220, my heart is beating wildly

220, my heart is beating wildly

At night, the snow outside the house fell like goose feathers, one piece at a time.

Inside the house, the firewood in the fireplace was burning, making crackling sounds from time to time, which was particularly clear in this quiet night.

On a low table in front of the fireplace, a copper pot sat in the middle, charcoal burning in the stove below, and the soup in the pot was bubbling. Around the pot were various small bowls of sliced ​​meat and fish, as well as meatballs and fish balls, and a few vegetables.

It’s rare that there are vegetables with such bright green leaves in this season.

These vegetables were all grown by the villagers in their village, and they were only grown in winter. They were sold to various restaurants in Kyoto. Because Lu Mingfei had asked his father to bring the recipe for growing vegetables in winter back to the village, the villagers had provided all the vegetables for their family during the past two winters.

Together with the recipes for raising rabbits and growing bean sprouts, this was already the third money-making recipe their family had brought to the village. They had never asked the village for a penny of the money; they had even sent the first batch of rabbits to the village for free. So, when the clan leader sent them gifts over the past two years, they accepted them without hesitation.

There was a pot heating up in the room, and the smell was a bit strong. Lu Mingfei simply opened the door and stood there watching the snow, and waiting for someone.

“Knock knock—”

Just as he was engrossed in watching the snow, he heard a knock on the door.

No need to guess, he probably knew who was knocking on the door.

"Let me do it." Seeing the guard was about to open the door, Lu Mingfei walked out and motioned him to open it.

Upon hearing this, Guard Ma slowed down and fell behind.

Zhang Qi, who was in the house, heard someone knocking on the door outside and came out.

As soon as the door opened, Lu Mingfei saw the person coming outside. It was indeed the person he was waiting for.

Today, Zhao Lang wore a black cloak with a gray hem, a black cross-collared robe of the same color, and a white jade piece hung from his waist. His long hair was also tied up with a jade crown, with a few strands of hair naturally drooping on either side of his forehead, revealing his smooth forehead and a pair of sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes.

Lu Mingfei looked up at the person standing outside the door. Even though they had known each other since childhood and he had seen this face for so many years, he was still stunned by this overly handsome face in front of him. Zhao Lang's appearance was simply too outstanding.

Meeting Zhao Lang's inquiring gaze, he quickly retracted his gaze of scrutinizing the beauty, regained his serious demeanor, and made a gesture of invitation: "Young Master, please come in."

Zhao Lang glanced at Lu Jieyuan, curled the corners of his mouth slightly, and walked into the courtyard. A guard followed him into the courtyard.

The others stayed outside and hid in the dark.

Lu Mingfei knew that there must be more than two people following Zhao Lang, so he turned to the guard Ma standing behind him and said, "Brother Ma, take the others to the kitchen to eat the hot pot." For today's midnight snack, he asked Zhang Qi to prepare two servings, one in his room and the other in the kitchen.

"Yes." Guard Ma replied.

After instructing Ma Ge to take the others to the kitchen to eat the pot, Lu Mingfei brought Zhao Lang into his room. After entering, he took the cloak that the young master took off, hung it on the rack behind the door, and invited him to sit down and eat.

"Have some soup?" The young master was sitting, but he still had to stand and serve him.

"Okay." Zhao Lang looked at the things on the table and knew that Lu Mingfei had specially prepared them to entertain him.

Looking at the young man bending over to serve him soup, his mood inexplicably improved.

"This is mutton soup stewed with medicinal herbs and radish. Try it." Lu Mingfei placed the mutton soup in front of Zhao Lang, then looked at him and asked, "What have you been busy with lately?"

"...Hmm." Zhao Lang looked up and met Lu Jieyuan's gaze. He lowered his gaze to Lu Jieyuan's lips, feeling a little guilty. To hide his guilt, he picked up the bowl and took a sip of the soup.

"careful……"

Before Lu Mingfei could utter the last word "burn", he saw someone had been burned, "..."

"Are you burned? Let me see." Seeing Zhao Lang was burned, his hands reacted faster than his brain. He reached out and pinched Zhao Lang's chin, leaning over to look at Zhao Lang's burned lips. Seeing that it was only a slight redness, he breathed a sigh of relief, "It's okay, it's not serious."

"Drink slowly, this soup is still piping hot after being scooped out of the pot."

"...Hmm." Zhao Lang was stunned by Lu Jieyuan's sudden hand and his suddenly approaching face. When he realized what Lu Mingfei had done to him, his face suddenly turned red.

Seeing Zhao Lang's face so red, Lu Mingfei thought that Zhao Lang was burned. "Why is your face so red? Is it very hot? Do you want me to get you some snow to cool you down?"

"No need." Zhao Lang forced his racing heart to return to normal. He held the bowl and pretended to drink soup, avoiding Lu Mingfei's gaze.

Lu Mingfei looked at Zhao Lang with suspicion and felt that Zhao Lang was a little strange today.

After his heartbeat returned to normal, Zhao Lang raised his head and looked at the young man sitting opposite him. He asked, "Would you like to come with me to Prince Ding's mansion to live for a while? It's quiet there, and no one will disturb you while you study."

"Besides, Mr. Zhang lives in the palace. If you encounter any confusion in your studies, you can ask him for advice."

