Third watch

"In the countryside, people who get up early and go out will occasionally hear that there are houses in the mountains, there are many shops, markets and even pavilions, and there are lights when it is late in the morning. There are faint figures walking around trading, or leaning on the railings in twos and threes On the road, sometimes when you get close, you can still see the clothes of those people, most of them are old clothes. Although the market looks lively, there is no sound at all, and those figures can't talk to each other. Before dawn, those people Both people and buildings will disappear." Wang Xiaoming gave him a popular science.

Lu Xiaolu scratched his head: "I know this, a mirage."

"It's a ghost market." Wang Xiaoming rolled his eyes: "Just like going to the market, there will be a ghost market in certain places and places—or days. Buyers and sellers are not limited to life or death, and only trade."

"But it's somewhat similar to a mirage." Zhong Yi said: "For most people, a ghost city is just like a mirage, and they can't touch it no matter how close they are."

"But for those who know the way, the ghost market is a place to do business. The only difference from Yangjian is that you can buy everything you want there." Zhong Yi threw the apple core into the trash can: "As long as you can afford it."

"Do we know the way?" Lu Xiaolu asked blankly: "It sounds very mysterious."

"The Guangming stationery store at night is also very fantasy." Wang Xiaoming said: "But once you know what's going on, it's nothing special."

Seriously speaking, Wang Dazhuang's business at night is similar to a ghost market.People who don't know the way may never know this place for the rest of their lives.

Even the proprietress of the convenience store next door might not have imagined that her neighbor was doing this kind of business.

However, when Paixiu said that he could find Di Ting in the ghost market in Guangxi, Wang Xiaoming couldn't help imagining the appearance of a mythical beast squatting on the side of the road, spreading a piece of burden skin and setting up a street stall. , as soon as the dawn breaks, the whistle blows to drive away the peddlers.

"We have to hurry up." Wang Xiaoming said, "Ghost markets don't happen every day. If we miss them, we don't know when we will wait."

Zhong Yi also agrees: "Usually around the ghost festival, the probability of the ghost market opening is higher. People who are used to the ghost festival will burn paper offerings to their relatives in the underworld on the ghost festival, so ghost markets usually open on those days. God, rush to clear out old and old goods before the festival, or exchange them for demand after the festival.”

"There are many mountains in Guangxi, and Pixiu only pointed out a general direction. When we get there, we still have to find out, and we don't have much time." Wang Xiaoming said: "We still need to prepare to buy road paper money."

Zhong Yi glanced at him: "Do you also know that you need money to buy the way to the ghost market?"

Wang Xiaoming said: "Can you stop underestimating me so much? My grandfather doesn't want me to be a master, but he doesn't really want to make me a squib. There are many taboos about the transfer of yin and yang. As long as you don't want to deal with ghosts directly, you should know He will teach me."

"Paper money still needs to be prepared?" Lu Xiaolu said, "When we get there, we can find a small store and buy a bag, and it will be 100 billion yuan for a bundle."

"Those paper money are useless." Zhong Yi said, "Are you a fool when you're dead? Even if the money printed in bulk is really burned to the underworld, the value is about the same as toilet paper."

"Real paper money cannot be printed, it has to be made." Wang Xiaoming said: "There are rules. In the past, there were wooden molds specially carved into the shape of copper coins, and they had to be stamped on the yellow straw paper like a seal. From top to bottom From left to right, it must be printed all over, leaving copper coins on the paper. This kind of paper money will be the common currency of the underworld after it is burned."

"Now there is no copper money, so we have to use real money. We also spread out yellow straw paper, use real hundred-yuan bills as seals, and then burn the bills together with the straw paper. Currency. Now those incense shops are printing paper money in larger and larger denominations, which is useless at all. Burning three catties is just enough for someone to buy a ham sausage underground."

"There are also those fancy paper building paper mobile phones, which are also fooling ghosts. If you really want to burn them, you still need to find local veteran craftsmen. They know the rules and cut out new styles of paper clothes and shoes. It's real."

