Chapter 33

Lin Shuge got up very early today. When he went out, he saw that it had snowed all night and a thick layer of snow had piled up in the yard, which made a crackling sound when he stepped on it.

He didn't call others to get up, but started sweeping with a broom. The pear tree in the yard was covered with snow, like white flowers falling on the branches. He gently brushed the snow off, otherwise the branches would be broken.

Without wanting to pat it lightly, the snow on the tree fell all over him. He was wearing a light blue robe today, and his long hair was tied up with a wooden hairpin. From a distance, he looked like a pear blossom that had become a spirit.

"What a beautiful snowfall." Someone said.

Lin Shuge looked back and saw that it was Xu Yu.

Xu Yu was standing on the wall with a ladder, looking over here with a smile, her peach blossom eyes sparkling, exuding her charm all the time.

"Boss Xu? Why are you here?" Lin Shuge asked curiously.

"Of course it's because I live here." He came down from the ladder and replied while lying on the wall.

Live here? It turned out to be a neighbor. The last time Lin Shuge went to visit his brother and sister-in-law, he had greeted the neighbor. It seems that the master the servant was talking about was him.

"Not only that, the house where County Magistrate Lin lives is also under my name."

You have to compete with these capitalists. While you are still working diligently to rent a house, they already own several properties, oh no, they also own the largest bookstore here.

He tried to force a smile, "Thank you very much, Boss Xu, for giving me a favor that day."

"Okay, okay. We are neighbors now. As the saying goes, a distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor. We must get along well. County Magistrate Lin, if you have any questions, just come to me. Although I don't like to meddle in other people's business, County Magistrate Lin's affairs are not a big deal to me."

Lin Shuge looked at him coldly, "Boss Xu, if you don't know how to talk, you don't have to say anything. If you keep talking, I will be rude to you."

This person usually likes to talk nonsense. He usually didn't take it seriously, but today he went a little too far.

Seeing that he was really angry, Xu Yu quickly apologized, "It's my fault. Lord Lin County Magistrate is magnanimous, so please don't bother with me."

Lin Shuge snorted coldly, ignored him and continued to sweep the snow.

The snow was piled all over the ground, and Lin Shuge suddenly had an idea. Why not make a snowman? Ayuan and Axuan would definitely be happy when they woke up and saw it.

He went back to the house and got out a pair of gloves. The gloves had a layer of cashmere inside and wool outside, and were very warm to wear.

He was building the snowman so seriously that he didn't notice Xu Yu didn't leave and kept watching him throughout the whole process.

Looking at the cute snowman, Lin Shuge patted the snow off his gloves and used branches to make two arms for the snowman.

"I didn't expect that County Magistrate Lin would be so skillful." Xu Yu said suddenly.

"Why are you still here?" Lin Shuge asked in surprise.

"I haven't left yet." Xu Yu looked innocent.

It seems that you are very free. Lin Shuge simply ignores him and reads it if you want.

Until a voice suddenly came from next door, "Young Master, Young Master Jiang is back."

When Xu Yu heard the words "Jiang Xiaolangjun", his face changed drastically and he almost fell off the wall. He looked up and saw the smile in Lin Shuge's eyes, and said stubbornly: "If he comes back, he can come back and tell me what he wants to say."

Although he said this, his face was filled with anxiety and joy. He said goodbye to Lin Shuge in a hurry and ran away.

Lin Shuge and Snowman stared at each other. It seemed that this Jiang Xiaolangjun was someone's nemesis.

"Brother, you got up so early. Wow, what is this?" Lin Qingyuan's excited voice came from the side.

"I got up early and made a snowman out of nothing." Lin Shuge said, leaning on the broom.

"It's so cute." Lin Qingyuan ran over and touched the snowman's round face.

"I'll go call Xuan to come and see." Lin Qingyuan ran away excitedly.

Suddenly, there was a sound of horse neighing outside the door, followed by footsteps, and someone knocked on the gate.

