One day before the Lunar New Year, a teacher came to Xun Mansion in Qingchai.

The Xun Mansion is located in the middle of Qingchai County. Just talking about the location, it is more noble than other large families and the county government. In fact, everyone knows it well. The prime minister of the Shang Qi State is also named Xun, so it makes sense.

I just don’t know what happened to Qingchai. He moved to Qingchai, far away from the capital, and took root in Qingchai. It took more than ten years.

At this time, the concierge and servants of the Xun Mansion were very worried. The teacher was standing at the door of the mansion waiting at dawn, saying that he was in need of an apprentice. The steward came up to ask, but he didn't answer anything. The head of the Xun Mansion went out to visit relatives and friends.

, I have never been at home, and now the only one who can really take charge of the affairs in the house is the Xun family master.

At this time, Mr. Xun was playing with a porcelain vase wearing a fox fur coat. The porcelain glaze was warm and smooth, like caressing and playing with suet-fat jade. Although it was the coldest month of winter, his hands were not cold at all. The body of the vase was blue, and there were no landscapes or poems by famous writers.

There is only a plum blossom with a random shape, outlined with a few strokes, full of charm. The only drawback is that the bottle body has countless cracks, as if it had been broken and glued together.

Touching the porcelain vase, the young master was slightly in a trance. Just when he was feeling uneasy, he heard the noise downstairs, so he simply put the porcelain vase away and went downstairs to take a look at the excitement.

The Xun Mansion has three floors, which is a fairly standard layout for the Shang Qi Kingdom. The imperial palace has four floors, so regardless of the size of the official position, all private residences in the country must be one floor lower than the palace, except of course pagodas or stargazing platforms. After all,

It is a religious and divination place related to national fortunes, and it is natural to be aloof from the world.

The Shang Qi Kingdom was at peace. For a hundred years, there were no natural disasters such as earthquakes, thunder and fire, and few man-made disasters such as arson and house fires. Therefore, most of the buildings were made of wood and were riveted together. They were strong and warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It was good for wealthy people.

Sandalwood, over time, the wooden building also has a faint scent of sandalwood, mixed with the unique smell of wood, giving it a unique flavor. The cornices are streamlined, and they suddenly rise after the slope. This rise is like Jiao'e's thrush, completely natural. This way

The house, even if a villager in the mountains has lived in it for a long time, still has a poetic and picturesque atmosphere.

The staircase is even more special. It does not go straight up and down, but winds around the outside of the building and runs in sections. Every time you go down to a floor, you have to walk through a long corridor walking along the edge of the building. As for the reason for this, it is probably the so-called beauty of complexity in the minds of literati.

.

Slowly going downstairs, with the sound of wood kicking, Mr. Fox Qiu looked at the horizon in the distance, where the light snow was scattered like jade.

Eating rabbit meat on New Year's Eve has long been a custom in the town. After all, most of our ancestors were ordinary farmers with their backs to the loess. A fat rabbit symbolizes fertile soil and hopes that the land will be prosperous in the coming year.

At dinner time, hare was simmering on the stove in the teahouse. The young man and the shopkeeper carried the Eight Immortals table from upstairs, carefully removed the accumulated dust, and sat down side by side to drink.

"What are your wishes for the coming year?" the shopkeeper asked with a breath of wine.

The little drunkard held his head with one hand, maybe because the wound from the tiger's mouth had not healed, then he put down his hand and counted with his fingers, "Chop firewood, go to school, go fish in the river, catch cicadas for Li Da, and send a letter to dad."

…”

"That's all?" "What else can I do? I'm also hungry for chivalry and righteousness. The ax given by the shopkeeper really doesn't show off my heroic demeanor. Carrying it to do chivalry and righteousness is too cheap."

The shopkeeper hated the iron, and raised his hand to give the young man a violent shudder. "Didn't I give you a sword?"

The young man's eyes were full of whites: "I don't believe that thing can be called a sword. It has more rust than the axe. It is extremely difficult to chop wood with it. According to this situation, my bowl of wontons will be completely uneatable."

"Shopkeeper, you are considered wealthy in this town. You are not looking for a wife at your age. You only care about these old things. That shabby old ax cannot give birth to children."

Wu Shuang finally understood how to deal with young people. This boy was quite indifferent and reserved towards strangers, but once he became familiar with him, he could speak dirty words and be so angry that he could kill several gods.

After half an hour, the rabbit meat was cooked just right. Wu Shuang filled the plate with the rabbit meat and quickly put the plate on the table. His palms were red and he was jumping up and down. It wasn't that he didn't want Yun Zhong to do it for him, but he was afraid that when he took down his chopsticks, he would find that the rabbit legs were missing.

