The strange story of Huai'an Inn

It's another year of golden autumn.The yellow leaves fluttered down from the treetops, and were carried by the autumn wind to fly lightly like butterflies. All the way to the gate of Huai'an Inn, the peasants who were humming a little song and carrying two baskets of fresh vegetables came to Huai'an Inn.

In the next few days, the Qingming Sect will hold a grand heaven-sensing ceremony, which will be presided over by the new national teacher, Daoist Qi Yao.People who came from all over the Central Plains and even overseas every day just to listen to the lectures of the National Teacher lined up outside Tianliang City, and the inns and restaurants in the city were full.Even Huaian Inn, a small and inconspicuous store squeezed among the bright and beautiful restaurants, has almost no vacancies.

As soon as the farmer arrived at the door, he saw a young man at the door graciously greeting the guests.Seeing him, he came up immediately, "Good morning, guest officer! Who are you?"

The farmer looked at the unfamiliar face unexpectedly and asked, "Is your shopkeeper here?"

"Are you looking for our first shopkeeper or the second shopkeeper? The first shopkeeper probably hasn't woken up yet, and our second shopkeeper is behind the counter."

The farmer looked in the direction of Xiao Paitang's finger, and saw a young man standing behind the counter who was checking the accounts.He has clear and handsome eyebrows, and his eyes are burning like fire. He wears a flower-blue cross-collared robe, and his long hair hangs over his shoulders.He writes with a pen, his movements are leisurely and elegant, but when he talks to the guests, he smiles, which makes people feel like a spring breeze.

The farmer blinked and almost didn't recognize it.

This is... the waiter named Guan Chongliu?

I haven't seen you for three years, and you're already the second shopkeeper?

Chong Liuyi turned around and saw him, his eyes widened, and he exclaimed, "Oh, isn't this Brother Ding! Long time no see!"

Farmer Ding Buqiong smiled with bright white teeth, and the wrinkles on his face exposed to the sun were solid and kind, "Brother, I almost don't recognize you."

Chong Liu hurriedly put down his pen, and came out from behind the counter, "Why are you free today? Is everything okay at home?"

"That's great. The past three years have been full of bumper harvests, not only us, but also the surrounding villages. No, the vegetables grown in our yard are all crude things, brought here for you to try .”

"Brother Ding, you are too polite!"

"Don't say that, if it weren't for you, our family would have starved to death." Ding Buqiong said, leaning closer and whispering, "Please rest assured, the boss, I have been using the chopsticks strictly as he said, Don't dare to stop for a day."

Chong Liu said with a smile, "I will definitely convey it. Sit down and have a sip of tea!"

"I don't want to sit anymore. I have to go to Su Matchmaker on North Street. She told my son about the marriage, so I have to go and ask about the situation." Ding Buqiong put down the food and drank his saliva. , and left with gratitude.

Chong Liu took a look and found that they were all fresh cabbage, radish and eggplant with dirt on them. What was strange was that there were a few bright red persimmons floating with a layer of white crystal frost, which was very cute.He reached out and took one, and called Xiao Shun over, "Come on, Xiao Shun, let Chunzi carry all the vegetables to the cellar with you later."

The shy and well-behaved young man has grown rapidly in the past two years, and has surpassed Chong Liu. He is quite handsome with broad shoulders and narrow waist. Look, if you meet another look, I'm afraid the other party will turn red and run away.

Zhu Helan often sighed, "Hey, I don't know when Xiao Shun is going to marry a wife."

Chong Liu, who was leaning on his shoulder, smiled and said, "Then we have to buy him a full dowry, at least more decent than the son of the shopkeeper of Zhu Fanlou."

"Okay, let's let the head teacher of the Qingming Sect now preside over the worship of heaven and earth in person, even the emperor's family doesn't have this kind of treatment."

"Hahaha, then you must give Song Mingzi at least ten altars of old daughter red, and let him blow the pillow breeze."

"Speaking of the wind beside the pillow..." Zhu Helan turned her head and blew gently in his ear, with a wicked smile in her coquettish smile, "Since we can't sleep, how about..."

