The strange story of Huai'an Inn

Zhu Yi extinguished the lantern outside the store, carefully closed the door and locked it, and looked back to see that Chong Liu was still behind the counter to settle accounts.At this time, Master Liao, Fuzi and Jiulang also came out, holding dinner cooked by a small stove in the back kitchen, and putting the two dining tables together.

"Sixth brother, there are bloody noodles today!" Zhu Yi glanced at a big urn of sticky red noodles on the dining table, and exclaimed excitedly.

Everyone in Huaian Hotel likes to eat blood and internal organs, such as blood soup, blood sausage, pork belly, liver and brain, chicken gizzard and chicken heart, etc.Chong Liu actually doesn't like to eat it very much on weekdays, and always feels that the fishy smell is a bit strong.But today, for some reason, when I saw the hot noodles with pig blood sausage and sheep blood clots floating in the urn, I felt the saliva in my mouth doubled.

He hastily settled his accounts, locked the cash-box, ran to the table and sat down.Xiao Shun took another bowl over there to share some of his share of noodles, and left it for his invisible "tall sister".

Master Liao took a sip of tea, Zhang Luo said, "Hurry up and start, it's rare to eat meat, it won't taste good when it's cold."

Chong Liu unceremoniously scooped up a large bowl of noodles, and ate with the others in a sizzling heat.There was an indescribable smell of blood in the noodles, and the taste of the soft and crunchy blood sausage, which was a bit weird to chew, became very exciting now.

"Master Liao, what delicious food did you cook today?"

The shopkeeper strolled in slowly from the atrium, wearing a moon white cross-collar gown and a dark blue crane cloak embroidered with magnolia flowers. His hair was also neatly combed and a hairpin was placed on top of it. He was obviously dressed for going out.

Chong Liu quickly stood up and wanted to move a stool for the shopkeeper to sit on, but the shopkeeper pressed his shoulder, pointed to the side of the long wooden stool that Chong Liu was sitting on and said, "I'll just sit here."

Chong Liu didn't know why he was a little nervous, so he moved to the side to make room.The shopkeeper just sat on a stool with him.

The others blinked a few times, but no one said anything.

Master Liao asked leisurely, "Boss, are you going out tonight?"

"Yes, after dinner, Xiao Shun, go and help me prepare the carriage."

"Ah, good!" Xiao Shun replied obediently.

The shopkeeper of the Chongliu gang filled a bowl of noodles and handed it over.The shopkeeper picked up the chopsticks and slowly put the noodles into his mouth.In view of the elegant eating of the shopkeeper, the people at the table also restrained themselves when eating noodles, not as enthusiastic as before.

The others ate quickly, and ran to the kitchen to wash the dishes with their bowls in their hands.In the end, there were only the shopkeeper, Chong Liu, and Master Liao who was drinking tea slowly.The shopkeeper suddenly put down his chopsticks, took out something from his pocket, and pushed it in front of Chong Liu.

A sachet?

Peacock green brocade is used as the base, and gold thread is embroidered into delicate orchid grass patterns, which are bulging and sealed with ginger yellow wreath knots, exuding a faint fragrance.

Chong Liu forgot to chew what was in his mouth, and looked foolishly at the sachet and then at the shopkeeper.

Shopkeeper Zhu clicked his tongue, "Take it." Chong Liu swallowed the noodles in his mouth, "For me?"

"Is it for Master Liao?" The shopkeeper said angrily.

Master Liao was drinking tea quietly on the sidelines, watching his nose and mouth, mouth and heart, just like an old monk in meditation.

Chong Liu hurriedly rubbed his hands on his clothes, picked up the sachet, looked left and right, the more he looked at it, the more he liked it.He put it up to his nose and smelled it, and felt that the fragrance was very sweet, but there was still a hint of tea in the sweetness.

