Chapter 148

Little An'an is too young and can't even turn over, so naturally she can't do the deed ceremony.

As his father, Zhang Tiegou poured tea for Xu Yi to drink on his son's behalf, and the matter was settled.

From then on, Xiao Anan officially became Xu Yi's godson.

"Here, I give this to you." Xu Yi took out the safety lock and hung it around the child's neck.

Zhang Tiegou and Li Mengniang could not refuse what their godfather gave to their godson. They could only stare blankly as Xu Yi took the safety lock and stuffed a red envelope with broken silver into it.

"Brother Xu, you gave too much."

"It's not for you anyway."

"Ah~" At this time, little An'an in her arms made a voice, attracted by the extra safety lock in front of her.

His fleshy little hands wanted to grab the beautiful thing in front of him, but his brain, eyes and hands didn't match up, so he missed it.

"Huh?" Little An'an couldn't get anything and looked for her mother out of habit.

He broke away from his father's arms and stretched out his little hand towards Li Mengniang with a "yeah" sound.

Li Mengniang took him, and little Anan forgot about the safety lock she wanted to grab just now, and turned her head to his mother's chest, wanting to drink milk.

Li Mengniang felt embarrassed, changed her position to hug him, and showed an embarrassed smile to the others: "..."

"Mengniang, this kid is hungry again!" Zhang Tiegou blurted out.

Seeing that Li Mengniang didn't want to pay attention to him, she was a little confused.

Aren't you very happy just now?

...

It was a happy event to recognize a godson, so Xu Yi started to arrange for A Xu and A Jin to go to the snack shop to buy lumps of sugar cakes.

Cut the sugar cakes you bought into squares and give one to every household you have a good relationship with.

This sugar cake is boiled with caramel sugar and sprinkled with a layer of white sesame seeds. It tastes sweet and crispy, so it's perfect to give as a gift.

After finishing this matter, Xu Yi and others who congratulated Xi all left.

Fang Liu Niang was left alone.

Fang Liu Niang didn't know why Xu Yi called her. She just thought it was because she had some other instructions, so she stood up and said with a smile: "Mr. Sir, are you calling me to do something happy?"

Xu Yi calmly said She took a sip of tea, rubbed the white porcelain cup, and asked quietly: "Mother Fang, are you hiding something from me?"

Fang Liu Niang was stunned for a moment: "Huh?"

"Lang Jun, I, I don't understand you. Meaning."

Xu Yi didn't say anything, but took out a piece of light purple silk with floral colors from his arms.

Ah Jin felt that this silk was inappropriate and brought it to him to see.

When Fang Liu Niang saw Silk, her legs felt weak, and she only had one confused thought in her heart: Lang Jun knows!

Lang Jun came to question her.

Could it be...as she thought, Lang Jun was waiting for Ah Jin to get older and want to move into the house by himself, and she was thinking about Ah Jin, so she might be displeased by Lang Jun.

Thinking of this, Fang Liu Niang felt regretful and said to herself: "Lang Jun, I was wrong, I was really wrong."

Xu Yi frowned slightly and asked calmly: "Where was the mistake?"

Fang Liu Niang was cautious and told everything quickly, without missing a single detail.

She knelt on the ground and cried: "Mr. Lang, I don't dare to think about Miss Ajin anymore. Please do me a favor and don't drive me out of the house." The

Xu family has little work and good treatment, because many Xinmi prescriptions cannot be used Let her know, but let her be free.

In addition to the money she received from the original lease, she could also get additional monthly money, not much, but two hundred cash.

Xu Yi tightened his fingers on the tea cup. He had no idea what Fang Liu Niang had planned.

I just had a vague intuition that something was not good, so I asked this question.

In addition, after Ah Jin was asked a lot of inexplicable questions by Fang Liu Niang that day, he felt weird and didn't dare to use the silk, so he came to Xu Yi.

Today's Xu Yi is not like the time when he just traveled through time and didn't understand anything.

When he saw the silk, he felt even worse. This silk is of high quality, but for such a small piece, it costs a fortune.

If you have something to gain, you must ask for something. He didn't believe that Fang Liu Niang would be so generous. If she wasn't asking A Jin to do something, then she was asking him for something.

Fang Liu Niang, who was kneeling on the ground, felt even more panicked when she saw Xu Yi sitting upright with a gloomy face and silent expression.