Chong Liu quickly stopped his thoughts and walked to the backyard with the cold persimmon.He deliberately lowered his body temperature so as not to overheat the persimmons.

The locust tree in the yard is more lush and lush than three years ago, and the yellow leaves blown by the autumn wind seem to be cut out of gold leaf, like a giant umbrella, casting shadows on the small building.Every time Chong Liu saw the locust tree so strong, he was very pleased. He blinked at it, and it also shook the leaves at Chong Liu.

Sure enough, Zhu Helan was still lying on the bed, and the civet cat, who had become more and more stocky in the past two years, lay on his quilt, squinted his eyes and meowed lazily at Chong Liu twice.

Chong Liu stepped forward and stuffed the cold persimmon directly into the bed.

"Ah!!!!" With a terrible scream, Zhu Helan sat up suddenly, scaring Lihuamao to fly out of bed and run away.I saw the big shopkeeper with disheveled hair, sleepy eyes, and no gorgeous demeanor in front of others.He grabbed the persimmon and stared at Chong Liu in disbelief, "You want to use persimmons to murder your husband? It's quite creative?"

Chong Liu smiled cunningly, "Who told you not to get up. You slept until noon every day, dare you believe that I am in charge of this inn, right?"

Zhu Helan frowned, rubbed her face, and muttered, "Ma'am, you are well organized, don't worry about your husband."

"Let you go, you big-headed ghost! You are limited to get up within a cup of tea, or I won't give you persimmons."

Chong Liu grabbed the persimmons and went out to wash off the frost and floating soil in the water tank. When he came back, Zhu Helan had already put on a cinnabar-colored brocade coat and wiped his face with a wet towel.Chong Liu cut open the persimmon with a knife, handed half to Zhu Helan, and took a bite of the other half.

Sweet.

"Who do you think sent this?"

"Who?"

"Ding Buqiong." Seeing that Zhu Helan frowned and didn't think about it for a moment, Chong Liu clicked his tongue and reminded, "Brass chopsticks."

"Ah~" Zhu Helan suddenly realized, "It's him. How is he?"

"He came here specially to thank us, saying that it's a good harvest every year." Chong Liu said, sucking on the persimmon juice, "but it surprised me, I thought he forgot to use his chopsticks one day... Fortunately, he is obedient .”

At this time, Zhu Helan suddenly stretched out his hand, wiped a little orange persimmon juice on Chong Liu's lips, then stared at him with dark eyes, and slowly put his finger into his mouth.

Chong Liu burst out laughing, and slapped his hand, "Don't make trouble in the early morning!"

"Liu'er, you are getting colder and colder."

"What indifference?! Didn't you have enough last night?!" Chong Liu thumped his waist exaggeratedly, "You are an old man over 2000 years old, why are you so energetic?"

"...Liu'er, as I said before, if you call me old again, I will punish you."

"..." Chong Liu imagined the possible punishment, felt his face was hot, his throat was dry, and he muttered pretendingly, "I won't make people roll their eyes or say you're lazy..."

Zhu Helan's eyes gradually became dangerous.

Just when something was about to explode, someone knocked on the door suddenly, and Song Mingzi's voice came, "Old Zhu! Old Zhu!"

Zhu Helan rubbed his temples as if he had a headache, and replied in a bad tone, "How many times have I told you! I will come over and walk through the main entrance in the future!"

"Ah? You haven't gotten up yet, have you? When is this?" Song Mingzi continued outside the door without knowing what to do, "I said, you must also know how to control yourself, or you will hurt your health."

With a bang, the door was pulled open by the black-faced Zhu Helan.Song Mingzi entered the room familiarly without waiting for the other party's consent, and greeted Chongliu happily when he saw Chongliu sitting at the table. While talking, he sat down and poured himself a cup of tea, "Yo, you are here too, That's just right. My brother has been too busy these two days, but a believer said that someone in their village was attacked by a monster, and the body looked intact, but he did an autopsy and found that the brain was gone. Brother wants to let the believer Come to you, let me tell you in advance."

Zhu Helan put his hands together, squinted his eyes, "So every time you Qingming faction is too busy, let us help you pack?"

