twin moon

Chapter 23, Act Three

Passing through the beautiful and bustling streets and alleys on both sides of the canal, the three children walked step by step in the crowded Mulu City, and soon stopped in front of an inconspicuous small building.

The small building is next to the breakwater on the east bank of the canal, and it looks like it has been quite old.Although some repairs have been done inside and outside the store, you can still see the mottled wood grains exposed after the peeling of raw paint on the corridor pillars, and the dark blue bricks exposed under the white wall gray.

However, in stark contrast to the dilapidated appearance, it is the bustling diners in the store and the constant sound of drumming.Behind the counter facing the main door, a graceful and luxurious woman sat lazily.As soon as he saw Qi Ziyin who was walking forward, the other party immediately came forward to meet him, and greeted him with the not-so-standard Dasheng official dialect:

"Little Greedy Cat. Since we're here as a guest today, why didn't you send that tall man to inform you first? And how did you get yourself so dirty?"

The woman had red lips and bright teeth, and her skin was like jade. She was wearing a long purple dress that fell to the ground, embroidered with gorgeous patterns.Among the hair full of blue hair, there are also silver jewelry that jingles, and there is a strong charm of Dongli from head to toe.

"Today, I asked brother Shitou to go back first, but then I got into some trouble. Thanks to the help of the two behind me, I decided to treat them to a meal temporarily. I'm sorry to bother sister Jia again. The upstairs room Is the Accord still available?"

Qi Ziyin also smiled and ran forward to salute, he was very familiar with the hostess of this shop.

"The Accord with the best view in the city, if it is not full, it will be reserved for you. What would you like to eat today?"

"Of course it's still the same, thank you sister."

Qi Ziyin nodded slightly.After only a few words, the woman nodded tacitly, and then went to the back hall to tell the chef to get busy.

The female shopkeeper's full name is Leng Jiayun, and the signboard of this shop is taken from the last two characters of her name.Watching the other party turn the corner of the room, the boy in white explained to the two surprised faces beside him:

"The seats in Jiayunzhai have always been booked half a month in advance. Now that the Wuyang Festival is approaching, if it weren't for my frequent visits, Sister Jia would not agree to let us use that Accord. But I promise, the two of you only need to Once you have tasted the dishes here, within three days you will definitely be full of gluttons, and you can't help but come back to enjoy them again."

"How can such a dilapidated restaurant make such delicious dishes?"

Ning Yue pursed her lips softly, but her stomach gurgled uncontrollably.Apparently, the snacks she had eaten before had already been exhausted in a fierce chase.

"You don't know about this. Jiayunzhai is a well-known restaurant in Dongli in the whole Wanzhou. Every dish is created by Sister Jia. It's not something you can eat if you want. It is said that she is already in Mulu City has been in business for 20 years, so it is reasonable that the store is a bit dilapidated."

"20 years! Isn't the proprietress already very old, why does she still look young and beautiful, like a girl of eighteen or nineteen years old?"

Hearing what the other party said, the black-eyed boy couldn't help but looked into the back hall again.

"Sexy, dirty girl! Just look at the beautiful women when you enter the door, how old do you care about her?"

Seeing this, the red-haired girl couldn't help cursing in a low voice, raised her foot and stomped on the instep of her companion, and immediately grinned at Yan in pain.

"Ning Yue, you probably misunderstood. Brother Jiangyan probably wants to remind you to be more careful. After all, you and I have only just met, so you still need to be defensive."

Qi Ziyin shook his head, and put the other party's concerns on the table without hesitation, but he was not annoyed because Jiang Yan was on guard against him, but kept smiling, with a little timidity in his smile.

"Oh, you won't die if you step on it lightly. Well, I'll make it up to you!" Seeing the extremely aggrieved look on her companion's face, Ning Yue quickly stuck out her tongue and made a grimace, coquettishly apologizing.

"The two of you must be hungry too, right? If you have anything to say, it's not too late to say it after you're seated."

After the boy in white finished speaking, he took the lead in climbing up the cramped stairs in the store.The Accord that he and Sister Jia mentioned earlier is located on a suspended platform on the third floor.Outside the pavilion is a canal with gurgling water.The weather was fine at this time, and the window bars were fully open.Looking around, you can look down from the heights and have a panoramic view of the beautiful scenery in the city.

