A lot of time has passed since Yan Yuyao hung the beam, and today the kitchen is gradually filled with a vague salty smell, as if something is rotten, Qing Huan was so scared that he thought that there was a small jingle in the kitchen After catching a dead mouse, he cleaned up the whole kitchen, only to find that the stench came from under the window sill.
She took out the tightly covered porcelain plate, and when she opened it, it turned out to be a dead fish. Qing Huan hated it to death, pinching her nose to throw it away, but when Yu Jinnian saw it, she stopped her: "That's mine, mine!"
"What do you do with this dead fish? It stinks." Qing Huan wondered.
Yu Jinnian ran over to touch it, squeezed it, if it wasn't for the smell, he almost forgot that he had marinated the fish, but fortunately the weather is cold these days and the rot is not so bad, otherwise he would have lost a mandarin fish in vain . It was almost noon, and Yu Jinnian didn't want to keep the fish to smoke people anymore. He took the stinky fish and rinsed it by the well, drained the water, and fried it in a pan until golden on both sides.
Then add green onion, ginger and pepper, put in a cup of water and bring to a boil, then add soy sauce, chili pepper, salt and other seasonings, and simmer over medium heat.
When it comes out of the pot, although the smell of fish has been covered up by various sauces, there is still a strange smell that makes people frowned. Light.
Yu Jinnian himself ate with gusto, and after a while he looked up and saw that no one dared to move his chopsticks, so he immediately peeled off a small piece of fish, held it up in front of Ji Hong on a small plate: "Ah..."
Is it a blessing or a curse? A disaster cannot be avoided. Ji Hong held his breath, opened his mouth to cover it, and took a long time to muster up the courage to grind it with his tongue. It was salty, fragrant, and the fish meat was clearly stinky, but the meat was still soft and tender like mud. , It shattered when you sipped it in your mouth, and there was no thorn in the flesh. After swallowing, he breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling a slight spicy and smelly smell, accompanied by a strong aroma of sauce.
It's a novelty.
Because of Ji Hong's food tasting, Qing Huan curiously picked up a piece and tasted it, but she was in a stalemate with the smell before she tasted it. Thanks to Duan Mingzhi, after taking a bite, she said happily: "When I was in the rivers and lakes before, I once I have eaten it a few times in Wei'an Mansion, and the taste is unique and unforgettable. I never thought that the young master's craftsmanship is so good, and compared with the authentic pickled mandarin mandarin fish made by local farmers, it is also worthy of serving on the table!"
Yu Jinnian pouted his tail: "It's still Duan Muzhi who knows the goods!"
After hearing this, Qing Huan still couldn't restrain her resistance to the smell, and put the piece of fish she caught into Duan Ming's bowl instead: "Then eat a few more pieces."
Duan Ming, who was still talking about the fish just now, shut his mouth in an instant, staring blankly at the extra fish in the bowl, as if what was in his bowl was not food, but a delicate flower, and he stared at it for a long time with red ears I didn't watch enough, and was laughed at by Qing Huan several times before I came back to my senses and hurriedly grilled rice.
After dinner, Ji Hong helped Yu Jinnian wash the dishes. Before the two of them dried their hands, Ji Hong held the young man's hand wetly, wanting to take him to the room for a nap. He dodged like a slippery loach, ran away in an instant, and disappeared without a trace.
Qing Huan and Yu Jinnian bumped into each other under the curtain in the front hall, seeing him running out in a hurry, and seeing Ji Hong standing with his hands down in the backyard with a gloomy expression, he couldn't help being surprised.
Yu Jinnian was clutching his chest and running towards the east of the city, turned into Baihua Street, stopped in front of a magnificent foyer, and slipped in quietly.
Pedestrians saw him acting strangely, sneaking around like visiting a kiln, but when they looked up, it was the Spring Breeze Building.
Entering the Chunfeng Deyi Building, Yu Jinnian went straight to a small cubicle on the second floor, opened the door, and there was already an old master goat beard waiting for him inside, seeing him coming in, he put down the teacup, got up and went I gave a gift.
Yu Jinnian stood in shock, and was slapped on the back of the shoulder: "What are you doing standing there, go in!"
