Chapter Ninety: The Eastern Pillar

When night fell, the light in the mountain village lit up, sparse, and a group of children on the threshing floor on the other side of the pond were running around chasing and beating, and the old farmer sitting by the house chatting was holding a dry cigarette pole in his hand, occasionally tapping on the bluestone steps around him. Dongzhu and Geng Guards also sat under the big tree by the pond for a while, chatting for a while.

“...... Originally, I also thought that this aunt was rumored to be weak in nature, but the more I looked at it later, the more I felt that it was not right. Of course, shusheng is still a shusheng, but it must be like this, now in Jiangning City, when it comes to the uncle in the family named Ning Liheng, who does not know. My boy is also studying in the academy now, and last year he was praised by Song Mao and Song Zhizhou. My old Geng family has never been illiterate, if it were not for the Su family, the boy would have the opportunity to read and write, if it were not for his uncle, how could the boy let someone like Song Zhizhou praise..."

Not far away, the spirit hall was noisy, and Geng Guards patted their thighs and talked about these things to a car-driving boy named Dongzhu.

"You don't know, uncle that person, is a real humble man, he does not like to be in the limelight, never goes out with those talented people who sell their reputation and fishes for fame, drinks, or anything, and it is really good for the second miss." You see who is in contact with him, Li Pin Li Dexin, this is a real talent... How did he get into class? Never lose their temper, don't say a word of seriousness, the boys, they also make a little unruly, but the books are well read, even so, they read better than the previous boys..."

"I can't read big characters, and I originally only thought that Mr. Genglie was severe, but last year I was praised by Song Zhizhou, and I was happy." Then one day when the boy came back and talked about what was going on in class, I felt something was wrong. Mr. temper is good not to worry about your class of boys, you class of boys can not be unconscious, hanging up and beating up hard, and then the aunt also specifically told me once, saying that it is not necessary. This is the arrogance of a great man, to serve people with virtue, and to convince people with talent..."

"In the past, Mr. Stern, those boys shook their heads and read, it was useless." Now those boys are making trouble, but this aunt is really convinced, talking to people all day is what Mr. said, what our husband said, haha, a few times the boy also ran to me and said this kind of thing, sigh... It makes sense to think about it. You see this time when you come to this village, when you visit this family, you talk and do things to deal with the advances and retreats, and it is no worse than the big old man. At first, you may not be able to see it, but slowly you feel that this is really a benefit of learning, and there are few in the family who can compare with my uncle..."

Geng Lie was a man with a heroic and fierce appearance, but he was humble to his own people, and he was not happy to speak sentence by sentence. Dongzhu sat next to him looking only like his nephew, and was a little silent at this time, before he said, "I heard that when my uncle first entered the house, he was beaten, right?" ”

"Well, that Xue Jin of the Xue family probably took advantage of the fact that no one took a brick... Damn, no one saw it at that time, if I was caught at that time, even if he was behind the Xue family, he would have to beat him half to death and then sue the officials... But then the uncle also tortured him fiercely, huh... Oh yes, you should have been in the house by then..."

"Hmm." Dongzhu nodded, "Not long after I entered the mansion, I heard about it, but it wasn't very clear." But...... Uncle Geng, since his uncle is so powerful, then why does he want to get into the money? ”

Geng Lie thought about it: "This matter is a bit complicated, first, the old lady and the grandfather of the aunt have made an agreement, and second, now the foundation of the Su family is thicker, and the second miss also has the ability and is strong." I don't know how it was talked about in the first place, in fact, one of the reasons we think is more likely, is... Oh, before becoming a parent, the second miss once went to see the aunt privately, the second miss's appearance and temperament are the best ah... I don't know what happened between them, anyway, my uncle agreed... Don't say the second miss, let's say that the second miss is around a few handmaidens, how intimate is Chan'er, Juan'er is good, apricot that... Pretty is also pretty, just too spicy..."

Among the three girls, Chan'er is intimate, Juan'er is lively, and Xing'er, as a one-year-old sister, sometimes quarrels with people or something. Geng Lie and Geng Lie also quarreled a few times about some small issues, but they didn't pay attention to each other, but naturally they were a little funny and annoyed. Speaking for a while, Geng Lie patted him on the shoulder.

"The pair of the second miss and the aunt is indeed a match made in heaven, and the Future Su family must be picked up by the second miss, you are still young, do a good job, if you can be a steward in the future..."

With such encouragement, Dongzhu nodded and said yes. Soon after, the night had already fallen, the crowds on the other side of the spiritual hall came in and out, and the peasant households who had nothing to do at night gathered to become more lively, time passed, and then gradually became less, Dongzhu would occasionally go over to see, a young girl named Xiao Chan was inside, and the aunt was occasionally there, and occasionally she was not there.

