It is said that a long time ago, there was a young man named Ai Shun. His father died early, and he and his mother depended on each other for life.
When he was very young, he relied on his mother to make a living by washing other people’s textiles from dawn to dusk. When he grew up, his mother was already tired, her back was hunched, and she also suffered from old cold leg problems. After working hard, he can only rely on Ai Shun to work hard to support his family.
It was a year of severe drought, and the land of those landlords was so dry that the crops were not harvested, so Ai Shun couldn’t find work, so he could only run around digging grass roots and picking leaves to satisfy his hunger. As time went by, Ai Shun was so hungry that he would babble, not to mention his frail and sick mother? A few times his mother fainted from hunger, and he couldn’t watch his mother starve to death, so he resolutely stepped into the house of his uncle who hadn’t seen him for many years.
His uncle was an old peddler who had been in business for most of his life, and his family was fairly well off. At that time, the uncle suspected that Ai Shun’s father’s family was poor, so he tricked his mother to marry a rich businessman as his concubine, but the mother disagreed and offended uncle. Later, the grandfather died, and the uncle was in charge of the family, and the two families cut off contact. Alas, Ai Shun, who is poor and short-sighted, is the first to think of his uncle when he has no other way out, thinking that his uncle will break the bones and connect the tendons, even if he doesn’t kiss him, he will kiss him better than others, so he carried his mother behind his back With a glimmer of hope, I came to my uncle’s house to borrow rice for cooking.
Ai Shun came to the door rashly, and my uncle was very surprised. When the uncle knew what he was coming for, he inevitably taunted his mother in front of Ai Shun, and then reluctantly agreed to lend Ai Shun a bucket of rice and a bucket of noodles. But there is one condition, the uncle asked Ai Shun to run the business for him for a month, so as to experience the hardships of being a salesman. Ai Shun thought to himself that as long as his mother is not allowed to go hungry, he will agree to even the harshest conditions, not to mention carrying the burden of carrying goods for a month of business, even carrying a month of shit.
Ai Shun went home with rice noodles on his back, telling his mother that he borrowed them from a friend. Seeing that there is rice in the pot, my mother is full of joy, so how can she have the heart to ask the bottom line? From then on, Ai Shun picked up goods from his uncle’s house and traveled from village to town every day, peddling along the street, while his uncle sat at home and collected money.
One day, Ai Shun went to the temple fair with a load of goods. In less than half a day, all the goods he picked were sold out. Ai Shun saw that it was still early, and planned to rush to the city to distribute the goods.
On the way to the city, Ai Shun couldn’t bear the anxiety, so he walked into the woods beside the road with his load of goods for convenience. Suddenly, Ai Shun saw two foxes sleeping in the hole of the dead tree. He was very pleasantly surprised. He hurriedly took out two bags from the cargo box, quickly caught the fox and stuffed them into the pockets, tied up the mouths, and put them into the two boxes respectively. . How could he have the mind to go to the city to distribute the goods? I thought I would go home early and kill the two foxes to improve my mother’s life. I could also dry the fox skins and wrap them around my mother’s old cold legs to keep warm and reduce pain.
On the way home, Ai Shun suddenly heard someone calling the peddler. He hurriedly looked around but saw no one. He wondered, did he encounter a ghost in broad daylight? Then he heard the call of the little peddler again, and only then did he realize that it was coming from the cargo box at the back. He opened the lid of the box and saw the pocket wriggling and screaming. It turned out to be a fox barking. The fox also said, little peddler, let me go, right? I will give you a treasure–a money box. Every time you open this treasure box, you can get one tael of silver.
Ai Shun was very surprised, thinking that this fox is capable of teaching and can speak human, if he goes home and kills it, wouldn’t it ruin his practice, it would be better to let him go, it would count as accumulating some sinful virtue, not to mention he could get a treasure box. Without hesitation, he untied the pocket and poured out the fox. The fox rolled on the ground and spit out a three-inch red box from its mouth. Then, the fox jumped up and ran away, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Ai Shun picked up the small and exquisite red box, held it in the palm of his hand and gently opened the box, and sure enough, a tael of silver came out. He was overjoyed, thinking that he could buy a estate and land by opening only three times a day throughout the year, so why would he need to open more? He couldn’t put it down and hid the box in his arms.
