During the period of the Song Dynasty, there was a ferryman named Yuan Chengzhi in Jingzhao. He had a very superb ability in sailing and was enthusiastic. Every time he had villagers who needed to cross the river, he would take the initiative to come forward and talk to others and attract customers. Even those who did not have the need to cross the river would be moved by his enthusiasm and could not help but go to the river to have some fun.
Therefore, Yuan Chengzhi's business is very good. He made a lot of money and is even more famous in the local area. Under the introduction of a matchmaker, he met Lin Shiyin, the village flower in the village and married him home. His life has always been rich and beautiful.
On that day, while Yuan Chengzhi was driving a boat by the river, he met a familiar figure. The man was named Liu Canyang. He was once Yuan Chengzhi's childhood friend. He had a very good relationship with Yuan Chengzhi when he was young. It was not until when Yuan Chengzhi was fifteen years old that Liu Canyang went south to do business with Liu's father, and they parted.
Both sides were very happy to see their former friends, especially Yuan Chengzhi. He pulled Liu Canyang that night and came to a restaurant in the town, allowing the waiter to serve the best food and drinks. The two of them drank and chatted with each other. When Liu Canyang talked about his experiences over the years, he couldn't help but frowned.
He worked with Liu's father, but neither the father nor the son had a business mind. Not only did he not make money, he also lost his wealth. Liu Canyang has not even married his wife. He is reluctant to buy even good clothes on weekdays, and he is even more reluctant to eat fish and lives a very poor life.
After Liu Canyang said this, Yuan Chengzhi noticed his outfit. He found that Liu Canyang's clothes were indeed worn out with several holes, and there were patches on them. If it weren't for the clean body, he would be like a beggar sleeping in the open air. Yuan Chengzhi generously took out twenty taels of silver from his pocket and handed it to Liu Canyang, asking him to use it to subsidize his family income.
Liu Canyang was not polite, so he took the money and went home.
The next morning, Yuan Chengzhi was still ferrying by the river. The wind and waves on this day were particularly strong, the waves were one meter high, and few people needed to travel on the shore. At noon, Yuan Chengzhi came to the river bank to rest and found a stranded catfish .
The catfish was washed ashore by the waves. Its cheeks were twitching, but it could not breathe a breath of fresh oxygen. It kept rolling in the mud, and it was five meters away from the river. It could never return to the river. Seeing that it was about to die of oxygen, Yuan Chengzhi became kind-hearted at the critical moment. He felt that the catfish was relatively short and had not grown up yet, so he should let him live, so he picked up the catfish and threw it into the river.
On the evening of the day, Yuan Chengzhi ate the supper made by his wife, then lay on the bed and fell asleep. The catfish that he rescued in a daze came to him. The catfish activated his spiritual intelligence by chance, able to speak like a human, and gave people a dream. It noticed that Yuan Chengzhi had a disaster tomorrow evening, and deliberately sneaked into Yuan Chengzhi's dream and spoke. He said, "Benefactor, if someone invites you to dinner tomorrow night, remember not to drink soup!" After hearing this, Yuan Chengzhi suddenly woke up from his dream. It was midnight at the middle of the night. He was sleepy and sat at the head of the bed in a daze. On this day, he was still ferrying by the river. Liu Canyang suddenly came to find him and asked him to come to his house to visit him after he was busy today. His niece was about to pass a hundred-day banquet.
That night, Yuan Chengzhi came to the Liu family as promised. There were many guests coming to attend the 100-day banquet, including many familiar faces of Yuan Chengzhi. Yuan Chengzhi greeted them one by one before she sat down. During the meal, he recalled the dream that the catfish had given him, and he had not moved his chopsticks for a long time, but the guests on the side wanted to toast him, so he had to take a drink.
The wine glass was poisoned. After drinking, Yuan Chengzhi lay on the table and did not move. The guests thought he was unable to drink and fell asleep, but did not wake him up. They left the seat after eating. When all the guests were exposed, Liu Canyang came to Yuan Chengzhi and gently pushed him. After confirming that he would not wake up, he raised his head and laughed loudly, laughing while laughing.
Liu Canyang's mother died of dysfunction when she gave birth to her. Her father never spoiled him at all and often beat and scolded him. He envied Yuan Chengzhi for having a harmonious and happy family since he was a child. Later, he went to a foreign land with his father. He thought he could defeat Yuan Chengzhi with his efforts, but unexpectedly, he did not succeed in the end and often needed the help of his confidants to live.
Therefore, Liu Canyang was very jealous of the life Yuan Chengzhi has now, and he was even more envious, jealous and hated Yuan Chengzhi's little wife. Under this resentment, Liu Canyang developed evil intentions towards Yuan Chengzhi. He specially brought Yuan Chengzhi to his home and let him drink toxic wine.
In this way, Yuan Chengzhi will no longer be in the world, and he will no longer have to jealous of anyone.
When Liu Canyang revealed the whole truth, Yuan Chengzhi suddenly raised his head, spit out the mouthful of wine he pretended to drink, and stared at Liu Canyang tightly.
Yuan Chengzhi has been having a good relationship with Liu Canyang since he was a child. He never thought that Liu Canyang had such resentment towards him. He furiously threw his fist at Liu Canyang on the cheek and beat him up. Then he returned home in anger. With his wife's comfort, he gradually calmed down and lived a happy life.
As for Liu Canyang, he was poor for half his life. His confidants saw that he was not motivated at all, and they did not want to raise such an inability to do so. Liu Canyang gradually stopped helping him. Liu Canyang finally spent all his last penny and lived on the streets as a beggar. People refused to give him food, so he starved to death on the streets.
