Chapter 13 Chapter Thirteen

New Year's Eve, happy?Have fun!I was suffocating. Grandpa saw my brows knit together, and looked at Xiaofeng suspiciously. Xiaofeng shook his head, expressing ignorance.After sitting for a long time, I couldn't sit still, so I jumped up, saluted my grandpa, and rushed to the bamboo pavilion. For the first time, I kicked the door of the bamboo pavilion with my foot, and there was a loud "bang", and the courtyard door opened.Before I could make a sound, Master Jiu's smiling voice came from the room: "Is it Xiaoyu?" His voice was like the best way to remove gunpowder, and my arrogance, which was surging, was instantly extinguished.Sighing lightly, he slowed down and gently pushed open the door.

Master Jiu was sitting in front of the desk, holding a pole of bamboo in his hand, as if he was carving something. I stood at the door and looked at him. He put down the bamboo and knife in his hand, and turned to look at me: "Why don't you sit down?" I went to sit beside him, bowed my head without saying a word, Master Jiu asked, "Are you angry?" I continued to remain silent, and he said: "It seems that I'm not angry anymore, have you had a good year? Last night, Amaterasu dragged me to be with them..." I frowned and stared bitterly at my crony, but he babbled endlessly, from entering the banquet to opening the banquet, from opening the banquet to toasting, from toasting to getting drunk, from...

I have never seen him so talkative, and finally couldn't help it, looked up at him and asked, "I'm angry, can't you see it? You should ask with concern: 'Why are you angry? Am I doing something wrong? what?'" With an innocent look on his face, he suppressed a smile: "Oh! Why are you angry? Did I do something wrong?" I sighed annoyed and helplessly, lying limply on the table, why is he so puzzled?What did I see in him?He has a quirky temper, and is gentle and approachable on the surface, but in fact he rejects people thousands of miles away.Although I am knowledgeable and know a lot, I don't want to marry a book.The identity is still a bit mysterious... I was desperately thinking about his disadvantages.

He looked helpless and at a loss: "I asked, but you didn't answer, what should I do next?" I angrily smashed a few cases: "There is no sincerity at all! It's better not to ask. You can continue to tell interesting stories about your Chinese New Year!" The room fell into silence, and there was no sound for a long time. Suddenly, I felt a little nervous. He wouldn't be angry with me, would he?Just as she was about to look up at him, a pair of gold-encrusted jasper earrings appeared in the outstretched palms in front of her eyes, "I don't know if this is considered a little sincerity?"

I looked up at him and picked up the earrings.The golden color is sand, and the blue color is water. It turned out to be a small crescent spring lying in the yellow sand.What is rare is that my name is used, but it is very meaningful.We met for the first time beside the long yellow sand, and we didn't know each other before the limpid blue waves.It is rare for a craftsman to make such a small thing so smart and delicate. I looked at it for a while, put it on my ears quietly, and said with a straight face: "So-so, it's rare that you are so generous, so I won't be angry for now."

I was speaking seriously, but the smile on my lips could no longer be suppressed. Before I finished speaking, the smile had already spread out, and my eyes narrowed into crescent moons with joy.He was looking into my eyes, but suddenly there was a trace of sadness, and he hurriedly looked away. Shi Yu reported from outside and came in with a tray.I looked at the bowl in front of me and said in a low voice: "You didn't call me, I thought you didn't mean anything, and you forgot on purpose!" Master Jiu didn't speak for a while, and finally said in a voice so low that he could hardly hear him, "How could I forget? No matter what, I want you to be happy today."

While picking the mutton in the sea bowl, I muttered in a low voice indistinctly: "Whether you are happy or not is entirely up to you." After eating mutton soup and boiled cakes, Master Jiu picked up the bamboo and willow-leaf-thin knife while talking with me. I looked at it for a while and asked, "Are you going to make a flute?" Master Jiu said "hmm": "This bamboo was specially brought back from Jiuyi Mountain by the people below. It has grown in the shade of the rocks for ten years. The texture is dense. No matter how the climate changes, the sound quality will not be affected. It has A very beautiful name, called 'Xiangfei Bamboo', and the sound is more beautiful and melodious than ordinary bamboo."

I leaned over to take a closer look: "This is the famous Ehuang daughter Yingzhu? Yes! Aren't these spots like tears? It's so beautiful to look at the simple atmosphere!" After Jiu Ye froze for a moment, he distanced himself from me indiscriminately, and said with a smile, "I have a lot of flutes on hand. This time, the main reason is to see that the material is rare, and I am afraid that the treasure will be dusty, so I will do it myself when my hands are itchy. If you like it, I'll give it to you when it's done!" I giggled and said, "I'm a person who won't refuse anything good."

