Time comes and goes, like a horse in a gap, a fire in a stone, and a body in a dream.
It has been two and a half years since Jiang Yue came to Zhucheng from Canzhou, and she has also been studying at Qingyun Academy for two years. She has learned most of the words she needs to know. After all, daily life is not a problem. If she is sent to a shop to be an accounting apprentice, It's enough.
Jiang Yue took the initiative to mention it to Nie Zhao once or twice about making money as an apprentice, but every time Nie Zhao hit her on the head with chopsticks and said she was not as tall as the stone pillar in front of someone else's house. What ends.
Jiang Yue was still studying in the Youth Class of Qingyun Academy for the ninth year of Taishun. It wasn't that she didn't work hard, but that she started learning too late. She seemed very clumsy and lackluster among her classmates. She was especially poor in arithmetic. , Qingyun Academy requires students to reach A in each of the six subjects of "Rites, Music, and Royal Books" before they can successfully enter the school.
She has been unable to meet the standards for a long time, but Nie Zhao is still willing to send her to study, which shows that Nie Zhao is extremely benevolent and righteous to her. Jiang Yue can't help but burst into tears every time she thinks about this.
Today is the annual examination day of Qingyun Academy. There are two annual examinations in the academy, one in summer and one at the end of winter. After the examination, there will be a twenty-day long holiday.
Nie Zhao took the person out of bed early in the morning.
Jiang Yue yawned, and he also yawned due to the contagion, making his eyes well up with tears. Nie Zhao was so angry that he patted her head: "Be awake and wash your face."
Earlier, the hut was separated by bamboo boards. The sound insulation was not good and it was also very thin. Nie Zhao originally wanted to renovate it, but a heavy rain last autumn ripped off the thatch on the roof and blew it all over the place. Nie Zhao was not at home that night, and when he came back the next day, Jiang Yue was huddled in the corner of the kitchen, having a fever again.
He simply demolished the entire yard and built a few new brick houses.
The new house is wider and brighter than the previous one. There is a small hall after entering. Jiang Yue's desk is placed by the window. There is a pile of books on the floor, and neatly arranged pens, inks, papers and inkstones are placed on the table.
The west side is Nie Zhao's room, and the east side is Jiang Yue's. Nie Zhao and Jiang Yue's rooms are separated by bricks. The small bed in Jiang Yue's room has also been replaced with a pine bed painted with tung paint, and there is a wooden bed against the wall. She bought a small wardrobe, so her room was full.
She rubbed her eyes, put on her clothes, and went out to wash her face. Nie Zhao quickly folded her bedding, flattened the wrinkles, twisted up the two fallen hairs and cleaned them up. Jiang Yue had already washed up. , asked in the yard: "Third brother, what are you eating this morning?"
Nie Zhao folded up his sleeves and said as he walked: "The steamed buns that were steamed in the morning were dried just right, and the cooked japonica rice porridge, you can sit on a small table and eat it in front of the stove."
Jiang Yue rubbed her cold hands, and sure enough she found a drawer of eight steamed buns, a bowl of rice porridge, and a small plate of side dishes on the stove. The steamed buns were not in good condition, and the white buns were steamed into toasted buns, with one layer on the outside. The skin was burnt brown, and there were still blackened parts. The porridge was indescribable and the fillings were raw. The side dishes were bought from outside and the taste was acceptable.
Nie Zhao walked in and hurriedly picked up the steamer, but his hands were burned by the steam. He quickly pinched Jiang Yue's cold earlobes before taking out the steamer.
He has just started to learn to cook recently, let alone the quality, at least for a delicate young man like him, he cannot eat it himself.
However, Jiang Yue was easy to feed, and she ate whatever she wanted. She never disliked Nie Zhao's cooking skills, which gave him the courage to study unremittingly on the road of cooking.
She sat on a small stool and nestled in front of the stove fire. She took a bite of the bun and gave him a thumbs up. She spoke inarticulately and praised: "Third brother, the bun is delicious."
The stuffing was made of winter bamboo shoots mixed with dried tofu. It was very fresh and the outside was crispy. Jiang Yue described it this way. Nie Zhao was quite satisfied, so he got up and kneaded the noodles without wasting his time.
He can tolerate Jiang Yue because of her sweet mouth.
"If it's delicious, eat more." He picked up a few more buns and gave them to her. After all, no one except her would eat these. He would go out to eat something else later.
After saying that, Nie Zhao took the comb from his waist, stood behind Jiang Yue, and combed her hair.
Jiang Yue herself could only divide her hair into two halves and braid it into two braids on her chest. In the past two years, her hair had been cut into pieces here and there. Even the simplest two braids could not be combed. Nie took care of it. Her eyes were red, and she was forced to take over the job, which she held for two years.
But his skill in combing hair is as indescribable as cooking.
"Third brother, it hurts." Jiang Yue bit her bun and touched her hair that was about to be torn out. Her eyes were combed until they were hung up.
"What do you know, comb your hair tighter to look better." Even though Nie Zhao said this, his hands were still a little gentle.
"But Third Brother, my hair is like clouds now. I want to look good."
"...They have no aesthetics and are too arrogant."
"Oh." The third brother's hair looked better than hers, but Jiang Yue still chose to believe her third brother.
Of course Nie Zhao understands the beauty of clouds and mist on the temples, which makes people appear graceful and light, and can also modify the face. This thing is good, but the key to the problem is that he doesn't know how to...
He gave Jiang Yue a double-ring bun that he was good at.
