Seven or eight days after Ms. Fengxian ran to a new life, the Shi brothers finally came back. Che Sanniang was like an ant on a hot pot, restless and restless. When she caught a glimpse of Minglan's curious look, she smiled awkwardly.
: "Since we got married, I have not been separated from my husband a few times.*.*..*/* We agreed at the beginning that he would be in the water, and I would be in the water, and he would be in the fire, and I would be in the fire.
If anyone goes there early, he or she will have to wait on the road to Huangquan."
She said it so confidently that Minglan felt a little embarrassed. She couldn't help but ask: "My sister is so infatuated. What if...the eldest brother of the Shi family betrays my sister?"
Che Sanniang laughed boldly: "I used to be a prostitute girl, so I got married to a small leader of the Cao Gang. I want to serve my mother well, but he wants to drag his elder brother with him. They are all low-level and are a drag on them. Let's join forces.
Live your life. Who knows what will happen in the future. If he really dares to play tricks, just treat me as blind and see the truth! Right now, every day is a happy day."
Minglan smiled shyly. In contrast, she felt that she was worrying about gains and losses. It was funny.
On the day when the Shi brothers arrived, Che Sanniang went to the door to greet her husband wearing a brand-new coat with large sleeves and engraved silk. The afterglow of the setting sun shone on Shi Keng's dark face, and the eyes he looked at his wife were as bright as the clouds.
He brought back more than a dozen large boxes, ten of which were brought back by Gu Tingye. They were all specialties of the Northwest, including various precious leather goods, woolen materials, dried mushrooms and vegetables, Codonopsis pilosula, astragalus root, angelica root, and several photos of exotic scenes.
Thick felt, rich and gorgeous colors.
Shi Keng said: "They are all here to honor the Marquis on the way." He pointed to several other big boxes and said with a smile, "These are our brothers' replenishment of this year's New Year's goods. They are all coarse items. Madam, please accept them."
Minglan was concerned about people. Ruomei also moved his heavy body over and asked a few questions timidly.
Shi Keng said again: "The Marquis is in good health and the march is going well. The Marquis said that Madam should just take good care of the baby and don't worry about anything else." He then said to Ruomei, "Mr. Gongsun is also doing very well. Recently, he said, "Mr.
I was fascinated by the wine from the Western Regions, and because of the war, I didn’t dare to drink too much. So I asked my aunt to keep two carts of wine and keep them, saying that I would eat this wine with my son later.”
It was indeed the tone of old man Gongsun. Ruomei was delighted when she heard it, lowered her head and covered her mouth with a sweet smile.
Shi Keng sat by the door and talked for a long time. Finally, he took out a letter from his arms and gave it to Minglan, saying it was Gu Tingye's home letter.
The envelopes are thick and heavy in the hand.
Gu Tingye was always concise in his writing. In the past, he would not write even one more word. Minglan had a sudden idea, it couldn't be a filial piety note collected on the road. Who would have thought that when he went back home and opened it, he found that it was actually a letter from home!
There was nothing important in the letter, just daily trivial matters and little advice.
One by one, line by line, he wrote intermittently, as if he had time to write about the weather conditions, morale, customs and customs in the northwest, as well as chats and jokes among the soldiers. Often, two lines of banter were added at the end of each paragraph.
What about 'the wind and sand cover the sky and the sun, and we can't travel for a long time, so we have to set up camp, and your temper is worse than yours', or 'God has the same temper as you, you can change it when you say it, and you won't let anyone know where you are wrong', or else'
There are many women here who are fierce and strong, who can ride and shoot. When you come back from this trip, I will teach you how to ride a horse...
Sometimes I can't figure it out, so I just drag out two crooked poems.
What's "the stars are not like last night, for whom is the wind dew standing at midnight" - this is better; "how many lovesickness can last for one night, the ends of the earth are not far away" - a bit disgusting; "wish me to be like a star and you to be like the moon, every night
The stream of light is bright and clear'...
Minglan smiled and fell on the bed holding the letter, "Well, very good, very good, you are the star, and I am the moon. When I turn around, the stars will surround the moon. ~
The little fat boy had just eaten half a bowl of custard, and his fat head was about to fall asleep little by little. Minglan kissed her son hard and said with a smile: "You must study hard in the future, and don't be like your father. I don't know where he is."
Copied from this book!”
That night, Minglan read and reread the letters home, covering a dozen pieces of letter paper to her heart, and finally fell asleep in a daze.
