Xu Jiazu uploaded a little bit of land. Xu Baihu was also a military household, and his life was very good in the local area. The family had a small family, so they raised an old mother and did some cooking and cleaning.
When the sky turned white, the old cook of the Xu family slowly prepared breakfast and knocked on the door of Chang Geng’s study: “Master, Madam asked you if you want to eat in her house.”
Chang Geng was attentively writing the post, and when he heard the words, he paused to pick up the pen, and replied as usual: “No, she likes tranquility, so I won’t bother you, please tell my mother, just say my son asks. She’s safe.”
The old cook was not surprised by his reply. The daily questions and answers between mother and son were routine, nothing new.
It’s weird to say that, logically speaking, Xu Baihu is just a stepfather, and Chang Geng and Xiuniang are the biological mother and son, but this pair of biological mother and son will eat at the same table only when Xu Baihu is at home. , in the morning and in the evening, pretending to be kind, filial, good and happy, as long as the male host leaves, they are strangers than strangers, no one pays any attention to anyone, living in a courtyard, Chang Geng doesn’t even go to the main entrance, Every day, I run through the corner door to the next door, and the mother and son may not see each other for ten days and a half months.
Even before Chang Geng’s serious illness that cost him half of his life, Xiu Niang just looked at him indifferently, and didn’t care whether the only child was dead or alive.
In the end, Lord Sixteen took him away and took care of him personally.
The old cook always suspected that Chang Geng was not born by Xiu Niang, but just looking at the appearance, the mother and son look alike and must be related by blood.
What’s more, if it’s not her own, Xiuniang is such a weak and weak woman who lives in a foreign country and can’t protect herself. Why does she keep taking the child with her?
It doesn’t make sense at all.
After a while, the old cook brought a food box and said to Chang Geng: “Today, the master will probably be going back to the city. The madam asked the young master to come back early.”
Chang Geng understood what she meant. When Xu Baihu came back, they wanted to pretend to be filial to their mother and son again, so they nodded and replied, “I see.”
His eyes fell on the food box. Suddenly, Chang Geng saw a long hair on the handle of the food box, and the hand that was stretched out immediately retracted.
The old cook’s hair is already white, and the long black and soft hair is naturally not hers. Xu Baihu hasn’t come back yet, and there are three living people in the house, including the master and the servant. It’s not the cook’s. Of course it’s Xiu Niang’s.
Chang Geng has a strange habit of cleanliness – only his own mother.
He can eat the leftovers from the bowl his adoptive father used in the next door, but when he gets home, as long as Xiu Niang touches something, he won’t touch it.
The old cook knew his strange temper, so she hurriedly took off the hair and said with a smile, “This is what Madam accidentally dropped on it. No one has touched the dessert when it came out of the pot, don’t worry. “
Chang Geng smiled at her very politely: “It’s okay, I just have some questions to ask Mr. Shen today, and I will go to my foster father to eat later.”
After he finished speaking, he didn’t take the food box, grabbed the book on the table and put it under his arm, lifted the epee hanging from the back door and went out.
Mr. Shen is rolling up his sleeves, busy in the yard oiling several pieces of dismantled steel armor.
The steel armor was sent by the officers and soldiers of the defending city. The officers and soldiers of Yanhui also had their own “long-armed divisions” specializing in the maintenance of military steel armor. However, there were too many armors in the army. The teacher contact points to live.
“Long-armed masters” are those who repair steel armor and lighters, and deal with those iron guys all day long. They are considered craftsmen, but in the eyes of ordinary people, long-armed masters and dog pedicures Almost, they all belong to the “nine streamers”, even if they do not worry about eating and drinking, they are not very honorable.
Mr. Shen was a scholar, and somehow he had this peculiar hobby. Not only did he like to play with it when he had nothing to do, but he also used this craft to make a little money humiliatingly from time to time.
And the Shen Shiliu, who accidentally fell into the dream of a teenager, was sitting on the threshold with his long legs stretched out, leaning against the door frame as if he was boneless, with an empty medicine bowl next to him – he drank Don’t know how to clean it.
Sixteen Lai stretched his waist, half-deadly beckoned to Chang Geng, and ordered, “Son, go and bring me the jug.”
Mr. Shen was full of torch oil, sweating to Chang Geng: “Don’t pay attention to him, have you eaten?”
