Seeing his father's bewildered expression, Jiang Li introduced Xuan Qing to him, emphasizing that he encountered bandits on the way back, and then Xuan Qing rescued him.
When Father Jiang heard that he was robbed by bandits, his face turned pale, and he forgot to cook the noodles. He went back up and down to check whether he was injured: "How did he meet the bandits? Where did he get hurt? Show Dad quickly." !"
Hearing his anxious and caring words, Jiang Li warmed up, and he spun around twice, and comforted him: "No injury, Master Xuan Qing showed up in time, beat the bandits away, nothing happened."
"..." Xuan Qing remembered Jiang Li's appearance lying on the ground before, and saw Jiang's father's anxious and worried expression, and didn't know whether to expose him or not to expose him.
However, Jiang's father listened to his words, and his heart was relieved. He repeated the sentence "It's fine", and then turned to Xuan Qing and said, "Master Xuan Qing, right? Thanks to you, I saved my son, Old Jiang. I bow to you here."
As he said that, he arched his hands and bent towards Xuan Qing.
But before he could bend down, Xuan Qing stepped in front of him, stretched out his hand to stop his movement: "It doesn't have to be like this."
If someone else saluted, Xuan Qing wouldn't care at all, but if it was Jiang's father, he always felt inexplicably that if he accepted this gift, it would be inappropriate.
Although Xuan Qing said so, Father Jiang was still grateful and said thank you several times, saying that he didn't know how to thank Xuan Qing. Jiang Li reminded him that the noodles hadn't been cooked yet, and he reacted: " Yes, yes, I will ask someone to cook noodles for you, Master Xuanqing is vegetarian, right?"
Xuan Qing nodded: "I'm sorry."
"It should be." Jiang's father said quickly, Xuan Qing saved his son, and in his heart he is a great benefactor. After he asked Jiang Li what kind of noodles he wanted to eat, he turned and went to the kitchen.
Jiang Li pulled Xuan Qing to sit down at a side table, then went to the checkout counter and brought out a pot of hot tea, poured a cup for himself and Xuan Qing, and said: "My father is too excited, don't worry about it."
Xuan Qing shook her head and said softly: "Your father cares about you very much."
"Yes." Jiang Li smiled and blinked at him, "Thanks to you for saving my life, otherwise my father would be left alone in this world."
His eyes were full of smiles, Xuan Qing only felt shaken by the lively look in his eyes, and unconsciously lost his mind, as if someone had watched him like this before, and heard Father Jiang's footsteps coming out of it After that, he looked away slightly unnaturally.
At this time, the system reminded Jiang Li: "Master Host, the favorability of the male protagonist has increased by 5%."
Father Jiang remembered that he was in a hurry to arrange for someone to cook noodles for the two of them just now, but he forgot to pour tea for Xuanqing first, so he rushed out again. Seeing that the two had already sat down to drink tea, he felt relieved and walked to Jiang Sit down next to him.
"Master Xuanqing, you are a great benefactor of our family, and you will never thank me for your kindness." Father Jiang poured tea for Xuanqing himself, and said sincerely.
"It's too serious." Xuan Qing picked up the teacup.
After drinking tea, Father Jiang asked where Xuanqing came from, and whether he had any important business to come to Qingshui Town this time, if not, he was invited to stay here, so that he could show his kindness as a landlord and express his gratitude. gratitude.
As soon as he finished speaking, before Xuan Qing opened his mouth, Jiang Li said: "He has nothing to do, he just wanders around in idleness. He heard that our Qingshui Town has beautiful mountains and rivers and outstanding people. If he insists on following me to take a look, I have no choice but to Just bring him back."
Xuan Qing: "..."
That's not what Jiang Li said when he said he wanted to repay Xuan Qing and take him back to see the beautiful scenery of Qingshui Town. His upside-down pretext made Xuan Qing look at him with an indescribable expression.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Jiang Li looked innocent, "Didn't you say you wanted to come back with me?"
