In the courtyard next to the government office, the old man and the man dressed as a fisherman sat opposite the table, each with their own thoughts.

Outside, the rain subsided slightly, and the cool breeze was slight, although it was still a little cold and miserable, it was undoubtedly much better than the bitter wind and cold rain. In the room, I don't know when there was a maid in a light red dress, she stood respectfully beside the table and chairs, serving left and right.

The desktop, which was originally piled up with messy books, had already been cleaned up and neat and orderly. Not to mention spotless, the flat mirror is slippery, at least it is much better than the previous candle flame is dim and dusty. There was nothing on the table except a pair of celadon wine glasses and a beautifully carved wine jar.

The cigarette smoke curls and soothes the expression, and the wine lingers and makes you feel sad in your bones.

The old man reached out and poured the blue and white porcelain cup in front of him, and he took a sip of wine, looking satisfied.

"No wonder there are many greedy drinkers in the world, lingering in Qingqi wine shops, buying drunk day and night, and lingering. It turns out that this wine also contains poetry, books, and sages. No wonder, no wonder. The old man said, glancing at the man leaning on the rosewood chair with a leisurely expression, and the corners of his mouth were smiling.

When it comes to wine, the county magistrate has the reputation of not pouring a thousand cups.

But the man in the green robe didn't speak, just unhurriedly sipped the contents of the cup.

The wine is fragrant, and the people are intoxicated.

On the winding corridor outside the house, a young girl in her prime walked between the corridors with a sharp kitchen knife in her hand, looking dazed and yawning.

"The lord and the magistrate are really torturous. I don't hear the sunrise and go out at sunset. But now the old man is good, and he has to cook wine to talk about facts, and cut fish to express his feelings. The girl patted her pinky little face angrily, lifted her mental strength, and walked to the backyard with the wide-backed kitchen knife in her hand.

The girl walked briskly, twisting and turning. She walked on the corridor with nine curves and eighteen bends in a daze, dizzy. As she walked to the connection between the house and the backyard, the girl casually raised her head and glanced at the beams under the eaves. This didn't matter, but it made her see some scenes that made her feel frightened.

On the red paint of the beams and columns, there are actually a little mottled crawling and swimming.

The old mansion of the Wang family has taken root in Longhai County as early as the time of Emperor Taizong of the previous dynasty. Not to mention comparable to the local wealthy nobles, at least in Hengzhou Town and even in Yanhai County, it is a well-known first-class scholar. Regardless of the current head of the family, Wang Zhiran, who has a good reputation in the court, even his children are all like masters, and they are quite learned.

As early as when the children were studying in Beishan, the children's appearance and knowledge had gradually spread, and they became famous both inside and outside, especially the eldest son. At a young age, he was already a tribute student in the Guozi Prison, not only listened to the lectures and treatises of those famous Confucians, but also often wrote lectures on behalf of Mr., which was quite recognized by Mr. On the way to learn at home, there is a great tendency to spread out. The more commendable Wang family has been deeply cultivated for several generations, and not only has not slackened half a point on the family history, but has written quite new insights into the old music score and new words. It aroused the spread of those scholars and scholars who studied in Guozijian and academies in various places, and it was a beautiful talk.

But at this moment, the little girl who was just a young age saw a scene that seemed to never appear in the Wang family.

On the big red beams and pillars carved with woodcut flowers, there was actually an old man in his fifties and a man about thirty years old floating among the carved flowers and plants, with a painful expression and hideous eyes. Especially when the little girl raised her eyes to look, she happened to see the bright red liquid dripping from the corners of the mouths of the two people, and there was a ticking sound on the incense board.

The girl instinctively took two steps back, and he reached out to cover her little mouth, shocked. Without waiting for the upside-down two to react, the little girl quickly turned around, turned around and ran.

The girl strode forward, and the corners of her clothes were flying. Beads of sweat were already hanging on the little face unconsciously. Before she could quickly bypass these corridors, which she didn't usually like, an old man in his fifties suddenly walked out of the corner of the corridor and bumped into the girl.

"Who's there, I don't know how to look at the road at night. Is it easy for me to be an old man?" the man cried out almost crying, and without waiting to see the girl's face, he put his hands on the ground and slowly got up. Look up at the comer.

"Red Luo?" the man asked, confused. Some were furious.

The little girl didn't answer verbally, and looked at the annoyed man, and she opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue. Then he seemed to feel inappropriate, and lowered his head with an aggrieved expression, like a child who had made a mistake and was ignorant.

The man looked at the tip of her nose with beads of sweat and her timid appearance, and couldn't help but feel soft in his heart. said bitterly, "In the middle of the night, the corridor twists and turns. Walk slowly and slowly. The man put away the anger on his face, and a somewhat stiff smile appeared on his stiff face.

"Mr. Tian, are the lord and the magistrate still waiting in the east compartment. The girl asked softly, and two pear vortices appeared again on her pretty little face, like summer saffron, bright and unparalleled.

The little girl smiled brightly, and the ancient forest was weird, obviously referring to something else.

Hearing the word waiting, the shrewd man dressed as a housekeeper couldn't help but blush.

The old man has a light diet, mostly based on rice, vegetables and fruits. It's just that the men and girls who have been serving the left and right know that the old man with a light diet is really a glutton. It's just that he adheres to the ancient precept that the saint can't eat three meals and can't lie down for nine feet, so he doesn't dare to indulge himself too much. But every time a guest comes, the lord always prepares a good wine, delicious food, and treats others as well as himself.

