During the Xuanhe period, there was a peculiar steamed bun shop in Puzhou, specializing in selling "champion buns". Passers-by often hear the owner of this shop shouting: "Authentic champion bag!" Don't miss the passing guests! If you don't eat the champion bag, it is equivalent to coming to Puzhou for nothing! ”
A slightly sensible person, as soon as he hears the name of this bun, will know what medicine is sold in the boss's gourd.
Someone teased: "I don't eat steamed buns, can I be smart just by smelling the aroma?" ”
This brother is right! Ahahahaha! Passers-by laughed.
The boss was not angry, and smiled at them: "Guest officer, you go and inquire, there are many students from Tiande Academy who have traveled long distances to come to me, just to buy this champion bag, this is not me deceiving people!" ”
Some people were very surprised when they heard this, and when the college was about to take the exam, they came to this steamed bun shop to check, and they really saw several students rushing to buy this champion bag.
One of the men was sweating profusely, looking panicked, as if he had run a long way, and when he saw the bun shop, he smiled: "Ouch, I didn't come to buy steamed buns during the rainstorm last time, the exam was a mess, what is the difference between going to the exam without eating the champion bag and going to fetch water with a bamboo basket, this time I will make up for it together with the portion I didn't eat last time." ”
As he spoke, he bought ten buns in one go. When the hot buns arrived, people were not in a hurry to leave, so they ate two stomachs first in front of the boss.
This bun seems to be some kind of special medicine, and his face has become a lot calmer as soon as he eats it, like a rich man who owns countless fields, and his smile has become simple: "Oops! I still eat the champion bag to make my soul and mind return to their places, and I was like a fool when I studied some time ......ago”
The student's words were exaggerated, which shocked passers-by who were watching from the sidelines: With such a "living signboard", can the business of the shop be bad?
This passer-by was suspicious, and also stepped forward to buy a magical champion bag to try.
Hey, the guest officer came by coincidence, there are just three buns left, and your good luck is visible to the naked eye! Blessings are sure to be endless! The boss smiled at passers-by.
It's not appropriate to say that you don't buy it. Originally, the passer-by had just had lunch, and now he was not hungry, and he only planned to buy one to taste, but now that he heard the boss say so, he bought the rest of the few as soon as his brain was hot.
After taking a bite, he immediately realized that this champion bun was no different from ordinary buns. He didn't give up, and took a few more bites, smacking carefully in his mouth - it was finally determined that this was just an ordinary bun!
He was angry that the store was deceiving people, and stood at the door when the bun shop was about to close, and scolded a few words angrily. The boss is very thick-skinned and unheard.
Passers-by stepped forward and grabbed him by the arm, as if to make a move.
The boss slapped his hand away easily, as if chatting with an old friend, and said, "The guest officer will come again next time!" Next time, I'll give you a discount! ”
The people around thought that the boss was kind, but it made the deceived passers-by look like a wicked person. In the end, he had to admit that he was unlucky.
Let's talk about the interesting story that happened to another student, Lin Sheng.
Lin Sheng will come out on top in almost every exam. Unfortunately, I got sick some time ago and missed a lot of schoolwork. Seeing that the big exam was imminent, he wanted his mother to go to Puzhou to bring him back with the champion bag, otherwise he would have to fail the exam this time.
Mother Lin loved him and came all the way to buy the champion bag, but who expected that the boss would not open it for two days because of something at home. She didn't want to disappoint her son, so she bought another family's buns to replace them.
Lin Sheng didn't realize it, took the steamed bun and feasted on it, and went to the examination room with confidence. After the results came down, he excitedly reported the good news to his mother, and kept chanting the divine power of the champion bag in his mouth.
Mother Lin's face was a little weird, but she didn't tell her son the truth.
After that, her son asked her to buy champion buns, so she didn't have to go to Puzhou anymore, she bought ordinary buns directly at the bun shop far away from home, and then brought them back for her son to eat when they were cold.
Occasionally, there was a slight difference in the filling, and Lin Sheng only thought that the champion package had improved the recipe, and he did not suspect anything.
After a long time like this, he never realized that he was not eating Puzhou's champion buns.
Of course, the owner of the bun shop didn't know about these things, he only knew that his buns were selling well, and his family was rich because of this.
