Tenderness like water

Although it is freezing cold in winter, there are still many wild vegetables in the land where there is no heavy snow or frost.Bitter herbs, revolutionary vegetables, black nightshade, lemongrass, and gotu kola are all wild vegetables that can still be seen.

At this time, the gate of the city was about to be closed, and many people were rushing to the city, hoping to arrive before the gate closed, otherwise they would have to spend the night outside the city.

Yang Lan was originally going to look at the shop selling vegetables, but he didn't know if he went to the wrong place, or because the guide said something wrong, he walked to the gate of the city, and happened to catch up with these The people who came back.

"Hurry up." A woman in her thirties pulled her little girl with a dirty face and bloated clothes.The little girl had a braid tied on top of her head, and she flicked it with her movements, similar to Yue'er when she was a child.

"Mom, I'm hungry." The little girl's voice was very low, she held the corner of the woman's clothes with one hand, and swallowed unconsciously as she smelled the aroma of the food that had wafted in the air.

She was really hungry. This morning, she was taken out of the city by her mother at dawn. At noon, she only ate a pancake made of coarse grains mixed with rice bran. It was not as big as her palm, so she was too hungry. .

The mother also smelled the fragrance, and her throat moved uncomfortably, but she just freed up a hand to pat the little girl's head, "Niuniu, hurry up, we can go home after selling the wild vegetables. If we don't make it in time , tomorrow we can only stay in the Bodhisattva Temple outside the city."

Yang Lan happened to listen to the conversation between the two mothers and daughters, and his focus was on the "wild vegetables" in their mouths.

"This woman, did you dig wild vegetables from outside the city?" When the two approached, Yang Lan stopped the mother and daughter.

Niuniu pulled her mother's clothes and hid behind the woman, only showing her two eyes to secretly look at the person dressed as a nobleman in front of her.

"My lord, what can I do for you?" The woman arched her back with a cautious face, not only blocking her daughter from behind.

Yang Lan looked at the woman's appearance, didn't say much, and directly stated her purpose, "I want to buy these wild vegetables in your hand. A friend of mine suddenly wants to eat wild vegetables. I will come out to collect some."

"That's right." The woman was relieved after hearing this, but she still protected her daughter, "My lord, take ten copper coins for my dish."

There were quite a lot of vegetables in that big bag, and Yang Lan saw a kind of wild vegetable in it, which was the kind Dongfang liked when he was in Qijia Village, so he stopped people.

The big bag of wild vegetables was quite heavy, Yang Lan took out a handful of copper coins, about twenty, and handed it to the woman, then glanced at the little girl behind, took out a bag of snacks and handed it to the woman people.These snacks were packed when he was in Qijia Village, and he hid a lot of them in his sleeves.

The woman handed all the wild vegetables to Yang Lan. She originally wanted to hand them to Yang Lan's followers, but after looking around, she found that Yang Lan didn't bring anyone, so she had to hand the wild vegetables to Yang Lan.

Looking at Yang Lan's hands, it doesn't look like they are working.

"Thank you, madam." Yang Lan was carrying the wild vegetables. Although he was a little uncoordinated overall, he ignored it and walked towards the inn in a good mood.

As the sun went down, the sky was gray, and the windows of every house were filled with dim warm light. Yang Lan returned to the inn with the last ray of sunlight, and then someone took him to the small kitchen in the back yard.

The store has already prepared the things needed in the kitchen, and even left a half-grown boy to light the fire. When Yang Lan arrived, the stove had already lit a fire.

"Young master, your cook hasn't come yet." The boy thought Yang Lan was here to urge him, seeing Yang Lan dressed in brocade clothes, he quickly got up from the stove.

"I'm here to cook, you go back and light the fire." Yang Lan nodded at the young man, glanced at the fire in the stove, then scooped a ladle of water into the pot and started cooking.

In this meal, Dongfang Xu ordered two dishes, and Yang Lan added the rest. In the end, he made two meat, two vegetables and one soup, and added a roasted sweet potato.

But because he was the only one working alone, after all the work was done, there was only the last ray of light left in the sky, and the inn was completely lit by a few lanterns and candles.

Yang Lan went up to the second floor with a tray to knock on the door, but before his hand touched the door frame, the door opened with a "squeak".

"Your movements are a bit slow." Dongfang Xu held the door with one hand, looked at the person who still smelled of fireworks outside the door, his eyebrows and eyes slanted, "Come in."

"Dongfang must be hungry." After entering the door, Yang Lan kicked the door, followed Dongfang to the small table in the room, and put down all the things in her hand.

