The First Volume of Qinghe County

  Ximen Qing looked at the dark entrance, always with a sense of foreboding. Xiaotian Qing beside him also involuntarily tightened his grip on the whip and stood in front of his master.

  "Ximen, you're overthinking!" Jiang, the clever one, with his rich experience in the jianghu, couldn't help but smile as he looked at Ximen Qing and Xiao Tianqing's tense expressions: "Even if it were a black shop, it would be set up in a bustling area, not a secluded place like this. If they really opened a black shop here, not even half a ghost would show up."

  "No matter what, the boss of this hotel is definitely a business idiot." Ximen Qing rolled his eyes and listened to Jiang Jing's words, he himself relaxed a bit. With an old hand by his side, Ximen Qing was still relatively at ease.

  "Is anyone inside?" Xiaotianqing felt a chill run down her spine, she pulled her neck and shouted twice, but there was no movement inside.

  "Ximen Xiaodi, let me go in and take a look first," said Jiang Jing, taking a step forward.

  "Wait a minute, it seems like someone is there." Ximen Qing's ears were sharp and he seemed to have heard some movement. Immediately after that, two coughs came from inside the house, then an old man with white hair walked out of the darkness, looking like he was in his fifties or sixties, wearing black clothes and pants, already slightly hunched over.

  "It was a guest who came, and the old man had some hearing loss, so he only heard it now. Please forgive him." The old man cupped his hands together in greeting: "Three guests, please come inside."

  "You old man is so rude!" Xiaotian Qing scolded: "Do you know who these two people are? How dare you be so impolite!"

  "Huh?" Ximen Qing furrowed his brow and stopped Xiaotianqing, this old man looked a bit strange: "Old fellow, are you the owner of this hotel?"

  The old man raised his head, and only then did Jianzi Jiang realize that the old man's two eyes were both bright red, and he didn't know if it was due to the smoke and fire of everyday life.

  "The old man has lived for so many years, what kind of person hasn't he seen?" The old man's face was calm and composed, first giving Xiaotianqing a soft nail, then answering Ximen Qing's question: "This hotel is the property of the little old man, and the little old man is naturally the boss. Please wait for a moment, the little old man will go in and open the window to let some light in."

  After finishing speaking, the old man returned to the darkness by himself, presumably to open the window.

  "This old man is really strange, how come he doesn't even have a single apprentice?" Little Tianqing couldn't help but whisper.

  Jiang Jing didn't care, he had been traveling the world for a long time and had seen many strange people, so he didn't pay much attention to the old man. Instead, Jiang Jing looked around at his surroundings.

  "Brother Xi Men, I only looked at the location of the hotel just now, but didn't expect it to be so good. This place is in a shaded area, with wind and air gathered, making it an ideal place for storing wine." Jiang Jing Si looked around again, then closed his eyes and took two deep breaths, as if sensing something: "I'm afraid this hotel was opened here not to attract business, but to store wine. It seems that old man is not ordinary, I'm really looking forward to tasting his wine."

  Huh? I didn't expect to find a place like this without even crossing the Jingyang Ridge. Could it be that today I can find two wine masters at once?

  Ximen Qing looked at Jiang Jing's serious expression and couldn't help but believe his words. At this time, accompanied by a few ear-piercing and unpleasant sounds of wood friction, the small hotel gradually became brighter. The old man didn't know whether he was choked by dust or tired, and coughed several times in a row.

  "Please come in, gentlemen." After a while, the old man's somewhat hoarse voice shouted: "Little Lao will go get some wine for you."

  Jiang Jingzi didn't even think about it and directly lifted his leg to enter, Ximen Qing and Xiaotianying exchanged a glance and also boldly followed him in.

  They opened two or three wooden windows. The room inside at least now doesn't look so dark, but the three of them still took a little while to adapt before they could see the layout clearly.

  The small house has a big table in the middle, but no stools!

  It's a mess! The desktop looks like it has been chewed by a dog, it's unbearable!

  It's terrible! The desktop is all crooked and I don't know if it will collapse at any time!

  Even a black-hearted restaurant is a hundred times better than this place!

  Even Little Tianqing couldn't adapt to this environment, reached out to touch the desktop, and found it full of dust. She frowned and quickly took out her own handkerchief to wipe the table: "Master, let's not stay here, it's really... too dirty!"

  Jiang Jing had already moved a stool over to help, and stopped Xiao Tianqing from wiping it down, saying "The dust is too much, don't wipe it, or else the dust will fly everywhere and be even harder to clean."

  "It doesn't matter if you drink or not, it's not like eating ash, just pick up the cup and drink." Jiang Jingyi paid with a confident attitude, making Ximen Qing look down on him.

  What kind of society is this guy from, could it be the Beggars' Sect?

  Xiao Tianqing wouldn't let it go, turned around and went outside to who-knows-where to wet the handkerchief, carefully wiped the table twice, and then wiped a stool waiting for Ximen Qing to sit down. She stood on one side waiting, secretly throwing the handkerchief that seemed like it was picked up from coal ash onto the ground.

  Ximen Qing and Master Wu Dalang sat face to face with Jiang Jingzi, calling out: "Shopkeeper, first bring two plates of meat to go with the wine!"

