[Chen Qingling] The old man sighs

This year, Xue Yang was seven years old. He should have been younger than Cheng Huan, but because he had no father or mother, his life was very desolate.

It was late autumn, and the weather was very cold. Xue Yang stretched out his hands to tighten the thin and worn clothes around his body, his upper and lower teeth were chattering from the cold.

There is a steamed stuffed bun shop in the alley of the small town, and the fragrance is ten miles away. Little Xue Yang stretched out his unclean hand and touched his stomach, staring at the steaming steamed stuffed bun just out of the oven.

In this late autumn weather, if you can eat one, it is really a happy thing.

The steamed bun vendor is a 40-year-old man, wearing a gray cloth shirt. He skillfully takes the steamed buns off the steamer, glances at the child who is about to drool, and smiles honestly, "Son, here's a steamed stuffed bun." ?"

Little Xue Yang nodded, swallowed his saliva, and then remembered something, looked down at his cloth shoes with one toe exposed, and said in a low voice, "Yes, but I have no money."

The peddler heard this, looked at his frozen purple lips, felt that he was a poor man, and said sympathetically, "It's okay, I won't charge you this time."

Little Xue Yang's eyes lit up, and he asked excitedly, "Really? Don't you want my money?"

The peddler nodded, and reached out to take out a meat bun and handed it over. Little Xue Yang was about to reach out to pick it up, but was snatched away by a rough, fat hand.

He looked over very aggrieved.

A fat woman in sackcloth rushed out from the curtain, snatched the buns, and cursed, "You prodigal, the food in your house is blown by the strong wind, and you just sent away the little beggar, you Do you think you are a landlord?"

"Mother, this kid is so pitiful," the peddler flinched from being scolded, took two steps back, and said a little cowardly, "I just gave him a bun,"

"A bun?" The fat woman gave little Xue Yang an angry look, "He is pitiful? I'm still pitiful. I don't think these buns need to be sold anymore. They will be given to each of the little beggars on the street. Let's go drink the Northwest Wind." , you don't have to worry about me and the child."

The peddler looked at her, and retracted the hand that was about to reach out to grab the buns. He glanced at Xiao Xue Yang apologetically, and the fat woman squirmed again until she heard the cry of the child, then turned and walked to the door curtain go.

Little Xue Yang knew he couldn't eat, so he took a step to leave.The peddler called to him, "Son."

Little Xue Yang looked back at him, and saw him pointing to the tavern beside him, very puzzled,

He looked at the peddler suspiciously.

The peddler explained: "In this tavern, there are often customers who can't finish their food after ordering. You might as well go in and have a look."

……

Little Xue Yang was so hungry, he glanced at the luxuriously decorated tavern, hesitated at the door, and went in anyway.

Surprisingly, the clerk in the store didn't stop him, perhaps because he was too busy to notice him at all.

He went in for a stroll, and the guests on the table looked at him with disgust, and kept swearing: "Bah, little beggar, this is where you can come, get out of here."

Little Xue Yang was terrified of those people's faces, but he was so hungry that he didn't want to leave, so he could only sit on the steps of the tavern entrance in a daze, waiting for the guests to finish eating before eating on the table. vegetable.

At this time, a man called him over and asked him to deliver a letter, saying that he would give him a plate of snacks if it was delivered.

A plate of dim sum.

Little Xue Yang looked at the sweet-scented osmanthus cake on the table, and without thinking about it, he agreed directly, took the letter and happily sent it, and the person who opened the door to receive the letter was a burly man. He read the contents of the letter, and his face turned black. When the water came out, he carried little Xue Yang and went to find the messenger.

Along the way, the man pulled his hair, it hurt so much, he felt like his scalp would be ripped off, Xue Yang had tears in his eyes, and he yelled for him to slow down aggrievedly.

The burly man didn't listen, but listened to his cry, and punched him irritably.

Little Xue Yang didn't dare to make a sound after being beaten.

When they arrived at the tavern, the burly man grabbed Xue Yang by the collar and shouted, "Little brat, where is that man?"

Little Xue Yang looked around, let alone a person, the snacks on the table were also taken away.The burly man couldn't find anyone, so he lost his temper in the shop, overturning several tables before leaving angrily.

Little Xue Yang didn't get any snacks, so he ran to the buddy unwillingly to ask for some snacks.The guy was furious when his store was smashed, and when he saw the culprit who had brought people here, he was instantly enraged, and he was about to slap him.

Little Xue Yang was terrified, his body trembled, and his eyes were tightly closed.The pain he imagined did not hit, he slowly opened his eyes, and saw a whisk hanging down.

Looking up again, he saw a fairy-like face, little Xue Yang had never seen such a handsome man, his eyes were so wide open that he forgot to close his mouth.

This man was wearing a white Taoist robe, holding a dust whisk, with a gentle smile and an elegant posture.Seeing this man's demeanor, the man held back all his curse words.

The man smiled and said, "It's not reasonable for such a small child to strike such a heavy hand."

The guy knew he was wrong, and he didn't have the confidence to say: "This little beggar brought someone to smash my shop, I can't beat him yet."

"Smashing the store?" The man still smiled gently, "If he had such ability, he wouldn't let you be grabbed and beaten like this. How much are these smashed things? I paid for him, and there will be more A few plates of dim sum are on the table next door, please excuse me."

When little Xue Yang was sitting on the table eating delicious snacks, he secretly pinched his leg, it felt like a dream.

Beside him, there is also a fairy-like elder brother.

The fairy-like brother noticed Xue Yang's eyes, smiled slightly, put down the dim sum in his hand, and asked, "Little friend, is the dim sum delicious?"

Xue Yang nodded, and answered in a down-to-earth manner, "It's delicious."

"What's your name? Where are your parents?"

"I...my name is Xue Yang, and I have no parents."

Hearing this answer, the man paused for a moment, glanced at his clothes, and asked in a daze for a while, "Then you would like to follow me from now on."

Xue Yang's eyes widened, and he asked incredulously, "Really? Can I follow Brother Daochang?"

The man nodded.

"Remember, I'm not Daoist elder brother, my name is Xiao Xingchen."

Xue Yang passed it through his mouth and called out softly, "Xiao Xingchen."

Very familiar name.