Xu Xuzhi

Chapter 48
As soon as she entered the living room of Xiaohonglou, Feng Jiu saw Ning Zheng leaning back comfortably on the back of the sofa, her hair was wet, she knew she had just showered, she was dressed in light attire, and she was closing her eyes with her head up. repose.

As soon as Feng Jiu came in, he immediately opened his eyes and smiled at her.

Ning Zheng, who hadn’t seen him for over a month, has lost some weight—he’s out training every day, formulating battle plans with his staff, checking the progress of defense projects in certain key points, and going to Beiping to argue with his father about the domestic situation... It must have been a torment; this year, His demeanor has also changed a bit, becoming colder and more like a professional soldier, but it seems...better looking.

Looking at the way Ning Zheng looked at her, Feng Jiu seemed to think the same way.

He waved at her, so Fengjiu had no choice but to go forward and sit beside him, saying, "You go back..."

Before he finished speaking, he had already swallowed her into his stomach. He hugged Feng Jiu, and immediately pressed her onto the couch, and kissed her. After a while, both of them were panting, Feng Jiu couldn't breathe. Ning Zheng didn't seem to be angry, but seemed to be struggling to suppress something. It wasn't the first time Feng Jiu saw him like this, he was used to it.

"Tomorrow is your birthday, I came back here on purpose, and I have to leave tomorrow afternoon." Ning Zheng whispered, slowly stroking her crimson lips with her fingers, which became more tender after receiving a long and wet kiss. fresh.

Feng Jiu, who just wanted Ning Zheng to get off her body quickly, shut up and began to think: What should I say at this time?The little girl thanked her husband for his deep friendship?

Uh, I can't say it, it's nasty, it's artificial.Ning Zheng looked at Feng Jiudi Liu'er's moving eyes and smiled.

Thank you for rushing back to celebrate my birthday?

This sentence seems to be okay, slightly opened his lips, and just about to say, Ning Zheng pressed his slender index finger on his lips, and let out a "shh".

He would rather not listen to such hypocritical words.

When he came back just now, he thought he would be able to see his wife for the first time, but he didn't expect the beautiful woman to disappear, and only after inquiring did he find out that he had returned to his mother's house.Not only did she go back by herself, but she also brought her two sisters-in-law with her, which showed how carefree and carefree this heartless girl was living in her absence.

It seemed a bit ridiculous for me to come back so eagerly...

However, what has to be done has to be done.

He pulled Feng Jiu up and handed over a large box of things on the coffee table, "Birthday congratulations, let's see if you like it?"

Feng Jiu saw that it was a tightly wrapped large box, and curiously took it with both hands. Ning Zheng wanted to help her unpack it, but she raised her hand to stop it.

Feng Jiu loves to unwrap presents. Sometimes the fun of unwrapping gifts is greater than actually getting them, because in the process of unwrapping, one can imagine what is inside, and the mentality of excitement, anticipation, and worrying about gains and losses is very exciting.

As soon as he opened it, Feng Jiu said "ah": This is a complete set of pineapple wood miniature furniture, including a six-poster canopy bed with a cross-shaped begonia pattern surround, and a foldable mirror table at the head of the bed-this is to prevent sleepiness. Some people see their own shadow in the mirror being haunted.

Outside, there are two official hat chairs, a grid screen, and a hexagonal coffee table. For this coffee table, there are six hexagonal stools of the same shape; beside it stands a stool with a high back that is still commonly used even now. Floor washbasin.

It is obvious that this set of furniture is in the style of the late Ming Dynasty, with neat lines and simple and Zen-like shapes of the utensils.

Behind a high-waisted horseshoe-footed desk, there is an armchair with a backrest. On the table is a gilt-bronze official leather case imitating the scene of the Eastern Jin Dynasty scholar-bureaucrat's "Qushui Liucup" in "The Preface to the Lanting Collection", that is, a large pencil case, and a pen holder. , a semi-circular ink cartridge, and a red sandalwood two-hit carrying case.

