Envy

So Meng Tou went downstairs to ask for a bowl of porridge, and by the way, gave Huo Zhi the picture scroll brought out from the picture scroll in Meng's room.He opened it and took a look, and it was indeed the wonderful words drawn by Huo Zhi back then.Yan Miao put it in a brocade box, and put it together with the sword in the stone box.The fire did not destroy the painting.Zhao Ce put it in Yan Miao's coffin when he was taking care of the funeral for Yan Miao.

Meng Tou didn't dare to look at the painting too much, for fear that if he looked at it twice, his eyes would turn red.

In the lobby, Huo Zhi and Xue Ye were still sitting at the square table, Fei Yu seemed to have gone back to her room to rest.Huo Zhi watched him approach, his eyes resting on the painting in his hand.Meng Tou handed him the painting.

Huo Zhi stretched out his hand to take it slowly, his eyelashes trembling, his throat was choked up, and he couldn't say a word.Meng Tou was also panicked in his heart, and put his hand on his shoulder wordlessly.Holding the scroll with great care, he said after a while, "Thank you."

Meng Tou said: "It's not me you should thank, but Meng Xi. She exchanged this painting with her most beloved hairpin. She was very sad today and cried."

Xue Ye was taken aback: "Is Meng Xi crying? I'll go up and see her."

Meng Tuo grabbed his arm: "Don't go, let her be quiet for a while."

"Huo Zhi, Meng Xi is a good girl. I know that as a brother, now is not the time to say this, but as Meng Xi's third brother, I want to say, please cherish her, she is your future wife." Tou's tone was very calm, without any trace of anger, "She is a sensible girl, as long as you coax her a little, she will be very happy."

He thought for a long time, nodded: "Yes."

In fact, his marriage with Meng Xi was not arranged by him voluntarily.He and Meng Tou have known each other for many years, and once stayed at the Meng family for the New Year, and his parents also visited the head of the Meng family.The two are acquainted.

When Yan Miao left, Meng Tou comforted him and joked: "Actually, I have a younger sister named Meng Xi. When she is older, how about I ask my parents to betroth her to you?"

He never accepted it.For a long time after Yan Miao left, he felt that he would never marry another wife.Until one year later, his parents went to Lizhou to visit the Meng Patriarch again, and the Meng Patriarch proposed to betroth Meng Xi to him.His parents naturally agreed.

He was not born in a family, and his family was poor.So when he was moved by Yan Miao, he didn't dare to show his feelings, he just pretended to be cold.He remembered that when he was in Fulian, Yan Yun privately humiliated him as a disciple from a poor family and told him not to approach Yan Miao.He acquiesced.

Yan Miao is a stubborn girl, even if she travels far and wide, she still wants to walk into his heart.This feeling moved him.But even Yan Miao was turned into ashes in the end, and he couldn't see her for the last time.Unexpectedly, after Mu Su said goodbye, and said goodbye for a long time, they would never see each other again.

He is the only son in the family.His mother put the scissors on her neck, and she burst into tears: "If you don't get married in this life, I will die here!" His father also kept mumbling: "Our Huo family can't have no offspring!"

Every time he saw his father and mother's silver-white hair and wrinkles on their faces, he felt that he shouldn't be so selfish, and finally agreed to the marriage with Meng Xi.Meng Xi is a good girl, he knows it.Meng Xi likes him, and he knows it too.

He has traveled such a long and far way, seen so many people and so many things, he just felt that nothing could shake his heart.He has only been away for 27 years, but he feels that he has completed a long life.

……

The twelfth day is Meng Xi's birthday.She went out early in the morning by herself and didn't tell anyone.She was wearing a light purple flowing fairy dress and went to the street with a bamboo basket.During this day, she walked all over Mucheng, wandering from the streets of Dongxinanbei Street to the end of the street, lingering in front of various stalls, but she was reluctant to buy anything.She also likes beautiful hairpins and gadgets, but she knows that Huo Zhixue Ye didn't get much money from her uncle when she came out this time, and she couldn't ask her brother to buy them for her like she did when she was a child.

She saw some children kicking swallows on the street, and she also played with them.She is good at kicking shuttlecocks, and can kick while jumping, but her father does not allow her to kick swallows at home, saying that she is not decent and does not look like a lady.She kicked them sneakily.

She took the children to play, and when she was tired, she sat under the eaves and told the children stories, from "Monkey King Havoc in Heaven" to "Three Greats Fighting Lu Bu", the children listened with great interest and pestered her to tell another one.It's a pity that later, when the autumn rain fell in Mucheng, the children all ran home.

She was sitting cross-legged, with her back leaning against the door of the house.She thought it would be sunny today and it would not rain, so she came out without the plain white oil-paper umbrella.She thought today was special because it was her birthday.

She wanted to wait for the rain to pass, or the rain to lighten before leaving, but the rain was getting heavier and heavier.Looking out from her, the street is all white.The icy cold raindrops hit her body, and she had nowhere to hide, and her dress was completely soaked in a short while.She felt terrible all day, letting the rain wet her hair and dripping down her forehead.

When the rain poured into her eyes and she couldn't open them, she wiped them with her wet sleeves.As soon as she rubbed it, she felt warm water droplets mixed in.She wrapped her arms around her knees and buried her face in her sleeves.There is the sound of rain in my ears.The raindrops hit the bricks and tiles of the eaves of the house, slid down the slope of the roof, formed water lines and fell to the ground, causing a splash of water.

She was cold and her hands were cold.She didn't want to go back, and she didn't want anyone to come to her.

But Huo Zhi came, holding the plain white oil-paper umbrella.He was dressed in cold white clothes and stood quietly under the rain curtain.He stretched out a hand to her and said, "Meng Xie, come back with me."

Her stubborn temper came up, she stood up, put her hands behind her back, and leaned against the door: "I don't."

"Be obedient, come back with me, your third brother is in a hurry. You will catch a cold if you get wet in the rain."

She turned her head to look at the cracks in the ground, not listening to him.

He was a little helpless, hesitantly said: "Then what will you do before you are willing to go back with me?"

She finally plucked up the courage to look up at him, but after meeting Huo Zhi's gaze, she looked down at her own toes.She lacked confidence and said, "Then you apologize."

"...Okay." Huo Zhi said, "It's all my fault. I'm really sorry... Can you go back with me now?"

Meng Xi refused to let go, still stuck to the door and refused to come: "Then do you know where you went wrong?"

Huo Zhi was startled, lowered his eyes and said sincerely: "I shouldn't ignore your feelings, I made you sad."

She thought for a while, and said, "Okay, my lord has a lot, so I'll forgive you this time." The wet skirt was stuck to her body, and she felt that a catty of water had been poured into her whole body, and she was too heavy to walk. .She came over, bent down and hid under the umbrella: "If you do this again next time, I won't want you."

Huo Zhi didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Okay."

Relying on today being her birthday and being coaxed by Huo Zhi, she made an excessive request: "Can I hold your hand?"