Chapter 17 We're not good enough, but we're not bad enough
In the small house, Chu Zhaozhao was busy busy in front of the stove set up with the help of several uncles.
In the pot was stewed a rooster brought by the old woman next door.
The rice on the side had also been steamed. She opened the pot carefully, but probably because of her inexperience, her hand was so hot that the pot lid suddenly retracted it.
She put her fingers in her mouth, took a rag and wrapped it around her hands, and then opened the lid of the pot.
Use a spoon to scoop up a mouthful of soup and taste it in your mouth.
not bad.
She secretly thought in her heart that although it was not as delicious as Sister Sanniang's, it was pretty good for a beginner.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed on her face.
I turned my head and looked again, only to see that the sky outside the window had darkened.
She was startled and quickly picked up the chicken soup from the pot and placed it on the table in the room.
He took out the water bag filled with clean water and then jogged all the way to the entrance of the village.
Seven or eight women have gathered at the entrance of the village, some with children, chatting and looking anxiously in the direction outside the village gate.
At this point in time, it was almost time for the men who went to rob the goods at the foot of the mountain to come back.
They are all women waiting for their men to come back.
Chu Zhaozhao squeezed the water bag and green fruit in his hand, feeling a little nervous for no reason. From time to time he stood on his feet and looked outside the house door.
The women gathered together also discovered Chu Zhaozhao at this time.
"My sister is also waiting for your man?" A woman greeted her enthusiastically.
Your man...
These four words made Chu Zhaozhao's face turn red, but he still nodded.
"You're still blushing. These newlyweds are different." The woman immediately narrowed her eyes and laughed when she saw this.
Seeing this, the women around also joked: "That's not true. It's like an old couple like us. When we hold hands, it's like the left hand holding the right hand. There's no feeling at all."
"They are still at the stage where their faces turn red even if they are hugged. I think back to our old friend Zhu, at that time, his hands were not honest every time he hugged me. He touched me everywhere and said that no matter how hard he touched me, he couldn't get enough."
"I'm fine now. I wanted to say a few more words at night, but he opened his mouth and said that he had finished eating the wolfberry and his back hurts and his kidneys are bad."
"So, little sister, don't think twice about him tossing you at night. In a few years, if you beg him to toss you, he won't even pay attention to you."
"Xiaolanghoozi, what are you talking about? There is still a child here!"
The women spoke to each other so boldly that Chu Zhaozhao wanted to find a crack in the ground and crawl in.
…
Another full quarter of an hour passed, and there was still no return of the men who robbed the goods at the entrance of the cottage.
Chu Zhaozhao was a little anxious and stepped on his feet to look from time to time.
A woman saw her worries and said kindly: "Don't worry, sister, the leader of the team is Huang Quxiang. He is a powerful character. Apart from Miss Yue Jian, he is the most powerful in our Goshawk Village.
Nothing will happen."
"The mountain road is winding, and the conditions encountered every day are different. It is common to be slow or even take half an hour in the morning."
When Chu Zhaozhao heard this, he nodded gratefully towards the woman, but he still couldn't suppress his worry in his heart, and still looked outside the village from time to time.
"Come back! Come back!"
At this moment, a woman suddenly spoke loudly.
Chu Zhaozhao and everyone looked outside the village at almost the same time, and saw a row of figures walking slowly from the end of the mountain road.
Everyone looked happy at that time.
Chu Zhaozhao also looked up, and saw that the leader of the returning people was naturally Huang Quxiang.
All the women gathered around, and Chu Zhaozhao quickly followed.
The women quickly found their men, pulled him to ask some thoughtful words, or let their children come forward to play with their father whom they had not seen for a day.
Chu Zhaozhao looked around, but did not see Chu Qingxiao's figure. She suddenly felt confused, looked at Huang Quxiang and asked: "Brother Huang, where is Qingxiao?"
The man with a sunken face looked calm, but turned around and glanced at the distance behind him.
Chu Zhaozhao was stunned and followed his gaze, only to see Chu Qingxiao walking slowly towards the mountain col with his head lowered.
Chu Zhaozhao didn't hesitate, he just hurried forward to meet the young man and said angrily: "You guy, why did you fall behind alone? You made me look for him for a long time."
But the boy with his head lowered didn't respond to her, he just walked around with his head down.
"What's wrong? Is that Zhu Yin Shen's blood causing trouble in your body again?" Chu Zhaozhao suddenly became worried when she saw him like this. As she said this, she reached out and grabbed the corner of Chu Qingxiao's clothes.
