After a quarter of an hour, the blacksmith finished the iron leaves. Li Bochen asked him how much he should give, but he said, "It depends on how much it is."
This man has a really weird temper. Because he actually said something useful, Li Boxen gave him ten coins - he only spent ten coins to beat the iron leaf.
But Yu Meng didn't say anything. He put the money into the basket, grabbed the handkerchief hanging on the wall, wiped his face, and lay back down. He didn't seem to care about it.
The two of them went out to get their horses and walked slowly along the road. Li Boxen thought for a while and said, "This person is nothing, but he is not simple either."
Lin Qiao said: "Because the one to the north is Jinghu Mountain."
Li Bochen looked over there and saw a particularly majestic peak among the rolling mountains, with a faint white light shining at the foot of the mountain. Those white lights should be reflected by the sun on the water waves, maybe it is Mirror Lake. Next to Jinghu Lake is naturally Jinghu Mountain.
He thought for a while, understood what Lin Qiao was going to say, and smiled: "That's right. Being able to stay in a place like this at this time and live like this is naturally not easy."
After saying this, he looked at Lin Qiao again and smiled in his heart. Originally, he liked Lin Qiao's beauty and gentleness, but there was a hidden strength in her temperament. But after getting along with her these days, I found that she is really considerate of others. There were many things that she hadn't thought of at the moment, but she would mention them. But when he spoke, he acted as before, only saying half of what he said, so that he could think about it later without making himself feel embarrassed.
In fact, he doesn't care about things like face, especially with her. But when she reached this point, Li Bochen was moved and felt more pity for her.
The two walked along the street for a while and soon reached the end. The shops on both sides are gone, but ahead there are fields and residential buildings, and there are not many people coming and going. Perhaps because there have been more tourists coming and going in recent months, people on the street often just looked at the two of them up and down, and there was no surprise as he thought before.
This place is really a lively scene, which is rare even in the Sui Dynasty. Li Bochen murmured in his heart, wondering if he had misunderstood Zhu Yi? Can that person be able to kill and cure others?
The two walked along the road for a while and saw what the blacksmith called "the hillside to the west" in the distance. There is indeed an old poplar tree on that slope. I don't know how many years it is. It is as thick as five or six people can hug it, and the crown of the tree is like a big umbrella. There are four courtyards on the slope, scattered high and low. Smoke was rising from one of them. It must have been occupied by someone. The house of "Mrs. Meng" must have been there.
They walked up the slope along the road and walked to the courtyard door under the tree. They saw the dark courtyard door half open, and there were sounds of children chasing and playing inside.
Li Bochen then stepped forward and patted the animal-faced door knocker, saying loudly: "Is this Mrs. Meng's house?"
The voices of the children in the hospital suddenly disappeared. Not long after, a boy's head quickly peeked behind the door, glanced at him, and then retracted. Then I heard the child running inside and shouting things like "pig".
But a girl's head poked out from behind the door and glanced at Li Bochen. This girl wears her hair in a bun and is slightly older than the boy before her. She must be a brother and sister. But the elder sister did not take one look and run away like her younger brother. Instead, she leaned out half of her body and said, "What does the guest want to see you for?"
Judging from her bun, she must be only six or seven years old. But when he speaks, he speaks clearly and is not very afraid of people. He is really cute and bold.
Li Bochen then smiled and said, "Are you Miss Meng's family? Is your mother at home?"
It was probably the first time that the girl was called miss by an adult, so she immediately became reserved, but she couldn't hide the joy on her face, which made Li Bochen and Lin Qiao couldn't help laughing. She moved her body out from behind the door again, and said like a little adult: "My mother is here. Guest...please come in first and have tea——"
Speaking of which, I heard a woman in the courtyard say: "Xiaoman, who are you talking to?"
As soon as the girl heard this, she immediately shrank back.
Li Bochen stepped back down the steps, and soon saw the courtyard door being pushed open, and a woman in a blue coat and plain skirt came out. This woman is plainly dressed, has a fair face, and is quite pretty. He looked to be in his thirties, and his expression was very dignified. When he saw Li Boxen, he said, "Who are you?"
Li Bochen cupped his hands and said, "I am Chen Boli, this is my wife. Are you Mrs. Meng?"
The woman looked at the two people and two horses again, smiled, and said, "That's me."
Li Boxen said: "I just heard blacksmith Yu in the market town say that if you want to find a house, you can go to Mrs. Meng, so I came to bother you."
"Oh..." Mrs. Meng looked at him again, thought about it, and smiled, "It's easy to talk, so sit here and talk."
