Yao Biao observed the girl sitting upright on the Taishi chair next to him.

She was about fifteen or sixteen years old, and dressed plainly and cleanly; The body is thin, the facial features are handsome, and the skin is delicate and supple; For half a day, I just sat there quietly, carefully holding the teacup in my hand, bowing my head slightly, and not making a sound.

"If the tea is too hot, put it first; This tea is cooler and more refreshing. Yao Biao smiled kindly, noticing her nervousness.

The girl smiled lightly, nodded, and gently put the teacup on the coffee table at hand. Between the actions, there is no pretentiousness, and there is no trace of vulgarity and shallowness. She was visibly reserved; Restrained but natural. In addition to restraint, the only thing that can be observed is a bit of calmness and boldness. This is not a lady from a noble background, and it is far from a small jasper. She grew up in Qinglou, but she is not the appearance of the usual Qinglou fat powder. Yao Biao was a little confused for a while, as if he couldn't be sure that he could find a clear classification.

It's not the first time he's seen Nightshade. The rumors on the streets of Beiping have been popular for two years, and everyone in the market knows that there is a little Xianger in Huiyinglou, a person can go to two of the eight alleys, and she is the niece of the old bustard's mother.

Like most rumors, Yao Biao turned a deaf ear to these at first, and even if he was forced to hear them, he forgot them in an instant, thinking that the rumors were unfounded, not to mention that a little girl in a Qinglou who had never lived in her life had nothing to do with herself.

It wasn't until half a year ago that new material was suddenly added to the rumors; It is said that Xiao Xiang'er of Huiying Building and Xiao Er of the hooligan shop of the Hong Hotel are getting along; The two shopkeepers turned a blind eye.

The shopkeeper of this Hongjia hotel is a widow, her father's surname is Lu, and the word Jiang is used; The man's name is Hong Cheng, who was the procurement of the Yao family's pharmacy before his death, and once he was murdered by a gangster on the way out, and he acted bravely, but unfortunately he was killed by the gangsters, leaving Lu Jiang who was about to give birth. Lord Yao is famous all over the world as a gentleman, so naturally he can't see Lu Jiang's orphans and widows living on the streets, begging for food, so he paid to open a Hongjia hotel for her to make a living. Lu Jiang is honest and kind, has a very good reputation in Beiping, and has been taken care of by Lord Yao, although the hotel is small but very prosperous.

Lu Jiang's life was not much better because of this. Hong Cheng's widow, also Lu Jiang's only son, named Hong Jiang, has been naughty and active since he was a child, playing on the streets all day long, and likes to go to the theater to watch martial arts, and yearns to be a reckless hero in the romance. When he was seven years old, Hong Jiang ran away from home overnight; Yao Biao repeatedly asked the reason, but Lu Jiang couldn't understand it, he only knew that a Taoist came to the store the day before to stay and chatted with Jiang Er; The next morning, the two of them disappeared, and only left a note for her, saying that Jiang'er had worshiped that Taoist as a teacher, and wanted to go west to Kunlun Mountain to study art, and then come back to honor her mother after she graduated as an adult. Lu Jiang's woman didn't even know what Kunlun Mountain was, and she didn't know where to chase it, so she had to come to Yao Biao for help. Yao Biao tried his best to contribute to others, and he never gave up until today, but he never got any news. Since then, Hong Jiang has mysteriously disappeared in the world, and ten years have passed in the blink of an eye.

It is a fact that Lu Jiang's life is thin. However, although Yao Biao has always done his best to take care of and help the Hong Hotel, Lu Jiang is not his heart disease. His current heart disease is all focused on Xiao Er, the hooligan shop of the Hongjia Hotel.

For many years, Lu Jiang has been the only one in charge of the Hongjia Hotel; Yao Biao proposed to add two helpers to her many times, but she never refused. Half a year ago, Yao Biao suddenly heard that Xiao Xiang'er in Huiying Building and Xiao Er, a hooligan shop in Hongjia Hotel, got along, and the two shopkeepers seemed to acquiesce.

There is only one Hongjia hotel in Beiping. Yao Biao was puzzled; Obviously, he had just gone to the hotel a month ago and asked Lu Jiang, who once again insisted on declining his offer to hire a helper for her.

Yao Biao walked to Zaohua Street on foot, wanting to go to the Hongjia Hotel to find out. Unexpectedly, when he was still ten steps away from the hotel, he suddenly saw a little girl running out of the door of the hotel, looking back with a laugh as she ran.