…
The next day, Che Sanniang came to Jiaxiju with a full face and full sleeves. Her face was affectionate and her skin was moist. It was obvious that she had a good fight last night. Minglan teased her a few words, and Che Sanniang told her the reason for her visit. /Very Literary/
She spoke clearly, and after a few words, Minglan was shocked: "Shi Qiang wants to marry Xiao Tao?!"
Che Sanniang twisted the handkerchief, wondering: "I have been away from home for a few months, and our head is planning to leave in the next two days. That silly boy has been acting up since last night, and he refuses to eat the food he is busy with.
I asked what was wrong, and he kept his mouth shut like a clam. His elder brother was about to pull out his fist, and then the boy opened his mouth and said that he had met Miss Tao a few years ago and had been thinking about her since. This time, everyone was older.
, and he became taller, so he started to think about it."
Minglan was stunned for a while, then stammered: "Brother Shi... he's attracted to Xiao Tao... what?"
I remember that she was robbed on the river a few years ago. After she was rescued, she changed her clothes and rested. She had been sitting in the room to calm down, while the maids below were busy running around to clean up. Shi Qiang, who was helping at that time, had naturally seen her.
Maid.
It's true that Xiao Tao is a good girl, but her appearance... Xiao Tao's appearance appeared in front of Minglan's eyes. She was round, naive, thick, clumsy, and had the temperament of a village girl. Love at first sight?
Che Sanniang was also in a dilemma and said: "I don't know about this either. Why don't you, madam, ask the boy yourself?"
Minglan nodded. Since it was not allowed for foreign men to enter the inner house, she and Che Sanniang had to take a sedan to the outer hall and ask someone to pass on Shi Qiang.
When we arrived at the outer hall, the boy Shi Qiang stood by the porch, his head almost touching the beam, his face was as puffy as a hard-boiled egg, as if his throat was stuck, and he was speechless.
Che Sanniang almost regarded Shi Qiang as her son. When she saw this, she walked over and hit her younger brother hard: "You are talking! Madam said that she is showing some girls her son-in-law. If you don't
"Say, the cooked one..." No, I haven't even written the horoscope yet, this girl is not cooked at all.
"If you don't tell me, that hairy duck can fly...!" Che Sanniang shouted, waving her fist.
Minglan burst out laughing, and the atmosphere in the hall relaxed.
"Tell me carefully, what do you like about Xiao Tao? If you don't tell me a reason, how can I safely marry Xiao Tao all the way away?" Minglan asked softly.
Shi Qiang wiped the sweat from his forehead. He had nowhere to put his hands and feet. He looked at his sister-in-law and then at the figure behind the screen. Finally, he mustered up the courage to say, "Miss Xiao Tao..." After holding it in for a long time, he said, "She is a good girl!"
Che Sanniang was desperate and wondered if she had been too strict since she was a child.
Minglan sighed, and used the tone of the middle school dean to coax the students to talk about puppy love: "Then tell me, what was it like when you first met Xiao Tao a few years ago...?"
According to her original plan, she must find a reliable husband for that silly girl, and he must be close to him so that he can be taken care of easily. ~
Shi Qiang began to reminisce, and talked for a long time without beginning or ending, except for one key sentence: "... all the girls on the boat were so frightened, some were crying, some were scolding, and some were trembling, and they couldn't even speak..."
The girl didn’t.”
"Then what is she doing?" Minglan was also curious.
The maids in Gaomen's inner house were all pampered. They had never seen robbers. Although the ship had docked at that time, there were still several corpses floating on the water. The ship not far away had just extinguished the fire and floated over with the smell of corpses.
There was a burning smell, and there were still blood stains on the board of the ship. The girls who had just been rescued were in shock and had to deal with it reluctantly. Naturally, they didn't look good.
Shi Qiang's face was filled with a layer of dream: "...she borrowed a harpoon, then went to the shallow water and harpooned more than a dozen fat fish at once, then picked up a dagger that washed up on the shore, cut off the fish's head on the spot, and scraped
The scales dug into the belly, and then went back singing."
Not only was Minglan dumbfounded, but Che Sanniang was also embarrassed. She really wanted to touch her younger brother's forehead—could it be that the way the girl killed the fish and beheaded it looked so bright and moving?
"I just want a wife like this!" Shi Qiang said firmly, clenching his fists.
Minglan was speechless for a while, and finally she could only say: "Well... I have to ask Xiao Tao..." Thinking of the silly girl's temperament, she added, "I'm afraid I won't be able to reply for a while."
