Tofu Dongshi

Song Zhi came to the bedside, stretched out his hand to touch Dou Jiafu's forehead very naturally, and immediately said with a smile: "It's time to wake up, the fever has almost subsided."

Dou Jiafu tilted his head to avoid his hand a little uncomfortably, and then asked, "Brother Song, do I have a fever? Where is this?"

Song Zhi didn't care about his formality and unfamiliarity, and replied: "The western suburbs of Ningcheng, my home. Little Doufu, do you remember that I met you on the road the day before yesterday, and you passed out before I could say a few words. , Brother Song was taken aback, and then he hurriedly took you home. Then you had a high fever for two days and two nights, and kept talking nonsense."

At this time, Dou's family had already remembered the situation when he met Song Zhi on the road before he passed out, and wanted to thank him for his help, but he couldn't help becoming nervous when he heard the last sentence, "I, what nonsense did I say?"

Song Zhi raised his eyebrows, "What do you think? You can't hear clearly."

In fact, the little thing called only one person's name repeatedly when he had a high fever, but he didn't need to tell him.

Dou Jiafu blushed a little, but felt relieved, touched his head and said, "I don't remember...uh..."

When he touched the lump on the back of his head, he couldn't help but grunt in pain.

Song Zhi pulled his hand down and said, "Don't touch it, there is a lump of blood on the back of your head, and it will take a few days of medicine to melt away."

Dou Jiafu answered absent-mindedly, and then asked again: "By the way, where are Wang Jiang and Li Ping?"

Song Zhi said casually, "Don't worry, I've placed them elsewhere."

After hearing this, Dou Jiafu got up and got out of bed, "Where is it? I'll go find them."

Song Zhi held him down, and asked one after another: "What are you looking for them for? Are you going to Suzhou City? Little Doufu, do you really want to go there? What happened to make you suddenly leave Ningcheng? You didn't even say hello to me?"

Dou Jiafu was silent, and after a while he said in a low voice, "Brother Song, I'm sorry."

Song Zhi didn't expect him to open his heart and tell the truth to himself now, and sighed softly, "I'm not angry, I'm just worried about you."

Immediately he said without doubt: "Little Tofu, listen to Brother Song, you stay here to take care of your health for the time being, and we will talk about other things later."

After another half day, Dou Jiafu replied softly: "En."

It was hard for Song Zhi to refuse such kindness.

On the other hand, as Song Zhi said, he really didn't want to go to Sioux City, but he had to go there because he had no choice under the pressure of the Qin family.Now that something has changed, he can suspend his departure from Ningcheng in the name of recuperating his injuries, which is very attractive to him.

Although I don't want to admit it, but - this way I can leave someone later, even if I can't meet him, it's good to be in the same city with him...

Thinking of this, Dou Jiafu's heart suddenly trembled. At this moment, how could he still think about that person?Shouldn't he have completely forgotten about him the moment he left Zhen's house, just pretending that he had never met him before, why is he still thinking about that person now?

Dou Jiafu, Dou Jiafu, you are so worthless!

Song Zhi didn't know what Dou Jiafu was thinking wildly with his head down, but he was secretly relieved to hear that he finally agreed and agreed to stay.

Because Dou Jiafu still had a low-grade fever, and he was depressed and unable to cheer up, he stayed in the house that day and didn't go anywhere.Except for taking medicine and eating, the rest of the time basically fell asleep.

At night, he felt better, so he rejected Song Zhiyao's offer to send a maid to help him wash, took off his clothes and dipped in the tub.

At first, he was a little absent-minded, but after washing casually for a while, he suddenly found something hanging on his chest, held it up with his palm, and was immediately stunned.

It was a small piece of jade pendant, carved into the shape of three leaves, thick green, crystal clear and moist, it was exactly what someone wore with him.

Strange, when did this jade pendant hang around his neck?Didn't he return it to that guy through the hands of the cell boss when he was in prison in Yongping County?

While caressing the jade pendant, Dou Jiafu thought hard, obviously he didn't have that day when he went to Ruyi Hall to read poems with Song Zhi, and it couldn't be that the jade pendant flew here with its own wings after leaving Zhen's house the next day.

The only possibility is that after being bullied by someone for a whole night and passed out, the bastard hung it up with his own hands...

Thinking of all the things that night, Dou Jiafu didn't know whether it was joy or sorrow, and he was infatuated for a while.

While he was in a trance, someone knocked on the door suddenly, "Little Tofu, have you washed it? Can I come in now?"

"Ah, it's almost ready! Brother Song, wait a moment!"

Dou Jiafu quickly got out of the water, pulled a cloth towel and wiped it casually, then hurriedly put on his clothes, and then ran to open the door to invite Song Zhi to come in, "Brother Song, it's so late, what can you do for me?"

Song Zhi said casually, "It's nothing, I just came to see if you're better."

Dou Jiafu replied: "It's much better, the headache doesn't hurt anymore."

