Xu Xuzhi

Chapter 87
Beiping is much hotter than Fengtian, and there are more trees. In summer, every tree is inhabited by a huge number of cicadas, and each of them screams sincerely. , the loud long sound went through to the end, without taking a breath, and immediately there was another loud long sound, as if thinking about it.

It's not like Fengtian's colleagues who steal, rape and play tricks, they yell and stop a few times, for fear of tiring themselves.From this, Feng Jiu thought that cicadas in the two places must not be of the same species.This monotonous sound makes Feng Jiu, who has always loved the cicadas in summer, a little unbearable. Sometimes he is woken up in the afternoon and really wants to stick them down with a bamboo pole. Let them go.

Feng Jiu brought the children to the palace early in the morning. After all, the place is spacious, and there are many gardens, lotus ponds, and fish tanks, so the children can play and run around.There are also many old objects and ancient calligraphy and painting books in the warehouse for Feng Jiu to enjoy carefully. Sometimes the two little tricks will be sold for a while. Buying and selling", she is so subtly nurturing, hoping that the children will be immersed in the beauty of these rare treasures from an early age, and that taste, knowledge and appreciation will naturally be developed, just like when she was a child, and Hongsi at the beginning The ones in my hometown in Haicheng are the same.

One afternoon, Feng Jiu asked the servants to go to Beihai to buy a lot of lotus leaves, and now he is leading the two little dolls to peel the lotus pods—the lotus leaves sold in Beihai are fat, thick, and fragrant, and the lotus leaves in the mansion are really real. Can't compare.

Yaya is wearing green silk shorts in the shape of lotus leaves, revealing her chubby arms and legs. Qiusheng has tied two buns on both sides of her head, with a green ribbon hanging down. She looks cool and undressed. Take off a fairy in green clothes.

Long Sheng is considered to be a member of the Jiu Family, and at this time he is also wearing a white silk double-breasted shorts jacket, which is very cool.

Feng Jiu gave each of them a crisp, tender, biyingying plump shower head. The two little things tried hard to pick out the densely packed lotus seeds. With a lot of effort, several of them have been peeled off.

Fengjiu has a unique skill - planing lotus noodles with bare hands, and he feels that this is a good time to teach him everything.

She first turned the shower head down, exposing the back, and gently peeled off the conical part underneath, leaving only a bulging lotus face, and then carefully picked out the lotus seeds with the small round heads inside.

Soon a pile of lotus seeds fell on the small table, and in Fengjiu's hands was a regular, undamaged, shiny emerald lotus surface, with more than a dozen small round holes exposed, which contrasted with her slender white body. The hands are truly beautiful.

Ya Ya consciously reached out to ask for it, Feng Jiu put the lotus powder noodles on her open little palm, Ya Ya poked the lotus hole one by one with her little finger, and looked up at her mother.

Feng Jiu understood it very well, and immediately put the lotus powder on her head, tilted to the left side, and pulled out a few thin rice clips from her head, so Yaya wore a small green round hat on her head, matching it with The small water green crepe de chine apron and shorts on her body are appropriate and cute.Feng Jiu carried her to the side of the water tank to take a picture, and Yaya reached out to touch her own shadow on the water surface in the tank, feeling very happy.

Fengjiu looked at Longsheng on the side, looking at Yaya with envy, so he quickly peeled off another one for Longsheng, and put it on his head in the same way. Getting stuck hair is a breeze.

It happened that when Ning Zheng came back, he saw that the three of them were having a good time, and he also became happy. He noticed the little green hat on Longsheng's head in a blink of an eye, couldn't help laughing, shook his head, and said to Feng Jiu: "You are a man Damn, there is no way to wear a hat of this color for a boy."

He walked over and took off the green lotus pod from Longsheng's head, took Yaya who had approached him with open hands as soon as he saw him, and kissed her lightly on her cheek a few times before saying to Longsheng: "Longsheng Ah, remember, we Chinese men can’t wear green hats for the rest of our lives, huh?”

Long Sheng has always been convinced of his godfather, so he nodded immediately.Feng Jiu curled his lips secretly, it's useless to clean up.

