Chu Lang

Chaimen smelled the bark of the dog, and the snowy night returned to others.

The first time Tang Zhong heard this poem was from the storyteller of Qingfeng Xiaozhu.

Li Qingshan folded the fan quickly, Xingmu slapped the table with a crisp sound, read out these two lines of opening poems, and told a story full of fireworks.

Many years later, Tang Zhongleng couldn't remember what story the artist told that day, but only memorized these two lines of the opening poem clearly.

At that time, how could he have never imagined that a few years later, his home would not have chaimen or a yard—in other words, the entire grassland would be their yard.The shepherd dogs raised by Guerzhen live near the sheepfold. Unless dozens of strong men sneaked in from the neighboring tribe, it is impossible to hear the barking of these dogs in the tent.

So he reckoned that the scene where Chaimen heard the dog barking would probably be unheard of.

But returning home on a snowy night is common.

The snow outside the Great Wall always comes early and urgently, and it only started to snow in mid-August.

Tang Zhong was carrying a Mazar, holding a fan made of banana leaves, sitting in an airtight tent, and was frying in front of the stove.

Ever since he came to Saibei, he felt that he was being defeated all year round.Tang Zhong has always been curious, why Gulzhen eats mutton every day, but never gets angry in his mouth. Is it really because of the extraordinary talents of the nomads?

As the sky was getting dark, Gu Erzhen walked in wearing a sheepskin robe, with some wind and snow on his body, which was as cold as a knife.His originally too pale skin was a little reddish because of the cold, like a layer of rouge.

Tang Zhong stopped the fan that was fanning the fire in his hand, and said with a smile on his face, "You're back?"

Gulzhen rubbed his hands together, trying to regain a sense of consciousness in his numb hands: "Ah Zhong, I'm freezing to death, let me roast."

Gulzhen sat on the horsestool next to Tang Zhong, his hands were almost placed in the small pot of decocting medicine, and it took him a long time to get rid of the coldness, and said: "In a few days, I will take people to the market to buy medicines for the winter. object, let's go together."

As the saying goes, full of warmth and lust.As soon as Gu Erzhen warmed up, he started to move towards Tang Zhong again.

"Azhong, I want to kiss you."

Tang Zhong blocked Gurzhen's face with the fan, and said, "The blister on the tip of my tongue yesterday still hurts, you'd better not mess with me."

Gulzhen climbed onto the edge of the plantain fan with five fingers, revealing a pair of water-colored eyes, and asked in a pitiful tone: "What will happen if I mess with you?"

Tang Zhong had completely developed resistance to Gu Erzhen's beauty, and said unmoved: "I will smash your dog's head off."

"Hey, Ah Zhong is really tired of snowing?" Gu Erzhen suddenly got up and rushed out of the tent.

Tang Zhong knew what he wanted to do, so he just poured the medicine on the stove into the bowl expressionlessly.

Sure enough, after about half a cup of tea, Gu Erzhen returned to the tent with the paulownia harp he found out from the box and chest.

According to his own statement, Gurzhen learned the piano from his Persian-born mother.Although he made a bit of a fuss, playing the piano was really nice. Every time he played the piano, his restless soul seemed to be tightly bound by the strings, unexpectedly showing gentleness.

Tang Zhong has watched him play the piano for more than ten years, but still likes to listen to his piano.

"It's as white as snow on the mountain, and as bright as the moon between the clouds." Gu Erzhen sang while picking the strings lightly, "I heard that you have two ideas, so you come to break up with each other."

Tang Zhong: ...I knew he would play this piece.

At the end of the song "Baitou Yin", Gurzhen actually shed a few tears and said pitifully, "Ah Zhong~"

Tang Zhong: "Don't delay me from taking the medicine."

Gu Erzhen threw the piano aside, picked up Tang Zhong's pills, swallowed at the strangely hot black liquid, and took a big gulp as if making up his mind.

Then...he vomited all over the floor.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh—why is it so hot!"

Amid Gulzhen's tragic howls, Tang Zhong gave him sympathetic and compassionate eyes: "The medicine I just poured out...seriously, stupidity is also a disease, I can try to help you treat it .”

"Ah Zhong, I just want to drink the medicine myself first, and then feed it to you." Gulzhen said aggrievedly.

Tang Zhong knew that Gur was really pretending to be stupid on purpose, so he snatched Gurzhen's remaining half bowl of soup medicine, blew into the bowl a few times, and drank the medicine in one gulp.Then he leaned in front of Gurzhen and said, "Does it hurt? Come, show me."

Tang Zhong consciously stood on tiptoe, wrapped his arms around Gurzhen's neck, pressed the two halves of his thin lips to the side of his face, and asked, "Where does it hurt?" Then he swam to the corner of his mouth: "Is it still hurt here?"

Gulzhen touched his lips and teeth, and said after a while, "This is where it hurts."

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Every day on the first and fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, the people in the frontier will always set up a market, using things that are common in the Central Plains but not easy to get on the grassland, such as spices, porcelain, silk, etc., to exchange with nomadic tribes. fur.

Tang Zhong didn't have much interest in the gadgets in the market, but he spent the whole day in the vast wilderness, the grassland connected to the desert, and the lake led to the Gobi. After a long time, he would miss the Central Plains.

