There are flowers and wine, hoeing and farming

Chapter 56

The two of them only lit an oil lamp in the room, the black shadow was not very clear, but the voice was too familiar, Qiaoqiao sighed and stood up: "Cousin, why are you here?"

"If I don't come one day, I won't be relieved, I won't be able to sleep, besides, you are my responsibility, if I let you here alone, if some bad person hurts you, wouldn't I regret it for the rest of my life?" Qu Zhiwen heard Qiao Qiao's questioning made him angry, and he glanced at Zheng Cang intentionally or unintentionally while speaking, the sarcasm in his tone was very clear.

"Qu Zhiwen!" Qiaoqiao shouted.

"Hey, isn't this Lieutenant Zheng? What a coincidence! I thought it was some kind of apprentice just now? In the middle of the night, there was only an oil lamp lit and someone specially turned on a small stove for him." Under the dim light, he shouted in feigned surprise.

Zheng Cang frowned, he stood up and nodded to say hello: "Captain Qu."

"Come on, sit down, you're welcome." Qu Zhiwen pulled a chair from the side and sat down directly, as if he was the master here, beckoning them to sit down.

Qiaoqiao looked at Zheng Cang apologetically, and seeing him give him a comforting look, she had no choice but to sit down too.

"Come on, let's eat something first, I know you're hungry, haven't you eaten tonight?" Qu Zhiwen naturally saw the eye contact between the two, he picked up a spoon and filled a bowl of soup for Qiaoqiao and put it on her In front of him: "Come on, drink some soup first." He tasted it with the small spoon: "Well, it's not too hot, it's just right if you drink it slowly."

He did these intimate actions very naturally, as if he had done it thousands of times, and then he raised the small bowl to Zheng Cang: "Captain Zheng, I won't serve it for you, you can do whatever you want."

"kindness."

"Lieutenant Zheng, the restaurant is closed at this time, why are you still here? Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to drive you away, I just don't quite understand, it looks like you know my family Qiaoqiao, right?"

"cousin……"

"Yes, we know each other!" Zheng Cang interrupted Qiaoqiao as soon as she said a word.

Qiaoqiao had no choice but to sit there and simply picked up chopsticks to eat, she was really hungry.

"How did we know each other? Why haven't I heard Qiaoqiao mention you? You don't seem too familiar!" Qu Zhiwen sat next to Qiaoqiao, picked up a few chopsticks and put them on her.

"Oh, really? Actually, I just haven't heard the little girl mention you." Zheng Cang replied coldly.

Qiaoqiao's eyes lit up, she swallowed a mouthful of food, and grinned.

Qu Zhiwen squinted at Zheng Cang, and Zheng Cang also looked at him, and both of them saw unfriendliness in each other's eyes.

"Eat first." Zheng Cang said.

"Well, eat, Qiaoqiao, eat more, look at how skinny you are." Qu Zhiwen followed suit.

"I'll do it myself, Brother Zheng Cang, you haven't eaten dinner yet, so eat more."

"Okay." Zheng Cang softened his expression.

"I didn't eat either." Qu Zhiwen said angrily.

"Cousin, you should eat more."

None of the three spoke. For a moment, there was only the sound of the collision of bowls and chopsticks. Qiaoqiao lowered her head and only focused on eating. She needed to fill her stomach first before she could say anything else.

"Qiaoqiao, did you do it yourself?"

"Well, yes."

"It has the taste of my hometown, delicious, and very skillful, just like my aunt."

"No, Heniang is worse, not as delicious as her cooking."

Zheng Cang ate his meal in silence. He didn't know much about Qiaoqiao's current situation. He heard her talk just now, and it seemed that he only heard her mention the second uncle. Suddenly, such a cousin appeared again. The two of them In the same camp.Moreover, this cousin's words don't seem to be as simple as relatives, his every move seems to be more like treating Qiaoqiao as his own.Thinking of this, Zheng Cang felt uncomfortable for a while, and his brows frowned even tighter. Looking at this Captain Qu who is good at riding and shooting, he became more and more displeased.

"Lieutenant Qu. It's getting late, let's go together." Zheng Cang offered to see Qiaoqiao with a bitter smile, as if he was in a difficult situation.