"..." Xuan Qing remembered what she said at the inn that she wanted to come back with Jiang Li, and was speechless for a moment.
Instead, Father Jiang reprimanded Jiang Li in a low voice: "Li'er! How can you talk to Master Xuan Qing like that? No big or small, Master Xuan Qing is your lifesaver, that is, your reborn parents."
The words "reborn parents" made Xuan Qing's eyelids twitch. He is only nineteen years old this year, but he feels like he is of the same generation as Jiang's father. Just as he was about to speak out to make Jiang's father do not have to do this, Jiang Li dragged his voice "Oh" and looked at him meaningfully: "Reborn parents..."
Xuan Qing: "..." There is always a bad feeling.
While the three of them were talking, Uncle Cai from the kitchen brought out the cooked noodles. One bowl was Xuan Qing's plain noodles, and the other night was Jiang Li's pork rib noodles. The steaming noodles drove away the chill of the night.
Uncle Cai put his face down, smiled and said to Jiang Li: "Xiao Li is back. Lao Jiang has been looking forward to it for the past few days, and he is looking forward to your return soon."
Uncle Cai is a relative of the Jiang family. His wife fell into the river and died in the early years. He lived alone as a cook in a small restaurant. Later, Jiang's father opened an inn and knew that he was good at cooking, so he hired him to be the chef in the inn.
Yuanshen grew up eating his cooking. Back then Jiang's father was very busy opening the inn, and it was he who took care of the young Yuanshen. The relationship between the two was quite deep.
Jiang Li smiled at Uncle Cai: "Uncle Cai, long time no see, how are you?"
"Alright." Uncle Cai smiled heartily, looked at Xuan Qing and said, "What's the name of this little master?"
Jiang Li introduced Xuan Qing and Uncle Cai to each other. Uncle Cai responded with a smile and told them to eat quickly so that the soup would not get cold. After speaking, he went back to the kitchen.
Jiang Li took a pair of chopsticks and asked Jiang's father beside him, "Father, don't you want to eat? I'll share half with you?"
"No, no, no." Father Jiang smiled and waved his hands, "I'm not hungry, you should eat quickly, don't get cold."
Seeing that he said he would not eat, Xuan Qing nodded, picked up the chopsticks and started to eat. His is plain noodles, although there is no meat, but Uncle Cai added green vegetables and shredded potatoes for him, so it is not too bland.
While they were eating noodles, Jiang's father went back to keep the account book again, Jiang Li glanced at him distractedly, and found that he was frowning tightly while keeping the account, and there was an indelible sadness between his brows.
Calculated according to modern time, this time point is nine o'clock in the evening. This world is not like the ordinary ancient times where the sun rises and the sun sets, and Qingshui Town is a relatively prosperous tourist town. Jiang Li and the others came all the way just now, and other places are relatively lively, and the street vendors are still shouting. When doing business, although there are not as many pedestrians as during the day, there are still many, and some other restaurants and shops are still brightly lit.
In comparison, his own small inn is too deserted.
Originally, he mainly focused on studying. After being admitted to Puzhou University, he had little time to come back. Father Jiang took care of everything in the inn. From his memory, Jiang Li knew that the inn’s business was poor. , but I didn't know that it was so deserted. Although I didn't go upstairs to see it, there must not be many guests upstairs.
Jiang Li finished eating the noodles, went to Jiang's father, and said to him, "Father, let me help you."
Father Jiang took the pen, and put together the half-calculated account books, not wanting him to see the loss of his inn, and said with a smile: "No need, it's just a matter of dad coming here, you are tired after driving all the way with Master Xuan Qing , go back early and rest after eating."
Although Jiang Li wanted to see the situation of the inn in the past few years, he was not in a hurry for a while. Anyway, he didn't plan to leave after he came back. He would have more time in the future, so he said, "That's okay, I'll take the little master first. Go rest and come back later."
