catch the rabbit

Lin Wanke came to the vegetarian restaurant to deliver pastries today, and before he entered the door, he saw the shopkeeper Mu and his wife Zhang fighting.

Needless to say, it must be because of that widow named Dongniang again.The girl's life experience is extremely poor, and it is very hard to earn a living by herself. It is really impossible to make people feel sympathetic.

On weekdays, the neighbors in the neighborhood are willing to help her. Lin Wanke also followed shopkeeper Mu to deliver dumplings to her once. At that time, she was sitting in front of the shop fully dressed, with a plain plain face, and she just smiled slightly when she saw them coming. .

No matter how Lin Wanke looked at it, he didn't feel that shopkeeper Mu had an affair with her. He just took care of Dongniang as a friend like those enthusiastic neighbors.

Of course, Mrs. Zhang would not believe this.After all, a young woman stood at the door of her house and looked inside every day. No one could drive her away, and anyone would feel strange.

Therefore, he didn't dare to enter the door at the moment, but stood at the door holding the food box and looked in.

The clerk in the restaurant came out with a broom and dustpan to sweep the broken porcelain, and persuaded: "Brother Lin, don't wait, I'm afraid this business won't work today, you'd better go back earlier."

Lin Wanke asked, "Are you going to close the door? I agreed with shopkeeper Mu to deliver pastries."

"It's still crying inside. I'm afraid it won't stop for a while. It's not a joke for people to open a store." The young man sighed and imitated the tone of a storyteller, "It's all the fault of that little widow. , Beauty is a disaster!"

Lin Wanke said nothing more, put away the food box and prepared to go back.

On the opposite side of the vegetarian restaurant was the Yueranju, which he had spent half a day sweeping through paper scraps.

Speaking of which, he hasn't taken a good look at this so-called most beautiful, unique and unmissable wine shop in history.

If you take a closer look now, you can't really say how rich and luxurious it is, but with so many shops on Wan'an Street, it is the one that attracts the most attention.

Lin Wanke looked at Yueranju, which was full of people, and thought of his own small pastry shop. He couldn't help but shook his head. When he was about to turn around and leave, he suddenly saw someone on the second floor staring at him.

When he collected himself and looked again, there was no one in front of the half-open window, and he only vaguely remembered a figure in black clothes.

"It's because your eyes are blurred..." He murmured, and walked towards Fushou Street with the food box in his arms.

In the food box is the rose sesame cake that shopkeeper Mu ordered with him yesterday. It is sweet and delicious, and it is still hot.

Since the vegetarian restaurant has no business today, it happened to be able to send it to Qingyan Academy in a legitimate way. Anyway, the portion is enough, so it is said to be sent to the children.

Thinking of seeing Le Xin, Lin Wan could not help but feel better, and his steps became brisk.

It was a coincidence that when he walked to the academy, Mr. Le had just finished his lecture, and a group of children chattered around him asking questions.

Lin Wanke hesitated for a while, but the book boy saw him before he spoke.

"Brother Lin, are you here to pick up your brother?"

"No, I... I'll bring some snacks for..." Lin Wanke was nervous and couldn't speak well.

When the children heard that they had some snacks, they all flocked over, one grabbed the other, and in a blink of an eye a box of sesame cakes was sold out.

Lin Baizhi was very proud, and stood in the crowd and said loudly: "Don't grab it, don't grab it, everyone has a share! This is all done by my brother!"

Lin Wanke managed to protect the two cakes, and while the children were snatching them, he handed them to Le Xin who was standing by and sorting out the scrolls.

"Mr. Le...I'm really sorry to interrupt your teaching."

Le Xin said calmly: "It's okay, it's over anyway."

He put away the four treasures of the study, but he didn't reach out to take the cakes, but just called "Wen Jin".

Wen Jin is the name of the little book boy.

He ran over at the sound, took the two cakes and rushed to the backyard.

Lin Wanke felt a sense of loss in his heart.

In fact, he could also think that people like Mr. Le would not like this kind of cheap sweets. Just "thinking about it" and seeing it with his own eyes are different after all.

When he was depressed, Le Xin's next words almost made him dizzy.

"Brother Lin, if you have nothing to do, stay and have lunch together."

Lin Wan could blame himself for hearing wrongly, but he didn't know what to say.

Le Xin smiled and said: "I always trouble you to give this and that, and I can't give you anything in return. If you don't dislike my simple food, stay and eat together."

The good thing came suddenly, but fortunately there was no mirror at this moment, otherwise Lin Wanke would have been half ashamed by the silly smile on his face.

Although the old slave of the academy is old and dim-sighted, he still cooks well.

A dish of sliced ​​shiitake mushrooms, a dish of three-color tofu, a dish of shredded bamboo shoots with fungus, and a bowl of fresh crucian carp soup, all of which are fragrant.