He turned around and saw that it was Jiang Bingren, so he walked over tremblingly, and also bowed to the old master. The two sat on opposite sides of the table, and Jiang Bingren moved a low stool to lean against the table.
"You also know that jade carving is a craft, and there are very few people who are willing to pass it on to the outside world. What's more, you are not an apprentice, and it makes no sense to ask someone to teach you the craft." Jiang Bingren said, "This big jade master and My family is a family friend, so I invited you here to give you some advice, and how much you can understand depends entirely on your luck."
Yu Jinnian sat upright reservedly, nodded obediently, took out the treasure he had guarded for several days from his arms, and opened the cotton cloth wrapped outside, revealing a slender piece of seed material inside. After polishing, the color is white with some indescribable bluish yellow, not tender, it looks like impurities.
The big jade master took it up and looked at it carefully, and couldn't help but also frowned and said: "This jade is not good in quality." Appreciating jade is instinctive, and he didn't mean to look down on Yu Jinnian, but he didn't like to beat around the bush, and asked bluntly, "I heard that you want to carve jade for your sweetheart... what do you want to do?"
Yu Jinnian immediately said: "Make a hairpin, bamboo-shaped, with a safety buckle embedded on the head."
"It's unusual to make bamboo for a girl's house." Master Dayu smiled, and didn't notice the delicate expressions of the two young men in front of him, so he took out a few tools and lined them up on the table, briefly He carefully talked about what various utensils are used for, and how to deal with various carved and inlaid buckles.
Jiang Bingren next to him seemed to be scratching his head, and Yu Jinnian was also confused, but he still had enough energy to print every word Master Dayu said in his mind. For the first time, he knew that carving jade was so troublesome. It required drawing to shape, stroke and outline, how to dig out dirt and cover, and how to finely carve and trim it. Yu Jinnian, a layman, was so confused.
Before sunset, Master Dayu left, and Jiang Bingren was too bored to listen to it as early as halfway, so he ran away and went to the kitchen supervisor. It was cloudy and sunny outside the window, and it was raining again today. Although the rain was soft, it was very cold. When it fell on his shoulders, it was like melting ice water. Looking at it, I couldn't see if there was anyone in the cubicle on the second floor. I only saw Master Dayu went out and never came back. I thought that Yu Jinnian might have left long ago, so I stopped looking.
After a while, it was getting late, even the guys in the building had finished their dinner, and the gray sky in winter was dark, Jiang Bingren casually picked up two mouthfuls of vegetables and rice, and picked some food scraps to feed the yard He raised his head against the drizzle, and saw a bean-sized lamp flickering. He stared at him for a moment, and turned to heat a pot of hot plum tea and a plate of tea snacks from the kitchen. Dressed and thumped, he ran up.
Pushing open the door, he saw that the man was still working hard on the table, and the waste paper in his hand was piled up on the floor. He picked up a ball and looked at it. They were all kinds of bamboos, and the paintings were crooked. Jiang Bingren scratched his head, put the hot dried plum tea on the table, and handed him a piece of red bean cake: "Why do you forget to eat and sleep, so you are still wasting paper in our building."
"I'll give you paper money." Yu Jinnian didn't raise his head, and didn't eat the cakes. He just grabbed a fine brush to draw bamboo on the jade. This soft-tip brush is very difficult to control, and it will make a mess if there is too much ink or too little ink , his hands trembled again, and he washed and washed the painting several times before drawing a satisfactory shape, and finally he was willing to put down his pen and ink, and drank a few cups of plum tea to quench his thirst, "I won't come tomorrow, go to Master Dayu's shop, and ask You can use Jieyusha to do it."
Jiang Bingren saw that his face looked like a cat, and it was probably wiped on when picking out broken hair. He woke up after a while, and let out a sound of disappointment that he hadn't noticed: "You won't come?"
"Come in through your front door, and then go out through the back door. Don't let others see me." Yu Jinnian stuffed the shaped jade into Jiang Bingren's arms, and whispered, "Help me put it away, and get it tomorrow."