"This kind of thing should be prepared when we get to the place." Zhong Yi said.

"I've been to Liuzhou before." Wang Xiaoming and Lu Xiaolu lay on the car window together, looking out at the green farmland and the beautiful stone mountains.

"Snail powder is delicious." Lu Xiaolu said.

"It's a pity we won't get out of the car." Zhong Yi didn't look up at the newspaper, his voice was not sincere at all.

Both Wang Xiaoming and Lu Xiaolu showed regretful expressions.

"At that time, I was less than ten years old, and my grandfather bought a bowl of it from a small shop by the Liujiang River, and gave me a small half. It was so spicy that I cried, and the lady boss gave me another bowl of screw soup. "Wang Xiaoming recalled: "At that time, a bowl cost only one yuan and fifty cents."

"It's a pity that the soup was still very spicy, and my nose flowed into the soup." Wang Xiaoming recalled intoxicated.

Lu Xiaolu also sniffed intoxicated.

The train at the station moved forward slowly again, Zhong Yi steadily turned over a newspaper, and ignored the discussion between the two of them.

Their destination is a small place in the southwest of Guangxi. There is no direct train from S City. They have to transfer to the Nankun Line when they reach Nanning, get off at Baise, find a local bus or a black car and continue on their way.

The railway lines in Guangxi are mostly fields with mountain views, and the scenery is quite idyllic. There are bamboo forests with rustling leaves and sparkling small rivers along the way.Most of the ponds along the road will build a shed on the water, and raise a large group of white-feathered ducks, which will quack when the train passes by. Occasionally, the small river next to it will be covered with a piece of water hyacinth, and someone will fish it with a bamboo raft.

The three of them waited for a transfer at Nanning Station, and Lu Xiaolu bought a few bottles of low-quality Vietnamese perfume in the underground folk street outside the train station, saying it was a souvenir.

Wang Xiaoming said: "That's all to fool tourists, you fool."

Lu Xiaolu desperately stuffed the perfume into his backpack: "I am a tourist."

As a handicraft geek, Lu Xiaolu has always had a blind worship complex for the handicraft emperor Zhong Yi, which became more and more serious as time passed. This time, like Zhong Yi, he came out with a huge mountaineering bag on his back.

Zhong Yi waited for them to stuff everything up with great difficulty, and then said unhurriedly: "Baise borders Vietnam, and the price of your few bottles can buy a dozen at the fair there."

Lu Xiaolu was taken aback.

Wang Xiaoming: "Ahahahaha you fool!"

Lu Xiaolu rushed forward to beat Wang Xiaoming, but the backpack was too heavy, so he was thrown down by his own bag. If he lost his balance, he would fall to the street—it doesn't matter, but a child happened to pass in front of him, and he was about to be thrown by him. Hit it right.

With a scream, Lu Xiaolu stretched out his hand to push the child, but the child was pulled away before his finger touched it.

Zhong Yi stretched out one hand and hooked Lu Xiaolu's backpack strap, seeing that the child was carried away, he let go.

Lu Xiaolu finally hit the street.

Wang Xiaoming, who was holding the child, taught Lu Xiaolu: "Why are you so rough? What if you hit the child?"

The child pulled away by him looked no more than three or four years old, white and tender, with big eyes, wearing a small ethnic minority dress, with a small silver bracelet on his wrist like a lotus root, looking at Lu Xiaolu curiously .

"Little beauty, where is your mother?" Wang Xiaoming pulled her wrist: "Oh, is it a Zhuang girl?"

"How do you know he's not a handsome guy?" Lu Xiaolu got up from the ground.

"Girls of the Zhuang nationality will wear silver jewelry." Zhong Yi said: "There are also some ethnic minorities...girls wear it."

"Xiao Man!" The little girl's parents came to find her.