The young man paused in his steps and looked back at her.
Chu Zhaozhao saw clearly the look on the young man's face at this moment, and he suddenly let out an exclamation.
One of his cheeks was purple and blue, and there were blood stains on the corner of his mouth that had not been wiped off. The clothes in front of him had two rips cut open by sharp objects. It could be seen that there were two narrow but not deep wounds underneath, which were still oozing blood.
…
Snapped!
Chu Zhaozhao slapped one hand heavily on the table. The chicken soup on the table swayed and the soup spilled all over the table.
"This yellow Quxiang is too deceptive!"
As she said this, she stood up and walked out of the room angrily.
"Zhaozhao!" Seeing this, Chu Qingxiao quickly grabbed the other party: "What are you going to do!?"
"Of course I want to seek an explanation from him!" Chu Zhaozhao said with fire in his eyes.
Chu Qingxiao showed a wry smile and said: "That Huang Quxiang's cultivation is probably far outside the four realms, and you are no match."
"What's more, we are under the roof now, and it will not do us any good to fall out with them."
Chu Zhaozhao calmed down a bit after hearing this, but he still said angrily: "My grandson is so pitiful. He only has a little life-saving money, and they want to rob him. How is this guy different from an animal? I owe you for it."
I thought they were good people and wanted to help them!"
Chu Qingxiao smiled bitterly and said: "In the final analysis, this matter is actually my fault."
"Huh? What's wrong with you?" Chu Zhaozhao frowned.
"They are bandits, right from the beginning. We thought too well of them..."
"No, to be precise, we imposed our self-righteous fantasies on them..."
Chu Zhaozhao was stunned when he heard this. He stood up and sat back down, but he was still unhappy and was about to say something.
"smell good!"
At this moment, a voice suddenly came from outside the door.
The two people in the room were stunned and looked outside the room.
But they saw the door of the room being pushed open, and a young girl was standing at the door. She glanced at the two people who were stunned, and then looked at the chicken soup on the table.
The corners of the girl's mouth were raised, revealing two iconic tiger teeth.
The person who came was none other than the leader of Goshawk Village—Yue Jian.
"What are you doing here?" Chu Zhaozhao was obviously very hostile to the other party. She frowned and asked with a vigilant expression.
Tsukimi didn't seem to hear her question, and walked straight to the wooden table and sat down.
"You did this?"
"You are more adaptable to the life of a bandit than I thought?" she said while staring at the chicken soup.
Such praise was obviously not enough to make Chu Zhaozhao happy. She frowned and said coldly: "What does it have to do with you?"
Yue Jian didn't care, he picked up the chopsticks on the side and reached out to pick up the chicken.
"This is not for you." But at this moment, Chu Zhaozhao stretched out his hand to stop the other party.
"I am the owner of Goshawk Village. The house you live in now belongs to me. If I eat a piece of chicken, it will be counted as rent. Is it reasonable?" Yue Jian said with a smile.
Even Chu Zhaozhao was speechless when he said these words.
She stretched out her hand to stop him, but she took it back.
Seeing this, the smile on Yue Jian's face became even bigger. She was not polite, picked up a piece of chicken and put it in her mouth.
"Pooh!"
But the next moment, the chicken that entered her mouth was spat out again.
She looked at Chu Zhaozhao with a bitter expression and said angrily: "You put three kilograms of salt in a bowl of soup. Do you want to kill the leader of this village?"
"How is that possible? I tasted it before it was cooked!" Chu Zhaozhao thought that the other party was trying to find trouble, so she picked up a piece of chicken and put it in her mouth. The next moment, her brows immediately furrowed.
"How could..." she muttered.
Tsukimi picked up a piece of chicken and said: "Before stewing the chicken, the chicken is marinated. The chicken itself has enough flavor, but the salt in it has not yet melted into the soup, so you can't wait to add salt to the soup.
, it would be strange if this chicken is not salty.”
"This coarse salt is not cheap. One soup for you alone costs the entire family in my village three or four days. Are all of you Tianxuan Mountain disciples spending money so lavishly?"
Faced with Yue Jian's ridicule, Chu Zhaozhao was naturally unwilling to accept it, but after all, he was in the wrong and couldn't refute it for a while. He could only mutter: "What's the big deal? I'll compensate you."
"Compensate me? Your man almost ruined our business today. He went to the foot of the mountain to rob goods and didn't get a penny. According to the rules, he has to pay a lot of compensation to the village, as well as the money to supply red blood worms. This
Calculating it over and over again, you cost our village a lot of money, how do you pay for it?" Yue Jian narrowed his eyes and asked with a smile. Chu Zhaozhao was speechless for a moment and didn't know how to respond.
