The editing of Hu Xu's collection of essays was in full swing, and Xu Jiang and Liang Mo sat there all day.
Yin Yin was diligently adding tea and water, or fanning her, always paying attention to Xu Jiang's movements, fearing that she was thirsty or hot.
Liang Mo, who was standing by, was blinded by the sawdust she fanned at him, and hurried to the backyard to fetch water to wash it off. Seeing this, Xu Jiang said helplessly, "Yinyin, stop fanning me. I'm not hot."
"Then I'll pour you another cup of cold tea." He put down the fan and went to pour tea.
"I'm not thirsty either." Xu Jiang knew she was worried about him, so she kept close to him. He whispered, "I'm fine. You don't have to hold me close. Take a break."
"Oh." Yin Yin lowered her head.
Xu Jiang simply assigned her one or two tasks to prevent her from having idle thoughts. "The sun is shining brightly now. If you're bored, why not take Yue Nu and give her a bath?"
Yue Nu rolled in ink two days ago, turning his yellow skin into black. He rubbed it everywhere for two days, and after being exposed to the sun, it became gray, not much better than his uncle Jackal who had been burned by fire.
After receiving the order, Yin Yin went around to catch Yue Nu. Yue Nu was alert and ran away everywhere. The man and the cat chased each other, making the store bustling with noise.
Liang Mo had just come back from washing his eyes when Yue Nu climbed up his legs and onto his back, gnashing her teeth as her claws hooked her. Then she grabbed her collar with her backhand, took it off, and handed it to Yin Yin.
"Look, you're still running." Yin Yin carried the cat and went to the backyard, scolding her as she walked: "Who told you to be naughty and disobedient? Look how dirty you are."
Liang Mo scratched his back, stared at the man and the cat, and shook his head helplessly.
Xu Jiang couldn't help but laugh, "They are still young, please bear with me."
Hearing this, Liang Mo also smiled.
Yinyin's whispers and Yuenu's screams could be heard from the backyard. Uncle Jackal and Stupid Donkey also joined in, making a noise louder than the cicadas in the trees.
Xu Jiang stopped his knife and listened for a while, his eyes filled with warmth.
After closing in the afternoon, Xu Jiang said goodbye to his neighbors and the two guards who came to keep watch, and went to Nanshan Academy with Yin Yin.
Master Lin was just returning from his shift.
Xu Jiang asked Yin Yin to go find Hong Chu to play with, while she asked Master Lin to move on and talk to someone else.
The two of them arrived at Bajizhai, where Zeng Zhui was sleeping soundly with a book covering his face and his legs spread out in front of Master Lin.
Master Lin slapped him awake and sent him out to stand in the corner as punishment.
Xu Jiang tried hard to suppress her laughter. When Zeng saw Xu Jiang coming, he knew that the two of them had something to discuss. He just grabbed his head and gave Master Lin an apologetic smile, then went out to stand by the side as punishment.
Master Lin sighed imperceptibly, then glanced at the books scattered around the room. Since there was no place to sit, he said to Xu Jiang, "Let's just stand and talk."
Xu Jiang spoke in a clear and serious tone, and asked, "Master, have you ever heard of Mian Cun in your interactions with my master?"
"Miancun?" Master Lin pondered for a moment, then shook his head and asked, "Who is she, and why are you looking for her?"
"She... is my biological mother." When he mentioned her again, there were still some ripples in his heart, but no huge waves.
Master Lin was startled at first, but then calmly said, "The news is accurate."
"It should be correct." Xu Twelve didn't dare to lie to her about such a thing, and this person also had traces to follow.
Xu Jiang told her everything Xu Twelve had said, including the name she had discovered on her master's portrait.
As soon as Master Lin heard her, he knew why she came. "Do you want to find out the relationship between her and your master, or do you want to find out the relationship between your master and you?"
After a moment of silence, Xu Jiang said, "I want to find out what's going on."
Seeing that her face looked slightly haggard but her eyes were clear, Master Lin felt a little relieved and reminded her gently, "It's natural for you to want to find out the truth. But no matter what the truth is, you must clearly understand the path you are taking and where you are going. Don't dwell on the past."
Xu Jiang felt warm in her heart and nodded in response, "Don't worry, I know my limits."
Master Lin looked between her eyebrows and was surprised to find that her demeanor was indeed somewhat similar to that of his old friend. Thinking of the fate of his old friend and the solitary bamboo in front of him, he felt a dull pain in his heart.
If they are really blood relatives, what a cruel fate.
"Did Xu Twelve only tell you the name Miancun?"
"Hmm." Xu Jiang thought for a moment and said, "But I think since she is in the portrait, it should not be her official name, but her nickname."
Afterwards, he searched his mind for a moment and said, "I once heard that Master had arranged a marriage, but it fell through because he failed the imperial examination. Does Master know about this?"
The master is not a man who chases after women. Xu Jiang has been with him for fourteen years and has never seen him have any romantic affairs.
This kind of temperament is not formed in a day.
"When he came to Beijing to take the exam, I occasionally heard him mention his engagement while we were studying together, but I never delved into the details of the situation," Master Lin recalled. "Later, he failed the exam and left Beijing, wandering around the country. We lost contact for a while. The next letter I received from him was after he returned home, but I believe he never wrote about it."
Master Lin sighed, "About a year after he returned home, he lost contact with me again and I haven't heard from him since."
That year he was demoted, and he sent countless letters to Xu Yuan to express his feelings, but he received no reply.
In the following years, he was harassed and had no place to live, so even if he had received a reply, it would have been lost.
"In that case, to find out the truth, we can only rely on Xu Twelve." He has followed his master for many years and knows his master's affairs best.
"Well, it's not difficult to redeem him and remove him from the household register. I just need to ask him everything clearly to prevent him from being greedy and blackmailing me again."
At this point, Master Lin's face showed a hint of anger. "After he explains everything clearly, drive him out of the capital and never show up in front of you again."
Xu Twelve was now a lowly slave, and had committed a crime. If this hadn't happened, they could have done whatever they wanted to him. But once he was freed from slavery and became a good citizen, if he hadn't committed any crime, it would have been difficult to touch him.
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