Dongzhu only entered Su Province last year, and for him, who was originally in the countryside, being able to enter the city and enter such a high-gate household to do things has a feeling of "very powerful and novel" for everything he sees.

One yard after another, one by one, the stewards seemed to know everything, and the rest of the people, regardless of age, seemed to be very powerful, and occasionally heard them talk about who this was, who that was, how high the status was, or heard the legends of literati in the city. In short, it felt like he couldn't reach it.

I often heard people in the house say that the second lady was the most powerful person in this house—of course, except for a few old masters—he didn't have a chance to see the powerful second lady, but the few ladies around the second lady had seen it several times.

The girl who often laughs and is also very good-looking is Chan'er, although she seems to be younger than him, but she still has to call "Little Chan Sister" when she sees it, and this is also a matter of course, people are so powerful. Called Juan'er, when she ordered things to come, she seemed quiet and serious, had no expression, did not laugh much, but it was a little frightening to get angry and calm her face. Sister Xing'er was often gentle when she ordered things, but occasionally when she had some friction with the rest of the people, it was very terrible, and once I saw her arguing with a steward in the third room, talking one by one, never giving in... Obviously, she was also a, and she actually dared to argue with such a powerful steward, and in the end she won, which made Dongzhu feel really powerful.

Relatively speaking, what attracted Dongzhu's attention was still the little chan sister, in fact, she didn't say much, a few times she came over and ordered things to leave, but when she was in the house, she could often be seen, occasionally saw her stretching out while walking, chanting something in her mouth, occasionally watching her trotting all the way, occasionally seeing her bouncing around with the aunt, he felt... Sister Xiaochan's smile is really beautiful, of course, other than that, there are not many other ideas.

On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, he drove her out in a carriage, but he could not say anything, but only told her his name. Later, she actually remembered that she had seen her several times in the house, she had greeted herself, and called her "Brother Dongzhu", and these times he had not been able to answer well, and afterwards he was very upset.

There were also some servants in the house who pursued the matter of so-and-so, but such a thing was not in his consideration. The three servants of the second lady, whose status in the house is similar to that of the steward, have not adapted to the word "pursuit" now, nor will they feel that they have this identity. Of course, this time when Xiao Chan was coming back, he was assigned to drive, and that morning he originally wanted to say a few words of comfort, but he was clumsy, and finally he could not say it when he set off.

In the past few days in Nanting Village, there is always something empty in his heart, and he has to do not have much to do, feed the horses and maintain the carriage. Occasionally, he accompanied his aunt to visit various homes with Geng Nursing Home. Uncle is really powerful, if he himself, he would never say those words, it sounds simple and simple, but it feels so natural, just like Geng Nursing Home said, learned people, should also be respected.

Miss Xiao Chan seemed to like her aunt, and this thing itself was deserved, and he didn't feel that there was anything wrong with it. But some empty thoughts are always difficult to suppress. Time passed, it was dark, and when he went to look again, his aunt and Xiao Chan were no longer in the spirit hall, so they went all the way back to the resting place, and when they passed the courtyard on the side of their uncle, they saw that there was a light inside. He stood outside and looked at it for a while, his uncle's shadow was sitting in front of the window, probably writing or something, but the figure of Little Chan Sister did not seem to be inside.

Turning to the small courtyard arranged for himself and Geng Nursing Home to live on the side, he found that there was a movement on the other side of the carriage, and he went over doubtfully, and Xiao Chan, who was dressed in white and plain clothes, crawled out of it, holding something in his hand, and when he saw him, he nodded: "Brother Dongzhu." ”

"Uh, little sister Chan... Oh, who do I think it is..."

"My uncle hasn't eaten very well these days, so I prepared some things when I came earlier and gave them to him to eat." Xiao Chan nodded and smiled, holding a few durable cakes and dried fruits and other things in her hand, and then handed one over, "Is Brother Dongzhu hungry?" Eat one too. ”

"Uh, I, I..."

"Hold it." Xiao Chan smiled and put the cake into Dongzhu's hand, and then waved his hand, "Then I will go back to the room first, Brother Dongzhu goodbye, tomorrow I will have to trouble you." ”

"No, no... Don't bother..." Dongzhu took the cake and had a lot to say in his heart, but he couldn't say it, so he watched the figure pass by the courtyard over there.

In fact, she didn't look like she usually had the same smile, and her figure looked a little sad. But when I got to the door, I could still see her pause, and the corner of her mouth pulled out a smile arc, and then pushed the door in.

