this courtyard. As a result, he accidentally walked into the kitchen again at noon today. After finding the food that was originally reserved for Qin Haiou, he even omitted the process of serving the food, and just poured the food into the rice bowl and ate it with the bowl in his hand.

Zhuzhu knew how things happened without even thinking about it. The so-called "house thief is hard to guard against" is referring to this situation.

"Xiao Qin?" Tan Shuo turned his head, finally understood what she was talking about, and he was relieved, "It's okay, he has already eaten in my shop."

"Really?" Zhuzhu didn't believe it, and turned to look at Qin Haiou.

"Well, I ate a big bowl of rice noodles." Qin Haiou said truthfully, but did not point out the fact that Tan Shuo had already eaten a bowl of rice noodles.

Only then did Zhuzhu's face soften, and she introduced to Qin Haiou: "This is Tan Shuo, a foodie."

"Hello." Qin Haiou nodded, reaching out to shake hands with Tan Shuo.Tan Shuo hurriedly let go of his chopsticks, wiped his oily hands on his clothes, and shook hands with him affectionately.

Zhuzhu said to Tan Shuo again: "Xiao Qin is my friend, and he will stay here for a while. I'm busy recently, so please take care of me."

"It's easy to say, easy to say!" Tan Shuo nodded repeatedly holding the rice bowl.

Qin Haiou wanted to go back to his room to take a nap, so he thanked the two of them and went upstairs.Zhuzhu walked to the laundry room with a basket in her arms, and Tan Shuo followed behind with a rice bowl in her arms.

"Your friend? Since when did you start eating this well?" Tan Shuo suppressed his voice even though he knew that the people upstairs couldn't hear him.

Zhuzhu grabbed the edge of the rice bowl.

"I was wrong." Tan Shuo said.

Zhuzhu gave him a white look: "It's my friend's brother. His sister brought him like a wind and left like a wind, leaving this poor child without even a map of the ancient town."

"Then what is he doing here?"

"Travel."

Tan Shuo shook his head.

"I don't know either, my friend just said he came to relax," Zhuzhu glared at him, "Why are you asking so many questions?"

"Didn't you ask me to take care of him? I have to know his purpose first before I can take care of him better!" Tan Shuo pushed his chin with chopsticks, "Cause...Could it be that you've lost your love?"

"Can you hope for something good!" Zhuzhu put the basket to the faucet for a meal.

"It seems that your friend doesn't know you very well. He leaves people here with you, but he doesn't tell you anything." Tan Shuo and Zhuzhu have long since lost their taboos when talking, and they can say anything directly when they think of it.

"It's true that I don't know her very well. I also know her because she lived with me for a period of time when she came to Guzhen to sketch a few years ago, and we both feel very close to each other. But she also has a brother, and I only know this time. I know." Zhu Zhu didn't hide anything from Tan Shuo, so she briefly talked about the process of getting to know Qin Haibei.

"Maybe she has a real brother!" Tan Shuo said.

"Who knows..." Zhuzhu sighed, "Anyway, it's inconvenient for me to ask if she doesn't tell me what happened this time. After all, these are her privacy. But Xiao Qin is quite honest."

"How long will he stay with you?" Tan Shuo asked.

"I'm afraid it depends on his mood," Zhuzhu said, "his sister booked him a room for half a year."

"So long?" Tan Shuo was surprised, "But even a blanket search for the scenic spots near this ancient town is enough for a month!"

"That's why I'm begging you. You have a lot of ideas, so give me some ideas." Zhuzhu said.

Tan Shuo frowned and carefully finished the last bite of food, and threw the chopsticks into the basin: "It seems that we not only want to let him see the magnificence of the mountains and rivers of the motherland, but also let him feel the warmth of the big family in the ancient town." As he said that, he handed the empty rice bowl to Zhuzhu very naturally, and asked at the same time, "Do you think this kid doesn't have to go to school or work?"

"Wash it off yourself!!" Zhuzhu roared angrily.

