Chonghua's national power has risen rapidly in recent years, and restaurants in the imperial capital have sprung up one after another, but Mo Xi led Gu Mang to a restaurant that was obviously old.
Honghu Hall.
This restaurant was one of the top restaurants in the imperial capital back then. Only the princes and nobles went to it, and the prices were terrifyingly high. However, the attitude of the Honghu Pavilion has eased over the years, probably because he felt the competition, this old Honghu had to follow the example of the small birds with good quality and low price next to him. Door.
But even so, Lao Honghu's arrogance was getting weaker day by day. At this time, it was time for dinner, but there was still a desolate scene outside the shop.
Mo Xi entered the store, and Gu Mang followed suit. The shopkeeper was a slightly fat and greasy man, surnamed Liu, who hurriedly came to say hello: "Ouch, Xihejun, I haven't seen you for a long time, do you want to eat?"
"The compartment."
"Good, is it the old one?"
Mo Xi paused for a moment and said, "Mm."
Shopkeeper Liu invited them into the compartment at the end of the second floor, with thin curtains made of bamboo and a thick woven blanket embroidered with the sun, moon and stars on the ground. Mo Xi still remembered that when he led Gu Mang into this compartment for the first time, Gu Mang followed behind him. He was so shocked by the overwhelming extravagance that he was speechless. Clear, do you treat me big brother? Otherwise, I can't afford to sell it.
But just like the splendid brilliance of this restaurant, the golden threads that originally exuded broken light on the woven carpet have become dim and dusty.
Mo Xi turned over the vegetable table, but couldn't see anything because of the confusion in his mind. In the end, he snapped together the exquisite dish table embroidered on silk silk and pushed it to Gu Mang.
"You come."
Gu Mang was still fiddling with the small bronze medal on his neck ring, when he heard the words, he was startled: "I don't know how to read."
Mo Xi said: "There is a picture, this silk silk has applied spiritual power, and you can see the picture."
Hearing what he said, Gu Mang opened the vegetable case, held it to his chest and looked at it seriously.
"I want this... this... and this..." He stretched out his fingers and poked on the vegetable table for a while, and then bit his hand to point out, "I'm so hungry."
Mo Xi didn't say a word, turned his head to one side, and didn't look at him.
Gu Mang noticed it, so he asked, "Are you still angry?"
"No."
Gu Mang thought for a while, then suddenly said, "Don't be angry, you are also important."
Mo Xi's heart moved, but he still said coldly with a stern face: "...why do you flatter me, I don't have a sachet for you."
Gu Mang smiled and said, "But you gave me the necklace."
"… "
If it was said that the emotion in Mo Xi's eyes was originally jealousy and hatred, as soon as these words came out, most of the jealousy and hatred immediately faded into a kind of gloom.
He glanced at the pitch-black lock slave ring on Gu Mang's neck, but he couldn't find any more fire.
After all, the major turning point in his life was given to him by Gu Mang. If there was no Gu Mang in the past, there would be no Mo Xi today.
After putting aside his national enmity, what else could he blame Gu Mang for
…
When his family was in trouble, it was Gu Mang who reached out to him, when he was unknown, it was Gu Mang who accompanied him, and when he was helpless, it was Gu Mang who smiled and encouraged him.
Gu Mang was kind to him.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine."
"No matter how bad it is, even if your uncle makes you miserable, you are still a noble. Look at me, I am a slave, and I don't have to worry about it. What do you worry about?"
"If one day you are really run down by your uncle, you can live in half of my house and eat half of your meals, okay?"
"You and me."
How many things has Gu Mang done for him
Mo Xi's future was uncertain, and when he was ostracized in the ranks, only Gu Mang would pay attention to his mood and whether he was full. Mo Xi was cold and stubborn, and the noble sons who lived with him at that time looked down on him. They felt that he lost his father in his early years, and now his mother remarried someone despite the scandal. When she became pregnant, Mo Xi's situation would be miserable. Extremely.
They will even deliberately throw his ration on the ground.
Gu Mang couldn't see the poor young master being bullied, so he always distributed his rations to him. But the food of the slave soldiers was not delicious. Gu Mang could see that Mo Xi didn't say anything, but the food was extremely painful.
So he pondered, using the excuse that he wanted to buy jewelry and rouge for the girl, he would ask the brothers to cheat and cheat for some money—and then silently buy a few more snacks for the younger brother, so as to make this poor little happy.
At that time, people in the army said that Gu Mang was too careless, and his buddies were too unsympathetic to run against him.
