north bird south

After Wu Yuan finished serving the dishes, he squeezed Pei Linwan who was in Yu Yao's arms, and said, "You guys eat, I'll take Xiaowan to play first."

Xu Zhiyuan looked at her who was about to run away in a puzzled way, and saw Pei Zhen grabbing her arm, and said, "Just let Xiao Wan sit by herself, Yuan you can sit too."

"No no no..."

"Take it as a family dinner, there is no need to divide the table." Pei Zhen said, "It will be the same in the future, you can come over even if there are guests at home."

"How can this work? Young Master Xu and Mr. Yu are both big guests." Wu Yuan shook his head stubbornly and said, "Xiao Wan and I can't eat here."

"Why." Pei Linwan looked up at her sixth aunt, "I used to eat with my father and A Yao."

"Be good Xiaowan, Aunt Six left you a candied melon in the kitchen." Wu Yuan smiled apologetically, picked up Pei Linwan and hid in the kitchen.

"Hey!" Pei Zhen followed.

Xu Zhiyuan, who was full of doubts between his brows, asked Yu Yao in a low voice: "...Is she sharing the table because she is afraid of eating with strangers?"

Yu Yao said: "Some villages have such a rule. When a table is set up for guests at home, women and children are not allowed to eat at the table."

Xu Zhiyuan let out an "oh", and thought about it, his mother seemed to have nothing to avoid here, so he didn't understand it very well.After thinking for a while, he said thoughtfully, "Then my mother... is she considered male or female?"

"..." Yu Yao said, "...be careful An Rong will teach you a lesson."

As soon as the whispering between the two ended, Pei Zhen came back late holding Pei Lin in his arms.Wu Yuan followed behind stiffly, with apology and embarrassment on his face, and he kept muttering: "How can this be done? Doesn't this make people lose the point... Where I eat is different, you go quickly, Ah, don't keep Mr. Yu and Master Xu waiting."

"Don't go anymore," Pei Zhen smiled helplessly, put one hand on her shoulder, pressed it lightly on the chair, and said, "Let's serve dinner."

Wu Yuan didn't dare to speak anymore. She put her hands on her knees and carefully stared at the expressions of the few people. Yu Yao smiled at her and asked, "Sister Yuan, are you still used to being here?"

"Ah, get used to it, get used to it." Wu Yuan blinked, then smiled back immediately, and said, "Dr. Pei's house is big and comfortable, and the people around are nice too... It's much better than the old house before." She was talking by herself, but she turned to Pei Zhen with a few sentences, and said with a smile, "...Dr. Pei is well-known in our area, even the little kids who make mud in the village know that they don't study hard. When I was being beaten, I always heard my parents take the Pei family son out as a model..."

"Hey," Xu Zhiyuan thought it was amusing, so he said sadly, "You are being treated as a kid from the door god town."

Pei Zhen laughed helplessly and said, "It's about the Year of the Monkey."

Yu Yao picked up a chopstick of vegetables and spread them in the bastard's bowl, preventing him from talking, and said, "Don't talk nonsense, eat."

Xu Zhiyuan poured a piece of green oil back to him, and said with disgust: "I'm not a vegetarian, and I don't like vegetables."

Seeing him frowning, Wu Yuan pursed his lips, stood up and moved the big fish and meat to Xu Zhiyuan's side, and said, "It's because I didn't prepare well... I don't like vegetables and meat, do you like these? ? Otherwise, what does the young master like to eat? I'll do it now."

Being disgusted with vegetables is a big ritual that Xu Zhiyuan has to perform every meal, and he is usually suppressed by his parents with a cry of "Stinky boy, don't you dare to eat it".Her enthusiastic concern and empathy made Xu Zhiyuan a little dazed, he held his job bowl, looked at Wu Yuan, blinked, and let out a bewildered "ah".

"Don't bother you, he's just joking," Yu Yao comforted, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "This child is a rabbit, and he has loved vegetables since he was a child."

Xu Zhiyuan turned to look at him: "?"

Seeing Yu Yao's smile, Wu Yuan heaved a sigh of relief, sat down with peace of mind, and said, "Oh, that's it..."

Xu Zhiyuan: "I actually..."

Yu Yao put the food to Xu Zhiyuan's mouth, and said kindly, "Eat."

"..."

The brat who was forced to love vegetables since he was a child endured the humiliation and swallowed it in one gulp, chewing his mouth full of grievances.

Yu Yao asked, "Is it delicious?"

