Chapter 2: Yingke (6b)

Most of the villagers knew the relationship between Xiao Xinghua and Cheng Jiaotou from Wang Ermao's doorless mouth, and during the interval of training, they couldn't help but whistle loudly and sing strange slang songs in their mouths. "Which little lady is on the side of the road, with a little goose yellow between her eyebrows, whose little flowers in the field puff up her chest for me......"

"It is clear that there is a big fly, and it also learns from the bees to chase the fragrance of flowers, carefully fall into the spider web, and be caught by someone to sacrifice the stomach and intestines!" Xiao Xinghua's personal maid saw that the owner was embarrassed, and unceremoniously replied to the past.

The royal families of the Zhou and Sui dynasties are mixed with the blood of the Xianbei people, so the folk customs in the north are very popular, and it is not considered offensive to say a few strange words between ordinary unmarried men and women. But Zhongxiang Yong only made a few innocuous jokes, and did not dare to take the opportunity to challenge Cheng Xiaojiu's authority. After all, no matter how young the other party is, he is also a public man with an official position, and he can let everyone roll up and go home by throwing a small shoe. Only Wang Ermao himself knows that no matter how much he messes around, he will not lose his job, so as long as Xiao Xinghua's figure appears, he will definitely try his best to come forward, full of sister-in-law long, sister-in-law short screaming, lest the other party not remember his appearance.

After getting acquainted with Xiao Xinghua, Wang Ermao began to turn around again to inquire about the news of the eldest lady of Zhouji Pharmacy. It's just that a little crooked mind just showed his head, and he was beaten back by Xiao Xinghua's master and servant.

"If you have the courage, you go to the back door of the pharmacy and guard it, and when you see a scarlet carriage coming out, you rush forward. Once you are hit by a car, maybe Sister Xiuying will relent, lift the curtain to see if you have been run over to death! "Xiao Xinghua has sharp teeth and a sharp mouth, and she doesn't save Wang Ermao any face.

"You died of that heart before it was too late! Miss Zhou is a serious daughter, and the entire Zhou Mansion is held like a pearl in the palm of her hand. "There must be a master, there must be a servant, and Wang Ermao is familiar with it, and the maid Qiao'er also shows her white teeth hidden behind her docile face, "The person she will marry in the future is not a dignitary, but also a famous family who knows books and etiquette." A person like you who can't read half a bucket of big words, even if you carry a mountain of gold and silver to the door, you will inevitably be beaten out with a stick. It's better to honestly find a mother-in-law who can live at home! ”

Wang Ermao was so lost his temper by the number of two girls that he had to find another opportunity to ask Cheng Xiaojiu to mediate. The previous few times, Xiao Jiu was noncommittal. In the end, I was forced to be really anxious, so I had to put my good friend's shoulders around and reminded with a smile: "That kind of person is the most important person." The two of us know that we can't climb high, so why do we bother to come forward to see people's faces? Come to my house in the evening, and I will invite you to drink. The old rice head is a little yellow thick, I just bought it yesterday. Pour three bowls of fresh side dishes, and make sure you can't even see Chang'e in the moon! ”

"Who scarces your little yellow thick!" Wang Ermao struggled from under Cheng Xiaojiu's arm, and snorted angrily. Recently, following Cheng Xiaojiu, he can enjoy the food for junior officers every day. The inside of the stomach was full, and the strength was obviously rising. struggled casually twice, and actually broke free from Cheng Xiaojiu's arm. His eyebrows were slanted, the corners of his mouth were crooked, and his face was full of displeasure.

"Ermao! Listen to me! Cheng Xiaojiu hurriedly stretched out his hand and grabbed his good friend's arm again. This time, he deliberately increased his strength so as not to be thrown off by the other party. Wang Ermao shook his arm vigorously a few times without shaking it away, snorted coldly in his nostrils, and responded abruptly: "What to say, you two won't help anyway, why should I beg you!" Besides, I just said to sneak a peek at the legendary fairy-like woman's face to see if there are flowers on her face, and I didn't say that I must marry him as a mother-in-law in this life! ”

"If you want to have the opportunity to marry her, of course I am willing to help with anything!" Xiao Jiu looked around, lowered his voice and said. "But if you think about it, Xiao Xinghua and her are just general friends, can you help other than create opportunities for you to meet by chance? If you're just looking for an opportunity to pretend you've met by chance, where is your excuse to come up and talk? If you can't talk to you, how will people remember you next time you meet. If you can't even make a good impression, why bother to find a way to meet her? ”

