Xiao Qinghuan

A low-key four-wheeled carriage drove out from the west gate of Pingjiang City. There was a simple copper stove hanging on the corner of the carriage, which looked no different from ordinary merchant carriages.With a big bamboo hat, Jiang Ying took the post from the city gate guard and put it in her arms.

It was not until more than two miles away from the city gate that there was a rustling sound from inside the carriage.

"Master, it's fine if I don't drink wine and enjoy the rain on the painting boat in Jinling. At the very least, I should rest comfortably at home in this terrible weather. I haven't caught anything now, and I have to watch some plague for your son. .”

Zhuang Yi half leaned on the cushion in the carriage, and stepped on the pedal with his feet a little irritably: "What is Jiang Xiaohan's salary used for, this kind of carriage can also sit in it."

In fact, I don't blame him for making trouble, the young master Zhuang Yizhuang was born very noble, and it is not an exaggeration to say that he has had a golden spoon in his mouth since he was born.His father, Zhuang Yixian, was a well-known imperial merchant in Dachu. He held three waterways in his hands and handled tens of thousands of businesses.Pawnshops, inns, wineries, and more than half of the bank accounts in the entire Great Chu Dynasty are in the hands of Zhuang Yixian, and plaques with the three surnames of Zhuang can be dropped by stomping casually on the street.

It stands to reason that Zhuang Yixian's family has a big business, and there should be many wives and concubines in the family. However, this incomparably wealthy businessman is still an infatuated seed, and he only married his first wife in his life.Even if this first wife has not given birth for many years, she will not take another concubine.

But maybe Zhuang Yixian's deep love has completely moved the heavens, and it really made him have a son in his middle age, which is Zhuang Yi.

Zhuang Yi has never experienced any nasty incidents of squabbling in the backyard since he was a child. He was spoiled like a baby by his parents, and he naturally developed a proud young master's temperament.

Fortunately, this young master was not blinded by gold. Although his temper was a little bit bad, his heart was still good.When Jiang Xiaohan was five years old, Zhuang Yi followed Zhuang Yixian to Beijing to face the Holy Spirit. Somehow, he caught sight of Jiang Xiaohan for the first time among a group of young masters. From then on, he was considered to be on this thief boat surnamed Jiang, and ended up staying there for 20 years. .

"It's not like I said, Jiang Xiaohan didn't wait for the capital city, why did he come to Jianghuai to relieve disasters?" Zhuang Yi was lying on the couch with his outer robe folded, his left foot dangling in mid-air, woven flowers every inch and every gold Jin was unceremoniously made into a shoe upper by him, reflecting a beautiful streamer with his movements.

"I've heard that there are monsters and goblins in Jingli now. When he comes out of this stall, isn't he afraid that there will be no bones left after being chewed by others?"

Zhuang Yi didn't care whether Jiang Ying heard or not, and sighed in the carriage, as if he was really worried for Jiang Xiaohan: "You say he wants money or no money, soldiers or soldiers, find a backer as soon as possible Forget it. Last month my father sent thousand-year-old ginseng to the palace, but I reckon His Majesty will be suspended for two years."

"cough……"

Jiang Ying heard him talking more and more outrageous, so he could only interrupt him with a pretentious cough.

"What's the matter, did I say something wrong?" Zhuang Yi rolled his eyes in the car, feeling unhappy: "Although I'm not in the court, I also know that the two walkers in the capital are about to turn the sky upside down. Which one is not His Majesty's own son, and who is not with it. Choose a path now, and you will be a dragon in the future."

"Mr. Zhuang...Be careful with your words," Jiang Ying said in a low voice.

"Tch." Zhuang Yi snorted disdainfully: "I'm just a businessman. If I want martial arts but I don't have martial arts, I've learned some half-baked Qihuang skills, so it won't bother anyone. I'm worried for your young master."

"My lord, he has his own sense of propriety." Jiang Ying paused, and then said, "He knows what's in his mind."

"I still know what I know." Zhuang Yi took out a small plate of preserved fruit from the fruit plate in the car, stuffed a piece into his mouth, and said vaguely: "Anyway, if he really can't get along in the future, remember to come to Jiangnan to find him. Me, I'll leave him a vacancy for Mr. Accountant."

