Cui Xie rubbed his eyes, rubbed them again, and his eyes were still bright red. The fabric was woven with one of the patterns that he picked out by himself that day. The silk satin as smooth as water was woven with golden flowers, and the sun was shining brightly outside the car.
This is not a dream, nor is he confused, Xie Qianhu came out wearing the clothes he asked people to make.
Cui Xie put his hand on the door frame, looked at his clothes again, and then remembered to get out of the car. But Xie Qianhu was standing outside the car door at this time, and he was very close. If he wanted to go out like this, he was afraid of hitting someone, so he raised a hand and arched it, looked up at Xie Ying, and said, "Brother Xie, I'm going down."
When he looked up, he saw Xie Ying's face facing him, the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, his eyes were gentle, and he didn't have the sharpness he saw in his dream. But he still lowered his eyes subconsciously to avoid that gaze, lowered his head and prepared to get out of the car.
Xie Ying gave him room to jump out of the car, but instead took a step back into the car and reached out to touch his forehead.
Cui Xie involuntarily shrank his neck, raised his hand, and hurriedly called out "Brother Xie—"
Before he finished speaking, the hand fell on the brim of his hat, straightened the hat for him, and then retracted it. Xie Ying looked at the part above his eyes, smiled with satisfaction, and said, "The hat is about to fall off, so help you get straight. Don't be in a hurry, just straighten your clothes inside first. I'll ask someone to bring a footstool and step on it. Just get down."
Cui Xie's face turned a little red, and he realized that Xie Qianhu was afraid that his clothes would be messed up, which would make people look ashamed, and everything else was made up by himself. He bowed his head embarrassedly to organize his clothes, Xie Qianhu gave way to the back, and asked Zhuang Hu to take a low stool and put it behind the car. After finishing his clothes, he grabbed the door frame with one hand and stepped out of the car.
The stool was a little high, he jumped from it, and the trailing hem spread out in the air. The lantern pattern of woven gold thread on the skirt reflects the sunlight, and the splendor flows, reflecting the light green clothes like a piece of beautiful jade in the sunlight.
Xie Ying suddenly remembered that when he first saw him, he also got out of a carriage, wearing shiny satin clothes - I can't remember what he was wearing at the time, but he remembered that his cheeks were as red as rouge, and his eyes were raised. When looking at people, it was so bright that it seemed like a flame was dancing in it.
Later, when we met again, he changed to wear plain and ordinary scholar uniforms, and his expression became much more restrained. But these two meetings, because he wore his clothes, the brilliance of the brocade suits his bright complexion, and his eyes are bright and scorching, as if he has returned to the dazzling little boy that he first met.
Being browned by jade... Is that the kind of person you said
Memory and reality overlapped in front of him, Xie Ying couldn't help but stretch out his hand to support him, sighing, "I've grown taller."
Cui Xie loves listening to this now, and suddenly his head is no longer dizzy, and his waist is no longer sore. He quietly straightens his back, tiptoes, and says casually, "Brother Xie really thinks so? I didn't pay much attention to it. , You are practicing swordsmanship at home these days, stretching your muscles and bones."
Xie Ying said in surprise: "You know how to use swordsmanship? I only know that you can ride a horse. Who did you learn swordsmanship from?"
He said unreservedly: "It was also during Qian'an that the commander of the right guard in Mengxingtun, Mr. Wang, asked people to give advice. At that time, he also learned the gun stick and the Pu Dao, but it was not convenient for those elders to practice in Beijing. When I got home, I only practiced swordsmanship."
Xie Ying looked at his figure and pondered: "That kind of swordsmanship in the military is not very powerful when used alone... I'll take a look at your frame later, and if there's something inappropriate, I'll give you some advice. , it will save you practicing for a long time in vain, but when you use it, you are not as good as others."
Cui Xie said in surprise: "Brother Xie asked me to come here to teach me about my martial arts? Thank you very much. I didn't practice much during the Congkuai County exam. I'm worried about forgetting something."
Xie Ying smiled: "It's not in a hurry, go and sit first, and I'll take you to see something later."
