Xiao Shu's white hair is not full of hair, and the New Year's stove is not sleeping. Cut candles to dry the night wine, and pour out all the money to buy spring money. Listen to the childlike innocence of burning firecrackers, and watch the old Xing of changing peach charms. The drum horn plum blossom adds a piece, and the five more laugh and worship the New Year.

For the first time, the Zhong family's New Year was so quiet, because they quietly moved to a new home, so they didn't have the old relatives and friends. Most of the famous families who have received his favor in previous years, as well as the colleagues who work with him, are also pretending to be deaf and dumb to avoid taboos.

Although he saved the Queen Mother this time, the palace did not reward him, nor did he reinstate him, so he was sent out of the palace so lightly, which was really a bit gray. The attitude in the palace was unclear, so they chose to protect themselves.

Fortunately, Zhong Jinchuan has been in the prison of the Criminal Department for a few months, and he has completely figured it out. In addition, Zhong Ziyuan happily told him that the pill business has been getting smoother and smoother in the past few months, and he has made a lot of profits. So he accepted his previous competitive spirit, and planned to take care of the business at home and become a rich man with peace of mind.

Early in the morning, there were a few families who gave gifts, but they were all unknown to Zhong Jinchuan and his wife. Like Li Xiucai's family, the Zhuang family, and the girls who worked in the Zhong family, although they gave some eggs or home-raised chickens and ducks, spun cloth, etc., they expressed their simple hearts full of gratitude.

Zhong Ziyuan changed into men's clothes and came out to entertain Zhong Jinchuan and his wife, and Mrs. Zhong also specially picked up a lot of noodles carefully made by Aunt Zhu, as well as exquisite pastries and fruits, and put them in baskets and gave them as a return gift.

Near noon, Xue Ji was ordered by Zhu Fei to give a gift to the festival. But she came with a lot of momentum, a whole mule cart. It was also densely covered with an oilcloth, and this battle startled Zhong Jinchuan and his wife.

Zhong Ziyuan was also surprised: "What is Zhu Fei doing here?" I'm not going to take any of these things from him. ”

Xue Ji pursed her lips and smiled, "You might as well take a look first." Then decide whether to accept it or not. Xue Ji stretched out her white jade-like palm and struck lightly, and the guards who were driving the cart immediately lifted the tarpaulin covering the mule cart. A purple and red color immediately broke into the eyes of the Zhong family.

The mule cart was loaded with camellia flowers in full bloom, and the flowers with the big mouth of the bowl either stood proudly on the branches, or shy and timidly hidden among the thick green branches, layer upon layer, delicate and beautiful. White snow race. The pink is like the glow, the red is like fire, and it is a rich and bright light. It makes people look at it and feel refreshed.

Xue Ji smiled: "This is the camellia planted in our house, and it is finally in time to bloom at this time." The prince personally picked these up and gave them to you to enjoy. ”

Zhong Ziyuan smiled and said, "This gift is elegant, then I will accept it." When you go back, remember to thank him for me. ”

"Hey!" Yukihime agreed with a grin.

After Yukihime leaves. Mrs. Zhong looked at the clouds in the room. Secretly spit out the fragrant camellia, frowned slightly, and said: "Ziyuan, why is this prince of Shu so attentive and careful, between you"

Zhong Ziyuan said calmly: "He and I are close friends, and there is nothing else. ”

Mrs. Zhong has always known that her daughter is different from other people's families, and she has a very good idea. So she nodded and said, "You just have to grasp the proportions." ”

Zhong Jinchuan stroked the green beard on his chin. Relieved Zhong Ziyuan and said: "You don't have to worry about these things, Ziyuan has always known what to do!" ”

Madame Zhong gave him a disgusting look. said angrily: "I'm not afraid that General Wu Xian will misunderstand!" ”

"Mother!" Zhong Ziyuan tugged at her sleeve and blushed. The rare posture of the little daughter made Zhong Jinchuan laugh. Although Mrs. Zhong was also smiling, she was faintly worried in her heart. The lintel of the Zhenguo Mansion is too high, will his daughter get her wish so easily?

The Zhong family and his wife not only got Guo Chenghe's care in the prison of the Criminal Department, but he also visited him several times in person, and he had a good conversation with Zhong Jinchuan.

Zhong Jinchuan and his wife naturally don't really think that this Lord Guo is a prisoner who has been specially recruited to talk about his life ideals. In the final analysis, treating each other so politely is still for the sake of their daughter's face.

There is also the big mansion where I live now, which is not a little bigger than the previous Zhong Mansion. They will not be blindly confident, just with the pills that Zhong Ziyuan has sold for several months, they will have such great courage and skill. But it's good to know some things, and it's not time to break it yet, so it's hard to be confused!

