Rebirth of the pastoral landlady

Chapter 318 Meeting Old Friends (Two in One)

"A Cai, didn't you say that Brother Wen is back? Where is he?" Jin Xi walked along the river beach, almost from one end to the other, but she didn't see Wending, so she turned her head and asked Ah, who was following behind her. fiscal.

Ah Cai was also looking for it, but with a puzzled expression on his face, he said, "I didn't meet the master in person, but I received a message from the master to ask Miss to go to the river beach."

Jin Xi frowned, and looked again among the tourists on the high river beach. At the moment when the two were puzzled, a thin middle-aged man came across. I recognized this person as the head of the county government prison.

That time, Wen Ding took Jin Xi to the county government prison to visit the three brothers of the Ma family, which was convenient for the head of the prison.

The cell boss obviously still remembered Jin Xi, and came over to say hello to Jin Xi with a smile. It was nothing more than the usual greetings that ordinary acquaintances say when they come out to cool off.For example, 'Have you eaten yet? ''have eaten. '' Enjoy the cool air? ''Uh, cool off. ' something like that.

The cell boss exchanged a few simple greetings with Jin Xi, then left with a smile.When passing by Ah Cai, there was a slight movement of the wrist, which is so fast that ordinary people would not notice it at all.

Ah Cai catches up with Jin Xi, and hands a letter to Jin Xi, Jin Xi is surprised, feeling that there seems to be some foreign matter mixed in the letter in her hand, and she slightly twitches.

Ah Cai said in a deep voice: "The prison chief gave me the gift, it should be related to the master."

Jin Xi turned her head, the back of the jailer had already been mixed among the tourists, it was hard to find.

"We'll talk about it when we go back." Jin Xi looked at Ah Cai and said.

Ah Cai nodded, Jin Xi understood, stuffed the letter paper into her sleeve, then turned around and went back to Qian Lixiang without delay.

In the room, Jin Xi sat under the candlelight on the left, carefully but hastily opened the letterhead, and pulled out a thin sheet of paper, Jin Xi recognized Wen Ding's handwriting at a glance.

On the paper, there are only five big characters written with strong pen force: An Hao, don't read it!The place where the signature is signed is one word: tripod.

Finally, I shook out something from the letter paper, which was a small wooden figure as thick as a thumb.She was wearing a lake blue dress with a big bow tied around her waist, her eyebrows, eyes and facial features were carved clearly and vividly.On the ankle behind Thumbelina, there is engraved a small character as thin as a mosquito: Xi.

This word also came from Wending's hand. Jinxi played with the little wooden figure, and felt that what she was holding was not a wooden doll, but a lifelike Thumbelina, and it seemed that the Thumbelina carved by Wending seemed to be It was carved based on her, which is interesting.

Sun Yuxia and Taozhi cleaned up the shop in front, came to the back room to wash their faces, and saw Jinxi sitting there, staring at the little doll in her hand, looking distracted.

Sun Yuxia and Taozhi looked at each other and smiled, Sun Yuxia patted Jinxi on the back, Jinxi was startled, only then did she realize when the two of them came in and she was unconscious?Fortunately, she just stuffed the letter under her sleeve after reading it.

"Xi'er, why are you looking so engrossed?" Tao Zhi asked with a smile, while Sun Yuxia took advantage of Jin Xi's unpreparedness and snatched the puppet from her hand, put it in front of her eyes, Can't help but be happy.

"Xi'er, this little doll looks exactly like you!" Sun Yuxia exclaimed in surprise.

"Really? Let's see!" Tao Zhi also ran over upon hearing the sound, and the two of them gathered their heads together to look at it, making comparisons with Jin Xi while looking at it, and then the two of them, as if they had discovered the most amazing thing in the world, talked one after another. She asked Jin Xi in a voice, "Xi'er, this is completely carved according to your image, my dear, this handwork is really delicate, it is exactly like the real thing!" Sun Yuxia said with her mouth smacked.

"Isn't it? Look at the shallow dimple on the left corner of the mouth. When Xi'er pursed her lips and smiled, it really was like that. The sculptor is not only good at handwork, but also has good eyesight." Not so deep!" Tao Zhi praised.

