Chapter 24 The stubborn woman chases the heartless man
The sun is three poles high, and the sun is shining brightly.
Wang Dalu continued to practice his palm skills, and at the same time, hot caramel chestnuts with excellent taste were constantly coming out of the oven.
Whenever chestnuts came out of the oven, Li Zhaocai would ask his former workers from Heifeng Village to wrap the chestnuts and send them out of the garden.
Wang Dalu asked Li Zhaocai where the roasted chestnuts were used during a tea break.
Of course, Li Zhaocai would not tell Wang Dalu that those chestnuts were sold in the south pavilion of the Deacon's Mansion and he and Lu Mi reconciled the accounts.
He winked and replied naively.
"The children at the foot of the mountain always wanted to eat some chestnuts, but unfortunately chestnuts are very expensive and they usually can't afford them, so I took it upon myself to give them the chestnuts roasted by the adults."
"When they heard that it was sent by an adult, they were very grateful for your kindness."
Wang Dalu was very happy to see that his random move had yielded unexpected results, and he looked at the honest and strong man and said.
"You have a heart!"
After saying that, I practiced frying chestnuts even more diligently.
Li Zhaocai recited something silently in his heart.
"I'm not lying to you. Except for the drinking expenses, all the proceeds from selling chestnuts will be given to those children."
In the south pavilion of the North Deacon's Mansion.
The seats were full of people at this time, and Wang Dalu would have been very surprised if he were here.
There are not only Old Turtle, Lu Mi, Li Jinbao and others here, but also Li Meng and Jin Lie who are training soldiers outside.
Every time these two soldiers finished training, they would come here to drink tea and listen to music.
The focus of everyone's eyes was naturally the sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl on the stage.
This charming girl, with her hair in a pine bun and a goose-yellow dress, has a hint of charm in her youth. She is none other than Master Li who was abducted by Wang Dalu.
After Li Shishi left the palace, he was pawned in a brothel, where he only performed his art but not his body.
When she learned that Wang Dalu had told her that she could leave when she had a sweetheart, she felt resentful and resentful towards Wang Dalu in her heart, but these emotions turned into a kind of longing when Wang Dalu left Wolong City.
She was a woman who abided by etiquette since she was a child. She was born into a wealthy family. She had been educated for several years and had learned music, chess, calligraphy and painting. However, it was only later that her family became poor that she ended up working in a teahouse as an entertainer.
Not knowing where she got the courage, she followed a caravan to Nanshang City without any danger, just to see the betrayed man.
Li Jinbao followed Wang Dalu's instructions and went to Nanshan City to find a woman who was good at music. His men could arrest her, but it was difficult to find her by listening to music, so he went to various teahouses in Nanshan City to listen to music in person.
It wasn't until Li Shishi appeared that Li Jinbao confirmed that this was the person he was looking for.
Li Zhaocai saw that Master Li was visibly trembling when he heard Wang Dalu's name. He thought he had a grudge against Wang Dalu, so he agreed to come to the Deacon Mansion to sing.
He was busy asking people to inquire about Li Shishi's origins, but he never thought that Old Man Gui told him that there was a bad relationship between Li Shishi and Wang Dalu, and told him to ignore it and let it take its course.
Within a few days, it was reported that Old Turtle had adopted Master Li as his adopted daughter and taught Master Li how to learn martial arts in his spare time.
"Here are some hot chestnuts. Sir, you have newly roasted chestnuts. You only need 20 bucks to have a hot mouthful of chestnuts."
Everyone listening to the music was surrounded by people constantly shouting hot chestnuts.
"What are you talking about, 20 pieces of money? My God, why don't you go and grab it? Don't think I don't know that only 5 pieces of money are sold on the street."
Many soldiers who had finished their training couldn't help complaining when they heard that ordinary chestnuts were many times more expensive than those sold on the street.
Lu Mi heard the whispers in the crowd, stood up and said to everyone.
"You are all members of the North Deacon's Mansion. These chestnuts were roasted specially for you by our deacon Mr. Wang. There is a sense of sympathy from Mr. Wang in it."
Lu Mi took out a plump chestnut from the chestnut seller's hand and ate it while talking.
"Have you ever seen a superior roast chestnuts for his subordinates? Have you ever tasted such sweet and glutinous chestnuts?"
He asked, pointing to a grumbling soldier just now.
"Are the chestnuts fried by Mr. Wang expensive?"
The soldier's face turned from pale to red, and he quickly said it was not expensive.
Li Shishi, who was playing the piano and singing, heard Lu Mi's words, and there was an obvious ripple in the sweet tune.
