These past few days have been really difficult. The old lady already has a condition in her legs and feet. She refused to sit on the bed when it was warm in front of her, for fear of spending money. She said that she had been there in previous years and it was the same this year, so she just had to endure it.
Unexpectedly, this year it was really unusually cold. It snowed heavily as soon as it hit September. Although it was good for the wheat seedlings in the ground, the old lady's legs couldn't bear it.
I couldn't get out of bed all day long, and I was in pain all day long. My temper, which was not very good in the first place, was like a firecracker core that would explode at a moment's notice.
At this moment, the husband and wife clearly stayed away from each other and hid at the wall to talk. The old lady could hear the sound in the wind and scolded them. There was really nothing they could do.
"How about I go to the mason's house today and see if there are any clay stoves for sale."
Shoji scratched his hair and sighed.
"That's fine."
Mrs. Li glanced at her man worriedly.
The road was slippery in the snow, and farmers like them couldn't afford leather boots. After this trip, whether they wore cloth shoes or straw sandals, their feet would probably be useless when they came back.
The old lady was still lying in the room, cursing non-stop.
Zhuang Er glanced in the direction of the main house again, not even planning to have lunch, so he went directly back to his house, took his money bag, and rushed out of the yard without saying a word.
Seeing that the man was leaving in a hurry, Mrs. Li hurriedly returned to the kitchen, wanting to pick two roasted sweet potatoes from the stove for him to take with him.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the door, he saw his father-in-law sitting at the door of the stove, holding a warm roasted sweet potato and eating it deliciously.
"Dad, what are you..."
She took a closer look and saw that the haystacks under the old man's feet were full of sweet potato peels.
Her father-in-law actually took out all the sweet potatoes she had cooked in the morning and ate them.
Li was speechless for a while.
She had forgotten that ever since her mother-in-law's leg contracted, her father-in-law no longer wanted to stay in the main house. He crowded in the kitchen to warm up and eat secretly every day, causing her troubles that she could not tell.
But no matter how dissatisfied she was, Mrs. Li couldn't point fingers at her elders. She just sighed, scooped two ladles of hot water from the large pot of warm water on the stove, poured it into the pottery soup pot, and carried it.
I went to give it to my mother-in-law.
She was living a really miserable life.
Zhuang Er left the house and hurried all the way, and finally arrived at the mason's house at noon, but when he opened his mouth to ask, he found out that the stoves had been sold out long ago, and even if he wanted to do it now, he couldn't do it because the furnaces and kilns were all closed.
It won’t bloom until next spring.
I put money in my pocket and ran around all morning, but I came away empty-handed.
Zhuang Er was unwilling to give in and turned back towards Doctor Li's house in Daxing Village.
Fortunately, Dr. Li was also at home in Maodong. When someone came to the door, he didn't shirk the situation. He only asked if the situation was urgent. If it was urgent, he would go with him. If it was not urgent, he would prescribe some medicine to take and take a look.
Mrs. Zhuang's leg problem was a long-standing problem, and it was not an emergency. Considering that the doctor was old and it would be inconvenient to travel in the snow, Zhuang Er thought of prescribing some medicine.
Dr. Li asked about the condition in detail, and after pondering for a while, he wrote a prescription. He helped to grab the medicine from the small warehouse, wrapped it into several packages and handed it to Zhuang Er.
"This is a decoction, one dose per day, and this is an external application and fumigation, one dose per day."
Zhuang Er was extremely grateful, thanked him repeatedly, and took out the copper coins to pay for the medicine.
"This is not urgent."
Doctor Li gently twirled his beard, narrowed his smiling eyes, and asked: "Little brother, I wonder if you can do me a favor?"
"Doctor, please tell me."
Zhuang Er answered simply.
"Just give these herbs to Miss Keqing's home in Erli Village."
"I won't charge you for the medicine. I'll just treat it as the cost of your errands."
"How does this work!"
Zhuang Er didn't know how to explain that his home was only about two miles away from his niece's residence, so sending something was not considered an errand, let alone using it to pay for medicine.
But he was born with a stupid mouth, and he hesitated for a long time without explaining why. In the end, he could only accept a few packages of light medicinal materials, and was sent out by Doctor Li.
When we returned to the village, it was already dark. If we returned home at this time, we would miss the doctor's appointment.
Zhuang Er was scheming in his mind, and walked in silence all the way. When he passed the fork in the road leading to his house, he didn't turn up, but instead walked towards his niece's house.