On Chinese New Year's Eve, the New Year's meal, from the afternoon to the evening, the dishes are like flowing water, which is still slightly reduced, otherwise it is full of several layers, just take a look, and the stomach will be full.

The Zhong family is thin and has no shelves. So Mrs. Zhong called several girls to have a lively Chinese New Year's Eve dinner together, and happened to sit at a full table.

A few girls fell in love with Aunt Zhu's new hot soup cake, there was soup and cake, and there were fat river shrimp and freshly beaten fish balls, and the hot bowl noodles were sprinkled with a layer of chopped green onions, just smell the taste to know its deliciousness. The girls ate so well that they didn't even seem to be able to see the other delicacies on the table.

Mrs. Zhong glanced at the cardamom sitting next to Zhong Ziyuan, Qingdai. Cardamom has grown a lot taller, and it looks more calm and restrained than before. Qingdai has lost a lot of weight, and her former round goose egg face has now become a melon seed face, but her body is also like a newly smoked wicker, gradually becoming slender and slender.

Fang'er is much older than them, and she is twenty-one this year. A pretty face that was originally well maintained, but after a turn in northern Jinbei, it was stained with a layer of wind and frost, and a handful of black silk also became yellow and dry. Although today I wore a new pink jacket sprinkled with cherry blossom petals for the holiday, I could no longer set off the pretty colors of the past.

Twenty-one years old is in the prime of life in modern times, but in this era when women are generally married at the age of fifteen or sixteen, she is already an old girl. Fang'er is an orphan girl who survived a plague, without her parents and brothers to make decisions for her, and she herself does not seem to have the idea of marriage. Mrs. Zhong mentioned it to her a few times openly and secretly, but she diverted the topic, so she delayed her life.

Sister-in-law Liu once quietly told Mrs. Zhong that when she first arrived in northern Jinbei. Fang'er's color is still good, so the new owner moved the idea of accepting her as a concubine, but she politely declined unsurprisingly.

There was a time when the owner borrowed the strength of wine. blocked her in the embroidery room and wanted the overlord to bow hard. Who knew that she was quiet and graceful, but at that moment she was like a crazy wild cat, and she pulled out the thorn hairpin on her head and scratched the arm of the new owner before she was able to preserve her innocence.

The proprietor was so annoyed that he threw her into the hardest and most tiring coal kiln to dig coal, and reduced her diet, giving her two unpalatable black buns and half a bowl of muddy water a day. If it weren't for the fact that Liu's sister-in-law and his wife secretly helped. I can't live anymore. So among so many people, she suffered the most, and the haggard one was the most serious.

Zhong Ziyuan used a bamboo chopstick to flick the soup cake in front of him. Glancing at Mrs. Zhong, who was sitting upright, she asked, "Why doesn't Mother eat it, is it that these things are not to taste?" ”

Mrs. Zhong smiled and said, "This is an old age. You can't eat too much. Otherwise, it will weigh heavily on the stomach. It's like a stone, and the diaphragm is uncomfortable! ”

Fang'er hurriedly put down the bamboo chopsticks and said, "I know that my wife has a bad stomach in the past two years, so I'm afraid that I will accumulate food if I eat miscellaneous food this year." I deliberately boiled a pot of Shenqu tea in the kitchen, which is the most digestible and greasy. Why don't I go and bring one to it? ”

Mrs. Zhong nodded and said lightly: "Go ahead!" ”

"Hey!" Fang'er hurriedly got up and wanted to leave.

Zhong Jinchuan, who had been pouring himself a wine glass, said ghostly: "It's cold outside." If you go out so hot, be careful that you will get cold. Put on a cloak and go! ”

"Got it!" A faint word of concern. But it made Fang'er's eyes light up. Even the voice of the reply was soft and soft. Qing Dai handed her a stone blue feather gauze cloak, she glanced at Zhong Jinchuan quickly, and then put on the cloak and went out happily.

Zhong Ziyuan inadvertently caught a glimpse of this scene, and her heart moved, and she couldn't help biting the tip of the chopstick to look at Mrs. Zhong, who was calm, and then looked at Zhong Jinchuan, who continued to pour herself drink, and countless little question marks began to flash in her mind!

Seeing her blinking and looking at her in bewilderment, Mrs. Zhong couldn't help but smile slightly, took a piece of fat sea cucumber and put it into her bowl, and advised: "Don't patronize those coarse foods, just to be quick to talk about for a while." Girls need to know that they should take tonic at the right time in order to keep the color delicate. ”

Zhong Ziyuan grinned, and also put a piece of sea cucumber into Mrs. Zhong's bowl as usual, and said mischievously: "In this way, mother should take supplements."

