Ping An Biography

The drizzle was silent, and the singing in the wind was clearly audible.The muddy road, the moss-covered old houses, and the woman with dull eyes heard a refreshing little song next to her ears. Zhang Ning stopped and listened carefully, "What should I embroider first? If I want to embroider, I should choose the reunion moon in the sky, reunion." moon……"

Originally, he couldn't find anything to do for the time being, and now he couldn't help being curious. Following the singing, he walked to the front of an old wooden building. At the entrance of the stairs stood a man in short clothes with his arms folded on his chest. He looked at Zhang Ning motionlessly.Although Zhang Ning is wearing cotton, it does look a bit out of place with this place. The semi-new straight lace is almost spotless, with only a few raindrops on the shoulders. The ironing is smooth and the folded marks are clearly visible. This environment may have to be described as "dressed like a groom".

The man just looked at him, and he tried to pass quietly, seeing that the man didn't stop him, he continued to walk up the stairs.

At this time, I could already hear the noise from above, besides singing and chords, there were also sporadic noises and voices of talking and yelling, it was very lively.Zhang Ning thought of the teahouse where mahjong was played in the old street.

As soon as he thought of the mahjong parlor, Zhang Ning immediately realized that it was really a gambling house when he went upstairs to have a look.There are copper coins and treasures on the table, and some people are playing dice, and some are sitting around the table and playing with some wooden chips. What is it if it is not gambling?

There were a lot of people coming up, most of them were staring at the table without paying attention, a middle-aged man on the opposite side looked up, his eyes were a little empty, then stretched out his hand to pinch his nose and woke up twice with a "puff" and wiped it under the stool After wiping his hands, he buried his head and continued to look at the wood chips in his hand.

Zhang Ning followed the singing while looking at the people in the corner of the room, then walked towards a large table, reached into his pocket, and grabbed some precious banknotes.

It was a little girl who sang, I knew it from the voice before.He looks good, with a well-proportioned face, a slightly pointed chin, and a childish look, but his body is too thin. At first glance, he seems to be very thin and unattractive. His clothes are torn and big, and he looks empty.Beside him was an old man sitting cross-legged on the ground and playing piano accompaniment. He had a messy gray beard, withered and wrinkled skin on his face, and was still thin. The faces of the old and the young were somewhat alike, whether they were father, daughter or grandson.The violin was dusty, but it blended in with their clothes and environment. It had only five strings, and the body of the violin looked short and small, about two syllables missing from Shaogong and Shaoshang.

Singers are only slightly better than beggars.

Zhang Ning walked to the big table surrounded by many people, and saw that the pattern drawn in front of him had the words "big and small", knowing that it was a bet, he put a banknote with the same denomination on the "big".Treasure banknotes and consistent copper coins are two different things. They are equivalent to ten copper coins at most. People would rather ask for ten copper coins than your consistent treasure banknotes when they are in circulation. It’s just that there is no way to use the coins that are forced to circulate.

"Look!" The banker above shouted and shook the dice, switching from left hand to right hand very skillfully. Unexpectedly, the sluggish man was so flexible when playing dice for the first time. "Bang!" The dealer suddenly covered the wooden tube on the table, looked around and said: "Bet, bet." At this time, the people around put money on the pattern in front of them, but Zhang Ning had already put it.After a while, the dealer carefully opened the wooden box under the watchful eyes of everyone. People stared at it intently, and some sighed and laughed at the same time.The three sieves add up to fourteen points, so it should be big?Sure enough, Zhang Ning accompanied Zhang Ning when he compared them one by one with the money.

The back of the hand is full of dirt, the nails are filled with black mud... In Zhang Ning's concept, there is no distinction between high and low, but the ancients said that "new bathers must flick their crowns". Originally, he dressed cleanly and instinctively I didn’t want to get dirty, but I remembered the action of wiping my nose when I came up, even if there was money in front of me, I didn’t want to take it, so I gently flipped the won Yitong and the few treasures I took out on top of the “big” .

After losing, he left in a low-key manner.He no longer has any interest in this place. He was originally curious about the singing of the little lady, but when he saw it with his own eyes, he lost that mysterious fantasy, and found that she was just one of countless sentient beings.If you lose everything and leave, there will be nothing eye-catching. If you leave without even asking for money, it will be like a rich man, which is not in line with Zhang Ning's usual style of doing things.

Unexpectedly, as a layman, he was very lucky. He won a few hands in a row, and each time he bet together, he didn't lose a single time. A small pile of treasures and copper coins piled up in front of him.This Nima is not right or left, even if he takes the money and leaves, he may not be able to leave. Gamblers will be very upset if he is a stranger who wins and leaves.

"Brother is lucky!" The dealer laughed dryly.Several people around looked at Zhang Ning a few more times.

Zhang Ning said calmly, "Everyone, keep an eye on it for me. I'll go to the toilet and come back to collect the money."

After finishing speaking, he was about to go downstairs to escape, but someone beside him "kindly" reminded him: "There is a hut next to it, that small door."

