box of hearts

Chapter 61
Qingtian laughed, "Golden Vulcan is big and strong, with a loud voice, and the Black Water Snake is thin and small, and has no energy. Unexpectedly, it is even better. It really is 'a worm cannot be judged by its appearance'."

Qi She put down the tureen, put his fists on his mouth and laughed, "You're an amateur, so you can't tell, but these two ends are actually gods. The Golden Fire God can be seen from a broken kiln, and the black water snakes are mostly from ancient tombs."

"So what?"

"The bricks of the ruined kiln have been tempered by the kiln fire, and the yang energy is strong, so the crickets growing from the weeds in the brick joints are pure yang. You see the golden fire god, the golden wings and the red pincers, are all fire colors. And the ancient tombs are all year round. It is desolate, the cave is cold and damp, so the crickets born here are condensed to the air of Yin. The body of the black water snake is black and quiet, and it looks like it came out of an old grave."

Qing Tian pinched the gold-embedded obsidian earrings on one side, and suddenly understood, "The Taoist saying 'water overcomes fire, yin prevails over yang' is indeed true."

"Not necessarily." Qi She changed the subject, and wiped the table with his fingertips, "A person who is extremely yin must have a lot of internal strength, so that he can be soft and strong, otherwise, as soon as he comes up, he doesn't need to be bitten by the brave and strong. It's like hard and soft kung fu in fists, or sex between men and women."

Qingtian "chi" smiled: "What does it have to do with the relationship between men and women?"

There is a wandering smile in his eyes, but there is also the melancholy of stars, like flowers falling on the water, "What is love in the world? It turns out that one thing descends one thing."

Qingtian's eyes are the noble water-milled wall, after passing through this wall, the water and flowers of Houmenxiuhu will not know where to swim, and there will be no trace to be found.She turned her eyes away and lowered her face.

Zhou Dun and Mu Yun at the two ends exchanged glances, silently familiar.At this moment, Lao Bai and the servant returned with one object each.What the little servant was holding was still a bucket basin covered with a copper net, with plain porcelain and oleander patterns, and what Lao Bai was holding was still a large plate, but it was more than double the size of the previous one. There were six rows on the top, filled with 24 straw cages in bamboo tubes were placed on the wide table under the big kang as usual.

"My lord, these are the top ranks of the middle ranks. Although the fights are not as fierce as before, they are guaranteed to be wonderful."

This time Qi She didn't pick and choose carefully, he just flipped a few bamboo tubes casually, and ordered two from the middle.The little servant picked up two bamboo tubes and pulled away the floating grass, and still put a pair of insects into the bucket basins through the gates on both sides of the net.Lao Bai asked for instructions: "My lord, should I continue to gamble?"

Qi She scratched the sharp nose, "How much is the bet? How much is the commission?"

"Returning to the lord, the bet is also a starting price of 50 taels for one side, and the winner takes [-]%."

"Yeah. In this way, the 100 taels I won will count as my fifty and her fifty." Pointing to Qingtian, "We bet against each other."

Lao Bai answered wisely: "Understood."

"You pick first." Qi She brushed his legs and smiled at Qingtian.

In the first round, the fighting insect picked by Qingtian was defeated, but as expected, he was only injured but not killed.Qi She verbally lent her another 50 taels to continue the second round.It didn't take long for Qingtian to let go of her hands and feet, she was used to seeing the world, and she didn't feel restrained in front of people, she became excited, shouting for cheers, clapping her hands and pounding the table for everything.There was a period when I lost a little bit, and even scolded the worms in the pot as "cowards".Qi She only frowned and smiled on the opposite side, "Your gambling quality is really bad, and it's not your own money that you lost, so you are so anxious." Qingtian glared at him, and rolled up his sleeves. With a pull, "It's not about the money, I don't believe it. Why should I pick first or you pick first, and you win? Lao Bai, bring me that worm."

Going back and forth like this, the two fought for nearly an hour, and they each won or lost.Qingtian was half excited and half hot, his whole face was flushed red, he rested his chin on the wall and listened to Qi She honestly settle accounts with Lao Bai on the wall: "I won nine rounds, she won six rounds, a total of fifteen rounds, The winning head is 750 taels in total, 220% is 100 taels, deducting the 120 taels I won in the first round, it is [-] taels, right?"

Lao Bai sighed again and again: "The prince is so good at his mouth, he can calculate faster than us people! It's not bad at all."

"Come on tomorrow, go to my house and ask the housekeeper Sun Xiuda to pay 500 taels of silver."

"This——, the prince has rewarded too much, and the little one dare not accept it."

"Okay, I also know that King Zhong has ruined countless insects with you, and he has only a few months of salary, and it has all become dead debts. You can only rely on this little money to pay for your family, and you can only wait. Drink the northwest wind."

Lao Bai knelt down and thanked: "The little one will thank the prince for his kindness!"

It was pitch black outside the house, and there was still unfinished snowmelt on the white ground for thousands of miles.

The wheels of the car pressed against the snow water, making a wet and thin sound.The carriage drove straight from Miaoqian Street to the back corner gate of Huaiya Hall and stopped.A wind lantern with the Chinese character Baifu hanging from the roof of the carriage wobbled and wobbled.

"Are you happy today?" he finally asked.

Qingtian looked at Qi She, the light was like misty rain, sprinkled slightly turbulently on his face, making his firm facial features so gentle and warm, it was as warm as breathing from his own mouth and nose, the heart and heart were interdependent and intimate ——But it only showed the surrounding coldness even more.A heart that has been frozen for a long time will not heal those chilblains just because someone holds it in the palm and puts it in the mouth.