"you go first!"

"Let's go together! It's getting late. Let the little girl rest a little longer. She's been busy all day and is tired."

Zheng Cang, who was full of caring words, couldn't say anything. Qu Zhiwen couldn't say anything. He thought for a while, and seeing Qiaoqiao's face under the oil lamp was really not good. Moreover, from the first time he saw her, he found that she was very beautiful. She's too thin, she's fourteen or fifteen years old, and she's still so dry, she needs to be taken care of in the future.

While thinking about how to make up for her, he looked at her chest. Zheng Cang, who was paying attention to him, naturally noticed his gaze, and looked over. After a while, he realized what he was staring at. place, his face turned red. Fortunately, he couldn't see clearly under the oil lamp, but just as he looked away, he couldn't help looking back.

"What's wrong?" Qiaoqiao asked blankly after drinking the last sip of soup, looking up to see both of them staring at her.

"fine!"

"fine!"

This time the two spoke in unison, Qiaoqiao put away the bowls and chopsticks in doubt, and said to them: "Let's go, cousin, brother Zheng Cang, if you want to eat the food I cook, you can come anytime, but don't be too late , and, cousin, you can’t come into my little room at will.”

"kindness."

Qu Zhiwen and Zheng Cang were two, one helped her carry the dishes, and the other pulled the chair and table back to their original places.

"Okay, you all go back." Qiaoqiao wiped the table with a wet rag, and patted herself on the arm after tidying up everything.

"Go back and apply some oil." Qu Zhiwen looked at Qiaoqiao's hands and asked softly.

"I know, you all go back. Cousin, brother Zheng Cang saved me when I was young. If it wasn't for him, I would have almost died. Brother Zheng Cang, cousin is the son of my only aunt, and he loved me very much when I was young. "Walking into the backyard, under the light of the moonlight, Qiaoqiao said to the two with a slight smile, she had been busy for a long time, the bun on her head was a little loose, but there was a sense of naturalness and casualness, She smiled and whispered, her face, which had not yet opened, was transparent under the moonlight, as smooth and delicate as jade.

She knows that Zheng Cang loves her like a younger sister. Although this cousin is sometimes a little too much, he is also a very caring person who loves her very much. She can't say anything else but tell them that both of them treat her well. I hope they can get along well with each other.

"Brother Zheng Cang? Cousin?" The two stared at her without speaking, Qiaoqiao was a little anxious: "What I said is true."

"Okay." Zheng Cang was the first to look away, looking at a jujube tree in the yard.

"No problem. I'll listen to what Qiaoqiao said. Besides, even if Captain Zheng hadn't rescued Qiaoqiao, he and I have known each other since the beginning, so we will naturally get along well." Qu Zhiwen also quickly agreed.

Sending away the two people who didn't know why they were wrong, Qiaoqiao breathed a sigh of relief, took out the big wooden basin, went to the kitchen and poured in the hot water that was warmed up just now until the basin was full.

She inserted the door latch, pushed it a few times, and moved a stool to the side of the tub with confidence.

She took off her clothes one by one and put them on the wooden tub. She took off her last underwear. Qiaoqiao stepped into the big wooden tub and sat in it with her knees bent. The water just reached her chest. She sighed comfortably and shook her head. Leaning against the edge of the wooden basin, he rubbed the water with his hands and began to scrub.

After soaking for a while, she took the loofah with some soap on it, and rubbed it from the neck down. When she rubbed her chest, Qiaoqiao couldn't help gasping. The breasts that had developed and were still developing It hurts even to the touch, and, the worst thing is, Qiaoqiao found out that in the past few months, she was wearing this waiter's clothes a little loose, and she couldn't see anything at all, but these days, he just I found that her chest is more protruding than before, and if someone pays a little attention, she can see the difference there.

Qiaoqiao really doesn't want to tie it up with cloth strips, that way too hinders her development and her health. She didn't commit a heinous crime or a bloody feud, and she needs to hide her tracks. She just needs to temporarily hide her daughter's presence in this place. Surviving in a place full of men does not need to be so exaggerated.