After Ai Shun got the treasure box, he thought about letting go of the fox in front as well, thinking it would be better to kill less. Unexpectedly, the fox released by him did not escape, but sat on the ground squinting his eyes, thanked him for not killing him, and said that she and her sister drank royal wine and slept soundly in the tree hole. It is their fate that Ai Shun let her sisters go. The younger sister gave the money box, and she gave the psychic flower. She said that this flower has accumulated her spiritual energy for two thousand years, and can move things invisible. As long as she wears the flower and thinks about where she wants to go, she can close her eyes and say it three times. Do remember not to kill people and set fires while wearing flowers. If you do that, you will lose your mana and become an ordinary flower.
Ai Shun took the crystal clear psychic flower, but the fox suddenly disappeared. Ai Shun looked at this peerless psychic flower, full of curiosity, but he still didn’t quite believe it. He put on the flowers, closed his eyes and said three times to go to the city, and when he opened his eyes, he really arrived in the city. He found a corner where no one was around, picked flowers to reveal his appearance, and went to the designated store to complete the goods. Then, he put on the psychic flower again, went back to give an account to his uncle, and then happily rushed back home to have fun with his mother.
Ai Shun is a trustworthy young man, and he didn’t break his promise to his uncle just because he owns treasures. But the uncle played tricks again, asking Ai Shun to work for another month, if he didn’t do it, he would pay the rice noodles right away? When Ai Shun saw his uncle playing tricks, he dropped his burden angrily, ran out and bought rice noodles to pay back to his uncle.
At that time, the uncle suspected that Ai Shun had taken the money from him, so why not just pay it back? He sued his nephew to the county government lobby.
The magistrate of this county government, surnamed Cheng, although he is shrewd and capable, is a man who loves great achievements and values his future. The magistrate of Cheng asked the Yamen servant to bring Ai Shun to court.
Under the intimidation of Chengzhi County, Ai Shun had to tell the story about the fox giving him the money box, but concealed the part about the fox sister giving him the psychic flower. The magistrate of Cheng County verified the treasure box in court, and it was indeed a rare thing in the world. He couldn’t help but feel hegemony, so he sneered, and said: “My dear Ai Shun, the imperial court ordered the people of the country to offer treasures, but you haven’t offered them, what should I do?” Come on, give Er Zhangji twenty and blast out of the lobby.
Ai Shun lost the money box and suffered from the pain of the spine of the stick, so he was very angry. The more he thought about it, the more angry he became, so he thought about finding a place where no one would vent his anger. He put on the psychic flower, and wanted to go to a place inaccessible. He closed his eyes and meditated on the three sides, but when he opened his eyes, he was in the deep mountains and old forests. He stood on the edge of the cliff and yelled for a long time. When he vented, he suddenly felt dry, thirsty, hungry, and even felt the pain in his back, so he thought about finding some wild fruits to satisfy his hunger. Beside the mountain stream, he happened to see a peach tree with peaches on its branches, all of them were huge, fresh and juicy, and tempting one’s appetite. He stretched out his hand and picked the biggest peach, tasted it, but felt sweet and refreshing, with an extraordinary taste, and he ate it all at once, with endless aftertaste. In an instant, he felt that the injury on the spine of the stick had healed. He was really happy, but suddenly felt the itching, which was unbearable, so he took off his clothes and jumped into the stream to take a bath. Only then did he find that there were black hairs growing all over his body that were more than an inch long. , looks like a gorilla, how dare to see people here? He was extremely sad, sitting on the bank lamented his bad luck, and couldn’t help but shed tears.
Later, Ai Shun thought to himself that there are many wonders in this great world, there are peaches with long hairs, and fruits with hairy hairs. Ai Shun picked wild fruits all over the mountains and plains to taste, and he really found it. It was a kind of wild mulberry, and after eating it, the black hair on his body faded away. Suddenly, Ai Shun had a mischievous idea, wanting to play tricks on Cheng Zhixian, let him taste the taste of peaches, see that he has black hair all over his body, and he has the nerve to show his prestige in the lobby and beat others.
Ai Shun picked the biggest peach, put on the psychic flower and murmured three times, then went to Chengzhi County’s study, saw a plate of fruit on the desk, and put the peach on it. After that, Ai Shun went home very relieved.