The Mr. Zhang that Zhao Lang mentioned was his teacher Zhang Shi.

His teacher, also a Jinshi (Jinshi) graduate, served in the court for less than two years before resigning to travel. Unaccustomed to the court's rules and regulations, he embarked on a journey of discovery. While visiting Beijun, he encountered danger and was rescued by his father, the king. During their conversation, his father, impressed by his teacher's knowledge and generosity, invited him to the Ding Prince's palace as a guest.

At that time, he had reached the age of enlightenment and needed a good teacher. His father was impressed by his teacher's knowledge and talent, and the teacher was impressed by his intelligence, so they agreed to be his teacher, responsible for enlightening him, teaching him how to read and write, and the principles and rules of conduct.

Later, he came to Kyoto Prefecture as a hostage. His teacher did not abandon him and go far away, but followed him to Kyoto Prefecture.

As for the last point, as long as the other party does not betray him in the future, Zhao Lang is willing to respect and love this teacher who has taught him for many years as both a husband and a teacher.

"This... is too troublesome. I can just study at home. If I encounter any questions, I can take them to the Imperial College to ask Mr. Ouyang." Lu Mingfei's first reaction was to visit someone else's home, which was too much trouble for them.

He had been to Prince Ding's mansion as a guest and knew Mr. Zhang. But somehow, he had a feeling that Mr. Zhang didn't like him very much.

This made him very confused.

Why would the other person dislike him? He hadn't done anything to dislike him. However, Lu Mingfei had never mentioned this to Zhao Lang. Perhaps the other person was just aloof, not disliked him? Saying this made him seem petty and overly speculative.

Even if the other party really didn't like him, Lu Mingfei himself didn't think there was anything wrong with it. He was not money, so how could everyone like him?

"What trouble can there be between you and me?" Zhao Lang thought that Lu Mingfei could live in Prince Ding's mansion to study. In the future, they could see each other every day, study and practice martial arts together, which would be much more interesting than studying and practicing martial arts alone.

Thinking of this, he really wanted Lu Mingfei to go to Prince Ding's Mansion to accompany him.

"You're studying here, but the space is so small you don't even have room to turn around. You'd better come to my place. The palace is spacious, and when you get tired of studying, you can go out for a walk and practice martial arts and archery in the training grounds."

"Hearing you say that, I'm really a little moved."

Lu Mingfei picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks and put it into the pot to cook. He looked up at the man who was trying hard to persuade him to study at Prince Ding's mansion, "Do you really want me to study at your house?"

"So are you going?" Zhao Lang looked straight at Lu Jieyuan and asked.

"No." Zhao Lang's conditions didn't really appeal to him. Lu Mingfei knew that once he went to study at Prince Ding's mansion, it would be inconvenient for him to leave during the day. But if he studied at home, he could go wherever he wanted during the day and walk around the streets as soon as he opened the door.

Besides, being a guest in someone else's house is not as comfortable as staying in your own. A golden nest or a silver nest is not as good as your own doghouse.

"..." Hearing the rejection, Zhao Lang's expression darkened, and he suddenly felt that the meat in the bowl was no longer fragrant.

Seeing that the expression on Zhao Lang's face suddenly darkened, like a dog that had been abandoned by its owner, Lu Mingfei couldn't help but feel a little funny in his heart.

Scooping the cooked meat from the pot into Zhao Lang's bowl, he explained, "It's not that I don't want to go with you. It's just that the New Year is coming soon, and I have a lot of things to do at home. I can study at home and help my younger brothers with their studies and keep an eye on them, so that my father and mother can focus on their work outside."

"As you know, our family is going to open two new workshops this year, and my father hasn't been back to the city much lately. My mother has to take care of the business and take care of the children alone, and she's a little overwhelmed."

"It's so chaotic out there right now, I don't dare let my kids run around outside, for fear they'll be targeted and taken away by human traffickers. I've noticed a lot of beggars in the city lately, and there are also a lot of refugees outside the city. Right now, I'm worried that human traffickers might be among them, kidnapping not only refugees but also children and women."

When talking about human traffickers and child abduction, both of them recalled the time when they were kidnapped by human traffickers on the street when they were young.

So when Zhao Lang heard Lu Mingfei say that he was worried that his younger brothers would run away and meet human traffickers and be taken away by them, he really had no choice but to continue letting Lu Mingfei go to his house to study.

Since he couldn't kidnap the person, Zhao Lang could only help Lu Mingfei with some advice. "Your family's business is growing bigger and bigger. There's no need to do everything yourself. If you don't have the right people, I can give you a few."

"No need, you don't have many people you can use. As for our family, I'll talk to my father. There are quite a few people outside now. Let's see if there are any capable people inside and hire a few to come back and work at home." Lu Mingfei also knew that when their family business became bigger, his father would definitely not be able to do everything by himself.

If he really has to do everything himself, in the end it will be his father who is exhausted.

As for his mother, she can also find a manager to be in charge of the braised food store. If his mother has time, she can open a few more branches elsewhere.

The two of them ate for a long time and talked a lot during the night snack that day.

It was not until very late that Zhao Lang returned from the Lu family courtyard and took a carriage back to the Dingwang Mansion. He did not stay in the courtyard next door.