On New Year's Eve, people from the Nanfeng Pavilion gathered together to eat dumplings.
There was no intention of inviting good wine and good food, but a few people who were good at cooking rolled up their sleeves and cooked by themselves. The dumplings they made were so round and chubby that they almost burst. Tunlong also enthusiastically helped, and after a while he crushed three of them, and was successfully thrown out by a few people holding bottles.
"You don't do business, you just make trouble!" Han Ping said angrily.
Tunlong had no choice but to sit on the chair and wait eagerly. He poured the little snake out of the gourd and fed it some minced meat.
Since Long Yue was buried, he has always been wearing plain clothes, without a trace of color on his body, and his appearance has become thinner. Now there was a long and thin snake circling around this thin finger. The snake raised its neck high above it and spit out a bright red letter, as if it could swallow his hand whole.
A big red lantern was hung in front of the museum, and the candlelight danced, illuminating the entire land in red. The table is installed in the conservatory on the second floor, and you can see the moon that night through the window.
Curved, as if covered in gauze.
Halfway through, someone shouted that they were not having fun and went to soak a pot of soju. There were no outsiders at the table, and all that could be heard was laughter. You pushed me, I pushed you, and my hands never stopped. After half a glass of wine, Fu Xiao was so drunk that he started dancing at the table.
He was so drunk that he staggered, even his steps were unsteady, he spun around and fell on top of someone. A few people were laughing and joking, and Tunlong couldn't help but laugh when he saw it. He was about to turn around and talk to Han Ping, but he was startled by the smile on the corner of his lips.
"how?"
Han Ping noticed his gaze and asked with a smile.
Tunlong was also a little stunned, and after a while he said: "You laughed."
Han Ping asked back: "I can't laugh?"
"It's not that you can't..." Tulong said, "It's just that in so many years, this is the first time I've seen you smile like this."
Han Ping's smile almost seemed to have been carved with a knife. He was the first to enter the Nanfeng Pavilion and had been trained by the madam for the longest time. His expression and posture were impeccable. How should the corners of the lips be curved, how should the brows be wrinkled, how should the smile be soft and moving... That is the look on his face when facing guests. He always wears such a smile, as if he is wearing a long pair of Mask on flesh.
But this time, he didn't laugh like that again. His eyebrows were widened with a smile, which was far less attractive than the one who was in a state of ecstasy, but it had a different charm.
A flavor that makes people feel soft in their hearts.
Han Ping said: "Doesn't it look good?"
Tunlong turned his head away and remained silent for a long time. After a long time, he forced out three words from his mouth, "It's so ugly."
He paused and then said awkwardly: "If you act like this, I will definitely be the first to do this flower appreciation book. Where will it be your turn?"
Holding the bottle and laughing.
"I just feel," he said slowly, "that we are lucky to be able to meet dad..."
He raised his neck, drank half of the wine in the glass, and poured the remaining wine on the ground.
"Tunlong and I will have a drink with you," he said softly, "so that you won't have to spend the New Year alone."
Tunlong knew that this was for Long Yue, and remained silent for a while.
"It's a pity..." he said, "It's a pity."
What a pity, I can't actually say.
They were sold almost at the same time. Only Han Ping was a little earlier. He was originally a young master from a wealthy family. Later, his family suffered a disaster. He was either executed or sold into a brothel. He ended up living in the Nanfeng Pavilion. At a young age, he tasted all the flavors of life. The bottle always seems more mature than others. When he was only ten years old, Tunlong Shang cried bitterly because of being sold, but Han Ping had already learned to walk in small steps while holding the vase on his head.
He and Lang Yue were the meaning of everything about family in Tunlong's memory.
Fuxiao was already babbling and singing a song. During the song, Tunlong suddenly felt that his arm was touched by someone.
Turning around, he saw it was Kou Qiu.
"......father?"
"Go," Kou Qiu handed him a small key and said to him and Han Ping, "You know the room at the end is empty."
Han Ping stood up from his seat docilely, looking a little surprised. Holding the key tightly in his palm, he slowly walked to the door, inserted the small brass key into the hole, turned it gently, and opened it.
On the table inside, there is a lonely tablet. Incense has been placed in the incense burner, and curls of green smoke are rising out. There are remaining incense and fruits on the table, which are piled neatly on the plate.
Tunlong's eyes suddenly became wet.
His lips trembled, and he didn't know what to say; Lang Yue was a little boy, and his death was not honorable. Not to mention the memorial tablet, even the grave was just a hole dug and buried in it. There is no such thing as a seven-day suspension. Burying him is like burying a dead dog.
But on this tablet, Lang Yue's name is clearly written.
Han Ping was a little worried and called out in a low voice: "Swallowing Dragon?"