"The day before yesterday, I said that I wanted to buy a jade hairpin for Xiaolan. Today, I came to ask for money again, saying that I wanted to buy a hairpin for Xiaodie. Alas, this romantic seed."
Gu Mang's best friend at the time, Lu Zhanxing, also said, "Ah Mang, what's the matter with you? I've never seen you so generous before, so you're going to go wild after coming to the army?"
Gu Mang's response was to stretch out his hand contemptuously: "Brother, give me a reward? I'll go back and wash your clothes for a month."
Lu Zhanxing exclaimed in surprise, "Which girl are you looking for again?!"
Gu Mang said nonsense: "The daughter of the old man Wang from the next village."
"...She's only six years old!! You're crazy!"
Nobody knows the truth.
No one knew that Gu Mang, who was "desperately spending money to chase girls", actually sneaked into the back kitchen of a small dilapidated restaurant in a nearby city to wash dishes and chopsticks in the name of visiting brothels.
Gu Mang used the disguise technique and changed his clothes. No one could tell that he was a soldier in the garrison. He was washing piles of soup and rice bowls. Even the shopkeeper looked at him with admiration for his fiery appearance.
"Young man, let's see if you want to come to me as a long-term worker? Give you this amount of salary?"
Gu Mang's eyes were still bright and bright, like the stars in the whole summer night: "Thank you, shopkeeper, but I usually have other things to do, and I can't get away from it..."
"Oh, that's a pity." The shopkeeper patted his head, "I rarely see such a diligent young man like you."
In order to take care of him, his senior brother Gu suffered unknown hardships and endured unknown fatigue.
But Mo Xi didn't know it at first.
Until later, when he saw the blood-stained letterhead of his comrade, he realized that he actually adored this man who was three years older than him. He braved the wind and snow and couldn't help but go to Gu Mang to confess, but only Lu Zhanxing was in the tent. Lu Zhanxing told him:
"Gu Mang? Gu Mang was dragged to play in the flower house in the city! A boy who is not romantic! Hahaha!"
At that moment, Mo Xi only felt that a sap hit his head. He slowed down for a long time, but he still couldn't restrain his emotions, so he galloped towards the Fengyue Field that Lu Zhanxing mentioned, but he found Gu Mang's A few friends, but Gu Mang was not seen alone.
He didn't give up, his chest seemed to be burning with a fire that couldn't be extinguished, and he searched for merchant after merchant in a small town near the station.
Finally, he saw Gu Mang who was "going to the brothel" in the back kitchen of a small restaurant.
Gu Mang changed his face, Mo Xi shouldn't have recognized him originally. But at that time he was careful, and as soon as Gu Mang looked up from the side of the basin, Mo Xi caught the look of the man hitting him.
With just one glance, Mo Xi recognized that he was the Gu Shige he was looking for.
From the disappointment when he heard that "Gu Mang went to the brothel", to the shock when he saw Gu Mang washing dishes.
At that time, Mo Xi's heart was aching so badly.
He suddenly didn't know how to express his feelings, and his heart was filled with passion, which made him look at Gu Mang with hot and fiery eyes.
But the so-called one-shot, and then decline, three and exhausted. When he was about to make a confession, he went to the tent and did not find this person. When he rushed to the brothel angrily, his possessiveness was boiling over and he wanted to drag Gu Mang out, but he still couldn't find this person.
When he really found him, the eagerness that didn't care about him was no longer so impulsive.
He was panting in the wind and snow, and strode open the wooden fence gate, causing the little chickens in the backyard of the restaurant to run around all over the place.
He saw Gu Mang's hand immersed in the water. It was very cold. In order to prevent the shopkeeper from discovering that he was a monk and couldn't use magic, Gu Mang's hand had frostbite.
Mo Xi's throat was suddenly blocked, and he didn't know what qualifications he had to say this love, or to ask Gu Mang for more, given his current status.
He pulled Gu Mang up from the small bench in silence, his long eyelashes fell, and he held Gu Mang's cold fingers.
He held his brother's hand in the palm of his hand, rubbed it, and asked softly, does it hurt
Gu Mang smiled and said it was okay.
"What kind of frostbite is this? It's a manly man. It looks good if it's rough." Gu Mang scratched his head with his swollen radish hand, and grinned to reveal a small tiger tooth, "Your brother Gu Mang is the most handsome."
This is too ridiculous, no one thinks two frozen radish fingers are handsome.
But Gu Mang didn't listen. What he meant was, since you came to the army and were in the same team with me, and you were my junior brother, then I couldn't let you be wronged.