Mrs. Zhong smiled slightly, and said with a sneer: "You child, do you mean that your mother is old?" ”

Zhong Ziyuan hurriedly threw away the bamboo chopstick, took Mrs. Zhong's sleeve, and shook it: "Who said that my mother is old, my mother is obviously dignified and beautiful, and her face is kind." Let's go out, if you say to people you don't know you are my sister, I'm afraid that some people will believe it. As she spoke, she looked back at Zhong Jinchuan again, blinked her eyes and said, "Father, did you say?" Mother looks like she's been with you for twenty-five years, and she's obviously a sister who isn't much older than me! ”

Zhong Jinchuan really put down the wine glass and looked at Mrs. Zhong carefully. From the corners of her eyebrows and eyes, which showed fine lines, seeing her fingertips that were no longer slender, she couldn't help but sigh: "It's been twenty-five years." I remember the first time I saw you, you were wearing a green cloth jacket embroidered with birds. His head was tied into a braided braid, and he carried a bamboo basket behind him to collect rock honey on the cliff. I was amazed by the agility and sophistication of his skills. ”

Listening to Zhong Jinchuan's narration, Mrs. Zhong's eyes slowly softened, full of memories of the past. She said, "That's when you were still an apprentice in the pharmacy, wearing a patched gown and carrying a bamboo basket up the mountain to collect medicine. I've never seen anyone so stupid. Seeing that I had lost my hand, the hive rolled down the cliff, and I didn't know how to hide, but I was stung by the bees that had lost my nest, and I fainted in pain. ”

Zhong Jinchuan said with a smile: "Because at that time, I was bent on thinking, if I ran away, I wouldn't have a chance to meet you!" Therefore, it is better to stand up and take a few more stings than to run. I didn't hold back later, and I was stung and fainted, thanks to you who immediately went down the cliff to save me. Otherwise, I'll be miserable! ”

Zhong Ziyuan smiled and said, "It turns out that I am so good at climbing trees, I was not born, I followed my mother!" And what about later? What happened? ”

"Later?" Mrs. Zhong looked at Zhong Jinchuan and smiled without saying a word, Zhong Jinchuan coughed lightly and was full of embarrassment, it seems that there are really some stories that Zhong Ziyuan doesn't know.

"Say! Say it! Zhong Ziyuan's curiosity has been aroused, and she pulled Mrs. Zhong to say coquettishly. Qing Dai and Cardamom also widened their eyes, waiting to hear the story.

Mrs. Zhong couldn't help it, so she had to smile and say, "After a month, I will carry the newly harvested rock honey to the market to sell!" As a result, a stunned young man rushed out and pulled my bamboo basket to prevent him from leaving, saying that I was his savior! At that time, I thought that I had met a gangster who wanted to take advantage, and I was angry and anxious, so I gave him two slaps. In the end, I realized that I was really his savior. ”

Hearing this, Zhong Ziyuan was a little strange, she secretly glanced at Zhong Jinchuan, and said, "Could it be that this stunned young man is his father?" Zhong Jinchuan showed an embarrassed smile.

Mrs. Zhong glanced at him, smiled, and said, "Who else is there besides your father?" Zhong Ziyuan looked back at Zhong Jinchuan's green beard and the appearance of a long robe and jade crown, and he really couldn't think of what kind of virtue he was when he was stunned.

Qing Dai also held the bamboo chopstick, puzzled: "Didn't Mrs. only see the master a month ago?" How could you not know each other in such a short time? ”

Zhong Jinchuan saw that Mrs. Zhong smiled and didn't answer, so he said angrily: "It's not those hateful bees, they all stung your lord and me in the face." When your lady saw me, my whole face was swollen like a pig's head, how could she still recognize it! ”

"Ahh Hahaha. The girls were stunned for a moment, and then leaned back and laughed. Zhong Ziyuan also rolled into Mrs. Zhong's arms with a smile, only shouting that her stomach hurt.

While helping Zhong Ziyuan rub her stomach, Mrs. Zhong sneered at Zhong Jinchuan: "Look at you! is a lot older, and he dares to say anything, so let's call my daughter a joke! ”

Zhong Jinchuan smiled, stroked his green beard and said, "It's okay, let's just tell jokes behind closed doors." ”

Madame Zhong smiled slightly, and wanted to say more, but at a glance, she caught a glimpse of the lower hem of a stone blue cloak exposed at the hidden gate. She was stunned, then raised her voice and said, "Fang'er, why don't you come in?" ”

"It's coming!" Fang'er outside the door agreed in a panic and walked in with a plum blossom-shaped vermilion lacquer tea tray. In the tea tray is a celadon bowl.

Her eyes dodged slightly, and she didn't dare to look at Mrs. Zhong's face. He only lowered his eyes and put the celadon bowl in front of Mrs. Zhong, and said softly: "Madam, this is Shenqu tea." ”

"Hmmm! Put it down! Mrs. Zhong replied lightly. She stretched out her hand, and as soon as she touched the wall of the bowl, she was surprised: "Why is it cold?" (To be continued.) )