It is the early spring season, the peach orchard of Gongcheng bears new fruits, and the green and astringent small fruits hang on the branches, green and rich, like a very round little jasper. There are also unwilted peach blossom petals on the ground, pink and white, like rouge on the cheeks of a cardamom girl.

A pair of cotton shoes stepped over the petals, and the apricot embroidered begonia skirt was gently raised.

It was a girl born like a flower, with two willow eyebrows curled, and her dark eyes were shy. Ah Yin suddenly stopped, smoothed the folds on his sleeves, and then stroked the hairpin on his black hair, for fear of being a little messy.

Jiang Xuan laughed lowly: "Even if Xi Shi is alive, when he sees Sister Ah Yin, he can only be ashamed of himself. ”

Ah Yin glanced at her, pretended to be annoyed, and slapped her, saying, "You know how to laugh at me!" ”

Jiang Xuan looked into the distance and only said: "It's my sister's fault, my sister punished herself for taking care of my sister here, so that my sister and Xie Lang can catch up." The old words dragged on for a long time, which was quite ridiculous.

Ah Yin couldn't hear it, but at this time, time was pressing, she glanced at her again, and Fang lifted her skirt and hurriedly walked into the depths of the peach orchard.

"Ah Yin!"

The eyes of the young man not far away suddenly lit up, and he walked in front of Ah Yin in three steps and two steps, and his handsome eyebrows looked up and down at the girl in front of him, left and right, with indescribable joy. Ah Yin pursed his lips and smiled: "Silly nerd! ”

Xie Shaohuai was called by her like this, and then smirked: "Hmm." ”

When he saw her for the first time five years ago, he was like a demon with her, beautiful like a cloud, but he just wanted to marry her.

"Ah Yin, my mother has finally relented, and she will send a matchmaker to Yin's house tomorrow to propose marriage."

When Ah Yin heard this, he couldn't help but be overjoyed and said, "Are you really relieved?" ”

Her family is just a small family, and the family has a little savings, which was obtained by the grandfather of the Yin family in business, but Xie Lang is the youngest son of Gongcheng County, the so-called Shinong industry and commerce, she is unwilling to be a concubine, so although the two are in love, until Ah Yin grows into a big girl in her twenties, the marriage is still undecided.

Xie Shaohuai bowed his head and said, "After the marriage is proposed, I will immediately ask my mother to pick a good day and marry you." We have been waiting for this day for so many years. ”

Ah Yin smiled and said, "Look at you, you're in a hurry." ”

He took her hand, unwilling to let go.

"Ah Yin is the cinnabar mole in Shaohuai's heart, how can Shaohuai not be in a hurry?"

The two talked about themselves again, and it wasn't until Jiang Xuan couldn't help but come to urge that the two reluctantly parted. Xie Shaohuai watched Ah Yin leave, his eyes were stupid, as if he couldn't see enough no matter what. After Ah Yin disappeared from his sight, he sighed wistfully.

His mother's words are fresh in his ears.

“…… What * soup did she pour you? Then the Yin family doesn't want to think about what kind of identity he is? Marrying into our family as a concubine has already promoted her, and she still wants to be a wife? Son, if she really wants to enter the door of our Xie family and really wants to marry you, how can she not want to be a concubine? Alas, don't kneel, get up, my mother is afraid of you...... In this way, it is impossible to have a wife, but it is not impossible to marry with the gift of a wife, you are the son-in-law of our Xie family, and the position of wife cannot be given to the Yin family. Yin's mother is a reasonable person, and I have sent someone to guide her. You see, her daughters are all big girls, and someone married someone who burned high incense in her previous life, not to mention people like us. You heard my mother say that after she got started, the raw rice was cooked and cooked, and she couldn't regret it if she wanted to. ”

He muttered to himself, "I hope Ah Yin doesn't annoy me." ”.

Taoyuan is located in Momoyama.

