Chapter 92

A rare visit to the Xing Mansion. Xu Yi was sitting in the study and had not even had a few words with Xing Yuesen when the old lady’s mother came to invite someone.

He said he wanted to invite Xu Yi to sit in the house.

Xing Yuesen stood up and said, "Brother Yi and I are going together."

They followed the mother out of the courtyard and had to pass through a long corridor before reaching the old man's courtyard.

Unexpectedly, not long after walking, a little bun boy who looked about three years old ran towards me from the corner of the corridor. He was dressed like an auspicious doll, with a fluffy skirt on the front, and he was trotting after him. A maid dressed as a maid.

She bent down slightly, stretched out her arms and carefully guarded the child's back, and shouted softly: "Brother Yuan, be careful, run slowly..."

"Oh--"

Suddenly, the maid saw the corner. Someone came over from everywhere, and when he saw who it was, he subconsciously called out in a low voice, and quickly knelt down and said "Blessings."

The child in front raised his little face, saw Xing Yuesen, and shouted immaturely: "Abba, Abba."

Xu Yi looked at Xing Yuesen on the side in surprise, and saw Xing Yuesen squatting down and holding the child on the ground in his arms. inside.

He pinched the child's cheek and looked at the maid: "Get up, is this coming from the old man? Where is the old lady? Is she also in Aweng's house?"

The maid got up and replied: "As for Wu Langjun, the old lady is here In the house, I was drinking tea with the old lady. Just now, Brother Yuan had eaten some snacks in the old lady's room. The old lady said that Brother Yuan could not continue to eat after returning, but my wife had earlier. I just stewed the sweet soup and kept it."

She lowered her head. Xu Yi couldn't see her expression clearly, but as a bystander, he seemed to sense that something was wrong.

Xing Yuesen didn't say anything. He just said to the maid: "Go back and tell the lady that Brother Yuan is full. I will save the sweet soup for dinner at night."

After saying that, he held the child in his arms and looked at Xu Yi. , introduce the child to him.

"This is a dog. His name is Xing Luyuan. He will be four years old this year."

Xu Yi said with a smile, "He is a well-behaved child."

Ever since he was held by Xing Yuesen, the child has been quietly nestled in his arms. At this time, I heard Xu Yi's voice and stared at him with curious eyes.

The two stared at each other, but the child was not shy and said in a waxy voice: "Who are you?"

"I am your father's friend." Xu Yi looked at him with a smile and continued, "It's our first time meeting you. I have nothing to give you. This is the medicine bag I made for you."

The child did not take it. He hugged Xing Yuesen's arm and asked in a low voice: "Are there jelly beans in it?"

Every time he went back to his eldest mother In the house, the eldest mother will give him a small cloth bag filled with jelly beans.

When Xu Yi heard this, he smiled gently and said, "No, there is nothing to eat here."

The child pursed his lips and said, "Then I don't want it."

Helpless, Xing Yuesen, who was holding him, took the medicine bag from Xu Yi on his behalf.

When he smelled it for a moment, he could smell the pleasant medicinal fragrance coming out of the medicine bag.

Xing Yuesen asked: "What's in it? It smells refreshing."

Xu Yi said: "There are honeysuckle, cyperus rotundus, magnolia bark, cassia seed, vanilla, calamus, agarwood... Wearing it can strengthen the spleen. It refreshes the mind and is also good for sleeping."

Xing Yuesen thought for a moment: "Do you still have this medicine bag?"

"You want it?" Xu Yi looked at him.

Xing Yuesen said: "After the weather got cold, Grandma Aweng didn't sleep well at night. I heard you talk about the benefits of this sachet, so I thought it would be better to replace the soothing sachet they used before."

Xu Yi nodded, he could let Ah Jin made a few.

So the two agreed to send Amu to Xu's house to get the medicine bag in a few days.

As for this medicine bag... Xu Yi thought about how he got the beech wood furniture from Mr. Xing, but he still hasn't thought of a return gift yet.

It's better to think of it as a thank you gift.

And it also contains the best agarwood, which is quite good.

Back to the subject, after they finished talking, the mother in the old man's room was urging him beside him. Xing Yuesen handed the child in his arms to the maid and took Xu Yi to see Mr. Xing.

Xu Yi was familiar with Mrs. Xing's house. The first two times he came to consult Mr.

Mother opened the curtain and invited them in.

As soon as you enter the outhouse, you can smell the faint fragrance floating in the air. There is a hollow carved copper incense burner hanging on the incense burner frame. The curls of incense are floating out from the hollow place, burning agarwood coiled incense.

Xu Yi paused. The scent was very familiar. He had cut off a thumb and smoked it into medicine two days ago. It had this smell.

He looked in the direction of Xing Yuesen and saw Xing Yuesen winking at him.

"Is Brother Yi here?" The old man's voice sounded from inside.