Chang Geng: “Not yet.”
Mr. Shen turned his head and roared at Sixteen: “Wake up early in the morning and wait there to eat! Can’t you do some work? Go get some rice and cook a few bowls of porridge!”
Shen Shiliu tilted his head, his deafness was just right, and he said slowly, “Ah? What?”
“I’ll come,” Chang Geng used to, “what rice?”
This time, the Sixteenth Master heard it. He raised his long eyebrows and said to Mr. Shen: “Let’s make a child, why don’t you go by yourself?”
This gentleman, Mr. Shen, is so angry with his **** and prodigal brother every day: “Didn’t you agree to take turns? A manly man, if you can’t hear it, it’s fine, what’s the matter if you’re old enough to speak? !”
Shen Shiliu repeated his old tricks, but “inaudible” again, and asked, “Why is he barking there?”
Pretend to be real.
Chang Geng: “…”
Actually, being deaf is strangely convenient.
“He said…” Chang Geng lowered his head and met Shi Shi’s joking gaze. In an instant, the dream from the night before flashed back in front of him, and he suddenly realized that he was not so indifferent.
Chang Geng’s throat was suddenly a little dry, he was busy trying to calm down, and said with a blank face, “You should sit still, don’t bother to cheat early in the morning.”
Shen Shiliu didn’t have time to get drunk that day, and his only conscience was finally not soaked into wine lees. He smiled and took Chang Geng’s hand, stood up with strength, and patted the back of the boy’s head affectionately, stumbling and stumbling. Go into the kitchen.
He’s actually ready to work – it’s rare for Master Sixteen to be able to do something in a hundred years.
Chang Geng hurriedly followed him in, only to see his adoptive father swaggeringly grabbed a few handfuls of rice and threw it into the pot, and then scooped water to wash the rice, causing water splashes and white waves to fly, and then , he condescendingly stretched out two fingers, stirred it in the water at will, took it out, shook the water droplets, and announced: “Half of the wash, Shen Yi, come and take turns.”
Mr. Shen: “…”
Shen Shiliuyi picked up the jug from the stove, raised his head and took a sip. The water flowed smoothly and accurately.
…Sometimes Chang Geng suspects that he is even pretending to be “blind”.
Mr. Shen may have given up. He stopped doing unnecessary struggles, and swearingly washed his hands with soap horns, ran into the kitchen, steamed the cakes, and started to clean up the mess left by Sixteen.
Chang Geng took out the posts that he had posted in the morning and showed them to Mr. Shen one by one. After Shen Yi finished reading the comments, Chang Geng stuffed the page into the stove to help make a fire.
“The writing is very good, and I have put in a lot of effort recently,” Mr. Shen said. “I think you are visiting Gu Yun’s long pavilion post, Marquis of Anding?”
Chang Geng: “Yeah.”
Sixteen, who was idly beside him, heard the words and turned his head abruptly, a strange color flashed across his face.
Mr. Shen didn’t look up: “Marquis Anding led the army on the fifteenth, became famous in the first battle, took command of the seventeenth, was ordered to go west, passed through the city of Xiliang, and saw the ruins of the ancients. , the handwritten “Changting Fu” was originally written, but it was secretly left by the flatterers around him and engraved on the stone tablet – to say it, Gu Yun’s words were written by the contemporary Mr. Hongru Mosen. Yes, it does have merit. It’s just that when he wrote the long pavilion post, he was still young, and he was a young man. Today’s post?”
Chang Geng rolled up the paper full of words, and stuffed it into the stove without hesitation: “I have heard people say that the three major black iron camps, Xuanying, Xuanjia, and Xuanqi, are located in Laohou. In the hands of the master, the eighteen tribes of the northern barbarians were pacified. Later, it was passed on to the commander of Xiaohouye, and he made the bandits of the Western Regions bow their heads. I don’t like his words, I just want to know that the hand holding the three major black iron camps is left behind. What’s the handwriting like.”
The spoon in Mr. Shen’s hand was unconsciously stirring in the pot, but his eyes seemed to have drifted away. After a while, he said slowly: “The Marquis of Anding, Gu name Yun, the word Zixi, is the first emperor and the eldest princess and The only son of the old marquis, his parents died young, he was pitied by Jinshang, raised in the palace, and was specially awarded a rank. He was born rich and idle, but he had to go to the Western Regions to eat sand. Heroes are not heroes, I I don’t know, I’m afraid my brain is not very good.”
