After coming out of the teahouse, the originally sunny sky turned into a strong wind. Mingyu gathered her clothes, clasped her hands together and blew a few breaths of hot air. Finally, she glanced in the direction of the second floor, turned around and walked towards her shop. Dongyuan and Lixiang hurriedly followed.
Mingyu thought, this is good, it will completely put an end to the pink thoughts in her heart. Back in the shop, Mingyu asked Lixiang to get a basin of cold water and washed her face. Under the stimulation of the cold water, Mingyu instantly became much more sober, and she began to measure the shop again with full energy.
With a bit of anger, she thought that there is only one ultimate truth from ancient times to the present, that is, men are absolutely unreliable, so it is better to earn more money and save it for yourself!
The yard next to the Xu family originally had a nice name, Che Garden, which was passed down from the Xu family's ancestors. Later, the Xu family fell into poverty and sold it to someone else. A few days ago, Sima Hong, the Marquis of Anxi, stood at the gate of Che Garden and looked at the garden with a scrutinizing eye.
"Master." Baihao spoke cautiously and pointed next door, "Second grandma's house is next door." If it's not here, it's useless even if you dig a hole in the wall.
Sima Hong said nonchalantly, "I know." His eyes were still fixed on the wall of Che Garden. He looked at the branches of the weeping willows sticking out of the garden and nodded with satisfaction to himself.
“Then what are you doing…” Bai Hao was puzzled.
Sima Hong turned around at this moment, clapped his hands, pointed at Che Garden and said with a smile: "I've seen it, this garden is very good, let's buy it, let's go and find a middleman."
Baihao was dumbfounded. He hadn't even seen the garden yet, and he was in such a hurry to buy it? Subconsciously. Baihao glanced at the Xu Mansion next door, and after a long while, he closed his mouth and hurriedly advised: "Master, we haven't even seen the garden yet. It's too hasty! Besides, they may not be willing to sell it!"
"No hurry, no hurry!" Sima Hong thought to himself that he would be able to live next to Mingyu when he returned to the capital, and maybe he would be able to see her by climbing up the wall. He was excited, but he had to pretend in front of his subordinates. He coughed, patted Baihao's shoulder, and said seriously: "I've seen it, this garden has good feng shui!"
What a P! Baihao beat his chest and stamped his feet, and even wanted to cry. I have seen unreliable people, but I have never seen such an unreliable one. It turns out that in the eyes of Lord Sima, this garden is close to someone, so the feng shui is good.
Early in the morning on the twelfth day of the first lunar month, Mingyu was having breakfast with Madam Xu when she heard Madam Liu calling out from outside the door, "Madam, someone sent something to our house!"
Madam Xu was slightly surprised. She glanced at Mingyu and asked loudly, "Who sent it?"
Mother Liu said, "I don't know, but a tall and strong young man, who spoke very kindly, said that they were new neighbors who moved into Cheyuan next door, and he came to give our family a gift on the orders of his master. He left after leaving this thing." While speaking, Mother Liu's face was full of joy. The tall and strong young man was polite and sweet-mouthed, and she felt very comfortable when he called her "Auntie" all the time.
From what Mama Liu said, it was obvious that the item had already been accepted. At this time, Xu Changqian and Xu Mingye were not at home, and there were only a few female relatives at home, so it was not easy to visit them. Madam Xu had no choice but to ask Mama Liu to bring the item in.
When Mother Liu came in, the thing she was holding attracted Mingyu and Lixiang who were eating. It was an exquisite bird cage, which contained a completely black bird with only its pointed beak and claws being tender yellow.
I don’t know if it’s because it’s cold or because it’s shy, but the bird in the cage looks listless, its two thin claws tightly grasping the horizontal bar under its feet, its head tucked in, and it doesn’t move.
Ming Yu stood up suddenly, frowning with anger on his face, "How could this person be so excessive!"
Mrs. Xu was startled by Mingyu and asked in surprise, "What's wrong with you?"
“This…” Mingyu was anxious and angry. Why didn’t her mother react at all? “That new neighbor is so wicked. He sent a crow to our house!” It’s so unlucky!
Mrs. Xu burst into laughter, tears welling up in her eyes. She hugged Mingyu and sat back down. She tapped Mingyu's forehead and said with a smile, "Silly girl, this is a mynah bird! Oh, this is so funny. You're so grown up, but you can't even tell the difference between a mynah bird and a crow!"
Li Xiang also joined in the fun with a smile, "I heard that crows are black all over, but this flat-haired beast's beak and claws are not black, so it's definitely not a crow!"
The three women were interested in teasing the listless mynah bird in the cage with twigs. Only Mingyu, who was ridiculed by the crowd, sat aside in a sullen manner, and in her heart she gave a warm greeting to the new neighbor who brought the bird.
Mother Liu took some millet and water to feed the bird. At first, the starling refused to move. Its green bean-like eyes rolled around, and it looked very alert.
The charcoal fire in the house was burning vigorously. After a while, the starling seemed to have gotten used to the new environment. With the expectant gazes and encouragement of everyone, it flapped its wings twice, tilted its head and started eating the millet in the cage.
"Hey, I ate it!" Lixiang exclaimed in surprise.
