The old lady in the kitchen started to set up the meal. Lin Shi couldn't wait for her daughter to come in for a long time. She walked to the door of the main room curiously, and saw her daughter standing under the peach tree in the courtyard with her small head raised, wearing a pink robe with a comb on the top of her head. The two buns were staring at the branches of peach blossoms without blinking, like a statue of a girl, naive.
"An'an, eat, and look at the flowers after dinner." Lin called out with a smile.
Song Jianing's neck was almost sore. Finally, when her mother took the bait, she rubbed her neck with satisfaction and ran to her happily: "Mother, my sister said that the peach blossoms on Peach Blossom Island are all blooming, and they are very beautiful, you take me there too. Bar?"
Since ancient times, there have been many disputes in front of widows. After her husband passed away, Lin was not in the mood to play, and secondly, because she was worried about provoking gossip, she had been living in the back house and rarely went out throughout the year. At this time, her daughter was acting like a spoiled child. Her first reaction was helplessness. She touched the top of her daughter's head and said, "The second uncle's family went to enjoy the flowers and told you to go but you didn't go. Do you regret it now?"
Song Jianing pouted, hugged her mother and muttered, "I want to be with my mother, will my mother take me there? I haven't gone out for a long time."
Lin Shi was stunned when he heard the words. The daughter is lively and active, and she has been suffocating for three years of filial piety for her husband. As soon as she is filial, she follows her niece every day. After the first month's daughter had nightmares for several nights, the little girl stopped moving and stayed by her side every day.
"An'an tells the truth to her mother, have you quarreled with your sister?" Taking her daughter into the house, Mrs. Lin took her seat and asked while holding her daughter's shoulder.
Song Jianing shook his head blankly: "No, why is my mother asking that?"
The daughter's expression didn't seem to be fake, and Lin was even more confused, and asked suspiciously, "Then why don't you go to her to play?"
Song Jianing had already made up her mind to distance herself from the second uncle's family, and had been waiting for an opportunity to remind her mother of the unbearableness of the second uncle's family. At this moment, she lowered her head, clasped her little hand and muttered: "Sister doesn't like me, so I went to her that day, I heard the second aunt persuade my sister not to bully me. My sister was unhappy, and the second aunt said, saying that our family is rich and my sister is good to me, so the mother is willing to give the second aunt money, and she also said that when our family’s money is used up, my sister can do it. bullied me."
Lin's face changed suddenly, her daughter was only ten years old, she only knew how to eat, drink, play and sleep, so she definitely wouldn't lie, that younger brother and sister...
"Mother, the second aunt asked my sister to bully me, doesn't she like me either?" Song Jianing raised her head and asked with red eyes. She was really aggrieved, aggrieved by the harsh treatment of her uncle and aunt in her previous life.
The daughter was ignorant and pitiful, and Lin's eyes suddenly turned red, and she suddenly felt very guilty. She always felt that her life was hard. Her parents who were like jewels passed away in old age, and her brother who used to be a brother and sister was soft-hearted, because her sister-in-law gradually alienated her and married Jiangnan. The love life has not passed for a few years, and her husband is also unfortunate. passed away. In the past three years, she has been immersed in misery all day long, but she has forgotten that her daughter is even more miserable than her. She lost her father at a young age. The aunt and cousin whom she really likes seem to be kind, but they have hidden scheming.
"How could it be, we An An are the most obedient and sensible, and everyone likes An An." Holding back her tears, Mrs Lin kissed her daughter's forehead and said softly.
Song Jianing's bean-sized tears fell down, it's so nice to have a mother, and it feels so good to be coaxed by her mother.
The daughter cried when she cried, Lin panicked, knowing that her daughter wanted to see the peach blossoms, she immediately coaxed: "An'an doesn't cry, mother promised to take you out to play, if your eyes are swollen from crying, we will Can't go out."
Song Jianing suddenly burst into laughter.
Lin Shi also smiled, and wiped her daughter's face in person, reapplied the face cream, and then led her daughter to dinner.
The breakfast is very simple. The mother and the wife each have a bowl of three prawn noodles, and a plate of four meat-filled soup buns are placed in the middle. This is a childhood taste that Song Jianing deeply misses. Just smelling the aroma of the rice makes his saliva salivate. He immediately sat down on the round mahogany bench, picked up a soup bag, dipped it in vinegar, and ate it happily.
After eating a soup dumpling, Song Jianing began to eat noodles, eating two bites of noodles and then eating a shrimp, meat and vegetables, with relish.
Lin's appetite has not been good for the past three years, but today I don't know if she was infected by her daughter's feasting attitude, or she just figured it out and decided to take good care of her body and take good care of her daughter for a lifetime. When I came up, I usually only eat a few mouthfuls of noodles. I ate all of them this morning, and I also took a soup bag.
Song Jianing was overjoyed when she saw it. She picked up the last soup bag to honor her mother: "Mother eat another one."
Lin shook his head and smiled: "An'an eat, mother is full."
Song Jianing glanced at her mother's slender waist, misunderstood that her mother was afraid of eating too much meat, so she ate it herself.
After dinner, Mrs. Lin asked the maid to inform the driver to prepare the mule cart. She went back to the inner room to change her clothes. She changed the spring shirt embroidered with orchids on her body into a plain bean-green robe with a white skirt underneath. It was simple and elegant. Dress up unassumingly on the street. After the clothes were changed, Mrs. Lin changed the hosta on her head with a wooden one. The only thing that could not be replaced was a beautiful face that was fair and beautiful.
Looking at herself in the mirror, Lin Shi suddenly felt a hint of sadness. The peach blossoms were blooming and someone rewarded her. She was beautiful, but the husband who liked to admire her was long gone.
"Madam." The maid Qiuyue came over with a white hat and called softly.
