The heavy fog on the river dissipated, revealing the light of the river waves. Looking up, I saw a line of sky and water, and not far from both sides of the river bank, I saw scattered white-tiled houses.
After the mist dissipated, fishing boats gradually began to appear on the river. Chen Changsheng also abandoned Changzhu and embarked on the land route.
The last drop of wine in the wine jar fell into Chen Changsheng's throat.
He smacked his lips and murmured: "How can this be enough to drink..."
He couldn't help but sigh, but now he had no choice but to walk to the nearby town to see if there was any place selling alcohol.
Living close to mountains and rivers is the only way to make a living.
Therefore, it is not difficult to find nearby towns. After walking for a few miles, I saw a town built along a small river.
This place is not fertile. Although they live close to the river, the climate is not suitable and the crops are not growing well. Therefore, most people here rely on fishing for their livelihood.
Almost everyone has some faint fishy smell.
The passing carriages would often leave with lots of fish, perhaps intending to take them to nearby towns to sell.
Chen Changsheng looked around and smelled the aroma of wine and found a wine shop.
He was about to take a step into it, but suddenly he felt something in his heart.
A golden light flashed in Chen Changsheng's eyes.
"resentment?"
Chen Changsheng thought for a while, but didn't pay much attention to it, and then walked in.
As soon as I entered the door, I saw a complete set of fish bones attached to the wall. The fish was not small, it must have weighed at least dozens of kilograms, but there were spider webs hanging on it, which seemed to be several years old.
"drink wine?"
The shopkeeper asked casually.
There are no waiters in a wine shop, the shopkeeper is the waiter, and the waiter is the shopkeeper.
Chen Changsheng nodded and said, "I'll serve you a pot of wine."
"What kind of wine do you want? There are expensive ones that cost a lot of money for a bottle, and there are also drinks that only a few people can drink."
"Just a few bucks will do."
"Okay, just wait."
The shopkeeper then went to get a drink. Looking at this man's outfit, he thought he came from a wealthy family, but he didn't realize that he didn't have much money.
After Chen Changsheng sat down, he took out the money bag at his waist.
He carefully counted the copper coins inside and found that there were about forty.
Compared to the beginning, Chen Changsheng was relatively rich at this time.
At least I can afford a few bottles of wine.
He counted them one by one and murmured: "Forty-five, forty-six... forty-nine..."
Speaking of which, the money was given to him by the Old City God, which only amounted to a hundred or so coins. It was also because the Old City God didn't have much money with him that day.
After Chen Changsheng counted them, he carefully put them away, then took out five copper coins and placed them on the table, waiting with peace of mind.
The shopkeeper soon served the wine.
Chen Changsheng just sat quietly and took a few sips.
The shopkeeper stood aside and dozed off. The wine shop's business was not good. This was probably because everyone here had the habit of brewing their own water, so the wine shop's business was naturally poor.
The wine Chen Changsheng drank was not too strong. It was a bit soft in comparison. He preferred rice wine. He probably didn't know how to make wine well.
But with just a few pennies, what kind of good wine can I buy?
After tasting a few mouthfuls, Chen Changsheng asked: "How many copper coins?"
The shopkeeper looked at him and said, "Eight."
After hearing this, Chen Changsheng lowered his head and glanced at the drink, then at the five copper coins on the table.
He thought for a moment and said, "Really eight?"
The shopkeeper frowned and said, "Are you trying to default on your debt?"
After hearing this, Chen Changsheng shook his head, but suddenly smiled.
He took out three more copper coins from the money bag and put them together with the previous five coins.
Then Chen Changsheng raised his head and took another sip of wine, put down the wine bottle and left before finishing the drink.
The shopkeeper stopped him and said, "Drink money!"
"On the table."
Chen Changsheng said something and then left here without looking back.
The shopkeeper came to the table and took a look.
Then he saw eight copper coins placed on the table.
Three are on the left and five are on the right.
The shopkeeper raised his eyebrows, then walked to the door of the wine shop and looked out.
That person just now has gone to no one knows where.
He smacked his lips and then returned to the table.
He glanced at the two separate coins on the table again.
The shopkeeper murmured: "He saw it..."
"But why didn't you say it?"
The shopkeeper couldn't figure it out and couldn't help but hesitate when he was about to get the wine money.
After pondering for a long time, he collected the five copper coins, but he still didn't know what to do with the remaining three coins.
Although he wanted to defraud him of the three cents of wine money, he didn't want to lose his life because of this small amount of three cents. Maybe the man just now would come back again.
After a moment of worry, the shopkeeper finally left the three pennies on the table without touching it.
Let’s talk about it after this day.
If this person does not come tomorrow, he will take the three cents.
…
Chen Changsheng did not go far, but went to the Chenghuang Temple here.
The Chenghuang Temple here is a bit rough, and there is no temple at all. It just built a small room less than the height of the legs at the entrance of the square, with an incense burner in front of it.
Although it is rough, there are many incense stems burned in the stove, and most of them are new.
Chen Changsheng looked at the low City God's Temple in front of him.
"What is the name of this place?" Chen Changsheng asked.
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw an old and hunched back suddenly revealed on the side of the temple.
"Call it Xiyu."
The old man holding a long stick said something before saying: "The Immortal knew that the wine shop charged three cents more, but why didn't he say anything?"
Chen Changsheng said: "What can you do if you expose him? Make a big fuss and tell a truth, but there is no guarantee that he will listen to your reason. I don't know how much effort it will take to make another fuss. It's better to just do it like this. Everything
Let nature take its course.”
The old man pursed his lips and looked at the incense burner in front of him with a pair of cloudy eyes.
"If he didn't accept the three cents, would he be able to get some advice and escape the disaster?"
Chen Changsheng thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Maybe."
"Is this so..."
The old man suddenly laughed.
He shook his head and sighed, and said: "So good and evil will eventually be punished."
"retribution……"
Chen Changsheng murmured these two words, thought about it and said, "Chen sometimes believes these two words, but most of the time, he feels that this so-called retribution cannot be said to be fair."
"What the Immortal said is true." The old man nodded, and then said: "But that man did not take the three copper coins, and they are still on the table."
Chen Changsheng turned to look at him and said, "So what if I take it, what if I don't take it? But Chen has never seen it."
The old man looked at the immortal next to him, and he was speechless.
He felt that this person's principles were quite different.
Chen Changsheng said: "At some point, Chen thought that maybe I think it is more important."
"Is that so..."
The old man's deep eyes looked into the distance, and he let out a long sigh of relief.
"If this is the case, he probably won't survive tonight."
After hearing this, Chen Changsheng said: "Maybe."