After sending Wen Peifeng away, Mrs. Wang went into the room and quickly helped Gu Yin dry her hair—it was to prevent her from going out, so she only asked her to wrap it up first, but now that she knew that she would go out the next day, Don't think so much.
After all, it was not as convenient as having a hair dryer in this world, and there was still no sun in the morning, so Gu Yin's waist-length hair was not dry until almost noon.
At noon, the not-so-hot sun came late, and Gu Yin helped Wang to take out the bedding at home to dry.
The Xu family next door opened the door. Mrs Xu yawned and stretched in the patio.
The three courtyards of the Xu family used to be together, and it was only before the Xu family wanted to rent it out that a man-high earth wall was placed in the middle.
Gu Yin and Mrs Wang were drying the quilt when they saw Mrs Xu's two fat arms sticking out from the wall.
Wang Shi said with a smile: "It's all sunbathing, so you just got up? I heard the reading sound of Qingchuan in your house when it was just dawn. Why are you a mother so much later than your son?"
Xu shi replied from the earth wall: "I rarely get up late to let you meet!"
Afraid that the two would quarrel again, Gu Yin quickly added to the description: "Perhaps my aunt was tired from going to the market to buy New Year's goods yesterday, and the weather this morning was really bad, so it's normal to sleep more."
When Mrs Xu listened to Gu Yin, how comfortable it was, she no longer bothered with Mrs Wang, and yawned: "It's not tiring to go to the market to buy things. It's just that I didn't sleep well at night, and the wild cat scratched the window in the middle of the night. Sewing, woke me up alive, hit the window with my shoe, and drove the stray cat away."
Hearing this, Gu Yin couldn't help but laugh and said, "It's only in the spring that feral cats make a fuss, this winter..."
Speaking of this, Gu Yin stopped the movement in her hand, thinking of the dark shadow she saw at the entrance of the alley when she returned home the day before.
Seeing her stop, Wang asked her what she was thinking.
When Gu Yin finished speaking to her in a low voice, surprises flashed in their eyes at the same time!
…
Before lunch, a particularly attractive scent wafted from the kitchen, pulling Xiao Wu'an out of the house.
"It's so fragrant, so fragrant, what is my sister-in-law doing?" Xiao Wu'an snorted and jumped into the stove.
Gu Yin is stewing elbows.
Her kung fu on the red case is a little bit worse, but stew, a dish that requires mastery of the heat, is similar to porridge, and she does a good job.
The elbow is first set on fire to scald the pig hair, and then the surface is brushed clean to remove the bloody smell. Then spread the soy sauce evenly on the surface of the elbows. When the oil in the pot is 50% hot, add the elbows and fry them until they are 50% hot. When the skin of the elbows is browned, take out. Then heat the oil in the pot again, add sugar to fry the sugar color, and when the sugar syrup in the pot turns into jujube red, add boiling water to stir the sugar syrup, then add the elbows, onion ginger, soy sauce, appropriate amount of salt and star anise and other spices. Bring to a simmer.
Xiao Wu'an came in at this moment, smelling the fragrance and circling around the stove.
Wang Shi was amused, and pulled him back, "Your sister-in-law is stewing elbows, why do you still want to drill into the pot?"
Xiao Wu'an's eyes lit up, and he was pleasantly surprised: "Didn't my mother say that you only eat elbows during the New Year?" Then he counted his days mentally, "Isn't there a month before the New Year?"
Wang Shi and Gu Yin looked at each other and laughed, Gu Yin winked at him, "Let's stew elbows to catch wild cats!"
Xiao Wu'an wanted to ask in detail, and Mrs. Wang covered his mouth, "Don't ask children, just pretend we are celebrating the New Year early!"
An elbow was stewed until after lunch time, and when it came out of the pot, the aroma was so terrible that even Mrs Wang swallowed several times.
Xiao Wu'an was already waiting beside him with his small bowl.
However, after Mr. Wang presented the elbow, he did not bring it to the table, but went straight out of the house with the soup bowl.
