Chapter 10 Rain

The rain kept falling.

Because of its proximity to the desert, the climate of North Feng County had always been predominantly dry. In other places, the rain gods often suffered from frequent urination, urgency, and incomplete emptying.

But North Feng County was even worse.

It simply couldn't pee at all.

Often, some dark clouds and northern winds would come, teasing you, chafing you raw, but still, it was all thunder and no rain.

So, this heavy rain came so hard-won, and was so utterly delightful.

At least, in Blindman Bei’s view, this was the biggest rain since he had come to this world more than half a year ago.

On the terrace of Plum Blossom Village, Blindman Bei sat at a table, a small red clay stove in front of him, warming a wine pot.

On the table, there was also a lantern, its red paper shade casting a dim, reddish glow on the second floor of the terrace under the rainy night sky.

Coupled with the Blindman Bei's erhu music, a strong Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio atmosphere was almost dripping out.

It was as if, under this dark night, many fox spirits with restless hearts were about to burst out and enact a moving story that had been passed down for thousands of years.

"Green ants newly brewed wine, red clay small stove, late to encounter rain, can you drink a cup with me?"

Winter's boots made a muffled sound on the steps, disrupting Blindman Bei's mood for playing the erhu.

His accent, with its "translation flavor," made his recitation of poetry sound even more out of place.

If it were in later generations, speaking fluent Mandarin, singing a relatively fluent Chinese song, and finally adding "I love China," would garner countless likes and admiration.

But Blindman Bei was clearly not in the ranks of those moved to tears; he even felt a little disgusted by this illegitimate son of a Roman nobleman.

Because whether he started with "The weather is nice today" or "I'm a little constipated today,"

He could always lead the topic to "Let's play the piano!"

Sighing, Blindman Bei put down the erhu.

Winter, not getting a response, felt a little embarrassed but still walked to the table and sat down,

At the same time,

As if he were familiar with the place, he picked up the wine bowl on the table and carefully picked up the wine pot on the stove, pouring himself a cup of wine.

After two sips of wine,

Winter narrowed his eyes,

And said:

"This wine is a bit cloudy, but it fits the atmosphere just right; the flavors of life are probably like this."

The wine of Plum Blossom Village was naturally not some green ant wine; that stuff was too inferior and could not be put on the table.

And Mei Wannian was a man with a good business mind when he was alive. The wine of Plum Blossom Village liked to add flower petals and even some Chinese medicine to brew, and then sell it with the brand of curing all diseases and strengthening the body.

It was a pity that the Mei family's medicinal wine had not yet fully developed, and the "Mei" of Plum Blossom Village was changed to "Zheng."

"You should go to Qian."

Blindman Bei said.

The people of Qian liked this kind of tune; the Yan people did not like the sour atmosphere of reciting poetry.

This was probably because Qian was rich in products, so it could support a large number of literati and poets who were full and had nothing to do but be pretentious.

But in Great Yan, men either went north with the army to fight the barbarians or south to rob the people of Qian and Jin. Who had the leisure to stop and groan without illness?

"Five hundred sets of armor have already been put into storage, and six hundred top-quality warhorses have also been put into the stables. Swords, spears, crossbows, and arrows have all been sealed and accepted;

So I'm curious, Mr. Bei's mood doesn't seem as good as it was before."

"It's raining."

"Oh, is the rain affecting Mr. Bei's mood? Yes, rainy days always make people sentimental."

"My rheumatism is acting up."

"…………" Winter.

Silence was the word for Plum Blossom Village tonight.

"Winter," Blindman Bei said.

"You say."

"Let me give you another gift."

"You are too kind; that previous one…………" Winter raised his hand and gestured at his chest, "I have already had people rush to make it. I dare say it will set off a wave in Rome and even the entire West!"

"This time it's a freebie."

"Oh, what else does Mr. Bei have to teach?" After a pause, Winter continued, "Or, is there anything else of value I have that can be squeezed out for Mr. Bei?"

Winter could swear that this blind man in front of him was the most difficult person he had ever met in his life!

"I don't want anything."

"Is it raining tonight? I thought it was raining gold."

"I really don't want anything; it's just a friendly reminder from a friend's perspective."

Winter's eyes narrowed,

Because the meaning of "friend" in the business world meant to cut him, cheat him, and chop him into pieces!

"A big storm is about to rise in the north; your business should also be reined in."

"Oh? Mr. Bei has someone in the imperial court?"

"The gods in the sky can learn from the God of Thunder and the Goddess of Lightning in advance whether it will rain tomorrow, but the old farmers on the ground can also get the same answer from the clouds and the ants on the ground.

Winter, don't you think the military equipment and warhorses you prepared this time went a little too smoothly?"

"It's a bit; I'm also wondering about this."

"We Easterners have a tradition: before chopping off someone's head, we have to give them a good meal."

"Please continue to enlighten me, Mr. Bei."

"I've said enough."

"Mr. Bei, this is not enough of a friend; I still have to guess it myself."

"I said, this is a freebie."

"Then why does Mr. Bei want to give it to me?"