But the young man in plain clothes just pursed his lips hard, and then waved his hand at him, looking a little awkward, as if he was trying to swallow the tears that were about to burst out of his eyes.
"It's okay...it's okay."
He was finally able to burn a stick of incense properly, just the three of them.
Just say a few words.
*
By the end of the drink, all the waiters swarmed up to drink Kou Qiu's wine. Su held one cup on the left and the other on the right, and the wine inside swayed out, soaking less than half of Kou Qiu's clothes. Kou Qiu really couldn't refuse, so he had to drink two or three drinks at the hands of these brats.
The system guy is a little worried.
Even if others don't know, it still knows. Senior Cadre Kou's drinking capacity can be summed up in four words: one drink at a time.
A weak chicken can no longer be a weak chicken.
Fortunately, the alcohol content of this shochu was small and not very strong, so Kou Qiu could hold on to the second cup. Soon, two clusters of red fire ignited on his face, and a thin layer of aqua color rippled in his eyes.
He held the wine glass and slowly looked serious.
Several brats looked at him and laughed, and wanted to drink more, but saw the owner of Nanfeng Pavilion suddenly slapped the table and stood up.
Shooting Halberd: "...Dad?"
Their father looked serious and suddenly pointed at him.
"you!"
Shooting Halberd shivered in fright, and subconsciously straightened his body, "Me?"
"Sit down or not," veteran cadre Kou frowned, "What does it look like? Get up and sit down again! Do you know that appearance is actually related to everyone's heart? We say that the connection is universal and objective. ——"
Several waiters were stunned and looked at him in surprise.
No...what else is going on?
Are you planning to cause trouble?
Senior cadre Kou was still saying: "Next, in order to let everyone better understand the great national spirit of our Chinese nation, I will sing "Yellow River Cantata" for everyone."
Sing a ghost!
The system made a prompt decision and immediately started to howl at the top of its lungs: [Ah——]
The old cadre Kou was ready to go, but now he was rudely interrupted, and he couldn't help but feel even more dissatisfied. He frowned, raised a finger seriously at his cub, and hissed, "Don't bark!"
Everyone in the Nanfeng Pavilion looked at each other, and there was silence.
No...no one called...
"I'm afraid I'm drunk." She Ji also seemed a bit dumbfounded. "I told you not to all go up and drink it... Now, if you drink dad down, what will happen?"
He waved his hand, motioning for several people to get up with him, and spent a lot of effort to send Kou Qiu back to the room. After returning to the room, the veteran cadre Kou kicked off his shoes and stood on the bed. Still unable to restrain his desire to popularize socialist education, he stepped on the quilt with his hands behind his back, "Let me tell you the true meaning of the core values of socialism."
The boys didn't even know the meaning of the word in his mouth. They just responded casually out of filial piety: "Yes, yes, dad said it well."
Although we didn't understand a word.
Kou Qiu was very dissatisfied with the audience and said seriously: "You didn't applaud."
Immediately there was a round of perfunctory applause, and Sheji even took the lead in shouting twice.
The system seemed to have seen every scene when Kou Qiu dealt with his cute self.
What a good bunch of boys.
The good boys put Kou Qiu into bed. One lifted the quilt, another put him to sleep, and the other patted his back. They were quite skillful. When he finally fell asleep, the waiters stood up and started walking out.
Silence fell into the room again.
When the door creaked and the dim candlelight on the corridor was reflected, two or three birds outside the window were frightened by the smell and flew away. A figure pushed open the door and slowly touched Kou Qiu's forehead.
He stroked the young man's forehead to one side, lowered his head, and stared quietly at the face illuminated by the peripheral light.
Perhaps sensing his movement, the young man moved suddenly, groaned and rubbed his cheek upwards. The skin and flesh that looked like milk clothes were all rubbed against the palms that were calloused by holding various weapons all year round.
Qiu Lie trembled suddenly.
He gradually raised his hands higher, and his eyelashes trembled between his fingers, like a butterfly whose wings were caught.
After being touched for half a day, Kou Qiu finally managed to regain some consciousness. He subconsciously hugged the hand of the man next to him and said with a nasal voice: "General Qiu?"
The man was startled by the sound, and his hands subconsciously came back, as if he was afraid of waking up the young man. He retracted his hand and looked at the person on the bed for a long time. When he saw that he didn't respond, he reached out his hand again and touched it tentatively.
After a while, he seemed to have made up his mind, rolled up the quilt, and hugged the person and the quilt directly in his arms.
After being awakened, Tunlong held on to the candle and came to open the door. He was a little stunned when he saw this scene, "Big daddy?"
His eldest father hummed solemnly and curled the big baby in his arms tighter, fearing that the big baby would freeze.
Tunlong was speechless.
"You...you are..."
