Xie Lang couldn't remember how long he hadn't spoken to Zhou, and every time she saw her, she would glance at him from a distance, and then walked away expressionlessly. At the beginning, Xie Lang only thought she was angry, and he could coax her back when she calmed down, but as time went on, he realized that she was not angry, but that she was not even angry anymore.
These days Xie Lang has been thinking about which joint had the trouble. When he took a concubine, Zhou Shi was angry, but after a few days, she returned to him as if nothing happened, as if she was just a little concerned about this matter, and he didn't need to coax him, as long as he smiled at her , say a few words, she will smile and forget those unpleasant things.
Sometimes looking back on the past few years, he felt as if a long time had passed, so long that he was about to forget the time when he met Zhou. He only vaguely remembered the young girl on the horse, the whip was flaring, and when he saw the traveling scholars, they were curious and fresh, and boldly stepped forward to ask questions.
When Xie Lang realized that she was not angry, he suddenly started to panic.
The longer the time goes on, the more complicated the mood becomes. In the past, the interest in playing chess has disappeared from the poetry and writing. He frowns and worries all day long, and pulls Xie Li to drink to drink.
At first, Xie Li would accompany her. Later, after Xu Shi and Xie Li talked, Xie Li did not come.
So he drank alone in the pavilion.
The concubine came, the eldest brother and the third brother came, and even those maids who looked at Xie Li's dejected appearance also had thoughts that they shouldn't have, and they also came, and they were all reprimanded by Xie Lang in annoyance.
Bored, Xie Lang felt this emotion for the first time.
Perhaps Zhou Shi was also tired of it. The five flavors in her heart were mixed, and now he finally got a taste of it.
He shook the porcelain bottle in his hand, and there was only a thin bottom left of the wine. When he was about to raise his head to pour it into his mouth, a soft and waxy voice suddenly came from behind him.
"Father."
Xie Lang was taken aback. He had a lot of alcohol and was not drunk, just a little dizzy. He immediately sobered up when he heard Xie Sheng's voice.
He didn't want his daughter to see how he was drinking too much, so he hurriedly put the bottle under his cuff to cover it, and looked back at Xie Sheng.
Xie Sheng asked the maid to wait in the distance, but she was the only one here.
She walked to Xie Lang and sat down and said, "Father, the summer season is over, and the night is getting colder. You always drink here, be careful of catching a cold."
Xie Lang's heart softened when he saw Xie Sheng, this is his and Zhou's daughter.
"It's okay, I won't get drunk, just drink a little and sleep deeply at night."
Xie Sheng nodded and didn't speak anymore. The long and caring words just now were her limit.
Xie Sheng is good at poetry and prose, and Xie Lang is talented, she tried to ask for advice, so Xie Sheng and Xie Lang are more intimate. Xie Lang liked this daughter very much, but he didn't know how to treat her. Seeing her bowing her head, the atmosphere was a little stiff, and he said, "Why did you come here?"
"Uncomfortable, take a walk." Xie Sheng said calmly.
Xie Lang immediately became nervous: "Where is it uncomfortable? Did you call a doctor? Why did you go out for a walk when you were not feeling well?"
Xie Sheng raised his eyes and glanced at him, and said, "I feel sick in my stomach. My mother gave me knife-cut noodles and several plates of vegetables at night, and I was exhausted."
Xie Lang's expression froze, his body leaning towards Xie Sheng because of his nervousness slowly leaned back, finally sat upright, and said with difficulty, "So that's how it is, very good. It's a good thing for your mother and daughter to be close, but don't want to do it again in the future. Eating too much is not good for your body.”
Xie Sheng nodded: "Mother said the same thing. She said that she was very happy to see how much I ate, but then I ate too much and she was unhappy again, so she hurriedly boiled hawthorn water."
When Xie Lang heard the words, Zhou Shi's panic appeared in his mind immediately, and he subconsciously smiled, but then the smile stopped and turned bitter.
The night wind was faintly blowing Xie Sheng's hair.
