"To be a cousin is to have the appearance of a cousin...... Xia Xiang stretched out his hand and patted Cao Shumu's arm in front of him, "Compared with Mucuna girl, you just can't learn to be silent is Jin's intelligence." ”

Cao Shumu listened to Xia Xiang's words, his eyes were shining, he turned his head to look at Lian Ruohan, pursed his lips, and smiled secretly.

Mi Xuan waved her hand: "I don't quibble with you, I can't tell you, if something happens in the future, don't blame me for not warning me in advance." ”

Lian Ruohan sent a few people to the guest house, said hello to Cao Shumu, and then drove away. Cao Shumu stood on Xia Xiang's right and gently pushed his arm: "Don't you want to know what I did when I went to Charter City with her?" ”

Xia Xiang pretended to remember: "As soon as you said it, it reminded me, say it quickly, why did you go for two days, what big things happened?" ”

"It's nothing, in fact, I don't know what she's going to do, it's just driving me around the city, she doesn't know the way, let me help her lead the way." Cao Shumu's eyes floated around, obviously her mind was not here, and sure enough, she peeked at Mi Xuan again, pulled Xia Xiang aside, and asked in a low voice, "Why does she have to pull you up the mountain?" ”

No matter how much the little girl pretends to be generous, she is also a little girl, it is impossible to act as if nothing has happened, it can be seen from the fact that she no longer calls Lian Ruohan Sister Lian, she is still a little apprehensive in her heart, and she is not very comfortable.

Xia Xiang pinched her ears and said with a smile: "Don't think about it, it's nothing, there should be a powerful family behind Lian Ruohan, she wanted to show me a clear way, but I didn't agree." ”

"Hmm!" Cao Shumu believed, and his little face was filled with charming brilliance, "Sometimes, a person doesn't necessarily have to climb to the sky in one step, step by step, although it is a little slow, but the foundation is solid." In my opinion, depending on your level, at most you can find a bureau chief as a backer, and if you really want to find a provincial governor or even a bigger official, you will not be able to stand firmly. ”

It's not simple, Xia Xiang looked at Cao Shumu a few more times as if she didn't know her, she was a little embarrassed, she subconsciously reached out to her chest, and then remembered that she was wearing sportswear today, her chest was very tight, and she couldn't see anything.

Xia Xiang noticed Cao Shumu's abnormality, and said with a smile: "The person who designed the sportswear is too hateful, and he didn't take into account the curvaceous beauty of the female surname at all, and when he wears it, he can't see anything." ”

Cao Shumu was ashamed: "I didn't see it, it turns out that you still have such a bad side, you are really unseemly." Normally, you look quite honest, but now you show your fox tail. ”

Xia Xiang was ashamed to say: "The fox has always had a tail, and there is no problem of showing it." If you don't see it, it proves that you deliberately ignored it before. ”

"You ......" Cao Shumu was so angry that he couldn't speak.

At noon, Mi Xuan told Xia Xiang that she had arranged it and that Wang Quanyou wanted to eat with him. Whether it is as the secretary of the Political and Legal Committee or as Cao Shumu's uncle, Xia Xiang has no reason to refuse. Fortunately, Mi Xuan and Cao Shumu accompanied him together, which made him feel a lot more at ease.

The place to eat was in a very remote place, in an inconspicuous farmhouse in the southern part of the county. Mi Xuan said that it was a friend her father knew, who used to open a restaurant in the county, but then his mind faded and he stopped opening it, but he still entertained some old friends at home.

Although the small courtyard is not big, it is half an acre, and the yard is full of flowers and various fruit trees, a thriving scene. In the middle of the yard there are also several vines, and the trellises are lush and erected with brackets to create a natural shady place. Under the grape trellis, there are several Eight Immortal Tables and Taishi Chairs, and on the tables are crude teapots and cups, which have a strong peasant atmosphere.

Wang Quanyou casually wore a shirt, sat on a bench with a golden knife, carried a teapot very unfiguratively, and drank tea directly at the spout of the teapot. Next to him sat an old-looking middle-aged man, wearing an old green military uniform, wearing a military hat on his head, smoking a long dry cigarette, and when he smiled, he saw that the upper and lower four front teeth had fallen out.

"Come on, let me introduce, Xia Xiang, the secretary of the county party secretary." Wang Quanyou saw that Xia wanted to wait for others to come in, but he didn't stand up, just nodded and said to the man in military uniform.

The man in military uniform didn't get up, and Chong Xia Xiang smiled: "Young man, yes, quite young." My name is Wan Zhize, don't be polite when you come to the house, sit down...... Mother-in-law, it's on the water. ”

Xia Xiang moved a bench and sat down, and when he looked back, he saw Cao Shumu and Mi Xuan sitting on the chair, far away from them, and they didn't approach. A middle-aged woman dressed in ordinary clothes carried a thermos in one hand and a tray in the other hand from behind the grape trellis, poured water for Cao Shumu and the others first, and then came to Xia Xiang to add water to him.

Xia Xiang took the thermos from her hand: "I can pour it myself, don't bother Auntie." ”

The middle-aged woman smiled, but she was not reluctant, put down the thermos and left. Wang Quanyou and Wan Zhize looked at each other and smiled, and then said to Xia: "Xiao Xia, we met today in our personal capacity, I am not the secretary of the political and legal committee, and you are not the secretary of the county party committee." ”

Xia wanted to understand that Wang Quanyou was ordering him, and he also guessed that since Wang Quanyou asked him to come here to meet, he just wanted to talk about some less serious topics in a relaxed and casual atmosphere. In fact, when he took the initiative to take the thermos, he had already shown that he did not regard himself as a guest, but poured water and drank it himself as a friend.

