Rice bug

Lin Dong went to the woodshed with the bowl, but he didn't go into the house, so he stood with the bowl at the small window blocked by the iron railing and looked inside.

Haotian was also eating, still steamed buns with porridge, served with a small dish of pickled cucumbers.

Sensing someone at the window, he raised his head with the bowl in his hand, but he didn't see him for a few days, the man seemed to have lost a lot of weight all of a sudden, his brows were full of melancholy.

Of course, Lin Dong himself was not much better. The two of them didn't have the slightest aura of hostility when they met, because neither of them was a winner, and they had no reason to tease each other.

Lin Dong picked up a rib and put it in his mouth, Haotian smiled wryly: "Mr. Xiao is here to greed me?"

"No." Lin Dong said honestly, "I just came to see you."

Haotian sat on the straw stalk and took a sip of porridge slowly, "What's so interesting about me?"

"I heard that you knew that the court's convoy was coming, but you were not happy."

"..." Haotian put down the bowl, picked up the steamed bun and slowly opened it, then took a few slices of pickled cucumber with chopsticks and stuffed it in, closed it, put it to his mouth and took a bite.

It seems that it is not steamed buns and cucumbers, but some rare delicacies in the world.

With his eyes closed, his cheeks moved slowly, making Lin Dong feel like exchanging with him.

The man moved his throat and swallowed what was in his mouth, and then said, "Do you know what is the best thing in this world?"

Lin Dong blinked, "The steamed bun in your hand?"

Haotian smiled and nodded, "A child can be taught. Yes, the best things in the world are those in other people's hands."

Lin Dong took a mouthful of rice and smacked his lips, "Then do you think this thing is good?"

"...whatever you get is not as good as others'." Haotian smiled self-deprecatingly, "Even if I am an extremely human minister now, I am still dissatisfied and dissatisfied. Because there are still people who are better than me."

"Such as Sansi?"

"The third division is the emperor's confidant, the pillar of the country, and the emperor's right-hand man." Haotian took a sip of porridge, "Naturally it is the best."

"Haven't you thought about becoming a general?" Lin Dong asked, "The mountains are high and the emperor is far away, so it's better not to care about them?"

"You have also seen what happened to General Zang." Haotian took a few mouthfuls of food, took out a good silk soft towel from his cuff, and wiped his mouth.

"What about you?" Lin Dong looked straight at Haotian, as if he had already guessed the deepest thoughts in the opponent's heart, and said unhurriedly: "What will happen to you?"

Haotian's hands paused, then he folded the soft towel as if nothing had happened, and put it back into his sleeve.

"Human, there is only one final outcome."

"But some people are ahead of schedule." Lin Dong took another bite of the rice, with rice grains on the corner of his mouth, hooked his little pink tongue out, and brought it back.

Haotian closed his eyes, shaking his body back and forth slightly, like an old man, "Since you already know, why bother to ask?"

"I want to know what you plan to do." Lin Dong said, "Wait to die?"

"Otherwise?" Haotian laughed at himself, "I know there may be such a day, when I set foot on this road, I will know it. But I also take it to chance, if I can please the emperor, I can express my heart, maybe I can get away with it."

"As an official, it is inevitable to accompany the king and the tiger. There are cliffs on the left and right in front of this road, and every step may be an abyss. All you can see is the land under your feet and the land you have already walked. For many years, all the decisions I make every day are based on guesswork." Haotian paused, opened his eyes, and emphasized a little, "Guess! Do you understand?"

After finishing speaking, he seemed tired again, and said softly, "Since I have chosen, I can only accept it."

Lin Dong asked: "If you didn't do it back then, other people would naturally do it. Have you ever thought about what would happen if you chose another path?"

Haotian smiled: "As a human being, never make assumptions for yourself. There are no ifs in this world, and those so-called ifs are not valid. My choice is for myself, for my family, prosperity, wealth, and supreme power. The fact is I have indeed obtained it. Now even if the emperor wants to abandon me, I can only admit it, and my family... They may not be able to live the life they are now, but a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. "

After Lin Dong finished shaving the rice from the bottom of the bowl, he tapped the bowl with his chopsticks, "Don't say it's so great, you're just for yourself."

Haotian shrugged, noncommittal.

Lin Dong turned and left, wiping his mouth casually with his sleeve.

As soon as he turned around the door of the woodshed, he saw a tall black shadow standing there.

The man was holding a bowl of soup in his hand, and he seemed to be looking for it.

Lin Dong's footsteps stopped, and he stood where he was, not knowing what to say.

"..." After Zang Feilong was silent for a while, he walked over slowly and handed over the soup bowl in his hand.

Lin Dong raised his hand to pick it up, but found that he was still holding chopsticks and an empty bowl in his hand.

Zang Feilong took his empty bowl and chopsticks with his other hand, and stuffed the soup bowl into his hand.

The soup is warm, and it is very comfortable to hold in the palm of your hand.

"What can I talk to him about?" Zang Feilong said lightly, "Are you discussing something in private that I can't let me know?"

"No." Lin Dong shook his head, "I...I think I know what the court's convoy is here for, and I just want to confirm with him."

"Shouldn't you confirm this with me first?" Zang Feilong said coldly.

"I'm afraid he will have some tricks... Besides, you don't want to see me."

Zang Feilong twitched the corners of his mouth, his face was a little stiff, "What are those convoys here for?"

"It should be to arrest Haotian." Lin Dong said: "The emperor may want to vindicate the Zang family."

"What do you mean?" Zang Feilong frowned fiercely, "He was the one who said the traitor, and the one who rehabilitated him? Is it fun for him to sing?"