Xiao Wu'an looked at Wang's back in disbelief, put down the small bowl and chased out.
The Xu family next door had already smelled the smell. At first, he smelled the more and more intense fragrance. He thought it was specially delivered to his house by the Wang family. He opened the door and said with a smile: "Why are you so polite? "
In the end, Mrs. Wang left without looking back, and she didn't send her elbow to another house, but walked around all the nearby alleys, and the end point was the entrance of the alley where Gu Yin saw the shadow the day before.
After three or five laps, many people could smell the fragrance and stick their heads out from their homes to see that Mrs. Wang felt her elbows were getting cold, so she walked back with the soup bowl.
Xu Shi was still standing at the gate of his house, and when he heard the words, he said: "Isn't it just stewing an elbow? Who doesn't eat meat in their old age, is that so? I'm afraid others won't know?"
Just as Mr. Wang was about to elaborate, he couldn't think of it, the "little kitten" might be nearby.
So she curled her lips and said, "That's it? There's no rule that you can't bring out the cooked food for everyone to smell?"
The two were about to quarrel again, Gu Yin quickly came out of the house and explained, "This is my new stew, I don't know how it tastes, let my mother bring it out for everyone to taste, if you smell it With the incense, you can do it with confidence next time."
"So that's what happened." Xu believed in Gu Yin's statement that he was testing the new product, and stopped looking at Wang's, only smiled: "This smell is really fragrant, the color looks good, and if you think about it, it doesn't taste good. It's going to be bad!"
"Thank you for your compliment, I will come back and share some for you to taste."
As she spoke, Gu Yin pulled the Wang family back to the house.
The skin of the elbow was already warm at this time, and when Mr. Wang poked it with chopsticks, the charred skin of the elbow trembled and disintegrated, revealing the red lean meat inside.
Gu Yin divided the elbow into three parts, the most of which was reserved for her family, a small part was sent to the next door, and the other part was poured into the hot soup in the pot and placed on the windowsill of the kitchen room next to the open space in the backyard. On the top, an endless stream of fragrances are sent outside the house.
Xiao Wu'an had been waiting to eat for a long time. The skin of the elbow was fat but not greasy, and it melted in the mouth. The lean meat in it did not burn out after being dipped in the soup.
Wang Shi and Wu An ate two sesame cakes in a row, and then stopped their chopsticks with hiccups.
After sending Xiao Wuan to the kitchen to wash his own small dishes, Mrs. Wang asked Gu Yin in a low voice, "The smell must have drifted out. If the child is nearby, he will definitely smell it. It's just that he was still looking for it yesterday. Going to the next door, your Aunt Xu didn't open the door for him, would he think he found the wrong place and left again? And you know this part of our house, the terrain is very complicated, and anyone who doesn't know the way needs to I was dizzy. Do you think he can still recognize the way today?"
Naturally, Gu Yin couldn't guarantee this, she only said, "Let's wait. It's all taken from the pier. He probably hasn't eaten enough in the past few days. He smells this fragrance today. As long as people are still there, he's sure It's unstoppable."
Both the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law were talking with their throats pressed down. The room was quiet, and they heard a crisp sound, not the sound of things being smashed, but the sound of china being knocked over.
"Wu An, what's the matter with you? Can you touch the bowl after washing a small bowl?"
Wu An walked out of the same stove room as the main room with wet hands, "No! My small bowl has been washed a long time ago."
"Isn't that who you are?" Wang Shi wanted to ask again, Gu Yin put her finger up to her lips and made a silent gesture.
The three of them entered the kitchen lightly, and saw that the small bowl placed on the windowsill of the kitchen room had been knocked over.
The soup spilled on the windowsill, and there was less meat in the bowl.
The three of them looked at the nose, nose and heart, and their breathing became lighter.
After another long silence, a little black hand stretched out.
Wang Shi rushed over and grabbed the little hand straight.