Master Jiu shook his head with a smile, but didn't speak. When I came out of Shifu, I happened to bump into Shenxing and Amaterasu.I bowed and saluted: "I wish the second brother Shi and the third brother Shi a good health in the new year and everything goes well!" Both of them bowed back to me, Shen Xing's gaze rested on my ear for a moment, and he looked away expressionlessly; Amaterasu suddenly smiled and said, "Master Jiu has spent so much effort, so it's for Your New Year's gift." I heard something in his words, I couldn't help touching the earrings, and asked following his words: "How do you say this? What effort did Master Jiu spend?"

Tianzhao said with a smile: "Although Jiuye learned jade making when he was young, he didn't practice every day after all. This time he polished small pieces. For this thing, Jiuye specially studied with the master for a period of time. But a lot of high-quality jade was wasted. Master Jiu is very talented in these handicrafts. From weapons to pottery for daily use, he can get started with everything. But after watching him make things, I realized that the most troublesome things in the world are women's. jewelry." I stayed for a while, and asked in a murmur, "You said Master Jiu made it himself?"

Amaterasu smiled without saying a word, bowed slightly to me and left with Shen Xing, I stood there in a daze. I don't know how old I am this year.Li Yan is pregnant and is about to have a child, but I am still floating here and there, up and down.If there is no suitable person, I don't necessarily want to marry; but if there is a suitable person, I must catch it.If I can't grasp the happiness and happiness that belongs to me, my father will definitely call me a fool when he finds out.Am I a fool?Of course I am not, I am a smart, smart, beautiful and lovely Jinyu, so even if you are a floating cloud, I will hold you by my arms.You like me, right?You once said that you and I are different people, I have studied all the books you like to read seriously, and I think I can be the same person as you.If you want to be a roc, I am willing to be a wind, and I will accompany you to the sky; if you only want to be a muddle-headed butterfly, then I can also be a stupid butterfly; If there is no trace, then we can buy a few horses, run faster than Lao Tzu, and disappear more completely; fortunately you don't like Confucius, although I respect him, I don't like him, but even if you really like him, we You can also be an honest person... I bit the brush holder hard, frowning as I looked at the silk handkerchiefs on the table.I was trying to cheer myself up, but why did the more I write, the more empty my heart became?I silently said to myself several times in my heart, he likes me, he likes me... I dare not write more, and mark the date on the corner of Pao: the first year of Yuanshou.After finishing writing, I hurriedly put away the silk handkerchief. I shook it for a while, and a stick fell out of the stick container. Huo Qubing was about to reach out to pick it up, but I held it tightly. He asked, "What are you asking?" I shook my head: "I won't tell you." He snorted: "What can you ask? It's either business or marriage. Now that everything in business is under your own control, how can you ask others about your character, only marriage." I stubbornly argued: "That's not it!" The Mr. Xie lottery on the side kept watching us attentively, seeing us walking towards him, and stood up immediately. I stopped suddenly, turned around and walked away holding the lottery.Huo Qubing asked with a smile: "Why don't you ask again?" Holding the bamboo stick in my hand, I walked for a while, then suddenly raised my hand and threw the bamboo stick into the grass beside the road: "Don't ask, I can solve the fate of others but not my own. This is our business. He sees that you are dressed in an unusual way, so he must be thinking of making a name for himself and making a fortune, but why not test for himself whether it can be done?" Huo Qubing said with a smile: "But he still knows how to rein in the precipice, it seems that he is not in a hurry." Now that I think about it, I feel a little absurd, but when I saw the words "Unraveling the Marriage" written on the plaque, my legs walked in uncontrollably, and I was rushed to the doctor.The heart is very guilty, but the face is still righteous: "I just look at the freshness, go in and play." Huo Qubing glanced at me with a smile, as if he didn't bother arguing with me, and he did what you said. After a gust of wind, I inhaled vigorously: "It's so fragrant! What kind of flower?" Huo Qubing said: "Sophora japonica." I looked at him sideways: "Why did you ask me to come out? Is it just climbing a mountain?" As he walked, he said, "There's nothing wrong, so I can't ask you to come out? Just walk around, look around, look at the Sophora japonica flowers above your head..." I didn't hear what he said later, and I was all focused on the carriage in front of me.Huo Qubing looked sideways at me, and followed my gaze to the carriage, which was parked in front of a manor.I apologized to him and said with a smile: "I suddenly have something to do, I have to go first." He grabbed me and said, "Don't go!" I forcefully pulled his hand away: "I'll go find you some other day, and I'll make an apology to you." Before he could finish speaking, he