This roar was like a thunderclap, and the effect was immediate! Peng Xiaomin's hand froze in mid-air and he took it back obediently.
Peng Xiaohui stood behind her angrily, and immediately turned her anger towards him: "Guan Hongjun, why do you always provoke her?!"
These words were like sparks flying into a frying pan. Xiao Min stood up suddenly, like a little rooster with its feathers flying, ready for battle. With her hands on her waist, she retorted: "What's the point of recruiting? Just recruit you? Don't you wish he would recruit you..."
The atmosphere suddenly became tense, and it looked as if sparks were about to spread like wildfire. As the center of this storm, 놖 naturally couldn't just stand by and watch. She quickly dodged between the two of them and said, "Calm down, sisters, what can't you talk about peacefully?"
Unexpectedly, this was simply courting disaster! The two sisters yelled at him in unison, "Get out of the way! This is all your fault! Stop pretending to be nice!"
Oh my god! The same face, the same high-pitched voice, the same sharp accent—it was like a switch had been flipped, a perfect move. In an instant, the situation suddenly changed—the one who tried to mediate the quarrel became the target of public criticism in the blink of an eye.
Helplessly, he spread his hands and said, "Okay, okay, it's all your fault. No matter how wrong it is, it's all your fault. If you two want to fight or scold each other, let's go inside and talk. Don't stay outside and let people laugh at you."
After the snow, the sun was shining. Xiaohui couldn't hold back her laughter first, and then Xiaomin covered her mouth and shrugged her shoulders.
Before she could say anything else, Xiaohui raised her chin towards her and said, "The food is delicious. You should go inside and eat first. You're starving." Then she walked over to Xiaomin and naturally put her arm around her sister's shoulders. Her tone became brighter, "Come on, let's take a stroll by the river and have a good chat."
Xiao Min also said "hmm" cheerfully. The two sisters walked out of the yard side by side.
It seemed that this "outsider" was indeed superfluous. The two sisters put aside their past grudges, and the heavy stone that had been weighing on their chests finally fell.
Back inside, a few simple dishes were placed on the square table in the center of the kitchen. The old man sat on a small stool in front of the stove. Seeing him come in, he greeted him, "Boss, come and eat. I'm not sure if this will suit your taste. I'm just a small chef, so I don't have anything special to offer."
He hurriedly said politely, "Don't be polite, sir. Come and eat something together."
He shook his head, curled up on the small stool with his skinny body, and sighed: "I've had lunch, I'm not hungry yet, help yourself."
I went to pull him to the table, but he shrank back as if he was scalded, his voice trembling a little: "You are so dirty, don't be disgusting, just eat by yourself."
Seeing him refuse, an idea struck him: "Well, there's some wine in the car, how about we have a couple of drinks?"
His gray eyes suddenly lit up, like a dusty lamp being polished a little brighter. His throat moved and he stammered, "Then...then have two?"
It seemed that he had no resistance to the temptation of wine. Soon, the two of them sat around the table, clinking glasses.
After two glasses of wine, the old man seemed to perk up. His cloudy eyes seemed to be lubricated with oil, and he was clearly in high spirits, and he started talking. "Excuse me, leader, what's your name?"
She handed him a chicken leg and said, "No need to worry about your surname being Guan, the same as Guan Yu."
"Great, great!" He slapped his thigh, "So you are a relative of Master Guan! Why are you so righteous? It turns out you have a family background in learning the art!" The old man was quite a smart man. He praised people subtly, and it was quite enjoyable to listen to him.
He took a sip of the wine, savoring the taste carefully: "This wine... is really delicious! What kind of wine is it?"
"Moutai."
He froze in his tracks, his hand holding the wine glass suspended in mid-air, his eyes wide open: "Mao...Maotai? My God, an old man can drink Maotai? No wonder it tastes so good!" He looked like he was holding some rare treasure.
"If you like, there are a few bottles in the car, all for you." said.
He waved his hands quickly, shaking his head like a rattle: "No, no! Such good wine, let this useless person waste it, it's a waste!"
He followed up the conversation by asking, "You don't look too old, but how did your legs and feet get like this?"
The smile on his face faded a little. After a slight hesitation, he coughed twice and said, "Farmers are all like this... minor illnesses are delayed until they become serious, and serious illnesses are delayed... and then there's no treatment. It's not surprising." His tone was flat, but he deliberately avoided mentioning the prison and the root of his illness. It was obvious that the past left a heavy scar on his heart, which he didn't want to show to others.
놖 tentatively suggested: "How about this, 놖 contact a hospital for you to go and have a look?"
He didn't respond, remaining silent for a few seconds. Then, suddenly, he lifted his glass and clinked it against hers. This time, his hand was surprisingly steady, not spilling a single drop. He sighed, his gaze gazing out the window at the gray sky, his voice lowered. "Leader Guan, you're a good man. But I, an old man... would also like to offer you a word of advice."
"Please speak, sir." said with a serious face.
He retracted his gaze, stared at her intently, and spoke each word with a heavy meaning: "Since ancient times, adultery has led to death."