Qiu Lie said calmly: "I have something to do tonight and I have to go back home."
"..."
Tunlong looked at him with mixed emotions.
No, you can just go back. Why do you have to hug our boss!
We still need him to direct preparations for reopening tomorrow!
Qiu Lie used some strength in his arms to hold the big baby tighter, almost hugging the flesh and blood of his chest. He pursed his thin lips and explained: "It will take about an hour to deal with those things."
Tulong: "...so?"
General Qiu said matter-of-factly: "I want to watch him."
"..."
Not missing a single hour?
What the hell is the reason for this!
"I took it away."
After saying this, the man suddenly opened the window. The night wind outside rushed in. He tightly protected the person in his arms, jumped from the window sill, and jumped directly from the second floor.
Tunlong was startled and rushed to the window to look, and saw the man carrying his father into the carriage. The carriage took four hooves in a blink of an eye and ran away without looking back.
Tu Lun Tunlong was still standing in front of the window, speechless and choked.
He asked why this person didn't disturb anyone when he came up. That's how feelings were pried directly into the corridor.
Can't a dignified general act less like a mountain king?
Han Ping, a light sleeper, was also startled by the sound and walked to the door. He glanced inside in surprise and asked, "Where is dad?"
Tulong said: "You came too late."
It had been robbed and carried away directly. That posture was like that of a bandit robbing a bride.
The bottle was a little wet, "Daddy?"
Tunlong nodded.
"Then what's there to worry about?" Han Ping said with a smile, "It's okay to let Dad take him back. He's going to attend the palace banquet tonight. I'm afraid I won't have time to see him all day long, so I'm really panicking."
Tunlong shuddered and said sincerely, "Don't disgust me anymore."
Thinking of not being able to be separated for even an hour? Then just find a rope and tie the two of them together.
"But speaking of this," Tunlong said quietly, "I do have an idea to make money..."
The next day, Kou Qiu woke up in the general's mansion.
He opened his eyes blankly and looked around, looking at the ink-wash curtain hanging on the bed, and then looking at the decorations that looked like a snow cave all around, and he slowly felt confident. After a while, the man opened the door and came in. Seeing that he was awake, he stepped forward naturally and patted the hair on the young man's head.
Kou Qiu asked: "Why am I here?"
General Qiu was wearing black attire at this time, and there was a slight sweat on his forehead, as if he had just returned from practicing martial arts outside. He walked to the basin, soaked his hands in the cold water, and replied simply and concisely: "I brought him here."
Kou Qiu laughed, blinked, and saw a purse on the bedside. It was bulging inside, as if it was stuffed with something.
"What's this?"
He reached out curiously and took it out. After pouring it out, he realized that it was full of gold and silver needles. There were about three or four hundred of them. They were all very finely polished and felt a little heavy in his hand. General Qiu wiped his hands with a clean cloth and explained: "You are opening for business today. These things are for people's use."
Only then did Kou Qiu remember that he was holding a golden thigh.
Not only are the thighs strong and powerful, but they are also gold.
He blinked, but before he could say anything, he saw the man carrying a box over and dumping all the jewelry inside on the bed. The gold, silver, jade carvings, and jewels were so brilliant that they almost buried Kou Qiu's knees.
He stared at the pile of treasures worth thousands of gold with his mouth open, and saw the man reaching out to touch his head again and said: "Take it and play with it."
no......
Senior cadre Kou couldn't understand the thoughts of this group of rich people. They had so many treasures to play with? ?
Perhaps the emotions in his eyes were too clear. The man pursed his lips and whispered: "I can't even compare to you."
He stood up straight, looked serious, and repeated what he said just now, "Take it for fun."
Kou Qiu: "..."
[No,] after returning to Nanfeng Pavilion, he couldn't help but said to his son, "Why does he think I would play with these?" 】
The system brat saw clearly, [The box of jewelry that you gave to Zha Gong but was returned was placed on the table. 】
Kou Qiu suddenly realized. I'm afraid Qiu Lie thought he was happy with these treasures after seeing them.
The system clicked its tongue a few times and said: [I don't know how much effort it took to collect so many... My father is really dedicated, dedicated and a man. 】
It's as if the level of crazy fans has risen again.
Kou Qiu had no time to pay attention to it. He had been sent to the door of Nanfeng Pavilion. Nowadays, all the couplets on the plaque above have been replaced, and the brand-new four characters "Nanfeng Academy" are hung on the door, exuding a scholarly atmosphere.
The madam from the flower building next door was standing outside soliciting customers. When he saw him coming from a distance, he couldn't help but sarcastically said, "Isn't this Boss Liu? Why, you have made too much money now and are you planning to open an academy instead?"
When she said this, she couldn't help but sneered lowly, obviously not believing that Duan Cun could turn the small restaurant into an academy. But Kou Qiu smiled at her and acknowledged it, "Yes."
