Chapter 26 Chapter 26 “Da… Da… Da…”…

“Da…da…da…”

The dark yellow chopsticks made of light wood tapped on the edge of the bowl. A warm breeze blew in from outside, and the aroma of braised pork wafted over the dining table.

Xie Xunzhi frowned slightly, and pressed his fingers on the end of Hezhou's chopsticks: "Don't knock the bowl."

"Oh." Hezhou stopped, his eyes still flickering with doubt: "Xunzhi... didn't you say that Chunjuan's indenture contract is..."

"No." He Hua said nervously, her hands under the table, rubbing her sleeves nervously. "The traffickers brought a group of servants all the way from the capital. They bought them off along the way, except for the two of us..."

He slowly raised his head. "I offended my master before, and he thought I'd suffer all the way here. He didn't allow me to eat or sleep, and he often beat and scolded me. But... he just planned to kill us after we crossed this mountain..."

Hehua's voice was not as hoarse as before, and a deep timbre could be heard. Half of her hair had just grown out, covering the expression in her eyes.

"Then how did you know he was going to kill you?" Hezhou lowered his eyes and took the last bite of his meal. He turned to look at Xie Xunzhi and whispered, "The rice is getting cold. How about giving me half a bowl? And you can get a fresh bowl?"

Xie Xunzhi was stunned, then shook his head: "No, it's not that particular. Besides, we still have black chickens."

"Okay, I'm just worried that you'll have diarrhea." He smiled and looked towards Lotus.

"It was me... I heard it..." Chunjuan carefully put down his bowl and chopsticks. His dusty yellow clothes were pulled tight by him. His voice was low and deep: "He bought drugs, but he was reluctant to spend all the money. I heard him say in a daze that he would kill us after we passed the top of the mountain..."

"But...but! We didn't think too much about it! We just wanted to take the indenture contract and run away up the mountain!" She looked painful and repeated what she said.

She raised her hand, letting her yellow sleeve slide down, revealing whip marks and burns on her slender wrist. "Don't worry, sir! If our former boss comes looking for us, we will definitely not let you down!"

Lotus lowered her head dejectedly, her dark eyes covered by her hair. She suddenly knelt down, and the square stool hit the ground with a dull thud.

His voice was tinged with tears, but his words were still clear: "My lord, we were born to be servants... That family wants Chunjuan to be a greenhouse maid... I..."

"Stop!" Hezhou interrupted. It's better not to listen to such things.

"Don't say more. I'm just a small official. I can't give you any more promises. I can only say that I'll keep you alive for one more day as long as I'm alive."

"Get up!"

Hezhou sighed, and laughed in his heart. He thought carefully about the four people in the yard, three of whom were unknown, and one was a wandering ghost. "Xunzhi, can they still sign the labor contract like this?"

"It doesn't matter whether you sign it or not. Look at the outside, isn't it clean from top to bottom? They work very efficiently."

Xie Xunzhi stood up and took a new pair of chopsticks for Hehua: "Eat your meal peacefully. It's just that Hezhou needs your help with farming. As for the rest, we will pretend to know nothing."

"You are just outsiders who I rescued because I saw something was wrong with the human traffickers."

After dinner, Hezhou walked around the table in the study, staring at the files on the table. He leaned against the wall and opened the window. It was a sunny day outside.

The sky was cloudless and the discussion at the dinner table took a long time. The sun was slanting and the shadow on the stone clock pointed to the end of the day.

"You said now..." He was interrupted just as he started to speak.

"It's a bit rushed now. After all, we are looking for someone to discuss something. Why not send the visiting card today and visit tomorrow?" Xie Xunzhi sat at the desk, lowering his eyes and writing the notice looking for someone.

Hezhou snapped his fingers and smiled, "Xunzhi really understands me! But... you said I've already gone to deliver the visiting card, it would be bad if I didn't go in~"

He leaned on the table and approached Xie Xunzhi, his whole body as excited as if he had been injected with chicken blood, his eyes flashing: "I am full of energy now!"

Xie Xunzhi pushed Hezhou away with the back of his hand and said calmly: "I'll find a child to take care of you. I hope you will do the same when you go to the fields. Don't give up halfway."

The written notice was held up, and the faint scent of ink wafted through the pages. Hezhou accidentally rubbed against Xie Xunzhi's hand and held the notice.

"I'll go to the forum."

Xie Xunzhi's hands were cold. He could still recall the fragrance when he was pushed away just now. It was the strong scent of ink that covered the cold woody scent. Hezhou was familiar with this smell. He could always smell it when the two of them were close to each other in bed at night.

"Wait for me to write the visiting card." Xie Xunzhi blew on the notice and let go only when he saw the ink on the paper was dry.

The notice fell limply into Hezhou's hands, and for a moment a strange emotion surged in his heart.

He weighed the other brush on the pen holder and stood beside it, writing according to Xie Xunzhi's notes. The special training over the past few days was useful.

He can now understand any characters that are not too complicated, and his handwriting is similar to Xunzhi's, except that he lifts the pen and writes with greater force.

He took the written visiting card and went to post it on the street. Just as he was thinking about how to send it out, he saw Wang Xiaopang coming over. He was still holding the windmill in his hand and carrying a woven bamboo basket covered with a piece of blue floral cloth.

After Hezhou posted the notice, he bent down and jokingly asked him, "Do you know Mr. Li?"

Fatty Wang curled his lips, his eyes filled with disdain. "Who doesn't know the Seed King? I've been told I'm famous for my good memory in this area..."