Fengjiu recalled that the traditional color of Northern Ireland is the green of clover, so when it comes to various festivals, it is simply a green hat on the head, which is a must-have for every family, men and women, and suitable for all ages, so there are so many customs and customs in various places. different.

She waved to Ning Zheng, and Ning Zheng put Yaya on the Luban stool and sat down, then came over and sat beside her.Feng Jiu smiled at him, stood up and put a big green lotus leaf on his head involuntarily, and looked at him relieved.

Long Sheng and Ya Ya immediately burst out laughing, thinking that Ning Zheng's distressed appearance looked very amusing.

Ning Zheng grabbed it with a grumpy face, leaned close to her ear and whispered, gritted his teeth: "You can be proud, and I will clean you up at night."

After speaking, he went around behind her, and lightly pinched her waist which had become slender again; Feng Jiu acted as if he didn't hear it——anyone who is always threatened by such nothing new will not take it seriously Son.

Feng Jiu clapped his hands, picked up a not-so-big lotus leaf, and made a small hole in the mouth of the leaf, that is, the center of the leaf. The sour plum soup poured down along the lotus leaves, and soon, both children saw the purple-black juice rolling down the petiole, and then slipped into Feng Jiu's mouth from the bottom of the petiole.

Ning Zheng was also very interested in watching it. Feng Jiu explained that she had read in books that the ancients used lotus leaves to make wine glasses, which was very elegant, because the handles of lotus leaves are inherently hollow and porous.

Feng Jiu asked Long Sheng and Ya Ya to try it separately, and the two children had a great time playing it.

Ning Zheng had put his arms around her shoulders early on, and had fallen in love with Xiyang Jing'er.

"Thanks to Long Sheng, I was able to play with Yaya, otherwise, this little thing is too tough." Feng Jiu said with deep emotion, looking at them with joy in his eyes.

Ning Zheng deeply agrees, not only that, sometimes they are funny and helpless to think that Ya Ya probably encountered something in his sleep in his previous life, so it seems that he has a grudge against sleeping, and even more recently, even when he is close to Zi, he is still in good spirits. cheer up.

The nanny was defeated after several fights, and there was no way out.

Feng Jiu had to take over the task of coaxing her to sleep.

But she didn't get any better, and after a few days, she was exhausted.

After Ning Zheng knew about it, she observed carefully and found that as long as there was one person in Ya Ya's family who moved around with a stick, she felt that she could also stay awake.

Ning Zheng decided to get rid of the root cause, so he set the basic strategy for the whole family: no matter what they were doing in Ning's house, at nine o'clock in the evening, they must put down their work and lie down on the spot.

Of course, the whole family strictly followed the command of the commander.

At that time, Ning Zheng would hold the wide-eyed Ya Ya to check from room to room, "Look, Brother, please sleep...Mother, please sleep...Grandma Wu, please sleep...Aunt Qiu, please sleep... "Ya Ya's small neck flexibly twisted, and she inspected every single place. After going upstairs and downstairs, she finally confirmed helplessly that only her father and herself were awake in this pitch-black room. Suddenly, even the driver and even the uncle were snoring.

Only then did Yaya feel bored, and yawned with her small mouth wide open, her big head drooping to her father's shoulder in desperation, and she was soon able to fall asleep soundly.

Ning Zheng carried her back to the room, put her into her small bed, and patted her softly a few times. After confirming that Ya Ya was in a deep sleep, she walked out lightly.

Then, I saw Ning's house, which was still dark just now, and a group of people appeared like ghosts in a blink of an eye—Feng Jiu, Qiu Sheng, Zhi Changsheng, and the driver Lian Liwen...all of them climbed up cautiously and silently. , The lights in each house were turned on one after another, so those who should do the work continued to do the work, those who should read books read books, and those who should knit sweaters really got their places.

Of course, Wu Ma couldn't get up anymore, she always had the habit of going to bed early, and Long Sheng really fell asleep.

Feng Jiu suddenly remembered something, and asked Long Sheng to take Ya Ya to find Aunt Qiu and find Ning Zheng's goggles.

Ning Zheng wondered what she was going to do, Feng Jiu said to coax them to play.