The other party didn't expect to be caught, and he started struggling hard after being frightened.
However, this strength is naturally nothing in Wang's eyes, but for fear of hurting him, she can only save her strength.
Gu Yin immediately opened the back door and went out.
Sure enough, the child on the pier was hanging on the window sill of his house at this time - he was still wearing that dark cloak, one arm was grabbed, his two little feet were laboriously on tiptoe, and he was writhing his body violently. .
But when he saw Gu Yin, he recognized her, and he didn't struggle any more, he just snorted anxiously, as if to ask Gu Yin to find a way to let him go.
Gu Yin quickly stepped forward and picked him up.
The little guy still had a chill on his body, and his bones were so light that he seemed to have no weight. He was really like a cat when he hugged him.
Seeing that she was hugging the child, Wang Shi was afraid that she would not be able to hold the child if she struggled, so she quickly let her carry the child into the house.
"Finally caught!" Wang Shi smiled and let out a long breath.
The child hasn't appeared since he was shocked that day, and the weather became colder and colder one day later, and Guan Zhaotou couldn't find him. Both Wang Shi and Gu Yin had already made the worst guess. Unexpectedly, after going around, he actually appeared near Jinyi Lane again.
"This little brat doesn't seem to be thinner than before?" Wang Shi said, and reached out to take him from Gu Yin's hand.
The child shrunk into Gu Yin's arms at once, with a pair of small dark eyes full of alertness, his eyes had drifted towards the back door, as if he was thinking about how to grab the door and escape.
"Why is this little white-eyed wolf only familiar with you, do I feed him less?" Wang pouted in disgust, but still took a half step back and didn't touch him again.
"Maybe he likes to eat what I make, so he treats me differently." Gu Yin hugged him, afraid of scaring him away again, and said in a soft voice, "Are you still hungry?"
The child put away his gaze towards the back door and nodded honestly.
Wang went to put away the small bowl that was knocked over on the windowsill, poured a spoonful of hot soup from the pot, and took another sesame seed cake.
Gu Yin carried the child to the table in the main room, and asked Xiao Wuan to help twist the cloth and come over to wipe the child's hands.
The child obediently allowed Gu Yin to wipe his hands, and then threw himself on the table and ate.
"Slow down, no one is robbing you!" Mrs. Wang took a step away from the child, and when she saw him being ruthless, she said helplessly to Gu Yin: "Thank you for being at home today, otherwise I would really control it. I can't live with this cat. It's been really cold these two days, and I don't know how he survived until now."
Of course, Wang can definitely catch him with brute force, but it was not easy to catch him without hurting him. 's work.
Gu Yin pouted at Xiao Wu Annu and asked him to help him pour a bowl of water, then fed the child to drink, then smiled and said: "Mother, don't say that, he flashed before my eyes yesterday, I He didn't react at the time. It's up to you to catch him."
When they were talking, Xiao Wuan saw that the child had eaten the elbows in the small bowl and was already eating the dishes on the table, and said, "Mother, I think I can eat another sesame cake."
Mr. Wang said you were eating farts!
"You just ate two big biscuits like me, can't you eat any more?!"
Xiao Wu'an lowered his head embarrassedly, "But I did the dishes just now, so I'm not that full anymore."
He is not usually so greedy, but he has a big elbow! Something I can't eat once a year, and what my sister-in-law cooks is so delicious, it seems to be the most delicious meal he has eaten since he was born!
Wang squatted down and touched his stomach. This is a method parents use to determine whether their child has accumulated food.
Xiao Wu'an tried to suck on his stomach, but his stomach was still bulging.
"Your belly is swollen like a ball, is your mouth full of Hu Qin for stuttering?"
"Mother, I beg you!" Xiao Wu'an has always been sensible, but after all, he is still a child under six years old, so he took Wang's hand and whispered, "Mother, my good mother, let me eat some more. "
When Gu Yin saw it, she followed suit to touch the child's belly. Sure enough, his stomach was hard.
