Sword of Coming

Chen Pingan came to the east gate and saw the man sitting cross-legged on the tree stump at the gate of the fence, lazily basking in the early spring sun, closing his eyes, humming a tune, and slapping his knees with both hands.

Chen Ping'an squatted beside him. For the young man, the matter of debt collection was really hard to talk about.

The young man could only look quietly at the broad road to the east, which was winding and long, like a thick yellow snake.

He habitually grabbed a handful of soil, held it in his hands, and rubbed it slowly.

He once followed Old Man Yao over the mountains and ridges around the town, carrying a heavy luggage full of various objects including hatchets and hoes. Under the guidance of the old man, he would stop and go everywhere. Chen Pingan often needed to "eat soil". He would grab a handful of soil and put it directly into his mouth, chew the soil and savor the taste. Over time, practice makes perfect, and Chen Pingan can clearly understand the texture of the soil even if he just grinds it with his fingers. So much so that later, when Chen Pingan weighed some broken porcelain pieces from old kilns on the market, he could tell which kiln mouth and even which master fired them.

Although Old Man Yao was withdrawn and unkind, and often beat and scolded Chen Pingan, once, Old Man Yao felt that Chen Pingan had poor understanding and was simply an ignorant fool. In a fit of anger, he left him in the wilderness, and the old man returned alone. kiln mouth. By the time the boy walked the sixty-mile mountain road and approached the dragon kiln, it was already late at night. It was raining heavily that day. When the boy who was stumbling in the mud finally saw a little light in the distance, the stubborn boy was struggling to survive alone. Then, for the first time, I felt the urge to cry.

But the young man has never complained about the old man, let alone holds a grudge.

The young man comes from a poor family and has never read a book, but he understands a truth beyond books: except for your parents, no one in the world should treat you well.

And his parents passed away early.

Chen Ping'an couldn't bear to lose his temper. The sloppy man seemed to think that there was probably no way to get through. He opened his eyes and smiled: "It's just five cents. If a man is so stingy, he won't have a big future."

Chen Ping'an looked helpless, "Aren't you just worrying about it?"

The man grinned, revealing his jagged yellow teeth, and said with a smile: "So, if you don't want to become a bachelor like me in the future, don't worry about the five cents."

Chen Ping'an sighed, raised his head, and said seriously: "If you are tight on money, just forget about these five cents, but we have agreed in advance that in the future, a letter will cost one copper cent, and you can't default on it again."

The man with a sour smell all over his body turned around and said with a smile: "Little guy, with a temper like yours, you will easily suffer big losses in the future. Haven't you heard the old saying that suffering is a blessing? You I don’t want to suffer even a small loss..."

He caught a glimpse of the soil in the young man's hand, paused briefly, and said narrowly: "It's your fate to face the loess and turn your back to the sky."

Chen Pingan retorted: "Didn't I just say that you don't need five cents? Doesn't it count as a small loss?"

The man was a little deflated and looked annoyed. He waved his hand and said, "Gungungun, it's really hard to chat with you."

Chen Pingan loosened his fingers, threw away the soil, stood up and said, "The tree trunks are very damp..."

The man raised his head and laughed and cursed: "I still need you to teach me a lesson? Young men are so strong that they can flap pancakes on their butts!"

The man turned his head and glanced at the young man's back. He twisted his mouth and muttered something that seemed to be a depressing curse to God.

For some reason, Mr. Qi, the private school teacher, ended his teaching early for the first time today.

There is a courtyard behind the school, and a short firewood gate opens to the north, leading to the bamboo forest.

When Song Jixin and his maid were listening to stories under the old locust tree, they were called to play chess. Song Jixin was reluctant, but the man said it was Mr. Qi who wanted to see if their chess skills had improved. Song Jixin had an indescribable feeling towards the unsmiling Mr. Qi, which could be called both respect and fear. Therefore, Mr. Qi personally issued this edict. Song Jixin had to go to the appointment, but he had to wait. After the storyteller finished telling the story, he went to the backyard of the school. The young man in green shirt who was delivering the message to the husband had to go home first. He did not forget to tell Song Jixin not to arrive too late. He continued to repeat the same old tune. My husband is the most disciplined and doesn't like others. Breaking the promise, etc.