Before he came back to his senses, he was even more surprised to see Shen Ruoyu chasing him out of the hotel with a broom, and shouted:

"Xiang'er, stop!"

The little girl stopped, turned around playfully, and shouted to Xiao'er, a voice like a silver bell: "Kneel down for me, kowtow three times, and this hero will spare you from death." ”

"Come on," the few children in front of him were like a complete Beiping Hutong skewers, standing crookedly on the street, and laughed and shouted insidiously: "I'll count three, if you don't run back immediately, I'll leave you now!" ”

The little girl obviously didn't make this kind of joke with him for the first time, and the score was older than him: "You have the ability to take a break?" It's strange that you still have a daughter-in-law in your life! ”

Then, Yao Biao watched in amazement as she jumped up and down in front of the pedestrians watching from the street.

Yao Biao stood silently on the side of the street for a while, looking at Shen Ruoyu in a daze; A month ago, Xiao'er was also like this with a broom in her hand, but she was serving as a servant in Yao Biao's courtyard. The housekeeper Yao Gui was tossed by this kid and had to complain to the master three times a day. Yao Biao himself had a headache with Shen Ruoyu for a long time, and he couldn't think of a way, so he ignored the housekeeper's complaints and temper. Until the last day, he and his wife went to the garden to enjoy the flowers and relax, and were splashed on their heads by Shen Ruoxiao, who was watering the flowers.

The matter of being a servant for herself is a long story.

One evening more than a year ago, Yao Biao returned from the palace, only to see a ragged and soulless young man wandering at the door of his house. After realizing that the young man turned out to be Shen Ruoliao, Yao Biao was very surprised, and hurriedly took him into the house, asking him what happened and why he suddenly ran to Beiping alone.

What Xiao'er told herself was naturally very different from what Uncle He told her later. Neither of them told the truth; No one is completely lying—this is what Yao Biao has summed up by himself through constant observation and speculation over the past year. The only similarity in what the two said is that Yang Zhiding has died of the poison of ** incense; And before that, for some unknown reason, Lord Yang Zhai personally abolished Shen Ruoxiao's martial arts.

In any case, at the beginning, Yao Biao completely believed everything Shen Ruoliao said. He left him behind and instructed the Yao Mansion to treat him like his own young master. However, within a month, he began to notice his family's coldness and contempt for this young man, as well as Shen Ruoyu's growing loneliness and inferiority. Suddenly, one day, when he returned home, he found that Xiao'er had left without saying goodbye, and no one in the family knew where he had gone; Except for Zhu'er, no one cared.

For this, Yao Biao is still blaming himself to this day. He was always too busy to ignore this teenager who grew up in the mountains and grew up in an environment that lacked maternal love and his father's harsh discipline; He suffered misfortune, desperate for his own protection, already extremely sensitive and vulnerable; He did not give Xiao'er the care and care he deserved, and allowed his sensitivity and vulnerability to be magnified and magnified, which led to his eventual departure.

Yao Biao didn't know that for Shen Ruoliao, these were all the inducements for him to escape; The real trigger string was that on an ordinary day, when he walked through Yao Biao's courtyard without suspicion, he suddenly heard He Yu's voice from the courtyard. He felt bad, quietly walked to the arch, peeked in carefully, and saw the back of Uncle He standing at the door of the study, facing Yao Biao in the study, whispering something.

Lost a few children, Yao Biao searched everywhere on the streets of Beiping. Although Beiping City is large, it is not difficult for Lord Yao, who has lived here for a long time and is quite powerful, to find someone. He found out that Xiao'er had worked as a handyman in several places, but he couldn't do it for two days, and he was kicked out, without food and clothing, and often went to the land temple outside the city to spend the night. Yao Biao quickly found Xiao'er, and invited him to go home, but he didn't move.

At first, Yao Biao didn't care too much, thinking that young people were just thin-skinned and good-looking; He was angry everywhere, hungry for days, tired and cold, and it didn't take long for him to want to go home; I just need to teach my family to have a better attitude, and be more caring and respectful to my children, and everything will be fine.

However, half a year has passed, and he has tried repeatedly, but Xiao'er refuses to come back. In the past six months, Shen Ruoliao's reputation on the streets of Beiping has become more and more famous, and his reputation has become worse and worse. Apparently the people who had used him before were extremely dissatisfied with him, and spread the word all over the city, so that he could no longer find a livelihood, and quickly became a beggar, but mingled with other beggars, stealing chickens and dogs all over the place, and playing tricks everywhere, and completely reduced to a notorious street hooligan.

