After walking along the stone bridge, a servant took him and An Ying to their own rooms. After giving An Ying a few careful words, Lin Xin walked into his small courtyard.
In the small oval courtyard, there are rockeries, creeks, timepieces and sun crowns. A little girl in a green skirt came up and offered to help him take off the sword from his back.
"No need." Lin Xin shook his head, "Go and boil the bath water for me first."
"Okay, sir." The little girl responded and went out. She was the girl who had been taking care of Lin Xinru since she was a child, until she had nothing to live for.
Standing in the yard and looking around, Lin Xin found a stool from the house and placed it beside the rockery, then sat down.
This place is Lin Xinru's home, but not Lin Xin's home. Sitting here, there is a sense of familiarity in the memory, but at this moment, it is only strange.
He looked at the pool in front of him, where several yellow croakers were swimming slowly with their heads and tails wagging, and there were also a few green leaves floating on the water from nowhere.
Stretching out his hand, Lin Xin put his fingers into the water of the pool. The ice was cold and biting to the bone. His fingers stirred up several ripples on the surface of the water, which spread out and frightened several fish into hurriedly fleeing to far corners.
Lin Xin shook his head and heard the sound of guests coming in from a distance outside. It seemed that the second and third sons were accompanying his father, Lin Zhiwen, to receive the guests. There was also the sound of the concierge singing promises constantly, and it was obvious that the visitors had given many gifts.
"It's too boring to just stay like this..." Lin Xin got up and went back to his room, took off the long sword on his back, and began to slowly practice the red pine sword technique without taking it out of its sheath. It would take a long time to perfect it.
It takes a lot of time.
While practicing his sword, Lin Xin was struggling in his mind. This time he planned to buy medicinal materials and see if he could solve the problem of the long-eared tiger. However, the money required for the medicinal materials was not a small amount. If he followed the instructions of the Guiyuan Pill,
It takes at least a hundred taels of silver to get a pair of Fang Zipei. The person who defeated the Heng Dao Sect in the gym last time made a fortune, and he converted those knives into money for food and drink.
Up to now, I still have more than 20 taels. It’s far from enough.
"A hundred taels of silver... converted into commodity prices, it is more than 100,000 yuan..." Lin Xin became more and more entangled in his heart. Even if his family was a big landowner, this money could not be obtained casually.
The gray sky outside gradually dimmed, and the little girl in the green skirt finally opened the door and came in with a basin of hot water. At the same time, a beautiful middle-aged woman came in.
"Xinru..." The woman was wearing a long crimson dress and a gold hairpin with a crest. It could be seen that she was very beautiful when she was young. But there was a hint of sadness between her brows, as if she had been frowning all the time.
.
Lin Xin got a headache as soon as he saw it. This is his mother. No...it's this body's mother...Zhao Yuniang.
"You've lost weight again..." Ruby Lin came over and gently touched Lin Xin's face.
"..." How can you tell that I have lost weight...
Lin Xin obviously feels like he has gained several pounds these days...
"Don't go up the mountain when you come back this time." Zhao Yuniang whispered, "Recently, the family is not at peace, and I don't have much energy to take care of you. The mountains and wild areas are also chaotic. I heard that a gangster has come nearby recently. He kills people without blinking an eye. Even the government
There is nothing you can do about him, but if you encounter him, you will be in trouble."
"The Jiangyang Thief?" Lin Xin immediately thought of his uncle Yunzi. The tricks this guy taught them were completely vicious, despicable and despicable. If he were to say that he was the strongest Jiangyang thief in the area, he might actually be talking about this uncle.
....
"Yes, I heard that a few days ago, a small family in the east of the city was wiped out. From the eighty-year-old mother to the three-year-old child, no one was left alive. It's so cruel." Zhao Yuniang pulled Lin Xin into the house.
After sitting down, the little girl wetted the towel with hot water and wiped Lin Xin's cheeks.
"It's okay. We are practicing martial arts and don't have much money. Even if the gangster wants to rob, he won't pick us first. The gym is poor and has nothing." Lin Xin said casually.
Even if there were, with Uncle Boyunzi here, the ordinary gangsters would probably not dare to come. You must know that these days, if a person dares to travel all over the country without any trouble, he is a person with strong physical strength and superb martial arts. After all,
There are also many wild beasts and bandits deep in the mountains. It is evident that you can still be fine on the road alone.
After chatting with my mother for a while, she asked directly about An Ying, looking very enthusiastic. However, judging from her tone, it seemed that she planned to make An Ying a concubine. Lin Xin dealt with it casually and finally sent her away.
.
After sunset, Lin Xin took An Ying out to visit the house, and then headed towards the main courtyard. They had to have dinner together during the Lantern Festival.
Along the somewhat narrow patio, we directly entered the lobby of the main courtyard with others.
In the middle of the lobby, which is covered in red paint and is as big as a basketball court, there are two rows of single tables.
From the oldest to the youngest, everyone sits down separately.
The old man Lin Zhiwen and the second uncle Lin Zhiwu were sitting in the middle. The first one on the left was Lin Xin. He walked over and sat down with a big smile.
Then there was the second eldest child, Lin Xinyue, who was the girl who went to work as a shopkeeper in the outer city. When she sat down, she even greeted Lin Xin with a bright smile.
The third child has slightly dark skin and a strong build. He is wearing the gray and black uniform unique to the army and looks very heroic.
