Early in the morning, I resigned and returned to the Red Mansion, I didn't see General Lonely, I heard that I went to the morning court. After returning to the Red Mansion, Yueniang came to my room, saw me changing my clothes, and was curled up on the chair in a daze, and said with a smile: "The girl stayed in General Lone's Mansion last night, are you still used to it?" ”

I glanced up at her and smiled, "What does Mother Moon want to say?" ”

She smiled awkwardly and said, "I'll just ask casually, it's okay, I'll have someone bring the girl 'Chongxi Soup' over later." ”

"Okay. Thank you Moon Mom. I smiled at her and said generously. She came here today to get news for Chu Yan, right? Do you want to ask if I'm on chuang with General Lone? Then I'll say yes, I'm angry with you.

Yueniang bit her lip, knowing that I didn't want to see her, and she was embarrassed to stay, and was about to turn around and leave, a turtle slave hurriedly ran up from downstairs and said to Yueniang: "Mother Yue, that little ghost came again yesterday, saying that he wanted to see Miss Carmen." ”

"Miss Carmen is what he said he would see?" Yueniang frowned, "Send him away!" ”

See me? Or a little ghost? I was intrigued: "Wait, who do you say wants to see me?" ”

The turtle slave glanced at Yueniang, bowed and said, "It's a seven or eight-year-old child, who waited until dark yesterday to go back, and here again today." We asked him what he was looking for you, and he didn't say anything, only said that he had seen you. ”

Oh? Who is it? I thought for a moment and said, "Bring him in." ”

Yueniang immediately stopped me: "Girl, isn't this okay? ”

I sneered: "If Mother Yue is worried about anything, just stay aside and watch." ”

She was robbed by me, thought about it, and said that it was not good to say more, so she asked the turtle slave to go down and take people. After a while, the turtle slave brought in a little boy of seven or eight years old, and when I saw his unkempt appearance, I laughed, it turned out to be the little ghost who stole my wallet at the door of "Hanmoxuan".

When the little boy saw me, he bit his lip, walked up to me, and handed me my embroidered wallet: "Give it back to you." ”

"Why not?" I asked him with a smile and didn't bother to pick up the wallet.

"My mother asked me to give it back to you." There was a trace of stubbornness in the child's eyes, as if he didn't feel that there was anything wrong with his act of stealing money, but he just listened to his mother's instructions to pay it back.

I smiled, this little ghost has a temper. I softened my voice and asked him, "Are you waiting for the money?" ”

He was stunned, as if he didn't understand why I asked him this, and seeing that I had never taken back my wallet, he said impatiently: "Don't worry about it, I have returned my wallet to you, what else do you want?" ”

"If you wait for the money, take it." I saw that his eyes suddenly widened, looking at me like a monster, and he smiled, "I gave you this wallet, you can go back." ”

He hesitated, retracted his hand, hesitated for a long time, and still handed out the wallet: "My mother won't want it." ”

"If you didn't ask for it before, your mother naturally wouldn't want it." I secretly sighed in my heart, this child has a good mother, and I couldn't help but think of my deceased mother, and my expression darkened, "Now I gave it, you just need to explain it to her." ”

He shook his head and said aggrievedly: "My mother won't believe it." ”

I thought about it for a while and said, "Then I'll go back with you and tell your mother in person, how about it?" "I don't want to care about this little ghost's affairs, I just want to find an opportunity to go out and walk more and understand the terrain and environment of this capital.

Yueniang had been listening to it all the time, and when she heard what I said, she really interjected: "Girl, this is not convenient, right?" And it's not safe to go to those places. ”

I raised my eyes and looked at her coldly, and sneered, "Safety? Didn't someone 'protect' me? What else is not safe? What Yue's mother promised me, it turned out that I could regret it at will. ”

I thought she was going to stop me again, but she looked at me quietly, and sighed helplessly, "That's it, if the girl wants to go, go there." ”

I was stunned, and subconsciously said: "You don't need to prepare a sedan chair, I want to take a walk." ”

"Whatever you want." Yueniang glanced at me, turned around and went out.