Yao Biao finally couldn't bear it anymore, and took a few family members to look for him on the street, just in time for Shen Ruoyu to steal other people's steamed buns at a breakfast stall, and let Yao Biao catch him on the spot. Seeing that the situation was not good, Xiao'er took a bite of the steamed bun in his hand and hit him, and he was slashing at the door of his head, which made Lord Yao stumble, and a hole was broken when the door of his head was up, and blood flowed. The wild boy who was in trouble ran away and ran out of two streets, but after all, he was exhausted on an empty stomach, and was caught up and captured by the family of Yaofu, and the five flowers were tied up and tied back to Yaofu.

At this time, Shen Ruoyu was no longer a simple boy who came out of the mountains at the beginning of the year, weak and shy. He is full of swearing, rude and rude, he will spill and make mistakes whenever he meets people, and he is a master of stealing and lying, and he is more accustomed to it. After thinking about it, Yao Biao thought that he could no longer raise him at home for nothing like before, so as not to exacerbate his depravity and eventually ruin his life, so he made up his mind and handed Shen Ruoliao over to Yao Gui, asking the housekeeper to be an ordinary servant for him, and like other servants in the family, he earned food and clothing with his own hands.

Uncle Yao has since transformed into Master Yao in Shen Ruoyu's heart. He continued to steal while he worked; But he never stole anything else, and only stole the books in Master Yao's study wholeheartedly. Yao Gui grabbed him a few times and reported it to his master; Yao Biao called Xiao'er to ask, but the other party denied the evidence in Yao Gui's hand in a grand manner. Yao Biao didn't care about Xiao'er stealing books, but he was angered by the fact that the other party was able to lie so calmly at a young age, so he asked Yao Gui to punish him like an ordinary servant for stealing. After several times, Shen Ruoliao did not repent. Yao Biao was tossed by him so much that he had a headache and was also bored, so as long as the housekeeper dealt with it according to the house rules, he didn't have to bother him anymore, and he didn't bother him anymore.

As a result, it happened that Shen Ruoyu splashed his head with feces.

In other words, ordinary people are afraid that the training stick alone can beat this bastard boy who is so bold and half-crippled, and then throw this half-crippled and dying person into the street to feed the dogs.

Yao Biao is not an ordinary person. After a brief period of rage, he quickly regained his composure, washed himself clean, and then called Xiao'er to the study alone, closed the door, and it was only him, face to face. He wanted to figure out what the other party was for.

Later, he heard the real reason from the housekeeper Yao Gui; It turned out that Yao Gui ordered his family to beat him with forty sticks and punish him to do the work of removing filth because he frequently stole books and refused to change his teachings, but unexpectedly, several miscellaneous servants who worked with him made fun of him as a declining young master, and even bullied him into being injured, and splashed a bucket full of dung on him. Yao Gui had no choice but to drive a few miscellaneous servants out of the house, and arranged Shen Ruoliao to work in the garden, which was regarded as taking care of him. As a result, what the big butler never expected was that this muddy boy who didn't know what to do and didn't know how to get the sky high and the earth was thick counted all the previous accounts on the master's head, looking for an opportunity to take revenge.

These, Shen Ruoyu at that time naturally refused to say half a word more to himself. The stubbornness and stubbornness of young people, Yao Biao understands it very well, and he is not surprised. He didn't punish Xiao'er, and he didn't blame the past, but at the same time, he also felt that since this child hated here, it would be difficult for him to continue to stay at home, otherwise it would be bad for Xiao'er after all, and it would go against his original intention.

Yao Biao then called the housekeeper Yao Gui and asked him to send Xiao'er to the pharmacy for apprenticeship. Although it is still its own industry, after all, it is a separate façade on the street outside, and the guys who run the hall and sit in the hall are all outsiders, and they also have some culture, and the environment will always be different.

Yao Gui took the order and left, but a stick of incense came back breathlessly to report, saying that the stinky boy had just run away from the door, and he chased a street but failed to catch up, and watched the person run away, and when he came back, he found that the fifty wen banknotes on his body were also missing.

This was the last time I saw Xiao'er. Soon, Yao Biao got the news on the street and learned that Shen Ruoliao had returned to the beggars. This time, Master Yao did not go to the street to arrest people again. He has tried all the methods he can think of, and all of them have failed. If you get Liao'er back, the result will be the same. It's better to go with the flow of heaven and see if there is a new turnaround after a while.

