little son-in-law

Seeing that Mo Nanjin was silent, Nangong Qiuhu's breathing began to be a little messy, his eyes flickered twice, and dimmed imperceptibly, but he patted his hand and forced a smile: "It's okay, take your time, I've been here for so many years It's over." I don't know who to comfort by saying this.

"Daddy." Mo Nanjin suddenly said, and instead held the hand he was about to pull away, as if to explain, he added: "I'm just not used to it."

"Xiao Jin..." The unbelievable surprise that suddenly appeared on Nangong Qiuhu's face burned the two people present.

Nangong Qiuhu reached out and took Mo Nanjin into his arms, and then spoke again, his voice was a little choked up: "Xiaojin, Xiaojin, it's been 23 years, 23 years, I finally heard my child call me Daddy. I thought I would never hear it in this lifetime. Daddy thought I would never hear it in this lifetime."

"Daddy..." Mo Nanjin called out again.

The person in front of him is the one who brought him into this world, the first person he saw when he came to this world. When he was a baby, this person would hold him clumsily and gently hug him. Patting him to sleep, biting his little finger to tease him, baby, I am Daddy.But who would have thought that it would be a full 23 years since the first call of daddy.

Wu Guo stood at the door, pulled up her sleeves and secretly wiped the corners of her eyes. After all these years, the master was finally reunited with the young master and his family.

But when he turned around, he saw Nangong Jingshen's face was pale, and his long eyelashes were hidden, so he couldn't see the emotion in his eyes clearly. Before he could speak, he turned and went out.

Rong Xi also saw it, and the look in his eyes was slightly chilly, Nangong Jingshen, now that things have come to an end, I want to see what choice you should make now that you know the truth?Can you still hold on?If you can't, let go as soon as possible.

At noon, Ming Ting and the others sent someone to bring a message back. Instead of going home for dinner, they cooked lunch. Now that Mo Nanjin and Ming Yue had used up some of the kitchen, they went to the field to bring them food, and told Ming Ting and Xiao Mo will come back early in the afternoon.

Mo Nanjin also introduced several members of the family one by one. It could be seen that Yuyang was puzzled when he heard that there were two fathers, but he just accepted with a smile and didn't ask any questions.

Because today is Mo Nanjin's birthday, and it's not an integer birthday, I thought it would be good for the family to sit together for dinner, but now that the two fathers are here, in the eyes of outsiders, this is just an ordinary birthday. It is no different from usual, but for Mo Nanjin, this is probably the most family reunion moment in his life. There is his father, Nangong Jingshen, two little guys, Yuyang and the others, and Xiao Mo and Xiao Mo. Ming Court.So this dinner should be well organized anyway.

In the afternoon, Mo Nanjin planned to go to the fish market by the river and buy some fresh ones. Nangong Qiuhu proposed to go there with him, and the father and son went out with a big bamboo basket.

The fish market by the river does not open until mid-afternoon, and the fish is transported along the river from neighboring towns, and the morning market has been overtaken by other places.When we arrived at the evening market in Nanshan Town, there were actually not many good things left.

Go west from Mo’s house, cross two intersections, and turn south through a small alley, which is the Shilixue River. Because the small alley is close to the river, many people carry water from the river and pass here. Wet, with moss under the walls on both sides.There is a big branch of persimmon tree sticking out and slanting in the alley, and the red persimmons are densely dotted among the blue-glazed branches and leaves.

"Daddy, be careful where you step, the road is too slippery." Mo Nanjin gently supported Nangong Qiuhu.

Hearing this, Nangong Qiuhu frowned slightly, turned around and said with a smile: "Daddy is not old yet."

At the end of the alley, walk down a dozen steps and you will arrive at the small pier.

People in the town are used to calling it a small wharf. In fact, it is just a few more bluestones on the river bank. On weekdays, there is a place for boats to land on the shore. When the fish market is at its most prosperous, it can stretch for more than [-] meters on the river bank. , now everyone is busy with the autumn harvest, there are few people visiting the fish market and few stalls.Seven or eight stalls were scattered here and there.Because there was no one around, a few fishmongers gathered together to chat their teeth. When they saw the two of them coming, they all dispersed and went back to their own stalls to greet them hard. It has been a long time since they have been doing business, and it is natural to see people's eyesight. There is a certain degree, who will buy it, who is wandering around, naturally have a certain degree of foundation in my heart, seeing these two people now, although the clothes on their bodies are not luxurious, but it makes people feel so different.

The two of them wandered through several stalls, and there was really nothing good to buy. They only bought three catties of finger-long shrimp, two catties of small fish and small crabs, and more than four catties of slaughtered eels.

Just in time, I met Lao Li, who was making braised meat, and came from the river, carrying a fish basket in his hand, still dripping water. When he saw Mo Nanjin, he said hello, "Brother Jin? Are you here to buy fish too?"

"Yes, Uncle Li, is this the fish you just bought?" Mo Nanjin stopped.

"I bought some small fish and went back home to make some dried fish. This winter, stew some cabbage and radish and sprinkle it in, not to mention how fragrant it is." Old Li said this, his gray beard curled up happily.

"By the way, Brother Jin, this person next to you is..." He had noticed it just now, but this person always made people feel that he couldn't look directly at him.

"Uncle Li, this is my father."

"Oh..." Old Li agreed dryly, but he really didn't know how to address him. If Brother Jin called him Uncle Li in the town, he would call his father Big Brother, but to this person in front of him , This big brother really can't say it.

But Nangong Qiuhu didn't care much, and said with a smile, "Big brother, your fish looks fresh, where did you buy it?"

"Yes, Uncle Li's fish looks much fresher." Mo Nanjin also said.

"This one, it's the one parked on the shore," Lao Li pointed to them, "The one with the jar on the sampan, did you see it?"

Mo Nanjin looked over, and sure enough, he saw a small black-covered boat parked not far away, and a middle-aged man was scooping something out of the jar with his head down.

"He came to buy my stewed pork when we were docked in Zhenshan. His owner is doing a big business. There are a lot of things on his boat and they are fresh. But he won't go ashore. Brother Jin, you buy it next time. The fish went to his boat to have a look."

Uncle Li still asked someone to look after him at the stall, and Mo Nanjin didn't chat with him too much. After parting, the two came to the shore.

Mo Nanjin shouted: "Hey, big brother, are there any fish in your boat?"

The middle-aged man heard the words, without raising his head, he said, "It's gone now."

"Daddy, it seems that we can't buy them today. Fortunately, there is a pond in our house. Although the fish in it are not as fresh as those caught in the sea and river outside, they are not bad."

"It's okay, it's your birthday today, just look at it."

"Hey, what I said is that there are no more now, and there will be a boat coming later." The middle-aged man straightened up, but seeing Mo Nanjin's face changed drastically, he tentatively called out with some uncertainty: "Little brother?"

Mo Nanjin looked over and was not very familiar with it, but she seemed to have seen it before.

The middle-aged man parted the hair in front of his face, smoothed his beard and said, and said in a low voice: "It's me, the one opposite in the water prison, the one who brought you the medicine."

"The elder brother in prison?" Mo Nanjin was also surprised, he always thought he was really dead.

The middle-aged man jumped ashore in a few steps, and said with a happy face: "It's me, I'm not dead, I didn't expect you, little brother, to be fine."

The three of them sat down at a small open-air tea stand on the river bank.

"Little brother, it's been almost six years, right? We can meet here."

"Yeah, it's been almost six years. How did you escape?" Mo Nanjin was also curious. He saw him being taken away by the people of the Ministry of Punishment.

"Speaking of which, it's thanks to you, little brother?" The middle-aged man took a sip of tea and said.

"Me?" Mo Nanjin was even more puzzled.

"After I avenged my family back then, I didn't expect to live for a few days. Later, when I was caught by the government, I thought that my life would be over. But on the way to the capital, one night, a man Sneaked into my prison car, gave me a pill, and showed me your portrait, and said that as long as I meet you in the water prison, I will give you this medicine and say that it is a loose soul, so I will not die Later, when I went to the execution ground, I really thought I was going to die, but when I woke up, someone asked me if I had been given medicine, and I said yes, and that person left me in the woods by the side of the road and walked away." The young man looked around and said in a low voice.

Mo Nanjin nodded. He must have been sent by his father. Back then, the water prison was under surveillance from all sides. It was really difficult to insert someone out of thin air. His father must have known it, so he took the risk to find a ready-made one. of.

"Brother Liu, the boat is coming." Someone shouted by the river.

"Little brother, here comes the fish." The middle-aged man stood up and walked with Mo Nanjin and said, "Let me tell you, little brother, the fish this time came from the sea. They couldn't get here before. In the county town I just robbed them all, now that the farming season is busy, there are few people buying fish, so you caught up this time.”

After the boat docked, several fish baskets were laid out.

Mo Nanjin leaned over and took a look, and it really was sea fish, one basket was yellow croaker, one basket was barracuda, one basket was mackerel, another was a basket of broad saury, and there was a small basket filled with clams, not necessarily outside. What a rare item, it is rare to see it in this small town. Yunzhou itself is also close to the sea, but no one will bring sea fish sellers to the town, after all, the price is higher.

"This yellow croaker is more expensive, twenty yuan a catty, the other fish are the same price, eight yuan a catty, and clams are cheaper, five yuan a catty." The middle-aged man pointed to the baskets and said one by one.

In fact, this price is not cheap for the people in this small town. Take the clams as an example. Chicken is only five renminbi a catty, and the best fat pork is only seven cents a catty.

But it was a rare luxury, and he had enough money with him, so Mo Nanjin simply bought some.

Before leaving, the middle-aged man caught up again, gave Mo Nanjin three big conchs, and said, "I found these by myself in the sea, and my boss said they were all my own. It's rare to meet a little brother this time. Go home to the children." He thought that Mo Nanjin should have children at his age.

Mo Nanjin nodded in thanks. Both of them knew that it might be difficult to meet each other in the future. After all, no one wanted to mention that period of the past, so the two of them had a tacit understanding and did not exchange names, which was the best.

Mo Nanjin was afraid that Nangong Qiuhu would not be able to smell the strong fishy smell on the boat, so he asked him to wait at the tea stall on the river bank. Seeing him look over at this time, he smiled and signaled that it would be over.

"By the way, there is one more thing, little brother." He scratched his head, wondering whether he should say it.

"But it doesn't matter."

"A young man came to think that I had inquired about what happened back then, that is, what happened when I was in prison." He hesitated, but still said it out.

"What kind of young man?" Mo Nanjin frowned.

"It's about the same age as you, looks pretty good, looks like an unusual person, and there's a follower by his side, who seems to be called a dozen or so, oh, and that day he was wearing a black shirt, and the material looked pretty good. "He tried his best to review the details of the day, but he thought that the government had found him. Now that he had a wife and son, he didn't want to die. He was scared and didn't remember much. He just remembered that every time the young man asked , he answered, the young man's face became colder, but he still asked one question after another.When he finally talked about the pill, the young man suddenly stood up from the chair, the coldness in his eyes could kill, he stared at him and asked with certainty: "Are you sure, are you sure someone asked you to give it to him?" Medicine, and then saved you?"

He tremblingly agreed.

He still vaguely remembers his appearance, covering his forehead with one hand, and the corners of his lips curled up. He can't tell what kind of expression it was, it seemed to be pleasantly surprised, but also sad, in short, it was quite complicated.

Just before he was knocked unconscious, he saw the attendant next to him stretch out his hand to help him, and said, "Master."

The young man waved his hand, but his voice was already hoarse, and he seemed to say something: Thirteen, do you think he will, will he...

"When did that happen?" Mo Nanjin asked calmly.

"Let's think about it. It was last winter. Yes, at the end of October, it was just beginning of winter. I still remember that day when the village slaughtered the pigs and divided them, and the second son sent the pork over, and found me lying on the ground in the main room."

"October last year, July this year." Mo Nanjin murmured.

"Little Jin, what's the matter with you?" Nangong Qiuhu saw that there was something wrong with him.

Those are not important now, Mo Nanjin smiled slightly, shook his head and said, "Daddy, let's sit here for a while, it's rare to come here for a walk."

Nangong Qiuhu knew that he had something on his mind, but he didn't force it.

The weather is not good, and the water surface is also foggy. There are faintly visible boatmen driving cormorants to fish. The long fish whistle echoes on the water surface. In other places, some farmers are busy in the fields, the corn stalks have been harvested, and the surface of the land is gradually revealed, and a large area is empty.

"Ahem..." Mo Nanjin took a sip of tea, and the tea leaves in one mouthful.