Wang Xiaoming looked up, and a teenager squeezed through the ticket-buying crowd, and he was obviously relieved when he saw the child in Wang Xiaoming's arms.

The child smiled as soon as he saw the boy, and opened his hands to him.

Wang Xiaoming returned the child to him.

"Thank you, thank you." The boy looked no more than seventeen or eighteen years old, with a loose ponytail tied behind his head, a high bridge of nose, a bit of an alien look, and a slight accent in Mandarin—but not like the local dialect.

"It's okay, just keep an eye on my sister, the little sister is so cute, it's not good if she gets lost." Wang Xiaoming said with a smile.

The teenager smiled at them, turned around and entered the station with the child in his arms.

The child was lying on the young man's back, in a good mood, and waved vigorously at Wang Xiaoming and the others.

These days nerds are more or less lolicon, Lu Xiaolu and Wang Xiaoming were immediately turned into cute, and waved vigorously at them.

The little girl shook in the boy's arms, and a silver light fell down.

"Hey, little classmate!" Lu Xiaolu sharp-eyed: "Your sister's bracelet fell off!"

It was the radio that just rang, and the teenager who hurried into the station didn't hear it at all, and went in directly.

Lu Xiaolu stepped forward to pick up the silver bracelet, and found that the bracelet was quite well made, and it was a good thing.

The three of them also entered the station, but they didn't see the pair of brothers and sisters after searching several waiting rooms.

"Did you get in the car?" Lu Xiaolu wondered, "What should I do?"

"Nothing to do." Wang Xiaoming said, "This is a good thing."

Lu Xiaolu: "?"

"That little girl is probably from a minority group. The legends about girls from a minority group are full of affection. You keep the bracelet for more than ten years. When the child grows up, she will come to marry you." Wang Xiaoming said with a smile.

"You pervert." Lu Xiaolu despised him.

"I'm telling the truth." Wang Xiaoming put on a serious face: "Many ethnic minorities have their own secret arts, and the most well-known one is the Miao girl who uses Gu. Don't mention a bracelet, even a lock of hair, they can find it. There are many such legends in the countryside that the jewelry on girls is prepared for marriage, and if you take the dowry from others, they can only marry you."

"Really?" Lu Xiaolu was shocked.

"You made it. Just look at her brother and you will know that she will not be bad in the future. Can you find such a beautiful daughter-in-law on your own?"

Zhong Yi: "Stop being obsessive! The train is coming into the station."

"What about the bracelet? Where to hand it in?" Lu Xiaolu said.

"Hold it first." Zhong Yi frowned and glanced at the bracelet on Lu Xiaolu's hand.

Wang Xiaoming and Lu Xiaolu looked at each other.

No matter how beautifully it was made, it was just a silver bracelet. Zhong Yi was so proud that he probably wouldn't be envious of such a bracelet.

Eighty percent have other reasons.

The reason related to Zhong Yi...

Lu Xiaolu immediately got goosebumps: "Is there really something evil about this bracelet?"

Zhong Yi glanced at him.

Lu Xiaolu silently stuffed the silver bracelet into the outside of the backpack.

"No more random picking." Zhong Yi taught them: "Don't talk nonsense when you get out of the car, and don't look around."

"We are not children." Wang Xiaoming was not convinced.

Zhong Yi glanced at Lu Xiaolu: "You can't just pick up things on the ground."

Lu Xiaolu was a little nervous: "Why?"

"Because sometimes it's not really a lost property." Zhong Yi said lightly.

"Just now you also saw that little loli." Lu Xiaolu was puzzled.

Zhong Yi said: "I have seen many cuter ones."

If Zhong Yi didn't have the usual mocking expression on his face at this time, Lu Xiaolu and Wang Xiaoming would almost have thought that the 'cute' he said was a real compliment.

Wang Xiaoming, who was going to make fun of Lu Xiaolu, thought of the child's attire just now, and her brother's outline with obvious alien characteristics, his expression changed involuntarily.