Chapter 83: Searching for Relatives (V)
The weekend is here in a blink of an eye.
Lu Ren got up early and prepared to take Qilin cub and Shan Gui to Tianlu Bank. Tianlu Bank is in the city center, and the bus No. 414 goes there. The No. 414 bus stop is some distance away from Lu Ren's home, and it takes about ten minutes to walk.
The wind in December was already a bit chilly, so before going out, Lu Ren specially put a small red woolen hat on the Qilin cub, which was playful and practical. This woolen hat was knitted by Lu Ren's mother when he was a child, and Lu Ren happened to find it when he was cleaning up and sorting out old things.
"You must cherish it." Lu Ren smiled and put it on the Qilin cub.
This red hat is very suitable for the unicorn cub, making him look as adorable as a dwarf from a fairy tale.
Because the whole family was going out, Lu Ren did not make breakfast himself, but decided to splurge and eat out on the street. On early winter weekends, few people could get up early and go out for breakfast.
The stall was run by a middle-aged couple who came out to make a living before dawn. The breakfast stall they used to make a living looked very simple. A small wooden cart was a mobile kitchen. The tables and chairs for customers to eat were all cheap plastic products, and there were not many seats. Above the seats, the couple thoughtfully made a simple sunshade with a huge rain cover and a few rusty iron rods.
The couple are honest people who have been setting up their stall here for many years. They sell good quality food at low prices. As soon as the lid of the pot is opened, a white mist will gush out of the pot, bringing with it a delicious and fragrant smell that will make you salivate.
In short, breakfast was a bowl of wontons and a hand-pulled pancake for each person, and everyone was very satisfied.
However, because they are outside now, A Bing cannot openly stretch out his tentacles to eat, so the unicorn cub holding the teddy bear needs to unzip the zipper and pour the whole bowl of wontons into the teddy bear to help A Bing eat.
Lu Ren seemed a little worried. He asked the mountain ghost, "If we pour it all in at once, will he have time to eat it? Will he get burned?"
The mountain ghost explained: "Don't worry, the ruins are invisible. In fact, the teddy bear is just a mass of chaos. It has no eyes, ears, mouth or nose."
It was still dark, and the cold wind was robbing people of their body temperature. On days like this, a bowl of wonton soup sprinkled with chopped green onions could successfully dispel the chill before the sun arrived. Lu Ren hadn't experienced the feeling of so many people sitting together at this breakfast stall drinking wonton soup for many years. It was not until this moment, after a bowl of wonton soup, that he realized how cold he had been before.
After finishing a bowl of warming soup, it was almost time for the early morning bus to leave.
The sun was rising slowly, and the sunlight turned the world into a light golden color. Riding on the morning glow, the group set off on their journey to the bank.
Because it was always said that Tianlu Bank was a serious bank, Lu Ren originally thought that Tianlu Bank should be built in the most modern building in the CBD of the city center, and that the people coming in and out would be upper-class elites wearing suits and ties.
However, he did not expect that the place Lu Ren finally arrived at according to the address was a street of ancient buildings in the city center. This place is currently a famous tourist attraction in the city, and I heard that there are many world cultural heritage sites here.
Because of the one-hour drive plus the walking time, when Lu Ren and his friends arrived at this street, it was already 9 o'clock in the morning. The city was gradually waking up, and more and more tourists came to visit during the holidays.
Lu Ren went door to door looking for the so-called Tianlu Bank according to the house number on the address, and was surprised to find that the address was actually a very ordinary antique residence. In front of the residence was a very imposing brick and stone gatehouse with a plaque hanging on it, on which were written four big characters "招财进宝" .
The two red doors on the gatehouse were wide open, and a pair of identical boys and girls were standing at the door in Tang suits, looking as festive as if it were Chinese New Year. They bowed respectfully to Lu Ren and his party, and then said in unison: "Welcome to Tianlu Bank!"
The strange thing was that even though the two little kids made a simple welcoming gesture so exaggerated, none of the people coming and going on the ancient street looked over here, as if they couldn't see what was happening inside the door.
This should be a kind of barrier technique.
Sure enough, when Lu Ren and his group walked into the door, it felt like they were passing through a layer of water film. In an instant, the noisy voices outside the door seemed distant and blurred.
The courtyard where Tianlu Bank is located is very quiet.
The pavilions and towers here are very exquisite, with carved beams and painted buildings, and the scenery changes with every step. The only strange thing is that there is no ground in this house. The whole house is built on a wide expanse of water. All the corridors and towers seem to have no support, floating on the water. Even the peach tree in the courtyard is floating on the water, with its thick roots exposed to the air without any cover, except for the tip of a root that winds to the water surface, like a dragonfly touching the water.
It is early winter, but the peach blossoms are still blooming, warmly and brilliantly, looking like a pink cloud from a distance. Occasionally, a few peach petals fall on the water, disturbing the shimmering water and causing a few ripples, which is very elegant. Under the water surface, there are countless colorful koi coming and going, swimming in groups across the water, very leisurely.
This place looks like a fairy cave, a paradise, and a tourist attraction, but it doesn't look like a bank.
The two children dutifully led Lu Ren and his party to the hall. The hall was also designed in an antique style, which was pleasing to the eye. In the middle of the hall, there was a huge screen with a painting of a strange beast with a body like a tiger or leopard and a tail like a dragon's head, which looked majestic and lifelike.