The silhouettes of the two moved inside, and Dongzhu held the cake in his hand, looked at it sheepishly for a long time, and then took a small bite. This cake may also be delicious for him usually, but at this time the taste does not seem to be so good, he just looks at the figure in the light opposite, tasting some emotions that are not strong but lingering in any way, the love that does not understand, lost in this summer night...

"This is what the landlord's old fortune does..."

In the room, Ning Yi sighed, divided the cake and dried fruit on the table into two halves, and pushed half of it to Xiao Chan's side: "Eating the meals that people are eager to prepare, in the middle of the night, the three more servants take things and secretly eat, what will happen if this behavior is known to people?" ”

"It doesn't matter if you are known, in fact, my uncle is really powerful, obviously I don't like to eat, I can sit there and eat all the time..."

"Uh, I don't like to eat obviously?"

"Xiao Chan can see it, but others certainly can't see it." Xiao Chan smiled, "I'm already full, my aunt doesn't have to give it to me." ”

After getting used to it in the big city, there was something wrong with Jiang Ning's food, and back in this small mountain village, even though the person who cooked things every day was said to be the most powerful cook in the mountain, Ning Yi was still not used to eating, and Xiao Chan brought him some other food every day.

"Whether it's good or not, in short, I am full of hard stuffing." Since you have taken it, you have the responsibility to destroy it in half by one person, and don't waste it. ”

"Then I'll be half as small as a child."

Xiao Chan picked up the cake and the fruit and put it on Ning Yi's side, Ning Yi shook his head to negotiate: "No, no, take too much, I will suffer a loss, we can calculate according to the proportion, divided into five parts, Xiao Chan, you have to share two parts of this can be a deal... This one is too big, change it to a smaller one! ”

Negotiations like negotiations were tense and fierce on the table, and Xiao Chan took the big fruit and put it together with the other two small ones to protest: "Can't be counted like this, this big one is worth two..."

"Then you come up with a more reliable division, I don't think these cakes are the same size, you see, the piece on your side is obviously relatively small, right... This is not good, you deliberately take advantage. ”

"If my uncle wants to put the big one over, he has to take two small ones!"

"I have another way."

"Huh? What the...... Uh huh..."

Xiao Chan's mouth opened, and Ning Yi threw the big one in: "Well, now that the big one is gone, it will be better to score now, we don't count the big one..."

"Oh, it's not sour to cook, it's not eaten (how can it not be counted, I ate it)..." Xiao Chan protested as she chewed hard.

"What do you count when you eat it, you eat it?" And you can't talk roundly, and you still learn to negotiate, what do you really want to say... Well, I don't understand it anyway. Okay, then I'll keep dividing, you have the right to make comments, and all the opinions you put forward, I will use as a reference..."

There was nothing to do, and they could only find something boring to entertain, and the two of them were eating in the room like a saw. After waiting for a careful calculation, Xiao Chan found that she had eaten a large part of it, and she was also a shrewd and capable gold medal girl, but she had no problem with Ning Yi, and she could only mutter, "Uncle bullying people", and soon after, she reluctantly left the room and returned to her room to sleep.

At this time, it was the fifth day of returning to the village, and the people who should be visiting had basically already visited a circle, and then they would go on two more days and wait for the coffin to be buried at the end of the day. And also on the afternoon of the sixth day, in Jiangning City, on the side of the willow-colored river bay, Nie Yunzhu, who returned from the store, looked at the old man who had set up a chess stall not far away, paused a little, and said hello several times in the past, which was considered to be acquaintance, this time, the old man looked up and smiled, and waved to her over there.

She bowed respectfully, then stroked her perhaps a little messy sideburns, trotted over to the chess stall, stood by the chess stall and smiled and talked to the old man.

The old man also stood up with a smile, after a few words, he reached out his hand to show the opposite, and then asked the little sister of the tea stall next to him for a pot of tea, and after the two sat down, in the shade of the willow, they talked about the man named Ning Liheng who was in a remote mountainous area at this time. This is a good topic, and it may be a father and daughter who are old and young, and it can be regarded as a real acquaintance.

Chess pieces, falling the first...

In the small mountain village, this night passed quietly, and the next day the deceased was buried. Originally, there was still a meal in the village at noon and evening, but considering the reasons for the flooding in these days, the victims went to Jiangning and returned to the city one day earlier. After the burial and worship, Ning Yi and the others said goodbye to everyone and prepared to leave.

At that moment, the sun had just become a little scorching, and the carriage left Nanting Village and drove up the mountain road back to Jiangning. The weather in the mountains was dreary, and soon after, there seemed to be dark clouds gathering in the distance...