She came over just because she saw her father according to the rules and had to come over to greet her. Now people are concerned about it, and she has said all her words, so she can leave.
She stood up and was about to salute and leave, but Xie Lang suddenly said, "What has your mother been up to these days?"
This question made Xie Sheng a little confused. She tilted her head and asked, "Is father unclear?"
The smile on Xie Lang's face became more bitter, but he would not show his dejected side in front of his daughter. He tried his best to say in a plain tone, "I don't know." The Zhou family did not allow him to enter her yard, and her maids He also avoided him, keeping his mouth tight, not daring to say much.
Although Xie Sheng was puzzled, she still answered obediently: "Busy with her favorite things."
Xie Lang didn't expect this answer, he said blankly: "Did she pick up the sword?"
Xie Sheng was also stunned by this, and she asked in surprise, "Sword?"
She was too surprised, Xie Lang reacted and became even more puzzled: "What else could it be?"
"Cooking and thinking about eating." Xie Sheng's tone rarely changed, and she sat back on the stone bench, "Swords? Mother used to love practicing swords and swords?"
Zhou Shi had tried his best to avoid these past events since he got married in the capital, but he didn't expect to be pierced in front of his daughter by him. Xie Lang hesitated, but nodded anyway.
Unexpectedly, Xie Sheng did not show an expression of disgust. She blinked, her eyelashes flickered, and she finally brought a little vivid childishness to her face.
She slowly digested this fact and asked for a while, "Then why did my mother give up her hobby of practicing martial arts?"
Hearing these words in Xie Lang's ears, it was like a thunderbolt from the blue sky, and a sudden giant light illuminated him soberly. The puzzlement and confusion in his heart dissipated, Xie Lang felt a little dull in his mind, and kept repeating Xie Sheng's question.
Why
"...Because of me." He had never felt that it would take so much effort to say three words. After he finished speaking, he was completely depressed.
Yeah, because of him.
If it wasn't for him, how could the Zhou family have changed from a girl who was flamboyant on horseback to a woman with a quirky temperament who lives in the house for a long time now, and this earth-shaking change only took a few years.
Xie Sheng couldn't understand his words, but he could feel his emotions.
She was at a loss, but she didn't want to comfort the father. There are some things that children can't understand, and they can't tell one, two or three, but there is always a steel scale in their heart.
She saluted again, took a few steps, and returned unwillingly.
Xie Lang's back was no longer straight, and his posture seemed a little decadent.
This appearance made Xie Sheng a little helpless. She endured it, but still said: "On the eleventh day, the Lin's breakfast stall opened in the east of the city, and my mother will go there." She didn't know why she said this. In a word, it was just intuition that Xie Lang should take a look. Even she could see the changes in her mother, but her father was still immersed in the past, unable to extricate himself from the past, sad in the spring and sad in the autumn, and looking at the sad people.
Before Xie Lang could speak, Xie Sheng walked away.
On the fifteenth day, Xie Lang deliberately took a vacation and rushed to the store in the west of the city early in the morning.
He searched several passers-by to ask for directions, but he never found the Lin Family Market. While walking around the street, he suddenly smelled a rich and rich aroma. He followed the fragrance to find the way, and finally saw the signboard of the Lin Family Market.
This shop is very small, and it doesn't fit the style of the Lin family's rich and powerful at all, so he passed by here at first and didn't pay attention.
Now that I have come around in a circle, the store has already opened its doors to welcome customers.
In the late summer and early autumn, the temperature difference between day and night is large, and there is a faint coolness in the early morning, and the steaming white mist floats out from the market, attracting a large number of diners.
The people who live nearby are ordinary people with spare money. There are merchants who get up early in the morning to catch the boat, there are shopkeepers who are rushing to their own silk and satin shops, and there are some who went home yesterday to see that their parents got sick early this morning. Teachers and other teachers who were rushing out of the city, they passed by here, smelled the aroma, and saw that it was still early, they hesitated to stop in front of the market.
The more and more people gathered, Xiao Er greeted, and the diners took their seats one after another, which gradually became lively.