At that time, Zhuang Keqing had just served the drunken Shen Ling to bed.
After discussing business with Wu Fu Ji and others in the morning, the village chief invited them to his home, hoping to entertain the distinguished guests.
Although Zhuang Keqing is a woman, she was the one who facilitated this matter, so she must have a seat. Because Shen Ling is familiar with the law, he also helped a lot with the signing of the contract, so the young couple became guests of the village chief. , and was even persuaded to have two glasses of wine during the dinner.
Zhuang Keqing was not afraid of drinking, but Aling didn't seem to like Zuo Jin very much. Anyone who tried to persuade him was blocked, so that when leaving the village chief's house, Shen Ling stood a little unsteady.
"Aling, are you okay?"
Although the wine he drank today was brought by Zuo Jin, it was still intoxicating after drinking too much. Zhuang Keqing turned to look at Shen Ling, whose cheeks were flushed, and felt very puzzled.
What's wrong with Aring? She has never seen a young man who refuses anyone who comes and doesn't know how to control himself.
Is there something troubling that is hidden in my heart that I can’t talk about?
"Um."
Shen Ling hummed softly, letting the girl's delicate body press close to him, and moved forward clinging to him.
"Don't drink like this next time, you will definitely have a headache tomorrow."
The girl's whisper of concern came to his ears. Shen Ling tilted his head slightly. His eyes followed the other person's smooth black hair, past the long eyelashes and straight nose, and finally stopped at the soft and pink hair. Above the cherry lips.
"No, I have to make you some sobering tea tonight..."
Zhuang Keqing was still a little angry.
The owner of Wufu Ji didn't know what was going on, but he kept drinking Aling's wine. The village chief was obviously nearby, so shouldn't he be more respectful to him?
I always feel like that guy is full of bad stuff!
Fortunately, A Ling is not too drunk now. She can answer questions well and walks steadily.
Although the village chief's home was a bit far away, the two of them walked hand in hand and returned home smoothly without talking all the way.
"Hey, brother Ling, what's going on?"
Qin Manzhi heard the creaking of the fence in the courtyard and came out.
She knew that her daughter and son-in-law had gone to the village chief's house for dinner, but she didn't expect that someone actually drank two small glasses of wine.
"The village chief didn't stop me either!"
Qin Manzhi saw that Shen Ling's face was flushed. Although he was standing upright, his eyes were blurred, and it seemed that he had drank a lot.
I'm afraid this kid has blocked a lot for Ke'er.
In his mind, he took the village chief out and muttered again. Qin Manzhi hurriedly winked at his daughter and asked her to help someone and go into the house to rest quickly.
After a lot of fussing, fetching water and wiping himself, it was finally done. Qin Manzhi withdrew, leaving only Zhuang Keqing to take care of him.
The room was warm, and the wintersweet flowers folded yesterday on the window sill were still in full bloom. A light and elegant fragrance floated around, covering up the vague smell of alcohol.
Zhuang Keqing sat beside the bed and fell asleep.
She was also a little tired, but since Aling drank, she had to keep an eye on him in case he woke up later and asked for tea and no one was there to help him.
"Ke'er."
Just as Zhuang Keqing was about to close his eyes, Shen Ling's voice came from the bed.
The young man's originally light voice turned hoarse and deep without knowing when. When he heard it, it sounded like a gentle and carefree whisper between lovers.
Zhuang Keqing's heart moved, and he raised his head. His hazy almond-shaped eyes suddenly looked into a pair of dark eyes, which seemed to be mixed with twinkling stars in the clear night sky. He stared at her intently and silently for who knows how long.
"Aling."
Zhuang Keqing seemed to be bewitched and looked at the young man blankly.
Shen Ling's right hand slowly covered her soft and elastic cheek, his eyes stopped on her slightly parted lips, and then his slender fingers touched them.
Soft, moist, and just as imagined.
There were thin calluses on the young man's fingertips from work. With a little force, the pair of cherry lips he rubbed showed a richer red color.
His smooth fingertips gently and slowly teased the young lips, until the girl reacted slowly and opened her moist eyes wide with disbelief.
Surprised?
Afraid?
Shen Ling thought.
In fact, he has always been this kind of person. No matter how cold and indifferent he looks, he can't control his turbulent emotions as long as he faces the girl in front of him.
The movements of Shen Ling's hands were not rough, but had an inexplicable hint of silk. In the room where the fragrance was surging, there was even more fuzzy and ambiguous affection.