"It's not free, it's paid!" Song Mingzi gestured a number with his hand, "I saw such a good business, how can I let others send it to you right away. Is it righteous enough? "

Chong Liu opened his eyes wide, counted with his fingers, and immediately patted the table and said, "Okay, we'll take over the business."

Zhu Helan opened his eyes wide with question marks on his face.

The majesty of his big shopkeeper is almost gone.

Chong Liu looked at Zhu Helan with a grin, "If we want to make a semicolon, of course the more money the better."

Song Mingzi saw that the second shopkeeper agreed, so the big shopkeeper must have nothing to say.After completing his mission, he patted Chong Liu on the shoulder, "Thank you for your hard work! If you need my help, call me anytime, this kind of thank you ceremony is going to annoy me to death."

The three of them chatted for a while, and Chongliu sent Song Mingzi away.Walking to the atrium, Song Mingzi looked at the luxuriant locust tree, and suddenly said lightly, "I still don't understand what happened at sea... I always feel that I died once, but I just remember Feeling, but don’t remember how it happened.” He said, turning his head to look at Chong Liu, “Don’t you remember at all? Did we find Qiongji Island?”

Chong Liu shook his head with a smile, "It's already happened two years ago, and it doesn't affect the present, so why worry about it."

"But that day Gu Dawu, Xu Han, Ke Liusheng, and even Mr. Xuanwu from Baixiaomen just disappeared... Everyone in the Central Plains said that they had the same hallucination at the same time, as if the world had already been destroyed once. Everyone died once, but suddenly nothing happened. Is there no explanation for such a strange thing?" Song Mingzi folded his arms and frowned, "I always feel uneasy," Chong Liu pressed him He stared seriously into his eyes, "The past is already in the past. If you persist in this, wouldn't you want to become a national teacher of Mengku, and be haunted by the past for a lifetime? You are now a member of the Qingming sect. The first seat has a few disciples, as well as your senior brother. They are the ones you should pay attention to."

Song Mingzi thought about Chongliu's words for a while, nodded, and smiled slightly, "What you said makes sense."

The following day was still the same as every day for the past two years.Everyone was busy until the evening. After closing, Master Liao made meat buns with pickled vegetables, and everyone gathered at the table to gobble them up together.Jiulang joked that Zhu Yi received a new cloth shoe from the lady of the tofu shop today. Xiaoshun, Fuzi and Chunzi were arguing about whether it is better to eat crispy cheese or lychee paste. Tea.Chong Liu looked at everything in front of him with his chin in his hands, when suddenly a piece of braised pork was stuffed into his mouth with a pair of chopsticks, "Why are you in a daze?" Zhu Helan whispered next to him.

Chong Liu rolled his eyes and smiled.

Sometimes he is a little scared, because what he wants has come true.

When people are happy, they always worry about gains and losses and are afraid of losing.But he also thought that although he deliberately limited his vision, he did not look at the possibilities of the future, so that he could stay in the world and experience all the perceptions given by life.But if one day there is any force that wants to take away what he has, he will never be soft.

Whether that power is from a higher dimensional god or not.

............................................................

After dinner, everyone gradually returned to their rooms to rest.Chongliu asked Chunzi, who stayed to watch the night, to gossip, and then walked out of the lobby to the backyard.

But he stopped.He could sense that Zhu Helan's aura was not in the backyard, but in another place.

A secret room that can only be seen through the fingers.

He raised the corner of his mouth, walked to the locust tree, and the moment he put his hand on the tree, the environment around him changed.

He entered the secret room.

All the mysterious treasures in the world are hidden in this secret room, including the eggs of the Taoist gods, the broken thousand drums, the Su Lang fan, and the guide fish.They sleep in eternal darkness, calm and serene.

Zhu Helan stood in front of the locust tree.Above their heads is the endless sky woven by branches.Thousands of red flowers are dotted like countless stars, which is breathtakingly magnificent.

"Xiao Huai said, Chong Wu asked him to deliver a message to you. He is now in the snowy mountains in the west." Every time Zhu Helan mentioned Chong Liu's elder brother, he seemed a little upset, "Xiao Huai, show it to your little mother."