had already drifted towards the carriage.He shouted behind him: "Xiaoyu!" Without turning my head, I went straight forward and landed beside the carriage. Qin Li, who was driving the carriage, suddenly tightened his grip on the whip. Seeing that it was me, he immediately let go, and nodded with a smile.I knocked on the wall of the carriage, Master Jiu lifted the curtain, saw that it was me, and asked with a smile, "Why are you outside the city?" I bowed and closed the curtain for him: "Aren't you also in the suburbs?" After speaking, I looked at Qin Li suspiciously. Seeing my expression, Master Jiu smiled and said, "Grandmother's surname is Shi, and the single name is Qing. This garden is named 'Qingyuan', which was specially built for grandma by my grandfather when he was young. I don't want to change any layout, so Not wheelchair accessible." I looked sideways at the garden, and I was very envious that this old man was so infatuated.Back then I wondered why Mingming’s surname was Meng, but he named his business Shifang, and all the orphans Shifang adopted would be named Shi. Only now did I realize that it was the surname of his beloved woman. Master Jiu took out a crutch from the car, which I had seen in the corner of his study before.He was standing on the ground with a cane. A cane should have made him look clumsy, but the exquisite cane was hidden in his wide-sleeved toga, which made people feel no abruptness at all.On the contrary, because I saw him standing for the first time, I was a little stupid and stared at him blankly. He laughed at himself: "But it looks a little weird?" I shook my head hurriedly, desperately: "No, it's... yes... it's good-looking!" He looked at me, and I said anxiously: "Has no one ever told you how you feel? You... You...every move is very..." The more anxious I became, the more I couldn't find the right words to describe him, but I was afraid that he would misunderstand me because I had been looking at him just now, and I almost bit my tongue a few times when I said it. He stretched out his hand to smooth my hair that was blown by the wind, stared at me, and said very gently: "Yu'er, stop talking, I understand what you mean." I smiled at him, looked over his shoulder, and saw Huo Qubing still standing where he was, looking at us from afar.My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly looked away. Master Jiu walked with his cane: "Grandpa chose to build a garden here because there are many hot springs in this mountain." I walked slowly beside him and asked with a smile, "Did you come here specially to soak in the hot spring?" He replied: "Yes, the hot spring helps the blood flow in my legs." I sneaked a peek at his leg, but unfortunately it was hidden under the robe, so I couldn't know what the disease was.But watching him walk, it doesn't seem to be strenuous. Before entering the door, I subconsciously turned my head to look into the distance, Huo Qubing's figure was still motionless.In late spring, the Sophora japonica flowers above the head are at their last density, and the tree is as white as the snow.When the wind passed, the petals fell one after another. In the snow that was flying all over the sky, he, who had always been happy and clean, remained motionless, letting the petals fall on his head and on his brocade robe. The mandarin duck vines started to make flower buds, and the delicate white ones were playing hide-and-seek with me among the green leaves. I had to be very careful to find out where the new ones were hiding. Yesterday there were nine, today there are fifteen, and I counted again Checked it again to make sure there was nothing wrong.At this rate, after a while, I will lose count. I stood in front of the pergola and murmured, "I caught countless earthworms, and I added cow dung in the early spring. You must strive for success this year! It will bloom the most and be the most beautiful!" The leaves of the mandarin duck vine trembled slightly in the wind, as if responding to my request. "When you are the most beautiful, I will bring him to see you." Gently kissed a newly grown leaf, "You work hard, and I will work hard!" When I entered the Bamboo Pavilion, I only saw Amaterasu sitting at the desk copying things.I pointed to the empty wheelchair in the yard in surprise and asked, "Where is Master Jiu? Have you gone out?" Tianzhao said with a smile, "I went to see Xiaofeng's grandpa in Lanwu." I nodded and looked at the wheelchair, still a little puzzled. Amaterasu put down his pen, walked to my side, looked at the wheelchair and said, "Jiuye can't use any strength on one leg at all, but he can still use strength on the other leg. Although he can't walk very far with a cane, it's still bad for his body to move around everyday. Better than being in a wheelchair." I said "hmm", Tianzhao was silent for a while, and then said: "When I was young, Master Jiu loved to move although his legs and feet were inconvenient. He was curious about everything and always liked to play with us, but we didn't Sensible, I always feel that it is inconvenient to take him to do anything, and I have to wait for him to do anything, so I dare not disobey him on the surface, but secretly I always discuss getting rid of him if I can, and even doing it for someone. The idea is the most brilliant and proud, I am the one who thinks I am the