Oil Paper Umbrella and Tofu Brain

In the morning of the next day, Shen Muyuan felt a little regretful, and asked him to meet up today in order to have another bowl of Gu Bai's tofu.Thinking of such a heavy rain, he might have sheltered himself from the rain at home.

Holding an umbrella, I walked quickly to the Zhijing Bridge at the entrance of Dongjiekou. From a distance, I saw a simple small stall cart under a large yellow oil umbrella.In the dense rain, there was a young man standing behind the cart, his face hidden under the oil umbrella, but his figure was slender and straight.

"Gu Bai!" Shen Muyuan called out, but the not low voice was instantly covered by the noise of the heavy rain.It wasn't until he got closer that Gu Bai saw the person coming.

Shen Muyuan put away the umbrella, and committed himself to hiding under the big umbrella shed.

Gu Bai was wearing a coir raincoat, and his originally pale face instantly became vivid.Opening his cold and trembling mouth, he smiled brightly.

"Brother Mu Yuan!"

Shen Muyuan responded, frowning and shaking his robe, the light blue satin shirt was mostly soaked.And Gu Bai was not much better, the trousers that could not be covered by the coir raincoat were completely soaked, it was light yellow linen cloth, but now it was dark yellow, and it was tightly attached to the calf.Shen Muyuan made a sincere bow to Gu Bai who was a head shorter than him.

"Brother Gu Bai, it's really my fault. If I had just invited you to my house to pick it up yesterday, I think you wouldn't have been caught in this heavy rain." Gu Bai's thin body trembled slightly in the wind and rain.Shen Muyuan looked at Gu Bai's pale complexion, and reached out to touch his forehead, but luckily he didn't have a fever.

Gu Bai's body stiffened slightly.The hand that was pressed to the forehead was withdrawn after touching it, and the fingertips felt cool.

"Brother Mu Yuan, don't say that, I was going out to set up a stall today, and the rain wasn't that heavy just after I went out." As he spoke, he glanced at Shen Muyuan.

Shen Muyuan smiled, and took out an oiled paper bag from his sleeve, "I was thinking about it last night, and I don't know how good your skills are now. I should let me know about it so I can think about what books to copy for you, so I only wrote a piece of Lanting collection. Preface, I just repay what I promised you first."

Gu Bai's eyes lit up, and he took the notebook respectfully with both hands, but he didn't dare to open it in the rain, for fear of getting wet.He carefully hid it in his arms and pressed it tightly against his chest.

Shen Muyuan looked at his cautious appearance, feeling both amused and proud.

"Gu Bai, it's not a problem for us to stand in the rain like this. Restaurants and tea shops are not allowed to open at this time, and I am afraid that few people will come out to eat your tofu nao in today's rain, why don't you come and sit with me at my house How about sitting? Although it is farther away, it is still better than standing here and enjoying the wind."

Gu Bai also didn't want Shen Muyuan to be exposed to the wind and rain with him, but he couldn't let go of his only small cart no matter what.The car creaked and creaked, but it couldn't be pushed to the Shen family's mansion in the west of the city.

"Brother Mu Yuan, if you don't dislike it, why not sit down in the humble house, it's only a cup of tea away."

Shen Muyuan was overjoyed, "This is the best, now I just hope to find a place to shelter from the rain and have a cup of hot tea."

Gu Bai pushed up the cart, but Shen Muyuan couldn't use his strength, so he held up an umbrella and followed behind.Turning into the alley, most of it was blocked by the wind and rain, but it was still too cold to stick to the wet clothes.The alleys are full of twists and turns, and the deep alleys are narrow enough for small stalls to push through.Gu Bai finally stopped in front of a low house at the end, and there were two red-backed blessing characters squarely pasted on the door, the pen and ink were slightly smudged.He looked back at Shen Muyuan, and when he lowered his head, a blush seemed to float over the tip of his ears.

Opening the lock, he said, "I still hope that Brother Mu Yuan will not dislike you."

Shen Muyuan followed the small cart into the courtyard.

“Clean and simple, very good.”

Gu Bai's eyes lit up, and the corners of his mouth curled into a smile.

Shen Muyuan felt that this child was so sincere that he put all his thoughts on his face.

Gu Bai parked the cart in the yard, quickly moved the stove and pot to the eaves, and called Shen Muyuan to come in and sit down.

"Brother Mu Yuan, let's eat a bowl of tofu nao, it can't be sold today, and there is no good tea at home to entertain you, only this tofu nao, you can't finish it if you let your stomach go."