Wang Ermao said that he couldn't go through Xiao Jiu, but how could a young man's heart that had been burned hot be cooled down in just a few words. Frowning and groaning for a while, he sneered and said, "I really just want to see if there are flowers on her face, not as far as you say." I went to grab medicine with you that day, and I heard her voice like ...... It's like...... I can't tell what the hell it's like! Anyway, I won't forget it after listening to it! If I don't look at it in this life, I really won't be willing to die! ”

"Phew!" Cheng Xiaojiu spat on the ground in a row, "It's so dignified, what do you say is dead or alive." Look at your little bit of talent! ”

There was Wang Ermao here, but a sentence lingered in his heart, like a gust of wind, blowing a bitter smile onto the corner of the young man's mouth, "I am a biological sister with Zhu Xinghua, and I have heard her talk about you many times." You don't have to thank me, just treat her well in the future! ”

'As far as Xiao Xinghua's temper is concerned, she has inherited the majesty of the concubine, and she is not expected to treat her well, but to pray that she will treat me well! While smiling bitterly, Cheng Xiaojiu slowly shook his head. The pain in the feet still seems to be unfinished, and it slowly swells up all over the body like the mellow aroma of alcohol.

Wang Ermao misunderstood his smile, his face was red from laughter, he shook his arm vigorously, and protested loudly, "I won't tell you, you don't understand anyway." Xiao Xinghua said well, I just went to the back door of the pharmacy and hit her carriage, at least then she would look at me more! ”

"Then you have to prepare the medicine money in advance, we have been to the Zhou family pharmacy, and the threshold is not ordinarily high!" Cheng Xiaojiu believed that Wang Ermao didn't have the courage to cash in, so he grinned and mocked.

"Don't underestimate people, although I don't have as good luck as you to mix up an official body, my recent income is not bad!" Wang Ermao turned his face and proudly showed off. To prove his claim, he quickly touched his arms with his other hand, and with a flick of his wrist, he threw a piece of shiny white metal into the air.

"Something!" Cheng Xiaojiu was stunned by the white and bright luster, and quickly reached out to catch it. Wang Ermao was already on guard, grabbed his treasure in the palm of his hand first, held it tightly, and refused to let go of his five fingers. "Mine!" He emphasized loudly that he was afraid that Cheng Xiaojiu would bully others and take away his treasure.

Cheng Xiaojiu was so angry that he pushed the other party hard. "I know it's yours!" He lowered his voice for emphasis. "The question is, where did you get such a big piece of silver? Ermao, let's talk first, be a good man, don't learn from those red-eyed guys! ”

Since joining the county government, the two teenagers have learned how easy it is to earn other people's money. Just under the pretext of guarding against Zhang Jincheng, the Guantao County Ya levied more than 500 hanging money. This is not counting the "Pingkou donations" sent to the yamen by some wealthy households in the county "on their own initiative" and the temporary increase in the "public security tax" on the market!

Only a small amount of the money scavenged was actually used on Xiang Yong. The vast majority of them fell into private pockets, as was customary in the yamen. Although Cheng Xiaojiu and Wang Ermao are newcomers, they are not qualified to eat "dried meat", and they also drink their bellies with round bellies just by "drinking soup". If you continue to "drink" at this rate, it won't take half a year for the Cheng and Wang families to move out of Donkey Hutong. It's just out of habit that the rest of the family is cautiously keeping a low profile and refusing to "show it" in front of their neighbors.

Divide the spoils and share the spoils, but Cheng Xiaojiu and Wang Ermao privately calculated, and never took the initiative to go outside to loot money like others in the yamen. One of the reasons for this is because Cheng Xiaojiu knows that his foundation is unstable, and he doesn't dare to put his hand into other people's "rice pots". Second, he always felt that looting land was not the right way, and he had no ability to go against the traditions of the entire Great Sui officialdom, but he tried to be a harmless good person, at least worthy of the conscience of heaven and earth.

"It's definitely not extortion!" Wang Ermao was very angry that Cheng Xiaojiu doubted his character, let go of his hand, and exposed a piece of silver cake half the size of a palm to the setting sun, "Take a closer look, where can we find such pure silver in the pottery market." There is also the mark of the Great Sui Mansion on it, you can see it yourself, and look at it carefully with wide eyes! Don't say I'm deliberately blinding you for a while! ”

Before the fall of the Cheng family, Xiao Jiu had seen the appearance of Guan Yin. Carefully distinguishing the silver cake in Wang Ermao's hand, he knew that the other party was not lying. It is indeed a piece of official silver that is difficult to see on the market, usually only used for the town treasury, and it can be exchanged on the market, at least it can be exchanged for three full-weight meat! Of course, such a large piece of silver cake would not be a bribe that a small person of Wang Ermao's level could scavenge, but why it appeared in Ermao's hands is even more strange! (Note 1)