She also hurriedly went to the kitchen to fetch a bunch of things, including a large bowl and pestle for pounding medicine, ice cubes bought from the ice cellar, various river fresh and walnut kernels in summer, and so on.

Ning Zheng didn't forget to seize the opportunity to steal a scent, and when she really kissed, she inevitably found that one was not enough, and kissed her pink face from top to bottom, until she heard the "gudong gudong" in a hurry. The sound of small footsteps coming towards Fengjiu was sweating anxiously, and he continued to kiss without hesitation. Fengjiu had no choice but to use his trump card - pinched his waist hard with his dead hands to get this piece The brown sugar is torn apart.

Feng Jiu put on the goggles to keep the two little guys away, then used a stone pestle to pound ice cubes in the stone jar, and after a few demonstrations, he took off the goggles and put them on for Ning Zheng. on, signaling him to finish his work.

Ning Zheng, who is the "Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Land, Sea and Air Force of the Republic of China", took it without any temper, and made a big bowl of ice balls in a short while.

Feng Jiu took advantage of this to get an ice bowl for one person. Long Sheng and Ya Ya were not idle, they tore the big lotus leaves into small pieces, spread them on the bottom of two big and two small crystal glass bowls, and scooped in some freshly smashed lotus leaves. The crushed ice slag that came out.

The ice has melted a bit, and there are steamed white lotus root slices, water chestnuts, chicken head rice, cored lotus seeds, peach slices and fresh walnut kernels floating on it.Fengjiu didn't like white sugar, so he poured two spoonfuls of linden honey.

This is the ice bowl [
The whole family held a bowl and used it comfortably. Ning Zheng ate quickly and was the first to see the bottom. Served in nine bowls.

Feng Jiu purposely leaned over to the two of them, scooped up a spoonful with a silver spoon, and the two little fellows, who hadn't eaten enough ice, stared at the remaining seafood in the bowl.

The spoon in Fengjiu's hand passed slowly in front of the two of them, and the four bright black pupils seemed to be glued to it, watching the delicious food in the spoon... "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh In the mouth of a woman who blatantly bullies children.

Ya Ya let out a big head, and sighed, Long Sheng was not surprised - the godmother was not in shape at all, he had expected it earlier.

Ning Zheng laughed, the three dolls in front of her were so cute, but the baby's mother was really addicted to teasing the children under the banner of "Jewish setback education".

The days passed quietly, this is Fengjiu's feeling.For Ning Zheng, it is of course different—a lot of secret telegrams from his hometown in Northeast China, few of which make him feel comfortable, but he tries his best to complete the work in the front yard or Huairen Hall, and will not bring his emotions to the backyard of the palace. Come.

The days soon entered the seventh month of the lunar calendar, and it was only a few days before Qixi Festival. Both Feng Jiu and Ning Zheng were educated in Western style. They didn't take traditional festivals seriously at first, but it was different when they had children.

Qixi Festival is also the Qiqiao Festival, "Qiqiao Qiqiao", the main purpose is to beg the heavens for the ingenuity of the girls at home.

Fengjiu, who has always been surprisingly poor as a female worker, doesn't look like he is good, but when it comes to his daughter, he is very caring.

The eldest sister once said that the key to begging for cleverness lies in the few years when a girl is young, from about two to eight years old.If you have a respectful and sincere attitude when worshiping the Weaver Girl and Cowherd Double Stars, you will not be dexterous when you grow up.

Although Fengjiu deeply suspects that the elder sister is pretending to be mysterious and throwing money from the elder sister, but as far back as she can remember, when her mother led the two sisters and other cousins ​​in the clan to celebrate the Qiqiao Festival, she was indeed the only one, and she always hid Sneaking food under the altar, or following the tiger head to climb trees and pick flowers in the garden, making a fuss, in short, the attitude is very improper, so looking at the whole clan, there is only one daughter who can't handle it when she grows up. , the vertical line cannot be moved.

Feng Jiu looked down at his slender white hands that were barely parted, danced wildly, and made up his mind.

Ya Ya was less than one year old last year, and this year she is already a "big" girl who is almost two years old.

It doesn't matter whether it works or not, mothers have to do their best, don't they?