This mansion on his Zhuangzi is also a hall with five rooms and seven frames. The roof has a ridge tile beast, and the beams and eaves and rafters are painted green. Now that the owner has been away for a long time, the color is a little old, but this dull green gives a sense of ancient seclusion. The furnishings in the house are also simple, nothing more than a few tables and chairs, a few ancient vases, flower goblets, and a snow-white gardenia.
There was a small red lacquer box on the table of the Eight Immortals in the main hall. Xie Ying picked it up with one hand, put it into Cui Xie's arms, and said with a smile, "It's not a valuable thing for you to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, it's just for you in season. little things."
Cui Xie hurriedly held it up and weighed it in his hands. The weight was extremely light, and there was a strange, slightly trembling feel in his hand, not like any valuables made of gold and silver. The Dragon Boat Festival's boxing ceremony is nothing more than multicolored threads, Pulong and Aihu, small zongzi strings wrapped in threads, and five poisons with gold and silver.
A khaki-colored head with a triangular-shaped front suddenly protruded from the box. Cui Xie's heart jumped twice, and the strength in his hands was out of control, and he almost crushed the box. But looking closely, it was not a snake head that stuck out, but a large gecko with a long palm, shaking its head and waving its tail, raising its legs and slowly crawling forward.
"Gecko? It's quite big, where did you get it?"
Cui Xie was full of surprises, but remembering that the gecko is easy to break its tail to survive when someone touches it, so he didn't dare to touch it, and just held the box to look at it. They used to have this in their house when they were in Qian'an, but they never saw it in Cui's house because there were many servants and the house was cleaned.
Xie Ying said: "I asked someone to find it. I think this little thing is more useful than hanging a tiger in the room, and it will keep all mosquitoes and flies clean. You don't need to feed it when you bring it back, just open the lid of the box. Throw it on the table and it burrows out and eats the bugs."
He told Cui Xie to close the lid of the box, cover the big gecko that just wanted to crawl out, and took out a handful of colorful threads tied with ribbons from his sleeves, and said, "Bring you something to ward off evil spirits. Although it's early. I don't have a chance to see you on the Dragon Boat Festival, so I'll tie it up now."
Cui Xie raised his hand to block it and smiled, "I'm already a teenager, and I'm going to school again. How can I still wear something like this for a child."
Xie Ying casually tied it to his wrist, hooked his finger around the end of the thread, told him to look at himself, and said solemnly, "The one that wards off evil spirits is wrapped in his sleeve so that no one can see it, so what can't you do? Wear it? I'm afraid you forgot to take it back, so let's tie it first, and keep it until the Dragon Boat Festival."
Dai has already been put on, and it is inappropriate to take it off in front of people. Cui Xie rolled the multicolored silk into his sleeve and sat down to drink tea as if nothing had happened.
Xie Ying asked him how he was doing in the Imperial Prison. He didn't have much to talk about these days, just study, endorsement, exams... After saying a few words, he remembered that some days ago, someone went to his house to find a tailor to do the dragging, and he also went to the Guozijian to show off his clothes. He smiled and said, "Just looking at the appearance of those people vying to make new clothes, I can think of the style of Brother Xie when he wears that white clothes."
Xie Ying sighed, "I changed my clothes and went out that day, but I didn't want to run into many acquaintances, so they were attracted to the clothes. But it caused you a lot of trouble."
No, it gave him a lot of income. Now the streets are full of Bai Yisa, and those who wear genuine ones are all made of satin from his family.
However, Xie Qianhu's family is rich and elegant, and he must be the kind of person who doesn't say anything about money. Saying that these unremarkable downturns ruined his impression in his heart. Cui Xie couldn't say these things, so he just said, "Brother Xie is friends with some romantic people, and he does things easily, where is there any trouble. If one day Brother Xie can use me, I will feel happy in my heart."
Xie Ying lowered her eyelids and smiled slightly: "I'm also looking forward to the day when you will become a minister and a patriarch, and I also expect you to help. But we won't talk about the court at home, and we've had tea, so I'll take you with me. Go see something."