Boy, you are a thief.

On a winter night, a generous plate of rabbit meat stewed with chili peppers was the best in the world. It was delicious and fresh, and the two of them were sweating profusely. When lighting the lamp, the young man said he was worried about the stove still burning at home, and the shopkeeper's.

He said goodbye and went home. The shopkeeper waved his hand and the boy wandered away. As the New Year was approaching, some children lost their temper and went to the stove to light incense and light firecrackers when they went out. In the quiet town, firecrackers sounded from time to time, one after another.

. Opposite the teahouse is a tofu shop, which is run by a couple who work hard. The man is honest, the woman is shy, and the tofu is solid. Whenever the women can’t think of a dish, they are willing to bring two pieces of tofu from this shop, mixed with green onions.

, light and delicious, so business is booming.

The couple had a six or seven-year-old son, who was lighting a firecracker and hurriedly ran to the door to watch. The firecrackers were loud, and Wu Shuang also went out to watch with a wine bottle in his hand. He accidentally saw a few strings hanging by the door.

Bacon, one of the strings of bacon was missing a corner, as if someone had pulled it off.

"Maybe I really should find a wife."

Amidst the sound of firecrackers, Wu Shuang looked at the young man's back on the road and felt a little drunk.

Mr. Xun was a little surprised when he invited Mr. Xun to the second floor. Usually, there were not a few scholars visiting the Xun Mansion. They were all waiting for a price and hoping to make a successful career. The last one was carrying a tattered package with threads on it and took out two of his own paintings.

I was looking for someone to sell my calligraphy treasure for a few taels of silver. But this man in plain clothes did not follow the example of the rotten scholar. Instead, he proposed to have a game of bet with Mr.

Chi. You must know that chess, music, calligraphy, and painting are also known as the four arts. Any literati with some ability has dabbled in it to some extent. As a branch of a prominent literary family, the Xun family's chess skills are not weak, not to mention that they have been unforgettable since childhood.

The young master of the Xun family.

Therefore, when he heard that the man wanted to sit out a game and gamble with it, the butler Ding felt a little contemptuous. His young master had read the endgames written by the chess masters of the past, and at the age of fourteen, he could accurately review the game and predict the fortune.

The idea of ​​​​chess is praised by today's chess players as a broad and horizontal chess path with extremely sharp edges. How can this be compared to a sour showman who doesn't know where he came from?

Unexpectedly, when the middle-aged man held black and made a move of Tian Yuan, the calm-looking Mr. Xun frowned in a rare way. With the gold horn and silver border and the same number of hands on the four corners of the chessboard, he gained a huge advantage. Few people used Tian Yuan as the key.

First hand. There was once a rookie in the chess world who liked the first move of Tianyuan when playing black. Then he was defeated by a master. He quit the chess world in shame and anger and never played against anyone again. It can be seen from this that Tianyuan's opening move

It's not a sure way to lose, but it's not a common approach either.

However, the man opposite him played chess wildly and recklessly. He did not follow the rules of chess and move the pieces according to common sense. He often lost his pieces. Mr. Xun had to think for a long time before he could move hesitantly. This strange feeling made him feel uncomfortable even when facing a master of chess.

I have never tasted it before. The white chess piece in the man's hand was like a silver dragon, shattering the entire black star board. When it came to the middle of the game, the white chess piece had been killed and had no way to recover. Mr. Xun could only surrender.

Zi admits defeat.

The young master was unwilling to give in, but he still insisted on saluting, "Student Xun Yuantuo, please pay homage to the master."

The middle-aged man patted his cotton robe and turned a blind eye to the young master who was saluting in front of him. Instead, he looked at the broken porcelain vase. He was silent. Xun Yuantuo kept bowing and saluting. A long time passed before he heard him speak.

Said: "It's cold in the year, and then I know that the pines and cypresses will wither. We are the three friends of the cold in the year. You have gained seven or eight of the winter plums, but the frost and snow are hard and you have too little experience. You still have many shortcomings in the quality of the pines."

"The ice-cracked bottle is named after the glaze surface is like ice cracks stacked on top of each other, as if someone broke and stood up again, but how have you ever let go of your pride? Being proud of your talents and things is not a compliment after all."

The man's voice became warm and gentle, "As I get older, I tend to like to say a few words. I'll learn how to do it next week. From now on, follow me and learn calligraphy and painting strategies."
Chapter completed!