The shopkeeper Zhu saw that he liked him, and he was quite satisfied, but he picked up the chopsticks as if pretending to be careless, and told him, "Take it with you every day, and don't leave your body. The nail problem can be temporarily suppressed. If the fragrance Remember to tell me when it fades."

Chong Liu grabbed the sachet, his face full of emotion, "Thank you, my boss!"

"Okay, let's eat quickly, and we'll leave after eating." The shopkeeper smiled softly, and when he looked up, Master Liao gave him a meaningful look.

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

At night, Tianliang City still has a layer of hustle and bustle, which is different from the daytime, especially the bustling long street like Bianhe Street, with many night market stalls on both sides.Fortunately, there were not many horses and carriages on the road, and the children who were playing around had already fallen asleep, so they would not rush out from the side of the road suddenly, and Chong Liu didn't have to be so nervous when driving.

These days, when he has free time, he learns driving skills from Xiao Shun, and when he has the opportunity, he goes out to buy wine and food, so he has made great progress in the field of horse-drawn carriages.

The shopkeeper seemed to feel it too, lifted the curtain and sat down by the car door, "The car is driving very steadily."

Chong Liu raised a proud smile, "I have studied hard and practiced hard for several days!"

"When you leave the city later, don't rush into the ditch."

"I'll try my best, I'll try my best." Chong Liu smirked twice, and asked again, "But Master, this Qujiang Town is a long way from us, can we make it back in one night?"

"The normal road is difficult, but we can take a shortcut." The shopkeeper elongated his voice pointingly.

Chong Liu immediately understood that it was a shortcut like in Zilu Mountain!

"Boss, can a carriage take a shortcut?"

"Yes, it's just that you have to find a place where no one is there to find a shortcut."

Their carriage staggered out of the city, and the lights gradually faded away, leaving only the small lights like fireflies in the farmer's rooms at the end of the field ridge in the distance.There are only thin clouds in the sky, and the moonlight falls on the fields and long roads like cicadas. Except for the sound of frogs and insects and the rolling of wheels, the rest is peaceful and quiet.

"Okay, stop here."

Chong Liu reined in the horse, and saw the shopkeeper get out of the car, performed the same brief ceremony as on Zilu Mountain, then stood up, stroked the horse's neck, and whispered something in the horse's ear.

The shopkeeper is chanting a curse to the horse?Or whisper to her?

The shopkeeper got into the car and said to Chong Liu, "Okay, you don't have to pull the rein, she can find her way by herself."

Chong Liu's eyes widened, "Ah?!"

The shopkeeper laughed, "Why, don't you believe me?"

"No... just let go like this?"

"Yeah, just let go. You come in and sit in the car with me, don't lift the curtain to look out."

Can't watch yet?

Chongliu muttered inwardly.Let the horse go by itself, is it really possible to be led into the ditch?

But since the shopkeeper said so, maybe it's really all right?

Chong Liu hesitated to let go of the rein, and the horse really started to go forward by itself.

"Come in." The shopkeeper lifted the curtain and urged, "Before I meet that coppersmith, I have to tell you a few things."

Chong Liu cautiously got into the carriage and watched the shopkeeper close the curtain.A small lamp hung in the carriage, and the glowing red light reflected on the faces of the two of them.

Seeing Chong Liu as if he was sitting on pins and felt afraid of overturning the car, the shopkeeper burst out laughing, "So afraid of death, how dare you follow me into business?"

"I'm not afraid of death, I'm afraid that if we accidentally bump into something..."

"Don't worry. Before I brought you out, I ran the business alone. How do you think I got there?"

"Xiao Shun won't help you drive the car?"

"I try not to let them get involved. Not everyone wants to know these things like you do." The shopkeeper said inscrutably.

After walking for a while, I felt that the carriage had turned a few turns by itself, but the journey was fairly smooth, with relatively even vibrations, without the feeling of being led into wasteland or a ditch.Chong Liu wanted to lift the curtain to look out several times, but was stopped by the shopkeeper.

"Don't look, you might get motion sickness if you look at it."