Jin Xi sat there blankly, subconsciously reaching out to touch her left cheek, the corners of her mouth slightly raised.

Really, when she pursed her lips and smiled, would there be a shallow dimple here?She herself has never noticed it before, since Wen Ding can observe so closely, he can carve out her appearance just by relying on imagination, without missing even the details.

"Xi'er, what's wrong with you, you've been in a trance for a while! I'm asking you something!" Sun Yuxia's sudden voice interrupted Jinxi's thoughts, she raised her eyelids, and saw that she was already Sitting across from him, he pursed his mouth in dissatisfaction.Tao Zhi also looked at him in surprise.

Jin Xi pursed her lips and smiled, "I'm sorry, I was thinking about going back to the village tomorrow, what did my aunt ask?"

"I'm asking you, where did you get this little doll? Such an interesting thing, I'll get your uncle to do it tomorrow. We want to get a pair and put them on the table when we come back!" Sun Yuxia raised her hand. Thumbelina asked excitedly.

this...

Jin Xi scratched her head, wondering: "I came back to the county, and accidentally met a master sculptor under the overpass, and he pinched it. Didn't there be troubles one after another at that time, just forget about it Already!"

"That's it, alas, then I'll be free later, and I'll go and have a look too, hoping to be as lucky as you!" Sun Yuxia said.

Jin Xi smiled dryly, not knowing how to answer, so she quickly changed the subject.

Before leaving, Jin Xi didn't have the time to personally deliver the things Mrs. Sun brought to Aunt Guo and Mrs. Zhou.Because when they woke up the next day, she and Taozhi were going to lead Chen Yizheng to Jinjishan Village, Changqiao Town. Doctor Chen was about to visit his old friend Lao Liangtou!

Therefore, the work of delivering things could only be entrusted to Sun Yubao to complete.

The next day, when it was daylight, Chen Yizheng's carriage stopped in front of Qianlixiang shop at Xiaobeimen.His carriage is relatively spacious, and the driver is Lin'er, a drug boy.However, Jin Xi still drove Qian Lixiang's carriage back.

The two carriages arrived at Changqiao Town without any delay. It was still early, half an hour before lunch.Jin Xi invites Chen Yizheng to go to Qianlixiang in the town to have a rest and drink tea, Chen Yizheng politely declines Jinxi's offer, Jinxi can see that the closer Chen Yizheng gets to Jinjishan Village, the more agitated he becomes.So he stopped insisting, and went straight to the direction of Jinjishan Village.

Finally, at the end of the official road, Jin Xi and Tao Zhi got off their horses, came to Chen Yizheng's carriage at the back and respectfully invited him to her house for tea. In the big courtyard with blue tiles and white walls, he smiled and stroked his beard, nodded and said: "Not bad, not bad, having such a family business in the village is really promising. Miss Jinxi, when I visit your master first, I will definitely be happy when I look back." Come to your house to bother me."

"Don't bother me, Mr. Chen can come to my house, it will be full of splendor!" Jin Xi smiled, let A Cai and Tao Zhi go home, and went to report the situation with Mrs. Sun, while she got into Chen Yizheng's carriage and accompanied her He went into the village to visit Lao Liangtou.

Perhaps it was because his emotions had reached the edge of being uncontrollable. On the way into the village, in the carriage, Chen Yizheng finally couldn't help telling Jinxi how he met Old Liangtou back then.

It was only then that Jin Xi realized that Chen Yizheng, who retired from the imperial hospital in front of him, actually started out as a servant at the gate of the Wanghai County yamen in his early years.And at that time, the same young old Liangtou happened to be a knife and pen official in the county government, so the two met at that time.

At the same time, Jin Xi was very surprised. Judging from the current situation, Dr. Chen's attitude towards Old Liang Tou seems very special.Since it is special, why didn't we contact each other in the early years?If it wasn't for her and Tao Zhi's accidental matchmaking this time, Chen Yizheng and Lao Liangtou would never see each other again in this lifetime.What kind of connection is there between these two people?Doctor Chen didn't go deep into it, and Jin Xi didn't feel comfortable asking, but Jin Xi knew that this confusion would be solved soon after Doctor Chen saw Lao Liangtou.

