In the back hall of the Zheng family, except for the table of the ladies in the side room, there were laughter and laughter from time to time, and the atmosphere at Liang Chuan's table was a little awkward. Liang Chuan's chopsticks picked up and ate and drank on the wine table, and he was very happy, but Zheng Zuliang and Zheng Yiqian didn't eat much.

After eating for a long time, the maid came in with a pot of wine. The small wine jug is made of white jade porcelain, delicate and small, and the maid sifted a small glass of wine for everyone. Zheng Yiqian is good at drinking this sip on weekdays, listening to Liang Chuan talk about the food for a long time, and also talking about Shaoxing rice wine champion Yuan Hong, this throat has long been itchy, seeing that the maid has been grinding for a long time before Shanshan is late, her temper is a little up, and she shouted at the maid: "You people, do something and grind." ”

The maid saw that the old man was in a good mood early in the morning, how could she say that she turned her face and turned over, she was so aggrieved that she didn't dare to disobey Zheng Yiqian, her voice was as small as a mosquito, and she said: "I'm sorry master, a few flavors of medicine have been soaked for a while, and it was a little cold when I took it out and put it in the kiln, I was afraid that the old man would drink it and run away from his stomach, so I took it to the kitchen and let the master warm it up, so it was too late." ”

Zheng Zuliang waved his hand to the maid and motioned for the maid to retreat. picked up the small wine glass and said to Liang Chuan: "Brother Zhang has a lot to say about food, I don't know if I have tasted this wine, and I also said it?" ”

Liang Chuan picked up the wine glass, brought the wine to his nose and took a few deep breaths, the aroma of the wine was rich, and there was a strong medicinal smell in the middle, observing the color of the wine in the glass. But seeing that the wine was clear, dark brown to the bottom, without a trace of impurities, the wine entered the throat, and the medicinal taste was even more obvious, just like a bowl of old Chinese medicine, choking Zhang Yi almost vomited.

Zheng Yiqian is a good wine, this is clear that this kid can't drink, this wine is not strong, he will choke when he drinks, seeing Liang Chuan eating turtles, his heart seems to have pulled back a game, and said: "How about this wine?" Have you ever drunk it? ”

A sip of old wine tasted strange, choking Liang Chuan to pat his chest desperately, and slowly became calm. Liang Chuan waved his hand and said: "Where is this wine, this is clearly medicine, the jar of tiger whip wine in our village Lao Baozheng tastes a little bit better than yours." ”

Although Zheng Yiqian has never been far away and has been to any big places, he also knows that every household in the Spring Festival of the Great Song Dynasty will drink this Tusu wine, and the wine is not good or bad, that is, some Chinese medicinal materials are added to the wine to strengthen the body. This kid hasn't even drunk Tu Su wine, and the drunken shrimp and boiled shrimp he just talked about can't be a lie.

"You haven't even drunk this Tusu wine? Isn't your family a New Year? Zheng Yiqian asked.

"Tusu wine? Is this Tusu wine? Liang Chuan asked suspiciously.

Zheng Yiqian was about to taunt Liang Chuan, but Liang Chuan opened his mouth and continued: "That's it, but do you want to drink Tu Su's Tu Su wine at the end of your life?" ”

Hey! Zheng Zuliang saw that Liang Chuan was not used to drinking this medicinal wine, obviously it was the first time to drink it, but he heard a poem from Liang Chuan, and asked anxiously: "Brother Zhang really has never drunk this wine, but he has a poem in his hand, not bad!" This Tu Su wine we also call the year wine, drink to strengthen the body, prolong life, according to legend is the divine doctor Hua Tuo prepared, I Song Dynasty people must drink this thing during the Spring Festival, don't you know, but can be exported into a chapter? My carp fairy said before that you became a poem in six steps, I thought it was just a joke, I didn't expect you to be so talented! ”

Liang Chuan Nunu mouthed and said: "This poem is not what I said, what others said, I just borrowed it." ”

Zheng Yiqian was also surprised, he didn't expect this clay leg to be able to recite two lines of poetry. Zheng Zuliang didn't believe it, and said: "I, Zheng, think that I am familiar with the golden sentences of hundreds of famous sayings, and I can't memorize or at least recognize it, if you say that it was made by predecessors, then I don't believe it!" You have this talent, but you are so humble, you don't want to be with the emperor's family, which really makes Zheng admire! It's just such a waste of talent, isn't it a bit wasteful? ”

Liang Chuan didn't answer, Lao Cai walked in from the front hall, stood aside, and said to Zheng Yiqian: "Master, the shopkeeper Xu is here to bid you farewell, do you want to go out to see him." ”

Zheng Yiqian stood up suddenly, and hurriedly said: "Where is Lao Xu, quickly, invite Lao Xu into the house, Lao Xu has worked hard for our Zheng family all my life, even I grew up under his nose, and now I can't do it anymore, I don't send him, that's not chilling people's hearts, then who will work hard for our Zheng family in the future!" ”

Zheng Yiqian led Lao Cai and shouted out his wife who was eating vegetables in the house with Ruoying, Lao Xu, the shopkeeper, for the Zheng family, is a hero of the family, not a hero of his own. Zheng Ruoying was called out in a hurry, thinking that something had happened, and after Lao Cai said, it turned out to be an old shopkeeper who was going to return to his hometown.