Taoshan used to be called Gongshan, but after it was bought by the Shangguan family in Suizhou, it was renamed and called Taoshan. Ah Yin has been accustomed to going out with his grandfather since he was a child, and he is very familiar with this peach mountain, knows many trails and trails, and avoids a few small people guarding the garden with ease, and goes down the mountain with Jiang Xuan.

It was getting dark, but Ah Yin was not walking fast.

Jiang Xuan said: "Sister, if you don't go faster, I'm afraid Madame will be unhappy." ”

Ah Yin seemed to have not heard it, and seemed to be in deep thought.

Jiang Xuan noticed that Ah Yin was wrong, and asked softly, "What's wrong with my sister?" But quarreled with Xie Lang? ”

Ah Yin came back to his senses, shook his head slightly, and then smiled bitterly: "I'm afraid that sooner or later I will have to quarrel, just Xie Lang has a sense of evasion between the lines, if I guess correctly, I guess my marriage with him is not so simple." ”

Jiang Xuan let out an "ah" and asked, "What do you mean by what my sister said?" ”

Ah Yin said: "Xie Lang is a simple person, and the few times he disagreed with me was related to his mother, this time it must be his mother who said something to him." In this marriage, Xie Lang's mother could not have let go so early. ”

Jiang Xuan took a while to understand, and said in surprise: "Sister means that Xie Lang's mother has accepted this marriage?" ”

Ah Yin shook his head: "There must be fraud in it, but I have a doubt, listening to Xie Lang's tone, it seems that my father and mother have agreed, but my mother has never wanted me to be a child, and she will not be able to accept it." ”.

When Yin returned home, it was already dark.

The population of the Yin family is not small, after the death of Yin's grandfather, the two rooms were separated, the large house has a large population, and a two-entry courtyard was purchased, but the location is extremely remote, although the bricks and tiles are dilapidated, but under the care of Yin's mother Qin, it is also in order.

The old man who guarded the door was called Qin Weng and was a distant relative of the Qin family.

Qin Weng opened the door for Ah Yin, and Ah Yin said sweetly: "Thank you Uncle Qin." Qin Weng smiled so hard that his eyes narrowed into a slit. Jiang Xuan asked Ah Yin: "Sister, do you want to go to Madame's house first?" ”

Ah Yin said: "Well, I'll go and tell my mother that I'm back, and my sister doesn't have to follow me." After a while, she took out a small thing from her sleeve pocket, about an inch in size, a nuclear sculpture carved in the shape of a monkey's head, and said: "Send it to Brother Hao's house, and say that I got it by chance today, and then you carefully observe what is different in Brother Hao's house." ”

Jiang Xuan received it in the palm of his hand and saw the monkey head nuclear carving clearly by the moonlight.

She said with emotion: "My sister's skills are becoming more and more exquisite, and what is outside is not as good as half of my sister's fingers." ”

Ah Yin smiled and said, "If you study hard and practice hard, you can do the same." ”

With that, Ah Yin waved his hand, turned around and walked towards the Qin family's house. As soon as he entered the door, the Qin clan shouted, "You dead girl, where have you gone again?" ”

"Mother, I mentioned to you, I dreamed of my grandfather last night, and I only went to incense my grandfather this morning."

How could the Qin family not know their daughter's temperament, saying that they were offering incense to their grandfather, how could they put incense on it and not return home until nightfall? However, the Qin family didn't break it, and after shouting, he was angry, beckoned to Ah Yin, and said, "Come here, my mother bought you something good." ”

Qin opened a wooden box, and there was a pair of golden hairpins inside.

"Mother went out today to melt the gold bracelet given by your grandmother, and found a craftsman to make a pair of gold hairpins, which can be worn when you get married. Ah Yin, only mothers in this world will be so good to you, you can't forget your mother when you get married in the future. ”

Ah Yin asked quietly: "Mother, but there is movement on the Xie family's side?" ”

Qin said with a smile: "Tomorrow is a good day to propose." ”

"Mother, is Mrs. Xie really relieved?"

