During the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, there was a scholar named Guo Liangyi in Guang'an County. He loved studying since childhood. Most of the money his parents earned when they were alive was used to support him in his studies.
Later, his parents died one after another, and Guo Liangyi could only make money by selling some calligraphy and paintings, helping others write letters, etc.
There are two markets in Guang'an County every month. The people around them will take this opportunity to go to the market to buy or sell, and there are more people coming and going.
Guo Liangyi will also seize this opportunity, go to the market early to wait, occupy the stall, and put his calligraphy and paintings on waiting for the buyer.
However, most of the ordinary people come to the market, and there are few literati and elegant scholars and nobles. His calligraphy and paintings often have poor sales. Sometimes the entire collection is scattered, and Guo Liangyi's calligraphy and paintings have not been sold yet.
However, there were many people who asked him to write letters. At that time, there were few people in the family who read and read. If there were relatives outside, they could only find someone to write letters on their behalf, so there was still a market in this regard.
Let’s talk about this year, just after the New Year, the fifth day of the lunar month was about to meet the big market. Guo Liangyi occupied the stall early, put on calligraphy and paintings, and started selling it.
The result is still the same as before. There are very few people buying calligraphy and paintings, and a few people wrote to him. Most of them did not come back for the New Year for some reason. They wrote to ask about the situation or report their safety. After one collection of
, Guo Liangyi only earned a few copper . Seeing that it was getting late, he was about to close the stall and go home.
At this time, a little girl who was also setting up a stall on the right side of his stall timidly called him: "Brother!"
Guo Liangyi turned her head and saw that it was a little girl selling candles.
At that time, every family had to hang lamps on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and even if they didn't lanterns, they had to lit candles. They burned all night long, and the little girl was selling a few candles while it was almost the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
But she is obviously shy and not good at shouting, and candles sell very slowly. She called Guo Liangyi, just because she wanted Guo Liangyi to buy some of her candles.
Guo Liangyi has limited income. After deducting the expenses of studying, he lives a tight life every month. The oil lamps are lit at home, and candles are luxury goods for him.
, and Guo Liangyi has his own plans. Generally, on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, there will be a peddler selling candles at a cheap price, and he wants to wait until then to buy it.
Thinking of this, he shook his hand and turned around and prepared to leave. But he turned back because he heard crying sounds coming from behind him.
He hurriedly put down his shoulder pole, came to the girl, comforted her and said, "Miss, it's not that I don't want to buy it, but that I'm really short of money. After buying a candle, I may lose food in the second half of the month."
The girl was a little desperate and cried even louder. Guo Liangyi was at a loss for a moment.
The girl sobbed and said, "Brother, it's not that I'm not trying to make things difficult for you. I have a stepmother at home and a younger brother. If I can't make money, I can't buy meat buns for my younger brother. If I can't bring them back, I might be kicked out at night..." After that, she started crying again.
When Guo Liangyi heard this, he felt mixed feelings. After thinking about it, he took out two copper plates and said, "Then you bring me a candle."
hesitated for a moment, took out another copper plate, and handed it to the little girl.
The little girl waved her hands repeatedly and didn't dare to accept it because she knew that Guo Liangyi was not rich either.
But Guo Liangyi insisted on giving and comforted her and said, "Please accept it. I am a big man. At worst, I can work harder. Write more letters and draw more calligraphy and paintings. You will be different. You can't make a lot of money by selling candles, and you will still be angry when you go back. Get more money and maybe you will be better off."
The little girl thanked her deeply, knelt down and kowtowed to Guo Liangyi, picked a candle and handed it to Guo Liangyi. Then she took out a lotus-shaped candle in her arms and handed it to Guo Liangyi.
The candle is made with a white twister and is very exquisitely made.
Guo Liangyi took it and looked it up for a while, and asked, "Is this what you did?"
The little girl nodded and said, "I used the remaining candle pieces I burned at home, and then squeezed it out and polished it with wood strips."
Guo Liangyi slapped her head and said, "You can melt all the ordinary candles in your hand and make such a lotus candle! "
"I dare not. These candles are brought by my stepmother. She will count the amount of them sold and how much they are left after she goes back. "The little girl shook her head and said.
Guo Liangyi said, "Don't be afraid, you are like this. There is a big event on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. At that time, how many candles you can get from your stepmother, remember how much money you can sell, and remember how much you can buy, and then you come to me and I will leave a place for you next to my stall. Then we will melt the candles together and make them into lotus candles, which will definitely be sold! "
is over, and Guo Liangyi added: "If you make money, you will count on yours, and if you lose money, you will count on mine. You must have come early on the fifteenth day, otherwise there would be no time left. "
The little girl nodded vigorously, indicating that she remembered it.
