It was golden autumn, and there were only residual lotuses left in a pond in the back garden of the Lin family. Lin Ruhai sat on the recliner by the pond, watching the boat lady pick lotus pods while fishing for algae and other creatures in the pond, and the fishing rod at her feet put the bait and put it in the pond, and the float floated on the surface of the pond motionless.

"Father, it's time to take your medicine." Lin Jin personally walked over with a tea tray with a bowl of black decoction on it, looked at Lin Ruhai's straight jacket, and said with concern: "The weather is cold, this depends on water, and my father should add an extra piece of clothing." ”

"It's okay." Lin Ruhai waved his hand indifferently and said, "Actually, I enjoy this coolness very much now, because he makes me feel that I am still alive." ”

Hearing his words, as soon as he thought that Lin Ruhai's life had entered the countdown, Lin Jin's eyes suddenly turned red, and he shouted uneasily: "Daddy-"

Lin Ruhai drank the medicine in one go, because it was too bitter, she couldn't help frowning, and while rinsing her mouth with water, she interrupted her: "Okay, this person's birth, old age, sickness and death are like plants and trees, they are all normal phenomena, I don't care anymore, why can't you see it?" ”

Lin Jin refuted unconvinced: "How can this kind of thing be seen? I wasn't as open-minded as my father. ”

With a faint sigh, Lin Ruhai changed the topic and asked, "By the way, is your sister back?" When will I be home? ”

"The Jia family wrote a letter to me, saying that they sent the second brother Lian to send my sister back to Yangzhou. Estimating the itinerary, they should probably go to Xuzhou now. As for when it will arrive, if the shipping schedule is correct, it will take half a month to say the least. ”

Lin Ruhai sighed, "It's going to take half a month." Normally, he didn't think half a month was a long time, but now in the case of the countdown of life, he suddenly felt that half a month was a long time.

……

The boats that Jia Lian and Daiyu sat on were on the canal one after the other.

Mama Gao stood on the deck, listening to the sound of silk and bamboo coming from Jia Lian's ship in front of her, and entered the cabin angrily, complaining dissatisfiedly: "This second master Lian is really not a particular person, no matter what, the master is his own uncle, even if he is not as anxious and worried as us, he shouldn't be so leisurely and happy." Originally, in that house, everyone in the house said that Second Grandma Lian was jealous and did not tolerate anyone, but judging from the performance of Second Master Lian on the road, his problem was also big, and the old saying 'a slap can't make a sound' really makes sense. In this short journey, the boat has changed up and down several times, and the front has arrived in Xuzhou, which is a big station, and it is estimated that it will ......"

Mama Wang sighed, glanced at Daiyu, who was sitting by the window and wiping her tears, and interrupted her: "Okay, let's say a few words, don't you see that the girl is uncomfortable, and she is still blocking the girl here, why are you so blind." ”

Mama Tang came in from the back deck with a pot of vegetable porridge, came to Daiyu, and said, "Girl, this is my vegetable porridge, you can drink a little." The spatula used to boil the porridge this time, I boiled and boiled it before the porridge, and after boiling a pot in front of it, I boiled it again, so there was no fish offal taste, it was just a simple rice fragrance and vegetable fragrance. ”

Yuou also persuaded on the side: "Yes, girl, you can eat a little." When the uncle sent us to the girl's side, he repeatedly told us to take care of the girl. Look at you, since you started on the road, you haven't thought about tea, you don't want to eat, and you've lost a lot of weight. When I get home, my uncle will definitely blame us when he sees you like this. You feel sorry for us, let us take less punishment from the uncle, and eat something. ”

Daiyu looked at the vegetable porridge brought by Mama Tang, tasted it, and saw that there was no miscellaneous taste, although she didn't have a big appetite, but after all, she couldn't eat it at all like before. She also knew that at this time, she couldn't afford to be sick, so she told Yuou to bring her the utensils for eating.

After Yuou brought up the spoons and towels that Daiyu was eating, because Daiyu didn't need them to serve her, she withdrew with the three grandmothers, Gao, Tang, and Wang.

Standing on the back deck, through the curtain, seeing Daiyu drink the porridge, she couldn't help but chant the Buddha, turned her head and saw the pot of vegetable porridge that Mama Tang made before Xue Yan drank it, and said with a smile: "You have a big heart, we are very worried here, you still have the heart to drink porridge." ”

Xue Yan wrinkled her little nose and said, "The girl just can't think about it for a while, with your help to solve it, I think it will be fine soon." I'm clumsy, I can't help, all I can do is take care of myself and don't let you worry about it. Besides, the letter from home only said that the old man was sick, but didn't say what happened, you are all worried now, will you think too much? Maybe by the time we get home, my lord's illness will be cured. ”

Yuou, who was following Lin Jin, felt that things were by no means as simple as Snow Goose said, so she was not so optimistic, but she still hoped that the Lin family would be good after all, so she said with some hope: "Borrow your auspicious words, I hope so." ”

……

Although Jia Lian was bored with travel all the way, and on the way, he took opera troupes, acrobatic troupes, female dancers, etc. to relieve boredom and have fun, but he knew the depths, and drove all the actors and female dancers on the boat in Huai'an, the previous station in Yangzhou.

Hearing the boatman say that he was going to Yangzhou, Jia Lian, who had been on the boat for so long for the first time, went out without putting on his cloak, looked at the black line in the distance and said, "It's finally here." Ye has been restrained on this broken ship for so long, and it is almost moldy, and when he turns back to the shore, he must have a good rest. He pointed to a random person and asked him to inform Daiyu that the ship had arrived in Yangzhou.

Lin Jin took the housekeeper, and two days ago, he received a letter from the housekeeper sent by Jia Lian, estimating that Jia Lian and his party should arrive in Yangzhou in the next two days, so they have been guarding the dock.

Before the ship docked, the boat family tied a fiber rope and took the sampan, Jia Lian, who was standing on the deck, saw Lin Jin standing on the shore and wearing a light Qiu Bao. Because he recognized the Lin family steward who was following Lin Jin, he immediately knew that the young master with outstanding appearance standing on the shore was Lin Jin, the cousin of Uncle Lin's family.

Regarding the difference between concubines and concubines, Jia Lian holds the opinion of the general public, and does not think that concubines are not good, but because the stepmother of the family, Mrs. Xing, cannot be on the stage, and several younger brothers of concubines are also cowering, therefore, he can't help but have a prejudice in his heart, and feels that concubines are not very good.

It can be seen that Lin Jin in front of him broke his inherent impression, and he saw that he was tall and outstanding, and he forgot about the vulgar. In particular, he has a pair of good eyes: ink is like paint, bright as a star, at a glance, it is like a wave of autumn, and when you look at it, it is as warm as jade. Although he was not born like Daiyu, but seeing her, Jia Lian had to say that in terms of appearance alone, only someone like her is worthy of being her younger brother.

As soon as Jia Lian got off the boat, Lin Jin stepped forward to greet him, saluted and said, "Junior brother Lin Jin has seen my second cousin, and my second cousin has worked hard all the way, because of my family's affairs, I am really embarrassed to be tired of my second cousin." ”

"The family is flesh and blood, where is the word." Jia Lian hurriedly stepped forward and clasped his hands together, and said with a slight smile: "When I saw my cousin, I felt very close, in the end, it is a family, why bother to bear such a false courtesy." ”

Jingyu asked the old lady and her aunt about An, and offered to get on the boat and pick up her sister in person.