At this moment, a carriage drove over leisurely and stopped not far away.
The curtain was lifted, and Mr. Zhou, who was dressed in neat cotton clothes, jumped down, turned around and helped Mr. Lin get out of the car, saying nervously, "Be careful."
"I'm very stable." Lin got out of the carriage.
"Then you shouldn't come here. If the younger brother and sister find out, they will definitely be angry."
Lin Shi suddenly shrank back: "Then you have to come here too." She turned to look at Zhou Shi, "You must come too, you should understand my mind."
Speaking of this, Mrs. Zhou said in a hoarse voice, "I just want to see if the flavors I tune up can satisfy the diners." Mrs. Zhou has a good tongue and is pure ancients. Jiang Shuyao has to ask her about every meal she eats. Opinions, the two pondered to correct. She is diligent and not afraid of hardship. She even knows how to knead gluten by herself. She has been busy all day without resting her breath. She has a lot of credit for the store opening so quickly.
"Yeah, the opening day is the most anticipated." Lin and her walked to the back door together, "Watching diners stop for unfamiliar food, taste it with relish, and then leave with satisfaction, I will feel very comfortable in my heart. ."
Zhou shi strongly agreed and rubbed his hands together: "If it's not inappropriate, I really want to try my craft here. My younger brother and sister say I'm very talented."
Lin Shi was helpless and dragged her inside.
Xie Lang stood at the corner, a little dazed.
How long has it been since he has seen such a spirited and rambunctious Zhou? It's been so long, so long that he's about to forget her appearance.
He was standing here when someone hurried by and bumped him on the shoulder.
The man was thin and short. He was knocked back two steps, stared at Xie Lang, and wanted to scold him, but seeing his handsome appearance and dignified bearing, he forcibly held back.
The short man rubbed his shoulders, muttered a few words, and walked to the breakfast stall.
The residents in the neighborhood know each other. As he walks, he greets the diners who are eating breakfast in front of the market: "What are you eating? How does it taste?"
Everyone laughed and laughed, praising the morning meal in the market.
"It's delicious, and I feel comfortable all over."
"It turns out that breakfast can be so delicious, and it won't be annoying to get up early in the future."
"I bought one to take away, took a bite, and folded back to buy a second one. Tell me how it tastes."
"Hey, Lao Ding, is it time to pick up the goods so early today?"
Old Ding nodded, rubbed his arms and said, "Yes." The merchant ship passed through the capital, and his cargo arrived, and he went to the dock for inspection before unloading. He didn't trust other people's eyes, so he went there by himself every time, thinking that the sun was shining on the pier, so he dressed a little thinly, who would have known how cold it was in the early morning.
He glanced at the densely packed food in the market, and finally just said: "If you have something to eat, let's have one."
"Okay." Little Er went in, and after a while, brought out a bowl of soup and a plate of oil cakes, "Hu spicy soup and oil cakes, please use them."
Lao Ding looked in front of him and saw that the so-called Hu spicy soup was a bowl of soup that was a little red and a little brown. The soup is thick and has a strong but not pungent spicy flavor. It is wrapped with various ingredients, such as black fungus, brown-green kelp, translucent mung bean vermicelli, bright yellow tofu skin and gluten, etc. Under the cover of the white mist, it looks particularly attractive.
He had never eaten breakfast of this flavor, he hesitated at the moment, picked up a spoon and scooped a spoonful. The soup is extremely rich, and when you scoop it, a shredded porridge hangs up.
Because the water used to knead the gluten is used to thicken the soup, the color of the soup will appear thick and bright, and when you enter it, the first reaction is that the soup is really thick, so thick, but the taste is still delicate. Then, the sweet aroma of bone broth and the numbness of pepper gradually poured onto the tip of the tongue. With the warm and sticky taste, the rich and numb taste rushed into the mouth. Mum, all the way warm to the stomach.