Things don’t go as expected. That day, Chengzhi County was invited to drink by several squires. His daughter ran to the study to look for a book by a ghost, and saw a large bright peach in the fruit plate on the table, which was very attractive, so she picked it up and ate it. At this moment, the beautiful daughter of Chengzhi County turned into an “orangutan”, and her daughter was devastated. Seeing their daughter suffering from this ‘strange disease’, Cheng Zhixian’s couple were very anxious. They looked for a doctor, a wizard… Anyway, they tried everything they could find, but it didn’t work. In the end, it was the master who came up with an impatient idea and told the world, hoping for a person who is good at curing the ‘strange disease’. Those who have a wife and family who are cured will be rewarded with five hundred taels of silver. As soon as the notice came out, the whole county knew about it, but even the golden doctor couldn’t cure it, so who would dare to stand out again!
After Ai Shun found out, he felt very sorry. He wanted to play tricks on Cheng Zhixian, but he didn’t want Cheng Zhixian’s daughter to be the scapegoat. He put on the psychic flower, went to the deep mountains and old forests to get the mulberry fruit, and went to Chengzhi’s house to reveal the list.
After the magistrate of Cheng County released the notice, he waited and looked forward, not expecting a small peddler, so he was a little disappointed, but he still asked Ai Shun to go to the embroidery building to treat his daughter when the disease was rushed to the doctor. Ai Shun cured the “strange disease” of Chengzhi County’s daughter. Cheng Zhixian did not break his promise to Ai Shun, and betrothed his daughter to him. When the daughter got married, she also gave a lot of dowry, among which was a money box. Uncle Ai Shun was very snobbish. Seeing that his nephew was married to the magistrate’s daughter, he approached him to recognize his relatives, and the two families began to communicate.
Unexpectedly, “unexpected things happen.” The emperor’s uncle rebelled and led an army of 100,000 to attack prefectures and counties, which was very rampant. When Chengzhi County heard the news, he hurriedly prepared for Xiangyong, strengthened the city wall, and hired two green forest heroes as regiment training to train Xiangyong and take precautions in advance. The magistrate of Cheng also sent people to take his daughter’s family to live in the city.
One day, the rebel army came to attack. The rebel general was a giant two feet tall, holding a door-leaf sword. He didn’t need to ride a horse, and he could run and jump faster than a horse. Chengzhi County asked the two regiments to lead their troops to fight. As soon as the two armies faced each other, the rebels swung their swords like sweeping the ground, turning left and right, killing the two regiments and Xiangyong, throwing away their armor and fleeing back to the city. , had to close the door to resist. The rebel general led his army to attack the city day by day, causing the people in the city to panic.
When Chengzhi County was at a loss, Ai Shun came to ask for orders to assassinate the rebel general. Cheng Zhixian didn’t want his son-in-law to take risks, but he couldn’t refuse in public, so he asked Ai Shun what skills he had to assassinate the traitor? Ai Shun told the secret of the psychic flower, and even tried it out. Cheng Zhixian agreed, but admired his son-in-law’s bravery.
At night, Ai Shun wears flowers to the tent of the rebel general, and sees the rebel general sleeping on the bed snoring like thunder. Ai Shun lit the incense and charmed the four cronies, and the rebel general slept to death with the fumes. He took the opportunity to cut off the rebel general’s huge head. Then, Ai Shun took off the clothes of one of his confidantes and put them on again, because the psychic flower had lost its mana, and he took human form, so he had to.
Ai Shun walked out of the rebel general’s tent, but no one was suspicious of the guards outside the door. He escaped from the rebel camp in the dark and sent a signal to Chengzhi County’s ambush team. Immediately, Cheng Zhixian led the township bravely to rush into the rebel camp. The rebel army who died of the general could not resist, so they had to abandon the camp and flee in panic. The magistrate of Cheng County led his men and horses to chase and kill them ten miles away before they could withdraw their troops. The rebels were killed and injured.
Not long after, the imperial army suppressed the rebellion and regained the lost land. Chengzhi County was promoted to magistrate because of his meritorious service in fighting the rebels. Ai Shun didn’t want to be an official, so he opened a shop in the city and became a shopkeeper.
Once, his uncle took Ai Shun out to do business, so he ran to his house and tricked Ai Shun’s wife into taking the money box with sweet words. After the uncle returned, he greedily let the money box pop out the money. Unexpectedly, the money knocked over the candle and caused a fire, but the uncle was burned to death, and the money box was reduced to ashes.
Afterwards, Ai Shun regretted it very much, hating himself for not telling his wife about the taboo of not opening the money box more often. Ai Shun, who lost his treasures, became bigger and bigger in business, and he also became a prominent figure in the business field.