"We haven't been back to Chang'an for several years." Tang Zhong dismounted, handed the reins to Gulzhen, and said while looking at the winding Great Wall not far away.

The long bazaar stretches along the foot of the Great Wall, the hustle and bustle of people, the crowded carriages and horses, just like a long turbulent river.

Gulzhen led the horse to his followers and said: "Didn't you worry about Linyuan before? Now that your junior brother is back, Linyuan doesn't need us anymore. We are happy to be at leisure. If Ah Zhong wants to go, I will send the New Year's tribute this year." At that time, let's sneak into the group of envoys again, just to have fun."

Tang Zhong nodded perfunctorily, but his eyes were firmly attracted by the stall selling medicinal materials, and he walked towards the stall without waiting for Guerzhen to say another word.

Seeing his own princess squatting in front of other people's stalls, disregarding her appearance, Gurzhen immediately became interested, and also walked to the side of the stall carelessly, looking at the medicinal materials with great interest.

"Azhong, Ahzhong, I know this. This is ginseng, isn't it?" Gulzhen casually picked up the root of an unknown plant with soil on it, with a somewhat smug look on his face.

Tang Zhong rubbed his temple with his thumb, and said, "Put it down quickly, this is Tianma."

Gulzhen looked at the Gastrodia elata in his hand several times suspiciously, and confirmed again and again that it was indeed not the same species as the ginseng he had seen before honestly letting it go.

Afterwards, Gulzhen picked up a dark brown flower-like fruit and said, "Hey, is this star anise? Didn't you use it for cooking in the Central Plains? Why do you sell medicinal materials and also provide seasonings?"

Tang Zhong looked up, and this time he didn't admit his mistake, so he patiently explained: "Star anise can invigorate the stomach and drive away the cold, so it's no harm to buy some back."

Tang Zhong picked out some sun-dried honeysuckle, forsythia, chrysanthemum, etc., all of which are medicinal materials for removing fire. Just as he was about to pay, he heard Gurzhen's fussing voice again: "Ah Zhong, Ah Zhong! What is this? stuff?"

Tang Zhong could only go back to the stall, and saw Gurzhen pick up another small thing that seemed to have thorns all over his body.

"This is a seahorse. If you think you need it, you can buy some and take it home." Tang Zhong said while holding his forehead.

Gulzhen had never seen the sea, let alone a seahorse, and immediately felt that this thing was amazing, and he was unwilling to let it go: "I need it, let's buy some."

Gul bought two dead seahorse mummies with great satisfaction, and put them away like treasures.

Tang Zhong on the side couldn't help laughing out loud: "Do you know the function of hippocampus?"

"Tonify the kidney and strengthen the yang. You like it so much, it seems that you really need it." Tang Zhong said.

Gulzhen has always played with other people, and it was the first time he was deflated by others—although Ah Zhong didn't seem to be considered anyone else.Anyway, Gul went to another stall in a huff.

The stalls sell all kinds of wood carvings and ornaments. The stall owner seems to be very handy, and each one is carved lifelike.

Gu Erzhen vaguely remembered that Tang Zhong seemed to have said that he was a rabbit, so he forgot why he came to this stall just now, and instead searched for the rabbit seriously at the stall.

Tang Zhong searched around, and finally found Gurzhen in the corner of the market, standing by the stall with his head down, staring at the stall owner.

"Gurzhen, why did you come here?" Tang Zhong asked panting.

Gu Erzhen quickly accepted the things from the stall owner, then hugged his hands, turned his back to Tang Zhong, and said, "I don't want to tell the people who make fun of me what I'm doing."

Tang Zhong deliberately took a few steps and said, "Since you don't tell me, then I will leave."

"Wait." Gurzhen really hugged Tang Zhong's forearm obediently, "I'll go with you."

There is still a long way to go back to the tribe from the market.The men of the Xiongnu bought the things they needed, rode on the horses, and chatted happily with each other.

They are not like the Central Plains people, who always talk about family and country affairs when they get together. You talk about the new policies promulgated by the current emperor, and I talk about the new stars of this year's imperial examination.

The sons and daughters on the prairie only talked about small things at home.The cow gave birth to a calf yesterday, which girl will marry tomorrow? It sounds small, but this is their world.

Riding on horseback, Gu Erzhen pretended to be mysterious and took out a small object, threw it to Tang Zhong, and asked as if asking for credit: "Ah Zhong, is it cute?"

Tang Zhong took it and found that it was a delicately carved rabbit. Only then did he realize what the hell Gulzhen was doing there mysteriously just now.

The vast grassland can directly see the infinite horizon.Half of that round of red sun has sunk into the night, while the other half is reluctant to part with shining on the world.

The setting sun was like fire, Tang Zhong smiled and said: "Cute." It seemed to be talking about the rabbit in his hand, and he seemed to be talking about the person in front of him.

The author has something to say:

The article "Chu Lang" has been serialized for more than two months from December to now.This is the first time I write an original article. This article has many deficiencies, and I also encountered many troughs during the serialization process. I am very grateful to everyone who has been supporting and encouraging me, thank you everyone.See you in the next article.

After the txt is in various forms, I will sort it out and post it on Weibo. If there is a need, @江东客自量.