The willow trees by the roadside curled their leaves in the scorching sun, and the sound of acquaintances from nowhere seemed to be forever tireless, and this summer seemed to be hotter and more irritating than usual.

Xu Mingyuan scratched his head, looking at Zeng Qingyi, who was staring at him tightly, and felt that his scalp was a little numb. He just wanted to find an excuse to prevaricate Liu Sanniang, but he didn't expect Zeng Qingyi to be inexplicably unhappy.

However, Xu Mingyuan immediately figured out why Zeng Qingyi was unhappy, the two of them grew up together, and their identities are indeed very different, but Zeng Qingyi has always relied on force to suppress Xu Mingyuan, and has never cared about identity.

And what Xu Mingyuan just said undoubtedly made this matter clear, once some things are broken, it will seem to be different, and this matter is undoubtedly the same.

When they arrived in Dongcheng today, Xu Mingyuan and Zeng Qingyi heard the most words, which was undoubtedly about the marriage of the two of them.

What kind of feelings Xu Mingyuan had for Zeng Qingyi in his heart, in fact, he couldn't figure it out himself, or he didn't want to think about it. The two of them were too familiar, he knew what rock sugar gourds Zeng Qingyi liked to eat, liked to ride horses, and liked to practice swords under the plane tree every day, and then climb to the treetops to watch the sunset.

Zeng Qingyi was brutal and willful, but he never found it unbearable; Zeng Qingyi's fried rice is always burnt black, but he can barely finish a big bowl.

Xu Mingyuan, who has traveled all over the world with his master, has a ranger's heart in his chest, but when this heart settles down and decides to embark on the road of the imperial examination, many things begin to need to be faced. Today's questioning is undoubtedly torturing the two of them again and again.

Xu Mingyuan didn't know how to face it, and he wasn't sure if he liked Zeng Qingyi's little goblin, but when he saw Wang Ziqi, he did have an urge to step on his face.

However, the reality is just as Xu Mingyuan said before, even if the childhood sweethearts and the two have no guesses, this is still a world that pays attention to the right person after all. Zeng Qingyi's father, who lived in the capital as a scholar, could it be true that he could really take a fancy to him, a poor Taoist priest who did not have any identities.

"Zeng Qingyi, what do you think?" Xu Mingyuan didn't know how to answer Zeng Qingyi's question, so he also looked into Zeng Qingyi's eyes and asked a question.

Xu Mingyuan's question is very simple, but it is not simple, or it asks a lot of things. Xu Mingyuan wanted to ask Zeng Qingyi why she refused Wang Ziqi's marriage proposal, why the daughter of the dignified scholar liked to play with him everywhere, and what she thought about the two of them.

Zeng Qingyi is such a smart girl, she naturally knows what Xu Mingyuan is asking. But just like Xu Mingyuan, the two of them are too familiar with each other, so familiar that they have never thought about this problem.

After bowing her head and being silent for a while, Zeng Qingyi raised her head, looked at Xu Mingyuan's eyes again, and said with a somewhat solemn expression: "At least I have never thought about it like you said, I didn't have it before, and I won't have it in the future." ”

Looking at the serious expression on Zeng Qingyi's beautiful face, Xu Mingyuan was slightly stunned, and felt that his heartbeat seemed to be faster. Is this heartbeat, Xu Mingyuan didn't dare to decide, but he was indeed a little moved in his heart, and it was very warm.

"Actually, I don't care much, you know, my skin is not thinner than the walls of Shuzhou City." Xu Mingyuan grinned, picked up the teacup in front of him and drank it all. Liu Sanniang, who had a look of pity, and Xiao Lingling, who was pouting and full of grievances, and even the guests eating noodles at the two tables next to them were looking at them, the scene was a little too quiet, which made people a little embarrassed.

"Yes, it's thicker than the walls of Shuzhou City." Listening to Xu Mingyuan's self-deprecating words, Zeng Qingyi also smiled and said, she knew that Xu Mingyuan was telling the truth, and he really never cared about her family background.

If Xu Mingyuan really cared, how could he take her around to play, how could he want to beat her every time he came back, and how could he be so casual and natural in front of her. If he cared, then her childhood may not even have a real playmate.

This matter cannot be explained in a few words, and what will happen in the future, now neither of them wants to delve into it.

Xu Mingyuan didn't want to continue to be embarrassed, so he turned to look at Lingling, who was beside him with her head down, and her mood was not very high, and said softly: "Lingling, if you have time recently, go to Granny Li's place to have fun, and talk to her." ”

Liu Sanniang also saw that Xu Mingyuan and Zeng Qingyi were still reluctant to talk about marriage, so she sighed in her heart, and also followed Xu Mingyuan's words and said, "What's wrong with Granny Li?" ”

"Brother Shun was wounded on the battlefield and will be back in a few days." Xu Mingyuan said softly.

"I will go to Granny Li more often in the past few days, you can rest assured." Liu Sanniang nodded, and also understood the meaning of Xu Mingyuan's words.

"Well, I'll go and talk to Granny Li more." Although Xiao Lingling didn't understand a little, she still nodded obediently.

When Zeng Qingyi finished eating all the noodles in the bowl, the two of them also returned to the old kui tree.

There were fewer people coming in the afternoon, Xu Mingyuan taught Xiao Lingling to recognize and write, and in the past three years, Xu Mingyuan taught her to recognize and write when he had time, and Xiao Lingling's hand-picked Xiaokai is also presentable.