The three children sat down cross-legged, and the shop waiter who came after him immediately brought a pot of hot soup and three tea bowls on the small table in front of them.Ning Yue and Jiang Yan saw a few budding stamens scattered in the tea bowl, but they didn't know what to do, so they looked at each other.

Seeing their doubts, Qi Ziyin quickly explained:
"This is the famous Tangzhan plum here. It is specially made from the plums picked after October last year, dipped in wax on the top and bottom, and then soaked in a honey pot. Now it only needs to be brewed with boiling water, and it can be used in The water blooms again, and the aroma is tangy. Come, take a sip to moisten your throat."

As he spoke, he personally poured the hot soup in the pot into the tea bowls in front of them.Immediately, red, yellow, pink, and white plum blossoms bloomed in the bowl, and a refreshing fragrance with a bit of winter moon atmosphere also diffused in the Accord, which was indescribably unique.

After the three of them finished drinking their hot tea, Xiao Er, who had been standing by the side all the time, immediately brought a cup of steaming soup.

"This is Baiwei Geng. Although it is not much different from other stores outside, it has added fish maw and chicken mushrooms to enhance the freshness, and wild ginseng to warm the stomach—"

"Wait a minute. The two of us have caused you to spend a lot of money today, and I really feel sorry for you. Now you specially invited us to this restaurant, isn't it just for dinner?"

Jiang Yan pressed Ning Yue's bowl and chopsticks that was about to move, and cupped his hands at the white-clothed boy sitting opposite the small desk to show his impoliteness, but his words were forceful.

"If it's not for eating, what else is there for? Recently, I've been suffocating at home all day long. If I hadn't met the two of you, how could I have had such a good time. I need to thank you very much!"

Qi Ziyin didn't understand why the black-eyed boy in front of him was always on guard against him, and the docile timidity before could not help showing in his eyes again.

"Do you rarely go out on weekdays?" Hearing what the other party said, Jiang Yan also became interested in this strange boy.

"Yeah, the dog master who taught me to read can only keep a straight face all day long. I can't do this, and I can't do that. Today I also asked Brother Shito to cover for me, so I managed to sneak out. If If Master finds out, he will definitely beat me again."

Speaking of this topic, Qi Ziyin rubbed his palms suddenly, with a little worry on his face.

"It's the first time I've heard that dogs can teach people to read... But since you don't want to study, then don't. It's the first time I heard that you need someone to force you to read."

"Gou is the master's surname. Gou is not a puppy's dog." The boy in white corrected him, but he also seemed to think that Jiangyan's nickname was good, so he couldn't help laughing, "Isn't it because of my father? He has a lot of things to do all day long, and he has no time to study with me, so he invited Mrs. Gou to teach me for him."

"Why are you like me? My father is also busy with his own affairs all day long. When I saw him for the last time, it felt like meeting a stranger. But I really like reading books by myself." Ning Yue interjected empathetically road.

"Actually, it's not that I don't like reading. Maybe it's just that I don't like being taught by someone other than my father. I always remember when I was very young, I gathered under the lamp with my elder brother and listened to my father's lectures. Not to mention how happy I was."

"You still have an elder brother? Is that elder brother Shitou?" Jiang Yan asked again.

Qi Ziyin shook his head:
"I have been in poor health since I was a child. Brother Shitou was invited by my father to take care of me. But he was too polite to me, and he always looked respectful to me. He couldn't play together at all. But the elder brother—— was originally a family member. My best friend is ten years older than me, and my father often sent him to Xiyin City to practice after he became an adult, so he became increasingly unfamiliar with him. After all, my father will pass on the family business to him in the future."

"Then you don't have any other friends in this city?"

"There are quite a few companions who accompany me to study with Mrs. Gou, but I don't know whether they are my friends, or they are close to me because of my father. Those people are not like you two, In front of me, I will not lie or lie, or speak insincerely. I am tired of trying my best to guess what is hidden under everyone's smile..."

The young man in white seemed to have not spoken his heart to others for a long time, once the chat box was opened, it could not be closed again.

Hearing that the other party talked about his own affairs endlessly, Jiang Yan was too embarrassed to continue to doubt.In addition, his stomach was already empty, so he and Ning Yue couldn't care less about restraint, and started eating voraciously.