Fengjiu picked up the two-pronged carrying case, and found another mechanism as soon as she got started: she gently moved the handle, and moved the drawer, and confirmed that even the small accessories inside were detachable, so she moved the carrying case in two or three strokes. The box was disassembled and then reinstalled.

After finishing fiddling with Chuchu, Ning Zheng looked up at Feng Jiuqiu's eyes that were as clear as the sky, looked up at him in surprise, and also smiled: "It can be seen that when you were young, you didn't play enough with the house, let's continue to play. "

On the day when she got married and returned home, Ning Zheng saw many small wooden carvings in Fengjiu's room, and knew that they were carved by her childhood sweetheart Wei Yuanhua, and always thought of buying one for her.However, since I don't have the craftsmanship of my childhood sweetheart, I have to surpass him in scale and ingenuity.

When Feng Jiu heard this, he couldn't help pouting: "I'm an adult, I'm eighteen!"

Ning Zheng couldn't help laughing, and reached out to touch the tip of her pursed mouth: "Well, I see, our Fengjiu is really a big girl."

Feng Jiu ignored him. She had played with this kind of miniature toys before, but it was not furniture. After assembling it, she gave it to Buku, who was four years old: at least she had to be this old to know that some things could not Put it in your mouth, and the small parts cannot be swallowed.

She spread out the box again. It seemed that the box could be used as a pedestal. She took out everything and put it in place. After a while, an exquisite Ming Dynasty-style boudoir appeared in front of her.

It was very enjoyable for Feng Jiu to touch this and move that, and he raised his head from time to time to make eye contact with Ning Zheng, which meant to make him agree with how exquisite this design is.

Ning Zheng watched with his hands behind his back, recalling that he had found a lot of ancient books about Ming Dynasty furniture for reference three months in advance, and sketched out the patterns according to the "Die Ji Tu" published by Geshan in the Wanli period, and then It took a lot of effort to find the craftsman surnamed Huang from Anhui, who is famous for making miniature furniture, but it was worth it now.

Looking at the toy, Feng Jiu thought, there are some characters missing in this house, should I take a photo and send it to Hutou like last time?For the last painting, Hutou wrote back saying that it is very improved, isn't it?

If he took a photo of this and sent it to him, maybe he could carve a few little ladies and ladies for himself, wouldn't they complement each other?
Hutou now occasionally writes a letter to her, and still sends it to the Tang family; the Tang family will send someone to deliver it to her.

Ning Zheng came back on purpose to give Fengjiu a congratulatory gift, then turned around and went to the military headquarters to listen to the production report of Fengtian Armory. After everything was over, he went upstairs to look for Fengjiu when he came back, but when she failed, he knew she had been in the study again.Just about to go downstairs, when he lowered his head, he saw Taishan's big-faced cat tiptoeing towards the study through the carved fence on the second floor. He walked downstairs slowly and followed behind, and found that it was lying on the outside of the study door. Peeking around.

Taishan is also strange. After the initial period of confrontation with Fengjiu, "no fight, no deal", he became very interested in her, and spied on her at every turn.Fengjiu ignores it, and it doesn't bother, but the distance between them has begun to get closer, and they always accompany her in the study quietly, but they read books to catch up on sleep, and one person and one cat maintain a slightly intimate relationship. Alienation.

Ning Zheng came back from the customs once, and found that Taishan, which was originally as round as a ball, had become scrawny. After inquiring, he found out that the unlucky big fat cat had recently encountered difficulties: he probably ate some unclean wild food and had diarrhea quickly. It was dead, but the veterinarian in the mansion came to give it an injection, but it didn't work. It was still weakening day by day, and it seemed that it was dying.

Seeing its appearance, Wu Ma, Qiu Sheng and others persuaded Fengjiu to give up. It was well known that Fengjiu didn't want to see Mount Tai, but Fengjiu couldn't bear it anymore. In the city, I found several doctors who are famous for treating cats and dogs. In the end, a veterinarian who just returned from studying in Germany saw what was wrong with it, and performed an emergency operation. I went to see it in its temporary nest in the greenhouse, and it finally got better.