"In the future, if I want to find a Western Regions merchant to do business with again, I'll be too lazy to go through the process again."

"That reason is impeccable."

Blindman Bei stopped talking,

Bent over,

Opened the wine pot on the stove,

Then picked up a bamboo skewer from beside him and picked out a handkerchief from the wine pot.

Carefully grabbed the handkerchief with both hands,

Squeezed it,

Then put it on his face,

Gently rubbed it,

Finally,

Took it off,

Carefully wiped his left hand, then carefully wiped his right hand.

Beside him,

Winter's eyes changed from bright to cloudy to green, and his body was constantly twitching;

Finally,

When he saw Blindman Bei put the handkerchief in front of his nose,

"Pfft…………"

As soon as the sound of blowing his nose came,

Winter immediately bent down,

Opened his mouth,

And offered his own accompaniment:

"Blegh…………"

……

"I say, your dog hair is really comfortable; why don't you shave it off for me? I'll make a quilt."

"You give me that thing under you to grind my teeth on, and I'll give you my whole body of hair."

Xue San and Er Ha were lying on the first floor together,

More precisely,

Er Ha was lying on the ground,

Xue San was lying on Er Ha's back.

The two of them had been getting along exceptionally well during this period.

Er Ha felt that it had been greatly influenced; this small man actually had so much filth and dirt hidden in his body!

It felt that it was no longer pure.

However, Er Ha did not dislike this feeling.

Compared to the relationship between the blind man and Winter upstairs, these two, one man and one dog, had developed some true feelings.

Er Ha wagged its tail,

And said:

"What do you think those two people upstairs are talking about?"

"No matter what they're talking about, it must be mysterious. What they value is not the result, but the experience of the process."

"Yes, that's the feeling." Er Ha agreed.

Xue San stretched,

And said:

"How have you been considering the matter of the Pi Xiu I told you about last time?"

"I remember I told you that Pi Xiu don't have a back door."

Er Ha felt that it couldn't lose the battle, at least not verbally.

Xue San chuckled,

Replied with two words, plus a modal particle;

"You do!"

"…………" Er Ha.

At this moment, Winter walked down the stairs, his face a little pale, and his steps a little unsteady.

He even forgot to take his umbrella and walked directly into the rain.

Er Ha got up, wagged its tail, said goodbye to Xue San, and followed Winter into the rain.

Xue San straightened up, patted the dog hair remaining on his body, then raised his head and saw Blindman Bei coming downstairs with a lantern.

"I say, what did you do to that kid? Look at the way he came down, his soul wasn't there."

"The wind is about to rise; tell him to go home and collect his clothes."

"Tch."

Blindman Bei walked down the stairs, reached out and grabbed the umbrella, but didn't rush to open it, nor did he rush out.

"What's wrong, something on your mind?" Xue San asked.

"There are too many things; I don't know which one to worry about."

"That's why you're blind; you like to worry about nothing."

"Yeah."

"The Lord and Fourth Mistress have escorted the birthday tribute away, and Liang Cheng and A Ming haven't returned from recruiting soldiers;

It's no use worrying about their affairs; we've already done our own thing.

The military equipment, food, and warhorses are all ready; the warehouse of Plum Blossom Village is now piled up solid and full.

I think Mei Wannian would show a gratified and satisfied smile if he knew."

"Yeah."

"Stop worrying about nothing; I said, the Lord and the others are blessed, they'll be fine. To go a step further, if something really happens to the Lord, we'll be able to feel it."

If the Lord is gone, they will probably… also have problems.

"The climate in the north is still too dry; it's not good for the lungs or the skin."

"Oh, you're disliking the sand and wind in the north and want to move south?"

"I do have that plan, but I still have to wait for the Lord to come back before I say anything."

"That's going to be difficult; we just built a little family business; it's no longer the era when we walked the world barefoot. The Lord may not be willing. Not to mention the Lord, can we really be willing ourselves?"

"That's true."

"Okay, if you still feel depressed, I, Grandpa Xue, will personally sing a song for you to relieve your boredom, how about it?"

Xue San sang Yue Opera extremely well and had performed on the stage in the inn.

However, the rough northerners could not appreciate these plays; they still preferred to listen to dirty jokes.

"If you want to sing, I'll accompany you." Blindman Bei followed suit.

"Let's go!"

Xue San raised his hand and struck a pose.

Blindman Bei crossed his left leg over his right knee, sat down, there was no chair underneath, but he "sat" steadily.

With the erhu in hand, ready,

And said:

"You start."

"Ahem…"

Xue San cleared his throat,

And directly started a famous passage from the Yue Opera Dream of the Red Chamber:

"A Lin sister fell from the sky, like a light cloud just out of the sleeve…………"

"Bang!!!!!!!!!!"

A loud noise,

Interrupted Xue San's singing,

And also paused Blindman Bei's erhu,

A zombie exuding a monstrous baleful aura,

Fell into Plum Blossom Village,

Fell in front of the terrace,

Fell into the rain in front of Blindman Bei and Xue San.

Xue San coughed a few times,

And said:

"Oh my god, Lin sister, what have you been through?"