Song Zhi nodded, "That's good, but you still have to take the medicine for a few days as prescribed by the doctor."

After a pause, his eyes moved down to Dou Jiafu's chest, "Your piece of jade is quite unique, and its color is also very good. It seems that I haven't seen you wearing it in Ruyitang last time."

Dou Jiafu's face became slightly hot, and he hurriedly stuffed the jade pendant that slipped out of the collar back into his clothes.

He didn't have the nerve to tell Song the truth, so he lied once in a while: "Well, I forgot to wear it that day."

Seeing the flicker in his eyes, Song Zhi knew that he wasn't telling the truth, but he didn't expose it, just laughed it off.

Afterwards, the two sat down and chatted casually. Dou Jiafu was still in a low mood and lost his mind. Seeing this, Song Zhi told him to relax and take a good rest, then got up and left.

The days to come are long, Mr. Song has plenty of time, so don't be in a hurry.

……

Two flowers bloom, each representing a branch.Going back two days, let's talk about the situation of a certain young man.

After leaving the house that night, Zhen Zhigong galloped westward on horseback.

He didn't know what his mother had said to Dou Jiafu, and how she persuaded him to leave Zhen's family, leave himself, and travel thousands of miles to a strange place that he didn't understand at all.I can't even imagine what kind of mood the little thing was in. The two strangers sent by his mother escorted Zhen's house out of Zhen's house in a superficially polite way, but in fact it was tantamount to forcible kidnapping, and then left Ningcheng in a carriage.

I just tossed the little thing all night, he must have difficulty walking normally, how can he resist.What's more, with his personality, and his respect and closeness to his mother, he will not disobey her wishes.

And before that, before he hears what I want to say to him, he will definitely hate himself to the bone, right?Maybe he thought that all of this was planned in advance by himself and his mother, to force him to completely stay away from himself, away from the Zhen family in Ningcheng...

Thinking of this, Zhen Zhigong was ashamed and regretful, and his heart ached unbearably.

After rushing out of Ningcheng at the fastest speed and running for hundreds of miles, his mind that was going crazy with anxiety finally came to his senses. He realized that he couldn't run for thousands of miles without sleep or rest, day and night. Looking for someone in Sioux City outside, that's something only a madman with a muddled mind would do.

He has neither the energy nor the time.

According to the guard's statement, the carriage that Dou Jiafu was riding in left at Shenshi, and it was already past Haishi, with an interval of about three or four hours. According to the normal speed of the carriage, if it ran for more than three hours in a row, it would be able to drive about [-] miles. , and he should be twice as fast riding Heifeng.

Due to the heavy load and high consumption, the horses pulling the cart cannot run day and night, and it is not a matter of life and death, so the two mothers sent by the mother will definitely find a place to rest at night.It would be best if he could catch them halfway, but if he couldn't, he only had to drive four hundred miles and go back and search from hotel to inn, and he should be able to find them.

After making a quick decision in his mind, Zhen Zhigong galloped his horse while paying attention to the mileage he had traveled.

Heifeng is one of ten thousand good steeds, with fast speed and good endurance, so two hours later, at Yinshi (3-5 o'clock in the morning) the next day, Zhen Zhigong has already galloped nearly [-] miles away.

At this time, the night was thick and everything was silent, except for a few half-bright and half-sleeping stars in the sky to keep him company.

Relying on the experience and excellent eyesight of traveling between Ningcheng and Sucheng several times in the past two years, he finally reined in his horse and stopped when he was sure that there was an uninhabited wilderness tens of miles ahead, panting for a while and then turning the horse's head. , and start looking for the way to go.

When he came here, he had already noticed that there were no prosperous towns along the road from Ningcheng to this point, only a few villages of average size scattered along the way, and the number of post houses along the road was also limited, no more than twenty.

However, he knocked on doors and asked, until he found the sky was bright and the sun was rising, and he asked every post house carefully, but he couldn't find the person he was looking for.

At this point, he finally panicked, and at the same time began to doubt himself. Could it be that he made a mistake in his judgment?Or passed by that carriage when he wasn't paying attention?Or, in order to avoid being followed, the two people sent by the mother did not stay in the post house at all, but stayed in a private house?

The non-stop running and searching all night, and the disappointment and anxiety of the unsuccessful search made Zhen Zhigong's eyes red and exhausted.

However, he has no time to start over again.

It was almost noon, Zhao Guozhong might have woken up from the hangover, and the tea house was leaderless, and with the cunning and greedy temperament of the old eunuch, he didn't know what trouble would happen, he had to rush to the tea house as soon as possible to deal with it.

He can give up his own wealth, glory and splendid future, but he can't give up the property and lives of thousands of people in the Zhen family and the tea plantation, otherwise he will be no different from a cold-blooded beast.

After learning from the pain, he turned his head cruelly and rode his horse into the city.

Little Tofu, give me a few more days, and I will definitely go to Sioux City to find you.

I, Zhen Zhigong, will spend the rest of my life to repay the days I owe you!