Chapter 24 0024

"It's very simple to say, this 'mouth' means to be able to speak and sing well, to speak to the identity and interests of the guests, to be familiar with how to deal with advances and retreats, to be able to recite poems and write lyrics, to sing from ancient Yuefu to paiqu, and to sing from the south. When you go to Beidi, you can sing from Jingqiang to minor, and you can only be good at speaking.” Wang Shaodong said: “In terms of hands, at least you must be able to play the pipa, and you must be able to play the huqin. Among the young girls, there are really not many who are well-versed in speech and hand; Hua Yubao and Xiao Mingtian are already considered good, but they can only be regarded as middle-of-the-road, and they are Xiao Hehua, a red girl from the North Gang who joined the good years ago..."

"Forget it, young master," the tall and thin Hua Yubao Buyi pulled Wang Shaodong's sleeve and said coquettishly to Guan Baye, "Baye, don't listen to this heartless young master Wang talking nonsense, he has to Everything you get is bad, and what you don’t get is good, and you can’t forget that little lotus!" "Baye, don't you know what kind of romantic he is?" Xiao Jiaotian also said: "He is like a wife who married one house after another, all of which were picked from our sisters. He has a mouth and a hand, - picking and picking, picking up a bunch of broken lamps! But the little lotus that he would like to spend 800 silver for the night ferry, but he didn't get it, but he put it on his mouth and praised it like worshiping Buddha all day long. Don't be dissatisfied with your young and old, you have to be smart, we sisters will marry you together!"

"Hey, hey," said the head of the Audit Office, baring his teeth full of smoke oil, and said, "That won't work, let him have his own luck, it's too cheap for him!" "It's true that I can't afford such a bargain," Wang Shaodong said, "My small salt store, which can only hold ten thousand bags of salt, can't afford to raise this pair of golden-haired birds. Hua Yubao's embroidered shoes don't get muddy, If you get muddy, you have to change into new shoes, and Xiao Mingtian is even more delicate, and you have to change a set of clothes every hour. I have to have mountains of gold and silver for them to peel off..."

"Don't say we are delicate." Hua Yubao pursed his mouth deliberately and said, "It's really delicate, and it's also favored by the men on the dam." Some of the merchants present all laughed with squinting eyes.The director of the auditing department pinched the cigarette bubbles and put them on for Guan Baye, but Guan Baye's eyes fell on a young prostitute who was only fifteen or sixteen years old and had a bun; Against the background of the smiling face with heavy makeup and roving eyes, she looked more elegant and elegant; she walked forward in small steps, and from the slightly stiff hands holding the corners of her clothes tightly, she could see the hidden timidity in her heart, even if she was outside. In the eyes of passers-by, she can be seen at a glance that she is a young girl who has just debuted.Guan Baye saw more than this. He judged from Gu Lang's naturally elegant posture when she raised her hands and feet, the natural expression on the corners of her eyebrows and eyes, and her habit of wearing beautiful clothes without showing any shyness. The daughter of an ordinary family must have some kind of privacy behind her.

She came forward, lowered her eyebrows and turned her face, said a blessing timidly, her face blushed indescribably, perhaps because of her panic, she dropped a pink Ropa on the ground.Her lips were also moving, as if she was announcing the hall name and her flower name, but the voice was so soft that only she could hear it. "Please sit down, girl." Guan Baye said gently in a sad tone. "Baye has vision!" Wang Shaodong clapped his hands and said, "This young girl is a girl from the Northern Gang. She just fell into the hands of Mao Liu. She has no experience, but she is the top of the whole dam in terms of aptitude. She was very born. Like the little lotus I mentioned, if you train it well, it will definitely become popular all over Jianghuai!"

"Ba Ye is really right on this point! Foolishness is exactly the same," said the head of the Audit Office, "Generally speaking, it is said that there are many beautiful women in the southern country, so when it comes to Tangzi, we all recommend Su Gang." , Yangbang is first-class, but they don’t know that there are many beauties in the southern country. They are so beautiful that they look gorgeous and vulgar. Moreover, the climate in the south is warm, and beauties mature early, and they are easy to wither. The north is different. The north is It doesn’t matter if there are no beauties, if one is born, it will be a generation of stunning, overwhelmed country, like the eight famous beauties in our history, how many of them are not from the north?!”