Ning Zheng heard Feng Jiu's crisp voice in the study and shouted: "Mount Tai? Come in."

After a pause, he slowly pushed the door open, and saw Feng Jiu playing Taishan's brain collapse sitting on the desk, as if it was a little bitterness, "Do you want to be nice to me? Do you want to How are you with me? I think you can spy on me if you have something to do, don't think I don't know."

After saving his life, the big-faced cat, relying on its strong mouth and quickly recovering into a big round ball, lowered its head shyly.

Feng Jiu opened its paws and tapped the pink meat pads. This was the first time Feng Jiu took the initiative to get close to it: "Okay. But I have to make a deal. From now on, it is not allowed to eat mice and give wild cats Keep it; don't scare me with big rats again... let's talk about this much first. Otherwise, we'd better pull it off, okay?"

Taishan was dumbfounded, his big head nodded, as if he really understood, Feng Jiu smiled, and shook his little paw gently, "Young children can be taught, I am very relieved. Well, from now on In the future, we will live in harmony, and live in harmony with..."

Ning Zheng smiled slightly, so Feng Jiu is God's highest reward for his helpless life.

He stepped into the room, Fengjiu heard the noise, looked up and saw him, "Is the matter over?"

As soon as Taishan saw him, he immediately rubbed against Fengjiu, and then jumped off the table with a "tiger".

Ning Zheng asked casually as if he hadn't seen Mount Tai, "Are you two reconciled?"

Feng Jiu nodded a little uncertainly, "At present, it is considered." Could it be that Tai Shan wants to make a promise with his body because of the grace of saving his life?She didn't dare to talk too much, maybe one day she would pinch her again.

Feng Jiu suddenly remembered something, and pulled him out. Ning Zheng asked puzzled, "Where are you going? It's your birthday soon, do you want to go out and have fun?"

Feng Jiu stopped and said slowly: "For me, birthday is just an ordinary day." Feng Jiu really doesn't feel much about all kinds of anniversaries, even birthdays are the same, especially struggling to put The mother who gave birth to him has passed away long ago. Which child's birthday is not the mother's good day? What is there to celebrate?It's not as fun as various traditional festivals.

Ning Zheng snorted, "Then... shall I take you to ride a horse tomorrow morning?"

When Feng Jiu heard it, it was a good idea.She happily said: "Then, how about calling Qiaozhi Qiaoxin and my sister? And Mei..." Halfway through the conversation, she remembered that Melanie was pregnant, how could she ride a horse?

Listening to her words, Ning Zheng's face slowly darkened, Feng Jiu looked at him puzzled, "There are too many people and it's lively, isn't it?"

Ning Zheng didn't speak, but suddenly smiled, "Let's go upstairs to eat watermelon, the 'Black Beauty' just arrived."

Feng Jiu's face immediately brightened, his mood was obviously very good, and he started talking more, chattering: "Do you know why I was born at this time? Because I came out only when the watermelon was ripe hahaha..."

After eating the melon with red flesh and sunspots, Fengjiu brought him the freshly reheated zongzi made by himself a few days ago: it can be stored for a long time in the refrigerator, and told him that it was the "beauty zongzi" made by himself. "It looks good, right?
Ning Zheng didn't like to eat sticky food, but if his wife made it herself, could it be the same? She still ate one, put down the plate and praised: "Beauty dumplings made by beautiful women are naturally beautiful."

Feng Jiu accepted it with a smile, and then La Ningzheng went to the hall to visit the children. This place has already become a place where the Ning family and the Tang family come when they are free.

A few times Feng Jiu called back to the Tang Mansion, but Feng Ling and Buku were not at home, no need to ask to know that they must have come to the courtyard again to play with the children.

As soon as the two of them entered the gate of the hall, by coincidence, Fengling happened to be here with Buku, standing under a big green locust tree with a group of children, and they didn't know what they were doing.