Xu Yi did not delay, went in, and gave a junior salute to Old

Mrs.

When Xu Yi came over today, he revealed that the old man and the old lady wanted to see him. Naturally, Xu Yi came here not just to see Xing Yuesen.

The old lady looked at him with her eyes, her eyes fell on the red fox scarf Xu Yi was wearing, and she couldn't help but look at it a few more times.

Mrs. Xing chatted with Xu Yi about trivial daily life. He cared about Xu Yi as if he were caring about his grandson, and then asked him if he knew Chef Lu.

Chef Lu?

Xu Yi went through it in his mind and figured out who this person was.

That day when he met the young master of Jishitang in Cuiyuan, he was dragged by Xin Shengyuan to attend the banquet hosted by Chef Lu.

Xu Yi had almost forgotten everything else, but he still couldn't forget the fish soup and wanted to eat it again.

"I know, I'm lucky enough to have eaten at Chef Lu's table." Xu Yi said with a smile.

The old man then said, "I invited Chef Lu to come to my house to cook a dish. I just thought you would come over today, so I asked her to cook more."

He pulled Xu Yi to stand up and asked Xing Yuesen next to him to follow him.

Xing Yuesen looked at Xu Yi, who looked more like a grandson than him. He had no choice but to help the old lady next to him and go to the next door together.

The house next door.

The mother-in-law was coming in with a food box, and Xu Yi looked at the food box with interest.

The woman opened the lid of the food box, and a burst of hot air came out, followed closely by the fresh and strong smell of fish.

She brought out the celadon bowl for food, which contained fish soup made by Chef Lu.

The old woman said respectfully: "Old Master, Old Madam, this fish soup is made from fresh carp, sliced ​​into translucent fish fillets. First, use chicken, duck, and quail to simmer the soup. It needs to be simmered for eight hours." , and then remove the residue, leaving only the soup. For the condiments, Mrs. Lu added chestnuts, taro and white winter melon. After they are cooked, add the fish fillets. "

The cooking time of this fish fillet soup is also very particular, and it cannot be allowed to cook. To curl the edges of the fish fillet, and to make it cooked, you can only simmer it over low heat. Controlling the heat is extremely important.

Just based on the steps explained by the mother-in-law, this fish soup seems simple.

After it was scooped out and put into celadon bowls and brought in front of everyone, a maid came in from outside the house, carrying a basin and a handkerchief to clean her hands.

Xu Yi cleaned his hands and asked for a handkerchief to wipe them. Smelling the lingering fragrance in front of him, he felt that the fish soup was not as simple as the mother-in-law said.

It was different from the fish soup he ate last time.

Maybe it's because of the season, but the ingredients added vary greatly.

The old man said: "Brother Yi, this fish soup is Chef Lu's specialty. The ingredients used are different in each season, so what you eat is fresh."

Xu Yi turned sideways and said with a smile: "I still remember what I ate that time. It's also fish soup, but it was eaten during the Mengxia season. The ingredients used in today's fish soup are indeed quite different. I wonder how this one will taste."

Xing Yuesen raised his eyebrows and asked him where he had eaten it.

Xu Yi told him that the time he met Xin Shengyuan, he still disliked the strong fragrance on Tao Qinghao's body. He didn't expect these two young men to be so close to him now.

Xing Yuesen said: "If I had known it, I would have gone back that time."

Chef Lu's skills are hard to find. She can make high-end banquet noodles and such market snacks, using the most ordinary ingredients to make amazing dishes. Enjoy the delicious food with endless aftertaste.

Being able to eat the food she cooked is also a pleasure for the taste buds.

In particular, people nowadays love to eat, and they also like to specialize in food. For example, the Xing family has a few kitchen ladies who are good at cooking, but compared with Chef Lu, they are still a notch behind.

Xu Yi listened to her mother-in-law talking about how to eat the fish soup. Eat the fish fillets first, then the winter melon, then the taro and chestnuts.

The fish fillets were sweet and tender, with no fishy smell at all, and you couldn't tell what other spices were added to the soup. It didn't cover up the original freshness of the fish at all, and it was as sweet as honey.

If you eat winter melon again, it will melt in your mouth with just one sip. The winter melon itself has no taste, so the soup tastes whatever it tastes like. The soup is thick and fresh, simmered just right, and the winter melon absorbs the essence of the soup. After eating one piece, you want to eat another piece.

However, Xu Yi still planned to listen to his mother-in-law and eat taro first.

The taro tastes pink and glutinous, and when you bite open the outside, you will find minced shrimp inside. Xu Yi was a little surprised. He saw that the texture of the minced shrimp was sweet, crispy and elastic. After biting it open, there was a sweet and sweet juice between his teeth. It is obviously different from the richness of the soup, and the taste becomes more layered and varied.

