Chapter 86 Reminiscing about bitterness and thinking about sweetness
"I..." Wang Jiajia blushed and glanced at me timidly: "Sister Mu didn't let me say it because... if I tell you the truth, I'm afraid you'll be angry."
This girl is making me anxious!
I rested the burden on my shoulders, took down the iron bucket she was carrying, and then grabbed her shoulders with both hands: "Say! I'm not angry."
"I... I once went to see Sister Nuan Xin and told me about how you ignored me. I felt sad. I happened to be bumped into by Sister Mu. She said... She said she was the best at dealing with men. I promise...
...As long as I listen to her arrangements, I guarantee that I will keep you under control."
I looked at the woman in front of me in astonishment, wondering when in her eyes I had become a prey and was being planned and led into a trap.
"Then how have you discussed how to deal with me?" I asked pretending to be relaxed.
"Sister Mu said that some men are just... just mean. If you keep treating them wholeheartedly, he will feel bored.
As long as you do your best and become more independent, you will naturally be worthy of suitors. I have told you this before - flowers bloom and butterflies come.
Sister Mu said, ignore him for a while, and then carefully observe his reaction:
If he is indifferent, it means that he really has no feelings for you, and there is no need to waste time on him.
If he wants to get close to you in turn, it means that he still cares about you in his heart, but he didn't even know it before.
At this time, continue to neglect him, and then occasionally give him a little sweetness, act aloof, and let him worry about gains and losses."
Wang Jiajia's voice became softer and softer as she talked, but I heard it very clearly. It turns out that all Wang Jiajia's behavior these days is all planned by Madam Mu behind the scenes. Only I, without knowing it, was fooled by her.
Dizzy.
"So that's it." I couldn't laugh or cry.
"I'm sorry, Brother Jianghu, I...I think this is not good. I shouldn't use tricks on you. If you are angry, you can hit me and scold me, but..." Wang Jiajia covered her mouth with her hands and sobbed: "I'm sorry...
...I really like you...I...I want to try and see if I can make you like me too."
Looking at the crying woman in front of me, I just felt distressed. She wiped the tears on her face with her sleeves, and her original delicate makeup was all gone, and even the scar returned to its original color.
"Fool!" I hugged her into my arms: "Congratulations, your conspiracy succeeded."
"Brother Jianghu...what did you say?"
"Haha, don't cry. I'm not angry, and I don't blame you. I want to thank you: thank you for letting me discover who I really like, thank you for always liking me..."
I comforted, my nose became sore, and I also shed tears. I know it is embarrassing for a grown man to cry, but I couldn't hold it back for a moment. Because I can show my instinctive side in front of her. We are childhood sweethearts.
What embarrassing thing has she not seen before?
After a while, we separated and looked at each other with tears and smiles on our faces mixed together.
"Is it cold? Let's go back first." I held her hand, took a few breaths of hot air, and put the hand stove in my arms into her hand.
"Brother Jianghu." Wang Jiajia called sweetly.
I put the two burdens on my shoulders together, and held her hand with my free hand: "You just said to Lin Sheng, 'The imperial envoy has sent a group of spies to sneak into the interior of Tubo.' That was also what Mu said.
Did the lady teach you what to say?"
"Yeah. I mentioned it last time outside the West City Gate. I wonder if the red-faced ghost took it to heart, so I'll remind him again today."
"Then...did Xiao Mu really arrange for someone to be an internal response?"
Wang Jiajia shook her head: "I don't know about this."
I was confused again: "Since Mrs. Mu knows that Lin Sheng is the Ghost-faced Man, why didn't she tell Xiao Mu?"
Wang Jiajia thought for a while: "Why do you think Sister Mu didn't report it? Maybe Xiao Mu already knew about it, but there was no definite evidence, so we asked us to investigate in detail."
"Well, it's possible." I nodded, and suddenly I felt that Wang Jiajia had really changed a lot. I used to call her a silly girl, but now she seems to be quite smart.
It was a difficult journey, but at least I had someone to accompany me, chatting and laughing, and I didn’t feel too cold, tired or difficult to walk.
When they arrived at the door of their home, Wang Jiajia and the others found a lock on their courtyard door. Is there anything else going on at the governor's office at this hour?
Wang Jiajia touched her body: "I seem to have forgotten my key."
"Go to my house."
After walking ten steps further, Wang Jiajia pushed the door open and pursed her lips again: "It's locked inside."
I put down my burden and pushed the door open: "What is my mother doing? Why should I lock the door before it gets dark? Grandma! Grandma! I'm back!"
A burst of footsteps came to the door, and the door finally opened, but it was Fatty Wang who opened the door. He was wearing a brand new winter coat, his hair was a little messy, and the beard that was originally growing on his lips was very clean.
"Oh, Jiang Hu is back." He glanced at me, blushed, and hurriedly bent over to pick up the burden on the ground: "Come in quickly, come in quickly, it's cold outside, go inside and warm yourself by the fire."
"Yes, Master." I responded.
"Aye, why are you here? I thought you were still at the government office and haven't come back yet." Wang Jiajia asked, helping me put the burden under the eaves.
"Haha, it's cold today, so I don't have anything to do. I've been back a long time ago. Your mother made me some new clothes, so I came here to try them on."
"Jiang Hu and Jiajia are back." Aniang also came out to greet them, her face flushed, probably because she had been roasting for a long time.
"Mother." Wang Jiajia still greeted her affectionately.