Lin Dong hurriedly said, "Don't say it so loudly, it's disrespectful..."

When he said this, he realized that he had subconsciously approached Zang Feilong, and the two of them were almost touching each other.

Zang Feilong hung his hands by his sides. Seeing Lin Dong backed away again, he wanted to hold him, but he didn't move.

Lin Dongdao: "The emperor hasn't gone to court these days. The struggle between Haotian and Li Sheng has been pushed to the extreme. Li Sheng and Li Mu have joined hands, with the support of the noble concubine and the queen mother. The emperor probably wants to kill a monkey..."

"Then he should kill the monkey on Li Sheng's side."

"No." Lin Dong shook his head, "After all, they are members of the Li family. If he touches the Li family, it means he can't get along with his own people, but if he touches Haotian, he will be angry with the common people, and second, he will be able to use the Zang family's army to win over veterans. Now is the time for the noble concubine faction to promote newcomers, including Li Mu's succession as the general, if the newcomers are high-profile, the veterans will not be convinced, and the emperor will naturally win over the veterans to suppress him."

Zang Feilong was too lazy to listen to these reasons. In his opinion, these things had nothing to do with himself or ordinary people.

"So Haotian will be arrested."

"Ah."

"The Zang family will avenge their shame."

"Ah."

"Oh." Zang Feilong laughed violently.

Lin Dong was afraid that the soup in his hand would be cold, so he raised his head and gulped it down before saying, "Don't think too much about it."

"Don't think too much?" Zang Feilong looked at him inscrutablely, "Do you know what I'm thinking?"

"...Since everything has been arranged, you have been dormant for so many years, and I have been looking for evidence everywhere, wouldn't it become a big joke."

Zang Feilong's eyes were complicated, "Lin Dong, if you don't become an official, maybe you will really be buried. Maybe the people really lack a good official."

Lin Dong shook his head, "I just want to live an ordinary life. If possible, I hope to be with..." The young man's voice cut off here, and then continued: "It's good that I can only focus on eating for the rest of my life."

Zang Feilong stretched out his hand and took the empty bowl in his hand, "I promised you the magic cookbook, but I haven't found it yet."

Lin Dong's eyes lit up, and he looked up at him expectantly.

But Zang Feilong didn't look at him, and said indifferently: "When this matter is over, I will ask my brothers to look for you everywhere."

"What I promise, I will do."

The light in Lin Dong's eyes seemed to be extinguished abruptly.

"What you promised..." He paused, and said, "You said that there is only one position for Mrs. Wang."

Zang Feilong's forehead tensed, and he said after a while: "So this position will always be vacant."

The emotions Lin Dong had endured for so many days suddenly exploded. He raised his head suddenly, his eyes turned red, and his increasingly thin face was full of incomprehensible anger, grievance and disappointment.

"You would rather this position be empty! Wouldn't you like to take a step back!"

Zang Feilong stared at him, pursed his lips and said nothing.

"I've apologized! If you don't like it, you don't like it honestly. If you're bored, you can honestly say you're bored and tired. I'll go, I'll leave, and I won't bother you! But What do you mean? What do you mean?!"

As soon as Lin Dong's voice roared, Qiu Beishan and the others rushed over. Chen Nanhai wanted to go up to persuade him, but Shi Chengjie stopped him.

Zang Feilong held the bowl and didn't speak, it seemed that the top of his head was covered with dark clouds, and hailstones were almost falling.

He has known Lin Dong for so long, and he has never seen him lose his temper like this, let alone yell at anyone.

The young man is like a lion cub with its claws and claws, its claws are not sharp, its teeth are not sharp, it shouldn't be painful to bite, but Zang Feilong's heart is constricted, so tight that he can't breathe.

After Lin Dong finished yelling, he didn't know what to say. He opened his mouth for a long time, but couldn't find a word. Finally, he couldn't hold back anymore. He stretched out his hand and punched Zang Feilong hard in the face.

Zang Feilong was beaten so far away from his face that he even took several steps back.

Chen Nanhai couldn't bear to watch, "Fly..."

Shi Chengjie firmly blocked him, "Their affairs should be resolved by themselves."

"You fart!" Chen Nanhai said angrily, "They will only make things worse."

Shi Chengjie shook his head, "I think this is going in a good direction."

Chen Nanhai was taken aback, and Shi Chengjie said: "Lin Dong endures, Zang Feilong will only deal with it coldly, and the two of them will not go any further. Only when Lin Dong takes this step can Zang Feilong be forced to take the next step."

Instead of the two of them slowly wearing away their feelings for each other from the cold treatment, it's better to intensify it once and revitalize the time that has been frozen.

Zang Feilong's bones were very hard, and Lin Dong's knuckles turned slightly red.

He withdrew his hand and stared blankly at Zang Feilong for a long time, suddenly feeling extremely tired.

"If you have been hurt, I'm sorry. It's my fault that I failed to discuss with you properly and trust you. It's my fault to make decisions without authorization. I won't need me in this matter in the future, and I don't want it either. gone."

Zang Feilong was shocked, and suddenly looked up at him.

Lin Dong lowered his head and let out a long sigh. In that sigh, there was still a little choking.

"I'm leaving." He lowered his head and walked past Zang Feilong, "Your position, whoever loves you, and whoever loves you can show you. From now on, we have nothing to do with each other."

He paused, then smiled wryly, "Zang Feilong, I, Lin Dong, never owe you anything."

pat-

The bowl in Zang Feilong's hand suddenly fell into the ground, and the porcelain fragments shattered all over the ground.

Before Lin Dong could shed tears, he was suddenly grabbed by the wrist by the man behind him.

"I'm not allowed!"

The man growled in panic.