She only smiled tactfully and flatly, "Happy."

On the other hand, he showed a clean and honest smile, "Go back and sleep well."

She nodded, the car curtain was lifted, and Mu Yun held hands underneath.Qingtian moved to get out of the car, stood still, and looked back.He sat in the car deeply, as if sitting in someone's heart. "See you."

Qingtian stepped on the residual snow in November, his backlit face was wandering and shadowing, the light and shade were uncertain.

"See you."

3.
The time to see you is six days later.

There were still two cars coming to pick them up. It was the time of day feeding, and there was a little snow in the sky.Qi She was not in the car, so Qingtian and Mu Yun got into the same car, and an empty car was pressed on the back, and they were sent all the way to a small courtyard in the depths of Wanwan Hutong at the northeast end of Dongzhimen Street.Xiangche entered the hall, and was carried into the inner hall in a soft sedan.After passing a long corridor, I suddenly saw a large garden, with snowflakes fluttering, the railings buckled, and the pines and bamboos were covered with white, and a tall and large open-air stage was hidden in it, which was elegant and elegant.

Zhou Dun personally stood guard at the entrance of the corridor, and welcomed Qing Tian and Mu Yun in, and came to an abstruse room, "Miss, sit down first, and the servant will go in and let you know."

Several eunuchs who were guarding Qi She inside and outside, one took the snow cloak for Qing Tiankuan, and the other brought tea.Qingtian saw that the houses here are not like others, and the villas are not like villas. He was talking with Mu Yun when someone came out of the room.She took a closer look, and it turned out to be one of the guests at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet when she ran into Qiao Yunze in August, surnamed Meng, who also went to Huaiya Hall a few times later, working as a butterfly fairy; I told her that this is Meng Zhongxian, the newly appointed commander of the capital of the Zhenfu Division.Unexpectedly met here, Qingtian was deeply surprised, he hurriedly stood up and gave a blessing, "Master Meng, this concubine is very polite."

Meng Zhongxian also bowed his head deeply, "Don't dare to be, don't dare to be, I won't see you for a while, is everything okay, girl?"

Qingtian didn't expect him to be treated so courteously, and after a few perfunctory words, Zhou Dunyan entered the inner room.

There was a small table standing alone in the room. Qi She frowned with one hand at the table, as if she was worried about something. When she saw her from here, she smiled, "Here you come? Sit."

He saw that Qingtian was wearing a brocade cloud satin jacket, lined with an embroidered short jacket, and a lake blue embroidered skirt. In his hair, there was only a water sapphire hairpin and a beaded heart hairpin. Approaching, it was like a piece of blue sky falling on the side of the candle at the bottom of the lamp——she was the one who fell from the sky.

He just looked at her and smiled, Qingtian also smiled at him, and sat down in the skirt, "I came on an empty stomach, at this point, the third master must be rewarding the meal, right?"

"Aside from eating, you really have nothing else to do." Qi She smiled and raised his hand, and the bats scattered all over his sleeves flew like flying, "Pass the rice."

That evening cloud had already handed over a small hand stove with a smile, Qing Tian simmered it in his palm, looked around, "What kind of strange place is this place?"

Qi She filled the empty cup in front of her with her own hands, and the tea was apricot green with the new fragrance of Longjing. "Don't ask, just eat and talk."

Half a quarter later, the dishes were served in Ding porcelain as thin as paper and glazed like jade. There were only four dishes and one soup.The four dishes are distinct in color, one white, one green, one black and one red, and in the middle is a pot of bright yellow soup, full of fragrance.

Qi She made a gesture, Qingtian saw that he wanted to show off, so he didn't ask any more questions, first he held up his chopsticks and tasted the four dishes one by one, his expression was mixed.Picking up the teacup and sipping it lightly, he explained in a low voice, "This white one looks like tofu, but tofu doesn't have such a meaty flavor. If it's soaked in marinade, it won't be so smooth and refreshing. The green one , It is said to be meat melon seeds, but they are chewy, not like tendons, but much more flavorful than tendons. The black plate must be liver, but it is definitely not chicken liver and duck liver. The red one is minced meat? But you don’t know what kind of meat it is?”

Qi She smiled brightly, "You just said, is it delicious?"

"Delicious, very fresh and fragrant." As he spoke, he picked up a small spoon, scooped up a spoonful of that white delicacy and savored it carefully.It melts in the mouth, leaving the throat fresh.

"This 'boiled tofu'," Qi She pointed out briefly, with an intriguing expression, "is the brains of a golden pheasant. Thirty golden pheasants will be used in this small dish. The bacon and melon seeds are the preserved meat of a pangolin. Take only a small piece of breast close to the heart, this plate contains fifty pangolins. The black one is indeed fried liver, the snake liver of the white flower snake, take the tenderest piece on the tip of the liver, fifty pieces. Finally This stewed pork mince uses few ingredients, but it is the most precious. It is made from a female leopard who is pregnant with her first child, and the abdomen is cut open alive to remove the fetal membranes before she gives birth, and then air-dried."

Qing Tian stared blankly at the consecrated hand stove on his lap, he had already forgotten to eat in astonishment, "Is this the dragon liver, phoenix marrow, leopard fetus, and lin jerky that are recorded in ancient books?"

(End of this chapter)