"Please sit down, girl." Guan Baye said again, his tone more gentle.The girl finally sat down on the side of the couch, clenched her fists, flustered and mechanically beat Guan Baye's legs lightly, neither smiling nor speaking.In such a magnificent and elegant suite, every businessman and salt official who embraced the girl talked about it in a futile way.The heavy snow is flying and dancing outside the carved window lattices, the fire creates another kind of spring in the house, the servants keep bringing hot towel handles, and set the fire for several gentry smoking hookahs, the smoke spreads in the space Then, the air was filled with the smell of smoke and powder, voices and laughter were intertwined and smashed away, Hua Yubao asked the attendant to take out the piano, sat on Wang Shaodong's lap with a bit of showmanship, and tuned the string, called Tianjia Smoking a cigarette, he coughed lightly before trying to sing.

The young child was still beating his legs lightly for Ba Ye, through the clothes, Guan Ba ​​Ye could still feel the trembling coming from her heart, he looked at her face carefully by the light, the more he looked at her face, the more he felt that she was very nervous. Like Aigu, the daughter of the late old jailer Qin Zhen, the little lotus in the mouth of Shaodong Fuchang Zhan? ... Ai Gu and the girl in front of him made him suspicious. At least one thing is certain - she is not Ai Gu. Today's Ai Gu is not only fifteen or sixteen years old. He didn't ask her anything, this is not the place to talk.And the servant boy came to announce that the dinner party was about to begin...

There is a Western bell on the wall of the flower hall. Just as Guan Baye appeared among hundreds of accompanying guests, a little golden man with protruding muscles jumped out of the glass frame of the bell, and swung a golden rod to strike the pendulum. On, clang clang seven times. Guan Baye was arranged in the flower hall, covered with red velvet, and surrounded by a circle of grand master's chairs; eight seats were arranged on each side of the main seat in the shape of wild goose wings, and even a shot from thunder and a shot from the third child were all separated. Made chief.At Guan Baye's table, the rich and wealthy salt merchants did their best to show off their skills. The cups and cups were all carved from jade, and the chopsticks and spoons were all made of sterling silver, with delicate patterns carved out by skilled craftsmen.

"Ba Ye, please don't laugh at me," said Wang Shaodong of Fuchangzhan. "The life on the dam is just upside down. There is a popular saying: 'Don't be afraid of a famine year, only be afraid of running out of salt; there is no food in the morning, and there is food in the evening. Riding on a horse!' is a portrayal of the life of a person who makes salt. All pomp and circumstance are used to it, and it is a common practice to force ducks to be put on the shelves. It is impossible to show face." "Young Master Wang is too polite," said the director of auditing, "Baye, our young master is so ostentatious that people stick out their tongues in fright. He eats wax gourd. He eats leek sprouts one inch and two inches. He eats stir-fried sparrow eyes, braised crucian carp liver, heh heh, that’s how he behaves!”