Quickly closing Wang Ermao's fingers, Xiao Jiu prevented more people from seeing the luster of the silver. Instinctively, he thought there must be some secret behind this. But it was not easy to get to the bottom of it, so he had to smile and whispered: "Hurry up and put it away, such a big ingot of silver is enough for the two of us to earn for several months, once it is remembered by the thief, it is not a joke!" ”

"Go back and find a knife and cut it open, and divide it in half of you!" Wang Ermao grinned and said with a smile. "I'll keep the rest for medicine. lest the little lady be cruel and see me rushing to the carriage, and don't call the subordinates to restrain the horse! ”

"Don't kill you!" Cheng Xiaojiu pushed Wang Ermao again and scolded in a low voice. "I don't want your money. Put it away yourself and wait until next year to marry a daughter-in-law. Your two younger sisters will soon be older, and if you have the money to die, you might as well buy them some clothes, so that they can marry a suitable family in the future!" (Note 2)

When it comes to the responsibility of being an elder brother, Wang Ermao finally calmed down a little from the frenzy of unrequited love. sighed and said faintly, "You're right, in the future, Dani and Erni will marry, and they can't marry someone like me who has eaten the last meal but not the next." But those slightly neat portals, who can look at us! ”

"You can't say that. Men are trees, so marrying a wife cannot climb high. Women can make rattans, as long as they look and have a better temper, it is not difficult to find a solid shoulder to lean on! Cheng Xiaojiu saw Ermao's depressed expression, and comforted him in a different tone.

Wang Ermao grinned and continued to shake his head with a wry smile. Comparing his heart to his heart, he has just lived a little better, and he doesn't want his sister to marry into Donkey Hutong. What is the eldest lady of the Zhou family, for herself, a gangster born in Donkey Alley, it is naturally an eternal unattainable dream. Even if you are lucky, you can get a piece of silver cake every month, until you become a rich man in Guantao City. The origins and families of the two sides are also like a chasm there, and I can only sneak a look at it twice!

Thinking of this, the enthusiasm in his heart slowly froze, he spat on the ground, and scolded and said, "Grandma, in this world, there are three hundred and sixty-nine people, and the Buddha is also divided into 108,000 levels!" One day, if you provoke Lao Tzu, put a fire and burn it clean, and everyone will turn into ashes in a pile, see who can be bigger than whom's ash pile! (Note 3)

"It's not serious! How much firewood do you have to pick up to set such a big fire?! Cheng Xiaojiu shook his head with a smile. He has heard too many crazy words like Wang Ermao, and he has long been accustomed to it.

Wang Ermao was speechless when asked, touched the back of his head, and smirked. If you want to burn all the unevenness in the world, I am afraid that you can only do it if the sun falls from the sky. It's just that he doesn't have that much ability, and he can't find or pull the sun-shooting bow that Cheng Xiaojiu said.

Looking at the gorgeous sunset on the horizon and smirking for a while, he scratched his scalp again and said with a sneer, "His grandmother's." It's a pity that the voice of the little girl, I don't know who will be blessed to listen to it every day in the future. Lao Tzu is unwilling, I can't marry her in this life, and I must find a chance to meet her and let her know that I once thought about her. Hee-hee, hee-hee......"

Cheng Xiaojiu couldn't stop his good friend from being a nymphomaniac, so he had to pretend not to hear, tilt his head and continue to hurry home. Wang Ermao smiled and rubbed his face, caught up from behind, and said in a low voice, "Don't you go so fast, I have to tell you something." I really didn't scrape the money. It was rewarded by a distinguished guest in the yamen. You've seen that person too, the one who added the wages for risking the boat to help on the day of the thunder to five buckets of rice and a penny! ”

"It's the vendor?!" Cheng Xiaojiu slowed down and turned around to ask. That was the first "big money" that he and Wang Ermao earned with their skills, so it is hard to forget in this life. At that time, he only cared about being happy about his sudden wealth, and did not think about anything else. But looking back now, I feel that what happened on the canal that day is full of strangeness.

"Yes, just the vendor. The ability is very big, I have seen him enter and leave the county office three times, and there is no need to report at all! Wang Ermao didn't know what Cheng Xiaojiu was thinking at this time, and replied loudly.