Chestnuts have a strong flavor and have their own sweetness. After blending with the soup, the sweetness is not diluted, but becomes sweeter and softer.

At this time, Chef Lu entered the room, leaned towards Mr. Xing and Mrs. Xing with a smile, and said with a chuckle: "How are you eating?"

When Xu Yi heard this, he looked up and saw Chef Lu wearing an ordinary shirt and skirt. , she has a slender figure, two arms hanging by her sides, and her exposed hands are slightly red. There are calluses on the fingers, which look like frostbite.

Old

Mrs. Come back to me next time and I will make new dishes for Mr. Xing." Chef Lu's tone was modest, but her eyes were filled with a proud smile.

She had been a kitchen lady in a powerful family for more than ten years, and now she had the grace to start her own business. She might not have met fewer dignitaries than Mrs. Xing.

Besides, this is Yanting County, which is not as good as Fucheng. No matter how high-ranking the officials are, they are only county magistrates, and most of them are merchants. Such people are rich, generous, and easier to serve than powerful people. She prefers to take such big orders.

Chef Lu thought to herself, her eyes fell on the calm young man next to her. Judging from his appearance, he was not even taller, but he looked slightly familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere.

After she got the reward from Mr. Xing and came out, she asked the woman next to her if she knew who the young man was.

The mother-in-law was very shrewd and immediately reminded her in a low voice: "Madam, I forgot, last time our car passed by the free clinic, the young doctor among them was him."

"It was actually him..." Chef Lu was stunned, she really didn't expect it.

...

After that day, Xu Yi focused on finding a house.

Taking the information Amu gave him, he found the agent in charge of the house sale.

The manager's surname was Li, and he was an experienced manager. When he saw Xu Yi, he didn't hesitate at all and directly asked his servant to make some good tea.

"Xu Xiaoguan, now I have a few houses with one entrance. Two are on East Street, one is on West Street, and one is on North Street." Manager Li was smiling broadly, and personally brought the tea cup to Xu. In front of Yi, he continued, "But I still advise the junior officials not to consider the ones on North Street and East Street for the time being. Those locations are expensive and the prices listed are not cheap. The minimum price is 380 guan. "

Xu Yi asked him: "Do you have any recommendations?"

The smile on Manager Li's face became brighter. This is the person recommended by Mr. Wu Lang of the Xing family. Although he can't tell his identity, he wants to buy him into the hospital. The house should not be underestimated.

After all, the houses in the county town are for sale, with one less house being sold, and more houses being occupied by others.

He opened the registration book, pointed to a house and told Xu Yi: "What do you think of this, Mr. Xu Xiaoguan?"

Xu Yi glanced at the place he pointed to. This house is in Mingtong Lane, West Street. From the attached From the house plan, it can be seen that this house only has the main courtyard. Entering the courtyard is the main room for receiving guests, which is also the main house. There are wing rooms on the left and right sides. Then pass through a square corridor, which is the east wing and west wing.

The east wing is the main house, with three rooms, one large and two small. The study is in the west wing, located in the small room on the left. The room on the right is left blank. I don’t know what the original owner used it for. According to the drawing It's not marked.

The kitchen room, firewood room, grocery room, servants' room, and latrine, etc. are all set up in the reverse room.

Although the inverted house seems to occupy a large area, after it is crowded with so many things, the area occupied in each place is not much.

After Xu Yi finished reading, his eyebrows were slightly raised, and he asked: "Agent Li, besides this house, is there anything else you can recommend?"

"Well..."

Manager Li looked at Xu Yi and knew from his expression that he was dissatisfied with this house. He thought about it and said, "If Xu Xiaoguan is dissatisfied with this house and the house on East Street, the price is a bit higher. Xu Yi

said "Oh" and asked him what the price was.

Agent Li said: "The head of the house was the former county magistrate. He bought it when he took office. Later, the former county magistrate was transferred to another place to serve as an official. This house had to be sold. It's just... ..."

He hesitated for a while, and then said, "Before the former magistrate left, he left a housekeeper to guard the house. The housekeeper had an order. Firstly, the price of the house was not negotiable, and secondly, the customer who bought the house had to pay in silver. , cannot use Jiaozi."

Because of this rule, this house has been on the market for more than three years, but it has not been successfully sold.

Agent Li felt that this house might not be sold for a while.

After he finished speaking, he reported the price to Xu Yi, already feeling that Xu Yi would not consider this house.

He just found out the information about the house and handed it to Xu Yi.

Xu Yi lowered his eyes and looked at the design drawings of the house. His eyes lit up when he saw that the kitchen and firewood shed were separate from the servants' room and thatched room, instead of being crowded behind the back room.

He asked Agent Li: "Can I see the house?"

"Huh?" Agent Li almost didn't react and said quickly, "Yes, yes, the housekeeper left a key for me. If Mr. Xu wants to see it, we can do it now." You can go."