She hurriedly kowtowed and said, "Mr. Lang, I don't dare anymore. Please spare me this time."

Xu Yi sighed: "Mother Fang, A Jinxu is only thirteen years old."

"I, I know." Fang Liu Niang choked, afraid that if she didn't say anything, Lang Jun would drive her away, so she hurriedly said, "I am from the village and got engaged to my sister at twelve or thirteen. Ever since I worked in Lang Jun's house, I have been Several families came over to look at each other, but I was so obsessed that none of them thought it was good. In my eyes, I only thought that Ah Jin was the best."

Xu Yi didn't relax his brows and said in a deep voice: "Ah Jin's. Marriage should not be decided by others."

In his opinion, Ah Jin is not only still young, but also has a long way to go before getting married.

Besides, this is the child he raised and should be married independently, not in the hands of others.

Fang Liu Niang swallowed her saliva and saw that Xu Yi's face seemed to be relaxed. She immediately misunderstood, her eyes flashed brightly, and she said with a smile: "I don't know what Lang Jun has in mind. If he knew, he would never have such a problem." What's on my mind?"

Xu Yi laughed: "What's on my mind?"

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly felt angry and slapped the coffee table next to him.

"Pa—"

there was a violent sound.

Fang Liu Niang's shoulders shook with fear, and the teasing look in her eyes disappeared, leaving only frightened fear.

She hurriedly lowered her head, not daring to look at Xu Yi's cold expression.

Rare anger echoed in Xu Yi's chest: "Mother Fang, I mean, she is the one who decides on A Jin's affairs. As for you... let alone you, even A Xu can't be A Jin's boss."

There has been a saying since ancient times . According to the saying that the eldest brother is like the father, if A Jin does not have his parents around, then A Xu has the right to influence his sister's marriage.

However, the Song Dynasty did not just obey the orders of their parents.

Nowadays, young men and women look at the person they like and choose a marriage partner.

Of course, this is all done with the support of parents. After all, grand marriages are becoming more and more popular, and without the family's contribution to the dowry, a woman will be looked down upon and bullied by a man when she marries.

Xu Yi was angry that Fang Liu Niang had set her sights on Ah Jin so early.

It was also because Fang Liu Niang imagined him to be such a person.

He pinched his brows to calm himself down: "Everything has a reason. If you think so, I don't blame you. It's just that in the future, when the lease period is up, you can leave."

When Fang Liuniang heard this, her whole body When people are in panic, no matter how eloquent they are, it is useless.

Xu Yi always meant what he said. He didn't want to keep Fang Liu Niang any longer. No matter how Fang Liu Niang argued and begged for mercy, it was useless.

At dawn the next day, Ah Jin saw that Fang Liu Niang was in a trance and was distracted while making breakfast, so he called her twice quickly.

When Fang Liu Niang didn't turn around, Ah Jin took a closer look and saw that both of her eyes were swollen.

"Mother Fang, what's wrong with your eyes?" Ah Jin asked her worriedly.

Fang Liu Niang looked back and looked at A Jin, who had a caring face, with mixed emotions in her heart: "No, it's okay, it's just that the sand has blinded my eyes and I rubbed them."

A Jin frowned, stood up and said, "I'll go get it for you. Get the eye ointment."

"No, no need." Fang Liu Niang stopped her and shook her head, "My eyes will heal soon, don't waste the ointment that Lang Jun made."

A Jin said with a smile . "It wasn't Lang Jun who did it, it was me."

Fang Liu Niang's eyes were full of suspicion.

A Jin explained: "I have recently learned several prescriptions for ointments. My husband asked me to do more practice so that I can get the dosage right."

Fang Liu Niang sighed inwardly, although she didn't understand the practice and the dosage. . But it can be seen that Ah Jin is extremely talented and is a good candidate to be a female doctor.

Such a good Miaoer...

She closed her eyes, she shouldn't miss him.

...

After the New Year, Fang Liuniang packed her bags and left.

Everyone had been with her for three years, and they all had feelings for each other. When they saw her leaving, they were a little reluctant to leave.

But no one asked to stay. She wanted to leave because the lease period was up, but Xu Yi did not renew the lease. In other words, this was Xu Yi's decision.

