love fairy

On February 2, the dragon looked up. In the twilight, in a secluded place in the town called Mud Ping Alley, there was a thin and lonely young man. At this time, according to the custom, he held a candle in one hand and a peach branch in the other, illuminating the beams, walls, wooden beds, etc., and knocking with peach branches. Beating, trying to drive away snakes, scorpions, centipedes, etc., is an old saying passed down from generation to generation in this small town: on February 2, the candle shines on the beam, the peach hits the wall, and there is nowhere for snakes and insects to hide in the world. ​​ The boy's surname is Chen, his name is Ping An, and his parents died young. The town's porcelain is very famous. Since the founding of the dynasty, it has taken on the important task of "supervising the burning of sacrificial utensils for mausoleums". There are court officials stationed here all year round to supervise the affairs of official kilns. A helpless young man, he became a porcelain kiln maker very early. At first, he could only do some chores and rough work. After working hard for a few years with a bad-tempered half-way master, he just figured out a little way to make porcelain. As a result, things were fickle, and the town suddenly lost the amulet made by the official kiln. Dozens of kilns around the town that looked like crouching dragons were all shut down overnight by the government. ​​ Chen Pingan put down the newly folded peach branch, blew out the candle, walked out of the house, sat on the steps, looked up, and the starry sky was shining brightly. The young man still clearly remembers that the old master, surnamed Yao, who only accepted himself as a half-apprentice, was found sitting on a small bamboo chair facing the kiln head in the early morning in the late autumn last year, with his eyes closed. . ​​ However, there are very few people who are as sharp as old man Yao. The small-town craftsmen who have only been able to burn porcelain for generations, neither dared to overstep the limits of firing tribute to official kilns, nor dared to sell the porcelain in their possessions to the common people, so they had to find another way out. Fourteen-year-old Chen Ping'an was also swept out of the house. , After returning to Mud Bottle Alley, he continued to guard this old dilapidated house, which was almost a bleak scene of family members. ​​ After being a lonely ghost wandering around for a while, the young man couldn't really find a way to earn money. With his meager savings, the young man was barely able to fill his stomach. A few days ago, he heard about riding a dragon alley a few blocks away. , came an old blacksmith surnamed Ruan, who announced that he would accept seven or eight blacksmith apprentices. He would not pay wages, but he was in charge of the meals. Chen Ping'an hurried to try his luck. Turning him out, Chen Ping'an wondered at that time, is it possible that the work of ironing is not based on the strength of the arm, but on the appearance? ​​ You must know that although Chen Ping'an looks weak, his strength should not be underestimated. This is the physical foundation trained by the young people in those years of burning porcelain. In addition, Chen Ping'an also followed the old man surnamed Yao and ran all over the town. A hundred miles of mountains, rivers, and rivers, I have tasted the taste of various soils around me. It's a pity that Lao Yao never liked Chen Ping'an, and disliked the lack of comprehension of the young man. It was because the elm wood was not enlightened, and he was far inferior to the eldest apprentice Liu Xianyang. It was no wonder that the old man was biased. , Liu Xianyang's skill in just half a year is equivalent to the level of Chen Ping'an's three years of hard work. ​​ Although he may not need this skill in his life, Chen Ping'an still closed his eyes as usual, imagined that there were bluestone slabs and a reel in front of him, and began to practice drawing. Practice makes perfect. About every quarter of an hour, the teenager would rest for a while, shaking his wrists, and repeating the cycle until he was completely exhausted. No one has ever taught Chen Ping'an these things, it's a way he figured out blindly. The heaven and the earth were originally quiet, but Chen Ping'an heard a harsh sarcastic laughter and stopped, and sure enough, he saw the same age squatting on the wall, grinning, and did not hide his contempt. This person is Chen Pingan's old neighbor, and it is said that he is the illegitimate son of the former superintendent. The adult was afraid of clear criticism and impeachment by officials. Finally, he returned to the capital alone to report his duties, and handed the child over to a successor official who had a lot of personal friendship. watch over. ​​ Nowadays, the town has lost the qualification of official kiln firing for no reason. The superintendent who is responsible for supervising the kiln affairs for the imperial court has no way to protect himself if he crosses the river. How can he care about the illegitimate children of his colleagues in the officialdom, throwing some money, he is in a hurry Go to the capital to make some connections. Unconsciously, the neighbor boy who has become an abandoned child still lives a leisurely life. He takes his personal maid all day long, wandering around the town inside and outside the town. The walls of the loess courtyards in every household in Mupin Alley are very low. In fact, the neighbor boy can see the scene of the courtyard here without standing on tiptoe, but every time he talks to Chen Ping'an, he prefers to squat on the wall. Compared with the vulgar and vulgar name of Chen Ping'an, the neighbor boy is much more elegant, called Song Jixin, and even his maid, who lives with him, also has the name of Wenxuanxuan, Zhigui. ​​ The girl was standing on the side of the courtyard wall at this moment. She had a pair of almond eyes and was timid and weak. From the courtyard gate, a voice sounded, "Do you sell your maid?" Song Jixin was stunned for a while, then turned to look at the voice. It was a smiling young man in brocade, standing outside the courtyard with a completely unfamiliar picture. face. Standing beside the young man in brocade clothes was a tall old man with a fair face and a kind face, squinting lightly at the two young and young girls who were adjoining the courtyard. The old man's eyes swept across Chen Ping'an without stagnation, but on Song Jixin and the maid, there were many stops, and the smile gradually became stronger. Song Jixin squinted and said, "Sell! Why don't you sell it!" The young man smiled and said, "Then tell me the price." The girl's eyes widened, her face full of wonder, like a panicked young elk. ​​ Song Jixin rolled his eyes, stretched out a finger, and shook it, "10,000 taels of silver!" The brocade-clothed boy nodded as usual, "Okay." Seeing that the boy didn't seem to be joking, Song Jixin said. He quickly changed his words and said, "It's 10,000 taels of gold!" The corners of the brocade-clothed boy's mouth twitched up, and he said, "I'm kidding you." Song Jixin's face was gloomy. The brocade-clothed boy ignored Song Jixin, shifted his gaze and looked at Chen Ping'an, "Thanks to you today, I was able to buy that carp. After I bought it back, the more I looked at it, the happier I became, thinking that I must tell you in person. Thank you so much, so I asked Grandpa Wu to take me to find you overnight." He threw a heavy embroidered bag to Chen Ping'an, smiling brightly, "This is a reward, you and I will be settled." Chen Ping'an Just as he was about to speak, the brocade-clothed boy turned and left. ​​ Chen Ping'an frowned. During the day, he accidentally saw a middle-aged man walking on the street with a fish basket. He caught a golden carp with a tail and a palm. Just glanced at it, and felt very happy, so he asked if he could buy it with ten pennies. The middle-aged man was just thinking about rewarding his own temple. Seeing that it was profitable, he sat on the ground and raised the price. The lion opened his mouth , I have to sell it for thirty cents. Chen Ping'an, who is shy in his pocket, has so much spare money, and he really can't bear the golden carp, so he follows the middle-aged man, and thinks about cutting the price to fifteen cents, even twenty cents. Just when the middle-aged man showed signs of letting go, the young man in brocade clothes and the tall old man happened to pass by. They bought the carp and the fish basket with fifty cents without saying a word. Chen Ping'an could only watch them go away, helpless. . Staring at the backs of the pair of grandfathers and grandsons that were walking farther and farther, Song Jixin withdrew his fierce eyes, jumped off the wall, seemed to remember something, and said to Chen Ping'an, "Do you remember the four feet in the first month?" Chen Pingan nodded. ​​ ​​