Although he knew that merchants had their own unique ways of making money, there were still good people who went to dissuade him: "If you deceive others like this, you will lose your blessings and even harm your future generations."
The owner of the steamed bun shop is surnamed Zhou, and his name is Zhuangyuan.
Whenever he heard these nasty voices, he shouted, "What's the matter with you!" People came to trade with me voluntarily, and I didn't force them! My name is Zhou Zhuangyuan, and the buns I sell are called Zhuangyuan Bao, is this wrong? ”
He said this with a frank and unrestrained look, as if his skeptics were jealous of his good business.
Seeing that he was so forceful, others had nothing to say.
Zhou Zhuangyuan admits that he has a clear conscience. Who doesn't know that they have to work their own for the reading exam? Everyone came to buy his champion bag just to get a good fortune and buy a peace of mind!
He fulfilled everyone's wishes and earned a living to support his family by the way. You are happy, I am happy, everyone is happy, this is a great thing! What's wrong?
Most of the people who knew him in the neighborhood knew what was going on, and they had long been too lazy to scold this shameless and treacherous businessman.
But there are still many people who don't understand the situation, or don't understand the strange skills of businessmen, who naively believe that eating a bun can improve their ability to read and take exams.
Speaking of which, there are really a lot of customers in this category, perhaps it should be said that many people's nature makes them prefer to choose to hide their ears and steal the bell.
And Boss Zhou, who sells champion bags, himself doesn't believe in any "brain medicine", because he has a bunch of children himself, how many years he has tried it, and how much energy he has spent, he understands this kind of thing best.
Zhou Zhuangyuan originally had six sons and a daughter, and some acquaintances often joked with him: "The Zhou family has so many good seedlings, try them one by one, and if you can't win the champion, you can also get a flower, and you're not afraid that you won't be able to produce celebrities and glorify your ancestors!" ”
Whenever this happens, Zhou Zhuangyuan can only smile bitterly.
He didn't know the situation of his own family, and saw that the six sons were all lazy and lazy, with well-developed limbs, but their minds were too simple. And I can't sit still for a while, none of them are reading material.
It wasn't until the year of his wife's death that none of his six sons came to fruition, and Zhou Zhuangyuan finally gave up the "champion dream".
Fortunately, those who came to buy the champion bag didn't know that none of the boss's sons could read. Otherwise, no matter how thick-skinned Rao is Zhou Zhuangyuan, he wouldn't dare to shout so loudly at the door of the shop.
Zhou Zhuangyuan's wife left a room of children, and left with peace of mind after fulfilling her obligations. Such a big family can't do without a hostess, Zhou Zhuangyuan according to his usual cheekiness, against the new funeral of his deceased wife, and the gossip of everyone, soon married a new mother-in-law, Zhuo Shi, and entered the door.
Zhuo was born beautifully and extraordinarily, and she captured Zhou Zhuangyuan's heart at once, and she soon gave birth to a son for her husband.
Zhou Zhuangyuan loves Wu and Wu, and loves this child very much, he thought of the children with his deceased wife, this time he just prayed for his youngest son to grow up safely, so he named him Zhou Ping'an.
The name seems to have been prophesied, just as his previous expectations for his six sons were disappointed, and this youngest son was not destined to be his wish.
Zhuo's is almost thirty years old, there is only this one child, and he loves his son like his life, and all good things are sent to his son, and he can't wait to spoil Zhou Ping'an.
Knowing the situation of the Zhou family, he jokingly called Zhou Zhuangyuan's youngest son "Little Champion" - this is a "treatment" that his first few brothers have never had.
Looking at the stupid appearance of the youngest son of the Zhou family who doesn't like words, there are even more good people who can't see it, and they talk about it in public outside, saying that the "little champion" is to take away the blessing of the six elder brothers, and he is going to step on the big man of the elder brothers in the future.
Rao has so many rumors, the Zhou family is still peaceful and harmonious, brothers, friends and brothers, and the things that outsiders say have never happened.
Although the little champion occupies the most favor of his parents, he is not spoiled. He is well-behaved and introverted by nature, and even excessively quiet, unlike a boy, he looks like a good bully in the eyes of his peers.
