old grace

It was dark.

There is a night ban in Dragon City, and it is forbidden to walk between the squares and cities.The doors and locks are locked between the square and the market, but the inside of the square can move around freely.

At night in the still noisy Dragon City, there are bright lanterns for high-ranking and wealthy households, and occasional sporadic lights for small and poor households. Presumably, the people who can live in Longcheng safely, even if they call themselves poor and small households, are far richer than the people in the wilderness.Xie Qinghe rode past the impoverished houses where most of the lights were turned on early to rest, and found a bustling alley with lights and feasting, landed on the roof of the restaurant, took advantage of the night and shadows to hide the flying kite, and planned to hang out and get some food.

When he first debuted, he traveled all over the world, not to mention the mountains and rivers, the larger cities and historical sites, and famous families from all over the world.

These years Shangguan Shiyi's body was deteriorating, Xie Qinghe didn't say anything, but he was very sad in his heart, and he was afraid that he would go too far, and he would not be able to return immediately when his teacher went west, so these years he was only active in the vicinity of Hanshan, and he hadn't been here for a long time Dragon City is gone.

Of course, going to the restaurant to inquire about news is incidental.

——Xie Qinghe smelled the mutton soup pot wafting from the restaurant, and immediately became hungry.

There are people coming and going in the restaurant, all the drinkers are focused on their own banquets, and have no time to look at the door, only the waiter who leads the door and the idler who is waiting for work are watching.This group of people has extremely sharp eyesight, and they can usually see what the visitor does for a living, what their origin is, and how much money they have in their pockets for entertainment.The so-called respecting Luo Yi first started with such a rule.

Xie Qinghe walked towards the restaurant with Shiyan Mohua in his hands. With his attire, he confused the waiter and the idler at the door.

These days, white clothes are a symbol of poverty, and the fabric cannot be made of precious dyes, but the color of the fabric itself, which is called white clothes.Xie Qinghe is wearing white silk clothes, one must know that silk clothes are originally a gray color, it must be dyed to be so white, such clothes are not cheap at any time.

The most surprising thing was that Xie Qinghe's white clothes came out of the dark night, and it was spotless, even the hem of the clothes whose ankles almost touched the ground was clean, without a trace of dust.It was as if he had just changed into new clothes and arrived at the entrance of the restaurant in a limousine carriage.

Therefore, even if the style of Xie Qinghe's clothes is a bit out of fashion (rural), it can be understood as "quaint" aesthetics.

"How many guests are you? Do you like the table next to the storytelling table in the middle of the second floor? Today the storyteller is a famous speaker in the city..." The waiter nodded and bowed and invited Xie Qinghe upstairs, and frantically sold the tables in the atrium.

Xie Qinghe held the Shiyan Demon Flower in one hand as he walked upstairs.After climbing up half a floor, I realized that the quiet seats by the window and leaning against the railing have been occupied by the drinkers who came first.Only a few tables near the storytelling table are still vacant.

As for, why is it empty?

There were more than a dozen burly men with slender burdens sitting there. The table was full of food and drinks, and peanut shells and edamame skins were thrown all over the floor.

Not to mention how dangerous these big guys who are obviously armed with weapons are, how can anyone want to sit near them just because they are so unhygienic, spraying alcohol and throwing garbage everywhere?

Xie Qinghe also carried "slender baggage".

Before coming down from the top of the restaurant, he wrapped the long sword in the cloth bag he was carrying, which is also the experience of walking in the rivers and lakes.

The government does not allow common people to carry knives around, and there are detailed regulations on how many kitchen knives to use at home.However, in this world, the world is so powerful, and there are only a dozen or twenty local servants, how can they beat a martial artist who has practiced martial arts since childhood?Seeing people go out with weapons, it’s not good not to interrogate them, but it’s even more troublesome if they do.

Therefore, when the Jianghu people went out, they covered the weapons they carried with cloth and silk to make them look like "packages". The court officials and yamen servants pretended not to know, and raised their hands to let them go.This is a tacit understanding between each other.

The waiter wiped the table with a towel, and asked Xie Qinghe to sit down: "Guest officer, please!"

He was led to the table of those burly men.Fortunately, the waiter in this shop had a conscience and didn't let Xie Qinghe sit too close.

"Here's a mutton soup pot." Xie Qinghe looked around, pointing to the dishes on a few tables in the distance, "What is that? Give me a plate too. Will you make pot side buns? Serve half first Jin." Xie Qinghe is very particular about food, and he doesn't eat wine when he eats soup.

The leisurely man who followed up and waited for the work immediately smiled: "You are well, my lord. The old man next door eats the earthen pot meat from Xu Ji's old shop on Liu Street. There are two flavors, wrapped in Nanxing taro paste and red bean paste. , and then poured with brown sugar, it costs 82 yuan a bowl, mixed with shredded plums, vegetables, and bamboo shoots, and stuffed with salty peanuts, it costs [-] yuan a bowl. Look..."

Xie Qinghe gave him two taels of silver and said, "One bowl for all of them. I'll trouble you to make a trip, and I'll treat you to a drink if you have more."

He is not extravagant, and he is definitely not stingy, he is the restaurant's helper's favorite customer.After all, the distinguished guests who spend a lot of money usually have the power to kill them. If you want to make some money, safety is a blessing.

The idle man went to help buy food, and the waiter in the shop quickly brought out the cold dishes Xie Qinghe ordered, and he also got the reward with a smile on his face.

Xie Qinghe wanted to eat the mutton pot wholeheartedly, with his ears pricked up, he listened to the gossip around the restaurant.

The guests at this table are talking about their own business, and at the other table are talking about the bitch in Qunyuyuan. In middle age, the children and grandchildren are unworthy, and they cry to their old friends with wine...