"Master Xuanqing should live upstairs." Father Jiang took out a copper key from the cabinet on the table and handed it to Jiang Li. "On the third floor, take Master Xuanqing up first. I'll ask Uncle Cai to prepare hot water."
Jiang Li nodded, and led Xuan Qing upstairs.
The Jiang family's inn is small in size, with three floors in total. The first floor is the dining hall, and the second and third floors are the rooms. There are no more than sixteen rooms in the two floors, but they have never been full.
The key Father Jiang gave was the best room on the third floor. It is located at the end of the corridor. The room is large and has a very good view. From the south window, you can see the Peony River in Qingshui Town and the Lingshan Grottoes.
Jiang Li took Xuan Qing up there, and found that although there were not many guests in the inn, the room was very clean, there was no dust on the tables and chairs, and the bedding on the bed was neatly folded, presumably it was cleaned frequently.
Jiang Li opened the window for Xuan Qing to breathe, and then said to him: "You rest for a while, I'll go down and accompany my father."
Xuan Qing nodded: "Where do you live?"
"There's a small yard behind the inn, where my father and I live." After Jiang Li finished speaking, he glanced at him and joked, "Why? Are you afraid I'll run away? Why don't you live in the backyard with me?"
Xuan Qing: "...No need."
At this time, Uncle Cai brought hot water to Xuan Qing. Jiang Li saw him, an elder in his fifties carrying a large bucket of hot water, and hurried forward to help. The wooden barrel in the uncle's hand is gone.
"Thank you Master Xuanqing, your skills are really amazing." Uncle Cai said, before he could react just now, Xuanqing took the wooden bucket in his hand.
Xuan Qing poured hot water into the tub, turned around and asked Uncle Cai, "Where to get water?"
"Downstairs in the backyard..." Uncle Cai replied subconsciously. When he realized what he was going to do, he quickly said, "I'll do this kind of work. Master Xuanqing, you just need to wait in the room."
Xuan Qing was noncommittal, but went straight out of the room with the barrel in his hand. Uncle Cai wanted to follow, but Jiang Li grabbed him and said, "Uncle Cai, let him go, I have something to ask you."
Xuan Qing is a martial arts practitioner, and it is effortless for him to carry a bucket of water.
Uncle Cai nodded upon hearing this, "What are you asking?"
Jiang Li asked him how the inn's business has been in the past few years, and how many people are currently in the inn.
Uncle Cai sighed, and said: "You have seen how the business is going. It was fine a few years ago, at least able to support the expenses of the big guys, but in the past two years, more and more restaurants and inns have been opened in the town, and the business is getting better and better. Poor, Lao Jiang is filling in more and more money. Originally, besides your father and me, there were three waiters in the store, and one assistant cook. Later, the business went bad and everyone left. Now it’s just me and your father. There is also a boy doing odd jobs."
The little guy stayed in the inn during the day, and he was the one who went back and forth to help in the front hall and the kitchen, so at night, Jiang's father asked him to go home to rest, and he and Uncle Cai would watch the night.
At this time Xuan Qing came up with a bucket of water in one hand, the weight of the two buckets of water was as light as a feather in his hands, and he walked up to the third floor without even breaking a sweat.
After filling the bucket, Xuan Qing returned the bucket to Uncle Cai.
After Uncle Cai went down, Xuan Qing untied her bag and looked for a change of clothes for a while.
Jiang Li remembered the sudden change in his face when he teased Xuan Qing in the inn last time, and he couldn't help thinking of teasing him again, and said with a smile: "Little master, you must be very tired after driving for so many days, why don't you Let me rub your back and give you a massage!"
The movement in Xuan Qing's hands paused, and he looked back at him. After seeing the playfulness in his eyes, he remembered the last experience of being molested by his words, and for the first time, he had a mentality of wanting to cure someone.
So he looked at Jiang Li and said calmly, "Okay."
Jiang Li was taken aback: "??"
what's the situation? Monk enlightened? !