...

Soon, Manager Li asked the boy to prepare the car, and he personally took Xu Yi to East Street.

When the vehicle enters East Street, the handlebar drives the ox cart to the last alley of East Street.

This alley is quiet, surrounded by tall courtyard walls on both sides, with blue bricks and white walls everywhere. It lacks the smell of fireworks in South Street and has a bit more of a wealthy family.

The people who can live here are either rich or noble. Xu Yi touched his nose and wondered if he had picked an inappropriate location.

But people have come, and they can’t just turn around and leave.

Not long after, the bullock cart stopped in front of a house.

The door is a red lacquer door, and the plaque on it is still the "some house" of the former county magistrate. The vegetation planted in the corners on both sides was left unattended and grew unchecked.

After Agent Li got out of the car, he diligently opened the curtain for Xu Yi.

Xu Yi looked up and saw the branches of the trees in the yard sticking out. Now that it was freezing cold, the branches were bare with no leaves at all.

Maybe it was because there had been no one living there for a long time, but from the doorway, Xu Yi could smell the atmosphere of depression.

They didn't stay outside the house for long. After getting off the car, Manager Li took out the key and opened the door.

As the door was pushed open, Xu Yi, who was standing behind Manager Li, held his breath presciently.

The next moment, a surge of dust rushed towards them as the door was opened.

Manager Li avoided the situation and sneezed several times in a row.

He rubbed his nose in embarrassment and smiled apologetically at Xu Yi: "It was a mistake. I didn't expect that Butler Wang didn't send anyone to clean the yard."

Xu Yi: "..."

It seems that Manager Li also had a long period of time. Time has not come.

After they entered, Xu Yi found that the house was even more dilapidated than what was described in the register. Many of the carved wooden beams above the corridor were rotten.

When they walked through the corridor to the main hall, facing the empty hall, both of them fell into silence.

Has everything been emptied?

Empty?

Unlike Xu Yi, Agent Li's calm expression cracked. He shouted in horror: "We've been robbed!"

"What?" Xu Yi, who was still out of state, looked around. Hearing his words, he turned around. Look at him.

Manager Li puffed his beard and stared: "This...there used to be a lot of furniture here, but it's all gone..."

He said to Xu Yi, and hurriedly walked to the side room next to him. He saw the same situation in the side room. .

Then, the two looked around the entire house. Except for a few broken pottery pots and utensils left in the kitchen, nothing else was left.

Manager Li fell to the ground in despair.

My mind went blank, it was over! It’s over!

Xu Yi walked up to him and frowned unconsciously as he listened to his panicked mutterings.

He called "Agent Li" twice, but failed to wake him up.

Helpless, Xu Yi raised his hand, placed his palm on the top of his skull, found one of the points called Baihui Point with two fingers, and pressed it with a little force.

This acupoint is located in the Du Vein of the human body, which is the sea of ​​Yang Veins and governs the Yang Qi of the body. Pressing this acupoint can warm the yang, dispel cold, refresh the brain, calm the mind, etc. [Note 1]

Xu Yi saw that he was shocked by this scene, and he woke up in a daze with a slight press.

As soon as Manager Li woke up, his eyes filled with tears and he cried to Xu Yi: "Nothing, nothing. When Butler Wang gave me the key, he told me that everything in this house would be left to me for safekeeping. I will keep these two things." I've been busy with other things for months. It's only been two months, why are everything gone?"

Xu Yi felt strange when he heard what he said. Wasn't Butler Wang the former county magistrate who stayed to look after the house?

Why doesn't he live here? He wants to leave the key with Agent Li for safekeeping.

Xu Yi asked about the curiosity in his heart and got it from Manager Li's mouth.

Butler Wang was the housekeeper rented by the former county magistrate after he settled his house in the county. Butler Wang was also quite capable. Within three years, he had gained the utmost trust of the former county magistrate.

After he was transferred from Yanting County, he left the house to him for safekeeping, and also paid a sum of money for Butler Wang to buy a small house in the county.

Thinking of this, the two looked at each other.

Xu Yi said: "It's impossible for Butler Wang to ignore the master's house. Why don't we ask him."

"Yes, yes, yes." Manager Li suddenly realized that this matter must be reported to the official no matter what, but The top priority is to find Butler Wang first and see if he knows anything about it.

So, Xu Yi followed Agent Li to Butler Wang's house.

Upon arriving at his home, they saw the locked door.

They quickly asked the owner of the house next door and learned that Butler Wang had left the county half a month ago.

The family even said with envy: "This Wang Langjun got a sum of money from who knows where, bought a very elegant mule cart, and took the whole family with him, saying that he was going to Fucheng to visit relatives. "

Hearing this, Manager Li staggered.

At this moment, he still didn't understand why he was on the right track.