Neither the old slave nor the book boy ate in the small hall, so there were only the Lin family brothers and Le Xin at the dinner table.

Lin Baizhi mixed a bowl of rice with fish soup and ate it with relish, even if the rice grains stuck to his face.

Lin Wanke was cautious, not daring to make a sound when eating and drinking soup, and looked up at Le Xin from time to time.

Just as she was fascinated, Le Xin spoke.

"Brother Lin."

"Mr. Le can just call me by my name."

"Then you don't have to always call me Mr." Le Xin smiled, "Actually, I've been looking for a chance to thank you for coming."

Lin Wanke was stunned for a moment, remembering that it was for the snacks he gave, and quickly said: "It's just some small snacks, it's easy to do, Mr. Le, you're welcome."

"Look, you're calling me Mr. again." Le Xin said, "Actually, I don't eat sweets very much since I was a child, so Wen Jin eats more of the cakes you sent me."

Although Lin Wanke knew it already, he still couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable hearing this.

"I heard from Baizhi that your parents left early, and it's not easy for you to support the family alone."

"It's nothing, I'm used to it." Lin Wanke said, stroking his younger brother's hair, "I don't ask him to get any honors, but as long as I can afford it, I still have to read this book. Like me, I can't even write my name well."

"Brother, don't worry, I will definitely become a high-ranking official in the future, so that you can live a good life!" Lin Baizhi said suddenly.

Lin Wanke just smiled and said nothing, and reached out to wipe the rice grains from his mouth.

"I became a high-ranking official, so I bought a big, big house, and my elder brother took a birdcage every day and walked from one end of the yard to the other!" Lin Baizhi said with dancing, "I want to bring Mr. Le too. Stay! Sir, is that okay?"

"Okay." Le Xin also smiled, and turned to Lin Wanke and said, "If you are free, come to the academy to find me, and I will teach you how to read."

Lin Wanke was stunned again, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses: "How can this work..."

"Left and right are fine, why not." Le Xin said, "Or, you don't want to learn?"

How could Lin Wanke be unwilling, he was just dazed by the surprise, a little confused.

"I... I'm stupid, I hope Mr. Le will not be angry then."

Seeing that he responded, Le Xin showed a look of relief.

Lin Wanke ate this meal very happily, before leaving, Le Xin even brought him a vegetarian bag made by the old slave, saying it was a snack from his hometown.

So Lin Wanke, who was carrying the small paper bag, smiled all the way home as if he had picked up 100 taels of silver, only missing the words "I'm very happy" written on his face.

After Lin Baizhi got home, he obediently reviewed his previous homework, as if to prove that his talk about becoming a high-ranking official and buying a big house was not empty talk.

Lin Wanke was going to deliver pastries to several restaurants, his eyes fell on the plain buns sent by Mr. Le, and he grinned again.

He held three or four food boxes in one hand, and after thinking about it, he took the small paper bag and carefully protected it in his arms.

Everyone in the restaurant asked him when they saw him today, what happened to Brother Lin, and he smiled so hard that his teeth could not see his eyes.A wise woman would say that she has a sweetheart.Now everyone came up and asked which girl was so lucky, and when should he bring it out to have a look.

Lin Wanke repeatedly waved his hands and said no, and no one listened to him, so he could only find an excuse to escape.

The steamed stuffed bun in his arms was already getting cold, so he took it out and smelled it, only to find that it was fragrant, but he didn't bite it down several times.

It was given to him by Le Xin, and he was really reluctant to eat it.

Thinking of having the opportunity to stay with Le Xin often in the future, Lin Wanke couldn't help being happy, and with this happiness, it felt like the wind was blowing under his feet.

He couldn't see the road, and he jumped up and down when he walked. If he was not careful, he bumped into someone when he turned the corner.

It is not appropriate to say that it was a collision. To be precise, a person sat on the ground and stumbled him.

Lin Wanke staggered and fell to the ground, the buns in his arms rolled all over the ground.

One of his arms was knocked hard, and his sleeve was torn, which made him grin his teeth in pain.

When he stood up, the scene in front of him was so shocking that his jaw almost dropped.

A beggar whose face was so dirty that his facial features could not be discerned was grabbing the rolled plain buns all over the floor. He didn't think it was dusty, so he picked it up and put it in his mouth.

Lin Wanke was dumbfounded.

The vegetarian buns that he had carefully guarded for a day like a baby, and was reluctant to eat a single bite, just fell into other people's stomachs one by one.

He stared blankly at the beggar until he hiccupped.

"I said, little brother, didn't I just eat a few of your buns, why did you stare at me for so long?" the beggar asked while licking the dregs on his fingers.

Lin Wanke was still standing where he was, seeing his cheeky appearance, crying neither scolding nor cursing, he could only admit that he was unlucky.