The madam's eyes almost fell out of their sockets,
"Really opening an academy?" She waved the small fan in her hand, blowing up waves of intoxicating fragrance. "No, Boss Liu, I'm not talking about you. Your Nanfeng Pavilion is already famous now, so why bother relying on it?" What are these crooked ways to make money?"
When she said this, she couldn't help but click her tongue twice, "It's not like in our building, where a bright moon has just passed by, and half of the sky has collapsed - the remaining Qingfeng is just a sick man, it's better to count on him. I'll do it myself."
Kou Qiu said nothing, but took out a handkerchief from his sleeve and polished the couplets on both sides to make them brighter.
After he finished wiping, he raised his head and smiled at the madam.
"I don't expect them to make money," he said flatly, "money means nothing to me."
The madam raised her eyebrows, as if she had heard something extremely ridiculous.
"Then what else are you going to do," she said with a smile, "to save all sentient beings?"
Senior cadre Kou said: "I don't dare to talk about saving sentient beings, that is, I just make a clean living and support myself."
He looked at the current cards in front of the door again, and then slowly walked in.
The hall has changed.
Kou Qiu ordered people to build twelve large screens, with only a thin layer of white cloth separating them, and the human figures behind them could be faintly seen. Both walls are full of books, with calligraphy written on one end and paintings on the other. Several landscape paintings are hung outside, with different shades of ink.
Han Ping came up to him, looking a little worried.
"Dad," he said in a low voice, "are there any of us who really want to buy it?"
Kou Qiu didn't explain much to him, and directly ordered people to take the paintings with bottles to other calligraphy and painting academies on the street to sell them. Within half an hour, a scholar who stepped into the store took a fancy to the painting at first sight and bought it outright for five taels of silver. When he went out, he was still sighing at the profound power of the painting.
The five taels of silver, after deducting the one tael received by other calligraphy and painting academies, was only four taels left in Han Ping's hands.
But the four hundred taels of silver he held were hotter than the four hundred taels he had collected before, almost burning a layer of flesh off his hand.
Tunlong was not worried at all. He sat behind the screen and waited for people to come and buy his little notebooks. "All the little storybooks I used to sell were so good!"
Fu Xiao said uneasily: "Then we will open the door?"
Kou Qiu nodded and said, "Open the door."
So, Fu Xiao picked up the flute, shot the halberd and talked about the harp. Everyone held their breath and waited for the first guest to come.
...
This wait is half a day. There were some customers, but they were all regular patrons of the Nanfeng Pavilion. They were a little dumbfounded when they came in and saw this attitude. Then there were people asking them to buy paintings. These dandies were just here to play with their butts, so they would not want to buy anything. painting and calligraphy! So he walked away, sarcastically saying that Boss Liu was probably crazy.
By noon, several people were inevitably a little downcast.
"Why are you frustrated?" Kou Qiu held up his chopsticks and educated them earnestly, "There was a man in the past who tried more than two thousand materials to invent something before he succeeded. Now we have only waited for half a day, are we going to give up halfway?"
Tunlong Nahan said, "Dad, why have I never heard of this person?"
Kou Qiu: "..."
It's strange that you have heard of it.
He thought for a moment and then asked, "Did the firecrackers set off outside?"
Han Ping said: "It hasn't been released yet."
"Then we'll wait until we have dinner," Kou Qiu said decisively, "and let the cannons go off too. That way someone will definitely come."
After a while, the crackling sound of the cannon scared most of the birds parked in the tree away, except for a crow that still insisted on standing upright. Tunlong thought it was unlucky, so he took a small stone and threw it at it. Instead, the fan lifted up by the crow's wings made him angry.
He was so angry that he opened the gourd and let the snake go. Halfway through the snake's head, a scholar who had just looked at it with some interest came over. When he caught a glimpse of the bright red letter, he was immediately frightened and ran away without looking back.
The only customer was scared away.
Kou Qiu looked at Tunlong's guilty look and couldn't bear to scold him, so he had no choice but to be superstitious and said, "We must have chosen a bad day."
At the end of the day, four regular customers tried to come and one new customer was scared away.
The old cadre was tired.
When he returned to the General's Mansion in the evening, Qiu Lie asked about today's situation, and Kou Qiu told the actual situation of Menke Luoque. After speaking, General Qiu was thoughtful. The next day, people came to buy paintings and books and almost stepped through the threshold of Nanfeng Academy. There was a bustle of people in front of the door, and within two hours of opening the door, all the stock inside was sold out.
Tunlong was still happy, "I knew my book would sell well!"
Containing bottles: "..."
Look at this silly kid.
It's obvious that our father is selling well, right? What does this credit have to do with you!