Taoist Quick Wear

It was a very pleasant woody fragrance.

It was calm and peaceful, and it was the gentleness that had settled in the old days.

When Si Qingyan woke up again, she felt a severe headache, as if she had been hit by a heavy object.

There was only the sound of the pendulum in the room, which was very regular, and the pause time between each swing was the same.

"Cuckoo--" a sound similar to the chirping of birds sounded.

"Hey, it's fixed." An old man's voice sounded, and his tone was full of joy.

"Mother Lin, help me look after the third young master. If he wakes up, feed him some warm water. I will go to the Song family to return the clock. With the reward, I can ask the third young master to see a foreign doctor."

The old man coughed twice and sighed. His footsteps were high and low, as if there was something wrong with his legs and feet. The sound of the pendulum was getting farther and farther away, and he should have walked away.

"He has been unconscious for three days. Can he wake up..."

A woman walked quickly. When she walked to the bed, she found that the young man on the bed had woken up. His eyes were clear and bright, as if he wanted to illuminate all the filth and turbidity in the world.

"The Third Young Master is awake! The Third Young Master is awake!"

She suddenly became happy, and her voice was amplified countless times. The old man outside heard her shouting and ran back in a panic.

"The Third Young Master!"

Si Qingyan slowly sat up from the bed, gently touched the most painful part of his head, and took a breath.

What a big bump.

"It's good that the young master is awake. I'll go and boil medicine for you. Doctor Tang said that if you wake up, you have to drink medicine for a month and go to the clinic for acupuncture regularly."

He was a very old man.

Eighty, ninety... Si Qingyan couldn't guess his age for a while.

His hair was completely white, and his whole body was shriveled like an old orange peel, thin and hard, but he was in good spirits. The brightest thing in his body was his eyes.

"I... can't remember anything."

What Si Qingyan said was right. The original owner didn't have any memory left. I'm afraid he passed away before he came.

"You... it's good that you wake up. If you can't remember, just learn again."

The old man's eyes flashed with tears. His body was very hunched, but he still spoke to Si Qingyan in a kind and comforting tone.

"Okay." Si Qingyan half leaned on the soft pillow beside the bed.

This is a brightly lit room. The carved wooden window was open, revealing a large clump of cannas planted in a water tank in the yard. The flowers were blooming at this time, and the colors were very bright.

There was a wooden table at the head of the bed, piled with some thread-bound books, and an oil lamp with a dim glass cover.

The old man was wearing a patched robe. Each patch was very finely stitched, and some were even patched on top of each other, but very clean. He wore a pair of straw sandals on his feet, revealing his skinny calves and skinny feet.

This world should be very different from the previous two worlds.

Seeing Si Qingyan reading the book on the table, the old man bent over and took a book and put it in Si Qingyan's hand.

Si Qingyan was still staring straight at that place, and the old man couldn't help but smile, as if he was looking at his ignorant grandson.

"Third Young Master, you are still sick, let's not rush to read the book, wait until you get better and then read slowly, just read one book first."

The old man was coaxing a child, his tone was very gentle.

"Yeah."

Si Qingyan also felt dizzy, took the book handed by the old man, and just leaned over to read.

The opening was an article "Encouraging Learning", all in traditional Chinese characters.

The original owner wrote his name, three neat characters, Si Qingyan. The characters were beautiful official script, but too regular, unwilling to write any horizontal stroke longer, and each stroke seemed to be a model standard for demonstration.

The original owner didn't make many annotations, it seems that he is familiar with this article, and there are several more articles in the follow-up, still in classical Chinese, or seven-character regulated verse, five-character quatrain.

There is only one "Summer Quatrain" by Li Qingzhao, with a few more annotations below.

"I wish to use my humble strength to prolong the country's prosperity." This is the official style.

"The building is about to collapse, and we should change the world." This is written by another person, using red ink, and it seems to be a teacher.

"A gentleman should know the heaven, earth, monarch, parents and teachers when he stands in the world." This is another official style.

"Try it." This is the teacher's reply. No matter how you look at it, these two words are wilted, revealing a tone of dejection and hopelessness. It doesn't make sense to this child. In fact, the monarch on top is hopeless. There shouldn't be a monarch sitting on everyone's head.

Si Qingyan only flipped through a book and almost figured out the original owner's personality. Hardworking and old-fashioned, serious and loyal. From some details, it can be seen that this is the time of dynasty change, and it is a long and painful change. The original owner's personality is more painful than others. Being beaten by society may make him sober faster.

After reading the book, Si Qingyan drank the bowl of warm Chinese medicine beside her. She didn't feel anything after drinking it in one breath, but the aftereffect was a bit strong and bitter. It rolled in her stomach, and her breath had a complex medicinal fragrance.

After drinking this bowl, Si Qingyan felt drowsy and fell asleep.

"I forgot to let the third young master have a bowl of white porridge..." I heard the old man say this before I fell asleep.

"There is not much rice at home..." This was Lin Ma's voice.

It turned out that we had reached the end of the road... Si Qingyan thought so, and fell asleep as soon as he touched the pillow.

When I woke up, it was already the next day.

I no longer heard the sound of the pendulum, but the rhythmic "rustling" of bamboo branches on the stone slabs.

As soon as Si Qingyan opened the window, he saw the old man bending over with a big bamboo broom, sweeping the floor with great effort. It was midsummer now, and there were no poultry, so the yard was very clean, with few leaves.

"I'm used to it. If I don't sweep twice a day, it feels like something is missing."

He laughed, and when he finished sweeping the rest, the sky was completely bright.