I withdrew my gaze, looked at the little boy, and whispered, "Now can you tell me why you are taking my wallet?" ”

The little boy looked at me in a daze, bit his lip, lowered his head and said, "My mother is sick." ”

So that's the case, it's a blessing that the poor can be fed and clothed, but I'm afraid that they can't get the consultation money for medical treatment, so this kid thought crookedly. I nodded and asked him, "What about your father?" ”

He looked up at me suddenly, and a flash of anger flashed in his eyes: "I don't have a father!" ”

I was stunned, it seemed that I had inadvertently touched the sore spot of this little ghost, and quickly changed the topic: "How much does the consultation fee cost?" ”

The little boy's face was gloomy: "The doctor said that it will take 300 yuan to go to the doctor, and I will ......" He glanced at me and snorted and stopped his mouth. I smiled, this kid is actually weak in his heart, right? I turned to Xiaohong and said, "Xiaohong, go to the makeup box and take out five hundred Wen." ”

I mentioned the same money last time and gave Xiaohong a hundred yuan, and the rest is basically left there, speaking of which, I really don't have many opportunities to spend money. Xiaohong took the money and handed it to me, I took the money bag in the little boy's hand, put the five hundred wen in it, handed it to him and said, "Put it away, let's go." ”

"No need to ...... so much" the little boy's face flushed, and he held it awkwardly. I looked at him with a smile: "Be a little more prepared, what if the doctor says it's not enough?" The rest is always needed to buy some delicious food for the sick to replenish their bodies. Okay, let's go. ”

The little boy clenched the money bag tightly in the palm of his hand, followed me awkwardly, and walked out of the Red Mansion. It was the first time I had the opportunity to walk on the streets for the first time in this time, and I felt as if I was in a dream when I looked at the antique buildings, the street vendors, and the people in ancient costumes. The little boy led the way, and before he knew it, he came to a narrow and dilapidated alley, the stone pavement had been worn away, and the low earthen walls were flanked by mottled cracks, and the alley was filled with a damp musty smell. The little boy stopped in front of a small courtyard, looked back at me, pushed the door in, and shouted, "Mother, I'm back." ”

There was a woman in the yard pushing the stone mill, and the little boy hurriedly ran over: "Mother, you are sick, why do you come out to grind beans?" I'll help you in and rest. ”

The woman shook off his hand and said coldly, "Have you paid back the money?" ”

"I ......," the little boy hesitated, and the woman said angrily, "You haven't paid it back?" Why are you so disobedient? You, are you going to be angry with your mother...... cough cough cough ......" Before the words were finished, he coughed so much that he couldn't speak. I hurriedly stepped forward and hugged the woman, "Auntie, don't worry, he's come to return the money to me." ”

The woman was stunned, and then noticed the existence of me and Xiaohong, she gasped and looked at me, and said apologetically on her face: "It turns out that Fusheng stole the girl's money, I'm sorry, girl, it's my godson who has no way, so he got into trouble outside, you have great forgiveness, forgive him for being ignorant of the child, don't drag him to see the official, I apologize to the girl......"

She wanted to bow down, so I quickly hugged her and said, "Auntie, you misunderstood, I'm not here to find trouble." ”

I saw that this woman was pale and thin, and I knew that she had been suffering from illness for a long time, and that it was rare that she was in such a difficult situation and not greedy for ill-gotten gains, and that I admired the method of education that did not protect the children. I helped her sit on the bamboo chair in the courtyard and said softly: "Although what Ling Lang said yesterday was wrong, it was also for the sake of the eldest aunt's illness, it is rare for him to be filial, don't blame him." ”

She was stunned, a hint of joy appeared on her face, and said, "Won't the girl send him to see the official?" ”

"It's not a big deal, where do you need to alarm the government." I smiled, "What's more, he already knows that he is wrong, just change it, and don't take it too seriously." ”

The woman shook her head and sighed, "The girl doesn't pursue it, it's the girl who has a lot, but if the child doesn't learn well, he will make a big mistake in the future, and it will be too late to regret it." She turned her head to look at the boy and said in a stern tone, "Fusheng, come and confess your mistake to the girl." ”

I admired this woman in my heart, Fusheng raised his eyes and looked at me, bit his lip and walked over, bowed his head to me: "I'm sorry! ”

I laughed and said, "Okay, okay, don't scold him." ”

The woman turned to look at me and hesitated, "If the girl didn't bring Fusheng to see the official, what was it for?" ”

"I heard Fusheng say that you are sick, so please ask him to take me to see you." I thought carefully about the wording, this woman's self-esteem is very strong, I am afraid that she can not accept charity so easily, "Auntie, this illness is not good to delay, I will ask a doctor to take a look at it quickly." ”

She hurriedly said: "How can this make the girl not pursue Fusheng's fault, the folk woman is already grateful, where can I let the girl break the money again." ”

