Chapter 31 Old Wife, Young Husband
Mrs. Zhang hadn't expected this to happen. She was surprised and a little disdainful:
"Ah Heng is young, handsome, and has the skill to make wine. What kind of woman can he find? Yuan Da Niang is old enough to be his mother, and yet he can still get along with her? Either he has a mental problem, or he has other ulterior motives!"
Chef Zhang was also very surprised after hearing this, and waved his hand and said, "It's their family affairs, so outsiders like us shouldn't meddle in it."
"But having said that, their peach blossom wine is really good, with a mellow taste. Sprinkling a little on the fish fillets can enhance the flavor without overpowering the freshness of the fish. Tonight, at the fish banquet at the Rui Palace, even the Princess of Jin sent someone to praise it. Anyway, I'm tired. Go to bed early. I have to get up early tomorrow to buy fish."
The lights in the Zhang family went out, and the lights in the Yuan family lit up the moment the owner entered the door.
The warm yellow candlelight shone on Ah Heng's handsome young face, and also on Aunt Yuan's old face.
Aunt Yuan looked at her increasingly old face in the mirror and couldn't help asking, "Am I really ugly?"
The young man gently hugged her from behind, and his handsome face appeared in the mirror.
"My Yuanniang hasn't aged at all. She's still as beautiful as when I first met her."
He coaxed her in a gentle tone, his eyes full of love.
Yuanniang laughed: "You, you only know how to say nice things to make me happy!"
"Ah Heng..." She turned around, a hint of sadness in her cloudy eyes, "Could it be that you don't like me anymore?"
The man kissed her old cheek affectionately: "No matter when, I love you as always."
He took her withered hand and pressed it against his hot chest: "Do you feel it? My heart will always beat for you."
"But the way I look now... I can't even bear to look at myself." She lowered her head, and her half-white hair fell like velvet.
He cupped her cheeks and forced her eyes to meet his.
"Yuan Niang, there are tens of thousands of women in this world, but none can compare to how well you treat me. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be who I am today. Whether it was then or now, you will always be beautiful in my eyes, and my heart can only hold you!"
"Ah Heng..." Yuanniang leaned her head on his shoulder, her gray hair entangled with his black hair, as if the two were inseparable.
After Yuanniang fell asleep, Ah Heng lifted the quilt and quietly got out of bed.
In order not to disturb Yuanniang's sweet dream, he opened and closed the door as gently as possible.
He came to the courtyard and entered the wine cellar.
These wines were brewed by Yuanniang and him together. Made by fermenting peach blossoms and glutinous rice, they were sweet and refreshing with the unique aroma of peach blossoms.
Thanks to this wine, they had already attracted many regular customers within a year of opening their shop in the capital. They were not wealthy, but they were making a small profit.
Ah Heng leaned in to smell the aroma of the wine, then opened one of the jars of freshly brewed wine - this was also the wine that would be put on sale in the store tomorrow.
Then, he turned over his palm, and a handful of things like broken hair emerged from his palm. He threw it into the water. At first, some tiny substances could be seen, but they soon disappeared into the water and could not be seen by the naked eye.
Who in the world could know that this was mayfly silk?
Once the mayfly silk enters the human body, it quickly travels through the bloodstream to the brain, completing its parasitic life. The larvae also grow rapidly, becoming as thin and long as a hair.
"In a few days, we should be able to close the net..."
His face was hidden in the darkness, with only a pair of dark eyes glowing faintly: "Soon, soon..."
After coming out of the wine cellar, he did not go back to his room to sleep, but instead straightened his collar, pushed open the gate and went out.
It was late at night, the moon was hidden, and the surroundings were pitch black, so he naturally didn't notice that a mouse flashed by.
The next day, Xuanjingsi.
Da Mi hurried to Xie Shouzheng and whispered a few words.
Xie Shouzheng was a little surprised, it was him!
He thought for a moment and ordered, "Have your brothers continue to monitor and be careful not to be discovered. If there is any situation, report it immediately."
"yes!"
Just as Da Mi was about to leave, Xie Shouzheng hurriedly said, "Wait, go to the Prince of Jin's Mansion again and relay the intelligence you just received to Deputy Envoy Lin. If possible, close the net today to avoid any more trouble!"
“Okay!”
Deputy Envoy Lin was naturally Lin Qingyue. Whether it was Xie Shouzheng or the guards under him, they all referred to Lin Qingyue by her official title.
After listening to Da Mi's report, Lin Qingyue smiled slightly and said, "Following the vine, I found the melon."
Da Mi added, "Thank you, sir, for saying that if possible, we should close the net today to avoid any more trouble."
Lin Qingyue pondered for a moment before saying only one word: "Yes."
Early that morning, Yuanniang and Ah Heng were busy in the tavern, tending to customers.
At this time, two women passed by the door, talking without restraint:
"Did you see that young man? He's really handsome, isn't he?"
"What's the point of being handsome? Aren't you blind? Otherwise, why would he choose an old woman who could be his mother when there are so many virgin girls on the street?"
"What's the point of this old woman coming here? The land is dry, how can we plow it? And we won't be able to have children!"
Yuanniang felt sad after hearing this, but she just lowered her head silently, not wanting anyone to see her old age.
But Ah Heng doesn't have such a good temper.
"You gossipy women, do you want a fight?"
Ah Heng rushed out, holding a wine glass. "Before you say anything about others, why don't you look at your own ugly face first! Get out of here now, or I'll still beat you up even if you're women!"
After scolding the two women away, Ah Heng turned around and saw Yuanniang laughing at him: "Look at you, you're almost becoming a street-swearing scoundrel!"
"Those people are so abominable!" Ah Heng put down his wine glass and took Yuanniang's hand. "For my wife, what if I become a scoundrel?"
Yuanniang said, "Ah Heng, I want to leave the capital. There are too many people here, and there's a lot of gossip. You and I are such an eye-catching couple, so it's inevitable that we'll be criticized. People's gossip is scary, and I don't like it. I just want to live a simple life with you."
Ah Heng said, "If anyone dares to talk about this again, I'll make them pay! My lady, the capital city is actually very nice and prosperous. You can buy food and items you can't find anywhere else. Besides, the people here really like our peach blossom wine. We've worked so hard to increase sales. Are we going to leave in disgrace just because of a few words from those gossipers?"
Yuanniang asked, "Do you really like the capital?"
Ah Heng nodded seriously: "I like it here very much. Madam, don't you like it?"
Yuanniang smiled and said, "What you like, I like too."
"By the way, my lady, there's a big customer in the East Market who really likes our wine. He ordered more than a dozen pots of peach blossom wine yesterday. I'm going to the East Market to deliver the wine. You can rest in the shop. If you feel tired, close the shop and go to the backyard to have some tea and rest. I'll be back soon."
"The road to the East Market is long, so from now on, let the customers pick up the wine themselves. If they don't want to run errands, we won't bother selling to them. There's no need to make you, Ah Heng, work so hard all the time."
"Since we are in this business, how can we be picky about our customers?"
As he spoke, Ah Heng had already loaded the wine and drinks onto the donkey cart and waved goodbye to Yuanniang.
Yuanniang silently watched him go away before returning to the shop to clean up and sweep.
When it was almost noon, Yuanniang looked out several times but didn't see Ah Heng coming back.
"Why haven't you come back yet? Is something holding you back again?"
Since moving to Beijing, Ah Heng seems to be going out more and more frequently.
One night, she woke up in the middle of the night and found herself alone. She threw on her clothes and was about to go out to look for him, but he suddenly came back, holding a bunch of dewy wildflowers in his hand and giving them to her with a smile.
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