Then there were more than [-] kinds of dishes such as perilla fish, milk-cooked lamb, steamed goose and duck steak, lychee kidneys, fried clams, sweet and sour white lotus root, honey fried yam, plum juice soaked green bamboo shoots, etc., exquisite The dishes gradually piled up a hill on the small case.

After coming and going, the three peers who had disturbed half of Mulu City not long ago finally let go of the last trace of suspicion and guard, and quickly became acquainted.

"So, Jiang Yan, you have lost your memory, so you just want to come to Mulu City to see if anyone can recognize you?"

After listening to the black-eyed boy talking intermittently about his experience, Qi Ziyin's hand that raised his chopsticks suddenly hung in the air.

"Yes, is there something wrong?" Jiang Yan answered vaguely with a leg of lamb in his mouth.

"Do you know that the registered population in the city now exceeds one million, plus the refugees from all over the world who have fled in recent years, even if you walk through hundreds of streets and alleys, you will never meet someone who can recognize you people."

Hearing what the other party said, Jiang Yan suddenly couldn't eat anymore: "Then I—won't I—"

Seeing the disappointed expression on the black-eyed boy's face, Qi Ziyin hurriedly comforted him:
"Actually, what I want to say is that if you have been on a ship in Ye State before, I might be able to help you a little bit. For the present plan, you might as well go to the Baisha camp set up by the boat master in the West Port outside the city, and report to me. Inquire about it alone."

"The boat master's camp? Let's forget it..." Jiang Yan thought to himself that he might be a pirate, wouldn't it be self-inflicted to go there?But after thinking about it left and right, he swallowed the words back to his stomach.

"Do you have any concerns?"

"When we passed Zhihedu before, we had a conflict with an annoying guy. This person seems to be a general in the boat division battalion. I was worried that if I went to the camp, I would meet that person again... "

Seeing that the boy with black pupils was silent, Ning Yue at the side explained it for him.

Qi Ziyin nodded thoughtfully, as if he also felt that this matter was a bit difficult to handle.Just at this time, a small bird with a red neck and a green back flew into the Accord.The bird seemed to recognize Qi Ziyin, so it landed on his shoulder and stood still.

The young man in white skillfully pulled out a roll of silk from the thin bamboo tube on the bird's feet, and after glancing at the words on it, he suddenly stood up:
"Brother Shitou sent a letter saying that Mrs. Gou will take another exam tonight, so I have to hurry back!"

"I'm leaving right away? But there's still so much food left." Ning Yue still wanted to persuade her to stay, but she nodded vigorously, "Well, I don't want my master to complain to my father, saying that I sneaked out again. Just now I asked Jiang Yan to go to Baisha Camp to look for the man who was the commander of the boat master of Ye Kingdom. If you two can trust me, you can also go to a courtyard called Zheliuxuan in Dongshi City to look for him. Just say it is me Let you go, and he will definitely help."

As Qi Ziyin spoke, he took out a few more gold bahts from his pocket and put them on the small case, "These taels are used to pay for tonight's meal, so there should be some surplus. How about you Stay with Sister Jia for the time being. She is a very nice person, and I will ask her to take care of you."

Watched by the two children at the desk, the boy in white walked quickly to the stairs, but stopped suddenly, turned his head and asked timidly:

"That—we are already friends, right?"

"of course!"

Jiang Yan was finally moved by the innocence and sincerity of the boy in front of him. He took a step forward, patted his chest and said loudly, "We ran across the entire Zitong Street together today. From today onwards, you and I are friends, heaven and earth It can be learned!"

"There is still me, there is still me!" Ning Yue then expressed her position not to be outdone.

The docile cowardice that had always been looming on Qi Ziyin's face finally disappeared, replaced by a bright smile.There was no impurity in that smile, just like a warm spring breeze.

It was getting late, and the city of Mulu was already brightly lit with candles.Because of the Wuyang Festival, the night ban originally implemented in Fang City was also naturally announced to be cancelled.Night markets often operate until the end of the third shift, and reopen at the fifth shift.For a whole month, the lights of the entire Mulu City will hardly be turned off.

At this time, the flames on both sides of the canal were shining brightly, and from a distance, it felt more lively than in the daytime.In the night, you can hear the sound of performing arts and singing in the street market, and the shops are also making a lot of money, and the colorful embroidered clothes are dancing in the wind in the sunset, which is really beautiful.