No one discussed the big pool that was added to the emperor's residence.

Xie Qinghe was not disappointed either.Go to the restaurant to inquire about the news, or you can take the initiative to attack.

After a while, the waiter brought up the mutton soup pot, put charcoal on it, and smiled all over his face: "Guest officer, please use it. Our pot, the soup can warm the body, and the pot can warm the hands. The charcoal can last for an hour. You can greet the little one at any time. Hey, don't you want some drinks?"

Xie Qinghe didn't ask the waiter for news.

After drinking two bowls of soup and eating some steamed buns, the helper who went to buy crock pot meat also came back.

Xie Qinghe asked him to sit down, added a pair of chopsticks, and asked the waiter to bring some wine.The waiters on the idle table were very sensible, adding tea, cloth and dishes, and took out a clean towel from the bag to wipe the table clean at any time. Xie Qinghe asked him to eat, and he took a pair of clean chopsticks to add some to his plate. , Never touch the meal that Xie Qinghe touched.

——To make a living in a restaurant, you must be able to serve customers, and you must not make them disgusted.This is the basic quality of helping others.

After the two of them had eaten enough to warm up, Xie Qinghe asked: "A few years ago when I came to Beijing, it didn't seem to be in such a feng shui pattern."

That gangster picked up his wine glass and sighed: "Who said it wasn't?"

There is also a reason why Xie Qinghe chose this person to help him buy.

This person's accent is from the old Longcheng, although he is a helper, he is also very well dressed, not as flattering as other people.

The emperor's feet want to make a living, nothing more than scholars, farmers, businessmen.If you live in the city, you probably won't be able to farm the land, leaving you with few options.Either start a small business, or do a craft, as for being an official...how can it be so easy for ordinary people?

Many decent-looking and well-informed Longcheng people will come to the restaurant to help out, earn some money for running errands, and if they are lucky, they can eat and drink.

This kind of work cannot be done by outsiders.Firstly, they are not familiar with the people, and secondly, they are not familiar with the locality, and the wine drinkers are not as comfortable as dispatching the old Longcheng people——what’s wrong with your grandpa’s grandpa coming to settle in Longcheng?Isn't your grandson still running errands for me?

Xie Qinghe poured a glass of wine for the gangster, and asked him to talk about it in detail, the chatterbox of the gangster could not be closed once it was opened.

"Guest officer, you also know that this is an old town, and every tree and well are left over from thousands of years ago, and they are all exquisite."

"Since my great-grandfather, my family has lived here in Jiu'anfang. Do you know? The rules passed down from the old man, eh, this is it... Walls can be pushed down, roads can't be changed, trees can't be moved."

"In the early years, an ignorant countryman came to the city and rented the house in my old neighbor next door. He thought the tree in the courtyard was not spacious enough, so he cut it down. What do you think? All the men in the family died that year. ..."

"Hey, I'm not trying to scare you. Ask Lao Cheng, this old Wen, they are also from the old Dragon City, do you know this story?"

The gang was about to greet the two partners downstairs, Xie Qinghe smiled slightly: "I believe it."

The helper was very satisfied with his attitude. Seeing that Xie Qinghe was sharing food for him again, he hurriedly said, "Hey, I will do it myself, I dare not bother you."

Crockpot meat in a mutton soup pot, braised duck and edamame, all the food is full of oil, and the conversation becomes deeper and deeper.

"And that well... Our Dragon City, that is the place where the dragons ascend. There are nine hundred and ninety-nine dragons living under the ground. There are exactly one thousand and nine hundred and ninety-eight wells in the old city. You understand, sir. Right? This well, it is the eyes of the dragon! There are nine vertical, seven horizontal and sixteen imperial roads in the city, all of which lead to the Yushui River and all the way into the Yupan River. You need to drink water!"

"The barbarians of the previous dynasty destroyed Zhang, and the royal family fled south in the Zhang dynasty. They built a small court in Huyang, gathered the generals from the south of the Yangtze River, and fought with great vigor, saying that they could return to the capital from the northern expedition! The barbarians became anxious when they heard this. To destroy Zhang Chao's luck, he invited the demon monks from the north of Meishan Mountain to destroy the Fengshui of Dragon City."

"What immoral things do you think they did? Hey, this demon monk pointed out the barbarian. First, he built roads and cut off the dragon's royal road, which is our current Yuzi Street and Wuyun Avenue, and then let the barbarians go into all the wells in the city. Sprinkling embroidery needles, that's not counting, it just filled up a lot of wells!"

"So, our Dragon City... from the time when the barbarian was sitting in the mountains and rivers, Feng Shui is not good!"

……

The gangster had already drunk his cheeks flushed, lowered his voice, and whispered: "We are in a good season."

"The barbarians of the former dynasty broke our Feng Shui, but today's sages and sages are illuminated by candles, so they called the eminent monks from the temple to Beijing and dug the Taiye Pool in the palace wall. Do you know what is the Taiye Pool? The Taiye Pond is found in the imperial garden of the Heavenly Emperor!"

"This Taiye Pond is the place where dragons gather around. Guest officer, think about it, so many dragons live in the womb of heaven, guarding the emperor every day, can the dragon's energy not be prosperous? This dragon's energy is prosperous, we Of course, the Great Zhou Dynasty will last forever, and the country will last forever!"

The eminent monk in the temple.

Xie Qinghe touched his wrist, and accidentally touched the bracelet given to him by Shangguan Shiyi.

He looked at the string of beads by the bright candlelight in the restaurant.I don't know what kind of beads they are made of, but they are heavy like jade, and they are soft to the touch, as if they are elastic.

Taking a closer look, this string of beads seems to be... shining?

Xie Qinghe's heart skipped a beat.