Mother Liu quickly patted Li Xiang and said in a low voice, "Speak softly. This thing is very timid. Don't speak loudly for the next two days. If it gets sick from being scared, it will be gone in two days."
Lixiang and Madam Xu nodded quickly in agreement.
After a short while, several people had already started talking about giving the starling a name and finding a master to trim the starling's tongue so as to teach it to say auspicious words. The discussion was very lively.
Mingyu, who was left out, couldn't sit still anymore and asked with a sullen face, "Don't just play with the bird, think about who gave it to you?" I've seen neighbors giving daily necessities and food to keep in touch, but I've never heard of neighbors giving birds! Besides, moving to a new home during the Chinese New Year, isn't that a bit strange
At this time, the starling took a few bites of millet, and it was obviously full. It seemed to have heard Mingyu's question, and was busy introducing itself. It jumped up and down in the cage and shouted happily at the top of its voice: "Chirp! Mingyu likes Sima Hong!"
In an instant, Mingyu felt as if struck by lightning. She stared at the starling in the cage in disbelief, pointed at it and asked tremblingly, "What did it say?"
Before the others could hear clearly, the mynah bird, like a happy idiot after having eaten its fill, started to shout in the cage: "Mingyu likes Sima Hong! Good luck and happiness!"
Now she understood. After thinking for a while, Mrs. Xu finally realized who Sima Hong was. He was her famous ex-son-in-law. She rolled her eyes and almost fainted. Several people were so scared that they quickly supported her and helped her to a chair.
The mynah bird was still jumping happily in the cage, shouting: "Mingyu likes Sima Hong! Mingyu likes Sima Hong!"
Mingyu was furious upon hearing this. She picked up a chopstick from the table and flew over. It passed through the bars of the cage and barely passed over the starling's head. The starling was so scared that it immediately shut its mouth and chirped twice.
"Madam Liu, what does the man who brought the myna look like?" Mingyu asked Madam Liu while trying to calm Madam Xu down.
Mother Liu recalled and sighed, "I can't remember clearly, he was standing with his back to the light, he was quite handsome, tall and big, and had a sweet mouth..."
Mingyu curled her lips. She dared to bet that it was Sima Hong himself, no doubt about it.
It was not until the evening that Xu Changqian and Xu Mingye, who had gone out to visit their colleagues, came back. The first thing they saw was the mynah bird on the table. After listening to Mrs. Xu's account of the incident, Xu Mingye could not help but glare at Mingyu. It was because this girl was always soft-hearted and could not make sense of things, which was why that tyrant Tianbao took advantage of them.
Mingyu blushed when Xu Mingye glared at her, and lowered her head guiltily, remembering that she still had the jade ruyi given to her by Sima Hong hidden under her pillow. If Xu Mingye knew about it, he would ridicule and attack her. Besides, Mingyu tried to excuse herself, but she didn't know that the fool was so shameless!
The flat-haired animal sent by Sima Hong had a problem: it was very popular with people. When it saw more people gathered around it, it immediately became excited, spread its wings, opened its mouth and started shouting: "Mingyu likes Sima Hong! Good luck and good fortune!"
Before it started to roar a second time, it received a cold gaze from Xu Mingye who was looking at it like a "bird" being killed. The starling immediately stopped roaring, tilted its head and glared at Xu Mingye with its small green eyes, and then acted like a cowardly quail again.
"It's quite fat!" Xu Mingye stared at the starling as if he was looking at a nutritious delicacy, "It's just right for making soup tonight!" After saying that, he opened the door of the cage and reached in to catch the starling. The starling was frightened and screamed, fluttering around in the cage, losing several hairs.
Mingyu hurriedly pushed Xu Mingye away, "Hey, what are you doing!" After pushing Xu Mingye away, she saw that everyone was staring at her. Mingyu smiled awkwardly and said, "This is not... The bird is also quite innocent. How could it know what it is saying!"
Li Xiang quickly agreed, "That's right, this mynah bird is so smart, ordinary mynah birds can't learn such a long sentence!"
Xu Mingye sneered at Mingyu. This little girl should continue to be soft-hearted. Sooner or later, she will get herself into trouble! It's true that the emperor is not anxious to kill the eunuch! Ah, what a broken metaphor, he is not a eunuch!
Xu Changqian, who went to negotiate next door, came back soon. He looked at Mingyu and sighed. The family next door had indeed changed, but there was only an old man guarding the gate in Che Garden. He said that the owner, Marquis Anxi, left early in the morning and set off back to the northwest, so it was too late to find him.
Lying in bed at night, listening to the whistling wind outside the window, Mingyu recalled that when she met Sima Hong a few days ago, he was anxious to explain to her that his aunt had been sent away by him. At that time, his handsome face was a little shy, but his eyes were firm, sincere and moving, belonging to a mature man...
The moonlight reflected on the snow, illuminating the entire room. Mingyu turned to look at the mynah bird on the table. It was sleeping in its cage with its little green eyes closed.
"Mingyu likes Sima Hong!" The cry of the starling during the day echoed in her ears. Mingyu couldn't help but feel hot on her face and pulled the quilt up to cover her face.
Only the devil likes that fool!