The room in this inn is not big. A screen in the middle separates the bed from the tables and chairs outside. There are scattered decorations, which look a bit monotonous.

"Dongfang, I haven't been in the kitchen for three years. Try to see if the taste has changed." Yang Lan divided the chopsticks into two pairs, handed Dongfang Xu a pair with the chopsticks, and used a pair for herself.

Dongfang Xu took the chopsticks from Yang Lan's hand, glanced sideways at him, and then stretched out the chopsticks towards the dish.

In Dongfang Xu's memory, Yang Lan's handicraft is very good, so he didn't hesitate at all, and put a chopstick of green wild vegetables into his mouth.

In fact, he doesn't like to eat wild vegetables very much. When he was young, his family didn't eat any of them. Wild vegetables have long since hurt him, but after he left Qijia Village, it was such a mouthful of wild vegetables that he couldn't forget.

Dongfang Xu himself didn't know why.

"Not bad." After trying all the dishes in front of him, Dongfang Xu gave a good evaluation, and then ate half of the sweet potatoes that Yang Lan poked in the bowl by himself.

The remaining half was solved by Yang Lan himself.

Because it was late to start eating, it was already the top of the willow tree on the moon after the two of them finished eating.

"Dongfang, the moonlight is good tonight, why don't we have a drink together?" Yang Lan took out a jug, and when the lid was lifted, the aroma of wine came out of it.

It's rare for a man to drink badly, but Dongfang Xu frowned the moment he smelled the alcohol.Yang Lan was pouring wine into the glass, so she didn't notice the change of Dongfang Xu's expression for a moment.

"Dongfang, try it, this is a good wine I have saved." Yang Lan actually doesn't like wine, but she doesn't object to having a drink when the atmosphere is just right.

Following Yang Lan's movements, the aroma of the wine became even stronger. He put two small porcelain white cups in front of himself and Dongfang Xu respectively.

The pale yellow transparent liquid is in the white porcelain cup, with the erratic reflection of the candle flame printed on it.

"Dongfang, this is the first time I've had a drink with you." Yang Lan raised his glass as a toast to Dongfang Xu, "This is the rice wine I brewed by myself when I was in Shimen. Let Dongfang have a taste."

Dongfang Xu originally wanted to refuse, but after hearing about the rice wine brewed by Yang Lan himself, he picked up the wine glass by accident - he doesn't like the taste of wine, and he doesn't drink at all on weekdays, but today Made an exception.

Picking up the wine glass, Dongfang Xu first touched the glass with his lips, and then lightly licked it with his tongue.

It was the taste of wine, which was no different from what he remembered, but compared to the unbearable taste of his memory, it seemed to have something more.

Yang Lan was much bolder than Dongfang Xu, the small glass of wine was only for one sip, and he drank it up in two or three gulps.On the other hand, Dongfang Xu is much more refined.

In the end, more than half of a pot of rice wine, or most of it, went into Yang Lan's stomach, and Dongfang Xu drank only a cup or two of the rest.

Dongfang Xu hadn't drank alcohol for a long time, and after just two cups of rice wine, there was a reaction on his face, and a thin blush flew to his cheeks.

"Dongfang, do you like this wine? My master likes the wine I make, and he takes a lot of it from me every year." This is what happened often when Yang Lan was still in Ruowei Mountain. Every year, let him brew some wine.

However, the drinks for entertaining guests in the Taoist temple are not made of ordinary food, they are rare treasures found by Taoist Master Xugu with his heart.

"I don't like the smell of alcohol very much." Dongfang Xu didn't force himself, he put down his glass, glanced sideways at Yang Lan, and then added, "But this wine is not bad."

Yang Lan recorded Dongfang Xu's evaluation in his heart, and planned to find another batch of good rice after the autumn harvest this year, and make a separate portion for him.

After the two finished a pot of wine, a waiter from the shop knocked on the door to ask the guest if he wanted hot water to wash up.

Dongfang Xu glanced at Yang Lan who was reluctant to leave in his room, and finally ordered a basin of hot water to wash his face.

It's not that Yang Lan didn't see Dongfang Xu's hint of chasing people away, but he came here not only for eating, but also for other more important purposes.

So he pretended he didn't see it, lowered his head and put the empty plate into the tray, and asked the waiter to take it with him when he left.

"Dongfang, it's getting late now, but I have nowhere to go, how about you take me in for a night?" After the door was closed, Yang Lan heard the news that the waiter had gone away, and then she opened her mouth.

Dongfang Xu's hand pressing on the door paused for a moment before retracting it into his sleeve.

There is nothing to be courteous, and it is either a traitor or a thief.

He said why Yang Lan was so obedient to him today.