As expected by Guo Liangyi, at the market on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the little girl's lotus candles were sold very popular, and after the collection was settled, she actually earned twenty-five more copper coins than before.
The little girl's eyes were shining with excitement, and she paced left and right with the money, not knowing where to put it.
Suddenly, she stared at Guo Liangyi and said, "Brother, I will definitely be stolen if I take this money back. Let it go. Let it be kept for me, and I will get it when the wind passes. ”
After saying that, he added: “My name is Honglian. Brother, tell me your address and I will pick it up then. In addition, I will only get fifteen of these twenty-five copper plates, and I will give you ten of them, which is a thank you gift. "
Guo Liangyi refused, but saw Honglian looking at him pitifully, thinking of her situation, he agreed.
It was already dark when he got home. Guo Liangyi lit the ordinary candle he bought from Honglian before, the lotus-shaped candle, he was reluctant to light it.
In a blink of an eye, it was March, the season when grass grows and birds fly, the sky The air gradually warmed up. Guo Liangyi still set up a stall every episode, but he never saw Honglian again, and Honglian did not go to his house to retrieve the fifteen copper plates he had stored.
One night, Honglian suddenly appeared in Guo Liangyi's dream. She was hazy and erratic, and what she said to Guo Liangyi was sometimes close and sometimes far away, but Guo Liangyi heard it clearly: "Brother, on the full night of the fifteenth month this month, you lit the lotus candle and wait for me in the living room. "After saying that, he disappeared.
Guo Liangyi shouted: "Honglian! "He woke up from his dream.
He didn't dare to be negligent. On the fifteenth day, he was waiting in the living room early. As soon as the sky turned dark, he couldn't wait to light the lotus candle.
He saw that the fire gradually became bigger and red from a small fire. After a while, the flame gradually floated into the air, turned into a human form, and then slowly fell down.
Guo Liangyi was stunned and looked closely and saw that this was not Honglian or anyone else.
He hurriedly pulled Honglian over, held him and sat on the stool, and asked anxiously: "Honglian, what's going on? Are you a human or a ghost? "
Honglian said: "I was dead, but now I am alive again. "
It turned out that after Honglian returned home that time, her stepmother heard about the market from somewhere and forced Honglian to take out the extra money for sale. Honglian refused to obey, so her stepmother beat her to death, but she beat Honglian to death.
Honglian's soul was floating and unwilling to leave. She met an immortal master, who said, "You should not be dead. I will teach you a way to make you return to your yang. "
The method mentioned by the immortal master was exactly the method that Guo Liangyi dreamed of in his dream. Sure enough, Honglian successfully came to life.
At this time, an old man with white beard appeared in the living room. He stroked his beard and said, "You are not considered to be reviving the sun now. You must find your body. I will give you another elixir to eat it before you can truly reviving the sun. ”
Guo Liangyi said: “Immortal Master, I’ll go find it. ”
The white-bearded old man nodded and pointed his hand and said, “Go to the northwest. "
Guo Liangyi walked all the way to the northwest as he spoke, and finally came to a mass grave.
At this time, he hated Honglian's stepmother's viciousness even more. He didn't bury him well after being beaten to death, so he actually threw it into the mass grave. It was too much.
But he didn't care about this and hurriedly found Honglian's body and carried it home.
The old man with white beard nodded, took out a pill and stuffed it into the corpse's mouth, then pointed at Honglian and said, "In!"
The figure of Honglian slowly turned into a wisp of blue smoke and slowly entered the corpse.
The white-bearded old man pointed with his hand again, and saw the elixir contained in the mouth of the Honglian's corpse emit a strange light. After turning it in his mouth a few times, Honglian slowly opened his eyes.
The white-bearded old man shouted softly again: "Check!" The elixir flew back to his hands like eyes.
He put away the pills and turned around to leave. At this time, Guo Liangyi stopped him. He pulled Honglian and kowtowed on the ground, saying words of thanks.
The white-bearded old man smiled slightly and said, "You don't have to thank me. I was originally a star in the sky. I have been demoted to the world for five years because of a mistake. Only when I lit the lotus-shaped lantern at the homes of fifty ordinary people can I be liberated. But in the past few years, the common people have not lit the lotus-shaped lantern at home. By chance, you made lotus-shaped candles. Although they were not lanterns, they played the same role at the fifteenth o'clock in the first lunar month. I was liberated. I learned about your affairs and came to repay them. After repaying their kindness, I left!"
finished speaking, and his figure flashed and disappeared without waiting for them to speak.
Guo Liangyi and Honglian looked at each other, looking at each other, and as they looked at each other, their faces slowly turned red.
In fact, they have long appreciated each other and pleased each other. Later, Guo Liangyi and Honglian became husband and wife. Guo Liangyi later passed the imperial examination and passed the imperial examination, and the two lived a happy life from then on.
