not a monster

The fog outside is very heavy, the rain is hidden in the fog, the New Year's New Year's greetings are hidden in the rain and fog, and the smoke from firecrackers adds to the New Year's fog, and the smell of gunpowder can be smelled in the breath. The flames of the paper money were dim and yellow, extending to the end of the road and disappearing into the fog. There was another sound of firecrackers that seemed to never stop. When the smoke was cleared away, a fire snake danced faintly in the middle of the road. A part of this fog, when the thunderous firecrackers fell silent, and the smoke and dust sounded, the man smiled and wished the neighbors a happy new year.

The road was wet, and the rotten red firecracker paper was all over the place, which made it even more messy when it got wet. There were red new couplets pasted in front of the doors, and the fog was so heavy that I couldn't see what was written clearly, only the whole line The street is red in the fog, reflecting the light.

Their family does not worship gods and Buddhas and does not hold incense and candles, but they also posted new couplets. In previous years, it was posted by Wang Xilou. Since Dafeng Wuli's height surpassed hers, the work was handed over to the apprentice by the master.

What the couplet says is, prosperity is prosperous, wealth is prosperous, luck is prosperous, and family prosperity and people are prosperous and career is prosperous.

Feng Wuli went to the balcony to collect the clothes.

Occasionally, people could be seen passing by on the main road. When they saw the person on the balcony, they also greeted him.

If you listen carefully, you can hear occasional soft 'cracking' sounds far away. It should be that some little ghosts are blowing up the cannons, or picking up unburned firecrackers and blowing them up.

The red envelopes are not only unreasonable, Wang Xilou, who considers himself the head of the family, gave red envelopes to everyone in the family.

Po Nu happily accepted it, thinking that it would be enough to buy a few skins, so he opened the red envelope and took a sneak peek: "How much is it?"

Wang Xilou patted her hand: "How could anyone dismantle it in person."

She retracted her hands resentfully, glanced at the red envelope she was going to give to Chifu, and reached out to take it: "Chifu is still small, let me keep it for her."

"..."

After Feng Wuli finished collecting his clothes and went into the living room, he saw Chifu holding a feather duster, silently beating the barefoot Po Nu, asking her to return something.

Wang Xilou on one side was giving red envelopes to Wanwan, rubbed Wanwan's head after finishing, and grinned at Feng Wuli when he saw Feng Wuli put away his clothes and came out.

Few people go to pay New Year's greetings on the first day of the new year, but there are quite a few people who visit. When they go outside the old street, it is very natural to chat and say hello when they see each other in twos and threes.

Feng Wuli checked that it was almost time, and led Chifu and Wanwan out.

Chifu just came back from a walk in the street, and she should have been reluctant, but it was rare for Feng Wurea to ask her to go for a walk, so she pretended to be reluctant.

Po Nu wanted to watch dramas at home, so he borrowed Chifu's mobile phone and said that the seventh season of "Game of Thrones" was on.

Feng Wuli was very surprised by this, because what she was chasing was completely different from what Wang Xilou liked to watch. Wang Xilou liked to watch "The Three Thousand Golds of the Xia Family" and "The Temptation of Going Home", and she watched them over and over again. .

Wang Xilou was also about to go out, but she was going to play mahjong. Seeing the three people who were about to go out, she immediately became alert: "Where are you going?"

Feng Wuli pursed his lips, unwilling to lie: "To make money."

"What makes money?" Wang Xilou said with disbelief on his face, "Don't get into the bad habit of playing mahjong, let me tell you."

This time I didn't bother to talk to her, and gave her a blank look, and yelled at Wanwan to hurry up.

"Wanwan is here!" She hung the kettle at an angle, her short legs were running fast, and she rushed over excitedly.

There are skills in earning red envelopes. After all, he is not young anymore. If he meets some uncles and aunts on the road, there is a high probability that he will not give red envelopes again. Can rub their light.

And Wanwan is so cute, with a sweet mouth, anyone who sees it wants to stuff a red envelope, since she gave one, Feng Wurea standing next to her couldn't help but give it.

He took the fireworks from the yard, some monkeys, guns, etc., and took Wanwan and Chifu out to set them off.

Today, the fog is heavy, and people can’t be seen clearly from ten meters away. I set off small cannons while walking, and the sound of the cannons in the fog is getting farther and farther away from the incense and candle shop. It is fate to meet anyone.