After singing the song, Master Li ordered the maid to buy some chestnuts for her.
Li Jinbao was a man who was good at observing words and emotions and had a quick wit. When he saw this scene, he asked the ghost old man next to him for instructions.
"Miss Li has been here at the Deacon's Mansion for a few days, and the student hasn't had time to report it to your Excellency. In your opinion, should the student inform you?"
Old Turtle was still drowsy and shook his head, took a sip of tea and praised.
"The tea is so good, it is fragrant. When picking it, you must pick it along its roots and leaves, so that you can retain the aroma of the tea leaves."
"Let nature take its course?"
Li Jinbao muttered something in his mouth and bowed.
"Students understand."
Although Old Turtle closed his eyes, everything that happened around him could not be hidden from him. He heard the fluctuations in Li Shishi's mind and could not bear to let him endure the pain of lovesickness any longer, so he decided to intervene tonight.
When he was at the 'teahouse here', Old Man Gui saw that although Master Li looked weak on the outside, she was actually a stubborn woman in her heart.
Old Man Gui didn't want to get involved in what happened between Wang Dalu and Li Shishi in Wolong City. It was fate.
Old Turtle thought that as Wang Dalu left Wolong City, there would be no more connection between Li Shishi and Wang Dalu. Who would have thought that this strong-willed woman would travel hundreds of miles to find a weak lover.
Looking at the resentful and stubborn Li Shishi, Old Man Turtle seemed to have seen an old friend from his past, so he decided to accept Li Shishi as his adopted daughter, allowing her to stay with Wang Dalu as she wished, and teach her martial arts.
No matter how beautiful the melody is, there is a time when it stops. As the lyrics of the last song fall, today's tea party ends.
Old Turtle told Master Li that he would not practice martial arts at night, but invited Wang Dalu to drink tea in his yard, and then left the attic.
Master Li thanked Old Man Gui. She was very grateful to this kind old man and always believed that she had met a noble person.
Master Li picked up a chestnut that the maid bought and slowly peeled it open with her slender fingers, only to see that the chestnut was plump and tender yellow.
Seeing that Master Li wanted to eat this chestnut, the maid next to him hurriedly said:
"Miss, these chestnuts are already cold. How about I go down the mountain to sell you some freshly baked chestnuts tomorrow morning, so that you can eat them when you get up?"
Master Li didn't pay attention to the maid's advice, but took a bite with his mouth, smiling with tears in his eyes.
"It's really sweet!"
Wang Dalu, who had been training for a day, wolfed down his dinner and soaked his hands in the prepared potion in his bedroom.
Today he can no longer remember how many times he thrust his palms into the iron sand, let alone how many pots of chestnuts he stir-fried with the same heat and flavor.
When he heard his servant report that Old Turtle had asked Wang Dalu to come to his yard to talk about something after making the potion, he thought it was to teach him martial arts.
When Wang Dalu came to Old Turtle's courtyard, he felt his heart beating faster for some reason, as if something unexpected was about to happen.
He stretched out his thick, red and swollen hand and slowly touched his chest, exhaled a breath, turned to laughter and pushed open the courtyard door.
"Old Turtle called me here so late, what do you want to talk about?"
On the stone table in the courtyard, wine bottles, wine bottles, and several exquisite side dishes were placed.
Old Turtle sat on a stone bench and waved to him.
Wang Dalu looked at Old Turtle's smiling face, his heart beat a little faster, and he sat on the stone bench and asked suspiciously.
"Old Turtle, how could you sing today?"
"My king, I know that you have been practicing martial arts very hard during this period, so I have prepared these food and drinks to care for you."
Wang Dalu showed disbelief.
"Seriously? You didn't poison the food and wine to trick me, did you?"
Old Turtle still kept smiling, picked up his chopsticks, took a bite of food, and drank a bottle of wine by himself.
"My king, look how comfortable I am eating food and drinking wine."
The two of them drank more than a dozen glasses of wine together.
Wang Dalu ate a few side dishes and praised them.
"Yes, yes, these side dishes are delicious, tasty and cooked well. Is there a new cook in the Deacon House today?"
The old turtle shook his head.
"My king, it's hard for chefs to make such a dish because they can't make it for you."
“Acacia?”
Wang Dalu looked at the half-eaten side dishes and wondered why.
"My king, these dishes come from the adopted daughter I recently adopted."
"Oh, why don't I know that it's such a big deal that you recognize your adopted daughter? Please quickly ask her to come out and let me take a look."