Feng Jiuyi ordered his servants to set up the altar under the grape trellis in the Chuihuamen early in the morning. When it was dark, he brought a few female relatives in the mansion and was the first to worship the double stars devoutly, praying silently in his heart: Ya, you are not young anymore, but you have to fight hard. At least you can produce decent embroidery work in the future, and if you don’t want to make a sweater, you can make up a scarf if you can’t.

After Feng Jiu muttered to himself, he felt much more at ease.

Turning around, I happened to see my fat girl kneeling in front of the desk with displeasure, rubbing her little nose subconsciously. All kinds of exquisite fruits on the table are salivating.

Feng Jiu, who was so ambitious just now, wanted to take advantage of her daughter to avenge her humiliation, and Feng Jiu suddenly lost her temper - it looks like it's not that material, it has to be recognized.Ning Zheng, who rarely had time to go home early to watch the ceremony, couldn't help laughing, stepped forward to put his arms around her body, and said in a low voice, "What are you bothering about? Look at her mother, she's just - level, no, no." Did you delay finding a good husband?"

After speaking, he raised his chin, looking like "Praise me quickly".

Hey, Feng Jiu couldn't help showing contempt for looking for opportunities to praise himself.

But when Fengjiu thinks about her lumpy embroidery, the scarf with big holes and small eyes, the baby socks that can't fit her feet, and the hat that doesn't close her mouth, she thinks that she has never shown the slightest dislike Meaning, and probably entertaining him from time to time.

Then, with a smile, Mama Wu gave each of the little girls a needle and a multicolored silk thread twisted thinly, so that everyone could thread the needles and threads under the bright moonlight. dexterity" and "intelligence".

Don't compare the speed, the young girls in the whole mansion, barely counting, there are only Bao Ping and Ya Ya, Qiu Sheng glanced at it, and walked away arrogantly - she is simply the Weaver Girl who came down to earth, her hands are like Being enlightened, not to mention how ingenious.

Ya Ya's chubby man was struggling to thread the thread with a needle in his hand, his big eyes were almost cross-eyed and he didn't put it on, and Long Sheng, who was next to him to join in the fun, had already finished his thread.

Ning Zheng felt sorry for his daughter, and came up to take the needle from Yaya's hand and handed it to Feng Jiu, and kissed her white forehead, only to realize that her forehead was already sweating, Ning Zheng could not help but blame Feng Jiu for being impatient.Yaya was pardoned by her father for hard work, she was extremely happy, and immediately poked her brother Lailai, Long Sheng understood, and finally talked to Feng Jiu, Feng Jiu could only agree, and the two immediately ran to the back yard to catch crickets , Longsheng's nanny followed them closely.

Before leaving, Yaya hugged her mother's arm obsequiously, swaying her chubby body from side to side, which meant that she believed that she would definitely catch the cricket with the most beautiful singing.

Feng Jiu looked at their little backs as if to let her go, and shook his head helplessly.

Eight days later, it will be the [-]th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar. The Taoist Hungry Ghost Festival is also commonly known as the Ghost Festival. A few days ago, Longsheng’s grandparents moved to the Tianjin Concession, and Melanie came to pick up her son and give it to her parents. The treasure is gone.

On this day, Ning Zheng specially arranged few official duties, because Feng Jiu said that he would take Ya Ya to release the river lantern.

After dinner, taking advantage of the darkness, the two of them slipped out from the back door with Ya Ya.

As soon as I went out, I saw not far away that several servants in the mansion were gathering together to burn paper money for the deceased relatives at home.

Many people call the Hungry Ghost Festival "July and a half". Buddhist monks also choose this day to hold the most grand salvation ceremony of the year for believers who have passed away relatives.

The night was getting dark.The big and small shops that used to be bustling even at night were closed, and the doors were closed to give way to the ghosts who came home today.

At various intersections and hutongs in the capital, Shigu Terraces and Master’s Seats have been set up: Many people squatted on the ground, using picked up branches and sticks to poke clay braziers, and the yellow, white and white paper inside was made into round squares. The copper coins of the hole are in the shape of "Quantai Shangbao" and "Mingyou Yabao" respectively.