Lin Shuge immediately put down the broom and ran to open the door.

Could it be that Zhongxuan is back?

He opened the door with expectation, but a soldier stood outside the door, "Greetings to County Magistrate Lin, this is a letter from the commander of the guard tunnel."

Guard tunnel chief? It must be Zhongxuan.

Lin Shuge took it and said, "Thank you. Isn't Zhongxuan coming back?"

The soldier replied, "There have been a lot of disturbances at the border recently. The commander of the guard tunnel asked me to tell you that he may not be able to return home for the New Year. I hope you take care of yourself and don't worry about me."

Seeing the soldier riding all the way here, his face was blue with cold, he hurriedly invited him into the house to warm up, but the soldier said, "No need, sir. If you have a reply or something to bring to the guard, I can pass it on."

Upon hearing this, Lin Shuge immediately rushed back to his room and started packing. He prepared cashmere clothes, underwear and outerwear for the whole family. He had always prepared clothes for Xie Chen, and now it was just the right time to send them to him.

As for the letter, I can only write a few quick words to express my concern.

He packed the things, handed them to the soldier, and stuffed a bag of silver into his pocket, saying, "Thank you for your hard work along the way."

After the soldier accepted it, he turned around, mounted his horse and left. Lin Shuge was alone, staring at the traces of horse hooves in the snow in a daze.

It wasn't until Lin Xuan called him that he came to his senses.

"Brother, has anyone been here just now?" Lin Xuan looked at the lost expression on his face and asked curiously.

Could it be Erlang?

"A soldier brought a message from Zhongxuan saying he won't be back for the New Year. Let's go, we'll make dumplings today."

Not coming back? Lin Xuan sighed and followed Lin Shuge into the house, still thinking that if Erlang came back, everyone would have a lively New Year celebration.

Lin Shuge returned to his room and opened the letter impatiently. Unexpectedly, a jade hairpin fell out first. There was a rabbit carved on it, which looked round and cute.

He put away the jade hairpin and opened the letter.

Brother, I am glad to see you in person. It has been a long time since we last met, and I have been recommended by Captain Zhao to Zhonggusui. The war here has been going on for a long time, and I am afraid I will not be able to escape and return home.

It turned out that Zhongxuan went to Zhonggu Tunnel to serve as the tunnel chief, which was why there had been no news from him for such a long time.

According to the official system of the Duwei Mansion, from top to bottom there are Duwei, Hou, Houzhang, and Tunnelzhang, and under them are subordinate officials at all levels. They are the most frontier administrative bureaucrats on the frontier.

As soon as Zhongxuan arrived, he was appointed tunnel chief and was already a middle-level military officer.

He continued to look down.

The day before yesterday, the Huns made trouble and I led my troops to defeat them. However, the barbarians are like vines by the water and weeds in spring, and it is impossible to drive them away. The only way to eliminate them is to march straight in and attack Huanglong directly.

Seeing the words "The Huns were disturbed", Lin Shuge unconsciously clenched the letter paper. Is Zhongxuan injured?

When I was with my brother in the past, I always felt that everything was normal. But after we separated, I began to realize that separation and reunion are full of different feelings.

That day, when I was watching the beacon fire and gazing at the moon, I thought of my brother, so I carved a jade rabbit, hoping that I could be like it and always be by my brother's side.

The night at the border was as cool as water, with stars hanging low over the plain. Outside the tent, there was a long sound of flute. Lin Shuge imagined Xie Chen carving a rabbit seriously and chuckled.

I hope my brother takes care of himself. When everything is settled, he and I will never be separated again.

Brother, please say hello to Ayuan and Axuan for me.

His younger brother Zhongxuan was named.

Lin Shuge put away the letter, took off the wooden hairpin from his hair, put the jade rabbit hairpin on his head, and went out.

As soon as he left the house, he was stopped by the twins, "Brother, did Erlang send a letter? What did he say in the letter?"

