There are still a lot of leftovers in the kitchen, which are clean and reserved exclusively for Xia Zhaoyi.
Aunt Liu filled two bowls of rice. Xia Zhaoyi had an extraordinarily good appetite today, and the old man was even more so. He wolfed down the rice while shouting that it was delicious, and soon asked for a second bowl.
Zhi Li sat next to him with his chin on his hands, watching the old man pick up the big steak from the bowl that Aunt Liu had brought in, and said, "The food is delicious."
The old man nodded and tapped the bowl with his chopsticks: "Would you like some too?"
"I heard that I owed money to my master for twelve years. I have been hiding in Tibet, afraid to see anyone?" Zhili said.
"It's old stuff, so don't mention it," the old man said.
"Shameless, I insist on mentioning it."
The old man looked at Xia Zhaoyi with a smile and said, "Girl, is this food delicious?"
Xia Zhaoyi swallowed the food in his mouth, raised his eyes and said: "One hundred and twenty-eight taels, not counting the interest owed for twelve years, nor the cheating, cheating, and abduction twelve years ago, that's right.
How long?"
The old man's shoulders slumped and he rolled his eyes: "It's really not my fault. I originally had a little money to pay back. Look, the water conservancy project of Bajiang Lake sounds like it is for the country and the people, but in fact it is Yu Shiling and others who want to make money.
Yes, the imperial court allocated money, and after being greedy one by one, that beast Zhang Xianbao directly deducted the money that I deserved. I ran to the capital to find him, but I didn’t expect that Zhang Xianbao would die at the request of me, and he didn’t even owe me the money.
The end. I went to sue the government. But when I heard that I was looking for Zhang Xianbao, those servants almost took me to jail. Then I ran to the Ministry of Works, and there were people over there.
They were even more shameless. They said they needed money to run the business, but instead they took seven or eight taels from me. In the end, they turned against me and refused to acknowledge me! I was so angry that when they dragged me to the dark room, I couldn't breathe.
.”
"When Zhang Xianbao invited Bajianghu, how much silver would he give?"
The old man gestured and said with dignity: "Forty-five taels!"
Xia Zhaoyi nodded and looked at Zhili: "Bring me the deed of sale from my study."
"What? What is the contract of betrayal?"
"Okay!" Zhili responded, ran to the study, and came back soon with pen and paper.
The old man took it and took a look, his eyes almost widened.
"This, this is..."
"I owe one hundred and twenty-eight taels for twelve years, and I only have to sell myself for two years. Isn't it a good deal?" Zhili said.
"No, no, what do you want me to do with this old body?"
"Stop being so verbose, sign it for me." Zhili forced the pen into the old man's hand.
"I won't sign!" The old man slapped the pen and paper on the table with a look of resistance, "I don't have long to live. Whether I can live for more than two years is a question. Do you want me to be a bull or a horse for them? I'm going to die here now.
Inoue!"
"Old Tong!" Zhili immediately raised his head and shouted, "While the soldiers and horses of Ma Tou Post have not left yet, send this old man there quickly and let him feed the horses, bring water and cook rice!"
"No, no!" The old man quickly stood up and covered his mouth.
Zhili was shocked to find that his hands were dirty, and became furious and punched him.
The old man fell back to his position, covering his eyes and crying out in pain.
Zhili was on the side, repeatedly pouting and shouting that he was disgusting.
Lao Tong heard the sound and came and asked what happened.
Xia Zhaoyi said: "Brother Tong, please accompany this old man to the mountain. He wants to pay homage to his grave. Remember to keep an eye on him and don't let him escape. I'm going to the city in the afternoon. I'll be back very late. Let's go down the mountain.
Just pack your things and we'll leave the day after tomorrow."
"Okay!" Lao Tong looked at the old man, raised his hand and slapped him on the back of the neck, grabbed his collar, and said through gritted teeth, "Dare you run away?"
The old man squinted his eyes and raised his head, and saw the bear-like man glaring at him with a ferocious expression. At the same time, he clenched his left hand, making a crunching sound with his finger bones, forming a fist as big as a sandbag.
"..."
The old man cried.
·
Pan Shuyi was sitting quietly in the lobby under the Qingque attic. There were drinks and a few stacks of side dishes in front of her.
She ate very slowly, thinking about what to do next while eating.
Qingque Pavilion had taken her order, but she didn't know where to go. Maybe it would be best to rent a house here, but it would be better to stay with Xia Zhaoyi and the others to save money.
However, she still owed money, so she felt somewhat uncomfortable.
There was some movement around me, and someone was praising the person at the door for being good-looking.
Pan Shuyi subconsciously looked up towards the door and saw Xia Zhaoyi and Zhili at a glance.
They had just come in from outside and were looking for the waiter at the counter.
Pan Shuyi was overjoyed and got up to go find them, but suddenly she found that there were too many food and drinks in front of her, so she specially ordered sugar-coated pork ribs and veal...
She suddenly felt that something was wrong. After all, she still owed money to someone, so she sat back with a blushing face and lowered her face, hoping that the other person didn't see her.
The waiter was new here, but when he heard Zhili introduce himself to his family, he suddenly became enthusiastic: "It turns out to be Mr. Zhili. This way, please."
Xia Zhaoyi and Zhili followed the waiter to the inner hall.
Zhili suddenly tugged on Xia Zhaoyi's clothes and whispered, "Sister, Pan Shuyi is over there."
Xia Zhaoyi glanced at it, withdrew his gaze and said, "Ignore it."
"Why did she pretend not to know us? She turned against us too quickly."
"She has her own difficulties, don't blame her." Xia Zhaoyi said.
Lu Ningjin was checking the koji in the backyard. Hearing that Xia Zhaoyi was coming, Lu Ningjin happily handed the book to someone else and ran from the courtyard: "Ah Li!"
Xia Zhaoyi smiled: "I'll come to see you and look for Mr. Yan Hui again. We may leave in the next two days."
Lu Ningjin's smile suddenly stiffened: "Are we leaving?"
"Well," Zhili nodded, "my senior sister has been waiting for someone."
Lu Ningjin's eyes were red and she said sadly: "In today's world, it will definitely take a long time before we meet again."
"What are you afraid of in Qingque Pavilion?" Zhili looked around the courtyard and said, "As expected of Qingque Pavilion, it is so elegant and quiet, and the place for cooking is so comfortable."
"That's better than the capital city, which also has waterside pavilions." Lu Ningjin curled his lips and said.
A figure was hiding in the moon cave door of the inclined courtyard, looking quietly at Xia Zhaoyi and Lu Ningjin here.
Xia Zhaoyi felt something and raised her eyes to look over there. The figure immediately left and hid behind the tree.
Lu Ningjin turned around belatedly, looked over there, paused, and whispered, "Maybe it's Xiao Tao."
Zhi Li listened from the sidelines, frowning.
He has never seen this Xiao Tao, but he knows who this Xiao Tao is.
When the young senior sister was arrested by Yan Yunwei in the capital, those people used this little peach to replace the young senior sister.
I heard that she was made mute and deafened by being stabbed. She has been entrusted to the care of Qingque Pavilion by her junior sister all these years, and that was a huge sum of money...