"Yeah, I get it. He has the ambition to take the imperial examination." Hezhou has already figured out everyone in the private school these few days. Fatty Wang is just pretending to be an adult, which is very interesting.

He took out the invitation: "Send it off?"

Wang Xiaopang smiled, holding the visiting card in one hand and spreading the other. The bamboo basket slid down to his neck, which was stuck between his shoulders. He didn't care at all, and a hint of shyness appeared in his eyes. "Last time, I told you not to let the teacher control me, so I wouldn't charge you. You didn't do it, so this time I'll double it!"

"Money-grubber!" Hezhou put the copper coin in his hand and scratched his nose.

“Guaranteed delivery!”

Hezhou Xiaoxiao went back and told Xie Xunzhi about this matter. Xie Xunzhi also laughed: "It's also suitable to find Xiaopang. He never says the wrong thing."

During dinner in the evening, the Li family sent a reply, inviting them to gather in Hezhou at noon the next day. There was Li Xu's seal on the side.

Hezhou clapped his hands while holding the post: "Just wait until tomorrow."

Two people sat on a rocking chair in the yard. The old chair made three noises when it was moved, and was only barely held together by the iron wire.

The moon tonight is particularly cold, and the sky is full of twinkling stars. Hezhou raised his hand and "held" the moon in his hand. What would happen if a thunderbolt struck now?

Back to the modern era? I've almost paid back the money I earned from my part-time university job, and I've also developed a number of health issues.

Maybe I'm just looking for a vague goal...

Like coming back?

"Here." Xie Xunzhi patted him with the wine.

"Um?"

He took the wine with a little doubt, put his tongue on it and tasted it, and the bitter taste exploded in his mouth.

"Pooh!" He spat out, his face wrinkled. "It's so disgusting! What is this?"

"I see that you have a melancholy face, and you are looking at the bright moon as if you are going to drink and chat happily in the next second, and write unforgettable poems." Xie Xunzhi covered his mouth quietly, and a smile bloomed on his lips.

Hezhou put the wine glass on the table: "If I really had that talent, would I still be here?"

"That's hard to say. It's the dream of many people for you to become the boss." Xie Xunzhi took a sip of the wine and immediately spit it out.

His reaction was even more exaggerated than Hezhou's. His cheeks flushed, his eyes were wet, and he stuck out his tongue: "Isn't this too bitter?"

The trees rustled in the wind, and the cicadas' faint chirping blended into the faint night.

Xie Xunzhi lifted up his scattered hair, picked up the teapot on the table and drank it in one gulp. The jade-colored brocade flashed in the night, and his outstanding face looked like a comfortable painting.

Now it was Hezhou's turn to laugh secretly. He appeased Xie Xunzhi: "I just told you it's bitter, why are you still drinking it?"

"I thought Brother He couldn't drink the medicinal wine." Xie Xunzhi pushed the small wine cup away with a look of resistance: "That medicine man said all kinds of things and didn't charge me. He just wanted to feel it. He hugged me on the street and wouldn't let me go. I thought there was no harm in it, so I accepted it. I didn't expect..."

He covered the wine cup and said, "Let him take it all back tomorrow."

"Come on, let's not talk about romance and moonlight. Let's go to bed. By the way, when did you kill that chicken? It wakes up and crows before dawn every day." Hezhou stood up staggeringly and grabbed his hand along his arm.

Xie Xunzhi stood up, his cheeks still slightly flushed. He snuffed out the incense and candles, making sure there was no open flame in the yard.

…………

The roosters crowed again in the morning. Xie Xunzhi just opened his eyes and met a pair of excited eyes. He stood up suddenly and his lips brushed against Hezhou's cheek.

"What are you doing!"

"Why are you so excited? It's not the first day." Hezhou knelt on the bed, looking down: "Haven't you seen it all?"

Xie Xunzhi was a little confused. He sat sideways against the wall and said, "Why is it so early? Didn't you complain about the rooster crowing too early last night?"

Hezhou had already put on a sky blue round-necked shirt. He handed it to him and said, "Isn't this exciting? I've been thinking about this..."

"Let's eat first, I don't know where this obsession comes from."

Hezhou pouted and wanted to squat down to put his shoes on him, but Xie Xunzhi dodged uncomfortably: "No need, I can do it myself."

"When I went to the drugstore, I saw that the prices at the grain store were more expensive than usual. Not only were all the people buying from them not farming, but the harvests from their fields were not good, so I just wanted to try growing some myself." Hezhou lowered his eyes.

After dinner, the two of them walked to the corner of the street and then separated. This shop stall was doing very well. Xie Xunzhi was holding a few bottles of medicinal wine and carrying a small bag across his shoulder.

Hezhou knew clearly that there was a tattered copy of the Analects of Confucius inside, along with straw paper and ink pen: "Don't be angry with the brat."

He put the post on Xie Xunzhi's shoulder and said in a slightly teasing tone, "If you really can't stand it, I'll bring a sack after school to beat them up."

Xie Xunzhi pried his hands apart: "The children are all fine."

"Yo yo yo! Why don't you say that Brother He is also doing well?" He Zhou touched his chin and smiled with the corners of his mouth curled up.

Xie Xunzhi smiled: "Really, you don't need me to go with you?"

"No need!" Hezhou waved his hand: "It's not a battle of wits, it's just a discussion. If it doesn't work, we can find another solution."

More and more people were walking on the street, and more and more people were watching them passing by. The stall owner next to them removed the covering cloth and put out the steamed buns.

The vendor adjusted his hat and smiled. "I see you've been standing here for a long time. Would you like some buns? They're free! Fresh from the oven."