Feng Wuli likes to scare Wanwan with a cannon, even if the little fox gets angry, he will come over to play with him.

Someone greeted Feng Wuli, and Feng Wuli also said happy new year.

He is a middle-aged uncle. His family lives on the Banyan tree head side of the old street. When he was a child, he liked to bully Feng Wuli, saying that he had no parents. , now that he has grown up, Feng Wuli has already turned the page on Chen Nian's past.

"Happy New Year, Happy New Year..." Wanwan looked up at Feng Wuli.

"Uncle Jiang." He reminded in a low voice.

"Happy New Year, Uncle Jiang!" Wanwan swayed her big tail behind her back and flapped her ears.

As expected, each person received a red envelope.

Chifu was ashamed to be with him.

But she is poor.

"Wanwan, would you like to put one?" Feng Wuli gave her some incense.

"Wanwan is scared."

"Try it."

Wanwan held the incense stick in one hand and the cannon in the other. She was still a little scared after thinking about it, so she put the cannon on the ground and stood up. Arm to point.

As soon as it was lit, sparks came out of the cannon, Wanwan was so frightened that she threw away the incense in her hand, and turned back into a fox crawling up Feng Wuli's trousers.

Fortunately, the fog was thick and no one saw it.

"Crack!!" There was only a clear cracking sound in the fog.

Sometimes you will meet groups of children, you can only hear chattering noises through the fog, and you can only see their figures when you get close. Feng Wuli doesn't know them very well, but Wanwan is already very familiar with them.

He also met Feng Wuli's generation, and he felt nostalgic when he saw it.

It's just that there aren't many words anymore, not as eager as Wan Wan is when she sees her little friend, and the wind is unreasonable and plain with alienation.

"My mother asked me to climb Yuelu Mountain. Let's not talk about it. Next time, we will have some barbecue, and we will roast it at the banyan tree head."

"Call and laugh at them."

"Yes, there are also Liang Shan and Ah Zhen, and what about Ah Zhen?"

"I moved to a new house." Many people in the old street have moved to demolished houses, and the naked eye can see the decline.

Two middle-aged people came out of their room, one was a younger sister who had just entered the first grade of junior high school, and there were a few children from their uncle's side, whom Feng Wuli had never seen before.

It looks like a whole family is going to climb Yuelu Mountain.

"Hey, Xiaofeng is so big!"

"Aunt Zhang..." Feng Wuli winked at Wanwan.

I got three more red envelopes.

The shame in Chifu's heart deepened, and he silently hypnotized himself, I am 12 years old this year, I am 12 years old this year...

The three watched the family disappear into the mist, and Feng Wuli quietly threw a cannon at Wanwan's feet.

"Snapped--"

"Master Feng Wuli! Wanwan will not like you!"

Chifu also gave him a look: "Don't bully Wanwan all the time."

Feng Wuli thinks that the angry Wanwan is more fun.

The houses on the old street get older as you go in.

There are many tile houses and red brick houses, some stone roads are covered with moss, some alleys are so narrow that two people can walk side by side, the wires are in a mess, and the words "Meticulous, every second counts" are written on the dusty white walls. Eight large red characters with a sense of the times.

The street lamps were covered with the remains of moths, and the cobwebs under the stone benches were covered with dew. Occasionally, a wild dog approached and disappeared in the mist.

There is also a lobby rebuilt from an old ancestral hall in front, which is used to hold meetings for the neighborhood committee of the old street. There is a bronze bell in front of the ancestral hall. Once it is struck, it can be heard for miles around. When you hear the ringing of the bell, you know that there will be a meeting tonight. up.

Participating in the meeting is paid, five yuan per head. When Feng Wuli was five or six years old, Wang Xilou would rush over here almost as soon as he heard the bell ringing. It would be unreasonable to take advantage of the wind and sit on the bench to listen to the speeches of those cadres.

Wang Xilou never expresses her opinion, she just crosses her legs over there, eats melon seeds, and drinks crude tea with little flavor. When she eats one, she feeds Feng Wuli one. Sometimes the meeting can last until nine o'clock, and the wind Unreasonably sleepy, he fell asleep in Wang Xilou's arms.