Che Sanniang smiled and said: "There is no hurry. Madam has naturally planned carefully for this girl who has been with her for so many years. My brother is not very old, and our cousin uncle passed away less than a year ago. Take your time."
, take your time and wait until Madam has made up her mind."
She is not as naive as Shi Qiang's younger brother. She has to think more about everything. It is of course good for her younger brother to marry the girl he loves. Maybe it would be better to marry Mrs. Gu Hou, who has been with her since childhood as her personal maid. It's not that she wants any benefits, but multiple
Due to the ties with the Hou Mansion, even if my husband and I leave in the future, the Shi family will no longer have influence in Caogang, and our daughter and younger brother will still have nobles to take care of them, so they will not be bullied.
…
Until she returned to the house, Minglan still felt a little bit dumbfounded, so she quickly caught Xiao Tao and asked her.
Xiao Tao's reaction was better than that of Dan Ju. She was a bit shameless. She stayed there for a long time and only asked: "After I get married, can I still live with my wife?"
Minglan said: "That's not possible. The Shi family is a bit far away. It takes half a month to get here."
Xiao Tao immediately shook her head: "Then I won't marry."
"Idiot, why?"
Xiao Tao said dullly: "I made an agreement with Sister Danju that if I wanted to marry outside, she wouldn't leave. I told her that she had someone waiting outside, but I didn't. I would stay with my wife, called
Even though she is married, how can she not keep her words?"
Minglan felt sad, "You two..."
She took Xiao Tao's head and held her in her arms, like a hugger, as if she was just a little child.
"Silly girl, I told Dan Ju about this, and I'm telling you now too." Minglan's nose also started to feel sore, "I have never, never, never thought for a moment that I would ask you to give up your lifelong happiness.
To stay with me."
Even though she was reluctant to part with it.
Holding back the moisture in her eyes, Minglan pulled Xiao Tao's face and said seriously: "Since you were a child, you have never hid a word from me. Now, tell me honestly, you know the Shi family
Brother, do you... like him...?"
Xiao Tao thought for a long time, shook her head and said, "I don't know."
Minglan said helplessly: "Then what do you think of others?"
Xiao Tao said with a cry: "Before going to the northwest, he asked people to bring me things several times, including crispy candy from Anya Zhai, braised pork elbows from Defuju, lotus leaf and lotus root rice dumplings from West Street... This time he brought me things again
He brought me a lot of delicious food. I secretly asked him how he knew that I like to eat these, and he said that he always picks up what he likes and brings them to me."
As I talked, I really started crying, feeling helpless, as if I had done something wrong.
Minglan sighed and said, "Why are you crying, silly girl, we have the same interests and are foodies. Isn't this great?" He wiped away her tears and asked, "Then are you willing to live with him? Always and always."
Xiaotao still looked confused.
Minglan was funny yet weak, so she waved her hand and said, "That's it, you go down first, don't say anything about this to anyone, just ask me to think about it."
Should he be on the safe side and let this silly child stay with him? Or should he let her go and let her have an independent life? Minglan held her head and thought hard.
Che Sanniang was so clever. She noticed Minglan's hesitation within a few days, so she said that she and her husband would go back to take care of the affairs of the gang first. She asked Minglan for mercy and asked Shi Qiang to stay for a while so that he could learn some skills from the Tu brothers.
Ming Lan was having a headache, so she agreed immediately. The Sanniang of the car was going to come up with something, and her words and hands were all busy. The two ladies of the Tu family had been coaxed to death. After hearing about this, they were also happy to sell their favors.
So Shi Qiang stayed behind and lived next to Gongsun Meng in the outer courtyard. He usually learned boxing and kicking skills from the vicious butcher's second son, got beaten up, and then went to collect delicious food.
After finally taking care of Bi Shiqiang's daily life, Liao Yong's family came to talk to Minglan. Minglan happened to be taking a nap, so he asked Xia He to send a message.
He leaned against the bed, laughing and scolding: "What a frivolous little hoof, I spoiled you. Sister-in-law Liao sent me to work, how dare you pretend to be asleep?!"
Bisi flipped through the book of poems in her hand listlessly, and said with a sweet smile: "Tell me to take a rest for a while. I will enjoy you for one day."
Xia He looked at the charcoal pot on the ground for a while, lost in thought: "It seems that Sister Xiaotao is going to have someone to rely on for life."
When Bisi heard this, she stood up from the kang and asked urgently: "Is that true?" Then she said to herself, "No wonder they send things in every day."
