Liu Xiaoqi gasped, he felt that the big bowl full of thick and sticky multigrain porridge and three-vegetable pancakes he had eaten in the morning no longer knew where to fly, in short, his once full stomach was now pitifully shriveled again. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Beads of sweat the size of soybeans on his forehead continued to slide down the jawbone of his cheeks, and finally wet a small piece of the ground.

The muscles of his arms trembled unconsciously, starting from his back, then to his lower back, and finally to his straightened thighs and calves, all of which were incredibly sore. But even so, Liu Xiaoqi didn't dare to pout his ass or quietly bend his arms - it's not that no one has done this, but he will soon be discovered by the team officers who patrol around with a stick painted vermilion, kick your ass with a leg, or knock a stick on the crook of your knee, and practice alone for another hour after the whole team's practice is over.

"Two!"

With the captain's command, Liu Xiaoqi bent his arm as if he was about to be amnestied, and there was a short-term pain like a pinprick in the back of his shoulder, followed by the comfort felt because of the relaxation of his muscles, but soon after, the familiar soreness would return to Liu Xiaoqi's body again, and only after the team officer really thought that all of them had done enough and persisted for enough time, the next password would sound.

This is in a valley not far from the outskirts of Fushun County, and the thirty-five lucky people who were selected to be selected as the guards of the Li Mansion that day have been here for ten days. These ten days are rich in connotation, and young people in their thirty-five years old and under the age of fifteen and under twenty feel very complicated, and their feelings are impossible to talk about.

After the announcement of the selection, 35 people, including Liu Xiaoqi, wrote their names or fingerprints on a deed under the witness of the Li family's account office and steward, as well as their parents and relatives. Before the deed was signed, the steward would repeatedly explain the contents of the deed to the thirty-five people and their relatives, and if they repented at this time, they would not be punished, but once they signed and sealed, they would not only give Li Fu fifty taels of silver, but would also be dismissed by the well field.

The content of the deed is very simple, the Li family hired these 35 people for 30 years in the name of employing long-term workers, and they packed clothes and shoes and socks for four seasons every year, and there was a fixed amount of silver money every month depending on the length of time; If he was injured and died during the salt escort, the Li family not only paid for the soup and medicine, burned the money, and finally had a sum of silver for the family to support.

Liu Xiaoqi was single, so when the contract was made, he called the second Guan who had made a good deal, and seriously told him that once he died unexpectedly one day, the second Guan would come to take away the white silver, "Anyway, the burning and burial will be returned to the house, and the white money will be given to you." Liu Xiaoqi looked at Guan Laoer's eyes seriously and said, "You and my brother, anyway, there is no one in my family, just give you the money, just remember to burn some paper for me during the New Year's holidays in the future." ”

In the end, Guan Lao'er's cowardly bag choked and sent Liu Xiaoqi out of Fushun - according to the practice of the Li Mansion in previous years, these thirty-five people would go to the Li family's Zhuangzi outside Fushun City to train for half a year, and then they could follow the salt team under the leadership of the experienced guards.

In the peaceful years, these dozens of people gathered together and were all arrested and locked by the government on the grounds of Xiaoju, but if there is chaos today, there are still wars in the southwest from time to time, mountain bandits and road tyrants are rampant, and rebellions occur one after another in various places.

When the team finally shouted to stop, Liu Xiaoqi and the others immediately collapsed on the ground, he gasped, as if he had just been fished out of the water, the indigo caftan brown on his body was all soaked with sweat, and his hands and feet were tied with lead as heavy, but even so he couldn't rest, and was driven by the team to stagger to stand up, and slowly walked to the side to drink water and wipe his sweat.

When Liu Xiaoqi and his brothers in the same team clumsily carried spears to practice spearmanship under the reprimand of the team, the Chen family's banquet was just right. The river balls that have just been netted from the Minjiang River are steamed in a basket, and only tempeh, sesame oil and coriander are added to freshen the eyebrows; Bamboo sunflower is simmered with tender tofu and magnolia slices, crisp and beautiful; Bai Xiang only takes the cabbage heart into the broth, the second boils the pot, the soup is as clear as water, it is called boiling water cabbage; There are also camphor tea ducks, white oil belly strips, honey lotus root, ginger chicken, sand meat, Lin Lin occupies a large table, and the subordinates are busy back and forth between the kitchen and the small flower hall like butterflies wearing flowers, Chen Xianda solemnly called people to a small brown wine jar, and said to Li Yongzhong with a proud face: "Don't underestimate!" I begged for two years to grab such an altar from the Chen family! Fifty years old, there is no more wine out there! ”

Li Yongzhong hurriedly put aside his chopsticks and waved his hand and said: "I measure it shallowly, and the wine is like a cow chewing peonies to me, so I should leave it to my father-in-law to drink by himself." ”

Chen Xianda's eyes widened, and he shouted: "You kid is really unhappy!" Even the old father-in-law's wine dares to say that he doesn't drink it, what does this mean? He slapped it on the table, and the dishes and bowls suddenly jumped, and he raised his eyebrows and said, "If you are not drunk today, you don't want to go back to Fushun!" ”

Li Yongzhong has heard of this wine, the private brew of Yibin Chen's Distillery, when it is called "miscellaneous grain wine", and the literati are also called "Yao Zixue Qu", which is fragrant and fragrant, mellow in taste, luscious in import, clean and refreshing in the throat, harmonious in all tastes, just right to be famous in Sichuan, and is the favorite of wine guests. It's a pity that Li Yongzhong is not good at drinking. He hates socializing, and he is also afraid of making a fool of himself.