Even if A Xu and A Jin have a good relationship with Fang Liu Niang, they are not as important as Lang Jun.

Since Lang Jun doesn’t want to continue leasing Fang Liu Niang, that’s his reason.

However, Madam He and Madam Chen noticed something was wrong.

Privately, they were talking to Xu Yi in the courtyard and asked about it.

Mrs. He picked up the soybeans in the dustpan, blew on the floating skin, and asked him: "What did this mother do to make you change people?"

"Ms. He saw it?" Xu Yi smiled faintly.

Mrs. Chen smiled happily and said: "We don't know what kind of person you are. You don't dismiss people easily. She was fired by you. She must have done something that touched your bottom line."

Xu Yi He chuckled: "It's nothing."

He didn't hide anything from the two elders, and simply told them what happened.

After hearing this, Madam He and Madam Chen were both silent for a long time.

After a while.

Mrs. Chen was the first to speak out and said displeasedly: "This Fang Liu Niang is confused. With her son's ability, there are many good girls from the countryside, but she puts her mind on A Jin, let alone Brother Yi." If you're angry, I'm angry too."

Mrs. He sighed softly: "She thinks it's easy, but she's been thinking about Ah Jin since she was eleven years old. It's really..."

She thought of her natal sister-in-law's sister, who was a pretty girl. A good girl, like her, can do fine embroidery work.

With such a situation, Mrs. He didn't dare to put her thoughts on A Xu.

Don't say that the two of them are just low-class people. According to Xu Yi, these two people will get rid of their low-class status sooner or later.

Moreover, A Xu and A Jin are both medical students who are literate, capable of martial arts, and understand pharmacology and medicine. These conditions alone are enough to choose a better marriage partner.

"Brother Yi, you did the right thing." Mrs. Chen is much more straightforward than Mrs. He. Over the years, she has walked alone and seen so many people in the world. She has long since given up the idea of ​​continuing to marry.

"Whether a marriage is good or not depends on whether the man is good or bad. If Fang Liu Niang's son turns out to be a crooked melon and cracked jujube, Ah Jin will be at a loss." Mrs. Chen sneered, "If he looks decent, he turns out to be a Stupid, doesn’t that mean he has to rely on Ah Jin to survive? This man is more lazy than a woman. Are there many men who rely on women for help?”

Xu Yi looked at Mrs. Chen in surprise when these words came out of her mouth. , even more charming than those freely married women in the family.

"Ms. Chen, what you said makes sense." Xu Yi held his hands in admiration.

Mrs. Chen waved her hands in embarrassment: "Oh, I'm just a person who has been there, and I can see it more clearly than you."

Mrs. He covered her mouth and smiled, and joked: "It's really wonderful, you can tell the shortcomings in this. , you are the best."

Madam Chen said with a smile: "I can't compare to those rich ladies in my life, but I still live a comfortable life. Look at me, now I don't have to serve lazy men or please my parents-in-law, how nice it is. "

Xu Yi and Mrs. He smiled, and they were really happy for her.

...

In the golden autumn of this year, Xing Yuesen once again set foot on the road to Shuntian Mansion.

The old juren who failed the exam last time did not make it this time.

I heard that he was seriously ill in the cold winter last year. He suddenly became critically ill in the middle of the night. Before he could get a doctor, he died.

After the students in Yanting County learned about this, they were still in mourning for a long time.

Xing Yuesen and Xin Shengyuan also came to Xu Yi's house to drink and talk about the scientific examination again, with other melancholy in their words.

On the day Xing Yuesen left, it was misty and rainy. Xu Yi and his friends said goodbye to him at the gate of the city.

After he left, Xu Yi took care of the medicinal materials planted in Zhuangzi from time to time.

In the medicine field, two types of medicinal materials were half grown and had problems with their leaves, including leaf blight. There are usually three reasons for the occurrence of leaf blight, one is too much watering, the other is too little watering, and the third is bacterial diseases.

Xu Yi cut off the branches with dead leaves and checked whether the soil was wet or dry. That was the third situation.

Under the current conditions, the difficulty of using drugs to solve leaf blight has skyrocketed.

Xu Yi could only rely on soil methods, which was to sprinkle firewood ash into the soil, turn the soil and mix well to see if it could be suppressed.

A few days later, he was lucky enough to save some of them.

