Chapter 161 Tasting the Absent-mindedness Hidden Within
Ever since Duan Jiang, the businessman who was looking for his brother everywhere, left, Bao Ya has lived a peaceful life again.
Two days ago, I went to the shop to help my parents. I saw that the shed behind the shop had been set up, and the millstone had also been put up. Lanxiang and Cuiqiao were also helping my mother with the work, and they were doing their best.
She didn't rush to the shop for the next few days. She stayed at home practicing calligraphy with her brothers and sisters, waiting for Jingzhen's bamboo whistle to sound again.
But four or five days passed in a flash, and it was almost time for Yun Chengfu to take a month off, but Jingzhen's bamboo whistle never sounded again.
Baoya was lying on the windowsill of the east wing with her chubby little cheeks, looking out. Yun Chenglu was holding his slingshot in his hand, aiming at a lonely fallen leaf hanging on the top of a tree.
He Chunxiu and Yun Sanlang had already harnessed the ox cart and were ready to set off.
Seeing He Chunxiu sitting huddled up on the ox cart, Yun Sanlang blew on his rough hands and went straight into the west wing opposite.
Baoya looked at it strangely. Where was Dad doing?
In a blink of an eye, Yun Sanlang came out with a thick quilt and wrapped He Chunxiu in it.
"Oh, I don't want this." He Chunxiu was wrapped tightly, with only her small head in a bun showing, looking like a big rice dumpling with a pointed top and a wide bottom.
Yun Sanlang looked at her and chuckled twice: "Wrap yourself up, it's getting colder now."
He Chunxiu stretched her legs and hands for a long time before she finally pulled one arm out from under the quilt. "Send the quilt back! It's the only quilt you have. It's so cold and frosty this morning. If it gets damp, how are you going to cover yourself with it tonight?"
"Don't worry," Yun Sanlang skillfully lifted his buttocks and sat in the driver's seat, "this quilt is not mine anyway."
"Ah?" He Chunxiu was confused by what he said.
Their family didn't have many extra quilts. Basically, each person had one thin quilt and one thick quilt, and there were no extra ones.
Among the children, only Yun Chengfu, who was studying in town, had one more bed than everyone else.
Then I heard Yun Sanlang say, "The quilt belongs to Chengfu. He's not at home right now. Let's use it first and then wash and dry it for him. It will be comfortable for him to live in when he comes home."
"You!" He Chunxiu was immediately amused by his anger. "You just treat him like your uncle? Is Chengfu your real nephew?"
"Yes," Yun Sanlang slammed his whip on the ground, making a loud, sharp sound. "That's why I said I'd wash him clean later. I don't wash others either."
Seeing He Chunxiu looking at him with a smile, he said, "You don't have to wash it. I'll wash the quilt I'm holding."
He Chunxiu smiled so hard that her almond-shaped eyes narrowed.
Baoya sat in the house, watching her parents drive the ox cart out the door, frowning and sighing.
Daddy and Mommy have such a good relationship, but why hasn’t Brother Xiaojing blown the bamboo whistle yet?
With a soft bang, a small round date pit hit the window frame next to her, startling her.
"Ah," Baoya said in surprise, "Second brother!"
"Hehe," Yun Chenglu smiled, put away his slingshot, walked over, reached in through the window, and pinched her soft little face, "It's so cold, why are you sitting here with the window open?"
"My second brother is still playing in the yard in this cold weather. I'm not cold." Baoya wrinkled her nose.
After they finished speaking, they looked at each other for a moment, then sighed together.
Yunyue came in from the yard and saw the two of them staring at each other through the window, and was very puzzled.
"Baoya, Second Brother, if you two want to talk, you can come inside and talk it over. It looks to me like a prison visit."
Baoya: ...
Yun Chenglu: ...
Forget it, no one in this family can understand their little sorrows.
At this moment, a faint shrill whistle suddenly sounded from a distance.