The gluten is soft and strong, and the soup is full of soup, and there is a light bean flavor when chewing. The fungus is crisp, the kelp is firm, and the vermicelli is elastic. When you chew it, various rich tastes are accompanied by different degrees of hemp fragrance. Although the spicy soup has the word "spicy", it is different from the spicy stimulation of pepper. It is mainly pepper. numb. The pepper tastes delicious, it is warm to drink, and the whole body is stretched all at once.
He snorted and ate, and suddenly someone sat down across from him.
Xie Lang said to Xiao Er, "Follow me with a set like his."
Seeing that he didn't look like a resident here, Lao Ding didn't look at it much, and ate his own.
He picked up the oil pan and pressed it into the Hu spicy soup.
The sticky soup immediately wrapped the oil cake from all sides, and when it was picked up, a thick layer of sticky and bright soup hung on the end of the oil cake. Take a bite into your mouth, the soup is thick, and will not macerate the oil cakes. Thick and mixed, fragrant and numb, very enjoyable.
Xie Lang hadn't seen anyone so careless about food for a long time, and now he had an appetite, and when the second one came up, he immediately took a bite.
Hu spicy soup has a heavy, numb and mellow taste. Various seasonings and herbs such as dried ginger, galangal, pepper, longevity, cinnamon, and shanna are mixed together to form a light or heavy, rich and strange fragrance, and the soup is fragrant. Spicy, mushy and delicate, with an endless aftertaste.
Xie Lang seldom eats heavy food, but Hu Lai Tang would not make him unbearable, just because Hu La Tang was spicy, it wouldn't make one's tongue hurt, but a warm and spicy flavor. Spicy and fresh, fresh and numb, creamy, soft and sticky, you can also chew while drinking, feel the taste of different ingredients and the fragrance they exude, after eating a bowl, you will not hesitate to make another bowl .
This time, Xiao Er was still very quick, and immediately brought Hu spicy soup, Xie Lang didn't pay attention, and couldn't wait to enter...
"Cough cough!" An unfamiliar strong spiciness hit him, he was choked, he covered his face with his sleeves and kept coughing, his throat and tongue hurt.
Lin secretly probed and said to Zhou, "It seems to be very spicy."
Zhou Shi hugged his chest: "Of course, there are three spoons of chili sauce."
Lin Shi saw that he was coughing so badly that he could barely straighten his waist, and Xiao Er was stopped by Zhou Shi and was not allowed to hand over water, so he hesitated: "It seems that the cough is too bad."
"I don't want him to enjoy the delicious food that I have passed through my hands." Zhou Shi gave Lin Shi a look, and Lin Shi immediately understood. If Uncle Xiangyang was here, she would let him cough to death.
In the end, the shopkeeper brought Xie Lang a glass of water, which he hurriedly drank before he stopped coughing.
Old Ding saw that he was coughing so badly, and hesitantly asked, "Are you okay? Does this bowl taste bad?"
But he didn't want a smile on the face of the handsome and gentle man on the opposite side. He lowered his eyes and smiled: "It's okay, it's my wife who is making fun of me." Just like the Zhou family in Mobei who had to coax him to drink strong wine, look at him After choking, he would raise his eyebrows arrogantly and mock the noble gentlemen in the capital for being soft cats.
Thinking of this, the smile on Xie Lang's face faded, the spicy taste in his mouth dissipated, and only bitterness remained.
He understood why Xie Sheng asked him to come and see.
Zhou's appearance has changed, and he has changed back to the cheerful, free-spirited and unrestrained eldest lady of the Zhou family in Mobei, but he is not the Xie Erlang who first came to Mobei and provokes her temptation.
During the seven years of her marriage to the capital, her temperament was distorted and the edges and corners were smoothed out. When she became herself again, the edges and corners were gone, and her friendship with him was also gone.
There was a sharp pain in his heart like a needle, Xie Lang couldn't sit still, and hurriedly left after paying the bill.
"It's weird." Lao Ding saw him go, shook his head, and continued to taste the delicious food in front of him.
The restaurant is full of people coming and going, the hot aroma dispels the tranquility of the morning, and many diners are joking and joking. There should only be infinite joy and comfort here, and there is no room for sadness.