Jiang Bingren opened the cloth bag and took a look: "Your jade is worthless at all. I don't think that person is short of gold and jade. If you send such a poor one, they might not even look down on them. And the jade I have seen the machine before, step on it and turn it so fast, you are so stupid, your fingers will be turned away. I will give you a good one, if you just send it to him, it will be over... "
He originally wanted to say that the jade machine water stool is not fun at all, it is easy to grind his fingers, but he didn't mean that when he got to his mouth.
"I am willing!" Yu Jinnian glared at him as expected, and said angrily, "I broke my finger, and I even gave it to him! I don't want it from you."
After he finished speaking, he ran downstairs, washed his hands and face roughly, and walked towards the west of the city. Jiang Bingren stood by the window on the second floor, holding a piece of jade, looking at Yu Jinnian's back bouncing away, and muttered: "I didn't say I wouldn't let you do it." ah… "
In the past two days, Yu Jinnian was a little weird, always avoiding Ji Hong, he just thought he was hiding perfectly, but he didn't want Sui Sui to see it, and came to him with an innocent face and asked him if he had a problem with Brother Ji Hong : "Mother said that only those who have made mistakes will hide from others! People who have done nothing wrong are aboveboard!"
Yu Jinnian, who had been taught a lesson by the little girl, didn't repent at all. He went to Chunfeng Deyi Building every day after lunch. It wasn't until the street was quiet that the lanterns in front of each house were lit, and Ji Hong had already gone to bed to rest. When I came back, I kicked off my shoes and clothes on the spot, and got under the quilt.
Ji Hong was awakened by him, and stretched out his arms to hug him, but he was as heavy as a dead pig, and he didn't like to move. I got up to work before dawn the next day, and disappeared without a trace after noon.
It was a rare night when Ji Hong came back after washing his head and face. When he saw the young man coming back, he applied some jasmine-flavored balm on his wrists, covered the quilt and talked softly for a while, trying to please him. When he touched the waistband of his trousers, he heard a steady breathing sound next to his ears—he fell asleep straight away!
It was like this for several days and nights, even Ji Hong couldn't help being suspicious—what kind of hard work does this young man do every afternoon in the Chunfeng Deyi Building? Ji Hong is now in a bowl of noodle restaurant, his thoughts have drifted away, worrying about what kind of bullying Yu Jinnian has suffered outside, for fear that he will eat bitter water and swallow it in his stomach.
Yu Jinnian was indeed swallowing bitterness every afternoon.
The jade machine water stool is really not something people play with. You have to step on it with your feet, and you have to pour jade sand water in your hands. Accidentally when I started, a long and thin scratch was embedded on it. Therefore, it can only be paired with a cup of strong tea to refresh yourself, otherwise, if you make a wrong eye, the thin hosta will be cut off from the middle.
Both his hands were covered with sand and muddy water. Because of rubbing the rough jade surface for a long time, changing the slabs, and wiping off the jade sand, there was mud between his fingers, and his fingers were rubbed red, sore and painful. The wrist is too heavy to step on the pedal of the jade machine.
Ji Hong gave him a genuine gem knife, which was also a precious relic of his mother. He has nothing to repay, and always wants to give him something in return—this thing can't be too big, and it can't be too cheap, otherwise it will be boring, and it won't match Ji Hong's exquisite heirloom machete.
I saw that white jade hairpin in the jewelry store that day, the color was plain but not light, it seemed like it was tailor-made for Ji Hong. Yu Jinnian was overjoyed and wanted to buy it for Ji Hong, but he didn't like the hairpin shape, it was too fancy, so he decided to make one himself.
But Yu Jinnian thought about carving jade too simply, thinking it was the same as wood carving and stone carving, but he didn't expect to use jade sand to grind it little by little, and scrape it inch by inch with a mound machine. Only then did I realize that it was far more difficult than I imagined. But the material has been bought, the embryo has been born, Jiang Bingren owes the boss a favor, no matter what, he can come up with a perfect jade bamboo hairpin.
I just don't know if Ji Hong will like it...
Yu Jinnian has always been open-minded, but at this time he also became anxious. In this kind of anxiety, Yu Jinnian finally completed the last polishing process, and asked Master Dayu to help him insert the safety buckle he made before, and finally put the finished jade hairpin on Rinse carefully in clean water and dry with a soft cloth.