Xu Zhiyuan: "...delicious."

"Look, Miss Yuan." Yu Yao said, "He likes to eat."

Wu Yuan was amused twice, she was also very sensitive to the kindness of others, she could sense that Yu Yao and the young master were intentionally trying to ease her tension, and she also felt some gratitude and intimacy in her heart.

Finally she was willing to carefully pick up the chopsticks, picked up some vegetables, and placed them in front of Pei Zhen and Pei Linwan.Grinning secretly, he listened carefully to what they said.

"Ah Yao, when are you going to go north?" Pei Zhen asked suddenly when the conversation was full of fun.

"Two days later."

"At that time, I will take half a day off and go to the station to see you off."

Yu Yao didn't refuse, just like this farewell banquet, it probably wouldn't matter if he refused.

"By the way...wait a while," Pei Zhen suddenly remembered something, got up and walked to the back room.Seeing him, Wu Yuan put down the shrimp he was peeling for Pei Linwan, wiped his hands with the unpicked apron, stood up and shouted at him, "Oh, what do you want, I'll just go."

"You don't know where..." After a while, Pei Zhen's voice approached. He put a jar of wine that had been preserved for a long time on the table, tapped the porcelain body with his fingers, and said with a smile, "Ah Yao, do you want to drink?" Come to an altar."

"No," Xu Zhiyuan frowned, "Yao'er has a bad stomach."

"Occasionally drinking a small amount of alcohol, it's okay, it's good for your health." Pei Zhen said: "If there is no wine as a companion at the farewell banquet, it will be tasteless."

Pei Zhen's "serious" tone had long left a bad impression in Xu Zhiyuan's mind - so he always felt that when quack doctors spoke like this, there was always a hint of malice.

"I don't know how to drink," Yu Yao said with a smile and sighed, "One pot is enough, one cup is enough."

Pei Zhen went to pour it, and asked casually: "Where is the young master, have you had a drink?"

Xu Zhiyuan glanced at the glass of Qingli that was gradually filling up in front of Yu Yao, feeling inexplicably unhappy, and said, "Drink as much as you want, don't involve me."

……

As the new year approaches, all kinds of flavors come one after another.The taste of sugar, wine, and saltpeter, the aroma of noodles steamed from someone’s steamed buns, and the salty saltiness in the meat—such pyrotechnics are present at regular intervals in normal days, especially at the end of the year, when they are strongly mixed together, they are called Made a taste of the year.In front of the gate of each household, children and adults who smell this smell know that they are one year old in their hearts.

Xu Zhiyuan was sitting at the door of the house, watching the people returning from the theater, Wu Yuan came over and asked, "Young master, come in, isn't it cold to sit here?"

Xu Zhiyuan said: "Aunt Six, you can do your work, I'm not cold."

"Come on, let's have a taste." Wu Yuan served a plate of crabapple cakes and said, "This meal hasn't been finished yet, why did you come out?"

Xu Zhiyuan took a piece and put it in his mouth, thanked her for her kindness, and said indistinctly: "It's nothing... it's just their adults talking, I'm bored sitting there."

"Young master has bright eyes and a pretty face. Guess it's his quick-witted and lively temperament." Wu Yuan smiled and said, "I've seen children at your age with such a temper. It's a cliché... so cute."

Xu Zhiyuan laughed and said: "My uncle is not old, he is just seven years older than me."

"Mr. Yu is stable and understands human feelings, so people think he is mature and reliable," Wu Yuan said sincerely, "According to the elders, a young man with such a temper can accomplish great things."

Xu Zhiyuan squatted, with his arms on his knees, looking at his fingers and thinking about something.He heard the voice of Pei Zhen opening the door and entering the courtyard: "Young master is still sitting outside?"

Xu Zhiyuan was like any child who hates visiting with his parents, he yelled: "When will you finish chatting, I will go home and sleep."

"Wait in a hurry?" Pei Zhen held the door with one hand, leaned his body, and said in a lazy and smiling tone, "Ah Yao is a little drunk, you can watch him when you go back...or else I send you?"

"..."

"Mr. Yu is drunk?" Wu Yuan asked worriedly, "How much alcohol did you drink for him?"

Pei Zhen made a short distance between his index finger and thumb, and said, "It's really not poured, so let's start with that small glass. The two of us made it together, and the jar of wine only went down so little."

"..." Xu Zhiyuan believed his words, his brother-in-law's drinking capacity was indeed very poor.It's just that Pei Zhen's squinting smile made him feel like there was a fox hiding under the skin.