After soaking until the hot water had gradually cooled down, Qiaoqiao came out of it. The skin all over her body was already soaked red and limp. She wrapped a towel and walked to the bed with her cloth shoes.Quickly wiped off the water stains on her body. It was already cold at this time. After she came out for a while, the chicken skin all over her body was frozen. She hurriedly got into the bed, put on a coat, and carefully wiped her own skin. long hair.

Qiaoqiao rubbed her hair and began to feel emotional, her hair is not as black and flexible as her mother Ning's, her hair is still the same as when she was a child, very thin and soft, gently and softly, in the hand, as long as gently With a slight tilt, it slid down. Although Qiaoqiao was very proud of this, she always felt that she didn't have that kind of toughness and was not very satisfied with her hair that was too soft.

After wiping for a while, her hair was half dry. She picked up her own embroidery, embroidered with the light, and waited until her hair was completely dry before going to sleep.

I haven't embroidered for a few months. The first few stitches were not smooth, but it got better later on.The embroidery thread is not very bright and not very strong. A few times, a little force will break it, but seeing a few water plants in the corner of the pattern have fully appeared, it is still very fulfilling.

Her eyes were sore and tired, Qiaoqiao put her palms on her eyelids and rubbed them lightly for a while, and her hair was almost dry when she touched it, she jumped under the bed, turned off the oil lamp, and lay down on the bed to dream about Duke Zhou.

After taking a bath, she slept soundly and soundly all night. After she got up, she poured out the bath water that she was too lazy to pour out last night, brushed her teeth and washed her face, and then directly started looking at the few seeds she had planted.

More than one has germinated. Currently, five seeds have germinated, and each variety is different. Qiaoqiao only recognizes one of them. The rest are too small to be seen. Originally, [-] seeds were planted. One seed, she thought that one or two would germinate, but she was overjoyed that there were so many.

"Xiaoqiao, come here."

After Boss Hu got up, he stretched himself in the yard and greeted Qiaoqiao.

"what's up?"

"Last night, are you okay?"

"Oh, it's okay, thank you Boss Hu for your concern."

"En. It's fine, just tell me if you have something to do, those brats don't dare to be presumptuous here." Boss Hu stroked his beard, stood in the yard, took a deep breath, and began to punch a set of slow punches.

The air in the morning is very fresh, no wind, no sand and dust, and it is rare today that there is a layer of mist in the air, covering everything, and there is a refreshing feeling of coolness. After watching the flowers for a while, Qiaoqiao also followed Fighting behind Boss Hu, in the past, when she was at home, she would be busy cooking, taking care of the flowers, looking after her two devil-like little nephews, doing laundry, embroidering, and making clothes. It occupies her whole life, but it's different here, she doesn't have to do many things, and when she has free time and interest, she will do other things that she has never done before.

After punching for a while, Boss Hu continued, so Qiaoqiao went to the restaurant ahead and started making breakfast for the two of them.

"Hey, Xiaoqiao, come here, take a look, are those dates red?" Liu Jiang just came to the restaurant, and came to the backyard bored, followed Qiaoqiao for a few laps, and saw the only one in the yard A jujube tree had a few red ones on it, and he shouted excitedly.

"Where is it, where is it?" Qiaoqiao also jumped up from the ground, and walked over.The jujube tree in the yard is not too old, and the jujubes don't grow too many, just a few sparse clusters, and each one looks very small.

"Over there, behind that leaf, see? Stand here and look!" Liu Jian hastily pulled her shoulder and pointed upwards along her line of sight.

"Hey, I see, it's really red, but it seems that only the tail is red, will it be sour?" Qiaoqiao asked uncertainly.

"It's fine if it's red, look at me, just wait for me to go up." Liu Jian rolled up his sleeves, pretended to do a horse stance, and then hugged the tree and began to climb up.

Boss Hu and Master Lu were both in the restaurant, so Liu Jian was not afraid of being caught and scolded by them, so he climbed up to the top happily and threw down the few red dates.

"Is it delicious?" Liu Jian observed on the top for a while, and found that there were no other ripe dates, so he had to climb down again.

After wiping the date, Qiaoqiao took a small bite, her eyes flashed, then she opened her mouth wide and shouted happily: "It's so sweet." Then she threw the rest into her mouth.