The jade bamboo hairpin is white and bright as a whole, but the thin scratch that was accidentally scratched before can only remain, but it is not obvious from a distance, like a texture of the bamboo itself.
"It's almost, I can barely see it." Master Dayu said with such distaste, "After you go out, don't say it's my job in Jinyufang."
This kind of evaluation is already a compliment to Yu Jinnian, he hastily thanked Master Dayu in a hurry, and also thanked him for being clumsy these days, and warmly pointed out his other masters, and invited the brothers in the workshop to a bowl Noodle shop to eat.
After thanking everyone one by one, I opened the door and said goodbye.
Chunfeng Deyi Building is the tallest place on Baihua Street. It is decorated with carved beams and painted buildings. Every year, every month and evening, there are many nobles and families who come to order reunion dishes. At night, they open their windows to look at the moon, and they can have a panoramic view of the entire east of the city.
Jiang Bingren leaned on the upstairs railing and gnawed on bean buns. He saw the back door of a shop opening and closing from a distance, and a figure came out against the drizzle. He didn't rush to run. He stood under the eaves of the door and looked up with a cheerful expression. sky. Jiang Bingren turned his head to look at the banner of the shop again. It was yellow, yellow and white, with the word "Jade" written on it, and it was so ostentatious. He threw the bean bag on the plate, clapped his hands and turned back into the house, from the kitchen. After begging for the newly baked jade belt cake, I kicked my sleeves and walked out of the shop.
He had a piece of jade belt cake in his mouth, and he was holding a beautiful tung oil umbrella. The umbrella was made of silk yellow oil surface. On it was written a thousand miles of smoke and waves, and the twilight was heavy. Smart and flowing, vivid, even if he knew that it was not the authentic work of Master Qingluan, Jiang Bingren cherished it very much, and rarely used it to fight.
Going out of Baihua Street, turning around Tongzi Lane, Jinyufang is just a few dozen steps ahead. The winter rain is continuous, like a curtain of thin beads falling from the sky, broken on the ground, like big beads falling on a jade plate, he is far away. Watching the young man hiding from the rain under the eaves turn around, he was about to raise his hand to shout, when he suddenly saw the corner of his mouth open, and ran straight in the opposite direction.
Jiang Bingren turned his head to look, it turned out to be a young man in Tsing Yi wearing a smoky cloak, his hands were like jade, his face was like jade, Yu Jinnian got under the man's umbrella in a blink of an eye, looked up earnestly, and spoke in a low voice. That kind of demeanor reminded Jiang Bingren that when he was carving jade, he looked at the jade intently, which was generally pious.
How can he look at jade? It turns out that he is looking at people through jade.
Jiang Bingren looked up at the surface of his umbrella, which said that he was sober tonight, and that the good day was not a good day. He couldn't help but close his eyelids, lowered the umbrella to cover his face, and took a few steps back into Tongzi Alley. He knew clearly that his sweetheart had come to pick him up, but he felt unsatisfied and uncomfortable. Walking in Tongzi Alley, he kicked the stones that touched his toes viciously far away.
Hearing "Ouch", after all, Jiang Bingren is a dude who has just reformed, subconsciously turned his head and wanted to run away, and after taking two steps, he didn't understand what hysteria he was suffering from, so he walked back slowly. I just poked my head in to have a look, and was shocked!
A man lay face down on the ground, motionless, and the stone he kicked just now landed next to the man's ear.
"Are you alive?" Jiang Bingren felt scared, walked over and kicked the opponent with his toes, "Hey-ah!"
Jiang Bingren screamed, and the umbrella in his hand flew away in fright—he was grabbed by the ankle by the man on the ground, and dragged to the ground without any hesitation—he kicked his ankle while crawling outside The hand on the top looked like a poor little bitten by a zombie, and the three souls lost their courage in shock: "I'm sorry for you, I won't kick anymore, you let me go!"
The man raised his head densely, tremblingly said: "Food... eat..."