Wan Zhize thumped his left leg and stretched the teapot forward: "People are old, and their legs and feet are useless, young man, pour me some water." ”

The tea jar is the kind of old-fashioned enamel tea jar, with a lot of paint falling off it, revealing the rust inside, and the inside of the tea jar is thick tea dirt, and there is a circle of words outside, which can be vaguely seen to be "commemorating the self-defense counterattack war against Vietnam...... Xia Xiang stood up, filled Wan Zhize with water with a smile, and asked Wang Quanyou: "Do you want Uncle Wang?" ”

Wang Quanyou also stretched out the cup unceremoniously, and while watching Xia Xiang pour water steadily, he asked, "Didn't you stand up to greet you, and let you pour water, do you have some opinions in your heart?" ”

If Xia Xiang didn't guess wrong, Wang Quanyou and Wan Zhize should be comrades-in-arms. A soldier who was born in a soldier does not have too many twists and turns, and the test of the two of them on him, he can see it as soon as he enters the door, although it is a little clumsy, but it is precisely because there are not too many tricks that he seems sincere and cute.

"How so?" Xia Xiang's attitude was so good that he poured the water, put the thermos aside, and then sat back on the bench, "Where is the reason for the juniors to let the elders greet them?" Uncle Wan is a veteran soldier who has shed blood for the country and has been on the battlefield, so he deserves to be respected by everyone. ”

Wan Zhize's eyes flashed with a glimmer of brilliance, and he smiled happily: "It's rare that there are still young people who know how to respect soldiers, and our generation of soldiers has long been forgotten." ”

Xia Xiang didn't want to comment too much on the country's resettlement policy for veterans, there were too many unsatisfactory things in society, and he couldn't change the general environment, but since he met Wan Zhize, it was okay to help him if he could. He specifically picked up topics that he felt and said, talking about the soul of soldiers, talking about the war in those years, talking about the undesirable phenomena in the army now, and so on, and talking very speculatively.

Unconsciously, the three of them talked for more than half an hour, until they heard Cao Shumu cry sweetly: "Uncle, it's time to eat......

Wang Quanyou got up and asked Wan Zhize tentatively: "Eat together?" ”

Wan Zhize reached out and took a cane from behind his back, stretched out his left leg, and stood up: "No, if it's you, our brothers will take a sip, and now you have guests - Xiao Xia is not a guest now, but there are two little girls here, so I won't join in the fun, so they will be uncomfortable." ”

Wang Quanyou was not reluctant, waved his hand, and Xia Xiang came over and sat down one after the other. Wang Quanyou sat in the middle, and Xia wanted to sit opposite him. Cao Shumu is on his right, and Mi Xuan is on the left.

The vegetables are full of aroma, such as chicken stewed mushrooms, steamed potatoes, old corn stewed pork ribs, etc., all served in a large thick bowl of the farmhouse, which looks appetizing. Xia Xiang asked curiously: "Uncle Wan's craftsmanship is not bad, why don't you open a restaurant anymore?" ”

Wang Quanyou sighed: "It's a long story...... He was a disabled soldier, according to the regulations should enjoy many preferential policies, at that time he opened a restaurant business was originally very good, but later was jealous, someone secretly did things in the dish, as a result, the food sold that day made many customers vomit and leak, and in the end did not find out who did it. He was very high-spirited, and he was willing to fight with the villain, so he closed the hotel in a fit of anger, and I hadn't come to Ba County at that time. After I came, I often brought some friends to his house for dinner, and when I came and went, he became a place for private gatherings, which was also a place for him to make ends meet......"

Xia thought about it: "After Uncle Wang came, he didn't find out who did it?" ”

"It's been so long, how can you find out?" Wang Quanyou picked up a piece of old corn, put it in his mouth, and said vaguely, "It's delicious, Lao Wan's craftsmanship is still first-class, but it's a pity, if you want to eat the food he cooks, you have to run so far." The place where he opened the hotel back then, now he has opened a restaurant called Luo Yingyuan, and the level is far worse than him......"

It doesn't matter whether the speaker is intentional or unintentional, but the listener understands the meaning, Luoyingyuan is Liu He's hotel. It is self-evident who drove Wan Zhize away back then, and who is the biggest beneficiary is who.

Wang Quanyou knew everything in his heart, he didn't say anything or do anything, obviously he had scruples, and now he pretended to reveal it to him unintentionally, he must have other intentions. Xia didn't want to break it, served a glass of wine to Wang Quanyou, and beckoned Cao Shumu and Mi Xuan to eat, enthusiastic and courteous.

Cao Shumu and Mi Xuan are also hungry and eat happily, Cao Shumu still maintains a little ladylike demeanor, but Mi Xuan looks like a gobble, without a little image. Wang Quanyou looked at Mi Xuan with a loving face, and then at Cao Shumu, his eyes showing the love of his father.

After waiting for a long time, and didn't see Xia Xiang answering, Wang Quanyou couldn't help but curse a little slippery head, so he had to pretend to just remember, and asked, "Xiao Xia, have you ever eaten in Luoyingyuan?" ”

(To be continued)