It's not that Mo Xi didn't persuade Gu Mang. He told Gu Mang that Gu Mang gave him too much, but his future path was not clear. He might not be able to repay these kindnesses.
But Senior Brother Gu, the military ruffian, just laughed. In winter nights, his long eyelashes were covered with snow seeds: "Who wants you to pay it back? Come to my team, it's my buddy, I have to cover you."
Mo Xi said, "But I..."
"Don't insult me, then if you feel bad about it, take a scroll and write it down. You can write down everything you owe me, and when you have a future, you can pay me back with interest." Gu Mang smiled. Rubbing his head, "Ouch, my princess is really a fool who cares about everything."
Mo Xi watched that young and lively smile grow wildly in the light. At that time, he secretly made up his mind that he must return the best to Gu Mang in the future. send it to him.
He wants to be with him forever.
But in the end
Gu Mang gave Mo Xi redemption, but what Mo Xi returned to him was the dark shackle on his neck.
And to be ironic, this is really the best thing he can give Gu Mang now, after experiencing such betrayal, hatred, and cold heart. The last thing he could give him.
It turned out to be their whole life.
After the dishes were ordered, Mo Xi still sat silently with his arms folded, distracted.
Gu Mang suddenly said, "You're still not happy."
Mo Xi raised his head and glanced at him: "... This time it's really not."
Gu Mang insisted: "Why are you unhappy."
"… "
"Don't you like it here? Let's change."
Mo Xi sighed, pulled away from his memory, and said, "What to change. The dishes in this restaurant are very good. You used to like a few dishes, but I don't know if you just ordered them right."
"The old me..." Gu Mang murmured, "I like it?"
"As I said, we've known each other before."
Gu Mang thought hard for a while and gave up, but still said, "Okay, if you know it, you know it."
There are many Shu dishes in this restaurant, and the spicy dishes are not unfamiliar to Gu Mang. After all, the Xishu Kingdom is an ally of the Chonghua Kingdom. In the year of the war in Xishu, Gu Mang went to aid the alliance. Since then, he has gone from not being able to touch a bit of spicy food to eating a plate of red oil and spicy chicken in one go without changing his face.
But as long as he can eat it, Mo Xi knows that Gu Mang still likes hometown dishes.
I just don’t know if he had betrayed outside and joined the enemy Liao Kingdom in those years, looking at the wine and wine on the table, had he missed the cakes and buns in his hometown, or had any regrets.
Unlike the usual gentle cuisine of Chonghua, everything in this restaurant is warm. The kitchen is half-open and only covered by a curtain. The guests downstairs can hear the angry "sizzling" sound of the hot oil, the "ding-dong" sound of the spatula colliding, and the "boom" of the fire from time to time. The ground rose from the wok, and the whole room turned red.
"Fish-flavored eggplant, cold chicken, a basket of pot Kui, the two waiters eat it while it's hot." Xiao Er was holding the vegetables in his left and right hands, with one on his head, "It doesn't taste good when it's cold."
Gu Mang stretched out his hand and silently took off the bamboo basket on the head for Xiao Er.
Guokui is stuffed with lard and meat. When making a burrito, it is wrapped with minced pork, minced peppercorns, and oily shallots. Both sides are smeared with lard and baked in the oven. Another burst of eager scorching.
Gu Mang didn't like the shallots, but after removing the shallots, he liked this cake very much, and he took it in his hands and ate it seriously. Other dishes came one after another: double-cooked pork, sandwiched between chopsticks, the brightly gravy meat slices trembled slightly and shimmered with oil. The boiled cabbage and the cabbage are softly soaked in the mellow chicken soup, refreshing and sweet. Stir-fried kidney flower, knife flower cut into wonderful rolls, slipped out of the pot with garlic sprouts in the fire, and even choked on the aftertaste of Mars when it was served, the taste was crisp and tender.
The aroma of the dishes is simple and strong, and when one chopstick goes down, the seven orifices are instantly refreshed, and the numbness of the pepper stimulates the nose and tongue. This table dish has no expensive ingredients, but it is delicious - expensive because of the skill, which is why they used to charge so high.
"It's delicious." After Gu Mang finished speaking, he mumbled to himself, "I think you've eaten it before?"
Hearing Gu Mang say this, Mo Xi's originally not so strong appetite became more depressed, so he put down his chopsticks and turned his head to look at the streets outside.
Gu Mang licked the scraps on his lips: "Princess, what's wrong with you?"
Mo Xi didn't move at first, but after a while he suddenly reacted and raised his head sharply: "What do you call me?"