smartest. Master Jiu gradually understood our thoughts, people began to become silent, and began to spend more time on books, because only these silent friends would not I despise him. One time, Lord Jiu carried the old man on his back and went out alone with a cane. He didn't come back until the sky. The old man was so anxious that he scolded us all and punished us to kneel on the bluestone ground. Later, when Lord Jiu came back , the clothes on his body were torn, his face was black and blue, his head and hands were covered with blood. Ask him what happened, but he didn’t say a word, only that he was careless, begging the old man to let us all get up.” Amaterasu stared at the wheelchair and sighed heavily, I was silent, sore and distressed, all kinds of emotions were churning in my heart. "That time we really felt guilty. The eldest brother beat up the gangsters in Chang'an City one by one before asking the reason. It turned out that Master Jiu went to the street to see the blacksmith forging iron after seeing the discussion on weapon manufacturing in "Mozi". Those urchins who are as ignorant as we are sang behind Master Jiu, "A kidnapper, with three legs, twist it, swing it, let him take ten steps, ask for a daughter-in-law and crooked mouth." Singing and learning from Master Jiu Walking, making everyone laugh. Jiuye had a big fight with them, and the one who suffered was naturally Jiuye, who was beaten to the point of bleeding. The elder brother was so angry that he fought with those singing children. Since then , we all want to take Jiu Ye out to play, but Jiu Ye no longer uses crutches in front of others." I now understand why the crutch is in the corner of the bookshelf, and why there is no dust in the corner.He is a doctor, so he naturally understands the benefits of moderate exercise to his body, but the song and the ruthless ridicule made him only willing to use crutches when there is no one around. Amaterasu looked at me sideways and asked, "Will you blame us?" "Some! But Master Jiu doesn't care about it himself, so I can just forget about it, otherwise..." I snorted and waved my fist. Tianzhao said with a smile: "Yu'er, your character really only looks for the scale in your heart, and doesn't care about other right and wrong." I raised my chin slightly and asked, "I only want to live a good life for myself and the people I care about. I won't hurt others for no reason. Is this wrong?" Amaterasu hurriedly said: "That's right, that's right! Don't misunderstand me. It's too late for our three brothers to thank you! Master Jiu went to Qingyuan, and when he came back, he didn't shy away from using crutches. You don't know Even a person as calm as Second Brother's eyes were a little red when he saw Master Jiu using a cane in front of us again. Master Jiu's heart knot for so many years, a big stone in our hearts, was finally resolved because of you." My face was a little hot, I looked down at the ground, and cursed in a low voice: "What a Qin Li, he looks honest, but his mouth is not firm at all." Tianzhao laughed loudly: "He is not only unreliable! If you see him imitating your admiration and staring at Master Jiu, you will know that it is a waste not to recruit such a talent into your singing and dancing studio." We were so happy that our feet were weak at the time, and the elder brother couldn't control his strength in laughing, and actually cracked a few cases." "What did you say? You have the guts to say it again!" I shouted with my hips akimbo, jumping my feet. Before Amaterasu answered, Master Jiu, who was entering the yard with a cane, smiled and asked, "Why do you want to say it again?" I gave Amaterasu a hard look, ran to Master Jiu and said, "Qin Li is not a good guy, you have to punish him well, or you simply hand him over to me, and I'll punish him." Master Jiu glanced at Tianzhao and asked, "When did Qin Li offend you?" Amaterasu looked at me pleadingly with a sad face.I faltered for a long while, but I was too embarrassed to tell the reason, so I could only say roguely: "There is no need for a reason to offend, it is to offend me anyway." Jiuye walked to the wheelchair and sat down, Tianzhao hurriedly twisted the veil, Jiuye wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "Punish him to be your driver for a month, and it's up to you to deal with it." I smiled triumphantly and looked at Tianzhao, and Master Jiu said again: "Big brother, second brother, and third brother are too busy recently, I think the jade field over there in Lantian really needs someone to stay there for a long time to take care of it. Who do you think is better?" Amaterasu's face became more and more broken, and he said sincerely to Master Jiu: "My sister-in-law just gave birth to a son, and my eldest brother was so happy that he didn't want to leave. In order to take care of my eldest brother, my second brother took over some of the things that my eldest brother was currently doing. I'm too busy. I'm planning to check the accounts of all the businesses in Chang'an City over the years. In addition, we have to teach Xiaofeng and Xiaoyu that the world can learn from each other. In fact, we are really busy!" I supported the back of Master Jiu's wheelchair, lowered my head and smiled sullenly, Master Jiu sighed softly: "It does sound like I'm not busy." Amaterasu hurriedly said: "It's really not idle! We just drink tea together, chat for a day, and listen to a story very, very, very occasionally. This kind of thing will never happen again in the future. We must be too busy to talk. There is no time." Focusing on Le for the first time, I didn't hear the nonsense of Jiuye's words. Now that Tianzhao finished speaking, I suddenly understood that Jiuye had already guessed what Amaterasu and the others did, and I felt a little ashamed and a little happy , with some sweetness, quietly standing beside Master Jiu. Jin Yan strode into the yard, and when he saw me, he immediately had a bright smile on his face, and said in a strange way: "Why is Yu'er here? Did you come to see Master Jiu?" Amaterasu ran to his side in a few steps and pushed him outside: "You haven't finished the inspection of the spices that just arrived yesterday, this matter can't be delayed..." Jinyan's voice came from outside the courtyard: "No! Didn't you say...don't cover...ah? What... Lantian? Oh!" After a few times, Jinyan's voice was completely inaudible, only Amaterasu Said: "Master Jiu, I will continue to deal with those old accounts that have not been copied tomorrow. I still have some urgent things to do today, so I will go back first." After speaking, I only heard fast footsteps, and after a while, the courtyard became quiet. My heart was up and down, with embarrassment in the sweetness, and I didn't know what to say.As if nothing had happened, Master Jiu pushed the wheelchair into the room: "Xiangfeizhu's flute has already been made, the texture is natural and elegant, and the carving and decoration would be superfluous, so I just got lazy. Are you satisfied?" I reached out to take the flute: "I don't understand these things, if you say yes, then it must be fine." Master Jiu said with a smile: "There is a court musician who is famous all over the world living in your garden. No matter how many people want to learn from him, they can't get it. Don't you take this opportunity to ask him for advice?" When I mentioned Li Yannian, I couldn't help thinking of Li Guangli, and my brows frowned. Master Jiu asked: "What's wrong?" I sighed: "Thinking of Li Guangli, I can only sigh 'the dragon has nine sons, all of them are different'." Master Jiu said with a smile: "You worry too much, if you really bother to throw him out, it's over." I smiled and said nothing, things are not that simple. Master Jiu coughed lightly: "Your business in the singing and dancing workshop has been expanding rapidly recently. I also heard from the boss that you are in the business of a prostitution workshop. This is on the bright side. You secretly... have also engaged in other businesses. Why? If you just want to make money, you might as well do some other business, as you are doing now, it’s a bit hasty and overdue.” After I was surprised, I felt happy again. I thought that the things that could not be known by others were still hidden from him, unless...unless he has been paying close attention to my actions, and said in a low voice: "I have my own plans and plans. care about." He paused silently for a while, then asked suddenly: "Yu'er, do you know why I have been trying my best not to walk outside with a cane? There are no special circumstances, I only want to use a wheelchair, and I have been deliberately making everyone think that I am in poor health. Even Amaterasu and the others think that I am too weak to walk far, and my body is often out of shape. I do have a disability in my legs, and my body is indeed weak, but it’s not as serious as I make it out to be.” I was stunned for a while, could it not be the reason that Amaterasu said, not just because of the low self-esteem when I was young? "Why? Did you do it on purpose for someone to see?" Lord Jiu nodded lightly: "I made it for Your Majesty. My mother is the grandniece of Empress Dowager Dou, and she often went to the palace to play when she was young. Her Majesty and mother were also good cousins ​​back then. So when Empress Dowager Dou was alive, Shi Fang I have always been very close to the Dou family. After the Dou family's defeat, His Majesty was very afraid of the intertwined forces of the stone boat. After the death of my father and mother, such a large stone boat fell into my hands. It looks like she is lingering on her last breath, and Shifang's business has gradually declined in my hands, and Shifang will definitely not be able to escape the fate of complete destruction in Chang'an City." It was the first time he took the initiative to mention a little bit of his life experience, I was in a daze when I heard it, how old was he back then?To take the lives of many people at such a young age, and deal with the emperor of the Han Dynasty.And he only talked about the relationship between the family and the Han Dynasty, and the relationship with the Western Regions?What is he shouldering over there?How much has he endured along the way? He stared at me, and slowly said: "Yu'er, His Majesty is thoughtful, alert, decisive and ruthless. When necessary, he is a person who can kill anyone except himself. Don't do anything that offends the Tian Family. I can do whatever you want to fight with other merchants in Chang'an City...but..." He swallowed the words that had come to his lips, and said earnestly: "Yu'er, you must think twice before doing things."