Woke up on the way back from being hugged, Feng Wuli asked sleepily, "Is the meeting over?"

"Just finished."

"Did you get the money?"

"Master will bring you milk tea tomorrow!"

It's not in vain that he was so sleepy that he still stayed in the meeting.

I heard that the meeting fee was raised to ten yuan later, but Wang Xilou would not come again after hearing the bell ringing, because she was not in good health and needed more rest.

This is probably all the memories of this old ancestral hall for Feng Wuli. Now that the ancestral hall is shrouded in fog, it can't be seen clearly, but it feels more like what it looks like in memory.

After crossing the ancestral hall, it became a bit more lively, because if you pass through here, there is an old street that is younger than the old street.

You can also buy milk tea for less than five yuan here, Feng Wuli bought a cup for Wanwan and Chifu, and drank it while walking.

Walking on a ten-meter-long concrete bridge, Feng Wuli took the cannon and blasted the small swell several meters wide. When the water splashed, it was Wanwan's exclamation, not a group of little ghosts screaming strangely when he was a child, so he couldn't help but sigh , took a few photos and sent them to Liu Xiaoxiao.

There is a flower market outside the Old Street Market. There are not as many people in the morning as it is approaching ten o'clock, but after the fog, it does not seem to be less, because there are more non-human existences that shuttle into the crowd.

"There are a lot of monsters." Chi Fu frowned and approached a little.

"Well, don't be nervous." Feng Wuli took her hand and comforted her: "Most of them are harmless in the city."

Chifu's hands stiffened, he wasn't used to being led, but he didn't struggle to get away.

"Is there something wrong with this fog?"

"No problem, it's just a normal fog."

Some monsters are not good at transforming into forms, but they inevitably want to join in the fun when facing human celebrations. The visibility in the fog is low, and they hide in it and mix with the crowd. If you see me with fox tail and antlers, don’t panic, but the mountains are quiet, looking for fireworks and human voices, come A trip to the world.

Cheers came from the street, there was a lion dance sound of beating gongs and drums, a white lion with hanging eyes was full of air, showing off its power to the sound of gongs and drums, followed by a group of big-headed dolls, strange and exaggerated dolls and beasts, the sound of gongs and drums was so loud that no one beat it Gongs and drums, but people don't think much about it, they just think it's because the fog is too thick.

Because he fried the little fox all the way, Feng Wuli bought strings of candied haws to compensate her.

"Do you want Chifu too?"

"Things to coax children." She sneered, as if she didn't realize that her hand was still being held by Feng Wurea.

"Well, the two strings, Wanwan and I each have one string."

Chifu: "..."

Feng Wuli ate one, and suddenly remembered something, handed it to Chifu and said, "I forgot I just had breakfast, I can't eat any more."

She was taken aback for a moment, but still said coldly: "The things you have eaten are also..."

"If you don't eat it, you can only waste it."

"Waste...wasted is wasted!"

"Three yuan each."

In the end it was in Chifu's hands, she bit off one, it was sweet and sour, and she still bulged out, it was all money.

"Master Feng Wuli..."

Wanwan tugged at the corner of his clothes, raised her head and explained, "Actually, Wanwan is not really angry with Mr. Feng Wuli, but a fake kind of anger."

"Understood, Wanwan is the most obedient, I will treat Wanwan to eat candied haws if she is not angry with me."

Wanwan happily ate candied haws.

At this time, a woman came out of the mist, coming slowly, holding a round fan to cover the lower half of her face, her hair was raised high in a bun like rabbit ears.

"Master Feng Wuli." She bowed slightly to greet her.

It is a familiar monster.

"When will you go back?" Feng Wuli asked with a smile.

She glanced at the little monster and chifu who were eating candied haws and eating candied haws beside Feng Wuli: "Leave when the fog clears."

"Playing with fireworks? I still have them."

"Thank you, Lord Fengwuli."

"Don't be so polite with me."

"We little elves and monsters can live in this area, we have to rely on Lord Fengwuli."

"Sigh." Feng Wuli smiled and sighed, and only said: "Happy New Year."

The female monster smiled slightly, and bowed Shi Shiran: "I hope it will grow like this, and the weather will be new every year."

Feng Wuli's Chinese is poor, and he didn't understand what it meant, so he could only smile and nod.

This monster is quite cultured.

great chapter