Jiang Ying stopped outside the carriage and didn't pick up the trouble again.He has been dealing with Zhuang Yi for more than ten years, and he has already figured out the temper of this young master. Although his words are a bit harsh, if Jiang Xiaohan really wants to hire someone, this young master will run faster than anyone else.

Zhuang Yi didn't seem to be able to take time off, just after he was quiet and didn't have time for a cup of tea, he sighed faintly in the carriage again.

"Master, I really worry about the young master's body." Zhuang Yi raised his hand and knocked on the wooden board on the wall of the car: "Jiang Xiaohan threw us both outside, what did he do? I heard that he has been in the past two days Knowing a beautiful woman, you must be too happy to leave, right?"

"Young Master is in the city with Young Master Yan."

Although Zhuang Yi and Jiang Xiaohan had a great friendship, Jiang Ying was really not sure about Jiang Xiaohan's way in the past few days. Yan Qing's identity was too conspicuous, so he could only vaguely refer to him as son.

"It seems to be some side arrangement." Jiang Ying said: "Maybe it has something to do with Wen Zui."

"Nonsense, where is Baobuqi fooling around?" Zhuang Yi snorted, slumped back on the soft pillow angrily, and stretched out his voice with three sighs: "Master, my life is hard, without that beauty by my side Good luck."

According to legend, Jiang Xiaohan, who was fooling around with a beauty at the side, sneezed in Pingjiang City.

Yan Qing raised his head from the work in his hand: "Caught a cold?"

Jiang Xiaohan waved his hands indiscriminately, pinched the bridge of his nose and said in a muffled voice, "Maybe the sawdust was blown up."

The old woman who was gathering the silk thread smiled slightly, and said softly in a gentle tone: "Be careful with sawdust, or you will easily squint your eyes."

Wen Zui's nanny is a native of Jiangnan, and she speaks Wu Nong's soft language. Even though she is very old, she still has the softness of a Jiangnan girl.She had been working in Wen's house all her life, and she even forgot her surname, so she was only called Granny Wen.She single-handedly raised the two children who grew up to be better than the other. She thought that after working hard for most of her life, she would finally be able to enjoy happiness, but she didn't expect to end up raising a white-eyed wolf.

After the death of Granny Wen's son, she cried day and night, her eyesight was not good enough, she couldn't even see clearly, so she could only fumble to make some small gadgets to make ends meet.

But even so, the old man's heart is still soft.Jiang Xiaohan said that he came here to look for someone, but he couldn't find the person he should be looking for, and it was rainy and stormy, so he just wanted to use a place to hide from the rain.It stands to reason that this excuse full of mistakes is simply a self-inflicted malice, but I didn't expect that Granny Wen would actually let the two of them in.

The gate of this old house looks older than Jiang Xiaohan and Yan Qing combined, but the inside of the house is very clean.

At the entrance of the house, a row of corridors often seen in Jiangnan buildings was built. A basket of wooden blocks was scattered beside the small wooden chair, and the half-carved little rabbit was hung down by the wind, and fell pitifully on the steps.

Jiang Xiaohan is a self-acquaintance, and he made Granny Wen amused with a few words of intimacy.So he moved a wooden bench and sat on the porch, saying that he couldn't borrow someone's eaves to shelter from the rain in vain, and he wanted to do something for Granny Wen.

"Oh, I see."

Jiang Xiaohan calmed down the uncomfortable feeling of wanting to sneeze, and then he responded crisply, and then lowered his head to polish the wooden block in his hand.

He put the polished tiger cub on the shelf next to him, and took out a wooden block from the wooden basket.The injury on his right shoulder hadn't healed yet, and he couldn't use much strength when cutting wood, so he could only use the thumb of his left hand to press the back of the knife for strength.

Yan Qing sat across from him, holding an old brush to brush tung oil on the carved small objects.

The two of them are not restless brats, they sat on the porch for two hours, and they actually developed some charming feelings of the quiet years.

Granny Wen sat on the inner threshold, with a bamboo basket on her knees filled with colorful threads.She bent her body, squinted her eyes with some difficulty, and tried her best to separate the silk threads of the same color.