The carriage quickly drove up to the bluestone road in front of Lao Liang's house, Jin Xi poked her head out and pointed to the door of a house not far ahead, and asked the drug boy Lin'er to stop there.

When the carriage finally stopped firmly in front of the main entrance of the old Liang's big house, Jin Xi jumped out of the carriage first, and helped Doctor Chen, who had white beard and hair, get out of the carriage.He pointed to the tall house with a horse's head wall behind him and told Chen Yizheng that this was Lao Liang's house.

Doctor Chen nodded, looked up and looked around, the man with white beard and hair actually looked around like a curious baby.

The main room door of the main room was not locked, it was wide open, Jin Xi walked over and wanted to call someone out, after all, it was the old man's guest who came out to say hello, it was a matter of manners.However, Jin Xi searched all four rooms of the main house, but failed to catch a single person.

During this period of time, Liang Lisheng should still be working in the paddy field, Liang Liqing should have gone to play in the village, as for the Jin family, they are usually at home, this is gone, strange!
When Jin Xi came out, Doctor Chen was still standing at the door, still raising his head and looking around.Although the Jin family in the big house said that his mind is clear now, he is still inferior to other women in the village in terms of housework.

Therefore, on both sides of the main entrance of the big house, there are rows of shoes drying, one in and one out.On the walls on both sides of the door, there are long strings of dried chili peppers hanging on the wooden stakes, and there are straw hats that Liang Lisheng and the others wore when they went to the field, which had turned yellow and turned black and smelled like sweat.

Doctor Chen was watching all of this, nodding his head and shaking his head slightly, his expression was disturbed in excitement, and distressed in relief, in short, it was an extremely complicated look that Jin Xi couldn't understand and couldn't figure out.

"This is my uncle and aunt's house, and my grandfather lives in the small courtyard behind. I'll take you there right away," Jin Xi said.

Doctor Chen nodded his head, then suddenly called Jin Xi again, pointed to the white couplets pasted on both sides of the door of the big house, and looked at Jin Xi puzzled.

Jin Xi was stunned for a moment, the smile on her face faded, and she said, "My grandma passed away half a month ago."

Doctor Chen was startled, then sighed, shook his head, followed Jinxi into the alley, and Lin'er, the medicine boy who tied his horse to a tree trunk in front of the door, followed immediately.

When passing by the door of the second room, Jin Xi heard a burst of women's chatter and laughter coming from inside, among which Yang's voice was the loudest.

Doctor Chen paused, pointed to the closed door, but there was still a woman's teasing laughter, and asked Jinxi, "Whose house is this?"

Jin Xi originally wanted to pass by straight away and didn't want to say hello to Mrs. Yang, but when Dr. Chen asked, she could only stop and said, "This is my second uncle and second mother's house."

Chen Yizheng snorted, and Jin Xi stepped forward to be stingy and asked Yang to come out to say hello, but was stopped by Chen Yizheng.

"Let's go visit your grandfather first!" He said, Jin Xi hurriedly withdrew her hand, led Dr. Chen to continue walking into the narrow alley, then pushed open a door on the side wall, and entered the inner courtyard of Lao Liangtou and the others.

"Master, there is a visitor from afar, are you there?" Jin Xi stepped into the courtyard, shouted loudly, and walked towards the east wing.

The door of the East Wing was locked, obviously Old Liang had gone out.Jin Xi went to the kitchen and the dining hall to look again, but she still couldn't see Old Liangtou.

Here, Dr. Chen was looking around in the yard. Lin Er was standing under the big sycamore tree in the yard with gifts in both hands, rolling his eyes from the heat.

There's no need to search the yard anymore, looking at the momentum, Old Liang must have gone out.Jin Xi wiped the sweat off her brow when there were footsteps coming from behind the kitchen.

"Which one is it?" The woman's voice asked, and the person immediately turned out from behind the kitchen.

Jin Xi was taken aback, and Chen Yizheng and the drug boy Lin'er were also very surprised, because the woman who turned out was dressed in gray, patched and rustic clothes, and she was also unkempt and disheveled. sloppy look.

