Get up in the morning.

Zhong Yue followed Zhang Laifu to the market.

I am about to go to Shanghai, and things here must be arranged properly.

The market in the village is not the same as the ones that were decades ago, but the market is available every day. Zhang Laifu carried a bamboo basket and said, "When you go to the big market, you must be careful in everything. Here you can still find Daguang, Xiaozhuanli, and ask me for help. When you get there, you are not familiar with the place, so you have to pay attention to it."

"Well, Master, I'm here, you can live in my place. You can have all the water, electricity and furniture, so you can save some effort."

Zhang Laifu smoked a cigarette and said with a smile: "You think I'm so useless? You're used to it, so you can't sleep in another place, you're not at ease."

The two sat in the breakfast stall, with simple tables, chairs and benches. The stall owner was a couple. They set off the stall early in the morning and were already covered in flour.

The man kneaded the dough, fryed scallion pancakes, fryed buns, and helped the woman to help him, and served tofu brain and soy milk.

"Two, what do you want?"

Zhang Laifu smiled and said, "Two oil cakes and a bowl of tofu brain. Ayue, order what you eat yourself, Master invites you to this meal."

"How can you ask?" Zhong Yue asked for five dried beans, a bowl of tofu brain, and sat at the slightly greasy table. "Master, I have to take it with me for the pen."

"Well. Wherever the craftsmen go, they can't forget to bring them to eat."

This summer vacation, Zhong Yue's pen making skills have not been lost. He started practicing it when he has something to do, which is a small achievement.

Zhang Laifu stepped on the cigarette butts and yawned. People came and went to the market. Some came to pick fresh fruits and vegetables as soon as possible, and some put them in the ground cages, and fish, shrimps and river fresh collected early in the morning.

There are also women carrying children. In the swaddle behind them, their little heads were still resting on their mother's warm back and sleeping soundly, without any sleepiness being affected by the noisy environment around them.

The snacks were served on the table, and the middle-aged woman wiped the table with a rag and smiled: "Business is busy, so there is no time to wipe the table, so I can't bear it."

"It doesn't matter."

Zhang Laifu added a scoop of spicy sauce to the tofu brain, picked up the scallion pancake and tasted it.

"I heard from Lao Kang next door that everyone in Shanghai loves sweets, and even adds a few scoops of candy to the roasted pork. If you can't get used to it, how many bottles of hot sauce are there? Or carry a few pieces of bacon with you?"

Zhong Yue smiled and said, "Master, don't worry about this. Can eating be difficult for me?"

"Yes." Zhang Laifu gusted with tofu brain.

The two of them ate the breakfast in front of them, and they had almost finished eating. Zhong Yue wiped his greasy mouth with his napkin. He hadn't had breakfast so happily for a long time. Before, he was too lazy to come over to eat, so he just ate something casually. Today he was a bit comfortable.

When Zhang Laifu saw that there was a fried bread left in Zhong Yue’s enamel plate, he picked it up and stuffed it into his mouth. After drinking the last tofu brain in the bowl, “Don’t forget your roots anywhere, waste food, and it will be struck by lightning.”

He wiped his mouth with his hands, Zhang Laifu carried the bamboo basket on his shoulder and said, "I'm done today."

As he said that, he took out a small cloth bag, counted the change, put it on the table, and "pay."

The boss lady came over and kicked the money into her pocket, "Come again next time."

"Yes." Zhang Laifu responded calmly, took two steps with Zhong Yue before muttering, "These couples are not kind, and they won't come to eat next time."

Zhong Yue felt a little funny and asked, "What's wrong?"

"When I first started a stall, the scallion pancake was so big, but now it has shrunk."

"Ha ha."

The two walked in the market, and many people familiar with the countryside greeted and chatted.

"Oh, the master and apprentice are here to buy vegetables."

"Um."

"Fresh grass shrimp, come some?"

“How to sell?”

"Ten yuan, three taels, just lively."

When Zhong Yue saw the fresh grass shrimp, his heart trembled. His skills in painting shrimps in Qi Baishi, I don’t know when it will be useful.

Today, Zhang Laifu spent a lot of money. The two men and women made six taels of grass shrimp, two pork ribs and one fresh silver carp.

After returning from the market, Zhong Yue helped Zhang Laifu pack up the fish and shrimps and blanch his ribs.

That radio was the only old item that Zhang Laifu wanted from Zhong Yue, and played old songs from the 1990s.

Basil shrimps with salt in bamboo tube.

Braised prawns in oil.