She hurriedly held down his two little hands and forbid him to eat any more.
The child looked at her blankly, then turned to look at Xiao Wu'an who was still crooked, and tentatively looked at Gu Yin and said, "Mother, I'll eat!"
This kid can actually talk! Both Wang Shi and Xiao Wu'an became quiet.
Gu Yin was also taken aback and asked him, "Do you want to eat again?"
He refused to speak, only nodded heavily.
Gu Yin is not as experienced and sophisticated as Wang, so she did not agree at once, and told Wang the hardness of his stomach.
Wang shi said: "It sounds like he is full, feed him some more water."
Gu Yin fed the child half a bowl of hot water according to Wang's words, and sure enough, he didn't bother to eat anymore.
After that, it was time to clean up and wash the child.
Fortunately, when Mr. Wang boiled the bath water for Gu Yin in the morning, he had chopped up enough firewood and brushed the wooden bucket, so he only needed to boil another pot of hot water and pour it into it, and it didn't take a lot of trouble.
The room was warm, and after eating, he tightly squeezed the hem of Gu Yin's clothes with one hand, while staring at him and dozing off.
It wasn't until Gu Yin gently took off his clothes and put them in the hot water that he suddenly opened his eyes.
"It's alright, just take a shower, it will be more comfortable to sleep after washing." Gu Yin put his two small hands on the tub, then stretched out one hand to support the back of his hand, while the other hand scooped up hot water fell on his small body. Feeling the comfort of the hot water, the child didn't struggle any more, and obediently grabbed the tub and let her wash.
Standing a step away from the tub, Mrs Wang looked at the protruding bones behind him with red eyes, turned around and wiped his eyes, "Fu Da Ming's big child, I don't know why he came here for more than half a month. ."
This was also Gu Yin's curiosity, so she helped to ask.
The child seemed to be unable to understand human words, and did not respond, but splashed with two short legs.
Gu Yin and Wang Shi looked at each other and could only shake their heads helplessly.
Later, Mrs. Wang handed Gu Yin a loofah, and Gu Yin took the loofah and carefully washed the child from head to toe.
Wang Shi saw that her forehead was sweating, and she reached out to help, but it was the same as before, the child would hide when she saw her.
She had no choice but to back away.
"It's alright, my mother is here to talk to me." Gu Yin raised her arm and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
Wang Shi sighed, twisted the cloth and handed it to Gu Yin, asking her to wipe the child's face, "This child can't speak, and we don't know how he's been doing these days or how he found this piece."
This time, he didn't expect the child to answer, but he suddenly made a "squeak" and stretched out his hand to make a gesture of reining the reins.
Well, now I know, it came with a carriage.
After taking a bath for almost half an hour, I finally washed the little cub out of the mud nest back to its original appearance.
Mrs. Wang took out Xiao Wu'an's clothes. He was wearing wide and big ones, and it was strange to feel the small clothes and pants on his body.
Wang shi looked at his appearance carefully, and couldn't help but praise: "This small appearance is really Zhou Zheng!"
Gu Yin looked at it too. The child had big eyes and a high nose. Although his skin was dark, his eyes were brighter. There is also a black mole under his eye, which is very delicate, but he has frostbite on his face, hands, and feet, and if he looks closely, he will only feel distressed.
Wang Shi took out the frostbite cream she had bought for Gu Yin before, and asked her to apply the frostbite on the child's hands and feet.
The child curiously watched Gu Yin give him the medicine, smelled the cool and cool smell and even wanted to lick it, but only after asking Gu Yin to hold it down did he become honest.
After a while, he became sleepy again and couldn't open his eyes, so Gu Yin tucked him into the bed. As soon as he touched the pillow, the little guy started to snort.
"Sleep when you're full, it's really no different from a kitten." Mrs Wang joked softly, then opened the low bedside cabinet and took out some money, "He can't leave you, you're right here. Watch. I'll get a doctor for him to come and see."