He beckoned to Cui Xie and led him out through the back hall, through several courtyards, and there was a stable with a row of pony horses commonly seen in Northern Zhili. On the outermost side was a tall chestnut-colored horse, with slender legs and a slender waist. It was already on the bridle and saddle. It was Xie Ying's own mount.
He asked someone to lead the horse out, turned it over, and stretched out his hand towards Cui Xie from the horse: "Come on! The road on Zhuangzi is not easy to walk, so I'll take you somewhere."
Cui Xie took a step back and smiled awkwardly: "Actually, I can ride a horse..."
As soon as he clamped the horse's belly, he bent down, took Cui Xie's clothes and gently picked him up and put him in front of him, smiled and said, "I know you can ride, but there is no second horse in my village that can ride. No. I can't ride this good horse, you can't keep up with my pack horse even when you ride it, right?"
He told Cui Xie to sit still, grabbed the reins from behind, put his feet on the horse's belly lightly, hit the horse across the gate of the hospital, and galloped toward the northwest.
After walking for a few miles, I saw a simple farmhouse, with smoke rising from the top of the yard, and the aroma of wine in the distance.
Cui Xie immediately understood why he called himself out for a visit, and asked in surprise, "Brother Xie already asked someone to steam out the alcohol?"
"Alcohol?" Xie Ying got off the horse, held the reins and said, "Is it called alcohol because the essence of the wine is steamed? You people are really interesting, you have to name everything else."
Cui Xie also dismounted, and Xie Ying held him on his waist and told him to fall to the ground smoothly, and then threw the reins to the servants who came to lead the horse.
Several large houses in the yard were burning fire to steam the wine. Xie Ying cherished the newly changed clothes, and did not go to the courtyard, but took a rest outside the courtyard far away.
After a while, the servants of the Xie family rushed over, put a curtain around the door, and told them to change into commoner clothes, put on face scarves, and then go to the wine shop.
Xie Ying led Cui Xie to the room where the wine was steamed, pointed to the large wine retort cast by Tao and the earthenware pot that held the wine on the side and said, "This is the kind of wine retort that can be steamed even with lees, which is better than the original one. The wine is easy to use. I haven't had the chance to call you here before. This thing is too big and it's inconvenient to move it. Today I can finally bring you to see it. "
What Cui Xie saw in the book was just a small cross-sectional diagram, and the drawing was as simple as the experimental diagram in the chemistry book. It was indeed quite shocking to see such a real still that was taller than a human being.
A servant next to him looked at him in surprise, thinking that he had never seen this thing before, so he explained to him the winemaking process and the quality of the wine that was steamed in the first few pots... Xie Ying waved his hand and said, "Hugh is showing off again, there is no one better than Cui. The desk is also good at making wine. This steamer is still made by his drawing. Have you prepared the distilled wine? Take Cui desk to see the retort, and bring him even the wine and retort when you come back. Go back."
The servant replied, but Cui Xie felt a little embarrassed and said in a low voice, "I'm going to be ashamed of my brother again."
Xie Ying smiled and said, "What are you ashamed of? This is what I am willing to give you, you just have to take it. If I don't want to give it," he shook his head and glanced at Cui Xie: "You may see someone who can Jin Yiwei wants something in his hand? But I won't give you such a big wine bottle, I will only give you a small one and tell you to take it back safely."
As he spoke, he dragged him to a further steaming room, pushed open the door, and pointed to a small steamer on the stove that was only a little bigger than a pressure cooker: "This is a small retort that only steams wine, put it in I took it back in the carriage. When we go back to the city in the evening, we will ask Xie Shan to take it with us."
A drop of wine dripped from the slender mouth of the wine bottle, Xie Ying rubbed a drop with her finger, lifted the mask and wiped it into her mouth, closed her eyes and slowly said, "This should have been steamed four or five times. It's so hot that it burns your tongue. You can take it back to dispense the medicine and drink it, but don't taste it like I do."
"Ah..." Cui Xie looked at him with a slightly wrinkled brow and twitching eyelashes, as if he was choking, as if he was aftertaste, and suddenly felt that this alcohol with an unknown percentage of purity was about, maybe... It should be fine. for drink