As she spoke, she walked down the steps and led the two of them under the tree. The old poplar tree was cleaned very clean, a piece of bluestone was placed, and a few smaller pieces were used to build a stone bench. It must have been a long time ago, and the bottom was covered with moss, which gave it an ancient feel.
Although this place is not bad, it is somewhat rude to lead guests here without asking them to come in. However, Li Bochen felt that this woman was also thoughtful. She must have felt that her origin was unknown, so naturally she couldn't be brought in.
This place is occupied by Zhu Hou. Blacksmith Yu Meng said that most of the empty houses are occupied by green forest heroes, but her family still has a house for rent. I guess she is not a simple person.
He then led the two horses to the post next to the door and tied them, and he and Lin Qiao walked to the stone table and sat down.
Mrs. Meng also sat down and said with a smile: "Don't blame me for not having a sip of water here. I'm really too busy. The one in my family works for the general, and I am the only one who manages the house, and I have two little hozens with me. I really don't have a lot of money." Method."
Li Boxen said: "Sister, don't worry, we have already eaten and drank in the market town, and we are not thirsty. Could you please tell me, if we two want to stay here, is there any good place to stay?"
Lady Meng thought for a while and said, "Are you two going to stay permanently? Or are you settling down temporarily? Are you here to join the general?"
Li Boxen said: "I want to stay for a long time. I... To be honest, the two of us fled. We offended people in our hometown and couldn't stay anymore, so we planned to change places to survive. It wasn't to join the general, but because I heard that There are few thieves and bandits in this area and life is peaceful, so I plan to make a home."
When Lady Meng heard this, she seemed worried and said, "Fleeing? Oh, you two are like a couple. What did you offend to end up in this situation?"
Then he looked at Lin Qiao: "I think this girl of mine should have been born in a big house. She has really suffered a lot along the way, and I feel bad for her."
Li Bochen then smiled and said: "Actually, it's not a big deal. It's just that I offended the government in my hometown. The place in my hometown is occupied by the Wei people."
Lady Meng then said: "Oh - well, that's good. Offending the government is not a big deal, but offending the Jianghu people is troublesome. Maybe if you stay here, they will come after you."
I thought about it again: "Then tell me, eldest sister, what kind of house do you want?"
She finally finished the cross-examination. Li Boxen also breathed a sigh of relief and said: "It doesn't matter how big it is, as long as it can be lived in. It's better to have a well in the yard for easy access to water. We brought horses, and it's best to have stables. Besides...it's best to have the kitchen with the main house." Next to each other, it’s best to be in the penthouse.”
When he said this, Lady Meng burst into laughter and said, "After all, he is a young master from a wealthy family, and he is used to enjoying things. He pays attention to everything. A house like this is a bit hard to find..."
When Li Bochen heard what she said, he felt relieved and planned to say goodbye. He originally wanted to ask Mrs. Meng to find a house, but after meeting her, he knew that this woman was very smart and not an ordinary village woman at all. If he rented a place from her, she might still inquire about him from time to time to see if he was a bad person, which would make things very troublesome.
There is a way to make her feel at ease, and that is to buy the house. But now he only has about three thousand dollars, which is not enough to buy a good one. It’s really distressing to buy a bad one, live in something uncomfortable, and not necessarily be able to settle down here. The golden platform in that realm looked real, but could he pry off the corners and bring them out for use?
But then I heard Lady Meng say: "...It just so happens that I actually have it here."
She stood up and pointed back: "Look at that house. It used to be my cousin's uncle. Now everyone is dead. He has stayed there for more than ten years. When my family had nothing to do, they often went to clean it up. Not abandoned.”
Li Bochen looked where she pointed and saw that the courtyard was still on the slope. It looks like a house as soon as you enter. The blue tiles and white walls are very beautiful. There are some wintersweet trees growing beside the house. The flowers have all fallen and the green leaves are new. There is also a small vegetable field outside the wall, which is covered with sparse wooden fences. Next to the vegetable field, there is a big pear tree. The flowers are blooming just right. The tree is full of white snow, and a large number of small petals have fallen under the tree, covering it with snow. Similar.
Li Bochen fell in love with her almost at first sight. He originally wanted to leave, but couldn't move. Seeing him like this, Mrs. Meng smiled and said, "Would you like to take a look?"
Li Boxen said: "Okay."
The three of them got up and walked along the road.
Lin Qiao initially remained silent, but as she was walking on the road, she said, "Sister, is there a school nearby?"