Thinking of Shi Qiang's tall and tall figure and the wealth of the Cao Gang, she pouted and said, "You can give and receive privately without fear of embarrassment!"
Xia He shook his head and said with a smile: "You, you, you have sleeves, aren't you? They give me food, you take a bite, I take a bite. The sisters have already finished eating separately. Didn't you eat? What's more..." She pursed her lips,
"No one from the Youchang family said anything, it's obviously Madam's intention."
Bisi said gloomily: "Who is cheating, who is cheating! Sister Cuiwei has loved Xiao Tao and Dan Ju since she was a child, and Madam is always considerate of them. I wonder what the Shi family sees in that stupid girl?"
Xia He looked at her funny, "I came from behind, so I can't compare with you. But, you deserve it!"
"What do you mean?" Bisi asked softly.
Xia He said: "Although I have served Madam for a short time, I have seen that Madam is gentle and kind, just like the few you have served since childhood. How can Madam not be interested in anyone who is better? Qin Sang and Dan Ju are both married.
, Madam will bring some things over here and there, such a master... tsk tsk, he was cultivated in the previous life."
She walked to the stove, poured a cup of hot tea and blew it gently, "I've never seen that Yancao. Ruomei is causing trouble for Madam on her own. As for you..." She sat down next to Bisi and poked her playfully.
On the forehead, "He is truly an Adou who cannot be helped."
Bisi twisted unhappily.
Xia He continued to smile and said: "I've never seen you so lazy and lazy. When the clothes and rouge were divided, you were the first one. There was work to do, and you couldn't hide. The fat goose and big duck, the silk and satin, had to be
Miss Bisi, I will trace half a pattern every day and do three or two stitches of embroidery. When you are free, you will either read or eat and drink. Amitabha, my Buddha, are you here to be a maid or a young lady? That is to say, Madam
I have such a good relationship with my sisters and never talk about you. If it were another family, how would you be allowed to enjoy such happiness?!"
Bisi was meek by nature and coveted comfort. She just wanted to live like this forever, with good food, good clothes, no need to work, and little girls to take care of her. However, seeing that each of her sisters was settled, she couldn't help but feel anxious secretly.
"He's just a lowlife, what's the big deal!" She muttered in a low voice.
Xia He said with a smile: "What are you talking about? If you are not a good family, your wife would be in such trouble? Look at what Mrs. Che is wearing. She spends money without blinking an eye." Then he sighed again, "
If you really go out, you will be the grandma."
"Since we are from a respectable family, why..." Bisi lowered her voice with a frown, "Why don't you choose a good one to be your sister-in-law? I don't think Mrs. Shi is very smart at all?"
Xia He laughed out loud: "My good sister, are you really stupid?" He couldn't explain it to this confused person, so he simply said the most direct, "The Shi family is going to spread its branches. Mrs. Shi has already seen it.
Sister Xiaotao is a good-looking girl, so I like her very much."
Taking a sip of tea, he continued: "Isn't Mrs. Shi clever? Haha, she can see that Madam is moved, but Sister Xiaotao is not enlightened, and Madam is worried about it. Isn't it the character of the brother of the Shi family? I simply leave my brother behind,
Ask Madam to check it carefully, if it is really good, Madam will make the decision for Sister Xiaotao."
Bisi became anxious after hearing this, and pulled Xia He's sleeve and said: "Then, what should I do? Even Lu Zhi has something to look at. My wife belongs to the accident hospital's manager Xiao Chen, so she asked Sister-in-law Liao to talk to the Chen family.
As I said, it’s just me…”
Xia He patted her hand, smiled and consoled her: "According to Madam's nature, I won't treat you badly."
But I don’t know how to carefully choose a husband for such a lazy and indolent girl like you; I guess your future life will be... haha, you will have to live a simple life.
Bisi has always been very coaxable, she neither has the courage to climb into the Marquis's trap nor the willpower to do her errands with all her heart and work hard. But after listening to Xia He's words, she felt relieved and lazily lay down to read the poetry collection, just like a young lady.
.
Xia He held his chin and looked at her for a while, then smiled.
In fact, she hoped that Xiao Tao would have more opportunities to show off if she got married; in other words, it was a blessing to be a maid in such a good and honest family.
The atmosphere in the courtyard is gentle, and there is no need to cross-eyed among the maids. As long as you work hard, I can't say it will be better than Lvzhi in the future, and you will always have enough food and clothing. If you are lucky, you can be released to settle down and start a family.
The author has something to say:
I only use Xia He to pay tribute to Miss Lu Chunying.