The fourth eldest brother, Lin Xinguang, sat down without squinting and closed his eyes slightly to rest his mind. He had already learned the inseparable demeanor even before he became the county magistrate.
On the right are several sons and children of the second uncle's family, including Lin Xinyuan, who had met Lin Xin before. Some of these people are married, and some are not.
An Ying and other foreign guests were sitting in other rows of seats on the outside. It seemed that there were not many people there.
The rest of the maids and servants, as well as young masters and ladies from various families, totaled thirty or forty people.
Outside, you can vaguely see a nursing home patrolling and changing defenses.
Lin Xin sat on the chair, took a sip of tea, and listened to Lin Zhiwen's verbose summary of the year, asking about the situation of each family, and reporting on the big and small things everywhere. He felt drowsy.
I don't know how long it took, but he suddenly heard a sound of singing.
"The Lantern Festival inscription begins."
Then he raised his head and saw servants lining up with lanterns, starting from the fourth child at the end.
Lin Xinguang, the fourth child, took the brush with a smile, dipped it in ink and quickly wrote a short poem on the lantern.
I read it softly and immediately won everyone's applause.
Then there is the third person. The third child is a soldier, and he actually gave him a good poem, also about the Lantern Festival. It was obviously prepared in advance.
Then came Lin Xinyue, the second child.
'The moon is shining brightly, and the trees are shining brightly.'
She did not write an inscription, but only mentioned two sentences.
It was Lin Xin's turn. He didn't know much about poetry at all and was not interested in it. He already felt very good if he could recognize all the characters in this place.
Now looking at the inscription, he thought about it for a long time while holding the brush, and looked around. He found that all the eyes were focused on him. An Ying also stood up from behind and looked at him on tiptoes, with a look of anticipation.
He has a lot of poems about Lantern Festival in his mind, but the key to the problem is not this, but that Lin Xinru's handwriting was originally very beautiful, but since he came, he hasn't practiced paying attention to this aspect, and now he feels awkward even holding a pen
.I still managed to hold the brush the way I remembered.
After thinking for a while, he just lightly drew a circle on the lantern.
Shhh....
Suddenly there were boos all around.
Lin Zhiwen also shook his head speechlessly. Lin Xinguang, the fourth child, sneered and turned his head, as if he didn't even bother to look at Lin Xin.
Then a bunch of children came running in. They were young masters and young ladies from each room, and they all came and lined up to ask for rewards.
The fourth child smiled and took out some scraps of silver from his purse and distributed them to the children one by one.
The servants on the side sang the promise.
"Fourth Master Lin Xinguang, one, two and a half pieces of silver for each person!"
"As expected of the fourth master, the future county magistrate will be bold in his actions."
Some of the people around laughed and said loudly. Others also laughed happily.
The children even said their thanks obediently with flushed faces.
Lin Xinguang cupped his hands in all directions without saying a word. After finishing his speech, he sat back and smiled.
Then there is Lao San Lin Xin Hu, who raises his hand with a handful of broken silver.
"Third Master Lin Xinhu, one tael of silver for each person!" the servant who sang the promise shouted with joy.
Then there was Lin Xinyue, the second child. She also grabbed a large handful of broken silver from her purse and handed it out with a smile.
It’s also one, two, five per person.
Lin Xin was still waiting for the children to come over and ask for money. Unexpectedly, the children retreated immediately and ended up at the second child's place. The one who sang the promise also left. It was obvious that he had no intention of letting him pay the reward at all.
After all, among the four children, he has no income and can only rely on family support, so he is really not suitable for giving reward money.
But at this moment, he, the boss, was sitting on a chair, and he suddenly felt everyone's eyes looking over him, and heard people who didn't understand asking him about his situation. Even with his shamelessness, he felt a little embarrassed for a while.
Lin Xinguang snorted coldly from a position not far away. He just glanced at him, shook his head and chatted with the third boss Lin Xinhu next to him.
"It's time for the Lantern Festival, and these stuffings are red ones from Yundi Seaside..."
call.....
Before Lin Zhiwen finished speaking, a gust of cold wind suddenly blew in from outside the lobby. It was so cold that people couldn't help but shiver.
The lanterns hanging on the pillars of the houses on both sides suddenly went out.
Lin Zhiwen frowned and was about to continue speaking.
"Someone broke in!!" Suddenly a servant shouted outside, but the voice stopped suddenly, as if someone had forced his throat.
Suddenly everyone in the lobby became a little commotion.
"Dad, let me go out and take a look." Lin Xinhu stood up and said loudly.
"Well, be more careful." Lin Zhiwen was not surprised at all. He obviously expected it. He ordered someone to relight the lantern.
Lin Xinhu was a soldier. He found a sharp knife from nowhere, held it upside down and walked out of the lobby. Behind him were a few good-looking young men.
Lin Xin sat in his seat, frowning slightly. He had heard someone say before that the Lin family seemed to be in trouble, but he didn't expect that a problem would arise now. You must know that this is the Lantern Festival, when there are the most people.
Looking back at An Ying, this guy had already stood behind him at some point.
"That person is very powerful." An Ying whispered, her eyes shining a little.
Lin Xin nodded slightly.
It was no accident that those lanterns were extinguished just now. It was obvious that someone used the palm wind to directly extinguish them. He had only seen this kind of palm power from his uncle Yunzi.