"……Oh……"

The shopkeeper saw that his curiosity had come up again, so he planned to divert Chongliu's attention, "The coppersmith I'm going to see in a while is surnamed Li, and he is called Li Xiaowu. His family's ancestral copper-making skills used to be popular in ten miles and eight towns. Very famous. It's just that this Li Xiaowu is unlucky and has a bad smell."

"What kind of filth?"

"The filth of wishful thinking."

Chong Liu groaned, "All wishes come true? Is there such a good smell?"

The shopkeeper smiled, "No matter what, it will not be good if it is too much."

The shopkeeper then slowly told Chong Liu about Li Xiaowu's background.

This conscientious copper craftsman was originally innocent.Once a man from the rivers and lakes sold him a copper sword at a very low price, and he accepted it gladly, but he didn't know that the sword was faulty.He melted the sword and several other pieces of copper together, and made a batch of utensils according to the order that he received.But it didn't take long for the people who ordered these utensils to have accidents one after another.

Some people get rich suddenly, but they are ruined in a short period of time.Some people failed in many trials but were suddenly named on the gold list, but soon contracted a strange disease and developed sores that could not be cured.There are also couples who have had no children for many years and are happy to have a baby, but it doesn't take long for the family wealth to disappear or an accident occurs.

At first, no one connected these things with the coppersmith, but more and more such things began to be rumored that the things he made would bring bad luck to people.

Even if the batch of goods with the copper on the sword is sold out, as long as it is made from his hands, it will still cause these weird ups and downs.Because the craftsmen who make copperware have been infected with filth.

Later, the coppersmith got the advice of Song Mingzi and asked the shopkeeper for help. I wish the shopkeeper tried several times to test the abilities of those copper objects and their operation rules, and gradually found out the cause and effect.

After these objects reach the owner's hands, they will engrave the strongest desire in the owner's mind at that time.They will guarantee the fulfillment of these wishes, but will go to great lengths to use up all the other luck of the master.

Because in them, causality is distorted.Two things that are obviously unrelated will be forcibly linked together.No one is aware of their properties, so the connection is random and out of control.

What the shopkeeper did was to find some ways to control this relationship.Connect some less important causes with the desired results.

After the coppersmith makes copper according to the method of the shopkeeper, the customer can get the result they want at a lower cost.But this is "cheating" after all, so if the customer does not strictly follow a set of procedures for using these objects, the causal chain obtained by cheating will soon be broken, resulting in unknown results.

Chong Liu's eyes lit up when he heard it, as if he was listening to a storyteller telling a story, "So the wish of the national teacher is to stop dreaming, and the wish of Ding Buqiong is to grow crops in the ground. Then what do you plan to ask them to pay?" cost?"

The shopkeeper's eyes were curved, "What price do you think I will make them pay?"

"I guess...the connection between cause and effect is not completely random. Is the proportion similar? For example, if the price is not so heavy, it will take a long time?"

The shopkeeper nodded approvingly, "You are very smart."

Chong Liu scratched his head and smiled embarrassedly, "Then... what are you going to ask the coppersmith to do for Ding Buqiong?"

The shopkeeper touched his chin and thought for a while, "A pair of chopsticks."

People depend on food, so it is very interesting to make a pair of brass chopsticks for a farmer, and it is not too expensive.

"The price can be... if you eat with these chopsticks, the food will not taste so good?" Chong Liu said uncertainly.

The shopkeeper laughed loudly after hearing this, "That's a good idea. You must use this pair of chopsticks to eat at least one extremely, extremely unpalatable meal every day. If you stick to it, it will probably take... let me do the math... ten years."

"What about ten years from now?"

"Ten years later, the karmic exchange is clear, so there is no need to continue to use it. You can give it to me to deal with, or you can keep it for yourself, it doesn't matter." The shopkeeper sighed softly, "But the premise is that he doesn't want to use it." Breach of covenant during this decade."