Chapter 23 Taoling Tea House

Thirty miles southeast of Taoxi County, there is a small village called Tao Village. There are only more than 20 households, all of whom are civilians. Except for the fields, every family usually makes pottery for a living. Although it is not an exquisite appliance, it is also a daily necessity for the people of Taoxi County, so it can be regarded as a well-off home.

The first five miles of the village is Taoling, which is a path to Yongping Province, which is almost 200 miles less than walking from Wude City. Taoxi County has a lot of forest, animal skins, herbs and so on. Taoxi porcelain is a famous product of Juhua, so it is better to cross more mountains than pass through this path. The picture is the saved 200 miles.

On the side of the road at the top of Taoling, there is a thick mulberry tree that can be held by two people. The branches are coiled, and it is also like a pavilion in this leafless winter. A tea house was built under the mulberry tree, with thatch as the top and logs as columns, and the range is not very large. There is a slight slope behind the house, and the opposite side is about ten feet away, surrounded by a circle of sparse forests to block the cold wind in the mountains and fields. Matthew, the owner of the tea house. Mr. and Mrs. Brandon are celebrities in Taoxi County. They have been operating in this tea house for 15 or six years, providing tea for passers-by and have never confiscated half of the fees.

Not far from the Chaliao Gate, there is a small box with a piece of yellow paper next to it, which says: "Repair the bridge and pave the road, how casual it is."

Every time the box is full, the two couples will buy some construction materials with the money inside. The husband and wife started to build roads in two turns, both of which were done by themselves and never paid for labor. In the past ten years, more than 30 miles of this tea house have been treated to be similar to that of officials. Taoxi County covers an area of more than 5,000 square kilometers, with more than 38,000 people in 22 villages of five towns, and seven or eight people in ten know the names of the old couple. Even the mountain thieves and bandits also respect these two people. On the 30 miles before and after Chaliao, they put away their means and dared not take action on the guests.

Matthew. Brandon was also a wild man in the mountain forest and wild village. At the age of 17, he had a second-class warrior cultivation, so he went to Yongping Province to join the border army. He has always been extremely timid and knows that martial arts are the capital to save his life. After joining the army for less than half a year, he reached the third level by practicing martial arts in the army.

Because he was afraid of death, he used a long gun on the battlefield so that he could hide behind the sword and shield soldiers. The first time he killed, he hid behind a sword and shield soldier and stabbed the enemy opposite him, and then the sword and shield soldier cut off his opponent's head with a knife. As a result, when calculating the combat skills, the knife and shield soldiers got a big head because they stood in front.

When killing the second time, Matthew learned to be obedient. Looking at the other party stabbed, he stagnated. When the guy stabbed the body of the sword and shield soldier in front of him, he made a hole under the threat of the enemy. But that time, because there was no shield in front of him, he almost died on the battlefield.

This time, his military achievements were exchanged for his civilian identity. From then on, Matthew became Matthew. Brandon.

In the third killing, Matthew learned to be obedient again. Looking at the danger of the knife and shield soldiers in front of him, he took the first spear and stabbed the enemy soldiers first. This battle was changed by him to the civilian status of his fiancee.

This time, the sword and shield soldier in front of him was named Miao Yishi, who came from a martial arts family. At that time, he had entered the field of middle-level warriors. Soon after, Miao Yishi was promoted to Shichang because of his war achievements. Matthew deliberately slapped at him. Miao Yishi's coats, underwear, trousers and socks, and the face wash water that got up in the morning were all handled by one hand.

In this way, Matthew safely hid under Miao Yishi's command and survived four years of military service. When it came to parting, Miao Yishi gave him a family-chuan meditation skill.

After returning home, Matthew bought seven or eight houses in this Tao village, picked up his parents, got married and had children, and became a civilian. Normally, he became a civilian and had a surname. It's time for people to call him Brandon. But in such a small village, people are like family, and he is extremely kind to people, but Matthew's name has never changed. When he always came to open this tea house, his reputation spread. Passers-by still called him "Old Matthew", and almost no one knew that he was still surnamed Brandon.

His wife also has some martial arts skills. The two of them broke through the fourth level by relying on Miao Yishi's meditation method and became middle-level warriors. Later, he trained as a six-level warrior in his thirties, but he was timid and only showed the foundation of the fourth-level warrior. The villagers did not know that these two were the middle-level figures.

After reaching level 6, the couple were kind to people in the village and had a good reputation. On the other hand, they did some house robbery, murder and looting outside in the name of travel. When you get money, it's not all about self-use. You often sprinkle some copper money among the poor wild households to satisfy the private chivalrous dream.