Although the little guy can eat and sleep, after wandering outside alone for so long, he still needs to see a doctor to feel at ease.
After the notification, Mrs. Wang went out.
She was familiar with the way to the hospital, and within two quarters of an hour, the doctor was invited over.
The old doctor still remembered Wang's, and when he entered the room, he said strangely: "Didn't your family take the last tonic for a month? Logically, your daughter-in-law should be completely healthy. It's still the same as last time. Same, arguing with someone and making them dizzy?"
After entering the house, the old doctor knew that he was checking the pulse of the child.
After checking the pulse, the old doctor's face was solemn, and Gu Yin and Wang Shi couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
After a long while, he said: "The frostbite on his body is not a big problem. I think you have already given him medicine, and the medicine looks good. As for the other side... He was starving before, and his foundation was broken. And it has to be taken care of!" After speaking, he touched the child's hands and feet again, and looked at his teeth, the little guy suddenly woke up, saw Gu Yin beside him in a daze, and closed his eyes again.
"Looking at the bones and teeth, this child is four years old, but he looks only two or three years old. It's not easy to take medicine at this age, so I can only take care of it slowly... This child shouldn't be from your family, right?" But the doctor went on and said apologetically, "It's the old man who talks too much. Your family is naturally not someone who will do bad things. Otherwise, you wouldn't have given him such a good ointment, and you wouldn't have to spend money to invite me here. Shidao, alas... If you meet him, it's fate, so treat him well. I won't publicize what happened today, you can rest assured."
Wang Shi knew that this old doctor had an excellent reputation, so he specially invited him. At this time, listening to his personal assurance, his heart became more and more settled.
Wang sent the old doctor out, but the other party refused to accept the money. In the end, at Wang's insistence, he only received half of the consultation fee. Meals, can no longer endure hunger.
…
That night, in the Mochizuki Tower, Shopkeeper Zhou was the one who stayed the last.
Everything was silent, and the shopkeeper Zhou went to the back kitchen and went to the back alley with the food that he had specially left behind and warmed on the stove.
There is a small shack in the back alley that is used to store sundries every day, and in the hidden corner of the shack is a simple shack built by shopkeeper Zhou with a blanket.
But at this time, the nest was empty. Shopkeeper Zhou stretched out his hand to touch it again, but there was no temperature on the blanket. It was obvious that no one had slept in a long time, not like before, the other party hid when he saw him approaching.
He frantically walked around in circles, but in the end he found nothing.
Just as Shopkeeper Zhou was about to give up, a soft sound suddenly came from behind him.
He turned his head in surprise, and when he saw that behind him was Chef Zhao holding his hands, his face turned cold again.
"What are you doing here so late?"
Chef Zhao raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "I just wanted to ask the shopkeeper. These half-months are always kept until the latest. Could it be that there is some hidden secret?"
Shopkeeper Zhou knew that the other party wanted to find fault for a long time, so he ignored his provocative attitude and asked calmly: "What secret can I have?"
Chef Zhao naturally didn't know the reason, his eyes fell on the bowl in the hands of the shopkeeper Zhou, "Is the shopkeeper feeding the wild cats and dogs with the things in our restaurant?"
"This is my own meal, not from the restaurant. If you don't believe it, you can count the things in the back kitchen... I don't see you as thoughtful when I usually do things. Obviously, my mind is not on the right path." After speaking, Shopkeeper Zhou He didn't look at him again, put the bowl in his hand in the corner of the shack, and left.
Chef Zhao followed step by step to the shack, and carefully rummaged through the corners, but found nothing.
He braved the cold wind to hide for a long time, but he didn't catch Shopkeeper Zhou's little braid, and he was teased by the other party again, and he was full of evil fire.
But the other party is still the shopkeeper of Wangyuelou, and he himself is only the chef of the other party, so he can't make it happen.
When the back of Shopkeeper Zhou disappeared in the back alley, Chef Zhao spat heavily on the ground, gritted his back molars and said, "Sooner or later, I'll let you go!"