Song Jixin dug his ears and took the trouble to say, "I know, I know."

When Song Jixin brought Zhigui to the backyard of the school, the cool breeze was blowing, and the elegant young man in green shirt was already sitting on the stool in the south, as usual, with his waist straight and his body upright.

Song Jixin sat down opposite the young man in green shirt, facing north and south.

Mr. Qi sat on the west side and watched the chess without saying a word.

Whenever her young master plays chess with others, her maid Zhigui will go for a walk in the bamboo forest so as not to disturb the three "students", and today is no exception.

Located in a remote town, there is no so-called scholarly family, so scholars are rare.

According to the old rules established by Mr. Qi, when Song Jixin and Qingshan Lang want to guess, black will go first.

Song Jixin and his peers across from him started learning chess almost at the same time. However, Song Jixin was very talented and his chess skills improved rapidly. Therefore, Mr. Qi, who taught them chess skills, regarded them as advanced players. When he guessed first, he Song Jixin first took out a handful of white chess pieces from the chess box. The numbers varied and were kept secret. The young man in green shirt then picks out one or two black stones, and after guessing the odd or even number of white stones, he can move black first, which gives him the advantage of moving first. In the first two years of the game, Song Jixin never lost a single game, whether he was playing white and then playing, or black playing first.

However, Song Jixin was not very interested in playing chess. He spent three days fishing and two days drying nets. On the other hand, the less qualified young man in green shirt was both a student in a rural school and a book boy. He spent time with Mr. Qi day and night, even if he just watched him sit and play music. He has also benefited a lot, so the young man in green shirt can occasionally win by chance from playing black. Now, as long as he plays black, the victory or defeat can be between 50 and 50 with Song Jixin. The improvement of chess skills is obvious. Regarding this kind of ebb and flow, Mr. Qi said nothing and just stood by and watched.

Just when Song Jixin was about to grab the chess pieces, Mr. Qi suddenly said: "Today you will play a game of seat chess, with white going first."

The two teenagers were confused, neither of them knew what "chess" was.

Mr. Qi spoke slowly and slowly. After carefully explaining the rules, it was not complicated. He just placed the black and white pieces in the four-star positions.

The middle-aged man's twists and turns are skillful and flowing, which is pleasing to the eye.

The young man in green shirt who usually likes to abide by the rules was dumbfounded after hearing the "bad news". He looked at the chessboard blankly and finally said cautiously: "Sir, it seems that many of the rules will no longer be used."

Song Jixin frowned and thought for a moment, and soon his eyes lit up. He relaxed his brows and said, "It's because the chessboard pattern has become smaller."

Then, as if taking credit for his salary, Song raised his head and asked with a smile: "Right, Mr. Qi?"

The middle-aged Confucian scholar nodded and said, "That's true."

Song Jixin raised his eyebrows at the peer opposite him and asked with a smile: "Do you want to give me the first two moves? Otherwise, this guy will definitely lose."

The boy opposite him suddenly blushed and murmured, because he knew very well that he was winning more and more times. In addition to the increase in chess skills, the real main reason was that Song Jixin had become more and more absent-minded in playing chess in the past two years. , and even some are not tired of it. In many winners and losers, Song Jixin even deliberately let go, or after the first move layout is clearly advantageous, in the middle game, Song Jixin will deliberately take risks in order to slay the dragon.

When it comes to playing chess, the talented Song Jixin is the first choice whether it is fun or not.

For the boy in green shirt, from the first time the twister landed on the chessboard, he was obsessed with winning or losing.

Mr. Qi looked at his school disciple and said, "You can go ahead with Bai."

Next, the young man in green shirt moved slowly, cautiously and carefully, step by step. Song Jixin's moves are still flying, opening and closing, and the antelope hangs its horns.

The temperaments of both parties are worlds apart.

After only eighty moves, the young man in green shirt lost completely. He lowered his head in silence and pursed his lips tightly.