**

Qin Haiou rested in the town for a few days, and then visited a nearby scenic spot alone.When he told Zhuzhu about this plan, Zhuzhu wanted to ask Tan Shuo to go with him, but Qin Haiou didn't want to trouble Tan Shuo, so he didn't tell the reason, but just refused, Zhuzhu thought he didn't like it If you are followed, you will not be forced.Qin Haiou didn't go out for a long time, only two days, but in these two days, Zhuzhu was always in fear, and whenever he had free time when he was supervising the branch, he sent Qin Haiou a message to confirm his safety.Although she didn't get along with Qin Haiou for a long time, Zhuzhu always felt that this person exuded an unearthly smell, and seriously suspected that he could not take care of himself.

Fortunately, Qin Haiou came back safely the next night, which made Zhuzhu very happy.What surprised her even more was that Qin Haiou brought her and Yuan Ye a small gift—two little peach charms to keep them safe.Even though this gadget is very common around the ancient town, and only tourists like Qin Haiou who have never been here will find it new, the couple are still happy for his intention.

When Qin Haiou came back, Tan Shuo was also in the inn, sitting in the courtyard chatting with Zhuzhu and eating melon seeds.Qin Haiou greeted them, and briefly talked about his travel experience, but it was not until he took out the Taofu that he suddenly remembered that he had forgotten Tan Shuo, and felt embarrassed.Since he came to this ancient town, the couple in the inn had spent the longest time with him and cared for him the most. He didn't think Tan Shuo was bad, but when thinking about the gift, he naturally only thought of Tan Shuo who had been with him so far. The two closest people.

Zhuzhu was so busy being happy that she didn't pay attention to this detail at all.Tan Shuo didn't care about these, he was concerned about another issue.He glanced at the peach talisman, then at Qin Haiou, and asked, "How much did you pay for this peach talisman?"

Qin Haiou was taken aback, and answered honestly, "10 yuan each."

"I knew it!" Tan Shuo laughed straight, and then taught earnestly, "Next time you buy something outside, no matter what price he asks, kill half of it first. If he asks for 10 yuan, you will pay him back 5 yuan."

"Why?" Qin Haiou asked.

Zhuzhu pulled Qin Haiou to sit down, and told him the cost of the Taofu, and finally said: "This thing is already profitable if you sell it for three or four yuan, and it's too expensive to sell it for five yuan."

"Oh..." Qin Haiou was stunned.

Tan Shuo added: "Although the things sold in the scenic spots are clearly marked with prices, the prices are sloppy. In the future, you should bargain before buying things. You don't need to pay as much as others shout."

Qin Haiou nodded and wrote it down.

The three chatted for a few more words, and then Zhuzhu asked Qin Haiou if he was hungry and if he wanted to eat.Qin Haiou said he was not hungry and wanted to go upstairs to take a bath, Zhuzhu let him go.

Tan Shuo and Zhuzhu watched Qin Haiou's back disappear at the top of the wooden stairs, looked at each other, and after a moment of silence, Zhuzhu said: "I always feel that I have taught a simple child badly..."

Tan Shuo said: "How can this be called bad teaching? This is an essential skill for life. Even if he is willing to be taken advantage of, he will be scolded by his girlfriend in the future."

Zhuzhu glanced at him: "How do you know that he won't find a girlfriend who is taken advantage of like him in the future? Besides, how do you know that he doesn't have a girlfriend now?"

"It's not obvious!" Tan Shuo laughed.

Zhuzhu was too lazy to go around with him, and then remembered something: "By the way, I can't go to Ah Si's birthday tomorrow. I have to pick up some guests from the county seat." The pick-up and drop-off service has won a lot of customers and praise for the inn.

Tan Shuo nodded to show he understood, thought for a while and said, "Then shall I take Xiao Qin there to play?"

Zhu Zhu said: "Alright, but you are not allowed to persuade him to drink."

"He can't drink?"

"intuition."

Tan Shuo said: "I'll ask him, if he really can't drink, I will definitely not persuade him to drink."

Zhuzhu frowned: "If you don't persuade, there's no guarantee that Ah Si and the others won't. You have to agree to this matter."

Tan Shuo patted her on the shoulder: "Wrap it on me, just put your heart on it!"