Not to mention the disheveled hair, the face and hands are still black and white, like a black cat that just got out of the bottom of the stove.

If it wasn't for Jin Xi's voice, it would be difficult for Jin Xi to tell it was Jin's in a short time.Quickly took two steps forward, and asked urgently: "Auntie, there is a distinguished guest at home, he is an old friend of the master. Do you know where the master has gone?"

Mrs. Jin was always shy of strangers, and when she heard the word honored guest, she shrunk her head and glanced at Chen Yizheng and Lin Er who were standing under the big sycamore tree, and grinned dryly with a hint of foolishness, which was regarded as a greeting .

"I don't know, your grandfather went out after breakfast." Jin Shi and Jin Xi whispered.

"You didn't ask him where he was going? Or which direction he was going?" Jin Xi asked again.

Jin Shi shook her head in a daze, Jin Xi knew that asking her was meaningless.I saw her rubbing her hands together nervously, her hands were black, and due to sweating, there were blood stains faintly visible in the palm of her hand.

Jin Xi couldn't help frowning, grabbed her hand, took a closer look, and said in surprise: "Auntie, why are you hiding in this yard with the front door open? Look at you, you're still pulling out the palm of your hand. So many scratches?"

While Jin Xi was speaking, she also pulled out a barb from one of the scratches, squinting her eyes, she saw that it was a sawdust.

"Your second mother asked me to go to the miscellaneous room in the back and help her cut two bundles of hardwood."

The rule in this area is that when people build new houses, people with friendship in the village will send food one after another.And when people have a funeral, they will send firewood instead.

The last time Tan's family held a funeral, the firewood collected by Lao Liang's family almost filled the two utility rooms in the backyard. Most of them were pine hair gathered by the villagers themselves on the mountain behind.Although the old Liangtou has not officially shared the funeral with the four houses, but because he is still eating and drinking with the second house, the second house will use the pine hair in the sundries room in the backyard casually.

"There are so many loose hairs, why does the second mother want you to cut hard wood? She has hands and feet, why doesn't she cut it herself?" Jin Xi asked.

"Miss Lan sent two big watermelons, and your second mother said to cook watermelon porridge in the big pot in the backyard at noon, and the pine hairs are not resistant to burning. I will chop wood for her, and she will give a bowl to Qing Xiaozi later!" Jin Shi Honestly.

It turned out that this was the case, Jin Xi frowned, and wanted to persuade Mrs Jin to forget it, even if Mrs Yang did not cut firewood for Mrs Yang, and Mrs Yang made watermelon porridge, she should share some of the fresh food with the children of her relatives of.

But Jin Xi cared about Chen Yizheng and was still hanging on the sidelines. Second, even if Jin Xi said it, it would not make sense given Jin's thinking ability and temperament.What's more, she has already helped Yang's chopping firewood.Jin Xi had no choice but to change her words: "It's a hot day, auntie, you're almost done, go back to the house and drink your saliva. For a bowl of watermelon porridge, it's not worth it if you turn around and get stuck in the heat. I'll buy it at my house later. I made watermelon and made watermelon porridge, all of you, please go over and drink it."

Jin Xi doesn't like to make easy promises to people, but once she makes a promise, no matter how difficult it is, she will fulfill her wish.This time, cooking watermelon porridge is just a trivial matter for her. She is willing to bring this beautiful expectation to the Jin family and make this expectation come true soon.

Jin Shi grinned at Jin Xi, nodding happily, with this grin, the whiteness of teeth and the redness of gums became more and more apparent on the black face.Behind her, Dr. Chen was following in and out of the palace. Lin'er, who was used to those empresses and dignitaries smiling without showing their teeth, frowned into a knot. This is a typical country fool, smiling like that!
As for Chen Yizheng, although he stood there calmly with his hands behind his back, he could hear every sentence of the conversation between Jin Xi and Jin Shi.

Dr. Chen has been working in the Tai Hospital for decades, so there is no doubt about his eyesight.After Jin's appearance, Dr. Chen concluded in his heart that this eldest daughter-in-law of his old friend's family was mentally ill.