  "No." At this time, the old man swayed out from behind, directly holding three coarse ceramic wine bowls in his hand, and hugging a small wine jug in his arms.

  "The small store has a small profit, originally there were some side dishes to go with the wine, but several months ago the partner ran away." The old man put down his wine bowl and small wine jug, and somehow produced a plate of roasted peanuts and placed it on the table: "Gentlemen, only these roasted peanuts are left, just make do with them, consider it a gift from our humble store."

  The old man didn't show any intention of helping with pouring wine at all, and directly retreated back into the darkness behind the counter.

  Where's the good roast beef? Even if there's no beef, at least some mutton or goose would go well with wine! A handful of fried peanuts just won't do!

  With a face full of grief and indignation, Ximen's official couldn't help but wish he had a smartphone to post a scathing review on Dianping about the worst wine house in Qinghe County. Meanwhile, Jiang Jing across from him had already removed the mud seal from his small wine jar, took a deep breath, and was shocked: "This wine... smells really good."

  Xiao Tianqing hastily poured wine for Ximen Qing and Jiang Jing, but she herself didn't even have the interest to touch it. Jiang Jing had smelled the aroma earlier and was so tempted that he couldn't wait for Ximen Qing to drink, and he downed a bowl first: "Pour wine! Pour wine!"

  Ximen Qing took a light sip, although he wasn't particularly interested in Huangjiu, but this wine was far beyond his expectations, the mouthfeel was almost comparable to the ten-year-old Niang'erhong he had with Zhu Zhenzhou last time.

  Jiang Jing, who was sitting opposite, had already downed three cups in a row. He peeled an peanut and threw it into his mouth, chewing with gleaming eyes: "Good wine! I didn't expect to be able to drink such good wine!"

  Normally, when encountering such praise, the shopkeeper would come out to thank them a couple of times, but Ximen Qing looked at the old man behind the counter with an expressionless face and completely ignored him.

  "Mr. Chiang, what's so good about this wine?" Ximen Qing asked on purpose: "How does it compare to other hotels?"

  "The wine is rich and fragrant, with a smooth entrance." Jiang Jing, the god of calculation, let Xiaotian Qing pour another bowl, savoring it carefully: "Not to mention Qinghe County, I think even compared to other famous wines, it's not inferior."

  "What about the three bowls of rice that didn't pass the ridge?" Ximen Qing continued to ask, clearly seeing the old man's eyes flicker for a moment as he had been looking up at the eaves with his head tilted at an angle of forty-five degrees.

  Jiang Jing, the god of calculation, also hesitated and deliberated for a moment, after all, the owner was sitting behind him: "This wine is not inferior to Liu Zhuang's in terms of brewing skills, but it lacks some strength..."

  Ximen Qing saw the old man frowning, seemingly suppressing the urge to spit out a mouthful of saliva, and asked: "If two bowls of wine were placed in front of you, which one would you drink?"

  Fellow sufferers are like enemies, this old man runs a hotel at the head of Jingyanggang, while Liu Zhuang, the owner of the opposite Yanggu County, runs another hotel. I guess the two people are also secretly competing with each other. From the old man's reaction just now, it seems that there is a tragic story behind him.

  As expected, as soon as Ximen Qing brought up this matter, the old man's gaze directly fell upon the divine calculator Jiang Jing, and he was no longer nonchalant, but instead perked up his ears waiting for an answer.

  "This... " Divine Calculator Jiang Jing hesitated: "Still, Liu Zhuang's three bowls are better than going over the pass by half a point..."

  "That little rabbit, what does he know!" The old man directly jumped out from behind the counter, extremely agitated, with two or three blue veins bursting on his face, and his voice suddenly reached its maximum: "Even the wine is stolen from my father!"

  "What are you doing, you old man!" Xiaotianqing shouted loudly at the old man who was making a gesture to pounce.

  Jiang Jing, also known as the God of Calculation, was equally surprised. He stood up and looked at the old man: "Who are you? The county magistrate is here, retreat quickly!"

  "What! Lord County Magistrate!" The old man looked incredulous: "Which lord is the County Magistrate?"

  "This is the newly appointed County Magistrate, Lord Ximen!" Jiang Jing stretched out his hand, and Lord Ximen assumed a dignified posture, looking at the old man with an air of authority.

  "With a thud" the old man directly knelt down and knocked his head: "Your Honor will take charge for the common people!"

  Ximen Qing originally wanted to find a few winemaking masters, but unexpectedly got into trouble with the authorities instead. Anyway, it's not under his jurisdiction in Yanggu County, so he just comforted them with a couple of words and that was it.

  "What's your name, old man?" Ximen Qing suddenly felt himself transformed into Judge Bao and said in a stern tone: "If you have any grievances, tell the official about them."

  "I dare not speak it out loud, sir, for fear of offending your ears. But since my wine is quite good and has some reputation in Qinghe County, people have given me a nickname - 'Liu Ji Shou'..." The old man knocked his head again, thanking Magistrate Ximen, and continued to say...

  "What? Leave a few hands?" Ximen Qing felt that his face was covered with black lines, and he almost couldn't help but laugh. He didn't expect to run into a microblog celebrity in this era.

  "The old man had a son named Liu Neng." Lao San continued, "This little brat almost suffocated me to death."