Both of them believe in Tujiao. There is a proverb in Tujiao: "You can kill hundreds of people. As long as you put down the butcher knife, you can become a Buddha on your own." So Matthew* killed people. More than ten years later, at the end of 100, he no longer hurt people's lives, and people were left to his wife to kill. After another seven or eight years, his wife also killed 100 people, and the two stopped killing and stopped killing people. Every time the couple started, they were cautious and cautious before they dared to do it. They only did one or two businesses a year. Every time, they didn't leave anyone behind, and their hands were extremely clean. Therefore, these things have been done for more than 20 years, but outsiders have no idea that these two people are murderous thieves, and they are only a pair of good people who are kind to others.

Matthew was 57 years old this year. The two built tea houses on the roadside, provided tea, repaired bridges and paved roads, and were dedicated to being good people for 1565 years.

It's still the first month, and the villagers are idle at home and have nothing to do all day. In addition to Matthew and his wife, there were also four idle young men in Chaliao, chatting and farting and listening to Matthew telling them some old things. Although civilians have military service, they are not forced to be helpless. How many people are really willing to go to the battlefield to earn a knighthood? If you really caught up with the battle of falling flowers 11 years ago, you will almost die. Therefore, Matthew's war at Shizhu Pass in Yongping Province in those years is almost like a legendary novel, which he never gets tired of.

As noon approached, the hot food on the stove burst out of heat. This is a special meal made by Mr. and Mrs. Matthew early in the morning. They are in Chaliao every day. This lunch is always brought like this. When it gets hot, they can make do with it. These four idle men also brought food, and it was not much hot on the stove at this time.

Matthew took the food, but the tea bowl in the tea house was ready-made. Matthew sighed, but took three tea bowls and divided their food into three parts.

When the four idle men saw it, they knew what the old man wanted to do and quickly came to pull: "Mr. Matthew, I have it here. I'll take this out."

"Here, Uncle Matthew, take mine."

Ma Matthew patted a teenager on the shoulder with a kind face and said:

"No, you, Uncle Matthew, are old and can't eat much. You are at a prosperous age, so you can't be hungry.

He brought a bowl of food and was about to go out. Under the big mulberry tree is a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl kneeling, who is very beautiful. In front of him was a piece of silk cloth full of words, and a straw sign was hung on his head, with the words "Selling and Burial Father".

Matthew brought the tea bowl to the girl and said, "Miss Meng, it's freezing and there is no one passing by for a while. You'd better go to the house to eat something. It's not good to hurt your body."

The girl was very stubborn and shook her head and said, "Mr. Matthew, I'm here. Don't call me."

Matthew sighed again, shook his head and put down the bowl. He said, "It's a lifelong thing to hurt your body."

He went back to Chaliao, but took out the stove and put it next to the girl so that she could warm her up.

This woman is the youngest daughter of the nearby Meng family compound. Last night, the Meng family suffered a disaster. Overnight, the whole family only survived the little girl. This little girl usually lives in a simple life, and few villagers have seen it, and she doesn't know the truth of doing things. When I got to the top of Taoling, I didn't even bring food for lunch. I knelt there hungry. Matthew also went out to persuade him seven or eight times in the morning, but refused to enter the house.

This Meng family is a famous large family nearby. Taocun is just making some rough pottery, but the Meng family made exquisite Taoxi porcelain, which feeds seven or eight craftsmen at home. There are more than 1,000 mu of land, all of which are employed by wild people in the surrounding mountains to cultivate. He is extremely rich. There are more than 20 people in the nursing home, but he is a good person. The tutoring is very strict, and people from ten miles and eight villages often do good deeds. I didn't want to be a good person, but I didn't have a good reward, and I destroyed the whole house overnight.

The girl also learned the routine from the book and learned from others to come here to sell herself to bury her father. Matthew went out to persuade her: At this point, he first asked the villagers in the surrounding villages to help him bury his family. The girl refused and must buy good coffins and bury dozens of people in the family according to custom.

This good coffin is not a small number. After 50, ordinary people have to find good wood and build a coffin, which costs five or six yuan. I have to paint twice a year, often until I get old. Red and white things have always been cost different in such places as if: banquets are the same. Red things have more fixed expenses, and white things also need more coffins and money to build graves. It is common people to spend one or two gold coins after a funeral.

Matthew walked back to the tea house and shook his head again: these dozens of people can't help even if they want to help.

Alas... This girl's family doesn't know anything about it. There are dozens of people in her family, and I'm afraid it won't cost hundreds of gold in this scene. In the past, who dares to bring so much money on the road? She only regarded herself as the daughter of the Meng family, but she didn't know that when she was depressed, she only sold three or four gold coins in the brothel. If you sell it as a maid, let alone the price of one gold and two gold, how can you do such a big thing?

While the horse corrected and sighed, there was a sound of horseshoes under Tao Ling. After a while, a shiny fat man's head drilled out of the ridge.

"Wow...Wow..."

The gasp was louder than the sound of horses' hoofs behind him. In the first month of the cold day, he crawled into sweat. As soon as he showed his head, he shouted:

"Wow... Uncle Matthew, if I hadn't been in a hurry to give you a New Year's greeting, Huhe... I really wouldn't have gone this way..."