Qin's eyebrows furrowed, and he said: "Our Ah Yin is so good, if we want to marry you back, we naturally have to use the gift of a wife." Qin closed the wooden box and said earnestly: "I see that the little Langjun of the Xie family is willing to wait for you for a few years, and he is also sincere, Ah Yin, if a man really has you in his heart, in fact, whether he is a wife or a concubine, it is all the same, but the name is different." ”

Speaking of this, Qin couldn't help but look out the window.

Not far away, the second aunt Lu's sharp voice didn't know what to say, which made Yin Xiuwen laugh. Qin's face was gloomy, and he said: "The Lu family is a broom star, and when she entered the door, it not only restrained your grandfather, but also caused your father not to be enterprising. If you get married, you must not flatter your husband in the future, but you must be virtuous and virtuous, and take care of the family business. ”

Speaking of the Lu family, the Qin family was full of complaints, and after talking for half an hour, Fang let Ah Yin go back.

Ah Yin went back to the room.

Because of his father's romantic nature, in addition to the second aunt, not long ago he accepted a third aunt, the second aunt gave birth to a son and a daughter, and now he is favored, and the big house is crowded in the innermost courtyard, the east is the big house, and the west is the second room. There are three rooms on the east side, distributed in descending order, with Ah Yin's room at the end.

Ah Yin pushed open the door, and Jiang Xuan had already returned.

Jiang Xuan is the orphan of the son of Ah Yin's grandfather, who grew up with Ah Yin since he was a child, after his grandfather left, the Qin family didn't want to raise an idler, but after Ah Yin lobbied, the Qin family reluctantly agreed to let Jiang Xuan stay.

The two have a very good relationship, eat and live together, and are closer than sisters.

"What can you find in Brother Hao's house?"

Brother Hao is Ah Yin's second brother and is ten years old this year. Ah Yin also has a sibling brother, two years younger than Ah Yin, he likes to do business since he was a child, he left home four or five years ago, went out to wander, and only returned home every Chinese New Year.

Jiang Xuan whispered: "When I entered the house, Brother Hao was studying, the book was new, and the four characters of Shouquan School were written on the book cover. ”

As soon as these words came out, Ayin was stunned.

The spring cold swept in, and there seemed to be a thin crack in her heart, which made her shiver all over. Jiang Xuan asked, "Why is my sister's face so pale?" Ah Yin came back to his senses after a while, and muttered, "Shouquan Academy, where can we people enter?" ”

She calmed down and said, "It's not too early, my sister should go to bed first." ”

Jiang Xuan knew that Ah Yin was a person with an idea in his heart, so he didn't ask much, made a pot of tea for Ah Yin, and got into the quilt first. Ah Yin took a sip of tea, and the hot tea slid down his throat and fell into his heart, but his chest was still cold.

She always knew that her mother loved her two younger brothers the most, she was just a girl, and she couldn't compete for her mother's favor in front of her father, she never cared about these, but she didn't expect that one day, for the sake of Brother Hao'er's future, her mother would sell her marriage without saying a word.

Shouquan School is the most famous school in Gongcheng, and it is also known for its high threshold.

The masters of the school are all from the capital Yongping, and it is the Xie County Order of Gongcheng who founded this school, and those who enter need to be recommended by a prestigious person, and the tuition fee for a year is full of twenty taels of silver. Twenty taels of silver is enough for half a year's expenses of a small family, and their family is just a small family, thanks to the savings left by their grandfather when he was a businessman, he can maintain his current life.

She lowered her eyebrows.

After a long time, she pulled out a mahogany box from the cage. She sat down at the dresser and opened the box.

There are six knives neatly arranged in the box - a hair file, a flat file, a flat cone knife, a conical knife, a sharp cone knife, and an oblique knife.

This is the most precious thing that her grandfather left her, a necessary tool for nuclear carving.

She whispered: "Mother, you don't hurt me, I can only hurt myself......"