Chapter 1,183 An old friend from a foreign land, Cousin Xiyan
"This man is so rude!"
Xing Xiyan was holding the cake that his mother had just made, preparing to send it to his friend Master Miaoyu. When he saw a strange man staring at him non-stop, he felt ashamed and angry, but he could only lower his head and rush over.
Seeing the girl's slender and graceful figure walking away, Su Mingzhe couldn't recover for a long time:
"Mingyan, do you think this girl looks very familiar to you? Have we met somewhere?"
"The little one can't remember it!"
Although the young man Mingyan had met many female relatives in the yard because he was serving Su Mingzhe, he never dared to look at them directly, so naturally he could not recognize anyone who looked similar to this girl.
"Well, there are a lot of similar-looking people in the world, maybe it's some misconception!"
After Su Mingzhe said this, he sighed secretly:
"Sure enough, if you work as a boss for a long time, you will develop prosopagnosia."
In a bad mood, Su Mingzhe left the calm-tempered boy waiting there to pick up the medicine, and took Li Gui and three other boys to a nearby market.
Panxiang Temple is located in Wu County, Gusu, and the famous market nearby is Huqiufang City.
The history of Huqiu can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty, and its construction has a history of thousands of years.
The most famous thing about Tiger Hill is the Tiger Hill Tower on Tiger Hill.
There is a saying in the world: first see the Tiger Hill Tower, then see Suzhou City.
Su Mingzhe took the four of them around Huqiufang Market and bought a lot of gifts. Seeing that the market was about to be locked, he had to leave and return to Panxiang Temple.
When everyone was walking halfway, Li Gui suddenly came behind his master and reported in a low voice:
"Second Master, there is someone following us, probing his head, I am afraid he is not a good man!"
"Not a good man?"
Su Mingzhe thought he had met a robber. When he looked back, he saw that the other person was swaying as he walked. He immediately realized that he was a drunkard, and he immediately smiled and said:
"This man is probably just on the same road as us."
As Su Mingzhe said, he asked everyone to stand on the side of the road and let the man pass first.
Unexpectedly, the man took a few steps closer, stared at the faces of Su Mingzhe and Li Gui, and suddenly knelt on the ground with a plop and kowtowed three times.
After kowtowing, the drunkard bit his tongue and shouted:
"Young Xingzhong, please come and see the Second Master!"
"Xing Zhong?"
When Su Mingzhe heard the name, he thought for a moment, and immediately remembered who this person was, and quickly reached out to help him up:
"Are you Uncle Xing Niang?"
When Xing Zhong saw that Su Mingzhe actually knew his name, he immediately bowed excitedly and said:
"It's the villain, it's the villain!"
Xing Zhong is the eldest son of the Jinling Xing family. His mother passed away early and he lacked education. He has been greedy and lustful since he was a child.
Twenty years ago, after his father passed away, Xing Zhong separated from his stepmother. In less than ten years, his share of the family property was ruined and he owed a lot of foreign debt. He had no choice but to hide in Suzhou.
The elder Xing Zhang was once a subordinate of the Second Duke Rong Ning, but he was injured and returned to his hometown early to recuperate, without getting an official status.
Two or three generations later, the Xing family was in decline and became a vassal of the Rongning Second House.
More than ten years ago, Mrs. Jia She died of illness. When she was escorting her coffin back to her hometown, she saw the beautiful daughter of the Xing family who came to help her, so she became her second wife.
Xingzhong saw off his relatives and went to Beijing once.
The wedding day was particularly lively. Su Mingzhe was still young at that time, just a one or two year old baby who liked to run around.
As the nanny, Li Gui followed his mother, Grandma Li, to protect him.
Xing Zhong therefore met Li Zhong once, recognized Li Gui in the market, and naturally deduced Su Mingzhe's identity.
Today, Xingzhong relies on the Jia family to make a living, and when he sees Su Mingzhe, he needs to call himself a "villain".
As for Su Mingzhe, when it comes to seniority from Mrs. Xing, he should call Xing Zhong "uncle".
Smelling the smell of alcohol spewing out from Xing Zhong's mouth, Su Mingzhe subconsciously took a step back, and then asked doubtfully:
"Uncle Xing
, why are you not in Jinling and come here to Gusu?"
"To be honest, Master Zhuangyuan, I have moved here for ten years."
Xing Zhong was embarrassed to say that he went out to avoid debts. He only said that his family was in ruins and he had no choice but to come to Suzhou to find a job and make a living.
Nowadays, relying on the relationship with the Jia family, the family rents a house in Panxiang Temple and lives in the vegetable fields, but they can barely make ends meet.
Su Mingzhe had seen Dream of Red Mansions and knew that Mrs. Xing's eldest brother Xing Zhong and his brother Xing De were not very good people.