Zhou Zhuangyuan was worried that his son would suffer when he grew up like this, so he always encouraged his son to make more friends and play outside, and personally introduced him to the well-informed children of the Yan family, hoping that the children of the Yan family could promote the development of their own children.
Businessmen are indeed the most calculating, and the friends that Zhou Zhuangyuan chose for his beloved son were determined by repeated consideration.
The Yan family does not have a daughter like jade, but there is a handsome son, who is Yan Mingyuan.
Xiao Yan's father is a teacher who is respected and has a good reputation. And Xiao Yan has also been well taught, not only reading hard, but also having a bright mind, and being a kind person, often helping the villagers. Everyone said that "Xiao Yan of the Master's family is here to repay his kindness".
Even Boss Zhou, who has long given up on cultivating his son to become a champion, also knows that he wants future generations to intersect with such a person.
Zhou Yan's two families are not too far apart, and as soon as Xiao Zhuangyuan is free, he comes to Yan's house to play with this brother who is five years older than him.
There is such a group of old people in every village, from the perspective of those who have come over, they like to give all kinds of advice to young people. It's not that they can't see young people happy, but it is out of good intentions that they hope that the younger generation will be lucky and avoid evil.
There was an old man whose hair was about to fall out, and who wore a padded jacket on a hot day, and often took a small stool to sit on the side of the road in front of his house.
There was a river not far from his house, and even closer to the stream under the trees in front of him, but he did not dare to approach it as if he was afraid of drowning, because he had not seen a natural water source in a few years.
The little dolls in the village loved to listen to stories, so they often came to him to listen to the old man tell strange things such as snake demons and water ghosts. The children are always scared and screaming, but they will come back next time, and they will never get tired of it.
The old man's story came out of the children's mouths again, and many people knew that there were snake demons who ate people and did not spit out bones on Fuying Mountain, where there was a fire at the back of the village, and that there were water ghosts who caught people in the unknown river at the foot of the mountain.
Knowledgeable adults know that this is a horror story made up by the older generation to scare children, in case they run around and get in danger.
But these stories have been passed on for a long time, and more people have listened to them, and I don't know when they began to feel more and more like the truth. Some people even say that they once saw a hideous and ugly water ghost emerging from the river under Fuying Mountain from a distance, and they said it in a good way, and those who have never seen it feel immersive and terrifying when they hear it.
Gradually, fewer people went to the area of Fuying Mountain. Families with children even forbade their children to run over there to play.
One day, Xiao Yan's mother suffered from a cold and coughed, and after a period of treatment, it did not improve, and the family became worried.
At that time, Master Yan was forced to interrupt this business because he offended a student with some power in the family, and the whole family was worried about the economy. And because the student was repeatedly looking for trouble, the family didn't dare to show up.
Seeing that Yan's mother's condition is deteriorating day by day, the filial piety of Xiao Yan Hate can't bear the pain for her mother.
Now that he has no money to hire a better doctor, he happened to hear from a classmate that there is a doctor in Fenggu Village with excellent medical skills and good medical ethics, and the fee is very fair. If there are people in difficulty, he can also treat them for free.
Wind Valley Village is not too far from home, and the difficult thing is to pass through that Fuying Mountain.
Xiao Yan gritted his teeth and immediately set off. He is not afraid of any snake demon and water ghost, but he is afraid that his mother will leave him.
It happened that the little champion came to him, heard about it, and said that he was going.
Xiao Yan told the little brother the horror stories that everyone in the village knew, hoping that he would give up.
Who knew that after hearing this, the little champion became even more determined to go together. said that Aunt Yan was such a kind person, and he treated him well, and he also hoped to do something for his aunt.
Xiao Yan saw that he insisted, so she had to take him and set off with him.
The trip took up to half a day, but by dusk, the two children had not yet arrived home, and the adults in the family were worried.
seems to sense that something has happened to her life, and the mother of the little champion, Zhuo, hurriedly came to the Yan family to look for her son, but learned that the son of the Yan family did not come back.
It's broken, something must have happened! Zhuo exclaimed.
When the surrounding families who had just returned from the fields heard the movement, they all came over to ask for a few words of concern.