I smiled and said softly: "I don't like to hear what Auntie says, I admired Auntie for being a reasonable person, so I came here here." Auntie, don't think I'm giving you alms. This consultation fee should be lent to my aunt, and I will pay it back when you have the money in the future, your illness has been delayed, not to mention that you have suffered, Fusheng is also worried and anxious, otherwise there would not have been yesterday's incident, and the aunt should be lenient with the child's heart? ”

When the woman heard this, she looked at me in a daze, and said, "I didn't expect the girl to be such a reasonable person, and the rumors about the girl in the market are really a mess." The husband's surname is Zhou, you can call me Aunt Zhou. ”

I was stunned for a moment and smiled, "So I'm really so famous?" ”

That aunt's face flushed slightly, and said, "It was the boss of 'Hanmoxuan' who told us that Fusheng stole the girl's money, and we only knew who the girl was." ”

I smiled, knowing that the woman's knot had been opened, so I asked Xiaohong to accompany Fusheng to the doctor. After looking at this dilapidated courtyard, I saw a few plates of tofu on the wooden table in the courtyard, some of which had been left for I don't know how long, they were all moldy and hairy, but they didn't throw them away, and asked curiously: "Auntie makes a living by selling tofu?" ”

She nodded, and I asked again, "Then why don't you throw away all this tofu when it's already moldy?" ”

She looked a little gloomy: "I'm not afraid of the girl's jokes, I blame my body for being sick for so long, everyone is afraid that the tofu I make is not clean, and they will be sick, and I am not the only one who sells tofu in the market, so no matter how fresh the tofu I make, no one buys it. ”

"It's not good to eat moldy things, and you can't eat moldy things when you're sick." I shook my head, disapproving. Seeing her embarrassed, she knew that the poor family must be reluctant to waste things like this. I walked over and looked at the tofu, and found that the tofu was all white mold mycelium growing all over the surface, and said strangely: "Why don't you make tofu because the mold is just right?" ”

"Tofu?" Aunt Zhou was surprised, "What is that?" ”

Don't you have tofu here? I had an idea in my mind, and turned to her and said, "Is there chili noodles and salt in Auntie's house?" If there are still washed leaves, you can also take some out. By the way, a bowl of wine. ”

I used to help my mother make pickles, and I know a little bit about this tofu method, but I didn't do it myself, I just watched my mother make it. Anyway, a dead horse is a live horse doctor, so let's give it a try.

She looked at me in a daze, nodded, and took something out: "Is it okay to only have rice wine?" ”

"I don't know if it's going to work, I'll try." I laughed, took the knife from the board to cut the tofu, and cut the hairy tofu into even pieces. Then mix the chili noodles and salt in the estimated proportion, pick up a piece with chopsticks, soak it in wine, pour the hair, then roll it into the chili noodles, wrap it with vegetable leaves, and put it aside. Aunt Zhou didn't know what I was doing, but she didn't stop me, she just looked at me curiously, I looked up and smiled: "I still need a pickle jar, and the tofu wrapped in this vegetable leaf is arranged in the jar in turn, sealed for five or six days, and then you can take it and eat it." However, this is something that accompanies rice, so you can't eat too much. Auntie herself can also try to do it. ”

She followed me and wrapped a piece of it, saying, "Is that so?" This thing does this, is it really edible? ”

I smiled embarrassedly and said, "I don't dare to guarantee that it will be successful, but I have seen my mother do this before, but the mold in the early stage doesn't seem to be raised like this, and the tofu should be cut into small pieces before raising mold, I just give it a try, if not, don't blame me." ”

"Look at what the girl said, this thing can't be sold anyway, if it can really be made into the tofu milk that the girl said, it won't be wasted." Aunt Zhou smiled, took a clean jar from the courtyard, and put the wrapped tofu in it.

"Auntie, if this thing is taken out and eaten, you can give me a few pieces." I looked at her with a smile, and God knows how much I missed my mother's pickled bean curd, but unfortunately after my mother passed away, I never ate it again. When they bought it outside, they couldn't eat the taste that their mother made, and at this time and space, they didn't even know what fermented bean curd was, let alone bought it and ate it.

"What is the girl talking about, if this thing is ready, I will ask Fusheng to send it to the girl." Aunt Zhou said with a smile.

Talking and laughing, we have finished dealing with the moldy tofu, and when Xiaohong and Fusheng invited the doctor back, we just put it in the jar and put it away. After the doctor finished reading Aunt Zhou's illness, Xiaohong and I said goodbye and went back, only to find that before I knew it, another day had passed.

――2006、9、24