Lady Meng asked: "What? Do you also have children?"
Lin Qiao said: "Maybe it will be available this year."
Li Bochen was stunned for a moment, but then he realized what she wanted to ask and kept silent.
Lady Meng smiled and said, "That's a good question. We have an old gentleman here, his surname is Chang, and his last name is "xiu". Have you heard of it?
Lin Qiao said: "Huh? Why does it sound familiar?"
Li Bochen said: "Could it be...that Chang Shaoqing from Taichang Temple in the past?"
Mrs. Meng said: "That's right. Mr. Chang's ancestral home is here, otherwise how can we say it's a coincidence? You see, the house in front is your house. Further up, the one who enters three times belongs to the Chang family—— It originally belonged to our family, but they moved here and bought it."
"The Chang family all live there, and they actually set up a school in the back room to teach Duan Wen and literacy. If you have children in the future, send them there."
What Lady Meng was talking about was a large house on the top of the hillside, more than a hundred steps away from the one Li Boxen wanted to see. He was overjoyed, secretly thinking that he was really lucky and Xiaoman was really smart. If you really live here, it will be much more convenient to do things.
Lin Qiao took his arm and said happily: "This is really great. Bo Li, let's live here. I like it here and don't want to leave again."
Li Bochen smiled and said, "Okay, if you like it, we'll live here."
Madam Meng looked at the two of them and clicked her tongue: "A match made in heaven, so enviable. When I was my sister's age, that man didn't love me so much. Sister, you are with the right person." "
Lin Qiao smiled and said, "Look at what you said, eldest sister."
After saying this, he let go of Li Boxen's hand and walked to Lady Meng to talk to her. She deserves to have many years of experience. They only exchanged three or four sentences, and the two women looked like good sisters who had been together for many years. As Li Boxen walked and listened to their conversation, he learned that Meng Meng's husband's surname was also Meng, and his name was Pei Yong. The two were closely related.
The Meng family was originally a large family in Mengjiatun, and someone had been an official before. However, after the national upheaval more than ten years ago, the ancestors defended the country and died, and the population withered, it suddenly declined. But misfortune and good fortune depended on it. They were the only ones left, and the ancestral property was passed on to them.
Meng Peiyong had learned some mechanism arts when he was young. After Zhu Hou took over this place, he was jealous of the arts in other places, so he also gathered a group of people to start a "shu". Meng Peiyong went to Jinghu Mountain and became the owner of the art museum. went.
Li Bochen thought to himself, people here depend on Zhu Hou for their lives. I really don't know what kind of person he is. He has become like this in just a few months. Could it be... that the one traveling with Ye Lu was secretly controlling it?
When they entered the house and entered the courtyard, Li Bochen saw that the ground in the courtyard was paved with blue bricks. Facing it is a main room and two wing rooms. There is an east wing room on the east side and a stable on the west side. There is a well in the courtyard and two side rooms, which can be used as utility rooms and servants' residences.
The house is not very big, but it is not small either. A family of five can live there, plus two servants, so it's not too crowded. The courtyard is also very spacious, allowing him to practice his daily sword and boxing exercises. He looked at the wooden carvings on the eaves, the neat black tiles, and the bluestone well in front of the east wing house. He really liked it and said, "Sister, if I buy this yard, how much will it cost?"
Mrs. Meng smiled and said: "Is this settled? Well, men like to be cheerful when doing things, so the eldest sister is also cheerful - four thousand dollars will be fine. This well has not been used for many years, and it has accumulated dust and fallen leaves. I will call again People will come and dig out the well and tidy up the roof, so you can move in without worries."
Li Bochen was stunned, but he didn't expect it was only four thousand dollars - he originally thought he would get two to thirty thousand dollars. I just asked because I liked it and wanted to make Madam Meng feel that she really wanted to settle down. The price really tickled his heart, and he thought that he originally had three yuan and more than seven hundred yuan. If he saved a little money on the road... and followed Qin Le's words and received the reward, wouldn't he really be able to win it? !
He sighed in his heart, and was thinking about how to say that he only wanted to rent and not buy, but Lin Qiao said: "How can you talk about things like this? You go and walk around the house, I will talk to the eldest sister."
Li Bochen breathed a sigh of relief and said hurriedly: "Okay, I won't be an eyesore here, please speak slowly."
Mrs. Meng laughed, and he quickly entered the house.
I was counting the tables, chairs and benches in the house one by one, and suddenly I heard Lady Meng saying in the courtyard: "Ah, how can this be done? No, no, no, this is not possible!"
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