Feng Jiu immediately "shushed" Ning Zheng, tiptoed forward, and gave the aunt and nephew a blow on the back of the head, the two turned around screaming, only to find that it was Feng Jiu who was called back, and immediately smiled , Ning Zheng also looked at it a long time ago with a smile on his face.

A group of people greeted each other politely, Fengjiu then played with the children. If you look carefully, you will find thin silver threads hanging down from the branches, with light green locust tree insects hanging from them. It is "hanging ghosts".Fengling brought a lot of empty glass bottles, and Buku and the children put the hanged ghost into the bottles with twigs. After a while, they caught several glass bottles, and they surged like green meat waves inside. Looking at it, Feng Jiu looked at it for a while, and couldn't hold back a few shudders. Ning Zheng looked at the goosebumps on her bare arms exposed under the wide down sleeves, and couldn't help rubbing her up and down.

But they were not afraid of any hardships, and they were quite involved in the game. Ning Zheng simply helped to hold the bottle, and patiently accompanied him.

Seeing that the group of children were having a good time, Feng Jiu went to look for Feng Ling who was walking back after handing over the bottle just now. She was leading seven or eight children to catch snails on the backyard wall, because of the secretion of mucus. Everywhere the snail crawls will leave a silvery white trace; Feng Ling pokes the snail's little heads one by one, and the little heads immediately retract into the shell, and a group of children happily start singing: "Buffalo, Buffalo, come out with horns first, then head out..."

Feng Jiu looked at everything in front of him, unconsciously showing a kind of pride on his face; Ning Zheng, who followed, looked at her who had specially changed into a plain concubine-colored bamboo cotton gown, looked at the orderly courtyard, Looking at the energetic, clean and tidy children, I just feel confused. Why can she be more lovable in my eyes?

Originally, he didn't know that his love for her could be deeper; he thought that when he married her, his love had reached its peak.

Early the next morning, Fengjiu was woken up by something hot and rolling all over her body. She felt very familiar with it, because as far as she could remember, on the morning of her birthday, she used to be her mother, and then it was her mother. Eldest sister, the last birthday before marriage is Fengling, and she will give herself luck with red eggs.

She rubbed her eyes, and saw that Ning Zheng was imitating her piously, and she was also muttering words, but it was "healthy, pure and clean, and beautiful like a flower", um, it was pleasing to the ear, and Feng Jiu was quite satisfied, and then heard "love Deep as the sea, love stronger than gold, married and obeyed husband, devoted to the end..."

This is all a mess, Feng Jiu was furious, "Is this prayer for my own good or yours?"

Ning Zheng, who was wearing the same style of white silk pajamas as her, said seriously, "Aren't they all the same? I'm good or you are good."

The egg rolled solemnly to her chest again. Ning Zheng turned his hand more softly, ambiguously turning it a few times, and said in a low voice, "I hope that from now on, it will be plump and round..."

Before Feng Jiu could react to the smell, he rolled down to his lower abdomen and rubbed it twice, "Holding you two for three years..."

Rolling to the back again, "It's quite warped...".

No, Fengjiu thinks that no matter how much she endures, she will become Maitreya Bodhisattva who "can tolerate things that are hard to tolerate in the world". Do you really think she has a good temper?
It's her birthday and she still doesn't forget to add trouble. When she just wanted to get up, she was pinned down by Ning Zheng, who had already seen the signs. He was close to her body, his face was against hers, and his lips were on his lips. When he whispered When speaking, Feng Jiu felt the slightest vibration from his lips, "Jiu'er, every year has today, every year has today, happy birthday..."

The two were tired for a long time, and finally got up. Feng Jiu looked at the sky outside the window, and it was raining again, and said to Ning Zheng helplessly, "It's weird. As far back as I can remember, it must rain every birthday."

Ning Zheng explained the details for her: "Water represents wealth, which means that you are destined to be rich and powerful."

Feng Jiu glanced at him suspiciously, and then said, "Maybe I am the reincarnation of the Dragon King of the East China Sea."

Ning Zheng: "...it should be the Bohai Sea, which is relatively close."

Feng Jiu: "..."