I don't know why my old friend chose such a woman with a mental illness to be his eldest daughter-in-law?What is the eldest daughter-in-law?The future helm of a family mansion.

Putting it in the big family of dignitaries and ministers, internally, it is the backbone of the inner house, and externally, it is the indispensable pillar to assist the husband and make the family prosperous and prosperous.Even in such a rural family, the choice of the eldest daughter-in-law should not be sloppy.Serving parents-in-law, taking care of uncles and aunts, doing housework, and dealing with human relationships are all things the eldest daughter-in-law has to take care of.

And the eldest daughter-in-law of the old Liang family in front of him seemed like a stupid woman who couldn't speak well.Hey, my old friend doesn't know what to think!

Thinking of this, Doctor Chen was thinking about the thing he was thinking about, and a deep worry flashed in his eyes.

Here, the Jin family got Jin Xi's promise about the watermelon porridge, and she clapped her hands happily.Jin Xi smiled, and then the Jin family happily ran to the backyard and continued chopping firewood.

Jin Xi dismissed Mrs. Jin, turned around and walked towards Chen Yizheng with a trace of shame, and said, "It seems really unfortunate, my grandfather went out after breakfast and hasn't come back yet. It's almost noon, Mr. Chen, you'd better go to my house for a rest feet!"

Lin Er took a long look at the long row of courtyards under the official road from a distance earlier in the carriage. Although she shouldn't have taken it for granted at the time, but now compared with the houses in this village, Lin Er is more concerned about going to Jinxi's house to settle down. Think it's the best place to go.

Dr. Chen did not have the same thoughts as Lin Er. People say that being close to his hometown is more timid. Although this is not his hometown, there are people he cares about most.He rushed here anxiously all the way, just wanting to see Lao Liangtou sooner, and get rid of his life's knots earlier, but, when Lao Liangtou was away, his anxiety was emptied.

Chen Yizheng's intention was that he didn't want to move, so he stood guard at the door of Lao Liangtou's house until he came back!However, he was willing to fight and wait, but Miss Jin Xi and Lin Er obviously had enough tossing about.If he wanted to stay and wait, these two people would definitely accompany him, he couldn't do so much.

Doctor Chen sighed slightly, smiled kindly at Jinxi, and said, "You can do whatever you want, then there will be Miss Lao Jinxi."

Jin Xi pursed her lips and smiled, and was about to lead Doctor Chen to her home to have a rest. She just turned around and before she reached the gate of the yard, a woman was wearing a black short jacket with the cuffs and trouser legs rolled up high, and a pair of cloth shoes with exposed toes on her feet. The slightly stooped black and thin old man entered the yard.

"Master, you can be considered to be back. There is a distinguished guest at home. I have been waiting for you for a long time!" Jin Xi exclaimed in surprise when she saw the person coming.

That's right, the person who came in was none other than Old Liangtou.The head of Lao Liang was walking all the way thinking about something, with his head hooked and his eyes lowered, he almost bumped into Chen Yizheng.Shocked by Jin Xi's shout, the bamboo basket she was carrying fell to the ground with a bang, and a few tender green cucumbers and a few white-skinned eggplants rolled out of it.

The small yellow flowers at one end of the cucumber have not completely withered. Obviously, this is a fresh product that has just been picked from the cucumber rack.

Cucumbers and eggplants rolled on the ground, but Lao Liang didn't bother to pick them up. Instead, he opened his mouth and eyes wide open, staring dumbfoundedly at Chen Yizheng, who was standing in front of him, supported by Lin Er.

Chen Yizheng also looked like he was struck by lightning, and he looked at Lao Liangtou dumbfounded.Although old Liangtou was dark and thin, his years of strength had worn him down and he still had some muscles on his face. At this moment, because of his excessive shock and excitement, the muscles on his face were twitching indiscriminately.

And the thin Chen Yizheng, with white beard and hair, and layers of skin on his face, are also jumping and pulling. The two old men stared at each other, neither of them said a word, looking at each other like looking in a mirror, looking at each other .

Then, tears welled up in Old Liangtou's eyes, his lips trembled uncontrollably, Chen Yizheng was not much better, and they called out each other's names almost in unison.

(End of this chapter)