But there are still more than a dozen medicinal plants withered.

These medicinal materials had finally been maintained for such a long time, but they died before they were harvested. Chen Liu blamed himself for this, and Xiaodouzi was even sadder and shed tears.

Seeing him crying so sadly, Xu Yi took out the jelly beans and coaxed him: "There are still many more. We can harvest a lot next spring."

He has always been optimistic. The first time he artificially cultivated medicinal materials, he was a great success. satisfy.

In the spring of the next year, Xu Yi harvested a new batch of medicinal materials and new, full-bodied seeds.

At this time, another medicinal field opened up in Zhuangzi.

New seeds are planted in the fields of new medicines.

Chen Liu is still in charge. This time, Chen Liu has some experience. Compared with before, he can take care of things in a decent manner. Wearing working clothes and carrying a wooden bucket and a wooden ladle, he looked even more professional than Xu Yi.

Xu Yi felt relieved and asked him to manage the medicine field. After spring, he rarely came to Zhuangzi.

On the contrary, Xin Shengyuan was very interested after hearing that Xu Yi had harvested a batch of medicinal materials.

He visited Zhuangzi several times and asked Chen Liu how he managed the medicinal materials.

Xin Shengyuan, who never liked studying, suddenly encountered something that made him curious about knowledge. When he got home, he locked himself in the study room and looked for relevant books.

However, there were not many books on planting, and even if there were, they would not appear in his study room where he read books from sages.

When Xu Yi learned about this, he was teaching A Xu and A Jin how to prepare medicinal materials.

At this moment, Xue Lian, Xin Shengyuan's personal maid, arrived.

She leaned forward, bit her lower lip and said softly: "Mr. Xu, I have a gracious request. I hope Mr. Xu can help me."

Ajin ran over and helped her up: "Sister Xuelian, you don't have to be like this. You're welcome. If you have anything to say, please tell me first. If Lang Jun can do it, he will agree to it."

Xu Yi nodded his chin towards Xuelian.

Xuelian said: "After Lang Jun came back from Zhuangzi in the eastern suburbs, he locked himself in the study for several days. He didn't think about tea or food, but just thought about..."

She paused, unable to find the right words for a moment. "It's like he's possessed. He said he wants to find out how to grow medicinal materials."

Xu Yi raised his eyebrows with surprise in his eyes.

He only knows what's ahead, not what's behind.

At that time, I thought that Xin Shengyuan was just curious and asked Chen Liu a few questions. Unexpectedly, he actually wanted to grow medicinal materials by himself.

"He asked you to come?" Xu Yi asked her.

Xuelian shook her head quickly and said with slightly red eyes: "When I see Lang Jun like this, I feel happy and scared at the same time. Lang Jun used to dislike reading so much, but for this matter, he has read all the books in the house. "

But the Xin family is not a scholarly family after all, and there are only so many books that can be found. The rest is a story book that was bought secretly from a certain house. It is so charming and fragrant that it makes Xin Shengyuan blush but has no other benefit.

Xu Yi could imagine what books Xin Shengyuan found after searching at home for several days.

He smiled in his heart, suppressed it, and asked Xue Lian: "You came to me because you want me to persuade him to give up?"

"No." Xue Lian quickly knelt on the ground, "I beg Mr. Xu, can you give me some advice?" Lang Jun."

Xu Yi did not agree in a hurry.

Ah Jin, who was listening with great interest next to him, suddenly said after hearing this sentence: "Your husband is a scholar and wants to take the exam to become an official. Why didn't you persuade him and instead asked him to do it?" "

Xuelian said: "My servant knows very well what kind of person Lang Jun is. He is not a person who likes to study. He is already tired of being detained in the house to study every day. "

She is not afraid of other people. He sighed, "I don't know what is right or wrong. I just want my husband to be happy."

In the past two years, my husband has not liked to laugh.

In the past, Xin Shengyuan loved to smile, was squeamish and dignified, and was loved and supported by everyone, but he had never suffered any grievances.

As a result, in the past two years, because Xing Langjun passed the exam, his family became oppressive.

As a slave, she knew how easy it was to take the exam for fame. In the past, Lang Jun's studies were just a formality. Now I am starting from scratch and I don’t know when I will finish.

Xu Yi thought for a moment and ordered Ah Jin to help him up.