The charcoal fire was burning vigorously in the center of the hall, and sixteen Dapu lamps covered with white magnetic hats were twisted to raise the lamp cores, illuminating the whole hall brightly; on some important seats, behind each guest stood a The girl holding the jug and pouring wine, and some attendants are standing far away holding various kinds of music.The flower hall is so open and bright, surrounded by elegant flower fences on three sides, separated by glass bright fans in the middle, forming a wide corridor outside the glass partition, people in the hall can look around the snow scene outside the hall; along the glass partition, put There are many potted plants brought in from the greenhouse, old plums with winding branches and ancient flavors, old pine trees with canopy and branches,... Tianzhu, cactus and evergreen, from the elegant flower pots to the bonsai itself, all show the richness The character of the salt merchant who spends money like water. ——How far is this from the world where you shed blood and sweat for a load of salt on the rivers and lakes?After looking around for a week, Guan Baye shook his head and sighed. However, he was not allowed to have a chance to meditate, and the golden lacquer trays came in a steady stream. Wang Shaodong of Fuchangzhan raised his glass to the top, stood up and said: "Today, the salt market is shining brightly, because we are so famous. The long-time hero of the rivers and lakes, Guandong Shanguan Baye passed by here, we are a government-business association, and here we serve him a glass of thin wine, and hope that he will take care of us in the future for the sake of our sincerity... um, take care of us..." Master Guan Ba ​​picked up his robe and fork, raised his glass in full view and stood up, saying: "Young Master Wang is serious! I, Guan Ba, are just a straight person wandering in the rivers and lakes. , Offended the little braid Zhang Xun, and fled to Kanto. This time, he came back, still doing his old job, leading some bitter brothers, and living by sweat. Who doesn’t know that smuggling salt violates the national law?! If everyone can rely on Tian Living on land, no one would put their life on the handlebars and take this risk!... How can I take care of Yanshi? I hope that the private sector will be seized, and the branch office will take care of my poor friends, don't close the door Beating a dog has to leave a way for people to survive. This time we pass through the Dadukou, and we will take care of each other. I, Guan Ba, will make a cup first, which is considered to be the kindness and kindness of everyone..." Although Guan Baye said these words slowly, but His sentences were decisive, his tone was passionate, and his voice was so loud that it hit the whole hall like a thunderous bell.After finishing the speech, the director of audit who was sitting next to Guan Baye shook his duck head, clapped his hands first, and said with a smile: "Guan Baye has orders, and I have followed them. Sixteen carts of salt, not only are we exempt from tax , and without taking a grain of salt..." In an instant, the whole hall burst into applause... Lei Yipao and his fellows, although Monk Zhanger couldn't figure out why these salt officials and salt merchants on the dam praised Guan Baye like this, but sitting on this kind of table and enjoying the rich food in peace is better than Pushing the salt truck through the wind and snow is more comfortable, so I hide my strength, and I look like a human seat.Only Shorty Shier and Big Bear couldn't enjoy each other, and the fun would be out of the question. The two of them are used to working together, once they were taken apart, Shorty Shi Er panicked, Shorty Shi Er had never sat in this kind of banquet in eight lifetimes, and he couldn't recognize any of the famous dishes on the red lacquered tray. It doesn't matter if you don't recognize it, you just eat what you eat, right?Hey, after three glasses of wine, his mouth would itch, and he mistook Jiali chicken feet for mixed cucumbers, and praised him while eating: "Damn it, I didn't know anything about eating cucumbers in the middle of winter when it snowed heavily. Pass?!" The big bear at the other table was not as stupid as Shorty Shi Er, but he mistook quail eggs for glutinous rice balls, and specially told Uncle Huai, who was seated with him, to eat less, saying that eating sweet and salty food would cause skin rashes sore. And Shorty Shi Er mistook the shredded chicken for bamboo shoots, and complained while eating: "Grandma, these salt merchants have such meat? Let's sit down, instead of big fish and meat, they actually serve some vegetables." , Aren’t we monks who eat Changzhai?!” When the golden-toothed Lao Pan told him that what he ate was shredded chicken, he happened to mistook shark’s fin for vermicelli again: "What the hell did it say?! You can't even see pork!" The golden-toothed Lao Pan laughed: "Brother, you won't see pork anymore when you eat this kind of famous banquet!" "Forget it, it's a good thing the wine isn't bad." Shorty Shi Er rubbed his hands, seeing the waiter bring two bowls of white water on a red lacquered tray to replace the bowls for washing spoons during dessert, he hurriedly stretched out his spoon to scoop it up After drinking it, he said with a smile: "Since I don't want to eat the oily smell, my mother should drink more ginseng soup for nourishment." But after drinking it, he licked his lips and said, "How does ginseng soup taste like this?! ——With it, it looks like white water!" As soon as the words came out, even the girl who was drinking with him behind him bent over with a smile. After all, the big bear over there is smarter than Shorty Shi Er. It's not that he doesn't want to talk, because he really can't free his mouth; Even grabbing the pot and putting it on your mouth to drink, even if you are full of words, you can suppress the wine and vegetables. And Baye Guan hardly had time to sit down at the banquet, and people kept coming to toast at each table, many of whom were well-known in the Jianghu; As I mentioned before, Mr. Dai, the Shenquan Taibao who is famous all over North Dao for his Shaolin martial arts, and his apprentices Zhang Erhuaxie, Tang Liupao, and Fang Sheng with special skills... The appearance of these martial arts characters on the dam was beyond Guan Baye's expectation. What surprised him even more was that these people did not have the heroic spirit of the so-called martial arts in the legends. look.