The first volume of pearl curtains rolls up the western mountain rain at dusk Chapter 16: Meeting or Missing
tenth day.
The tenth day that Li Diudiu had been looking forward to finally arrived. He got busy as soon as he got up in the morning. He took off his hospital uniform and changed back into his original clothes. Although they were worn out, he had washed them clean himself.
He packed his things and prepared to go out, but then he remembered that his master had never seen him wearing the hospital uniform, so he ran back to change. He took a lot of things with him, including food and wine. The food was what Aunt Wu had prepared for him yesterday afternoon, and the wine was borrowed from Xiahou Zhuo, who said he must return it later.
Xiahou Zhuo also said to him...you have to fight for everything you want, instead of getting used to the charity given to you by others. Don't think that is taking advantage, that is turning yourself into a slave.
Li Diudiu carried too many things with him, so he walked clumsily. It took him at least four miles to walk from the academy to Wuwei Temple, but he didn't feel tired. He even felt that he didn't carry enough things.
When he arrived at the gate of the academy and was about to go out, he saw the instructor Yan Qingzhi standing there waiting. Li Diudiu felt a little flustered when he saw Yan Qingzhi. This is probably how all children feel when they see their teachers.
Yan Qingzhi said calmly, "I have to go out to do some work, and it happens to be on the way to where you are going. Get in the car, I'll give you a ride."
For a moment, Li Diudiu felt a little uncomfortable, as Yan Qingzhi had almost never been so kind to him.
He got on the carriage outside the door, and Yan Qingzhi pointed to a package on the carriage: "There are two sets of clothes in it. They are old and I didn't plan to keep them. I thought they would be thrown away anyway, you..."
"Thank you, sir."
Li Diudiu took the cloth bag and held it in his arms without saying anything else.
Yan Qingzhi was silent for a while and then said, "Did you go to see Xiahou Zhuo yesterday?"
"Yes, sir."
"Go less often in the future."
"Yes sir."
Yan Qingzhi seemed to notice that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, and for a moment, both of them fell into silence.
After a long time, Yan Qingzhi looked at Li Diudiu and said, "You and Xiahou Zhuo are not the same kind of people."
"I know sir."
Yan Qingzhi said something and Li Diudiu replied. Yan Qingzhi seemed to have lost interest and said no more. The carriage moved slowly forward along the street. The four-mile journey seemed to be slower than walking. No one spoke, and the carriage was so quiet that it seemed as if no one was there. However, no one would not be so embarrassed.
"arrive."
Yan Qingzhi's carriage stopped and he glanced at Li Diudiu: "I sent you here because I wanted your master to see that you came by car. I wanted him to know that you are really different after entering the academy."
Li Diudiu was shocked. After getting off the carriage, he bowed to Yan Qingzhi in the carriage and said, "Thank you, sir."
"Go ahead."
Yan Qingzhi reached out and pulled back the curtain of the carriage, and the carriage continued to move forward. In fact, Yan Qingzhi had nothing to do, and it was not on his way, he just wanted to see what the old man he respected looked like.
The old man didn't come.
Li Diudiu stood at the gate of Wuwei Temple and looked around, but there was no sign of his master. There was an open space at the gate of Wuwei Temple, and he could see everything at a glance. When Li Diudiu stood there with a bunch of things, he looked confused, not like he couldn't find anyone, but he felt like he was lost.
A child in the wilderness with no one to see him was probably how Li Diudiu felt at that moment.
“Master…”
Li Diudiu kept looking around, but there was no sign of his master anywhere in his sight. He was unwilling to give up, so he ran to one side of Wuwei Temple to look, but there was no master. He then ran to the other side, panting, but there was still no master.
No matter how strong a child is, he is still a child. Li Diudiu started crying.
Behind a big tree in the distance, a dirty Taoist with long eyebrows was hiding there and watching Li Diudiu carefully. At the moment when Li Diudiu burst into tears, he almost couldn't help but rush over to hug the child.
But he couldn't. If Li Diudiu saw him like this, how sad would Li Diudiu be? He knew Li Diudiu too well. As long as Li Diudiu saw him homeless, he would definitely leave the academy and choose to return to him.
No.
The child has already embarked on a different path, and there are beautiful scenery ahead. Even if he cannot become rich and powerful, at least it will be clean and bright. The old Taoist has taken ninety-nine steps to send the child onto the road, and only one step is left.
The final step is to make this child give up on you.
Taoist Changmei wiped his tears, leaned against a big tree and took a deep breath. He didn't dare to look anymore, as his heart would break if he continued.
He looked down at the clothes he was wearing. They were the same clothes he had worn when he brought Li Diudiu to Jizhou City. They were even more worn and dirty, and the color of the Taoist robe could no longer be seen. If... if he had a clean piece of clothing, he would have rushed over and picked up the child.
Li Diudiu was waiting for this day with great agony, and so was the old Taoist priest. He was even more tormented than Li Diudiu.
The closer the day got, the more tormented he became. He tried his best to find a set of clean clothes, but he had no other choice. Even if he died, he would never steal or rob, and he would never beg. He was a Taoist, and he had to live up to his ancestors and his identity as a Taoist.
He has been making a living by fortune-telling for so many years, and has never cheated anyone of his money against his conscience. He knows how much money he charges people for, and how much he does and says. He knows that he can be considered as cheating people for a living, but he only says nice words in exchange for money. Rich people or bad people buy such nice words from him to feel at ease.