Knowing what happened, an old man patted his thigh vigorously: "These little dolls are just disobedient, they all said they can't go to that place!" It's just that he wasn't eaten by the snake demon, and eighty percent was caught by the water ghost in the water! How can I come back! ”
No matter how solid the skin is, it can't compete with the claws of the monsters! A woman followed.
The neighbors did not fall into the trap, but thought of two lives at once, they also had children at home, and parents knew best such pain, and they were anxious for a while.
Hearing everyone say that their children couldn't come back, Zhuo's heart was half disheartened, and he sat on the ground and cried: "Woo woo woo......I'm just such a child, how can I live! ”
The horror story became true, and a group of villagers soon gathered in the place where the Yan family's palm was big, some came to care, some came up with the idea of asking the thugs to find the children, and some were just watching the excitement.
Suddenly, someone exclaimed: "Isn't that Xiao Yan?" ”
Oops, the kid is back! ”
How is it just one? ”
As soon as she heard "come back", Zhuo immediately jumped up from the ground, ran to the door and looked out, holding her breath and not daring to blink, for fear that if she looked at it less, the child would immediately disappear from her eyes.
In the sound of cheers or doubts from everyone, Xiao Yan dragged his heavy steps towards the house.
When he got closer, everyone noticed that he was half dry and half wet, as if he had fallen into the water. There were still some messy scraps on the clothes, especially the two strands of red cloth on the chest, like human blood, which looked a little oozing in the dim light.
At this time, no one needs to say, the saying of "water ghosts catching people" has been finalized in everyone's hearts.
Zhuo hurriedly grabbed Xiao Yan and asked about his son's whereabouts with anticipation.
Xiao Yan's face was pale as a ghost, his body was stiff, he opened his mouth and couldn't speak, and he looked like he was scared and lost his mind.
A kind-hearted old man helped the child speak, and asked Xiao Yan to go back to rest first, and the child finally came back, this time I am afraid that he has already tossed half his life.
With this persuasion, Zhuo no longer forced Xiao Yan to speak, and was silent like everyone else, silently watching other people's children who escaped death enter the house.
And Master Yan also looked straight at his son, with a hint of disappointment hidden in his thoughtful expression.
The next day, the news that the little champion of the Zhou family was captured by the water ghost spread widely, and the next day it spread throughout the village.
Zhou Zhuangyuan paced anxiously at home, he was more excited than his sad wife.
Whether it is the reluctance of this old man, or the hope that he will at least train a son to become a talent is completely disappointed, he is unwilling to accept the facts like this. At such a time, he was as overwhelmed as a young man who had run into a catastrophe, pounded the wall in anger, and threw many things in his house.
He didn't cry like his wife, and went directly to Yan's house with an axe.
When the Yan family saw his appearance and the axe in his hand that flashed with cold light, they were so frightened that they hid. It wasn't until Zhou Zhuangyuan said that he was here to ask Xiao Yan something, that Master Yan pulled his reluctant son out to meet someone.
Looking at the iron guy in front of him who was enough to easily cut off his head, Xiao Yan's eyes widened, and he didn't dare to move. It wasn't until his father tapped him on the shoulder that he came to his senses.
Just like last night, he still couldn't say a word.
Zhou Zhuangyuan was excited, and he carried an axe while asking, which made this half-old child even more frightened.
Messire! A broken scream came.
Zhou Zhuangyuan turned his head impatiently and watched his remarried wife running towards this side.
It's all about keeping you at home! It's annoying to cry and cry! Zhou Zhuangyuan was in a bad mood, and the words he said were not very good.
Seeing that her husband was dissatisfied, Zhuo could only hold back her tears. Seeing Xiao Yan at the door, she couldn't help but open her mouth again, and cautiously asked about yesterday's incident.
The husband and wife who lost their son waited and waited, and the jealous survivor in front of them was still quietly clubbing, in a word, no, not even a tone word! Only the sound of heavy breathing revealed the nervousness of the owner.
The matter of "water ghosts catching people" can be regarded as a big hot topic in this small village, and I only heard about it before, but now I finally encountered a real thing. The eyes of the villagers were firmly fixed on the Yan family, as if they were the ones who lost their children.
No, as soon as the Zhou family and his wife came, those people came when they smelled the smell, and the courtyard of the Yan family was filled with many people who had nothing to do after a while.