Liu Jian laughed straight away. In fact, the ones sold outside are also very cheap, but many people are like this. It seems that what you work for yourself is much better than what you bought. He hurriedly picked up one, rubbed it on the cuff, Straight into the mouth.

bah bah~~
"Hahaha..." Qiaoqiao had long ago spit out the jujubes in her mouth behind his back, laughing forward and backward.

After Liu Jian spit it out, he stretched out his tongue and licked his lips again: "It's really unpalatable, sour and astringent. What kind of jujube tree is this? Why are the fruits so unpalatable?"

"Stinky boy, still laughing, that's fine, I don't settle accounts with you." Liu Jian muttered, looking at Qiaoqiao's appearance, for some reason, he felt that if it was other brats, he would have punched him long ago. He went down, but facing Xiaoqiao, he felt that his fist could not go down. "It's all because this kid looks too much like a girl."

"You two, come here and wash the vegetables." Boss Hu shouted, and the two quickly grabbed the few dates that were thrown on the ground and ran to the restaurant.

After washing the dishes, before it was time to eat, several people sat in the hall, waiting for the guests to come when the meal time came.

While chatting, Qiaoqiao, who was facing the door, saw a woman carrying a basket, looked up at their signboard, and then took a deep breath and walked in.

"Excuse me……"

All four of them looked at her. This woman didn't panic, she didn't look like that kind of little girl at all. Although she was wearing coarse clothes and didn't apply makeup, she had a calm attitude. She bent over and opened herself. basket and took some vegetables out of it.

After she took it out, she put them all on the ground, and everything was very clear. She saw that Boss Hu was the person in charge, and blessed her again: "Boss, these are all vegetables grown at home. Knowing that the boss's business is booming here, it must be necessary, why not try my home?"

Qiaoqiao looked down and found that these dishes included the most basic dishes like potatoes, sweet potatoes, and radishes, as well as some unique local seasonal dishes, each of which was very long and plump, and should come from a well-growing field.

"We don't want it." Liu Jianxian answered aloud. Although these dishes look good, if you go to someone's farm to look for them, you can always find some such good ones.

"These are not the best in my house. There are many better than this, and they taste much better. The most important thing is that they can be cheaper, and the boss can save more money." The woman continued to comfort, Qiaoqiao could see her A little anxious, but she didn't panic.

"No more." Boss Hu, with a wispy beard, waved his hand to let her go.

The woman's eyes were darkened, and she wanted to say something, but she only moved her mouth, without being entangled, she simply packed up her things, turned around and walked away.

"This woman also looks pitiful. If she is not forced to a certain extent, how can a woman come out to do such a thing, and she is such a good-looking woman. Hey, I hope nothing bad happens." Boss Hu also said It's not that he doesn't want to help her, but the dishes in the restaurant have always been ordered from a few families in the east of the city. Those families belong to the families whose men died in the war. He can't help other than this.

"I recognize this girl." Master Lu suddenly said with a smile.

"who is she?"

"She wasn't from here before, but somehow she was seriously injured and was rescued by Old Li Tou, and then she was a good girl who somehow became the wife of Old Li Tou's stupid son. That old Li Tou's son is so stupid , can’t say anything, just drool all day long, and fell after walking three steps at most. A few days ago, I heard that Old Li might be dying soon. This girl is also desperate.”

The few people were chatting, but Qiaoqiao remembered that woman's trembling hands and pale face before she was about to enter the restaurant just now. You can tell that she must be very nervous and panicked.

Looking at her, I thought of myself who just came here, trembling hands and feet nervously when serving dishes, and couldn't speak coherently. It wasn't until later that under the care of these people that I gradually got better.

Walking to the door, Qiaoqiao watched the woman walking forward blankly with a basket on her shoulders. She couldn't help her, she could only pray that she could get through the difficulty.

"What are you looking at? Pretty little brother?"

Someone slapped her on the shoulder from behind, Qiaoqiao jumped in surprise, turned around, General Li smiled and looked at her with a friendly face.

"It's nothing!!!" Qiaoqiao didn't like the feeling that he was always calculating others, as if he was the prey he played with in his hands, and his tone was not very good.

General Li smiled even wider: "Second Brother, serve me a jug of wine."

(End of this chapter)