Zhang Ning gave a dry laugh, thanked him, and walked towards the door.As soon as he opened the door, a stench came over his face. Zhang Ning looked down and saw white maggots wriggling all over the ground, making his scalp numb.Finally, there were two bricks in the middle, so he bravely stepped onto the bricks, closed the door behind his back and stood there for a while.At this moment, his mind went blank, and after a while, he suddenly felt a little bit, people are indeed very fragile, if he wants to live at the bottom of the Ming Dynasty, how much courage is needed...

After a while, he came out of the small room and went back to the big table. He saw that the money on his place had disappeared, not a single penny was left, but the people around him were still standing and sitting majesticly without leaving.He suddenly looked stunned and said, "Where's my money?"

"You lost that hand just now, didn't you put your money on 'big' yourself?" The dealer said calmly.

Zhang Ning frowned, touched his hand into the collar, took it out empty-handed and said, "It's not that I don't have money, I don't bring much today."

The people next to him laughed and said nothing, probably many people were thinking to themselves: I am a complete idiot when I meet a young man from a rich family.

Zhang Ning "sighed", but the dealer's eyes were good, looking at the jade pendant on his belt: "Your thing is worth a hundred and ten coins, anyway, I won, so I'll give you the money?"

I really took Lao Tzu for a fool. This piece of jade is indeed not a high-end product, but one or two taels of silver is worth anything. Zhang Ning pretended to be angry and said, "One hundred and ten coins? I might as well give it to those singing singers... What are you laughing at, I will do what I say." After finishing speaking, he got up and walked to the corner, and saw a few copper coins and two precious banknotes in the straw hats in front of the old and the young, so he threw the jade pendant into the straw hats, and said nothing. He turned around and left without saying a word.

After walking a few steps, I suddenly heard an angry voice behind me saying: "Don't stretch out your hands too fast. Our father and I sing, and the nobles listen more to their ears and reward less. It's their wish. There is nothing wrong with driving us away, but there is no reason to take away other people's gifts, in front of so many men, don't you think so?"

Zhang Ning stood still immediately, turned around and looked over calmly, and saw a man in short clothes holding a jade pendant in his hand, bent over, but the old man grabbed his wrist.

The short-clothed man said angrily: "The little brother owed me money after he lost all his money. I want this piece of jade to be worth a hundred cash. He threw it into your bastard out of anger. How did it become yours?"

What is the reason for this?

"What? The old man is too old to hear clearly." The old man said.Suddenly, the man's complexion suddenly became like a pig's liver, he gritted his teeth and stared at the old man in astonishment.

The old man looked as usual, and asked again: "What did you say?"

The man's face became even uglier, and he hurriedly said, "Jade is yours... I, I let it go."

With a soft sound of waves, Yu fell into the straw hat, and the little girl stretched out her arms to sweep it nimbly, and the straw hat came into her arms very quickly. "Let's go." The old man stood up.

Immediately, three or four people jumped out from the betting table, and Zhang Ning was eagerly waiting to see them fight and see the skills of the grandfather and grandson.Unexpectedly, the banker just sat there and said nonchalantly: "What are you doing, haven't you seen any money? Why don't you just smash my building down!"

The few people stared at the old and the young, but took a few steps back.The two of them walked straight to the stairs without saying a word, and went downstairs with a "thump thump".Zhang Ning hurriedly grabbed the hem of the robe with one hand, and chased after him with an umbrella in the other.

Walking out the door, I saw two figures, one tall and one short, walking quickly on the muddy street.The old man was carrying the piano, and the little girl tiptoed to put the straw hat on his head, and the old man reached out and took it off and put it on the girl's head.

Zhang Ning hurriedly opened his umbrella, leaned against the side and followed quickly. After walking for a while, he found a narrow alley beside him. After observing the terrain, he turned and walked into the alley. The lower garment is covered with mud.When he got out of the alley, he turned his head and saw that the two men were coming towards them, and they had no intention of avoiding them, so he was slightly relieved.He was still holding the umbrella, but the umbrella was deliberately lowered, so that he could only see the position of their calves... According to the principle of straight light, Zhang Ning couldn't see their faces, and neither could they.

The two of them walked past Zhang Ning without saying a word, neither running nor slowing down.Zhang Ning said anxiously: "A song "Embroidered Purse", where can I find a bosom friend..."

After speaking, he himself felt ashamed that he used such a vulgar line.

The old man suddenly stood still, turned around and bowed: "Thank you for the reward, young master."

"I want to find someone to do something, ten taels of remuneration, is the old man interested?" Zhang Ning said lightly.

"What's the matter?" the old man said.

Zhang Ning thought for a while, and said, "There is a man in Yangzhou who I don't like. I want someone to beat him up, but I don't want others to know that I ordered him."

The old man said: "What identity, what kind of label?"

Zhang Ning said: "The son of a salt merchant, he often has Lianjiazi's followers around him. Beat me hard, until your nose is bruised and your face is swollen, but don't hurt your muscles and make it too big."

"Deal, pay five taels first, and then pay five taels after the deal is completed." The old man was very straightforward, and his temperament was very suitable for Zhang Ning.