But other wines are easy to push, but the old man's wine has to be drunk. A wry smile came out of his face, he sighed in his heart, and he picked up the wine glass with both hands, and was about to accept his fate. Who knew that at this time, a little maid came out from behind the screen, thirteen or fourteen years old with a coquettish face, holding a tea cup in both hands, giving a blessing first, and only said to Chen Xianda: "Master, my sister knows that you must be drunk, so ask the slave maid to bring a bowl of tea to the master." After finishing speaking, he put it on the table, and said softly with his sleeves: "My sister also said, the master himself is not drunk, tomorrow my sister will cook and send a bowl of old vinegar to the master to wake up," she said here, glanced at Li Yongzhong curiously, and said: "Don't force the guests, otherwise that bowl of old vinegar will become three bowls." ”

Chen Xianda's face was swollen and red, his two eyebrows were about to fly, his face was flushed and angry, and he was about to drive the little girl away twice: "Go, go!" Tell your sister that she will serve her mother in the future! The little maid pursed her lips and smiled, and said happily: "The slave and maid know." Let's talk to my sister. After saying that, he squatted down with the two of them and bowed, and then turned back to the screen.

"My daughter is just too spoiled by me and her mother! Look at this bold ......" Chen Xianda twisted his neck in embarrassment and coughed twice, and said in a rough voice: "Okay, good, don't drink, let's eat!" Don't hold yourself back! My family is not very sour, you just have to be comfortable! ”

Li Yongzhong's eyes bent, and he smiled and pretended to hug his fist with Chen Xianda, and said, "Son-in-law, thank you father-in-law for your mercy!" Then his voice raised slightly, he coughed, and said vaguely: "Thank you, too......" Fortunately, his brain turned quickly, so that he could say in a hurry: "My mother-in-law feels sorry for me!" ”

This is true, not to mention that Chen Xianda almost squirted out a mouthful of food, even Li Cheng and He Tai, who were accompanying him on the side, couldn't hold back, and laughed out loud, the steward hurriedly took the tea cup to cover it, and heard a young woman laughing softly on the other side of the screen, and then Chen's voice with a smile sounded: "This uncle, dare to love that the family is not a well field, but a sugar shop!" ”

Inside and outside the screen, everyone finally burst into laughter.

After the meal, Chen Xianda left Li Yongzhong to drink tea, watched He Tai's martial arts again, praised "good", and called his own soldiers to accompany him to play naughtily; Chen called Li Cheng again, wanting to inquire that Li Yongzhong would stay in Yibin for a few more days so that he could bring him some gifts. After sending all the entourage down, Li Yongzhong followed his father-in-law into the study.

"This study was originally a literati's business, but I think it's good to have tea with my girlfriend here on weekdays." Chen Xianda pointed to the futon on the bamboo couch in the room and said, "Don't be restrained, sit by yourself." He sat down opposite Li Yongzhong, and saw that the young man also sat down cross-legged, the previous joy was gone, and his face gradually became heavy, and he sighed, and said, "Your father doesn't have any preferences, he just loves tea." Before, I was in the guard, and it was inconvenient for all kinds of inconveniences, and when your father came, we all went to your house to drink tea and talk. At that time, he said that one day if I bought a house, he would bring good tea, but I didn't expect ......"

Chen Xianda's words were not finished, but he didn't continue to speak, just drank the tea.

Li Yongzhong's heart is also infinitely complicated. His face still seemed to be calm, but the corners of his eyebrows and eyes couldn't hide the sadness, and he said softly: "If my father knows about the spring, my father-in-law will be very happy if he remembers to drink tea with him." ”

"You're a good boy." Chen Xianda's expression softened, he rubbed the white-glazed teacup in his hand, thought about it before slowly speaking, but it was the intention of persuading him: "Don't blame your father." He is indeed stubborn sometimes, but his heart is not good. After a pause, he sighed leisurely: "Back then, my younger brother and I were in Liaodong, and we struggled all the way, all thanks to your father's life-saving silver; Later, the army was blind, and my younger brother died in Liaodong, but I met your father by chance, and thanks to this, thanks to Brother Li Qi, my younger brother was able to return to his hometown. ”

After being silent for a long time, Li Yongzhong lowered his eyes, shook his head and said, "How dare I hold a grudge against my father-it's a lie to say this, but I don't care about it." He smiled self-deprecatingly, poured Chen Xianda a cup of hot tea, watched the hot water pour into the teacup, and then stopped, re-packed the depression that almost erupted from his chest, looked up and his eyes were clear, and said: "People's hearts are impermanent, and it is actually too difficult to ask for a bowl of water to be level." ”