When the Qilin cub saw the painting, he recognized the strange beast at a glance. He couldn't help but mutter, "Why can the Pixiu have such a large portrait? Humph, I must draw a bigger one than this one in the future."
After hearing this, Lu Ren couldn't help but sigh, "So this is the Pixiu. I heard that it is a money-saving beast that only takes in money but never gives it out. It's suitable to be placed in the bank."
When Lu Ren and the others entered, there was already someone sitting in the hall.
He was a middle-aged man wearing glasses, looking gentle and refined, wearing a light white Tang suit. He was drinking tea from an old-fashioned teacup, his movements were skillful and natural.
Seeing the few people coming in, the middle-aged man acted very calmly. He seemed to have known that they were coming, calmly put down the teacup, then showed a kind smile to them and introduced himself: "Welcome, I am the president of this place, Pixiu."
The middle-aged man was sitting in front of the screen, with a huge Pixiu painting behind him that was as big as three men. If it weren't for the man's self-introduction, few people would have connected the scary beast in the painting with the middle-aged man who looked like he had already retired.
While Lu Ren was thinking about these things, Pixiu, a bank employee, was the first to ask, "Excuse me, what business do you want to handle today?"
The mountain ghost said, "I plan to deposit a jade vein from the mountain into the bank."
This was also Lu Ren's first time to deposit something at Tianlu Bank. He was a little worried and thought: "Is it not good for us to come empty-handed? Should we bring the jade vein to the bank? But the jade vein is equivalent to a mine, right? Can we bring a mine with us?"
After listening to the mountain ghost's request, Pixiu nodded and said, "This is easy."
The Pixiu walked up to the mountain ghost, stretched out his finger, and gently tapped the mountain ghost's forehead. In a moment, a thin line with a green glow was pulled out from the mountain ghost's forehead. The green thin line kept struggling while trying to return to the mountain ghost's body. From a distance, it looked like a large green earthworm.
When the thin line was completely pulled out, the Pixiu grabbed it in his hand. The thin line was still twisting in the Pixiu's hand. The Pixiu blew a breath at the green thin line in his palm, and the thin line began to expand and change, and finally turned into a fat koi with green patterns.
After turning into a koi, the thin line suddenly stopped struggling. It became stupid and kept making “Aba Aba” sounds with its mouth open. Seeing this, the Pixiu smiled, stroked the koi’s head, then walked to the window and put the fish into the water under the house.
Then, the Pixiu did the same thing again and turned A Bing’s savings into a koi, but this time the pattern on the fish was black.
Qilin cub looked at the scene with sparkling eyes, feeling very surprised. He pointed at the koi in Pixiu's hand and said to Lu Ren: "Aren! Look! A bighead carp!"
Lu Ren was a little amused and said, "It's a koi." However, it seemed that the head was quite big.
After hearing what the Qilin cub said, the Pixiu, who had just put the second koi into the water, smiled and said, "Haha, do you like fish?"
The unicorn cub thought for a moment and said, "I like to eat fish."
That serious and cute look made Pixiu laugh again. After a moment, he said to Lu Ren and others, "Okay, the deposit is done. The interest will be deposited into your bank account on a monthly basis. You can also choose to mail it."
The Qilin cub became even more curious: "Will they give birth to small fish and send them to us?"
Upon hearing this, Pixiu patiently explained: "Of course not. This water is not water, and this fish is not a fish. They are just transformed by my magic."
As they were talking, another customer came into the bank.
This person must be a regular customer of Pixiu. As soon as he entered the store, he found Pixiu and greeted him, "Master Pixiu, how are you?"
The Pixiu also smiled and responded: "Welcome."
The customer explained, "I came here today to collect last month's interest. I live nearby so I don't have to trouble Zou Wu to make a trip."
The Pixiu nodded politely, "Of course." Then he called to the two children, "Attract wealth and treasure."
The two children said in unison: "Yes!"
"Catch fish."
As soon as the voice fell, the two children cheered and jumped into the water to start fishing, which made the Qilin cub jealous: "Woo woo woo, I want to play in the water too."
Seeing this, the mountain ghost advised: "The weather is too cold, you will catch a cold."
Soon, the two children carried a huge koi carp to the shore. The koi carp was very lively, and its tail kept flapping. The two children almost couldn't hold it.
The Pixiu walked over leisurely, patted the Koi on the head, took out a wooden box and placed it under the Koi's mouth, then said to the Koi, "This guest wants to collect his interest for last month."
After hearing this, the koi calmed down and began to vomit into the box. Of course, what came out was not filth, but clumps of halos. But when the koi vomited, it looked very hideous and painful, accompanied by waves of strange hissing sounds. In short, the viewing experience was extremely bad.
Lu Ren, who witnessed the whole process, said: Suddenly I don’t really want to collect interest from this bank anymore.
When the Koi fish had spit out all the interest, the Pixiu closed the box and handed it to the customer, admonishing him, "Open it when you get home, and silently recite whatever you want, and your wish will come true."
The customer left with many thanks.
Pixiu sent the guests away and turned to look at Lu Ren and the others who looked unhappy. He did not seem surprised by their reactions and just said with a smile: "Let me emphasize again, this water is not water, and this fish is not a fish, they are just transformed by my magic."
But the psychological shadow caused by this is a real psychological shadow.
