There is a saying in Suizhou City: "I have opened a pharmacy and made iron, and there is no need to say about all kinds of businesses." It means that these two businesses are profitable and no industry can compare with them. The old man opened a pharmacy. Although he couldn't say that he made money every day, he was also extraordinary. The second master swung a hammer and hit the iron, and his sweat beads fell eight petals, but his life was in a difficult situation, and he did not respond to the common saying.
The old man and the second man are in the same market town, and the blacksmith shop is not too far away from the medicine shop. The old man could hear the sound of the second master rushing to the iron in the pharmacy clearly; the second master could not hear the sound of the old man plucking the beads in the pharmacy quietly.
There is a medicine cabinet in the medicine shop, with ochre red and the drawers are as dense as honeycombs. The old man was wearing a short light yellow silk jacket, a hard-shelled melon-skin hat, and a pair of small, round glasses on his nose. His fingers with long nails were plucking flat beads, and he spoke slowly. The old man got older and hired a young guy to run away. He sat in the Grand Master's chair and made a prescription to settle accounts. His eyes slipped out from the edge of the lens from time to time and glanced at the guy who was running away. Sometimes, the guy who was running the hall took the prescription and pulled the wrong medicine trunk, and the old man slowly said, "Sir, I'm slow, why are you panic?"
In the summer of the dog days, the old man was afraid of heat, so he hung a one-meter square cloth curtain above the Taishi chair. The curtain was fixed to the ceiling, and a wooden strip was sewn underneath, and the wooden strip was tied to a rope through the pulley. The guy grabbed the medicine and had nothing to do, so he pulled the rope back and forth, and the curtain swayed, like a big palm fan on his face. The old man sat in the Grand Master's chair, and a cool breeze fell from the sky, which was very comfortable. The guy pulled the curtain to fan the old man and spoke close to the unsatisfied old man. Everything is talked about in the world. Speaking of the beautiful beauty, the old man stretched his head and listened very attentively. The fly was carefully lying on the old man's beige silk short jacket. The guy didn't dare to drop the fly swatter easily, for fear of dirtying the old man's clothes. He just shook the fly swatter and drove away gently, saying, "Why don't you go to the blacksmith shop ? What's there to eat here? The Chinese medicine shop, and you can't see delicious food even if you wear a telescope!"
The second master's blacksmith shop is much more lively than the old man's medicine shop. Second Master rarely wears clothes on his upper body. He pulls the bellows with his shirtlessness and fires are rushing. A piece of pig iron was put into the fire, covering the bright red coal, and pressing a cylinder tiles on the charcoal fire to prevent the fire from dispersing. After a while, the iron block was burned and shone with a dazzling white light. The second master's master clamped out an iron block with tongs and placed it on the anvil, and the master and apprentice swung the iron hammer and started fighting. The master used a small hammer, which was a short mouth. The second master swung the sledge hammer, which was about one meter long and weighed twenty pounds. It was swung to make the wind. The master's little hammer hit the edge of the anvil three times like a chicken pecking at rice, and the second master's sledgehammer fell heavily. The master's little hammer is like an old monk who is whispering to beg for food, and the second master's sledgehammer is like a thunderous walker. The iron block is obedient and obedient under the hammer of the master and apprentice. It must be square and round.
Uncle needs four plates of side dishes, a pot of old wine, and alternately use chopsticks and spoons. Second Master’s meals are mainly sweet potatoes. After eating sweet potatoes in the rice basket, Erye also ate three or five sweet potato noodles. When sweet potatoes are eaten, the fire in the blacksmith shop does not delay burning iron and can cook rice, but it is very humid. The master and apprentice put in most of the day and the meal was very sweet. During the meal, the master guided the second master to the shortcomings of ironwork. The second master rarely speaks and just keeps his head at eating. Later, the master could not lift the hammer, and the second master hired a young man and became the master himself.
I am studying in the market town where my uncle and second uncle are. Mid-Autumn Festival , my parents asked me to bring mooncakes to my uncle and second master. I went to my uncle's medicine shop and took out the mooncakes from my schoolbag. The old man buried his head in settlement, raised his eyelids and said lightly, "What are you doing with this thing?"
I have been standing in the pharmacy for a long time, and the old man raised his head: "Go, go, go to school quickly!"
I went to the second master's blacksmith shop to take out the mooncakes. The second master was very pitying: "Send it to me, do you still have mooncakes in your house?"
The second master uncovered the lid of the pot and took out a piece of sweet potato: "Sweet sweet potatoes, eat them while they are hot!"
I got off school, and the second master stopped the fire and waited for me at the intersection. Erye bought some chicken, duck, fish and meat and asked me to eat it in his shop. Erye ate the sweet potatoes by himself.Seeing that the chicken wings I had gnawed were still stuck to some meat, the second master picked it up and put it in his mouth to chew it off, saying, "Good thing, don't miss it!"
The second master swung the hammer and his waist was sore and his arms were sore. He couldn't help but go to the uncle's medicine shop to get some plaster. The old man still moved his abacus to settle the accounts, looking like he was doing his job. The second master was very generous and took out a handful of change for the old man to keep it casually. In my impression, the old man and the second master never quarreled, nor had they ever talked on a bench, as if they didn't know each other.
When my great-grandfather passed away, the old man and the second master had an awkward relationship. The old man sighed, and the second master lowered his head and said nothing. The reason is that the old man wants to do a richer funeral. If he is not much better than ordinary neighbors, the old man feels that he can't bear to worry about his face. The second master is unwilling to be too generous, the main reason is that he has no money. Second Master is not willing to pay less money when he adds to the second one. Although the second master was born as a blacksmith and had a strong personality, he finally compromised. The old man is willing to pay more money, provided that the old house left by his great-grandfather belongs to the old man.
The second master smiled bitterly and drew a note on the document.
The old man and the second master are old and are free at home. The old man saved a lot of money when he opened a medicine shop and his life was smooth sailing. Second Master has been fighting for a lifetime, and not only has he not saved up money, but he has saved up his waist and arms. During the Spring Festival, there is a custom of young people sending steamed buns to their elders to pick up meat. I think the old man wouldn't care about this little meal. The steamed buns he sent might be thrown to the wolf dog guarding the yard. I deeply felt sorry for my second master, so I invited my second master to come to my house for the New Year’s dinner.
Erye is not very flexible. When he is having dinner at the same table, I keep picking up food and sending it to Erye’s bowl. The old man walked in with his hands cut back, his face so gloomy that he could unscrew the water. He stared at me: "I'll ask a question, please explain it to me."
I looked at the old man in shock.
"The second master is my grandfather, isn't the grandfather?"
The old man seemed to have suffered a great grievance, and after saying that, he left. (Author Tang Feng)
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