Xu Zhiyuan looked at him and said, "...you don't need to send it."

"Okay," Pei Zhen readily agreed, "Then be careful on the road."

Wu Yuan said: "It's so late, how can we let Mr. Yu and the others walk back, let's go see it off."

"Madam, don't worry." Pei Zhen patted her on the shoulder and said, "The young master is here, so what's the problem?"

Xu Zhiyuan: "..."

Some people are like a magician's black hat. You know there must be something in it, but you can't guess what it is, and you don't know when or how it appeared.

In Xu Zhiyuan's eyes, Pei Zhen was such a person.

They left Pei Zhen's house, this time it was Xu Zhiyuan who led the way.Yu Yao's face was normal, and he waved goodbye to Pei Linwan when he left. Xu Zhiyuan didn't believe that he was drunk, but he was unusually quiet along the way, so Xu Zhiyuan stopped.

Yu Yao accidentally bumped into his back and asked, "What's the matter?"

Xu Zhiyuan lowered his eyes to look at him, and could vaguely see some redness in his ears and corners of his eyes.Only then did he realize that the scarf around Yu Yao's neck was missing, and asked, "Did your scarf be left at his house?"

Yu Yao froze for a moment, turned around and went back, saying, "I'll go later..."

"We're almost home, let's talk about it tomorrow." Xu Zhiyuan grabbed his arm.

"Oh."

"Little uncle," Xu Zhiyuan summoned up his courage and asked, "What did you and Pei Zhen talk about just now?"

Yu Yao stared straight at him, making Xu Zhiyuan feel uneasy. After a while, Yu Yao finally said seriously: "He said that he will see me off at the station in two days."

"...When did you say this?" Xu Zhiyuan thought he had been planning something big for so long.Said, "I asked what you talked about when I was away."

Yu Yao thought for a while, and said: "...he said that the farewell banquet will have no taste if there is no wine."

"Don't prevaricate me," Xu Zhiyuan said, "I'm not asking what Pei Zhen said, I'm asking you..."

Xu Zhiyuan paused for a moment, suddenly understood, and looked Yu Yao up and down.

"I forgot what he said," Yu Yao continued, rubbing the center of his brows, like a student trying to remember the formulas of the algorithm, his voice became smaller and smaller, "He said a lot... I remember Can't live that much."

"...Little Uncle?"

"……what?"

Xu Zhiyuan asked another question tentatively: "Where are you going back in two days?"

Yu Yao said, "Aren't we going home now?"

Xu Zhiyuan asked again: "Where are we going back now?"

Yu Yao: "Go back to Beicheng."

Xu Zhiyuan: "Are you drunk?"

Yu Yao: "It's not good."

"..." Xu Zhiyuan bit his thumb and looked at Yu Yao.These few answers are singled out and there is no sentence or logic problem - the problem is that the answer is wrong.

To put it bluntly, the answer is irrelevant.

It turned out that his uncle's drunk symptoms were like this, and it was the first time he had seen such an otherworldly drunk Xu Zhiyuan.

Xu Zhiyuan found it interesting, and asked again: "Who am I?"

Yu Yao: "You son of a bitch."

"?" Xu Zhiyuan said, "Why did you answer this so clearly?"

"Because you are Xu Zhiyuan... hey."

Yu Yao was tripping over a stone and staggered a step.

Xu Zhiyuan quickly supported him.He felt more and more that Yu Yao's drunkenness was of the "slow heat type", just like brewing wine, and the symptoms became more obvious as time went on.

"Then Xu Zhiyuan, who are you?"

"It's a little bastard."

Xu Zhiyuan asked: "Your?"

Yu Yao nodded.

Xu Zhiyuan's heart felt inexplicably hot, as if someone struck a match over and over again, and the heat disappeared instantly again and again, and the painless warmth in the palms of those who escaped the cold was like scratching.

He suddenly asked: "The little bastard wants to hold your hand, what should I do?"

Yu Yao stretched out an index finger.

Xu Zhiyuan: "?"

Yu Yao said: "You can take it."

"Ah?" Xu Zhiyuan finally understood, and gently grabbed it, and said with a smile, "Is that so?"

"Row."

Yu Yao walked in front, his fingers were long and thin, and he could touch the distinct joints.Xu Zhiyuan was behind him, pinching that small fingertip with such a small and light force, like a crumbling bridge, the only connection between the two of them rested on it.

But it didn't break all the way to the door of the house, and it seemed so invincible.