Hearing this, his heart suddenly shuddered, as if stabbed by something. Why did this old man suddenly say such a warning? He was confused for a moment.
Seeing that Guan's face changed slightly, he immediately changed the subject, his tone a little deliberately relaxed: "Leader Guan, don't just drink, eat something to ease the thirst, otherwise your stomach will rebel." As he spoke, he pointed at the dishes on the table with his chopsticks.
He forced a smile and replied, "You eat too." But his mind seemed to be caught on a hook, and he pondered his heavy words over and over again - could it be that in just this short time, he had seen through the unclear connection between him and his two daughters?
While clinking glasses and chatting with him with an uneasy heart, my thoughts were in a mess. Just then, hurried footsteps were heard in the yard.
The old man's face suddenly changed, and he instinctively tried to hide the glass behind him, but it was too late. Peng Xiaomin rushed into the kitchen like a gust of wind, snatched the glass from him, and her voice was piercingly sharp: "You're drinking this horse piss! You've ruined your entire family on this stuff, and you're still alive? Don't you remember?"
Before she finished her words, Peng Xiaohui grabbed her sister's arm from behind. Her voice was cold: "Xiao Min, forget it. Let him drink. Even if he drinks himself to death, can he still cause any big trouble?"
The two sisters, usually warmhearted, were now capable of such harsh words towards their biological father. Perhaps it's true that one shouldn't counsel kindness without first experiencing someone else's suffering. Even the deepest blood ties can't withstand the gnaw of lingering resentment.
The old man seemed not to have heard those heart-wrenching words at all, and even had a smile on his face. He picked up the wine glass and shook it at me as if no one was around: "Leader Guan, I didn't bring up my parents well, and I'll let you laugh at me. This little bit... drink it!" After saying that, he tilted his head back and drank the remaining wine at the bottom of the glass. Then he supported himself on the table and was about to stand up, but his body was shaking violently.
He hurried forward to support his shaky body. A flicker of gratitude flashed through his cloudy eyes, and with a strong smell of alcohol, he spoke incoherently, "Leader Guan, I didn't drink enough today. But I keep thinking that sooner or later, we two can sit together and drink again! Next time... don't bring such good wine, it's a waste!" After saying this, he actually raised his face and laughed out loud. The laughter was dry and hoarse, like the pull of an old bellows, but tears flowed down his wrinkled cheeks, filled with endless sadness and resigned vicissitudes of life: "Fate! It's all fate! The feng shui of the old Peng family's ancestral tomb... I'm afraid I really chose the wrong place... I can't escape this fate!"
Xiao Hui came over silently and held his other arm. They carried his heavy body on both sides and staggered towards the east room.
Behind her, there was a loud "bang" - it was obvious that Xiao Min had kicked the stool that was blocking her way away.
After I settled the old man down on the kang, he started snoring soon after.
Peng Xiaohui stood by the kang, with a complicated expression, and glanced at him sideways, with a piercing tone: "Good job, Guan Hongjun, you are really sociable. How long did it take you to drink with him?"
놖 laughed dryly: "No way, maybe... this is what they call birds of a feather flock together?"
This touched her funny bone, and she couldn't help but laugh, "Puff!", with the corners of her mouth curled up: "Oh, you are quite self-aware. Okay, stop joking, let's go."
He pointed at himself and said, "I've been drinking, so driving would be considered drunk driving. How about... just stay here for the night?" There was a hint of temptation in his words.
She immediately rolled her eyes at him, "You're dreaming! You can live here whenever you want?" Her words were harsh, but the next second, her eyes flickered slightly, and her voice softened. "The conditions here are too poor. Living here is miserable. Come back, and take turns driving with Xiaomin."
"Then why don't you two eat something before you leave?"
"Just find someone to eat on the way." She waved her hand, her tone refusing to allow for negotiation.
놖 couldn't insist any longer, so he turned to Guan 꾿눓 and asked, "How was your conversation with Xiao Min... by the river?"
She snorted and turned away: "Don't ask about this." She looked so secretive that it was obvious that she didn't want to talk more.
When I arrived at the kitchen, Xiao Min had already cleaned up neatly and was waiting there. Seeing her sister signaling, she followed her out without saying a word and dragged the suitcase she had placed by the door.
He walked to the car, opened the trunk, stuffed the suitcase in, took out the remaining bottles of Moutai, and handed them to Xiao Min: "Here, these bottles of wine, leave them for the old man."
Xiao Min didn't reach out to take it, and curled her lips: "Such a good wine, give it to him to drink? It's a waste of things."
Xiao Hui didn't look at her, her tone was calm but unquestionable: "Just take it if I tell you to, and send it back to the house."
Xiao Min said "Oh" reluctantly, pouted, took the wine and turned back to the house.
Only Xiaohui and Xiaohui were left by the car. The evening air was crisp. She suddenly leaned against the car door and said softly, "What's wrong? Are you heartbroken? You deserve it. He may not be a good-for-nothing, but your two daughters...will eventually become yours."
He was stunned and speechless, his heart seemed to be struck by something, but then, an indescribable, slightly secret sense of pride quietly spread in his heart.
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