Lin Shuge thought of the letter, "He said that he had arrived at the front line of the battle against the Xiongnu, Zhonggu Tunnel, and was already the tunnel chief. He would come back after the battle ended, and he also asked me to say hello to you."

Lin Qingyuan said happily: "At least he remembers us, but will it be dangerous on the front line? Wouldn't that mean we have to fight the Huns every day?"

Lin Shuge thought of the ferocity and cruelty of foreign races in all dynasties, and comforted him: "Zhongxuan is highly skilled in martial arts, and is also smart and adaptable. He will be fine."

He said this, but there was deep worry in his eyes.

Throughout history, few men have ever returned from the battles, and swords and guns are indiscriminate on the battlefield. After all, Zhongxuan is still young, and if he were in modern times he wouldn't even be in high school. How could he not be worried?

Lin Xuan hurriedly said, "Brother, didn't you say you wanted to make dumplings? I suddenly want to eat dumplings."

Lin Shuge put aside his worries and asked the twins, "What filling do you want? Pork and green onion, leek and egg? Or leek and walnut?"

"Can I eat them all?" Lin Qingyuan asked carefully.

"Of course you can. Big brother will prepare everything for you." Lin Shuge was amused by him and said while touching his increasingly round face.

The three of them came to the kitchen, Lin Shuge kneaded the dough and chopped the stuffing, while Lin Xuan and Lin Qingyuan picked vegetables. They were busy in full swing and soon all the stuffing was ready.

"Let's go to the main house and pack."

The main room was warm, and the three of them sat on the kang, making dumplings around a small coffee table.

Lin Shuge rolled out a round dumpling wrapper in a few strokes, put the filling on it, and pinched it with both hands, and a dumpling was formed.

Lin Qingyuan was curious and followed suit to wrap one. However, not only was it a weird shape, but the bottom was also exposed.

"Big brother." He called his elder brother pitifully.

"It's okay, just make a few more and you'll be able to do it."

Lin Xuan looked at him with disdain, picked up the dumpling wrappers and started wrapping them. Unexpectedly, the dumplings she made were just as good as Lin Qingyuan's, and her face turned red for a moment.

Lin Qingyuan tilted his head to take a look at the dumplings she made and laughed, "Ah Xuan, you're still laughing at me. The ones you make are almost the same as mine."

Lin Xuan got so angry that she stepped on him hard.

"Okay, I'll teach you how to make it." Lin Qingyuan said in a gentle voice.

He picked up the dumpling wrappers and demonstrated again in slow motion. The twins learned it very well. Sure enough, they got the hang of it after making the dumplings a few more times.

Later on, Lin Shuge simply rolled out the dough and let the twins wrap the dumplings. They finished wrapping the dumplings with three kinds of fillings very quickly.

The night gradually swallowed up the last ray of light, and Lin Shuge brought out the cooked dumplings. He did not forget that the twins had clamored for spare ribs yesterday, so he heated up a small bowl of them as well.

The three of them sat together to eat. Lin Shuge picked up one of each of the three kinds of dumplings. The dumplings stuffed with green onions and pork were rich in meat flavor and delicious. The dumplings stuffed with leeks and eggs had a thin skin and tender stuffing, leaving a lingering fragrance on the lips and teeth. The dumplings stuffed with leeks and walnuts had the fragrance of walnuts and were unique in their flavor.

We have to stay up tonight, and after dinner Lin Shuge took out the melon seeds and dried fruits he had bought. The family chatted while waiting for the New Year to come.

Unfortunately, before midnight, the twins were already falling down from sleepiness, and Lin Shuge had no choice but to send them back to their room.

He suddenly remembered something, went back to his room to get it, then quietly placed it next to the twins' pillows before going back to sleep.

The bright moonlight illuminated Lin Qingyuan's room. Next to his pillow was a red envelope, which was the New Year's money given to him by his brother.

Xie Chen, under the same moonlight, was reading the reply letter from Lin Shuge, but he could not fall asleep for a long time.