Lin Shi returned to his senses and smiled lightly.
After getting dressed up, Mrs. Lin took her daughter's chubby hand and walked out with Qiuyue. She walked out of the gate of the big house and ran into Mrs. Hu who was in a hurry. Because of her daughter's words, Lin's heart no longer likes this sister-in-law, but she has to maintain the surface courtesy, so she temporarily took off the hood and asked Hu politely: "Brother and sister are in a hurry, what happened?"
Hu Shi looked at Song Jianing's wife without a trace, and said with a dry smile, "It's alright, I heard you're going out, I'll come and take a look."
Lin looked down at her daughter and smiled lightly: "An An wants to see Peach Blossoms. I think the weather is good, so I will take her to visit Peach Blossom Island."
Hu Shi secretly rejoiced, but said: "It's time to go and see, my sister-in-law is stuffy in the house every day, going out to get some air is good for your health. Then you can go quickly, there are not many people boarding the ship at the pier at this time. , I'll have to squeeze in later." He said, giving up his place diligently.
Lin nodded and led her daughter away.
Hu shi smiled and sent her mother to the door, watching her mule cart turn a corner with her own eyes, she immediately called her daughter and returned to her mother's house in the name of visiting relatives. The two counties are adjacent to each other, but Mr. Lin walked slowly on a mule cart, and his younger brother chased after him on a donkey. Maybe he could reach the edge of Taihu Lake in front of Mr. Lin.
~
The mule cart walked steadily and slowly, but Lin's spring tour with her daughter was for relaxation, so she was not in a hurry.
The spring in the south of the Yangtze River is good, and there are also scenic views on both sides of an ordinary official road. The sparkling paddy fields, the green willows swaying in the wind, and often three or two peach trees and plum trees come into view, accompanied by crisp and pleasant sounds. The birds are chirping, quiet and serene, like a meaningful picture of the south of the Yangtze River.
"Mother, look at the sky!" Song Jianing was lying by the window watching the view, and suddenly called her mother excitedly.
Lin shi leaned over, raised his head, and saw a group of geese walking all the way north.
Touching the scene, Lin suddenly thought of home in the capital. When her husband died, her brother came to offer condolences and asked her quietly if she wanted to remarry. Lin Shi didn't want to, and she didn't want to affect the relationship between her brother and sister-in-law. If she really wanted to remarry, she would have to go back to her parents' home first, but her sister-in-law didn't like her, and she would definitely speak coldly and sarcastically when they met.
Touching her daughter's head, Mrs Lin sat upright again.
After walking for half an hour, the mule cart finally came to the edge of Taihu Lake. The clear sky was thousands of miles away. The nearest island was Peach Blossom Island. Every spring day, the peach blossoms on the island are like a rosy glow, which is quite famous locally. When it comes to the flowering season, people from far and near, wealthy businessmen, and officials will choose a sunny day to visit the island and enjoy the flowers.
The girls came early, and there was no one on the shore. There were three boats on the lake. One awning boat had already set off, the other awning boat was parked on the side, and the other was a simple boat that ordinary people who were nervous would like to ride on. . Lin's dowry is rich, and she has plenty of money. After getting off the bus, the maid Qiuyue went directly to the Wu Peng boat to ask for the price.
"Five cents for chartered boats, and fifty cents per person if ten people are full before the boat is dispatched," the boatman said in the local language.
Qiuyue directly took out a five-coin silver chip and handed it to the boatman: "My wife has chartered the boat."
The boatman smiled and said ok, put away the money, and set up the boat diligently.
Lin clenched her daughter's little hand tightly, and the two of them boarded the boat together.
The three master and servant were seated, and the boatman was about to set off when two hurried hooves suddenly came from the shore, and someone shouted loudly, "Wait!"
The voice was full of energy, the boatman raised his head, and two black-headed horses were already in front of him. The leader was wearing a gray robe, with thick eyebrows and big eyes. Seeing that he was not punting, the man with thick eyebrows slowed down and let the people behind him line up in front of him.
The boatman looked over and was stunned. The one who was replaced, in his early thirties, wore a black round-neck robe, with a white jade pendant hanging around his waist, which shone alluringly in the sun. At first glance, he looked like he was from a big family. Looking at this man's face again, his eyebrows are like green peaks and his eyes are like cold stars, and his face is cold, more majestic than a general on the stage.
Seeing that, he didn't pay attention to when the other party got off the horse. When the boatman reacted, the cold-faced man had already strode onto the boat.
The boatman was embarrassed. Just as he was about to explain that the boat had been wrapped by someone, the man behind him suddenly dropped something. The boatman caught it instinctively and looked down, the good guy was actually a small ingot. The boatman grinned and kicked Yuanbao into his arms. He didn't move. He listened to the movement inside the boat. If the three women didn't make trouble, he would punt the boat silently and earn two cents.
Qiuyue looked angry and asked the master with her eyes. As long as the lady gave an order, she immediately went to the boatman to make a theory.
Lin's hat was on, and he quickly glanced at the two of them through the veil, and shook his head at Qiuyue imperceptibly.
Qiuyue also saw that the two new men were not easy to mess with, so she lowered her head sensible and didn't look at it, so as not to cause trouble.
On the other side of Lin's, Song Jianing retracted her gaze when she wanted to take a look, but for some reason, the more she looked at the man in black, the more familiar she became. Haven't seen this person anywhere. As a result, she was so engrossed in it that the man in black suddenly looked at her, his eyes sharp like a knife.
Song Jianing panicked, and hurriedly ducked back, and then in the brief moment when he met the man's eyes, Song Jianing suddenly remembered. She had never seen this black-clothed man, but she had spent seven years with a son of an aristocratic family who looked exactly like him.
Guo Xiao.