The girl sneered, and her sorrow was swept away, just the peach blossoms in spring, and the shades were good.

The man looked at the girl dotingly, and said with three points of majesty and seven points of spoiling: "Still laughing! Why don't you send the kitchen knife to the side courtyard and dissect the fish and stomach for the cook, don't miss the time and disturb the Yaxing of the lord and the county magistrate." "The man has a blank look, and there is no doubt about it. Obviously, he has a high status in the house, and he is usually a very dignified person.

But the girl heard his tactful tone, pinched the corners of her clothes aggrievedly, and bowed her head silently.

The man suddenly felt a little helpless. Usually, he can handle all the big and small things in the house in an orderly and orderly manner, but when facing a bright girl like Hongluo, a shrewd and capable man is like drinking a pot of aged wine for many years, and it is chaotic.

The girl didn't care about him, she raised her little face that became a little flustered again, and said, "Mr. Tian, I'm really in trouble." It's not a panicked yelling. The girl's expression was sincere, especially when the pair of very smart eyes showed a hint of panic, the man asked suspiciously, "What's the matter?"

The girl is not answering, as the saying goes, seeing is believing, and hearing is false. As soon as she grabbed the man's sleeve, she ran to the side yard.

The man looked puzzled, and stood up straight with some shame. As the saying goes, one board and one eye, follow the rules. In this era when Confucianism is popular, the behavior of young girls is already contrary to the law and etiquette. This is especially true for families of poetry, books and etiquette such as the Wang family.

The man stretched out his hand to resist, trying to break free from the girl's clenched fingers, but he was afraid that he would hurt this lively and pleasant little girl by using too much force, so he could only follow the girl step by step and walk half-pushed and half-walked to the backyard.

The corridor is secluded, with nine turns and ten turns. The girl's skirt is swaying, and the back is stained with sweat. The man cried out in his heart and walked away.

Run for a moment. The little girl looked at the familiar corridor, and before the two of them came to the big red lacquer pillar at the same time, the girl stretched out her hand and pointed to the corridor and shouted: "Mr. Tian, is that, that?" The girl's words were firm and unquestionable.

The man was skeptical, and since he had already reached this step, he could only look in the direction pointed by the girl.

The beams and columns are still the same, except for the peeling red paint on them, but not much has changed. The man was stunned, and after a moment, he lowered his head and sighed, "Old man, old man." Thirty years have passed, and the children of the head horn are now full of children and grandchildren; I don't know if the young girl of the year is already with a slight sideburns"

The man sighed to himself, looking embarrassed. The girl doesn't sound like it at all, it's nonsense. She stood beside her with the man, lifted her head, and tried to squint her sparkling eyes towards the beams.

On the beams and pillars, there was nothing else except the slightly shaking lights and the two figures printed in the red paint. The girl looked puzzled, and took a few steps forward to take a closer look.

The man came back to his senses and looked at the girl standing in front of him, who also took two steps forward in confusion and watched carefully.

The man looked at it with his eyes wide open for a long time, but his eyes were dry and painful or nothing else. He asked in a loud voice, "Hongluo, what's so strange about this?"

The girl snorted lightly and ignored it. She rubbed her dry eyes and looked at them carefully for a while, but what appeared in her eyes was still the vermilion lacquer beams, how could there be anything else, she had to watch it over and over again, quite a trend of searching for the source.

"Hongluo, I've been holding a kitchen knife for a long time. A man with a clean face walked out quickly from the front, snatched the kitchen knife from the girl's hand, cursed, and quickly turned back.

At the head of the kitchen door, there is a large bucket. The bucket was originally used to hold water in case of emergency, but today it welcomed an uninvited guest. A fat perch swims in front of the barrel wall and swings its tail, leisurely.

The bass is still waging its tail, unaware of the impending catastrophe.

The man looked at the swimming bass and licked his dry lips. He put down the polished silver kitchen knife, walked to the bucket, and grabbed the slippery big bass, with three points of amazement in his eyes.

"Good fish, good fish. The man exclaimed softly. Without hesitation, his sharp kitchen knife was inserted into the chest and abdomen of the sea bass, and after being washed properly, it was placed in the hot oil pan that had already been burned.

Vegetable oil yellow orange fragrance, not as greasy and tender as lard, used to fry fish is excellent. Ordinary people fry fish to boil soup, mostly when the fish is fried to seven minutes cooked, and then add ginger vinegar and many seasonings, by low heat to boil slowly, the fishy smell of the fish is removed, people eat, only delicious and no fishy. But the man's method of frying fish is very different, without waiting for the skin of the burnt yellow croaker to be fried, ginger and vinegar are put in, not to mention how it tastes, at least in the eyes of the woman who cooks the spoon, there is a feeling of a layman.

The man was not in a hurry, and when the fish was fried until it was medium-cooked, he added the soup and covered the big iron pot, and he ignored it no more. Sitting by the stove and warming up.

The firewood cracked, and after a few moments, the smell of sultry appetite came from the soup can.

After simmering for a while, the man removed the soup can, looking contented. He took the spoonful, put a spoonful of fish broth in the pot, and put it in his mouth.

The fish soup is delicious and ready to eat. Without waiting for the man to swallow the soup that he had painstakingly concocted, the slightest hint of deliciousness had already spread to his heart, and it was extremely delicious. The man's face was smug and full of joy, and he picked up the fish soup and was about to send it to the lord and the magistrate.