So the pagoda tree stretched out a branch, and Chong Liu didn't bother to care about Zhu Helan's teasing that he was the "little mother" of the pagoda tree, so he just glared at the shopkeeper, and stretched out his hand to hold the branch.

In an instant, a series of images flooded into his mind along with thoughts.

Through Chong Wu's eyes, he saw the peak covered with crystal white snow. The sky had never been so close, so clear and far away.

He saw the ancient temples dotted in the snow-covered plateau, and the gorgeous red walls were like little cinnabar moles.He heard the sound of monks in thick red robes chanting scriptures, simple and vigorous, echoing in the sky for a long time.

He could feel the pure peace and joy in Zhong Wu's heart, the joy of seeing this beautiful world.

He smiled too, happy for his brother.

Chong Wu has been traveling for a year, and he is always worried, but fortunately, every time Chong Wu goes to a place, he will use Xiaohuai's root system that has spread all over the Central Plains and even further away to send back news.Every time Chong Liu perceives these news, it seems that he has followed him to see all the beautiful scenery.

It's just that, sometimes, besides sending messages to Chong Liu, Chong Wu would also send some brief words to Zhu Helan, such as: I heard Xiao Huai say that you are being fierce to Xiao Liu again?I heard you had a good chat with Miss Pan today?I heard that you sleep until the sun rises every day and ask Xiao Liu to do things for you?There was a strong sense of threat in the tone...

God knows that every time the so-called "fierce" Chongliu is just two people arguing about trivial matters, the so-called happy chat is because the little lady repeatedly tried to force him to talk about the dental business, but in the end he couldn't Don't give up kissing Chong Liu's face face to face. As for sleeping until the sun is high... well, this is indeed his fault...

But he is still very upset!Why does Xiao Huai, who he raised with one hand, actively fight Chong Wu with his little report every time? !

Chong Liu saw his expression and knew that Xiao Wu must be looking for trouble for him again.He smiled and raised his shoulder to Zhu Helan, "You seem to be in a bad mood today?"

"No."

"Don't be angry, okay?" Chong Liu tugged at his sleeve, "In the future, let's put a barrier on the back door to prevent Song Mingzi from getting in. Then I told Xiao Wu not to make fun of you all the time. .”

Zhu Helan pointed at the locust tree, "I'm angry at this unfilial son, he's talking to others for nothing!"

Xiaohuai trembled aggrievedly.

"Okay, okay, Xiaohuai definitely didn't do it on purpose, right?" Chong Liu leaned over and kissed Zhu Helan on the face.

Only then did Zhu Helan's expression soften a little.

The two stood shoulder to shoulder, looking up at the beautiful flowers and stars all over the sky.Zhu Helan said, "I thought it would bear fruit soon after it bloomed. But I didn't expect its growth to stop again."

Chong Liu laughed, "It doesn't want to grow up."

"It is afraid that I will have to leave when it grows up." Zhu Helan sighed, "But...it will grow up after all."

Chong Liu's fingers gently wrapped around Zhu Helan's hand, and said softly, "Even if it bears fruit, I won't let the Mother Goddess of Everything take you away."

Zhu Helan opened his eyes slightly and looked at him.

Chong Liu also met his beautiful and deep eyes, with a firm and confident smile, with a kind of contemptuous aura that was not shown in front of others, "Don't forget, I am omniscient. I know how to cut off her control over you. So, you It's impossible to get rid of me."

Zhu Helan would forget from time to time how powerful Chong Liu was.Neither time nor space can restrain him, he knows all the knowledge and secrets in the world.But in front of Zhu Helan, he will always be the cute look of bending his eyes and smiling when he was in the inn, and calling him "Boss".

Zhu Helan looked at Chong Liu obsessively, half proudly, half fascinated.He reached out and stroked Chong Liu's cheek lightly, and said with a sigh, "With you here, I won't go anywhere."

As he spoke, he raised Chong Liu's jaw, lowered his head and kissed those sweet and soft lips.

Behind them, the vast branches of the locust tree stretched out into the boundless universe, like a red firework blooming in the endless void.