Jiang Bingren always thought that he was going to eat himself, so scared that he was about to cry, and shouted in a hurry: "Ah! I, I, I own a restaurant. I have whatever chicken, duck and fish you eat. You must not eat me." ... You let me go, and I will make you a table waiting for you when I get back!"
The man grabbed Jiang Bingren with both hands, and his eyes gleamed with joy: "The first class!"
—
The rain stopped before people walked out of Baihua Street. When they walked back to a bowl of noodle restaurant, the sky was already dark, the sky was smudged with red clouds, and the red ground was like a piece of red silk. Ji Hong stood his umbrella under the eaves of the backyard, and he had no food After eating, after cleaning up, the water droplets on my body entered the room.
Yu Jinnian followed closely behind, stepped on his tail, followed in, closed the door, and carefully observed Ji Hong's expression against the wall. Just now when he saw Ji Hong at the gate of Jinyufang, he was pleasantly surprised, happy, sending charcoal in the snow, and an umbrella in the rain He was so slow that he stepped into the noodle shop, only to suddenly realize that his secret had been exposed. After a meeting, he didn't speak, and lowered his head and whispered: "How do you know I'm there? When did you know?"
"It's not too early. Duan Ming is with you today." Sitting at the table, Ji Hong took off his wet coat casually and put on a new dry one, then raised his eyes to scan Glancing at Yu Jinnian, "Are you angry?"
"No." Yu Jinnian pursed his lips, moved a stool to sit in front of him, and said falteringly, "Ah Hong, I'll give you..."
Before he finished speaking, Ji Hong got up and took out the box of hand guards from the small cabinet in front of the bed, and sat back at the table again: "Come here, show me your hands."
Yu Jinnian didn't want to, so he hid far away, shaking his head violently with his hands behind his back, trying to cover up the fact that there is no silver three hundred taels here.
"Refused to come? Then don't move."
Yu Jinnian lowered his eyes guiltyly, but he knew that Ji Hong didn't like to be violent, and he couldn't do anything to him, so he was determined not to reach out. After a while, Ji Hong's fingers climbed to his waist and loosened the belt on his waist. He opened his eyes wide in surprise, watching those jade-white fingers peel off his clothes layer by layer. , he was like a tender egg that had lost its shell, his empty chest was sifted by the cold wind in the window over and over again.
The wind was obviously cold, but Yu Jinnian felt that it was extremely hot, like an ant on a hot pot, twisting his waist and limbs to hide.
Ji Hong stretched out his hand and pulled the last tie on his body again, with a rustle, Yu Jinnian finally couldn't hold back anymore, he stretched out his hand in an instant, hurriedly grabbed the fabric on his crotch, and said with a blushing face, "Don't be serious..."
"Aren't you unwilling to reach out?" Ji Hong laughed.
Laughing so hard that Yu Jinnian's head drooped, he didn't dare to lift it up, he didn't pursue it further, and directly grabbed the boy's hand to look at it. That hand was cold, only a few fingers were hot, all of them were tender and red, revealing powder that could break easily when poked, Ji Hong touched them one by one with his fingertips, and heard him humming softly, his fingertips also She twitched slightly, and there was still unwashed Xie Yusha hidden between her fingers.
Yu Jinnian drew back in fear, Ji Hong didn't hold back, but grabbed the other hand to look at it, it was also red and sensitive, and there was a small wound cut by the jade knife, and he couldn't help curling up when he touched it Get up and hide.
"Don't touch it, it's so uncomfortable..." Yu Jinnian counseled.
"Do it even if you know it's uncomfortable." Ji Hong lightly reprimanded him, while unscrewing the porcelain cover of the hand cream, took out a large piece of creamy yellow ointment and spread it on his hands, spreading it thickly, covering two Both fingertips were covered with oil, almost enough to drip cream, Ji Hong still felt distressed, holding the boy's fingers in both hands, slowly kneading, "Does it hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt." Yu Jinnian frowned, the pain was terribly painful, numb and swollen, but when he remembered that he still had the jade bamboo hairpin that had just been polished in his right sleeve pocket, he felt that it didn't hurt very much.