"These days, there aren't many well-behaved children like you." Granny Wen sighed while twisting the ball of thread: "Since my son was gone, no one has been with me for a long time. It's hard for you not to find this place boring."

Yan Qing raised his head when he heard the words. He was not in the mood to comfort others, so he pursed his lips and said only one sentence: "It's not boring. It's very quiet here, and it's also very good."

Jiang Xiaohan burst out laughing, put down the carving knife in his hand as if he could not count on him, and waved his hand: "How could it be, if my mother-in-law hadn't taken me in today, and the wind and rain outside, I'm afraid I'd be drowned . Make some gadgets for the mother-in-law, it’s time to pay the rent.”

His hands are dexterous and strong, and the wooden dolls he polished are much more delicate than those carved by Granny Wen. They are placed in a row on the wooden frame, and each of them is cute and vivid.

Yan Qing finished brushing the last tiger doll, and then put down the pen.There was some tung oil on the outside of the little finger of his right hand, which was half dry.Seeing this, Jiang Xiaohan picked up a cloth towel from the side, leaned out of the corridor and wet it with rainwater, and then reached out to wipe his fingers.

Yan Qing was taken aback, Jiang Xiaohan's movements were so natural that he didn't know what to do for a moment.

It is difficult to remove the tung oil after it dries up, so Jiang Xiaohan held Yan Qing's wrist and rubbed it very carefully.The hand he was holding was slender and powerful, with well-defined muscles and bones, like a work of art polished from a piece of cold jade, as if it was born to hold a sword.However, such a hand is holding an old writing brush with peeling paint, doing the most ordinary handicraft work.

For some reason, the thought of Jiang Xiaohan made her heart soften.

Jiang Xiaohan carefully wiped off the tung oil on his hands. I don't know if it's because of martial arts practice, Yan Qing's body temperature is lower than ordinary people, and the small piece of skin on Jiang Xiaohan's left hand continuously transmits another person's temperature. Yan Qing turned his head a little uncomfortably, but didn't pull back his hand.

"Okay." Jiang Xiaohan let go of his hand.

Yan Qing twisted his wrist lightly, the cool wind brushed over the back of his hand, smoothing the warm touch again, Yan Qing pursed his lips, feeling a sense of regret for no reason.

"Thank you."

"Children, the relationship is really good." Granny Wen said with a smile.

She stood up tremblingly, picked out two red silk threads from the bamboo basket, and hunched over to the two of them.

"Today, you are willing to stay here with me, an old woman. I am very happy."

Granny Wen said, wrapping the silk thread in her hand around Jiang Xiaohan's wrist. Her hands trembled a little, and she couldn't fit the buttonhole after several times of knotting.Jiang Xiaohan wasn't too bothered, he patiently waited for the old man to move, and even reached out to catch a handful of the red rope that almost slipped.

The red silk thread was wrapped around his wrist twice, which was indescribably beautiful.Granny Wen looked around with a smile, then turned her head and tied one for Yan Qing.

"They are all good boys. The rainy season is here, and the red stripes suppress evil spirits."

Yan Qing obviously had never experienced this kind of battle of being cared for by the elders, so he glanced at Jiang Xiaohan somewhat at a loss.Mr. Jiang, who watched the excitement and was not afraid of big things, smiled and leaned on the pillar with his arms folded. Seeing him looking over, he raised his wrist tied with a red rope.

"My mother-in-law said, suppress evil spirits."

Yan Qing really had nothing to do with him, she could only sigh helplessly.

Granny Wen was very happy, and while tying the knot, she muttered: "The sun, the moon, and the moon face each other, and everyone is happy every year."

Granny Jiangnan's accent was soft, and she sighed three times when she spoke of blessings. Even though Yan Qing, as a descendant of Kunlun, actually didn't need any ridiculous "suppression of evil spirits", she was not willing to refute the old man's good intentions.

Jiang Xiaohan watched with a smile on Yan Qing's defeat in the end, and felt that there was finally a little bit of smoke and fire on the other party, like the rain from the south of the Yangtze River finally fell on him, with a pair of warm and delicate eyebrows and eyes .