He didn't expect that the turnaround would indeed come soon, but it would come so unexpectedly. A month later, Yao Biao stood outside the door of the Hongjia Hotel, looking at the young man at the door in surprise, as if he had never seen it before. The few children in front of him are straight and look like a jade, although he is wearing a coarse cloth shirt with shoulders and shoulders, and he is dressed as a shopkeeper, he is clean and neat, and his temperament is extraordinary; At this moment, seeing Xiang'er running away, a person stood there in amazement, and the strength of the alley strings disappeared, not at all like an ordinary shop guy, but more like a scribe from a poor family and a talented person. For a few months, Yao Biao has become too familiar with the image of a dirty, sloppy, and stubborn street ruffian from head to toe; Even a year ago, the weak and shy few children who went out of the mountains to Beiping for the first time did not leave him with the impression of this moment. Perhaps the greatest change in all of them is not the neatness and cleanliness of the appearance, nor the straightness of the waist, nor the gentleness and restraint of the manners - neither; After all, he is the blood and blood of Shen Rufeng and Du Yunjun, how can he be born without these. The real surprise change for Yao Biao was that for the first time on his young face, he saw a smile alive - the laughter when he was just playing, and the cheerful and comfortable smile that could not be hidden in his eyes even if he was in a state of loss at this moment.

The few children in his memory, how could he have the self-esteem and calmness at this moment?

Shen Ruoyu didn't notice herself, and after seeing Nightshade running away, she stood stupidly for a moment, then dragged her broom and turned around and returned to the store. Yao Biaowu stood for a long time, and finally did not enter the Hongjia Hotel, but turned around and left silently. Everything he had tried his best to give to Xiao'er but couldn't achieve was happening in front of him at this moment. He didn't need to ask who gave Xiao'er all this. He knew the answer. Suddenly, Master Yao only felt that a boulder in his chest had been removed. The answer turned out to be so simple, so healthy: all she really needed was a loving mother and a small corner of the eaves, under which there was no distinction between master and servant—a real home.

In the blink of an eye, half a year flew by again. Shen Ruoyu had already learned about the origin of the Hongjia Hotel and Yao Biao through Lu Jiang. The rebellious teenager in the past did not run away again, but chose to stay in the Hongjia Hotel. Xiao'er is full of gratitude to Lu Jiang, as if he has changed his mind overnight, changed his past, never happened to steal or lie again, and rarely used dirty words in his conversation; And Lu Jiang also talked about all kinds of good things when he met people, and he had infinite love for this young man who was the same age as his son. Yao Biao began to feel that Shen Ruoyu's good luck when he entered the Hongjia Hotel was not only for Xiao'er.

In the rumors of Beiping City, the shopkeeper of the Hongjia Hotel is still a hooligan, and he is a hooligan who is not easy to mess with. Whoever dares to make trouble at his house and go crazy will definitely have diarrhea and will not be able to get out of bed for several days. Don't even think about owing a penny of wine; There is a way that is hard and afraid of horizontal, and horizontal is afraid of not wanting to die - this little er belongs to the master who does not want to die, once was beaten by a few guests who ate the overlord meal and broke his head and bled out, bitten a person's leg, let the other party punch and kick a few times, dead or alive is not to let go, until the person was bitten to tears, the ghost cried wolf, and had to pay the bill. Since Lu Jiang had him in the store, he was worried all day long, and he ran to Yao's pharmacy every once in a while to grab trauma medicine.

From this point of view, it is not a new thing for Shen Ruoliao to annoy the second prince of King Yan on the street.

Yao Biao secretly smiled bitterly, shook his head, retracted his thoughts, turned to the girl who had been sitting on the side for a long time, and smiled kindly:

"Miss Xiang'er, this is not the first time we have met, although we have never known each other officially. The contemptible surname is Yao, and the single name is a table, and the girl must be no stranger to it. Miss Xiang'er's name, Yao has long heard of it. Lu Jiang, the shopkeeper of Hongjia Hotel, often mentioned you to me, saying that you often come to the store to help take care of business, and she is especially grateful for this. ”

Ye Laixiang hurriedly replied: "My lord has won the prize; Don't use the word 'you' on me, Xiang'er can't stand it. Ruo Xiao is my good friend, and my aunt is the number one good person in Beiping City, so I should help them. ”