When Xiao Lingling filled a page, Xu Mingyuan put away all the things on the table, and then took Zeng Qingyi and Xiao Lingling to the princess under the city gate to spend four Tongbao and buy four strings of sugar gourds, one string for him and Xiao Lingling, and two strings for Zeng Qingyi.

Wang Po's sugar gourd and Liu Sanniang's noodles are famous in the east of the city, and Zeng Qingyi has liked to eat them since she was a child.

Xu Mingyuan said goodbye to Liu Sanniang, and made an appointment with Xiao Lingling to teach her to write on the rest day of the academy, that is, to put the bamboo box, melons, fruits and vegetables, and the half bag of rice into the donkey cart, and let Zeng Qingyi get on the donkey cart and leave the East City Gate.

Zeng Qingyi entered the carriage, inserted a string of sugar gourds into the wall of the carriage, held a string in her hand, and ate it in small bites, with a happy smile on her face.

Xu Mingyuan sat on the wheel, chewing the sweet and sour hawthorn wrapped in syrup, glanced back at Zeng Qingyi, and couldn't help but smile and shook his head, what an easy woman to satisfy.

The donkey cart passed through the streets and alleys, heading towards the southern city, the streets and alleys of Shuzhou City, Xu Mingyuan was more familiar than anyone else, and he could naturally find the shortest route.

Just as the donkey cart turned out of an alley and just got onto Mingshun Avenue in Nancheng, the road in front was blocked by the crowd, and two horse-drawn carriages were also blocked in front. The voices were full of people, and from time to time there were a few sounds of urging, of course, more of a coaxing sound.

"Come out and see the excitement, maybe there will be a fight." Xu Mingyuan knew at a glance that there was a lot of excitement, knocked on the wall of the carriage and said to Zeng Qingyi in the carriage.

As soon as Xu Mingyuan stood up, Zeng Qingyi had already lifted the curtain and stood beside him, holding two sugar gourds in his hand, and asked with a happy face, "Where is it?" Where is it? ”

Xu Mingyuan pointed to the roadside tea shop surrounded by a crowd of people, six Jianghu people wearing all kinds of strange costumes, and they were surrounding one person with a fierce face.

It was a young man of about thirty years old, with a handsome face, wearing a moon-white robe, a black leather belt around his waist, and a strand of long hair hanging down from his forehead, which added a bit of chic.

Looking at the eyes that Xu Mingyuan has accumulated after following his master to travel around the world, and in Master's words, this is definitely a man who attracts women.

Looking at the six people surrounding the tea shop, the middle-aged scholar with a terrifying scar on his face in the southwest corner and a iron judge's pen in his hand looked at the young man with a sneer.

The northwest corner was open-minded, holding a handful of kills in his hands. Pig knife, a strong man with strange nostrils is gently wiping the killing in his hand. Pig knife, eyes showing fierce light.

In the northeast corner, a lewd young man who was as thin as a mouse, but carrying a large plate axe, with a pair of small eyes shining, walked around the women who were watching.

The woman in the southeast corner, who was bloated and fat, but had a small and beautiful face, held a silver needle wearing red thread in her hand, and looked the young man up and down with a smile, and her beautiful eyes were full of flattery.

And standing in front of the white-clothed young man was a thin old man, hunched over, with a cane the size of a fist skull on top of it.

There was also a four-foot-tall dwarf beside the hunchbacked old man, dragging a nine-foot-long glaive knife, looking up at the white-clothed young man.

Six strange people surrounded a dashing young man, which was undoubtedly an extremely strange picture, and the young man was still smiling at the corners of his mouth, looking indifferent. Although Xu Mingyuan didn't recognize any of them, he also knew that these weirdos were not easy to provoke, and he didn't know how the young man in white got involved.

The temperament and dress of these six weirdos undoubtedly had a great impact on ordinary people, and naturally aroused the curiosity of the general public.

Dawan is still martial, the people have always been bold, and the imperial court explicitly forbade people who practice martial arts to do it to ordinary people, so in the past, the people simply left enough space for everyone to fight, and they were ready to watch the play around the tea shop, and they were not afraid of being injured by mistake.

The tables and chairs in the tea shop have been knocked over a lot, but it can be seen that they haven't really started yet, and the shopkeeper and the guys of the tea shop have already run out, looking at them with some concern.

And some small traders even took the opportunity to sell some melon seeds, peanuts and other refreshments to the onlookers, and the business was really good.

Xu Mingyuan bought two packets of melon seeds for two Wentongbao, handed one to Zeng Qingyi, and began to swallow one by himself. Eating melon seeds and watching a play is the most comfortable thing.

Zeng Qingyi took the melon seeds, still holding the sugar gourd in his hand, looked at the direction of the tea shop, and asked a little puzzled: "Ben Mingyuan, why don't they fight yet?" ”

"Don't worry, you just knock the melon seeds and watch it well, this river and lake has its own rules of the rivers and lakes, how can you meet each other with a sword when you come up, it is not the same as a splash of skin and fighting." Xu Mingyuan spit out the skin of melon seeds and said with a smile.

Zeng Qingyi took a bite of the rock sugar gourd in her hand and sighed as if she didn't understand.

At this moment, the hunchbacked old man holding the skeletal crutch held the crutch in his hand and said coldly: "Qi Haobo, the Snow Lotus Bead was found by us first, how dare you seize it." ”