On this day, the sky was dark, and the sun was hiding in the clouds, and it was not very clear.

The clouds gradually thickened overhead, and after a while, cold rain fell from the sky, and after the baptism of heat from the volcano, it had become slightly cool when it approached the ground.

Gu Zi'an held the bronze ice jian, drenched in the rain, and came all the way to the gate of Qiao's house.

The cold rain fell a little heavier on the way, pouring his whole body into a penetrating one, this bronze ice jian, as well as the ice drinks and melons and fruits made in it, were all to be taken to the old man Qiao Fengjian to taste, his current appearance of a chicken in the soup, it will make people sick to their stomachs when they see it, if they let the old man see it, where is there still the interest in eating.

Put Bingjian at his feet, stood idly at the door for a while, chatted with the brother in the porter, and waited until the hair and clothes on his body were no longer dripping, and then he picked up Bingjian again and entered the outer courtyard, and walked along the narrow and deep corridor to the inner courtyard.

Ordinary Liba is about to pick up and scatter for a living, no matter where there is work, as long as they are idle at the moment, even if people are only three meals a day, they are willing to do it.

If you go to someone else's house and eat it openly, you can save food for one person at home, and no matter what, it's always good.

But Gu Zi'an is different.

Their old Gu family ancestor was a slave who sold himself into the Qiao family, although he later saved enough money because of his ability to make ice, and he redeemed himself, but because he grew up in Qiao's family since he was a child, the master at that time knew the roots of their family and still trusted them, and after they got free, they always stayed in Qiao's family to do things, this is six or seven or eight generations, and they have never done anything for the Qiao family, and occasionally in their spare time, they will go outside to take on a little private work, so even if it is Gu Zi'an's generation, Qiao Fengjian, who is the master, still regards him as his own person。

When Gu Zi'an's father was still there, Qiao Fengjian, the old man of the Qiao family, was happy again, and he once made the decision to give him the first new little girl in the family to be his daughter-in-law, just waiting for the girl to become an adult, and when he came out of the house, he went to the Gu family to marry him.

When my mother was there, she often said that to be a person, you must know how to repay Entu, and you must also know how to cherish it.

Since that girl was promised to you, she is your person, no matter how beautiful and pleasing the girl from other people's families is in the future, you should not be contaminated.

Gu Zi'an listened.

Mother also said that being a maid in the clan is a hard errand, you have to go to see her when you are free, do any work for her, and if there is any difficulty, you can reach out and help.

Gu Zi'an also listened.

He is a man with no ambitions, making some ice food, serving the master, and the money he gets, all listening to the words of the dead old mother, quietly saving, just waiting for the time to marry, ask someone to re-dig his old yard, buy a few beautiful clothes for the hard-working girl who has no father and no mother, and marry the girl into the door decently, the two are like father and mother

If you live a lifetime together, you will be satisfied.

He likes the girl named Qi Fu, and the girl is about the same to herself.

Drink cold and drink cooler.

The two large buckets of Ruyi Lake water that Qinghong would give him were handed over to him by the old man Qiao Fengjian, and he was instructed to divide them into thirty-seven parts and freeze them separately.

Three hundred and sixty-five days a year, every ten days, Gu Zi'an needs to take out a copy, and in the last few days of the year, he also has to leave a copy for enjoyment.

The water of Ruyi Lake has been tempered by the starlight, and the temperature is comparable to ordinary ice, and then cooled with saltpeter, with melons, fruits and vegetables specially sent by the house, through his hands, it is prepared into a unique style of ice drink and ice food, in this year, it is like summer in Tinghu Town, it is also a rare enjoyment.

After sending the old man a ten-day ice drink, Gu Zi'an left the inner courtyard smoothly and walked to the side courtyard where the people lived, and met many acquaintances along the way, all of whom nodded and smiled, and some of them had a good relationship, and they would also go over to chat for a few words, and the people in the house were familiar with him, and the guards did not stop him when they saw him as a familiar face, but just teased him with a little envy, saying some jokes like 'come to see his daughter-in-law again', and let him go.

There are partial courtyards on the east and west sides of the inner courtyard, and male servants live on the east side, female servants live on the west side, and servants with family members live in the east courtyard with their husbands.

Therefore, what Gu Zi'an is going to now is the western courtyard where the maids who have not yet married are located.

In Qiao's family, as long as there is no urgent shortage of Liba, Gu Zi'an will only come to the house three times a month.

As the saying goes, 'one moment on stage, one year off stage,' Gu Zi'an's kind of ice-making work is not much the same.

In the nine days that he was no longer at home in Fuzhong, he needed to be busy with a lot of things, drying saltpeter, making ice, processing melons and fruits, buying food condiments, making ice drinks and ice food, every day, he had to get up early in the morning and be busy until two hours later in the afternoon, so that he could have some rest time.

On the contrary, on the day he came to the house, he didn't have to do anything except need to bring the bronze ice jian over and give it to the lord to enjoy, but only waited until he went to the account room at night to receive the reward this time, and everything was fine, and he could go home and sleep beautifully, until he got up in the afternoon of the next day, and then began a new cycle of busyness.

And every time Gu Zi'an came to the house, Qi Fu's girl would wait in the camphor forest outside the courtyard, the two would hold hands, walk together on the uninhabited path in the forest, and say some considerate words, Gu Zi'an would sometimes bring some money and food, so that the girl could eat a few good meals, her daughter-in-law, raised white and fat, when she gave birth to a baby, she could be healthier, and the girl's life was still too hard after all.

On this day, Gu Zi'an walked straight through the side courtyard and walked towards the camphor forest, and from afar, he saw a girl wearing red flower and bird embroidery raising her arm high and waving to herself.

Who is it if it's not Qi Fu?

His heart was overjoyed, and he quickened his pace towards the girl

The direction of the child walked over.

"Brother Zi'an, it's a little late today!" The girl pouted and complained sweetly, but she immediately greeted her, and used the small oil-paper umbrella in her hand to block the wind and rain on Gu Zi'an's head, but it was her own back, which immediately wet the rain.

Gu Zi'an snatched the oil-paper umbrella, covered the girl's body again, frowned, and said with some reproach: "You come to Kwai Shui today, you can't catch a cold, you know?"

(End of this chapter) I want to talk about "One Inch of Mountains and Rivers" with more like-minded people, pay attention to "excellent reading literature" on WeChat, talk about life, and find confidants~