The next day the morning sun was high, the sounds of beasts gradually subsided, and the winter forest stretched up the mountain, being intercepted by layers of clouds and mist at the top of the mountain.
Lu Qiuniang woke up after a full sleep. She pushed herself up and got up. She felt sore all over. She thought it was because she ran too many mountain roads yesterday and her body was exhausted. Then there was a sound in her abdomen, and Lu Qiuniang was stunned. Then she remembered something,
He called out "Brother Sanlang" to the outside, but no one answered. He went down to the kang to look for the palace flower embroidered shoes he was wearing, but he only found two gray lumps of mud. After careful identification, he found that they were really his own embroidered shoes.
.
Lu Qiuniang tried to put it on, but suddenly there was pain under her feet, and she almost fell off the kang. Fortunately, she held on to the edge of the kang. Qiuniang picked up one embroidered shoe and found that the forefoot had been opened. She picked up the other one and touched the sole of the shoe.
It was worn out. Qiuniang suddenly felt that there was nothing she could do, and tears fell down.
After sitting there for an unknown amount of time, the silence was interrupted by the sound of the door "squeaking". Yang Sanlang entered the room, followed by the dazzling light behind him, and then he swarmed in, and the whole hut was filled with
The warm sun.
"Get up! Have a good meal today! We set some traps and traps a few days ago, and now we caught a few pheasants and pheasants." Yang Sanlang said happily, and put the caught pheasants on the rattan box.
"Are you hungry?"
Lu Qiuniang had wiped her tears clean: "I'm a little hungry, Brother Sanlang. I...my feet are swollen and my embroidered shoes are worn out, so I can't get off the kang..." Having said this, Qiuniang was extremely embarrassed.
, as if he has become a trouble that cannot be shaken off.
Yang Sanlang didn't think much about it and said casually: "Then just sit on the kang! When I was still in the village, when winter came, the poor people didn't save much food, so they couldn't go out. The whole family ate every day.
After a meal, they would huddle on the kang and not move. We here call this "Wodong". Some people can't stand it. In the early spring, someone called the door and the whole family died on the kang. The house was so smelly that it was impossible to enter.
Go away. Only the old widowers in the village are willing to help organize the burial for a few copper coins."
"Bah, bah... look at me, I'm telling you all the unlucky allusions." Yang Sanlang realized that he had lost his words and quickly stopped, "We woodcutters are not like this. Although we are still living in the winter, what we eat is meat, no matter how cold it is.
You can bear it. But you can’t stay still for a long time. The more you don’t move, the weaker your body will be. Even if you wait until 39 or 49, you won’t be able to bear it.”
Lu Qiuniang listened to his chattering for a long time before she interjected: "Brother Sanlang, do you have any old shoes that you don't wear? Now that my feet feel better, I can wear them and go to the ground to help you." After saying this, a pair of sincere shoes came out.
His eyes were fixed on Yang Sanlang.
"No, no, I know how to do it, I don't need you." Yang Sanlang just kept talking, and his hands were not idle either. A pot of hot water had already boiled, and he was washing and peeling a pheasant. The pheasant on the ground beside him
The rabbit has also been drained of blood and is just waiting to be skinned and parched.
Seeing that he was doing it skillfully, Lu Qiuniang stopped talking. At this time, she turned over and took her own baggage from the bedside, found out all the money in it, and put it in one place. She also saw the brocade package of Concubine Mei,
Although I was sad, but also a little strange, I opened it carefully: a colorful costume embroidered with brocade pheasant and peacock tail feathers came into view. Under the soft light inside, the gently fluttering feathers shimmered with neon lights.
The rainbow-like brilliance, the quality of gold and jade, and the flowing light of precious energy actually make people stunned.
"This must be the colorful feather coat!" Lu Qiuniang admired it for a while, then carefully put it away. She saw that Yang Sanlang had peeled off the rabbit skin, stuffed it with thatch, and hung it outside the thatched cottage.