After a while, the rain stopped, and they still drove to Qipanshan Racecourse, but they were only the husband and wife, not even the guards.

This is where the Ning family used to raise military horses, but with the gradual mechanization of the army construction, the number of military horses has also been greatly reduced, leaving only a large military horse farm surrounded by green hills and green grass.

Most of the military horses on the Northeast Plain are Hailar Sanhe horses, which are one and a half meters from the shoulder to the ground. If counting from the head, some can be as high as two meters.

Ning Zheng was surprised to hear that Feng Jiu knew how to ride a horse—the school she attended was not an aristocratic missionary school like that of Beiping, Shanghai, and Nanjing, and there were no horse riding lessons; and in the Northeast, except for Manchu girls, few people specially learned how to ride a horse.

Feng Jiu told Ning Zheng that it was because his grandfather, the old man of the Tang family loved horses, and the Tang family had raised a horse farm; after his grandfather passed away, Tang Du neither liked nor understood horses, so he quickly changed hands of the horse farm up.

Feng Jiu also said that grandpa is very tall, a head taller than you, and other people have to tie up a bench to feed the horses, but he can reach it by stretching out his arms and hugging the horse's head.

According to the current measurement standard, Fengjiu's grandfather would be close to two meters tall, no matter what era he was in, his height was astonishing.

When Ning Zheng heard this, he felt that it was a pity that he had never met his old man. He likes horses, and he has a lot of horse scriptures to say, "Then my father can't do it. He used to have to make a high bench to step on to treat horses." The old man Shuai was a veterinarian before falling into the grass, especially good at treating horses.

It was only after I finished speaking that I remembered, did I mean to make fun of my father's short stature?Feng Jiu pretended not to understand -- but the old man was indeed too short.

The horse trainer next to him had come earlier, and Ning Zheng asked him to find Feng Jiu a small and docile bay mare. Feng Jiu thought that he hadn't ridden a horse for several years, so it was better to get used to it first. Without waiting for Ning Zheng's help, she got on the horse as soon as she turned over, ran a few laps at a slow pace, and then started to speed up, but unfortunately the little mare was too docile and couldn't run at all.

Ning Zheng felt relieved, and went to the stables to take care of his beloved horse.

After Fengjiu ran around the racecourse, he saw Ning Zheng riding a tall black horse. Sanhe horses are generally covered with bay and chestnut hair, and pure black like this is too rare.

Feng Jiu saw the horse passing by like a lightning bolt. It was smooth and smooth, and its developed and strong muscles seemed to flow under the black fur-covered horse hide. The long mane was flying in the air, shining in the sun. , Shen Jun is beautiful, can't help but envy, and immediately ran back to find the trainer, let him change the horse for a faster one.

The horse trainer didn't want to do it, but Feng Jiu assured him that he could ride without any problems. The horse trainer couldn't, so he had to change her for a tall chestnut stallion, but his temper was quite gentle. Happily got on the horse and galloped away.

This racecourse is really big. It is more than 100 meters wide and 100 meters long, and the surrounding wall is [-] meters high. In its heyday, thousands of high-quality military horses could be kept in captivity. Now there are more than [-] horses, but they have not yet been released. When I came out, I was in the stables.

Just before Fengjiu entered the racecourse, he saw that facing east is the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty. On it stands the Xiyingpan Beacon Tower built in the Ming Dynasty. Beacon towers can receive it, full of a strong sense of vicissitudes.

Ning Zheng looked at Feng Jiu from afar. She was wearing a loose white silk shirt, underneath were camel-colored breeches that were specially designed to be very fat on the thighs, and a Y-shaped suspender was clamped on the waist of the trousers, which stretched over the shoulders and divided into two to strangle the shirt. , becoming more and more shockingly slender; on his head was a light beige raffia hat with large brims and a loose centipede braid hanging from his back, with a black hair at the end of his hair. Satin bowknot; a caramel-colored square silk scarf is wrapped around her fair and slender neck, and a pair of long black cowhide oil-faced riding boots wrap her slender calves. The horse's leaps and undulates freely, and the playful braids also sway on the slender back. It is as enchanting as a gypsy girl, and it is so chic and reckless that it makes people heartbroken, and it makes people even more possessive.