Jiang Yue originally had round eyes, but now her head is combed round, and there are two round rings next to her head. When she walks out, people will subconsciously think that this little lady's name is Yuanyuan.
Jiang Yue had a round head on her head and was immersed in eating a round bun. Nie Zhao dug out a pair of red hair ribbons in the box and tied them on her two round rings for decoration, and then held her head up and down. After admiring and looking at it, he finally came to a conclusion and sighed: "It's so festive. How come my hands are so skillful."
Jiang Yue hasn't had many strokes in the past two years, but she has become whiter and brighter. She is slim and tender, as if water will come out when pinched. Her eyebrows are beautiful and charming, and her hair is no longer the yellow hair of a little girl. Now that she has become a beautiful girl, Nie Zhao has raised her child to be more lively. Now she can run, jump and laugh. Now that she has reached a rebellious age, she sometimes talks to him and tries to comfort him when he is angry.
In short, the days before she turned twelve were very faint in her memory, as light as water. Sometimes when she thought about it, it felt like it happened in her previous life.
Nie Zhao told her what to pay attention to during the exam. Jiang Yue stuffed the last bite of the bun into it and nodded "Yeah."
He poked her head: "Don't just agree. If you get a C in the exam, see if I don't slap your ass."
Jiang Yue knew that he would not really hit her, but would only scare her. She laughed twice and even if she was fooled, she stuffed the last bite of the bun into it, stood up, put on her school bag, said goodbye to him, and trotted out. Heading towards the college.
Nie Zhao stood by the door and called her: "Slow down, run as soon as you're full, and you won't be afraid of breaking your stomach if you run away. It just snowed last night and break your leg."
"I know, I know!" Jiang Yue turned around with a smile and waved to him.
Like every other parent in the city, Nie Zhao washed the dishes and put them back neatly after his children had breakfast, tidied up the house, and then went out to do some work.
It's just that his work is different from ordinary people. Today he was entrusted to clean up a few gangsters. "Liton" is an implicit word. To be precise, it means cleaning up and eliminating.
These gangsters are new to Zhucheng in the past few months, but they have already set up a lot of troubles. They heard that Nie Zhao, the head of the 13th Street in the east of the city, was a good-tempered man, so they went straight to him, wanting to replace him. the meaning of.
In the past two years, Nie Zhao's temper has indeed gotten better and better in the eyes of outsiders who don't understand the situation. After all, he has to raise children and lead by example. He previously reflected on his own misconduct and led Jiang Yue to bad things. Since then, he has begun to cultivate his moral character and speak truth. Yes, if you don't see blood, you will see blood. If you can't kill him, don't let Jiang Yue know. The people in the east of the city are sensible and agree that they, Mr. Nie, have been Buddhists for more than two years and have not killed anyone.
Therefore, the rumor outside that he is a soft persimmon is understandable.
Ah Si has not been promoted for many years. He still guards the city gate in the east of the city and is Nie Zhao's grandson. Nie Zhao kills people and he dumps their bodies. The division of labor is clear and natural.
He numbly directed the people to carry the body onto the carriage and drag it to Feijiu Cliff, and then directed the people around him to get water to clean the blood on the ground.
Nie Zhao conveniently wiped the blood on the dagger with the hem of his clothes. Ah Si had long been used to it and twitched the corner of his mouth as if he hadn't seen it.
"Zhao Si, I really don't want you to be promoted. We have had such a tacit understanding for so many years. Someone else might not be as useful as you. However, I am quite assured of your ability. You probably won't be promoted." Nie Zhao took back his sword. Go, put your elbow on Ah Si's shoulder, bite a piece of dead grass and tell him.
"The tacit understanding of killing people and dumping their bodies, it's okay not to do it."
Nie Zhao smiled with crooked eyes and collected twenty coins from the intruded vendor's family as a reward.
When passing by the meat stall, the stall owner gave him money and secretly glanced at him. He looked around and saw no one, then waved to him mysteriously and winked: "Sir, please follow me to the back."
"I don't accept bribes." Nie Zhao refused with righteous words. As if remembering something, he quickly turned around and told Ah Si, "Remember, this sentence reached Jiang Yue's ears." What a good educational material, Jiang Yue will definitely become upright and kind under his education.
The corners of Ah Si's mouth twitched faster.
"It's not a bribe!" The stall owner became anxious and quickly took out something covered with blood-stained linen cloth from behind. He quietly opened it for Nie to take care of. A strong fishy smell rushed out, and Nie Zhao frowned.
The stall owner proudly spread his hands and introduced: "Sir, I heard that your Yueniang got a C grade in arithmetic last time in the quiz. This is a secret magic weapon that I left for you. As long as you eat this, you will definitely get an A grade." !”
Nie Zhao was disgusted: "You are the pig brain...is it really useful?"
"Tsk, sir, why don't you believe it? A pig only has one pig brain. As the saying goes, the shape complements the shape. Whatever is missing, it will make up for it. If you eat the pig brain, you will definitely make up for the brain!" The stall owner gave a thumbs up.
"Then why don't you eat?"
"Eat it!"
"Still doesn't look very smart..."
"Hey, sir, why are you swearing?"
Nie Zhao raised his hand to interrupt him: "Stop talking, how much does it cost?" If it is useful, you can pass the A-level exam after eating it.
Jiang Yue sneezed in the examination room, and when she read the test paper again, she was confused again. She scratched her head, plucked her fingers, and she was confused...
six? It seems to be six, yes, it is six.