"I agree to this. You go back first, and I will ask Ah Jin to hand over the things to you in two days."

Xuelian was happy, she came to try her luck today. Who would have thought that Xu Yi really agreed.

She hurriedly prayed for blessings and said thank you repeatedly.

Afterwards, Ah Jin sent her out. It was already getting late, and Mrs. Lin came to urge her several times and asked Xu Yi if she wanted to eat.

After what happened with Fang Liu Niang, Xu Yi did not hire a new mother.

Instead, I picked two people from Uncle Liu's house.

They are Uncle Liu's eldest son and daughter-in-law, Mrs. Lin.

Uncle Liu's eldest son is called Liu Zhuang, and Lin's maiden name is Lin Fangfang.

A Xu and A Jin knew them well, so they were happy to see that Lang Jun rented one of them as a concierge and the other as a kitchen lady.

Uncle Liu was grateful to Xu Yi for supporting their family, and secretly told his eldest son to work well in the Xu family and not to be lazy and slippery.

How could Liu Zhuang dare? He had already been warned by his two brothers at home. If he didn't work hard, they would take his place.

"Father, mother, don't worry, you two." Liu Zhuang patted his chest and said reassuringly, "Even if I am sick, I will do my job well."

"Bah, what nonsense are you talking about?" Uncle Liu said rudely. The son hit the stick and said, "If you are sick, Doctor Xu will not treat you harshly and let you work even though you are sick."

"Hey, I know." Liu Zhuang rubbed his head and smiled stupidly.

Uncle Liu couldn't stand it anymore and didn't bother to tell him too much. The eldest son was a measured person and would not mess around.

As for Mr. Lin, as a father-in-law, it was not appropriate for him to say anything, so he only left it to his wife to speak.

...

At this time, Mrs. Lin wiped the table and put away the teacup on it: "Mr. Lang, drinking tea on an empty stomach hurts your stomach. Drink less."

"Yes." Xu Yi nodded.

Mrs. Lin only said this and didn't say any more. After cleaning the table, she brought the food cooked in the kitchen.

Her cooking skills are not as good as Fang Liu Niang's, and all she cooks are ordinary people's meals.

When she first came here, she was afraid that the food she cooked would be unpalatable and would upset Xu Yi's stomach, so she asked A Xu for advice many times.

A Xu is a good child. She teaches whatever she asks and quickly develops Lin's cooking skills.

When the dishes were all served, Xu Yi picked up the bowl and chopsticks and looked at the braised tofu cubes with spring bamboo shoots in front of him. He smelled the thick aroma of the sauce and his appetite suddenly whetted.

He picked up the spring bamboo shoots and chewed them in his mouth. The sound was crisp, the sauce was full of flavor, and the aftertaste was like bamboo shoots.

This dish alone is enough for Xu Yi to eat a bowl of white rice.

However, he was quickly attracted by another plate of meat.

Every morning, when Mrs. Lin wanted to buy the dishes for the day, she would come in advance to ask for his opinion.

On this day, he said that he would make a different meat dish today.

Now it seems that this is the one in front of me.

Xu Yi asked with a smile: "Sister Lin, what is this?"

Mrs. Lin squinted her eyes and said with confidence: "This is what I came up with when I saw the duck with distiller's grains that Lang Jun ate last time. Since duck meat can be braised with distiller's grains, , then other meats are also available. In the early days, my family couldn't afford good meat, so they specialized in low-quality meat, and among them was pork tongue. "

This dish, Lin calls it "wine-grained pork tongue", is not the same as the wine-grained duck. .

She first washes the pig tongue clean, especially the layer of mucus on the outside. If it is not washed well, the cooked taste will be unpleasant and difficult to swallow.

Put the washed pork tongue into a pot with clean water, simmer over low heat for half an hour, poke it with chopsticks, if it can be easily pierced, take it out and cut it into slices.

The sliced ​​pork tongue is already fragrant and can be eaten directly dipped in salt cornel water.

But that wasn't enough, Mrs. Lin put the pig tongue into a vat, then poured in a small pot of distiller's grains, and added other spices, such as chives, garlic, shredded ginger and balsamic vinegar, covered it, and marinated it for two hours. .

Lin came back from grocery shopping and cooked this dish for three hours.