Yun Chenglu and Baoya’s eyes lit up immediately. Here they come!
Baoya slipped off the kang, put on her shoes and ran outside.
Yun Chenglu was already waiting for her at the front door. When he saw her rushing out, he took her hand, and the two of them ran up Tiger Tooth Mountain.
At the foot of Tiger Tooth Mountain, Jing Zhen was already waiting there with me.
"Brother Xiaojing!"
Baoya jumped over and Gu Wang pounced on her as usual, wagging his tail.
Jingzhen responded with a calm expression. When the two men arrived, he turned around and led the way.
The three men and the wolf soon arrived at Peach Blossom Spring, but the courtyard was empty. Nan Xuan, who usually liked to sit at the stone table and drink wine and tea, was not there.
Baoya was a little puzzled: "Brother Xiaojing, where is the master?"
Before Jingzhen could answer, a tall figure walked out of the bamboo building.
Nan Xuan raised his hand and said, "Here."
"Huh~" Baoya breathed a sigh of relief. "Master, where on earth were you going? Why did you take so long to come back?"
She and her second brother were so anxious that they waited for several days before they heard the sound of Brother Xiaojing's bamboo whistle.
"Of course I'm busy with something important." Nan Xuan smiled, "It's just right that you've had a few days to rest. Now it's time to practice hard."
"Yeah! My bones are itching from staying at home these days!" Yun Chenglu was very enthusiastic about practicing martial arts and responded readily.
"Okay, then let me see, what should you learn next?"
Nan Xuan looked at Bao Ya and Yun Chenglu for a moment, then said, "Little girl, you can now formally learn the Flowing Cloud Step. Just follow Jing Zhen. As for you, silly boy, since you are so good at using the slingshot, why not try the bow and arrow?"
Nan Xuan first taught the two of them the movements and key formulas of Liuyunbu several times.
Jingzhen had actually learned the Liuyun Step before, and now he was just consolidating it and taking care of Baoya, so Nanxuan didn't have to spend any more time on it.
Nan Xuan spent more time on Yun Chenglu's side, talking about many things to pay attention to in archery and the posture of holding the bow.
Finally, the afternoon training for the three little apprentices was arranged. Nan Xuan, based on the principle that if you raise two sheep, you can also let three sheep go, chose a tall treetop, pointed his toes, and jumped up.
The view is better from a high place, so these three little bastards won’t be lazy again.
Thinking of this, he yawned, took off the wine flask from his waist, and drank happily with a bag of five-spice peanuts.
The three of them didn't finish their training until the evening.
As usual, Nan Xuan brought snacks and hot tea and asked them to sit at the small stone table to rest.
But the atmosphere today was not very harmonious. The four of them sat around the table, only Baoya and Yun Chenglu were eating snacks, while Nanxuan and Jingzhen just sat there without saying a word.
Baoya sipped the sweet mung bean cake in small bites and could sense the absent-mindedness hidden within.
She stared at Jingzhen and Nanxuan for a moment and burped.
Something is wrong, something is very wrong with these two people.
She didn't know what was going on between the two of them, and she didn't want the four of them to just sit there like that.
Thinking back to the day when Duan Jiang went to their village, she felt that it was something new and should be able to break the stiff atmosphere.
He said, "Master, Brother Xiaojing, a few days ago, a strange person came to our village."
"Oh?" Nan Xuan half-closed his eyes and looked at her, obviously not interested.
Jing Zhen just raised his eyebrows and responded: "Who is it?"
"He's a very rich man," Baoya said. "He said he came to look for his younger brother, and he gave each of our families two large bags of grain. How many acres of land must he have at home to give us so much food?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Nan Xuan's pair of peach blossom eyes, which were smiling slightly, suddenly turned gloomy.
Jingzhen raised his head suddenly, and his sleeve brought the teacup beside him to the ground, where it broke with a snap.
Baoya was startled: "Brother Xiaojing, what's wrong with you?"
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