The two faced each other with four eyes, one with a guilty conscience and the other with distress. After the cream on each other's hands was completely dry, Yu Jinnian shook his sleeves and took out the fruits of these days from inside. Then he took out a hairpin, and he swallowed. Spit, suddenly regretted: "Forget it, you definitely don't like such inferior things."
He got up to run, but was caught by Ji Hong, and Yu Jinnian jumped like a shrimp. Ji Hong couldn't help it, so he had to throw him to the couch with his arms around his waist. During the movement, someone broke the rope that tied the curtain. The bed curtain came down with a sound, covering the bed in darkness.
Ji Hong hugged his arm, and said in a low voice: "Since it was made for me and I didn't even see it, how can I forget it?"
Yu Jinnian was restrained and had nowhere to hide, so he obediently offered up the hairpin.
The white jade is the base, and the bamboo joints are the shape, but the main branch of the hosta is not straight, but has a strange and crooked shallow arc, which should have been missed when the embryo emerged. The jade white is embellished with mottled bluish-yellow and uneven color spots, and there are thin scratches running through it. There is a safety buckle made of unknown material on the top. It is polished and polished very carefully, and the tentacles are smooth and moist. It was stuck in the cuffs for a long time, and it was stained with the body temperature of a teenager.
Jade ornaments of this quality would not even be able to enter the gate of the Ji Mansion under normal circumstances.
Yu Jinnian carefully observed Ji Hong's expression, intending to take it back and throw it out as soon as he saw the slightest bit of boredom, but he hoped that Ji Hong would like it, so he was very conflicted, and said in a low voice: "I know jade material Not good, but I can only afford this kind of seed material now, wait for me later—”
"Of course I like it." Ji Hongdao, and then inserted the jade hairpin on his head.
"Ah." Yu Jinnian was in a daze, half-believing, "Really?"
Ji Hong couldn't help laughing: "I've already put it on, what do you think?"
Yu Jinnian folded his legs, knelt down on the bed obediently, glanced at Ji Hong secretly, then quickly lowered his eyes, rubbing his thickly greased fingers against each other, an itchy and painful feeling went straight to the bottom of his heart, and it was so painful He was so pleased that the corners of his mouth couldn't be closed anymore, and soon it bloomed like a flower, and he buried his head and said quietly: "Well, I like it too..."
"Huh?" Ji Hong said intentionally, "The hairpin is mine, what do you like?"
Yu Jinnian died beautifully, but he didn't realize that he was deliberately joking, so he lowered his head into Ji Hong's arms, and only said one word: "You."
The two fell down hugging each other. It was already dark outside the window and no one disturbed them. Ji Hong hugged a dishonest guy like a chicken cub. He caught him in his arms and threatened him: "So Avoid me for a few days, am I uncomfortable? You have to mess with me."
Yu Jinnian was so ashamed that he hid under the quilt and didn't answer.
Seeing that he was frightened and honest, Ji Hong let go and said, "But seeing that your finger is hurt, let's put it on the account first."
Yu Jinnian peeked out a pair of bright eyes from under the quilt, looked at him blinkingly, and said in disbelief, "My fingers hurt, and the back of my hand, no matter how bad it is, I can still..."
Seeing that he stopped talking halfway, Ji Hong was curious: "What?"
Yu Jinnian went back, like a mole back into a hole, a rabbit into the grass, and an ostrich with its head buried in the sand. After all, he was ashamed, and a faint voice came out from under the quilt: "Nothing, I don't want to be with you said!"
The moon was in the middle of the sky, and the bed curtain finally became quiet. Yu Jinnian jumped down with only a jacket on. Everyone in the left and right yards was asleep. He fetched water from the well and warmed it up in the kitchen before bringing it back. , pulled Ji Hong down to wash together.
After washing, I remembered that I didn't eat at night, so I made a simple noodle soup in the kitchen, added a piece of fermented bean curd, and the two of them ate it one by one, rinsed their mouths, and went to bed.
There is an empty bowl on the table with a teacup, and a hosta on the pillow with a machete.
The wind is clear and the water is rolling, the moon is bright and the clouds are light, the dew under the eaves condenses, the rain on the ground evaporates, and the world is completely silent.
The ink and hair on the pillow are intertwined, the jade arms are entwined, and a sound sleep.