Chapter 1 The Puppet and the Seller
Xiao Baojing held the pomegranate pattern bronze mirror and stared blankly at the young face with heavy makeup inside.
She traveled through time and became a puppet in painted clothes.
She poked out her white fingertips from the wide sleeves of the red palace dress, touched the red thread sewn on her neck, and couldn't help but let out a sharp scream: "Oh my God! If it weren't for the stiffness of her body, and the red thread sewn on her neck and joints, Who can tell that this is a puppet? This skin and eyebrows are so realistic! What kind of skin is it made of? Are the craftsmanship of ancient crafts so good?
The ringing of bells came from outside the yard.
Xiao Baojing quickly threw away the bronze mirror and hid it among the pile of painted puppets in the corner.
These puppets are as tall as normal people, and include men, women, and children, but their workmanship is not as delicate as hers. The eyes of a little maid puppet wearing a goose yellow half-armor skirt next to her are about to fall out.
Xiao Baojing couldn't stand it, so he helped her put her eyeballs into her eye sockets.
The ringing of the bell was approaching, and the footsteps in the yard had already reached the eaves of the corridor.
Xiao Baojing quickly straightened his gaze.
The moment she looked forward, the little maid puppet next to her suddenly blinked and peeked at her curiously. The moment the master pushed the door open and entered, his stiff expression returned.
The owner of this small house is a young salesman. Every morning he carries a load full of various gadgets and goes to the town to sell rouge and gouache, hairpins, embroidered shoes, and bag puppets.
Xiao Baojing saw him take off his wooden clogs and step into the threshold. The dark blue Taoist robe made him tall and slim. When he was pouring tea and eating, he revealed a pale and thin wrist. Even his ankles were long and thin. He had the standard appearance of a growing boy. .
He is obviously a craftsman who travels around the streets, but he likes to imitate scholars in wearing a scarf and a dark red and light pink hibiscus flower on his temples. When he is not wearing a hairpin, he hangs a snow-white fox mask around his waist. , the fox's slender and slightly raised eyes are exactly the same as his, and when he smiles, his lips are red, his teeth are white, his eyebrows are bright, and he really looks like the fox scholar in Strange Tales.
The salesman put down the tea cup and walked towards the low dowry by the window: "Why was the bronze mirror left here?"
Xiao Baojing's breath was suffocated.
She was relieved a little when she saw that the salesman didn't have too much suspicion and just put the mirror back on the sandalwood frame.
If the salesman found her running around, he would probably think that the puppet had become a spirit, right?
Maybe he would report it to the authorities and burn her to death.
It rained lightly at night, and the banana trees outside the window were rustling.
The salesman lit an oil lamp, suddenly walked to the corner, picked up Xiao Baojing from his waist.
Xiao Baojing's pupils narrowed slightly, and his heart rose nervously in his throat.
In the middle of the night, alone and alone, why was he holding her?
Does he want to...
What does he want from her?
Abnormal!
Fortunately, the salesman just placed her in front of the dowry by the window.
He combed her hair into a complicated and beautiful palace bun, then picked some bright red rouge with his little finger, and spread it evenly on her lips little by little, using gentle and gentle movements of his fingertips.
Xiao Baojing looked quietly with a sullen face.
The young man lowered his eyes, and the thin and long eyelashes cast shadows on his cheeks, covering his dark and deep pupils.
After finally applying the rouge evenly, he raised his fox eyes and praised: "Whose little princess is so beautiful? Oh, she belongs to me..."
His voice was gentle and clear, and the upturned tail sounded like it had countless little hooks, which made Xiao Baojing feel itchy in his heart.
This guy is weird.
The seller's eyes fell on the sachet on her waist again: "This sachet is old. When the goods are sold out tomorrow, I will buy you a new one."
He turned around and started doing handicrafts, taking out red silk thread and a handful of copper coins from the bamboo basket, as if he was planning to weave a hand rope.
But he was dissatisfied with the shape of the hand rope, so he knitted and unknitted it, and after an hour he was only halfway done.
Xiao Baojing secretly thought that it was no wonder that the salesman had nothing of value in his family. As a craftsman, he worked so hard. He only knitted one bracelet in one night. It was no wonder that he could make money.
The night is getting darker.
The salesman put the braided copper coin bracelet into the basket, turned off the oil lamp, and went to bed. The rain stopped, and the moonlight shone brightly into the room.
Xiao Baojing had slept enough during the day. He glanced at the sleeping boy on the wooden couch, moved his body with confidence, and began to wander around the small house.
Although the salesman lives alone, his house is kept in good order.
There are lush bananas and hibiscus planted in the small courtyard, and a simple bronze animal-headed bell hangs from the eaves. Probably because the family is poor, there is no meat or vegetables in the cupboard, and there is no rice in the rice vat.
"They are too poor to open the pot."
Xiao Baojing imagined the life experience of the salesman:
He was originally a scholar, but his parents died early. In order to raise the expenses for going to Beijing to take the exam, he had to temporarily become a salesman.
How pitiful.
After visiting the small house, she decided to go to the town to have a look.
Unfortunately, this body cannot move like a normal person, and her joints are stiff when walking. She can only walk slowly while holding on to the wall.
The town was filled with mist, and it was quiet without a sound.
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Through the moonlight, Xiao Baojing saw the dilapidated and ancient pavilion buildings in the distance, vaguely hidden in the fog, and could see the faint green candlelight shining through the windows.
Xiao Baojing finally walked to the street.
It was obviously late at night, but all the shops were still open, with green lights like daylight.
Xiao Baojing passed by a rice shop and remembered that the seller was too poor to open the pot and wanted to buy her a sachet. He couldn't help but take off a gold hairpin and planned to exchange it for some white rice to repay him.
She touched her stiff neck and struggled to pronounce the tone: "The shopkeeper, buy rice."
The middle-aged shopkeeper sat on a worn and yellowed bamboo chair and ignored her.
Xiao Baojing repeated: "Buy, rice."
The shopkeeper still ignored her.
She stepped forward: "Buy——"
Like a duck being pinched by the neck, the remaining word was strangled in the throat.
Xiao Baojing stared blankly at the shopkeeper's face covered with wood texture and the facial features painted with paint, and his hair suddenly stood up.
She turned and left.
I randomly broke into other shops and houses. The men, women, old and children inside were all carved out of wood. Some were crying and some were laughing. They looked very strange through the lights.
The dark wind blew out the green lanterns outside the shop.
Countless white paper money poured in from the end of the long street.
Xiao Baojing held on to the wall and ran back to the seller's small house.
She locked the door to the courtyard hard, leaned against the door fearfully, and kept stroking her chest.
There was no one alive in the town.
The people who live here are all wooden dolls wearing colorful clothes!
This is a dead town!
Seeing the sky breaking, Xiao Baojing knelt down in front of the dowry again, maintaining the same posture as last night.
But it was like beating a small drum in my heart.
If there were no living people in the town, why would the salesman live here?
He goes to town every day to sell goods, and who does he sell to?
Long time no see! ! The appearance of the male protagonist is inspired by "Chinese Tales Goose Goose".
(End of chapter)