After hearing what she said, Xu Yi salivated and couldn't wait to try it.

"It looks delicious." Xu Yi praised it before he tasted it.

Lin laughed and said, "Mr. Lang, please don't praise me first. Try it if it suits your taste. If it doesn't work, do something else next time."

Xu Yi listened to her and put a piece in front of him.

It smells of balsamic vinegar and lees, a very complex aroma.

He opened his mouth and took it into his mouth, chewing and tasting it carefully under Lin's burning eyes.

The pork tongue is so braised that it is very soft and does not damage your teeth when you eat it.

When you enter the mouth, you are greeted by the unique sweet and spicy flavor of sake lees, then the aroma of garlic and ginger, and then the sour vinegar.

The taste is layered, complex and wonderful, and surprisingly delicious.

Xu Yi's eyes suddenly lit up, and he took another piece into his mouth.

"Sister Lin, this dish is delicious." Xu Yi ate three pieces in a row, raised his head and looked at A Xu and the others who were staring at him, "You guys come and try it too."

After that, he shouted Lin and Liu Zhuang also sat down.

Mrs. Lin responded and went to the concierge to call her husband over for dinner.

They were all frightened at first when Xu Yi asked them to sit down and eat together.

Later, Xu Yi told them that it was not good for him to eat alone, but it was good to eat with a crowd, so he followed A Xu and A Jin's example and sat down at the dining table to eat.

But they still restrained themselves, and they would not sit down until Xu Yi had eaten half of the meal.

Xu Yi saw that he couldn't talk to them, so he didn't mention it any more.

I am afraid that I will be too enthusiastic and scare them away.

...

the days passed peacefully.

Xin Shengyuan has not been here for several days since he received the medicinal material planting recipe that Xu Yi specially copied to him.

Xu Yi was a little surprised by this, but he was happy to think about it. Xin Shengyuan finally found something he liked.

On this day, a letter came from Shuntian Mansion, thousands of miles away.

Xu Yi happened to be at home on the day he received the letter.

He had been counting the days these past few days, waiting for Xing Yuesen to send a letter. Once the letter arrived, he took it from Mr. Cha himself without pretending to be someone else's.

When he opened it, Xu Yi was slightly excited and his heart sank.

Xing Yuesen failed again.

This imperial examination was more difficult than he thought. Every year, tens of thousands of candidates rush to Shuntian Prefecture and Yingtian Prefecture, including local candidates from these two prefectures.

With so many people vying for these hundreds of places, there is really more wolf than meat.

The students who can win the examination have unique abilities, otherwise there would not be so many students vying to compete every year. But after passing this level, the road ahead is more difficult than imagined.

Xu Yi was worried about whether his friends would suffer from mental health problems because they had failed the exam for two consecutive years.

In early May, Xing Yuesen came back in a mule cart.

When he came back, he was exhausted physically and mentally. He rested for a few days before coming to see Xu Yi.

When Xu Yi saw him for the first time, he said, "Give me your hand."

Xing Yuesen was stunned and said with a smile, "I'm fine. I'm just tired of dealing with those people these days."

Xu Yi ignored his words. , took his hand insistently, and pressed the fingertips of the other hand on his wrist.

He said: "I don't believe you keep saying these comforting words."

Xing Yuesen looked at his serious look and sighed.

I had no choice but to let Xu Yi mess around.

Xu Yi took his pulse and said solemnly: "I feel weak and my body is quite damaged. In the past few months, have you lit up the lamp every day and read at night?"

Xing Yuesen said: "Sure enough, I can't hide it from you."

He sighed deeply and no longer kept silent about the imperial examination. He said leisurely, "On the day when the results were released, I learned that I had failed again, so I thought, I have really failed in my life. Can you pass the Jinshi exam?"

Xu Yi raised his eyebrows and said, "Brother Xing, don't belittle yourself. With your talent, it's just a matter of time."

Xing Yuesen shook his head and laughed at himself: "Time, if I am ten. I haven't passed the exam yet. Twenty years? Thirty years? Or fifty years?"

He looked back at Xu Yi with a forbearing emotion in his eyes: "Brother Yi, I'm thirty years old and I'm back this time. , some elders in the family suggested that I donate an official position and gave up the idea of ​​taking the exam again."

But he had been studying for more than 20 years, so how could he give up so easily.