Ning Zheng's throat tightened, and he rode to her side at high speed.

Feng Jiu smiled at him, and was about to move on, but when the two horses got sideways, he suddenly reached out and grabbed the suspenders and shirt and lifted him up. Immediately sat facing each other.

As soon as she understood, she immediately punched his hard chest a few times to vent her anger. Ning Zheng laughed, with the pride of a successful prank.This set of captive moves was done with ease, and Feng Jiu secretly cursed in his heart that it was indeed done by people with the blood of horse bandits.

Ning Zheng clamped the horse's belly with his legs, urged the horse to speed up, then hugged Feng Jiu tightly, lowered his head and kissed her lips heavily, Feng Jiu was kissed so that his body fell back, and his waist seemed to be bent out. Zhang's full bow was thrilling, and he didn't dare to move even on the horse, so he was forced to bear this menacing kiss.

After a while, Ning Zheng adjusted her on the horse again, letting her lean against his chest and nestle tightly in his arms. They rode the horse all the way up the mountain, and Feng Jiuzao had forgotten Ning Zheng's gangster behavior just now. , because the green mountains and forests in early summer are so beautiful, is it unwise to waste time getting angry with him?
On both sides of the mountain road, there are dense pear trees, peach trees, plum trees, apricot trees, and lichen trees, which are beginning to bear bright red and bright yellow fruits; Willfully swaying.

Between the heaven and the earth, it seemed that there were only the two of them. Ning Zheng hugged Feng Jiu tightly, clamped his legs, and the horse under his crotch immediately understood, and crossed the creek and mountain stream as fast as lightning. Taking off the hat on her head, she laughed loudly, her braids were loosened, and the valley was filled with her happy laughter.

After they went back, they found a small box on the coffee table in the living room. Mama Wu came over and said it was from the Tang Mansion as a birthday present.But a few days ago, grandma, father and stepmother, elder brother and sister-in-law, Feng Ling, and even little Buku have all sent birthday gifts over.

The birthday gift that is not bitter is a piece of calligraphy, which is said to be the best one picked out after writing it more than ten times: his regular script of Xiwen Zhengming has a bit of a look, and Fengjiu, the teacher who taught him personally, can't help feeling old I am very relieved.

Feng Jiu quickly opened the box and cried out with joy. This is a very Russian-style birch nesting doll.The painting on the largest matryoshka on the outermost side is not a traditional Russian girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, but a Chinese doll, wearing a mint green high-waisted evening dress, combing a big oily pine braid, black hair and red lips. Dotted with little white flowers, one looks at that appearance, it is exactly Feng Jiu from two years ago.

When Ning Zheng saw it, he was suffocated.

After carefully looking at the outermost big doll, Fengjiu's excited expression slowly calmed down. Thoughtful, he began to disassemble the doll step by step. After disassembling one, align the upper and lower parts to form a complete one, and put it in the On the tea table, I counted them at the end. From big to small, there were fifteen dolls neatly lined up. Each doll was painted with her of different age groups. The last one was a baby, and there were seven or eight dolls. Yue just learned to sit, with a bubble still spitting out of her mouth, Fengjiu smiled and suddenly felt a hand wiping her face, and then realized that she had burst into tears before she knew it .

Feng Jiu raised his head to look at Ning Zheng, whose expression was difficult to distinguish, and leaned into his arms for the first time. Ning Zheng rubbed her back with his hand silently, and Feng Jiu said softly, "It's my eldest sister. She is really in Russia. This is drawn by the eldest sister, she is good at painting; no, she is better than me in everything, and she is so considerate to me, just like my mother."

Feng Jiu felt Ning Zheng's hand stop slightly, and then hugged her even tighter, so tight that her breathing became difficult, as if feeling uneasy and missing at this moment, it was not himself who needed comfort, but him...

(End of this chapter)