Shen Muyuan salivated while holding the white and tender tofu nao, he ate three bowls in a row before he regained his composure.

"Brother Gu Bai, let alone, I have never tasted better tofu nao than yours. Your craftsmanship really suits my taste. Why haven't I come across your stall in so many years! If I meet you soon, I will have a bowl of salted bean curd every morning."

Gu Bai smiled embarrassedly, "Brother Mu Yuan, if you like it, I can send a bowl to your house every day."

Shen Muyuan laughed and shook his head, "Then why don't you run more?"

He looked around the small courtyard of two rooms.To the north is a big house, which separates the living room and bedroom, with a small door in the middle, and only a blue and white cloth is hung as a curtain.There is a hut in the west, square and square, with no doors or curtains, only piled up with sundries and a stove for cooking.A large wooden basin was placed on the eaves of the doorway, soaking a lot of soybeans.

In the living room, there is an Eight Immortals table, four long benches, and kettles and tea bowls on the table. The whole house is just some odds and ends of living utensils, which is a bit cold.Shen Muyuan looked at the three camellias that had been moved under the eaves to shelter from the rain, and said with a smile, "The camellias are growing well."

Gu Bai started the stove to boil water, but fortunately, taking advantage of the fine weather a while ago, he prepared a lot of firewood.

"Camellia is easy to grow, but I can't grow the more expensive ones."

"Who else is at home?"

"No, my father has died of illness for more than three years."

Shen Muyuan was startled, feeling a little sour in his heart.Gu Bai didn't want to see that look, so he just smiled and said, "Fortunately, I sold tofu nao with my father when I was young, and I can still live now."

Shen Muyuan nodded indiscriminately, and took out a money bag from his sleeve.

Gu Bai froze his hand fanning the stove, "What does this mean?"

"I ate your tofu nao, so I should pay for it. Besides, I want to eat it every day in the future."

"Then how should I repay you for taking your hard-to-find words? If you still treat me as a younger brother, you will know that you will eat this tofu brain for nothing in the future, and I will only charge you yesterday's money once in this life. But Su Er If you really look down on me, Young Master, then you can pay for three bowls of tofu nao, and in the future, please eat one bowl and pay for one bowl. Gu Bai’s stall is small, and he really can’t do big business of paying in advance.”

Seeing the young man's stiff body and red eye sockets, Shen Muyuan suddenly came to his senses.Hastily collected the money bag, stood up, shook his robe, and made a deep bow, "It's my brother who made a slip of the tongue, and I hope that my brother Gu Bai has a lot, don't worry about it with my brother."

Gu Bai trembling nasally, asked, "Will you still pay in the future?"

Shen Muyuan only felt the aggrieved little nasal voice tickle his heart, and hurriedly said, "Of course I don't dare, I don't dare!"

Gu Bai laughed out loud.In fact, I saw him shaking his clothes just now, but he looked so wet that he couldn't shake it, which made me want to laugh, but the important thing is to save face.

Shen Muyuan saw that he was still red-eyed and had a stuffy nose just now, but immediately broke into tears and laughed again. Although it was a bit puzzling, he still breathed a sigh of relief.

Gu Bai walked past Shen Muyuan on his own, entered the bedroom, creaked and fiddled for a while, then turned around and brought a large basin of hot water into it. The raindrops turned into thin sweat.

"Brother Mu Yuan, go take a hot bath first, I'll take the wet clothes to dry on the stove, and I can dry them by noon."

Shen Muyuan turned pale with shock, taking a bath here?Not to mention the inconvenience in other people's homes, even Mr. Qianqian should not behave in such a rude manner like him.

"Brother Gu Bai, you've been busy all morning, so you should go soak in hot water to drive away the cold air. Don't worry about me. I'll just sit here and wait for the rain to stop."

Gu Bai scratched his head, "But, the rain won't stop for a while, and it's still early in the morning, so if you have to sit in such a cold state, I'm afraid you might get typhoid fever."

The cold wind blew past, and Shen Muyuan shivered.The true character of a gentleman is the same on the outside and inside.A gentleman straightens his clothes and captures his majesty.Ah Choo!A gentleman wants to save face and suffer.It's not considered rude for a gentleman to take a bath at his younger brother's house!

Shen Muyuan took a bath, and changed into Gu Bai's short, coarse cloth jacket. His long hands and feet couldn't be fully covered. Once a gentleman relaxes, he loses his posture completely.Shen Muyuan nestled on Gu Bai's plain little bed, wrapped in a quilt, holding Mrs. Tang, occasionally sipping the hot tea that was put aside, feeling a bit sleepy.