Perhaps the medicine he took yesterday was effective, and today Si Qingyan felt that his head was much better, although it still hurt there.

Breakfast was clear porridge with pickles.

The clear porridge was served in a thin white porcelain bowl, and the pickles were cut neatly and beautifully. Si Qingyan took a bite, and the pickled radish was crisp and refreshing, very appetizing.

There was only one portion for Si Qingyan.

"I've eaten it a long time ago, otherwise how would I have the strength to sweep the yard."

The old man coughed a few times and smiled.

"How much money is left at home?" Si Qingyan drank a few mouthfuls of porridge, even though it tasted good and even though his stomach was aching, he still kept half of it.

"Three silver dollars, this is the medicine money prepared for the young master, but it's still not enough."

The old man took out a small jar from the room, revealing three lonely silver dollars inside.

"Where did the money come from in the past?"

Si Qingyan motioned him to put away the jar.

"The eldest young master sent some, the second young master also sent some... After the third young master quarreled with them, there was less."

"The three young masters are brothers, you write a letter to admit your mistakes..." The old man's voice became smaller as he spoke, as if he knew the temper of the third young master, and he didn't say much.

Si Qingyan was silent for a moment, and asked if there were any letters from the past exchanges. If there were, he would trouble him to get them.

"I don't have a good appetite today, please help me take the porridge down."

"The third young master, drink a few more sips, you have to take care of yourself."

"I can't drink it." Si Qingyan rubbed his head, and he felt dizzy and dizzy after pressing it, and he really had no appetite.

There were dozens of letters in the wooden box, and Si Qingyan opened them one by one to read.

"How can you associate with those thieves who have evil ambitions and want to seize the country? Where does that put our ancestors? ... You should resign from your military position and join the court. You have your own grand plans..."

"Why does your second brother want to do business with foreigners and exploit the people? How different is he from beasts? The court will naturally take care of the country's industrial development. You should come back to inherit the family business..."

...

"The three of us brothers supported each other, but we were separated because of different ideas. Since ancient times, gentlemen are loyal to the emperor, and brothers should put the emperor first..."

"You are in cahoots with foreigners, please don't send silver dollars back."

After reading the letter, Si Qingyan admired the original owner very much.

This is so... courageous...

Perhaps he was protected too well, didn't know the difficult situation, and was too idealistic.

The original owner tried desperately to persuade his two brothers to be loyal to the emperor and love the country, and reprimanded them for being treacherous and betraying the emperor... The two brothers occasionally asked about the original owner's living conditions at first, but after the original owner repeatedly and long-windedly asked them to come back to serve the court, they never replied again.

Si Qingyan rubbed the big bump on his head with pain, and rubbing the blood clots would save some money on medicine.

I don't know how long three silver dollars can last.

"Third Master, I repaired the Song family's clock and got a silver dollar."

The old man hunched over and handed over the silver dollar like a treasure.

This coin was neither new nor old, engraved with the current year, and some places were slightly discolored, which was a sign of rust.

"Hey, Uncle Xiang, buy some rice, it's the time of double harvest, and the rice is the best." Lin Ma, who was drying clothes next door, heard this and shouted.

"Yes, yes..." Uncle Xiang put the silver dollar into the jar and took out another one from his pocket.

"I fixed Miss Song's dressing table and got another one." Uncle Xiang said in a very small voice.

"Great." Si Qingyan also praised in a low voice.

"Hey~" Uncle Xiang smiled instantly. Although he is old, his ears are very sharp. To repair things, you must be able to hear the sound. If his eyes were good, he could take on more work. Unfortunately, now that he has been looking at things for a long time, his eyes are blurry, and he can't do delicate work. He can only do repairs to supplement the family income.

"Let's go buy rice... Young master, don't worry about the family, take good care of yourself, and leave the rest to Uncle Xiang."

Si Qingyan nodded and went out of the yard with Uncle Xiang.

One silver dollar can buy thirty kilograms of rice, and eight kilograms of pork.

Uncle Xiang spent half a silver dollar to buy fifteen kilograms of rice, and took Si Qingyan to the vegetable market to buy some fresh vegetables. Without buying meat, the price of green vegetables is very cheap. Originally, Uncle Xiang wanted to buy a kilogram of pork, but Si Qingyan refused.

Not counting the silver dollars used, they still have four left.

Even if two people only eat half a catty of rice a day, a silver dollar can't last a month. Occasionally, they have to buy some daily necessities, and the wound on their heads has to be taken care of. It's really tight.

Si Qingyan thought about the big yard where they lived, so she asked Uncle Xiang if they could grow vegetables.

"Yes, but the young master said it was insulting and didn't allow it." Uncle Xiang was a little embarrassed. This kind of vegetable needs fertilizer, and the young master is a decent man, how can he stand that.

"Let's buy some more vegetable seeds, raise some stone slabs in the yard, enclose a land to grow vegetables, or raise some chickens..." Si Qingyan began to plan to improve their lives, which shocked Uncle Xiang.

The young master's brain became much more flexible. In the past, let alone raising chickens, he couldn't even stand the crowing of the chickens in Lin Ma's house next door, because he thought the hens were too noisy when laying eggs.

"Okay, let's grow vegetables first, and when the chickens in Lin Ma's house are hatched, we will buy a few to raise."

Uncle Xiang took Si Qingyan to pick the seedlings. After they had figured out how to plant and water them, they returned to the courtyard with a sense of unfulfilled desire.

"What's the matter with this bump on my head?" Si Qingyan felt more and more confused as he rubbed it. He had to know whether the original owner had made an enemy or had fallen and hit a rock while walking...