"Forget it, we can't get food, let's get down to business." But Yue Jian didn't seem to want to hold on to this matter. She said with regret and stood up immediately.
At this moment, she looked at Chu Qingxiao and said, "Follow me."
Hearing this, Chu Qingxiao was stunned, and Chu Zhaozhao's expression suddenly changed, and he said loudly: "What do you want to do?"
Seeing Chu Zhaozhao's anxious face, as if he was deliberately teasing him, Yue Jian blinked and showed a delicate look: "I have something I want to say to Brother Qingxiao alone."
As she spoke, a teasing smile appeared on her face, she stared at Chu Zhaozhao and said, "Sister, you shouldn't be angry, right?"
"You!" Chu Zhaozhao's eyes were spitting fire. Although he knew that this was Yue Jian's intentional provocation, he still couldn't help but feel angry.
"No problem." Chu Qingxiao said, stopping Chu Zhaozhao who was about to take action.
"If Miss Yue Jian wants to embarrass you, I won't wait until today. Zhao Zhao, just wait for me at home. Don't worry."
Chu Zhaozhao is not stupid. They are now in the hands of Cangying Village. If the other party really wants to harm them, there is no need to make it so complicated and they can just do it. She just doesn't like the female bandit in front of her.
, and didn’t like her showing such intimacy to Chu Qingxiao.
"Yeah." Regardless of whether he liked it or not, Chu Zhaozhao also understood that offending the other party was not a wise decision, so he finally suppressed his anger and became silent.
Seeing this, Yue Jian's smile became even bigger.
She stepped forward and hugged Chu Qingxiao's arm with both hands, and said in a timid voice: "Then let's go, brother Qingxiao."
After saying that, he glanced at Chu Zhaozhao behind him provocatively, and then pulled Chu Qingxiao away.
When Chu Zhaozhao saw this scene, veins popped up on his forehead. He clenched his fists with both hands and almost used all his strength to suppress the anger in his heart.
…
Walked about half a mile.
After confirming that Chu Zhaozhao behind him could no longer see the situation here, Chu Qingxiao took out the hand held by Yue Jian.
"Why is Miss Yue Jian doing this, must she anger Zhao Zhao?" Chu Qingxiao asked with a frown.
Yue Jian blinked his eyes, looked at the young man with a somewhat stern expression, and asked playfully: "Since you know that I am irritating her, why do you still cooperate?"
Chu Qingxiao said: "Miss Yue Jian only wants to embarrass Zhao Zhao. If I don't cooperate, you will naturally have other methods. In this case, why should I waste my time?"
"At least this kind of behavior will make Zhao Zhao sulky at most and will not hurt her."
"You are smarter than that disciple from Tianxuan Mountain." Yue Jian muttered, then raised his head to look at Chu Qingxiao again, "Huang Quxiang told me what happened today, and I can see that you seem to be very dissatisfied with us.
.”
After saying this, Yue Jian paused and said again.
"To be precise, he probably hates us, right?"
Chu Qingxiao had a cold expression on his face, thinking about how dejected his grandfather and grandson were after their money was taken away today, but he did not respond to Chu Zhaozhao's question.
"But actually, you don't hate us because we stole the money of the grandfather and grandson, let alone because we are bandits." Yue Jian said again.
Chu Qingxiao frowned, wondering what the other party meant by this.
Tsukimi put his hands behind his back, revealing a pair of tiger fangs again.
"You hate us because we are not good people, but we are not bad people either."
"We were not good enough to sympathize with the tragic experience of the grandfather and grandson, let them go, and did something that might kill them."
"But we are not bad enough to be like those bandits who rob people of all their money, then kidnap them all and sell them to Guiyanzhai at the price of twelve taels of silver per person."
"There are even times when we seem to be very kind and silently sacrifice for each other."
"In your black and white world view, people like us are too complicated."
"It's not bad enough for you to deal with us ruthlessly, but it's not good enough for you to help us wholeheartedly..."
Yue Jian's words made Chu Qingxiao tremble.
At this moment, Yue Jian came closer. There seemed to be light flashing in her clear eyes. She stared straight at Chu Qingxiao. With a smile on her lips, she asked softly.
"Am I right?"
"Brother Qingxiao?"
————————————————
Asking for monthly tickets, recommendations, collections, by the way book club: 785794441 welcome to join