All the internal organs of mountain rabbits and pheasants have been washed out and placed in a bowl. Another bowl is filled with blood and placed on the stove. Rabbit meat and chicken have also been removed from the pot, and Yang Sanlang has filled them.
Chai Cao stood up and stretched his waist.
Lu Qiuniang picked up the money that had been placed somewhere: "Brother Sanlang! I cannot thank you enough for your kindness. You can keep these coins and buy some corn or something. In this situation, I will bother you for a while longer, so just treat it as a gift."
You’ve got your fix.”
"Sister Qiuniang! You are looking down on me. I didn't save you for money. If it was for money, I would have joined the gang and become a bandit!" Yang Sanlang said angrily, his voice making Qiuniang's ears buzz.
ring.
Lu Qiuniang was not afraid and asked jokingly: "Then what are you trying to do?"
Yang Sanlang held it in for a long time, his face turned red, and he scratched his head and said: "I just can't bear that a girl's family will fall into the hands of the rebels. Wouldn't it be terrible? It might be better to escape into the mountains."
When Lu Qiuniang heard Yang Sanlang's simple words, her heart warmed slightly, and then she sighed: "Hiding in the mountains is just a temporary expediency. Qiuniang was entrusted by Concubine Mei on her deathbed, and she still has things to do." After saying that, she took the bamboo.
He put the money into the pillow through a hole on the side of the pillow, "The money won't be used for the time being, so it will be stored here. If Brother Sanlang wants to use it, he can just take it out himself."
When Yang Sanlang saw that the meat was cooked, he no longer bothered about the topic of money: "Sister Qiuniang, I have been hungry for a long time. Let's eat something!" He used chopsticks and scooped up the good meat in the pot.
I brought a bowl to Qiuniang and brought it to the Kang. I took another bowl and sat down at the wooden table to eat.
Although the cooking is simple and only some salt is sprinkled in, it is still a delicacy for hungry people. Lu Qiuniang still ate it with chopsticks at first, but the meat was slippery and often leaked from the slits of the chopsticks. Take a peek
Go, Yang Sanlang had already put his chopsticks aside, opened his hands to the left and right, and ate happily. Lu Qiuniang also put down her chopsticks, held the bowl with one hand, and reached into the bowl with the other, grasping the piece of meat firmly and eating.
In less than half an hour, the two of them finished the pot of meat. Although Lu Qiuniang was hungry, her appetite was much smaller, and most of the meat was eaten by Yang Sanlang. Seeing that Lu Qiuniang had finished eating, Yang Sanlang found a piece of wood to cook
He made a small basin, scooped water from the jar, brought it to Qiuniang, and motioned for her to wash her hands.
Lu Qiuniang smiled broadly: "I have been a maid for several years, and now I am a queen."
Yang Sanlang said humorously: "Your Majesty, if you wash your hands, please leave!" Lu Qiuniang's smile became even stronger.
The two chatted and joked for a while, then Yang Sanlang asked: "I wonder where Miss Qiuniang is from? Do she have any parents or brothers at home?"
Lu Qiuniang said sadly: "I am originally from Hengzhou, my father was still alive when I left home, and I have another brother who should be taller than me now. Two years ago, the emperor's Eunuch Gao came here to pick and choose...
The clothes royal girl was selected into the palace. She was originally on the job of making clothes for the imperial concubine Yang. One day, it was said that Yang was wearing a skirt sent by several of us palace maids. She felt that it did not fit her figure, so she became very angry. She was very lucky.
My father-in-law drove a few of us to Luoyang Forbidden Garden. At first, I was always used at will by the old palace maids here. Later, when I was seen by Concubine Mei, she summoned me to Shangyang Palace as a maid. Although it was deserted, it was also
I have suffered less bullying." Qiuniang paused for a moment, as if she was lost in memories, and then said, "Mei Fei treated our maids very well, but she is gone like this."