This Xing Zhong was greedy for wine and lust, while Xing De was all about eating, drinking, whoring and gambling.
The two brothers destroyed the family fortune accumulated by their ancestors for decades in just a few years.
Now Xing Dequan works in Rongguo Mansion by virtue of his identity as Mrs. Xing's brother.
As Xingzhong had a normal relationship with Mrs. Xing, he could only use the reputation of the Jia family to find a job outside.
As the saying goes, hit someone without slapping them in the face, and curse people without exposing their shortcomings.
Su Mingzhe was not familiar with this Xingzhong, so there was no need to expose his lie, so he immediately invited him to go back to Panxiang Temple with him.
Not long after, we were about to reach the gate of Panxiang Temple.
The boy who was left behind saw several people returning, and he quickly came over to greet them and reported:
"Second Master, just now Miss Zijuan came out and said that Zen Master Lingyin is going to do some rituals for my aunt, and Miss Lin and Aunt Liu are going to keep vigil in the nunnery. Let's go back to the boat to rest first."
After Su Mingzhe heard this, he was convinced.
At this moment, Xing Zhong suddenly opened his mouth to invite:
"Second Master, my residence is right in front. Please feel free to invite me to my home to sit down, have a rest and have a cup of tea."
"Okay, then I'll bother my uncle!"
Su Mingzhe said, and asked Li Gui to take the three boys to return the purchased items to the sailboat, while he and his boy Mingyan carried some gifts to the Xing family as a guest.
Xing Zhong happily led the way and took Su Mingzhe to his residence, which was a three-room tile-roofed house with a two-acre vegetable garden.
Pushing open the wooden door, Xing Zhong shouted before he even entered the room:
"Hun, a distinguished guest is here. Go and pick up two of the fish from the pond and kill them..."
When Wu Xingzhong's wife heard the shouts of her drunkard husband, she was a little angry, but also a little helpless. She could only call her daughter Xing Xiyan to come out to help and prepare to kill fish and cook it to entertain the guests.
As soon as Xing Xiyan went out with his mother, he saw Su Mingzhe walking into his yard and couldn't help but scream:
"Mom, this man that dad brought back is the prostitute in the daytime!"
"Me, a disciple?"
When Su Mingzhe heard the young girl calling him, he could only smile bitterly and said:
"It turns out to be my cousin. It was all a misunderstanding during the day!"
Seeing that Su Mingzhe had come to his home, Xing Xingyan thought that Su Mingzhe was a bully and a libertine who deceived his alcoholic father to plot something against him, so he immediately said angrily:
"Don't talk nonsense! Which one is your cousin?"
Xing Zhong's wife knew that although her husband was an alcoholic, he was quite measured in his actions, so she grabbed her daughter, looked at her husband, and asked the man to explain the relationship quickly.
Xing Zhong did not expect that his daughter and Su Mingzhe had met a long time ago and had a misunderstanding. He quickly explained Su Mingzhe's identity and then scolded his daughter:
"Your cousin is Lord Wenquxing who descended to earth and was the number one scholar with five yuan. How could he fall in love with a yellow-haired girl like you? Why don't you apologize to your cousin quickly?"
Although Xing Xiyan was young, he looked wary and said:
"Dad, the No. 1 Scholar is far away in the capital, and he comes here to propose marriage to you. This must be a lie. Don't be fooled!"
Seeing how cautious Xing Xiyan was, Su Mingzhe secretly admired:
"No wonder this girl can find a good man to marry and live a beautiful life together in the Red Mansion Plane where 'a thousand reds cry and a thousand beauties share the same sorrow'."
After giving up his thoughts, he saw Xing Zhong scolding his daughter, telling her not to talk nonsense.
Su Mingzhe immediately smiled and stepped forward to salute and said:
"Uncle, don't blame my cousin, Bai
When it comes to heaven, it is indeed me and not me!"
Su Mingzhe explained before Xing Zhong's face changed color:
"When I was at the gate of Panxiang Temple during the day, I saw that my cousin and my third aunt had similar looks. I just felt familiar, but I didn't think of it for a while, so I looked at it for a while, which led to the misunderstanding. This was all because I was rude in the first place. It will cause misunderstanding among my cousin!"
When Xing Zhong heard Su Mingzhe talking about "Third Aunt", he immediately thought of Third Sister Xing, slapped his thigh and said with a smile:
"Xie Yan and Third Sister do have a bit of a resemblance. No wonder the second master thinks that Xi Yan looks familiar. Since it is a misunderstanding, let's clear it up."
Su Mingzhe then explained to Xing Xiyan that he was accompanying Sister Lin south to protect the spirit, so he was here.
After hearing the explanation, Xing Xiyan realized that he had wronged a good person. He immediately blushed and quickly came over to apologize: