A Qi

In the blink of an eye, it was the New Year's Eve, and the whole Liang Mansion was very busy, putting on lights and festoons, and specially invited a theater troupe from outside to prepare for the lively evening. None of the servants and maidservants in this mansion had time to spare at the moment.

On this day, An Rong and Liang Rufeng asked to go back to the restaurant for the holiday.Liang Rufeng didn't ask to stay, he agreed directly, and sent a sedan chair to drive An Rong back.That's right, when the Spring Festival is here, the hostess and hostess of the Liang Mansion will naturally spend it together, no matter how incompatible the two are, they still have to do their best to save face.

After the sedan chair was driven to the Changchun Courtyard, the boys who carried the sedan chair went back the same way.And An Rong didn't enter the Changchun Courtyard, but went towards Qingping Town.I still went to the teahouse last time to pick up the horse, and after driving for half a day, I finally arrived there.

The thatched roof was covered with a thick layer of snow, and the yard surrounded by the fence was covered with snow except for a path leading to people.

An Rong went directly inside, and the man was lying on the bed. In such a cold day, he was only wrapped in a quilt.

"Aqi."

No one in the room responded.

An Rong walked in, but found that Ah Qi was in a deep sleep. It was noon, and he was unconscious. An Rong felt something was wrong, and reached out to touch his forehead, it was very hot.I felt uncomfortable for a while, and then secretly rejoiced that I was here, otherwise I couldn't imagine what would happen to him staying here alone.

An Rong took off the snow-white cloak and covered it on the quilt.I hurried to the town to buy a charcoal basin and some carbon.When he came back, Ah Qi was still sleeping deeply.

Perhaps the room was getting warmer, and Ah Qimeng murmured a few times, thin and thick, and a layer of sweat broke out on his face. People said that if he had a fever and covered himself with sweat, his illness would be more than half healed.

"Xiao Rong..." The person on the bed moaned, his five sense organs were twisted together, in extreme pain.An Rong walked over, took off her clothes, got on the bed too, and hugged him tightly.

It gets dark very early in winter, and after a few hours, the outside is like a black curtain, catching up with the atmosphere of New Year's Eve, the village is more lively than before, every house is still lit at this time, faintly Jojo could hear their voices talking and laughing.And Ah Qi's house was very quiet and deserted, other people's houses gathered together to watch the new year, if he didn't come today, this fool would have to fall asleep in the quilt.

At about [-] o'clock, Ah Qi finally woke up, and when he opened his eyes in a daze, there was a person's body in his eyes, and when he moved his gaze upwards, he realized that it was An Rong.The headache was not as uncomfortable as it was during the day, but her throat was still dry, and she couldn't speak with any strength. Ah Qi was about to turn over when An Rong was awakened.

An Rong didn't speak, and the two looked at each other.After a while, An Rong said, "Is it better?"

Ah Qi's voice was uncomfortable, and she pulled her male-duck voice and replied, "It's much better."

An Rong immediately got up, got dressed and got out of bed, and poured Ah Qi a bowl of water.

"Drink of water."

Ah Qi obediently drank a bowl of water. He himself was too thirsty, and he had a lot to say to this person, but now that he was speaking the first half of a sentence, his throat felt extremely uncomfortable.

An Rong turned the charcoal in the charcoal stove, it was burning red, and the room was very warm, "Today is New Year's Eve, it's time to watch the year."

Ah Qi said "hmm".

An Rong continued, "I haven't prepared anything for Chinese New Year."

"It's just me, and those rules and customs are omitted."

"It's Chinese New Year, why didn't you go back to Shuyang?"

Ah Qi stopped talking, with a flash of sadness on his face, but An Rong still saw it.An Rong looked at him, Ah Qi was sitting on the head of the bed, her lips were pale from a serious illness, even her skin was paler than before, she looked pitiful.

After a while, the man said quietly, "I won't go back, and I won't go back to Shuyang in the future."

An Rong frowned slightly, hesitated to speak, "Why..."

"I just don't want to go back, it's nice here."

No one is willing to wander outside and not even go home. This person has said many times before that he wants to take him back to his hometown of Shuyang County. It is because of him. He once asked Zhao Minglang to spread the word that he would not follow him. Back to Shuyang.

"Because of me?"

Unexpectedly, Ah Qi never expected him to say this, "It's none of your business, I just don't want to go back."

An Rong didn't say anything anymore, under the dim candlelight, Ah Qi's face became thinner and thinner, with some green stubble on his chin, his whole body was dejected and lifeless.Thousands of families are happy outside, and the festive atmosphere of the Spring Festival is getting stronger.

"Ah Qi, Aunt Zhao still has a piece of bacon here, you..." Without knocking on the door, Aunt Zhao next door pushed the door and walked in, and saw Ah Qi leaning on the bed with her clothes on, with a sickly face. While the man who looked like a banished fairy was sitting on the edge of the bed, the two chatted.

"Aunt Zhao..."

Aunt Zhao stared at An Rongzai carefully for a long time, "Oh, Ah Qi, your cousin is here, look at your room, you haven't bought any new year's goods for the New Year, you steamed this piece of meat , why don't you two just go home with Aunt Zhao for dinner. Seeing that you two have nothing to prepare, the New Year's Eve is no different than usual."

cousin?An Rong quickly realized that she was seen by this aunt when she came last time, Ah Qi seemed to say that she was his distant cousin.

An Rong kept silent, looked at Ah Qi, Ah Qi agreed, "Well, we pack up and go in a while."

"Okay, then Auntie goes back and prepares, you guys hurry up, let's watch the New Year together today."

Ah Qi quickly got dressed, An Rong put on his white coat, Ah Qi waved her hand to refuse, but she still didn't argue with An Rong, and obediently put it on.

When I arrived at Aunt Zhao's house next door, besides Uncle Zhao, she also had a daughter.

"Quick, come in and sit down."

Ah Qi and An Rong sat next to each other in an ordinary farmer's house, although it was Chinese New Year and there were not many dishes on the table, but it was much better than usual.

During the meal, Aunt Zhao always glanced at An Rong a few times, grinning, and asked Ah Qi directly at the dinner table, "Your cousin? Did you ever marry a wife?"

Ah Qi was stunned, turned his head to look at An Rong, he looked like he had nothing to do with himself and kept silent, then looked at Zhao Dani opposite, after hearing this, the girl lowered her head shyly Ah Qi suddenly understood in his heart, it seemed that Aunt Zhao's family was out of anger, and clearly wanted to marry their daughter to An Rong.

Just as Ah Qi wanted to reply to Aunt Zhao's words, An Rong, who was silent at the side, spoke first, "I already have a family."

The faces of the people at the next table were not very good, Aunt Zhao quickly smiled and said, "That's right, you are so handsome, you must be married..."

"Mom!" Zhao Dani seemed angry or ashamed, put down the bowls and chopsticks and went back to her room.

Uncle Zhao was thinking, Ah Qi's cousin, at first glance, came from a wealthy family, and his clothes, appearance, and temperament were different from those of villagers like them. Looking at his daughter's appearance just now, it is likely that he fell in love with this pretty girl. Young master, my daughter is a girl from a mountain village, if she can become a concubine in this rich family, it would be a big cake from the sky.

"Ah Qi, what is your cousin called?"

"His name is Ann."

Uncle Zhao coughed dryly, and quickly glanced at An Rong, "Mr. An, our family... I, the old man, just said that my girl is eighteen this year, and you can see her appearance. She has been in a daze since she was a child. In the village, she never went out. If Mr. An doesn't dislike it, let her follow him, even as a concubine."

Ah Qi secretly glanced at An Rong, seeing his calm face, afraid that he would get angry, and was about to stuff him with sugar.Unexpectedly, this person said with a tense face, "My wife is jealous, I am watched closely by him, and I dare not have other thoughts."

Uncle Zhao heard An Rong's polite refusal, his face darkened, and he didn't say anything more.On the other hand, Aunt Zhao, a woman who is talkative and loves to gossip, she kindly asked a few more questions——

"This Mrs. An must be a pretty lady like a flower and a jade."

An Rong glanced at Ah Qi who was beside her, and the hand under the table tightly grasped Ah Qi's hand, with a warm smile on her face, and said nothing more.

"Then this little lady is really lucky to marry such a handsome and dedicated man."

"He... was born in a blessing and didn't know the blessing."

Ah Qi wanted to get rid of that hand, and didn't want to make too much movement, so she bumped into the table with a "bang", attracting the attention of the other two. Aunt Zhao asked, "What's the matter?"

"It's okay, I accidentally knocked on the table. Aunt Zhao, let's go back. Today's meal is really delicious."

"Why are you in a hurry to go back? Let's watch the New Year together. There are so many people and it's lively."

"No, no, I've been sick for the past few days, and I just feel better today. I'm very tired, so I went back to bed early."

Aunt Zhao did not force the two of them to stay any longer, so Ah Qi and An Rong went back.

Ah Qi took off her clothes and climbed onto the bed directly, ignoring the person standing beside her.

"Are you feeling unwell?" After An Rong finished speaking, she went up and touched Ah Qi's forehead. Fortunately, her forehead was not hot.

Ah Qi, however, seemed to be touched by some monster, and suddenly quickly brushed An Rong's hand away, unable to avoid it, An Rong's hand hung in the air, and did not let it go, trembling uncontrollably in the dark night.

An Rong smiled wryly, "Qi, we shouldn't be like this."

Ah Qi's eyes were misty, "We shouldn't have known each other from the very beginning. You said, during those years in the Changchun Academy, you knew me, and I knew you. We never seemed to say a word. If we always I can’t speak, and I won’t experience the things that followed.”

An Rong felt distressed, "Do you regret it?"

"Yeah, I regret it. I'm not a human being, a ghost is not a ghost, and I can't go back to Guangling City. I only dare to hide in this small town. I'm afraid that others will recognize me as a criminal who has been beheaded for public display." .”

An Rong pursed her lips and said nothing, the hurt look of drooping eyebrows hurt Ah Qi's eyes, she still couldn't bear to let this person feel sad.In a daze, I remembered the stupid things I said last time when this person came, and my heart ached for a while.

After a moment of silence, Ah Qi slowly took An Rong's hand, and put it on his cheek, "Pinch it and see, isn't it irritating?"

The simple words brought the two people's thoughts back to the past, An Rong suddenly raised his head, his eyes were filled with light, he shook his hands, and squeezed gently, the words seemed to be choked in his throat, and it took a long time for him to move, Thin."

"I didn't mean what I said last time."

"I know." An Rong hugged Ah Qi fiercely, put his chin on his shoulder, leaned against his ear, and said warmly, "Ah Qi, what is your husband's name?"

Ah Qi smiled, closed her eyes to enjoy the momentary warmth, "His name is An Rong."

The two of them chattered a lot all night. In the second half of the night, Ah Qi coughed a few times, but finally couldn't resist the drowsiness and fell into a deep sleep. In the dark night, An Rong's eyes became clearer, and his lips pressed against Ah Qi's. Qi couldn't hear the left ear, "Lady, wait for me."

An Rong stayed in Qingping Town for four or five days and then went back. The two of them exchanged some lingering words until they could no longer see any trace of the horse or hear the sound of the horse's hooves, Ah Qi realized that People go again.

Back in the house, Ah Qi found a bag of silver beside the bed, opened it to see, there was quite a lot, with so much money left, I'm afraid he won't come again for a while.Realizing this, suddenly, a feeling of powerlessness swept over Ah Qi.

"Ahem——" Coughed a few times, Ah Qi patted his chest, his body was becoming more and more like a woman.