The paper copper coins were lit, and from time to time there were flames rising a foot high, reflecting sad, calm, or numb faces, and the black butterfly-like paper ashes fluttered in succession, along Flying in all directions with the summer wind at night.

Ning Zheng drove the car, took Feng Jiu and Ya Ya for a circle along Shichahai; there was a Huode Zhenjun Temple in Qianhai, and a dojo was set up at this time, and he was pursing the lonely souls of the ten directions.

Driving to Houhai, the abbot of Guanghua Temple recited the "Ullambana Sutra" here, and the faithful men and women chanted the scriptures to help them overcome the sufferings of the six realms; Don't be idle, and help the living people realize those wishes that they can't ask for.

The clear waves of Houhai are swaying, and there are many people standing on the shore, all of whom have come here to set off river lanterns.

Few companies choose lotus-shaped lamps specially made of waxed paper: because it is summer, fruits and vegetables are at the right time, and the price is also cheap, so many people's river lamps are made of long purple eggplants and golden red ones. Pumpkins and emerald green watermelons are hollowed out, surrounded by lotus-shaped paper petals, and a candle is inserted in the middle, which is what it means.

Yaya's eyes are simply not enough to read. Looking around, Feng Jiu saw from behind that her almost non-existent little neck looks like the center axis of a merry-go-round horse. It can be seen that the scene in front of her feels so novel to her.

At this time, the people on the seaside were densely packed, Ning Zheng was holding Ya Ya all the time, and Feng Jiu was holding a few lotus lanterns in his hands, for fear that the crowded people just now would crash them again.

Ning Zheng put Yaya on the ground and carefully looked at the river lanterns in his house: some were for the handsome man, some were for Yaya’s grandma, grandma, and uncle... Then he hugged Yaya squatting on the bank from behind. Ya's small and thick waist, watching Feng Jiu carefully guide Ya Ya to lean over, put the boat into the river with his own hands, push it lightly, and shake the water from behind, the river lantern goes a few steps away, It dangled and merged into the river lantern array set by others.

After each candle was placed, Feng Jiu lit the candle with a match.The paper used on the lamp wall is very economical, and it is only a narrow strip. The dim yellow light reflects the blessings written on it in small fonts-"A strict father is like life, there is peace", "A loving mother protects us with joy" ... On the wall of an inconspicuous lamp, there was an inscription "The husband and wife live together with one heart and a happy moon". Ning Zheng could see it clearly, and couldn't help raising his dark eyes to fix her.

Only then did Feng Jiu realize that Ning Zheng's eyes were still sharp even in the dark, so he pretended not to know and quickly pushed the lamp away, Ning Zheng couldn't help but laugh.

At this time, the entire river was already dotted with red light, as bright as stars, like thousands of brilliant night lotuses blooming on the surface of the water at the same time, slowly drifting together into the distance.

Just like that, five or six river lanterns were set off in a row, and Yaya has gone from being shocked at the beginning to being eager to try now—twisting her body to break free from her father's grip, and stepping down the river to retrieve the river lantern that has drifted away.

Ning Zheng held her tightly with a funny face, Feng Jiu twisted the tips of her little ears, and said angrily, "It's not enough for you."

Feng Jiu pushed the last river lantern with the words "bless my daughter's heart and mind to be healthy and quick" into the river. Unexpectedly, Yaya was reluctant to get up, and held on to the river lantern without letting go. Unhappy long tune, looking at mother longingly.Feng Jiu was not in a hurry, and stretched out his hand to scratch her creaking hole—the bud that had inherited itchy flesh clucked, and could only reluctantly ask his mother to let He Deng go smoothly.

A clear wave separates the human world and the world of the afterlife. Ning Zheng has never been so sure as he is at this moment. How lucky he is.Stretching his arms, he embraced the mother and daughter tightly in his arms with gratitude, Feng Jiu tilted his head on his shoulders, and wrapped his arms around his waist.The mischievous Yaya also rarely made a sound. The family of three watched the candles filled with the river, drifting farther and farther until it was so dim that it was close to nothingness. Without exception, they were contaminated by the water vapor rising from the river at night.

(End of this chapter)