Eat one shrimp twice, Zhang Laifu’s unique skill, since Zhong Yue ate it once, he fell in love with this taste.

The salt-baked shrimp meat and some garlic paste sauce make it so delicious.

Zhang Laifu glanced at the parking car at the door and said, "Who is here? A Yue, go and have a look. I'll do it here."

The fish had been washed and the shrimp thread was picked off. Zhang Laifu took the fish and shrimp and walked towards the stove.

Zhong Yue wiped his hands and walked out of the door.

"Zhong Yue. Sure enough, there was no one here when I went to your house just now. I asked around and the villagers said that it might be here, so we touched it along."

Zhong Yue looked at Huang Mingchuan and Zhang Shaolin. One of them sang blushed and the other sang blushed. Which one is going to sing this time?

"What are you doing?"

Zhang Shaolin said: "We won the award last time, and the people over there said you went to East China for exchanges, so I brought it to you."

"Oh. It's so serious." Zhong Yue took the certificate and the trophy. Seeing the two of them wanting to speak, he asked, "Is there anything else?"

Zhang Shaolin smiled awkwardly, "Don't you look at what award?"

"Second Prize, I understand." Zhong Yue pulled the corner of his mouth. Why did he come here to mock him?

"Slow down. Look at what the prize is."

Huang Mingchuan deliberately coughed his throat, "Cough, that Zhong Yue, I said it wrong before."

Zhong Yue opened the certificate suspiciously.

"First Prize?"

Zhang Shaolin smiled and said, "I deserve it."

Whether it is the first prize or the second prize, there is not much difference for Zhong Yue. "Oh, then thank you two for your special trip."

Zhang Laifu in the room walked out with a bamboo sieve, "A Yue, who is that?"

"Two people in the city who are good at calligraphy."

The name of calligraphy inevitably makes Huang Mingchuan and Zhang Shaolin lose face. However, both of them are ashamed of Zhong Yue, and understand the worldly ways, and smiles at Zhang Laifu.

"Oh?" Zhang Laifu looked at the certificate trophy in Zhong Yue's hand, "You kid, the calligrapher in this city has specially gone to the countryside to give you certificate paper, and you are leaving the door. What's this? It's all meals. If you don't dislike it, eat here before leaving."

Zhang Shaolin smiled, "It's not good if this... isn't good."

"What's wrong with it? Come on, A Yue, pour tea for both of you. I'll be busy with work in the stove, so you can have a good treat."

Zhong Yue took two glasses, put some tea leaves, and brewed tea for them.

"Is there anything else?"

Zhong Yue didn't believe it, and the two of them came in to talk for a meal.

"Ahem."

Zhang Shaolin looked around and said, "The environment in Daping Township is quite good."

"Yes, Lao Zhang, the first time I came here, I was surprised. It's really good here. I'll go see Xiaohe Mountain later, which is more suitable for field trips. I'll see it's pretty good at the next book club gathering."

Zhong Yue looked at the awkward conversation between the two of them, and didn't talk to each other, just watching from the side.

"Well, I think it's good to take our family on a driving tour next time."

"That's right. Is there any signal in the mountains?"

"I said..."

“…”

The two chatted for five minutes, but when they saw Zhong Yue not talking, they finally had nothing to say and pulled the topic back.

"Xiao Yue, your Lingfei Sutra is indeed well written."

"Not good, Mr. Huang, you mentioned it a few days ago. It's not as good as the "Yan Qinli Monument"."

"Haha, I haven't read it much, and the members of the Book Association who scored at that time inevitably made mistakes. Later, I made a comprehensive assessment and decided to award the first prize to you."

Zhong Yue smiled and said, "So this is still possible."

Zhang Shaolin coughed lightly and said, "Zhong Yue, don't mind the matter of the stone tablet before. The pressure on me is too high, so I was driven to the shelves. I was too reckless at that time."

Is this... to be aligned?

Zhong Yue felt that the conversation was roughly like this. But he didn't understand. Why should Zhang Shaolin compromise with him with such an identity? Has his conscience been discovered?

The fragrance wafted out of the stove.

"All these things are gone."

If Huang Mingchuan had not gone to the countryside to hunt for stone tablets, Zhong Yue would probably not have gone down the well and would not have obtained the current brushwork system. Later, Zhang Shaolin's strong suppression also gave Zhong Yue an unexpected gain. The nine powers of the gods and man were revealed, and if Zhong Yue realized the nine powers, it would inevitably cause a storm in the current calligraphy world.
To be continued...