A trader, but he can process money for the Zhou family, who can't afford to offend the Guantao County Order, and the housekeeper of the Zhou Mansion is still submissive to him, is this possible? A trader, casually rewarding people, is a two-to-two colored official silver, does he have so much money that he has no place to spend it? A merchant is actually a distinguished guest of the county yamen, and he has actually completed the big deal of twenty boats of grain, and he is not in a hurry to go back to the owner behind him!

He won't be Zhang Jincheng's spy, right? Suddenly, such an idea jumped out of Cheng Xiaojiu's heart. He himself was first taken aback by such a ridiculous idea, then shook his head and smiled, vetoing a similar possibility.

With Zhang Jin's background, it is absolutely impossible to have any dealings with Lin Xianling. But the man's style was strange. can enter and leave the county government at will, will he have an idea that is not conducive to the county order of Engonglin? Thinking of this section, Cheng Xiaojiu had to be a little vigilant. Leaned closer to Ermao and asked in a very low voice, "He rewarded you with such a large piece of silver, didn't he ask you to do something for him?" For example, what kind of thing can you get from the yamen, and find out what is going on? ”

"You've been sunburned stupid, you!" Wang Ermao pushed Cheng Xiaojiu away and said with a smile. "That person is a good friend of the county lord, and when I led the team to patrol the yamen yesterday, I saw him and the county lord sitting in the West Flower Hall and playing chess. If he needs something, he can just take it himself, and use me to steal it for him? If you want to inquire about the situation of our pavilion, the housekeeper of the Zhou Mansion, the two head catchers, and the Dong master book, who doesn't know more than me, who won't tell him first?! ”

"That's just as well!" Cheng Xiaojiu nodded lightly. If this person is a friend of the county order, there is really no place to buy Wang Ermao's help. In that case, why did he bother to make a silver cake?

Without waiting for him to continue to ask, Wang Ermao couldn't hold back anymore and gave the answer first. "At noon today, I led people to patrol the yamen, and when the Lin County Commander saw me, he ordered me to send a few brothers to the school to watch the brothers train. According to the guest himself, he just wanted to open his eyes. I was panicked by the grievances in the yamen, so I took this errand myself. I talked and laughed with him along the way, and coaxed him very happily. When he got to the ground, he took out a piece of silver cake and gave it to me without even looking at it! ”

"He didn't bring an entourage?" Cheng Xiaojiu felt more and more strange, and asked with a frown.

"In broad daylight, what is he doing with his entourage?" Wang Ermao asked puzzled. Then he understood what Cheng Xiaojiu meant, and replied with a smile, "He is a friend of the county magistrate, are you afraid that someone will dare to rob him of his silver?" Besides, the man was not tall, but his shoulders were broad, and he walked very steadily. It's definitely practiced, and I don't think the two of us can easily beat him. As for the ruffians on the streets of our pavilion, they can only give him a fist when they rush up! ”

He also knows martial arts! Realizing this, Cheng Xiaojiu felt more and more that the identity of the vendor was suspicious. "Did he say anything when he saw me training Xiang Yong?" After thinking about it, he asked Ermao again. There was a faint feeling of uneasiness in my heart, where the specific danger was, but I couldn't find a trace!

"Didn't say it!" Wang Ermao tried hard to recall the scene at noon, frowning in response. "He seems to like the gun formation you platoon, and stares at it for a long time. Later, when I saw that you were ready to eat, I left laughing alone! ”

"I'm afraid it's not an appreciative laugh!" Cheng Xiaojiu muttered in his heart. I got that plum blossom gun array by myself, and the viewing effect was far greater than the actual combat. It is used to coax the county order and the surrounding people to reassure, and the effect will be twice the result with half the effort. If it really falls into the eyes of those who know how to do it, I'm afraid there are flaws everywhere.

Will he expose his white lies to Lin County? Cheng Xiaojiu felt that his heart was tight, as if he was wrapped in suspicion and worry. But how to calmly free yourself from this zongzi, but I can't find a clue at all! I just wanted to ask a few more questions, but when I turned around, I couldn't see Wang Ermao's shadow. He quickly put away the worry on his face, revealing the vigor and smile that a young man should have.

Donkey poop alley has arrived, and the door is not far ahead.

Note 1: Silver was not used as the main currency in the Sui Dynasty, but was only used as an official treasury or for accepting bribes from officials. According to the price of the Sui Dynasty, one tael of silver can be converted into one and a half to two copper coins in the people, and the purchasing power is equivalent to 6,000 to 8,000 yuan now.

Note 2: Doing things, (making the first sound of zuo).

Note 3: Not a joke, there was once a genius monk who divided the Buddha into several levels. Similar to the human government.