He is a contradictory person, and sometimes he even looks down on himself because of his contradictions.
Just this morning, he wanted to just leave and not come to the Taoist temple, but he really couldn't help it. He tried many times, but he couldn't convince himself.
When he came across a ditch on the road, he squatted there and washed his face carefully. Although the water was not clean, he washed his face clean.
"Diudiuer... don't blame Master for being cruel."
The old Taoist leaned against a tree and talked to himself. His legs were shaking and he could not stand.
"Master sent you to Yangguan Avenue, but Master cannot go up. Master cannot go up and cannot drag you down. I cannot become a burden to you, child... I wish you a bright future. Master is leaving now."
He raised his hand and wiped his eyes vigorously, took a deep breath, and strode forward.
Taoist Changmei strode forward, trembling with every step.
Behind him came Li Diudiu's heart-wrenching cry. The old Taoist's heart felt like it was being cut back and forth by a knife. He wanted to turn around and run back countless times. He had such an urge countless times every moment, but he kept holding back.
Li Diudiu must have suffered in the academy because he was not from a wealthy family. How much cold words and insults did an eleven-year-old child have to endure every day? If people knew that he had such a poor master, he would be looked down upon even more.
He will feel better after crying for a while. He will feel better after crying for a while.
As the old Taoist was walking, he lowered his head and saw the tattered clothes on his body. For the first time, he felt resentment in his heart.
Oh my God, I have never done anything wrong and I do good deeds every day, so why can't I be treated decently in return?
All he wanted to be decent was a set of clean, decent clothes.
I don’t know how far they walked, but the old Taoist couldn’t hold on any longer, so he sat down, leaned against the wall and burst into tears. In the distance, Li Diudiu’s hoarse crying voice could still be heard. The old Taoist cried with his mouth wide open, silently.
With a click, something fell in front of the old Taoist priest. He subconsciously looked over and saw a passerby throwing a copper coin in front of him. He shook his head and said, "I am not a beggar. I don't beg."
"hehe."
The passerby glanced at him and said, "Do you want love? Do you think it's too little?"
The old Taoist picked up the coin and wanted to return it, but the man had already walked away, cursing as he walked. He probably felt that it was not worth it for him to do good deeds and end up making himself angry.
The old Taoist put the copper coin back on the ground and stood up with the help of the wall. He couldn't sit like this anymore. If Li Diudiu saw him, all his efforts would be wasted. He came here just to take another look at the child.
He walked forward holding on to the wall, and at this moment a person appeared in front of him.
"Don't cut off his chance of survival."
Someone was speaking in front of him.
The old Taoist raised his head and recognized at a glance that it was the gentleman in the carriage. He had been secretly watching when Li Diudiu got off the carriage and saw what the gentleman looked like.
Diudiuer looked so handsome in his beautiful hospital uniform, and he looked so majestic sitting in the carriage. That was the life he should have.
Yan Qingzhi looked at the old Taoist priest. He had always been calm and composed, but at this moment he felt so uncomfortable that he wanted to scream.
"He will stop thinking about life."
Yan Qingzhi said one more sentence.
"I……"
The old Taoist looked at his clothes again and shook his head, saying, "I can't see him in this state. Instead of pestering him and making him lose interest in studying, it's better to be ruthless... Sir, please get out of the way."
"You are the one who knows him best."
Yan Qing said word by word: "In the academy, I made him suffer in order to train his character. I called him a poor man in order to temper his patience. The more he suffers from me, the more he will be able to remain calm when he faces bullying in the classroom."
"I don't allow him to hang out with people of noble birth because I don't want him to become a lackey, a follower of others. He has pride in his bones, and he can't let his pride turn into servility by coveting the charity of others."
"I didn't allow him to do this or that because I knew it wasn't easy for him to get into the academy. In the past 36 years, there hasn't been a student like him in the Six Pages Academy."
Yan Qing said: "So I respect you, but now I look down on you. What I did was not to cut off his life, but what you are doing now is."
The old Taoist opened his mouth, speechless.
"You are the one who knows Li Chi best. If he has lost even his friendship, what is the point of him living? You let an eleven-year-old child want to die. Are you really doing him good? I always tell other students that you study not for anyone but for yourself, but I can't say this to him. He is studying for you."
Yan Qingzhi shook his head and turned away: "Think about it yourself."
The old Taoist looked at Yan Qingzhi's receding back and finally chose to leave.
Just then a hoarse shout came from behind him.
“Master!”
The old Taoist's shoulders trembled violently. He wanted to look back, but he didn't dare.
Li Diudiu came running over, threw away everything in his hands, ran behind the old Taoist and hugged him so tightly.
"No, don't dirty your hospital uniform!"
The old Taoist quickly turned around and tried to push Li Diudiu away, but there was no way Li Diudiu would let go. He just held the old Taoist's waist for a long time. Then Li Diudiu suddenly bit the old Taoist's arm very hard.
The old man burst into tears.
“Master…”
"Master is here."
"Master, do you want to run away?"
"No... Master forgot to change his clothes. Now Master is pretending to be poor and deceiving people."
"You just lie to me."
Li Diudiu wiped his snot and tears on his master's clothes, then laughed: "Master, have you ever eaten dumplings? Dumplings with fair skin and beautiful appearance."
Old Taoist: “Ah?”
On the distant wall, Xiahou Zhuo, who was sitting there looking at this side, had a sour nose. After hearing these words, he burst into tears.
What a rotten kid.
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