"It's too cold today and there are not many people going out. If it weren't for Liu Jiabao's help, we almost wouldn't be able to sell out."
As I said that, I entered the house and saw a few scattered pieces of charcoal burning the last warmth in the brazier in the main room, which was about to go out at any moment.
Fatty Wang also noticed this scene, and quickly opened the lid of the jar next to him, took out some new charcoal with tongs and carefully added it, blowing on it a few times, and a bright red flame finally came up.
Wang Jiajia and I looked at each other and sat by the fire to warm our hands. We just felt that something was wrong with the atmosphere in the room.
After Wang Jiajia finished vividly explaining what Liu Jiabao had done for us, Auntie brought over a dozen more taros and buried them side by side in the charcoal ashes. Then she placed an iron tripod on the charcoal fire and placed a pot on it.
"What are you cooking?" I asked. I opened the lid and saw that it was just a pot of water.
"I just know how to eat every day!" My mother-in-law slapped my hand and put the lid back on the pot: "Our family is pretty good. Although we don't have big fish and meat every day, we can still guarantee three meals a day.
Meal, unlike some people’s homes who only eat two meals a day.”
"Aniang is talking about recent times. Since I took over the tofu stall, there have been more ways to make money, and I have been able to eat a few full meals on time.
In the past, our family had two meals a day. We were busy for a while in the morning. We picked the goods on the street and had to sell them for a while or when they were sold out, we were willing to buy something to eat. Then we were busy again, and we didn’t have dinner until it was almost dark.
When I feel hungry, I fall asleep."
I sighed, looking around at the newly built wall, I suddenly felt that my home had changed a lot in just over half a year.
"Haha, I remember that Brother Jianghu always loved to go to the wilderness in the past. In the spring, he went to the bamboo forest outside the West City to break bamboo shoots. In the summer, he went to the river to fish and catch shrimps. In the autumn, he went to the mountains to find wild fruits. In the winter, he just put up a few bamboo shoots.
Catch game in a basket. Haha, anyway, there are ways to find food all year round." Wang Jiajia laughed, her bright eyes shining like stars in the firelight.
Thinking of the hard days in the past, I also laughed: "Just tell me, when did you not go? When did I find something to eat but you didn't eat it?"
Auntie added a few more pieces of charcoal: "Okay, you two, basically I have never made you suffer since you were a child.
Those days are nothing. I remember when I was a child, there was a famine one year and all the remaining food at home was eaten up. My mother went to the mountains to dig wild vegetables and cooked a big pot with the chaff.
Some people can't even dig up wild vegetables, but they can cook and eat any bark or grass roots.
Well, now that I think about it, I really don’t know how I survived those days.”
"Yes, you are living such a fairy-like life now. We have caught up and can enjoy the blessings. I just hope that we can have such a peaceful and stable life forever, and hope that the war will not come to us in Xiangzhou.
"Fat Wang also sighed.
"Okay, it's unreasonable to worry here again!" Auntie gave him an elbow and said, "Isn't there an imperial envoy? How could you let Tibet attack?"
"Imperial Envoy... Hey, speaking of which, I haven't seen the Imperial Envoy for a few days. That boy... um, Xiao Mu, what has he been busy with recently? We..." Fatty Wang came to the door to take a look, and then said
: "We are also secret agents with eyes from the sky after all, why don't you arrange some tasks for us?"
Wang Jiajia picked up a branch and poked the charcoal to play with it. She couldn't help but laugh and said: "Didn't Brother Jianghu arrange a task for you? It's because you are incompetent and didn't find any valuable clues."
"I... Fatty Wang frowned: "You mean you asked me to check the Director Lin's book a few days ago? Then... how do you want me to check? I am a small official in the governor's office, so I went to the county government to check.
The identity of the chief registrar? What's this? If he really has a problem, wouldn't it be a warning?"
I nodded in approval: "Master is right. This matter cannot be rushed. We must investigate slowly."
"You mean...he really has a problem?"
"Well, I can be 80% certain that Lin Sheng, the chief secretary of the county government, is the red-faced ghost who kidnapped Jiajia half a month ago."
"It's unreasonable. Even my daughter, Fatty Wang, dares to touch her. He's tired of living." Fatty Wang slapped his thigh, his lips trembled, maybe he hurt himself from the slap.
The four of them chatted casually again, and the sky finally turned dark. Fatty Wang and his daughter didn't mention anything about going home, probably because they were thinking about the delicious food under the fire.
A trace of hot steam came out from the gap in the pot lid, and then the heat became more and more intense, making the pot lid rattle.
Grandma opened the lid of the pot and saw that the water in the pot was boiling. She brought a bowl of thin batter and a colander from the kitchen. She placed the colander on the water and poured the batter into the colander.
Then he poured it sideways and shook it, and droplets of batter fell into the boiling water from the small hole, and instantly solidified, like cicada pupae scurrying around.
"Go, get the bowl!" Grandma kicked my feet.
"oh."
I came over with four bowls in my arms. The gnocchi soup in the pot was already cooked. Each person had a big bowl. After taking a sip of the hot soup, the whole person warmed up. Then I took a bite of the gnocchi. It was fragrant and smooth and moisturized the mouth. It was very delicious.
Chewy. When you dig out the taro from the hot ashes, the aroma immediately hits your nostrils. Once you peel it off and take a bite, it will be soft and fragrant, making you feel full of happiness.
Such a simple dinner was filled with laughter and joy because it was accompanied by family members.