Yang Sanlang saw that the conversation had caused him to feel sad again, so he hurriedly said: "In a few days, some of my brothers who grew up will come back and ask them to go down the mountain to inquire about the situation. After the officers and soldiers have driven back the thieves, I will protect them."
I will take you to Chang'an and finish the things Mei Niang Niang asked you to do?" Qiu Lu Niang suppressed her sadness and nodded.
Seeing that the persuasion worked, Yang Sanlang became more energetic. He took the rabbit skin in from outside the door and squeezed it with his hands. It was as hard as armor. Then he lit the fire on the stove and pulled out a piece of firewood.
Pass it through the thatch inside the rabbit skin, put it into the stove to roast it, and then quickly pull it out, and so on. After roasting for about a dozen times, you can already smell a faint burnt smell in the house. Yang Sanlang brought it again
Use another piece of firewood to pull out some plant ash. When there are no more sparks in the ashes, dip a rabbit skin into the plant ashes. After dipping it full, place it at the base of the wall and ignore it.
Lu Qiuniang watched for a long time, confused: "Brother Sanlang, what are you doing?"
"It's of great use, you'll know it soon." Yang Sanlang gave a rare pass. Then he saw that the fire in the stove was gradually extinguished, and he picked up the gourd and scooped out the remaining soup for cooking the meat.
He came out, put it in a bowl, and handed it to Qiuniang: "Drink something hot to keep you warm." Qiuniang declined again, but couldn't resist, so she had to drink it.
At this time, Yang Sanlang patted the rabbit skin that had just been "roasted" clean outside the hut, took away the thatch, and excitedly brought it into the hut: "Look at the size, it's just right to make a pair of shoes for Miss Qiuniang."
Lu Qiuniang was relieved and said with a smile: "Brother Sanlang can also make shoes?"
Yang Sanlang knew that she was trying to narrow the gap, so he was not angry: "What's this? We woodcutter masters know a lot of things!" Then he felt a little unnatural, "I just don't know the size of Qiuniang's feet..."
Lu Qiuniang hesitated for a moment, then stretched out one foot and said, "Brother Sanlang, please measure it." Yang Sanlang picked up a few slender firewood sticks from the pile of firewood, hesitated again and again, and then gently held them up with one hand.
Holding Lu Qiuniang's ankle, she gestured vertically with a piece of thin firewood with her other hand, broke it at the appropriate position, and put it away carefully; then she took another thin piece of firewood, made horizontal gestures with it, broke it and put it away again.
Lu Qiuniang praised: "What a way!" Then she put her feet on the kang. It seemed that the pain was not as bad as in the morning. But her cheeks burned involuntarily, as if she had just done something daring. Then there was a string in her heart that was undetectable.
The ground moved a little, and I actually missed that moment just now. These thoughts flashed through, but in an instant, I saw Yang Sanlang took out the scissors, needle and thread from the rattan box, and started to move his hands meticulously.
Lu Qiuniang knew how to do these things, but she was afraid of offending Yang Sanlang's good intentions, and she was also curious: what kind of shoes could such a rough man make? So she said nothing and concentrated on observing.
The days were short and the nights were long under the winter moon, and in a blink of an eye, the sky became dark again. Yang Sanlang gradually felt that he was struggling, so he held the lamp and devoted himself to the final process. After another half an hour, Yang Sanlang straightened up and said with high spirits:
"It's done! Try it now and see if it fits?"
Lu Qiuniang took the strange-looking rabbit leather shoes and gently put them on her feet. The rabbit velvet wrapped her feet softly, as if she were stepping on clouds and mist. Two waves of warmth slowly grew from the soles of her feet and spread throughout her body.
Lu Qiuniang wore rabbit leather shoes and stepped slowly on the ground. She held the edge of the kang with her hands and slowly moved her weight up. Her feet still hurt a little, but it was bearable...