On February 2nd, the dragon raised its head.

In the dusk, in a secluded place called Niping Lane, there was a lonely and thin young man. At this time, he was following the custom, holding a candle in one hand and peach branches in the other, illuminating the beams, walls, wooden beds, etc., and knocking with peach branches, trying to drive away snakes, scorpions, centipedes, etc., and muttering words in his mouth, which is an old saying passed down from generation to generation by the ancestors of this town: on February 2nd, candles shine on beams, peaches hit the walls, snakes and insects on earth have nowhere to hide.

The young man's surname was Chen, his name was Ping'an, and his parents died early. The porcelain in the town was very famous. Since the founding of this dynasty, he has taken on the important task of "firing sacrificial vessels under the imperial edict". Some imperial officials stationed here all year round to supervise the affairs of the official kiln. The helpless boy became a kiln maker for a long time. At first, he could only do some chores and chores. Following a bad temper, halfway master, he worked hard for several years. He had just figured out the way to burn porcelain, but things were impermanent. The town suddenly lost the amulet of the official kiln. Dozens of kilns around the town, which looked like dragons, were all ordered to close the fire overnight by the government.

Chen Ping'an put down the newly folded peach branch, blew out the candle, walked out of the house, sat on the steps, looked up at the starry sky.

The boy still clearly remembers that the old man who only recognizes himself as half an apprentice, surnamed Yao, was found sitting on a small bamboo chair in the morning of late autumn last year, facing the kiln head, and closed his eyes.

However, there are only a few people who are as stubborn as Old Man Yao.

The craftsmen in the town who have only been able to burn porcelain for generations, dare not overestimate the firing of official kilns, nor dare to sell the porcelain stored in private to the people, so they have to find another way out. Fourteen-year-old Chen Ping'an was also swept out. After returning to Nibo Lane, he continued to guard this old house that had already been dilapidated. It was almost a bleak scene of the family being barely barred. Even if Chen Ping'an wanted to be a prodigal son, he had no idea how to start.

As a lonely ghost floating around for a while, the boy really couldn't find a living to make money. With that little savings, the boy barely filled his stomach. A few days ago, he heard that a foreigner named Ruan came to Qilong Lane a few streets away. He claimed that he would collect seven or eight blacksmiths apprentices who would not pay wages, but because of the food, Chen Ping'an hurried to try his luck. He never thought that the old man just glanced at him and turned him out. At that time, Chen Ping'an wondered, was it not the size of his arm strength, but the good or bad face?

You should know that although Chen Ping'an looks weak, his strength cannot be underestimated. This is the physical foundation of the boy's burning porcelain and flatbeds in those years. In addition, Chen Ping'an also followed the old man named Yao to travel all over the mountains and rivers of the town within a radius of hundreds of miles, tasted the taste of various soils around him, worked hard and was willing to do any dirty and tiring work without any delay. Unfortunately, Lao Yao never liked Chen Ping'an, and despised the boy's lack of understanding, and was far inferior to his elder disciple Liu Xianyang. This is no wonder that the old man was partial. The master led the door and practiced in his personal life. For example, Liu Xianyang's skill in just half a year was comparable to Chen Ping'an's three-year hard work.

Although he may not be able to use this craft in his life, Chen Ping'an still closed his eyes as before, imagined that there were bluestone slabs and wheel carts in front of him, and began to practice pulling the tablets. Practice made perfect.

About every quarter of an hour, the boy would rest for a while, shaking his wrists, and repeat the cycle until he was completely exhausted. Chen Ping'an then got up and slowly stretched his muscles while walking in the yard. No one had ever taught Chen Ping'an these tricks he had figured out by himself.

The world was originally silent. Chen Ping'an heard a harsh sarcastic laughter and stopped. Sure enough, he saw the peer squatting on the wall, grinning, without any concealing his contemptuous look.

This person is Chen Ping'an's old neighbor, and it is said that he was the illegitimate son of the former supervisor. The adult was afraid that the clerk would criticize him, so he impeached him. Finally, he returned to the capital alone to report his duties, and handed the child over to the successor officials who had a lot of personal friendship to help take care of him. Now the town has inexplicably lost the qualification to firing the official kiln, and the supervisor who is responsible for supervising the kiln affairs for the court. He has no way to protect himself from the clay Buddha crossing the river, so he can't even care about the illegitimate son of his colleagues in the officialdom. He left some money and rushed to the capital to settle some relationship.

The neighbor boy who had become an abandoned child unknowingly lived a leisurely life. He took his personal maid to wander around the town all day long, and he was idle all year round and never worried about money.

The loess yard walls of every household in Niping Lane are very low. In fact, the neighbors do not need to stand on tiptoe to see the scene of the yard here. But every time they talk to Chen Ping'an, they like to squat on the wall.

Compared to the simple and vulgar name Chen Ping'an, the neighbor's boy is much more elegant, called Song Jixin. Even the maid who depended on him had a literary name, Zhigui.