Nangong Qiuhu got up and patted his back lightly, and said, "I just wanted to tell you that the tea here is full of tea leaves."

After Mo Nanjin managed to stop his cough, Nangong Qiuhu ordered him a cup of boiled water and rinsed his mouth.

"Hey, I can't expect any good tea for one penny and two cups." Mo Nanjin laughed.

"Don't be so careless next time, just drink it without looking at it." Nangong Qiuhu smiled helplessly.

After this incident, the atmosphere just now has been diluted a lot, and we sat for a while, paid the tea money, and went back.

The two went home and put away the things they bought in the fish market. Mingyue and Yuyang cleaned up in the kitchen. Because they spent too much on buying fish just now, there was not much money left on them. Meat and vegetables I didn't buy it.

Mo Nanjin went back to the room and took another money, ready to go out again, Nangong Jingshen took his vegetable basket naturally, Rongxi seemed to want to say something, but was dragged to the study by Nangong Qiuhu.

Mo Nanjin didn't say anything and let him follow.I bought two small roosters, and asked them to pack them up at the time. I went to the pork stall and bought a spare rib, four trotters, lean meat, pork belly, and fat pork. I asked for a catty each, and used lotus leaves packaged.These days, everyone likes to buy meat that is fatter. This way of cooking is more oily. When the stall owner heard that Mo Nanjin bought lean meat, he was so happy that he wanted to remove the only little fat on it. It is definitely genuine. lean meat.

There is no shortage of vegetables, I have enough from my own farm, so I bought two catties of marinated tofu, and saw that the Chrysanthemum chrysanthemum sold on the side of the road was really fresh, and I bought it for a penny.

Before he got home, he met Xia Mo and Ming Ting who came back from the field. Ming Ting still had two fish hooked in his hands, and he thought he should stop by and catch them in the pond.

After returning home, Mo Nanjin settled today's wages, and the hired workers went back happily, promising to come back tomorrow morning.

The family closed the door and prepared to cook.

Three catties of shrimp Mingyue has already been peeled, in fact, there are not many shrimps peeled out, only a bowl, Mo Nanjin wrapped eggs and rice noodles, fried shrimp balls, golden brown, put on a plate covered with coriander leaves, Take it out and give it to the father and a few little guys to eat first.

Cooked pork ribs, add pepper, onion sauté.Stewed old kidney beans with pig's trotters.Sliced ​​saury, wrapped in egg pancakes and steamed in a pan, stir-fried clams with chili, dry-fried yellow croaker, stewed tofu with barracuda, eggplant stuffed with small rooster chicken.

Sauteed assorted vegetables.

Stir-fried chicken and potato cubes are stewed together in a casserole.

"Xiao Jin, come here for a rest, today is your birthday." Nangong Qiuhu waved to him in the yard.

"It will be ready soon." Mo Nanjin walked to the door of the kitchen and promised with a smile.

It was actually not too late, but because of the overcast sky, the yard was already dark, and there was a lot of movement on the street, chickens, cats and dogs barking, the sound of urging children to go home for dinner, one after another, and cars rolling over the bluestone slabs , It should be that everyone has returned from the field.

Yuyang and Mingyue have already started serving dishes in the main room in front, Xiao Mo and Ming Ting are packing up the leftover materials in the kitchen, Nangong Jingshen is lighting a lantern in the yard, and the father and three children are sitting around Sitting on the stone table, talking and laughing.

It couldn't be more fulfilling, Mo Nanjin thought.

The moon is full and the loss is, this word suddenly came to mind, Mo Nanjin shook his head and wanted to get rid of it, how could he think of this.

The aroma of potato stew came out, Mo Nanjin lifted the lid, added a handful of shiitake mushrooms and vermicelli, and finally added vegetarian meatballs and choy sum, and served them in a casserole.

The last dish, chrysanthemum chrysanthemum, is mixed with minced garlic and sesame juice.

At the dinner table, the three children respectfully wished their father a birthday, and Mo Nanjin toasted Nangong Qiuhu with a glass of wine, tacit understanding.Rong Xi looked at the few drops of wine spilled on the table in front of Nangong Jingshen, and looked worried.

"Come with me." After the meal, Rong Xi signaled Nangong Jingshen.

The two of them didn't disturb the others, and after a few ups and downs, they arrived at the bamboo forest on the mountain behind Mo's house.