"Hey, don't go," the beggar saw that he was about to leave, and actually followed him, "I still have to thank you."

Lin Wanke was feeling annoyed, he didn't have the mood to listen to his nonsense, he just kept walking forward.

"Wait! Hey, I said you—" The beggar was stalking, and he took a step to block him. While digging for a long time from the dusty clothes, he took out something and stuffed it into his hand.

"This is for you. I never receive favors in vain, and I don't have anything else around me now. Since you saved me, then this treasure is worth it to you!"

Lin Wanke was angry and funny, and thought that this person might be mentally ill. First, he threw him a big somersault, then ate his buns, and finally claimed that he took advantage.

He looked down again, and the beggar handed over some kind of treasure, just a string of dirty hand beads, and there was a strange smell after smelling it.

"Hey! Give it back—"

Before Lin Wanke could finish his sentence, he realized that the beggar had gone far away, and only a vague sentence of "there will be a period later" came from him.

"Who is it?"

He stuffed the bead into his sleeve casually, hurried home to cook, and forgot all about this unfortunate incident when he turned around.

In the afternoon, after class, Lin Baizhi brought back a piece of paper with the days when he had no classes carefully circled on it.

"Mr. Le said that as long as we don't have classes, my eldest brother can go to him to learn calligraphy!" Lin Baizhi said in an old-fashioned way, "Leave the shop to me. Brother, you must study hard and don't disappoint Le Good intentions, sir!"

Lin Wanke nodded and said yes, carefully pasted the piece of paper in his bedroom, took a look, and his heart was as sweet as drinking honey.

This joy lasted until he went to learn to write for the first time.

Lin Wanke didn't read many books, and even his own name was written crookedly, so Le Xin first taught him to write his name.

When he was led into the study by Wen Jin, he didn't even know where to put his hands and feet because he was so nervous.

After making tea, Wen Jin closed the door and retreated, leaving only him and Le Xin in the room.

So Lin Wanke became more and more at a loss.

Le Xin didn't seem to notice his uneasiness at all. Like all the students, he taught carefully and attentively, starting from writing, stroke by stroke, point by hook.

And Lin Wanke couldn't remember the last time he took a pen. He tried hard to imitate Le Xin, but he could only write crooked handwriting on the paper.

"You don't have to be nervous, no one can learn it in a day." Seeing his annoyance, Le Xin persuaded him gently, "I'll teach you to write your own name first, and learn the rest later."

Lin Wanke nodded quickly.

"Lin Wanke, Wanke, do you mean everything is possible?" When Le Xin said this, she gently held his hand and led him to write the three words he was most familiar with.

The distance was so close that Lin Wanke could smell the faint fragrance of saponins on his body, and couldn't help but hold his breath.

Turning her head slightly, Le Xin's face is close in front of her eyes.

It was the first time that Lin Wanke saw his eyebrows and eyes so clearly.

Looking down, it is Le Xin's hand that is writing.

This hand was warm and stable, with a soft palm and slender knuckles. It was covering his hand at this moment, teaching him to write his name.

In the past, Lin Wanke never even imagined such a scene in his dreams.

At this moment, all this actually happened.

He was burning from his nose to the tip of his ear, and his right hand was burning like it was about to burn.

Le Xin didn't stop after writing his name, but continued to write while holding his hand.

"My name has too many strokes, just take a look."

He wrote down a character for Le and a character for Xin, which were written next to the word "Lin Wanke".

Lin Wanke looked at the two unfamiliar words on the paper, his heart moved, and he raised his head to meet Le Xin's eyes.

Le Xin was also looking at him with a gentle and indifferent expression.

"Don't worry, just learn slowly."

His eyes were clear, without any impurities, as clean as spring water in the mountains.

The heat on Lin Wanke's face dissipated suddenly, and he realized that Le Xin just regarded him as a student, and even if his skin touched him, he was the only one who had a ghost in his heart.

He is deeply ashamed of the filth in his heart.

When he came out of Qingyan Academy, Lin Wanke wanted to take the paper away.

He looked at the words on the paper, and then at his rough hands, and was immediately disheartened.

To him, Le Xin is like a fairy. He has read a lot, writes well, and is good-looking. But what is he? You may not even like him.

What's more, he is a man just like him.

Lin Wanke never dared to hope that one day Le Xin would accept his wishes, but today he felt an unprecedented loss.

On the scribbled paper, "Lin Wanke" and "Le Xin" are close together, but in reality, they will never be together.

Lin Wanke's little bit of charming fantasies were also crushed by his depression, as if someone stuffed a mess in his chest, making him feel uncomfortable like scratching his heart and liver.

When people are sad, the first thing that comes to mind is often alcohol.

Lin Wanke was walking on Wan'an Street, and the signboard in front of him was already faintly visible.

He weighed his purse, and then walked forward without hesitation.