The girl was standing on the other side of the courtyard wall at this time. She had a pair of almond eyes and was timid and weak.

There was a voice sounding from the other side of the courtyard gate, "Do you sell this maid?"

Song Jixin was stunned for a moment, and turned his head to look at him in the voice. He was a young man in brocade clothes with a smile on his face. He was standing outside the yard with a completely unfamiliar face.

Next to the young man in brocade was a tall old man with a fair face and a kind face. He squinted his eyes and looked at the two young girls adjacent to the courtyard.

The old man's gaze swept past Chen Ping'an and did not stop, but there were many stops on Song Jixin and his maid, and his smile gradually became stronger.

Song Jixin squinted his eyes: "Sell it! Why don't you sell it!"

The young man smiled and said, "Then tell me the price."

The girl's eyes widened, her face full of incredible feelings, like a panicked young elk.

Song Jixin rolled his eyes, stretched out a finger, and shook it, "Ten thousand taels of silver!"

The boy in brocade looked as usual and nodded, "Okay."

Seeing that the boy didn't look like he was joking, Song Jixin quickly changed his words and said, "It's ten thousand taels of gold!"

The corners of the boy in brocade clothes raised his mouth and said, "I'm just having fun with you."

Song Jixin's face was gloomy.

The young man in Jinyi no longer paid attention to Song Jixin, shifted his gaze and looked at Chen Ping'an, "Thanks to you today, I was able to buy that carp. After I bought it, I became more and more happy as I looked at it. I thought I would like to thank you in person, so I asked Grandpa Wu to take me to find you overnight."

He threw out a heavy embroidery bag and threw it to Chen Ping'an, with a bright smile on his face, "This is a reward, you and I will be cleared."

Just as Chen Ping'an was about to speak, the young man in Jinyi had turned around and left.

Chen Ping'an frowned.

During the day, he accidentally saw a middle-aged man walking on the street with a fish basket and caught a golden carp that was long and short. It jumped violently in the bamboo basket. Chen Ping'an only glanced at it and felt very happy, so he asked if he could buy it for ten cents. The middle-aged man was just thinking about rewarding himself with the Five Insect Temple. Seeing that it was profitable, he sat on the ground and raised the price. The lion opened his mouth and insisted on selling it for thirty cents.

The shy Chen Ping'an did not have so much spare money, and he really couldn't bear to leave the golden carp, so he was envious of the middle-aged man, thinking about cutting the price to fifteen cents, even twenty cents. Just when the middle-aged man showed signs of letting go, the young man in Jinyi and the old man Gao Da happened to pass by. Without saying a word, they bought the carp and fish basket for fifty cents. Chen Ping'an could only watch them go away, helpless.

Staring at the backs of the grandfather and grandson as they moved farther and farther away, Song Jixin took back his vicious eyes and jumped off the wall, as if he remembered something, and said to Chen Ping'an: "Do you still remember the four legs in the first lunar month?"

Chen Ping'an nodded.

How come I can't remember it, it's just fresh.

According to the customs that have been passed down by this town for hundreds of years, if a snake is drilled into its own house, it is a good omen. The owner should never expel and kill it. On the first day of the first lunar month, Song Jixin sat on the threshold to bask in the sun, and then there was a gadget commonly known as a four-legged snake, which ran into the house under his nose. Song Jixin grabbed it and threw it out into the yard. He never thought that the four-legged snake, which had fallen into trouble, became more and more courageous. Again and again, he made Song Jixin, who had never believed in ghosts and gods, was so angry that he threw it to Chen Ping'an's yard in anger. Unexpectedly, Song Jixin saw the four-legged snake crouching under his bed the next day.

Song Jixin noticed that the girl pulled her sleeve.

The boy had a deep understanding with her, and subconsciously swallowed the words that had already reached her mouth and returned to her stomach.

What he wanted to say was that the extremely ugly four-legged snake had a bulge on its forehead recently, like a horn on its top of its head.

Song Jixin said in another sentence, "Zhigui and I may be leaving here next month."

Chen Ping'an sighed, "Be careful on the road."

Song Jixin said half-true and half-fake: "I definitely can't move some items away. Don't steal things unscrupulously while there is no one in my house."

Chen Ping'an shook his head.

Song Jixin suddenly laughed, pointed at Chen Ping'an with his finger, and said with a smile: "It's as timid as a mouse, no wonder there is no noble son in the poor family. Don't say that it's because of the poor and humble life, you may not be able to escape in the next life."

Chen Ping'an remained silent.

When they returned to the house, Chen Ping'an closed the door and lay on the hard wooden bed. The poor boy closed his eyes and murmured in a low voice: "Still, every year, every year, every year, every year, every year..."

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ps1: A nearly 200,000 words in the snow has been updated in WeChat. The WeChat official account is: fenghuo1985

ps2: There are more than 100 leaders who have not been uploaded yet, and you are mighty...
Chapter completed!