side by side

"Ji Qing moved to Guijiu Alley with me now, do you want to go with me?"

This way, relatively silent.

After hearing his affirmative reply, Du Ruobai fell silent.The two of them nestled in the rickshaw, only hearing the whirring of the rickshaw driver running.Liang Jixuan couldn't help frowning, he didn't like this person very much.

Du Ruobai stretched out his hand to press the brim of his hat uncomfortably, his eyebrows and eyes were completely covered in shadows, and he couldn't see clearly.His Adam's apple rolled unconsciously, and his tightly pursed lips showed a sickly paleness, perhaps because the streetlights were too dim.

"Hey, this new young master, did I drive you somewhere?" Afraid that he couldn't stand the awkward atmosphere, the driver at the front cheerfully found a topic and started a conversation with him, " You always seem familiar."

"Eh?" Ever since he got in the car, Liang Jixuan's attention had been on Du Ruobai beside him. Only when the coachman mentioned it did he feel a sense of familiarity. He had indeed met this coachman yesterday, "Hey That's right, I asked you to take your car on the pier last night to the Minsheng Newspaper Office on Xintong Road, I wonder if you still remember it?"

"Hey! Ah..." The coachman was startled suddenly, his body stopped, and even the originally stable car shook, "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...Then behind you... ...did you see anyone there?"

"I see." Liang Jixuan was very puzzled, "I just let you go first when I saw someone. An old man who was watching the night came out, and he said he was called Old Chen."

The coachman didn't speak any more, but the speed under his feet quickened.He closed his mouth, and ran straight forward as if bored, Liang Jixuan looked suspicious, and always felt that his shoulders were tense.

Du Ruobai suddenly raised his face and glanced at him, his eyes were strange.Liang Jixuan turned his head unnaturally, he didn't like this person more and more.

There is still some distance to Guijiu Hutong, but the coachman stopped the car and asked them to get off, and refused to send them off for the rest of the way.Liang Jixuan was very dissatisfied, and wanted to say a few more words, but Du Ruobai paid the fare sullenly, and the driver took the money and pulled the car, turned around and ran away without a trace.Liang Jixuan stood there, a little annoyed. "This place is too remote, and there are narrow alleys in front of us, and we are two grown men." Du Ruobai straightened his collar, "Recently there have been a lot of car robbers in Beiping, he may be afraid .”

It's not unreasonable to talk about it this way...but Liang Jixuan still felt that something was wrong.

Du Ruo didn't speak much in vernacular, he carried the luggage for Liang Jixuan, and just walked forward in a dull manner, Liang Jixuan could only follow along the way.Liang Jixuan felt a little strange, what happened these days is really weird: People's Voice Newspaper is located on Xintong Road, which is really not close to St. Jordan University in Xijiaoping. It is necessary to travel such a long distance...and this unknown Guijiu alley is really weird everywhere.

This place is really full of "narrow alleys and dark places", no wonder the rickshaw driver refused to come in.Liang Jixuan followed Du Ruobai all the way to the left and right, and his head turned dizzy, and he couldn't help admiring this man for being so powerful.

"This is Guijiu Alley." Du Ruobai stopped abruptly, pointing to the dark alley in front of him, "it's quite lively during the day, if you want to take a rickshaw, you can find it here." Liang Jixuan nodded.

At this moment, his attention was attracted by a big tree outside the alley.The tree is tall and tall, with a vigorous crown, which can easily sweep the beams and roofs around it; the circumference of the tree is so thick that even a grown man can't hold it in his arms.But the thin and broad green leaves are really familiar. "Is this an osmanthus tree?" Liang Jixuan murmured.

Without Du Ruobai's answer, he knew he had guessed right.The sweet and greasy aroma of osmanthus, mixed with the smell of burnt joss stick paper money, followed the late night breeze, embracing him, Liang Jixuan couldn't help but take a deep breath, at the end of the sweet fragrance, a little bit came out Intoxicated, he couldn't help being stunned.

"The reason why this alley is called osmanthus wine is because of the flower-hanging tree at the entrance of the alley, and the flowers it blooms always smell like wine." Du Ruobai touched the thick trunk, "After all, he has Lived for nearly 200 years."

The branches at the lower end of the osmanthus tree are covered with red silk ribbons, completely covering the red osmanthus flowers.The bottom is filled with high and low joss sticks, and the paper money is burnt through, leaving only piles of ash, whirling and flying with the night wind.Not far from the piles of ashes, there is a stone table and a few low bamboo stools. The trees are tall and leafy, which is really a good place to enjoy the cool air and chat.

The alley is narrow and narrow, and the interior is dim. You can only get a glimpse of it by the moonlight, and because there is no light, you can't see the distance clearly. You can only count the steps and estimate the distance.In the light of the moon, Liang Jixuan could vaguely see the gray and black doors of the houses on both sides, and the piles of pots, pans, and stoves were displaced, occupying a lot of aisles, and squeezing the narrow alley even narrower, Liang Jixuan walked down It's hard.

He felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, although the Liang family was not considered a wealthy family, they still had enough food and clothing. Liang Jiqing never suffered from this kind of hardship since he was a child, but now he is well-fed.Liang Jixuan thought about it, and felt something was wrong again, this Du Ruobai was born in a good family, why did he come here to suffer this foreign crime... He was still thinking about it, but Du Ruobai stopped.

"arrive."

This place is much brighter than other places. There is no couplet pasted at the door, but there are ten lanterns hung on the left, high, right, low, left, third, and right. They are faintly shining red in the night.The strange thing is that among the ten lanterns, one on the left is off, and one on the right is also off.

There was a lot of noise outside the door. Two big cats, one black and one white, bowed their bodies and took turns to reach the red lantern. Their claws were sharp, and they jumped higher and higher each time. Seeing that the red lantern in the lower right corner was about to be murdered, Liang Jixuan couldn't help raising his throat, trying to stop it, but he couldn't.

Du Ruobai, who was standing in front of him, had quick eyesight and quick hands. He hurried forward two steps, stretched his long legs, and kicked the two cats fiercely. He was panting heavily in front of the lantern, and glared at the two cats angrily. , the eyes are indescribably cruel.Two big cats, one black and one white, neighed sharply, their voices were as shrill as a woman weeping, they stood in place and wandered anxiously, circling the glowing red lantern, refusing to leave for a long time.

The scene fell into a deadlock for a while.

The door suddenly 'squeaked' and opened.

"What's going on today, I'm afraid I stabbed the cat's nest," Liang Jiqing came out wearing a coat, and the big white cat in his arms yawned together with him.

tbc.