Song Jixin rested his elbows on the table, held his chin, twisted chess pieces with two fingers of one hand, tapped the stone table gently, and stared at the chess game.

According to Mr. Qi's rules, when two parties play chess, they can throw in the stone and admit defeat silently. The words "I lost" must not be said.

No matter how unwilling the young man in green shirt was, he still slowly threw his weight behind him.

Mr. Qi told his disciples: "Go and practice calligraphy. There is no need to clean up the mess. Just write three hundred 'forever' characters."

The young man in green clothes quickly stood up and bowed respectfully to say goodbye.

Song Jixin disappeared and then asked softly: "Sir, are you leaving here too?"

The elegant scribe with frosty white temples nodded and said, "I will leave within ten days."

Song Jixin smiled and said, "That's just right, I can also see you off, sir."

The teacher hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "There is no need to see me off. Song Jixin, when you go outside the town in the future, remember not to be too arrogant. I have nothing else, three elementary school books, "Primary School" , "Ritual and Music", and "Guanzhi", you can take them together and review them often. You need to know that if you read a hundred times, the meaning will be obvious. If you can read thousands of volumes, and write as if you have a spirit, the true meaning here... you You will naturally know about it in the future. As for the three miscellaneous books, "Jingwei" on arithmetic, "Peach and Plum" on chess, and "Shan Hai Ce", you might as well read them in your spare time, and you can also enjoy yourself and nourish your character."

Song Jixin's face was full of surprise and a little embarrassed, and he bravely said: "Sir seems to be 'entrusting' me, which makes me uncomfortable."

With a smile on his face, Mr. Qi said softly: "It's not as exaggerated as you said. We meet everywhere in life, and we will always meet again one day in the future."

When this gentleman smiles, it makes people feel like spring breeze.

He suddenly said: "Go and see Zhao Yao and say goodbye in advance."

Song Jixin stood up and said with a smile: "Okay. Then I'll trouble you, sir, to clean up the chess game."

The boy ran away happily.

The middle-aged Confucian scholar bent over to collect the chess pieces. It looked like a mess here and there, but in fact it was black first and then white. Starting from the last black piece placed by Song Jixin, he picked up the pieces in reverse order. not bad.

At some point, the maid Zhigui had returned from the bamboo forest and was just standing outside the firewood gate without setting foot in the yard.

He didn't turn his head and said solemnly: "Take care of yourself."

The girl who grew up in Mubo Alley now has a confused look on her face, she is weak, timid, and pitiful.

The gentle Confucian scholar showed a hint of anger and slowly turned his head to look.

Eyes cold.

The girl still looked dazed.

simple and naive.

The middle-aged scholar stood up, looking at the girl with the jade tree facing the wind, and sneered: "You are a traitor!"

The girl slowly calmed down the innocent expression on her face, her eyes gradually became colder, and a sarcastic smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.

She seemed to be saying, what can you do to me?

She looked directly at the Confucian scholar.

Inside and outside the small courtyard, there seemed to be a pair of pythons confronting each other.

The two regard each other as enemies.

In the distance, Song Jixin shouted loudly: "Zhigui, go home."

The girl immediately stood up on her tiptoes and replied obediently, "Hey, okay, sir."

She pushed open the firewood door and trotted past the teacher. After running a few steps, she turned around and gave the figure a blessing in her back. Her voice was gentle and pleasant, "Sir, Zhigui is leaving first."

After a long time, the Confucian scholar sighed.

The spring breeze is warm and the bamboo leaves are swaying like the sound of turning a book.

The young Taoist priest wearing a lotus crown on his head was cleaning up the stall and sighing. When people in the small town who knew him asked the reason, they just shook their heads and did not answer.

The last newlywed woman who had arranged her marriage here passed by and saw that the young Taoist was so abnormal. She stopped shyly, with a soft voice, asking questions, and those moist eyes that could speak. , but lingered hard on the young Taoist's handsome face.

The young Taoist glanced at the woman quietly, his eyes slightly downward, and saw a bulging scenery. Then the Taoist swallowed his saliva and said a sacred hexagram, "Today, I will do it for myself." Sign, sign, it’s a big disaster.”