Jiang Yan and Ning Yue were really hungry, they ate up all the dishes on the table, and fell to the side of the table with their bulging bellies, unwilling to move any more.It wasn't until this time that they realized that the woman from Dongli called Sister Jia had come upstairs at some time.

"Is the food to your taste?" Sister Jia put down the things she was carrying, covered her mouth and giggled, "Sure enough, things gather together and people are divided into groups. Ziyin himself is a little greedy cat, so I brought you two This person is undoubtedly a foodie! He has already greeted me just now, and from today on, the little friends will live with me. It just so happens that there are two vacant rooms on the east side, so don't refuse."

"We, we'd better go find another place to live, and don't bother you, Sister Jia..."

Jiang Yan scratched his head in embarrassment, and got up from the ground with some difficulty.

"Look elsewhere? Do you have any money on you? Do you know the way in the city? Could it be that you little brat is going to take this pretty girl to sleep on the streets?" Sister Jia looked at the troubled black-eyed boy in front of her, and persuaded with a smile. , "If you really think it's wrong, you can also help me here, and the wages can be used to cover the rent, how about it?"

"In this way - it's okay, then I would like to thank Sister Jia." Jiang Yan really couldn't refuse the other party's kindness, so he finally nodded and agreed.

"Thank you. Are you friends already friends? He often comes to me to eat and drink, and I treat him like my own brother. Now I have a new brother and sister. I am happy." It’s too late. Remember, Jiayunzhai is a free place, so there’s no need to be so restrained!”

The woman's laughter seemed to have a magical power, which made the two children feel a long-lost warmth in their hearts.

"Sister Jia, where does Qi Ziyin live in the city? If we want to call him out to play in the future, where should we go to find him?"

The red-haired girl couldn't help asking.

"He, you may not be able to enter the place where he lives if you want to, so just stay at my place and wait for him to find him."

"Why? Which wealthy family's son is he?" Jiang Yan was also very curious about this.

"Fu Jia? This little brat, it's the first time I've seen him show his heart and soul to others. How could he forget to tell you about such an important thing?" Sister Jia seemed a little surprised, "But even if you don't say it now Well, he will definitely not be able to hold back in a few days. You know, the word "Qi" in his name is not neat. In the whole Mulu City—no—the whole Wanzhou, there is only one family member You can use this last name!"

"Could it be that he is—" Jiang Yan couldn't help being taken aback by the woman's answer.

"That's right, he is the youngest son of the current Duke, the young master of the Qi clan of Ye State. But you two must not misunderstand, he didn't tell you today, maybe he was afraid of causing unnecessary trouble for you , after all, the world is so chaotic."

"Sister Najia, how did you know? Why did you tell us?" Ning Yue interrupted and asked again.

"I also guessed it by accident before. I didn't expect that little greedy cat to admit it generously. I have been keeping this matter secret for Ziyin. It's just that I have known him for so many years, and I have never seen him as happy as today. He I sincerely regard the two of you as friends. Since we are friends, we must be honest with each other. I have nothing to hide for him. Moreover, I also want to remind you two that now that I know the identity of my friends, You have to be careful to keep it a secret for him."

"Of course it will!" Ning Yue and Jiang Yan nodded vigorously.

"That's good. Closer to home, Ziyin just told me that you are planning to go to Zheliu Xuan to inquire about something? It just so happened that the commander ordered two jars of aged Qingli Shao in my store tonight, but that Zao Bieyuan is far away in the east of the city, and the driver in the store has to deliver the goods elsewhere. If the two little friends are okay, please help me take them there."

Hearing this, Ning Yue immediately poked the young man beside her lightly with her arm: "Small stammer, do you want to go?"

"Why don't you go and have a look. After all, it's a rare opportunity."

Jiang Yan wiped his greasy mouth with his sleeve and decided to give it a try.After all, such an opportunity does not come every day.

Ning Yue hadn't calmed down from the excitement after entering the city, but when Jiang Yan agreed, she jumped up again:

"Okay, okay! Then we can go around the city by the way, maybe we can meet some interesting things!"

　Thank you for your attention to "Twin Moons", and hope that the wheat grown by the little raccoon can meet your appetite.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)