Mr. Shen is wearing an old white washed long gown, the corners of his clothes are still stained with oil from steel armor, and a hapless apron hangs around his neck – these two brothers have made do together, and there is no woman in the family, one Compared to one, the apron has not been washed since I don’t know if it was taken back.
Only the face is well-defined.
Shen Yi’s nose is high and straight, when he is not joking, his profile is almost cold, his eyelids tremble slightly, and suddenly he says: “Since the old marquis left, Xuan Tie Ying Gong has been very impressive. The taboos of the superiors, plus the infatuation of the superiors by the courtiers is rampant…”
Sixteen, who had been silent for a while, suddenly interrupted him: “Shen Yi.”
The two by the stove looked at him together, and Sixteen was staring at a small spider web on the door frame.
Sixteen can’t look on his face when he drinks, and his face turns white as he drinks, and a little emotion is caught in his eyes, so he can’t see clearly.
He whispered, “Don’t talk nonsense.”
Shen’s brothers are usually very neither big nor small. They are disrespectful to their elder brothers. The elder brother also spoils the younger brother like no one. Every day, they argue from morning to night, but the relationship is very good.
Chang Geng had never heard Sixteen speak in such a blunt tone.
He is sensitive by nature, and frowns deeply.
Shen Yi clenched his teeth, realizing that Chang Geng was watching him, barely restrained his emotions, and said with a smile, “I’ve lost my words – but isn’t slandering the imperial court a snack after dinner? I’m just talking about it casually. “
Chang Geng sensed the awkwardness of the atmosphere, so he quickly changed the subject and asked, “In the ten years from the Northern Expedition to the Western Expedition, who will be in charge of the Xuantie Camp?”
“No one cares,” Shen Yi said, “After the Northern Expedition, the Xuantie Camp was silent for a while, walking and dying. There were very few old people still in the army, and most of them were disheartened. More than ten years later, The elite soldiers of the year have been replaced by a generation, and the equipment has not been replaced for many years, and they are all aging. It was not until the Western Regions rebellion a few years ago that the court had no choice, so the Marquis of Anding was ordered to restart the Xuantie Camp – not so much Gu Shuai. Taking over the Xuantie Camp, it might be better to say that he has re-honed a group of strong teams in the Western Regions, if you have the opportunity, you can learn his current words.”
Chang Geng was taken aback: “Did Mr. Shen see the words written by Marquis Anding?”
Shen Yi said with a smile: “Although it is rare, there are occasionally one or two paintings in the market, all claiming to be authentic, and I can’t tell if it is true or not.”
While he was talking, he was blowing white air and brought the food to the table. Chang Geng looked forward to help, but when he passed the porridge with Shen Shiliu, he was caught by the sick seedling. shoulders.
Chang Geng grew up earlier than ordinary teenagers. He was tall and tall among his peers. Even though he was still young, he was about to catch up with his little adoptive father. He looked up so slightly and saw Sixteen’s eyes.
Sixteen actually has a typical pair of peach blossom eyes, which can only be seen when his eyes are scattered and fluttering around, because when his eyes are condensed, there seems to be a pair of abyss in the eyes. It’s hard to see, it’s dark.
Chang Geng’s heart trembled again, he lowered his voice and deliberately called himself a name that he did not usually use: “Foster father, what’s wrong?”
Sixteen said casually: “Children, don’t keep thinking about being a hero, what’s the point of being a hero? As long as you have enough food and clothing, and you don’t have to worry about waking up, that’s the best day. It doesn’t matter if you’re a little pampered and idle.”
Shen Shiliu often pretended to be deaf and dumb.
He is a half-deaf and half-blind crippled man with no ambition and no spirit. But how can the young people listen to such dejected words that are just a matter of time?
Chang Geng felt a little uncomfortable, because he felt like he was looking down on him, and thought angrily: “I’m just messing around with you, who will support the family in the future? Who will take care of your food and clothes? .”
He avoided Sixteen’s hand and said perfunctorily: “Don’t move around, be careful that the hot porridge will burn you.”