Zheng Ruoying was not impressed by this old shopkeeper, but she knew that he was very old, and the greater the age difference, the greater the gap between the two generations. But although the gap is big, the word-of-mouth impression of the shopkeeper Xu is 10,000 satisfied, both his father and herself. As soon as Zheng Ruoying heard that this old shopkeeper who had worked for their family all his life was going home to care for the elderly, her reluctance was overflowing.

Zheng Zuliang pulled Liang Chuan and said, "Let's go, let's take a look." ”

In the hall, a little boy with a stump high helped a trembling old man with a goat's beard and walked in slowly. Because of his old age and frailty, his steps are not as big as those of a young boy. On the contrary, Zheng Yiqian strode in a hurry, grabbed the old shopkeeper in a few steps, took the old shopkeeper's hand, wrapped it tightly, and said reluctantly: "Lao Xu, let's work for another two years, our Zheng family can't live without you." ”

The shopkeeper Xu's hair and beard are gray, the folds on his face are large, his eyes are not dazzling, his ears are not deaf, but the teeth in his mouth are about to fall out. I'm old. I can't stand anymore, I know. You keep me. This useless farmer guy wants to provide for me, but the old man also has backbone, and I'm old. It's time to give way. You can't drag the owner anymore. The hind legs are up. ”

The shopkeeper Xu's words were light, as if he was talking and laughing, and he was smiling in his mouth, but he felt very distressed in Zheng Yiqian's ears, watching these old guys who fought together grow old one by one and quit the stage, his eyes were filled with tears, and he said excitedly: "Old Xu, don't say that, you just died on the three-foot counter, and our Zheng family will also help you die!" ”

"No. Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year. It shouldn't have swept away the owner's prosperity. But I have worked hard for my grandfather and the Zheng family all my life, and I have been in the Kaibao period of Taizu to the present. I can't remember exactly how many years have passed. Tired.. While a handful of bones can still move. Should go. Otherwise, it's going to be annoying. Hehe.. The owner is benevolent. Old man, I can't work hard for the owner anymore. The shop. The owner is looking for another one. Let's do it for the next generation. After speaking, Xu Na's rickety waist was about to bend down and give Zheng Yiqian a last bow.

Zheng Yiqian's wife and daughter supported the old man together, and they didn't dare to take it anymore. Lao Xu smiled, exempting this bow was earned by his hard work all his life, and there will be no chance to bow in the future. Shopkeeper Xu smiled and asked his grandson to salute his old club, and the two of them walked out slowly.

The fallen leaves return to the roots, and there is no feast that does not disperse. The decades-long friendship between men and between master and servant moved everyone present at this moment. Zheng Yiqian called Cai Gang to arrange the carriage, personally helped the shopkeeper Xu into the carriage, chased a few steps, and watched the back of his family's loyal servants for decades becoming more and more blurred, and the years could not go back, only sighing.

Zheng Zuliang and Liang Chuan stood side by side, and the two of them stood at the back of the crowd and witnessed this moving scene from beginning to end. Zheng Zuliang looked ahead, but his words were said to Liang Chuan: "My eldest brother, I have guarded the acre and three points of Fengshan all my life, and I have never moved the nest, although it is not earth-shattering, but he has not known how many mouths are fed under his hands. These old people in his family have been doing their best to help them run their business for decades, and I am also curious about what kind of ability my eldest brother has, and it is commendable to tie them tightly together. I think I'm a little better than my eldest brother, but this trick is too much stronger than my uncle. ”

Liang Chuan didn't like Zheng Ruoying's father in his heart, but when he saw this scene, he suddenly felt a touch in his heart, he just didn't like his style, and there were still a lot of shining points in his body.

"I don't know what kind of store this shopkeeper Xu originally operated?"

"The Clothes Shop."

Ha?

"That shroud shop is at the intersection of the market road from Fengshan to the north, and it is also the first store you see when you enter Fengshan."

"It's a pity to open a shroud shop in such a good place."

"Pity? Fengshan people Xinghua people, going north, going south, in the troubled times of decades ago, all went out alive and came back lying down, can it be completely regarded as a glory and return geometry? All the people walked to the door of their hometown with the bodies of their relatives, and they couldn't afford to buy a new set of clothes, but they had to buy an "old clothes" if they gritted their teeth, after all, they were the last decency, and no one knew what would happen in the next life. Don't underestimate this small shop, the ancestral paper work in the funeral, the paper bridge, horses, cows, cabinets, the library of the companion, the roadrunner for the funeral, the umbrella burned by Wuqi, the French boat that burned at sixty, the gold and silver mountains, the boys and girls, the pasting roof, the whole Fengshan is their family, there were countless dead people in the early years, and every household has to entrust them to handle the things after that, do you say this small shop is still small! ”

Liang Chuan didn't expect these joints, Zheng Zuliang continued: "The scenery of troubled times, the sorrow of prosperous times, this shop has not worked all these years, there is no way, there is peace on the road of peace and prosperity, and dead people are also rare, except for the joys and sorrows of a few families in a year, the business is much worse." The shopkeeper Xu has a good craft, but the later generations are disgusted with this craft, and gradually there is no mantle, according to me, my uncle is going to close the shop as soon as the old shopkeeper leaves. ”