Yao Biao smiled and asked: "According to the saying in Beiping City, Lu Jiang is the number one good person, but Shen Ruoyu is not a good friend of the girl. ”

Nightshade immediately blushed, and replied with some embarrassment: "It's all boring gossip, I play around with Ruoyu on weekdays, just joking about this, we never take each other to heart, and adults don't have to take it seriously." ”

Yao Biao said casually: "The girl has a straightforward temperament and doesn't talk in circles, so why not remove the title of 'adult'; You and Ruo Xiao are the same age, and they have a very good relationship; He should have called me uncle, but because he was angry, he insisted on calling me master. You often go to the Hongjia Hotel to help, and I will treat you as a member of the Hongjia Hotel. If the girl doesn't dislike it, she can call Yao an uncle, or a master, whatever the girl wants. Because of my scarcity, my lord is synonymous with my uncle. Both are just as comfortable as I am. ”

Ye Laixiang was slightly stunned, looked at Yao Biao bluntly, a pair of apricot eyes revealed intelligence and understanding, and replied with a smile: "Then I will be shy and offended, and call you Master Yao." The old man did not want to be different, but also asked the old man to call Xiang'er by her name. ”

Yao Biao smiled and nodded in agreement. For half a year, his impression of the legendary "Little Xianger of Huiying Building" has always stayed at the door of the Hongjia Hotel that day, and the scene of her and Shen Ruoyu frolicking; That first impression wasn't very good; Yao Biao had never seen a young girl in front of a street full of people to be so aggressive with a boy, in his own opinion, he was basically crazy and uneducated; Legend has it that she "plays wildly" on the street every day, and it is indeed true. At this moment, the original impression has disappeared imperceptibly in just a few words of conversation. He turned to the topic with a smile:

"I asked Yao Gui to invite Xiang'er over, because these things are not convenient to talk outside. Pearls has already told me about it; Xiao'er annoyed the second prince, the girl was at the scene at the time, if you still remember clearly, can you tell Yao the ins and outs in the future? Knowing the specific situation, Yao opened his mouth in front of the prince to be sure. ”

The smile on Nightshade's face vanished, and her cheeks began to turn a little pale.

"I did all the work," she said softly, "and if it hadn't been for saving me, he wouldn't have caused such a big disaster." ”

"Let me tell me?"

Ye Laixiang said: "The master must know that in the past two months, Ruo Xiao has been practicing in the grove by the river outside the city every day? ”

Yao Biao nodded and said, "I know this; I also heard that you also accompanied him to practice outside the city every day, every day for two months? But I don't know why? ”

Ye Laixiang replied: "The master does not know; Ruo Xiao resumed his practice on the first day, and ran out of the city by himself, and was sent back by a passing ox cart after sunset, saying that he was found fainting in the woods. My aunt was so worried that she told him not to go again, but he didn't listen, saying that he had taken the master's offerings, and he had to listen to the master, and he couldn't go if he didn't go; So I accompanied him to practice every day, for fear that something would happen to him. ”

Yao Biao frowned slightly: "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" What happened two months ago, I only found out today. It was I who asked him to resume practicing. He must have told you about his martial arts a long time ago. I've always been very skeptical that his martial arts were not actually lost, so I asked him to resume his practice to see if he could pick them up. It was not an order, nor was it meant to persecute him. As for the offerings, he was also afraid that he would be distracted by the things in the hotel and would not be able to focus on practicing, so he sent some to Lu Jiang to subsidize his family; After all, there are many people in the family, and it is unfair to her to not be able to help her work. Why is this kid so; He hasn't practiced for more than a year, and recovery requires a long stream, so it's strange that the overlord can suddenly take a bow without hurting his body. ”

Ye Laixiang said: "He is such a person, and you didn't know it for the first time, sir." He got up before dawn every day, waited there before the city gate was opened, and went out to practice all day, without any rest in between, until the city gate was about to close. That's it, he is still not satisfied, he curses himself as useless waste all day long, insists that his martial arts are completely abolished, says that the master is lying to him, and says that he is deceiving himself when he practices martial arts. I saw that he practiced hard and made rapid progress, but every time I comforted him, he lost his temper and said that I didn't understand anything. ”

Yao Biao shook his head helplessly and smiled: "It's natural for him to think like this." When his father was alive, he was a man who demanded perfection, demanding of others and even more ruthless to himself. - But what about the second prince? I've heard that it happened at the Bell and Drum Tower, not outside the city. ”